[JPRT 112-40, Volume I]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                  S. Prt.
                         JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT                  
 2d Session                                                      112-40
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

 
                    COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
                           PRACTICES FOR 2009
                                VOLUME I
                                AFRICA,
                       EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

                               ----------                              

                              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 2009
              VOLUME I: AFRICA, EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC





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112th Congress                                                  S. Prt.
                         JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT                  
 2d Session                                                      112-40
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


                    COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
                           PRACTICES FOR 2009

                                VOLUME I

                                AFRICA,

                       EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

                               __________

                              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

                                     


                                     
           One Hundred Tenth Congress, Second Session        


                  COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS        

             HOWARD L. BERMAN, California, Chairman        
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York           ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American      CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
    Samoa                            DAN BURTON, Indiana
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey          ELTON GALLEGLY, California
BRAD SHERMAN, California             DANA ROHRABACHER, California
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York             DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois
BILL DELAHUNT, Massachusetts         EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York           RON PAUL, Texas
DIANE E. WATSON, California          JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri              MIKE PENCE, Indiana
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey              JOE WILSON, South Carolina
GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia         JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
MICHAEL E. MCMAHON, New York         J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee            CONNIE MACK, Florida
GENE GREEN, Texas                    JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
LYNN WOOLSEY, California             MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas            TED POE, Texas
BARBARA LEE, California              BOB INGLIS, South Carolina
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada              GUS BILIRAKIS, Florida
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
MIKE ROSS, Arkansas
BRAD MILLER, North Carolina
DAVID SCOTT, Georgia
JIM COSTA, California
KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona
RON KLEIN, Florida
               Richard J. Kessler, Staff Director        
         Yleem D.S. Poblete, Republican Staff Director        


                 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS        

             JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts, Chairman        
CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut     RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana
RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin       BOB CORKER, Tennessee
BARBARA BOXER, California            JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey          JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania   JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
JIM WEBB, Virginia                   ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
EDWARD E. KAUFMAN, Delaware
KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York
                  David McKean, Staff Director        
        Kenneth A. Myers, Jr., Republican Staff Director        

                                     
                              (ii)        

  


                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Letter of Transmittal............................................   vii

Preface..........................................................    ix

Overview and Acknowledgments.....................................    xi

Introduction.....................................................    xv

                                Volume I

Africa...........................................................     1
    Angola.......................................................     1
    Benin........................................................    17
    Botswana.....................................................    28
    Burkina Faso.................................................    39
    Burundi......................................................    50
    Cameroon.....................................................    67
    Cape Verde...................................................    88
    Central African Republic.....................................    93
    Chad.........................................................   117
    Comoros......................................................   133
    Congo, Democratic Republic of the............................   139
    Congo, Republic of the.......................................   183
    Cote d'Ivoire................................................   193
    Djibouti.....................................................   210
    Equatorial Guinea............................................   219
    Eritrea......................................................   234
    Ethiopia.....................................................   248
    Gabon........................................................   276
    Gambia, The..................................................   285
    Ghana........................................................   297
    Guinea.......................................................   312
    Guinea-Bissau................................................   329
    Kenya........................................................   338
    Lesotho......................................................   361
    Liberia......................................................   373
    Madagascar...................................................   384
    Malawi.......................................................   399
    Mali.........................................................   411
    Mauritania...................................................   422
    Mauritius....................................................   436
    Mozambique...................................................   444
    Namibia......................................................   457
    Niger........................................................   470
    Nigeria......................................................   490
    Rwanda.......................................................   519
    Sao Tome and Principe........................................   538
    Senegal......................................................   543
    Seychelles...................................................   558
    Sierra Leone.................................................   565
    Somalia......................................................   581
    South Africa.................................................   605
    Sudan........................................................   626
    Swaziland....................................................   648
    Tanzania.....................................................   663
    Togo.........................................................   684
    Uganda.......................................................   694
    Zambia.......................................................   718
    Zimbabwe.....................................................   733
East Asia and the Pacific........................................   773
    Australia....................................................   773
    Brunei Darussalam............................................   784
    Burma........................................................   792
    Cambodia.....................................................   814
    China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau).................   837
    Taiwan.......................................................   905
    Fiji.........................................................   915
    Indonesia....................................................   929
    Japan........................................................   951
    Kiribati.....................................................   963
    Korea, Democratic People's Republic of.......................   968
    Korea, Republic of...........................................   980
    Laos.........................................................   992
    Malaysia.....................................................  1004
    Marshall Islands.............................................  1031
    Micronesia, Federated States of..............................  1036
    Mongolia.....................................................  1042
    Nauru........................................................  1053
    New Zealand..................................................  1057
    Palau........................................................  1065
    Papua New Guinea.............................................  1070
    Philippines..................................................  1079
    Samoa........................................................  1099
    Singapore....................................................  1106
    Solomon Islands..............................................  1121
    Thailand.....................................................  1128
    Timor-Leste..................................................  1159
    Tonga........................................................  1168
    Tuvalu.......................................................  1175
    Vanuatu......................................................  1180
    Vietnam......................................................  1187

                               Volume II

Europe and Eurasia...............................................  1213
    Albania......................................................  1213
    Andorra......................................................  1225
    Armenia......................................................  1229
    Austria......................................................  1265
    Azerbaijan...................................................  1275
    Belarus......................................................  1300
    Belgium......................................................  1327
    Bosnia and Herzegovina.......................................  1337
    Bulgaria.....................................................  1353
    Croatia......................................................  1368
    Cyprus.......................................................  1386
    Czech Republic...............................................  1415
    Denmark......................................................  1429
    Estonia......................................................  1437
    Finland......................................................  1443
    France.......................................................  1453
    Georgia......................................................  1464
    Germany......................................................  1515
    Greece.......................................................  1529
    Hungary......................................................  1553
    Iceland......................................................  1569
    Ireland......................................................  1577
    Italy........................................................  1584
    Kosovo.......................................................  1597
    Latvia.......................................................  1622
    Liechtenstein................................................  1634
    Lithuania....................................................  1640
    Luxembourg...................................................  1652
    Macedonia....................................................  1657
    Malta........................................................  1673
    Moldova......................................................  1681
    Monaco.......................................................  1711
    Montenegro...................................................  1715
    Netherlands..................................................  1736
    Norway.......................................................  1747
    Poland.......................................................  1755
    Portugal.....................................................  1773
    Romania......................................................  1781
    Russia.......................................................  1805
    San Marino...................................................  1865
    Serbia.......................................................  1868
    Slovakia.....................................................  1894
    Slovenia.....................................................  1911
    Spain........................................................  1919
    Sweden.......................................................  1932
    Switzerland..................................................  1943
    Turkey.......................................................  1954
    Ukraine......................................................  1984
    United Kingdom...............................................  2014
Near East and North Africa.......................................  2029
    Algeria......................................................  2029
    Bahrain......................................................  2047
    Egypt........................................................  2059
    Iran.........................................................  2080
    Iraq.........................................................  2113
    Israel and the Occupied Territories..........................  2146
    Jordan.......................................................  2196
    Kuwait.......................................................  2217
    Lebanon......................................................  2230
    Libya........................................................  2248
    Morocco and Western Sahara...................................  2262
    Oman.........................................................  2286
    Qatar........................................................  2294
    Saudi Arabia.................................................  2308
    Syria........................................................  2331
    Tunisia......................................................  2360
    United Arab Emirates.........................................  2381
    Yemen........................................................  2393

                               Volume III

South and Central Asia...........................................  2417
    Afghanistan..................................................  2417
    Bangladesh...................................................  2444
    Bhutan.......................................................  2467
    India........................................................  2477
    Kazakhstan...................................................  2508
    Kyrgyz Republic..............................................  2529
    Maldives.....................................................  2546
    Nepal........................................................  2556
    Pakistan.....................................................  2573
    Sri Lanka....................................................  2604
    Tajikistan...................................................  2621
    Turkmenistan.................................................  2637
    Uzbekistan...................................................  2651
Western Hemisphere...............................................  2675
    Antigua and Barbuda..........................................  2675
    Argentina....................................................  2680
    Bahamas, The.................................................  2694
    Barbados.....................................................  2704
    Belize.......................................................  2710
    Bolivia......................................................  2718
    Brazil.......................................................  2731
    Canada.......................................................  2753
    Chile........................................................  2765
    Colombia.....................................................  2776
    Costa Rica...................................................  2800
    Cuba.........................................................  2812
    Dominica.....................................................  2828
    Dominican Republic...........................................  2834
    Ecuador......................................................  2851
    El Salvador..................................................  2868
    Grenada......................................................  2881
    Guatemala....................................................  2886
    Guyana.......................................................  2907
    Haiti........................................................  2917
    Honduras.....................................................  2929
    Jamaica......................................................  2951
    Mexico.......................................................  2963
    Nicaragua....................................................  2983
    Panama.......................................................  3002
    Paraguay.....................................................  3015
    Peru.........................................................  3028
    Saint Kitts and Nevis........................................  3043
    Saint Lucia..................................................  3048
    Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.............................  3054
    Suriname.....................................................  3060
    Trinidad and Tobago..........................................  3070
    Uruguay......................................................  3078
    Venezuela....................................................  3086


Appendixes

    Appendix A: Notes on preparation of Report...................  3107

    Appendix B: Reporting on Worker Rights.......................  3115

    Appendix C: Selected International Human Rights Conventions..  3117

    Appendix D: Description of International Human Rights 
      Conventions in Appendix C..................................  3133

    Appendix E: FY 2009 Foreign Assistance Actuals...............  3135

    Appendix F: United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee 
      Country Resolution Votes 2009..............................  3157

    Appendix G: United Nations Universal Declaration of Human 
      Rights.....................................................  3169
?

                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                       Department of State,
                                    Washington, DC, April 10, 2010.
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 2009, 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,
                                   David J. Kramer,
                         Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, 
                                           Human Rights, and Labor.
    Enclosure.

                                 (vii)

                                     
                                PREFACE

                              ----------                              

    The idea of human rights begins with a fundamental 
commitment to the dignity that is the birthright of every man, 
woman and child. Progress in advancing human rights begins with 
the facts. And for the last 34 years, the United States has 
produced the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 
providing the most comprehensive record available of the 
condition of human rights around the world.
    These reports are an essential tool-for activists who 
courageously struggle to protect rights in communities around 
the world; for journalists and scholars who document rights 
violations and who report on the work of those who champion the 
vulnerable; and for governments, including our own, as they 
work to craft strategies to encourage protection of the human 
rights of more individuals in more places.
    The principle that each person possesses equal moral value 
is a simple, self-evident truth; but securing a world in which 
all can exercise the rights that are naturally theirs is an 
immense practical challenge. To craft effective human rights 
policy, we need good assessments of the situation on the ground 
in the places we want to make a difference. We need a 
sophisticated, strategic understanding of how democratic 
governance and economic development can each contribute to 
creating an environment in which human rights are secured. We 
need to recognize that rights-protecting democracy and rights-
respecting development reinforce each other. And we need the 
right tools and the right partners to implement our policies.
    Human rights are timeless, but our efforts to protect them 
must be grounded in the here-and-now. We find ourselves in a 
moment when an increasing number of governments are imposing 
new and crippling restrictions on the nongovernmental 
organizations working to protect rights and enhance 
accountability. New technologies have proven useful both to 
oppressors and to those who struggle to expose the failures and 
cowardice of those oppressors. And global challenges of our 
time-like food security and climate change; pandemic disease; 
economic crises; and violent extremism-impact the enjoyment of 
human rights today, and shape the global political context in 
which we must advance human rights over the long term.
    Human rights are universal, but their experience is local. 
This is why we are committed to hold everyone to the same 
standard, including ourselves. And this is why we remember that 
human rights begin, as Eleanor Roosevelt said, ``in small 
places close to home.'' When we work to secure human rights, we 
are working to protect the experiences that make life 
meaningful, to preserve each person's ability to fulfill his or 
her God-given potential. The potential within every person to 
learn, discover and embrace the world around them; the 
potential to join freely with others to shape their communities 
and their societies so that every person can find fulfillment 
and self-sufficiency; the potential to share life's beauties 
and tragedies, laughter and tears with the people they love.
    The reports released today are a record of where we are. 
They provide a fact-base that will inform the United States's 
diplomatic, economic and strategic policies toward other 
countries in the coming year. These reports are not intended to 
prescribe such policies, but they provide essential data points 
for everyone in the U.S. Government working on them. I view the 
these reports not as ends in themselves, but as an important 
tool in the development of practical and effective human rights 
strategy by the United States Government. That is a process to 
which I am deeply committed.
    The timeless principles enshrined in the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights are a North Star guiding us toward 
the world we want to inhabit: a just world where, as President 
Obama has put it, peace rests on the ``inherent rights and 
dignity of every individual.'' With the facts in hand, and the 
goals clear in our hearts and heads, we recommit ourselves to 
continue the hard work of making human rights a human reality.
                            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. The guiding principle was to ensure that all 
information was assessed objectively, thoroughly, and fairly.
    The reports in this volume will be used as a resource for 
shaping policy, conducting diplomacy, and making assistance, 
training, and other resource allocations. They also will serve 
as a basis for the U.S. Government's cooperation with private 
groups to promote the observance of internationally recognized 
human rights.
    The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cover 
internationally recognized 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.
    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: Carlos Garcia, 
Douglas Kramer, and Kay Mayfield; Senior Editors: Jonathan 
Bemis, Douglas B. Dearborn, Daniel Dolan, Jerome L. Hoganson, 
Patricia Meeks Schnell, Julie Turner, and Rachel Waldstein; 
Editors: Naim Ahmed, Joseph Barghout, Kate Berglund, Sarah 
Beringer, Marissa Brescia, Sarah Buckley-Moore, Liliana Caparo 
Ariza, Laura Carey, Elise Carlson-Rainer, Delaram Cavey, Sharon 
Cooke, Susan Corke, Stuart Crampton, Kathleen Crowley, Frank 
Crump, Tu Dang, Mollie Davis, Huseyin Dogan, Will Dokurno, Mort 
Dworken, Amy Feagles, Joan Garner, Solange Garvey, Jeffrey 
Glassman, Blake Greene, Edward Grulich, Patrick Harvey, Victor 
Huser, Jill Hutchings, Stan Ifshin, David T. Jones, Simone 
Joseph, Mancharee Junk, Douglas Kramer, Sarah Labowitz, Jessica 
Lieberman, Gregory Maggio, Stacey May, John McKane, David 
Mikosz, Mia Mitchell, Stephen Moody, Sarah Morgan, Perlita 
Muiruri, Sandra Murphy, Daniel L. Nadel, Catherine Newling, 
Anand Prakash, Drue Preissman, Gabriela Ramirez, Lea Rivera, 
Peter Sawchyn, Wendy Silverman, Catherine Snyder, Erin Spitzer, 
Rachel Spring, Michael Suttles, Leslie Taylor, James Todd, 
Kathy Unlu, David Wagner, Nicole Wilett, Karen Yoo; 
Contributing Editor: Lynne Davidson; Editorial Assistants: Cory 
Andrews, Carol Finerty, Ronya D. Foy, Lauren Gandillot, Yelipza 
Gutierrez, Wen Hsu, Raymond Lu, Stephanie Martone, James 
McDonald, Matthew Miller, Amanda Pourciau, Sabrina Ragaller,and 
Helaena White; and Technical Assistant Eunice Johnson.

                          INTRODUCTION TO THE 
                          2009 COUNTRY REPORTS

                              ----------                              

    2009 was a year of contrasts. It was a year in which 
ethnic, racial, and religious tensions led to violent conflicts 
and serious human rights violations and fueled or exacerbated 
more than 30 wars or internal armed conflicts. At the same 
time, it was a year in which the United States and other 
governments devoted greater attention to finding ways to 
acknowledge and combat these underlying tensions through 
showing leadership in advancing respect for universal human 
rights, promoting tolerance, combating violent extremism, and 
pursuing peaceful solutions to long-standing conflicts in the 
Middle East and elsewhere. As President Obama said in his June 
speech at Cairo University, we should be defined not by our 
differences but rather by our common humanity, and we should 
find ways to work in partnership with other nations so that all 
people achieve justice and prosperity.
    2009 also was a year in which more people gained greater 
access than ever before to more information about human rights 
through the Internet, cell phones, and other forms of 
connective technologies. Yet at the same time it was a year in 
which governments spent more time, money, and attention finding 
regulatory and technical means to curtail freedom of expression 
on the Internet and the flow of critical information and to 
infringe on the personal privacy rights of those who used these 
rapidly evolving technologies.
    Today, all governments grapple with the difficult questions 
of what are appropriate policies and practices in response to 
legitimate national security concerns and how to strike the 
balance between respecting human rights and fundamental 
freedoms and ensuring the safety of their citizens. That said, 
during the past year, many governments applied overly broad 
interpretations of terrorism and emergency powers as a basis 
for limiting the rights of detainees and curtailing other basic 
human rights and humanitarian law protections. They did so even 
as the international community continued to make tangible 
progress in isolating and weakening the leadership in violent 
extremist and terrorist groups such as al-Qa'ida.
    This report explores these and other trends and 
developments and provides a specific, detailed picture of human 
rights conditions in 194 countries around the world. The U.S. 
Government has compiled these reports for the past 34 years 
pursuant to a requirement placed on the U.S. executive by law 
in part to help the U.S. Congress inform its work in assessing 
requests for U.S. foreign military and economic assistance, as 
well as to set trade policies and U.S. participation in the 
multilateral development banks and other financial 
institutions. The reason for publishing this report is to 
develop a full, factual record that can help U.S. policymakers 
to make intelligent and well-informed policy decisions. It has 
also been increasingly used by policymakers abroad and has 
become a core reference document for governments, 
intergovernmental organizations, and concerned citizens 
throughout the world.
    Many have questioned the reason the U.S. Government 
compiles this report, rather than the United Nations or some 
other intergovernmental body. One answer is that we believe it 
is imperative for countries, including our own, to ensure that 
respect for human rights is an integral component of foreign 
policy. These reports provide an overview of the human rights 
situation around the world as a means to raise awareness about 
human rights conditions, in particular as these conditions 
impact the well-being of women, children, racial minorities, 
trafficking victims, members of indigenous groups and ethnic 
communities, persons with disabilities, sexual minorities, and 
members of other vulnerable groups. Also, we provide these 
reports as a form of comprehensive review and analysis. While 
some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) do extensive and 
excellent reporting on some countries, none cover the world as 
we do. And while we have encouraged more detailed and 
comprehensive reporting from the UN and other intergovernmental 
bodies, thus far these organizations have not met this need. 
Because of this unmet need, the U.S. Congress has mandated this 
report. Even as we continue this reporting exercise, we 
encourage the UN to take up this type of thorough and 
comprehensive reporting, and we stand ready to work with them 
to meet the challenge. We will continue to press for enhanced 
UN reporting, for example through the UN Human Rights Council 
as part of its review of its own operations in 2011.
    Some critics, in the United States and elsewhere, also have 
challenged our practice of reviewing every other country's 
human rights record but not our own. In fact, the U.S. 
Government reports on and assesses our own human rights record 
in many other fora pursuant to our treaty obligations (e.g., we 
file reports on our implementation of the two Optional 
Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 
International Covenant on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination, and the Convention Against Torture). We are 
reviewing our reporting, consistent with President Obama and 
Secretary Clinton's pledge that we will apply a single 
universal human rights standard to all, including ourselves. 
Later this year, the U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report, for 
the first time, will rank the United States as it does foreign 
governments by applying the minimum standards for the 
elimination of trafficking in persons set forth in the 
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 as amended. And in 
the fall the U.S. Government will appear before the United 
Nations Human Rights Council for the first Universal Periodic 
Review of our domestic human rights situation.
    These country reports are written to provide an accurate, 
factual record of human rights conditions around the world, not 
to examine U.S. policy responses or options or to assess 
diplomatic alternatives. Yet in a broader sense these reports 
are a part of the Obama Administration's overall approach to 
human rights and an essential component of that effort. As 
outlined above, the administration's approach, as articulated 
by President Obama and Secretary Clinton, is guided by broad 
principles, the first of which is a commitment to universal 
human rights. In preparing this report, we have endeavored to 
hold all governments accountable to uphold universal human 
rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to 
their human rights treaty obligations. As Secretary Clinton 
stated in December, all governments, including our own, must 
``adhere to obligations under international law: among them not 
to torture, arbitrarily detain and persecute dissenters, or 
engage in political killings. Our government and the 
international community must consider the pretentions of those 
who deny or abdicate their responsibilities and hold violators 
to account.'' The first step in that process is to tell the 
truth and to identify specific instances where such violations 
are occurring and where governments are failing to take 
responsibility for holding violators accountable.
    A second element of our approach is a principled and 
pragmatic engagement with other countries on these issues. This 
means that we will pursue steps that are most likely to make 
human rights a human reality. This principled pragmatism starts 
with an honest assessment of human rights conditions and 
whether violations are the result of deliberate government 
repression, governmental unwillingness or inability to confront 
the problems, or a combination of all three. As Secretary 
Clinton has said, ``With China, Russia, and others, we are 
engaging on issues of mutual interest while also engaging 
societal actors in the same countries who are working to 
advance human rights and democracy. The assumption that we must 
either pursue human rights or our `national interests' is 
wrong. The assumption that only coercion and isolation are 
effective tools for advancing democratic change is also 
wrong.'' These reports provide an essential, factual predicate 
upon which we can shape current and future polices.
    A third element is our belief that although foreign 
governments and global civil society cannot impose change from 
outside, we can and should encourage and provide support to 
members of local civil society and other peaceful change agents 
within each country. As part of such efforts, these reports can 
and often do amplify these voices, by making reference to their 
findings, publicly reinforcing their concerns, and by widely 
disseminating this information to opinion makers, both 
internationally and within affected countries.
    A fourth element of our approach is to keep a wide focus 
where rights are at stake and to adopt a broad approach to 
democracy and human rights. As Secretary Clinton stated, 
``Democracy means not only elections to choose leaders, but 
also active citizens and a free press and an independent 
judiciary and transparent and responsive institutions that are 
accountable to all citizens and protect their rights equally 
and fairly.'' President Obama has also highlighted the crucial 
linkages between development, democracy, and human rights, 
noting the centrality of issues such as corruption to the 
realization of basic rights. Consistent with that approach, 
these reports cover a wide range of topics and trends, 
providing a detailed and comprehensive picture of human rights 
and democracy in each country.
    The fifth and final element of our approach has been to 
pursue progress on these issues through multilateral processes 
and institutions. As President Obama has acknowledged, we live 
in an increasingly interdependent and multipolar world, and to 
achieve our international goals, we need to collaborate with 
other governments and international actors. That is the reason 
we have joined the UN Human Rights Council, have actively 
supported human rights initiatives in the General Assembly, and 
have more thoroughly engaged in regional bodies like the 
Organization of American States and the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe in promoting democracy and 
human rights.
    In preparing these reports, we relied on information 
collected by officials in U.S. embassies around the world and 
on information from other governments and multilateral 
organizations. We also solicited and relied on useful 
information from nongovernmental human rights groups, both 
those operating internationally and those that work at a 
national level. We also collected information from academics, 
lawyers, trade unions, religious leaders, and the media. While 
we benefited from these many inputs, the U.S. Government alone 
bears responsibility for the content of these reports. The 
preparation of these reports involves a major commitment of 
time and energy by hundreds of people, and includes a lengthy 
process of fact-checking and editing to ensure high standards 
of accuracy and objectivity.

                           The Year in Review

    In 2009, governments across the globe continued to commit 
serious violations of human rights. As we survey the world, 
there still are an alarming number of reports of torture, 
extrajudicial killings, and other violations of universal human 
rights. Often these violations relating to the integrity of the 
person are in countries where conflicts are occurring. These 
violent attacks are a central concern wherever they take place.
    In a significant number of countries, governments have 
imposed new and often draconian restrictions on NGOs. Since 
2008, no fewer than 25 governments have imposed new 
restrictions on the ability of these organizations to register, 
to operate freely, or to receive foreign funding, adversely 
impacting freedom of association. In many countries, human 
rights defenders are singled out for particularly harsh 
treatment, and in the most egregious cases, they are imprisoned 
or even attacked or killed in reaction to their advocacy.
    These restrictions and repressive measures are part of a 
larger pattern of governmental efforts to control dissenting or 
critical voices. This pattern also extends to the media and to 
new forms of electronic communications through the Internet and 
other new technologies. Restrictions on freedom of expression, 
including on members of the media, are increasing and becoming 
more severe. In many cases, such restrictions are applied 
subtly by autocrats aiming to avoid attention from human rights 
groups and donor countries, such as through the threat of 
criminal penalties and administrative or economic obstacles, 
rather than through violence or imprisonment; the end result is 
still a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
    A third trend we observed is the continuing and escalating 
discrimination and persecution of members of vulnerable 
groups--often racial, religious, or ethnic minorities, but also 
women, members of indigenous communities, children, persons 
with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups that lack the 
political power in their societies to defend their own 
interests.
    These key trends are discussed in the subsequent sections, 
illustrated by thumbnail sketches of selected countries 
(ordered alphabetically) that were chosen for notable 
developments--positive, negative, or mixed--chronicled during 
calendar year 2009. For more comprehensive, detailed 
information, the individual country reports themselves should 
be consulted.

                      Specific Human Rights Trends

              HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN COUNTRIES IN CONFLICT

    In many countries where conflicts were raging during the 
year, noncombatant civilians faced human rights abuses and 
violations of international humanitarian law. In many of these 
conflict zones, insurgents, terrorist organizations, 
paramilitary forces, and government security forces used 
murder, rape, and inhumane tactics to assert control over 
territory, silence opponents, and coerce the cooperation of 
civilian communities in conflict zones. Throughout the world, 
thousands of men, women, and children died or were mistreated 
not only in conflicts, but also in campaigns to intimidate 
civilian populations.
    The security situation in Afghanistan deteriorated 
significantly because of increased insurgent attacks, with 
civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. Armed conflict 
spread to almost one-third of the country, hindering the 
government's ability to govern effectively, extend its 
influence, and provide services, especially in rural areas. As 
a result of the insurgency, 1,448 Afghan military personnel, 
1,954 government employees, and 2,412 civilians were killed. 
Approximately five million of the 15 million registered voters 
participated in the August elections that were marked by 
serious allegations of widespread fraud, insufficient 
conditions for participation by women, and a concerted effort 
by the Taliban to disrupt the voting. Nevertheless, more 
polling stations opened than in previous elections, the media 
and public debated political alternatives, and the election 
followed the constitutional process.
    The government in Burma continued its egregious human 
rights violations and abuses during the year, including 
increased military attacks in ethnic minority regions, such as 
in the Karen and Shan state. In August, government soldiers 
attacked the Kokang cease-fire group, the Myanmar National 
Democratic Alliance Army, which the government claimed was 
launched in order to shut down narcotics and arms factories. 
Tens of thousands of civilians reportedly fled across the 
border to China as a result of the fighting. Government 
soldiers destroyed several villages in Shan territory, and some 
media estimates suggested the army razed up to 500 homes in 
Kokang territory. The regime continued to rule by decree and 
was not bound by any constitutional provisions guaranteeing any 
fundamental freedoms. The regime continued to commit other 
serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings, custodial 
deaths, disappearances, rape, torture, forcible relocation of 
persons, the use of forced labor, and conscription of child 
soldiers. The government detained civic activists indefinitely 
and without charges.
    In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), conflict in 
mineral-rich parts of the east, including counterinsurgency 
operations by government security forces, resulted in the 
killing of more than 1,000 civilians; the displacement of 
hundreds of thousands whose government did not adequately 
protect or assist them; the rapes of tens of thousands of 
women, children, and men; the burning of hundreds of homes; the 
unlawful recruitment or use of thousands of children as 
soldiers by the DRC military and various armed groups; and 
abductions of numerous persons for forced labor and sexual 
exploitation, both domestically and internationally.
    Despite substantial improvements in the general security 
situation in Iraq, human rights abuses continued. There were 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary 
or unlawful killings in connection with the ongoing conflict, 
and insurgent and terrorist bombings, executions, and killings 
continued to affect all regions and sectors of society. Due to 
the continuing conflict, violence against the media was common, 
and media workers reported that they engaged in self-
censorship. Although the government publicly called for 
tolerance and acceptance for all religious minorities and took 
steps to increase security at places of worship, frequent 
attacks by insurgent and extremist groups on places of worship 
and religious leaders, as well as sectarian violence, hampered 
the ability of individuals to practice their religion freely.
    In response to a sharp increase in the number and frequency 
of rocket attacks from Gaza against civilians in Israel shortly 
prior to and following the expiration of Hamas's agreed period 
of ``calm'' on December 19, 2008, the Israeli Defense Forces 
launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27, which consisted 
initially of airstrikes targeted against Hamas security 
installations, personnel, and other facilities in the Gaza 
Strip, and later ground operations. Hostilities between Israeli 
forces and Hamas fighters continued through January 18, and the 
Israeli withdrawal of troops was completed on January 21. Human 
rights organizations estimated that close to 1,400 Palestinians 
died, including more than 1,000 civilians, and that more than 
5,000 were wounded. According to Israeli government figures, 
Palestinian deaths totaled 1,166, including 295 noncombatant 
deaths. There were 13 Israelis killed, including three 
civilians. In the West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces relaxed 
restrictions at several checkpoints during the year that had 
constituted significant barriers to the movement of 
Palestinians, yet remaining barriers limited Palestinian access 
to places of worship, employment, agricultural lands, schools, 
hospitals, and the conduct of journalism and NGO activities. In 
Gaza, which remained under the control of Hamas, there were 
reports of corruption, abuse of prisoners, and failure to 
provide fair trials to those accused. Hamas also strictly 
restricted the freedom of expression, religion, and movement of 
Gaza residents, and promoted gender discrimination against 
women. Killings by Hamas-controlled security forces remained a 
problem. There were reports of torture by Gaza Hamas Executive 
Force and victims were not only security detainees but also 
included persons associated with the Fatah political party and 
those held on suspicion of ``collaboration'' with Israel. Hamas 
authorities in Gaza often interfered arbitrarily with personal 
privacy, family, and home.
    National police, army, and other security forces in Nigeria 
committed extrajudicial killings and used lethal and excessive 
force to apprehend criminals and suspects. Violence in the form 
of killings, kidnappings, and forced disappearances; mass rape; 
and displacement of civilians attributed to both government and 
nongovernment actors continued in the Niger Delta, despite the 
formation of the Joint Task Force in 2003 that sought to 
restore stability to the region. Reports of incidents 
attributed to militant groups in the Niger Delta decreased upon 
the president's offer of amnesty, although violence remained 
pervasive in the south. Between July 26 and July 29, police and 
militant members of Boko Haram, an extremist Islamic group, 
clashed violently in four northern states, resulting in the 
displacement of approximately 4,000 people and more than 700 
deaths, although this figure is not definitive because quick 
burials in mass graves precluded an accurate count. Sect leader 
Muhammad Yusuf; Yusuf's father-in-law, Baba Mohammed; and 
suspected Boko Haram founder Buji Fai reportedly were killed 
while in custody of the security forces.
    Although Pakistan's civilian authorities took some positive 
steps, significant human rights challenges remain. Major 
problems included extrajudicial killings, torture, and 
disappearances. Militant attacks in the Federally Administered 
Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) 
killed 825 civilians; security operations to repel the 
militants from Malakand Division and parts of the FATA 
displaced almost three million persons at the peak of the 
crisis (although by year's end, approximately 1.66 million had 
returned to their home areas). The Human Rights Commission of 
Pakistan, the New York Times, and several local publications 
reported that security forces allegedly committed 300 to 400 
extrajudicial killings during counterinsurgency operations in 
NWFP and Swat. There were widespread accusations that 
insurgents conducted terror- and revenge killings to intimidate 
local populations and law enforcement officials. Sectarian 
violence killed approximately 1,125 persons, and more than 76 
suicide bombings killed 1,037 persons.
    The situation in the North Caucasus region of Russia 
worsened as the government fought insurgents, Islamist 
militants, and criminal forces. Local government and insurgent 
forces in the region reportedly engaged in killings, torture, 
abuse, violence, politically motivated abductions, and other 
brutal or humiliating treatment. In Chechnya, Ingushetia, and 
Dagestan, the number of extrajudicial killings increased 
markedly, as did the number of attacks on law enforcement 
personnel (in actions involving insurgents, 342 members of law 
enforcement were killed and 680 were injured.) Some authorities 
in the North Caucasus acted with impunity and appeared to act 
independently of the federal government, in some cases, 
allegedly targeting families of suspected insurgents for 
reprisal and engaging in kidnapping, torture, and extrajudicial 
punishment.
    Before the 33-year conflict in Sri Lanka came to an end in 
May, government security forces, progovernment paramilitary 
groups, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) used 
excessive force and committed abuses against civilians. Several 
hundred thousand ethnic Tamil civilians were not allowed 
freedom of movement by the LTTE from LTTE-controlled areas 
Artillery shelling and mortar fire by both sides occurred close 
to and among civilian encampments, resulting in thousands of 
civilian deaths during the last months of the conflict. From 
January to May, the LTTE dramatically increased its forced 
recruitment of child soldiers. Although the number of children 
recruited and killed in fighting is unknown, the government 
reported 527 ex-LTTE child soldiers in custody several months 
after the end of the war. The confinement in camps of nearly 
300,000 persons displaced by the end of the conflict called 
into question the government's postconflict commitment to human 
rights, although the government began to make significant 
progress on the treatment of internally displaced persons and 
other human rights improvements toward the end of 2009, in the 
run up to the January 2010 presidential election.
    Conflict and human rights abuses in the Darfur region of 
Sudan continued despite the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement between 
the government and a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/
Army. Government-sponsored forces bombed villages, killed 
civilians, and supported Chadian rebel groups. Women and 
children continued to experience gender-based violence. Since 
the conflict in Darfur began in 2003, nearly 2.7 million 
civilians have been internally displaced, approximately 253,000 
have sought refuge in eastern Chad, and more than 300,000 have 
died. Tensions also persisted between the north and south over 
the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Interethnic conflict 
and violence perpetrated by the Lord's Resistance Army in 
southern Sudan resulted in the deaths of approximately 2,500 
and the displacement of 359,000 persons during the year.

   RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, ASSEMBLY, AND ASSOCIATION 
                            (INCLUDING NGOS)

    Many governments continued to exert control over 
information that came into and was produced within their 
countries. This was accomplished by hindering the ability to 
organize in public, online, or through use of new technologies; 
by restricting the dissemination of information on the 
Internet, radio, or television or through print media; and 
constructing legal barriers that made it difficult for NGOs to 
establish themselves. According to the National Endowment for 
Democracy, 26 laws in 25 countries have been introduced or 
adopted since January 2008 that impede civil society.
    In Belarus, the government's human rights record remained 
very poor. Civil liberties, including freedoms of expression, 
assembly, association, and religion, continued to be 
restricted. The government limited distribution of independent 
print and broadcast media outlets. Authorities used 
unreasonable force and intimidation to discourage participation 
in demonstrations and to disperse peaceful protesters. NGOs, 
opposition activists, and political parties were subjected to 
persistent harassment, fines, and prosecution, and several 
leading NGOs were again denied registration, forcing them to 
operate under threat of criminal prosecution. Following a few 
positive steps taken by authorities in 2008, the absence of 
reform during 2009 was disappointing.
    The government of China increased its efforts to monitor 
Internet use, control content, restrict information, block 
access to foreign and domestic Web sites, encourage self-
censorship, and punish those who violated regulations. The 
government employed thousands of persons at the national, 
provincial, and local levels to monitor electronic 
communications. In January the government began an ``anti-
vulgarity'' campaign that resulted that same month in the 
closure of 1,250 Web sites and the deletion of more than 3.2 
million items of information. The government at times blocked 
access to selected sites operated by major foreign news 
outlets, health organizations, foreign governments, educational 
institutions, and social networking sites, as well as search 
engines, that allow rapid communication or organization of 
users. During the year, particularly around sensitive events 
such as the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, 
authorities maintained tight control over Internet news and 
information. The government also automatically censored e-mail 
and Web chats based on an ever-changing list of sensitive key 
words. Despite official monitoring and censorship, 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.
    Independent media in Colombia were active and expressed a 
wide variety of views without restriction, and all privately 
owned radio and television stations broadcast freely. However, 
members of illegal armed groups intimidated, threatened, 
kidnapped, or killed journalists, which, according to national 
and international NGOs, caused many to practice self-censorship 
and others, 171 to be specific, received protection from the 
government. The official Administrative Department of Security 
monitored journalists, trade unionists, the political 
opposition, and human rights organizations and activists--
physically, as well as their phone and email communications and 
personal and financial data. According to some NGOs, the 
government allegedly detained arbitrarily hundreds of persons, 
particularly social leaders, labor activists, and human rights 
defenders (HRDs), although a key NGO reported that such 
detentions in 2009 were half the 2008 level. HRDs were also 
persecuted and accused of supporting terrorism in an effort to 
discredit their work. Prominent NGOs reported that eight human 
rights activists and 39 trade unionists were killed during the 
year. However, the government also worked to protect thousands 
of union members, human rights activists, and other such 
groups.
    Authorities in Cuba interfered with privacy and engaged in 
pervasive monitoring of private communications. There was no 
ability to change the government. There were also severe 
limitations on freedom of expression and no authorized press 
apart from official media; denial of peaceful assembly and 
association; restrictions on freedom of religion; and refusal 
to recognize domestic human rights groups or independent 
journalists or to permit them to function legally. The law 
allows for punishment of any unauthorized assembly of more than 
three persons, including those for private religious services 
in private homes. The law also provides for imprisonment for 
vaguely defined crimes such as ``dangerousness'' and ``peaceful 
sedition.'' The government did not grant permission to any 
antigovernment demonstrators or approve any public meeting by a 
human rights group. Authorities held numerous opposition 
leaders pursuant to sentences ranging up to 25 years for 
peaceful political activities and detained activists for short 
periods to prevent them from attending meetings, 
demonstrations, or ceremonies. Although unauthorized, the 
organization Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) generally was 
allowed to assemble and walk to church each Sunday demanding 
freedom for their imprisoned family members. However, the 
organization reported that its activities beyond the 
traditional weekly marches to church were disrupted on several 
occasions during the year. In addition, a prominent blogger and 
her colleague were detained and beaten while en route to a 
peaceful protest. Human rights activists also reported frequent 
government monitoring and disruption of cell phone and landline 
services prior to planned events or key anniversaries related 
to human rights. Authorities have never approved the 
establishment of a human rights group; however, a number of 
professional associations operated as NGOs without legal 
recognition.
    The government's poor human rights record degenerated 
during the year, particularly after the disputed June 
presidential elections. Freedom of expression and association 
and lack of due process continued to be problems within Iran, 
and the government severely limited individuals' right to 
change their government peacefully through free and fair 
elections. Following the June 13 announcement of President 
Ahmadi-Nejad's reelection, hundreds of thousands of citizens 
took to the streets to protest. Police and the paramilitary 
Basij violently suppressed demonstrations. The official death 
count was 37, although opposition groups report the number may 
have reached 70. By August, authorities had detained at least 
4,000 individuals, and arrests continued throughout the year. A 
massive show trial involving many of the more prominent 
detainees was undertaken in September. On June 20, according to 
eyewitnesses, Basij militia killed Neda Agha-Soltan in Tehran. 
The video of her death appeared on YouTube and became a symbol 
of the opposition movement. Ahead of the June presidential 
election, on the actual day of election, and during the 
December 27 Ashura protests, when authorities detained 1,000 
individuals and at least eight persons were killed in street 
clashes, the government blocked access to Facebook, Twitter, 
and other social networking sites. After the June election, 
there was a major drop in bandwidth, which experts posited the 
government caused to prevent activists involved in the protests 
from accessing the Internet and uploading large video files. 
The government continued to restrict freedom of religion 
severely, particularly against Baha'is and, increasingly, 
Christians.
    The government of North Korea continued to subject citizens 
to rigid controls over many aspects of their lives, 
specifically denying citizens freedoms of expression, assembly, 
and association. Reports by defectors and NGOs of extrajudicial 
killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detention, including of 
political prisoners, continued to paint a grim picture of life 
there. The government sought to control virtually all 
information: there were no independent media, Internet access 
was limited to high-ranking officials and other elites, and 
academic freedom was repressed. Domestic media censorship 
continued to be strictly enforced and no deviation from the 
official government line was tolerated. Similarly, the 
government prohibited all but the political elite from 
listening to foreign media broadcasts, and violators were 
subject to severe punishment. There was no genuine freedom of 
religion. Reports continued that religious believers, their 
families, and even their descendents were imprisoned, tortured, 
or simply relegated to a lower status. Indoctrination was 
carried out systematically through the mass media, schools, and 
worker and neighborhood associations and continued to involve 
mass marches, rallies, and staged performances, sometimes 
including hundreds of thousands of persons.
    Government actions weakened freedom of expression and media 
independence within Russia by directing the editorial policies 
of government-owned media outlets, pressuring major independent 
outlets to abstain from critical coverage, and harassing and 
intimidating some journalists into practicing self-censorship. 
During the year, unknown persons killed a number of human 
rights activists and eight journalists, including prominent 
journalist and human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, who 
spent more than 10 years documenting cases of killings, 
torture, and disappearances that she linked to the Chechen 
authorities. President Medvedev stated it was ``obvious'' that 
the killings were connected to Estemirova's work and ordered an 
immediate investigation to find the perpetrators, but there 
have been no arrests or prosecutions in this case. The 
government increasingly attempted to restrict media freedom to 
cover sensitive issues such as the conduct of federal forces in 
Chechnya, human rights abuses, and criticism of some government 
leaders. Likewise, many observers noted a selective pattern of 
officials encouraging government-friendly rallies while 
attempting to prevent politically sensitive demonstrations. The 
government also attempted to restrict the activities of some 
NGOs, making it difficult for some to continue operations. Upon 
hearing criticism of the 2006 NGO law at a meeting with the 
Presidential Council on Human Rights, President Medvedev called 
existing regulations a ``burden'' and announced that some 
regulations would be eased. None of the amendments to the law 
applied to foreign NGOs.
    Government officials in Venezuela, including the president, 
used government-controlled media outlets to accuse private 
media owners and reporters of fomenting antigovernment 
destabilization campaigns and coup attempts. Senior federal and 
state government leaders also actively harassed privately owned 
and opposition-oriented television stations, media outlets, and 
journalists throughout the year, using administrative 
sanctions, fines, and threats of closure to prevent or respond 
to any perceived criticism of the government. The government's 
harassment of Globovision, the largest private television 
network, included raiding the home of the company's president 
and publicly calling for the company's closure. At year's end, 
32 radio stations and two television stations had been closed, 
and 29 other radio stations remained under threat of closure. 
One domestic media watchdog reported that 191 journalists 
either were attacked or had their individual rights violated 
during the year. NGOs expressed concern over official political 
discrimination against, and the firing of, state employees 
whose views differed from those of the government. Private 
groups also alleged that the government was pursuing 45 persons 
as ``political objectives'' using various legal and 
administrative means. The Organization of American States's 
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recently noted ``a 
troubling trend of punishments, intimidation, and attacks on 
individuals in reprisal for expressing their dissent with 
official policy.''
    The human rights record of the government of Vietnam 
remained problematic. The government increased its suppression 
of dissent, arresting and convicting several political 
activists. Several editors and reporters from prominent 
newspapers were fired for reporting on official corruption and 
outside blogging on political topics. Bloggers were detained 
and arrested under vague national security provisions for 
criticizing the government and were prohibited from posting 
material the government saw as sensitive or critical. The 
government also monitored e-mail and regulated or suppressed 
Internet content, such as Facebook and other Web sites operated 
by overseas Vietnamese political groups. The government 
utilized or tolerated the use of force to resolve disputes with 
a Buddhist order in Lam Dong and Catholic groups with 
unresolved property claims. Workers were not free to organize 
independent unions, and independent labor activists faced 
arrest and harassment.
    The government of Uzbekistan tightly controlled the media 
and did not permit the publication of views critical of the 
government. Government security officials regularly gave 
publishers articles and letters to publish under fictitious 
bylines, as well as explicit instructions about the types of 
stories permitted for publication. In July, a court convicted 
independent journalist Dilmurod Sayid to 12 and one-half years 
in prison on charges of extortion and bribery soon after he 
published articles regarding the corruption of local government 
officials. The government requires all NGOs and religious 
organizations to register in order to operate, and the 
activities of international human rights NGOs are severely 
restricted because the government suspects them of 
participating in an international ``information war'' against 
the country. Any religious service conducted by an unregistered 
religious organization is illegal, and police frequently broke 
up the meetings of unregistered groups, generally held in 
private homes. Reportedly, in some regions, universities and 
schools closed to send students to work in cotton fields; 
students who refused were expelled or threatened with 
expulsion.

           DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT OF VULNERABLE GROUPS

    Members of vulnerable groups--racial, ethnic and religious 
minorities; the disabled; women and children; migrant workers; 
and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals--often 
were marginalized and targets of societal and/or government-
sanctioned abuse.
    China continued to exert tight control over activities and 
peoples that the government perceived as a threat to the 
Chinese Communist Party. For example, public interest lawyers 
who took on cases deemed sensitive by the government 
increasingly were harassed or disbarred, and their law firms 
often were closed. The government also increased repression of 
Tibetans and Uighurs. The government tightened controls on 
Uighurs expressing peaceful dissent and on independent Muslim 
religious leaders, often citing counterterrorism as the reason 
for taking action. Following the July riots that broke out in 
Urumqi, the provincial capital of XUAR, officials cracked down 
on religious extremism, ``splittism,'' and terrorism in an 
attempt to maintain public order. In the aftermath of the 
violence, Uighurs were sentenced to long prison terms and in 
some cases were executed, without due process, on charges of 
separatism. At year's end, Urumqi remained under a heavy police 
presence and most Internet and international phone 
communication remained cut off. In the Tibetan areas of China, 
the government's human rights record remained poor as 
authorities committed extrajudicial killings, torture, 
arbitrary arrests, and extrajudicial detentions. Authorities 
sentenced Tibetans for alleged support of Tibetan independence, 
regardless of whether their activities involved violence. The 
preservation and development of Tibet's unique religious, 
cultural, and linguistic heritage also remained a concern.
    The government of Egypt failed to respect the freedom of 
association and restricted freedom of expression, and its 
respect for freedom of religion remained very poor. Sectarian 
attacks on Coptic Christians mounted during the year. The 
government failed to redress laws and government practices that 
discriminate against Christians. The government sponsored 
``reconciliation sessions'' following sectarian attacks, which 
generally prevented the prosecution of perpetrators of crimes 
against Copts and precluded their recourse to the judicial 
system for restitution. This practice contributed to a climate 
of impunity and may have encouraged further assaults. Members 
of non-Muslim religious minorities that the government 
officially recognized generally worshipped without harassment; 
however, Christians and members of the Baha'i faith, which the 
government does not recognize, faced personal and collective 
discrimination in many areas. In a step forward, the government 
promulgated procedures for members of unrecognized religions, 
including the Baha'i faith, to obtain national identification 
documents and reportedly issued 17 such documents and 70 birth 
certificates to Baha'i during the year.
    As a growing number of people cross borders to find work, 
migrant workers have become particularly vulnerable to 
exploitation and discrimination. In Malaysia, foreign workers 
were subject to exploitative conditions and 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. The law did not effectively prevent employers from 
holding employees' passports, and it was common practice for 
employers to do so. Some domestic workers alleged that their 
employers subjected them to inhuman living conditions, withheld 
their salaries, confiscated their travel documents, and 
physically assaulted them.
    Violence against women, violations of the rights of 
children, and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, 
sect, and ethnicity were common in many countries in the Middle 
East region. In Saudi Arabia, for example, Muslim religious 
practices that conflict with the government's interpretation of 
Sunni Islam are discriminated against and public religious 
expression by non-Muslims is prohibited. Human rights activists 
reported more progress in women's rights than in other areas, 
and the government made efforts to integrate women into 
mainstream society, for example, through the founding of the 
Kingdom's first coeducational university in September. However, 
discrimination against women was a significant problem, 
demonstrated by the lack of women's autonomy, freedom of 
movement, and economic independence; discriminatory practices 
surrounding divorce and child custody; the absence of a law 
criminalizing violence against women; and difficulties 
preventing women from escaping abusive environments. There are 
no laws specifically prohibiting domestic violence. Under the 
country's interpretation of Shari'a (Islamic law), rape is a 
punishable criminal offense with a wide range of penalties from 
flogging to execution. Statistics on incidents of rape were not 
available, but press reports and observers indicated rape 
against women and boys was a serious problem.
    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in 
Uganda faced arbitrary 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 have been charged under the law. The September 
introduction in parliament of a bill providing the death 
penalty for ``aggravated homosexuality'' and for homosexual 
``serial offenders'' resulted in increased harassment and 
intimidation of LGBT persons during the year; the proposed 
legislation also provides for a fine and three years' 
imprisonment for persons who fail to report acts of homosexual 
conduct to authorities within 24 hours. Public resentment of 
homosexual conduct sparked significant public debate during the 
year, and the government took a strong position against such 
conduct despite a December 2008 ruling by the High Court that 
constitutional rights apply to all persons, regardless of 
sexual orientation. The local NGO Sexual Minorities Uganda 
protested alleged police harassment of several members for 
their vocal stand against sexual discrimination.
    Traditional and new forms of anti-Semitism continued to 
arise, and a spike in such activity followed the Gaza conflict 
in the winter of 2008-2009. Often despite official efforts to 
combat the problem, societal anti-Semitism persisted across 
Europe, South America, and beyond and manifested itself in 
classic forms (including physical attacks on Jewish 
individuals, synagogue bombings, cemetery desecrations; the 
theft of the ``Arbeit Macht Frei'' sign from the Auschwitz 
Death Camp; and accusations of blood libel, dual loyalty, and 
undue influence of Jews on government policy and media.) New 
forms of anti-Semitism took the form of criticism of Zionism or 
Israeli policy that crossed the line into demonizing all Jews, 
and, in some cases, translated into violence against Jewish 
individuals in general. Instead of combating anti-Semitism, 
some governments fueled it, most notably Iran's President 
Ahmadi-Nejad. Anti-Semitic propaganda, including Holocaust 
denial, was circulated widely by satellite television, radio, 
and the Internet. A television show in Egypt that was widely 
aired throughout the region did not deny the Holocaust, but 
instead glorified it, praising the slaughter and humiliation of 
Jews and calling for future Holocausts.
    In several countries with generally strong records of 
respecting human rights, there were nevertheless some notable 
examples of members of vulnerable groups facing discrimination 
and harassment. Discrimination against Muslims in Europe has 
been an increasing concern. A recent case that received 
international attention was the passage on November 29 in 
Switzerland of a constitutional amendment banning the 
construction of minarets. A provision in the Swiss constitution 
enables direct citizen involvement. The amendment passed with 
57.5 percent of the vote despite opposition from both 
parliament and the Federal Council and public statements by 
many of the country's leaders describing such a ban as 
contradicting basic values in the country's constitution and 
violating its international obligations. Proponents of the 
initiative to ban minarets contended the construction of 
minarets symbolized a religious and political claim to power.
    In the wake of the economic downturn, there have been a 
number of killings and incidents of violence against Roma, 
including in Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech 
Republic. Roma are the largest and most vulnerable minority in 
Europe; they suffer racial profiling, violence, and 
discrimination. There were also reports of mistreatment of 
Romani suspects by police officers during arrest and while in 
custody. Roma faced high levels of poverty, unemployment, and 
illiteracy, as well as widespread discrimination in education, 
employment, and housing.


                                 AFRICA

                              ----------                              


                                 ANGOLA

    Angola is a constitutional republic with an estimated population of 
16 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, policy making, and media outlets. In 
September 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. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    The government's human rights record remained poor, and there were 
numerous, serious problems. Human rights abuses included the 
abridgement of citizens' right to elect officials at all levels; 
unlawful killings by police, military, and private security forces; 
torture, beatings, and rape by security forces; harsh prison 
conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; official corruption and 
impunity; judicial inefficiency and lack of independence; lengthy 
pretrial detention; lack of due process; restrictions on freedom of 
speech, press, assembly, and association; forced evictions without 
compensation; and discrimination, violence, and abuse perpetrated 
against women and 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 politically 
motivated killings; however, human rights activists and domestic media 
sources reported that security forces arbitrarily killed two persons 
during the year. In 2008 security forces arbitrarily killed 23 persons.
    Impunity remained a problem, although the government prosecuted 
some human rights violators. 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.
    On September 12, police in Luanda tortured a male citizen charged 
with selling drugs. While he was under arrest, police denied him 
medical assistance. He later died in prison due to serious contusions 
and abuse. The provincial commander of police requested an 
investigation; however, there were no updates by year's end.
    On September 22, police arrested a male citizen in Porto Amboim for 
a public argument and tortured him. He later died due to serious 
contusions and cuts. There was no investigation by year's end.
    In 2008 there were multiple media reports in Luanda that police 
deliberately targeted and killed persons suspected of gang and other 
criminal activity.
    In July 2008 five police officers shot and killed eight teenagers. 
While the officers claimed to be part of a special gang task force 
tasked with ridding neighborhoods of gang members, the national police 
denied the existence of the task force and relieved the police officers 
of duty. Prosecutors charged seven officers with murder, and they were 
undergoing trial at year's end.
    Police continued to decline to prosecute several officers in 
connection with a 2007 police killing of two actors during filming of a 
movie in a high-crime area of Luanda. The national police stated they 
were unable to positively identify the officers allegedly involved in 
the killings.
    In 2007 police shot and killed two vendors in an open-air market 
during a raid on vendors of pirated DVDs. The minister of interior and 
national police commander immediately suspended the officers in 
question and promised a swift investigation. The government was still 
considering criminal charges against the accused police officers at 
year's end.
    The Memorandum of Understanding for Peace and Reconciliation for 
Cabinda Province, signed in 2006, largely brought an end to the 
insurgency in the province, although sporadic attacks by dissident 
factions of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda 
(FLEC) and counterinsurgency operations by the Armed Forces of Angola 
(FAA) continued during the year.
    On March 31, FLEC claimed responsibility for an attack on three 
foreign-operated trucks in Cabinda, resulting in the death of a foreign 
national.
    On April 20, FLEC claimed responsibility for an attack in Cabinda 
that killed five soldiers.
    On April 28, FLEC claimed responsibility for an attack in Cabinda 
that killed eight soldiers.
    On December 22, FLEC claimed responsibility for the killing of 15 
soldiers during an attack in Miconje.
    In 2007 there was one report of an unlawful killing in Cabinda that 
could be linked to FAA soldiers. The incident remained under 
investigation.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of killings by 
private security companies in diamond concession areas.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of vigilante 
violence.
    Landmines placed during the long civil war continued to be a 
threat. According to the National Commission for Demining and 
Humanitarian Assistance, landmine and other explosive remnants of war 
(ERW) accidents killed eight and injured four during the year. The 
government continued to strengthen and expand national demining 
capacity during the year, and it partnered extensively with 
international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on demining 
operations and mine-risk education.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances. However, there were media reports that persons taken 
into police or military custody disappeared. On May 15, the president 
of a local movement in Lunda-Norte, Jota Malakito, was taken into 
police custody and held incommunicado for six months. He was awaiting 
trial at year's end.

    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. The media reported that on October 9, seven 
former police agents from the National Police force claimed that they 
were tortured while undergoing interrogation in prison.
    In 2007 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions (UNWGAD) 
reported a number of detainees with visible signs of torture. Police 
and other security forces rarely were held accountable. Although the 
government punished some violators administratively, no prosecutions 
occurred during the year.
    Abuses by the army continued. There were NGO and media reports of 
violence by security forces in Cabinda and Lunda Norte. In Cabinda, FAA 
troops illegally detained, beat, or threatened citizens suspected of 
FLEC collaboration during anti-insurgency operations, according to 
human rights NGOs.
    On January 7, 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.
    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.
    On November 10, 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.
    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 May and August police expelled approximately 30,000 illegal 
immigrants, most of them diamond workers in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. 
NGOs and the media reported acts of violence and degrading treatment 
associated with these operations. Military and national police forces, 
collaborating to deport illegal Congolese diamond miners, arbitrarily 
beat and raped deportees. Deportees were forced to march to the 
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border without food or water. 
Government security forces conducted immigration raids on settlements 
of illegal miners by employing harsh and intimidating tactics, such as 
firing weapons in the air, beating or raping resisters, and stealing 
their personal effects. During the expulsions in Lunda Norte, 
immigration officials detained suspected illegal Congolese in makeshift 
camps with poor living conditions for weeks and, in some cases, months 
at a time before deporting them.
    The Ministry of Interior reported that 33,567 illegal immigrants 
were expelled during the year, compared with 69,183 in 2008. There were 
reports of violence and degrading treatment associated with these 
operations. In October local NGOs reported cases of extortion, theft, 
and physical violence against Congolese during mass expulsions of 
Angolans and Congolese from the DRC and Angola, respectively.
    In 2007 the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that illegal 
Congolese immigrants detained in Lunda Norte were systematically raped. 
MSF also reported beatings, forced labor, withholding of food and 
water, and repeated body cavity searches without the use of gloves as 
the authorities moved immigrants to the DRC border for expulsion. 
Several children died from malnourishment and dehydration. Although the 
women said ``soldiers'' abused them, it remained unclear whether the 
abusers were FAA, national or border police, or armed and uniformed 
private security forces. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) also reported 
allegations of excessive use of force by government security forces 
during expulsions, including the burning of houses, arbitrary arrests, 
sexual violence, extortion, and forced labor. Three Congolese workers 
reportedly died while in custody. The FAA had not commented publicly on 
the findings of its investigation by year's end.
    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.
    Police and immigration officials at border checkpoints and 
provincial airports extorted money from travelers and harassed 
returnees and refugees.
    Reports of rape and sexual abuse during arrest or detention 
occurred during the year. On May 29, a 15-year-old girl in Samba was 
sexually abused while detained at a municipal prison.
    Landmine and other ERW-related deaths continued during the year, as 
infrastructure improvements made possible increased movement of persons 
and goods in rural, war-affected areas. In February, March, and May, a 
total of three persons were killed by landmines.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and life threatening. NGOs reported that prison officials 
routinely beat and tortured detainees. In 2007 the UNWGAD interviewed 
prisoners who showed visible signs of torture, starvation, and abuse. A 
local human rights NGO reported similar conditions while visiting 
prisons during the year.
    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.
    In March 2008 the National Criminal Investigation Department (DNIC) 
building collapsed, killing 31 inmates. All police escaped from the 
building prior to its collapse; however, prisoners were not freed from 
their holding cells.
    Due to violent prison riots in 2007 that resulted in at least two 
prisoner deaths, the government worked to reduce overcrowding. However, 
the national prison system continued to hold more than five times the 
number of prisoners for which it was designed. Luanda's Central Prison, 
built to house 600 prisoners, held 3,300 before the riots. By the end 
of 2007, the prison population there was reduced to approximately 1,000 
prisoners. However, during a prison visit, a local human rights NGO 
noted the transfer of prisoners from Luanda to the provinces worsened 
overcrowding in the provincial prisons. A local human rights NGO 
reported an overcrowded prison in Lubango that held 690 prisoners in a 
facility built for 150. In addition, prisons in both Huambo and Viana 
were grossly overcrowded.
    Chronically underpaid prison officials supported themselves by 
stealing from prisoners and extorting money from their 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 UNWGAD that prison guards regularly 
raped them.
    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.
    The government permitted foreign diplomatic personnel and local and 
international human rights observers to visit prisons during the year. 
However, the government limited access to politically sensitive 
inmates. For example, during the year and in 2008, the government did 
not permit NGOs to visit the former secret service chief, Fernando 
Garcia Miala, who was serving a four-year sentence in a civilian 
penitentiary for a military charge of insubordination. Miala was 
released during the year.
    In 2008 the government opened new or rehabilitated prisons in eight 
provinces.

    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.
    On February 7, police arbitrarily detained two youths at police 
headquarters when they delivered an obituary notice about their cousin, 
a victim of a gang killing in Luanda. Police stated they detained the 
youths because of their potential participation in a rumored plan to 
break into gang members' houses. An investigation continued at year's 
end.
    Local human rights NGOs reported that authorities detained family 
members of individuals wanted by the police.
    During the year a local NGO reported that a total of 30 Cabindans 
were detained in eight separate instances for supposed crimes against 
the state.

    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 Office of 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 
dissident FLEC factions 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 
May 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. In October police forces participated in training to 
prevent trafficking in persons and to provide security for the upcoming 
African Cup of Nations.

    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. 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. In practice authorities regularly 
exceeded these 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.
    Police often extorted bribes. Police did not obtain warrants before 
conducting searches for illegal vendors and making sweeps of public 
markets.
    Unlawful arrest and detention continued to be serious problems. 
NGOs continued efforts to secure the release of illegally detained 
persons. During the year NGOs reported more than 500 cases of illegal 
detentions. In 2008 citizens reported to NGOs 700 cases of illegal 
detention; NGOs reported receiving petitions daily from relatives of 
illegally detained persons seeking pro bono legal assistance. NGOs also 
reported that police often detained citizens without charge or denied 
them access to a judge for extended periods and then released them.
    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, body 
cavity searches, and deprivation of food and water.
    Security officials arbitrarily arrested members of the opposition. 
For example, in August 2008 security forces arrested 13 members of the 
Party for Democratic Support and Progress of Angola opposition party 
for distributing pamphlets on behalf of another opposition party. The 
Luanda Provincial Court dismissed the case as the prosecutor found the 
charges erroneous.
    Cabinda residents continued to report that security forces detained 
persons suspected of FLEC activity or collaboration. In 2008 NGOs 
reported that security forces held civilians incommunicado and denied 
the UNWGAD and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
permission to visit them.
    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 often 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. In 2008 an NGO estimated 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 previous releases of 
pretrial detainees 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 Supreme Court heads the formal justice system and administers 
the 18 provincial courts as well as a limited number of municipal 
courts. The president appoints Supreme Court justices for life terms 
without confirmation by the parliament. The Supreme Court generally 
heard cases concerning alleged political and security crimes. The 
Ministry of Defense also tried civilians in military courts.
    On August 20, the Supreme Court rescinded the 12-year sentence of 
former Voice of America (VOA) correspondent Fernando Lelo. The tribunal 
released him from prison after his conviction by a closed military 
tribunal in September 2008 for crimes against state security and 
instigating a rebellion.
    In June 2008 the government created a seven-member constitutional 
court to provide judicial review of constitutional issues and supervise 
the electoral process. The president nominated three judges, parliament 
nominated three, and the Supreme Court nominated one, all to serve 
seven-year terms.
    There were long trial delays at the Supreme Court level. Criminal 
courts also had a large backlog of cases that resulted in major delays 
in hearings.
    Informal courts remained the principal institutions through which 
citizens resolved conflicts in rural areas. Traditional leaders (sobas) 
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.
    As 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 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, and a separate court, under the 
Ministry of Justice, is designated for children's affairs. It functions 
as part of Luanda's provincial court system. Minors are considered 
adults at 18 but leave the juvenile court system at 16; between 16 and 
18, they are tried and imprisoned with adults but are subject to 
lighter sentencing. Minors bear the responsibility of proving their 
age; however, in many rural provinces, courts tried as adults those 
minors without identification papers.

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

    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. During the year 
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.
    Citizens widely believed that the government maintained 
surveillance of certain groups, including government critics, 
opposition parties, and journalists.
    The government continued to demolish informal squatter housing in 
Luanda and to forcibly relocate residents in large provincial cities 
such as Lobito.
    In February Lobito and Benguela local administrations demolished 
six slums, housing 1,000 to 3,500 persons. Local NGOs reported a lack 
of legal due process and no compensation.
    In March the government evicted and forcibly relocated 
approximately 400 residents in the neighborhood of Coreia in Luanda. 
Their houses were demolished.
    In April the government evicted and forcibly relocated 
approximately 700 families from the Ilha neighborhood of Luanda without 
compensation, allegedly because their residences were at risk of damage 
by high seas. Residents protested with burnt tires and roadblocks, but 
police quickly quelled the protest.
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. For example, authorities cancelled live radio call-in shows 
in the weeks leading up to the September 2008 legislative elections. 
Human rights activists and journalists practiced self-censorship.
    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.
    There were 12 privately owned weekly newspapers and four Luanda-
based commercial radio stations. The government permits state-owned 
Radio Nacional to broadcast nationally, but all other radio stations 
can only broadcast within the province where they are located. Radio 
Mais, whose ownership includes individuals associated with the ruling 
party, also broadcasts in Luanda, Huambo, and Benguela. Authorities did 
not allow independent stations to use repeaters to expand their signal 
reach; they were required by law to open radio stations in every 
province they wished to reach.
    Independent radio and print media criticized the government openly 
and at times harshly. Unlike in previous years, local journalists were 
able to criticize government officials, particularly the president, 
without fear of arrest or harassment. However, the government 
restricted nationwide independent broadcasting through licensing laws.
    In 2008 the state-run National Television of Angola (TPA) suspended 
a leading anchor of a prime-time news program without pay for four 
months for publicly declaring that censorship occurred at the TPA. The 
journalist was later reinstated.
    In October 2008 three journalists from national state broadcaster 
Radio Nacional de Angola were suspended after they questioned President 
Jose dos Santos's choices for ministry leadership.
    The government continued to give preferential treatment and access 
to state media organizations, including Angola Public Television, Radio 
Nacional, and the only national daily newspaper, Jornal de Angola. 
Government-owned press minimally covered the statements, issues, or 
activities of independent journalists, opposition leaders, and civil 
society organizations.
    The 2006 press law ended the state monopoly on television, 
partially opened the FM bandwidth to independent broadcasters, and 
rescinded travel restrictions on journalists. Nonetheless, on March 26, 
a privately owned radio station began broadcasting in Huambo Province. 
A private television station, TV Zimbo, also began operating in 2008.
    During the year authorities arrested, harassed, and intimidated 
journalists.
    In May the DNIC investigated the publisher of the weekly newspaper 
Folha 8, William Tonet, for supposed crimes against the state; no trial 
was held by year's end. On May 9, authorities seized his passport when 
he attempted to visit Namibia. Police notified Tonet that he was on a 
list of persons forbidden to leave the country.
    On December 13, FAA soldiers detained a local correspondent of VOA 
in Cabinda, Jose Manuel Gimbi, and an international Dow Jones Newswires 
reporter, Benoit Faucon, for taking photographs of the new stadium 
built in Cabinda for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. Both were 
questioned but released after several hours. Gimbi claimed to have 
received several domestic intelligence calls following his arrest.
    In September 2008 the government accused former reporter Fernando 
Lelo of inciting treason and sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment 
for encouraging five soldiers to desert the FAA and join the FLEC 
guerrilla movement. On August 20, the Supreme Court rescinded his 
sentence and released him from prison.
    In 2007 security forces imprisoned Graca Campos, director of a 
private weekly newspaper that frequently criticized the government. 
Campos, who was charged with defamation, was sentenced to eight months 
in prison--two months more than the maximum legal sentence--and fined 
an unprecedented 18.75 million kwanzas ($208,000). Campos was tried in 
absentia, after he repeatedly did not heed summaries to appear in 
court, which he stated he never received. He was released and awaiting 
trial at year's end. He was also convicted in another case, dating back 
to 2001. Media and civil society groups strongly criticized the 
government's legal irregularities in the case; Campos appealed and the 
court declared a mistrial in 2007, granting him early release.
    There were reports that security forces interfered with 
journalists' attempts to take pictures or video during the year. On May 
10, a photographer in Cabinda was detained for taking pictures of the 
president without previous authorization. In 2008 the government 
refused to issue visas to a number of Portuguese journalists seeking to 
cover the electoral process. In addition, authorities prevented a 
foreign news crew from filming railroad construction in 2008.
    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.
    Depending on the issue, the minister of social communication, the 
spokesperson of the presidency, the national director of information, 
and the directors of state-run media organizations had policy and 
censorship authority.

    Internet Freedom.--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 Internet chat 
rooms and Web sites and at times pressed for the removal of defamatory 
material from Web sites. 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 law requires written notification to the local administrator 
three days before public or private assemblies are to be held; 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.'' Applications for progovernment gatherings 
routinely were granted without delay; however, applications for 
demonstrations, protests, or opposition party assemblies frequently 
were denied, usually based on government claims that the timing or 
venue requested was problematic. At other times the government did not 
respond to the applicants, which then enabled local authorities to 
threaten demonstrators with arrest for holding an event without 
authorization.
    In July police dispersed a crowd of protestors marching to protest 
the recent demolition of houses in the Luanda neighborhoods of Iraq and 
Baghdad.
    On September 25, the government cancelled the celebration of Eid al 
Fitr organized by the Islamic Community of Angola, the only Muslim 
organization in Luanda, by flanking the entrance of the rented local 
stadium with soldiers.
    During the 2008 electoral period, numerous opposition parties 
reported that local authorities denied requests to use buildings and 
public spaces for political party rallies. They also reported that the 
ruling MPLA reserved public spaces for the entire campaign period, 
which permitted party supporters to interrupt and disperse opposition 
party rallies in the space they had reserved. In August 2008 
authorities in Namibe denied the opposition party National Union for 
the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) access to space it had 
reserved and paid for, telling members that the MPLA had reserved the 
same space months prior. However, the ledger indicated that the space 
was available when UNITA reserved it.
    In 2007 the municipal administrator denied the Forum of Political 
Women, a nonpartisan group with membership from 13 political parties, 
permission to distribute literature on women's political rights in a 
Luanda market. Following media pressure, the local government granted 
permission to use another market, and the group rescheduled the event. 
However, on the rescheduled date, the market administrator denied 
permission, stating municipal authorities had not notified him. While 
municipal authorities apologized for what they called a bureaucratic 
delay, the group decided not to reschedule again.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for the 
right of association, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice. The government legally may deny registration to private 
associations on security grounds. Extensive and unexplained delays in 
the NGO registration process continued to be a problem. For example, 
five civil society associations (the Association for Justice, Peace, 
and Democracy (AJPD); Human Rights Coordination Council; SOS-Habitat; 
Maos Livres; and Omunga) constituted between 2000 and 2006 remained 
without certificates to operate from the Ministry of Justice at year's 
end.
    The government sometimes arbitrarily restricted 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 their free exercise of their parties' 
right to meet.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    Religious groups must register with the ministries of justice and 
culture and they must have at least 100,000 adherents to qualify for 
registration. During a visit in 2007, the UN special rapporteur on 
freedom of religion and belief noted that this provision discriminated 
against religious minorities. The Muslim community and many Christian 
groups were not recognized due to this provision and were therefore 
limited in their rights and activities. The government legally 
recognized 85 denominations; 800 other religious denominations had 
pending registration applications; the latter did not meet the 
membership requirement to receive legal status, but the government did 
not bar their activities.
    Government officials issued statements opposing Muslim 
proselytizing and linking Muslims to sensitive national issues of 
illegal immigration, rising crime, and international terrorism. In 
March the head of the National Religious Affairs Institute, Maria de 
Fatima Republicano Viegas, said the government was concerned about 
Islam in the country and would investigate the activities of all 
mosques over concerns that Islamic practices go against cultural norms. 
The domestic intelligence service, charged with compiling a report on 
mosque activities, had begun conducting these investigations. 
Republicano described Islam as alien to the culture and traditions of 
the country and claimed it victimized women who married Muslim men.
    The government continued its ban on 17 religious groups in Cabinda 
on charges of practicing harmful exorcism rituals on adults and 
children accused of witchcraft, illegally holding religious services in 
residences, and lack of official registration.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Muslim community suffered 
negative public attitudes throughout the country.
    There is a Jewish community of approximately 350 persons, primarily 
Israelis. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 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. 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 were regularly denied access for any purpose, 
including obtaining water.
    NGOs reported that security forces often used excessive force in 
expelling illegal artisanal miners and their families. Landmines 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.--A 2006 joint assessment by the 
government, the UN, and foreign governments estimated that 100,000 IDPs 
remained unsettled from the civil war. The majority 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 landmines, were major deterrents to their return.
    The Ministry of Assistance and Social Reinsertion (MINARS) has 
primary responsibility for returnees and 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.
    In October the DRC forcibly repatriated approximately 52,000 
Angolans, mostly documented refugees, to the border provinces of Uige 
and Zaire. Throughout October the government struggled to provide 
supplies, water, and bathroom facilities for those housed in temporary 
camps. By the end of November, MINARS had resettled approximately 75 
percent of the refugees; however, logistical problems for those who 
remained in the camps persisted. Local NGOs reported that some MINARS 
state security officials charged 6,000 kwanzas ($67) for 
transportation.
    The government did not usually restrict aid efforts by 
international humanitarian groups. However, the IOM and other 
international organizations reported that the government sometimes 
denied their access to camps for returnees in Zaire and Uije provinces.

    Protection of Refugees.--The government is a party to the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 protocol, and 
the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the 
Refugee Problem in Africa. 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 some protection against the expulsion or 
return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened. In October the government and the UNHCR resumed joint 
efforts to repatriate more than 200,000 refugees remaining outside the 
country since the civil war.

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. Citizens were able to exercise the right to elect 
parliamentary representatives in 2008; however, the right to elect a 
head of state and local leaders remained restricted.

    Elections and Political Participation.--After having postponed 
parliamentary elections for two years, the government held the first 
postwar elections in September 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 
voters' 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.
    On January 15, the constitutional commission of parliament resumed 
work on a new constitution, which will determine the nature and timing 
of presidential elections. Although a presidential election was 
expected during the year, the deadline was extended to accommodate 
constitutional reforms.
    The ruling MPLA dominated all political institutions. Political 
power was concentrated in the president 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 comprises 
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 
September 2008 legislative elections, opposition deputies held fewer 
than 20 percent of the parliamentary seats. Nonetheless, parliamentary 
committees frequently held hearings in which senior government 
officials were required to explain and defend government policy.
    There were 96 registered opposition parties, 11 of which received 
government subsidies based on their representation in parliament. Of 
the 96, only 10 parties and four coalitions fulfilled the legal 
requirements to participate in legislative elections. The DNIC informed 
all parties that it would investigate and prosecute political parties 
that used forged documents for its members during the electoral period.
    Opposition parties stated that their members were subject to 
harassment, intimidation, and assault by supporters of the ruling 
party. In May the FAA and National Police targeted UNITA party members 
during operations to deport foreign citizens from Lunda Norte province. 
On February 23, in Huambo, police detained two secretaries of the UNITA 
party youth wing, apparently based on MPLA accusations that they caused 
a public disturbance. UNITA officials claimed that police beat the two 
secretaries. One suffered a broken arm and both were jailed for more 
than 24 hours. UNITA officials secured their release and received 
assurances from the police commandant that the two officers would be 
disciplined. However, no investigation had taken place by year's end.
    Also in February, police destroyed UNITA posters in Bie Province. 
Prior to the September 2008 elections, the UNITA municipal secretary in 
Benguela Province reported that a member of his party was beaten for 
wearing a UNITA T-shirt in the town of Ganda during the election 
campaign period. In August 2008 MPLA members harassed UNITA members in 
Namibe's town center when they tried to hang UNITA party flags on 
lampposts. UNITA campaign materials also regularly were torn down in 
Huambo Province.
    Opposition party members and civil society leaders cited examples 
of political intolerance during the election process.
    There were 62 women in the 220-seat parliament and 19 women in the 
91-member cabinet, including nine ministers and eight vice-ministers. 
There were three female governors, including the governor of Luanda 
Province.
    The country has three dominant ethnolinguistic groups: the 
Ovimbundu, Mbundu, and the Bakongo, which together constitute 
approximately 77 percent of the population. Other groups also were 
represented in government. There were six members of smaller ethnic 
groups in the parliament and one minority member in the cabinet who is 
Chokwe. The majority of political parties had limited national 
constituencies, but all parties were prohibited by law from limiting 
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 Tribunal de Contas 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. However, at year's end, the former director of 
immigration and foreigners, along with six other senior Ministry of 
Interior officials, were on trial for corruption.
    In February a high school principal was dismissed for selling 
matriculation to the school for approximately 11,000 to 13,000 kwanzas 
($120 to 140) per student.
    There continued to be a lack of transparency in the government's 
procurement and use of oil-backed loans from the international 
community.
    In April media sources investigated housing project contracts to 
build one million homes and wrote about unconfirmed reports that 
government officials received bribes in exchange for accepting 
contracts.
    In September a foreign bridge-building company was convicted of 
foreign bribery with undisclosed Angolan ministers and officials dating 
back to 1990.
    In October the DNIC held the finance division leader of Kwanza Sul 
provincial police force on charges of corruption, citing extraordinary 
charges and salary payments to deceased and retired police agents.
    In October the government also charged five high-level immigration 
officials with fraud and corruption on embezzlement of funds and 
acceptance of bribes in immigration services in exchange for 27,000 to 
90,000 kwanzas ($300 to 1,000). The trial was ongoing at year's end.
    On October 15, former governor of Bengo, Isalino Mendes, was found 
guilty of embezzling public funds.
    In 2007 the government charged the former director general of 
immigration with extortion; the charges stemmed from a 2006 
investigation that resulted in the conviction of other immigration 
officials.
    The government continued its efforts to reduce discrepancies 
between reported and actual oil revenues by making data available 
online. 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. State-owned oil and mining companies were required to 
conduct internal audits and submit the results to the government for 
review.
    Parastatals, most notably the oil entity SONANGOL, were required to 
report revenues to the central bank and the Ministry of Finance, but 
inconsistent accounting practices hampered transparency. SONANGOL's 
dual role as governmental regulator and national oil company hindered 
transparency in the petroleum sector.
    Audits of ENDIAMA, the state diamond parastatal, likewise 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 were no laws or 
regulations regarding conflict of interest. Petty corruption among 
police, teachers, and other government employees was widespread. There 
were credible reports of high-level officials receiving substantial 
kickbacks from private companies awarded government contracts.
    The law provides for public access to government information; 
however, the government was slow in providing it to the public. 
Information posted on most government Web sites remained limited. The 
government's limited technical capabilities also restricted its ability 
to provide 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 throughout the country. Some of those investigating government 
corruption and human rights abuses alleged government interference in 
their activities throughout the year.
    More than 350 domestic 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; no NGOs were banned during the year.
    The government arrested and harassed NGO workers. In September the 
director of SOS Habitat reported continued harassment and intimidation 
by security forces in Luanda, allegedly over his vocal opposition to 
housing demolitions.
    The government also criticized domestic and international NGOs. In 
2007 the director of the Humanitarian Assistance Technical Coordination 
Unit, the government agency that oversees NGOs, alleged that certain 
local NGOs and international NGOs such as Search for Common Ground, the 
National Democratic Institute, and the International Republican 
Institute had instigated public discontent and disobedience, operated 
outside of legal parameters, and illegally involved themselves in 
political activities. The director also accused the organizations of 
not being legally registered. However, the government took no action 
against these NGOs.
    There were reports of police or military presence at community 
meetings with international NGOs, especially in Cabinda.
    In 2007 security forces arrested Sarah Wykes, a well-known 
anticorruption researcher and specialist on extractive industry 
transparency. Authorities charged Wykes with unspecified crimes against 
state security during her visit to Cabinda to research transparency in 
the oil sector for Global Witness. Authorities released Wykes on bail 
three days later and allowed her to travel to Britain. She agreed to 
return for any future trial.
    Problems with governmental delays in processing registration 
applications for NGOs continued. The AJPD, which continued to operate 
under a clause in the registration law that automatically grants legal 
operating status if authorities do not reject a group's application 
within 80 days, remained unregistered, and its request to register 
remained with the Supreme Court at year's end. Despite the lack of 
certification, the AJPD continued to work closely with some ministries, 
including in the expansion of its human rights training program with 
the National Police.
    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, a mechanism 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 reported low-level harassment and intimidation 
throughout the reporting period.
    More than 100 international NGOs operated in the country. The 
government did not refuse visas to international NGO observers or 
otherwise restrict their access to the country.
    Several international human rights organizations maintained a 
permanent presence in the country, including the ICRC. The government 
cooperated with international governmental organizations and permitted 
visits by UN representatives; however, in May 2008 the UNHRO closed its 
office following a government decision not to grant a full mandate to 
the office. The government had earlier requested a UNHRO presence in 
Luanda to contend with war-related human rights abuses, but the 
government claimed after six years of peace it had sufficient 
institutional capacity to address the issues independently. The 
decision to close the office directly contradicted government 
commitments to work more closely with the UNHRO, made when Angola won a 
three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council in 2007.
    The ombudsman's office conducted prison visits during the year but 
issued no reports. In 2007 the ombudsman discounted reports of human 
rights abuses from SOS Habitat, Amnesty International, and HRW, stating 
they contained generic and unwarranted criticisms. He admitted the 
reports had ``indicative value'' but said his office did not have the 
staff necessary to follow up or issue reports.
    The parliamentary committee on human rights visited prisons and 
held hearings on human rights issues during the year but did not issue 
any reports.

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. From January to June, the police commissioner in Luanda 
estimated that 10 cases of rape occurred daily nationwide, 40 percent 
in Luanda. In 2007 reports indicated that 350 rapes occurred in the 
capital. 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. The government also instituted mass 
public campaigns against gender violence.
    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 
rape, assault, and battery laws. 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. Women sometimes were killed, beaten, or 
expelled from their families or died from mistreatment and 
malnourishment. The religious leaders, who offered church-run shelter 
to the victims, reported that police did not take action due to fears 
that the women might practice witchcraft on them.
    Prostitution is illegal, but the prohibition was not consistently 
enforced. Many women engaged in prostitution due to poverty, but there 
were no estimates of its prevalence. The MINFAMU operated a women's 
shelter in Luanda that was open to former prostitutes.
    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.
    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. The government, in an 
interministerial effort spearheaded by the MINFAMU, 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 the protection of 
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. 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 UNICEF 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. The Ministry of 
Education estimated an 85-90 percent primary enrollment rate during the 
year. An estimated 30 percent of eligible children were enrolled at the 
secondary level.
    Children in rural areas generally lacked access to secondary 
education, and seats were often insufficient even in provincial 
capitals. There were also reports of families paying bribes to 
education officials to ensure their child had a seat. 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. 
In November 2008, 40 children were rescued from religious rituals of 
torture. 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. In 2007 INAC inaugurated a child protection 
network for Luanda Province.
    During the year abuse of children accused of witchcraft continued 
to be a problem. In October 2008 the government closed three Luanda 
churches when neighbors reported abuse of children accused of 
witchcraft. Children accused of witchcraft were subject to abuses such 
as isolation from their families, denial of food and water, or 
ritualistic cuttings and the placing of various caustic oils or peppers 
on their eyes or ears. Persons sometimes killed children 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 2007 a teacher in Uige Province kidnapped and beat two children 
he suspected of witchcraft; one died from his injuries while the other 
one recovered. Authorities imprisoned and sentenced the teacher to 
eight years' hard labor.
    The legal age for marriage, with parental consent, is 15. The 
government did not enforce this 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 media sources reported on child prostitution 
cases in Luanda. In March NGO leaders appealed to the government for a 
collective response; however, they did not receive it by year's end.
    Sexual relations with a child under 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The constitution and law prohibit slavery; 
however, there are no specific laws against trafficking in persons. 
Persons were trafficked from and within the country.
    The country is a source for a small but significant number of women 
and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual 
exploitation. Women and children were primarily trafficked to South 
Africa, the DRC, Namibia, and Portugal. Officials reported an increase 
in trafficking due to more open border posts. Young boys were 
reportedly trafficked to Namibia for bonded agricultural work.
    Women and girls were trafficked within the country for domestic 
servitude and commercial sexual exploitation; young men were trafficked 
internally for agricultural or unskilled labor.
    The country is also a destination for women and girls, mainly from 
the DRC, who are trafficked into diamond mining camps in Lunda Norte 
and Lunda Sul. Congolese women and children as well as Brazilian women 
were trafficked to the country during the year. Poor children and 
adults were most vulnerable to trafficking.
    The few traffickers working in the country were not thought to 
function as a tightly organized unit; rather they worked mainly through 
a series of informal or loosely associated contacts. Methods used by 
traffickers to obtain and transport victims were mostly unknown, 
although some reports claimed false promises of employment 
opportunities that result in forced labor, including forced 
prostitution.
    To prosecute trafficking cases, authorities used laws criminalizing 
forced or bonded labor, prostitution, pornography, rape, kidnapping, 
and illegal entry. The minimum sentence for rape is eight years' 
imprisonment, and sentences for related offenses carry a maximum of 
life imprisonment.
    In April five Zimbabweans were trafficked into the country with 
false promises of professional employment. Traffickers detained the 
victims at a factory complex, subjected them to forced labor, and 
denied them access to travel documents and freedom of movement. In June 
the Zimbabwean government assisted in returning them to Zimbabwe.
    On May 28, the UN Joint Human Rights Office reported that Congolese 
officials broke up a sex trafficking ring that trafficked more than 30 
women and girls into Cabinda and sold them to members of the Angolan 
military. Local villagers indicated that the ring had operated for the 
previous five years. No prosecutions occurred during the year.
    In 2007 immigration officials and the INAC in Zaire Province found 
15 children trafficked from Luanda to the DRC; police arrested two 
suspected traffickers. In other cases, police were unable to identify 
the traffickers. Although the government began investigating one 
trafficking case in 2007, case records were destroyed in the 2008 
collapse of the DNIC building. There were no known trafficking-related 
prosecutions during the year.
    Immigration services and INAC played significant roles in 
antitrafficking efforts, including training to strengthen provincial 
and municipal child protection networks. Immigration officials operated 
border control checkpoints that verified travel documents for children 
but lacked the resources to control all border areas effectively. No 
single ministry has direct responsibility for combating trafficking.
    The Ministry of Interior partnered with the IOM to provide 
antitrafficking seminars and training for police. In addition, police 
and border control officers and representatives of several ministries, 
including the Ministry of Justice and the attorney general's office, 
participated in similar workshops and seminars run by the IOM. The 
government operated facilities throughout the country for abandoned and 
abducted children; however, in many cases the facilities were 
underfunded, understaffed, and overcrowded. A Catholic-affiliated 
center in Namacumbe, near the Namibian border, assisted victims of 
trafficking to find and reintegrate with their families. The government 
provided basic assistance to trafficking victims on an ad hoc basis. 
Local social welfare agencies provided basic necessities. Victim 
assistance programs did not exist outside of Luanda, nor did the 
government operate shelters specifically for trafficking victims.
    To prevent child trafficking, the Immigration Service operated 
checkpoints to screen minors for proper travel documentation at the 
international airport, border posts, and selected internal locations, 
such as the trafficking hotspot of Santa Clara in Cunene Province. 
INAC's six mobile provincial teams conducted spot checks of suspected 
child-trafficking routes by stopping vehicles transporting children to 
check for identity cards, proof of relationship to the children, and 
parental permission for the child's travel.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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. Persons with disabilities 
included more than 80,000 landmine 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. 
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 landmine incidents. During the September 2008 election, the 
government provided voting assistance to persons with disabilities.

    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.

    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. In 2008 the FAA conducted educational programs to 
discourage discrimination against HIV-positive military personnel and 
prevent the spread of the disease.

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 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.
    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. Unlike in the previous year, there were no strikes in 
the country. However, in 2007 the government declared some strikes, 
including those by teachers in Luanda and nurses in Benguela, illegal. 
Teachers in Luanda were ordered back to work and threatened with 
termination if they did not comply.

    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 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 law prohibits 
lockouts and worker occupation of places of employment and provides 
protection for nonstriking workers. It prohibits strikes by armed 
forces personnel, police, prison workers, and fire fighters. The 
Ministry of Labor has a hotline for workers who feel 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.

    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 
legal minimum age for apprenticeship is 14 years, and 18 for full 
employment. Children between the ages of 14 and 18 may not work at 
night, in dangerous conditions, or in occupations requiring great 
physical effort, and children younger than 16 are prohibited from 
factory work; however, these provisions rarely were enforced. In 2007 
in Kwanza Sul Province, independent newspaper journalists found 
children as young as age 10 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.
    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, 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 ultimately responsible for 
enforcing all labor laws; however, the MINFAMU also plays a significant 
role in investigating complaints of child labor.
    The Children's Affairs Court, under the Ministry of Justice, has 
jurisdiction over general child protection in Luanda. Child labor cases 
continued to be adjudicated by the provincial criminal courts for 
minors aged 16 to 18 or by MINFAMU courts for children under age 16. 
Child labor violations are punishable by fines.
    In practice neither the Labor Code nor the judicial system was 
capable of ensuring protection of labor rights.
    Mechanisms were in place to investigate and prosecute, but the 
court system was overextended and resources for family or children's 
affairs courts were limited. The government lacked the capacity to 
oversee the much larger informal sector. There was no formal procedure 
for inspections and investigations of child labor abuses outside of the 
family law system, although private persons can file accusations of 
violations of child labor laws.
    The government, through INAC, worked to create, train, and 
strengthen child protection networks at the provincial and municipal 
level 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.--In 2008 MAPESS raised the 
minimum wage in the formal sector to approximately 8,600 kwanzas ($95) 
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 requested it.
    The government has set occupational health and safety standards; 
however, the Ministry of Labor's Office of the Inspector General did 
not enforce these standards effectively. Inspections occurred, although 
inspection findings were not effectively enforced. Workers have the 
right to remove themselves from situations that endangered 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 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. This coalition proved 
unstable and relations grew more tense as opposition parties refused to 
join President Yayi's government. 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. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control 
of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. However, there were problems in some areas. 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. Impunity and corruption were problems. Women were victims of 
violence and societal discrimination, and female genital mutilation 
(FGM) was commonly 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. There 
were no developments in the 2008 case of gendarmes killing a local 
resident and seriously injuring three in Wawata-Zounto.
    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 February 2, 
inhabitants of Adjohoukole, a village in the southeast, discovered a 
cattle theft ring allegedly attempting to steal cows. The inhabitants 
caught a member of the ring who tried to flee on his motorbike. They 
beat him, tied him up, and burned him to death. The other members of 
the ring fled in two cars. The police came to the crime scene to file a 
report but made no concerted effort to investigate or arrest those 
involved in the killing.

    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 February 5, the 
Constitutional Court ruled that a gendarme violated provisions of the 
constitution prohibiting degrading treatment or punishment when the 
gendarme, during a road security check, got into a car and brutalized 
the occupants, a woman and her driver.
    There was no further information regarding the 2007 incident when 
presidential guards shot and injured two persons for failing to obey 
instructions when President Yayi's motorcade passed. At the time, the 
guards reportedly were arrested.
    The government continued to make payments to victims of torture 
under the former military regime.
    Mob violence resulted in deaths and injuries. For example, on the 
night of September 14, residents of Abomey in the central region 
surprised two burglars who had just broken into a restaurant. The two 
burglars fled, but residents caught the two motorbike taxi drivers whom 
the two men hired to transport items they planned to steal from the 
restaurant. They burned the two motorbike taxi drivers. One died on the 
spot while the second one was hospitalized. The police did not 
investigate, and there were no arrests.

    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. 
According to a 2008 review, the number of prisoners in the eight civil 
prisons reached 204 percent of capacity.
    Prison diet was inadequate, and malnutrition and disease were 
common. Family members were expected to provide food for inmates to 
supplement prison rations, as prisoners were fed only once a day. There 
were deaths in prison due to malnutrition, disease, and neglect, 
although statistics were not available.
    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.
    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 conducting 
investigations related to gender-based crimes and in their failure to 
prevent or respond to mob violence. The government continued to address 
these problems by recruiting more officers, building more stations, and 
modernizing equipment during the year; however, serious problems 
remained, including widespread corruption and impunity. Police 
continued to extort money from travelers at roadblocks.

    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; under exceptional circumstances the 
magistrate may authorize continued detention not to exceed eight days. 
Detainees have the right to prompt judicial determination and the right 
to prompt lawyer access after being brought before a judge; they are 
also allowed to receive family visits. 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 and 
it was commonly believed--and acknowledged by some judicial personnel--
that the judicial system at all levels was susceptible to corruption. 
However, there were no reports that judicial employees were sanctioned 
or arrested on corruption charges during the year.
    The president appoints career magistrates as judges in civil 
courts. The president is assisted in this responsibility by the High 
Judicial Council that serves also as a disciplinary committee for 
magistrates and considers pardon cases that the president submits. The 
constitution gives the Ministry of Justice administrative authority 
over judges, including the power to transfer them.
    Civilian courts operate on national and provincial levels. There 
are two courts of appeals. The Supreme Court is the highest court in 
all administrative and judicial matters. The Constitutional Court 
determines the constitutionality of laws, adjudicates disputes between 
the president and the National Assembly, and rules on disputes 
regarding presidential and legislative elections. It also has 
jurisdiction in human rights cases. There is also a High Court of 
Justice to try the president and ministers for crimes related to their 
officialresponsibilities.
    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, at public expense if necessary; 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 
and 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. Unlike last year there were no reports 
that security forces intimidated and brutalized journalists. The 
government occasionally inhibited freedom of the press. 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.
    In August 2008 a parliamentary correspondent complained to the 
Beninese Union of Media Workers (UPMB) that the head of the military 
detachment stationed at the National Assembly threatened him with 
death, allegedlybecause he published articles criticizing a government 
policy. There was no further action on this matter.
    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 (ODEM) 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 were illiterate, lived in rural areas, and 
generally received their news via radio. The governmental Office of 
Radio and Television (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 (approximately $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, but judges generally refrained from 
prosecuting them. Journalists continued to fight for the 
decriminalization of press-related offenses. At the end of 2007, 150 
libel cases were still pending before thefirst instance court of 
Cotonou, and a report from the judiciary indicated that the court 
continued to receive libel cases against journalists during the year.
    In contrast with 2008, there were no reports that the government 
penalized journalists who published items counter to government 
guidelines.
    The High Authority of Audiovisual and Communication (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 complained that 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 
peaceful 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.

    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. For example, on July 21, the government banned a unionists' 
march to protest the government's management of a high-profile 
corruption case linked to the renovation of two conference centers in 
preparation for the 2008 meeting of the Sahel-Saharan States Community 
(CEN-SAD.) The objection was that the march would hinder the pending 
investigation and disrupt public order. Unionists complained that the 
government had denied them the right to protest.

    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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right.
    Persons who wish to form a religious group must register with the 
Ministry of the Interior. There were no reports that any group was 
refused registration or subjected to unusual delays or obstacles in the 
registration process.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--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.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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; 
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.
    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 law provides 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, and the 
government has established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. The country is also a party to the 1969 African Union 
Convention Concerning the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. 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 convention or the 1967 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 UNHCR 
and the governments of Benin and Togo signed a tripartite agreement to 
organize the voluntary repatriation of Togolese refugees. From January 
to June, 33 Togolese refugees returned to Togo through UNHCR's 
voluntary repatriation program.

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 National Assembly. In 2008 the G-13 
dissolved the coalition amidst political tension and the FCBE was left 
with its initial 35 seats. The G-13 sided 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 
stand for election. There were no government restrictions on the 
political opposition. No single party or group has recently dominated 
politics.
    There were nine women 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 July 3, the government released a State Audit Office's (IGE) 
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.
    No formal action was taken by year's end on the 2007 finding by the 
IGE that approximately 300 civil servants may have embezzled 23 billion 
CFA (approximately $51 million). The IGE had turned its findings over 
to the Ministry of Justice for further investigation and possible 
action.
    In 2007 the NGO Front of National Anticorruption Organizations 
accused two deputies of the National Assembly, who formerly had been 
executive directors of the Benin Electric Energy Corporation, of 
mismanagement and embezzlement of public funds. President Yayi asked 
the National Assembly to lift the immunity of the two deputies so they 
could be questioned by the IGE; however, it was not lifted by year's 
end.
    On July 31, the Court of Cotonou released on bail Alain Adihou, the 
former minister of institutional relations who was in pretrial 
detention since 2006 on the charge of embezzling one billion CFA 
(approximately $2 million).
    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. During the year the OLC provided awareness and training 
sessions for ministry officials on issues of transparency in public 
contracts and impunity in public administration. OLC also trained 
judicial personnel on the UN Convention Against Corruption and the 
African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating corruption.
    The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption continued to be a serious problem.
    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.
    Local human rights NGOs included the League for the Protection of 
Human Rights in Benin, the National Christian Youth Association for 
Awareness and Development, Association for the Support of Development 
and Peace, Solidarity for Behavioral Change, Benin Prison Fellowship, 
Children's Rights Social Organizations' Network, and others. Local NGOs 
were independent. Some local NGOs have formed networks for more 
efficient implementation of their programs and to pool resources.
    The government cooperated with international organizations. During 
the year 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. On November 19, 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 prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, and social status; however, societal 
discrimination against women continued. Persons with disabilities were 
disadvantaged.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape, but enforcement was weak due to 
police ineffectiveness, victims' unwillingness to refer 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 ranged from one to five years' 
imprisonment. In 2008 there were approximately 600 gender-based 
violence cases registered in the country's eight courts. Because of the 
police's lack of training in collecting evidence associated with sexual 
assaults, and victims' failure 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 (WILDAF), the Female Jurists 
Association of Benin (AFJB), and the Women's Justice and Empowerment 
Initiative (WJEI) 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.
    FGM was practiced on girls and women from infancy up to 30 years of 
age, and generally took the form of excision. Approximately 17 percent 
of women and girls have been subjected to FGM; the figure was higher in 
some regions, including Atacora (45 percent) and Borgou (57 percent), 
and among certain ethnic groups; more than 70 percent of Bariba, Yoa-
Lokpa, and Peul (Fulani) women have 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 (approximately $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 francs (approximately $110 to $220). 
Enforcement was rare, however, due to the code of silence associated 
with this crime. In one example, in September 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 of Natitingou. On October 26, the Court 
of Natitingou sentenced the woman to one and a half years 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 issue 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. 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. In March 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 aged eight to 17 to 
spread awareness of the dangers of sex tourism.
    Under the penal code there are no penalties imposed on prostitutes; 
however, those who facilitate prostitution and individuals who profit 
financially from prostitution, including traffickers and brothel 
owners, face penalties including imprisonment of six months to two 
years and fines of 400,000 to four million CFA (approximately $890 to 
$8,900) depending on the severity of the offense. Individuals involved 
in child prostitution, including those who facilitate or solicit it, 
face imprisonment of two to five years and fines of one million to ten 
million CFA (approximately $2,200 to $22,200). Although there are no 
penalties in the penal code for prostitutes, the belief that 
prostitution is illegal is widespread, and police often raided brothels 
to arrest prostitutes to deter the practice; the prostitutes were then 
released without being charged with any offense.
    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 (approximately $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 (DEPOLIPO) 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.
    Although the constitution provides for equality for women in the 
political, economic, and social spheres, women experienced extensive 
discrimination.
    In response to a complaint filed by a woman being prosecuted for 
adultery, on July 3 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. During the year the government granted microcredits to the 
poor, especially to women in rural areas, to help them develop income-
generating activities. An estimated 600,000 women benefited from these 
microcredit projects in the past two years.

    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.
    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 NGO CRS/World Education have 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. The 
government offered books to pupils at reduced prices. According to 
UNICEF, primary school enrollment was approximately 90 percent for boys 
and 60 percent for girls; only 26 percent of boys and 12 percent of 
girls were enrolled in secondary school. Girls did not have the same 
educational opportunities as boys, and female literacy was 
approximately 18 percent, compared to 50 percent male literacy.
    FGM was commonly practiced on girls (see section 5, Women.)
    The family code prohibits marriage under 14 years of age; however, 
the practice continued in rural areas. Underage (14 to 17 years of age) 
marriage was permitted with parental consent. There also was 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 
ongoing 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, poor, generally 
rural, families placed a child in the home of a wealthier family. The 
child received living accommodations, while the child's parents and the 
urban family that raised the child split the income generated by the 
child's activities; however, the child often faced forced labor, long 
hours, inadequate food, and sexual exploitation. 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 education, lack of access to the courts, or fear of 
police involvement.
    Child prostitution was a problem. Some children, including street 
children, engaged in prostitution without third party involvement to 
support themselves.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in children, 
but no law prohibits trafficking in adults. However, the government has 
used laws that prohibit human smuggling and the labor code to prosecute 
traffickers.
    The country was a source, transit point, and destination for 
trafficked persons, primarily children trafficked for forced labor and 
sexual exploitation. The majority of trafficking occurred internally 
within the extended family or community; however, organized criminal 
networks also were active. The majority of Beninese children trafficked 
outside of the country are sent to Nigeria, followed by Cote d'Ivoire 
and Gabon. Children were trafficked to Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, the Central African 
Republic, and possibly Equatorial Guinea for domestic work, farm labor, 
labor in stone quarries, and prostitution. In addition, children were 
taken across the border to Togo and Cote d'Ivoire to work on 
plantations. Children from Niger, Togo, and Burkina Faso were 
trafficked to the country for indentured or domestic servitude. 
Trafficked children generally came from poor rural areas and falsely 
were promised educational opportunities or other incentives. There were 
no reports of trafficking of adults.
    The penal code prohibits child prostitution; however, enforcement 
was limited, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children was a 
problem. Child prostitution often involved girls whose poor families 
urged them to become prostitutes to provide income. Other children were 
lured to exchange sex for money by older men, often traffickers, who 
acted as their ``protectors.'' Some children were abused sexually by 
teachers who sought sex in exchange for better grades. NGOs and 
international organizations organized assistance to child prostitution 
victims and worked on prevention programs.
    Penalties for traffickers involved in ``labor exploitation'' ranged 
from fines to prison terms, forced prison labor, or the death penalty, 
depending on the severity of the crime and the length of time over 
which the exploitation occurred; however, enforcement was lax. No 
statistics were available on the number of cases.
    The 2006 law against child trafficking provides for increased 
penalties for the trafficking of minors, including imprisonment from 
six months to life, depending on the severity of the crime, and fines 
from 50,000 to five million CFA (approximately $110 to $11,000). 
Individuals who are aware of child trafficking offenses and do not 
report them can be fined 10,000 to 50,000 CFA (approximately $20 to 
$110).
    During the year the government continued its efforts to arrest and 
prosecute traffickers. On June 20, security forces intercepted a 
vehicle in Cotonou transporting 11 children from the Togo-Benin border 
to be trafficked to Lagos, Nigeria. The Minors Protection Brigade (BPM) 
interviewed the traffickers and the victims, and referred traffickers 
to the Court of Cotonou for further legal action.
    The government reported that during the year the country's eight 
courts prosecuted 40 cases related to offenses including child 
trafficking, child rape, and kidnapping.
    In 2006, together with 23 other West and Central African countries, 
the government signed an agreement to adopt an action plan to combat 
trafficking. Regional efforts also continued between heads of state of 
concerned countries to identify, investigate, and prosecute agents and 
traffickers, and to protect and repatriate trafficking victims. In 
November 2008 the joint Benin and Nigeria Committee to Combat Child 
Trafficking developed a 2009-10 joint action plan to combat the 
trafficking of children from Zakpota, Benin to Abeokuta, Nigeria for 
labor in stone quarries. The government facilitated reintegration of 
Beninese trafficking victims rescued from Abeokuta quarries during the 
year.
    Since 1999 UNICEF and other donors have supported the Ministry of 
Family to establish, equip, and train more than 1,300 local committees 
to combat child trafficking through community surveillance and 
monitoring. During the year activity focused on child trafficking in 
the north. The BPM sought to prevent crimes against children and 
investigated cases of child trafficking and other crimes committed 
against children. It arrested traffickers, rescued victims, and worked 
towards their social reintegration. The government worked with NGOs to 
combat child trafficking, using media campaigns and greater border 
surveillance; however, police complained that they lacked equipment to 
monitor trafficking adequately. Resource constraints, prevailing 
cultural attitudes, and a lack of interagency coordination prevented 
the government from meeting minimum standards for the elimination of 
trafficking.
    During the year the Ministry of Family, international NGOs, and the 
donor community assisted numerous children who had been trafficked to 
other countries to work in mines, quarries, and on farms. Efforts 
included the provision of food, shelter, and medical treatment. The 
Ministry of Family also cooperated with partners to operate centers in 
urban areas to provide education and vocational training to victims of 
child trafficking. During the year government efforts to reunite 
trafficked children with their families continued.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 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 is 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. 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 not 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. 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.
    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. For example, in Tchatchegou, a 
small village in the north, children worked with adults in a granite 
quarry.
    Forced child labor and prostitution by street children were 
problems. Children under 14 work 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 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. The government also worked with 
a network of NGOs and journalists to educate the population about child 
labor and child trafficking. On November 24, 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 
(approximately $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.

                               __________

                                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. On October 16, 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 April 2008, retained his 
position. The BDP has held a majority of National Assembly seats since 
independence. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, some problems remained, including reports of abuses 
by security forces, poor prison conditions, lengthy delays in the 
judicial process, reports of restrictions on press freedom, and 
restrictions on the right to strike. Societal discrimination and 
violence against women, and discrimination against children, persons 
with disabilities, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) 
community, persons living with HIV/AIDS, persons with albinism, and 
members of the San ethnic group, and child labor were problems. The 
government's continued narrow interpretation of a 2006 High Court 
ruling resulted in the majority of San originally relocated from the 
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) being prohibited from returning to 
or hunting in the CKGR.

                        
                        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 the government or its agents committed 
arbitrary or unlawful killings. During the year eight incidents of 
police shootings during apprehension, in which 11 civilians were 
killed, were reported. Of these, police opened four murder cases for 
investigation, and seven coroner's investigations were opened into the 
cause of death. The four murder cases were subsequently submitted to 
the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for further action and were 
pending at year's end. Six of the seven coroner's investigations were 
also forwarded to the DPP for action; two were closed due to lack of 
evidence and one continued at year's end.
    For example, on January 4, police shot and killed Mothusinyana 
Moag, who reportedly fled from police who confronted him because he fit 
the description of a suspect; an investigation was in progress at 
year's end.
    On March 4, police shot and killed Mark Gumbo while in pursuit of 
Gumbo and others suspected of an attempted robbery; an investigation 
continued at year's end.
    On May 9, police shot Tshepo Molefe during an attempted robbery. 
Police claimed that Molefe or other suspects in the group fired at 
police and that Molefe ran toward the police officers, who then shot 
him. An investigation continued at year's end.
    On May 13, unidentified government security officers shot and 
killed John Kalafitas while he sat in a parked car, according to 
attorneys for the Kalafitas family. The government contended that 
Kalafitas was a wanted criminal who was killed during a lawful arrest. 
The case was turned over to the DPP; no further action was taken by 
year's end.
    There were at least two reports of deaths of persons in police 
custody. On March 5, 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; the case continued at year's end.
    On July 29, Italy Setlampoloka was arrested as a suspect in a 
series of robberies and detained at the Mogoditshane police station. On 
July 30, Setlampoloka was found dead in an uninhabited area near 
Mogoditshane. Police officers present during the investigation were 
charged with murder; the case was ongoing at year's end.
    There were no developments in the investigations into the 2008 
police killings in which five persons died during apprehension.

    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. No further 
information was available.
    Investigations continued into the October 2008 case in which the 
Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) allegedly 
tortured four men, including two police officers and two soldiers, 
after a weapon in their possession went missing.
    There were no developments in the 2007 case in which two men stated 
that threats and beatings were used to obtain their confessions to 
robbery and murder charges.

    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 
5,170 prisoners as of December, which exceeded 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; however, there were reports of abuse during the 
year.
    The Department of Prisons received three complaints of alleged 
assault by officers during the year. Of these, two incidents were being 
investigated and one was before the court at year's end; no further 
information was available.
    Mothers were allowed to bring their nursing babies under the age of 
two with them into the prison system, which lacked maternity 
facilities. Juveniles were sometimes held with adults due to 
overcrowding in the two main juvenile prison facilities. In December 
there were 63 juveniles incarcerated in adult prisons. Pretrial 
detainees and convicts were held together.
    During the year officers of the courts, including magistrates and 
judges, conducted 13 prison visits to check on prison conditions. 
Government-appointed welfare and oversight committees visited prisons 
45 times during the year. Committee reports were not made public. In 
previous years the government permitted the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit prison facilities; however, during the 
year the ICRC did not seek access to prisoners. During the year 
representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) were able to regularly visit prisons and the Center for Illegal 
Immigrants.
    Voluntary and free HIV testing and peer counseling were available 
to prisoners. As of December, 933 inmates out of the total prison 
population tested positive for HIV/AIDS, of whom 368 were receiving 
antiretroviral drug treatment. Two female prisoners were enrolled in 
the government program to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The 
government did not provide antiretroviral treatment to noncitizens in 
detention; however, those in long-term detention could receive such 
treatment free from a local nongovernmental organization (NGO).
    The prison commissioner had the authority to release terminally ill 
prisoners in the last 12 months of their sentences and 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. To be eligible, prisoners 
must have served at least half of a short-term sentence and not have 
been previously incarcerated. Prisoners convicted of violent or other 
serious felonies were ineligible. By December, to ease overcrowding, 
659 prisoners had been released to complete their sentences in the 
program.

    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. In 
2008 the cabinet disbanded the Local Police Service and began merging 
it with the BPS; 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.
    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 there were 35 police officers 
arrested for crimes. Of these, courts tried and convicted five, six 
were reinstated, and 24 were under investigation at year's end.
    Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces, and the government had effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse and corruption, including investigation by 
police and referral into the criminal court system.
    During the year 30 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 April 2008 the government established the DIS, 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 it was not 
subject to sufficient independent oversight and posed a potential 
threat to civil liberties.
    Authorities must inform suspects of their rights upon arrest, 
including the right to remain silent, and must charge them 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 may be renewed 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. Detainees were generally informed of the reason 
for their detention, although there were complaints that this did not 
always occur. A bail system functions, 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 an attorney 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, of the 5,170 persons in custody, 1,441 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. A 2005 report by the Office of the Ombudsman 
characterized the ``delays in the finalization of criminal matters in 
all courts'' as a ``serious concern,'' particularly the delays in 
processing appeals.
    The civil court system includes magistrates' courts, an industrial 
court, a court of appeal, and the High Court. A customary or 
traditional court system also exists. A small claims court was 
established during the year 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 that all citizens enjoy 
these rights.
    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.
    Although customary or traditional courts enjoy widespread support 
and citizen respect, 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 but similar procedures 
from civil courts.

    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, 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 in resettlement sites 
outside the reserve. Government officials maintained that the 
resettlement program was voluntary and necessary to facilitate the 
delivery of public services, provide socioeconomic development 
opportunities to the San, and minimize human impact on wildlife (see 
section 6).

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 December 2008 parliament passed the Media Practioners' Act, 
which established a new media council to register and accredit 
journalists, promote ethical standards among the media, and receive 
public complaints. Some NGOs, including MISA, the independent media, 
and opposition members of parliament 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 Daily News 
newspaper 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 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 that the 
government occasionally censored stories that it deemed undesirable and 
that government journalists sometimes practiced self-censorship.
    In 2007 the NGO First People of the Kalahari (FPK) reported the 
government would allow the FPK to have two-way radios in the CKGR 
provided it followed licensing requirements. However, as of December 
the FPK had not completed licensing requirements due to inability to 
afford the annual 1,500 pula (approximately $227) licensing fee.
    In 2007 the government required 17 foreigners, including seven 
journalists who had written articles critical of the government, to 
apply for visas prior to entry even though they were from countries 
generally exempt from this requirement. The requirements continued 
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 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 large urban areas but began to expand to 
smaller cities and some rural areas. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, approximately 6.25 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. However, there were 
some reports during the year that the figure was higher.

    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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Government policy and practice 
contributed to the generally free practice of religion. There was no 
known Jewish community and no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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.
    The government restricted the ability of indigenous San who had 
been relocated from the CKGR to designated settlement camps in 2002 to 
return to the reserve. Only the 189 San named in a 2006 High Court 
case, their spouses, and their minor children were permitted to live in 
the CKGR. A few San had never left the reserve, and some San 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.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. 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 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. 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. Refugees in Dukwe were 
provided access to education and health care. 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, 
although asylum seekers were housed separately from illegal immigrants. 
Conditions at the center were generally adequate, but children in the 
center did not have sufficient access to education for the duration of 
their detention, which in a few cases lasted many months.
    Approximately 600 of the country's 3,500 registered refugees were 
living and working outside Dukwe Camp at the beginning of the year. 
Since 1997 the government had allowed refugees to apply for special 
residency permits to live and work outside of the camp for a one-year 
period with the possibility of renewal. In June the government decided 
to restrict the ability of registered refugees to live and work outside 
the camp. The Ministry of Defense, Justice, and Security informed the 
refugees that their permits would not be renewed and that they would 
receive assistance with returning to the camp on a rolling basis as 
permits expired and circumstances allowed, including completion of 
school terms for children. The government stated that in some 
exceptional cases, such as for refugees enrolled in higher education or 
with ``unique skills,'' residence outside the camp would be permitted. 
By year's end 95 refugees had returned to Dukwe.

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.--On October 16, 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 April 
2008, when former president Festus Mogae resigned, retained his 
position. However, the ruling 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 won 
six, the Botswana Congress Party won five, 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 specially elected National Assembly members who are 
nominated and elected by parliament.
    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 the administration of 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 
2006 amendments to the constitution to expand the House of Chiefs was 
held in 2006.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    There were four women in the 61-seat National Assembly, a female 
speaker of the National Assembly, four women in the 24-member cabinet, 
and four women in the 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. By 
law members of all groups enjoy equal rights, and minority tribes have 
representation that is at least equal to that of the eight principal 
tribes.

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.
    There are no formal financial disclosure laws. However, in October 
a presidential directive required all cabinet ministers to declare 
interests, assets, and liabilities to the president. Critics contended 
that the policy did not go far enough to promote transparency and that 
financial declarations by senior government officials should be 
available to the public.
    During the year the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime 
(DCEC) initiated investigations into 39 suspicious transactions; at 
year's end 18 remained under investigation and 21 were concluded. Of 
these, 18 cases were dismissed after allegations of illegal conduct 
were disproved, and three cases were dismissed for insufficient 
evidence.
    Through December police initiated 22 investigations of alleged 
corruption involving police officers; all 22 continued at year's end. 
An additional 18 police officers were dismissed during the year for 
failure to adhere to the code of conduct.
    The four police corruption cases from 2008 concluded with all four 
officers being convicted and fired.
    In April the National Assembly enacted an antimoney laundering law 
entitled the Financial Intelligence Act. Until the new Financial 
Intelligence Agency, as provided for under the act, is fully 
functional, the DCEC has responsibility for investigating suspected 
instances of money laundering and has the authority to demand access to 
bank records during an investigation.
    The law does not provide for 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 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, the 
Botswana Center for Human Rights.
    In 2007 the government placed visa requirements on certain foreign 
NGO workers, a practice which continued during the year.
    During the year the government worked cooperatively with 
international organizations, including the ICRC and UN. The government 
allowed visits from UN representatives and representatives from human 
rights and humanitarian organizations such as the ICRC.
    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. So long as a job applicant is able to perform the duties of 
the position, the government may not discriminate against him or her 
due to disability or language. However, the law does not prohibit 
discrimination by private persons or other 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 gay persons.

    Women.--The law prohibits rape but does not recognize spousal rape 
as a crime. Laws against rape were effectively enforced; however, 
police noted that victims often declined to press charges against the 
perpetrators, and statistics on prosecutions and convictions were 
unavailable. The number of reported rape cases increased during the 
year from 1,360 to 1,539. However, it was unclear whether this was a 
result of increased reporting due to NGO efforts to improve awareness 
of the crime or an increase in the number of rapes. 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' 
imprisonment with corporal punishment if the offender was aware of 
having HIV-positive status. Corporal punishment was used more often in 
the customary 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 being sentenced. However, police lacked basic investigative 
techniques in rape cases.
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence against 
women, and it remained a serious problem. Police did not keep 
statistics for the specific category of domestic violence, as it is not 
considered a crime under the penal code. Customary law allows husbands 
to treat their wives in the same manner as minor children. Under 
customary law husbands may use corporal punishment to discipline their 
wives, which was common in rural areas. Greater public awareness 
resulted in increased reporting of domestic violence and sexual 
assault.
    Prostitution is illegal but was widespread. Enforcement was 
sporadic and complicated by vague laws that made it easier to charge 
violators with offenses such as unruly conduct or loitering than for 
prostitution. Most police enforcement took the form of periodic sweeps 
of areas used for solicitation.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment in both the private and public 
sectors. Sexual harassment committed by a public official is considered 
misconduct and is 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 for sexually 
transmitted diseases. The government's Prevention of Mother to Child 
transmission program for HIV curtailed such transmission.
    Women legally 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 are permitted to 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 case they 
retained their full legal rights as adults. Polygyny 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 of in the Office of the President, minister 
of education and skills development, director of public prosecution, 
and numerous permanent secretary positions. However, a 2007 UN report 
found that women's political participation was not equal to that of 
men. In March 2008 the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) began to allow 
women to serve in the military. In November 2008 the first class of 
Batswana female officer candidates completed their training in Tanzania 
and joined the BDF. During the year women were included as officer 
candidates in the first integrated training class to be conducted in 
Botswana.
    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 
matters. During the year a local NGO reported that women were 
increasingly able to access credit 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 conveyed 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 services provided 
by the government.
    The government continued to allocate the largest portion of its 
budget to the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Local Government 
distributed books and other materials for primary education and food. 
Education was not compulsory. In 2006 the government reintroduced 
school fees. The fees could be waived for children whose family income 
fell below a certain amount. The government also provided uniforms, 
books, and 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. School attendance and completion 
rates were highest in urban areas, where transportation was readily 
available, and lowest in rural areas, where children often lived far 
from schools and often assisted their families as cattle tenders, 
domestic laborers, and child care providers.
    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 of incarceration. Police reported that through the 
end of September there were 1,197 reported cases of rape, 350 cases of 
defilement, four cases of incest, 93 cases of indecent assault on 
girls, and two cases of indecent assault on boys. There were defilement 
investigations and convictions during the year, but detailed statistics 
were unavailable. Sexual abuse of students by teachers was reported to 
be a problem. Children were sometimes sexually abused by the 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 legal age of 18 are not recognized by the government.
    Child prostitution and pornography are criminal offenses. Media and 
NGO reports indicated 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. During the year the government registered 
58,000 children as orphans, a discrepancy that was due to the 
government's use of a more restrictive definition of orphan, which 
required both parents to be deceased, than the one used by the UN. Once 
registered, the children received clothes, shelter, a monthly food 
basket worth between 216 pula (approximately $33) and 350 pula ($53) 
depending upon location, and counseling as needed. Some relatives 
continued to deny inheritance rights to orphans.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in 
persons, although penal code provisions cover related offenses such as 
abduction and kidnapping, slave trafficking, and procuring women and 
girls for the purpose of prostitution. There were reports that persons 
were trafficked to, from, through, or within the country. The country 
was a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, destination country for 
men, women, and children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and 
sexual exploitation. Children were trafficked internally for domestic 
servitude and cattle herding. According to one NGO, women reported 
being forced into commercial sexual exploitation at safari lodges. The 
country was a staging area for both the smuggling and trafficking of 
third-country nationals, primarily from Namibia and Zimbabwe, to South 
Africa. Zimbabweans were also trafficked into Botswana for forced labor 
as domestic servants. Residents most susceptible to trafficking were 
illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, unemployed men and women, those 
living in rural poverty, agricultural workers, and children orphaned by 
HIV/AIDS.
    Traffickers charged with kidnapping or abduction could be sentenced 
to seven years' imprisonment. However, the government did not 
prosecute, convict, or punish any trafficking offenses during the year.
    The government funded and otherwise supported NGO programs that 
provided assistance and services to victims of general crimes that were 
also accessible to victims of trafficking. Authorities, in partnership 
with other governments in the region, assisted the safe repatriation of 
a trafficking victim to the victim's country of origin.
    The government placed antitrafficking education posters at all of 
its border posts and included trafficking awareness segments in some of 
its law enforcement training sessions.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities in education, employment, access to 
health care, or the provision of other state services. The government 
has a national policy that provides for integrating the needs of such 
persons into all aspects of government policymaking. The government 
mandated access to public buildings and access to transportation for 
persons with disabilities. However, although new government buildings 
were being built to ensure access for such persons under the 
supervision of the Ministry of Works, most older government buildings 
remained inaccessible. 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 such persons to vote.
    The Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs is responsible for ensuring 
that the rights of persons with disabilities are protected 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.--The country's estimated 50,000 to 60,000 San 
represented approximately 3 percent of the population. The San are 
culturally and linguistically distinct from most of the population. By 
law discrimination against the San with respect to employment, housing, 
health services, and cultural practices is illegal. However, they 
remained economically and politically marginalized and generally did 
not have access to their traditional land. The San continued to be 
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.
    While the government respected the 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 the applicants were 
entitled to return to the CKGR without entry permits and to receive 
permits to hunt in designated wildlife management areas that are not 
located in the CKGR. The court also ruled the government was not 
obligated to resume providing services within the CKGR, and during the 
year the government did not reopen water wells in the CKGR. Many of the 
San and their supporters continued to object to the government's narrow 
interpretation of this ruling. In November a small group of San filed a 
lawsuit that sought to require the government to open a water well at a 
specific location inside the CKGR. The San contended that a well had 
existed at this location previously, but the government denied this. 
Government sources confirmed that negotiations with San representatives 
on residency, water, and hunting rights continued at year's end.
    During the year the government arrested several San for illegally 
hunting in the CKGR. Although the law allows for a sentence including a 
fine or prison term for those found guilty of illegal hunting, none of 
the San arrested during the year 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 
diamond company De Beers to restart exploration in the CKGR. The NGOs 
argued that diamond exploration in the CKGR had 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 law does not criminalize 
sexual orientation. However, the law does criminalize ``unnatural 
acts,'' which was widely believed to include homosexual conduct. Police 
did not target homosexual activity, and during the year there were no 
reports of violence against persons due to their sexual orientation or 
gender identity. However, there were reports of societal discrimination 
and harassment of members of the LGBT community. The independent 
organization LEGABIBO (Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals of Botswana) 
attempted to register as an advocacy NGO; however, the government 
refused to register it.

    Other Societal Violence or 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, except for 
police officers, the BDF, and the prison service, to form and join 
unions of their choice without excessive requirements, and workers 
exercised this right in practice. Most public sector associations have 
converted to unions. The industrial or wage economy was small, and 
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 the copper mine's dismissal of 178 workers 
for striking that was dismissed by a lower court was appealed during 
the year; the Industrial Court had not heard the appeal 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 that the case was not tried in a timely fashion. The 461 former 
employees appealed the dismissal; however, the dismissal was upheld.

    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; however, an insufficient number of commissioners 
resulted in one- to two-year backlogs in resolving such disputes.
    Workers may not be fired for legal union-related activities; 
however, unregistered trade unions are not protected against antiunion 
discrimination. 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 that such practices occurred.
    According to one NGO, women reported being forced into commercial 
sexual exploitation at safari lodges, and some Zimbabwean women 
reported being exploited by employers for forced labor. Children were 
trafficked internally for domestic servitude and cattle herding.

    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 a day or 30 hours a 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 in work 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 employed were younger than 
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, prostitutes, 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, and it was generally 
effective, despite limited resources for oversight of 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 of 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. During 
the year there were no prosecutions, convictions, or fines levied for 
illegal child labor.
    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 (approximately 
$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, 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 
district 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. In March the Ministry of Labor 
and Home Affairs introduced new minimum wages for workers in the 
agricultural and domestic sectors; the wages took effect on April 1. 
The minimum wage for domestic workers was 2 pula (approximately $0.30) 
per hour. Workers in the agricultural sector were required to be paid 
408 pula ($62) per month; however, the cost of feeding a worker who 
lived on the employer's premises could be deducted from the wage.
    The law permits a maximum 48-hour workweek, exclusive of overtime, 
which is payable at time-and-a-half. The law does not specifically 
mandate 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 enforce 
labor regulations; however, the number was insufficient to conduct 
inspections fully.
    The government's ability to enforce workplace safety legislation 
remained limited by inadequate staffing and unclear jurisdictions among 
different ministries. Nevertheless, there are limited requirements for 
occupational safety 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 14.25 
million. In 2005 President Blaise Compaore was reelected to a third 
term with 80 percent of the vote. Observers considered the election 
generally free, 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. While civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there 
were instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently.
    The following human rights problems were reported: 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 the press and 
assembly; official corruption; violence and discrimination against 
women and children, including female genital mutilation; trafficking in 
persons, including children; 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 September 6, prison guards shot and killed six prisoners and 
severely injured eight while trying to quell a prisoner protest against 
preferential treatment for wealthier prisoners. The Burkinabe Movement 
for the Emergence of Social Justice 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 practices, 
members of the security forces continued to abuse persons with 
impunity, and suspects were frequently subjected to beatings, threats, 
and occasionally torture to extract confessions.
    Forcible dispersions of protesters engaged in violent 
demonstrations resulted in numerous injuries during the year (see 
section 2.b.).
    On September 21, following an altercation between local youths and 
police cadets, more than 100 cadets of the National School of Police in 
Ouagadougou (ENP) beat residents with military belts and ransacked 
local businesses in the Gounghin neighborhood, resulting in numerous 
injuries and property damage. The rampage continued until police and 
gendarmes returned the students to their barracks. The minister of 
security, who apologized to the victims and promised a full 
investigation, announced a few days later that all the cadets involved 
in the incident had been expelled from ENP and that their scholarships 
would be used to compensate residents for damages.
    In 2008,following an investigation and trial, the Military Court 
acquitted eight of the 10 soldiers accused of the 2007 assault, 
battery, and destruction of private property of residents in Banfora, 
Comoe Province. One soldier received a suspended sentence and was 
released the day of his arrest, and another served a six-month prison 
term.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and could be life threatening. Prisons were overcrowded, and 
medical care and sanitation were poor. Prison 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. According to medical reports, 17 prisoners 
died of natural causes during the year, and human rights activists 
suspected that most of these deaths were due to harsh prison 
conditions.
    There were 5,082 persons incarcerated throughout the country, 
including 104 women and 180 minors. Of these, 2,501, including 58 women 
and 116 minors, were in pretrial detention.
    Prison authorities generally granted permission to visit prisons 
and did not require advance permission. This permission extended to 
local and international human rights groups, the media, and 
International Committee of the Red Cross. There were no reports during 
the year of prison visits by international organizations; however, 
during the year members of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), 
foreign embassies, and the press visited prisons.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the government did 
not consistently observe these prohibitions.

    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 report to the Ministry of Defense and are 
responsible for some aspects of public security.
    Corruption was widespread, particularly among lower levels of the 
police and gendarmerie. The 2007 report by the NGO National Network to 
Fight against Corruption (RENLAC) stated that the police and 
gendarmerie were among the most corrupt institutions in the country. 
Corruption and official impunity were also serious problems in the 
military. The gendarmerie is responsible for investigating abuse by 
police and gendarmes; however, the government took no known 
disciplinary action against those responsible for abuses, and the 
climate of impunity created by the government's inaction remained the 
largest obstacle to reducing abuses. In contrast with the previous 
year, the Human Rights Ministry did not conduct any seminars to educate 
security forces on human rights standards.
    Human rights associations believed that security forces were not 
effective in responding to societal violence. A lack of financial and 
human resources and a complicated procedure to make security forces 
take action were serious impediments to preventing or responding to 
societal violence. For example, security forces were not effective in 
addressing incidents between Fulani herders and the 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 signed by 
a duly authorized official. However, authorities did not always respect 
this process. Detainees were promptly informed of charges against them. 
The law provides for 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 access to family members, although detainees were generally 
allowed such access.
    On December 7, police arrested 26 high school students in 
Ouagadougou who were commemorating the anniversary of the 2000 killing 
by security forces of 12-year-old Flavien Nebie in Bousse, Kouweogo 
Province, and demanding punishment for the perpetrators. Police 
released seven of the students without charges but charged the 
remaining students with illegal demonstration and drug possession. At 
the conclusion of a December 22 trial, the justice officials acquitted 
the defendants for lack of sufficient evidence.
    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 average time of 
detention without charge (preventive detention) was one week; however, 
the law permits judges to impose an unlimited number of six-month 
preventive detention periods, and defendants without access to legal 
counsel were often detained for weeks or months before appearing before 
a magistrate. Government officials estimated that 23 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. 
There was a pretrial release (release on bail) system; however, the 
extent of its use was unknown.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was corrupt, 
inefficient, and subject to executive influence. The president has 
extensive appointment and other judicial powers. Constitutionally, the 
head of state also serves as president of the Superior Council of the 
Magistrature, which nominates and removes senior magistrates and 
examines the performance of individual magistrates. Other systemic 
weaknesses in the justice system included the removability of judges, 
corruption of magistrates, outdated legal codes, an insufficient number 
of courts, a lack of financial and human resources, and excessive legal 
costs.
    There are four operational higher courts: the Supreme Court of 
Appeal, the Council of State, the Audit Court and Office, and the 
Constitutional Council. Beneath these higher courts are two courts of 
appeal and 24 provincial courts. There is also a High Court of Justice 
with jurisdiction over the president and other senior government 
officials. Tribunals in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso try juveniles 
under 18. The Military Court tries only military cases and provides 
rights equivalent to those in civil criminal courts.
    Traditional courts in rural areas were abolished in 1984 and no 
longer have any legal standing. However, many traditional chiefs were 
still highly influential in rural areas and could, for example, keep 
women from exercising their rights.
    Women continued to occupy a subordinate position and experienced 
discrimination in education, the workplace, property ownership, access 
to credit, management or ownership of a business, and family rights. 
Although the law provides equal property rights for women and, 
depending on other family relationships, inheritance benefits, in 
practice traditional law denied women the right to own property, 
particularly real estate. In rural areas, land belonged to the family 
of a woman's husband. Many citizens, particularly in rural areas, held 
to traditional beliefs that did not recognize inheritance rights for 
women and regarded women as property.

    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 promptly informed of charges against 
them, to provide their own evidence, and to access 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 seldom respected. In addition, 
popular ignorance of the law and a continuing shortage of magistrates 
limited the right to a fair trial.

    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 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. However, there 
were problems enforcing court orders when they concerned sensitive 
cases.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and 
the government generally respected these prohibitions. In national 
security cases, the law permits surveillance, searches, and monitoring 
of telephones and private correspondence without a warrant. By law and 
under normal circumstances, homes may be searched only if the justice 
minister issues a warrant.

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 
partially limited press freedom and intimidated journalists into 
practicing self-censorship.
    In general citizens and the press could criticize the government 
without reprisal. However, journalists were occasionally sued by the 
government or a progovernment political figure under a law that defines 
libel in excessively broad terms. Government agents sometimes 
infiltrated political meetings and rallies 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 and radio and television stations, some 
of which were highly critical of the government. Foreign radio stations 
broadcast without government interference.
    All media were under the administrative and technical supervision 
of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Communications, and the 
Spokesman of the Government. The Superior Council of Communication 
(SCC), which is under the Office of the President and has limited 
independence, also regulates the media. The Ministry of Culture, 
Tourism, and Communications is responsible for developing and 
implementing government policy and projects concerning information and 
communication. The SCC oversees the content of radio and television 
programs and newspapers to ensure that they adhere to professional 
ethics and government policy governing information and communication. 
The SCC may summon a journalist to attend a hearing about his work, 
followed by a warning that it will not tolerate a repeat of 
``noncompliant behavior''; journalists received such summons during the 
year. Hearings may concern alleged libel, disturbing the peace, or 
violations of state security.
    The government's definition of libel is broad. Political and 
business figures used libel suits to pressure journalists who produce 
unflattering press coverage of them or their organizations.

    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, approximately 0.92 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 at times restricted this right. Unlike in the 
previous year, no deaths or injuries resulted from police use of 
excessive force to disperse demonstrators. No action was taken against 
security forces responsible for demonstrator deaths and injuries in 
2008.
    Political parties and labor unions may hold meetings and rallies 
without government permission; however, advance notification is 
required for demonstrations that might 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 December 7, police used force to disperse a high school student 
demonstration in Ouagadougou (see section 1.d.).
    On January 16, opposition leader Thibaut Nana was released from 
prison; in March 2008 Nana was sentenced to 36 months' imprisonment for 
organizing a February 2008 demonstration against fuel and food prices 
in which numerous demonstrators were injured as a result of police use 
of excessive force.

    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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    Religious groups must register with the Ministry of Territorial 
Administration, and failure to register may result in a fine. The 
government routinely approved registration applications.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of anti-
Semitic acts. There was no known Jewish community in the country.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2008 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 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 government 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.--Burkina Faso is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and 
to the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of 
the Refugee Problem in Africa. 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 granted refugee or asylum status and also 
provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as 
refugees under the 1951 convention or the 1967 protocol; during the 
year 1,116 persons received temporary protection.
    In June the government organized a series of workshops in Bobo-
Dioulasso and Ouagadougou to inform, educate, and sensitize law 
enforcement officials, including security forces and local authorities, 
to the principles of nonrefoulement, nondiscrimination, and 
international protection for refugees.

Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides citizens with the right to change their 
government peacefully through multiparty elections; however, citizens 
were unable to exercise this right fully due to the continued dominance 
of the president and his ruling party.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2005 President Blaise 
Compaore won reelection with 80 percent of the vote. Opposition 
candidate Benewende Sankara, the runner-up, received 5 percent. Despite 
some irregularities, international observers considered the election to 
have been generally free but not entirely fair, due to the resource 
advantage held by the president.
    Political parties operated freely. Individuals and parties can 
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, and the other parties won 38, although 
25 of the 38 non-CDP deputies 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 
fraud cases 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 16 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 often engaged in corrupt activities with impunity. Local NGOs 
denounced the overwhelming corruption of senior civil servants and 
called on President Compaore to address this concern. Corruption was 
especially acute in the customs service, police, gendarmerie, taxing 
agencies, health and justice ministries, municipalities, government 
procurement, the education sector, public service, and media.
    In April 2008 the government created the Regulatory Authority of 
Government Tenders (ARMP), a regulatory oversight body to monitor the 
tender process for government contracts. The ARMP is authorized to 
impose sanctions, initiate lawsuits, and publish the names of 
fraudulent or delinquent businesses; however, it took no action on any 
of these mandates during the year.
    In 2007 the Court of Accounts, responsible for auditing the 
government's accounts, published an annual report for 2005 highlighting 
government mismanagement, including by the mayor of Ouagadougou. The 
report found that the government had failed to comply with proper 
administrative, accounting, and auditing procedures for government 
tenders. No known action had been taken on any of the report's 
recommendations by year's end.
    In 2007 the government ratified legislation to create the Superior 
Authority of State Control (ASCE), an entity under the authority of the 
prime minister that merges the High Commission for the Coordination of 
Anti-Corruption Activities, the State Inspector General, and the 
National Commission for the Fight Against Fraud. In addition to 
releasing annual reports from auditing entities, ASCE has the authority 
to prosecute ethics breaches in the public sector, including by state 
civil service employees, local and public authorities, state-owned 
companies, and all national organizations invested with public service 
missions. Despite this mandate, no action was taken during the year by 
the ASCE, which observers believed had insufficient power.
    However, on May 28, the ASCE published its 2008 annual report, the 
agency's first, which highlighted mismanagement in government agencies, 
citing corruption involving a high commissioner, the secretary general 
of one ministry, and the director general of another ministry. 
According to the report, approximately 92 million CFA francs ($189,814) 
were misappropriated in 2008. The ASCE recommended tougher management 
measures, prosecutions, and reimbursement of misappropriated funds. No 
known action had been taken on the report's recommendations by year's 
end.
    Despite numerous instances in recent years of high-level 
corruption, no senior officials were prosecuted for corruption, and it 
was unclear whether the Justice Ministry was equipped to handle such 
cases. In its 2007 report, RENLAC noted that ``lack of experience 
coupled with a deficit of appropriately trained judges has rendered the 
Justice Ministry incapable of effectively dealing with corruption 
cases.'' The report continued that the ministry's resources were 
insufficient to handle the increasing number of financial crimes and 
that its efforts were limited to the smallest racketeering cases rather 
than higher-level corruption.
    Some public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws, but 
these laws were not effectively enforced.
    No laws provide for public access to government information. While 
government ministries released some non-sensitive documents, local 
journalists complained that ministries were generally 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 could 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
    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 permitted international human rights groups to visit 
and operate in the country; however, there were no reported visits 
during the year by the UN or other international organizations.
    The Ministry of Human Rights is responsible for the protection and 
promotion of human rights. The minister of human rights reports to the 
prime minister. During the year the ministry conducted education 
campaigns and produced human rights pamphlets for the security forces.
    The ombudsman, who is appointed by the president for a nonrenewable 
five-year term and cannot be removed during the term, had limited 
resources. The public generally trusted the ombudsman's impartiality. 
No report of the ombudsman's work was published during the year.
    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 Burkina Faso Movement for Human 
and Peoples' Rights (MBDHP) did not participate on the commission and 
continued to charge that the commission was subject to government 
influence. The commission, which issued no reports during the year, 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 a problem.

    Women.--Rape is a crime; however, the law was not enforced, and 
rape occurred frequently. There is no explicit discussion of spousal 
rape in the law, and there were no recent court cases. There were 
organizations that counseled rape victims, including Catholic and 
Protestant missions, the Association of Women Jurists in Burkina, the 
MBDHP, the Association of Women, and Promofemmes, a regional network 
that worked to combat violence against women.
    Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating, occurred 
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; however, it was believed such legal actions were 
infrequent because women were ashamed, afraid, or otherwise reluctant 
to take their spouses to court. Cases that involved severe injury 
usually were handled through the legal system. The Ministry for 
Promotion of Women, the Ministry for Social Action and National 
Solidarity, and several NGOs cooperated in an effort to protect women's 
rights. The Ministry for the Promotion of Women has a legal affairs 
section to inform women about their rights and encourage them to defend 
these rights.
    Childless elderly women with no support, primarily in rural areas, 
and particularly if widowed, were at times accused of witchcraft and 
banned from their villages, 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 law does not specifically prohibit prostitution, which was 
prevalent; however, pimping and soliciting are illegal.
    The labor code explicitly prohibits sexual harassment in the 
workplace, but such harassment was common. The law prescribes fines of 
50,000 to 600,000 CFA francs ($103 to $1,238) 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 can do so without facing any type of discrimination, coercion, or 
violence. In practice, however, these rights were not equally 
applicable to all levels of society, mainly as a result of 
accessibility to information and medical care availability in remote 
areas. Cultural norms, especially in rural areas that tend to have a 
less educated population, also played an important role in availability 
and use of those resources. These reproductive rights were usually 
respected and available in urban areas and among more educated 
populations, but less so for couples and individuals living in rural 
areas. Cultural norms often subject women to their husbands' decisions 
regarding birth control.
    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.
    The law prohibits female infanticide, and there were no reports of 
such cases, although newspapers reported cases of abandonment of 
newborn babies following unwanted pregnancies.
    Women continued to occupy a subordinate position and experienced 
discrimination in education, jobs, property ownership, access to 
credit, management or ownership of a business, and family rights. 
Polygyny was permitted, but both parties had to agree to it prior to a 
marriage. A wife could oppose further marriages by her husband if she 
provided evidence that he had abandoned her and her children. Both 
spouses were able to petition for divorce, and the law provides that 
custody of a child be granted to either parent, based on the child's 
best interests. Since 2007 women can serve in the military; however, 
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 denied women the 
right to own property, particularly real estate. In rural areas land 
belonged to the family of a woman's husband. 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 has been 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.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived either by birth within the 
country's territory or from the parents. The government failed to 
register all births immediately, particularly in rural areas where 
administrative structures were insufficient and rural parents could not 
afford birth certificates. 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 old 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 77 percent for boys and 72 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 
($619 to $1,856) 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 widely, especially in 
rural areas, and usually was performed at an early age. According to a 
2006 report by the National Committee for the Fight Against Excision, 
up to 81 percent of women age 25 and older, and approximately 34 
percent of girls and women under 25, had undergone FGM. Perpetrators 
were subject to a significant fine and imprisonment of six months to 
three years, or up to 10 years if the victim died. 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.
    As part of the government's campaign against FGM in West Africa, 
the first ladies of Burkina Faso and Niger presided over an October 
2008 meeting on FGM in Ouagadougou. Noting that girls were often 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 any 
actions resulting from this meeting.
    Several NGOs stated that child marriage was a problem, primarily in 
rural areas; however, there were no reliable statistics. The legal age 
for marriage is 17. 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 under 13 
years of age; however, there were no reports of prosecutions of 
violators.
    There were no statistics on child prostitution; however, 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 these 
of children in pornographic activities and jobs that harm their health. 
The May 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.
    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 
had sent them to the city to study with a Koranic teacher or live with 
relatives and go to school. At least one NGO 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons 
for all purposes, including sexual, labor, and other related practices. 
The country was a source, transit, and destination country for children 
and women trafficked for forced agricultural labor and commercial 
sexual exploitation, forced labor in gold mines and stone quarries, and 
forced domestic servitude. Internal trafficking of children was also a 
problem. Burkinabe children were trafficked primarily to Cote d'Ivoire, 
as well as to Mali, Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, and Niger. Children 
were also trafficked from those West African countries to Burkina Faso. 
To a lesser extent, Burkinabe women were trafficked to Europe for 
sexual exploitation. Women were believed to have been trafficked to the 
country from Nigeria, Togo, Benin, and Niger for domestic servitude, 
forced labor in restaurants, and sexual exploitation. The country was a 
transit point for trafficked children, notably from Mali to Cote 
d'Ivoire.
    Child traffickers typically acted as intermediaries for poor 
families, promising to place a child in a decent work situation. Once 
the child was in the hands of traffickers, these promises were usually 
disregarded. Some traffickers were distant relatives, often referred to 
as ``aunts.'' Traffickers occasionally kidnapped children. Once placed 
in a work situation, whether in the country or beyond its borders, 
children were usually not free to leave and were forced to work without 
pay and under very bad conditions.
    Trafficked children were subject to violence, sexual abuse, forced 
prostitution, and deprivation of food, shelter, schooling, and medical 
care. Organized child trafficking networks existed throughout the 
country and cooperated with regional smuggling rings; authorities 
dismantled two such networks in 2008. Village vigilance committees and 
public awareness campaigns contributed to successful efforts by the 
Ministry of Social Action and security forces in the dismantling of 
these networks.
    The majority of international trafficking was believed to be 
conducted using forged travel documents. Travel occurred both at 
official ports of entry and at unmonitored border-crossing points.
    According to the report released during the year by the Office for 
the Protection of Infants and Adolescents, between December 2008 and 
September 2009, security forces intercepted 197 trafficked children, 
176 of whom were boys; 85 children were destined for international 
trafficking. In 2008 seven child traffickers were arrested; three were 
cleared of all charges and released, and four received suspended prison 
terms.
    The Ministries of Social Action and National Solidarity, Labor and 
Social Security, and Justice were responsible for enforcing trafficking 
and child labor laws and regulations.
    The government cooperated with Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and other 
governments, and international organizations throughout the year in 
implementing workshops and overall cooperation on child trafficking.
    The government worked with international donors and the 
International Labor Organization to address child trafficking, in part 
by organizing seminars on child trafficking for customs officers. 
During the year security services and civil society groups organized 
similar workshops and seminars. The government also organized several 
training sessions for watch committee members. Over several years, the 
government has established 142 watch committees in 12 of the 13 regions 
in which child trafficking and child labor were problems. The watch 
committees included representatives of industries usually implicated in 
child labor (cotton growers, for example), the police, gendarmerie, 
magistrates, NGOs, and social welfare agencies. The government also 
worked with international and domestic NGOs in the fight against 
trafficking.
    The government, in collaboration with the UN Children's Fund, 
continued to operate transit centers with food and basic medical care 
for destitute children, including trafficked children. It also helped 
children return to their families. NGOs operated most reintegration 
programs for trafficked children.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 for persons with 
disabilities. Advocates reported that persons with disabilities often 
faced social 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. 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 better manage 
income-generating activities.
    National/ Racial/Ethnic Minorities
    Incidents of discrimination occurred 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.
    On June 23, violent clashes over business interests erupted in a 
mining village in Yatenga Province, between the majority Mossi ethnic 
group and the minority Bissa ethnic group. The clashes caused several 
injuries and significant property destruction. The Bissa, who operated 
businesses and were wealthier than other ethnic groups in the area, 
fled and sought refuge at the gendarmerie. The incident appeared to be 
the result of a longstanding commercial dispute between the Bissa, who 
owned most of the gold speck mills, and the Mossi, who were typically 
their clients. The situation returned to normal after local 
authorities, human rights groups, and traditional and religious leaders 
moved quickly to restore peace.
    Societal Abuses, Discrimination and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
    Societal discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender 
identify remained a problem. Religious and traditional beliefs do not 
tolerate homosexuality, and homosexual persons were reportedly 
occasional victims of verbal and physical abuse. There were no reports 
that the government responded to societal violence and discrimination 
against homosexual persons.
    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations had no 
legal presence in the country but existed unofficially. Traditional 
mores are not accepting of LGBT persons. 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. Persons who tested 
positive for HIV/AIDS were sometimes shunned by their families, and 
HIV/AIDS-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 laws allow 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 could not join unions. 
Approximately 85 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. 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 modern 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. Women and children were 
trafficked for agricultural labor, commercial sexual exploitation, 
domestic servitude, animal husbandry, and work in gold mines and stone 
quarries.

    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, and mining sectors outside their own 
families for little or no pay. The minimum age for employment was 
inconsistent 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. An estimated 51 
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 means 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 ($1,237).
    The government organized workshops during the year, and in 
cooperation with donors, undertook sensitization programs to inform 
children and parents of the dangers of sending children away from home 
to work.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law mandates a minimum 
monthly wage of approximately 30,684 CFA francs ($63) 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 were responsible for overseeing 
occupational health and safety standards in the small industrial and 
commercial sectors, but these standards did not apply in subsistence 
agriculture and other informal sectors. The government's Labor 
Inspector Corps did not have sufficient resources to fulfill its duties 
adequately, and there were no reports of effective enforcement of 
inspection findings during the year. Every company with 10 or more 
employees was required to have a work safety committee. If the 
government's Labor Inspection Office declared a workplace unsafe for 
any reason, workers had the right to remove themselves without jeopardy 
to 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 8.3 million. In 2005, following local and parliamentary 
elections, the two houses of parliament indirectly elected as president 
Pierre Nkurunziza, a member of the National Council for the Defense of 
Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) political 
party. International observers reported that the elections, which ended 
a four-year transitional process under the Arusha Peace and 
Reconciliation Agreement, were generally free and fair. The CNDD-FDD 
party dominated parliament and the government, although other major 
parties, notably the Burundian Front for Democracy (FRODEBU) and the 
Union for National Progress (UPRONA) were also represented. In December 
2008 President Nkurunziza signed the Declaration on the Burundi Peace 
Process with the last active rebel group, PALIPEHUTU-National 
Liberation Forces(FNL), represented by leader Agathon Rwasa. This began 
the demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration of the FNL, which 
continued during the year. On April 18, Rwasa renounced armed struggle, 
and on April 21, after it dropped ``PALIPEHUTU'' (Party for the 
liberation of the Hutu People) from its name, the government registered 
the FNL as a political party. (The constitution prohibits ethnic 
references in political party names.) While civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of security forces, there were 
numerous instances when elements of the security forces acted 
independently.
    The government's human rights record remained poor. Government 
security forces continued to commit numerous serious human rights 
abuses, including killings and beatings of civilians and detainees with 
widespread impunity. Human rights problems also included vigilante 
abuse and personal score-settling; rape of women and girls; harsh, 
life-threatening prison and detention center conditions; prolonged 
pretrial detention and arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of judicial 
independence and efficiency, and judicial corruption; detention and 
imprisonment of political prisoners and political detainees; and 
restrictions on freedom of speech, assembly, and association, 
especially for political parties. Domestic and sexual violence and 
discrimination against women 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 UN Office of the 
High Commissioner for Human Rights in Burundi reported that security 
forces killed 19 civilians, compared with 57 in the previous year, 
based on data gathered through September. The UN noted, however, that 
it was reevaluating its monitoring mechanisms and may have missed some 
cases. Local media reported numerous cases in which security forces 
were known or strongly suspected to have killed civilians unlawfully.
    For example, on April 8, unknown perpetrators stabbed to death 
Ernest Manirumva, vice president and high-profile investigator of the 
local nongovernmental organization (NGO) Observatory for the Struggle 
against Economic Corruption and Embezzlement (OLUCOME). Manirumva was 
widely known to have embarrassed the government, particularly the 
security forces, by publishing a series of exposes on corrupt payroll 
and procurement practices. By year's end police had arrested nine 
suspects, including four policemen. In addition, authorities and local 
media reported that a Burundian citizen was arrested in Canada for his 
alleged links to the murder.
    On May 21, police opened fire on a group of boy scouts in Kayogoro, 
Makamba Province, killing one and injuring three. A police spokesperson 
initially claimed that the scouts had fired first, but later admitted 
this was not true. Four policemen were arrested. The local police 
commander, who initially fled the scene, later turned himself in. The 
communal administrator was also subsequently arrested in connection 
with the incident. At year's end all six suspects remained in prison 
awaiting trial.
    On October 13, three policemen beat a man to death in Kayanza Town, 
Kayanza Province. According to witnesses and the policemen who 
committed the crime, Kayanza Governor Sennel Nduwimana ordered the 
beating because the victim would not give the governor some land for 
free. At year's end the three policemen were in detention, the governor 
remained in his position, and the investigation was ongoing.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of security 
forces killing civilians in response to rebel attacks or for suspected 
collaboration with rebel forces. Since the December 2008 peace 
agreement with the FNL, there have been no military engagements between 
government forces and the FNL. Nonetheless, criminal activity linked to 
former rebels resulted in numerous killings and other serious abuses 
against the civilian population during the year. The local human rights 
organization Ligue Iteka claimed that authorities failed to investigate 
these incidents associated with former rebels or identify the killers.
    During the year there were some developments in connection with the 
following 2008 killings by security forces:
    The June 22 killing of two persons in Ruyigi Province as a result 
of a grenade thrown by a soldier resulted in the arrest of a soldier 
who was awaiting trial at year's end.
    The June 24 killing by a policeman of a civilian in a bar in Ngozi 
Province resulted in the arrest of a policeman who was awaiting trial 
at year's end.
    The September 25 death by grenade attack of the director general of 
sports and leisure at the Ministry of Sports, Youth, and Culture 
outside his home in Musaga resulted in the arrest of a woman who was 
later released for lack of evidence. There were no further developments 
by year's end.
    There were no further developments in connection with the following 
2008 killings by FNL rebels:
    The July 6 killing of the head of a family in Muhuta, Bujumbura 
Rural Province, and the July 8 looting and killing of livestock in 
Isale, Bujumbura Rural Province.
    Given the high numbers of arms circulating among the population and 
general lawlessness in many areas, a large number of killings could be 
attributed to vigilante abuse or the settling of personal scores. There 
were continuing reports of deaths and injuries caused by unidentified 
persons, some allegedly security force personnel, using grenades and 
mortars.
    On February 21, one man died when an unknown person threw a grenade 
into his home in Itaba, Gitega Province. It was rumored that the 
killing was linked to a land dispute. No arrests were made during the 
year.
    On September 9, one person was killed and six others seriously 
injured when unknown assailants lobbed a grenade into a cafe in 
Gihanga, Bubanza Province. No arrests were made during the year.
    On December 27, two persons were killed and 10 seriously wounded 
when an unknown assailant set off a grenade in Bujumbura's central 
market. Two individuals were detained by police, but no charges were 
filed and the investigation was ongoing at year's end.There were 
reports of killings, usually perpetrated by unknown persons, of 
individuals accused of sorcery.
    On March 20, unknown assailants killed a woman from Gisuru and a 
man from Butaganzwa, Ruyigi Province. Local residents suspected the 
woman's own family of the killings because members of her family had 
accused her of sorcery. No arrests were made during the year.
    On May 5, unidentified persons killed three elderly women accused 
of sorcery in Gishingano, Bujumbura Rural Province. Their families 
stated that the women were murdered in order to take their land. No 
arrests were made during the year.
    On May 6, a mob burnt alive a man accused of sorcery in Rumonge, 
Bururi Province. No arrests were made during the year.
    There was no further development in the July 2008 sorcery-related 
death by mutilation of a 14-year-old girl in Muyinga Province.
     The September 2008 killing and burning of four persons in Ruyigi 
Province resulted in the arrest of some suspects, but at year's end 
none had been tried for the crimes.
    Sporadic killings of persons with albinism, in which the victims' 
body parts were removed for use in witchcraft, continued. In contrast 
to the previous year, there were fewer such killings. This decline may 
be attributed to increased police protection for persons with albinism 
and more rigorous prosecution of the alleged killers.
    For example, on February 13, local authorities in Giteranyi 
Commune, Muyinga Province, reported that a group of unidentified men 
murdered and dismembered a 40-year-old woman with albinism. No suspect 
directly implicated in this case was arrested, although it is possible 
that the 11 individuals arrested for trafficking in body parts were 
responsible (see below).
    On February 24, the national police confirmed that a group of 
unidentified men in Kayanza Province killed and dismembered a six-year-
old boy with albinism. No suspect directly implicated in this case had 
been arrested (see below).
    On July 9, police discovered the corpse of one person with albinism 
in Nyabitsinda, Ruyigi Province. Police said that the victim was 
poisoned but the murderers did not take his body parts. No suspect 
directly implicated in this case had been arrested (see below).
    In September 2008 unidentified assailants in Ruyigi Province killed 
a girl with albinism and then cut off her hands and feet. Also in 
September 2008 in Ruyigi Province, unknown attackers killed and cut off 
the arms and legs of a man with albinism. In November 2008, also in 
Ruyigi Province, a six-year-old girl with albinism was killed and her 
head and limbs removed. Armed attackers broke into the family's home 
and tied up the girl's parents before shooting the girl in the head.
    From October 2008 to March 14, 2009, police arrested 11 persons in 
Karuzi and Ruyigi provinces under suspicion of murder, including 
murders in 2008 and early 2009, and trafficking in body parts. On July 
23, the High Court of Ruyigi Province sentenced one suspect to life 
imprisonment and three suspects to 15 years' imprisonment. Four other 
suspects received sentences ranging from one to seven years, while the 
remaining three suspects were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
    In a series of prison breaks on August 1-26, a total of 20 
prisoners, including an unconfirmed number of those serving sentences 
for killing persons with albinism, escaped from prison in Ruyigi 
Province. Tanzanian security forces recaptured six of the escapees who 
had crossed into Tanzania, including one of the convicted killers of 
persons with albinism; this man was later shot and killed when 
allegedly attempting to escape from Tanzanian security forces.
    Widespread public dissatisfaction with security forces' inability 
to control (and frequent complicity in) crime resulted in several cases 
of lethal mob action. On September 6, a mob of angry villagers in 
Muhindo, Ruyigi Province, stoned to death two police officers suspected 
of theft. At year's end no arrests had been made. While a police 
spokesperson did not explicitly condone the killings, he commended the 
mob for ``maintaining public order.''
    On September 18, a mob killed a man caught stealing in the Cibitoke 
neighborhood of Bujumbura. No arrests were made during the year.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no confirmed reports of politically 
motivated disappearances.
    Unlike the previous year, the NGO Association for the Protection of 
Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH) reported that no detainees 
were missing from detention facilities during the year. APRODH also 
clarified that the 64 detainees reported missing in the previous year 
were in fact ``phantom'' cases that resulted from counting alleged 
offenses instead of actual prisoners, many of whom were charged with 
several crimes.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
the UN, the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), and domestic 
NGOs Ligue Iteka and APRODH reported that members of the security 
forces often manhandled and beat civilians and detainees. Unlike in the 
previous year, domestic NGOs reported no confirmed incidents of 
torture. A new penal code specifically prohibiting torture took effect 
in April.
    On January 15, a crowd estimated at 100 persons surrounded the 
local police commander's compound in the Kamenge neighborhood of 
Bujumbura following reports that he beat an 80-year-old woman. Police 
dispersed the crowd. No action was taken against the commander.
    On June 17, a male police officer working in the Office of the 
President attacked a female police officer in Kibenga, Bujumbura, in an 
apparent dispute over office keys. The female officer sustained head 
injuries. The male officer had not been formally disciplined or 
arrested at year's end.
    On August 6, a police officer knocked a pregnant woman off an 
illegal bicycle taxi in Bujumbura, breaking two of her teeth. Two 
witnesses who reported the incident at police headquarters were 
themselves briefly detained. The police spokesperson refused comment, 
but two policemen were arrested in connection with the incident. 
Neither had been tried by year's end.
    A police commissioner accused of torturing a detainee in the 
Bubanza provincial jail in September 2008 remained in his position 
without any administrative sanctions.
    An allegedly drunken policeman arrested for firing into an unruly 
crowd in Bururi Province in 2007 was tried in July before the Bururi 
High Court. The case was still in deliberation at year's end.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that 
security forces maintained illegal detention and torture centers across 
the country. Several National Intelligence Service (SNR) facilities 
reportedly used in the past for torture held ``open houses'' attended 
by members of human rights organizations.
    On August 7, at Mutimbuzi in Muramvya Province, two armed men in 
military uniforms raped two 15-year-old girls. By year's end no 
suspects had been arrested.
    There were no further developments in the following rapes committed 
by security forces in 2008: the 36 rape cases recorded by the UN; the 
February 13 rape of a 16-year-old girl at a cantonment camp in Randa; 
the April 14 rape of a nine-year-old girl at a camp for displaced 
persons in Buhiga; and the July 1 rape of a woman in Busoni.
    According to the UN, unlike in the previous year, there were no 
known cases of children associated with armed groups at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and sometimes life threatening. Severe overcrowding persisted, 
and in June APRODH reported that 10,636 persons were held in 11 
facilities built to accommodate a total of 4,050. More than 6,700 of 
the prisoners had not been tried. According to government officials and 
human rights observers, prisoners suffered from digestive illnesses and 
malaria, and some died as a result of disease. Unlike in the previous 
year, APRODH reported no cases of torture among prisoners and 
detainees, but physical abuse and prolonged detentions remained 
problems. For example, 65 percent of prisoners were ``preventive 
detainees'' held without charge.
    Each prison had 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 primary 
provider of medicines. The government did not feed detainees in 
communal lockups. Detainees and prisoners not held in communal lockups 
received 450 grams of food per day from the government; families often 
had to supplement prisoner rations.
    Detention centers and communal lockups were severely overcrowded, 
and conditions were generally worse than prison conditions. APRODH 
stated there were numerous unofficial reports of prisoner abuse. Proper 
sanitation and medical care were limited or nonexistent. There were 400 
communal lockups where those arrested were supposed to be held for no 
longer than one week; in practice detainees were regularly kept in 
these facilities for much longer periods, ranging from a few weeks to 
several months.
    According to APRODH there were 548 children in prisons, including 
79 infants, some of whom were born in the prisons, accompanying their 
mothers. The mothers in prisons were both pretrial detainees and 
convicted offenders. In most prisons women were in the same facility as 
men but had an area for themselves. There was a small women-only jail 
in Kayanza Province. As of September 30, there were 205 women in 
prisons, according to the Penitentiary Administration.
    Juvenile prisoners were held with, and often treated as, adults.
    Political prisoners often were held with convicted criminals.
    Detainees awaiting trial were held in communal lockups, but some 
were also incarcerated with convicted prisoners. In detention centers 
and communal lockups, minors were not always separated from adult 
detainees.
    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.

    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 military (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 arrests and detains suspects. The 
Ministry of Defense oversees the FDN, and the Ministry of Public 
Security oversees the national police. The SNR is the national 
intelligence agency; it reports directly to the president. The SNR 
gathers intelligence on both domestic and international issues and has 
the authority to arrest and interrogate suspects.
    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 crimes committed by police, but punishment was rare. 
The United Nations Mission in Burundi (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.--The law 
requires arrest warrants in most cases, and presiding magistrates are 
authorized to issue them. Police and the FDN can make arrests without a 
warrant but are required to submit a written report to a magistrate 
within 48 hours. However, police rarely respected these provisions in 
practice and routinely violated a requirement that detainees be charged 
and appear in court within seven days of arrest. A magistrate can order 
the release of suspects or confirm the charges and continue detention, 
initially for seven days, then for seven more days as necessary to 
prepare the case for trial. Magistrates also ignored the seven-day 
requirement and detained suspects 10 days or longer. Police are 
authorized to release suspects on bail, but this provision was rarely 
exercised. Police regularly detained suspects for extended periods 
without announcing charges, certifying the detention before a judge, or 
advising the Ministry of Justice within 48 hours as required. 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 numerous credible sources reported that it occurred. 
Authorities on occasion denied family members prompt access to 
prisoners.
    Unlike in the previous year, security forces did not arbitrarily 
detain any journalists or labor union leaders for prolonged periods of 
time. Journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu and vice president of the 
Justice Ministry's administrative workers union Juvenal Rududura, both 
detained in September 2008, were released on March 19 and July 9 
respectively. Kavumbagu was cleared of the charge of insulting the 
president while Rududura remained on ``provisional release.'' He was 
monitored closely by authorities and not permitted to leave Bujumbura.
    Lengthy jail procedures, a large backlog of pending cases, judicial 
inefficiency, corruption, and financial constraints often caused trial 
delays. Irregularities in the detention of individuals, including 
holding them beyond the statutory limit, continued. Human rights NGOs 
and others lobbied the government unsuccessfully for the release of 
prisoners who were held for long periods of time without charge.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judiciary was not independent 
of the executive branch, was inefficient, and was hampered by 
corruption. Political interference seriously compromised the 
judiciary's impartiality.
    The judicial system consists of civil and criminal courts with the 
Supreme Court and Constitutional Court at the apex. In all cases 
involving constitutional matters, the Constitutional Court has the 
ultimate appellate authority, while the final authority in all other 
cases rests with the Supreme Court.
    The law provides for an independent military judicial system, which 
in practice was influenced by the executive and higher-ranking military 
officers. Courts of original jurisdiction for lower-ranking military 
offenders are called ``War Councils,'' and one exists in each of the 
five military districts. A Tribunal of Appeals hears appeals of War 
Council decisions and also has trial jurisdiction for mid-ranking 
military offenders. 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, is 
recognized by the community and presides over deliberations; no lawyers 
are involved. The opinion of a mushingantahe often is necessary before 
access is granted to the formal civil court system. The abashingantahe 
system is 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, 
which includes the right to question the prosecution's witnesses, call 
their own witnesses, and examine evidence against them. Defendants can 
also present evidence on their own behalf, which is what occurred in 
the majority of cases; few defendants had legal representation because 
few could afford the services of one of the 90 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 up 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, there were an estimated 30 political prisoners. This 
contrasts with the previous year, when several hundred PALIPEHUTU-FNL 
combatants were imprisoned for allegedly political reasons. Authorities 
released many former rebels as part of the demobilization process in 
the first half of the year; the remaining detainees were widely 
believed to be common criminals.
    In November 2008 journalist and political activist Alexis Sinduhije 
was arrested at the Bujumbura headquarters of his Movement for Security 
and Democracy (MSD), a political party not then registered by the 
government. Sinduhije was subsequently charged with insulting President 
Nkurunziza based on comments allegedly found in Sinduhije's personal 
papers. On March 12, the Bujumbura High Court cleared Sinduhije and 
released him.
    On May 25, an appeals court upheld the prison sentences of former 
CNDD-FDD party chairman Hussein Radjabu and his codetainees convicted 
of ``intent to disrupt national security through armed rebellion.'' 
Radjabu continued to run his Union for Democracy (UPD) political party 
from prison.
    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 rarely respected the law requiring search 
warrants. Sources in the media and civil society believed that security 
forces monitored telephone calls.

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 does 
not tolerate public criticism, particularly perceived insults to the 
president and other high-level public officials in the media or at 
public gatherings. Although legislation regulating political gatherings 
was repealed in November 2008, opposition meetings continued to be 
monitored and sometimes disrupted by the government.
    There were no reports that the government used direct censorship or 
forced media outlets to suspend operations. However, journalists 
continued to exercise self-censorship in the expectation that direct 
criticism of the president and other high-level government officials 
would not be tolerated.
    On July 19, the director of urban development in the Ministry of 
Public Works threatened Marc Niyonkuru, a Radio Isanganiro journalist, 
after Niyonkuru reported that an official vehicle of the Department of 
Urban Development was used for disseminating ruling CNDD-FDD party 
propaganda. The director admitted calling the journalist but denied 
threatening him.
    There were eight private weekly publications and 23 private 
Internet and fax-based news sheets. Print runs by independent 
publications were small, and readership was limited by low literacy 
levels. Newspaper circulation was generally limited to urban centers. 
Ownership of private newspapers was concentrated in the capital, but a 
wide range of political opinions were expressed. The government 
controlled several major media outlets, including Le Renouveau, the 
only daily newspaper, and the National Television of Burundi. There 
were two private television stations, including a station with 
primarily Muslim programming and strong ties to the CNDD-FDD.
    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, including a new station focused on 
broadcasting women-oriented development and human rights programs that 
opened on April 27 in Gitega Province. Since March 2008, CNDD-FDD has 
run a private, progovernment radio outlet, Rema FM, which is one of 
only two local radio stations on air 24 hours a day. CNDD-FDD owns 
another radio outlet based in the central town of Ngozi that broadcast 
to the northern and central provinces. Some private stations received 
funding from international donors. Listeners could receive 
transmissions of foreign news organizations such as the BBC and Voice 
of America.
    The law criminalizes certain actions committed by the media, such 
as defamation of political figures, 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.
    On August 28, the media regulatory body, the National 
Communications Council (CNC), whose members are nominated by the 
president, ruled against Eric Manirakiza, editing director of Africa 
Public Radio (RPA), in a defamation complaint filed by the minister of 
planning. The CNC stated that Manirakiza must repair the damage to the 
public persona of the minister caused by Manirakiza's July 25 report 
that described the minister's second marriage as illegal.
    At the same session, the CNC ruled that RPA's report on a border 
conflict between Rwanda and Burundi over the Sabanerwa region was 
dangerous and constituted a possible threat to national security. The 
CNC forwarded the case to the courts responsible for levying fines and 
penalties against news outlets. On September 10, the director of RPA 
brought a countersuit against the CNC seeking the repeal of its 
decisions. During a December 3-4 meeting between the media and CNC 
officials mediated by former Burundian president Sylvestre 
Ntibantunganya, the parties agreed that all pending lawsuits against 
the media should be discontinued. Ntibantunganya was designated to 
convey this decision to the judiciary. At year's end it appeared that 
the lawsuits would be dropped.
    Journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu, who was detained in September 
2008 for ``insulting'' the president, was released on March 19 (see 
section 1.d.).

    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 e-mail. 
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 at times restricted this right. An October 2008 
presidential decree required all political parties to obtain government 
permission to hold gatherings. After numerous protests by local 
political parties and international actors, the government rescinded 
the decree in November 2008 and required only that political parties 
notify local authorities before assembling.
    Despite the law's repeal, provincial governors and communal 
administrators disallowed and disrupted numerous meetings of opposition 
political parties that had properly notified authorities. During a June 
17 meeting with civil society, the minister of interior acknowledged 
that some local administrators illegally prevented opposition parties 
from holding meetings. The minister specifically condemned the Kanyosha 
Urbaine communal administrator in Bujumbura for suspending opposition 
party meetings.
    Local NGOs reported that the national police, SNR, Ministry of 
Interior, and the ruling party's youth league (the Imbonerakure) were 
involved in suppressing opposition parties. On June 9, the minister of 
interior made counterclaims that these parties were attempting to 
create insecurity. The UN and international and local human rights 
organizations repeatedly expressed concern that the government harassed 
opposition parties and limited civil society demonstrations.
    For example, on January 31, local authorities detained three UPD 
party members for several hours in Gitega commune, Gitega Province, for 
holding ``an illegal meeting.'' UPD officials reported that the party 
representatives had officially requested permission to hold the 
meeting.
    In February the communal administrator of Gitega reportedly banned 
the UPD party, but an UPD spokesperson announced in March that his 
party had reached an understanding with the administrator that would 
allow UPD to continue its activities.
    On August 2, Alexis Sinduhije, president of the MSD party, was put 
under house arrest in Ruyigi Province. On August 3, the Ruyigi public 
prosecutor brought a warrant to arrest Sinduhije for allegedly 
organizing an illegal meeting with members of his party on August 1. 
Sinduhije and his associates' house arrest ended the following day 
without any charges filed.
    On August 9, police and the communal administrator prevented the 
FNL from opening its party headquarters in Musaga, Bujumbura. The same 
day, FNL members were prevented from meeting at their party 
headquarters in Buhiga Commune, Karuzi Province. Such local government 
interference occurred repeatedly even though nonpublic meetings at 
party headquarters do not require government authorization.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association; however, the government sometimes restricted this right in 
practice. Registration was required for private organizations and 
political parties. Three new political parties successfully registered, 
including the FNL on April 21 and MSD on June 8. There were reports 
that the ruling CNDD-FDD party used the power of the incumbency to deny 
national identity cards, employment, access to social programs, and 
generally to harass individuals who were members of opposition parties.
    On January 5, a young man was beaten by local police in Kinama, 
Bujumbura, allegedly for supporting the FNL instead of belonging to the 
ruling CNDD-FDD party. No investigation or arrests took place during 
the year.
    On February 27, Frederick Misago was killed in Kamenge, Bujumbura. 
Misago had reportedly been dismissed from the SNR because he left the 
CNDD-FDD to join the FRODEBU party. No investigation or arrests took 
place during the year.
    On August 23, the head of UPD in Kayogoro Commune, Makamba 
Province, was jailed for refusing to put a CNDD-FDD flag in front of 
his house. Soon after, unknown individuals burned the livestock sheds 
at his and his mother's home. The UPD leader was released after two 
days, but no investigation or arrests in connection with the arson took 
place during the year.
    Private organizations were required to present their articles of 
association to the Ministry of Interior for approval. There were no 
reports that the government failed to complete the approval process for 
private organizations whose purposes the government opposed.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    The government required religious groups to register with the 
Ministry of Interior, which kept track of their leadership and 
activities. Registration was granted routinely. The government required 
religious groups to provide the address of its headquarters in the 
country.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal violence, harassment, or discrimination against members of 
religious groups, including interreligious or intrareligious incidents.
    The Jewish population was very small, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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; however, the government sometimes restricted these rights 
in practice. The government continued to restrict movement into and out 
of Bujumbura and other cities at night. Citizens' movements were 
restricted by government checkpoints and the threat of violence by 
armed bandits.
    The law does not provide for forced exile, and the government did 
not use this practice; however, many persons remained in self-imposed 
exile.
    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. During the year the UNHCR 
facilitated the voluntary repatriation of approximately 31,000 refugees 
who had previously fled to neighboring countries, primarily Tanzania, 
bringing the total of returned refugees to 505,251 since 2002. On 
September 15, the UNHCR reported that 50,000 refugees from Tanzania's 
Old Settlements had returned. The repatriates, who returned mostly to 
the southern and eastern provinces, often found their land occupied. 
Poor living conditions and a lack of food and shelter were problems for 
returnees although the UNHCR observed a positive trend since the second 
half of 2008, with fewer returnees requesting temporary shelter. At 
year's end 13 temporary accommodation centers had been built in the 
major areas of origin of the former 1972 refugees, primarily Rutana, 
Makamba, and Bururi provinces, in order to allow them to participate in 
the resolution of land conflicts affecting them. The Ministry 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. Five integrated villages with approximately 
700 houses had been established in the provinces of Ruyigi, Makamba, 
and Rutana since 2008.
    The UNHCR and the Government Project for the Reintegration of War-
Affected Persons (PARESI) assisted in the resettlement and 
reintegration of refugees and IDPs. During the year PARESI registered 
and helped to relocate 4,525 persons, including 3,000 repatriates (500 
of whom forcibly expelled) from Rwanda, and four persons expelled from 
Uganda; the remaining 1,521 were expelled from Tanzania. The National 
Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (ONPRA) in 
the Ministry of Interior formally took over all asylum-related tasks in 
March.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Despite improved security, an 
estimated 100,000 IDPs remained in 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. 
A July government survey of the populations living in displacement 
sites, in old peace villages, and in rural integrated villages stated 
that many displacement sites in the southern provinces closed while 
some sites and populations in Bubanza Province, Bujumbura Rural 
Province, and Bujumbura increased.
    In May the government forcibly closed the Tankoma and Bugendana IDP 
camps in Gitega Province. The Tankoma site was given to the ruling 
party to build its headquarters. The government intended to build a 
police officers' school at the site of the former Mitakataka IDP camp 
in Bubanza Province.
    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 August 2008.
    The government generally permitted IDPs to be included in UNHCR and 
other humanitarian activities benefiting returning refugees, such as 
shelter and legal assistance programs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. The laws provide for the government's 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 
30,000 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 all 
of its obligations to provide asylum and refugee protections and 
cooperated with international organizations involved in refugee issues.
    As of August 31, according to the UNHCR, there were approximately 
30,300 Congolese refugees and 380 Rwandan asylum seekers in the 
country. The majority of the Congolese were sheltered in four UNHCR-run 
refugee camps: Bwagiriza in Ruyigi Province, Gihinga in Mwaro Province, 
Gasorwe in Muyinga Province, and Musasa in Ngozi Province. The Rwandans 
were sheltered in Giharo camp in Rutana Province. The remaining 10,500 
refugees were integrated into urban centers. In early October the UNHCR 
closed the Gihinga camp, moving the Congolese refugees to the new 
Bwagiriza camp despite protests by the refugees that they feared for 
their security at Bwagiriza, which is in Ruyigi Province, bordering 
Tanzania. The predominantly Banyamulenge Congolese refugees are 
survivors of the massacre at Gatumba camp five years ago. They 
expressed fear that the proximity to Tanzania could facilitate a new, 
cross-border attack from Mai Mai militia elements in refugee camps in 
Tanzania.
    The national police organized several raids throughout the country 
in January and February to round up illegal immigrants during which 
more than 1,000 alleged ``irregular foreigners,'' including Congolese, 
Rwandans, Tanzanians, and Ugandans, were arrested. Over 700 alleged 
illegal immigrants were expelled, but confusion remained among national 
police about individuals' status as illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, 
or refugees. ONPRA and the UNHCR assisted the asylum seekers and 
refugees. The Rwandan government reportedly requested suspension of 
deportation proceedings of illegal Rwandan immigrants until a joint 
commission could discuss the appropriate way to conduct this process.
    In 2006 the government appointed a National Commission for Land and 
Other Goods (CNTB) to resolve land and property disputes, including 
those resulting from the return of an estimated 500,000 Burundian 
refugees since 2002, including some who had been in Tanzania since 
1972. In addressing land disputes, the government relied on a mixture 
of customary law and legislation, but few citizens were aware of their 
legal rights, and most remained too poor to afford legal 
representation. Although the CNTB's success was limited by jurisdiction 
problems, the UNHCR reported in December that the CNTB had resolved 
13,921 claims, more than half of which were in provinces with a high 
number of repatriates.
    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. For example, the CNTB and the 
Rumonge communal administrator agreed there was an increasing problem 
of violence between returnees and local communities after two persons 
were wounded in an August 5 land dispute.

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 generally free and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2005, through an 
indirect ballot, citizens chose their first democratically elected 
president in more than 12 years, marking the end of the four-year 
transition under the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement. The 
legislature elected sole candidate Pierre Nkurunziza of the CNDD-FDD; 
he was sworn in as president in August 2005.
    President Nkurunziza's election followed communal and legislative 
elections earlier the same year, which independent electoral observers 
judged to be generally free and fair, although the campaign prior to 
the national assembly elections was tense and significantly marred by 
violence and intimidation.
    The ruling CNDD-FDD party dominated the government. Opposition 
parties experienced interference and were subjected to political 
violence (see section 2).
    By year's end no one had been tried in the March 2008 grenade 
attacks on four politicians' homes.
    There were reports that at times persons in authority required 
membership in the CNDD-FDD was required to obtain education, 
employment, and health care benefits. For example, the director of 
Marangara High School, Ngozi Province, threatened students who were 
members of opposition parties, telling them that there would be 
consequences for any students not in ``his party'' (CNDD-FDD).
    Multiple sources indicated that CNDD-FDD's youth wing, the 
Imbonerakure, was allowed to commit abuses, such as threatening and 
assaulting opposition party members, with impunity, due to its 
affiliation with the ruling party.
    HRW reported that in February Imbonerakure members in Bugabira 
Commune, Kirundo Province, forcibly interrupted UPRONA and UPD meetings 
and dispersed attendees.
    The constitution reserves 30 percent of National Assembly, Senate, 
and ministerial positions for women. There were 36 women in the 118-
seat National Assembly and 16 women in the 49-seat Senate; women held 
seven of 24 ministerial seats. There were seven women on the 18-seat 
Supreme Court, including the chief justice, and two women on the seven-
seat Constitutional Court, including the chief justice and deputy chief 
justice.
    The law imposes ethnic quotas, requiring that 60 percent of the 
seats in the National Assembly 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 the Senate. 
Additionally, military positions were divided equally between Hutus and 
Tutsis. The government fulfilled this mandate.

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 reflected that corruption was a 
severe problem. In July OLUCOME estimated the state had lost 276 
billion Burundian francs ($230 million) to corruption and embezzlement 
since 2000, including 37.6 billion Burundian francs ($31 million) in 
the first six months of the year.
    There were indications that certain government entities cracked 
down on corruption, while others protected the guilty and promoted the 
culture of impunity. For example, customs officials at the border 
reportedly required a bribe of $2,000-$4,000 for permitting a truck 
with a container to pass through.
    On January 15, 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. On January 19, the Anti-Corruption Court 
sentenced Ministry of Finance spokesperson Donatien Bwabo to 10 years 
in prison for authorizing payment to a fictitious garage. Both men 
appealed and at year's end both remained free and in their high-level 
positions.
    In August 2008 a parliamentary commission established to 
investigate irregularities in the 2006 sale of the government-owned 
presidential jet identified several high-level leaders in the ruling 
party and president's office as complicit in the sale. In August the 
speaker of the National Assembly, who is a member of the ruling party, 
canceled the report's release and a debate scheduled to take place on 
the issue in the National Assembly.
    There were no further developments in the case of former central 
bank governor Isaac Bizimana, who has been in jail since August 2007 
for illegal transfer of government funds to a private company, 
Interpetrol.
    The law requires financial disclosure by government officials, but 
it was not implemented in practice.
    The minister of good governance, a Special Anti-Corruption Brigade, 
and the state inspector general are all responsible for combating 
government corruption. The brigade has the authority to act on its own 
initiative to identify offenders and refer them to the general 
prosecutor for anticorruption. From January to August, the brigade 
investigated 56 cases and recovered 55.6 million Burundian francs 
($45,950).
    The law does not provide for access to government information, and 
in practice information was difficult to obtain. The law does not allow 
the media to 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. Human rights observers generally were 
allowed to visit government facilities such as military bases and 
prisons run by the SNR. Government officials were somewhat cooperative 
and responsive to their views. 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 government harassment, 
indigenous NGOs were more susceptible to pressure from authorities. On 
August 4, the minister of interior accused domestic NGOs of being part 
of the political opposition.
    In July a Ligue Iteka observer and a RPA journalist were charged 
with defamation after criticizing corruption in the local public 
prosecutor's office in Ruyigi Province. The CNC later agreed to drop 
all pending legal action against journalists (see section 2. a.).
    There were no further developments in the 2008 case of Ligue Iteka 
members forced to testify in a case brought against RPA by a high-
ranking member of the president's office.
    Although several international NGOs expressed frustration at the 
formidable bureaucratic hurdles they faced when registering with 
government offices, governmental attitudes toward international human 
rights and humanitarian NGOs remained generally favorable.
    The government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations such as the ICRC.
    In April the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights 
in Burundi reported increasing trends to restrict freedom of expression 
and freedom of association. He urged authorities to launch an inquiry 
into the April 8 murder of Ernest Manirumva (see section 1.a.), stating 
``his death is yet another proof that the right to freedom of 
expression is under attack in Burundi and that those who choose to 
exercise it freely are in danger.'' In 2008 the expert mission's 
mandate was renewed, to continue until a National Human Rights 
Commission had been established.
    There was no human rights ombudsman.
    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 committees did not 
issue reports or recommendations on human rights and did not have any 
impact on human rights problems. The committees were dominated by the 
ruling CNDD-FDD and were not independent of government or party 
influence.
    National consultations on the creation of a Truth and 
Reconciliation Commission, originally scheduled to begin in October 
2008, commenced on July 13, and continued to the end of the year. A 
steering committee of government, UN, and civil society representatives 
managed the ``Popular Consultations on Transitional Justice'' to gauge 
the population's perspective on how the Truth and Reconciliation 
Committee and tribunal should function.
    In August 2008 the government of Rwanda accused 670 Burundian 
nationals of having been participants in Rwanda's 1994 genocide; 
however, by year's end the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda 
had not summoned any Burundians.

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. The 2009 revised penal code better defines rape as 
a crime and prescribes more severe punishments in aggravating 
circumstances such as young victims or HIV positive rapists. It also 
prohibits domestic rape, but prescribes only a punishment of fines and 
eight days' imprisonment. The government did not enforce rape laws 
effectively.
    During the year there was a high incidence of rape and other sexual 
violence against women and girls.
    A local NGO, the Association for the Defense of Women's Rights 
(ADDF), received reports of 3,019 cases of rape and domestic violence 
during the first half of the year. Centre Seruka is a local NGO 
equipped in part by Medecins Sans Frontieres de Belgique (MSF-Belgium) 
and funded by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund, 
and the UN Development Fund for Women. The Centre reported receiving an 
average of 131 victims each month at its center for rape victims in 
Bujumbura. MSF said the number of rape victims in the general 
population was likely much higher.
    The UN and local women's organizations reported a decrease in 
incidents of rape by members of the FDN.
    Many women were reluctant to report rape for cultural reasons, fear 
of reprisal, and unavailability of medical care. Men often abandoned 
their wives following acts of rape, and women and girls were 
ostracized. Some police and magistrates reportedly ridiculed and 
humiliated women who said they were raped and required that victims 
provide food for and pay the costs of incarceration of those they 
accused of rape. According to a March report by MSF, many of those who 
sought judicial redress faced an unresponsive judicial system; courts 
often refused to act on cases without witnesses. Some victims were 
reportedly required to pay 15,000 Burundian francs ($12.50), 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. In the limited number of cases 
that were investigated, successful prosecutions of rapists were rare.
    Despite increased attention to the problem, many women did not have 
access to appropriate health care in the immediate aftermath of a rape 
due to lack of adequate resources. The continuing stigma attached to 
victims of sexual violence and a fear of coming forward prevented many 
victims from accessing these limited services. 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, APRODH, ADDF, and BINUB continued to encourage rape victims to 
press charges and seek medical care, and international NGOs provided 
free medical care in certain areas. The government also raised 
awareness of the problem through seminars and local initiatives 
describing the kinds of medical care available.
    The penal code, as revised during the year, prohibits domestic 
abuse of a spouse or child, with punishment ranging from fines to 
three-to-five years' imprisonment. In January the UN Committee on the 
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women expressed 
concern over domestic and sexual violence in the country. Domestic 
violence against women was common, although no statistics were 
available. Local NGOs in the southern provinces reported men beating 
and killing their partners to marry younger women. Many victims did not 
report crimes of domestic violence, fearing retaliation 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. Wives have the right to charge 
their husbands with physical abuse but rarely did so. The government 
held police training on domestic and gender-based violence.
    The media reported many instances of degrading and violent 
treatment of women by their husbands. Incidents included severe 
beating, mutilation, and murder. For example, on January 6, residents 
of Cibitoke Province discovered a woman who had been severely burned 
with hot water and left for dead by her husband the week before. 
Hospitals in Bujumbura initially refused to provide medical treatment 
to the badly injured woman because of the stench from her infected 
wounds. Local police later arrested her husband. At year's end he 
remained in detention awaiting trial.
    On September 12, a man in Makamba Province killed his wife with a 
machete. Police later detained him. At year's end he was in detention 
awaiting trial.
    The suspect in the October 2008 case in Cankuzo Province who burned 
his wife's genitals remained in detention at year's end.
    The law prohibits prostitution, and organized prostitution does not 
exist to any significant degree; however, there were private brothels 
in urban areas, and women engaged in prostitution independently in 
high-traffic and tourist areas around Lake Tanganyika. While police did 
not aggressively attempt to curb prostitution, there was no reliable 
evidence that they participated in or profited from the sex trade.
    The revised penal code 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. 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 
Burundian Association for Family Wellbeing, a local NGO focused on 
maternal health and family planning, only 11.4 percent of Burundians 
used these measures. The government provided free childbirth services, 
but 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. 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.
    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-level or high-level positions in the workforce. However, there 
were many female-owned businesses, particularly in Bujumbura.
    Several local groups worked to support women's rights, including 
the Collective of Women's Organizations and NGOs of Burundi, and Women 
United for Development.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from the nationality of the 
father and not by birth within the country. In February UNICEF 
organized a series of meetings with local and provincial authorities to 
clarify issues relating to cross-border movements and the rights of 
children born to mixed-nationality couples.
    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. In August 2008 the 
government announced that it would register without charge the births 
of all children up to the age of five. Unmarried women and victims of 
rape traditionally have been less likely to register the birth of a 
child.
    Schooling is compulsory up to age 12; primary school was the 
highest level of education attained by most children. The government's 
2005 declaration of free primary education substantially increased net 
enrollment rates, which reached 79 percent in the 2007-08 school year, 
a 20 percent increase over the 2004-05 session. The government claimed 
a 90 percent enrollment rate for 2008-09. Female illiteracy remained a 
particular problem.
    Rape of minors was a widespread problem, but other child abuse was 
not reported to be widespread. According to the BINUB, approximately 65 
percent of reported rapes were of children aged 17 years and under. The 
penalty for rape of a minor can be anywhere from 10 to 30 years. The 
minimum age for consensual sex was 18.
    During the year Centre Seruka reported that 15 percent of the 
sexual violence cases it handled concerned children less than five 
years of age. 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, while only six individuals were adults 
between the ages of 20-25. Local NGOs reported providing services to 
secondary school students who were coerced to perform sexual acts or 
raped by schoolteachers.
    The 2009 revised penal code prohibits child abuse and includes a 
provision protecting children who are still breast-feeding. A father 
who takes a breast-feeding child from his mother without her consent 
can be charged with a felony offense.
    According to 2008 statistics from the Ministry of Human Rights and 
Gender, there were approximately 5,000 street children in the country, 
many of them HIV/AIDS orphans; however, the government was unable to 
provide them with adequate medical and economic support and relied on 
NGOs to provide such basic services.
    Increasingly children engaged in prostitution for survival; 
however, it was not considered widespread. The 2009 revised penal code 
prohibits child prostitution; penalties include fines and from five to 
10 years' imprisonment. The law also prohibits child pornography, which 
may be punished by fines and three to five years' imprisonment.
    The government and former rebel forces claimed they no longer 
recruited anyone less than 18 years of age. From April to June 8, the 
FNL demobilized approximately 380 minor children associated with its 
rebel movement. According to the UN, there were no known cases of 
children associated with armed groups at year's end.
    Revisions to the penal code during the year changed the age of 
criminal responsibility from 13 to 15 years old, stating that minors 
less than 15 years old could not be held criminally responsible. For 
minors between the ages of 15 and 18, the new penal code includes 
provisions for counseling, supervision, judicial surveillance, and 
foster home or social shelter placement.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The 2009 revised penal code prohibits 
trafficking in persons and prescribes penalties of five to 10 years' 
imprisonment for anyone convicted of trafficking a third person with or 
without financial gain. Traffickers could also be prosecuted under 
existing laws against kidnapping, rape, prostitution, and slavery. 
Despite these changes in the law, the issue and scope of trafficking 
was not widely understood by members of the government or the national 
police.
    The Ministry of Human Rights and Gender, in cooperation with the 
Ministries of Justice and Interior, is the lead agency on trafficking. 
In 2005 the government created a department within the National Police, 
the Brigade for the Protection of Minors, to protect children against 
sexual exploitation. The brigade sought to protect children against 
forced prostitution and helped some improve their living conditions.
    Since its inception the brigade has conducted 10 successful 
prosecutions of individuals found to be abusing women and children 
through forced prostitution. The brigade began four additional 
prosecutions during the year, but at year's end there were no 
convictions.
    There was no credible evidence that government officials 
participated in, facilitated, or condoned trafficking.
    Internal trafficking of children for the purposes of forced labor, 
particularly for household labor, was a problem. Children, especially 
secondary school students, were the targeted population.
    There were no reliable reports of widespread, organized sex tourism 
or sex trafficking. Most sex tourists and sex traffickers were 
reportedly from the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Tanzania. Sex 
traffickers trafficked secondary school students for prostitution into 
neighboring countries. The brigade also reported that a small number of 
children were reportedly taken from the country to Uganda, Rwanda, and 
the Democratic Republic of Congo and returned home after two months.
    There were no arrests of alleged traffickers.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities, 
and there were no reports that the government failed to enforce this 
provision regarding employment, education, or access to healthcare. 
However, the government had not enacted legislation or otherwise 
mandated access to buildings or government services, for persons with 
disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Discrimination against Hutus, 
who constitute an estimated 85 percent of the population, occurred less 
frequently during the year. The constitution requires ethnic quotas for 
representation within the government and in the military. Hutus 
significantly increased their presence and power in the government 
following the 2005 elections. During the year significant improvements 
were made in integration of primarily Hutu former combatants into the 
security forces.
    The minority Tutsis, particularly southern Tutsis from Bururi 
Province, historically have held power and continued to dominate the 
economy.

    Indigenous People.--The Batwa, believed to be the country's 
earliest inhabitants, represent less than 1 percent of the population 
and generally remained economically, socially, and politically 
marginalized. However, the government has instituted several measures 
to address the Batwa's traditional isolation. Local administrations 
must provide free school books and health care for all Batwa children. 
The government also provides small acreages, when possible, for Batwa 
who wish to become farmers and allocates them approximately two acres 
of land per family, the average sized farmstead of the country's rural 
poor.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Despite opposition by local 
and international human rights organizations, the revisions to the 
penal code enacted during the year included a provision that 
criminalizes homosexual acts. Anyone who has sexual relations with a 
person of the same sex can be sentenced to three months up to two 
years' imprisonment and/or fined. At year's end no one had been 
prosecuted under this provision.
    In early September the government registered a self-described 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights organization. In 
order to register, the organization was informally advised by Ministry 
of Interior sources to change its name from the ``Association for the 
Respect and Rights of Homosexuals'' to the Kirundi word ``Humure,'' 
meaning ``do not be afraid.''
    The size of the LGBT community was unclear, as many individuals 
feared identifying themselves as LGBT because it was not culturally 
acceptable. A study in Bujumbura released on August 15 found 180 males 
who self-identified as gay men.
    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. Humure reported that 90 
percent of the men who engaged in male-to-male sex were married. 
Representatives of the LGBT community stated that after the 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 
homosexuals.
    On July 1, a young man was arrested for allegedly committing sexual 
violence against a club patron in Bujumbura. The police later stated 
the man was arrested for being gay but offered to release the suspect 
in exchange for money. Advocacy by human rights NGOs and the LGBT 
community helped secure his release from police custody.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The constitution 
specifically outlaws discrimination against those 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.
    There were persons with albinism who were victims of violence 
during the year, and discrimination against such persons occurred. 
Fathers sometimes sent away women who gave birth to children with 
albinism. The local NGO Albinos Without Borders (ASF) assisted in four 
cases of mother and child abandonment due to albinism since 2008. 
Health issues involving eyesight or prolonged sun exposure often 
affected the ability of persons with albinism to participate fully in 
school or the workforce. ASF reported that efforts to educate the 
population about the issues affecting persons with albinism have helped 
to improve the situation.
    There was a series of killings of persons with albinism in 2008 and 
sporadic killings continued during the year (see section 1.a.).

    Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--On March 6, a demonstration 
with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 participants took place in Bujumbura 
in support of the law criminalizing homosexuality. The march was 
sponsored by the ruling party, CNDD-FDD. Participants in the 
antihomosexual demonstration wore CNDD-FDD T-shirts and sang party 
anthems. Buses were hired to bring large numbers to the march, 
including school-aged children; schools were closed for the event.

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. However, although most workers 
exercised this right in practice, the armed forces, state employees, 
magistrates, and foreigners working in the public sector were 
prohibited from union participation. The law prevents workers under the 
age of 18 from joining unions without the consent of their parents or 
guardians. According to the Confederation of Burundian Labor Unions 
(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. Ligue Iteka reported 
widespread discriminatory hiring practices for government jobs based on 
applicants' political affiliations, despite a law prohibiting such 
practices.
    According to COSYBU less than 10 percent of the formal private 
sector workforce was unionized, while an estimated 50 percent of the 
public sector was unionized. Most citizens worked in the unregulated 
informal economy, in which there was little or no legal protection of 
labor rights. 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 
Labor. Before a strike can occur, the ministry must determine whether 
strike conditions have been met, which essentially gives it the power 
to veto all strikes, according to the International Trade Union 
Confederation (ITUC).
    The labor code prohibits retribution against workers participating 
in a legal strike, but labor leaders continued to suffer abuse. Several 
leaders of the doctors' and nurses' unions who organized a series of 
strikes between February and May reported receiving death threats. Four 
committee members of the state-owned Moso Sugar Company's labor union 
were dismissed for organizing a peaceful strike in April 2008 and had 
not been reinstated by year's end.

    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; however, wages are excluded 
from the scope of collective bargaining in the public sector and 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 Civil Service. 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. During the 
year there were numerous instances of the government intimidating, 
imprisoning, or illegally transferring union workers. For example, the 
leader of the state penitentiary workers' union, who was 
administratively transferred in April 2008 to another work site for 
criticizing sharp increases in management salaries, was permitted to 
remain at her original post following an outcry from local NGOs. 
However, she was reportedly ostracized by her employers and no longer 
had any responsibilities.
    According to the ITUC, the government often failed to protect 
workers in the private sector from discrimination by employers.
    In September 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 ``provisionally released'' on July 9. However, his movements were 
restricted; he was not permitted to leave the country, and his 
activities were closely monitored by the government.
    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 
continued to be reports that it occurred. Most of these reports 
concerned cases of domestic servitude or work by children in fishing 
and subsistence agriculture, primarily bananas, cassava, maize, and 
beans (see section 6).

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code states that enterprises may not employ children under the 
age of 18, except for exceptions permitted by the Ministry of Labor. 
These include light work or apprenticeships that do not damage 
children's health, interfere with their normal development, or 
prejudice their schooling. However, the government did not effectively 
enforce these laws, and child labor remained a problem. Additionally, 
the legal age for most types of ``non-dangerous'' labor is 18. The code 
also permits children aged 12 and up to be employed in ``light labor,'' 
such as selling newspapers, herding cattle, or preparing food. However, 
children less than age 16 in rural areas regularly performed heavy 
manual labor in the daytime during the school year. 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 sector. Most of the population lived by 
subsistence agriculture, and children were obliged by custom and 
economic necessity to participate in subsistence agriculture, family-
based enterprises, and other informal sector activity. Child labor also 
existed in brick making enterprises.
    There continued to be reports of children performing household 
domestic labor. Local media in Rumonge, Bururi Province, reported young 
children working 12-hour days in the informal fishing sector. 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 but 
had conducted no child labor investigations. In conjunction with UNICEF 
and NGOs, the government provided training for ministry of labor 
officials in enforcing child labor laws.
    During the year the government supported international 
organizations, several NGOs, and labor unions engaged in efforts to 
combat child labor; efforts included care and training of demobilized 
child soldiers. UNICEF assisted the Ministry of Labor to implement a 
public education program to counter child labor and the abuse of former 
child soldiers.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Although the cost of living rose 
significantly during the year, the legal minimum wage for unskilled 
workers continued to be 160 Burundian francs ($0.13) per day. While 
some employers voluntarily paid their unskilled laborers a minimum of 
1,500 Burundian francs ($1.25) 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. There is no statute concerning 
compulsory overtime, opportunities for which generally do not exist. 
Rest periods include 30 minutes for lunch. There are no exceptions 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 Democratic Republic 
of Congo, 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 18 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 or to rule 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 election results represented the will of 
the voters. The 2007 legislative and municipal elections had 
significant deficiencies in the electoral process, including barriers 
to registration and inadequate safeguards against fraudulent voting, 
according to international and domestic observers. Although civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security 
forces, security forces sometimes acted independently of government 
authority.
    Human rights abuses included security force torture, beatings, and 
other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners. Prison 
conditions were harsh and life threatening. Authorities arbitrarily 
arrested and detained citizens advocating secession, local human rights 
monitors and activists, persons not carrying government-issued identity 
cards, and other citizens. There were incidents of prolonged and 
sometimes incommunicado pretrial detention and infringement on privacy 
rights. The government restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, 
and association, and harassed journalists. The government also impeded 
freedom of movement. Other problems included widespread official 
corruption; societal violence and discrimination against women; female 
genital mutilation (FGM); trafficking in persons, primarily children; 
and discrimination against indigenous people, including pygmies, and 
homosexuals. 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.--There were no 
reports that the government or its agents committed politically 
motivated killings; however, there were reports that security forces 
committed unlawful killings. There were also some incidents of officers 
using excessive force; however, the government rarely prosecuted the 
officers responsible.
    On October 28, Captain Jean Pierre Kagombe, a commander in the 
Upper Plateaux Division, West Region, shot and killed Jean Baptiste 
Kamgaing, a craftsman, following an identity check. According to press 
reports, Kagombe and Kamgaing were drinking together at a bar. Kamgaing 
left first. Shortly afterward, Kagombe and a gendarmerie patrol came 
across Kamgaing and requested his identification papers. Astounded by 
the request, Kamgaing told Kagombe that they had just been in the bar 
together; Kagombe, who was drunk, pulled his gun and killed Kamgaing. 
According to the police administration, however, Kamgaing refused to 
abide by the law and tried to run away. When caught, he tried to seize 
the captain's gun and was shot accidentally. An investigation was 
underway at year's end.
    On November 15, Olivier Villot Ehongo, a second grade police 
officer and second deputy to the public security commissioner of Bafia, 
Mbam, and Inoubou Division, Center Region, shot and killed his wife 
Martine Virginie Ehongo, a magistrate and assistant to the Bafia 
prosecutor, following a dispute linked to jealousy. On December 1, the 
Delegate General for National Security (DGSN) suspended Ehongo for 
three months, pending disciplinary and legal actions. Ehongo eluded 
capture following the incident and was still wanted by police at year's 
end.
    The government took no action regarding security force killings 
during the February 2008 riots, which spread to 31 localities including 
Yaounde and Douala, and the subsequent government crackdown. While the 
government reported 40 persons killed, nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) such as La Maison des Droits de l'Homme, stated that security 
forces killed over 100 persons (see section 2.b.).
    Unlike in 2008, there were no reports of prisoner deaths related to 
security force abuse during the year.
    On July 16, the Mfoundi High Court in Yaounde postponed 
indefinitely the trial of defendants charged with 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. The decision followed three previous 
postponements by the court during hearings held on March 5, March 26, 
May 28, and June 11.
    During the year societal violence and summary justice against 
persons suspected of theft continued to result in deaths. These acts of 
mob violence were seldom prosecuted by the government. For example, the 
press reported 18 deaths from mob violence, including beatings and 
burnings, an increase from the 13 deaths reported in 2008.
    In early May citizens in Douala beat and killed a thief attempting 
to break into a house. No arrests took place after the attack.
    On August 19, the citizens in the Kamkop II neighborhood of 
Bafoussam burned a thief to death for the alleged theft of a rooster. 
Again, there were no arrests or charges against the perpetrators.
    Mob violence was largely due to public frustration over police 
ineffectiveness and the release without charge of many individuals 
arrested for serious crimes.

    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. The 
government rarely investigated or punished any of the officials 
involved.
    There were reports that security forces detained persons at 
specific sites where they tortured and beat detainees. Security forces 
also reportedly subjected women, children, and elderly persons to 
abuse.
    On January 22, newly recruited soldiers beat approximately two 
dozen residents of Nsoh (Bafut), in the North West Region after an 
altercation between the soldiers and a taxi driver. The divisional 
officer promised that the authorities would take action, but an 
investigation was still pending at year's end.
    On September 17, Douala police officers beat and tore the shirt off 
of Freddy Nkoue, a cameraman working for Canal 2 International, a 
Douala-based private television channel. The incident occurred outside 
the Douala court, where the cameraman was covering the trial of two 
opposing Union of the Peoples of Cameroon factions. The International 
Federation of Journalists denounced the ``aggression.'' However, Nkoue 
did not file charges.
    In a March 2008 interview Joseph Lavoisier Tsapy, a lawyer in the 
West Region and a member of the Liberty and Human Rights League, 
described the treatment that security forces inflicted on individuals 
arrested during the February 2008 riots. He stated that security forces 
repeatedly stripped, beat, and dumped detainees into ashes from burned 
tires and broken glass, resulting in numerous injuries (see section 
2.b.). At year's end the Liberty and Human Rights League and other 
human rights organizations, in association with the parents and 
families of the victims, were still compiling information for a formal 
complaint, in part due to difficulty in identifying the perpetrators.
    No action was taken against security force officials responsible 
for the beating of Bernard Songo, a student from the University of 
Douala arrested during the 2008 riots, who reported that police 
officers severely beat him and two co-detainees in the judicial police 
precinct cells. Journalists covering the trial reported that evidence 
of the beatings was visible on the victims' bodies.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and life threatening. Prisons were seriously overcrowded and 
unsanitary. In 2008 the National Commission on Human Rights and 
Freedoms (NCHRF) reported that the daily food ration per prisoner was 
less than 100 CFA francs ($0.21). Deficiencies in health care and 
sanitation, which were common in all prisons, remained a serious issue.
    During a May visit to Douala's New Bell Prison some detainees 
claimed prison authorities brutalized them. In addition, guards and 
local NGOs reported inmates raping each other.
    Numerous international human rights organizations and some prison 
personnel reported that torture was widespread, but most reports did 
not identify the victims for fear of government retaliation or because 
of ignorance of, or lack of confidence in, the judicial system.
    In New Bell Prison and other nonmaximum security penal detention 
centers, prison guards inflicted beatings, and prisoners were 
reportedly chained or at times flogged in their cells. For example, in 
May, during a visit to the New Bell Prison, foreign government 
officials found that disobedient and violent prisoners were chained in 
a tiny disciplinary cell.
    Allegations were also made that authorities administered beatings 
in temporary holding cells within police or gendarme facilities.
    Security forces reportedly subjected prisoners and detainees to 
degrading treatment, including stripping them, confining them in 
severely overcrowded cells, denying them access to toilets or other 
sanitation facilities, and beating them to extract confessions or 
information about alleged criminals. Pretrial detainees reported that 
prison guards sometimes required them, under threat of abuse, to pay 
``cell fees,'' a bribe paid to prison guards to prevent further abuse.
    In addition, during a February 2008 visit to the Yaounde Kondengui 
Central Prison, Divine Chemuta Banda, the Chairman of the NCHRF learned 
that many of the SDF militants incarcerated in 2006 in connection with 
the death of Gregoire Diboule had been treated inhumanely and denied 
medical care. The NCHRF referred the matter to authorities, who agreed 
to address the issue.
    During the year the government purchased four trucks for the 
Yaounde and Douala prisons. In its 2008 human rights report released in 
October, the Ministry of Justice stated that the government began 
construction of four prisons in Bangem, South West Region, Ntui and 
Ngoumou, Center Region, and Bengbis, South Region. The government 
refurbished or renovated 12 old prisons in seven regions including the 
central prisons of Ngaoundere, Garoua, and Maroua in the three northern 
regions. The government also completed construction of the nursery in 
the Yaounde Kondengui Central Prison.
    Prisoners were kept in dilapidated, colonial-era prisons, where the 
number of inmates was as much as four to five times the intended 
capacity. Overcrowding was exacerbated by the large number of long 
pretrial detentions. Some NGOs released a report claiming that cells 
meant for 30 or 40 persons held more than 100 detainees. The NCHRF 
reported that in 2008, the government held 23,000 inmates in detention 
facilities originally built for 16,000 detainees. At year's end the 
Ministry of Justice reported that the government held 24,000 inmates in 
detention. Douala's New Bell Prison, built for 800 inmates, housed 
2,813 inmates. The Buea prison, built for 200 inmates, held 420 
detainees, and the Kumba prison, built for 200 inmates, held 481 
persons.
    In September the media covered a report from the nurse of the 
Maroua Central Prison in the Far North Region denouncing the dramatic 
overcrowding of the Maroua Central Prison, which was originally built 
for 350 inmates and held more than 1,000 detainees.
    The Yaounde Kondengui Prison, originally built for an approximately 
700 inmates, held 3,500 prisoners in September 2008, according to a 
statement by its administrator. In October 2008 penitentiary 
authorities in Bamenda publicly stated that 700 detainees occupied a 
prison initially intended to hold less than 50 prisoners.
    Prisoners' families were expected to provide food for their 
relatives in prison. New Bell Prison contained seven water taps for 
approximately 2,813 prisoners, contributing to poor hygiene, illness, 
and death.
    Health and medical care were almost nonexistent in prisons and 
detention cells located in gendarmeries and police stations. There were 
reports that prisoners died due to a lack of medical care. In September 
a nurse from the Maroua Central Prison submitted a report to the prime 
minister that 40 prisoners died as a result of inadequate medical care 
and nutrition. In response, the government completed the renovation of 
the prison and increased the food budgets.
    Unlike in the previous year, no prisoners died as a result of 
inmate abuse. In 2008 prisoners in the New Bell Prison tried to lynch 
Ahmend Aliou, who subsequently died in his cell because prison wardens 
did not provide medical assistance. No action had been taken against 
prison officials by year's end. In a 2008 report, the Action of 
Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT), an NGO that regularly 
visits prisoners, characterized New Bell Prison as ``hell on earth.''
    Individuals incarcerated in the New Bell Prison for homosexual acts 
suffered discrimination and violence from other inmates.
    Corruption among prison personnel was widespread. Prisoners bribed 
wardens for special favors or treatment, including temporary freedom.
    There were two separate prisons for women. There were also 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, while their children were very young or if they had no other 
child care option. The secretary of state in charge of penitentiary 
administration acknowledged this was a serious problem and in September 
2008 at a training session on detainee rights said that, ``Cameroonian 
prisons should no longer be perceived or managed as places of 
repression, torture, or various other abuses.''
    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. For example, 
during a visit by foreign government officials to New Bell Prison, a 
juvenile asked to go to the area with adults. The warden reminded him 
that adults abuse juveniles in that area.
    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.
    Authorities held adult men, juveniles, and women together in 
temporary detention centers, where detainees usually received no food, 
water, or medical care. 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. Detainees, whose families were informed of their incarceration, 
relied on their relatives for food and medical care.
    In the North and Extreme North regions the government continued to 
permit traditional chiefs, or Lamibe, to detain persons outside the 
government penitentiary system, in effect creating private prisons. 
Many citizens turned to the Lamibe for dispute resolution. 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.
    In 2007 there was a report that a Lamido (traditional and religious 
rulers in the northern regions) used law enforcement officials to 
extort money and confiscate cattle from citizens. Authorities held 
these citizens without access to an attorney for days or weeks, and 
then sent them to trial in Garoua, where the charges would routinely be 
dismissed.
    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.
    The government made nominal improvements during the year and 
allocated more funds to correct food deficiencies.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces 
continued to arrest and detain citizens arbitrarily.
    On February 13, police from Douala 1 Central Precinct arbitrarily 
arrested dozens of young women in the streets of Akwa and Bonanjo 
neighborhoods, alleging that the women were prostitutes. Some of the 
women were prostitutes, many were simply walking down the street. On 
February 17, police released all the women.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police, 
the National Intelligence Service (DGRE), the Ministry of Defense, the 
Ministry of Territorial Administration, and, to a lesser extent, the 
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, are under 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. In rural areas, where there is little or no police 
presence, the primary law enforcement body is the gendarmerie.
    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 ineffective, 
poorly trained, underpaid, and corrupt. Impunity remained a problem, in 
spite of efforts by the government to punish those who abuse their 
authority. However, police officers involved in illegal activities were 
increasingly sanctioned during the year.
    Citizens viewed police as ineffective, which frequently resulted in 
mob justice (see section 1.a.).
    In 2008 the president signed decrees creating police stations and 
appointing police personnel in the Bakassi area, a region returned from 
Nigeria in August. In 2007 Mebe Ngo'o, then-DGSN, created new mobile 
police units and precincts in Yaounde and Douala to improve 
professionalism and increase police visibility.
    During the year investigations resulted in sanctions against 12 
police officers. However, authorities sanctioned fewer police officers 
for corruption, falsification of official documents, abuse of 
authority, use of excessive force, extortion of money, arbitrary 
arrest, blackmailing, and aggravated theft than in 2008.
    On January 14, Mebe Ngo'o suspended police officer Charles Bernard 
Atangana Fono, the assistant to the special commissioner for Nyong and 
So'o Division, Center Region, for three months without pay for 
extortion of money; legal action was pending at year's end.
    Also on January 14, Mebe Ngo'o suspended Police Inspector Martin 
Merimee Loh of the Mbanga, Littoral Region, and police officer Joel 
Medou Obam, for extortion of money and indiscipline; legal actions were 
pending at year's end.
    On September 11, Emmanuel Edou, the DGSN appointed on June 30, 
suspended Second Grade Police Officer Michel Bekolo Angoula of the 
special police precinct of Kadey Division, East Region, and Police 
Inspector Vally Ghislain Mvondo Mbia of the Department of Border 
Police, for three months without pay for indiscipline and extortion of 
money; legal action was still pending at year's end.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires police to obtain an arrest warrant except when a person is 
caught in the act of committing a crime; however, police often did not 
respect this requirement in practice. The law provides that detainees 
must 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 24 hours and may renew the detention three times 
before bringing charges; however, police occasionally exceeded these 
detention periods. The law permits detention without charge by 
administrative authorities such as governors and senior divisional 
officers for renewable periods of 15 days. The law also provides for 
access to counsel and family members; however, detainees were 
frequently denied access to both legal counsel and family members. 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 arrested persons on spurious charges on 
Fridays at mid-day or in the afternoon although the number of such 
cases had decreased. While 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. Police and gendarmes made such ``Friday 
arrests'' after accepting bribes from persons who had private 
grievances. There were no known cases of police officers or gendarmes 
being sanctioned or punished for this practice. 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.
    In May the Douala New Bell Prison held approximately 50 persons 
transferred from administrative detention for two months. The Prefet of 
Wouri Division, Littoral Region, ordered their administrative 
detention, following their arrest during a neighborhood sweep.
    During the February 2008 riots, security forces arrested 1,671 
persons around the country according to March 2008 figures released by 
the Ministry of Justice (see section 2.b.). NGOs claimed the number was 
higher and reported that security forces arrested scores of onlookers 
not directly involved in demonstrations or rioting. More than 500 
bystanders, who were previously detained, have since been released. 
However, approximately 220 people were still detained at year's end 
because their prison terms exceeded the presidential amnesty.
    For example, in February 2008 Yaounde gendarmes arrested Andre 
Blaise Essama, a computer specialist, for taking pictures of the 
demonstrations on his way home from work. A plainclothes gendarme 
officer took Essama to the gendarmerie headquarters where he was 
interrogated and subsequently incarcerated on charges of disturbing 
public order and looting. Three weeks later the court released Essama 
due to the erroneous charges. Essama filed a complaint against the two 
gendarme officers, but no action had been taken by year's end because 
Essama was unable to fully identify his perpetrators.
    On June 24, the Douala High Court confirmed the three-year prison 
sentence of Lapiro de Mbanga, a popular singer arrested in Loum, 
Littoral Region in April 2008 for inciting riots and looting and 
increased damages to be paid to 280 million CFA francs ($560,000).
    Police arbitrarily arrested persons without warrants during 
neighborhood sweeps for criminals and stolen goods, most recently on 
December 12 in the Douala neighborhoods of Deido and Ndokoti. Citizens 
are required to carry identification with them at all times and police 
frequently arrested persons without identification during sweeps.
    Prolonged pretrial detention was a serious problem. The criminal 
procedure code provides for a maximum of 18 months' detention before 
trial. However, the NCHRF's report released during the year but 
covering 2008, noted that 62 percent of inmates were pretrial 
detainees. The report also indicated that the longest time a detainee 
had been in pretrial detention was nine years. In October government 
statistics showed that 62.48 percent of the 24,000 inmates held in the 
country were awaiting trial. In 2008 the Cameroon Bar Association 
indicated that many of these inmates had been awaiting trial for five 
to 10 years. The high number of pretrial detainees was due in part to 
the complexity of cases, judicial inefficiency, staff shortages, and 
corruption. The bar association linked longer detention periods to a 
shortage of lawyers and an inadequate tracking system that resulted in 
frequent loss of files.
    The law specifies that, after an investigation has concluded, 
juveniles should not be detained without trial for longer than three 
months. In practice the government detained juveniles for longer 
periods of time. During the year there were reports that some minors in 
Douala, Buea, and Kumba prisons had been detained for more than a year.
    In recent years there were reports that some prisoners were kept in 
prison after completing their sentences or having been released under a 
court ruling. This usually occurred when prisoners did not pay their 
fines.
    For example, reports indicated that during the year more than 100 
prisoners remained in New Bell Prison despite completing their 
sentences. In addition, both prisons in Buea and Kumba also held 
inmates who had completed their sentences.

    Amnesty.--In May 2008 President Biya granted amnesty to hundreds of 
persons convicted for their participation in the February 2008 riots as 
well as other detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained subject 
to executive influence, and corruption and inefficiency remained 
serious problems. 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; however, the president has not filled 
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. However, the 
judiciary showed modest signs of growing independence. For example, in 
September the Supreme Court confirmed an earlier ruling against the 
Ministry of Culture and found illegal the minister's decision to 
dissolve the Cameroon Music Corporation.
    The court system includes the Supreme Court, a court of appeals in 
each of the 10 regions, high courts, and courts of first instance in 
each of the country's 58 divisions.
    On March 29, the president signed a decree that dismissed Jean 
Baptiste Peyembouo, a second grade magistrate, from the judicial and 
legal service for dereliction of duty.
    In early January the vice prime minister and minister of justice 
hired a consultant to update the penal code and to develop bilingual 
civil and civil procedure codes.
    The legal system includes both national and customary law, and many 
criminal and civil cases can be tried using either one. Criminal cases 
are generally tried in statutory courts, and customary court 
convictions involving witchcraft are automatically transferred to the 
statutory courts, which act as the court of first instance. Customary 
law, used in rural areas, is based upon the traditions of the ethnic 
group predominant in the region and is adjudicated by traditional 
authorities of that group. Customary law is deemed valid only when it 
is not ``repugnant to natural justice, equity, and good conscience.'' 
However, many citizens in rural areas remained unaware of their rights 
under civil law and were taught that they must abide by customary laws. 
Customary law ostensibly provides for equal rights and status; however, 
men may limit women's rights regarding inheritance and employment, and 
some traditional legal systems treat wives as the legal property of 
their husbands.
    Customary courts served as a primary means for settling family-
related civil cases, such as matters of 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.
    Military tribunals may exercise jurisdiction over civilians when 
the president declares martial law and in cases involving civil unrest 
or organized armed violence. Military tribunals also have jurisdiction 
over gang crimes, banditry, and highway robbery. The government 
interpreted these guidelines broadly and sometimes used military courts 
to try matters concerning dissident groups who used firearms. In 
December 2008 the president promulgated a new law that reorganized 
military justice and laid down rules of procedure applicable before 
military tribunals. For example, military criminal investigation 
officers may carry out house searches, visit residential premises, and 
make seizures only in accordance with ordinary law. Also, the state 
prosecutor may order the arrest and detention of persons presumed to 
have committed a crime or caught in the act if the case has been 
referred to the state prosecutor.

    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. 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.
    In April 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. 
Furthermore, it specifies the conditions for legal aid applications, 
explains the effects of legal aid, and identifies the conditions for 
withdrawal of such aid. The bar association and some voluntary 
organizations such as the Cameroonian Association of Female Jurists, 
offered free assistance in some cases. The services were still 
available because the new legal aid bill was not fully implemented by 
year's end.
    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 ACAT representative Madeleine Afite 
publically denounced these violations. Afite stated that arrested 
minors received no assistance from their parents, attorneys, or human 
rights organizations, as the code mandates. In October and November the 
lawyers for Polycarpe Abah Abah, who was arrested in 2008 on corruption 
charges, requested that he be released because the legal period of 
detention without trial had expired. The court rejected the request.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports of political 
detainees, which included citizens advocating secession through an 
illegal organization.
    During the year the government continued to detain two individuals 
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 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 the year the prosecutor 
filed new charges against both men for embezzlement.

    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.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions; 
however, these rights were subject to 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 suspected 
of committing a crime. A police officer may enter a private home at any 
time in pursuit of a criminal observed committing a crime.
    During the year police put the houses of Southern Cameroons 
National Council (SCNC) officials and activists under surveillance, 
searched the houses of some SCNC leaders, and 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 a legally recognized organization because the 
group considers illegal the government's ``rule'' over their 
``territories.''
    In October, in response to a 2003 complaint filed by the SCNC, the 
African Union Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights acknowledged 
serious human rights violations committed by the government against 
secessionist anglophones, while at the same time dismissing anglophone 
secessionism.
    An administrative authority 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. In February and March 
security forces conducted street sweeps in the Douala neighborhoods of 
Akwa and Bonandjo and arrested dozens of suspects. While security 
forces subsequently released some, others were kept and transferred to 
the prosecutor's office on various charges including theft, aggression, 
and evasion. Some of the recovered stolen items included electronics 
and cell phones.
    Citizens without identification cards were detained until their 
identity could be established and then released. Several complained 
that police arbitrarily seized electronic devices and cell phones. Some 
registered their complaints with the police. For example, residents 
complained about the December 12 street sweep that took place in the 
Douala neighborhoods of Deido and Ndokoti. Security forces maintained 
there was an increase in crime and their intention was to prevent 
criminal activity.
    There continued to be accusations, particularly in the North and 
Far North regions, that traditional chiefs arbitrarily evicted persons 
from their land. There was no further development at year's end.

Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The law provides for freedom of 
speech and of the press; however, the government continued to restrict 
these rights in practice. The government arbitrarily arrested and 
detained journalists. Senior members of the government and the CPDM 
used their positions to harass journalists and encourage their arrest 
and detention. The government enforced media regulations irregularly, 
often implementing arduous requirements selectively to regime critics. 
This often created an environment of self-censorship for journalists 
and media outlets. Government officials used expansive libel laws to 
persecute journalists who criticized them.
    Individuals generally were able to criticize the government 
publicly and privately without being subjected to government reprisal. 
However, there were numerous instances where government officials 
threatened, harassed, or denied equal treatment to individuals or 
organizations who criticized government policies or expressed views at 
odds with government policy.
    On January 30, a security officer arrested Roland Fube Fonwi Tita, 
a chemistry teacher at the English High School in Yaounde, on charges 
of plotting to assassinate the president and some ministers. The 
security official, who overheard Fube critique the president during a 
taxi ride with other passengers, pulled a gun and ordered the taxi 
driver to take them to a security office. On February 4, the prosecutor 
detained Fube, who was released on bail on March 3. Fube was charged 
with making disparaging remarks against the president. The case 
remained pending at year's end because witnesses failed to appear in 
court.
    The government published the daily newspaper the Cameroon Tribune. 
The newspaper did not report extensively on protests or political 
parties critical of the government, overtly criticize the ruling party, 
or portray government programs in an unfavorable light.
    During the year approximately 200 privately owned newspapers were 
published; however, most appeared irregularly, primarily due to lack of 
funding. Only an estimated 25 were published on a regular basis. 
Newspapers were distributed primarily in urban areas, and most 
continued to criticize the government and report on controversial 
issues, including corruption, human rights abuses, homosexuality, and 
economic policies.
    The government continued to disburse official funds to support 
private press outlets during the year. According to media reports, the 
government awarded funding selectively to outlets that were less 
critical of the government and with instructions to provide reporting 
favorable to the regime.
    The government interfered with private broadcast, print, and radio 
media during the year.
    Journalists continued to be arrested, harassed, and intimidated. In 
early July, Jean Bosco Talla, editor of the Yaounde-based private 
weekly Germinal, reported receiving anonymous threats, including a text 
message with references to the slain Burkinabe editor Norbert Zongo and 
the missing French-Canadian reporter Andre Kieffer. The threats were 
linked to the newspaper's decision to republish a report by the 
Catholic Committee Against Hunger and for Development, which questioned 
the origin of the president's wealth.
    In addition, on December 28, in a revised ruling, the court 
sentenced Talla to a suspended one-year prison term, and a fine of 
three million CFA francs ($6,000) for alleged libel against President 
Biya, who Talla claimed had betrayed a political pact with former 
President Ahidjo.
    On June 30, gendarmes of the Djeleng gendarmerie brigade, West 
Region, arrested Michel Eclador Pekoua, publisher of the Bafoussam-
based Ouest Echos, on defamation charges due to his April 15 article on 
the embezzlement of funds from a local bank. Two persons incriminated 
in the article filed a complaint against him.
    Security forces in the wake of the February 2008 unrest, acting 
under the command of local provincial government officials, restricted 
press freedom by arresting, detaining, physically abusing, threatening, 
and otherwise harassing journalists. For example, Lewis Medjo, 
publisher of La Detente Libre who was arrested in September 2008, was 
still detained at year's end. His appeal trial began on December 8.
    In September 2008 Michel Mombio, editor of the independent 
newspaper L'Ouest Republican, was arrested in Bafoussam and charged 
with fraud, attempted blackmail, and libel after he wrote an article 
criticizing cabinet officials. On September 8, the Yaounde First 
Instance Court held its fourth hearing on the case. The court's ruling 
on the case was still delayed at year's end.
    Police arrested at least three other journalists reporting on high-
level corruption during the year and detained them under similar 
circumstances. In total five journalists were detained during the year.
    Radio remained the most important medium and reached most citizens. 
There were approximately 70 privately owned unofficial radio stations 
operating in the country, three-fourths of them in Yaounde and Douala. 
The state-owned CRTV broadcast on both television and radio. Private 
radio stations included STV, Canal 2 International, and Sweet FM. There 
was one private cable television network, TV+. The government levied 
taxes to finance CRTV programming, which allowed CRTV a distinct 
advantage over independent broadcasters.
    The government required nonprofit rural radio stations to submit an 
application to broadcast, but they were exempt from paying licensing 
fees. Potential commercial radio and television broadcasters must 
submit a licensing application and pay an application fee when the 
application is submitted. Once the license is issued, stations must 
then pay 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 August 17, the minister of communication shut down the Yaounde-
based Sky One FM Radio station after the radio refused to stop 
broadcasting its most popular program Le Tribunal, which allowed 
listeners to air grievances and seek assistance. The minister described 
the program as not conforming to the rules of journalism. Despite 
protests, the radio station will not receive authorization until it 
conforms.
    The National Communications Council, whose members were appointed 
by the president to review broadcasting license applications, met twice 
during the year. In 2008 an official suspended the technical committee 
that reviews license applications and stated that it would not 
reconvene until the government reopened previously closed media 
outlets. Several low-power, 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 but requires 
them to partner with a national station. The BBC, Radio France 
International, and Africa1 broadcast in partnership with CRTV.
    Television had lower levels of penetration than print media but was 
more influential in shaping public opinion. In 2008 the government 
closed Radio Equinox for its harsh criticism of the regime. The other 
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. During the year the National 
AntiCorruption Commission organized a seminar on how to convey a 
positive image of the country and its rulers. Participants from the 
private press argued that no institution should teach them how to 
perform their job.
    During the year CRTV management continued to instruct staff to 
ensure that government views prevailed at all times during their 
coverage.
    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.
    The government and government officials used strict libel laws to 
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.
    On January 7, the Douala First Instance Court sentenced Lewis 
Medjo, publisher of the Douala-based weekly La Detente Libre, to three 
years in jail and a fine of two million CFA francs ($4,000) for 
allegedly spreading false news. In September 2008 Medjo was arrested 
after he published an article about a presidential decree on judicial 
terms of office. On January 9, Reporters Without Borders criticized the 
sentence and urged authorities to grant bail. Medjo's appeal trial 
began on December 8, with the final ruling expected early in the 
following year.
    During the year only one government official filed a libel suit 
against a journalist. In 2008 seven government officials filed libel 
suits against journalists.
    On July 13, the Committee to Protect Journalists wrote a letter to 
President Biya, expressing concern about ongoing abuses against press 
freedom and calling for the president to end such practices.

    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 statistics for 
2008, approximately 3.8 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    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 discussion of politics critical 
of the government could and in some cases had adversely affected their 
professional opportunities and advancement.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reported cases of security 
officials harassing musical entertainers for singing songs that were 
derogatory to government officials.

    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. For example, on November 
15, the sous-prefet of Yaounde I banned the extraordinary congress of 
the People's Socialist Party (PSP) on grounds that the party was 
illegal and that such activity would disturb public order. The PSP 
president disputed the allegations and stated that he had duly notified 
the sous-prefet. He showed the press the notification receipt dated 
November 4 from the sous-prefet.
    The law requires organizers of public meetings, demonstrations, or 
processions to notify officials in advance but does not require prior 
government approval of public assemblies and does not authorize the 
government to suppress public assemblies that it has not approved in 
advance. However, officials routinely asserted that the law implicitly 
authorizes the government to grant or deny permission for public 
assembly. Consequently, the government often did not grant permits for 
assemblies organized by persons or groups critical of the government 
and 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. 
Security forces forcibly disrupted demonstrations, meetings, and 
rallies of citizens, trade unions, and political activists throughout 
the year. Unlike in the previous year, security forces' use of 
excessive force did not result in deaths, although there were numerous 
injuries.
    On May 22, after several postponements, the Yaounde First Instance 
Court sentenced Bernard Njonga and Jean Georges Etele to a suspended 
two-month prison term for three years and a fine of 26,500 CFA francs 
($53). Njonga, the president of l'Association Citoyenne de Defense des 
Interets (ACDIC) and ACDIC member Etele were arrested in December 2008 
for disturbing public order and conducting an unauthorized rally.
    No action was taken against police who in February 2008 shot and 
killed Lovet Ndima Tingha, a meat vendor, while police attacked a crowd 
gathered for a march organized by the opposition SDF party.
    There also was no action taken against police responsible for the 
February 2008 shooting death of Emanual Tantoh, a demonstrator in 
Bafoussam, West Region.
    There were no new developments in the 2007 case in which a senior 
divisional officer and his deputy reportedly shot and killed high 
school students Jean Jores Shimpe Poungou Zok and Marcel Bertrand Mvogo 
Awono in Abong-Mbang, East Region during a demonstration against a 
four-month absence of electricity in the town. The government promised 
an investigation.
    The trial continued during the year in the 2006 case of four 
leaders of the Association for the Defense of Students' Interests, who 
were charged with rebellion and disturbance of public order.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, but the government limited this right in practice.
    The conditions for government recognition of political parties, 
NGOs, or associations are arduous, interminable, and unevenly enforced. 
The process forced most associations to operate in uncertainty, in 
which their activities were tolerated but not formally approved.
    The law prohibits organizations who advocate for any type of 
secession, leading government officials to disrupt meetings of the SCNC 
on the grounds that the purpose of the organization rendered their 
meetings illegal.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.
    The practice of witchcraft is a criminal offense under the law; 
however, individuals generally were prosecuted for this offense only in 
conjunction with another offense, such as murder. Witchcraft 
traditionally has been a common explanation for diseases of unknown 
cause.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were a few reports of 
societal discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or 
practice. Established churches denounced new unaffiliated religious 
groups, most of which were Protestant, as ``sects'' or ``cults,'' 
claiming that they were detrimental to societal peace and harmony. In 
practice, such denunciation did not inhibit the practice of the 
unaffiliated religious groups.
    The Jewish community was very small, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/drl/rls/irf.

    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. On 
June 1, officers of a Mobile Intervention Unit posted at the Ekona 
checkpoint, South West Region, allegedly acting under orders, harassed 
and humiliated Ayah Paul Abine, a CPDM parliamentarian from South 
Region. Ayah, a dissenting voice in the party, spoke out against a 2008 
constitutional amendment to eliminate presidential term limits. Ayah 
stated that this was a tactic by the government to limit his movements.
    Roadblocks and checkpoints manned by security forces proliferated 
in cities and on most highways, where extortion of small bribes and 
harassment were commonplace. 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.
    The right to foreign travel was generally respected.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it; 
however, some human rights monitors and political opponents departed 
the country because they considered themselves threatened by the 
government, and declared themselves to be in political exile.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Approximately 100 persons had 
not returned home due to previous violence between the Bali and Bawock 
ethnic groups over land disputes and as a result of an attack by the 
Oku tribe on the Mbessa tribe.
    In 2005 between 10,000 and 15,000 citizens 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 from 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 is a party to the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees. Its 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 also provided temporary protection to certain 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees and provided it to 
approximately 83,000 refugees, including 62,000 from CAR, 5,000 from 
Chad, and 2,971 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. Electoral intimidation, 
manipulation, and fraud limited the ability of citizens to exercise 
this right in past 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 their 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 some voters. The 
government failed to implement some electoral improvements to which it 
was committed. For example, despite repeated public assurances, the 
government was unable to provide 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 over 130 complaints from political 
parties after the elections, but disqualified 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 July 2008 the government's National Elections Observatory 
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 (especially 
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 widely viewed as more free and fair than previous elections. 
Although the election was poorly managed and marred by irregularities, 
in particular in the voter registration process, most international 
observers agreed that it reflected the will of the voters. The 
Commonwealth Observer Group, however, maintained that the election 
lacked credibility.
    During its June 2008 electoral session, the National Assembly 
passed an amendment to the law that created Elections Cameroon 
(ELECAM), extending the deadline for the electoral body's creation from 
June to December. On December 30 and 31, the president signed decrees 
appointing all the members of ELECAM, including the president and vice 
president of the board. 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. However, the government claimed ELECAM could 
run an independent election and had begun to hire staff needed to 
organize an election by year's end.
    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.
    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 180 registered political parties in the 
country. Fewer than 10, however, had significant levels of support, and 
only five had seats in the National Assembly. The ruling CPDM held an 
absolute majority in the National Assembly; opposition parties included 
the SDF, based in the anglophone regions and some major cities. The 
largest of the other opposition parties were the National Union for 
Democracy and Progress, the Cameroon Democratic Union, and the Union of 
the Peoples of Cameroon.
    Authorities sometimes refused to grant permission to hold rallies 
and meetings.
    The government considered the SCNC illegal because it advocates 
secession and had never registered as a political party or 
organization. During the year security forces preemptively arrested 
approximately 102 leaders, members, and supporters of the SCNC to 
prevent them from participating in unauthorized political meetings.
    For example, on February 23, security forces in Mutenguene, South 
West Region, arrested 25 SCNC activists gathered in the residence of 
one of their national leaders. Security forces later released them.
    On March 21, Bamenda police, North West Region, arrested 
approximately 70 SCNC activists who were meeting to discuss the UN's 
demarcation of the Cameroon-Nigeria border. The police released them 
the following day without charges.
    In accordance with provisions of the 2008 penal code, officials 
released, pending trial, individuals who were detained for 
participating in illegal gatherings of the SCNC.
    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 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 worldwide 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.
    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, including juveniles. Political bias by 
judges (often instructed by the government) frequently stopped trials 
or resulted in an extremely long process with extended court recesses. 
Many powerful political or business interests enjoyed virtual immunity 
from prosecution and some politically sensitive cases were settled 
through bribes.
    There were publicized prosecutions of government officials accused 
of corruption during the year. Governments officials accused of 
corruption were held in separate quarters and received special 
treatment. During the year the government sanctioned dozens of 
government employees for corruption and mismanagement.
    On March 5, Yaounde judicial police arrested and detained Paul 
Ngamo Hamani, the former interim administrator of Cameroon Airlines, 
for embezzlement of public funds. On March 10, the instructing 
magistrate of the Wouri High Court placed Hamani in pretrial detention. 
There were no developments by year's end.
    On April 15, the Yaounde prosecutor detained Jerome Mendouga, a 
former ambassador, for embezzlement in connection with the purchase of 
a presidential plane. Mendouga was in pretrial detention in the Yaounde 
Kondengui Central Prison at year's end.
    In May the government dismissed 106 gendarme officers who used fake 
degrees to apply to the gendarmerie corps in 2006.
    On August 24, the Yaounde High Court sentenced Norbert Ndong, the 
former director of higher education development and former president of 
the organizing committee of the higher technician diploma exam, to 10 
years' imprisonment and fined him approximately 142 million CFA francs 
($284,000) for embezzlement.
    On August 26, the Yaounde judicial police arrested and detained 
Jean-Baptiste Nguini Effa, the former general manager of the 
government-owned National Petroleum Distribution Company, along with 
six of his close collaborators, for embezzlement. On the same day, the 
police transferred Nguini and his co-accused to Douala, where the 
prosecutor placed them in pretrial detention after several 
interrogation sessions.
    On September 7, the National Assembly lifted the parliamentary 
immunity of Dieudonne Ambassa Zang, a CPDM deputy of Mefou and Afamba 
Division, Center Region, who was wanted for alleged embezzlement during 
his tenure as minister of public works. Ambassa Zang had not been 
arrested by year's end and was believed to have fled the country.
    In March 2008 police arrested and detained Paulin Abono Moampamb, a 
former secretary of state and mayor of Yokadouma, a small town in East 
Region, for embezzlement of public funds. Moampamb was placed in 
pretrial detention, awaiting trial at year's end.
    Also in March 2008 police arrested and detained Polycarpe Abah 
Abah, a former minister of finance, and Urbain Olanguena Awono, a 
former minister of public health, for embezzlement. The two men were 
placed in pretrial detention, awaiting trial at year's end.
    In August 2008 police arrested and detained Jean Marie Atangana 
Mebara, a former minister of state and secretary general of the 
presidency, for corruption and embezzlement. Mebara was in detention 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    There were new developments in the following 2008 high profile 
corruption case:
    On June 11, the Douala Court of Appeals sentenced Alphonse Siyam 
Siwe and two other defendants for life imprisonment on embezzlement; 
the lower court had previously issued 30-year sentences. Among others 
accused in the case, one was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment, eight 
to 15 years', and one to one year. In addition, the court reversed the 
Wouri Higher Courts' acquittal of seven defendants and sentenced six to 
15 years' imprisonment and one to one year.
    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 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 
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and 
publishing findings on human rights cases; however, government 
officials repeatedly impeded the effectiveness of local human rights 
NGOs during the year by 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 in the country, 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.
    In February 2008 the Douala antiriot police arrested, beat, dragged 
on the floor, and stripped naked Aicha Ngo Eheg, a human rights 
activist with ``Cri des Femmes,'' a Douala-based human rights group. 
Ngo Eheg, along with other demonstrators, had gathered in the Douala 
neighborhood of Bepanda to march against constitutional reform. 
According to Ngo Eheg's public statement, the police targeted her 
because she tried to stop them from harassing a young demonstrator. At 
year's end Ngo Eheg had not decided whether to file a complaint against 
the police.
    A prominent human rights organization in Yaounde also reported that 
security forces ransacked its offices during the February 2008 unrest.
    On February 4, the vice prime minister and minister of justice 
reiterated the government's commitment to respond positively to any 
requests that would help improve human rights in the country. The 
government cooperated with international governmental organizations and 
permitted visits by UN representatives and other organizations such as 
the ICRC; however, in September the government denied visas to an 
Amnesty International (AI) team. The visa denials occurred after the 
August 12 release of the annual AI report, which sharply criticized 
arbitrary arrest and detention and other human rights violations. 
Although AI was granted visas in November, a visit had not occurred by 
year's end.
    While 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. In December 2008 the commission launched a program to teach 
human rights in primary and secondary schools. 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.
    The National Assembly's Constitutional Laws, Human Rights and 
Freedoms, Justice, Legislation, Regulations, and Administration 
Committee is charged with reviewing any human rights-related 
legislation the government submits for consideration. During its March 
session, the president signed the Protocol to the African Charter on 
Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa as well as a 
bill to organize legal aid.
    In October the Ministry of Justice published its own 2008 human 
rights report which focused primarily on enumerating government actions 
to address human rights issues, such as judicial and disciplinary 
action taken against corrupt officials.

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, trafficking in persons, and 
discrimination against ethnic minorities and homosexuals were problems.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape, excluding spousal rape, although 
police and the courts rarely investigated and prosecuted rape cases. 
The media reported only 14 rape cases during the year; few of those 
resulted in arrests. Due to social taboos associated with sexual 
violence, many rapes went unreported. On June 28, the German Agency for 
International Cooperation, in collaboration with local NGOs, launched a 
national campaign against rape. The campaign followed the release of a 
study that reported the rapes of hundreds of thousands of young girls 
and women between 1970 and 2008.
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence, although 
assault is prohibited and is punishable by prison terms and fines. In 
December 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 
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. On March 6, International Women's 
Day, the newspaper Cameroon Tribune published a special report on the 
various aspects of violence against women. The report covered FGM, 
which the government and civil society partners were trying to address 
for total eradication, physical assaults by husbands, which were 
numerous and which would require passing specific legislation, and 
psychological violence, which was mostly linked to women's economic 
dependency.
    Unlike in the previous year, NGOs did not lead public awareness 
campaigns to combat breast ironing during the year, a practice 
conducted by female family members.
    While the law prohibits prostitution, it was tolerated and 
practiced predominantly in urban areas and places frequented by 
tourists.
    While the law prohibits sexual harassment, very few cases were 
reported or prosecuted during the year. The government did not conduct 
any public education campaigns on the subject and there were no 
statistics available on its occurrence.
    Despite constitutional provisions recognizing women's rights, women 
did not enjoy the same rights and privileges as men. Some points of 
civil law were prejudicial to women. The Ministry of Women's 
Empowerment and the Family worked with other government agencies to 
promote the legal rights of women.
    In rural areas of the northern regions, 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. For several years the Ministry of Public Health had been 
producing 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.
    The law allows a husband to oppose his wife's right to work in a 
separate profession if the protest is made in the interest of the 
household and the family; a husband may also end his wife's commercial 
activity by notifying the clerk of the commerce tribunal of his 
opposition based upon the family's interest.
    Customary law is far more discriminatory against women, since in 
many regions a woman traditionally was regarded as the property of her 
husband. Because of the importance attached to customs and traditions, 
civil laws protecting women often are not respected.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from parents' nationality. It is 
the parent's, not the government's, 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.
    The law provides for a child's right to education. Schooling was 
mandatory through the age of 14 and free in public primary schools. 
Since parents had to pay uniform and book fees for primary school, and 
because tuition and other fees for secondary education remained costly, 
education was 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 released 
during the year, 77.31 percent of girls between the ages of six and 14 
were enrolled in primary school, compared to 88.34 percent of boys in 
the same age group. According to a 2006 report from the presidency the 
secondary school enrollment ratio was 38.1 percent for boys and 37.1 
percent for girls.
    The low school enrollment rate, especially for girls, continued to 
be attributed to high costs, socio-cultural prejudices, early marriage, 
sexual harassment, unwanted pregnancy, and domestic chores.
    The extent of child abuse was not known, although children's rights 
organizations targeted the problem. Newspaper reports often cited 
children as victims of kidnapping, mutilation, and even infanticide. 
Several press stories reported children being raped between the ages of 
two and 15-years-old.
    In March a 27-year-old young man raped his three-year-old niece, in 
the Yaounde neighborhood of Obobogo. As the girl was rushed to the 
hospital, gendarmes, who had been alerted by the family, arrested the 
young man. He was detained, pending trial at year's end.
    On August 9, a 17-year-old girl was raped by three of her brother's 
friends in the Yaounde neighborhood of Nkolndongo. The three, who 
escaped the crime scene, were subsequently arrested, and were in 
custody, awaiting trial.
    There were several 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.
    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 region 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, the government did not prosecute any 
persons charged with performing FGM. In February, the new Prefet of 
Kousseri, Logone and Chari Division, Far North Region, upon hearing of 
20 young girls who underwent FGM in January, publicly stated that he 
would chase down the perpetrators.
    On February 5, the second International Day against FGM, the 
minister of women's empowerment and the family organized a ceremony for 
FGM victims and their families as well as for female and male FGM 
``doctors'' from around the country. The doctors, who had been educated 
about the harmful effects of FGM, publicly declared their decision to 
abandon the FGM ``business'' and called upon their colleagues to also 
stop and to work to better the lives of young girls and women. The 
``doctors'' received equipment to start new occupational activities, 
including tailoring and agriculture. The minister insisted on the need 
for citizens to celebrate the day and encouraged women and men to work 
together to eradicate FGM. She also reiterated the government's 
commitment to fulfill the president's promise to address FGM.
    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 Region, where many girls 
as young as nine faced severe health risks from pregnancies. There were 
no statistics on the prevalence of child marriage.
    Although exact numbers were unavailable, the country had a 
significant number of displaced or street children, most of whom 
resided in urban areas such as Yaounde and Douala.
    On April 16, the committee heading the Project to Fight the 
Phenomenon of Street Children, which was established in January 2008, 
held its second meeting. The committee reported that between January 
and April 35 new street children had been identified. The program 
gathered information on street children, offered psycho-social care, 
and bolstered the intake capacities of specialized centers.
    Approximately 2,000 children lived in the streets of the major 
urban centers of the country. In April and May 2008, a census conducted 
in Yaounde and Douala showed that 155 street children lived in Yaounde, 
and 280 street children lived in Douala. In May 2008 the minister of 
social affairs launched the operation designed to return 150 children 
to their families. In December 2008 she revealed that the operation 
made it possible for 119 out of the 435 children identified in Yaounde 
and Douala to return home.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit all forms of 
trafficking in persons, and there were reports that persons were 
trafficked to, from, and within the country. The law criminalizes child 
trafficking and slavery and prohibits prostitution, forced labor, and 
other crimes related to trafficking in persons.
    A 2000 International Labor Organization (ILO) study conducted in 
Yaounde, Douala, and Bamenda, reported that trafficking accounted for 
84 percent of child laborers in those three cities. Local NGOs believed 
this statistic was still accurate. In most cases, intermediaries 
presented themselves as businessmen, approaching parents with large 
families or custodians of orphans and promising to assist the child 
with education or professional training. The intermediary paid parents 
an average of 6,000 CFA ($12) before transporting the child to a city 
where the intermediary would subject the child to forced labor with 
little remuneration. In four out of 10 cases the child was a foreigner 
transported to the country for labor. The report also indicated that 
the country was a transit site for regional traffickers, who 
transported children from Nigeria, Benin, Niger, Chad, Togo, the 
Republic of the Congo, and the CAR for indentured or domestic 
servitude, farm labor, and sexual exploitation. Citizens also were 
trafficked to South Africa. Children from Mali were trafficked to the 
country by religious instructors for forced begging. Both boys and 
girls were trafficked within the country for forced labor in 
sweatshops, bars, restaurants, on tea and cocoa plantations, in mines, 
and for street vending and possibly for forced begging.
    Women and children traditionally have faced the greatest risk of 
trafficking generally for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Most 
trafficking in children occurred within the country's borders, while 
most trafficked women were transported out of the country. According to 
anecdotal evidence from the NCHRF, women frequently were ``hired'' into 
hubs of prostitution, often in Europe. The method for trafficking women 
usually involved a marriage proposition by a foreign businessman. Women 
were often inducted into servitude upon arrival at a foreign 
destination. Credible reports indicated that traffickers used 
trafficking victims to recruit additional victims. Girls were 
internally trafficked from the Adamaoua, North, Far North, and 
Northwest regions to Douala and Yaounde to work as domestic servants, 
street vendors, or prostitutes.
    The law provides that any person who engages in crimes associated 
with trafficking in persons shall be punished by prison terms of six 
months to 20 years.
    Although statistics were unavailable because traffickers could be 
prosecuted under various sections of the penal code, the government 
reportedly prosecuted trafficking cases during the year. On March 23, 
gendarmes from the Bamenda Gendarmerie Legion in the North West Region 
arrested a trafficker who was caught transporting five children to the 
Center Region to work on a cocoa farm. The trafficker was detained in 
the Bamenda prison pending trial. In January 2008 gendarmerie in the 
North West Region arrested three traffickers transporting seven 
children between the ages of 12 and 17 to the Center Region to work as 
forced laborers. The case was pending in the Bamenda court at year's 
end.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance (MINLESI) is primarily 
responsible for fighting trafficking; however, the ministry was 
severely underfunded. The Minors Brigade was also responsible for 
investigating child trafficking.
    The government continued to fight trafficking through the use of an 
interagency committee and a program to find and return trafficked 
children. In addition, the government cooperated with the governments 
of Gabon, Nigeria, Togo, and Benin to fight trafficking through the 
exchange of information and preparation of common legislation on 
trafficking. The Interpol office in the country also played a 
significant role in the government's antitrafficking actions.
    The government continued to work with local and international NGOs 
to provide temporary shelter and assistance to victims of trafficking. 
On July 22, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) launched a project to fight 
child trafficking in the North West Region. CRS had previously worked 
with the North West Region branch of the Justice and Peace Committee of 
the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon to survey the extent of 
trafficking in the region. CRS also worked to combat corruption in 
local schools that led to child prostitution. UNICEF was also actively 
engaged in combating girls' prostitution throughout the year.
    The government continued to build awareness among local government 
and security officials in the areas where trafficking was an issue. 
Antitrafficking information, education campaigns, and antitrafficking 
spots were broadcast on government radio and television. The government 
monitored immigration and emigration patterns for evidence of 
trafficking. Frontier police at airports, borders, and ports reported 
stopping many trafficking cases but did not provide details regarding 
specific cases.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides certain rights to 
persons with disabilities, including access to public buildings, 
medical treatment, and education, and the government was obliged to 
provide part of the educational expense of persons with disabilities, 
to employ them where possible, and to provide them with public 
assistance when necessary. Access to public secondary education is free 
for persons with disabilities and children born of parents with 
disabilities. In practice, there were few facilities for persons with 
disabilities and little public assistance; lack of facilities and care 
for persons with mental disabilities was particularly acute. Society 
largely tended to treat those with disabilities as outcasts, and many 
felt that providing assistance was the responsibility of churches or 
foreign NGOs.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The population consists of more 
than 200 ethnic groups, among which there were frequent and credible 
allegations of discrimination. Ethnic groups commonly gave preferential 
treatment to fellow ethnic group members in business and social 
practices. Members of the president's Beti/Bulu ethnic group from 
southern parts of the country held key positions and were 
disproportionately represented in the government, state-owned 
businesses, the security forces, and the ruling CPDM party. The 
minister of defense, the delegate general for national security, and 
the minister of posts and telecommunications were all from the South 
Region.
    In July 2008, in Akonolinga, Center Region, several persons were 
injured and killed in ethnically motivated violence. The violence 
occurred when a soccer team from the city of Dschang, Menoua Division, 
West Region, a region predominated by ethnic Bamilekes, defeated the 
local soccer team. Members of the Yebekolo tribe sought out and beat 
ethnic Bamilekes in Akonolinga. The government investigated the 
incident and arrested 40 persons. On June 16, the Akonolinga High Court 
held the first hearing on the case. However, the judge continued to 
postpone the trial as the lawyers failed to show up and the prosecutor 
failed to bring exhibits to the court. The 40 persons were still 
detained at year's end.
    In 2008 there were reports that Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Danpullo, a 
wealthy businessman with ties to the government, deceived M'Bororo 
women into sexual situations, forcibly displaced the M'Bororo and 
seized their land and cattle, and used his money and influence with the 
government to order the beating and false imprisonment of members of 
the M'Bororo.
    The commission established in 2007 to demarcate the borders between 
the Oku and the Mbessa tribes in both Bui and Boyo divisions in the 
North West Region began work in 2008 and continued its action during 
the year.
    In 2007 the Bui Oku burned dozens of Mbessa houses, displacing more 
than 500 persons. The Oku claimed that the Mbessa were farming on their 
land. They also accused them of having caught and raped Oku women, a 
charge disputed by local authorities. Local territorial command 
officials reported that the investigation, although ongoing at year's 
end, was complicated by the allegations that traditional rulers 
threatened potential witnesses. The government continued efforts to 
settle the dispute.
    Northern areas of the country continued to suffer from ethnic 
tensions between the Fulani (or Peuhl) and the Kirdi. The Kirdi 
remained socially, educationally, and economically disadvantaged 
relative to the Fulani in the three northern regions.
    Traditional Fulani rulers, called Lamibe, continued to wield great 
power over their subjects, often including Kirdi, sometimes subjecting 
them to tithing and forced labor. Isolated cases of slavery were 
reported, largely Fulani enslavement of Kirdi. For example, many Fulani 
considered themselves rich and ``hired'' Kirdi to perform tasks that 
the Fulani think are menial and beneath them.
    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 was 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 said they 
generally believed that they had not received a fair share of public 
sector goods and services within their two regions. Some residents of 
the anglophone region sought greater freedom, equality of opportunity, 
and better government by regaining regional autonomy rather than 
through national political reform, and have formed several quasi-
political organizations in pursuit of their goals.
    Police and gendarmes subjected illegal 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. Illegal immigrants were subject to harassment on some 
occasions, although at a lower level than in previous years, mainly due 
to the DGSN who adopted a zero tolerance policy regarding harassment by 
his officers.

    Indigenous People.--An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Baka, 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. 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.
    The government has increased efforts, such as education about birth 
certificates, national identity cards, and construction of school and 
health care facilities, to facilitate an easier transition to modern 
day society for pygmies who are interested in adapting while also 
preserving important aspects of their culture.
    Local Baka along the path of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline continued 
to complain that they were not compensated fairly for their land or had 
been cheated by persons posing as Baka representatives. In 2006 the 
committee in charge of the follow-up on the pipeline organized an 
evaluation seminar to determine compensation for the Bakola and 
Bagyeli. The committee agreed that despite improved access to education 
and healthcare, much remained to be done to improve living conditions 
for the pygmies. No further developments were reported during the year. 
In October 2008 the Fondation Camerounaise d' Actions Rationalisees et 
de Formation sur l' Environnement conducted a study in 28 villages in 
the Center and South regions that confirmed the pygmies' complaints 
(Kribi Region) that they had not yet been fully compensated. The final 
conclusions of the study were not released by year's end.
    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 
Bakas in South Region. The mission of the project was to allow the 
issuance of birth certificates and national identity cards to 2,300 
Bakas, as well as to help register hundreds of students in school. On 
August 14, the regional coordinator of the National Program for 
Participative Development, the implementing agency, revealed that they 
were able to assist with 2,000 birth certificates and approximately 
1,000 national identity cards. The program was ongoing at year's end.

    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 ($40 to $400). Homosexual 
persons generally kept a low profile because of the pervasive societal 
stigma, discrimination, and harassment as well as the possibility of 
imprisonment.
    Authorities prosecuted at least two persons under this law during 
the year. Homosexual persons suffered from harassment and extortion by 
law enforcement officials. False allegations of homosexuality were used 
to harass enemies or to extort money.
    On September 14, the instructing magistrate of the Wouri High Court 
in Douala ordered the release of Yves Noe Ewane for lack of evidence, 
after he had spent four months in jail. The police arrested Ewane on 
May 4, and on May 19, the prosecutor placed him under pretrial 
detention on homosexuality charges.
    On November 10, the Douala police arrested Alain Nje Penda on 
homosexuality charges. He remained in jail awaiting trial at year's 
end.
    In 2007 the Bonanjo High Court refused to release six Douala men 
held in New Bell Prison on charges of homosexuality. In January 2008 
the judge held the first hearing on the case but adjourned it pending 
further discovery. There were no further developments on the case by 
year's end.
    Several lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations 
operated in the country. However, there were no reports of 
discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, 
access to health care, or education.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--Persons 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. The law does not permit the creation of a union that 
includes both public and private sector workers, or the creation of a 
union that includes different, even closely related, sectors.
    The law requires that unions register with the government, 
permitting groups of no less than 20 workers to organize a union by 
submitting a constitution, bylaws, and non-conviction certifications 
for each founding member. The law provides for prison sentences and 
fines for workers who form a union and carry out union activities 
without registration. Government officials 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 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 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. 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.

    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 28, the minister of labor and social insurance presided 
over the signing of a collective bargaining agreement between the 
graphic arts sectors. In May the minister of labor and social insurance 
presided over the signing of a collective bargaining convention for the 
agricultural sector.
    When labor disputes arose, the government chose the labor union 
with which it would negotiate, selectively excluding some labor 
representatives. Once agreements were negotiated, there was no 
mechanism to enforce implementation; some agreements between the 
government and labor unions were ignored by the government.
    For example, in December transportation unions expressed their 
disappointment at the government because it did not fulfill all the 
promises (lower gas prices, terminate police and gendarme harassment of 
transporters on the roads) that it made following the February 2008 
strikes. Unions' threats to launch a nationwide strike encouraged the 
government to negotiate again, with new commitments.
    The constitution and law prohibit antiunion discrimination, and 
employers guilty of such discrimination were subject to fines of up to 
approximately one million CFA ($2,000). However, employers found guilty 
were not required to compensate workers for discrimination or to 
reinstate fired workers. The MINLESI did not report any complaints of 
antiunion discrimination during the year, although there were credible 
press reports of harassment of union leaders.
    In January Madeleine Nkoulou, a nurse under contract and a leader 
of the National Union of Medical and Health Services Employees, was 
dismissed from her job at the Regional Hospital of Ebolowa, South 
Region, because she was active in organizing a strike. She filed a 
complaint with the MINLESI, and had not received a response by year's 
end.
    The law provides for industrial free zones 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. 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.
    Hereditary servitude occurred in the Northern regions. 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 hereditary servitude by former slaves in some chiefdoms in 
the North Region. For example, there were reports that the Lamido (the 
traditional Muslim 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, 
reportedly by choice for cultural reasons.
    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 on the landowners' farms during 
harvest seasons without payment.

    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 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, bans night 
work, and enumerates tasks that children under the age of 18 cannot 
legally perform. These include moving heavy objects, dangerous and 
unhealthy tasks, working in confined areas, and prostitution. The law 
also states that a child's work day cannot exceed eight hours. 
Employers were required to train children between the ages of 14 and 
18, and work contracts must contain a training provision for minors. 
The prohibition against night work was not effectively enforced.
    Child labor existed chiefly in urban areas. In the informal sector, 
children worked as street venders, car washers, and engaged in 
agricultural work and domestic service such as working on tea, banana, 
and palm oil plantations. 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.
    There were reports that some parents gave their children to 
``marabouts'' (traditional religious figures) in Maroua in the Extreme 
North, to learn the Koran 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. According to some NGOs, 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 to investigate child labor cases.
    The ILO continued to work with specific contact persons in various 
ministries and agencies involved in antitrafficking activities; it also 
conducted nationwide investigations and cooperated with local 
organizations.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In June 2008 the government 
increased the minimum wage in all sectors to 28,246 CFA ($56) per 
month. However, the minimum wage did not provide for a decent standard 
of living for an average 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 a week), and household and 
restaurant staff (54 hours a week). 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. On April 28, during a commemoration of the 13th 
African Day for the Prevention of Professional Risks and the 6th World 
Day for Security and Health at Work, the minister of labor and social 
security expressed concern that work-related accidents were on the 
rise. On September 22, 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 508,600, 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 National Electoral 
Commission also declared the 2006 nationwide legislative elections 
generally free and fair. Although civilian authorities generally 
maintained effective control of the security forces, there were some 
instances in which elements of the police forces committed abuses 
against detainees.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, problems were reported in some 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.--Prison conditions were 
poor, and facilities were severely overcrowded. Sanitation and medical 
assistance were poor; however, doctors and nurses were available, and 
prisoners were taken to public hospitals for serious medical problems. 
Psychological problems among prisoners were common.
    During the year there were no known deaths in prison from adverse 
conditions. There were a total of approximately 1,300 prisoners and 
detainees in the country's eight prisons. The maximum capacity of 
Praia's prison is 800 prisoners.
    In prisons juveniles were sometimes held together with adults in 
certain facilities, but pretrial detainees generally were held 
separately from convicted prisoners.
    In December 2008 a fellow prisoner alleged to be a professional hit 
man 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 the Sao Martinho Prison in the 
capital city of Praia in which one prisoner was killed and three 
persons (including a guard) injured was pending final resolution. The 
prison director, 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.
    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.
    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.

    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. 
Corruption was not a significant problem.
    Police abuses were investigated internally, and these 
investigations resulted occasionally in legal action against the 
perpetrators. During 2008 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 his or her 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 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.
    The judicial system is composed of the Supreme Court of Justice 
(SCJ), which is the court of last resort and also handles 
administrative cases, and the regional courts. The National Assembly 
amended the constitution in February to increase the number of Supreme 
Court judges from five to seven with a view to expediting the 
resolution of cases. Of the seven Supreme Court judges, one is 
appointed by the president, two by the National Assembly, and four by 
the Superior Judiciary Council. Judges are independent and may not 
belong to a political party. Regional courts adjudicate minor disputes 
on the local level in rural areas. The civilian courts have 
jurisdiction over state security cases. Criminal courts handle 
violations of criminal law, including the electoral laws, while civil 
courts handle civil and commercial suits. There is also a military 
court; it cannot try civilians. The military court provides the same 
protections as civil criminal courts.

    Trial Procedures.--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 are presumed to be innocent until proven 
guilty, 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 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.

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 freedom of assembly and association, and the 
government generally respected these rights.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was no known Jewish 
community, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts or 
discrimination against members of any religious group.
    At the end of the year the SCJ had not issued a decision in the 
2006 case against four Seventh-day Adventists accused of desecrating a 
Roman Catholic Church.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, and the 
government has established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. The country is also a party to the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. 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.
    During the year the government provided temporary protection to 11 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention 
and 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 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 (PAICV) 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.
    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
    Official corruption carries a criminal penalty of up to 15 years' 
imprisonment. There were no new reports of government corruption during 
the year, but the World Bank's 2008 Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that government corruption was a 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.
    There were several private, independent human rights groups, 
including the National Commission of the Rights of Man, the Ze Moniz 
Association, and the Alcides Barros Association.
    The government has a positive attitude towards international NGOs. 
In November the International Labor Organization (ILO) sent an expert 
to provide training on constitutional obligations related to reporting 
requirements under ratified ILO conventions.

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 
ensured 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. The 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.
    Prostitution is legal, except for prostitution of minors, and the 
government generally did not enforce that prohibition. Sex tourism was 
a growing problem, and there are no laws to address it.
    Sexual harassment was common and 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 in cases of sexually transmitted infections, 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 aged six to 12. Education was compulsory until age 11; 
however, secondary education was free only for children whose families 
had an annual income below 147,000 escudos (approximately $1,950). 
There was a 94 percent primary education enrollment rate for all 
children; the enrollment rate in secondary school for all children was 
70 percent.
    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 tend to work at the behest of 
their families, and that child labor on the islands is intimately 
linked to the need to supplement family income. It is believed, 
however, that the vast majority of these children performed work 
outside of school hours and attended school.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in minors, 
but not adults, and there were reports that persons were trafficked to 
and from the country. Police reports alleged that the country was a 
transit point for trafficking in persons from West African countries to 
the Canary Islands and to Europe. However, there was no additional 
reported evidence to support these reports.
    Sentences for trafficking in children range from 12 to 16 years' 
imprisonment. There were no prosecutions of such cases during the year. 
The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Administration are 
responsible for combating human trafficking. The government did not 
extradite citizens who were accused of human trafficking in other 
countries.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to 
health care, or in the provision of other state services, and the 
government effectively enforced these provisions. There are no laws or 
programs to ensure access to buildings for persons with disabilities. 
Several NGOs, including an association for the blind, actively 
advocated for the rights of persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Legal protections helped 
ensure homosexual conduct was protected under the law; however, 
societal discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity 
continued to be a problem. There were no lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender persons' NGOs 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. 
Approximately 22 percent of workers were unionized. 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.
    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 
new labor code was approved in 2008, which lowered the legal minimum 
age for employment from 16 to 15 years. The code also states children 
under 15 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, to create an action plan to prevent children from entering 
exploitive work situations, and to encourage children engaged in such 
labor to stop.
    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 the sector--the minimum is 12 hours. 
While large employers generally respected these regulations, many 
domestic servants and agricultural laborers worked longer hours.
    The director general of labor conducted sporadic inspections to 
enforce the labor code and imposed fines on private enterprises that 
were not in conformity with the law. 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 does provide 
workers with the right to remove themselves from situations that 
endanger health or safety without jeopardizing their continued 
employment.

                               __________

                        CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

    The Central African Republic (CAR) is a constitutional republic 
whose population of approximately 4.3 million is governed by a strong 
executive branch and weak legislative and judicial branches. Armed 
forces Chief of Staff General Francois Bozize seized power in a 
military coup in 2003. Elections in 2005 resulted in Bozize's election 
as president. National and international observers judged the elections 
to be generally free and fair despite some irregularities. Fighting 
between factions of armed groups, as well as between armed groups and 
government security forces, increased, and much of the northwestern, 
northeastern, and extreme southeastern parts of the country remained 
outside of government control. Banditry remained a serious threat to 
civilians throughout the northern prefectures. Civilian authorities did 
not maintain effective control over the security forces.
    The government's human rights record remained poor. Government 
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 military; 
harsh and life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention centers; 
arbitrary arrest and detention, prolonged pretrial detention, denial of 
fair trial; official corruption; occasional intimidation and 
restrictions on the press; and restrictions on freedom of movement and 
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 security 
forces, armed bandits, and armed groups. Sporadic fighting between 
government forces and armed groups continued to internally displace 
persons and increase the number of refugees.
    Armed groups, some of which were unidentified, continued to kill, 
beat, and rape civilians and loot and burn villages in the north. Armed 
groups kidnapped, beat, raped, and extorted money from local 
populations. There were reports of children as young as 12 serving as 
fighters in armed 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 no 
reports that the government or its agents killed members of opposing 
political groups, but soldiers, particularly the presidential security 
forces (presidential guard), killed civilians they suspected of being 
road bandits or supporting armed groups. Both government security 
forces and armed groups 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.
    On February 5, Lieutenant Olivier Koudemon, alias Gbangouma, and 
two other members of the presidential guard confronted Commissioner of 
Police Daniel Sama over the commissioner's right to carry a firearm in 
Bangui while off duty. An altercation ensued and the commissioner was 
beaten to death. The permanent military tribunal (PMT) heard the case 
in April and found sufficient grounds to try the three. At year's end, 
Gbangouma and the other two remained free. No additional information 
was available.
    The Central Office for the Repression of Banditry (OCRB) comprises 
a special antibanditry police squad and an investigative and 
intelligence service operated by the Ministry of Defense in and around 
Bangui. It continued to commit extrajudicial killings. For example, on 
April 9, OCRB officers detained suspected thieves Maxime Banga and Adam 
Demori and transported them to OCRB headquarters. An OCRB unit 
subsequently took them to an unknown destination. By 6 p.m. that day, 
the corpses of Banga and Demori were left at the mortuary of Bangui 
community hospital. Authorities took no action against those 
responsible.
    In April the PMT, which is responsible for adjudicating crimes 
allegedly committed by military personnel, ruled on 27 of the 33 cases 
involving military service members arrested for crimes from murder to 
desertion and theft of military equipment.
    On June 25, a gendarme and a member of the Research and 
Investigation Services (SRI) struck and killed a local butcher in the 
PK 12 market of Bangui. By year's end, neither had been tried.
    There were no reports of the government prosecuting any OCRB 
personnel for killings committed in 2008 or 2007.
    There were no developments in the case of presidential guard member 
Boris Namsene, who shot and killed five persons in April 2008 in Bangui 
before his apparent murder three days later.
    Armed bandits have contributed to instability for many years and 
continued to kill civilians. In the central part of the country, armed 
groups known as ``zaraguinas'' engaged in widespread kidnappings, at 
times killing family members of individuals who could not or would not 
pay ransom. Although information about these armed groups and highway 
bandits 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.
    In December 2008 Nganatouwa Goungaye Wanfiyo, a leading human 
rights activist and one of the lawyers for the victims in the 
International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings against Congolese 
politician and armed group leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, died in an 
automobile collision near Sibut. While there was no evidence of murder, 
at least one nongovernmental organization (NGO) said it believed that 
the incident was not an accident, and several NGOs called for an 
investigation regarding the manner in which the authorities handled the 
accident. No investigation had begun by year's end.
    Civilians reportedly continued to kill persons suspected of being 
sorcerers or witches during the year.
    An international NGO reported that on June 20, members of the armed 
group Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic (APRD) tortured 
a man near Kaga Bondoro accused of bewitching his nephew. Under 
torture, the man named two other individuals whom he said helped him 
bewitch his nephew. The APRD subsequently arrested the two individuals 
and beat them to death. At year's end, the man who was originally 
tortured was awaiting trial on charges of witchcraft. Authorities had 
taken no action against those responsible for the two men's deaths.
    In June several members of the UN Human Rights Council's (UNHRC's) 
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPRWG) expressed 
concern over mob killings of so-called witches and the arrest of 
persons accused of alleged witchcraft. They recommended that the 
government remove witchcraft from the list of crimes under the penal 
code, launch a campaign against violence against perceived witches, and 
protect victims of such attacks. However, a new penal code adopted in 
September retained clauses criminalizing witchcraft.
    On April 12, following the theft of cattle, street battles between 
M'bororo cattle raisers and beef wholesalers in Bangui resulted in more 
than 25 deaths. Women and children were among the fatalities. No 
additional information was available at year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--In late December, Charles Massi, a member of the 
armed group Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP) and a 
former minister, was reported missing. His wife and members of his 
political party told international media that the Chadian government 
arrested Massi and turned him over to Central African authorities, who 
they said tortured and murdered him. At year's end, there was no 
further information about his whereabouts.
    During the year unidentified armed groups kidnapped M'bororo 
children and young adults and held them for ransom.
    In November unidentified bandits in Birao abducted two expatriate 
NGO employees, and at year's end they continued to hold them for an 
unknown ransom.
    By year's end authorities had not charged anyone for the temporary 
abduction of two doctors and four other medical personnel by 
unidentified gunmen in Bombole in February 2008 (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 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. Family members of victims and human rights groups, including 
the Central African human rights observatory (OCDH), filed complaints 
with the courts, but authorities took no action. Members of the 
military raped, robbed, and abused civilians in conflict and 
nonconflict areas.
    According to ACAT, torture and beating of detainees occurred 
frequently in detention centers run by the SRI and the OCRB. Police 
most commonly employed a form of torture known as ``le cafe,'' 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 beating the individual.
    For example, in January police arrested Angele Ndarata, 16 years 
old, for sorcery. A court clerk illegally authorized the parents of the 
alleged victim to beat Ndarata on June 20. They burned her hands, arms, 
and sexual parts, and she received no medical care for two days. On 
June 29, the OCDH provided Ndarata with a lawyer and lodged a complaint 
against those who authorized and perpetrated the torture. At year's end 
Ndarata was home awaiting trial. Authorities briefly imprisoned the 
clerk, but did not take action against Ndarata's parents.
    On February 27, a presidential guard member in Bossaboa used a 
machete to cut three fingers off a man's hand after accusing him of 
stealing electrical cable.
    There was no further information about the severe beating of a man 
in Bangui by Corporal Zilo and five of his FACA colleagues in July 
2008. The man remained incapacitated by his injuries, and at year's end 
the authorities had not investigated the incident.
    Authorities took no action in any of the following cases of abuse 
by members of security forces in Bangui in 2008: 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 armed groups (see section 1.g.).
    Members of security forces, particularly the military, reportedly 
raped civilians, although throughout the country sexual assaults were 
rarely reported. Security personnel rarely were punished, and suspects 
either escaped from police custody or were released by fellow soldiers 
or other security agents.
    There were no further developments in the ongoing ICC 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 some persons believed to be Chadian combatants.
    Civilians reportedly continued to injure and torture persons 
suspected of being sorcerers or witches. Mob violence was widespread 
and cases were underreported. By year's end authorities had taken no 
action against those responsible for the cases detailed below.
    An international NGO reported that on June 8, in the village of 
Ngoumourou, APRD and village members tied a woman to a tree and beat 
her for allegedly practicing witchcraft.
    An international NGO reported that on June 16, members of a 
community in Kaga Bandoro beat a woman accused of witchcraft and her 
child.
    On August 28, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR) in Dekoa intervened to rescue 13-year-old Vivian Ngoupande 
after a mob in her village beat and whipped her. The village chief 
accused her of, and interrogated her for, allegedly killing four 
persons. The gendarmes held her for three days but refused to provide 
her food because they feared her alleged powers. The regional 
prosecutor asked the UNHCR to make an emergency intervention, and a 
local priest assumed temporary charge of her. At year's end no addition 
information was available.

    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.
    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 credible sources, from November 2008 to 
February 2009, inmates in prisons located in Bouar, Baoro, Baboua, 
Carnot, Berberati, and Nola lacked all necessities. The situation led 
to the deaths of some inmates as well as multiple escape attempts.
    A census conducted by the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Bozoum 
Prison in January and February indicated that 80 percent of prisoners 
complained of shortage of food.
    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. 
For example, in September observers found minors between the ages of 12 
and 16 among the adult prisoners at Ngaragba central prison in Bangui. 
In the same month, a 12-year-old boy from Ndele, arrested by the FACA 
during military maneuvers, was detained at the SRI for an extended 
period.
    Pretrial detainees were not held separately from convicted 
prisoners.
    As of December 31, there were 2,145 prisoners in the country. 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 both Bangui 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 both Bangui prisons 
permitted detainees' families to make weekly visits.
    As of December, there were 308 inmates in Ngaragba Prison, most of 
whom are pretrial detainees. Several detainees had been held for seven 
months without appearing before a judge. The more crowded cells each 
held approximately 30 to 40 inmates. Prisoners there 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.
    As of December Bimbo central prison held 15 female inmates, most 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 were allowed to stay with their mothers at the prison. There were 
no reports of rapes or sexual harassment by the all-male prison guard 
staff.
    Constructed in 1948, the eight-room Alindao prison in the community 
of same name, held 155 prisoners in August--three times as many as 
could be reasonably accommodated. Men and women were housed in the same 
facility but in different rooms. Of the inmates, eight were women, and 
all had been convicted of purported witchcraft. One woman stated that 
she had been convicted of stealing the soul of a village child.
    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 CFA francs ($0.45) and 300 CFA francs ($0.67) 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 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.
    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.
    In June members of the UNHRC's UPRWG made recommendations regarding 
the penal system, including that the government ``put an end to torture 
and mistreatment in prisons and police stations,'' ``strengthen efforts 
to guarantee minimum conditions for those held in police custody and 
detention centers in accordance with international standards,'' and 
``ensure comprehensive training for prison staff in human rights law.''
    Adopted by the national assembly during the year, the 2010 
government budget did not show a significant increase of resources 
devoted to prisons or detention centers.
    In its national report submission in February to the UNHRC's UPRWG, 
the government flagged the following improvements: construction and 
renovation of prison facilities in large towns such as Sibut, Kaga-
Bandoro, Bossongoa, Batagafo, Berberati, Bossembele, and Bozoum; 
training for prison wardens and directors; demilitarization of prison 
facilities; and separation of the sexes in Bangui prisons. However, by 
year's end these projects had not yet begun, due to a shortage of 
government funding. In addition, in the government's response within 
the UNHRC's June UPRWG report, the government indicated that it had 
begun a reform program to create a corps of nonmilitary prison guards 
to prevent further instances of military prison guards allowing the 
escape of incarcerated members of the military. However, at year's end, 
although the UNDP had obtained uniforms and training materials, a lack 
of funding for the Ministry of Justice prevented the government from 
hiring new prison guards.
    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 or which prisons could be 
accessed, which prevented the project from beginning work.

    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 a problem.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of the 
Interior and Public Security, through the director general of police, 
has oversight over the activities of the national police, including the 
OCRB. The Ministry of Defense oversees military forces, including the 
presidential guard, the national gendarmerie, and the SRI. The police 
and the military 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. 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.
    Mechanisms existed for redress against abuses by members of the 
police and military. Citizens filed complaints with the public 
prosecutor. The most common complaints involved theft, rape, brutality, 
and embezzlement. However, impunity remained a severe problem. Although 
the prosecutor had the authority to order the arrest of police officers 
suspected of committing abuses and exercised that authority during the 
year, the prosecutor's staff was small and severely underfunded. There 
were no prosecutions of police officers during the year, according to 
the deputy prosecutor.
    The PMT convicted members of the military during the year (see 
section 1.a.).
    In June the country's delegation at the UNHRC told the UPRWG that 
the country faced challenges executing military justice, particularly 
because prison guards who belonged to the military allowed or 
facilitated escapes for detained military personnel (see section 1.c.).
    In June several members of the UNHRC's UPRWG made recommendations 
concerning the fight against impunity among security forces and the 
need for security sector reform. Recommendations focused on the need 
for the government to systematically investigate those accused of human 
rights abuses and suspend from duty, prosecute, and punish those 
responsible, without exception; undertake ``severe vetting action 
linked to recruiting and promotion''; establish a permanent 
coordination structure for different security forces to consistently 
address issues such as training; and enhance training for the security 
forces in human rights and humanitarian law. By year's end, however, 
the government had taken few steps to effectively curb abuses by the 
military, particularly among the presidential guard.
    During the year, in cooperation with the government, the Human 
Rights Section of the UN Peace Building Office in the Central African 
Republic (BONUCA) continued to collect complaints of human rights 
abuses committed by members of the security forces, including FACA 
soldiers. It continued to investigate abuses and share information with 
the public prosecutor to facilitate the fight against impunity. In 
addition, BONUCA provided more than 500 members of the security forces, 
including police officers, gendarmes, and FACA soldiers, with 
international humanitarian law and human rights training; it also 
provided training for the mission for the coordination of peace 
(MICOPAX) military personnel.
    BONUCA maintained UN human rights observers in three regional UN 
offices in the northwestern and central parts of the country and 
planned to expand to two other cities over the next year. While BONUCA 
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. Due in part to previous 
criticism of its lack of public reporting, BONUCA continued finalizing 
human rights reports for 2008 and 2009, but it had not released them by 
the end of the year.
    As part of its efforts to protect citizens and safeguard property, 
the government continued to support joint security operations in the 
capital and selected cities in the northwestern section of the country 
conducted by several hundred regional armed forces peacekeepers. The 
government also supported joint operations by the UN Mission in the CAR 
and Chad in the northeastern Vakaga prefecture.

    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 bringing their 
cases before a magistrate. 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.
    On September 30, the national assembly adopted a revised penal code 
and criminal procedure code. Due to these new reforms, detainees gained 
the right to have access to attorneys immediately after arrest.
    According to BONUCA'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. In addition, in June a member of the 
UNHRC's UPRWG stated that ``the judicial system is undermined by 
arbitrary arrests, detention, and delays in the administration of 
justice.''
    During the year the SRI released Bertin Aristide Kabamba, a former 
commandant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC's) military 
who had received refugee status in the country in 2003, and who was 
arrested for ``security reasons'' in April 2008. Kabamba remained in 
Bangui and complained that he received periodic threats from members of 
the security forces.
    In May authorities released from detention Christian Mocket, an 
official who had worked at the presidency prior to his arrest in 
September 2008, for having sent a letter to the president criticizing 
corruption surrounding the presidency. The government had not charged 
or tried Mocket.
    During the year authorities continued to arrest individuals, 
particularly women, and charged 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. In late 2005 Bangui 
prison officials estimated that 50 to 60 percent of female detainees 
were arrested for purported witchcraft. All the women incarcerated in 
the Bozoum and Alindao prisons were serving sentences for purported 
witchcraft.
    Prolonged pretrial detention was a serious problem. At year's end 
pretrial detainees constituted approximately 75 percent of Ngaragba 
central prison's population and an estimated 60 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.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained subject to the 
influence of the executive branch, and, despite government efforts to 
improve it, the judiciary was inadequate to meet its tasks.
    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 182 magistrates for the 
entire country; however, the UNDP estimated there were only 120 judges 
working in the country, equivalent to one judge for every 36,000 
inhabitants. Many citizens effectively lacked access to the judicial 
system. Citizens often had to travel more than 30 miles to reach one of 
the country's 38 courthouses. Consequently, traditional justice at the 
family and village level retained a major role in settling conflicts 
and administering punishment.
    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 ($1,155); that of a junior judge was approximately 220,000 CFA 
francs ($482).
    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 European Union.
    The president appoints judges after the superior council of 
magistrates nominates them. The judiciary consists of 24 tribunals of 
first instance, three courts of appeal, a final court of appeals (cours 
de cassation), a high court of justice, commercial courts, a military 
court, and a constitutional court. There are also children's and labor 
tribunals, as well as a tribunal for financial crimes. The highest 
court is the constitutional court, which determines whether laws passed 
by the national assembly conform to the constitution and hears appeals 
challenging the constitutionality of a law. The PMT judges only members 
of the military and provides the same rights as civil criminal courts.
    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. Juries are used for criminal trials. 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 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.
    Purported witchcraft occasionally was tried in the regular courts 
and could be punishable by execution, although no death sentences were 
imposed during the year. Most individuals who were convicted of 
witchcraft received sentences of one to five years in prison; they 
could also be fined up to 817,800 CFA francs ($1,794). Police and 
gendarmes conducted investigations into alleged witchcraft. During a 
typical witchcraft trial, practitioners of traditional medicine were 
called to give their opinion of a suspect's ties to sorcery, and 
neighbors were called 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 BONUCA's human rights unit and human rights and 
humanitarian NGOs limited access to all 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. Security forces continued to 
carry out warrantless searches for guns and ammunition in private 
homes.
    On June 10, four armed persons attacked the house of the Minister 
of Regional Development Marie Reine Hassen. The assailants fired 22 
shots at the residence entrance. The next day the OCRB arrested Eldon 
Piri, who later denounced six others, including three he identified as 
attackers, Odilon Serefio, Tresor Gbemani, and Ligboko-Pela. All were 
active duty military members. By year's end none had been tried, 
although the deputy prosecutor said the investigation was complete and 
the case was pending.
    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 prefectures and the 
extreme southeast. Despite the signing of the comprehensive peace 
accord in June 2008 between the government and four armed groups--the 
APRD, the Democratic Front of the Central African People (FDPC), the 
Movement of Justice for Central African liberators (MLCJ),and the Union 
of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR)--and an inclusive political 
dialogue in December 2008 between the government, armed groups, the 
political opposition, and civil society, which resulted in the 
formation of a government of national unity on January 19, violence 
increased 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, armed groups, and bands of 
unidentified armed men attacked civilians. Many observers estimated 
that the government controlled little more than half of the country 
during the year. Although government forces and armed groups maintained 
a ceasefire for much of the year, one notable armed group, the CPJP, 
remained outside of the peace process at year's end and continued to 
fight the government's armed forces north of Ndele, causing many 
civilians to flee. Civilians were caught in the crossfire during 
fighting between the armed groups and the military, which often accused 
them of supporting the armed groups.
    In addition, attacks on civilians by the Lord's Resistance Army 
(LRA) in the southeast and interethnic violence between the Kara and 
the Goula ethnic groups in the northeastern Vakaga region contributed 
to the humanitarian crisis.
    UN efforts at disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration 
remained stalled. The UN-led process continued to outline the 
restructuring and redeployment of military forces. The disarmament, 
demobilization, and reintegration of armed groups began in August. In 
August 2008 the government started a project for the reduction and 
control of small and light arms.
    The Ugandan Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) operated in the eastern 
sector of the country with the cooperation of the FACA in operations 
against LRA guerillas.
    Armed groups, 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.

    Killings.--Extrajudicial killings continued. During military 
operations conducted against armed groups and highway bandits, 
government forces did not distinguish between the armed groups and 
civilians in the villages. Government forces often burned houses and 
sometimes killed villagers accused of being accomplices of armed groups 
or highway bandits.
    UN observers noted numerous extrajudicial killings by security 
forces and the use of disproportionate force against suspect bandits 
and armed groups.
    For example, on February 3 the FACA attacked the village of 
Sokoumba in response to attacks in the area by the CPJP. Attacking 
during a funeral, FACA soldiers killed at least 18 male civilians, 
including the village chief. According to press reports, some civilians 
were tied against a tree and shot in the head or stabbed to death, and 
at least one was decapitated. By year's end authorities had taken no 
action against those responsible.
    In March outside of the northwestern town of Bozoum, government 
forces summarily executed four men suspected of banditry. They 
abandoned one of the bodies on the road and showed the others to two 
government officials from the Ministry of Defense visiting Bozoum. By 
year's end authorities had taken no action against those responsible.
    On June 4, fighting between the FACA and the FDPC left two 
civilians dead on the Kabo-Moyenne Sido road in the Ouham prefecture. 
By year's end authorities had taken no action against those 
responsible.
    At year's end no one had been charged in the summary executions 
committed by FACA soldiers on patrol in Bouar in March 2008.
    By year's end authorities had not investigated or tried members of 
the FACA or presidential guard for killing large numbers of civilians 
in the northwest in 2006. In June a member of the UNHRC's UPRWG 
underlined the need for the government to follow up on the 
recommendations made in 2008 by the UN Special Rapporteur on 
Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions (UNSRESAE) Philip 
Alston, including that the government investigate and prosecute those 
FACA soldiers responsible for the killings.
    APRD armed combatants continued to carry out atrocities in areas 
under their control, including killings, pillaging, and extortion. For 
example, on April 14, an APRD officer in the northwestern town of Paoua 
publicly killed the local national herders organization's 
representative. The officer disappeared from Paoua, and by year's end 
authorities had not arrested him.
    According to the national assembly member from Bocaranga II, on 
March 12, the APRD killed the chief of Tchoulao village in the Ouham 
Pende. By year's end authorities had not taken any action against those 
responsible.
    Ethnic violence in the northeast resulted in several killings 
during the year. For example, in June fighting between the Kara and 
Goula ethnic groups in Birao, near the borders with Chad and Sudan, 
resulted in six deaths and the burning of nearly half of the town.
    Starting in July, the LRA began attacks against towns located in 
the far eastern Haut Mbomou prefecture. For example, on August 21, LRA 
armed members attacked a truck operated by the international NGO 
Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) near Mboki, killing two staff 
members and wounding two others. By the end of the year, the UN Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that the 
LRA had killed approximately 50 civilians in the country. The attacks, 
some of which occurred in the DRC, resulted in 800 civilians from the 
DRC taking refuge in CAR and caused the internal displacement of 4,000 
persons within CAR.
    No further information was available on the June 2007 death of 
French humanitarian volunteer Elsa Serfass, who was participating in a 
mission with Doctors without Borders.

    Abductions.--General Baba Ladde, the leader of the Popular Front 
for Redressing of Grievances, reportedly took civilians hostage during 
the year near Kaga Bandoro to extort money from their families.
    According to OCHA, the LRA abducted approximately 150 civilians in 
the southeast during the year.
    There was little or no response by local authorities to multiple 
kidnappings of civilians by armed groups considered to be bandits or 
zaraguinas (see section 1.a.).
    On November 21, unidentified armed individuals kidnapped two 
international NGO workers in the northeastern town of Birao, Vakaga 
prefecture. No additional information was available at year's end.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--Government forces and 
armed groups mistreated civilians, including through torture, beatings, 
and rape, in the course of the conflicts. During military operations 
conducted against armed groups or highway bandits, the armed forces 
often burnt homes and did not distinguish between armed groups and 
local civilian populations they regarded as accomplices, although less 
often than in the previous year.
    Civilians continued to suffer mistreatment in armed territories 
controlled by armed groups. On March 5, APRD members held and tortured 
a village chief in Bocaranga for refusing to pay a fee at an illegal 
roadblock. A few days later, the chief escaped the local APRD detention 
center. An evangelical pastor who tried to help the chief was 
subsequently arrested and tortured for three days by APRD members, 
resulting in his paralysis. No action was taken against those 
responsible by year's end.
    International and domestic observers reported that, during the 
year, security forces, members of armed groups, Chadian soldiers, and 
bandits continued to attack cattle herders, primarily members of the 
M'bororo ethnic group. Many observers believed M'bororo were targeted 
primarily because of their perceived relative wealth and the relative 
vulnerability of cattle to theft. One UN agency reported that, 
according to its NGO partners in the affected region, the attackers 
often were themselves M'bororo.
    M'bororo cattle herders were also disproportionately subjected to 
kidnapping for ransom. A UN agency working in the area indicated that 
the perpetrators often kidnapped women and children and held them for 
ransoms of between one million and two million CFA francs ($2,193 and 
$4,384). Victims whose families did not pay were sometimes killed. 
Armed groups in the country continued to conduct frequent attacks on 
the M'bororo 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 
armed groups to terrorize the population in the northern prefectures. 
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 during the year in northern prefectures and Bangui.

    Child Soldiers.--According to multiple human rights observers, 
numerous APRD groups included soldiers as young as 12. In addition, the 
UFDR admitted that many children served as soldiers in its ranks. 
According to an international observer, the UFDR and APRD stopped 
recruiting child soldiers during the year as a result of disarmament, 
demobilization and reinsertion activities, but in some remote areas, 
children were still used as lookouts and porters. 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 reported that between January and December, 623 APRD child 
soldiers were released, 572 of whom were boys. Approximately 30 percent 
were between 10 and 14 years old, and of those, 70 percent had served 
in combat. Although it had demobilized 450 child soldiers in 2008, the 
UFDR did not demobilize any child soldiers during the year.
    Several NGO observers have reported that self-defense committees, 
which were established by towns to combat armed groups and bandits in 
areas where the FACA or gendarmes were not present, used children as 
combatants, lookouts, and porters. While the head of the self-defense 
committee of Bozoum denied the presence of children among his 
committee's ranks, he stated that there might be some children involved 
in the Bocaranga area and thus outside of his purview. UNICEF estimates 
that children comprised one third of the self-defense committees.
    UPDF and FACA operations captured or received the surrender of 32 
child soldiers during operations against the LRA during the year. A 
further six children, abducted by the LRA in the CAR in early 2008, 
returned to Bangui from the DRC with the help of UNICEF in mid 2009.
    Displaced children have been forced to work as porters, carrying 
stolen goods for groups of bandits.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--In the northwest, members of the 
government security forces, including the FACA and presidential guard, 
continued to project a presence from the larger towns and occasionally 
engaged in combat with armed groups and bandits. While the ceasefire 
between government forces and armed groups allowed some displaced 
persons to return home, approximately 300,000 persons remained 
displaced in the bush or in refugee camps along the Chadian or 
Cameroonian borders.
    In January 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 the north 
and northwestern areas that the government did not control, by bandits 
and armed groups, including former combatants who helped President 
Bozize come to power in 2003.
    Sporadic fighting between government security forces and armed 
groups, attacks on civilians by armed groups, armed banditry, and 
occasional abuse by government soldiers kept many internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) from their homes. OCHA estimated the number of IDPs 
increased during the year from 101,000 in December 2008 to 162,000 at 
year's end.
    The overwhelming majority of IDPs were in the northwestern 
prefectures of Ouham and Ouham Pende, where some 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 prefectures, but this was not 
a widespread phenomenon. Thousands of individuals remained homeless due 
to fighting in the north-central prefectures of Haute Kotto and 
Bamingui-Bangoran, and due to instability in the northeastern 
prefecture 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.
    In March and again in late November, the government accused 
humanitarian workers of providing indirect support to armed groups and 
subsequently temporarily denied access to areas in the north controlled 
by armed groups, specifically to areas north of Kabo, Ouham prefecture, 
and north of Ndele, Bamingui-Bangoran prefecture. Although official 
restrictions were resolved by negotiation, access remained difficult 
due to frequent clashes and the military presence.
    The government did not attack or target IDPs, although some IDPs 
were caught in the fighting between government forces and armed groups. 
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 the 
proliferation of small arms. Despite these operations, the government 
was not able to provide sufficient security or protection for IDPs in 
the north.
    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. Unlike in the previous year, authorities 
did not arrest any journalists during the year. A media sustainability 
index (MSI) published during the year by IREX, an international NGO 
that promotes media independence, assessed the country's progress in 
meeting objectives for the establishment of a sustainable and 
professional independent media system. MSI concluded that `` the 
country minimally met objectives, with segments of the legal system and 
government opposed to a free media system.'' Panelists involved in the 
MSI, including resident journalists from both government-run and 
independent media organs, ``agreed that the state's fight against 
criticism has led to inhospitable and even dangerous conditions for 
journalists.''
    The independence of privately owned print and broadcast media was 
limited by low profitability. Private media outlets continued to be 
badly managed and unprofitable, according to journalists and other 
panelists consulted by the MSI. Partly due to a weak advertising 
market, revenues for domestic private media outlets remained low, and 
extremely low salaries for journalists left many vulnerable to bribes 
in exchange for favorable coverage.
    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 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 ($0.66), 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 a number of alternatives 
to the state-owned radio station, Radio Centrafrique. For example, the 
privately owned Radio Ndeke Luka continued to provide independent 
broadcasts, including national and international news and political 
commentary. Its signal did not reach significantly beyond Bangui, 
although it was regularly rebroadcast by community radio for an hour or 
two each day. According to IREX, 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 press 
freedom watchdog committee to protect journalists, the body 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 all news reporting by major domestic 
media organs 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; there were also reports of government ministers and other 
senior officials threatening journalists who were critical of the 
government.
    In a ruling issued January 9, the HCC suspended the privately owned 
daily newspaper Le Citoyen for one month for violating journalism 
ethics in an article published in January that criticized deputies in 
the national assembly and some opposition leaders for their inaction 
and referred to them as ``dwarfs'' and ``mangy dogs.'' Privately owned 
newspapers protested the decision by going on a temporary strike.
    On April 17 the HCC suspended L'Hirondelle for two weeks after it 
published an article by a former military officer calling for rebellion 
against the government. The HCC's suspension was for inciting violence 
against the state. L'Hirondelle also published the response to the 
manifesto by the Ministry of Defense in an adjoining column. Privately 
owned newspapers went on a two-week strike to protest the decision.
    In July the army stopped a journalist from Le Citoyen north of Kaga 
Bondoro. A military checkpoint prevented him from further travel but 
did not explain why they impeded him.
    There were no further developments in the case of Temps Nouveaux 
editor Michel Alkhady Ngady, who was arrested, fined, and imprisoned 
for two months in 2007 after he contested appointments to the HCC. 
Ngady remained free during the year and continued publication of his 
newspaper, but the charge of ``disobedience to public authorities'' 
remained pending before an appeals court.
    In March, the Ministry of Communication suspended a radio program 
named `` What You Want to Know'' on the government-run Radio 
Centrafrique for severe criticism of opposition leaders and labor 
unions following complaints from opposition groups, private press, and 
the HCC. The suspension lasted a month, after which the station resumed 
its broadcasts.
    There were no reports of authorities taking action against 
presidential guard member Olivier Koudemon, who beat Radio Ndeke Luka 
journalist Jean-Magloire Issa in February 2008.
    In June a member of the UNHRC's UPRWG recommended that the 
government ``adopt further measures to ensure, in practice, the 
protection of journalists against threats and attacks, including 
imprisonment.''
    Journalists continued to practice self-censorship due to fear of 
government reprisals. In addition, according to comments included in 
the MSI by the vice president of the Union of Central African 
Journalists, ``the executive branch makes discretionary use of 
information in the public [government-run] press. Information agents 
appointed by the executive branch enforce censorship both in the 
newsrooms and at the level of all public authorities.''
    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 ($219 to $17,520) and were on 
occasion arrested and detained. During the year IREX reported that 
media workers said the 2005 law decriminalizing media offenses has 
offered little protection for journalists accused of offenses such a 
libel, as authorities could still try journalists and sentence them to 
prison terms according to provisions in the criminal code.
    The law provides for imprisonment and fines of as much as one 
million CFA francs ($2,193) 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.
    Bangui University, with support from the UN Educational, Scientific 
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), continued to offer a journalism 
program, the country's only such program, through its department of 
journalism and communication, which was launched in March 2008 to train 
students and strengthen skills and ethics of senior journalists. During 
the year the department enrolled 30 undergraduate students and 10 
professional journalists.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no reports that the government 
restricted access to the Internet or monitored e-mail or Internet chat 
rooms. 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. In some cases the ministry 
refused permission ``for security reasons.''
    In March a large-scale demonstration involving at least 2,000 
individuals began after Lieutenant Olivier Koudemon and two other 
members of the presidential guard killed a police commissioner in 
Bangui. The rapid intervention squad of the presidential guard 
responded to the scene and dispersed the crowd by firing weapons into 
the air. Stray bullets reportedly struck eight persons. Similar crowd 
dispersion tactics had been used for smaller demonstrations, such as 
those associated with strikes.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, although it prohibits what the government considers to be 
religious fundamentalism or intolerance, and the government generally 
respected this right during the year. The constitutional provision 
prohibiting religious fundamentalism was understood widely to be aimed 
at Muslims, who make up 15 to 22 percent of the population, but this 
provision was not implemented by enabling legislation.
    Religious groups (except for indigenous religious groups) were 
required by law to register with the Ministry of Interior. The 
ministry's administrative police monitored groups that failed to 
register; however, police did not attempt to impose any penalties on 
such groups during the year. The ministry could decline to register, 
suspend the operations of, or ban any organization that it deemed 
offensive to public morals or likely to disturb the peace; however, 
there were no reports of the ministry doing so during the year.
    The government maintained a ban, begun in 2007, on the church 
``Eglise Jehova Sabaoth,'' led by Reverend Ketafio. According to the 
Ministry of Interior, a government investigation found that the pastor 
was using false documents and diplomas. Despite the ban, the pastor 
continued to preach from his home during the year.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Muslims continued to face 
consistent social discrimination, especially regarding access to 
services like citizenship documentation, where low-level functionaries 
reportedly created informal barriers for Muslims. Many citizens 
believed Muslims were ``foreigners'' and resented them due to their 
better-than-average living standard.
    There was no significant Jewish community, and there were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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.
    In April 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 fees of up to 9,000 to 10,000 CFA 
francs (18.7 to $20.8) 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.
    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. Former president Patasse, 
convicted in absentia for embezzlement, remained outside the country 
during most of the year; however, he was allowed to return in October 
after six years in exile.
    A significant number of members of the M'bororo ethnic group 
continued to live as refugees in Cameroon and southern Chad after 
violence in 2006 and 2007.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Sporadic fighting between 
government forces and armed groups, attacks on civilians by armed 
groups, and armed banditry prevented the country's internally displaced 
persons (IDPs), most of whom were displaced in 2006, from returning to 
their homes. At year's end the number of IDPs totaled 162,000, 
including almost 100,000 in the northwestern prefectures of Ouham and 
Ouham Pende. The number of individuals who had fled the country totaled 
138,000, including 74,000 refugees in Chad and approximately 64,000 
refugees in Cameroon. By October violence in the north caused the 
internal displacement of more than 20,000 persons, and caused up to 
18,000 to seek refuge in Chad. In January a significant number of 
members of the Rounga ethnic group fled villages along the Ndele-Garba 
road as a result of fighting between the FACA and the CPJP. In June 
ethnic conflict in the northeastern Vakaga prefecture displaced 
approximately 2,000 Kara. In the southeastern prefecture of Haut-
Mbomou, attacks by the LRA caused the internal displacement of 
approximately 10,800 individuals by December.
    In March the government accused humanitarian workers of providing 
indirect support to armed groups and subsequently temporarily denied 
access to areas in the north controlled by armed groups, specifically 
to areas north of Kabo, Ouham prefecture, and north of Ndele, Bamingui-
Bangoran prefecture. Although official restrictions were resolved by 
negotiation, access remained difficult due to frequent clashes and the 
military presence.
    In June the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees 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 ensure 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 it was focused 
on human right abuses, but, according to OCHA, the committee had not 
yet carried out any of its assigned responsibilities by year's end.
    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 armed groups. There were no reports of the 
government inhibiting the free movement of IDPs.
    In June several members of the UNHRC'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; ensure the free circulation of humanitarian workers 
so they can access IDPs; and follow up on specific 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 steps to 
implement these recommendations.
    Displaced children worked in fields for long hours and as porters 
for bandits or armed groups (see sections 1.g. and 7.d.).

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol. 
The country also is a party to the 1969 AU Convention Governing the 
Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa. 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. 
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 13,000 refugees 
in the country.
    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 armed groups. Refugees' 
access to courts, public education, and basic public health care was 
limited by the same factors that limited citizens' access to these 
services.
    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 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 Francois 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.
    In August President Bozize promulgated into law the text of an 
electoral code that the constitutional court had ruled in July as 
including provisions that were unconstitutional. After President Bozize 
signed a decree based on the disputed electoral code, establishing the 
independent electoral commission (CEI), the political opposition 
challenged the law. In October, after the constitutional court 
requested that President Bozize respect the decision it had delivered 
in July, President Bozize agreed to remove the disputed text from the 
electoral code and promulgate a new code. He subsequently signed two 
decrees that established the CEI, and 30 members of the CEI were drawn 
from the six groups that participated in the inclusive political 
dialogue of 2008. The members of the CEI were sworn in on October 16.
    Despite a constitutional requirement that he do so by 2007, as well 
as a recommendation stemming from the 2008 inclusive political 
dialogue, for the third consecutive year the president did not call for 
municipal elections, citing lack of government resources.
    In December 2008 the government hosted a political dialogue with 
the opposition parties, armed groups, civil society groups, and outside 
mediators with the goal of ending armed insurrection in the northeast 
and northwest and bringing all political parties and armed groups to 
the negotiating table. Most of the major political and armed group 
leaders attended the dialogue and recommended a new consensus 
government. While President Bozize pledged to implement the 
recommendations, he formed a new government composed primarily of 
members of his presidential majority. The president reappointed Faustin 
Touadera as prime minister at the head of a 32-member cabinet. 
Representatives from the APRD and UFDR movements filled two ministerial 
positions. The main opposition coalition, including the Movement for 
the Liberation of Central African People (MLPC) and Democratic Union of 
Central Africa political parties, were not part of the new government.
    On multiple occasions during the year, police, gendarmes, and the 
FACA impeded the travel of members of the opposition MLPC party, 
delaying their travel for up to two days.
    In his December report to the UN Security Council, the UN secretary 
general said he ``remained concerned over reports of intimidation and 
restriction of the movements of some members of the political 
opposition by the security forces and by the call by some politicians 
for a constitutional amendment or political arrangement that would 
allow the elections to be postponed.''
    During the year the LCDH continued to criticize President Bozize 
for holding the position of minister of defense, on the grounds that 
the constitution prohibits the president from holding ``any other 
political function or electoral mandate''; however, government 
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 in 
June 2008 that it was not competent to try the case.
    According to recommendations from a 2003 government-sponsored 
national dialogue, women are to 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 three in the president's 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 M'bororo ethnic 
group, in the national assembly.
    The Ba'Aka (Pygmies), the indigenous inhabitants of the south, 
comprised 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 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 salary 
payments to government employees have been made through bank accounts 
instead of in cash. Additionally, during the year, the Ministry of 
Finance established a customer service office for employees to report 
any cases of harassment or fraud experienced in the processing of their 
documents or pay. Efforts were also made during the year to computerize 
financial information to increase transparency. 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 March 2008 Prime Minister Touadera set 
up 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 5 million CFA francs ($10,967) each. Six of those arrested were 
tried in 2008 and received jail sentences. At year's end the rest of 
those accused continued to await trial.
    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 financial needs, 
insecurity, and economic dislocation, domestic human rights NGOs, whose 
area of work was almost exclusively 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. Government officials in Bangui met with local NGOs during the 
year, but at least two local NGOs reported that the government was not 
responsive. Government officials continued to criticize local NGOs 
publicly for their reports of human rights violations that security 
forces committed. In June a member of the UNHRC's UPRWG recommended 
that ``authorities give human rights defenders legitimacy and 
recognition through supportive statements, and that defenders be 
protected.''
    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 have 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 
minister of state. In recent years, CIONGCA often represented domestic 
civil society groups in decision-making forums, including the follow-up 
committee of the inclusive political dialogue.
    A few NGOs were active and had a sizable impact on the promotion of 
human rights. Some local NGOs, including the LCDH, the OCDH, the 
antitorture 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. They 
also reported several cases of harassment by officials during their 
fact-finding visits around the country. One domestic human rights NGO 
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. 
During the year, another domestic NGO, along with the International 
Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, 
reported to the UNHRC's UPRWG that ``human rights activists are 
constantly intimidated in their activities'' and recommended that 
authorities respect the UN's Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
    Bernadette Sayo, the founder of the Organization for Compassion and 
Development for Women in Distress (OCODEFAD), formed by victims of the 
widespread rapes that took place in 2002-03, accepted a ministerial 
position in 2008 after having reported that security forces had 
harassed her and her family due to her activist views. The coordinator 
who replaced Sayo at the head of OCODEFAD also reported several 
incidents of harassment by authorities.
    International human rights NGOs and international organizations 
operated in the country without interference from the government. Armed 
groups 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 effectively address 
persistent insecurity in parts of the country, some international human 
rights and humanitarian groups working in conflict zones have either 
closed suboffices or left the country altogether. For example, an 
attack on COOPI by the LRA in late September, which resulted in the 
deaths of humanitarian workers, forced COOPI to suspend operations in 
the southeast.
    Some international NGOs continued to raise human right awareness 
among authorities and security forces. For example, throughout the 
year, the International Rescue Committee 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.
    The government took very few substantive actions during the year to 
implement or follow up on recommendations announced in February 2008 by 
UNSRESAE Alston. Alston recommended, among other things, that the 
government publicly acknowledge the state's responsibility for abuses 
committed by security forces, particularly those committed between 2005 
and 2007; suspend from duty, investigate, and prosecute members of 
security forces, particularly Lieutenant Eugene Ngaikosse, implicated 
in human rights abuses; establish an independent national human rights 
commission; and abolish the criminalization of witchcraft and ensure 
that those accused of witchcraft are not killed.
    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 BONUCA to investigate human rights abuses by the security 
forces, and the government continued to cooperate with BONUCA and UN 
agencies in their efforts to train security forces in human rights (see 
section 1.d.). The government also continued to allow BONUCA 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.
    In June members of the UNHRC's UPRWG noted that the government had 
not submitted overdue reports to the council regarding various human 
rights abuses and follow-up actions related to recommendations by UN 
special rapporteurs who had visited the country in recent years. 
Several members recommended that the government issue a standing 
invitation to all of the UNHRC's special procedures (special 
rapporteurs on thematic human rights issues). Several working group 
members also recommended that the government increase efforts to 
reactivate the national human rights commission, which was no longer 
operational, and to ensure that it would enjoy adequate independence 
and material and personnel resources.
    In December in a report to the UN Security Council on the 
political, security, and human rights situation in the country and the 
activities of BONUCA, the UN secretary general found the human rights 
situation remained worrisome. He underlined the importance of ensuring 
peaceful and credible elections in 2010, ending harassment of 
opposition parties, addressing impunity, and avoiding delays in the 
disarmament and demobilization process.
    The office of the high commissioner for human rights and good 
governance, attached to the presidency, investigated citizen complaints 
of human rights violations committed by members of the government, and 
occasionally forwarded cases to the Ministry of Justice for possible 
prosecution. The high commissioner's office presented its national 
report on human rights to the UNHRC's UPRWG in May. While the 
commission was operational, it remained ineffective. The high 
commissioner's office claimed that it did not have adequate staffing or 
financial resources and lacked the means to train its investigators 
properly. Some human rights observers noted that it acted more as a 
spokesperson for the government than an office promoting human rights.
    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 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 ICC, 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 May 2008, Bemba was 
arrested in Brussels.

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, 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, the report of the UNHRC'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.
    Few assessments have been conducted on the prevalence of rape. 
However, according to a baseline study conducted in June and July 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 
255 cases of gender-based violence in the Nana Gribizi and Ouham Pende 
prefectures. The reports included male and female rape, as well as gang 
rape.
    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 the past 
year. 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. 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 does not prohibit prostitution; however, it prohibits 
coercing someone into prostitution or profiting from the prostitution 
of another. Prostitution was widespread and practiced mostly among 
young women and occasionally among men. The new penal code does not 
specifically prohibit prostitution, but it does criminalize procuring. 
Procurers can receive prison sentences ranging from one to five years 
and a fine ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000 CFA francs ($222 to 
$2,222). The law imposes fines and imprisonment for three months to one 
year for sexual procurement (including assisting in prostitution). For 
cases involving a minor, the penalty is one to five years of 
imprisonment.
    Some young women and girls reportedly engaged in prostitution for 
survival without third party involvement, although no data were 
available to indicate how common this practice was.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, the government did 
not effectively enforce the law, and sexual harassment was a common 
problem.
    The government respected couples'rights to freely and responsibly 
decide 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 
2007, only 19 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 who were 
married or in union were using contraception, and only 53 percent of 
births were attended by skilled health personnel. The maternal 
mortality rate remained extremely high--1,355 out of every 100,000 live 
births. 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. The family code further 
strengthened women's rights, particularly in the courts, but access to 
the judicial system remained very limited throughout the country.
    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. Only men were 
entitled to family subsidies from the government. 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. 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.
    Released in June, the report of the UNHRC's UPRWG highlighted the 
``persistent discrimination against women'' in areas such as political 
rights and education. The report recommendations urged the government 
to conduct a ``rapid review of the family code to abrogate all 
discriminatory provisions against women'' and to adopt measures to 
improve women's political participation, educational opportunities, 
status in marriage, and reduce the maternal mortality rate.''
    The Mercy Corps study found that lack of respect for women's rights 
was widespread, and that women were widely perceived to be inferior to 
men, with implications for women's health and their ability to 
contribute to their family's livelihoods. One of every three women 
surveyed said they were excluded from financial decisions in their 
households.
    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.--The government spent very little money on programs for 
children, and churches and NGOs had relatively few youth programs.
    Citizenship was derived by birth in the national territory or from 
one or both parents. The registration of births was spotty, though, and 
Muslims reported consistent problems in establishing their citizenship. 
Unregistered children faced limitations in their access to education 
and other social services. According to UNICEF, total birth 
registration was 49 percent, with 61 percent of children registered in 
urban areas and 28 percent in rural areas. Registration of births in 
conflict zones was likely lower than in other areas.
    Education is compulsory for six years until age 15; tuition is 
free, but students had to pay for their books, supplies, 
transportation, and insurance. Approximately 75 percent of children 
started school, but many did not complete the first six years of 
primary school education. Girls did not have equal access to primary 
education; 65 percent 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 age 14 or 15 due to societal pressure to marry and 
bear children. The ministry of plans estimated during the year that 
there was one teacher for every 99 students nationally.
    Few Ba'aka (Pygmies) attended primary school during the year. 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 of 
imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 1,000,000 CFA francs ($225 to 
$2,250) depending on the severity of the case; nevertheless, girls were 
subjected to this traditional practice in certain rural areas and, to a 
lesser degree, in Bangui. According to the AWJ, anecdotal evidence 
suggested that the FGM rates declined in recent years as a result of 
efforts by UNICEF, AWJ and the ministries of social affairs and public 
health's efforts to familiarize women 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. The Ministry of 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.
    The new penal code does not specifically prohibit prostitution, but 
it does criminalize pimping. Pimps can receive prison sentences ranging 
from one to five years and a fine ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000 CFA 
francs ($222 to $2,222).
    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 8,000 street children between the ages of five 
and 18, including 5,000 in Bangui, according to 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The 2009 penal code specifically 
criminalizes trafficking in persons. Although NGOs and government 
officials said that trafficking in persons was not widespread, no 
comprehensive analysis of trafficking in persons has been conducted and 
little concrete data existed on the extent of the problem. The Ministry 
of Interior is responsible for trafficking crimes.
    The country was a source, transit, and destination point for men, 
women, and children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and 
sexual exploitation. The majority of victims were children trafficked 
within the country for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced 
ambulant vending, and forced agricultural, mine, market, and restaurant 
labor. Victims were also trafficked to Cameroon, Nigeria, and the DRC. 
During the year, BONUCA reported cases of trafficking of human organs 
by unidentified persons, as well as the forced harvesting of blood for 
medical and religious activities, in the east.
    UN reports during the year indicated that self-defense committees, 
some of which were supported by the government, recruited child 
soldiers. UNICEF estimated that children comprised one-third of these 
committees. There were reports that domestic armed groups abducted 
children and conscripted them as soldiers in the northwest and 
northeast. Some observers also reported cases of children forced into 
labor by the LRA near the southeastern town of Obo. Villagers subjected 
Ba'aka (Pygmies), who were unable to survive as hunters because of 
depleted forests, to forced agricultural labor.
    In recent years there were reports that children were trafficked 
from Cameroon and Chad and, to a lesser extent, from Sudan by nomadic 
pastoralists. Members of the foreign Muslim communities from Nigeria, 
Sudan, and Chad subjected them to forced labor. There were also reports 
that merchants, herders, and other foreigners doing business in and 
transiting the country trafficked girls and boys from Chad and Sudan 
into the country. Child trafficking victims could not attend school, 
despite mandatory primary school attendance, and worked without 
remuneration.
    Some girls entered prostitution to earn money for their families, 
both as commercial sex workers and as mistresses to wealthy clients.
    Under the new penal code, the penalty for trafficking is between 
five and 10 years of imprisonment; however, when a minor is the victim 
of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor 
similar to slavery, the penalty is life imprisonment with hard labor.
    Using laws prohibiting kidnapping, in February 2008, the government 
prosecuted three individuals for trafficking a three-year-old Guinean 
girl in 2007. After their arrest, the three suspects were detained at 
the Ngaragba prison, awaiting their trial. According to an official 
from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the three suspects escaped from 
the prison and remained at large. The girl was taken to the Centre de 
la Mere et de l'Enfant, an orphanage in Bangui, and was returned to 
Guinea during the year.
    Neither the government nor NGOs operated shelters that provided 
care to trafficking victims, and there were no known NGOs specifically 
working to combat trafficking. In some cases, police have jailed 
children found in prostitution for up to a month and then released them 
rather than provide them with rehabilitation and reintegration care. 
The government did not monitor immigration or emigration patterns for 
evidence of trafficking, and it did not investigate trafficking cases 
or implement procedures to identify trafficking victims among 
vulnerable populations, such as abandoned children or prostitutes, or 
rescue and provide care to victims. However, since 2008 government 
officials have traveled with UNICEF to the interior of the country to 
identify, rescue, and demobilize child soldiers conscripted by armed 
groups and to assist in releasing children from self-defense 
committees.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 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-off 
government and NGO initiated programs designed to assist persons with 
disabilities, including handicraft training for the blind and the 
distribution of wheelchairs and carts by the Ministry of 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 armed groups against the M'bororo 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 various bandits and armed groups that controlled the 
north. Additionally, since many citizens viewed the M'bororo 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 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.
    During the year COOPI continued to promote the rights of the Ba'Aka 
by monitoring discrimination and seeking to increase their access to 
public services, including education, by helping them acquire birth 
certificates.
    Refugees International reported in recent years that Ba'Aka were 
effectively ``second-class citizens'' and that 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 (between $334 
and $1,334). 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 ($222 and $1,775); however, there were no reports that police 
arrested or detained persons they believed to be involved in homosexual 
activity.
    There was no official discrimination, but 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 
military 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 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.
    The labor code requires that union officials be full-time, wage-
earning employees in their occupation and allows them to conduct union 
business during working hours as long as the employer is informed 48 
hours in advance and provides authorization. A person who loses the 
status of worker, either through unemployment or retirement, can still 
belong to a trade union and participate in its administration.
    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 military 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 government has the authority to end 
strikes by invoking the public interest. The code makes no other 
provisions regarding sanctions on employers for acting against 
strikers.

    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. 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 military personnel and the 24,000 civil servants.
    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.
    Employees can have their cases heard in the labor court. The law 
does not state whether employers found guilty of antiunion 
discrimination were 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, agricultural, 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.

    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 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, children 
five to 11 years old performed at least one hour of economic activity 
or at least 28 hours of domestic work, and children 12 to 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 frequently 
performed agricultural work. Children often worked as domestic workers 
and 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.
    Some girls worked in prostitution (see section 6).
    In Bangui many of the city's estimated 5,000 street children worked 
as street vendors.
    During the year armed groups 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.

    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 
($19) for agricultural workers and 26,000 CFA francs ($58) for 
government workers.
    The minimum wage only applies to the formal sector, leaving much of 
the economy unregulated in terms of wages. The minimum wages did not 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family, although 
wages increased during the year. 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.
    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 
10 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. Political power remained concentrated in 
the hands of a northern oligarchy composed of the president's Zaghawa 
ethnic group and its allies. The executive branch dominated the 
legislature and judiciary. In May rebels crossed from Sudan into the 
east of the country and mounted an attack. On July 26, one of the main 
rebel factions, the National Movement (NM), signed a peace accord with 
the government. The government supported Sudanese rebels. Violent 
interethnic conflict and cross-border raids by Darfur-based militias 
continued, but on a smaller scale than in previous years. Banditry was 
a severe problem. An estimated 168,000 internally displaced persons 
(IDPs) remained in the country. Approximately 253,000 Sudanese refugees 
who had fled from violence in Darfur lived in camps along the border, 
and about 70,000 refugees from the neighboring Central African Republic 
(CAR) lived in the south. Civilian authorities did not maintain 
effective control of the security forces.
    Human rights abuses included limitation of citizens' right to 
change their government; extrajudicial killings; politically motivated 
disappearances; 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; use of excessive force and other abuses in internal 
conflict, including killings and use of child soldiers; limits on 
freedom of speech, press, and assembly; widespread official corruption; 
obstruction of the work of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); 
violence and societal discrimination against women, including the 
widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse, 
abduction, and trafficking; ethnic-based discrimination; repression of 
union activity; forced labor; and exploitive child labor.
    Rebel groups, ethnic-based militias, Darfur-based militias, and 
bandits committed numerous human rights abuses. These abuses included 
killing, abducting, injuring, and raping civilians; use of child 
soldiers; and attacks against humanitarian 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 reports 
that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings. Civilians were killed in connection with the conflict in the 
east (see section 1.g.). Security forces committed politically 
motivated killings. Killings were often committed by ``men in 
uniform,'' and it was often not possible to determine whether 
perpetrators were members of the armed forces or police, and whether 
they were acting on official orders. The government generally did not 
prosecute or punish members of the security forces who committed 
killings.
    On July 27, five unidentified corpses were found buried outside of 
Pala. Local residents claimed that the Chadian National Army (ANT) was 
responsible for the killings. Judiciary police transferred the bodies 
to a hospital. Officials did not open an investigation into the case.
    On December 14, in N'Djamena, a person in military uniform killed 
Regine Doumro following a dispute.
    There were no developments regarding civilians killed during the 
February 2008 rebel attack on N'Djamena and the government 
counterattack.
    In contrast to the previous year, there were no reports that 
Chadian soldiers killed civilians and burned villages in CAR in support 
of nomadic Peuhl who drive their cattle across land used by farmers. 
There were no developments regarding reports that in 2008 the Chadian 
military destroyed several villages in the area of Maitoukoulou, CAR.
    There were no developments regarding the 2008 incident in which 
security force members used excessive force in response to a 
confrontation in Kouno during which supporters of Sheikh Ahmet Ismael 
Bichara reportedly attacked security forces. Approximately 72 persons 
were killed, including an estimated 68 supporters of Bichara and four 
gendarmes. Bichara remained detained without charge while his case was 
under investigation.
    In contrast to the previous year, there were no reports that 
security forces killed demonstrators.
    There were no developments regarding numerous reported 2007 
security force killings.
    Unexploded ordnance including landmines laid by government, rebel, 
and foreign forces resulted in deaths (see section 1.g.).
    On January 24, local media reported that unknown assailants in 
N'Djamena killed Gani Nassour Betchi, sister of rebel leader Tom 
Erdimi.
    Attacks by armed bandits continued to increase during the year. 
Armed bandits operated on many roads, assaulting, robbing, and killing 
travelers; some perpetrators were identified as active duty soldiers or 
deserters.
    For example, On January 1, armed bandits killed Abdoulaye Djibrine 
between Riga and Ngouboua. Authorities did not investigate the case.
    On January 27, between the towns of Radaye and Kindjirai, armed 
bandits stopped Al Ahdji Ousmane. He was beaten and injured. Other 
targets of banditry included employees of humanitarian organizations 
and NGOs (see section 1.g.).
    There were developments in the July 2008 killing of college 
professor Tenebaye Oringar. Media reports indicated that authorities 
detained two persons in Sarh for the killing and that their cases were 
pending trial.
    No reported action was taken against the bandits who perpetrated 
numerous other 2008 and 2007 attacks and killings.
    Interethnic fighting killed persons.
    On April 12, according to a local NGO, an interethnic conflict 
between the Gouria and the Djillah Maibouloua and Deguia communities in 
Bol resulted in 13 deaths. Authorities arrested suspects and detained 
them pending trial. The NGO reported that on June 6, interethnic 
conflict, also in the Lake Chad region, resulted in two deaths.
    On November 11, in Kana District, interethnic conflict involving 
herders and farmers resulted in nine deaths, as well as many injuries. 
Authorities arrested some of perpetrators on both sides and transferred 
them to a prison in Moundou. At year's end they were still detained.

    b. Disappearance.--There continued to be reports of politically 
motivated disappearances and persons being held incommunicado during 
the year, particularly in relation to the ongoing conflict with rebels 
(see section 1.g.).
    The whereabouts of Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, one of three prominent 
opposition leaders arrested in February 2008, remained unknown; there 
were no arrests in connection with the case (see section 1.g.).
    The kidnapping of children for ransom was a problem in the Mayo-
Kebbi Ouest Region. Armed persons, both local and from neighboring 
countries, reportedly kidnapped children. Peuhl children were 
particularly at risk due to perceptions that their families were 
wealthier than other ethnic groups. According to a local NGO, from 2007 
to 2009, 148 children were kidnapped, and the total ransom money paid 
was approximately 157 million CFA ($330,000). During the same period, 
114 children held by bandits were killed, most often as a result of 
shots fired between the bandits and security forces that intervened 
when parents were unwilling or unable to pay the ransom.

    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. Members of 
the security forces tortured, beat, abused, and raped persons. Such 
practices also occurred in connection with the ongoing armed conflict. 
The government took no known action against security force members 
responsible for such abuse.
    On March 19, military personnel in N'Djamena took Malloum Ousamane 
into custody; he was detained and tortured before being released four 
days later.
    On March 26, a group of police in N'Djamena's District Five 
arrested 15-year-old Mahamat Nour Abrass. He was beaten and injured 
during detention. No action was taken against the policemen involved in 
his arrest.
    On May 29, in N'Djamena, security agents kidnapped, detained, and 
tortured Yaya Erdimi, a relative of rebel leaders Tom and Timane 
Erdimi. He was later released.
    Police, gendarmes, and ANT personnel raped women and girls.
    On January 1, in Bol, military officer Moussa Kallih raped 11-year-
old Zara Issa. Gendarmes arrested Kallih, and as of September he 
remained in detention.
    On July 1, an 11-year-old girl reportedly was raped in Koumra by 
men in uniform.
    On November 13, ANT soldiers kidnapped 10 girls who were attending 
a cultural event and raped them. The following day gendarmes freed the 
girls. No arrests were made in the case.
    In trafficking and child labor-related cases, police reportedly 
resorted to extrajudicial actions against offenders, including beating 
them and imposing unofficial fines.

    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. 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.
    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 National Security Agency (ANS) and 
General Directorate of Security Services for National Institutions 
(DGSSIE) prisons. They also reported on secret prisons under the 
authority of the Ministry of the Environment.
    There were continued reports of persons being detained in a 
Ministry of Interior facility in Koro Toro. A progovernment newspaper 
cited several cases of persons being sent to Koro Toro, and local media 
reported that the facility was maintained in a nontransparent manner. 
Ministry of Interior officials continued to prohibit access to the 
facility by local and international human rights organizations.
    Although the law provides that a doctor must visit each prison 
three times a week, this provision was not respected.
    The law authorizes forced labor in prison for some crimes.
    Most of the estimated 1,000 prison inmates who escaped during the 
February 2008 rebel attack on N'Djamena remained at large.
    Juvenile males were not always separated from adult male prisoners, 
and children were sometimes held with their inmate mothers. Pretrial 
detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
    The government permitted the International Committee of the Red 
Cross (ICRC) to visit civilian prisons under the control of the 
Ministry of Justice on a regular basis, and during the year the ICRC 
conducted such visits. The government provided the Chadian Association 
for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH) with a permanent 
authorization notice to visit civilian prisons at any time without 
advance notice. Other NGOs, including human rights groups, were 
required to obtain authorization from a court or from the director of 
prisons; 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 restricted the access of international monitors to 
Ministry of Interior and defense detention centers. The ICRC had 
difficulty identifying all detention centers under the control of the 
Ministry of Interior or the Presidency. The ICRC visited some official 
Ministry of Interior detention facilities but sometimes had difficulty 
gaining access. The government denied repeated requests by the ICRC for 
access to the Koro Toro detention facility. The ICRC sometimes visited 
detention facilities under the Ministry of Defense's control.
    The prison oversight committee established in 2008 to monitor 
standards in Ministry of Justice detention centers was not active 
during the year.

    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 ANS are responsible 
for internal security. The Integrated Security Detachment (DIS) is 
responsible for reducing insecurity in refugee camps and for protecting 
refugees and IDPs (see section 1.g.).
    The ANT, gendarmerie, and GNNT report to the Ministry of Defense; 
the National Police report to the Ministry of Interior; the DGSSIE and 
ANS report to the president. Officers from President Deby's ethnic 
group and closely allied ethnic groups dominated the ANS. The DGSSIE's 
ethnic composition was mixed, but its officers were also primarily 
Zaghawas. Security force impunity and corruption were widespread.
    The police force was centrally controlled, but exercising 
oversight, particularly outside N'Djamena, was difficult. Police 
generally enjoyed impunity. Police and gendarmes extorted payments from 
motorists. The police force was unable to effectively address internal 
security problems, including widespread banditry and arms 
proliferation.
    The Environment Ministry worked with the gendarmerie, Ministry of 
the Interior, and other law enforcement entities to monitor violations 
of environmental protection statutes, including those related to the 
recently outlawed practice of cutting down trees and making and selling 
charcoal. The interagency group does not have authority to arrest or 
detain individuals; however, it did so, and it harassed persons in 
possession of charcoal, a practice that was not outlawed, by requiring 
bribes from them.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
constitution and law require a judicial official to sign arrest 
warrants, the government often did not respect this requirement, and 
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.
    On August 27, gendarmes in Pala stopped and subsequently arrested 
and detained prominent businessman Mahamat Zen during a night patrol. 
Security forces reportedly accused him of associating with rebels 
because he was carrying a knife. Zen was later released; he stated that 
he had no such rebel affiliation.
    In October security forces arbitrarily detained Koumande Barka, a 
civil servant, who was traveling between Kelo and N'Djamena with proper 
travel authorization. The security forces were reportedly seeking 
information regarding his brother, a member of the military. He was 
later released.
    Security forces arrested and detained a political leader, as well 
as a civil society representative.
    On March 11, the interagency group charged with combating poaching 
and environmental degradation arbitrarily arrested Mbairam Gedeon, a 
Moundou policeman, who was found to be in possession of charcoal. 
Possession of charcoal was not illegal. He was detained outside of 
N'Djamena, without charge, by the Ministry of Water and Forestry.
    On June 9, the NGO Chadian League for Human Rights (LTDH) reported 
that the commandant of the gendarmerie in Kelo, Mahamat Hachim, 
arrested Bandal Tchatcha, a local human rights activist, for having 
made a radio report concerning police harassment of those in possession 
of charcoal who had not committed crimes. He was released after 48 
hours.
    On June 14, the interagency group charged with combating poaching 
and environmental degradation arrested and detained Ndjiladengar 
Ndendongarti, a delegate to the Lake Chad Basin Commission, for cutting 
down a live tree without obtaining prior permission. This crime does 
not carry a penalty of detention. He was released on July 27.
    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.
    There were no reported developments in the numerous 2008 cases of 
arbitrary arrest and detention.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary was ineffective, 
underfunded, overburdened, vulnerable to intimidation and violence, and 
subject to executive interference. In practice government officials and 
other influential persons often enjoyed impunity. Members of the 
military continued to enjoy a particularly high degree of impunity. The 
Judiciary Police did not usually enforce domestic court orders against 
military members or persons of the Zaghawa ethnic group, to which the 
president belongs. However during the year, the two colonels of Zaghawa 
ethnicity that a court in October 2008 ordered to return property they 
had forcibly taken from landowner Moussa Pepe, complied with the order.
    Members of the judiciary received death threats or faced demotion 
or removal from their positions for not acquiescing to pressure from 
officials. For example, on August 13, Brahim Abbo, a judge with the 
Court of Justice in Abeche, received death threats at his workplace.
    At the national level, a supreme court, constitutional court, and 
court of appeals exist; some of their members were appointed by the 
government rather than elected by citizens as required by law, which 
weakened judicial independence. The constitutionally mandated High 
Court of Justice can try high-ranking government officials whose cases 
are submitted by the National Assembly. Crimes committed by military 
members are to be tried by a military court; however, no such courts 
have been established and the criminal court of justice tried military 
offenders.
    At the provincial level, there are appellate courts in Moundou, 
Sarh, and Abeche that began to function during the year in addition to 
those in N'Djamena. The Abeche Court of Appeals included four 
functioning tribunals in Faya, Mongo, Biltine, and Ati. Eight 
additional judges had duties in the various courts in the region.
    The constitution and law mandate 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 five-judge judicial oversight commission has the power to conduct 
investigations of judicial decisions and address suspected miscarriages 
of justice. However, in contrast to the superior council, commission 
members are appointed by the president, which increased executive 
control over the judiciary and diminished the authority of the superior 
council. Parties to judicial cases can appeal to the commission.

    Trial Procedures.--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. In most civil cases, the population relied on 
traditional courts presided over by village chiefs, canton chiefs, or 
sultans. However, decisions can be appealed to a formal court.
    The law provides for a presumption of innocence; however, in 
practice many judges assumed a suspect's guilt, particularly in crimes 
involving rape or theft. 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 sought to improve this situation and sometimes 
provided free counsel themselves. 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 
Muslim concept of dia, which involves a payment to the family of a 
crime victim. The practice was common in northern 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. They accused the government of supporting dia 
practices by permitting the existence of local tribunals, some of which 
used Shari'a (Islamic law), unconnected with the Ministry of Justice.
    On September 25, Mahamat Abdoulaye, president of the Development 
and Peace Movement for Chad (a party allied with the ruling MPS) was 
arrested and detained in the main prison of N'Djamena following 
allegations that he made contact with rebel leader Timane Erdimi. On 
November 9, Mahamat Abdoulaye was sentenced to three years in prison 
for treason. Local human rights groups claimed that contact with a 
rebel is insufficient grounds to find that an individual poses a danger 
to the state, and that as such Abdoulaye's conviction was unfair.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports that the 
government held political detainees during the year.

    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.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution states that individuals have the 
right to privacy, and that the home is inviolable. The constitution 
allows for freedom of communication, but allows for it to be restricted 
so as not to infringe on the rights of others, and to safeguard public 
order and good morals. The government conducted illegal searches and 
wiretaps and monitored private mail and e-mail. Security forces 
regularly stopped citizens and extorted money or confiscated 
belongings.
    Home demolitions in N'Djamena, which began in 2008, continued into 
the year. A September report by Amnesty International stated that tens 
of thousands of persons had lost their homes since the demolitions 
began. Officials continued to state that the homes were illegally built 
on government-owned land that was needed for public works projects. 
Several persons charged that the homes were destroyed without due 
process, and took their cases to court. Many of the families had built 
on land without having title to it, but others reportedly had title. At 
year's end the court cases were pending.
    The Ministry of Interior banned both the possession and use of 
satellite telephones. Military and police personnel searched for and 
confiscated satellite telephones.
    There were occasions when police officers arrested family members 
of suspects.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
During the year fighting in the east between the government and rebel 
groups continued and reportedly resulted in civilian deaths and the 
destruction of homes and property. From May 4 to 7, Chadian rebels 
mounted an attack, crossing from Sudan into the east of the country. 
Government forces pushed the rebels back into Sudan. In December 
fighting also occurred between government forces and rebels in the 
vicinity of Tisse, in the southeast.
    Groups, both large and small, of rebels renounced their rebel 
associations during the year. The government permitted those who 
renounced their rebel associations to integrate into the ANT or 
civilian life without being arrested. On July 25, the government signed 
a peace agreement with the NM, a rebel group coalition led by Ahmat 
Hassaballah Soubiane. Soubiane was one of the 11 rebel leaders 
sentenced in absentia in August 2008 to life in prison; he was granted 
amnesty in December 2009. Between 2,000 and 3,000 rebels had returned 
to Chad by year's end.
    A UN panel of experts found that the government continued to 
support the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Sudanese rebel 
group. JEM vehicles and personnel continued to circulate in the east of 
Chad.
    There were no developments regarding the numerous cases of abuse 
reported by the commission of inquiry to examine disappearances and 
other abuses that occurred from January 28 to February 8--the period 
before, during, and after the 2008 rebel attack on N'Djamena. In August 
2008 the commission released a report that stated 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. During the year the government established an 
additional subcommittee under the minister of justice to reexamine 
cases discussed in the commission's report. No related trials occurred 
during the year.
    Although on a smaller scale than in previous years, interethnic 
conflict and cross-border raids by Darfur-based militias continued.
    Banditry was a severe problem; it increased during the year and 
reduced the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide services. 
Vast areas along the border with Sudan were not protected by the 
government.
    In 2007 the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of the 
European Union Force (EUFOR) and a UN Mission in the Central African 
Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) to protect civilians and promote human 
rights and the rule of law in eastern Chad and northeastern CAR. On 
March 15, EUFOR's mandate ended and all operational control was handed 
over to MINURCAT per UN Security Resolution 1861 of 2009. MINURCAT's 
mandate also includes supporting regional peace. As of September 30, 
MINURCAT was 55 percent deployed. MINURCAT had trained and deployed 850 
DIS personnel as of September. The DIS are Chadian forces responsible 
for security in refugee camps, IDP sites, and key towns in the east.

    Killings.--Persons were reportedly killed during fighting between 
the government and rebels in the east.
    Human Rights Watch stated that there were reports that government 
forces committed extrajudicial killings of rebels, committed incidents 
of sexual assaults, and used child soldiers during and after fighting 
with rebels in Am Dam. According to Human Rights Watch, on May 7, ANT 
soldiers summarily executed at least nine rebels and government tanks 
killed civilians while crushing homes that government forces believed 
to contain rebels. Human Rights Watch also reported that on May 7, ANT 
soldiers reportedly sexually assaulted a girl and a woman in a 
neighboring village.
    There were no developments in the cases of civilian deaths 
associated with the February 2008 rebel attacks and government 
counterattacks.
    Security forces killed other persons in the east during the year, 
in addition to those reportedly killed during the fighting.
    On March 22, a DIS commander in Farchana reportedly killed a 
civilian during a private dispute. Gendarmes arrested the officer, and 
he was charged with murder.
    On June 8, three DGSSIE personnel in Goz Beida killed Denemadji 
Rachel following a dispute with her at her family's shop.
    On June 11, Colonel Hissein Khalifa was reportedly killed by 
military personnel in Goz Beida following allegations that he was in 
contact with rebel leaders.
    There were no reported developments regarding the 2008 or 2007 
ethnic clashes.
    On April 7, a French soldier serving with EUFOR shot and killed two 
other EUFOR soldiers and a MINURCAT soldier and later a Chadian 
civilian. Authorities arrested the soldier the same day, and he was 
sent back to France.

    Abductions.--In February Mianadji Job disappeared while travelling 
between N'Djamena and Abeche. His family asserted that the ANS 
kidnapped him as a result of allegations that he sought to join a rebel 
group. No investigation was undertaken to find him, although his case 
was reported to the Justice Ministry.
    There were developments regarding Haroun Mahamat Abdoulaye, a 
sultan of Dar Tama. On July 20, authorities arrested Abdoulaye; he was 
released several months later. Abdoulaye was previously arrested in 
2007 along with others alleged to have links to rebels and detained 
without charge.
    There were no developments in the case of opposition leader Ibni 
Oumar Mahamat Saleh, whom security forces arrested in February 2008, 
and his whereabouts remained unknown.
    The whereabouts of at least 135 rebels captured during the February 
2008 attack on N'Djamena remained unknown at year's end.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--Security forces tortured, 
beat, arrested, detained, and abused persons suspected of rebel 
activity or collaboration with rebels.
    Unexploded ordnance including landmines laid by government, rebel, 
and foreign forces resulted in civilian deaths. For example, unexploded 
ordnance killed six children in Koukou Angarana and Goz Beida following 
the fighting in May; and on October 1, unexploded ordnance killed four 
children and injured another person in Kawa.
    Government forces, organized groups, and bandits raped civilians. 
Female refugees and IDPs were subjected to rape (see section 2.d.).
    The DIS included 87 women as of September. Humanitarian workers 
reported that having female security force members patrolling camps 
gave more confidence to female refugees to report gender-based 
violence.

    Child Soldiers.--The law prohibits the use of child soldiers; 
however, child soldiers were used by the ANT, Chadian rebel groups, the 
JEM, and other armed groups. There were reports that the DGSSIE also 
used child soldiers.
    Armed groups from both Chad and Sudan, including JEM, recruited 
children from refugee camps along the eastern border.
    The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported the government took steps 
during the year to eliminate the use of child soldiers, but in some 
areas recruitment continued. During August and September, military 
officials, along with representatives of international organizations, 
visited security force installations in Abeche, N'Djamena, Moussoro, 
and Mongo to identify child soldiers and raise awareness regarding the 
prohibitions against their use.
    The government transferred 240 child soldiers to UNICEF for 
reintegration and rehabilitation during the year. Most of the children 
were formerly associated with rebel groups. For example, on June 12, 
the government turned over to UNICEF approximately 80 child soldiers 
who were part of an estimated 200 rebels captured during the fighting 
in early May. The government cooperated with international efforts to 
provide rehabilitation services.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--Armed groups and bandits attacked 
humanitarian and human rights NGO workers, and during the year such 
attacks increased. Insecurity severely hindered the ability of 
humanitarian organizations to provide services, including food 
distribution, to refugees and IDPs. Humanitarian organizations 
temporarily suspended or limited activities due to insecurity.
    During the May rebel attack, the UN suspended humanitarian services 
in several locations.
    During the year humanitarian and human rights NGO vehicles were 
hijacked, numerous convoys were attacked and looted, and humanitarian 
offices were robbed. Humanitarian workers were killed during the year. 
Individuals in uniform demanded the payment of bribes from humanitarian 
workers in vehicles in exchange for safe passage. Armed men also 
abducted humanitarian NGO workers.
    On August 4, armed men attacked a Medecins Sans Frontieres Holland 
compound and abducted one local and one international staff member. The 
local staff member escaped soon after. The assailants held his 
colleague until September 1.
    On November 7, north of Ade, six armed men attacked a vehicle 
carrying members of the humanitarian NGO Solidarites. Driver Adoum 
Makaila died from his injuries.
    On November 9, in Kawa, armed men abducted ICRC international staff 
member Laurent Maurice. He was still held at year's end.
    Armed bandits also attacked government officials.
    For example, on October 24, armed men killed Michel Mitna, head of 
the Guereda office of the government's National Commission for the 
Reception and Reinsertion of Refugees. He was returning from Kounoungo 
Camp. The bandits also injured Mitna's driver.
    There were no developments regarding the 2008 killing of NGO Save 
the Children director Pascal Marlinge.
    The overall number of IDPs decreased from 185,000 in August 2008 to 
167,000 in January 2009. In September there were approximately 168,000 
IDPs.
    With less frequency than in previous years, attacks continued to 
occur throughout the east by janjaweed-like mounted raiders from Sudan, 
Chadian rebels, and Chadian ethnic militias, both Arab and non-Arab.
    Chadians regularly moved to and from Sudan. The movements reflected 
seasonal migration but were also in response to insecurity.

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, but it allows for 
these to be restricted so as to not infringe on the rights of others, 
and to safeguard public order and good morals. The constitution 
prohibits propaganda of an ethnic, regionalist, or religious nature 
that affects national unity or the secular nature of the state; 
however, the government did not respect these rights in practice, and 
the February 2008 presidential decree that revised the press law to 
include additional restrictions on speech and the press remained in 
effect. Journalists and publishers practiced self-censorship.
    The 2008 press law revisions include punishments that can include 
imprisonment for three to five years for articles whose purpose is to 
cause tribal, racial, or religious hatred. The revisions provide for 
increased penalties, including imprisonment, for defamation of the 
courts, security forces, and public administration. Offending the 
president is punishable by one to five years' imprisonment and/or a 
fine, as is publicly offending foreign high-level government officials. 
Conspiring with the enemy is punishable by up to three years' 
imprisonment and/or a fine. The revisions also include additional 
requirements for establishing a newspaper. Human rights organizations 
and newspapers criticized the restrictions. There were no reports the 
government enforced the law during the year.
    Individuals who publicly criticized the government often faced 
reprisal (see section 1.d.). There were reports that the government 
attempted to control criticism by monitoring meetings of the political 
opposition and that the government attempted to intimidate its critics.
    The government owned the newspaper Info Tchad and influenced 
another, Le Progres. Government-controlled media were subject to 
censorship but sometimes criticized the government. Independent print 
media often criticized the government.
    The government deported a journalist and temporarily suspended 
publication of a newspaper owned by an opposition figure. On October 
14, authorities deported the editor of La Voix du Tchad, Innocent 
Ebode, a Cameroonian. Authorities stated that he did not have a proper 
authorization to be in the country. However, it was also widely 
believed that he was deported in part as a result of a piece he wrote 
that included comments critical of President Deby. On December 3, the 
High Council for Communications (HCC) ordered La Voix du Tchad to cease 
publication because it was not licensed.
    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 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 $11,000) 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.
    The government censored the media by restricting content through 
laws and other mechanisms. Some journalists in rural areas reported 
that government officials warned them not to engage in any contentious 
political reporting. In addition, some domestic journalists claimed the 
government restricted their ability to cover some events or visit 
certain locations and limited their access to high-ranking officials, 
restrictions the government did not impose on foreign journalists.
    On May 14, in N'Djamena, a local journalism association convened 
local media professionals to discuss difficulties faced by journalists.

    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 2008, 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 but allows 
for it to be restricted so as not to infringe on the rights of others, 
and to safeguard public order and good morals. The government did not 
respect this right in practice. The law requires organizers of 
demonstrations to notify the government five days in advance.
    On January 14, police reportedly broke up a protest against high 
costs of living and a government ban on the use of charcoal.
    There were no developments regarding the violent dispersal of 
demonstrators in 2008 and 2007.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, but allow for it to be restricted so as not to 
infringe on the rights of others and to safeguard public order and good 
morals. The government respected this right in practice.
    An ordinance requires prior authorization from the Ministry of 
Interior 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.--The law provides for religious freedom but 
allows for it to be restricted so as not to infringe on the rights of 
others, and to safeguard public order and good morals. The government 
continued to restrict some religious organizations and practices. The 
law also provides for a secular state; however, some policies favored 
Islam in practice. For example, a committee composed of members of the 
High Council for Islamic Affairs and the Directorate of Religious 
Affairs in the Ministry of Interior organized the Hajj and the Umra.
    The 2007 ban on all forms of street-corner evangelization and 
preaching remained in effect.
    The government continued to ban Al Mountada al Islami, the World 
Association for Muslim Youth, the Mecca Al-Moukarrama Charitable 
Foundation, and Al Haramain Charitable Foundation for promoting 
violence to further religious goals.
    The Islamic religious group Faid al-Djaria remained banned on the 
grounds that its religious customs, including men and women singing and 
dancing together in religious ceremonies, were un-Islamic.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Although the different 
religious communities generally coexisted without problems, there were 
reports of tensions between the High Council for Islamic Affairs and 
fundamentalist elements within the Muslim community. During the year 
there were regular meetings between key religious leaders of all faiths 
to discuss peaceful collaboration among groups.
    There was no known Jewish community and no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for freedom of movement, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, in practice the government imposed some 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 them, and in some cases killing them.
    The activities of 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.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The estimated overall number 
of IDPs decreased from 185,000 in August 2008 to 167,000 in January 
2009. In September there were approximately 168,000 IDPs.
    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. The government did not attack 
IDPs or forcibly return or resettle them under dangerous conditions.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and 
the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the 
Refugee Problem in Africa. The law, however, does not provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 
convention and its 1967 protocol, 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 November the number of Sudanese refugees from Darfur in the 
country was 253,000; most of these refugees were located in 12 camps 
along the eastern border with Sudan. The number of refugees from CAR 
increased from 56,000 in June 2008 to about 70,000 in 2009. Most of 
those refugees lived in five camps in the south. Most new refugees from 
CAR that arrived during the year were located near Daha, in the 
southeast. There were also approximately 5,000 refugees of various 
nationalities living 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 were frequently 
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 
armed groups continued (see section 1.g.). Women were raped in and near 
refugee camps, including by ANT soldiers. Antirefugee sentiment among 
citizens living in refugee-affected areas was high, 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.
    A September Amnesty International report documented cases of rape 
inside and outside of refugee camps that occurred both during the year 
and in previous years. Rapes were committed by ANT personnel, organized 
groups, bandits, and other refugees. Amnesty International received 
reports of rape and violence against refugees committed by staff of 
humanitarian organizations. According to Amnesty International, the NGO 
staff in the reported cases were removed from their jobs. A May report 
by the NGO Physicians for Human Rights also discussed cases of female 
Darfuri refugees being raped in Chad.
    The DIS aided in protection of refugee and IDP camps in the east 
(see section 1.g.). UNICEF reported that the DIS investigated cases of 
adults who reportedly forced children into prostitution in refugee 
camps.
    Information on whether the government provided temporary protection 
to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 
convention or the 1967 protocol was not available.

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 Deby, 
leader of the ruling MPS, was reelected to a third term in what 
unofficial observers characterized as an orderly but seriously flawed 
election that was boycotted by the opposition. The government had 
dismissed appeals from the opposition, civil society, religious groups, 
and some members of the international community to postpone elections 
and organize a national dialogue. Observers noted low voter 
participation, underage voting, multiple voting, and other 
irregularities.
    In August 2007 the government and the opposition coalition signed 
an agreement that delayed communal and legislative elections, 
originally scheduled for 2005, until 2009; however, legislative 
elections did not take place during the year. There was progress in 
implementing other provisions of the 2007 agreement. The government and 
the political opposition worked together and with the National Assembly 
to implement elements of the accord. This included conducting a 
population census, issuing a decree pertaining to the electoral code, 
adoption of new legislation on political parties, and the creation of 
an independent national electoral commission.
    There were approximately 120 registered political parties at year's 
end. Political parties were subject to outside interference. During the 
year opposition leaders were subject to harassment, but unlike in the 
previous year none disappeared. Opposition political leaders accused 
the government of co-opting politicians to run as MPS members in local 
elections or to cross the aisle in the National Assembly, and alleged 
that the military intimidated party members who refused to cooperate. 
Parties allied with the government generally received favorable 
treatment. Northerners, particularly members of the Zaghawa ethnic 
group, including the Bideyat subclan to which the president belongs, 
continued to dominate the public sector and were overrepresented in key 
institutions of state power, including the military officer corps, 
elite military units, and the presidential staff.
    There were 10 women in the 155-seat National Assembly. There were 
five women among 41 ministers in the cabinet.
    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. Officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices. The World Bank's most recent 
Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a severe 
problem.
    On August 26, the International Crisis Group released a report 
regarding the relationship between governance and revenues from the 
Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline project. According to the report, the 
government did not transparently award contracts 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, a committee 
established to involve civil society in the management of oil revenues.
    The Ministry of Moralization is responsible for fighting corruption 
and carried out anticorruption seminars for government employees. 
During the year the ministry reported several cases of bribery, 
embezzlement, misappropriation, and financial mismanagement. This 
included 1.5 billion CFA (approximately $3.2 million) in false 
contracts made by officials at the ministries of education and finance; 
810 million CFA ($1.7 million) missing from the National Office for 
Food Security; 244 million CFA ($522,000) stolen from the regional 
treasury in Moundou; and 120 million CFA ($257,000) embezzled from the 
municipality and regional treasury in Sarh.
    On August 15, the Ministry of State Oversight stated that it had 
initiated 35 legal cases against 141 government officials charged with 
embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds during the year.
    During the year the government dismissed several government agents 
from their jobs for corruption and embezzlement, including high-profile 
officials such as the director general of the National Social Insurance 
Fund (CNPS); the commercial director of CotonChad, the state-owned 
cotton company; and the chief officer of the Land Registry Office 
(Cadastre).
    In August and September, authorities arrested and detained the 
following officials on suspicion of corruption: the financial oversight 
officer of the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury bursar, both the then-
current and the former administrative, material, and financial 
directors at the Ministry of Education, the director general of CNPS, 
the chief officer of the Cadastre, and the former head of the HCC.
    The College for the Control and Monitoring of Oil Resources 
published its report for 2008 on December 22, 2009. It identified 
deficiencies that included insufficient coordination between ministries 
and with local officials, lack of qualified personnel to implement and 
oversee poverty reduction projects, and the inability of the government 
to fully complete or to provide sufficient resources for ongoing 
projects. The report thanked the Ministry of Morality, which includes 
the office of corruption, and the Ministry of Infrastructure and 
Transport for positive cooperation with the college in 2008. The 
government had taken no clear action on findings in the college's 
previous reports by year's end.
    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
    The government continued to obstruct the work of domestic human 
rights organizations.
    On June 9, authorities arrested a human rights activist after he 
made a radio report critical of the police (see section 1.d.).
    On October 23, unknown persons went to the home of LTDH president 
Massalabaye Tenebaye; he was not at home and they left. Between October 
13 and 16, unknown persons also followed Tenebaye.
    There were two principal local human rights organizations, the 
ATPDH and the LTDH. These and smaller human rights organizations worked 
together through an umbrella organization, the Association for Human 
Rights.
    Government officials generally were accessible to human rights 
advocates but were often unresponsive or hostile to their findings. 
Nevertheless, such groups were able to investigate and publish their 
findings on human rights cases.
    On October 27-28, the government held a human rights forum in 
Abeche. In August it held a similar forum in N'Djamena.
    During the year unidentified assailants and armed bandits also 
attacked numerous NGO employees during the year, resulting in deaths 
and injuries (see section 1.g.). The lack of security in the east 
reduced the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide services.
    Despite pressure from the government, human rights groups were 
outspoken in publicizing abuses through reports, press releases, and 
the print media, but only occasionally were they able to intervene 
successfully with authorities.
    The government continued to obstruct the work of international 
human rights organizations, such as the NGO Human Rights Watch.
    The government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives. Between 
February 3 and 9, the UN representative of the secretary general on the 
human rights of IDPs, Walter Kailin, visited the country. His report 
expressed concern regarding child recruitment and gender-based violence 
at IDP sites, and crimes committed with impunity against IDPs and 
humanitarian workers. The assistant secretary-general for rule of law 
and security institutions in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations 
(DPKO) Dmitry Titov also visited the country in February.

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. The 
government favored its ethnic supporters and allies.

    Women.--Rape is prohibited and punishable by hard labor. Rape, 
including of female refugees, was a problem (see section 2.d.); no 
reliable data was available. The law does not specifically address 
spousal rape. Although police often arrested and detained perpetrators, 
rape cases usually were not tried and in most cases suspects were 
released.
    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 against abuse. Although family or traditional authorities 
could provide assistance in such cases, police rarely intervened. 
Information on the number of abusers who were prosecuted, convicted, or 
punished was not available.
    In some places girls and women may not visit the site where an 
initiation ceremony is to take place. If a woman or girl violates this 
prohibition, under traditional custom the village leaders can kill her, 
although there were no reports of this occurring during the year.
    The law prohibits prostitution; however, it was prevalent in larger 
urban areas and in the south.
    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. The ratio of 
midwives to women of childbearing age was one to 14,800. Ten percent of 
married women in N'Djamena used contraceptives during the year. Five 
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 for which 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.
    The government, with assistance from the UN, launched an awareness 
raising campaign to combat gender-based violence. This included raising 
awareness regarding rape, sexual harassment, female genital mutilation 
(FGM), discrimination against women, and early marriage.

    Children.--The law provides for citizenship to be derived by birth 
within the country's territory and from ones' parents; however, in 
practice children born to refugees from Sudan were not always 
considered citizens. Children born to refugees from CAR were generally 
granted Chadian citizenship. The government did not register all births 
immediately.
    By law education is universal and free, and primary education is 
compulsory between the ages of six and 11; however, in practice parents 
were required to pay tuition to public schools beyond the primary 
level. Parents 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. Most children did not complete primary education. 
Educational opportunities for girls were even more limited than for 
boys. Girls' enrollment in primary school was lower than that of boys. 
Most children did not attend secondary school, where enrollment of 
girls was lower than that of boys.
    Several human rights organizations reported on the problem of the 
mouhadjirin, children who attended certain Islamic schools and whom 
their teachers forced to beg for food and money. There was no reliable 
estimate of the number of mouhadjirin.
    Children who were refugees or IDPs had limited access to services 
such as education and health care, although refugee access to such 
services and care sometimes exceeded that of surrounding Chadian 
populations.
    Child abuse remained a problem.
    The law prohibits the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM); 
however, FGM 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, conducted 
public awareness campaigns to discourage the practice of FGM and 
highlight its dangers as part of its efforts to combat gender-based 
violence. UNICEF reported that the campaign encouraged persons to speak 
out against FGM and other forms of abuse against women and girls.
    Although the law prohibits sexual relations with a girl younger 
than 14, even if she is married, the ban was rarely enforced. Families 
arranged marriages for girls as young as 12 or 13; the minimum legal 
age for engagements is 11. The law prohibits forced marriages of anyone 
younger than age 18 and provides for imprisonment of six months to two 
years and a fine of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA ($107-1,171). However, forced 
marriage of girls was a serious problem, including among refugees. The 
custom of buying and selling child brides continued to be 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 government and other armed groups continued to use child 
soldiers (see section 1.g.).
    Armed bandits kidnapped children to obtain ransom in the Mayo-Kebbi 
Ouest Region (see section 1.b.).

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
trafficking in persons; however, traffickers could be prosecuted under 
statutes prohibiting child abduction, sale of children, child labor, 
forced labor, and commercial sexual exploitation. Children were 
trafficked to, from, and through the country, as well as internally. 
Cross-border trafficking was not as common as internal trafficking.
    Children were trafficked for forced labor and commercial sexual 
exploitation. The majority of child victims were trafficked within the 
country for domestic servitude, forced begging, forced labor in cattle 
herding, fishing and street vending, and commercial sexual 
exploitation. Children from Cameroon and CAR were trafficked for 
commercial sexual exploitation to the country's oil-producing regions. 
Chadian children were trafficked to Cameroon, CAR, and Nigeria for 
cattle herding.
    Girls sold or forced into child marriages were forced by their 
husbands into domestic servitude and agricultural labor.
    The majority of child trafficking occurred with parental consent; 
parents gave children to relatives or an intermediary in exchange for 
typically false promises of an education or apprenticeship for the 
child, or for cattle or a small payment for the parents.
    Armed groups recruited children, sometimes forcibly. The government 
took some steps to eliminate the use of child soldiers in the army (see 
section 1.g.).
    UNICEF reported that the DIS investigated cases of adults who 
reportedly forced children into prostitution in refugee camps. Armed 
bandits kidnapped children to obtain ransom in the Mayo-Kebbi Ouest 
Region (see section 1.b.).
    There were no reported developments regarding the June 2008 case of 
village chiefs arrested for selling children to herders or the July 
2008 report that 108 children were being held by herders in Hahimtoki 
village.
    Police reportedly resorted to extrajudicial actions against 
traffickers and child labor offenders, including beating them and 
imposing unofficial fines.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities, and the government enforced this 
prohibition. There were no laws or programs to ensure access to 
buildings for persons with disabilities. The government operated a few 
education, employment, or therapy programs for such persons. 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 are concentrated regionally. They speak 
128 distinct primary languages. Although 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--internal migrations in response to urbanization and 
desertification resulted in the integration of these groups in some 
areas.
    Societal discrimination continued to be practiced routinely by 
members of virtually all ethnic groups and was evident in patterns of 
employment, especially across the North-South divide. The law prohibits 
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.
    Interethnic violence continued, particularly in the east and south 
(see section 1.g.).
    Clashes between herders and sedentary populations and other 
interethnic violence that often concerned land use continued to be a 
serious problem.

    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 was societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation. There were no government or 
civil society efforts to address discrimination based on sexual 
orientation or gender identity.

    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 continued to be practiced against persons 
living with HIV/AIDS.

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 Interior is required. However, there were no reports that the 
authorization requirement was enforced. The Ministry of Interior 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 must complete a mediation 
process and must notify the government before striking. Employees of 
several public entities deemed essential must continue to provide a 
certain level of services. A 2008 International Trade Union 
Confederation report stated that the law prolonged the period before a 
strike can occur, and that the definition of essential services was 
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.
    During the year four Government National Radio (RNT) journalists 
were not paid their monthly salaries and were relocated to less 
prestigious positions outside the capital following their participation 
in a strike.
    On August 19, the minister of civil service issued an order to move 
the head of the Civil Service Workers Union and his deputy to positions 
outside the capital. The union linked this decision to a March strike 
for salary increases and better workplace conditions. The union 
threatened to go on strike again if the minister did not cancel the 
decision to transfer. At year's end the union head and deputy had not 
been moved.
    On October 13, Michel Barka, president of the Chad Trade Union, was 
followed by several vehicles, and then threatened with a gun.

    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 forced child labor, occurred in the 
informal sector. There continued also to be reports of forced labor 
practices in the formal economy and isolated instances of local 
authorities demanding forced labor by both children and adults in the 
rural sector.
    The law permits imprisonment with forced labor for participation in 
illegal strikes.
    Children were subjected to forced labor and commercial sexual 
exploitation. The majority of forced child laborers were subjected to 
domestic servitude, forced begging, forced labor in cattle herding, 
fishing and street vending, or commercial sexual exploitation. Children 
from Cameroon and CAR were trafficked and subjected to commercial 
sexual exploitation in the country's oil-producing regions. Chadian 
children were trafficked to Cameroon, CAR, and Nigeria for forced 
cattle herding. Girls sold or forced into child marriages were forced 
by their husbands into domestic servitude and agricultural labor. 
Children were also recruited, sometimes forcibly, into armed groups 
(see section 6, Children and Trafficking in Persons).
    In January local human rights groups and the media reported that a 
military officer abducted Ndessedibaye Neloumra and Nanalta Clement 
from Sarh and transferred them to the North for forced labor. They were 
tortured and injured before being released.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code stipulates that the minimum age for employment is 14, except 
that children may work as apprentices beginning at age 13. However, the 
government did not enforce the law. Child labor, including forced child 
labor, was a serious problem. The minimum employment age is not 
consistent with the compulsory education age.
    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 throughout the country worked in agriculture and herding. 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 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.
    During the year a local NGO in Koumra reportedly rescued 150 
children whose families had sold them to work as herders in the 
southern departments of Mandoul and Moyen Chari.
    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.
    Government forces and rebel groups used child soldiers (see section 
1.g.).
    UNICEF reported that the DIS investigated cases of adults who 
reportedly forced children into prostitution in refugee camps.
    The Office of Labor Inspection is responsible for enforcement of 
child labor laws and policies. As in previous years, the office 
reportedly had no funding to carry out field work and investigations. 
On August 21, the National School of Administration and Magistracy 
graduated its first-ever class of labor inspectors. Twenty-eight 
students participated in the program.
    Police reportedly used extrajudicial actions against traffickers 
and child labor offenders, including beating them and imposing 
unofficial fines.
    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 to educate parents and civil society on the 
dangers of child labor, particularly for child herders, continued.

    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 ($60) 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 an unbroken 48-hour rest period per week; however, these 
rights rarely were enforced.
    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 they could not leave without 
jeopardizing their employment. The labor code explicitly protects all 
workers, including foreign and illegal workers, but the protections 
provided were not always respected in practice.

                               __________

                                COMOROS

    The Union of the Comoros is a constitutional, multiparty republic 
of 748,000 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 
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 March 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. In June 2008 Moussa Toybou was elected president of 
Anjouan in a generally free and fair process. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The Union government and the three island governments generally 
respected the human rights of their citizens, although there were some 
areas of concern. 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 
reports the Union government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    Civil society representatives on Anjouan reported in March 2008 
Nadiati Soimaddine died from injuries inflicted during torture by 
Mohamed Bacar's security agents. Soimaddine was accused of supporting 
Union president Sambi. There were no developments in the case.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances. Civil society representatives reported those detained 
in Anjouan prior to March 2008 had been released.

    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. Unlike in the 
previous year, there were no reports of rape, torture, illegal 
detention, and forced exile committed by regime gendarmes in Anjouan.
    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. 
There were no other developments on any of these 2008 cases.
    For example, in January 2008 Bacar's security forces arrested 
Mohamed Attoumane for listening to a radio program from the national 
radio station. Attoumane was tortured and released a day after his 
arrest. There were no developments in this case.
    In February 2008 Bacar's forces detained and tortured Soulaimana 
Bacar and several unnamed friends. Bacar, who suffered a broken foot 
and arm, was held incommunicado and transferred between unknown 
locations before his release. There were no developments in the case.
    Also in February 2008 Bacar's forces arbitrarily detained and beat 
Attoumane Houmadi, whom they held until his family paid for his 
release. There were no developments in the case.
    Some persons released during the year had been held for months by 
Bacar regime security forces. For example, Abdallah Ahmed Ben Ali, who 
was arbitrarily arrested in 2007, was repeatedly tortured until his 
March 2008 release. There were no developments in the case.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor. Common problems included inadequate sanitation, overcrowding, 
inadequate medical facilities, and poor diet.
    There were approximately 150 prisoners incarcerated in Moroni 
prison. At year's end one female prisoner was being held; no juveniles 
were being held. During the year there were no recorded deaths of 
prison inmates.
    Authorities held pretrial detainees with convicted prisoners. 
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports detainees on Anjouan 
were being held in shipping containers.
    The government permitted visits by independent human rights 
observers. In an August 2008 visit, a Comoran human rights organization 
and the local Red Crescent Society stated the Union government met 
international standards in its detention, on Grande Comore, of 
officials from the Bacar regime.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally 
observed these prohibitions.
    On August 7, 10 high-ranking members of the Grande Comore island 
administration were arrested for resisting the attempts of national 
gendarmes to retake possession of offices, vehicles, and other property 
of the island authority. These officials have since been released.

    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). The 
previously separate Anjouan gendarmerie was incorporated into the Union 
structure. Each of the three islands also has its own local police 
force under the authority of its ministry of interior.
    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. 
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.
    After March 2008 the Union government detained approximately 50 
civilian and military officials of the Bacar regime. All but one have 
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.

    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.
    The seven-member Constitutional Court includes a member appointed 
by the president of the Union, a member appointed by each of the two 
Union vice presidents, a member appointed by each of the three island 
government presidents, and one appointed by the president of the 
National Assembly. Minor disputes can be reviewed by the civilian court 
of first instance, but they were usually settled by village elders 
outside of the formal structure. The head of state appoints magistrates 
by decree.

    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 shari'a (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. The law allows defendants to question witnesses and present 
their own witnesses. Witnesses 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 
and impartial judiciary for civil matters, but formal courts had 
insufficient resources and were corrupt. 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, and journalists on all three islands 
practiced self censorship.
    Individuals could generally criticize the Union government publicly 
or privately without reprisal.
    There is a government-supported newspaper and six independent 
newspapers.
    No action was taken against Anjouan gendarmes involved in the 2007 
arrest and beating of four journalists or the 2007 arrest and detention 
of radio reporter Elarifou Minihadji of the Comoran Foundation for 
Human Rights. Minihadji was released after one week. The four 
journalists were released when Anjouan was liberated in March 2008.
    There is independent radio on all three islands. One government 
radio station operated on a regular schedule. Small community radio 
stations operated 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 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 3.48 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.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, the government did not always respect this right. Security 
forces wielding batons dispersed protesters after the referendum on 
Mayotte (March 29), before and after the referendum on the constitution 
(May 17), and after the announcement of election results on Anjouan 
(December 23).

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, but the penal code prohibits proselytizing for religions 
other than Islam. The referendum of May 17, which modified the 
constitution, also states ``Islam is the state religion,'' but in 
practice there was no change in the legal status of religious freedom. 
Prosecutions for proselytizing are rare and have not resulted in 
convictions in recent years. Although the government allows organized 
religious groups to establish places of worship, train clergy to serve 
believers, and assemble for peaceful religious activities, most non-
Muslim citizens did not openly practice their faith for fear of 
potential legal repercussions for proselytizing.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Christians, who constitute 
less than 1 percent of the population, continued to experience societal 
discrimination and intimidation. Societal pressure effectively 
restricted the use of the country's three churches to noncitizens. 
Family and community members harassed those who joined non-Muslim 
faiths.
    There was no known Jewish population, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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 and foreign travel, and the 
government generally respected these rights in practice. No specific 
constitutional provisions deal with emigration and repatriation.
    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 UN 
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, Anjouan 
voters selected three to run in the national election, which Ahmed 
Abdallah Mohamed Sambi won. International observers considered the 
elections free and fair. The 2006 inauguration of President Sambi was 
the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power in the country's 
history. 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 June 2008; these were also considered generally free and 
fair.
    On May 17, a national referendum was held on proposed modifications 
to the current constitutional system. The proposed changes would 
significantly affect the titles, powers, and terms of various office 
holders, including President Sambi (who would see his term of office 
extended by one year). 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.
    On December 6 and December 20, 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.
    More than 20 political parties operated without restriction and 
openly criticized the Union government.
    There was one woman in the 33-member national assembly. No 
minorities held national assembly seats or Union or island ministerial 
posts.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Corruption was a serious problem. 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. 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 
also reflected that corruption was a serious issue.
    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, sex, 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 is a problem. 
Statistics are scarce since many of these situations are settled within 
families or by village elders without recourse to the formal court 
system. Authorities believe the problem is more widespread than 
statistics indicate, and overall sexual violence is a problem. For 
example, more than half of the inmates in Moroni prison are held for 
crimes of sexual aggression.
    The law prohibits domestic violence, but the government did not 
take any action to combat violence against women. Although 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.
    Prostitution is illegal and was not openly practiced except at a 
few hotels frequented by foreigners. Arrests for prostitution were 
rare.
    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 free to choose the number and spacing 
of their children. The contraceptive prevalence rate is approximately 
15 percent among women of childbearing age. 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. There is a general lack of adolescent reproductive 
health information and services, leading to unwanted pregnancies and 
increased morbidity and mortality among adolescent girls. 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. 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 
faced societal pressure to do so.

    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 not free. Teacher 
strikes over nonpayment of salaries interrupted school several times 
during the year. Boys generally had greater access to 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. A 2002 UN Children's Fund 
study found that child abuse, including sexual abuse, was widespread 
and often occurred at home. There also were reports teachers raped 
students.
    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 they 
were not considered serious problems. The age of consent is 13. 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 ($462 and 
$6,154).

    Trafficking in Persons.--The constitution and laws do not prohibit 
trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports persons were 
trafficked to, from, through, or within the country.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and laws do not 
prohibit discrimination in employment and public services or mandate 
access to buildings for persons with disabilities.
    HANDICOM, 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 ($154 to $3,077). However, no case 
of this nature has come before the courts. No public debate on the 
issue is held, and persons targeted for sexual orientation or gender 
identity did not publicly discuss their sexual orientation due to 
societal pressure. There are no lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) 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 abusive dismissal practices.

    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.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers in 
hiring practices or other employment functions. 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 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.

    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 such practices 
occurred. The law establishes 15 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. 
Some children worked under forced labor conditions, particularly in 
domestic service, roadside and market selling, and agriculture. In 
addition, some Koranic 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. The government took no 
action to prevent 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 ($92). Although the 
Union and local governments do not enforce a minimum wage, unions have 
adequate authority to negotiate de facto minimum wage rates for 
different skill levels. These provisions applied to all workers, 
regardless of sector or country of origin. In practice unions enforce 
this de facto 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 work week of 37 1/2 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 enforced. There was no prohibition on excessive 
compulsory overtime; however, electricity shortages prevented overtime 
work in most businesses. Employers, particularly the government, were 
often 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.
    Internal conflict in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, 
driven to a large degree by the illegal exploitation of natural 
resources, as well as a separate conflict in the Haut Uele and Bas Uele 
districts of Orientale Province, in the northeast, had an extremely 
negative effect on security and human rights during the year. An 
interethnic tribal conflict in Equateur Province increased both the 
refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) populations and further 
highlighted the fragile security situation.
    At year's end, government control over many regions remained weak, 
particularly in North and South Kivu provinces. Civilian authorities 
generally did not maintain effective control of the security forces. 
Military authorities sometimes did not maintain effective control of 
the security forces. In instances where elements of the security forces 
committed abuses, it was often difficult to determine whether they were 
following orders or acting independently, particularly in the east. 
There were extremely few reports of investigative, disciplinary, or 
legal action by military or civilian authorities following the 
commission of such abuses by security forces.
    In all areas of the country, the government's human rights record 
remained poor, and security forces continued to act with impunity 
throughout the year, committing many serious abuses, including unlawful 
killings, disappearances, torture, and rape. Security forces also 
engaged 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. Security forces retained and recruited child soldiers 
and compelled forced labor by civilians. Members of the security forces 
also continued to abuse and threaten journalists, contributing to a 
decline in freedom of the press. Government corruption remained 
pervasive. Security forces at times beat or threatened local human 
rights advocates and obstructed or threatened UN human rights 
investigators. Discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, 
trafficking in persons, child labor, and lack of protection of workers' 
rights continued to be pervasive throughout the country. Enslavement of 
Pygmies occurred.
    Armed groups continued to commit numerous, serious abuses--some of 
which may have constituted war crimes--including unlawful killings, 
disappearances, and torture. They also recruited and retained child 
soldiers, compelled forced labor, and committed widespread crimes of 
sexual violence.
    In January the governments of the DRC and Rwanda accelerated 
efforts to achieve a rapprochement, which they had initiated in late 
2008. The two governments agreed to conduct joint military operations 
in North Kivu Province, in eastern DRC, to pursue, disarm, and decrease 
the capacity of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda 
(FDLR), elements of extremist Rwandan Hutus whose leaders were 
implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The military operations, which 
were called Umoja Wetu (Swahili for ``Our Unity''), began on January 
20. Days later, Rwandan authorities arrested General Laurent Nkunda, 
leader of the Tutsi-led Congolese rebel group, the National Congress 
for the Defense of the People (CNDP). Rwandan forces officially 
withdrew from the DRC on February 25. Concurrently, the CNDP signed a 
cessation of hostilities agreement with the government, agreeing to 
integrate its forces into the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC). According 
to a December report by the international nongovernmental organization 
(NGO) Human Rights Watch (HRW), the joint DRC-Rwandan operation 
resulted in civilian deaths.
    On March 23, the government signed separate peace agreements with 
the CNDP, the North Kivu armed groups, and the South Kivu armed groups. 
The rebel groups agreed to transform their movements from military to 
political in nature, while the government promised to work toward 
integrating rebel soldiers and officials into the FARDC, national 
police, and national and local political and administrative units. The 
FARDC, with support from the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC 
(MONUC), offered ex-combatants the opportunity to undergo ``accelerated 
integration'' into the national army, allowing for an expeditious 
transitioning of rebel forces into the national army without training 
or other administrative controls. Among other commitments, both the 
government and the rebel groups agreed to facilitate the return of 
displaced persons and refugees to their places of origin. As part of 
the peace agreements, the parliament passed, and the president signed, 
an amnesty law that pardoned former members of armed groups for crimes 
committed in the east during the fighting, other than crimes of 
genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
    The FARDC, with logistical support from MONUC, launched Operation 
Kimia II, a military operation against the FDLR in North and South 
Kivu, on March 2 and July 10, respectively. During the year Kimia II 
facilitated the disarmament and repatriation of 1,522 FDLR combatants 
and 2,187 FDLR dependents, the weakening of the FDLR military 
structure, and improved relations between Rwanda and the DRC. MONUC 
estimated that 1,114 FDLR members were killed during the operation, 
while there were 1,714 civilian casualties in the Kivus. The rapid 
integration process, from January to April, exacerbated the FARDC's 
problems concerning discipline, pay, and command and control. In the 
context of Kimia II, the FARDC and all armed groups continued to 
perpetrate human rights abuses, with civilians frequently targeted in 
attacks. The resulting humanitarian cost resulted in hundreds of 
thousands of newly displaced persons in the region, an increase in 
already rampant sexual violence, and a deteriorating human rights 
situation.
    The joint DRC-Uganda military operations against the Lord's 
Resistance Army (LRA), which began in December 2008 in the Haut Uele 
and Bas Uele districts of Orientale, continued throughout the year. The 
operations succeeded in dislodging the LRA from its base camp, 
significantly weakening the group's command and control structure. 
Although LRA retribution against civilians increased in the early 
stages of the operation, the level and intensity of LRA exactions 
diminished during the course of the year, as the LRA scattered in 
smaller groups with many members fleeing to neighboring countries.
    On December 23, the UN Security Council extended MONUC's mandate 
for five months, with the intention to further extend the mandate 
following a comprehensive strategic review of MONUC's operations, and 
underscored its commitment that the protection of civilians would 
continue to be MONUC's principle and primary focus. Kimia II operations 
officially ended on December 31.

                        
                       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 politically motivated killings.
    In the east security forces summarily executed civilians and killed 
civilians during clashes with illegal armed groups (see section 1.g.).
    There were several occasions during the year when members of 
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 do not 
comprise an exhaustive list of such killings during the year, 
authorities neither investigated nor prosecuted any of the 
perpetrators.
    For example, according to the United Nations Joint Human Rights 
Office (UNJHRO) in the country, on January 1, a Congolese National 
Police (PNC) officer in Kolwezi, Katanga, shot and killed a young man 
in a crowd that was protesting the prohibition of fireworks on New 
Year's Day. In response, the angry crowd brought the body to the local 
police station, broke into the station, beat a local policeman to 
death, and looted neighboring shops.
    According to the UNJHRO, on January 9, two Directorate General of 
Migration (DGM) agents and two PNC officers beat a Tanzanian man to 
death in Lubumbashi, Katanga, following his arrest for allegedly 
carrying false identity documents.
    According to the UNJHRO, a woman in Njingala, North Kivu, died from 
injuries she sustained on April 10 during a gang rape by 10 FARDC 
soldiers who invaded her home.
    FARDC intelligence officers tortured a man to death on April 29 in 
Kamandi Lac, North Kivu, according to the UNJHRO. The victim reportedly 
had refused to become involved in an illicit business activity.
    Authorities took no further action on the January 2008 killing of a 
civilian in Bulukutu, Equateur, by a PNC officer, or the February 2008 
killing of an artisanal miner in Katanga by a police officer attached 
to the Provincial Mining Office in Kalukalanga.
    In October, at the invitation of the government, UN special 
rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions 
(UNSRESAE) Philip Alston visited Bas-Congo Province, in the west, to 
investigate the deaths of at least 205 members of the Bundu Dia Kongo 
(BDK), a political-religious group seeking greater provincial autonomy 
during two demonstrations in February 2008 and 2007. Investigative 
reports by the UNJHRO in 2008 and 2007 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, Alston found that authorities had not held to 
account any of the security force members responsible for the killings. 
During Alston's visit, the governor ordered the mayor of Kisantu to 
prevent him from interviewing witnesses or holding any meetings; upon 
Alston's departure, police arrested the person who had tried to arrange 
meetings for him, which required Alston to return to Kisantu to secure 
his release. Alston lodged a formal complaint with the government.
    There were no developments in the March 2008 case of a FARDC 
soldier who shot and killed a civilian in Mahagi Port, Orientale.
    There were no reports authorities apprehended the police chief in 
Sota, Ituri District (Orientale), who escaped arrest in January 2007 
after he and his assistant subjected a detainee to cruel and inhuman 
treatment, resulting in his death. Attempts to determine whether the 
assistant remained in detention or had been tried were unsuccessful.
    Authorities took no action against a navy corporal for the 2007 
killing of a university student in Goma, North Kivu.
    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.
    Local human rights NGOs reported that a police officer in Mabikwa, 
Maniema Province, who beat a man to death in 2007 before going into 
hiding, had returned, but authorities took no action against him.
    No action was taken against FARDC soldiers who tortured to death 
two suspects at Uvira Central Prison in South Kivu in 2007 or against 
Mobile Intervention Group (GMI) officers for the 2007 killing of an 
inmate at Buluwo Prison in Katanga. However, according to a local human 
rights NGO, Volunteer Office in the Service of Children and Health 
(BVES), local authorities announced an investigation in the Uvira case; 
no additional information was available.
    During the year the human rights NGO African Association for the 
Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO) stated that it did not attempt to 
conduct further field investigations of a 2004 massacre of 73 residents 
of Kilwa, Katanga, because Katangan government officials prevented the 
NGO, as well as the victims' foreign attorneys, from visiting Kilwa in 
2008. 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 reports of authorities taking action in the 2007 
killing of a police officer by civilians in Bukavu, South Kivu.
    Illegal armed groups, including rebel groups and community 
militias, committed unlawful killings during the year (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 (see sections 1.c. and 1.d.).
    According to a report released in April by ASADHO, 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 the 
year. Their whereabouts remained unknown at year's end.
    In February the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary 
Disappearances (UNWGEID) reported to the UN Human Rights Council 
(UNHRC) that, as of November 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).
    Armed groups operating outside government control kidnapped 
numerous persons, generally for forced labor, military service, or 
sexual services. Many of the victims disappeared (see section 1.g.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law does not specifically criminalize torture, 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 security forces responsible for these acts.
    The UNJHRO reported several cases of torture and cruel, inhuman, 
and degrading treatment. For example, on January 12, ANR agents in 
Kabimba, Katanga arrested a man accused of possession of stolen goods. 
The agents severely beat him and left him bound and exposed to the sun 
for five hours before transferring him to a detention cell and denying 
him food and water for 48 hours. Authorities had taken no action 
against the agents by year's end.
    On February 14, several FARDC soldiers from the 2nd Integrated 
Brigade severely beat and used bayonets to stab two women in Butembo, 
North Kivu, during a break-in at the women's home. Authorities had 
taken no action by year's end.
    On February 23, five PNC officers in Kaleba, Katanga, tied a man to 
a post, exposed him to the elements for two days, and then severely 
beat him to extort 180,000 Congolese francs ($200). According to the 
victim, the local PNC commander routinely ordered the torture of 
civilians to extort money. Authorities had not taken any action against 
the police officers or their commander as of year's end.
    According to the local NGO Voice of the Voiceless for Human Rights, 
three Republican Guard (GR) soldiers named Vandome, Jean-Paul, and 
Mapendo hung two civilians from a tree the night of May 17 in 
Kahungula, Bandundu, and severely beat them until the next morning 
while trying to find diamonds that the men had swallowed. They were 
released after one week. Authorities had not taken any action against 
the soldiers as of year's end.
    On June 16, a detainee in Bena Mpiana, Kasai Oriental, died in her 
prison cell following severe beatings by PNC officers who accused her 
of ``illegally wearing policeman shoes.'' Authorities had not taken any 
action against the officers as of year's end.
    On June 26, the Military Tribunal of Lubumbashi sentenced the 
captain of the local GR contingent, Bebe Kibawa, a cousin of President 
Kabila, to five years in prison for multiple crimes, including 
arbitrary arrests, illegal detention, kidnapping followed by torture, 
rape, and sexual mutilation.
    Authorities took no action against two FARDC soldiers in Kalemie, 
Katanga, who beat and robbed a civilian in January 2008.
    Authorities ordered an investigation of five FARDC soldiers who 
severely beat a civilian in Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Oriental, in January 2008 
for resisting their efforts to steal his motorbike. As of year's end, 
no investigation had been opened.
    According to the local human rights NGO Young Network in the World 
for Peace, other than reassigning them to different posts, authorities 
took no action against seven PNC officers in Bena-Leka, Kasai 
Occidental, under the command of Tshipamba Nzolo, who arrested a 
civilian and subjected him to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment 
in January 2008 because he had failed to install hygienic facilities in 
his home, as ordered by local authorities.
    Authorities took no action against GMI officers in Mbuji-Mayi, 
Kasai Oriental, who arrested and tortured a police officer in March 
2008.
    Authorities took no action against ANR agents who arrested a theft 
suspect in Beni, North Kivu, in 2007 and, according to MONUC, beat the 
victim with sticks, including on his genitals.
    Although a police commander arrested one of his subordinates and 
detained him for a week for the abuse in 2007 of a theft suspect in 
Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Oriental, authorities took no further action against 
him.
    Police took no action against members of security forces who, 
according to informed sources, committed the following acts of torture 
in 2007: the torture of a judicial investigator by authorities in 
Orientale (see section 1.d.); the daily whipping of a man for three 
months on the orders of a FARDC general in Kinshasa following a 
personal business dispute; and the torture of seven suspected gang 
members, one of whom died from his injuries, by the GMI in the Bakwa 
Bowa police station in Kasai Oriental.
    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 security forces and at least one 
government official, both in the context of the conflict in the east 
(see section 1.g.) and elsewhere. For example, on March 20, the head of 
the office of the Ministry of Urban Planning and Housing in Bulungu, 
Bandundu, raped a 13-year-old girl in his office. The public prosecutor 
subsequently had the official arrested and transferred to a detention 
cell, pending the outcome of an investigation. No additional 
information was available.
    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 February 
2008.
    In March 2008 a FARDC lieutenant in Gemena, Equateur, abducted a 
14-year-old girl, took her to his house, and repeatedly raped her over 
four days. The Office of the Military Prosecutor subsequently arrested 
him. However, according to the Council of the Equateur Women's 
Collective (CCFE), the prosecutor released him without charge.
    Authorities took no action against the police officers, who in May 
2008 in Ngele, Equateur, raped 13 women and six girls, subjected male 
residents of the village to cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, 
and pillaged the entire village. According to the CCFE, the public 
prosecutor cited lack of funds for pursuing the case.
    Authorities took no action during the year against two FARDC 
soldiers of the 6th Integrated Brigade who in 2007 looted several 
houses near Jiba, Ituri District, Orientale, raped four women, and 
forced 10 villagers to carry looted goods to their camp near Bule. 
Authorities arrested the two perpetrators in 2008 but subsequently 
released them.
    Authorities took no known action against members of security forces 
responsible for the following rapes committed in 2007: the September 
rape of five women and three girls in Yanonge, Orientale, by PNC 
officers reportedly acting on orders from their commander; and the 
November gang rape of a woman in Bongondjo, Equateur, by five FARDC 
soldiers.
    There was no additional information on the investigation by a 
mobile court, which continued at the end of 2008, of the 2006 rape of 
60 women and girls in Belongo, Equateur, but had not reached a verdict 
at year's end.
    Armed groups committed sexual violence and other types of abuses 
against civilians during the year (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. The UN high commissioner for 
human rights (UNHCHR), Navi Pillay, reported that, between March 2008 
and March 2009, at least 65 prisoners died in prisons and concluded 
that confinement in a Congolese prison in itself often amounted to 
cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment.
    In June a detainee died in her prison cell as a result of severe 
beatings (see section 1.a.).
    On June 20, during an attempted prison escape and subsequent riot 
at the Central Prison in Goma, North Kivu, 24 military detainees raped 
23 women prisoners. PNC officers shot and killed one perpetrator. At 
year's end, the other 23 perpetrators were awaiting transfer to other 
prisons. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon condemned the incident, 
describing it as ``a grim example of both the prison conditions and the 
level of sexual violence that plagues the DRC.'' Following the 
incident, MONUC officials asked the government to urgently improve 
prison conditions and enhance security in prisons, particularly to 
protect women inmates from sexual violence and ``to avoid a repeat of 
the [Goma prison] tragedy.''
    In all prisons except the Kinshasa Penitentiary and Reeducation 
Center (CPRK), the government had not provided food for many years; 
prisoners' friends and families provided the only available food and 
necessities. Malnutrition was widespread. Some prisoners starved to 
death. Prison staff often forced family members of prisoners to pay 
bribes for the right to bring food to prisoners. According to ASADHO's 
April report, Rule of Law Put to the Test, medical equipment and 
medicines were absent in virtually all the prisons and detention 
centers. Deaths of detainees were common due to deplorable living 
conditions, malnutrition, and lack of medical care.
    During the year many prisoners died due to neglect, often from 
malnutrition or illness. For example, the UNJHRO reported in March that 
over a two-month period several prisoners died from malnutrition or 
dysentery in the Bunia Central Prison. Health care and medical 
attention remained grossly 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 prison, many 
prisoners were in desperate need of a transfer to the hospital for 
medical care but were often denied. A local NGO, Me Lonjiringa, 
reported in July that the physical and hygienic conditions of Bunia 
prison were so bad that being detained there was ``a death sentence.'' 
The UNJHRO reported in July that prisoners were dying in Bunia prison, 
including from malnutrition and tuberculosis.
    The suffering of prisoners often led to desperate escape attempts. 
For example, the UNJHRO reported that in June there were three major 
escapes from Congolese prisons: on June 1, 39 prisoners escaped during 
a mutiny in Aru prison; on June 13, 11 prisoners escaped from the 
commander's prison cell in Mbandaka; and on June 14, 11 prisoners 
escaped from Bukavu prison. The UNJRHO reported that the prisoners 
recognized the fact that many of them would die in detention from 
starvation. In addition, on November 3-4, the Central Jail in Uvira, 
South Kivu, was set on fire by prisoners attempting to escape. Three 
prisoners were killed and five were injured by FARDC troops. On 
November 5, 90 inmates in Kindu, Maniema Province, escaped after 
burning all the prison files. Two were killed during the attempt, and 
those who remained in the prison cited starvation and lack of water for 
three days as the reasons for the escape.
    Calling prison conditions one of the major human rights crises in 
the country, the UNJHRO recommended that the government create prison 
farms to ensure food supply for the inmates and generate revenue to 
procure basic medicines.
    The penal system continued to suffer from severe underfunding, and 
most prisons suffered from overcrowding, poor maintenance, and a lack 
of sanitation facilities. Temporary holding cells in some prisons were 
extremely small for the number of prisoners they held. Many had no 
windows, lights, electricity, running water, or toilet facilities. 
During the year 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.
    According to UNHCHR Pillay, almost 80 percent of inmates were 
pretrial detainees. Prison records remained grossly inadequate, and 
authorities kept individuals in prison even after their sentences had 
been served. In October the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial 
killings noted that the number of prisoners in the country remained 
unknown. In addition, he concluded that ``in essence, the prison system 
seems to be a depository for the enemies of the state and for those too 
poor to buy their way out of the justice system. The abominable 
conditions, together with corruption and minimal state control, mean 
that escapes are common, thus adding further to impunity.''
    In their March report to the UNHRC, a group of seven UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives also underlined the link between 
impunity and the prison system, concluding the following: ``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 MONUC. In 2007 the UNHRC's independent expert on human 
rights in the DRC recommended that the parliament adopt a law to reform 
the prison system. However, neither the government nor the parliament 
had responded.
    Larger prisons sometimes had separate facilities for women and 
juveniles, but others generally did not. 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 
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.
    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.
    The local NGO Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT) 
reported in June that there were 57 children being detained in the 
Bukavu Central Prison. ACAT protested the inclusion of the children 
with the adults, citing the children's vulnerability and several cases 
of torture.
    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.
    While evaluating the country's prison system in July, Dimitri 
Titov, the UN assistant secretary for the rule of law and security 
institutions, 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.
    According to MONUC, 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. 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. Most prisons were dilapidated or seriously neglected. Prisoners 
routinely escaped from prisons in all provinces.
    Even harsher conditions prevailed in small detention centers, which 
were extremely overcrowded, had no toilets, mattresses, or medical 
care, and which 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 security forces, there were no 
reports of illegal jails being closed during the year. According to 
MONUC, 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 April 2008 in Musenze Central Prison in Goma, North Kivu.
    Authorities took no action against two ANR agents in Bishile, 
Katanga Province, who in 2007 arbitrarily arrested, detained, and 
subjected a suspect to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
    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 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 
noted that the child protection code, promulgated in January, 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 it recommended that the government swiftly 
establish a juvenile justice system, support it with adequate 
resources, and ensure that all professionals working with children 
receive appropriate training in children's rights.
    In general, the government allowed the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC), MONUC, and some NGOs access to all official 
detention facilities; however, it did not allow these organizations 
access to illegal government-run detention facilities, including 
illegal facilities run by the ANR and the GR.
    In January the ANR denied access by UNJHRO officers to holding 
cells in South Kivu and Katanga, claiming that permission must first be 
granted by the authorities in Kinshasa. According to the UNJHRO, this 
type of denial commonly occurred, despite the fact that UN Security 
Council resolutions related to MONUC's mandate state that UN human 
rights officers are to be granted immediate and unhindered access to 
all holding cells and places of detention. According to the ICRC, its 
personnel were also routinely denied access to ANR holding cells.
    Armed groups outside central government control sometimes detained 
civilians, often for ransom, but little information was available 
concerning the conditions of detention (see section 1.g.).
    Authorities took no action during the year against the mwami (local 
chief), other traditional leaders, or FARDC soldiers involved in the 
arbitrary and inhumane detention and mistreatment of 57 civilians 
accused of witchcraft at the mwami's private residence in Luvungi, 
South Kivu, for four days in 2007.

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

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Among other elements, 
the 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.
    Security forces generally remained undisciplined, lacked training, 
received little pay, and suffered from widespread corruption (see 
section 4). Members of the FARDC, police, and intelligence sectors 
continued to commit the majority of the country's human rights abuses.
    Comprised of between 120,000 and 150,000 soldiers, about half of 
whom were 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 UN special representative of the secretary-
general Alan Doss, the head of MONUC, reported to the UN Security 
Council that, during the year, ``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.'' During the 
year independent UN experts and several international and domestic NGOs 
criticized the FARDC-led Kimia II counterinsurgency operation in the 
Kivu provinces for lack of effectiveness, lack of planning for the 
protection of civilians, and failure to respect human rights (see 
section 1.g.).
    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.'' 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 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 forces personnel for abusing civilians. 
The military justice system, which has the responsibility of 
investigating misconduct or abuses by the security forces, had a total 
of 265 investigators, 232 prosecutors, and 125 judges in the military 
system in 2008, according to MONUC's Rule of Law Unit. However, they 
were poorly trained, had little or no resources for investigations, and 
limited, if any, access to legal codes.
    According to a HRW July report, Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who 
Condone, the military justice system remained a weak institution. HRW 
underlined 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 
Kimia II 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, for example. When they were, sentences were rarely 
carried out. For example, in July a military court found a lieutenant 
colonel, Ndayambaje Kipanga, guilty of raping four girls in Rutshuru, 
North Kivu; as of year's end, he was the highest-ranking FARDC officer 
convicted. However, he was convicted in absentia after escaping custody 
two days after his arrest in May, due to lax detention procedures, and 
he remained at large at year's end. No general had yet been convicted, 
either for his own actions or for failing to control his troops. In 
December, in response to this trend, several members of the UNHRC's 
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPRWG) urged the 
government to investigate and prosecute senior army officials involved 
or complicit in rampant sexual crimes against women and girls as part 
of its efforts to combat sexual violence.
    In its November report to the UN Security Council, the UN Group of 
Experts (UNGOE) cited meetings it held with military justice 
prosecutors in North and South Kivu, who ``reiterated the 
limitations...in effectively prosecuting sexual violence and underlined 
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 abuses 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 who continued to be credibly 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, only colonels Safari and 
Mobuli had been arrested (and were awaiting trial) as of year's end, 
while General Kakwavu was placed under house arrest in Kinshasa. 
Colonel Mosala was requested to remain under house arrest but was not 
legally required to do so, and Major Pitchen was at large.
    Following his assessment visit in October, UNSRESAE Alston 
characterized impunity within the security forces as ``chronic.'' He 
said that ``endemic corruption and political interference ensure that 
anyone with money or connections can escape investigation, prosecution, 
and judgment.'' Alston also stressed that both the government and MONUC 
must do more to combat widespread impunity, noting that, in response to 
his inquiries about a massacre in April, the government ``was not 
prepared to take action against the commander responsible because 
[according to a government official] 'arrest would have had worse 
consequences than the crimes of which he is accused.''' In addition, 
Alston expressed concern that both government and MONUC officials had 
indicated they would not take steps to arrest General Bosco Ntaganda, a 
senior FARDC commander for whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) 
issued an arrest warrant in 2006 relating to the recruitment and use of 
child soldiers in Orientale. An ex-CNDP chief of staff, Ntaganda was 
integrated into the FARDC during the year and, according to the UNGOE 
in the DRC, ``given the post of deputy operational commander for Kimia 
II, although the FARDC has repeatedly denied his position in official 
circles.'' Alston, who noted that Ntaganda's whereabouts were well 
known, said that ``both the Congolese government and MONUC must abandon 
their untenable 'peace first, justice later' approach.''
    In December several members of the UPRWG recommended that the 
government increase efforts to investigate and prosecute (as 
appropriate) members of security forces, regardless of rank, who had 
been identified as perpetrators of serious abuses, including the FARDC 
five. Several members specifically urged the government to immediately 
arrest General Ntaganda and transfer him to the ICC. They also noted 
problems resulting during the year from the rapid integration of the 
CNDP and other armed groups into the FARDC and recommended that the 
government increase efforts to support the process of security sector 
reform as well as the process of disarmament, demobilization, 
reintegration, repatriation, and reinsertion.
    During the year the government took few significant steps to reform 
the security forces, although legislation to reform the armed forces 
and national police was submitted to the parliament. According to the 
UN secretary-general's December report to the UN Security Council, 
``lack of progress in this critical area remained a major concern.'' 
However, the FARDC continued to participate in various training and 
professionalization programs supported by the UN and international 
donor countries, which included components on respecting international 
human rights. The FARDC also cooperated with the EU Mission to Provide 
Advice on and Assistance with Security Sector Reform (EUSEC) in its 
chain of payments project, which aimed to separate the FARDC chain of 
command from the military's financial management. The EUSEC project 
involved the execution of a biometric census of the military to 
reliably identify all FARDC soldiers, improve the FARDC's salary 
distribution system, prevent fraud and embezzlement, and ensure 
payments reached soldiers. By December EUSEC had completed a census of 
17,587 newly integrated armed group elements into the FARDC.
    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 President Kabila announced that the government had adopted 
a policy of ``zero tolerance'' for human rights violations by the 
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 several members of the UPRWG commended the government for 
adopting the 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 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 Zimulinda, Sultani Makenga, Bernard Byamungu, and 
Salumu Mulenda. Lastly, he underlined the importance of security sector 
reform and the critical need to ensure the full integration into the 
FARDC of ex-CNDP members, which he said had ``the potential to become 
an uncontrollable and explosive obstacle'' to free elections and 
stability.
    During the year the UNGOE and several members of the UPRWG 
recommended that the government implement a vetting mechanism for 
members of the security forces aimed at suspending officers who had 
committed past human rights abuses. By year's end, the government had 
not undertaken any significant steps to institute such a system.
    However, during the year the government continued to maintain joint 
military oversight committees with MONUC in several provinces. They 
were composed of military officers, military magistrates, MONUC 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.
    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 stole whatever food and money they could from 
them.
    During the year the government continued to nominally work with 
MONUC and international donors on police and military training 
programs.

    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 nonfelony 
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.
    Prolonged pretrial detention, often ranging from months to years, 
remained a problem, as pretrial detainees constituted 80 percent of the 
prison population, according to the UN. 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.
    Government security forces sometimes used the pretext of state 
security to arbitrarily arrest individuals and frequently held those 
arrested on such grounds without charging them, without presenting them 
with evidence, without allowing them access to a lawyer, or following 
other aspects of due process.
    Police often arbitrarily arrested and detained persons without 
filing charges, often to extort money from family members. Authorities 
rarely pressed charges in a timely manner and often created contrived 
or overly vague charges. 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.
    On January 26, the criminal court in Punia, Maniema, ordered the 
arrest of the chiefs of the local ANR, DGM, and PNC offices and tried 
and sentenced them to 12 to 18 months in prison for the arbitrary 
arrest of nine civilians. However, according to the UNJHRO, the police 
chief remained free and had not been imprisoned at year's end.
    On February 11, ANR agents in Bukavu, South Kivu, arbitrarily 
arrested a civilian and detained him in a secret holding cell until he 
paid $20. According to the UNJHRO, ANR agents rearrested him on 
February 24. The agents released him the next day after taking his 
belt, shoes, and $70. Authorities took no action against the agents.
    According to the UNJHRO, the ANR director of Kasai Oriental ordered 
the temporary closing of all ANR offices in Lusambo Territory on 
February 13 because of concern over the numerous human rights abuses, 
especially illegal detentions, committed by local ANR agents. It was 
not known whether the director undertook any investigations or took 
disciplinary action against subordinates.
    The police chief of Panu Pay Pay, Bandundu Province, arbitrarily 
arrested two civilians and took two of their cattle during the week of 
April 4-10 in lieu of arresting their brother, who was wanted by the 
police. In response, the local population severely beat the police 
chief. Subsequently, local FARDC soldiers were deployed and pillaged 
the homes of the local population, arresting and beating anyone they 
could apprehend. Authorities took no action against the police chief or 
the FARDC soldiers.
    Military authorities took no action against a FARDC soldier 
attached to the Office of the Military Prosecutor, who arbitrarily 
arrested a woman in January 2008 in Bandundu, Bandundu Province, in 
place of her son.
    Authorities took no action against the military prosecutor of 
Kolwezi, Katanga, who arrested and detained a woman and her one-year-
old baby in February 2008.
    In March 2008 the commander of the Karawa Police Station in 
Equateur illegally detained a suspect in the commander's private 
residence for three months and mistreated him, resulting in the man's 
death in July 2008. According to CCFE, the military prosecutor 
subsequently granted the commander provisional freedom. However, a 
trial date had not been set as of year's end.
    Of the 174 inmates determined in May 2008 by the vice-minister of 
human rights to be illegally detained in the CPRK, an additional 11 
were released during the year, while seven remained in prison at year's 
end.
    No action was taken against the police inspector of Buta, 
Orientale, for the 2007 arrest and torture of a judicial investigator 
and the arbitrary arrest of his wife.
    Security personnel detained perceived opponents and critics of the 
government during the year (see sections 2.a. and 5).

    Amnesty.--The Goma peace accords envisioned a general amnesty for 
acts of war and insurrection committed in North and South Kivu by 
groups that signed the accords, covering the period from June 2003 to 
the date of the promulgation of the amnesty. President Kabila 
promulgated the amnesty bill passed by the parliament in May. The 
amnesty bill specifically excluded war crimes, crimes against humanity, 
and genocide.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; in practice, judges, who were poorly 
compensated, remained subject to influence and coercion by officials 
and other influential individuals.
    Following his October 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 July 15, President Kabila issued 14 presidential ordinances 
dismissing and forcibly retiring 114 magistrates and 43 prosecutors, 
including the president of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor general 
of the republic, ostensibly for corruption and other abuses of office. 
The ordinances followed Kabila's June 30 speech celebrating the 
country's independence, in which he warned he would take immediate 
action against corruption in the justice sector. When the ordinances 
were issued, 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, was not fully formed; although the 
president signed the law establishing the CSM in August 2008, the CSM 
disciplinary chambers authorized by law had not been created. At year's 
end, the CSM continued to employ interim bodies that substituted for 
the unformed disciplinary chambers provided for by law.
    The dismissals and forced retirements generated significant 
controversy and concerns among some observers over the executive 
branch's apparent influence over the judiciary and failure to respect 
due process. Government officials said publicly that, in the absence of 
the CSM disciplinary chambers, the dismissals were issued following 
proper interim procedures. However, according to international judicial 
experts who specialized in the Congolese legal system and who examined 
the dismissals, the government did not follow the required disciplinary 
procedures before removing the jurists, including providing the accused 
an opportunity to appeal the decisions. These sources expressed concern 
that the ordinances likely would further reinforce the influence of the 
executive branch over the judiciary and that they represented what 
appeared to be an abuse of executive power.
    The government cited corruption and other forms of professional 
misconduct as reasons for the removals and forced retirements. However, 
it was unclear if the action represented a new government effort to 
combat corruption or rather a new push by the executive branch to exert 
influence over the judiciary. The allegations of misconduct remained 
``questionable in most cases,'' according to some judicial experts and 
NGOs. Some NGOs, foreign diplomats, and international judicial experts 
expressed concerns that the ordinances could ``paralyze justice in many 
more jurisdictions'' by removing such a high number of experienced 
judges, equivalent to 7 percent of the country's judges.
    The leader of one of the country's trade unions for judges issued a 
statement condemning the dismissals and forced retirements, and 
magistrates said they would challenge the ordinances on procedural 
grounds. Several of the jurists who were dismissed or forced to retire 
protested what they deemed a failure by the government to respect due 
process. In a memorandum, they requested the annulment of the 
presidential ordinances, referring to past precedent, and criticized 
some of the judges nominated for promotion, noting that one promoted 
judge had been convicted and sentenced to an eight-month prison term.
    Similarly, in February 2008, while the laws to create new 
constitutionally mandated judicial institutions were under 
parliamentary consideration, the president began to reorganize the 
judiciary. President Kabila signed seven presidential decrees 
appointing 28 new magistrates, most notably a new chief justice of the 
Supreme Court and prosecutor general, and forced into retirement 89 
other magistrates, despite a severe shortage of judges. The new 
magistrates were appointed to positions beyond their qualifications.
    In a March report to the UNHRC, the UN special rapporteur on the 
independence of judges and lawyers and six other UN special rapporteurs 
and representatives collectively underlined 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 armed groups ``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 one percent 
of the national budget and was poorly staffed, with a very limited 
presence outside of Kinshasa. 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. 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.
    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 are 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, including lower courts, appellate 
courts, the Supreme Court, and the Court of State Security, failed to 
dispense justice consistently and was widely disparaged by the 
international community and citizens as ineffective and corrupt.
    The 2006 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 CSM, and Administrative Oversight Agency. However, 
by year's end, 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 2006 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 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.
    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 2006 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. As of August, the minister of justice had 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.
    In December 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.
    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 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 groups. 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, was shortly before the March 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. For example, despite 
investigations launched by authorities late in 2007, authorities took 
no action during the year against General Jean-Claude Kifwa, commander 
of the 9th Military Region and a cousin of President Kabila, and his 
security detail for arresting and severely beating two military 
magistrates in Kisangani, Orientale. They allegedly arrested the 
magistrates for objecting to two pending cases being tried in the 
military instead of the civilian court system.
    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.
    In their March report to the UNHRC, seven UN special rapporteurs 
and representatives made several recommendations for the government 
regarding the fight against impunity and the need to strengthen the 
justice sectors. They recommended that the government increase the 
justice portion of the national budget ``to an acceptable level 
comparable with other countries (2-6 percent),'' and that it strengthen 
the civilian justice sector by passing legislation assigning criminal 
jurisdiction over perpetrators from among police or the civilian 
population to civilian prosecutors and courts. Emphasizing the 
importance of expanding the justice system in rural territories, the 
report recommended establishing more mobile courts with increased or 
``hardship'' pay to induce qualified judicial personnel to serve in 
conflict posts and establishing a network of justices of the peace 
linked to traditional modes of dispute resolution.
    Noting how difficult it was for victims to pursue reparations (see 
section 6, women), the report underlined the need to motivate victims 
to pursue justice and recommended establishing a compensation guarantee 
fund, managed jointly by the government, donor countries, and civil 
society, to pay reparations awarded by national courts or the ICC to 
victims of serious abuses. Highlighting the need for transitional 
justice and truth-seeking initiatives, the report also recommended 
establishing mixed courts comprising national and international judges 
and sitting in national courts.
    While no mixed courts were established during the year, a UN human 
rights mapping initiative, which was endorsed by the government and was 
intended to catalogue abuses committed in the country between 1993 and 
2003, finished its field research and was drafting its final report at 
year's end. In addition, although a National Truth and Reconciliation 
Commission (CVR) was established in 2003, it became defunct in 2006 and 
was criticized for its operational standards and perceived lack of 
independence and transparency. Several NGOs submitted reports to the 
UPRWG during the year recommending the CVR be reestablished with a 
well-defined mandate, greater independence, and sufficient resources to 
carry out its work.

    Trial Procedures.--As provided for in the constitution, defendants 
enjoy a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. 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 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, and 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, security forces routinely 
ignored these provisions. Soldiers, demobilized soldiers, deserters, 
and police continued to harass and rob civilians. 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. Security forces sometimes looted 
homes, businesses, and schools.
    For example, on April 9, soldiers from the FARDC 18th Brigade broke 
into and looted several homes in Rubare, North Kivu, according to the 
UNJHRO. By year's end, authorities had taken no action against the 
soldiers.
    On April 4, soldiers from the FARDC 15th Brigade broke into and 
looted several homes and businesses in Shabungu, South Kivu. By year's 
end, authorities had taken no action against the soldiers.
    Authorities took no action against two police officers who, in July 
2008, reportedly broke into the home of and severely beat a man in 
Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Oriental, in connection with a debt.
    Authorities at times arrested or beat a relative or associate of a 
person they sought to arrest (see section 1.d.).
    Armed groups operating outside government control in the east 
routinely subjected civilians to arbitrary interference with privacy, 
family, home, and correspondence (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 January 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 through the survey period.
    Despite the integration of former CNDP rebels into the FARDC during 
the year, the FDLR, LRA, and some Mai Mai groups 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 security forces and armed 
groups. This continuation of fighting in the east, which impeded 
humanitarian aid in some areas, internally displaced at least 700,000 
persons between January 1 and December 31, exacerbating an already 
severe humanitarian crisis.
    At the end of the year, more than 20,000 MONUC peacekeepers, 
military observers, and police--including 6,785 in North Kivu and 3,853 
in South Kivu--continued efforts to provide protection to several 
million civilians and logistical support and training to the FARDC.
    Despite the presence of MONUC, security forces and armed groups 
continued to kill, abduct, torture, and rape civilians and burn and 
destroy villages. Between January--the beginning of FARDC-led military 
operations against the FDLR--and December, more than 1,714 civilians 
were killed in North and South Kivu, according to MONUC. In addition, 
during military operations by the FARDC and the Ugandan military 
against the LRA in Haut and Bas Uele districts of Orientale, the LRA 
had killed hundreds of civilians since January 1 during retaliation 
attacks.
    According to an October report by a coalition of NGOs, Civilian 
Cost of Military Operation Is Unacceptable, between January and 
October, FARDC military operations against the FDLR in North and South 
Kivu resulted in 6,000 homes burned to the ground and hundreds of 
civilians forced into temporary labor by armed groups.
    All parties continued to use mass rape and sexual violence with 
impunity, often as weapons of war, and to humiliate and punish 
individuals, victims, families, and communities. Between January and 
June, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) reported 2,075 cases of sexual 
violence in North Kivu, 834 in South Kivu, and 885 cases in Orientale. 
According to HRW, by September the total number of sexual violence 
cases registered at health centers in North and South Kivu exceeded 
7,500, which was nearly double the total for the same period in 2008. 
During the year the International Rescue Committee registered 
approximately 1,200 cases of rape in South Kivu and it found that up to 
80 percent of survivors identified their assailants as members of 
either the FARDC or armed groups. 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.
    HRW reported in August that, in nine conflict zones it had visited 
since January, rape cases had doubled or tripled compared with 2008. In 
over half of the cases HRW recorded, the victims were gang-raped by two 
or more assailants. The youngest victim was 2 years old, and 65 percent 
of the cases in North Kivu were perpetrated by FARDC soldiers.
    In September International Cooperation (COOPI), an international 
development assistance NGO, expressed concern after observing, between 
February and July, a 300 percent increase in the number of survivors of 
sexual violence it assisted in Maniema and Katanga, which the NGO 
attributed to a ``spill-over effect'' caused by Kimia II in neighboring 
conflict-affected provinces (North and South Kivu).
    Rapes committed against a single woman by large numbers of armed 
men sometimes resulted in vaginal fistulas, a rupture of vaginal tissue 
that left victims unable to control bodily functions and likely to be 
ostracized.
    During the year the number of men raped appeared to increase 
sharply due to retribution attacks by armed groups in the east 
following counterinsurgency operations against the FDLR that that began 
in January. 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 victims from coming forward. According to the 
American Bar Association, which ran a legal aid clinic in North Kivu 
for victims of sexual violence, 10 percent of its cases during June 
were men. NGOs and medical workers reported that the humiliation was 
often so severe that male rape victims 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 groups active in 
North and South Kivu and Orientale continued. In March the UN special 
representative for children and armed conflict and six other UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives collectively reported to the UNHRC on 
an ``explosion of child recruitment by nonstate armed groups'' in the 
country between September 2008 and March 2009 as a result of outbreaks 
of hostilities during that period. According to a UN Children's Fund 
(UNICEF) estimate in late March, there were 8,000 children in the ranks 
of all armed groups and in several units of government security forces 
in the east, with the majority of them found in armed groups, serving 
as combatants, porters, spies, and sex slaves. The estimate represented 
an increase of 4,500 children, compared with the UNICEF estimate for 
2008. In October BVES estimated that there were 5,000 child soldiers in 
the country, noted that many of them were girls, and emphasized the 
extreme difficulty of securing the release of girl soldiers from armed 
groups, whose commanders often saw them as sexual possessions.
    During the year MONUC facilitated the release more than 2,000 
children from armed groups (see section 6).
    Fighting between the FARDC and armed groups continued to displace 
populations and limit humanitarian access to conflict areas. According 
to HRW, between January and October there were 84 attacks on 
humanitarian agencies working in the country, which represented a 
significant increase, compared with the 36 attacks during the same 
period in 2008.
    In North and South Kivu, the illegal exploitation by some FARDC 
units, armed groups such as the FDLR, and PARECO of natural resources--
including cassiterite (a tin oxide) and columbite-tantalite (or 
coltan), both of which were used in the global electronics industry---
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. FARDC and FDLR forces 
in both Kivu provinces forced civilians to work for them or relinquish 
their mineral production and extorted illegal ``taxes.''
    In November the UNGOE further identified linkages between the 
illegal exploitation of natural resources in the east, the conflict, 
corruption, and human rights abuses, such as rape, committed by all 
parties to the conflict. It collected credible evidence of the large-
scale smuggling of minerals, such as gold (see section 4). The UNGOE 
recommended that the government reduce the presence of--and eventually 
remove--military units at mining sites, in part by replacing the FARDC 
with the relevant government authorities such as the Mining and 
Hydrocarbons Police. The UNGOE further recommended that the government 
create a national tribunal to prosecute the abuse of military and 
police powers in connection with the illicit exploitation of natural 
resources. Regarding transparency and mineral traceability initiatives, 
the UNGOE recommended that the government establish an independent 
monitoring team, with the support of the international community, to 
conduct spot checks of minerals shipments and determine sanctions for 
illegal mineral trading activity.
    The UNGOE also urged the government to suspend the trading licenses 
of all noncompliant national companies and take legal action against 
the directors of those companies that violate the UN arms embargo by 
trading in mineral resources from nongovernmental armed groups. In 
addition, the UNGOE recommended that the UN Security Council ask UN 
member states to take necessary measures to define the supply chain-
related due diligence obligations of companies under their respective 
jurisdictions that operate in the mineral trading sector, and that 
companies adopt codes of conduct detailing the procedures they have 
adopted to prevent any indirect support to nongovernmental armed groups 
through exploitation of natural resources.
    At times verification of reported abuses in the east was difficult 
due to geographical remoteness and hazardous security conditions; 
however, MONUC's presence allowed observers to gather more information 
than would have otherwise been possible.
    During the year independent UN experts and several international 
and domestic NGOs criticized the FARDC-led Kimia II counterinsurgency 
operation. In its November report to the UN Security Council, the UNGOE 
concluded that ``military operations against the FDLR have failed to 
dismantle the organization's political and military structures on the 
ground in eastern DRC.'' UNSRESAE Alston said the operation, during 
which MONUC provided logistical support to the FARDC, ``has been so 
poorly carried out that the FDLR has easily been able to reenter 
villages abandoned by the Congolese and UN forces and commit brutal 
retaliation massacres of civilians.'' Underlining that it was the FARDC 
themselves who posed the greatest direct risk to civilians in many 
areas of the Kivus, Alston said the lack of vetting, training, and 
planning of the integration of former armed group members, especially 
the ex-CNDP, into the FARDC in the Kivus ``has escalated abuses 
committed by the army against civilians, and failed to break down 
parallel ex-CNDP command structures within the army.''
    In October a coalition of more than 80 human rights and 
humanitarian NGOs emphasized that Kimia II had resulted in an 
unacceptable cost for the civilian population, calculating that, for 
every FDLR combatant who was disarmed during Kimia II, there were seven 
civilians raped, one killed, and 900 forced to flee. The coalition, 
which included HRW, Oxfam, and the Enough Project, urged diplomats and 
UN officials to immediately increase efforts to protect civilians from 
abuses and strongly recommended that MONUC condition its logistical 
support for FARDC units involved in Kimia II on respect for human 
rights. By year's end, MONUC had invoked a more strenuous 
interpretation of conditionality, cutting off assistance to a FARDC 
brigade (see subsection below) that was involved in civilian killings, 
as documented by the UNJHRO.
    While there was inadequate civilian protection and a well-
documented and significant humanitarian cost due to the military 
operations in the Kivus and Orientale, the government and MONUC, as 
well as some NGOs and foreign diplomats, argued some of the military 
objectives of the operations, particularly in Orientale against the 
LRA, were accomplished. Some NGOs expressed concern that the FARDC's 
military objectives in the Kivus were not well defined; however, there 
were some successes. For example, in the Kivus, FDLR elements were 
pushed away from most major cities and towns and further into the bush. 
The FDLR was also denied access to some of its most profitable mining 
areas. Finally, MONUC estimated that more than 1,114 FDLR were killed 
during Kimia II and that, between January and December, a total of 
1,522 FDLR combatants and 2,187 of their dependents were repatriated to 
Rwanda.

    Abuses by Government Security Forces.--Government security forces 
arrested, illegally detained, raped, tortured, and summarily executed 
or otherwise killed civilians and looted villages during military 
actions against armed groups during the year, according to reports by 
UN agencies and NGOs. Impunity remained a severe problem, and several 
individuals in the 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.).
    From January through late February, the FARDC conducted Umoja Wetu, 
a joint military operation with the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) against 
the FDLR in North Kivu. After the official withdrawal of the RDF in 
late February, the March 23 accords facilitated the rapid integration 
of the CDNP, which had previously fought the FDLR, and 23 other armed 
groups into the FARDC. In March the FARDC launched Kimia II, which 
lasted until the end of the year. According to the government, this 
operation, which received logistical support from MONUC, was also 
designed to induce FDLR elements to surrender and repatriate. It 
focused on the wider area of both North and South Kivu provinces. 
During both operations, there were numerous credible reports that FARDC 
soldiers committed abuses against civilians, including those suspected 
of collaborating with the FDLR. According to a December report by HRW, 
the joint DRC-Rwandan operation resulted in civilian deaths.
    GR troops, who initially made up the bulk of the force deployed 
against the LRA in Rudi II military operations in Haut and Bas Uele, 
Orientale, were relatively well paid and disciplined. When these 
battalions were replaced by newly integrated FARDC forces in September, 
credible reports of FARDC abuses became more frequent. As of year's 
end, 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.
    In its comprehensive December report, You Will Be Punished, HRW 
detailed widespread attacks on civilians during Umoja Wetu and Kimia II 
in the Kivus. HRW documented the deliberate killing of at least 732 
civilians, including 143 Rwandan Hutu refugees, by FARDC soldiers, 
often former CNDP members, engaged in anti-FDLR operations between 
January and September. The FDLR also killed numerous civilians during 
these operations (see subsection further below on FDLR abuses).
    According to reports from HRW, the joint DRC-Rwanda operation 
resulted in 201 civilian deaths and other abuses. For example, 
according to the HRW report, in late February 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 operation, approximately 40 persons were killed 
during a February attack on residents of Byarenga, North Kivu, and 
there were smaller numbers of civilians killed in other incidents 
during these two months.
    According to HRW, several of the victims and witnesses they 
interviewed ``found it difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish 
Rwandan army soldiers from former CNDP combatants recently integrated 
into the FARDC, who played an important role in the operation.'' The 
HRW report, citing a 2008 UNGOE report, noted that ``soldiers of both 
armies often wore identical camouflage uniforms and that Rwandan army 
soldiers had Rwandan flags on their uniform sleeves. In some cases 
former CNDP combatants had the same army uniforms, although they 
usually removed the Rwandan flag.''
    The Rwandan government denied that RDF soldiers had participated in 
any killing of civilians in the DRC. Neither Congolese nor Rwandan 
authorities had taken any steps to investigate or prosecute any 
soldiers allegedly involved in either incident by year's end.
    During the year there were several reports of attacks against 
Rwandan Hutu refugees. The most severe attack occurred in the Masisi 
Territory town of Shalio, North Kivu. According to the UNJHRO and 
UNSRESAE Alston, in and around Shalio, FARDC soldiers shot and beat to 
death at least 50 Rwandan refugees between April 27 and April 29 while 
conducting an operation against the FDLR. (HRW reported that the 
soldiers killed 129 refugees.) On April 27, FARDC soldiers, many of 
whom were reportedly ex-CNDP members, attacked a makeshift camp of 
Rwandan Hutu refugees in Shalio. According to interviews by HRW with 
survivors and soldiers who were present during the attack, the 
soldiers, who were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Innocent 
Zimurinda, surrounded the camp and shot, mutilated, and clubbed to 
death at least 50 refugees, mostly women and children, and then burned 
the camp to the ground. Women and girls, some of whom were later 
killed, were raped during the attack.
    The FARDC soldiers then abducted approximately 40 women from the 
camp and took them to nearby Busurungi, where they were kept as sex 
slaves. The FDLR retaliated with an attack on Busurungi, where they 
killed 96 persons (see subsection further below on FDLR abuses). 
According to UNSRESAE Alston, 10 of the women who escaped the FARDC 
attack described being gang-raped and had severe injuries; some had 
chunks of their breasts hacked off. (It was not known what happened to 
the other 30 women.) According to HRW, in the days that followed, the 
FARDC soldiers also attacked the nearby towns of Biriko, where they 
beat 46 refugees to death with wooden clubs and shot three men who 
tried to flee; Bunyarwanda, where they killed at least 15 refugees; and 
Marok, where they killed at least 15 civilians.
    Neither Congolese authorities nor MONUC had undertaken an 
investigation into the Shalio killings by year's end, according to HRW. 
However, according to interviews with soldiers by HRW, Zimurinda, who 
was responsible for the FARDC's 231st Integrated Brigade, directly 
ordered the soldiers to kill all individuals taken by their forces, 
including refugees. Zimurinda reportedly ordered an intelligence 
officer, Captain Jules Hareremana of Battalion 2312, to lead the attack 
on the refugee camps after a major with the same battalion was 
unwilling to carry it out. The UNGOE and UNSRESAE Alston also indicated 
there was evidence that Zimurinda bore responsibility.
    In early August, FARDC soldiers, mainly ex-CNDP members, reportedly 
attacked five hamlets around Mashango hill in the Nyabiondo-Pinga area, 
killing at least 81 civilians. According to witnesses interviewed by 
HRW, only one of the hamlets housed APCLS combatants, while the others 
housed only civilians. However, the attacking FARDC soldiers ``made no 
distinction between the two,'' killing civilians by decapitating them, 
chopping some victims with a machete, clubbing others to death, or 
shooting them as they tried to flee, according to HRW. The victims 
included 30 women, 12 children, and five elderly men.
    HRW also reported that FARDC soldiers ``randomly but repeatedly 
killed civilians'' as they encountered them on roads and footpaths or 
while passing through villages or towns on their way to or from 
military operations against the FDLR and the APCLS militia in the 
Nyabiondo-Pinga area of North Kivu. HRW received credible information 
from local authorities and eyewitnesses about 139 civilians killed in 
such incidents between March and September. HRW concluded that the 
widespread nature of the killings over many months indicated that FARDC 
soldiers ``perceived the local population of this area as collaborators 
of the FDLR and APCLS militia and sought to punish them.'' In addition, 
a former CNDP officer integrated into the FARDC told HRW that the 
operations in the Nyabiondo-Pinga area were intended to ``kill 
civilians and terrorize the Hunde and Hutu population'' so that the 
land would be cleared for the return of Congolese Tutsi coming back 
from Rwanda to resettle in the DRC.
    In November MONUC announced that it would suspend logistical 
support for the FARDC's 213th Brigade after a MONUC investigation found 
that it was implicated in the killing of at least 62 civilians between 
May and September, 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 and was monitoring 
disciplinary action against the accused perpetrators that was 
reportedly underway within the FARDC; no additional information was 
available.
    On July 15, men in FARDC uniforms reportedly killed an employee of 
Secours Catholique-Caritasa, an international human rights and 
humanitarian organization, in Musezero, North Kivu. According to the 
NGO, villagers reported seeing two men in FARDC uniforms stop the 
employee before shooting him. While Caritas demanded that military 
authorities investigate the killing, there were no reports of an 
investigation as of year's end.
    Between December 17 and 28, fighting between FARDC soldiers 
resulted in the deaths of at least 19 civilians in villages in Masisi 
Territory, North Kivu. At the beginning of December, more than 150 ex-
CNDP rebels, led by Colonel Emmanuel Sengiyumva, deserted from the 
ranks of the FARDC. On December 17-18, 15 civilians, including women 
and children, were killed while FARDC soldiers chased ex-CNDP 
deserters.
    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 January 2008 in Kamatsi, Orientale or members of the 
FARDC 2nd Integrated Brigade who allegedly killed eight civilians in 
January 2008 in Musezero, North Kivu.
    Following the November 2008 arrest of 24 FARDC soldiers by the 
military prosecutor in Goma, there were no further developments 
regarding the serious abuses they allegedly committed against the local 
populations in October 2008, including the killing of nine civilians, 
the rape of three girls, and the pillaging of numerous homes, stores, 
and restaurants.
    There was no reported action taken against the FARDC gunman or any 
of the soldiers accused of involvement in the 2007 shooting death of a 
Senegalese peacekeeper.
    There were no reports of authorities taking any action against two 
FARDC corporals of the 24th Integrated Battalion, who the Office of the 
Military Prosecutor determined were responsible for the 2007 arbitrary 
execution of two civilians in Beni, North Kivu.
    Authorities took no action in the case of a FARDC soldier of the 
7th Integrated Brigade who allegedly shot and killed a civilian in 
Kabaya, North Kivu, following an argument in 2007.
    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 in 
the Kivus.
    According to HRW, it received reports of civilians who alleged 
that, during the Umoja Wetu operation, they were arrested arbitrarily 
in the DRC by security personnel, some of whom then changed into 
Rwandan army uniforms before taking them across the border to Rwanda. 
All reported being returned to the DRC after being held for a period of 
up to 17 days. There was no other independent confirmation of these 
reports. Neither Congolese nor Rwandan authorities had taken any steps 
to investigate or prosecute any soldiers allegedly involved in such 
incidents as of year's end.
    On May 15, FARDC soldiers deployed to Kanyola, South Kivu, 
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. 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.
    Despite receiving a formal complaint from victims, the Office of 
the Military Prosecutor in Kalemie, Katanga, took no action against 25 
FARDC soldiers of the 67th Integrated Brigade, who subjected 92 
civilians in the village of Kahese, Katanga, to cruel, inhuman, and 
degrading treatment as well as extortion in 2007.
    Authorities took no action against the ANR for arbitrarily 
arresting four individuals in 2007 in Goma, North Kivu, for allegedly 
collaborating with the CNDP.
    Rape by members of security forces remained a serious problem, and 
perpetrators enjoyed almost total impunity. According to a December 
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.
    According to HRW, in January newly integrated ex-CNDP FARDC 
soldiers violently raped and beat a rape counselor in South Kivu after 
accusing her of denouncing them and reporting on the rapes.
    On March 11, a FARDC soldier from the 17th Integrated Brigade raped 
a 10-year-old boy in Walungu, South Kivu. 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. No additional information was 
available.
    On June 13, several FARDC soldiers in Nyamilima, North Kivu, 
allegedly raped eight women and five minors during a riot protesting a 
delay in the payment of their salary, according to the UNJHRO.
    Authorities took no action against a FARDC soldier of the 14th 
Integrated Brigade, who in July 2008 arrested and raped a woman 
suspected of collaborating with the FDLR, according to the UNJHRO. The 
commanding officer of the perpetrator offered the victim 5,000 
Congolese francs (approximately $5.60) in 2008 to settle the matter.
    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 
year's end.
    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.
    Authorities took no action against FARDC soldiers of the 2nd 
Integrated Brigade of Vuyinga, North Kivu, who committed a series of 
rapes in 2007.
    The use and treatment of child soldiers by FARDC elements remained 
problems. There were several reports of child recruitment during the 
year by not only nonintegrated FARDC brigades but also recently 
integrated brigades composed mainly of ex-CNDP members, as well as 
previously integrated FARDC brigades. The UNGOE reported in November to 
the UN Security Council that, from November 2008 to October 2009, it 
documented 623 cases of child recruitment attributable to the FARDC or 
to ex-CNDP elements of the FARDC. 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. Identifying the 
instances as potential violations of a UN sanctions regime, the group 
reported that the acts of obstruction occurred most often under the 
command of colonels and lieutenant colonels, including Baudouin 
Ngaruye, Innocent Zimurinda, Antoine Manzi, a lieutenant colonel 
Bisamaza, and Salumu Mulenda. For example, Lieutenant Colonel Zimurinda 
threatened MONUC personnel who were attempting to conduct activities 
related to disarmament, demobilization, reintegration, repatriation, 
and reinsertion in the North Kivu town of Ngungu and ordered his 
soldiers to raise their weapons against MONUC staff. In Walikale, North 
Kivu, Lieutenant Colonel Manzi threatened to use force against MONUC.
    The group said it had received several reports of continued 
attempts by CNDP-related networks to recruit individuals into FARDC 
units controlled by ex-CNDP officers. It also noted that it had 
received information of recruitment in Rwanda of combatants through the 
Bwindi border area between Uganda and the DRC.
    MONUC Child Protection expressed concern about frequent reports of 
the prolonged detention of children at detention centers following 
their separation from armed groups. The group noted that this practice 
often involved the interrogation of children 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.
    According to the UNGOE, 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. During the period of 
Kimia II operations, several thousand 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 Groups Outside Central Government Control.--Illegal 
armed groups 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 groups maintained and recruited child soldiers, including by 
force, sometimes from schools and churches, and sometimes killed, 
threatened, and harassed humanitarian workers. In March seven UN 
special rapporteurs and representatives collectively reported that Mai-
Mai groups held the highest number of children in their ranks, followed 
by the CNDP, the latter of which was integrated into the FARDC at the 
beginning of the year. According to the December 2008 report by the 
UNGOE, the most active commanders responsible for recruitment of child 
soldiers belonged to the CNDP (Innocent Kabundi, Sultani Makenga, 
Nkunda, and Ntaganda) and PARECO (its North Kivu commander, Mugabo).
    Many armed groups abducted men, women, and children and compelled 
them to transport looted goods for long distances without pay. On 
occasion, armed groups also forced civilians to mine. Armed groups 
forced women and children to provide household labor or sexual services 
for periods ranging from several days to several months. Armed groups 
in conflict-affected areas in the east used children, including child 
soldiers, for forced labor in mines.
    Armed groups 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 armed groups to investigate 
abuses allegedly committed by their fighters.
    In May 2008 Belgian authorities arrested former vice president 
Bemba, who was transferred in July 2008 to the ICC in The Hague to face 
four counts of war crimes and two counts of crimes against humanity for 
alleged actions in the Central African Republic in 2002-03. He remained 
in pretrial custody at year's end.

    National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP).--In January 
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. On January 16, 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.
    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 January 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 
January 2008; the arbitrary arrest, illegal detention, and beating of 
four civilians in Karuba, North Kivu, by CNDP elements in April 2008; 
the summary execution of three children by CNDP colonel Sultani Makenga 
during August and September 2008; the killing of an Italian aid worker 
in December 2008 by an unidentified armed group in CNDP-held territory 
in Rutshuru, North Kivu; or the December 2008 cases of aggressive and 
forcible recruitment of children by the CNDP for use as combatants, 
bodyguards, and porters.
    In September the UNJHRO released an investigative report on the 
deaths of civilians during and following the November 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 groups in Kiwanja (see subsections 
further 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 continued to be led by individuals responsible for fomenting and 
implementing the Rwandan genocide. Between 6,000 and 8,000 FDLR 
fighters remained in the provinces of North and South Kivu. According 
to MONUC, 1,522 FDLR combatants opted to voluntarily demobilize and 
return to Rwanda during the year.
    Following the launch of operation Umoja Wetu in January, FDLR 
forces began to attack dozens of villages and towns across North and 
South Kivu. According to HRW, between late January and September, 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, the FDLR committed an average of 50-60 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 on January 25-27, 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 on 
January 27, FDLR combatants shot and hacked to death many of them.
    During the year the FDLR committed a number of mass killings. For 
example, on April 12, 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.
    On May 10, 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, on March 25, 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.
    During the year 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, there was strong 
evidence that ``the FDLR continues to benefit from residual but 
significant support from top commanders of the FARDC, particularly 
those officers in the 10th military region (South Kivu).'' The UNGOE 
also found that there was ``continued diversion of FARDC military 
equipment to nongovernmental armed groups, notably the FDLR.''
    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 January 2008 
killing of the village chief of Kilali, North Kivu; arbitrary execution 
of three civilians in Tchanishasha, South Kivu, in March 2008; or the 
killing of three residents of Kabunga, North Kivu, in March 2008.
    On November 17, authorities in Germany arrested the FDLR president, 
Ignace Murwanashyaka, and his deputy, Straton Musoni, for their role in 
alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by FDLR forces 
under their command in eastern Congo between January 2008 and July 
2009.
    In its September report about abuses committed in Kiwanja, North 
Kivu, during and after clashes involving CNDP and Mai-Mai combatants in 
November 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 
cease-fire agreement between militias in the Ituri District of 
Orientale, including the Front for National Integration (FNI), the 
Congolese Revolutionary Movement, the Front for Patriotic Resistance in 
Ituri (FRPI), and the government, the FRPI refused to participate in 
the peace process and was implicated in abuses committed against 
civilians in Ituri District as fighting continued during the year.
    On March 31, the Popular Front for Justice in the Congo (FPJC), 
which splintered from the FRPI in October 2008, attacked villages in 
the Irumu area of Ituri District, which was followed by a counterattack 
by FRPI fighters, leading to the displacement of thousands of 
civilians. On April 12-30, the FARDC, with logistical support from 
MONUC, conducted Operation Iron Stone in southern Irumu, during which 
it recaptured villages from the rebels. In July the FARDC conducted 
another operation against the FPJC, which led to further displacement 
of civilians and the suspension of five NGOs working in the area. By 
September further attacks by rebels had impeded access by humanitarian 
actors and increased the number of displaced persons by 75,000 over the 
preceding 12 months, according to a UN official.
    Abuses by militias in Ituri were more often acts of banditry, 
rather than politically or ethnically motivated violence.
    There were no credible reports of action taken by rebel leaders in 
Ituri District against those responsible for the following abuses: the 
January 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 July and September 2008.
    The UNJHRO reported that in February 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. At year's end he was awaiting trial.
    During the year no action was taken against former Ituri warlord 
Bosco Ntaganda, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant in April 2008 
for the enlistment, conscription, and active use of children in 
hostilities between 2002 and 2003. In January Ntaganda became the 
leader of the CNDP and, following an agreement with the government, a 
member of the FARDC.
    During an ICC trial that opened on November 24, 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. In 2007 the government 
transferred Germain Katanga, a former FRPI leader, to the ICC on 
various charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including 
killings, using child soldiers, and forcing women into sexual slavery.
    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 for enlisting and conscripting 
child soldiers. The prosecution ended its case during the year, but the 
trial continued at year's end.
    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 February 
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 PARECO and 
other Mai-Mai groups in North Kivu Province was endemic.
    Some Mai-Mai groups, including PARECO, were part of the March 23 
agreement and were integrated into the FARDC during the year. However, 
other Mai-Mai groups remained outside the peace process, and some 
allied with the FDLR.
    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, in and around the isolated Walikale 
Territory town of Otobora, near the border separating North and South 
Kivu, a group of Mai-Mai known as the Kifuafua committed abuses, 
including rape and arbitrary arrest, of villagers in the area, often on 
the charge of collaborating with the FDLR. During July and August, the 
Mai-Mai Kifuafua, who claimed to protect inhabitants from FDLR elements 
in the nearby forests, allegedly raped 10 women, all of whom were going 
to their fields to extract palm oil, in or near the villages of 
Katatwa, Kilongote, Mifuti, and Nianga. Mai-Mai Kifuafua combatants 
also continued to maintain child soldiers in their ranks; collected 
``taxes'' at illegal road barriers; cut down bridges across the nearby 
Luhoho river (reportedly to prevent FDLR attacks), which significantly 
reduced food security; and forcibly occupied homes and stole livestock 
from villagers. The group had agreed to integrate into the FARDC early 
in the year, but by October they remained unintegrated and expressed 
frustration over what they perceived as a failure of the integration 
process. There was no government presence in the area, and there were 
no credible efforts by the group's leaders to hold perpetrators 
accountable.
    Low-intensity clashes 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 March 2008.
    In its September report about abuses committed in Kiwanja, North 
Kivu, during and after clashes involving CNDP and Mai-Mai combatants in 
November 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).
    According to the UNJHRO, on June 3, the military tribunal of 
Kisangani convicted five Mai-Mai militiamen, including Colonel Thomas, 
who led the group, for crimes against humanity, including rape, in 
relation to the 2007 collective rape of 135 women in Lieke Lesole, 
Opala Territory, and sentenced them to 30 years' to life imprisonment. 
The court also ordered them to pay $2,500 per victim of violence and 
$10,000 per victim of rape for damages. They remained in prison at 
year's end.
    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).--MONUC officials said members of ADF/NALU, a Ugandan rebel 
group active in northern North Kivu Province, engaged in petty theft 
and extortion throughout the year.

    Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).--The LRA, which relocated from Uganda 
to the DRC's Garamba National Park (Orientale Province) in 2005, was 
responsible for killing, raping, and kidnapping hundreds of persons in 
the DRC, Central African Republic, and Sudan as it continued to seek 
the overthrow of the Ugandan government. The LRA continued to hold 
children it had forcibly abducted.
    Between September 2008 and June 2009, the LRA killed at least 1,200 
persons, abducted an estimated 1,400, including 600 children and 400 
women, and displaced a total of approximately 230,000 people in 
Orientale, according to a December report by the UNHCHR.
    Rudia II, the FARDC-led operation against the LRA, was launched on 
March 26 in cooperation with the Ugandan People's Defense Forces and 
with logistical support from MONUC. 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 September and December, MONUC received reports that 83 
civilians had been killed by the LRA, and in October humanitarian 
partners reported 21 LRA attacks in Haut and Bas Uele, Orientale. Local 
authorities reported an increase in ``undisciplined behavior'' by FARDC 
elements following the replacement of FARDC GR units with newly 
integrated FARDC units in the context of the Rudia II operations.
    The UNSRESAE underlined that the international community had paid 
insufficient attention to the security needs of Orientale. He urged the 
development of more-timely reporting on major incidents and killings 
and expressed regret that the level of communication and outreach 
between MONUC and the local population in Orientale was inadequate. 
According to UNSRESAE Alston, ``far more should have been done by the 
government and by MONUC to prioritize civilian protection in planning 
the military operations [Rudia II].''
    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 Dungu Territory, Orientale. The UNHCR estimated that there were 
more than 296,600 internally displaced persons in the territory by late 
December.

    Abuses by UN Peacekeepers.--A number of sexual exploitation and 
abuse cases by MONUC peacekeepers were under investigation. However, 
the monthly rate of allegations had declined since 2005.
    In August 2008 the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight 
Services made public the results of an investigation wherein it accused 
Indian peacekeepers posted in the DRC in 2007 and the first part of 
2008 of child abuse, indulging in a child prostitution ring near 
Masisi, North Kivu Province, and helping to organize the ring. The 
Indian government promised its own thorough investigation and to bring 
to justice those found guilty. No additional information was available.

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. Although severe abuses against journalists and 
press organs decreased significantly from 2008, overall freedom of the 
press declined during the year. The government intimidated journalists 
and publishers into practicing self-censorship.
    Following an assessment visit to the country in June, the UN 
special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret 
Sekaggya, said journalists and other human rights defenders ``face 
illegitimate restrictions of their right to core freedoms--freedoms of 
opinion and expression'' and underlined 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.'' In a report to the 
UNHRC with six other UN special rapporteurs and representatives in 
March, Sekaggya urged the government to adopt two pending bills that 
would contribute to the better exercise of the right of freedom of 
opinion and decriminalize press offenses.
    Generally individuals could privately criticize the government, its 
officials, and private citizens without being subject to official 
reprisals. However, on June 3, ANR agents arrested Patrick Mukengeshay, 
director of Radio Television Amazone in Kananga, Kasai Orientale, for 
having broadcast a press statement by a human rights NGO alleging abuse 
of power by the ANR. He was questioned and held for six hours, then 
released without charge. Authorities took no action against the 
responsible ANR agents in Goma who, in February 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 one 
television station, Congolese National Radio-Television (RTNC). 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.
    Security forces did not generally arrest or harass foreign 
journalists; however, during the year 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.
    Security forces arrested, harassed, intimidated, and beat local 
journalists because of their reporting. In its annual report on press 
freedom, domestic media watchdog Journalist in Danger (JED) documented 
17 cases of assault against journalists during the year, which 
represented a significant decrease in the number of attacks on 
journalists compared with 2008. On March 3, a dozen police officers 
beat Kathy Katayi, a reporter for Radio Okapi in Kananga, Kasai 
Occidental, and shoved her to the ground. Authorities had not taken 
action as of year's end.
    On August 7, an ANR agent assaulted Paulin Munanga, a Radio Okapi 
reporter in Lubumbashi, while Munanga was covering a demonstration by 
human rights activists and confiscated his belongings. His belongings 
were later recovered at the provincial governorate office. There were 
no reports that either Munanga or his assailant was arrested; no 
additional information was available.
    JED documented 23 cases of journalists being arrested or detained 
during the course of their work. For example, on March 15, police 
arrested Coco Tanda and representatives of local NGOs for having 
organized a march and a sit-in to protest what they perceived as the 
forced resignation of National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe. Tanda 
was held for 48 hours before being released.
    During the year several journalists received anonymous threats. For 
example, on September 9, in Bukavu, two female journalists for Radio 
Okapi received death threats from SMS, while another female Bukavu 
journalist for Radio Maendeleo was also named as a target. Jeff Saile, 
editor of the Kinshasa weekly Le Barometre, received a death threat 
directed at his entire family after publishing an article on alleged 
embezzling in the finance ministry.
    Authorities took no action against Kinshasa police officers who in 
January 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 in July 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 the Mai-Mai militiamen who in 
November 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.
    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 November 2008.
    In November the UNJHRO released a report on a May 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.
    Popol Ntula Vita, a reporter for the weekly La Cite Africaine, 
reappeared in Kinshasa after an out-of-court settlement was reached 
with the employees in Bomahe, whom he had accused of embezzlement.
    No action was taken against the local police chief for the 2007 
beating of reporter Nelson Thamba of Community Radio Moanda.
    The three men in police uniforms who shot RTNC broadcast journalist 
Anne-Marie Kalanga and her brother in 2007 were arrested and remained 
in prison.
    Military authorities took no action against security forces 
responsible for the abuse of journalists in 2007.
    The National Media Regulatory Commission, a quasigovernmental 
organization mandated by the earlier transitional constitution, 
continued to operate in the absence of a successor body. A law 
establishing a permanent agency was signed by President Kabila on 
December 31.
    In its end-of-year report, JED criticized the minister of media and 
communications, whose statements were ``barely veiled threats'' against 
the press, while his decision to cut off the signal of Radio France 
International throughout the country and insist that international 
journalists be subject to the penal code were not supportive of press 
freedom. Jed also identified the ANR as ``the most repressive agency 
against press freedom,'' as it accounted for 26 of the report's 75 
documented incidents of attacks against the press.
    In September 2008 Communications and Media Minister Emile Bongeli 
signed a decree shutting down five Kinshasa television stations for 
failing to submit administrative documents required by the press law. 
The decree banned Africa TV, Couleurs TV, Radio Lisanga TV, Business 
Radio Television-Africa, and Canal 5. JED charged that the decree 
provided no legitimate reason for closing the stations and that the ban 
was issued to silence the opposition. Africa TV and Couleurs TV were 
owned by opposition figures Azarias Ruberwa and Zahidi Ngoma, 
respectively. Radio Lisanga TV was owned by opposition Senator Roger 
Lumbala. Later in the month, the communications minister reauthorized 
all the stations except Canal 5 to recommence broadcasting. No 
additional information was available.
    During 2008 national and provincial governments continued to use 
criminal defamation and insult laws to intimidate and punish those 
critical of the government.
    JED documented 16 cases of sanctions and 12 incidents of censorship 
during the year. For example, during coverage of the controversy in 
March 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 its annual report on press freedom, JED recorded one killing of 
a journalist by unknown persons and 17 cases of threats or harassment 
during the year.
    On August 22, 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 on December 30.
    In November 2008 unknown assailants in Bukavu shot and killed 
Didace Namujimbo, a journalist for Radio Okapi. According to BVES, 
three suspects had been arrested and detained in Bukavu prison, but 
local authorities had not set a trial date.
    In May 2008 PARECO leader Captain Ndaliko warned a journalist with 
RTNC's local affiliate in North Kivu that ``I will kill you before the 
International Criminal Court arrests us,'' according to JED. In April 
2008 RTNC had broadcast an interview with three child soldiers, who had 
fled from PARECO forces in Kirumba, North Kivu.
    There were no developments in the 2007 killing by unidentified 
armed men of independent reporter and photographer Patrick Kikuku in 
Goma, North Kivu.
    According to JED's annual report on press freedom, there were 31.8 
percent fewer press freedom abuses, such as murder, assault, arbitrary 
arrest and detention, threats, and illegal sanctions or censorship, 
during the year than in 2008. Despite the decrease in abuses, JED did 
not observe an improvement in the overall state of press freedom or 
content of press reports. The NGO underlined that forces working to 
restrict press freedom have become more subtle and more effective while 
``methods of repression have become softer,'' leading journalists to 
increasingly resort to self-censorship. Following a series of killings 
of journalists since 2005, journalists have become afraid to address in 
a professional manner certain difficult or sensitive topics, such as 
the war in the east and corruption. In addition 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 since 2005. Many journalists said they 
expected harassment would continue and possibly worsen as the 2011 
elections drew nearer. The Congolese Union of Press Journalists 
encouraged journalists to follow specific safety precautions for 
working after dark and was establishing a safe house for journalists 
who were required to work in the evening.

    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. Private entrepreneurs made Internet 
access available at moderate prices through Internet cafes in large 
cities throughout 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.--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. Security forces often acted against unregistered protests, 
marches, or meetings. For example, police prevented members and 
supporters of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress from holding 
a rally.
    During 2008 security forces occasionally arrested demonstrators. 
For example, in February 2008 ANR agents arrested and briefly detained 
30 persons following a demonstration at the central market in 
Kisangani, Orientale, according to the UNJHRO.
    No action was taken against security forces responsible for the 
2007 killings of demonstrators in Bas-Congo or the beatings of 11 
journalists who accompanied the opposition demonstrators.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice, provided that worshippers did not disturb public order or 
contradict commonly held morals.
    The law provides for the establishment and operation of religious 
institutions and requires practicing religious groups to register with 
the government; however, unregistered religious groups operated 
unhindered. Registration requirements were simple and 
nondiscriminatory.
    On the night of December 5-6, armed bandits in Kabare, South Kivu, 
killed a Catholic priest. Two days later two nuns were shot, one 
fatally. At year's end, authorities were investigating. There were 
indications that the killings could have been politically motivated, as 
the perpetrators did not steal anything.
    There were no reports that persons were detained or imprisoned on 
the basis of their religion. However, the government continued to hold 
Father Masirika, a Catholic priest, in prison in Kinshasa without trial 
on charges of participating in an insurrection movement.
    There was no investigation into the use of excessive force by 
security forces against the BDK in Bas-Congo in early 2008, where 
police reportedly killed at least 100 BDK adherents and razed BDK 
houses and temples (see section 1.a.).

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The country has a very small 
Jewish population, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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.
    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.
    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.
    There were reports of attempts by DGM officials to demand that 
foreigners not carrying passports during the year pay fines, even 
though 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 armed groups, coupled 
with government inability to secure eastern territories, effectively 
restricted freedom of movement by women in many rural areas, 
particularly in the east.
    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, and the government generally did 
not employ it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--There were more than 2 
million IDPs in the country, including 881,000 in North Kivu, 700,000 
in South Kivu, and 444,000 in Orientale (see section 1.g.).
    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 70 ``spontaneous'' IDP sites and 16 IDP camps managed by 
international NGOs and coordinated by the UNHCR. An estimated 120,000 
IDPs lived in churches and schools. Displaced women and children were 
extremely vulnerable to abuses by armed groups, including rape and 
forced recruitment.
    In mid-September there was a sudden exodus of between 58,000 and 
65,000 residents of six IDP camps in and around Goma, North Kivu, into 
Masisi Territory, North Kivu. A foreign assistance agency conducted a 
study of the mass departures and determined that a variety of factors 
were responsible. There were reports of excessive use of violence and 
the violation of humanitarian principles during the camps' closure. 
Some IDPs claimed that government agents pressured them to depart and 
cited cuts in their food rations. Other IDPs, as well as the government 
and UNHCR, cited the start of the school year, the coming rainy season, 
improved security in their zones of origin, and fears that their land 
would be confiscated as reasons for the exodus. The sudden camp 
closures damaged relations among the North Kivu government, 
humanitarian organizations, and displaced populations. While some of 
the IDPs returned to secure environments and received assistance, 
others stayed in transit sites and with host families.
    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, 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 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 had established a rudimentary system for providing 
protection to refugees. In practice it granted refugee and asylum 
status to individuals as necessary 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 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.
    From January to November, Angola expelled 85,000 illegal Congolese 
immigrants to Bas-Congo. Starting in June the number of persons 
expelled into Bas-Congo gradually increased and reached a peak of 3,000 
a day between late September and early October. The DRC government 
retaliated by expelling 30,000 Angolans, many of whom had refugee 
status. MONUC verified that DRC authorities conducted their expulsions 
peacefully. However, expelled Congolese entering the DRC reported 
Angolan security forces committed abuses against them.
    Government authorities did not provide adequate security to 
refugees.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that CNDP 
elements recruited children from refugee camps in Rwanda to be used as 
combatants or forced laborers in the east, according to representatives 
of MONUC, the UNHCR, and local and international NGOs.

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. 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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In Equateur, the country's 
political opposition coalition lost its only governorship in an 
election by members of the Equateur provincial assembly in November. 
Provincial assembly members elected a candidate aligned with the 
central government's coalition; the opposition alleged that the ruling 
party bribed voters.
    The 11 new provincial assemblies chose 108 candidates for five-year 
terms in the national Senate in 2007. The elections took place 
peacefully but were marred by credible allegations of vote buying.
    According to the UN secretary-general's December report to the UN 
Security Council, during the year the Senate nominated two members to 
participate in an ad hoc committee to develop recommendations on 
constitutional reforms. The committee was allegedly to review the 
duration and number of presidential terms, as well as provisions 
pertaining to the decentralization process and the judiciary. Several 
NGOs and foreign diplomats expressed concern over the possibility that 
the committee would approve, under executive branch pressure or 
guidance, constitutional revisions that would, in effect, increase 
executive powers. Other sources in parliament and government dismissed 
these reports as rumors, saying that the committee was charged 
primarily with examining the technical issues of decentralization. As 
of year's end, there was no further action on this issue and no 
additional information.
    In September, in preparation for planned local elections, the 
Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) completed the first round of 
voter registration updates for Kinshasa, issuing an estimated 1.4 
million new voter cards. However, a similar process for the country's 
other 10 provinces continued to be delayed, as the government had not 
yet disseminated to the CEI the official list of constituencies for the 
local elections or provided funding. In December the UN secretary-
general reported to the UN Security Council that such delays cast doubt 
over whether national elections, scheduled for 2011, could be held as 
planned. In addition, according to other sources, due to a change in 
the voter registration methodology, it was determined that the CEI 
would need to conduct another round of voter registration in Kinshasa. 
Based on new methodology adopted by the CEI in December, voter cards 
issued for the 2006 elections would no longer be valid and would need 
to be replaced.
    In December President Kabila announced that local elections, 
originally scheduled to be held in 2008, would be delayed until 
February 2011 due to logistical challenges and would be followed by 
presidential and legislative elections later in 2011. Some observers 
expressed concern over the government's capacity, even with 
international assistance, to ensure the orderliness and credibility of 
multiple polls in a single year. In addition, uncertainty remained over 
the decentralization process. Parliament passed the decentralization 
law, but other crucial pieces of legislation to support the 
decentralization process were pending, preventing the CEI from 
proceeding with voter registration.
    During the year press reports indicated that the government had 
begun exerting pressure on MONUC and the UN Security Council to 
withdraw the peacekeeping force from the country prior to the 2011 
national elections. According to the UN secretary-general's December 
report to the UN Security Council, President Kabila requested the UN to 
submit a proposal, including a calendar, for the progressive drawdown 
of MONUC, preferably starting by June 30, 2010, based on the evolution 
of the security situation. The calendar and the modalities of the 
drawdown would be mutually agreed between 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.
    A 2007 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.), and police prevented members and supporters of the Union for 
Democracy and Social Progress from holding a rally.
    In March National Assembly president Vital Kamerhe, formerly a 
close ally of the president, resigned his leadership position after 
publicly criticizing President Kabila for not consulting the 
legislature before he made the decision to invite the Rwandan military 
into the country in January for a joint military operation against the 
FDLR. Some UN officials, foreign diplomats, and NGOs expressed concern 
that the resignation reflected a setback in the capacity of the 
legislature to counterbalance the executive branch, while others argued 
that it was done legally within the framework of the constitution.
    In 2008 police killed numerous supporters of the BDK during violent 
clashes in Bas-Congo and systematically destroyed BDK meeting places 
(see section 1.a.). In addition, an HRW report released in November 
2008, entitled We Will Crush You: The Restriction of Political Space in 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, drew from hundreds of interviews 
with government officials, diplomats, political detainees, and members 
of civil society between 2006 and 2008 and concluded that since the 
2006 national elections, there had been disturbing signs that the 
government has used violence and intimidation to eliminate its 
political opponents and restrict democratic space.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security 
forces killed a member of the political opposition.
    In their March 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,'' with one article 
stating that the wife must obey her husband, and that women remained 
underrepresented in the democratic institutions. Between 2005 and 2008 
the proportion of seats held by women in parliament decreased from 12 
percent to 8 percent. Women held 42 of 500 seats in the National 
Assembly and 47 of 690 seats in the provincial assemblies. Five 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. For example, the enslavement of 
Pygmies continued in some areas of the country (see section 5).
    In March 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 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, as corruption 
remained endemic throughout the government and 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.
    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 encouraged 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 armed groups in the 
east (see section 1.g.).
    In September 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 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 the year a government-initiated review of 61 mining 
contracts negotiated from 1997 to 2002 continued to be plagued by both 
numerous delays and a lack of transparency. In December 2008 the 
government reached new agreements with all but six of the companies 
under review, and in November it formally announced the completion of 
the process. One company continued to negotiate its contract.
    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.
    Corruption in the judicial and penal systems continued to be severe 
(se sections 1.c. and 1.e.)
    There continued to be an Ethics and Anticorruption Commission, but 
it had little impact 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.).
    In February 2008 the country was accepted as a candidate in the 
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international 
voluntary initiative designed to improve governance by strengthening 
transparency in the extractive industries. To reach the validation 
stage of EITI, the country began the process of adopting and 
implementing various transparency principles by 2010.
    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 his press statement in October, 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, 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 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 Justice Plus in Bunia, Ituri 
District.
    Officials from the ministries of justice and human rights met with 
domestic NGOs and sometimes responded to their inquiries but took no 
other known action.
    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.
    Domestic human rights NGOs were particularly vulnerable to 
harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other abuses by 
security forces when reporting on--or supporting victims of--abuses by 
the FARDC and spotlighting the illegal exploitation of natural 
resources in the east. For example, on July 24, 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. On September 21, a criminal court in the 
Katangan capital of Lubumbashi found Misabiko guilty, on the basis of 
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. Around the time of 
his sentencing, Misabiko fled and remained outside the country at 
year's end. An appeal was filed on his behalf.
    On August 31, ANR agents arrested four members of the domestic NGO 
Friends of Nelson Mandela for the Defense of Human Rights (ANMDH), 
including its president, Robert Ilunga Numbi, on charges of rebellion, 
civil disobedience, and defamation following the publication of a 
communique in which Numbi condemned alleged inhumane working conditions 
in Bas-Congo Province; 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 held Numbi for a month before granting him provisional 
release on October 1. As of year's end, he was awaiting trial. No 
additional information was available.
    Authorities took no known action against FARDC soldiers who in 
January 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 January 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 March 
2008 threatened a human rights activist in Tshimbulu, Kasai Occidental, 
when she sought information about a case of arbitrary arrest and 
detention.
    Authorities took no known action against the perpetrators of the 
cases from 2007 in which security forces arbitrarily arrested, 
detained, or abused human rights workers.
    During the year domestic human rights NGOs, including one that 
identified and liberated child soldiers from FARDC units and armed 
groups, received death threats from unidentified individuals. For 
example, on December 24, 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. During the year President 
Kabila met with a representative of HRW to discuss the country's human 
rights situation, and several ministers met with Global Witness to 
exchange ideas on means to curb illegal exploitation of natural 
resources. However, at a July 28 press conference, the minister of 
communication accused HRW, Global Witness, and the International 
Federation of Human Rights of trying to destabilize the country and 
called them ``humanitarian terrorists.''
    The government did not take adequate steps to protect international 
human rights NGOs from violence or harassment in the east. In July men 
in FARDC uniforms killed an employee of an international human rights 
and humanitarian organization in North Kivu (see section 1.g.).
    During the year unidentified armed men killed at least one employee 
of an international human rights and humanitarian NGO (see section 
1.g.).
    In several reports submitted in September to the UPRWG, 
international human rights NGOs underlined 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 October authorities in 
Bas-Congo, including the governor, prevented the UN special rapporteur 
on extrajudicial killings from holding any meetings in Kisantu or 
speaking with any witnesses or victims of abuses committed by security 
forces in 2008. Police also detained the individual who had arranged 
meetings for the rapporteur, who lodged an official protest with the 
government. He was later released after the rapporteur returned to Bas-
Congo on his behalf.
    In addition, there was an increase in cases of members of security 
forces obstructing human rights work by MONUC 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.).
    No action was taken against ANR agents, who in 2007 subjected two 
MONUC human rights officers in Uvira, South Kivu, to death threats, 
physical abuse, and expulsion during a joint monitoring visit to ANR 
holding cells.
    Several senior UN officials visited the country during the year, 
including UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, UNSRESAE Alston, the 
special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret 
Sekaggya, the special representative of the secretary-general for 
children and armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, the representative 
of the secretary-general on the human rights of IDPs, Walter Kalin, and 
a delegation of UN Security Council ambassadors.
    UN officials freely criticized actions by the government during the 
year. In its March report to the UNHRC, a group of seven UN special 
rapporteurs and representatives expressed concern over the extent of 
impunity for abuses and 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 (see sections 1.c., 1.d., 1.e., 1.g., 2.a., 2.d., 4, and 6).
    In June, 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 with concern 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.
    In September the UNJHRO released an investigative report on the 
deaths of civilians during and following the November 2008 fighting in 
the North Kivu town of Kiwanja between CNDP and local Mai-Mai 
combatants. The UNJHRO concluded that the 120 MONUC military personnel 
who were stationed in Kiwanja at the time of the killings ``were not 
aware of the nature or magnitude of the situation, due to language and 
cultural barriers or lack of effective communication with civil society 
leaders in Kiwanja.'' The report commended the MONUC contingent's 
efforts to evacuate humanitarian personnel while noting that MONUC was 
``strongly criticized for not having protected the civilian 
population.'' The report recommended further training of MONUC 
personnel, the formulation of clearer criteria for exactly when 
peacekeepers should intervene to protect civilians, better 
communication between the population and peacekeepers, and an enhanced 
understanding of the patterns of human rights abuses. However, the 
report concluded that ``it is unclear whether any such response would 
have had the necessary dissuasive impact with regards to the CNDP . . . 
it is doubtful that MONUC would have had the capacity to protect those 
civilians who were arbitrarily or summarily executed by the CNDP.''
    The report also highlighted that, in response to lessons learned 
from the Kiwanja killings, MONUC's use of innovative protection tools, 
including the deployment of joint protection teams (JPTs) composed of 
UNJHRO and other UN specialists, had contributed to improved 
effectiveness in the area of protection (including in Kiwanja), in part 
by developing stronger human rights analysis and facilitating greater 
communication with the local population. It noted, however, the need to 
provide JPTs with additional civilian staff and greater training for 
civilian and military peacekeeping personnel in civilian protection.
    In October, following his assessment visit to the country at the 
invitation of the government, UNSRESAE Alston criticized the government 
and MONUC, which provided logistical support to the FARDC in the east, 
for not doing more to prioritize the protection of civilians in 
planning two counterinsurgency operations during the year--Kimia II 
against the FDLR in the Kivus, and Rudia II against the LRA in 
Orientale. He detailed the humanitarian costs of Kimia II and concluded 
that ``from a human rights perspective [Kimia II] has been 
catastrophic.'' He also criticized officials for preventing him from 
interviewing victims and witnesses of abuses allegedly committed by 
FARDC members in Bas-Congo between 2006 and 2008.
    Alston criticized the UN Security Council's mandate for MONUC for 
having ``transformed MONUC into a party to the conflict'' in the Kivus, 
and creating ``a conflict of interest in terms of [MONUC's] ability and 
willingness to investigate allegations of abuses by the FARDC or by its 
own forces.'' He further underlined ``serious concerns about the 
measures the UN has taken to ensure that it is not implicated in the 
rights abuses being committed by its partners'' (the FARDC). Noting 
that human rights reporting would always be seen by some as a hindrance 
to securing political reform, he also expressed concern over ``the 
unavoidable tensions'' that had developed since the UN decided in 2006 
to place the UN human rights monitoring component in the country under 
the authority of a peacekeeping mission partly charged with securing 
political reforms. Alston recommended creating a new mechanism to 
ensure that the necessary human rights monitoring and reporting roles 
were improved and carried out effectively, independently, and credibly. 
He made other observations and recommendations regarding impunity for 
killings, the penal system, sexual violence, and corruption (see 
sections 1.a., 1.c., 1.d., 1.g., and 4).
    A November report by the UNGOE presented evidence of abuses 
committed by government security forces and armed groups in the east, 
presented evidence that the government provided support for armed 
groups in the east, and made several recommendations, including some 
relating to the illegal exploitation of resources (see sections 1.g. 
and 4).
    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 less than 7 
percent of communications, including urgent appeals, from UN special 
procedures (rapporteurs and representatives), according to the UNHCHR. 
However, several members of the UPRWG commended the government for its 
cooperation with the UNHRC in the UPR process, including its submission 
of a report in September to the UNHRC following consultations with 
domestic NGOs. By year's end, the government had also established a 
multistakeholder national commission, including domestic NGOs, to 
follow up on recommendations made by the UPRWG.
    During the UNHRC's UPR process, numerous domestic human rights NGOs 
and the government underlined the need to establish a national human 
rights commission.
    In January Parliament created a human rights body, composed of 
members from both legislative chambers, to investigate abuses by 
security forces. It was not clear how active, effective, or independent 
the body was.
    During the year the government cooperated with the ICC, which 
continued investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity 
committed in the country since 2003.
    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 the government transferred Gregoire Ndahimana, 
who had surrendered to authorities in August, 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. 
According 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 scope of 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, 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, armed groups, and civilians perpetrated 
widespread and sometimes mass rape against women and girls (see section 
1.g.). On March 27, the UN secretary-general reported to the UN 
Security Council that members of armed groups, 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 UNFPA reported that 15,996 new cases of 
sexual violence were registered in 2008 throughout the country, 
including 4,820 cases in North Kivu. 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 from agencies providing services to victims, remained 
fragmented and incomplete. According to UN officials and NGOs such as 
HRW, it was likely that most statistics on sexual violence represented 
only a small percentage of the real total of rapes. Victims who were 
unable or too scared or ashamed to seek assistance were not likely to 
be counted. In May Nicola Dahrendorf, a former senior advisor and 
coordinator on sexual violence for MONUC, estimated that less than 50 
percent of women who were raped had access to health centers.
    Prosecutions for rape and other types of sexual violence remained 
rare. According to HRW, between January and August 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 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 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 security forces, who are responsible for rape.
    Throughout the year, including in a report submitted in April 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 where 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, mandated by the UNHRC to urgently examine the status of 
various rights in the country and provide technical assistance, 
reported in March that the government had been sentenced 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.
    During the year 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 
armed groups), 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 keep 
quiet, 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; 
however, there were no statistics available regarding its extent. 
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.
    The constitution prohibits forced prostitution and bans 
prostitution of children under age 18. Although no statistics were 
available regarding its prevalence, adult and child prostitution 
occurred throughout the country, and there were reports of women and 
girls pressured or forced to engage in prostitution by their families. 
There were reports that members of the security forces harassed or 
raped women engaged in prostitution.
    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, and by the end of 2008 judicial authorities had 
yet to prosecute any cases.
    The government respected the right of couples to decide freely and 
responsibly the number of children they would have and when they would 
have them. However, women's access to contraception remained extremely 
low, with only 6.7 percent of women using modern contraceptive methods. 
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 wase 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 child 
birth was high (74 percent).
    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.''
    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.--Although the government promulgated a child protection 
code in January, the government's commitment to and budget for 
children's welfare were inadequate.
    The government did not register all births immediately. According 
to 2007 UNICEF data, 31 percent of children were registered at birth. 
However, UNICEF reported that following the government's adoption of a 
National Plan of Action on Birth Registration in March, child birth 
registration had increased in Kinshasa from 37 percent to 50 percent by 
June. The lack of registration did not affect access to government 
services, as birth registration was not a prerequisite for services.
    In practice primary school education was not compulsory, free, or 
universal, and few functioning government-funded schools existed. 
Fighting that resumed in August 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.
    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.
    Reports received by the UN during the year indicated that parents 
in conflict areas often prevented their children from going to school 
(where schools were functioning) because of fear that armed groups 
would forcibly recruit their children. The majority of schools in 
conflict zones were dilapidated and had been closed due to insecurity.
    In a report released in February, the UNCRC welcomed the 
government's adoption on January 10 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 appeared to be 
common. Although authorities made several arrests related to child 
abandonment and abuse during the year, no cases had been prosecuted by 
year's end.
    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 constitution prohibits parental abandonment of children for 
alleged sorcery; in practice such allegations led to abandonment and 
abuse. The 2009 Child Protection Law provides for a sentence of 
imprisonment for parents and other adults who accuse children of 
witchcraft.
    Child abuse was an especially serious problem in the eastern 
conflict regions. A November 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 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. Their report to the UNHRC noted that, 
according to the UNFPA, of 15,996 new cases of sexual violence 
registered in 2008 throughout the country, 65 percent of victims were 
children. The report also underlined 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 security forces or armed groups 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 security forces or armed groups 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 armed groups.
    The law prohibits marriage of girls under age 14 and boys under 18; 
however, marriages of girls as young as 13 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 in 2008; no additional 
information was available.
    The minimum age of consensual sex is 14 for women and 18 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, Lazarius, police in 
Kinshasa extorted sexual services from child prostitutes.
    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. 
According to UNICEF, there were more than 18,000 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 worked with 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. 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 large markets.
    In February the UNCRC underlined its concern over the frequency of 
sexual assaults committed against street children, as well as 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 MONUC and UNICEF to promote 
children's rights throughout the country.

    Trafficking in Persons.--Several laws prohibited specific acts of 
trafficking in persons; however, there were credible reports of 
trafficking, particularly in the east. The laws that could be used to 
prosecute cases against traffickers included the 2006 law on sexual 
violence, which prohibits forced prostitution and sexual slavery, as 
well as legislation prohibiting slavery, rape, and child prostitution. 
The constitution forbids involuntary servitude and child soldiering; 
however, the laws do not prohibit all forms of trafficking.
    The country was a source and destination country for men, women, 
and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation. There 
were reports of children prostituted in brothels or by loosely 
organized networks, some of whom were exploited by FARDC soldiers. 
Women and children were trafficked internally for domestic servitude 
and, in smaller numbers, to South Africa, the Republic of the Congo, 
and European countries, such as Norway, for sexual exploitation. No 
statistical information existed on the extent of adult or child 
prostitution. In February the UNCRC expressed concern over the 
continued trafficking and selling of children for sexual exploitation 
and economic exploitation, and, among other steps, it recommended that 
the government establish a system for collecting and disaggregating 
data on trafficking-related abuses.
    MONUC and the NGO Save the Children estimated there were tens of 
thousands of children working in the mining sector, most often in 
extremely dangerous conditions as artisanal miners. According to 
UNICEF, 11 percent of children between the ages of four and 15 were 
involved in some form of exploitative and harmful child labor.
    The majority of reported trafficking was conducted in the unstable 
eastern provinces by armed groups outside government control (see 
section 1.g.). Indigenous and foreign armed groups, including the FDLR, 
CNDP, various local militia (Mai-Mai), and the Uganda-linked LRA 
continued to abduct and forcibly recruit men, women, and children to 
serve as laborers (including in mines), porters, domestics, combatants, 
and sex slaves. In some instances elements of the FARDC detained men 
and women for temporary forced labor. During the year there were 
several reported cases of FARDC troops, mainly ex-CNDP soldiers in the 
FARDC, recruiting additional children and preventing UN child 
protection officers from accessing child soldiers in their ranks (see 
section 1.g.). Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of 
recruitment by CNDP (or ex-CNDP) combatants of children from refugee 
camps in Rwanda.
    According to the UNHCR, between September 2008 and June, the LRA 
abducted an estimated 1,400 individuals, mostly women and children, 
from the northeast.
    All armed rebel groups in the east increased efforts to recruit 
children, especially children who were former child soldiers, to serve 
as soldiers and sex slaves, according to the NGO Save the Children (see 
section 1.g.).
    The law specifically prohibits and provides penalties of 10 to 20 
years' imprisonment for child and forced prostitution, pimping, and 
trafficking for sexual exploitation. The government's capacity to 
apprehend, convict, or imprison traffickers remained weak; however, 
unlike in the previous year, there were a few reported investigations 
or prosecutions of traffickers. For example, in March Bukavu police 
arrested a nightclub owner for allegedly prostituting 10 girls and 
seven boys in his facility; in June he was remanded to prison to await 
formal charges; no additional information was available at year's end. 
In addition in March the Kipushi Military Tribunal sentenced Kynugu 
Mutanga (aka Gedeon) to death for crimes against humanity, including 
illegal child conscription. Seven of his codefendants received 
sentences ranging from seven to 10 years' imprisonment for complicity 
in these crimes, 11 received lesser sentences, and five were acquitted.
    Military authorities took no action against commanders who employed 
child soldiers. For example, Commander Jean-Pierre Biyoyo, formerly of 
the Mudundu-40 armed group and member of the FARDC and the first person 
convicted by the country's courts of conscripting children, had not 
been reapprehended since his escape from prison in 2006.
    The Ministry of Justice was responsible for combating trafficking. 
Law enforcement authorities were rarely able to enforce existing laws 
due to lack of personnel, training, and funding and the limited 
accessibility of eastern areas of the country.
    The government's antitrafficking programs were limited and lacked 
resources. However, under the National Disarmament, Demobilization, and 
Reintegration Program, ex-combatants, including child soldiers, passed 
through a common process during which they disarmed and received 
information about military and civilian reintegration options. During 
this process the National Demobilization Agency, in cooperation with 
MONUC, identified, separated out, and transported any identified 
children to NGO-run centers for temporary housing and vocational 
training. The DDR program, with support from UNICEF and other child 
protection agencies, demobilized 5,930 children, including 1,222 girls, 
from armed groups and the security forces during the year; it 
demobilized an estimated 5,000 children in 2008.
    MONUC reported that it had facilitated the release of a total of 
2,284 children from the armed groups between January and December. 
Between 2004 and November 2008 more than 31,000 children were released 
from the FARDC and armed groups. During the year the UNCRC expressed 
concern about the rerecruitment of children, due in part to 
insufficient reintegration support from earlier disarmament, 
demobilization, and reintegration processes.
    In addition, in the east there were reports of certain FARDC units, 
comprised mainly of ex-CNDP soldiers, preventing UN officials from 
providing assistance to child soldiers in their ranks (see section 
1.g.).
    The Katanga provincial government also funded and operated a center 
for vulnerable children in Lubumbashi and worked with Save the 
Children, Solidarity Center, and other NGOs to direct children away 
from the mining sector and into formal education.
    The government provided training to some police and military 
personnel on preventing sexual violence and child soldiering.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 the blind, 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, 
children).

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Members of the country's more 
than 400 ethnic groups practiced societal discrimination on the basis 
of ethnicity, and discrimination was evident in hiring patterns in some 
cities. The government took no reported actions to address this 
problem.
    Security forces in Kinshasa sometimes harassed, arbitrarily 
arrested, or threatened members of ethnic groups from Equateur, 
according to the UNJHRO. Security forces in North and South Kivu 
sometimes harassed, arbitrarily arrested, or threatened members of many 
different ethnic groups resident there.
    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, 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, 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 at least 
100 civilian deaths, as many as 60,000 internally displaced persons, 
and more than 117,000 refugees, of whom 109,000 fled into the 
neighboring Republic of the Congo and 18,000 into the Central African 
Republic.
    During the year the special adviser to the UNSG on the prevention 
of genocide expressed concern regarding the situation in North Kivu, 
including the risk of genocidal violence. The special adviser cited 
allegations and counterallegations by various groups that genocide 
continued in the east and that this rhetoric had drastically increased 
tensions between ethnic communities. He concluded that the risk of 
individuals being targeted because of their ethnicity was pronounced, 
above and beyond other underlying causes of conflict.

    Indigenous People.--The country had a population of between 10,000 
and 20,000 Pygmies (Twa, Mbuti, 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 North Kivu between armed groups and government security forces 
caused displacement of some Pygmy populations.
    In some areas traditional leaders (mwami) and wealthy persons 
captured Pygmies and force them into slavery. 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 August 2008, 96 Pygmy slaves were 
released; 46 of the group belonged to families that had been enslaved 
for generations.
    No action was taken against PNC officers, who in 2007 arrested a 
Pygmy and subjected him to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment for 
no known reason.
    In a report submitted in September to the UPRWG, a coalition of 
local NGOs expressed concerns over the exploitation of forestry 
resources that endangered Pygmies' way of life in the provinces of 
Equateur and Orientale, and over the social marginalization of Pygmies. 
In a separate report for the UPRWG, the UNHCHR cited past concerns 
expressed by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination (CERD) over the lack of guarantees for the rights of 
Pygmies to own, exploit, control, and use their lands, resources, and 
communal territories. According to CERD, concessions were granted on 
the lands and territories of indigenous peoples without their prior 
permission or other input.

    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. Homosexuality remained a 
cultural taboo, but there were no reports during the year of police 
harassing homosexuals or perpetrating or condoning violence against 
them. There were no reports during the year of official or societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, 
education, or health care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination based on HIV/AIDS status.
    In July 2008 President Kabila promulgated a new 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 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. Of an 
estimated 24 million adults of working age, 128,000 employees in the 
private sector (0.5 percent) belonged to unions, according to the U.S. 
NGO Solidarity Center. 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.
    Private companies often registered bogus unions to create confusion 
among workers and discourage real ones from organizing. According to 
the Solidarity Center, 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, 
and, according to the Solidarity Center, companies and shops did so 
during 2008. 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.
    Unlike in 2008, there were no reports of the use of violence by 
security forces against unions. There were no developments concerning 
the March 2008 incident during which police in Katanga reportedly fired 
into a crowd and killed a boy during clashes with hundreds of artisanal 
miners.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--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, indigenous and foreign armed groups 
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.).
    The military took no action against FARDC soldiers who used forced 
labor and abducted civilians for forced labor in 2009, 2008, or 2007.
    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 groups operating outside central government control subjected 
civilians, including children, to forced labor, including sexual 
slavery (see section 1.g.).

    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, employers may legally hire minors between the ages of 15 
and 18 with the consent of a parent or guardian. Those under 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. Security 
forces and armed groups 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 security 
forces was not limited to conflict zones. For example, in October 
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 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).
    According to a 2007 Save the Children report, approximately 12,000 
children in Kasai Oriental were employed at 20 unlicensed diamond 
mining sites. The children excavated, transported, and washed dirt in 
search of diamonds. At mines near Tumpatu, Kasai Oriental, girls who 
were approximately 12 years old worked as prostitutes. According to the 
report, preteen children also worked digging tombs at the cemeteries 
for 500 to 1,000 Congolese francs (approximately $.55 to $1.10) per day 
and as dishwashers and guards at restaurants for 125 to 250 Congolese 
francs (approximately $.14 to $.28) per day. No action was taken 
against mine operators and supervisors.
    In addition children were used to extract copper, cobalt, and gold. 
In the east, armed groups 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.
    During the year 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.
    In November 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Employers in the informal sector 
often did not respect the legally required minimum wage of 500 
Congolese (approximately $0.55) 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 25,000 to 55,000 
Congolese francs (approximately $28 to $61) 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 security forces for 
illegally entering mining concessions.

                               __________

                         REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

    The Republic of the Congo, with an estimated population of four 
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 the 
July 12 election with 78 percent of the vote. While the election was 
peaceful, opposition candidates and nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) cited irregularities. The African Union declared the elections 
to have been free and fair. Civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces.
    The government's human rights record included instances of abuses 
including: killings of suspects by security forces; mob violence; 
beatings and other physical abuse of detainees; rapes; solicitation of 
bribes and theft; harassment and extortion of civilians by unidentified 
armed elements; poor prison conditions; official impunity; arbitrary 
arrest; lengthy pretrial detention; an ineffective and largely 
nonfunctioning 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, and 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.--There were no 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    In January journalist and activist Bruno Jacquet Ossebi, known for 
outspoken coverage of government corruption, was in a house fire which 
some organizations believed was set for political reasons, but others 
reported it as a simple electrical fire. Ossebi's companion and child 
died in the fire, while he died several days later in the hospital. The 
death was officially declared an accident, and there was no 
investigation. Ossebi's last article before his death described 
corruption in the management of the country's oil wealth. He had also 
reported on a lawsuit involving three African leaders, including 
President Nguesso.
    In December 2008 the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights reported 
the killing of Jean Bambelo, a domestic employee, by a government 
official. After an investigation, the official's military bodyguards 
were arrested, sentenced to 15 years in prison, and stripped of their 
military rank. No action was taken against the official.
    In June 2008 Silvain Banobi died from wounds inflicted by the 
Nkombo Public Security Post. By year's end there had been no 
investigation into his death.
    No investigation was conducted into the 2008 death of Guy Poaty, 
who died in custody after being beaten and reportedly tortured by 
police in Pointe Noire.
    There were no further developments in the following 2007 cases: the 
death of Guy Yombo, a prisoner at the Ouenze jail; the death of a 
Brazzaville prisoner trying to escape from jail; and the killing by 
police of three armed suspects in Brazzaville who were resisting 
arrest.
    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, resulting in death or serious injury. Such 
incidents were most common in remote areas.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    There were no further developments in the disappearance and 
presumed deaths of 353 persons in the 1999 ``Beach'' incident. The 
individuals were separated from their families by security forces in 
1999 upon their return from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The 
families of the victims tried unsuccessfully to use French courts to 
bring claims of criminal wrongdoing against individuals and the 
Congolese government. In April 2008 French courts ruled against 
allowing the cases to proceed in the French judicial system. In 2005 a 
Brazzaville court acquitted 15 high-ranking military and police 
officials accused of involvement in the case. In 2006 the Supreme Court 
refused to consider an appeal by the families.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices and, 
unlike the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that 
government officials employed them.
    On January 14, Mayor Gomez De Makanda shot and wounded Nuptia 
Managu, in Bacongo market, while firing at the tires of a local taxi 
blocking the road. The mayor was removed from office, but no trial had 
been scheduled by year's end.
    Police assaulted international journalists (see section 2.a.).
    Unlike the previous year, there were no confirmed reports that 
security force members raped female detainees.
    During the year two gendarmes were dismissed from duty for the 2008 
rape of a woman in detention in the Talangai District of Brazzaville. 
By year's end no charges had been brought against the officers.
    No action was taken against police for the beating of civilians and 
destruction of property during the August 2008 raids on restaurants, 
snack bars, and kiosks, and no investigation was conducted during the 
year.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions were harsh and life threatening. Prisons were 
overcrowded. More than 500 prisoners were housed in the Brazzaville 
Maison d'Arret, known as the central prison, which was built in 1944 
for fewer than 100 prisoners. In the central prison, the only prison in 
the capital, most cellmates slept on the floor on cardboard or thin 
mattresses in small cells, exposing them to disease. Food was poor and 
health care virtually nonexistent, provided primarily, if at all, by 
outside charities. Prisoners and detainees in the central prison 
usually received one meal per day.
    There were six prisons in the country but only two were in 
operation: the one in Brazzaville and one in Pointe Noire. Other 
facilities stopped functioning in 2008 due to dire conditions, and many 
prisoners were allowed to leave. By year's end the prison population 
was an estimated 492, the majority of whom were awaiting trial; most 
were jailed for assault and robbery. The Brazzaville prison held 347 
prisoners, including 37 women and 45 minors. The Pointe Noire prison 
held 165 prisoners, including three women and two minors.
    There were separate facilities for women and men. Juveniles were 
held with adults, and pretrial detainees were held with convicted 
prisoners.
    The government continued to grant access to prisons and detention 
centers to domestic and international human rights groups. During the 
year the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), local human 
rights groups, and NGOs regularly visited prisons and detention 
centers.
    The ICRC maintained an office in Brazzaville. During the year 
access to government officials and detainees remained good for 
international humanitarian officials. In contrast, local NGOs had poor 
access.

    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 
offenses, mostly traffic-related, and required them to pay bribes on 
the spot as a condition for release.
    A number of politically motivated arrests occurred in Brazzaville 
related to the July presidential elections (see section 1.e.).

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The security forces 
include the police, gendarmerie, and 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 external security, but also have domestic 
security responsibilities, such as protecting the president. The 
minister of defense oversees the military forces and gendarmerie, and 
the minister of security oversees the police.
    A joint police unit under the Ministry of Security and Public Order 
is responsible for patrolling the frontiers. Another unit, the military 
police, is composed of military and police officers and is primarily 
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, some 
members of the security forces acted independently of government 
authority and committed abuses.
    Corruption remained a significant problem in the security forces. 
During the year there were reports of arrested individuals whose 
families bribed police to secure their release.
    Traffic police extorted bribes from taxi drivers and others 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 more than 70 percent of the population had an income below 
the poverty level and could not afford to post bail. Detainees 
generally were informed of the 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 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. Lawyers and family members usually were given prompt access to 
detainees, and indigent detainees were provided lawyers at government 
expense. If indigent detainees were detained outside a major city, they 
were often transferred to the closest town or city where an attorney 
was available.
    Arbitrary arrest continued to be a problem. The most common cases 
were threats of arrest to extort bribes. 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.
    The arrests of opposition members Malgala Sabin, Douniama-Etou Jean 
Ferenzi, and Ernest Ngalou following the July 12 elections were 
perceived to be politically motivated.
    On July 15, security forces arrested former self-exiled opposition 
leader and Lissouba loyalist General Ferdinand Mbaou upon his arrival 
at the Brazzaville airport. Mbaou, who had been in exile in France 
since 1997, was charged with breaching national security. At year's end 
he remained in police custody.
    Gilbert Nsonguissa, an advisor to the exiled former minister of 
finance Nguila Moungounga Nkombo, was arrested in September 2008 while 
conducting an opposition party rally. Nsonguissa was released in 
December and returned to 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 a 
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.
    The judicial system consists of traditional and local courts, 
courts of appeal, a Court of Accounts, the High Court of Justice, the 
Constitutional Court, and the Supreme Court. 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 Court of Accounts' 
function is to hear cases related to mismanagement of government funds. 
The Constitutional Court's responsibilities are to adjudicate the 
constitutionality of laws and judicial decisions, and review judicial 
decisions or crimes involving the president and other high-ranking 
authorities in the conduct of their official duties. Local courts dealt 
with criminal and civil complaints. The Supreme Court met regularly and 
primarily heard cases related to the legality of land seizures by the 
government during the civil war. It also reviewed administrative and 
penal cases from lower courts.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial presided over by an independent judiciary; however, the 
legal caseload far exceeded the capacity of the judiciary to ensure 
fair and timely trials, and most cases never reached the court system. 
Some prisoners were subsequently freed and considered to be in pending 
trial status, but most remained in pretrial detention. In general, when 
trials occurred prior to 2006, defendants were tried in a public court 
of law presided over by a state-appointed magistrate.
    Defendants are presumed innocent, have the right to appeal, to be 
present at their trial, and to consult with an attorney in a timely 
manner. An attorney is provided at public expense if an indigent 
defendant faces serious criminal charges. Defendants can confront or 
question accusers and witnesses, and present witnesses and evidence on 
their own behalf. The defense has access to prosecution evidence. 
Juries are used. In principle, the law extends the above rights to all 
citizens.
    The military has a tribunal system--the Martial Court--to try 
criminal cases involving military members, gendarmerie, or police. 
Civilians are not tried under this system. This body was believed to be 
subject to influence and corruption. However, in a continuation of a 
2007 investigation into corrupt military payroll practices, during the 
year the Martial Court suspended the salaries of more than 500 current 
and former military personnel. The court continued repayment of the 
lost funds by garnishing wages from these personnel.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were some political 
prisoners and detainees (see section 1.d.). Political prisoners may be 
detained for up to one month, 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 more. As in previous years, local and international NGOs, 
including the ICRC, reported monitoring the condition of several 
political prisoners.
    There were no further developments in the case of three exiled DRC 
military officers, who have been in pretrial detention pending 
extradition since 2004.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is a civil court 
system; however, it was widely believed to be subject to the same 
corrupt practices as found in the criminal court system. Although 
persons can file a lawsuit in court on civil matters, including seeking 
damages or cessation of a human rights violation, no such cases were 
known to exist. There remained general mistrust of 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, 
unlike in the previous year, the government generally respected these 
prohibitions in practice.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that citizens 
believed the government monitored telephone and mail communications of 
selected individuals.

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. 
Freedom declined during the year, according to international NGO 
Freedom House. Broadcast journalists and government print media 
journalists practiced self-censorship. The nongovernmental print media 
experienced few constraints as long as its 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 it sometimes punished critics after the fact.
    There was one state-owned newspaper, La Nouvelle Republique, and 
several publications that 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; unlike in 
previous years, two of the four stations were increasingly critical of 
the government. Several satellite television services were available 
and permitted the few who could afford it to view a wide range of news 
programs.
    Government journalists were not independent and were expected to 
report positively on government activities. There was evidence that 
when government journalists deviated from this guidance there were 
adverse consequences, especially if they were critical of the president 
or other senior officials. A journalist reporting on official 
corruption died in a home fire suspected by some to have been 
politically motivated, although official investigation ruled out foul 
play (see section 1.a.).
    During the July presidential elections, several international 
journalists reported harassment by military police. Thomas Fessy from 
BBC and Marlene Rabaud of France 24 both reported physical assault and 
seizure of equipment by police. Catherine Ninin of Radio France 
International reported being threatened and harassed in her hotel by 
security agents. Committee to Protect Journalists program coordinator 
Tom Rhodes called on the government to halt the intimidation, return 
seized equipment, and compensate media for damages. However, by year's 
end the government had taken no action.
    On September 14, security forces arrested without charge British 
filmmaker Graham Hughes; the government claimed he was taking pictures 
of government leaders. Security officials seized his glasses, medicine, 
camera, and video equipment. Hughes, who described his conditions of 
detainment as ``shocking,'' was denied consular access for four days; 
he was released on September 19.
    There were no further developments in the case of television 
journalist Christian Perrin, who was fined in July 2008 for airing 
footage of a riot.
    No action was taken against police responsible for beating reporter 
Giscard Mayoungou in September 2008.
    A number of Brazzaville-based journalists 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 had not repealed the 
policy that allowed revocation. This policy affected journalists 
employed by both international and government-controlled media. Local 
private journalists were not affected by the policy.
    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.

    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 in practice.
    Groups that wished to hold public assemblies were required to seek 
authorization from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and 
appropriate local officials, who could withhold authorization for 
meetings that they claimed might threaten public order.
    The government prevented political parties from organizing public 
events. On July 15, security forces prevented the opposition political 
parties led by opposition leader Mathias Dzon from holding their press 
conference at the parliament. The incident resulted in a public 
disturbance in which police were required to intervene.
    Opposition parties cited three other instances of state 
interference in their peaceful assembly during the year. The opposition 
party, Front des Partis de L'Opposition Congolaise, claimed it was 
forbidden to hold meetings on April 11 in Kinkala, on April 5 in Pointe 
Noire, and simultaneously on July 15 in the cities of Pointe Noire, 
Dolisie, Mossendjo, Nkayi, Ouesso, Owando, and Kinkala. During the July 
15 assembly, a policeman fired a warning shot which injured two 
bystanders. There were no further developments by year's end.

    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.
    During the year Marien Ngouabi and Ethics, a political opposition 
group that unsuccessfully sought to organize in 2008, instead applied 
for registration in France.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
discrimination against members of religious groups. There was no 
substantial Jewish community in the country. There were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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; however, in practice the government at times imposed 
limitations. Immigration officials routinely stopped travelers on 
various pretexts to extort funds.
    Although the 2003 disarmament agreement effectively ended the 
organized rebellion in the Pool region, unidentified armed elements 
believed to be former Ninja rebels continued to harass and intimidate 
citizens. Since the Pool region is bisected by the only road and rail 
links between Brazzaville and the port of Pointe Noire, reduced but 
continuing rebel activity and banditry in the region limited the 
freedom of movement of persons and goods. Unlike in previous years, 
there were no reports of deaths attributed to banditry in the Pool 
region. The national police reported that former Ninjas continued to 
rob and harass vehicles and train passengers.
    During the year several political opposition leaders were banned 
from travelling outside the country. Ange Eduard Poungui, vice 
president of the Panafrican Union for Social Democracy (UPADS); 
opposition leader Mathias Dzon; and Emmanuel Ngouelondele, president of 
the Party for Democratic Alternance, were turned away at Brazzaville's 
airport as they attempted to board international flights. The 
government claimed the ban was due to an ongoing investigation into the 
role of these individuals in the July 15 protest, which resulted in a 
shooting. The complete list of individuals banned from travel was not 
publicly announced. Effectively, the only way for members of the 
opposition to know whether they were banned from foreign travel was to 
attempt to board an international flight.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it.
    The government did not generally prevent the return of citizens, 
including political opponents of the president, although some were 
arrested upon their return to the country. Former president Pascal 
Lissouba, who was sentenced in absentia in 2001 to 30 years in prison 
for ``economic crimes,'' remained in exile in France. On December 13, 
the national assembly passed a bill granting Lissouba amnesty. At 
year's end the bill was awaiting the president's approval.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and the 1960 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of 
the Refugee Problem in Africa. Its laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the government has established a system 
for doing so. 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 country, especially areas that border the DRC, has seen 
numerous instances of displaced persons in recent years. For example, 
since October the country has experienced an influx of displaced 
persons into Likouala. In less than two months, 90,000 persons entered 
this isolated region of the country.
    Although at year's end the government had not decided whether the 
latest group of displaced persons to arrive in the country should be 
identified as refugees, it responded efficiently to meet their needs. 
Beginning in October the government provided fuel for World Food 
Program barges, deployed military forces to guarantee the security of 
displaced persons and relief workers, allocated land to be set aside 
for settlement camps and farms, and allowed the UN High Commissioner 
for Refugees (UNHCR) to begin a formal registration process.
    In this case and throughout the year, the government cooperated 
with the UNHCR, other agencies of the UN system, and humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The government 
cooperated with the UNHCR in the voluntary return of refugees, 
including former combatants from the DRC, to their home countries. In 
the wake of the refugee influx into Likouala in October, the government 
set up a crisis committee cochaired by the UNHCR and coordinated the 
national and international response to the situation with the UN 
country team.
    Applications for refugee status were handled by the National 
Refugee Assistance Center (CNAR). Although the center experienced some 
financial difficulties in 2007, it was fully operational during the 
year. The CNAR received between 80 and 90 percent of its operating 
budget from the UNHCR. Since 2007 the CNAR and the UNHCR have worked to 
reduce a heavy backlog and have processed approximately 3,000 refugee 
applications in the last two years. According to the UNHCR, as of 
September, the country hosted an estimated 18,210 refugees and 4,455 
asylum seekers. The refugees came from the DRC (9,224); Rwanda (7,868); 
Angola (813); and other countries (305).

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 presidential election.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Denis Sassou Nguesso was 
reelected president in the July 12 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 a discrepancy 
between the officially reported rates of voter participation and that 
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.
    Following the election, the government restricted the travel of 
several opposition politicians including Mathias Dzon and Herve 
Malonga. These restrictions were lifted on October 30.
    Major political parties included the ruling Congolese Labor Party; 
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. 
Political opposition parties were restricted from organizing before, 
during, and after the July presidential elections (see section 2.d.).
    Following the July election, the newly appointed government 
included a number of high-ranking politicians from northern ethnic 
tribes as well as a number of representatives from other regions and 
ethnicities.
    There were eight women in the 72-seat senate and seven women in the 
137-seat national assembly. There were six women in the 38-member 
cabinet.
    Despite a 2006 parliamentary reaffirmation of their right to vote, 
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. During the year the 
parliament passed a new law to protect the rights of Pygmies (see 
section 6.).

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. 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 demands for bribes by security personnel, customs 
officials, and immigration personnel.
    Senior officials were subject to financial disclosure laws. It was 
unclear if the officials 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 of their 
findings on human rights cases. Government officials generally were 
more cooperative and responsive to international groups than to 
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 watchdog 
and addressing public concerns on human rights issues. Some observers 
claimed that the commission was completely ineffective and lacked 
independence. The president appointed most, if not all, of its members. 
On December 14, the commission met for the second time since 2008 to 
draft the 2010 agenda and to commission bylaws.
    The ICRC maintained an office in Brazzaville. During the year 
access to government officials and to detainees remained good for 
international humanitarian officials. Local NGOs, in contrast, had poor 
access.
    Representatives from the International Court of Justice visited 
Brazzaville in November, but did not issue any report.

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 disability; 
however, the government did not effectively enforce these prohibitions. 
There were documented instances of societal discrimination and violence 
against women, regional ethnic discrimination, and discrimination 
against indigenous persons.

    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 the 
provisions of the law. Rape was common, but the extent of the problem 
was unknown because the crime was seldom reported. As of July a total 
of 182 cases of rape had been reported to local police. Fewer than 25 
percent of reported rape cases were prosecuted, according to local and 
international NGO estimates.
    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, primarily due to the social stigma for the 
victim. Local NGOs continued awareness campaigns and workshops.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was not practiced indigenously and 
is against the law. It may have occurred, however, in some immigrant 
communities from West African countries where it was common. There were 
no known governmental or other efforts to investigate or combat FGM.
    Prostitution is illegal, but was common, and the government did not 
effectively enforce this prohibition.
    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, 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 because of the expense. Health clinics and public hospitals 
were generally in poor condition and lacked experienced health staff. 
Men and women received equal access to diagnosis of and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The National Committee 
to Fight AIDS coordinates national policy to counter the spread of the 
HIV/AIDS virus.
    Marriage and family laws overtly discriminate against women. 
Adultery is illegal for women but not for men. Polygyny (having 
multiple wives) is legal; polyandry (having multiple husbands) is not. 
The law provides that a wife shall inherit 30 percent of her husband's 
estate. In practice the wife often lost all inheritance upon the death 
of her spouse, particularly under traditional or common-law marriage. 
The symbolic nature of the dowry is set in the law; however, this often 
was not respected, and men were obliged to pay excessive bride prices 
to the woman's family. As a result, the right to divorce was restricted 
for some women because they lacked the means to reimburse the bride 
price to the husband and his family. This problem was more prevalent in 
rural areas than in urban centers. The Ministry of Social Affairs was 
in charge of protecting and promoting the rights of women, but it did 
not effectively perform this function.
    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. Women experienced economic 
discrimination in access 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 the responsibility of the 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 had a 
difficult time registering, as it was done only in the major city of 
each department. The government continued a system to provide free 
birth registration in Brazzaville, but, as in previous years, the 
program did not cover other areas of the country.
    Education was compulsory, tuition-free, and universal until the age 
of 16, but families were 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 since their parents generally failed 
to register births and obtain the necessary records. According to 
official statistics, an estimated 92 percent of children attended 
primary school. Schools were overcrowded and facilities extremely poor. 
Girls and boys attended primary school in roughly equal numbers; 
however, boys were five times as likely as girls to continue to high 
school and four times as likely to go to a university. In addition, 
there were some 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. 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 that 25 percent of the approximately 1,800 
trafficked children were sexually exploited.
    The law refers to child protection in general and is used to 
prosecute cases of abuses against children. Child pornography is 
prohibited. There is no minimum age for consensual sex and no statutory 
rape law. The legal age for marriage is 16 for women and 18 for men.
    With support from international organizations, the government 
provided counseling support to former child soldiers. The government 
partnered with the UN Development Program to train and reinsert over 
5,000 at-risk youth who took part in development projects in 
communities affected by the conflict.
    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 or sold cheap or stolen goods to support 
themselves.

    Trafficking in Persons.--On August 27, the parliament passed a law 
prohibiting trafficking in persons, including children. Trafficking 
would be an illegal and prosecutable offense upon ratification by the 
president, which was pending at year's end.
    There continued to be reports of trafficking of children by African 
immigrants from Benin, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and Togo living 
in the country, as well as trafficking of children from the DRC. During 
the year there were no known cases of the government prosecuting any 
traffickers. The ministries of security, labor, and social affairs, as 
well as the gendarmerie, have responsibility for trafficking issues.
    A 2007 UNICEF report indicated the country was a destination for 
trafficked persons, with an estimated 1,800 children reportedly 
trafficked in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire. There were reports that 
underage relatives of immigrants from West Africa could be victims of 
trafficking. There was no evidence of trafficking in adults. Children 
from West Africa worked as fishermen, shop workers, street sellers, or 
domestic servants. There were reports that some were physically abused.
    In the originating countries of West Africa, suspected traffickers 
were believed to be either distant relatives or fellow countrymen of 
the victims. They recruited parents to sell their children with false 
promises to provide the children care or education and training, or 
visas to Europe or South Africa.
    A joint program by UNICEF, local NGOs (most notably Action Against 
Trafficking of West African Children), and government officials in 
Pointe Noire continued successfully repatriating 23 West African 
children who claimed to have been trafficked, particularly from Benin.
    There was no evidence of involvement of government officials in 
trafficking.
    There were no further developments in the March 2008 arrest in 
Canada of the wife of a former cabinet official for suspected human 
trafficking.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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, although the 
government generally did not enforce the law. During the year the 
governments of the Republic of the Congo and the DRC instituted an 
agreement to allow persons with disabilities to travel cost-free 
between the two countries.
    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 relationship between ethnic, regional, and political 
cleavages was inexact. Many of the supporters of the government 
included persons mostly 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 employment, health services, and education, in part due 
to their isolation in remote areas of the country and their different 
cultural norms. Pygmies were usually considered as socially inferior 
and had little political voice; however, in recent years several Pygmy 
rights groups have developed programs and were actively focusing on 
these issues. Many 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 indigenous groups, who lived primarily 
in forest regions, did not enjoy equal treatment in the predominantly 
Bantu society. Indigenous people were estimated to constitute 10 per 
cent of the population or 300,000 persons.
    The government also disbanded several business operations in 
northern Congo in which Bantu groups were misusing and abusing the 
labor of the Ba'aka (Pygmy) peoples. Pygmies were notably more 
prevalent in the hunting and natural healing professions.
    Omer Gapa, a prominent former government official who was arrested 
in March 2008 in connection with the disappearance of an indigenous 
girl in 1989, was awaiting trial at year's end.
    The National Network of Indigenous People of Congo continued its 
campaigns directed at the government, civil society, and international 
organizations to improve Pygmy living conditions.
    Some NGOs claimed that Bantu ethnic groups exploited Pygmies, 
possibly including children, as cheap labor; however, as in previous 
years, there was little official information regarding the extent of 
the problem.

    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 homosexual conduct. Colonial legislation from 
1810 prohibits homosexual conduct and prescribes punishment of 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 
lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or transgender persons during the year. 
While discrimination may exist due to the social stigma surrounding 
homosexual conduct, no such cases were reported to NGOs or covered by 
the media.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
were fairly well organized and sought fair treatment, especially 
regarding employment. NGOs worked widely on HIV/AIDS issues, including 
raising public awareness that those living with HIV/AIDS were still 
able to contribute to society. The law provides avenues for persons to 
file lawsuits if they were, for example, terminated from employment due 
to their HIV/AIDS status.

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. However, 
members of the security forces and other essential services do not have 
this right. Nearly all 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 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. Unlike in previous 
years, while there were unconfirmed reports that such practices 
occurred, no such cases were documented either by NGOs or the Ministry 
of Labor.
    The government has not repealed a 1960 law that 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 being used or enforced.

    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.
    Among trafficked children, 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. Approximately 23 
percent of trafficked children were forced into prostitution. There 
were no official statistics on general child labor.
    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, although at least three labor 
inspections occurred during the year.
    International aid groups reported little change during the year in 
child labor conditions; the problem existed, but had neither worsened 
nor improved.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage, which 
was 54,000 CFA ($110) per month in the formal sector, did not provide a 
decent standard of living for a worker and family. Wage floors 
established in the 1980s for various sectors have remained largely 
unchanged and were not considered relevant, as wages in the formal 
sector are paid above the minimum levels, although often not by much. 
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 bulk of back 
salaries for government and parastatal workers dating to the late 1990s 
civil conflict period remained unpaid.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of seven hours per day, 
six 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 the standard 42-hour 
workweek.
    Although health and safety regulations require biannual visits 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 jeopardy to 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. Laurent Gbagbo, candidate of the Ivoirian People's Front 
(FPI), became the country's third president in 2000. The 2000 
presidential election, which excluded two of the major political 
parties, the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) and the Rally for 
Republicans (RDR), was marred by significant violence and 
irregularities.
    In 2002 a failed coup attempt evolved into a rebellion, which split 
control of the country between the rebel New Forces (FN) in the north 
and the government in the south. The failure of subsequent peace 
accords resulted in the 2004 deployment of 6,000 peacekeepers under the 
UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), who joined the 4,000-member 
French Operation Licorne peacekeeping force already in the country. 
Approximately 7,200 UNOCI and 900 Licorne peacekeepers remained in the 
country to support the ongoing peace process. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces in 
government-controlled zones; however, FN military authorities generally 
did not maintain effective control of the security forces in FN-
controlled zones.
    In 2007 President Gbagbo and FN rebel leader Guillaume Soro signed 
the Ouagadougou Political Agreement (OPA), which mandated elections, 
determination of citizenship, disarmament of armed factions, and the 
reunification of the north and south. In 2008 the zone of confidence 
separating the north from the south was dismantled. Elections scheduled 
for November were postponed, and there was little progress on 
disarmament and other key tenets of the OPA during the year. On 
determination of citizenship, however, more than 6.5 million persons 
registered during the nine-month identification and voter registration 
process, which ended on June 30. With data collected during this 
process, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) prepared a 
provisional electoral list of registered voters.
    The following human rights abuses were reported in areas under 
effective government control: 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 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.
    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 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.
    On May 20, police opened fire on a taxi in the Koumassi 
neighborhood of Abidjan, killing the taxi driver, Konate Aboudramane, 
and a passenger, police officer Konan N'guessan. Police continued to 
investigate the incident at year's end.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security 
forces killed demonstrators.
    Gendarme Drissa Dante, who shot and killed a 15-year-old girl in 
April 2008 while attempting to disperse an angry crowd, was set free on 
provisional liberty after spending a few weeks in detention. He was 
awaiting trial at year's end.
    The government took no action against police who fired on 
protestors in Abidjan in April 2008, killing one demonstrator.
    Information became available during the year that in December 2008 
Abidjan police officer Amantchi Herve shot and killed a man who Herve 
believed was involved in the rape of his girlfriend; no action had been 
taken against Herve by year's end.
    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.
    During the year there were a number 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 carried out executions of suspected thieves in Abidjan, 
although the Ministry of Interior (MOI) stated that all victims were 
criminals killed in the course of police anticrime activities.
    On April 22, the Abidjan military tribunal sentenced a CECOS member 
to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the killing of two prison 
escapees who were beaten to death in 2007. There were no developments 
in other CECOS-related killings from previous years.
    During the year several extrajudicial killings attributed to the FN 
were reported in FN-controlled zones and in the former zone of 
confidence.
    On February 24, the UNOCI Human Rights Office reported that two FN 
soldiers executed a man in Seguela. The soldiers claimed the man was a 
notorious criminal who resisted arrest. FN authorities arrested and 
detained the soldiers but released them 24 hours later. No further 
investigation regarding the incident HAD occurred by year's end.
    On June 10, Ivo Issiaka, a 28-year-old Burkinabe national, died in 
custody at the gendarmerie headquarters in Vavoua and was buried by 
local FN authorities without a proper investigation or autopsy. An 
investigation conducted by the UNOCI Human Rights Office revealed that 
the victim had been beaten to death with machetes by FN soldiers.
    The FN conducted no formal investigations into the following 2008 
FN killings: the July killings of three men who allegedly stole from a 
village and attempted to escape, and the November killing of nine 
alleged insurgents during a military uprising in Seguela.
    During the year the UNOCI Human Rights Office reported that a court 
prosecutor asked Bouake municipal authorities and morgue officials to 
retain the bodies of five persons executed by FN soldiers in 2007 as 
evidence for future investigations to determine the perpetrators and 
the circumstances of the deaths; however, no investigation had begun by 
year's end.
    Members of the young patriots (a youth group with close ties to the 
ruling FPI party) who were responsible for summary executions in 
previous years 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.--Unlike in the previous year, there were no 
reports of politically motivated disappearances; however, there were 
unconfirmed press reports that security forces participated in 
kidnappings.
    The government made little effort to assist the continuing French 
investigation into the 2004 disappearance of Franco-Canadian journalist 
Guy Andre Kieffer; however, on April 23, First Lady Simone Gbagbo 
testified in Abidjan before French judges investigating the case.

    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 March 23, three gendarmes severely beat a 40-year-old taxi 
driver for allegedly refusing them a taxi ride. The driver underwent 
surgery to his jaw and suffered injuries to his eyes, mouth, and head. 
Authorities promised to take disciplinary measures against the 
perpetrators, but they had not done so by year's end.
    In September CECOS members arrested Seydou Kone, a teacher and RDR 
activist, for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government; Kone 
was subsequently detained incommunicado from September 12 to October 16 
in the Abidjan correctional facility and penitentiary (MACA). According 
to Soungalo Coulibaly, RDR's secretary for human rights who visited 
Kone on October 16, Kone's body was scarred from the beatings he 
received while in detention. In December Coulibaly held a press 
conference to expose the abuse Kone received. No investigation had been 
conducted by year's end.
    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.
    FN members tortured suspected government loyalists or allies of 
rival rebel leader Ibrahim Coulibaly in the zones under their control.
    For example, Corporal Alpha Diabate, a close aide of FN Zone 8 
commander Coulibaly Ousmane, was identified as the perpetrator 
responsible for torturing three cattle breeders in Odienne in May 2008. 
FN authorities had not taken any action against Diabate at year's end.
    In February authorities released seven detainees in Bouna who were 
beaten and mistreated by FN soldiers for alleged involvement in 
December 2008 armed robberies.
    Security forces raped women and girls.
    For example, on January 11, two soldiers from a joint brigade 
composed of government security and defense forces (FDS) and FN 
soldiers raped a woman in Bouake. FN authorities arrested and detained 
the two soldiers.
    On February 5, the UNOCI Human Rights Office reported that a police 
officer in San Pedro beat and raped a 16-year-old girl. Although the 
girl's mother filed an official complaint, it was withdrawn a few days 
later when the police officer offered 350,000 CFA ($700) and several 
bottles of liquor to the girl's family to settle the affair.
    FN members raped women and girls in the north.
    For example, in June the UNOCI Human Rights Office reported that FN 
soldier, Ouattara Ahmed, and a civilian, Coulibaly Soumaila, allegedly 
raped a 10-year-old girl in Bouake. Police arrested and detained the 
two men, along with five other persons, in connection with the rape.
    On October 8, FN soldier Ouani Mamadou allegedly broke into a 
residence, raped a housekeeper, and attempted to rape a 13-year-old 
girl living in the house, but the girl managed to escape. The girl's 
father filed charges with police but withdrew the complaint after being 
threatened by FN soldiers. UNOCI human rights officers raised the issue 
with local authorities; however, no further action had been taken at 
year's end.
    No further developments were reported in the 2008 case in which FDS 
and FN soldiers raped a 13-year-old girl in Kounahiri.
    Authorities continued to detain Diabate Adama, an FN member and one 
of two alleged rapists of two girls in Bouake and Danane in April 2008. 
He had not been tried at year's end.
    CECOS members also sexually abused civilians. For example, on June 
25, following the intervention of the human rights nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Ivoirian Movement for Human Rights (MIDH), the 
Abidjan military prosecutor arrested and detained seven CECOS members 
who forced a couple to have sexual intercourse in a public street while 
they filmed the incident. The CECOS members, who uploaded footage of 
the incident to the Internet, were charged with theft, physical 
assault, and ``offense against public decency.'' The CECOS members 
involved were awaiting trial at year's end.
    In December UNOCI issued a press release stating that it had 
established a commission of inquiry to probe new allegations of sexual 
abuse involving UN peacekeepers in the country. The UNOCI spokesperson, 
who stated that UNOCI was taking measures to ensure that investigations 
were conducted, indicated that UNOCI personnel involved in the 2007 
sexual exploitation and abuse case of minors were returned to their 
home countries, where they stood trial.

    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, was built for 
1,500 persons but held approximately 5,200. 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 December 31, 187 
prisoners had died in government-controlled prisons during the year, 
mostly due to malnutrition and disease. 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, but their children often lived with them in prison. The 
penitentiary accepted no responsibility for the care or feeding of the 
infants, although inmate mothers received help from local NGOs.
    The government permitted access to prisons by the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and by local and international NGOs, 
including World Doctors, International Prisons' Friendship, Love Amour, 
Prisoners Without Borders, and the Ivoirian Islamic Medical Rescue 
Association.
    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. In August 2008, for example, UNOCI discovered a seven-foot-
deep hole covered with iron bars that the FN was using 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. However, by year's end the FN 
had not yet relinquished control of these prisons to government 
authorities.

    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 include the army, navy, air 
force, republican guard, presidential security force, and the 
gendarmerie, a branch of the armed forces with responsibility for 
general law enforcement. Police forces, which are under the 
jurisdiction of the MOI, include paramilitary rapid intervention units 
such as the antiriot brigade, the republican security company, and the 
directorate for territorial security (DST), a plainclothes 
investigating unit. In 2005 the MOI 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.--Officials must 
have warrants to conduct searches, although police sometimes used a 
general search warrant without a name or address. 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 is charged with collecting and analyzing information 
relating to national security. The DST has 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.
    In January the DST released Lieutenant Colonel Lancine Fofana, 
Lieutenant Colonel Moussa Cherif, and Commander Doulaye Sekongo, all of 
whom had been in detention since their arrest in October 2008. The DST 
had arrested and detained the officers for allegedly instigating unrest 
among lower-ranking soldiers, disturbing state security, and being 
linked to the disappearance of weapons.
    On May 6, authorities released nine of the 11 persons arrested in 
January 2008 for alleged coup plotting against the state with former 
rebel and exiled military leader Ibrahim Coulibaly. French freelance 
journalist Jean-Paul Ney was among those released.
    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 than in the previous 
year.
    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 December 31, the national prison administration reported 
that 31 percent of the 12,036 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.
    The formal judicial system is headed by a Supreme Court and 
includes a court of appeals, lower courts, and a constitutional 
council. The law grants the president the power to replace the head of 
the Supreme Court after a new parliament is convened.

    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 have 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 have 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 have 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, 
although there were fewer reports of violations than in previous years. 
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.
    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 monitor 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 President Gbagbo; however, 
the FN vacated some of the property confiscated in previous years.

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. Following the 2002 rebellion, the government 
reduced press freedoms in the name of patriotism and national unity. 
Journalists continued to practice self-censorship for fear of 
retribution. Government officials aggressively used the court system to 
punish critics.
    Individuals who criticized the government risked reprisal. For 
example, on March 20, the DST arrested and detained Anaky Kobena, 
president of the small opposition party Movement of the Forces of the 
Future, after a television interview in which he encouraged citizens to 
follow the example of the recent coup in Madagascar. The DST charged 
him with ``attempts against state security.'' Authorities released him 
within 24 hours of his arrest.
    In January 2008, 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.
    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 March 4, the independent Le Nouveau Reveil newspaper published a 
front-page article entitled ``Gbagbo's Close Associates Pocket 4 
Billion CFA in State Funds.'' The article, which highlighted First Lady 
Simone Gbagbo's ties to alleged embezzlers, resulted in death threats 
to the newspaper's publishers and mass destruction of that day's 
newspapers by organized groups of young vandals. No action was taken 
against progovernment youth groups who attacked, threatened, or 
harassed journalists.
    On March 19, authorities arrested and jailed Nanankoua Gnamanthe, a 
journalist with the opposition newspaper Le Nouveau Reveil, for 
publishing an article comparing President Gbagbo and his close 
associates to ``Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.'' Gnamanthe was freed 
without charges on March 31, after a court called for his release. 
However, the publication in which Gnamanthe's article appeared was 
fined 40 million CFA (approximately $80,000) and suspended for eight 
months.
    In March all charges against Denis Kah Zion, publisher of Le 
Nouveau Reveil, and his chief editor, Andre Silver Konan, were dropped. 
Their lawyer convinced a judge to dismiss the charges against them 
since the allowed time to bring them to trial had elapsed. Both 
journalists were briefly imprisoned for ``contempt of the head of 
state'' in 2007.
    The government also harassed and imprisoned foreign journalists. On 
May 6, French freelance journalist Jean-Paul Ney, who had been arrested 
on charges of threatening national security in 2007, was released from 
prison, one day after Alain Joyandet, the French secretary of state for 
cooperation, met with President Gbagbo.
    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 
national audiovisual communication council (CNCA), controlled by the 
ruling party, to closely monitor Radio Nostalgie, reportedly because 
the major shareholders of the company were close to RDR president 
Alassane Ouattara.
    The government did not interfere with UNOCI's radio station, UNOCI-
FM. However, like the approximately 121 proximity and community radios 
in the country, UNOCI-FM's 19 proximity and community radio partners 
were subject to national regulations, which prohibit the transmission 
of politically related messages.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    In December 2008, after completing his one-year sentence in MACA, 
Antoine Assale Tiemoko, an NGO chairman charged with defamation for 
publishing a paper on judicial corruption, was released.
    The FN broadcast 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 broadcast 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 December 1, the CNCA called for the closure of ``unauthorized'' 
FN radio and television stations, stating that some stations were not 
legally authorized to broadcast messages. Some FN stations chose to 
ignore the order and were still 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 
International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 3.21 percent of inhabitants used the Internet.

    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.
    On January 7, approximately 60 FESCI members attacked members of 
the General Association of Students in Cote d'Ivoire, a rival student 
union, with truncheons, iron bars, and stones. Four association members 
were seriously injured. When two members of the local human rights 
group MIDH went to investigate, FESCI students sequestered and 
assaulted them before they were released.
    On April 24, in Daloa, a rival group of students killed one FESCI 
member. In retaliation other FESCI members staged violent 
demonstrations and erected roadblocks in the city. Schools in the area 
were forced to close for three days.
    In December competing FESCI factions clashed in several cities 
following a disputed FESCI election in which Augustin Mian, FESCI 
secretary general, was reelected for a second term. Credible reports 
indicated that both factions tried to intimidate students into 
supporting them.
    In May 2008 international NGO Human Rights Watch presented a report 
entitled 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 of their desire 
to the Ministry of Security or the MOI 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 deemed 
prejudicial to public order. Even if authorization for an event was 
granted, the government could later revoke it. In 2006 President Gbagbo 
renewed a ban on all forms of outdoor public demonstrations in Abidjan. 
The ban had not been lifted at year's end.
    Police occasionally dispersed antigovernment demonstrations with 
force, resulting in injuries. 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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice. Although the country's political conflict lay along ethnic 
rather than religious lines, political and religious affiliations 
tended to follow ethnic lines. Consequently, religious affiliation was 
an important marker of political alliance. There is no state religion; 
however, for historical reasons, government officials informally have 
favored Christianity, in particular the Catholic Church. For example, 
Catholic schools receive government subsidies.
    Some Muslims believed that their religious or ethnic affiliation 
made them targets of discrimination by the government with regard to 
both employment and the renewal of national identity cards. As northern 
Muslims shared names, style of dress, and customs with several 
predominantly Muslim neighboring countries, they sometimes were wrongly 
accused of attempting to obtain nationality cards illegally to vote or 
otherwise take advantage of citizenship.
    The law requires religious groups desiring to operate in the 
country to register; however, registration was routinely granted.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against Muslims and followers of indigenous religious beliefs 
continued. Other groups, particularly evangelical Christians, 
complained that local officials sometimes discriminated against them 
and perpetrated sectarian hostility. The ongoing political crisis 
caused some divisions along religious lines.
    The country's Jewish community numbered less than 100 persons. 
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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. A curfew 
remained in place, prohibiting citizens from entering and leaving 
Yamoussoukro and Abidjan city limits between midnight and 5:00 a.m. 
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.
    In February residents of Agbangnassou complained to the UNOCI Human 
Rights Office that FN soldiers were demanding ``crossing fees'' of 
2,000 to 4,000 CFA (approximately $4 to $8) to travel to and from 
Bouake. The villagers complained that these fees prevented pregnant 
women and other vulnerable persons from traveling to receive medical 
care.
    Security forces also victimized northerners when they tried to 
cross into the zone under government control. The cost of either paying 
one's way through the various barricades or hiring a ``money runner'' 
to do so was substantial. Government officials reported the round trip 
cost for citizens in the north to travel from Bouake and other cities 
to Yamoussoukro to cash paychecks to be between 20,000 to 30,000 CFA 
($40 to $60). A money courier or informal banking service cost either 
5,000 CFA ($10) or a flat percentage of the amount transferred.
    At the end of 2008, approximately 70 percent of the private banks 
and government financial services had reopened in the north, thus 
making it unnecessary for many workers and retirees to travel to Bouake 
for banking operations. In the west the situation remained unchanged; 
private banks and government financial services had not yet resumed 
operation.
    The law specifically prohibits forced exile, and no persons were 
forcibly exiled during the year.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Since the signing of the OPA 
in 2007, important strides made toward peace promoted spontaneous and 
assisted returns of IDPs to their homes. As of November the UN Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that 88,986 IDPs 
displaced by the 2002 crisis had returned to their villages in the 
west; however, 31,000 IDPs continued to live with host families and to 
require assistance.
    During the 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 worked closely with UN agencies on IDP matters to ensure 
that the country's plans for IDP resettlement conformed to UN internal 
displacement guidelines.
    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. In December the International Organization for 
Migration estimated that 200 IDPs, mostly of Burkinabe origin, remained 
at the Guiglo Temporary Center for Assistance to Displaced People, 
despite its closure in July 2008. The government had not addressed this 
situation by year's end.
    New population displacements continued in the western region, 
particularly in the area around Guiglo and in the former zone of 
confidence, although on a much smaller scale than had occurred in 
previous years.

    Protection of Refugees.--The constitution and law 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, 
and the government has established a system for providing protections 
to refugees. The government 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 1951 Convention or the 1967 
Protocol.
    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 government continued to assist the safe, voluntary return of 
refugees to their homes. As of June 30, the UNHCR found that 24,256 
Liberian refugees and 555 refugees from other countries remained in the 
country.

    Stateless Persons.--In the absence of reliable data, the scale of 
statelessness in the country was unclear but unofficially estimated to 
be in the thousands. 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, 
citizens were prevented from exercising this right in practice. 
President Gbagbo and the national assembly remained in office at year's 
end despite the expiration of their terms in 2005.

    Elections and Political Participation.--After a December 3-4 
meeting, the permanent consultation framework (CPC) for the OPA 
formally announced the postponement of presidential elections, which 
had been scheduled for November 29. The CPC stated that additional time 
was necessary to correct irregularities in the provisional electoral 
list and distribute identification and voter cards. A new election date 
was not announced, and those who participated in the identification and 
voter registration process were awaiting the distribution of their 
identity cards and voter cards at year's end.
    The country took several steps toward reconciliation during the 
year. The identification and voter registration process, which began in 
September 2008 and was initially scheduled to last 45 days, ended on 
June 30. 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 on November 
22. The following day, local CEIs began processing challenges to this 
list. Although the dispute period was scheduled to end in December, the 
process continued at year's end.
    In 2007, following several failed political accords, President 
Gbagbo and FN rebel leader Guillaume Soro signed the OPA, which 
established a transitional government with Soro as prime minister and 
called for presidential elections in 2008.
    The 2000 election in which President Laurent Gbagbo came to power 
followed several postponements and a controversial Supreme Court 
decision disqualifying 14 of the 19 candidates, including RDR leader 
Ouattara and former president Bedie, president of the PDCI. As a result 
of the ruling, most international election observers declined to 
monitor the election. When preliminary results showed Gbagbo leading by 
a significant margin, a National Elections Commission official 
announced the commission's dissolution and declared General Guei the 
victor with 56 percent of the vote. Mass demonstrations by Gbagbo 
supporters erupted, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. The next 
day national radio and television reported that General Guei had 
stepped down and that Laurent Gbagbo had assumed the presidency.
    The 2000 national assembly election was 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. Women held four of the 33 
ministerial positions in Prime Minister Soro's cabinet. 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 issues, and accountability of the security 
forces (see also section 1.e.).
    The 23 cocoa and coffee industry officials arrested in June 2008 
for allegedly embezzling 100 billion CFA ($200 million), remained in 
MACA at year's end awaiting trial. In September four of the officials 
filed a formal complaint against the government with the Economic 
Community of West African States Court of Justice in Nigeria, claiming 
infringement of their right to a fair trial and violation of their 
civil liberties. Their case continued 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. Government officials 
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. The government 
occasionally met with some of these groups.
    During the year UNOCI, LIDHO, MIDH, Action for the Defense of Human 
Rights (APDH), 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.
    FESCI continued to threaten and harass human rights groups. The 
government took no action against the student group for the destruction 
of LIDHO and APDH headquarters in 2007. 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. For example, 
since 2007 the Court of Abidjan had received an average of 16 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. During the year 12 persons were officially convicted and 
sentenced for rape.
    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 12, a group of unidentified individuals armed with 
Kalashnikovs attacked passengers traveling on the Duekoue-Bangola road. 
They raped two women and injured a cyclist before fleeing.
    On June 3, three alleged former members of a militia group broke 
into a residence, raped three women, and injured one man with a machete 
before stealing 140,000 CFA ($280) and some personal belongings. An 
investigation continued at year's end.
    The law does not specifically outlaw domestic violence, which 
continued to be a serious and widespread problem throughout the 
country. However, 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 on the family.
    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).
    Prostitution is legal between consenting adults in private, and the 
practice was reported to be increasing due to worsening economic 
conditions. Soliciting and pandering are illegal. There were credible 
reports that police demanded bribes or sexual favors for allowing 
prostitution.
    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 CFA ($720 to $2,000). 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. 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, 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. Transportation and 
costs of services were significant barriers for some women to have 
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 
published in March 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.
    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 have been 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 CFA (approximately $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 CFA ($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.
    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 CFA ($720 to $4,000). Double 
penalties apply to medical practitioners. An estimated 60 percent of 
women had been subjected to the procedure. 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. No arrests related to FGM were made 
during the year.
    The law prohibits the marriage of men under the age of 20, women 
under the age of 18, and persons under the age of 21 without 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 CFA ($66 to $660). Statutory rape of 
a minor carries a punishment of one to three years in prison and a fine 
of 360,000 to 1,000,000 CFA ($790 to $2,200).
    There were no reports during the year that progovernment militias 
or rebel forces recruited and used children as soldiers on either a 
voluntary or a forced basis. In 2007 the UN secretary-general's special 
representative on children in armed conflict removed the names of four 
progovernment militias and the FN from the annexes of the secretary 
general's Report on Children in Armed Conflict.
    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 and determine whether these children had access 
to government services.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The constitution and law do not prohibit 
trafficking in persons, and, despite governmental antitrafficking 
efforts, trafficking in persons remained a problem. No nationwide study 
had been conducted on the phenomenon, and the extent of the problem was 
unknown. There was no reliable estimate on the number of children 
intercepted or repatriated during the year.
    The country was a source and destination country for trafficking in 
women and children, and internal trafficking was also a serious 
problem. Women and children were trafficked from Nigeria, Niger, Mali, 
Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritania for the 
purposes of sexual exploitation and forced commercial, agricultural, 
and domestic servitude. Women and children were also trafficked from 
the country to other African, European, and Middle Eastern countries 
for sexual exploitation and agricultural and domestic labor.
    The informal labor sectors were not regulated under existing labor 
laws; as a result, domestics, most nonindustrial farm laborers, and 
those who worked in the country's broad range of street shops and 
restaurants remained outside formal government protection. Internal 
trafficking of girls nine to 15 years old to work as domestic servants 
in Abidjan and elsewhere in the more prosperous south remained a 
problem. Traffickers of local children often were relatives or friends 
of the victim's parents. Traffickers sometimes falsely promised parents 
that the children would learn a trade, but they often ended on the 
streets as vendors or working as domestic servants.
    Due to the economic crisis, many parents allowed their children to 
be exploited to minimize the financial burden on the family. Because 
security forces were trained to search buses for trafficked children, 
traffickers continued to adapt their methods, including transporting a 
small number of children at a time by bicycle, train, or on foot, 
rather than attempting to move large groups of children into the 
country by bus.
    Organized trafficking rings promised Nigerian women and girls that 
they would have jobs in restaurants and beauty salons in Abidjan; 
however, many of these victims were forced to work in brothels.
    Children were trafficked into the country from neighboring 
countries to work in the informal sector in exchange for finder's fees. 
They were also trafficked to or within the country to work full or part 
time in the agricultural sector.
    Traffickers can be prosecuted under laws prohibiting kidnapping, 
forced labor, and mistreatment; however, there was minimal law 
enforcement in government-held territories, and traffickers rarely were 
prosecuted.
    The government cooperated with international investigations of 
trafficking.
    The National Committee for the Fight Against Trafficking and Child 
Exploitation, which includes representatives from numerous government 
ministries and several national and international organizations and 
NGOs, is responsible for coordinating the government's implementation 
of the multilateral cooperative agreement; however, the committee did 
not meet during the year. The government continued to conducting 
awareness campaigns to educate local government officials, community 
leaders, and members of the 38 antitrafficking village committees 
established in 2007 and 2008 as part of the child trafficking 
monitoring system.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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. As promised in 
2008, the government created 300 civil service jobs for persons with 
disabilities; however, persons with disabilities who were eligible for 
these jobs demonstrated in June after some government employers refused 
to employ them.
    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, 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.
    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.
    For example, on February 15, in the village of Tongbakro, Baoule 
farmers and Peulh cattle breeders clashed over the destruction of 
Baoule crops by Peulh-owned cattle. One cattle breeder died from 
gunshot wounds he received during the incident.
    On March 12 and 13, youth groups in the western villages of Keibly 
and Diboke attacked returning former IDPs of Baoule ethnic origin to 
oppose their resettlement in the area. The UNOCI Human Rights Office 
reported that 18 persons were injured in the incident. One person was 
reported missing.
    There were no further developments in the September 2008 land 
dispute violence between villagers from Abouabou and Gonzagueville, 
which resulted in seven deaths and numerous injuries.
    There were no developments in the 2007 killing of businessman 
Sangare Adama.
    In July 2008 the government adopted a new law on xenophobia, 
racism, and tribalism, making these forms of intolerance punishable by 
five to ten years' imprisonment.

    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 have been 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.

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 without excessive requirements, and workers exercised 
these rights in practice.
    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 1.5 million workers or 15 percent of the workforce, to 
conduct their activities without interference, and the government 
protected this right in practice.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers 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.

    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 law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers or 
others against union members or organizers; however, the Ministry of 
Labor (MOL) 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-paid work for workers who lived in conditions of effective 
indenture.
    Forced child labor occurred (see section 7.d.).

    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. 
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 are not allowed to work between 
7:00 p.m. and 6:00 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 during the year found that 
24.1 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 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.
    In July the government launched a new program addressing child 
labor in cocoa-growing areas. The program focuses 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. By year's end the 
government had begun implementing the program in 10 cocoa villages and 
selected 21 additional villages for participation in the program.
    The MOL is responsible for enforcing child labor laws and made 
progress during the year to address 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 MOL 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages varied according 
to occupation, with the lowest set at 36,607 CFA ($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 have the right 
to remove themselves from dangerous work without jeopardy to continued 
employment by utilizing the MOL's inspection system to document 
dangerous working conditions. However, 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 current labor 
laws.

                               __________

                                DJIBOUTI

    Djibouti is a republic with a strong elected president and a weak 
legislature. It has an estimated population of 660,000. In February 
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. Following a June 2008 border clash, Eritrean troops continued to 
occupy Djiboutian territory, despite condemnations by the United 
Nations, the Arab League, and the AU. Civilian authorities generally 
maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government's human rights record remained poor, although there 
were improvements in several areas, including prison conditions, 
reduced incidents of prolonged detention without charge, decreased 
perceptions of judicial corruption, and expanded services for women who 
were victims of violence. Serious problems included corruption; 
official impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention; prolonged pretrial 
detention; interference with privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of 
the press, assembly, and association; and restrictions on unions. 
Female genital mutilation (FGM) also remained a serious problem.

                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS


Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
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, there continued to be occasional allegations that police and 
gendarmes beat detainees.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
difficult but continued to improve.
    The Gabode Prison usually held an estimated 500 prisoners, 
including approximately two dozen female prisoners. There were normally 
fewer than half a dozen juvenile prisoners, although their numbers 
occasionally spiked dramatically after incidents of youth violence in 
Djibouti City. More than half of the prisoners generally were citizens.
    Several prison nurses and a doctor who visited four times a week 
provided medical care, while prisoners with serious health problems 
were treated at the main Djibouti City public hospital. Seriously sick 
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 document serious health conditions, and 
prison medical staff regularly suggested that prisoners who appeared 
unwell receive testing for serious illnesses. Due to an acute lack of 
mental health resources, prisoners with serious mental illness did not 
receive adequate care.
    In 2008 the new specialized prison guard force replaced the 
previous national police guards. Most applicants for the new guard 
force were required to have at least a high school degree and received 
some initial specialized training, although continuing training was 
inadequate. Under the administration of the new prison guard force, 
incidents of collaboration between guards and prisoners to subvert 
prison rules reportedly declined significantly, and the prison 
atmosphere was noticeably calmer and more orderly.
    Men and women were held separately. Juveniles were generally held 
separately from adult prisoners, and small children were allowed to 
stay with their mothers. Although prison officials attempted 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.
    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. The ICRC provided prisoners with soap, bleach, and 
cleaning powder monthly.
    A small group of Eritrean prisoners of war captured during a June 
2008 border skirmish with Eritrea received regular visits from ICRC 
staff.
    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 new, 
dedicated prison guard force. 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 with three meals a day, with meat served on alternate days. 
Prisoners' families were allowed to bring food to the prison.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, the government did not uniformly respect 
these prohibitions.

    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 where wages were 
low. Official impunity was a problem. There was a Human Rights Office 
within the police, and human rights education was integrated into the 
police academy curriculum.

    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. Detentions exceeding the 
allowed time limit reportedly became less common during the year, 
although no statistics were available. There remained a a need for more 
training of the police to ensure uniform compliance with the law.
    All persons, including those accused of political or national 
security offenses, must be tried within eight months of arraignment. 
The law also 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 without legal representation. 
The law provides that detainees be promptly notified of the charges 
against them, although in practice there were occasional delays. 
Detainees generally were allowed access to family members and to legal 
counsel. Although judicial delays were becoming less severe, lengthy 
pretrial detentions due to inefficiency and staff shortages within the 
judicial system 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. The judiciary was 
inefficient; however, there was a growing perception that corruption 
was less common. Although more training was still needed, magistrates 
were increasingly better educated. Women represented over half of 
magistrates, and there was a widespread public perception that female 
judges were less susceptible to corruption. In 2007 a government audit 
of the judiciary resulted in the dismissal of two magistrates for 
corruption.
    The judiciary is based on the French Napoleonic Code and is 
composed of a lower court, an appeals court, and a supreme court. The 
Supreme Court may overrule lower court decisions. Magistrates are 
appointed for life terms. The Constitutional Council rules on the 
constitutionality of laws, including those related to the protection of 
human rights and civil liberties.
    The legal system is based on legislation and executive decrees, 
French codified law adopted at independence, Islamic law (Shari'a), and 
nomadic traditions. Urban crime is dealt with in the regular courts in 
accordance with French-inspired law and judicial practice. Civil 
actions may be brought in regular or traditional courts. The family 
code governs the majority of cases pertaining to family and personal 
matters, including marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance. 
Issues that fall under the family code are brought to civil family 
court.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials generally are public. The indigent have a 
right to legal counsel in criminal and civil matters, but in practice 
defendants sometimes did not have legal representation. The law states 
the accused is innocent until proven guilty. A presiding judge and two 
associate judges hear court 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 chose lay assessors from the public. 
Defendants have the right to be present, confront witnesses, have 
access to government-held evidence, and to appeal. Defendants can 
present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf.
    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.
    In general the law provides for equal application to all citizens. 
In accordance with Shari'a, male children inherited larger percentages 
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 civil court deals with 
all matters related to the civil code. Citizens have access to the 
courts in cases of civil rights violations. There is arbitration of 
civil disputes if the parties agree. In rural areas traditional courts 
resolve many civil disputes. There is an administrative law chamber 
which mediates disputes between citizens and government authorities. 
Court decisions were not always enforced.
    In case 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 
with other 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. According to government opponents, 
the government monitored their communications.

Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and the law 
provide for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the government 
did not respect these rights in practice. While individuals often 
expressed themselves freely in society, opposition leaders continued to 
accuse the government of attempting to impede public criticism.
    There were few media outlets, and due to media and slander laws, 
journalists practiced self-censorship. A 2007 law sets out the rights 
and obligations of journalists and protects the right to organize and 
strike. There were two local journalists' associations. The East 
African Journalists Association, a group dedicated to fostering press 
freedom, protecting journalists' safety, and promoting regional 
conflict resolution, had its headquarters in the country. In 2008 the 
association held a series of capacity building workshops for local 
journalists, focusing on organization and planning for journalists' 
associations.
    The law prohibits dissemination of false information and regulates 
the publication of newspapers. The government owns the principal 
newspaper, La Nation, which is published four times a week. Each 
registered political party is permitted to publish a public journal or 
newspaper. 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 at year's end.
    The government also owned the radio and television stations. The 
official media generally did not criticize government leaders or 
policy. Radio-Television Djibouti (RTD), the official government 
station, broadcast 24 hours a day in four languages on the radio. 
Foreign media also broadcast throughout the country, and cable news and 
other programming were available.

    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 the Web site of 
the Association for Respect of Human Rights in Djibouti (ARDHD), which 
was often critical of the government. The 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.--Although the constitution and the law provide for freedom of 
assembly, the government limited this right in practice. The Ministry 
of Interior requires permits for peaceful assembly. Prior to the 
February 2008 legislative elections, the government denied the three-
party opposition coalition, which was boycotting the elections, 
permission to hold two protest meetings, citing a law that limits 
political party gatherings during campaign periods to those parties 
contesting the elections.
    Police dispersed several unauthorized demonstrations during the 
year.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association provided that certain legal requirements are met; however, 
the government restricted this right in practice, particularly for 
labor unions.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution, while declaring Islam to 
be the state religion, provides for freedom of religion, and the 
government generally respected this right in practice. The government 
did not punish those who ignored Islamic teachings or practiced other 
faiths. More than 99 percent of the population was Sunni Muslim.
    There is no legal prohibition against proselytizing, and the 
government did not discourage it; however, cultural norms effectively 
discouraged public proselytizing by non-Muslims and conversion from 
Islam.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were occasional reports 
of societal discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or 
practice. Some representatives of Christian denominations noted 
occasional incidents of societal animosity towards non-Muslims.
    There was no known Jewish community, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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.
    Due to the continuing border dispute with Eritrea, certain areas in 
the north remained under military control.
    The government generally cooperated with the Office of the United 
Nations 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 law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--In June 2008 the ongoing 
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.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide 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 
African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee 
Problem in Africa. The government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees under the National Eligibility 
Commission, first formed in 1978. In July 2008 the government 
reactivated the commission and began interviewing urban refugees who 
had been in the country for several years.
    The government did not routinely grant refugee or asylum status, 
and the government did not accept refugees for resettlement 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. During the year the government also provided temporary 
protection to a limited number of individuals who may not qualify for 
refugee status under the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol.
    The government and UNHCR generally cooperated in providing 
assistance to refugees and asylum seekers. During the year the National 
Assistance Office for Refugees and Disaster Stricken People (ONARS) and 
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.
    Refugees reported that although they could not obtain work permits, 
many, especially women, worked. Due to the lack of permits, however, 
they were unable to challenge poor working conditions or ensure fair 
payment for their labor. There were reports that refugees were subject 
to arbitrary arrest and detention. To address this problem, the 
government and the UNHCR held a workshop in October 2008 to educate 28 
immigration and border control officers on refugee rights and the 
proper procedures for dealing with refugees. Refugees at the Ali Addeh 
camp had access to a local primary school but not to a secondary 
school.

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. 
A multiparty system exists, and citizens are free to align themselves 
with the party of their choice.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In February 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 contest. 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 a list of demands 
regarding the electoral process was not met. In July 2008 the 
government banned the opposition political party Movement for 
Democratic Revival (MRD), a member of the UAD, alleging that one of its 
leaders had invited Eritrea to invade the country. The MRD filed an 
appeal to protest this decision, and the case was pending a hearing by 
the administrative law chamber at year's end.
    Opposition political parties claimed that the government restricted 
and interfered with their operations. For example, on September 29, 
authorities arrested Union for Democracy and Justice opposition 
political party member Gouhad Hoch Hared and charged him with illegal 
distribution of a tract. The court sentenced him to two months in 
prison; he appealed the verdict and was released on November 11.
    Local governments, elected in the country's first-ever regional 
elections in 2006, included both ruling coalition and independent 
officials. Following the official transfer of authority from the 
central government in 2008, the regional governments had greater 
responsibility for several services, including trash collection, 
management of markets, and issuance of civil documents such as birth 
certificates.
    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 45 percent Issas, 40 percent Afars, 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 that 
they were not as well represented at lower 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, despite increased efforts, the government did not implement 
such laws effectively, and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity. According to the most recent World Bank 
Worldwide Governance Indicators, government corruption was a serious 
problem.
    The government continued to take steps to combat corruption. In 
2007 two magistrates were dismissed for corruption following 
investigations by the government's accounting office. The presence of 
more female judges helped fuel a growing public perception that there 
was less corruption in the judiciary.
    Privatization of port, airport, and customs operations continued to 
increase transparency and government revenues substantially in the most 
important sectors of the economy. 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. During the year the IG 
completed an audit of ministries' inventories of government property, 
in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance's inspector general. The 
CAFD and IG are mandated to report regularly, although in practice 
these reports were not always timely. In September RTD began to 
broadcast anticorruption public service announcements developed with 
the IG. The public service announcements were aired 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.
    On April 4, gendarmes arrested and detained Jean-Paul Abdi Noel, 
the leader of the local human rights group Djiboutian League for Human 
Rights, on charges of distributing materials which insulted judicial 
authority. Authorities released him on April 5 but ordered him to 
remain under judicial control. On June 7, a court ordered that the 
judicial control be lifted. Abdi Noel asked for his case to be 
dismissed and was awaiting a verdict on this motion at year's end.
    In 2007 a court tried Abdi Noel for libel and fined and briefly 
imprisoned him. He appealed his sentence, and after several 
postponements in 2008 and 2009, at year's end he was awaiting a Supreme 
Court hearing scheduled for January 17, 2010.
    The government routinely allowed visits from international NGOs, 
including those dealing with human rights issues, and regularly 
received visitors from UN bodies. In February 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 the 
country monthly.
    In April 2008 the government established a Human Rights Commission 
whose members included 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, including of an event centered on discussion of 
the commission's new three-year strategic plan to build capacity, and 
of a workshop on monitoring and investigating human rights abuses.
    There was a government ombudsman who also served as a legislator in 
the parliament and 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 
language, race, or gender; however, government enforcement of such laws 
was ineffective. The government took steps during the year to increase 
protection of women, including ongoing 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. According to police statistics, 12 cases of rape were 
reported to the police in 2008, representing a drop from 23 cases in 
2007. In addition, eight women reported rape in 2008 to a counseling 
center run by the Union of Djiboutian Women, under the patronage of the 
first lady. There is no law against spousal rape. Reliable statistics 
on the prevalence of rape were not available. Rape cases, which often 
were not reported to the police, were commonly settled informally 
between the families of the victim and the perpetrator.
    Domestic violence against women existed but few cases were 
reported. The law prohibits ``torture and barbaric acts'' against a 
spouse. Violations are punishable by 20 years' imprisonment. Violence 
against women generally was addressed within the family or clan rather 
than in the courts. 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. In 2008 the 
counseling center assisted 652 women, men, and children. A total of 38 
percent of the 640 women assisted reported physical violence, and 13 
percent psychological abuse. More than 50 percent sought assistance in 
obtaining alimony or child support payments.
    Prostitution is illegal but it occurred. In 2008 police reported 
201 cases of prostitution. Only 29 percent of these cases involved 
citizens; the remainder involved Somali or Ethiopian nationals. 
Refugees and girls from poor families were at greater risk of becoming 
street prostitutes.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it was a problem.
    The government recognized the right of citizens to decide freely 
and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. 
Health clinics are 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; however, according to available data, the estimated 
contraceptive coverage rate was only 18 percent. The government 
provided childbirth services, and increasing numbers of women delivered 
babies in a hospital or health clinic. Men and women received equal 
access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, 
including HIV/AIDS.
    Women legally possess full civil rights; however, custom and 
traditional societal discrimination 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 required women to be 
represented in at least 20 percent of all high-level public service 
positions, although there were no statistics available. The Ffmily Ccde 
governs the majority of family and personal matters, but inequities 
existed. In accordance with Shari'a, male children inherited larger 
percentages of estates than did female offspring. Educated women 
increasingly turned to the regular courts to defend their interests.

    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.
    While the government continued to stress the importance of 
children's rights, some problems remained. The government continued to 
devote increased resources for education and health care, committing a 
quarter of its budget to education, particularly primary education, and 
over 15 percent to health care, including increased spending on rural 
health care, particularly for mothers and infants. It relied on a few 
charitable organizations to support children and encouraged others to 
join the effort.
    Primary education was compulsory and available to all. However, 
enrollment rates, although increasing, were not universal. The 
government provided tuition-free public education, but extra expenses 
could be prohibitive for poor families. Although the educational system 
did not discriminate against girls, societal attitudes sometimes 
resulted in differences in the attendance and treatment of girls in 
school. The government worked with international donors to improve 
significantly girls' school attendance rates, and during the year more 
than 46 percent of children enrolled in school were girls. The 
government provided a satchel of essential school supplies to children 
in poor areas, and authorized a premium for teaching in rural areas. 
The government also continued to support parent-teacher associations 
throughout the country.
    Child abuse existed but was not frequently reported or prosecuted.
    FGM was widely performed on young girls. An estimated 93 percent of 
females in the country had undergone FGM, although some studies 
indicated that recent NGO and government efforts to stop the practice 
had begun to reduce significantly the number of young girls subjected 
to FGM in Djibouti City.
    During the year the government increased efforts to end FGM with 
continued high-profile publicity campaigns around the country, ongoing 
public support from the first lady and other well-known 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. These actions built on 
efforts begun in 2005, when the government ratified the Maputo Protocol 
outlawing FGM. The efforts of the Union of Djiboutian Women and other 
groups to educate women about the practice were having some effect in 
the capital, where reported rates of FGM among young women continued to 
decline. However, infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM, continued 
to be widely practiced, especially in rural areas. The law states that 
genital mutilation is punishable by five years' imprisonment and a fine 
of one million DF ($5,650); however, the government had not convicted 
anyone under this statute. In July the government adopted an additional 
anti-FGM statute that provides for up to one year's imprisonment and a 
fine of up to 100,000 DF ($565) for anyone convicted of failing to 
report a completed or planned FGM to the proper authorities. The new 
law also allows NGOs to file charges on behalf of FGM victims.
    In an effort to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, in April 
2008 the government issued international arrest warrants for five 
French nationals based on allegations of child sexual abuse. Christian 
George, a French national rearrested in 2006 for child abuse after an 
attempt to flee the country, finished his sentence and was repatriated 
to France.
    Child marriage occasionally occurred in rural areas; however, it 
was not considered a significant problem. In 2008 six women reported 
cases of forced marriage to the Union of Djiboutian Women's counseling 
center. The government worked with several NGOs to increase school 
enrollment for girls, in part to reduce the likelihood that parents 
would force young girls into marriage. The Ministry for the Promotion 
of Women, Family, Welfare, and Social Affairs also 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 increased 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. Occasionally child prostitution occurred 
with the involvement of a third party, most frequently an older child 
or group of older children. Of 201 prostituted persons apprehended by 
the police in 2008, 51 were between the ages of 10 and 18.
    There was no specific law prohibiting statutory rape, but 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 DF 200,000 ($1,130).

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
in persons, including internal and transnational trafficking, and 
provides penalties of up to 30 years' imprisonment for traffickers. The 
law prohibits discrimination among trafficking victims based on 
ethnicity, gender, or nationality.
    Despite the prohibition, during the year there were credible 
reports of women and children, mostly Ethiopians and Somalis, and 
impoverished local girls trafficked for the purpose of prostitution or 
domestic servitude.
    During the year the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
established an office in Djibouti at the government's invitation. The 
government worked with the IOM on a publicity campaign to discourage 
irregular migration and to warn migrants of the risk of being 
trafficked. In 2008 the police arrested 148 persons for trafficking or 
smuggling, of whom 130 were convicted and sentenced to prison. Some 
smugglers were of Yemeni origin. The government offered limited 
services to smuggling and trafficking victims, including health care.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Persons with disabilities had access to 
education and public health facilities, and the labor code prohibits 
discrimination in employment against persons with disabilities. 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. There was societal discrimination 
against persons with disabilities. The government did not mandate 
accessibility to buildings or government services for persons with 
disabilities. No government agency was charged specifically with 
protecting the rights of such persons, although the Ministry of Justice 
was charged with general responsibilities for human rights.

    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. Discrimination based on ethnicity and clan 
affiliation declined, but affiliation remained a factor in business, 
government, and politics.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There was no known societal 
violence or discrimination based on sexual 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 restricted 
these rights in practice. Reliable statistics on the percentage of 
total workforce that belonged to a trade union were not available. The 
law confers upon the president broad powers to requisition public 
servants who are considered indispensable to the operation of essential 
public services. Under the labor code, a union must have the approval 
of the Ministries of Labor and Interior as well as the Labor 
Inspectorate and the public prosecutor. Some union leaders continued to 
allege that the government suppressed independent representative unions 
by tacitly discouraging labor meetings and accused the government of 
allowing what they called government-sponsored ``shadow union'' 
representatives to attend the 2009 International Labor Conference as 
the country's labor representatives. Some members of the Djiboutian 
Work Union (UDT) also accused the government of breaking up a union 
meeting on October 13 and of preventing the UDT from holding a planned 
union congress on October 14-15.
    The law provides for the right to strike and requires 
representatives of employees who plan to strike to provide 15 days' 
advance notification to the Labor Inspectorate, which uses this time 
period to attempt to mediate an alternate resolution of the dispute. In 
practice unions occasionally disregarded this requirement for advance 
notification. Workers exercised the right to strike in practice, and 
the Labor Inspectorate recorded half a dozen strikes during the 
reporting period.

    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 that collective bargaining 
was underway, although progress in reaching agreements was slow. All 
parties agreed that workers needed better technical assistance, for 
example, 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 
Duty Free Zone workers.

    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 or commercial sexual exploitation after reaching Djibouti 
City or the Ethiopia-Djibouti trucking corridor (see section 6).

    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 were involved in the sale of the mild 
narcotic khat, legal under local law, and engaged in prostitution. 
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 agriculture 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 a lack 
of 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 program undertaken by the government 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.
    By law the 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 Teodoro 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). On 
November 29, President Obiang was reelected with 95.37 percent of votes 
cast. The lopsided results and weak independent monitoring of the 
electoral process raised suspicions of systematic vote fraud. Foreign 
diplomatic observers noted numerous irregularities and the presence of 
military personnel at all voting stations. While civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of security forces, there were 
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently.
    The following human rights problems were reported: limited ability 
of citizens to change their government; unlawful killings 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; judicial corruption and lack of due process; restrictions on 
the right to privacy; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, 
assembly, association, and movement; government corruption; violence 
and discrimination against women; suspected trafficking in persons; 
discrimination against ethnic minorities; and restrictions on labor 
rights.
    Following a February 17 armed attack on the presidential palace, 
which was later blamed on a Nigerian rebel group, the government 
rounded up, arbitrarily arrested without warrant, and held without 
charge numerous persons, one of whom died from beatings during 
interrogation and two of whom were tortured.

                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS


    Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including 
Freedom from:

    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
reports of government agents committing politically motivated killings; 
however, security forces committed arbitrary or unlawful killings 
during the year.
    On February 17, eight Nigerian fishermen were detained for 
questioning regarding an armed assault on the Presidential Palace in 
Malabo the same day. Security officials also detained Afiong Etim, the 
wife of one of the fisherman, who subsequently died from beatings 
administered during interrogation. The eight fishermen were being held 
in Black Beach Prison awaiting trial at year's end. Two of 10 
Equatoguineans also arrested in connection with the attack were being 
held in Black Beach Prison awaiting trial at year's end; the other 
eight were out on bail.
    On September 15, four off-duty police officers beat to death Akeem 
Jimoh, a Nigerian legal resident, who reportedly refused to pay a 
bribe. Jimoh, who was on his way home from work, was stopped by three 
policemen who requested his identification papers. Jimoh telephoned a 
friend to bring the papers and subsequently presented them to the 
police, who became verbally abusive and demanded a bribe of 50,000 CFA 
francs ($115). After the friend's departure, Jimoh's body was found 
near the center of Malabo with a severe contusion to the head. 
Government officials claimed no witnesses had come forward to 
substantiate the beating but admitted the officers had attempted to 
extort money from a legal resident. The four officers, who claimed 
Jimoh was found unconscious at another location after running from 
police, were suspended from service and awaiting the results of an 
investigation at year's end.
    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, whose death Amnesty International (AI) claimed 
was a result of torture; the May police killing of a Malian citizen; 
and the December killing of a Cameroonian fisherman.
    No further information was available on the 2007 torture death of 
Salvador Ndong Nguema, a member of the opposition Convergence for 
Social Democracy (CPDS) party; the two security force members detained 
in connection with the killing were released and reassigned.

    Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances during the year.
    Former army colonel Cipriano Nguema Mba, who was abducted from 
Cameroon in October 2008 and secretly transported to Black Beach Prison 
in Malabo, remained in prison at year's end (see section 1.e.).
    Florencio Ela Bibang, Antimo Edu Nchama, and Felipe Esono Ntutumu, 
all of whom were kidnapped in 2005 from foreign countries where they 
had refugee status, were confirmed by government sources as being held 
at Black Beach Prison at year's end (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. AI reported on 
May 28 that ``suspected criminals continued to be tortured or otherwise 
ill treated with impunity in police stations.'' In September 2008 a 
government official told a foreign diplomat that despite efforts by a 
government human rights center to monitor detention facilities, 
beatings in jails across the country were a common occurrence due to a 
lack of training and political will to address the problem.
    Following his November 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 said 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 he stated 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. The UN mission led by Nowak also found 
immigrants ran an increased risk of physical abuse in police cells.
    Following a February 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 
tortured. Eight were later released, but two remained in Black Beach 
Prison awaiting trial at year's end.
    Foreigners, primarily illegal immigrants from other African 
countries, were harassed, intimidated, and arbitrarily arrested and 
detained (see section 1.d.). Foreign diplomats, primarily those from 
African countries, also complained police harassed, abused, and 
assaulted them and their family members, even after victims displayed 
their diplomatic documents. In one case a foreign diplomat reported 
when he came to the aid of his wife, who was being arrested by police, 
he was beaten with the butt of a rifle. The government had not 
responded to formal protests against such incidents filed by foreign 
diplomats by year's end.
    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.
    According to government officials and a private foreign firm 
working closely with the military on training programs, during the year 
a military court convicted at least one member of the security forces 
in connection with the torture of Jaime Ndong Edu, a CPDS member, by 
deputy police commissioner Donato Abogo Menden in 2007.
    During the year the 12 police officers suspended as a result of 
their role in assaulting and looting Cameroonian immigrants following a 
2007 bank robbery in Bata were dismissed. In 2007 security forces and 
citizens assaulted and looted the possessions of up to 8,000 
Cameroonian immigrants, hundreds of whom sought refuge in the 
Cameroonian Embassy in Malabo and the consulate in Bata. The 
Cameroonian Government was forced to airlift several of their nationals 
out of the country. The government had not responded to requests for 
financial compensation filed by Cameroonian nationals impacted by the 
looting by year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons did not meet 
international standards, although there were some improvements during 
the year. Following his November 2008 mission to the country 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.
    With the exception of the newly renovated jails in Bata and Malabo, 
conditions in police station jails and other 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. Diseases, including malaria and HIV/AIDS, were 
serious problems. Food was usually provided by detainees' families or 
fellow detainees, and access to potable water was severely restricted. 
Most detainees had no access to toilets and resorted to plastic bottles 
or plastic bags instead.
    Detained illegal immigrants pending deportation were held in police 
cells without food or water for lengthy periods since most had no 
relatives nearby. In February 2008 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention, which visited the country in 2007, expressed concern over 
the lengthy arbitrary detentions of illegal immigrants and recommended 
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 
illegal detainees remained the same during the year.
    Unlike in the previous year, female prisoners were generally 
separated from male prisoners, and juveniles were generally separated 
from adults; however, there were exceptions. For example, in April a 
foreign woman detained in the Bata jail claimed she was held with male, 
female, and juvenile inmates. Pretrial detainees were held together 
with convicted prisoners.
    Neither the judicial system nor the police had an adequate, 
effective system to register cases or track prisoners.
    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. However, authorities regularly prevented 
monitoring of certain parts of prisons and other detention facilities, 
particularly military detention facilities.
    Government officials confirmed two ICRC officials were allowed to 
visit Malabo's Black Beach Prison on June 18 and 19; the ICRC closed 
its Bata office and suspended such visits in March 2008 after the 
government refused to grant access to some prisoners.
    In November 2008 government authorities denied the team of the UN 
Special Rapporteur on Torture access to military detention facilities 
at the Cogo and Ela military camps, effectively preventing 
investigation into allegations of torture and secret detentions; 
follow-up access to the central police stations in Malabo and Bata was 
also denied. According to Nowak, during the UN monitoring mission, 
security force members threatened and intimidated UN monitoring 
officials, pointing guns at them as they tried to gain access to 
detention facilities. In a January 22 letter in response to the Nowak 
accusations, the government said it regretted the lack of cooperation 
it had shown to Nowak during his visit.
    During the year the government made efforts to improve prison 
conditions. As a result of renovations completed in July, prisoner 
cells and the exercise yard at the Malabo city jail--which was singled 
out for criticism by Nowak--were larger and better ventilated. The 
government also hung antitorture posters at airports and border 
crossings. Minister of National Security Obama Schama also met with all 
police commissioners to underscore the illegality of mistreating 
prisoners.

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

    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 under funded 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 
the 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. Unlike in previous years, there 
were no reports some persons were taken into custody on the verbal 
orders of officials. 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. 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 receives 
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 incommunicado detention and denial of family 
visits were serious problems (see section 1.c.). According to the 
February 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 illegal immigrants; however, reliable sources 
reported that many legal, as well as illegal, 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.
    The government arbitrarily arrested a journalist during the year 
(see section 2.a.).
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem, and a significant 
number of those incarcerated were pretrial detainees; however, the 
number of pretrial detainees was unavailable due to poor record 
keeping. Inefficient judicial procedures, corruption, lack of 
monitoring, and inadequate staffing contributed to the problem.
    On November 3, the president pardoned Simon Mann (see section 
1.e.).

    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 serve 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 court system is composed of lower provincial courts, two 
appeals courts, a military tribunal, and the Supreme Court. The 
president appoints the members of the Supreme Court, who reportedly 
took instructions from him. The Supreme Council of the Judicial Power 
appoints and controls judges. President Obiang is president of the 
Supreme Council, and the president of the Supreme Court is the vice 
president of the Supreme Council.
    The military justice system did not provide defendants with the 
same rights as the civil criminal court system. The code of military 
justice states 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. Many trials for ordinary crimes are 
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 serious 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.

    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.
    At the end of 2008, 39 persons 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 alleged 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.
    Following the February 17 attack on the Presidential Palace in 
Malabo, 10 members of the UP party were arrested and detained. Eight of 
the 10 were released on bail, but UP members Marcelino Nguema and 
Santiago Asumu remained in Black Beach Prison awaiting trial at year's 
end.
    Former army colonel Cipriano Nguema Mba, who in October 2008 was 
abducted from Cameroon where he was recognized as a refugee and 
secretly transported to Black Beach Prison in Malabo, remained in 
prison at year's end. 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. In addition 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 February 
2008 the adoption by the government of necessary measures to put an 
immediate end to secret detentions. In addition to Juan Ondo Abaga, who 
was released from Black Beach Prison in June 2008, the group cited the 
continuing 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, Ntumu, and Nchama were believed 
to remain in Black Beach Prison, where they were denied access to 
lawyers or their families.
    In July 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. Police arbitrarily 
arrested the five individuals in March 2008, along with another former 
PPGE member, Bonifacio Nguema Ndong, who the court absolved after the 
discovery of weapons in the trunk of a car being imported to the 
country from Spain. According to AI, authorities arrested the five 
without warrant, forced them to sign statements they had not made, beat 
at least two of the men, held them incommunicado without access to a 
lawyer until five days before the trial, and failed to produce evidence 
they had been in possession of the weapons.
    The five men were found guilty in the same trial as Simon Mann, 
although the charges against them were unrelated to the events for 
which Mann was tried. Mann, a British citizen who pled guilty to 
plotting a coup in 2004, was pardoned by the president on November 2 
and released.
    In February 2008 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 
recommended 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; extend human rights training to judges, law officers of all 
grades, security force members, and the Office of the Attorney General; 
guarantee lawyers free access to police stations and prisons; and 
guarantee the resources for the effective functioning of the judiciary, 
prison, and police detention system. The government stated it lacked 
the internal capacity to institute such changes.

    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 violated homes 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.
    The law provides for restitution or compensation for the taking of 
private property; however, the government seldom provided equitable 
compensation or alternate housing when it forced persons from their 
homes or land. 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. During the year regeneration 
of the main cities continued to result in forced evictions. Scores of 
families were forcibly evicted from their homes to make room for roads 
and luxury 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 press; however, the Law on the Press, 
Publishing, and Audiovisual Media grants extensive powers to 
authorities to restrict the activities of the media, and the government 
continued to limit these rights in practice.
    While criticism of government policies was allowed, individuals 
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. Since 2007 some journalists have covered topics previously 
considered to be off limits, including mild criticism of institutions 
for lack of progress on economic development issues and government 
inefficiency, but the country's media remained weak and under 
government influence or control, and journalists practiced self-
censorship.
    Government publications included Ebano, a biweekly newspaper 
published by the Ministry of Information, Tourism and Culture, and the 
monthly La Gaceta de Guinea Ecuatorial newspaper. Independent 
publications included the bimonthly newspaper El Correo, opposition 
newspapers La Opinion and El Tiempo, and privately owned publications 
El Sol, La Nacion, Hola, Ceiba, El Ape, La Verdad, and La Voz Del 
Pueblo.
    Starting a new periodical requires a complicated process governed 
by an ambiguous law and was often inhibited by government bureaucracy. 
In addition accreditation is cumbersome for both local and foreign 
journalists, who must 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 
surveilled 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 Spanish journalists from major 
media organizations prior to the November 29 presidential election (see 
section 3). 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 were increasingly being sold in 
a number of grocery stores in Malabo and Bata.
    On July 17, police arrested Rodrigo Angue Nguema, the Malabo 
correspondent of Agence France-Presse and Radio France Internationale, 
for defamation and reporting false information. Nguema had written an 
article accusing Mamadou Jaye, the executive head of the national 
airline Ceiba, of embezzling 3.5 billion CFA francs ($7.64 million) and 
fleeing the country, a story he subsequently retracted after learning 
that his source had provided false information. Despite publishing a 
retraction, Nguema was tried on September 1 for defamation; on October 
15, he was released after serving nearly four months in prison. Jaye, 
the airline executive who brought the case, sued Nguema for 5 million 
euros ($7.06 million), the amount he was alleged to have embezzled in 
Nguema's retracted report. Reporters without Borders (RSF) called the 
detention ``disproportionate punishment'' for defamation and called for 
authorities to amend legislation to prevent sentences of such severity.
    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. For example there 
continued to be a lack of adequate government investment in 
infrastructure necessary for the development of strong independent 
media, including printing presses and newspaper retailers, and there 
was little evidence the government encouraged--on a nondiscriminatory 
basis--public advertising in locally printed media. During 2008 one 
journalist, a member of the National Press Association, equated this 
lack of investment by the government to ``economic censorship'' and 
expressed deep concern over the lack of training opportunities for 
local journalists, despite the country's recent exceptional economic 
growth.
    The government owned a national radio and television broadcast 
system, RTVGE. The president's eldest son owned the only private 
broadcast media. Satellite broadcasts increasingly were available.
    In the absence of any independent radio or television, coverage of 
the presidential campaign for the November 29 election was largely one-
sided. Noting the low level of of attention state media paid to 
opposition activities, RSF said the president was ``expected to get 
close to 100 percent of the vote, which is about the same as the share 
of media coverage he received.'' The state radio and TV broadcaster 
RTVGE organized no debate and covered only a few opposition activities 
or meetings.
    On January 12, Deputy Information Minister Purita Opo Berila 
announced the dismissal of journalists David Ndong, Miguel Eson Ona, 
Cirilo Nsue, and Casiano Ndong, who were employed by RTVGE, for 
``insubordination'' and ``lack of enthusiasm.'' Citing local sources, 
RSF claimed the dismissals were due to the four journalists failing to 
praise the government's ``merits.'' The organization noted state media 
employees were expected to relay government propaganda, were regarded 
as state employees, and had no legal protection or union representation 
to defend their actions or represent them in a disagreement with the 
government.
    The Catholic Church applied to establish a radio station in 2007, 
but the government had not granted authorization by year's end.
    Foreign channels were not censored, were broadcast throughout the 
country, and included Radio France International, BBC, and Radio 
Exterior, the international short-wave 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. 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 had replaced broadcast media as the primary way 
opposition views were expressed and disseminated. Exiled citizens' 
sites were not blocked. According to International Telecommunication 
Union statistics for 2008, approximately 1.8 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 qualified 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.

    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.
    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. To date 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 (see 
section 4). During the year foreign donors continued to urge the 
government to review and reform the legal regime governing the 
establishment of NGOs. Many associations, including several women's 
groups focused on economic development, were unable to gain 
authorization or registered status from the government.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right. 
There were no reports government officials monitored religious 
services.
    The law gives official preference to the Catholic Church and the 
Reform Church of Equatorial Guinea because of their traditional roots 
and historical influence in social and cultural life. A Roman Catholic 
Mass was normally part of any major ceremonial function or holiday. 
Long-established Catholic schools received the same benefits from the 
state as public schools.
    A religious organization must be formally registered with the 
Ministry of Justice, Religion, and Penal Institutions to operate. 
Approval could take several years, due primarily to bureaucratic 
slowness rather than policy; however, the lack of clearly defined 
registration procedures remained an issue.
    Religious study was optional in public schools but required in 
parochial schools and was usually, but not exclusively, Catholic.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Jewish community was 
extremely small; there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 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. Observers attributed the decline to 
increased training and to the hiring of younger, better educated 
officers. Frequent roundups of illegal immigrants also occurred at 
roadblocks. The government claimed roadblocks impeded illegal 
immigration, mercenary activities, and attempted coups; however, 
roadblocks also restricted travel.
    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 June 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, as 
well as to the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific 
Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa; however, 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 persons to countries where their lives or 
freedom would be threatened. However, in October 2008 Cameroonian 
police officers reportedly illegally arrested former Equatoguinean army 
colonel Cipriano Nguema Mba in Cameroon, where he was recognized as a 
refugee, and handed him over to the country's embassy in Cameroon, from 
where he was secretly transported to Black Beach Prison (see section 
1.e.).
    The government provided temporary humanitarian protection to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention 
and its 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; however, despite continued improvements in the 
electoral process during the year, this right continued to be extremely 
limited, partly as a result of the dominance of the ruling PDGE party.

    Elections and Political Participation.--On November 29, 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 on 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 voters were 
allowed to vote for family members, unregistered voters were allowed to 
vote, and ballot boxes were unsealed. Soldiers were deployed to all 
polling stations.
    On October 16, President Obiang announced the election would be on 
November 29, with campaigning to begin officially on November 5; 
according to the constitution, a presidential election should be called 
at least 45 days before the end of the president's term of 30 days 
thereafter. 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 post-election 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 CPSD party claimed 
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 the previous year, no opposition members were arbitrarily 
arrested, detained, or tortured; however, opposition candidates were 
harassed and intimidated during the presidential campaign.
    For example, on November 14, a parish priest in the town of Ayene 
stopped CPDS candidate Placido Mico from holding a rally in the town 
square in front of the church because, according to the priest, the 
square was owned by the church. The local chief of police interceded on 
the priest's behalf and ordered the candidate and his supporters out of 
the square. The police chief also reportedly ordered local youths to 
strip campaign posters from the party's own vehicle and brandished a 
gun while threatening Mico and his supporters. CPDS officials claimed 
PDGE members assaulted CPDS members.
    On November 19, in the town of Aconibe, in President Obiang's home 
province of Wele-Nzas, security forces, PDGE members, and villagers 
assaulted supporters of the opposition UP party and its presidential 
candidate Archivaldo Montero Biribe. Police officials reportedly told 
UP supporters they were not welcome to rally in the town because all of 
its inhabitants supported President Obiang. UP party president Daniel 
Martinez, who sought the intervention of Interior Minister Clemente 
Nguema, reported he was told ``this is Africa, what else do you expect 
and what do you expect me to do about it?'' After receiving the same 
treatment in the adjacent town of Nsork, UP leaders stopped campaigning 
in the province. CPDS leaders and the Popular Action Party reported 
similar treatment in the province, where they also ceased campaigning.
    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.
    During the year the government reportedly warned the spouse of an 
opposition party leader to join the PDGE (presumably to embarrass the 
opposition leader) or lose her position. The spouse refused to join the 
PDGE and was fired.
    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.''
    During the year the CPDS stated it had no plans to restart a radio 
station, but it reserved the right to do so in the future. In August 
2008, after informing the government in writing of its intention to set 
up a radio station, the opposition CPDS party began testing its 
equipment. The government subsequently ordered the CPDS to cease 
transmitting, raided the station, and seized materials.
    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.

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. No corruption cases were 
prosecuted during the year.
    The president and members of his inner circle continued to amass 
huge personal profits from the oil windfall. According to Human Rights 
Watch, Teodorin Obiang, the president's son, spent more on luxury goods 
during 2004-2007 than the government's 2005 budget for education; 
purchases included a $35 million mansion, a $37 million jet, and luxury 
cars worth at least $2.6 million. President Obiang claimed information 
on oil revenues was a ``state secret'' and resisted calls for 
transparency and accountability. According to international NGO Global 
Witness, the government has not disclosed the location of more than two 
billion dollars in public funds.
    In December 2008 anticorruption activist groups, including the 
French chapter of AI, filed a lawsuit in Paris against President Obiang 
and two other African heads of state, accusing them of acquiring luxury 
homes in France with embezzled public funds. The plaintiffs stated 
there was ``no doubt that these assets could not have been acquired 
solely with the salaries and benefits of these heads of state.''
    Also in December 2008, a Spanish human rights group filed a formal 
complaint with anticorruption public prosecutors in Spain, claiming 
members of President Obiang's family and high-ranking political 
officials close to the president had illegally embezzled 12.7 billion 
CFA francs ($27.73 million) from a state petrol company to buy homes in 
Spain and had laundered these public funds between 2000 and 2003 in 
foreign banks. According to media reports, Spain's anticorruption 
prosecutor had begun investigating allegations against these 
individuals 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. For 
example, the minister of justice had his own private law firm, and the 
minister of transport and communications was director of the board and 
owned shares in the parastatal airline and the national telephone 
company.
    The presidency and Prime Minister's Office were the lead agencies 
for anticorruption efforts. A number of ministers were reportedly 
replaced following the May 2008 elections as a result of corrupt 
practices.
    During the year the government made additional 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. However, there remained significant challenges in meeting EITI 
requirements concerning the development of civil society, and there 
continued to be lack of transparency in the extractive industries.
    In October 2008 the government began disbursing funds for social 
projects under the social development fund (SDF), a mechanism developed 
jointly with a foreign donor designed to enhance the transparency of 
social spending in line with international development norms. 
Irregularities in handling the funds occurred during the year. For 
example, funds for selected projects were deposited in the purported 
bank accounts of various ministries; however, critics charged the 
accounts actually belonged to the ministers who headed those 
ministries, thus placing the funds under their direct personal control. 
One minister reportedly ignored the bids of companies responding to an 
open solicitation and selected a company he owned, although his company 
had not submitted a bid; the minister claimed his company was eligible 
to accept SDF money from the account he controlled.
    The law did 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. In 2008 the government met with domestic NGO 
representatives to enhance cooperation on efforts to adhere to the 
transparency principles of EITI. Despite this increased cooperation, 
the government's attitude toward domestic and international NGOs 
working in or reporting on the country generally remained ``not 
friendly,'' 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 rights, not 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. The ICRC 
had suspended prison visits in March 2008 after the government refused 
to grant access to some prisoners (see section 1.c.).
    During the year the government categorically rejected the 2008 
report on detention facilities by UN Special Rapporteur on Torture 
Manfred Novak. Novak reported torture appeared to reflect a state-
endorsed method of obtaining evidence and confessions, and a culture of 
total impunity allowed torture to continue unabated (see section 1.c.). 
Nowak noted not one conviction for torture could be found in court 
records and officers known for resorting to torture were able to 
establish successful careers in the security forces. He also cited 
``the non-functioning of the administration of justice and, therefore, 
the absence of the rule of law.'' Nowak recommended the government 
undertake ``profound reform'' of its laws, penal system, and judicial 
and law enforcement institutions. He also recommended the government 
establish effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms to combat 
torture and foreign diplomats in Malabo conduct regular monitoring 
visits to detention facilities. UN officials also recommended the 
international community, including transnational corporations, ensure 
they were not complicit in human rights abuses in their business 
practices and development activities.
    The primary organization with some responsibility for human rights, 
the National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH), was dependent on and 
heavily influenced by the government and suffered serious funding, 
staff, and institutional limitations. It did not investigate human 
rights complaints or keep statistics on them. The president appointed 
the members of the CNDH.
    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.

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, but spousal rape is not specified in the 
law. The government did not enforce the law effectively. Reporting rape 
was considered shameful to families involved. Several prosecutions came 
before the courts during the year, but the exact number was not known.
    Domestic violence was a problem. Violence against women, including 
spousal abuse, is illegal, but the government did not enforce the law 
effectively. The police and 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.
    Prostitution is illegal, and the government continued to enforce 
the law against businesses and pimps; however, prostitution occurred, 
particularly in the two major cities of Malabo and Bata. Acting on 
orders of the ministries of interior and national security, police 
raided places of prostitution during the year.
    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. 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, 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.
    In rural areas, women 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.
    During the year the government provided courses, seminars, 
conferences, and media programs to sensitize the population and 
government agencies to the needs and rights of women. For example, on 
February 15, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Promotion of Women 
conducted a seminar for members of the judiciary on cultural practices 
that violate the rights of women, including physical abuse, forced 
marriage, levirate marriage, and the use of dowry. On May 15, the 
ministry conducted a similar conference for members of parliament, and 
in November the ministry held a women's rights seminar for the 68 
members of the executive branch.
    A foreign development fund, as part of its program to support civil 
society, dedicated one of its forums to the rights of women. The 
dominant topics were polygyny and traditional attitudes discriminatory 
against women.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. Registration 
of births is the responsibility of the parents, and failure to do 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 continued to 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons; 
however, some trafficking through and to the country was suspected. 
There were no reliable figures on the number of trafficking victims. 
The country has been primarily a destination for children trafficked 
for the purposes of forced labor and possibly for the purpose of sexual 
exploitation. Children were believed to be trafficked from nearby 
countries, primarily Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, and Gabon for domestic 
servitude, market labor, ambulant vending, and other forms of forced 
labor, such as carrying water and washing laundry. Most victims were 
believed to be trafficked to Malabo and Bata, where a burgeoning oil 
industry created demand for labor and commercial exploitation. Women 
may also have been trafficked to the country from Cameroon, Benin, 
other neighboring countries, and China for labor or sexual 
exploitation. In the last year there was a report women of 
Equatoguinean extraction were also trafficked to Iceland for commercial 
sexual exploitation.
    In the past traffickers generally crossed the border with false 
documents and children they falsely claimed were their own. However, 
removal of economic incentives for such activity apparently reduced 
trafficking to a small number of cases.
    The penalties for trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation or 
other exploitation are imprisonment for 10 to 15 years and a fine of 
not less than approximately 50 million CFA francs ($109,000).
    When pressed by embassies of identified trafficking victims, the 
government cooperated with other governments, international 
organizations, and NGOs to aid victims and assist in their 
repatriation. However, foreign diplomatic missions confirmed many of 
their citizens were shipped out of the country before the embassies 
became aware of a problem.
    The Ministry of Justice is responsible for combating trafficking in 
persons, and the minister of justice was president of the 
interinstitutional commission on illegal trafficking of migrants and 
trafficking of persons. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Promotion of 
Women is responsible for addressing issues related to protection of 
trafficking victims.
    The government provided limited protection or assistance to victims 
or witnesses. During a February 2-6 visit to the country, a consultant 
from the International Organization of Migration noted there were no 
shelters to house victims of trafficking or other vulnerable 
populations for a temporary period. The government generally asked the 
embassies of victims' countries of origin, if present, to assume care 
of victims until they could be repatriated. However, the government had 
no procedure in place to even notify embassies if one of their 
nationals had been identified as a trafficking victim. There were few 
NGOs in the country to assist victims.
    The government, through the National Action Plan to Fight Against 
Trafficking in Persons and Child Labor, continued to fund a program to 
educate the public against trafficking, assist victims, and punish 
offenders.
    During the year the government continued to provide antitrafficking 
training to security forces; more than 800 security officials have 
received such training since 2007.
    State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at http://www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not provide protection for 
persons with disabilities 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 the mentally or physically handicapped 
were limited. The local Red Cross, with financial support from the 
government, managed the country's school for deaf children. The 
government and Catholic Church worked together to provide care for the 
mentally handicapped in the Virgin Madre Maria Africa facility.
    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. Illegal 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. 
Foreign workers from West Africa and elsewhere were attracted to the 
country by its growing oil-based economy.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Societal stigmatization and 
discrimination against homosexual persons 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, without 
previous authorization or excessive requirements; 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. 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 rarely exercised their right to strike, in part because 
they feared losing their jobs and possible harm to themselves or their 
families. On rare occasions workers engaged in temporary protests or 
``go slows'' (work slowdowns and planned absences).
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports 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 and slavery, including by children; however, 
children were trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation (see 
section 6).

    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 from approximately 50,000 to 250,000 CFA francs 
($109 to $545); however, child labor occurred. The law prohibits 
children from working as street vendors or car washers; however, 
children performed such activities. Children also worked in local 
markets 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 were forced to close down their stalls, were 
heavily fined, or deported; however, no vendors were prosecuted during 
the year. The government provided no social services to children found 
to be working in markets.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws.

    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.
    On April 25, the government issued Public Decree 60/2009, which 
establishes a monthly minimum wage of 95,400 CFA (approximately $205) 
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 effectively enforced.
    The law provides for protection for workers from occupational 
hazards, but the government did not effectively enforce this provision. 
During the year 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.

                               __________

                                ERITREA

    Eritrea,\1\ with a population of an estimated 5.5 million, is a 
one-party state that became independent in 1993 when 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, and the government continued to postpone presidential and 
legislative elections; the latter have never been held. The border 
dispute with Ethiopia continued, despite international efforts at 
demarcation. The situation was used by the government to justify severe 
restrictions on 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ United States personnel were not permitted to travel outside of 
the capital of Eritrea, 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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, some 
of whom reportedly died from their injuries while in detention; 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 on privacy rights, 
including roundups of young men and women for national service, and the 
arrest and detention of the family members of service evaders. The 
government severely restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, 
association, and religion. The government also limited freedom of 
movement and travel for citizens in the national service, foreign 
residents, employees of diplomatic missions, the UN, and humanitarian 
and development agencies. Restrictions continued on the activities of 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC). Female genital mutilation (FGM) was widespread, 
and societal abuse and discrimination against women, members of the 
Kunama ethnic group, homosexuals, and persons with HIV/AIDS were 
problems. There were limitations on worker rights, including forced 
labor.
    The government acted as a principal source and conduit for arms to 
antigovernment, extremist, and insurgent groups in Somalia, according 
to a June report issued by the UN Munitions Monitoring Group.

                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS


Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--In August opposition 
Web sites released a report claiming that in 2002 the government 
executed Berhane Gebregzabhier, one of the 11 members of the PFDJ 
National Assembly who had been held in solitary confinement since 2001 
for opposing the president. The execution was carried out based on the 
recommendations of Naizghi Kiflu, a former presidential advisor 
believed to currently reside in London. An additional eight persons 
died in prison from natural causes, according to the report released by 
opposition Web sites (see section 1.d.). The nine deceased were part of 
what was known as the G-15, a group of high-ranking political activists 
who regularly pushed the president for democratic reform during the 
country's formative years. The government arrested 11 members of the G-
15 in September 2001; one member recanted his statements, and three 
were out of the country.
    The government continued to authorize the use of lethal force 
against individuals resisting or attempting to flee during military 
searches for deserters and draft evaders, and the practice reportedly 
resulted in deaths during the year. Several persons detained for 
evading national service died after 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.
    It was unknown if the government continued the practice of summary 
executions and of shooting individuals on sight near the Djibouti 
border, allegedly for attempting to flee military service, as was the 
case in 2008. In June 2008 the international media reported that the 
Eritrean military shot at their own defecting soldiers who broke rank 
along the Djibouti border, instigating the Djibouti-Eritrea border 
conflict. Soldiers who broke rank claimed that the government issued a 
``shoot to kill'' proclamation for deserters and escapees.
    There were no reports of deaths from mistreatment/hazing of 
conscripts or other soldiers. There were numerous reports that persons 
detained because of their religious affiliation died from security 
force abuse. The government did not investigate or prosecute any report 
of security force abuse.
    According to the government Commission for Coordination with the UN 
Peacekeeping Mission, an estimated three million land mines and 
unexploded ordnance remained from the 30-year war and the 1998-2000 
conflict with Ethiopia. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports 
that opposition groups laid new mines. The Eritrean Demining Authority 
halted demining activities in the Temporary Security Zone between 
Eritrea and Ethiopia in 2008 after the UN Mine Action Committee 
departed from Eritrea. Currently, the UN Development Programme supports 
explosive ordnance disposal and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) funds 
mine risk education for school children and families in mine-impacted 
communities.

    b. Disappearance.--Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers repatriated 
from other countries during the year reportedly disappeared. In January 
the government of Egypt repatriated 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 June 2008, 1,200 Eritreans were repatriated from Egypt, many of 
whom remained missing at year's end. In May 2008 German immigration 
authorities returned two Eritrean nationals, neither of whom had been 
seen since their arrival in Asmara.
    The whereabouts of at least 15 journalists and several employees of 
diplomatic missions arrested by the government in 2001 remained 
unknown.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law and the ratified but unimplemented constitution 
prohibit torture; however, there were numerous reports that security 
forces resorted to torture and beatings of prisoners, particularly 
during interrogations. There were credible reports that several 
military conscripts died following such treatment. Security forces 
severely mistreated and beat army deserters, draft evaders, persons 
attempting to flee the country without travel documents and exit 
permits, and members of certain religious groups. Security forces 
subjected deserters and draft evaders to such disciplinary actions as 
prolonged sun exposure in temperatures of up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit; 
the binding of hands, elbows, and feet for extended periods; and 
suspension from trees for extended periods. No known action was taken 
during the year to punish perpetrators of torture and abuse.
    There were numerous reports, corroborated by prison escapees, that 
torture was widely used in detention facilities. For example, 
authorities suspended prisoners from trees with their arms tied behind 
their backs, a technique known as ``almaz'' (diamond). Authorities also 
placed prisoners face down with their hands tied to their feet, a 
technique known as the ``helicopter.''
    According to Human Rights Watch, refugees from the country reported 
that female conscripts in national service were often raped by their 
supervisors. 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. 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 some 
prisoners passed out from the extreme heat.
    During the year Wi'a Military Camp closed its prison. Religious 
prisoners were relocated to the desert prison Metier while others were 
taken to a prison just outside of Dekemhare.
    While statistics were unavailable, there were some deaths in prison 
due to illness and poor health care.
    There were several 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. Allegations from various sources 
suggested there may have been 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 constantly 
open and close the door of the cell, as if the prisoner was going to be 
taken for interrogation. 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, and denial of medical care. For example, 
numerous deaths occurred at the Wi'a Military Camp prison due to 
widespread disease and lack of medical care. In August a meningitis 
outbreak at a prison in Massawa reportedly resulted in the deaths of 
dozens of inmates.
    The government did not release the total number of prisoners and 
detainees.
    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 government did not permit the ICRC or any local 
human rights organizations to monitor prison conditions. Since the 
shutdown of the repatriation program during the year, the government 
also denied the ICRC access to Ethiopian prisoners of war detained in 
the country.
    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 were tried as adults. Pretrial detainees were 
not always separated from convicted prisoners.
    Authorities generally permitted convicted criminals in prisons 
three visits per week by family members; however, 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 could call 
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 military had 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.
    Police, who often were conscripted, were poorly paid, 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 
out of the country. There were no mechanisms to address allegations of 
official abuse, and impunity was a problem.
    During the year the police, military, 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 often detained suspects 
for much longer periods. 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 generally 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 on 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.).
    Unlike in previous years, there were very few 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. Many citizens believed that this was 
because the government had already thoroughly scoured the major cities 
numerous times and caught most deserters.
    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 numerous members of the 
Eritrean Liberation Front, an armed opposition group that fought 
against Ethiopia during the struggle for independence.
    Opposition Web sites reported during the year that nine of the 11 
PFDJ National Assembly members who were detained in 2001 and 2002 were 
reported to have died while in prison. Eight of the prisoners died from 
lack of medical treatment for diabetes, bladder and kidney infections, 
asthma, and other physical ailments. One prisoner, Berhane 
Gebregzabhier, was reportedly executed by the government per the 
recommendation of Naizghi Kiflu, a former presidential advisor.
    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. Two citizens who worked for a foreign embassy have 
remained in detention without charge since 2001. Several citizens 
employed with international and local NGOs remained in detention 
without charge as a result of a massive round-up in August 2008.
    The government held numerous other detainees, including an unknown 
number of the NGO employees detained in an August 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. The 
government continued to detain the deposed Orthodox patriarch (see 
section 2.c.). There were widespread reports 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, the 
judiciary was weak and subject to executive control. Judicial 
corruption remained a problem. The judicial process was influenced by 
patronage of former fighters who in many cases were judges themselves. 
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 
government's ability to grant accused persons a speedy and fair trial. 
Public trials were held, but no cases involving individuals detained 
for national security or political reasons were brought to trial. 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 impact on the judiciary. The 
government had not issued licenses to lawyers seeking to enter private 
practice for 10 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 had not been implemented by 
year's end.
    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 
Shari'a (Islamic law) benches. The Shari'a bench adjudicates family law 
for followers of Islam 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 Shari'a 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 did not hand down 
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 nearly 200,000 enlisted in the 
armed forces, the military courts have a significant and unregulated 
importance in the country.
    Shari'a for family and succession cases may be applied when both 
litigants in civil cases are Muslims. In these cases the sentences 
imposed may not involve physical punishment.

    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 
evidence, gain access to government-held evidence, appeal a decision, 
and enjoy the presumption of innocence; these rights were upheld 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.--There were no confirmed reports 
of political prisoners; however, several hundred individuals were 
detained beginning in 2001 for political reasons. Many were perceived 
to have ties to political dissidents or were believed to have spoken 
against government actions. Most of these detainees had not been tried 
and did not have access to legal counsel. The ICRC was not authorized 
to visit these detainees, and no information was available on their 
condition or circumstances of detention.

    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 such 
actions; however, the government did not respect these rights in 
practice.
    The government deployed military and police 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 of individuals who evaded national service duties or 
fled the country, along with their family members; there were reports 
that such parents were either fined 50,000 nakfa ($3,333) or forced to 
turn their children in to the government. Government officials entered 
households and confiscated the property and livestock of draft evaders. 
Some security officials accepted bribes to aid draft evaders in 
crossing the border.
    There were reports of security forces arresting persons whose 
expatriate family members did not pay their extraterritorial income 
tax.
    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 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 use of SIM cards, necessary for 
operating and storing information in mobile phones. The government 
allowed only one SIM card per person, although many citizens generally 
had more. 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.
    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.
    In 2008 the government demanded that departing NGOs hand over 
financial and reporting documents to government officials. While 
membership in the PFDJ, the government's 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, with names of those not in attendance 
being reported to government officials. Citizens who did not attend 
reportedly were harassed. Officials also collected biographical and 
contact information on Eritrean residents living abroad.
    Eritrean officials reportedly monitored refugee camps in 
neighboring countries, such as Kenya and Sudan, and discouraged 
refugees from engaging in political activity.

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 fled the country, which effectively prevented any public and media 
criticism of the government. All journalists practiced self-censorship 
due to fear of government reprisal.
    The government attempted to impede criticism and took reprisals 
against persons who criticized government officials or policies. During 
the year persons were arrested for publicly complaining about poverty. 
The government monitored meetings within the country and abroad. The 
government also continued to forbid free speech. In an October 
interview with Reuters, the president stated that he would not allow 
independent media to operate in Eritrea.
    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, individuals were permitted to purchase satellite 
dishes and subscribe to international media. The government had to 
approve 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 government also required diplomatic missions 
to submit all press releases for approval before their publication in 
the government media.
    Unlike in 2008, the government permitted only one reporter 
representing a foreign news organization, Reuters, to operate in the 
country; however, the government did not grant permission for the 
reporter to travel outside the capital. In February 2008 the government 
created administrative obstacles for the Agence-France Presse (AFP) 
international journalist resulting in his forced departure. AFP had not 
been allowed to return to the country since. The president occasionally 
conducted interviews with foreign news agencies invited specifically 
for the interview.
    The Swedish reporter who was held by the government for nearly four 
years, released for medical treatment in 2005, and detained again a few 
days later, remained in detention without charge at year's end. 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.
    Journalists were often subject to arrest, harassment, intimidation, 
and violence. For example, in January the government conducted a raid 
on Radio Bana, one of three government-owned radio stations, and 
arrested all employees present, including one foreign journalist who 
was later released. It was unclear how many employees of Radio Bana 
remained in detention at year's end.
    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. In both its report to the UN during its 
Universal Periodic Review and in interviews, the government repeatedly 
implied that national security concerns were at the root of suppressing 
free speech and criticism.
    According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 30 journalists and 
two media workers remained in detention at year's end, including Eri-TV 
journalists Ahmed ``Bahja'' Idris, Johnny Hisabu, Senait Tesfay, Fathia 
Khaled, and Amir Ibrahim; Radio Dimtsi Hafash employees Daniel Mussie 
and Temesghen Abay; and Yemane Haile of the Eritrean News Agency. All 
those detained, except Hisabu, who was held in a detention center in 
Barentu, were reportedly held in a police-run complex in Asmara known 
as Agip. Included among the 30 were at least 15 local journalists who 
were arrested in 2001 for political reasons.
    Some of the nine Ministry of Information journalists arrested in 
2006 were released in 2007, and others remained in detention at year's 
end.
    Radio stations opposed to the government were founded by former 
journalists who fled the country during the 2001 crackdown. For 
example, Radio Assenna, created during the year, was founded in Europe 
by two former Eri-TV broadcasters.

    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, either directly or through high-ranking PFDJ party members, by 
the government.
    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.
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 1.8 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government restricted 
academic freedom, including restricting or censoring course content or 
curriculum, censuring or sanctioning academic personnel for their 
teachings, writing, or research, restricting academic travel or contact 
with other academics at home and abroad, intimidating academics into 
practicing self-censorship, and influencing academic appointments based 
on political affiliation.
    In 2002 the government reorganized the University of Asmara, which 
effectively shut down the university's undergraduate programs. As a 
result, prospective students were not allowed to enroll in the 
university and instead were directed by the government to attend the 
Mai Nafhi Technical Institute. Students finishing high school were not 
permitted to choose their next course of study and were assigned to 
specific vocational programs based on their performance on the 
matriculation exam, but only those students completing military 
training at Sawa or receiving a medical waiver were allowed to take the 
exam. A few graduate-level programs remained at the university; 
however, the law school was effectively closed, as new students were 
not permitted to enroll.
    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.
    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.

    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 gatherings of more than three persons, the 
government required those assembling to obtain a permit, although this 
requirement was enforced sporadically.
    There were no demonstrations during the year; the populace remained 
intimidated by the government.
    During the year security forces disrupted public meetings 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.--The law and unimplemented constitution 
provide for freedom of religion; however, the government restricted 
this right in practice. Only the four religious groups whose 
registrations had been approved by the government (Orthodox Christian, 
Muslim, Catholic, and Lutheran) were allowed to meet legally during the 
year. Security forces continued to abuse, arrest, detain, and torture 
members of nonregistered churches; at times such abuse resulted in 
death.
    During the year there continued to be reports that security forces 
used extreme physical abuse such as bondage, heat exposure, and 
beatings to punish those detained for their religious beliefs. Numerous 
detainees were reportedly required to sign statements repudiating their 
faith or agreeing not to practice it as a condition for release. There 
also continued to be reports that relatives were asked to sign for 
detainees who refused to sign such documents.
    Authorities continued to detain, harass, and abuse hundreds of 
followers of various unregistered churches (mostly Protestant) during 
the year. Many of those detained were held in military prisons for not 
having performed required national military service. Some were held for 
refusing to belong to a specific religious group. Several pastors and 
dozens of women were among the imprisoned. Several were released after 
recanting their faith; however, many refused to recant and continued to 
be detained in civilian and military detention facilities across the 
country. While some were detained for short periods of time and 
released, approximately 3,000 individuals remained in detention at 
year's end because of their religious affiliation, according to the NGO 
Compass Direct.
    The government also continued to harass, detain, and discriminate 
against Jehovah's Witnesses because of their refusal, on religious 
grounds, to vote in the independence referendum and the refusal of some 
to perform military duty. This discrimination persisted even though 
Jehovah's Witnesses stated a willingness to perform nonmilitary 
national service, such as working in hospitals.
    Although members of several religious groups, including Muslims, 
reportedly were imprisoned in past years for failure to participate in 
national military service, the government singled out Jehovah's 
Witnesses for harsher treatment than that received by followers of 
other faiths for similar actions. In the past the government dismissed 
members of Jehovah's Witnesses from the civil service, and many were 
evicted from, or not allowed to occupy, government housing. Members of 
Jehovah's Witnesses frequently were denied passports and exit visas, 
and some had their identity cards revoked or did not receive them at 
all.
    During the year the government arrested the wives and daughters of 
male members of Jehovah's Witnesses arrested in 2008; the practice 
sometimes resulted in the incarceration of entire families. An 
estimated 65 members of Jehovah's Witnesses were detained at year's 
end.
    In January security forces arrested 30 young Muslims in Asmara 
believed to be influential in their communities; the 30, who were 
charged with ``radicalism,'' were released in July and ordered to shave 
their beards.
    The government also continued to monitor, harass, threaten, and 
arrest members of the four ``compliant'' religious groups (Faith 
Mission Church, Seventh-day Adventists, Baha'i Faith, and the Mehrete 
Yesus Evangelical Church), whose religious services it had not 
approved.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases: the arrest 
of 19 members of Jehovah's Witnesses; the December arrest of more than 
17 leaders of ``noncompliant'' religious groups; the November arrests 
of more than 100 evangelical Christians; and the October detention of 
military trainees who protested the government's confiscation and 
burning of Bibles. It was unknown how many continued to be detained. It 
was unknown if the practice of burning Bibles from incoming military 
trainees continued as in previous years.
    In May 2008 the government issued religious officials from the four 
recognized religious groups a set number of identity cards and exempted 
them from military service requirements. Officials who were not awarded 
a card were told to report immediately for military training. No such 
exemptions were provided during the year.
    In 2008 there were reports of government officials, including the 
Eritrean ambassador to Kenya, Saleh Omer, being complicit in the 
physical abuse and torture of an Eritrean religious official in 
Nairobi. Ambassador Saleh Omer was also reportedly responsible for 
threatening church members and seizing church funds. There were 
additional reports of the government being responsible for the deposing 
of three former Orthodox priests in Nairobi.
    The government effectively remained in charge of the Eritrean 
Orthodox Church. In 2006 the Holy Synod, under government pressure, 
deposed Patriarch Abune Antonios of the Eritrean Orthodox Church on 
charges that he had committed heresy and was no longer following church 
doctrine. The synod selected a new patriarch, Dioscoros. Deposed 
Patriarch Antonios remained under house arrest and at year's end 
continued to challenge the selection of Patriarch Dioscoros. The lay 
administrator appointed by the government in 2005 remained the de facto 
head of the church; the administrator was neither a member of the 
clergy nor an appointee of the patriarch, as required by the 
constitution of the Eritrean Orthodox Church.
    The government continued to take possession of the weekly offerings 
given by parishioners to the Orthodox Church. The government-appointed 
lay administrator of the Orthodox Church claimed that the government 
used the money from the offerings to pay priests and provide alms for 
the poor.
    The government prohibited political activity by religious groups 
and faith-based NGOs. The government's Office of Religious Affairs 
monitored compliance with this proscription. The government also 
encouraged discrimination against the nonapproved religious groups, 
reportedly distributing a memo in October 2008 discouraging 
neighborhoods from allowing these groups to use burial plots.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were negative societal 
attitudes toward members of nonregistered religious organizations. Some 
citizens approved of the strict official measures levied against 
unsanctioned churches, especially Pentecostal groups and Jehovah's 
Witnesses.
    There was a very small Jewish population; there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection or 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law and unimplemented 
constitution provide for freedom of movement, foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation; however, the government restricted some 
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 with the 
UNHCR to provide protection and assistance to approximately 4,300 
Somali and 100 Sudanese 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 this issue.
    While citizens could generally travel freely within the country and 
change their places of residence, the government restricted travel to 
some areas within the country, particularly along the borders with 
Sudan and Ethiopia. The government continually modified its 
requirements to obtain passports and exit visas, sometimes suspending 
passport or exit visa services without prior warning. 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 roadblocks in Asmara 
and on roads between cities to find draft evaders and deserters. Police 
also stopped persons on the street and forcibly 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 up to the age of 54, regardless of whether they had 
completed national service; women under the age of 47; members of 
Jehovah's Witnesses; 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 and older. The government also 
refused to issue exit visas to children, some as young as five years of 
age, either on the grounds that they were approaching the age of 
eligibility for national service or because their expatriate parents 
had not paid the 2 percent income tax required of all citizens residing 
abroad. Some citizens were given exit visas only after posting bonds of 
approximately 150,000 nakfa ($10,000).
    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. 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 cutting off fuel supplies 
(see section 5.)
    The law has no provisions concerning exile.
    The government does not recognize dual citizenship; therefore, all 
persons of Eritrean descent are citizens. In general citizens had the 
right to return; however, citizens 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.
    In August the government halted its repatriation program with the 
ICRC, preventing the repatriation of thousands of Ethiopians. In 2008 
the government, in conjunction with the ICRC, repatriated 1,714 
Ethiopians; and 52 citizens were repatriated from Ethiopia.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--During 2008 almost all of the IDPs 
from the conflict with Ethiopia were permanently resettled, although 
1,800 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 was not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and 
was 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. The government 
provided temporary protection to approximately 135 persons from Sudan 
and 4,300 persons from Somalia 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 reportedly were harassed by 
government officials.
    The government required noncitizens to pay an annual fee for a 
residency card; there was no discrimination regarding nationality. 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. All 
Ethiopians who were rounded up were released approximately one month 
after Liberation Day.

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 was 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. During the year 
the government continued to call individuals who created or were 
involved in such parties traitors, rapists, pedophiles, and 
traffickers.
    Women held four ministerial positions in the government: justice, 
labor and human welfare, tourism, and health. Women also served in 
other senior government positions, such as mayors and regional 
administrators.
    There was no information on whether 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
    The law does not provide criminal penalties for official 
corruption; however, the government often arrested many individuals it 
unofficially charged with corruption. Those arrested under these 
charges were never tried in court. The World Bank's 2008 governance 
indicators reflected that corruption was a problem.
    There were reports of petty corruption within the executive branch, 
largely based on family connections. Judicial corruption was a problem. 
There were allegations of corruption among military leaders involving 
illicit trade, the appropriation of houses, and the black market 
selling of goods such as diesel and cement. Corruption was rife in the 
passport office, and individuals requesting exit visas or passports had 
to pay bribes.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws, and 
there was no government agency responsible for combating government 
corruption.
    In the past the government seized successful private companies and 
turned them over to the party or to the government. Individuals were 
not compensated for these seizures. During the year the government also 
seized crops and other foodstuffs from individuals and turned them over 
to the ruling party.
    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 four international 
humanitarian NGOs (Oxfam, Lutheran World Federation, Catholic Relief 
Services, and Norwegian Church Aid) operated in the country; the 
government interfered with and restricted their work. Catholic Relief 
Services began the process of shutting down its office during the year 
after receiving notification it was not in compliance with government 
regulations.
    The government allowed three ruling party-aligned domestic rights 
NGOs--Citizens for Peace in Eritrea, Eritrean War Disabled Fighters 
Association, and Vision Eritrea, Inc.--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 ($2 
million) in a local bank. Many failed to receive government approval 
under the registration process and were required to leave the country.
    In 2008 the international NGOs CARE and Dutch Interchurch Aid 
closed operations and departed the country, citing obstruction and 
government harassment. In 2006 the government asked five NGOs--Mercy 
Corps, ACCORD, Samaritan's Purse, International Rescue Committee, and 
Concern--to close operations and depart the country, which they did.
    In previous years the government permitted only the ICRC to operate 
effectively, although it limited ICRC operations to repatriation, 
providing shelter to approximately 500 families displaced by the 
conflict with Ethiopia, visiting prisons and detention centers where 
Ethiopians were held, and providing assistance to IDPs. However, during 
the year the government severely restricted ICRC operations and 
prevented the organization from repatriating Ethiopians to Ethiopia and 
from monitoring the conditions of Ethiopian prisoners of war.
    Of the dozens of NGO employees rounded up and detained by the 
government during August 2008 raids on NGO compounds, at least a half 
dozen remained in detention.
    In 2008 the government cut off diesel 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, and supplemental feeding 
and hospital feeding programs continued 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. The 
status of school feeding programs was unknown at year's end. The WFP 
maintained an office but did not have any programs operating in 
country. UNICEF funded several feeding programs through the Ministry of 
Education. However, several UN organizations and NGOs cited 
malnutrition as an increasing concern, one 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 prohibits discrimination 
against women, persons with disabilities, and discrimination based on 
race, language, and social status, and the government generally 
enforced these provisions; however, during the year the government 
provided privilege to former ``revolutionary fighters'' and granted 
them access to business opportunities, trade imports, and expropriated 
property from non-fighters.

    Women.--Rape is a crime punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment, 
while gang rape or 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. It was unclear whether spousal rape is illegal. No 
information was available on the prevalence of rape. Authorities often 
responded to reports of rape by encouraging the perpetrator to marry 
the victim.
    Violence against women was pervasive. 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.
    Prostitution is illegal but was a serious problem. Security forces 
occasionally followed women engaged in prostitution and arrested those 
who had spent the night with a foreigner.
    Sexual harassment is illegal; however, cultural norms prevented 
women from reporting these types of 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.
    The government provided access to contraception and equal access to 
treatment and diagnosis for sexually transmitted diseases, including 
HIV/AIDS.
    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 women from 18 to 47 years of age 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 National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW), Ministry of Labor and 
Human Welfare, and Ministry of Health were the primary government 
offices responsible for ensuring legal rights of women. Economic 
discrimination against women was not a problem, despite the social 
discrepancies.

    Children.--Citizenship was derived from one's parents and from 
obtaining a national identity card. It was possible to be born abroad 
to Eritrean parents without being a citizen simply by not applying for 
a national identity card. There were no known instances of someone 
being born to Eritrean parents in country and not having obtained 
citizenship.
    Education through grade seven is compulsory and tuition free; 
however, students were responsible for uniforms, supplies, and 
transportation, which was 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 school at a location adjacent to the Sawa 
military training facility 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 boarding school, security 
concerns, and societal attitudes reportedly resulted in many female 
students not enrolling for their final year; 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.
    Boys and girls had equal access to state provided medical care.
    There are no laws against child abuse and no government programs to 
combat the problem. Physical punishment was widespread and socially 
accepted.
    An estimated 94 percent of girls had undergone FGM. Almost all 
ethnic and religious groups in the country practiced FGM, despite 
extensive government efforts to curb the practice. 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, 
although religious entities may bless marriages at younger ages. UNICEF 
reported that 46 percent girls were married before 18 years of age.
    There were no known instances of children engaged in prostitution 
for survival with or without third party involvement. The law 
criminalizes child prostitution, pornography, and sexual exploitation; 
however, there were reports that it occurred.
    All students spend their final year of high school at the military 
training 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 or older, although a fair percentage were as young as 16. 
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, children under the age of 18 have 
been conscripted in rare instances. 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 was larger than the impact of programs provided by UNICEF.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law and unimplemented constitution 
prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were no reports that persons 
were trafficked to, from, or within the country by outside groups or 
individuals. However, the government's mandatory national service 
program required citizens to work for indefinite periods of time 
without promotion or freedom of movement and with inadequate pay (see 
section 7.c.). Thousands of citizens fled during the year to avoid 
national service.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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, and 
there were no reports of discrimination in practice. 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 west. Societal abuse of 
Ethiopians occurred, but there were fewer reports of such abuse than in 
the previous year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality is illegal, and 
homosexual persons faced severe societal discrimination. The government 
accused foreign governments of promoting the practice to undermine the 
government. There were no known official discriminatory practices 
against civilians, although there were uncorroborated reports that 
known homosexual persons in the military were subjected to severe 
abuse. There were no known lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
organizations in country.

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, military, 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. The government did not encourage the formation of 
independent unions by employees of 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.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and collective 
bargaining is allowed. In practice all unions were subservient to the 
government, which set wages for union workers, employees of PFDJ-owned 
enterprises, and government employees. 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, particularly in national service program.
    The government required all men between the ages of 18 and 54 and 
women between the ages of 18 and 47 to participate in the national 
service program, 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 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 the undemarcated border with Ethiopia. 
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 and beyond 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.

    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. 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, fetching firewood and water, and herding 
livestock, among other activities. In urban areas children could be 
seen in auto mechanic outfits 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. 
There were no known instances of forced child labor.
    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/goods via donkey carts. 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 
included government preschool services in rural and urban areas and 
academic and vocational training.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage in the civil 
service sector of 360 nakfa ($24) per month did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. Most persons in national 
service and 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 no known discrimination against foreign 
or migrant workers, although Ethiopians stated it was difficult to find 
work and believed they faced discrimination.

                               __________

                                ETHIOPIA

    Ethiopia is a federal republic led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi 
and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) 
coalition. The population is estimated at 77 million. In the 2005 
parliamentary elections, the EPRDF won a majority of seats to remain 
the ruling party for a third consecutive five-year term. In local and 
by-elections held in April 2008, the EPRDF and allied parties took 
virtually all of the more than three million open seats contested 
nationwide. Prior to the vote, ruling coalition agents and supporters 
used coercive tactics and manipulation of the electoral process, 
including intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters. 
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, nationalist, insurgent 
movement operating in the Somali Region, resulted in continued 
allegations of human rights abuses, particularly diversion of food aid 
from intended beneficiaries suffering from a severe drought. While 
civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces, there were numerous instances in which elements within 
those forces acted independently of government authority.
    Human rights abuses reported during the year included unlawful 
killings, torture, beating, abuse and mistreatment of detainees and 
opposition supporters by security forces, often acting with evident 
impunity; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, 
particularly of suspected sympathizers or members of opposition or 
insurgent groups; police, administrative and judicial corruption; 
detention without charge and lengthy pretrial detention; infringement 
on citizens' privacy rights, including illegal searches; use of 
excessive force by security services in an internal conflict and 
counterinsurgency operations; restrictions on freedom of the press; 
arrest, detention, and harassment of journalists; restrictions on 
freedom of assembly and association; 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; and 
government interference in union activities, including harassment of 
union leaders.

                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS


Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Security forces 
committed arbitrary and politically motivated killings during the year.
    Government forces, including militias, and armed elements of the 
ONLF were responsible for targeted killings in the Somali region during 
the year (see section 1.g.).
    On January 7, local police shot and killed Debasu Yengusie Mengesha 
and teacher Gobeze Wudu, residents of Yetnora kebele (neighborhood) in 
the Amhara Region while they were leaving a bar. The perpetrators were 
detained and remained under investigation at year's end.
    On February 25, students at Gedo Secondary School (West Shoa Zone, 
Oromiya region) found a flier containing hateful remarks about Oromos. 
When the school principal delayed in investigating the case, Oromo 
students refused to attend classes and demonstrated inside the school 
compound. The principal called local police, who ordered students to 
disperse. When they refused, police shot and killed Wendimu Damena, a 
19-year-old student. Another student, 20-year-old Belay Motuma, was 
shot in the chest and remained hospitalized at year's end. Two 
students, Berecha Folesa and Tamari Melaku Weyesa, were arrested during 
the demonstration and were released on bail on March 9. On March 17, 
six school administration employees and one agricultural bureau 
employee, all of whom were opposition Oromo People's Congress (OPC) 
candidates in the 2008 local elections, were arrested and charged with 
inciting violence. The case remained pending at year's end.
    In October 2008 local police and militia in Zeba kebele (Dejen 
woreda, East Gojam zone, Amhara Region) shot and killed three 
brothers--Yayeh Yirad Assefa, Negusu Assefa, and Temesgen Assefa. The 
brothers were reportedly suspected of killing a militiaman from Najima 
kebele on the same date. There was no official investigation into the 
incident.
    There were no developments in the July 2008 killing of opposition 
political party All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP) supporter Aschalew 
Taye.
    In 2007 Welelaw Muche, a supporter of the former opposition party 
Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) in Enamrit town (West Gojjam 
zone, Mecha woreda, Amhara region) was shot and killed, reportedly by a 
government militiaman. On May 6, a government newspaper acknowledged 
the death but said that the killer remained unknown.
    According to a May government report, Tamene Tadesse, Gue town 
security chief, was charged with use of excessive force and was 
sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2007 fatal shootings of two 
students in Gue town (Oromiya region).
    There were no developments in any cases of other 2007 killings.
    Addis Ababa and other areas experienced bombings that killed 
civilians during the year. Although no one claimed responsibility, the 
government charged the bombings were the work of insurgent groups or 
agents of Eritrea. On April 14, a land mine exploded in the Danakil 
Depression area of the Afar Region, killing two persons and wounding 
two. The government claimed the South Red Sea Rebel Liberation Front 
was responsible, although this remained unconfirmed.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 bombing cases: the 
Humera public bus bombing; the Humera school explosion; the Addis Ababa 
gas station bombing; the minibus bombing allegedly committed by the 
Oromo Liberation Front (OLF); the bombing of two hotels in Negele 
Borena, Oromiya region; the Merkato bombing; and the Jijiga hotel 
bombing.
    On December 15, two hand grenades thrown into a crowded cafe in 
Kebri Dehar town, Somali region, killed one woman and wounded nine. The 
government claimed the perpetrators were four Eritreans supporting the 
rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front. Perpetrators are in police 
custody pending investigation.
    Clashes between ethnic clans during the year resulted in hundreds 
of deaths (see section 6).

    b. Disappearance.--There were reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    In February 2008, Alexander Gebre Meskel, a 40-year-old resident of 
Kirkos subcity, Addis Ababa, disappeared. He previously reported to his 
family that he was being followed by security forces. His whereabouts 
remained unknown at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2008 disappearances of Ethiopian 
Teacher's Association members Tilahun Ayalew and Anteneh Getnet.
    There were no developments in the following reported 2007 
disappearances: Yohannes Woldu Girma Tesfaye Ayana, Befekadu Bulti 
Merri, Mulatu Gebremichel, Ismail Blatta, Daniel Worku, and Amha Yirga.

    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 numerous credible reports that 
security officials tortured, beat, and mistreated detainees. Opposition 
political party leaders reported frequent and systematic abuse and 
intimidation of their supporters by police and regional militias.
    Numerous reliable sources confirmed that in Maekelawi, the central 
police investigation headquarters in Addis Ababa, police investigators 
often used physical abuse to extract confessions. Several political 
prisoners who were held at Maekelawi and other nontraditional detention 
facilities independently alleged in 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. 
Abuses reportedly include being blindfolded and hung by the wrists for 
several hours, bound by chains and beaten, held in solitary confinement 
for several days to weeks or months, subjected to mental torture such 
as harassment and humiliation, forced to stand for more than 16 hours, 
and having heavy objects hung from the genitalia. The government 
generally denied reports of torture in detention centers and did not 
respond to specific reports of abuse.
    Several of the defendants in the Ginbot Seven trial, who were 
arrested on April 24 and charged with attempting to engage in terrorist 
activities, reported harsh physical abuse and torture during pretrial 
interrogations. On November 13, defendants reported to the court that 
they were tortured by prison guards. A government spokesman denied the 
allegations. In December the Federal High Court convicted 40 
defendants, pronouncing death sentences on Berhanu Nega, Muluneh Eyoel, 
Andargachew Tsige), Mesfin Aman (all charged in absentia), and Melaku 
Teferra.
    The court pronounced life sentences on 33 convicted defendants: 
Alehubel Amare (charged in abstentia); Yaregal Yimam (charged in 
abstentia); Dan (full name not available; charged in abstentia); Aweke 
Afewerk (charged in abstentia); Dereje Habtewold (charged in 
abstentia); Daniel Assefa (charged in abstentia); Chekol Getahun 
(charged in abstentia); Efrem Madebo (charged in abstentia); Fasil 
Yenealem (charged in abstentia) Brigadier General Teferra Mamo; Asamnew 
Tsige; Tsige Habtemaryam; Mengistu Abebe; Lt. Col. Solomon Ashagre; Lt. 
Col. Alemu Getenet; Major Mesekere Kassa; Lt. Col. Getachew Berele; 
Captain Temesgen Bayleyegn; Getu Worku; Lt. Col. Fantahun Muhaba; Lt. 
Col. Abere Asefa; Major Misganaw Tessema; Yeshiwas Mengesha; Emawayish 
Alemu; Lt. Col. Demsew Anteneh; Yeshiwas Mitiku; Gobena Belay; Amerar 
Bayabil; Goshirad Tsegaw; Wudneh Temesgen; Yibeltal Birhanu; Major 
Mekonen Worku; Kifle Sinshaw.
    The court sentenced two convicted defendants--Major Adugna 
Alemayehu and Major Adefris Asaminew--who had pled guilty to 10 years 
in a maximum security prison and deprivation of civil rights for four 
years.
    There were no developments in the February 2008 beating of Gelaye 
Tadele while in local police custody in Arba Minch town of the Southern 
Nations region.
    There were no developments in the 2007 case of Ayena Cheri, who was 
arrested on suspicion of being a member of the OLF and who has alleged 
repeated severe beatings while in detention.
    Nine of the 37 CUD members arrested and tortured in 2006 remained 
in prison at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The country has three 
federal and 117 regional prisons. There are several unofficial 
detention centers operating throughout the country, including in 
Dedessa, Bir Sheleko, Tolay, Hormat, Blate, Tatek, Jijiga, Holeta, and 
Senkele. Most are located at military camps and were allegedly used as 
overflow detention centers following mass arrests.
    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 ($0.60) 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.
    While statistics were unavailable, there were some deaths in prison 
due to illness and poor health care. Prison officials were not 
forthcoming about reports of such deaths. Several pardoned political 
prisoners had serious health problems in detention but received little 
treatment. In Shashamene Correctional Facility, four inmates died 
during an epidemic in 2008 due to lack of medical attention, according 
to a report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
    In December 2008 the EHRC reported there were 80,974 persons in 
prison, of whom 2,123 were women and 487 were children detained with 
their mothers. Juveniles were often incarcerated with adults, sometimes 
with adults who were awaiting execution. Men and women prisoners were 
generally, but not always, separated. Authorities generally permitted 
visitors but sometimes arbitrarily denied visit requests. In some cases 
family visits to political prisoners were restricted to a few per year. 
Pretrial detainees were often held together with convicted prisoners.
    During the year the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
visited regional prisons only but remained barred from visiting any 
sites in the Somali region. The government continued to prevent ICRC 
representatives from visiting police stations and federal prisons 
throughout the country including those where opposition, civil society, 
and media leaders were held. Regional authorities allowed the ICRC to 
meet regularly with prisoners without third parties being present. The 
ICRC also continued to visit civilian Eritrean nationals and local 
citizens of Eritrean origin detained on alleged national security 
grounds.
    The local nongovernmental (NGO) Prison Fellowship Ethiopia (JFA-
PFE) was granted access to various prison and detention facilities, 
including federal prisons. JFA-PFE operated a ``model'' prison in Adama 
with significantly better conditions compared with other prisons. JFA-
PFE reported that the government was supportive of their efforts. The 
government also periodically granted diplomatic missions access to 
regional prisons and prison officials, subject to advance notification.
    During the year the government established regional ``Justice 
Forums'' throughout the country to improve coordination among the 
Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Regional Security, and the Prison 
Administration. The government increased the budget allocated for 
constructing new prisons to alleviate overcrowding.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Although the constitution and 
law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the government frequently 
did not observe these provisions in practice.

    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 is loose in 
practice. Local militias also operated as local security forces largely 
independent of the police and military. Corruption remained a problem, 
particularly among traffic police who routinely solicited bribes. 
Impunity also 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 detentions and beatings of civilians. The federal police 
acknowledged that many of its members as well as regional police lacked 
professionalism. In July the Addis Ababa Police Commission fired 444 
staff members, including high-ranking officials, for involvement in 
serious crimes including armed robbery, rape, and theft. There were no 
prosecutions of those dismissed.
    The government continued efforts to train police and army recruits 
in human rights. During the year the government continued to seek 
assistance from the ICRC, JFA-PFE, and 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. JFA-PFE conducted human rights training for 
police commissioners and members of the militia.

    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 law requires detainees to be brought to court and charged within 48 
hours, this generally was not respected in practice. While there was a 
functioning bail system, it was not available in murder, treason, and 
corruption cases. In most cases authorities set bail between 500 and 
10,000 birr ($40 and $800), 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 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 pretrial detention, authorities allowed such detainees little or no 
contact with legal counsel. Police continued to enter private 
residences and arrest individuals without warrants (see section 1.f.). 
Opposition party members consistently and credibly reported that in 
small towns, authorities detained persons in police stations for long 
periods without charge or access to a judge, and that sometimes these 
persons' whereabouts were unknown for several months. Opposition 
parties registered many complaints during the year that government 
militias beat and detained their supporters.
    On April 24, security officials detained 32 persons allegedly 
affiliated with Ginbot Seven, an external opposition group, for their 
suspected involvement in a terrorist assassination plot. Those charged 
included several current and retired army officers, including two 
generals, along with senior opposition political figures. Those 
detained were held for more than a month without charges while police 
gathered evidence, during which time family members were not informed 
of their whereabouts. The detainees were denied pretrial access to 
legal counsel, and several alleged mistreatment while in detention. On 
August 6, the Federal High Court found 13 other defendants guilty in 
absentia, one not guilty in absentia, and the 32 who were detained were 
ordered to present their defense cases. Of the 32, the court acquitted 
five defendants on November 19. On December 22, the court sentenced 40 
Ginbot Seven defendants: five to death, 33 to life terms, and two to 10 
years' imprisonment.
    On May 27, customs authorites detained Ethiopian Human Rights 
Council (EHRCO) chairman and prominent human rights lawyer Abebe Worke 
and Voice Of America (VOA) reporter Meleskachew Amha for allegedly 
attempting to illegally sell imported duty-free publishing equipment 
that belonged to Addis Broadcasting Company (ABC), 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 for fear of 
persecution. 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 ($112,000).
    ABC General Manager Amelework Tadesse and three others were 
arrested on the same date. Amelework was charged with attempting to 
illegally sell duty-free equipment to a third party. The other cases 
were dropped due to lack of evidence. Amelework's case was pending at 
year's end.
    On June 1, Werebabo woreda, Bistima, town officials (South Wollo 
zone, Amhara region) arrested EHRCO investigator Mulugeta Fentaw. 
Mulugeta was returning home after investigating alleged cases of 
harassment of opposition political party Unity for Democracy and 
Justice (UDJ) members in Bistima town. While waiting at a bus stop, 
Werebabo woreda Security Chief Makonnen Hussein confiscated Mulugeta's 
notebook, which contained sensitive summaries of his interviews. 
Immediately thereafter, police accused Mulugeta of stealing 2,000 birr 
($160) and arrested him. At the police station he was searched, and 
when police found only 200 birr ($16) in his possession, they modified 
the charge to claim that he stole only 200 birr ($16). Mulugeta was 
arrested and jailed for three days. He was brought to the woreda court 
on June 3, where he was 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.
    One of Mulugeta's defense witnesses, Alemu Abaineh, was arrested a 
couple of days after testifying in court. He was accused of stealing 
and carrying 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.
    According to government reports, of those opposition AEUP members 
arrested at a Chendiba wedding in 2008, Wagnew Tadesse, Demissie 
Yehualla, Kolagie Jegne, Teffera Akemu, and Setegne Tadege were 
released, while Mekuanent Seneshaw, Alehegne Mekuanent, Kifle Tadege, 
and Endale Tadege remained in prison at year's end, charged with 
holding an illegal political gathering in the form of a wedding.
    There were no developments in the 2007 case in which Kenyan 
authorities turned over to the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) 
150 suspected fighters in Somalia, at least 10 of whom remained in ENDF 
custody.
    In October 2008 officials arrested at least 53 ethnic Oromos 
(possibly as many as 200) for alleged support of the banned OLF. Of the 
53 persons arrested, 38 were released, and the cases of the remaining 
15 were pending at year's end.
    In 2007 security forces arrested approximately 450 individuals, 
many of whom were opposition party members, suspected of supporting the 
OLF or carrying out terrorist activity. Of the 148 who remained in jail 
at the end of 2008, 35 were sentenced during the year to four to 14 
years' imprisonment, while the remaining 113 were released.
    Following a 2008 investigation on prison conditions, the EHRC 
reported that the overwhelming majority of detainees in prisons were 
held on pending charges. For example, only 10 percent of prisoners in 
Gambella prison had been convicted and 46 percent of those in Addis 
Ababa. Some prisoners reported being detained for several years without 
being charged and without trial. A lack of modern record-keeping 
systems resulted in prisoners sometimes not benefiting from parole and 
not receiving credit for time served.
    In May the director general of the Federal Police reported that 65 
percent of the 45,000 criminal cases filed at the federal first 
instance court in 2008 were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence 
or witnesses.

    Amnesty.--On September 10, regional authorities in the Amhara and 
Oromiya regions granted amnesty to 9,612 prisoners.
    On October 5, the government granted amnesty to 384 prisoners based 
on a recommendation from the National Pardon Board.
    On December 15, the government granted amnesty to 10 leaders and 
members of the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy based on a 
recommendation from the National Pardon Board.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary. Although the civil courts operated with 
independence, the criminal courts remained weak, overburdened, and 
subject to significant political intervention and influence. 
Constitutional interpretation remains solely the responsibility of the 
upper house of parliament, consisting exclusively of ruling party 
members, which also handles judicial appointments and reviews judicial 
conduct. In practice courts have discretion to convict defendants on 
charges not raised by the prosecution.
    The government continued to decentralize and restructure the 
judiciary along federal lines with the establishment of courts at the 
district, zonal, and regional levels. The Federal High Court and the 
Federal Supreme Court heard and adjudicated original and appeal cases 
involving federal law, transregional matters, and national security. 
The regional judiciary was increasingly autonomous.
    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 had not 
begun operation; overall, the federal judicial presence in the regions 
was limited. Because of this, many citizens residing in rural areas did 
not have reasonable access to the federal judicial system at any level 
and were effectively forced to rely on traditional conflict-resolution 
mechanisms such as the Elders' Councils. Several women complained of 
lack of access to free and fair hearings in the traditional justice 
system because they were excluded from participation in the Elders' 
Councils and because there was strong gender discrimination in rural 
areas.
    Some local officials believed they were not accountable to a higher 
authority.
    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 overcrowding, in October the government allocated 147 million 
birr ($11.76 million ) to construct five new courthouses in Addis Ababa 
and Dire Dawa.
    In the country's judicial system, there are federal and regional 
criminal courts. There are federal first instance courts, high courts, 
and the Supreme Court. There are also regional first instance courts 
and high courts. The Supreme Court maintains appellate authority over 
all courts.
    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. Shari'a (Islamic) courts may hear religious and family cases 
involving Muslims. In addition other traditional systems of justice, 
such as Councils of Elders, continued to function. These customary 
courts resolved disputes for the majority of citizens who lived in 
rural areas and generally had little access to formal judicial systems.
    The federal first instance court's seventh criminal branch, 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.
    On July 7, 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.
    Criminal matters related to the military are handled by military 
tribunals. Military tribunals may not try civilians except in cases of 
national security. The military justice system lacked adequately 
trained staff to handle a growing caseload.
    On November 10, the Federal Supreme Court sentenced Judge Girma 
Tiku, former president of the First Instance Court for Urban Affairs of 
Lideta subcity, Addis Ababa, to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of 
1,000 birr ($80) on corruption charges.
    There were no developments in the 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. However, in 
contrast with previous years and in limited cases, closed proceedings 
took place, and at times authorities allowed detainees little or no 
contact with legal counsel The court system does not practice trial by 
juries. In principle those charged have a presumption of innocence 
until proven guilty.
    Judicial inefficiency, lengthy trial delays, and lack of qualified 
staff often resulted in serious delays in trial proceedings. The 
Federal High Court remained open for a month and a half during its 
regular recess period in August and September to try to reduce the 
backlog of cases. The Public Defender's Office provides 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. 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, who was in exile in 
Zimbabwe. According to a May government report, religious leaders 
requested that the government reduce the sentences of former Derg 
officials. The government had not responded at year's end.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Domestic and international NGOs 
estimated there were several hundred political prisoners and detainees. 
There were numerous credible reports of unlawful detention of 
opposition candidates and their supporters.
    In September several opposition party leaders reported an 
intensification of arrests of opposition supporters, especially in the 
Oromiya and Amhara regions. Opposition parties published lists of 
members and supporters arrested in the past three months, including 
more than 360 in the Oromiya region and 230 in the Amhara region.
    On July 4, Nimona Tuffa, a student at Hayume Medical College in 
Ambo and an opposition OPC member, was picked up by Oromiya Regional 
Security officials dressed in civilian clothes in Guder town. Nimona 
reported that security officials, including Head of Security of West 
Shoa Zone Tesfaye Sime, beat him, first in a nearby forest and later at 
the Ambo Oromo People's Democratic Organization (part of the EPRDF 
coalition) office, 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. The case was raised with the 
government, but no action had been taken at year's end.
    In November 2008 Lema Merga, Secretary General of OPC in Southwest 
Shoa zone (Oromiya Region, central Ethiopia), reported he was picked up 
by local security officials from Wolisso town without a warrant and 
transported 54 miles) to Sebeta town, where he was detained. He was 
released on November 21 without ever appearing in court.
    In mid-October 2008 approximately 20 persons, including prominent 
Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) member Makonnin Dheressa, 
were arrested and placed under the custody of the Federal Army at the 
Army Camp in Dembe Dollo. All were released before year's end.
    In late October/early November 2008, 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, one of the defendants was found 
not guilty, and the remaining 15 were ordered to present their 
defenses. Their cases remained pending at year's end. For example, OFDM 
secretary general Bekele Jirata was charged with recruiting and 
organizing OLF members, promoting OLF terrorist activities, and 
financially supporting the OLF. Bekele Jirata was released on bail on 
February 4, but his case was pending at the end of the year.
    There was no development in the March 2008 arrest of opposition CUD 
supporter Chaka Robi. He remained in police custody at year's end. No 
charges were known to have been filed.
    Popular singer Tewodros Kassahun (known as Teddy Afro) appealed his 
2006 manslaughter conviction, and the court reduced his sentence from 
six to two years. He was released from prison on August 13. Some of 
Tewodros' songs were critical of the government.
    Opposition UDJ party president Birtukan Mideksa, whose pardon was 
revoked and life sentence reinstated in December 2008, remained in 
prison throughout the year. She was held in solitary confinement until 
June, despite a court ruling that indicated it was a violation of her 
constitutional rights. She was also denied access to visitors except 
for a few close family members, despite a court order granting visitor 
access without restrictions. There were credible reports that 
Birtukan's mental health deteriorated significantly during the year.
    At year's end several hundred other political detainees, including 
CUD, ONLF, and OLF members, remained in prison.
    In 2007 the government pardoned 71 individuals arrested following 
demonstrations in 2005. The pardons permitted the defendants' future 
political participation, but in practice the government continued to 
limit that right.
    Of the 52 individuals arrested in 2006-07 for alleged membership in 
the insurgent Ethiopian Patriotic Front, 48 were sentenced during the 
year to one to 15 years' imprisonment, three died while in prison 
awaiting trial, and one was acquitted.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil courts, which 
provided judicial remedy for alleged wrongs, 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, particularly 
outside Addis Ababa, police often ignored this law. Opposition party 
representatives claimed that police sometimes used fraudulent search 
warrants to enter homes and commit criminal acts, including extorting 
money. There were reports that members of local militias robbed persons 
during the year in locations throughout Oromiya.
    There continued to be reports of police forcibly entering civilian 
homes throughout the year.
    For example, on April 16, Tirch kebele (Dejen woreda, Amahara 
region) and woreda officials searched the house of Waltenegus Abate, 
vice chairman of the AEUP in that woreda, without a warrant. Although 
officials accused him of hiding armaments, none were found. Before 
leaving, local police reportedly beat his seven- and 12-year-old 
daughters while inquiring about his whereabouts and fired shots into 
the air. Waltenegus has been in hiding since May. This incident marked 
the second attack against Waltengus' family. In November 2008 kebele 
officials and woreda police reportedly abducted Waltenegus and tied his 
hands while he was herding cattle, searched his house without a 
warrant, found an AEUP card, beat him with rifle butts, and threatened 
to kill him if he did not stop accusing woreda police of torturing 
persons.
    In July 2008 at 6 p.m., reliable reports established that, police, 
Bahir Dar City Administration, and kebele officials unlawfully searched 
the house of Yeshi Tekle-Giorgis, resident of kebele 13 of Bahir Dar 
town, following a disagreement with her landlord. The officials tried 
to force her to vacate the house, but she told them she could not 
vacate the house so late in the day. One of the police officers grabbed 
her and allegedly tried to strangle her with the scarf she was wearing. 
He then pushed her, and she fell down and fractured her arm. She 
reported the case, but no action was taken against the police officer 
who attacked her.
    In November 2008, police and local militia reportedly searched the 
house of Tiringo Mengist without a warrant, a resident of Tirch kebele 
(Dejen wereda, Amhara region), and accused her of aiding and abetting 
bandits. She denied the accusation, and one of the police officers 
allegedly hit Tiringo with his rifle butt on her side while another 
police officer repeatedly hit her with a club. She reported the abuse 
to a local human rights organization. No action was taken against the 
police officers.
    All but three electronic communications facilities are state owned. 
Political party leaders reported incidents of telephone tapping and 
other electronic eavesdropping. In May a former employee of ETC, the 
state-run monopoly telecom 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.
    Security forces continued to detain family members of persons 
sought for questioning by the government. Kebele officials have been 
reported to go from house to house demanding that residents attend 
ruling coalition meetings. Residents are not arrested or harassed if 
they do not attend party meetings; however, those persons who do not 
attend party meetings reportedly have difficulty obtaining basic public 
services from their kebeles. Reliable reports establish that unemployed 
youth who are not affiliated with the ruling coalition have trouble 
receiving ``support letters'' from their kebeles necessary to get jobs, 
and that unaffiliated poor residents have trouble receiving subsidized 
wheat or other materials.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
During the year fighting continued between government forces, including 
government-backed and -affiliated militia, and the ONLF, an ethnically 
based, nationalist, insurgent movement operating in the Ogaden area of 
the Somali region, triggering widespread allegations of human rights 
abuses by all parties to the conflict. Credible reports of human rights 
abuses continued, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, 
abductions, and arbitrary arrest by government soldiers. 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 low-
intensity armed conflict with the government. The regional conflict in 
Somalia that began in late 2006 spread to the Somali region and, 
allegedly fueled by support from the Eritrean government, resulted in 
greatly increased armed activity by the ONLF, whose members share 
ethnic ties with Somalis. During the year another insurgent group, the 
United Western Somali Liberation Front (UWSLF), had a limited presence 
in the region.
    Since the military began significant counterinsurgency operations 
in the Ogaden region in response to the April 2007 slaying of Chinese 
and domestic oil exploration workers, the government has continued to 
limit the access of diplomats, NGOs, and journalists to the Somali 
region, citing serious security concerns. Human rights groups and 
others asserted that the government denied access to the region to 
prevent potential critics and observers from monitoring ENDF 
operations. The government allowed some humanitarian access but 
restricted the ability to investigate human rights abuses. Reports of 
human rights violations largely have come from interviews with second-
hand sources or alleged victims who have fled the Somali region. NGO 
personnel have been compelled by ENDF and regular police officials to 
report ONLF activity and faced beatings and death threats from these 
entities if they did not comply. Some villagers reported that local 
authorities threatened to retaliate against anyone who reports ENDF 
abuses.
    Reliable sources reported increasingly violent ONLF attacks on 
police and military elements during the year. Civilians, international 
NGOs, and other aid organizations operating in the region reported that 
both the ENDF and the ONLF were responsible for abuses and harsh 
techniques used to intimidate the civilian population. Development 
workers reported being frequently stopped for questioning by the ONLF. 
However, ONLF fighters were reported to be generally supportive of 
development efforts and encouraged development workers to continue 
their work. The UWSLF, in contrast, had a more hostile attitude towards 
development workers.

    Killings.--There were several instances of killings in internal 
conflicts.
    In February government and rebel spokesmen reported that at least 
45 persons were killed in a clash between the ONLF and the ENDF near 
the towns of Fik and Degehebur.
    Credible sources indicated that the Special Police Forces were 
responsible for extrajudicial killings. In early July Special Police 
Forces and ONLF fighters clashed between Degehabur and Kabsidakas, and 
between 40 and 65 Special Police members were killed. The Special 
Police reportedly killed two suspected ONLF members at Degehabur town 
market.
    In early June ONLF fighters attacked an Ethiopian Roads Authority 
team, burning five vehicles and kidnapping 18 workers, of whom 13 were 
later released; there was no information available on the remaining 
five. In a clash on November 10, the ONLF reported that 985 government 
soldiers were killed. The government denied the reports.
    There were no developments in the March 2008 arrests of eight men 
suspected of involvement in the 2007 ONLF attack on a Chinese-run oil 
facility in the Somali region that killed 65 civilians and nine Chinese 
nationals.
    In November 2008 police forces attempted to force villagers from 
Laare and Puldeng villages (Gambella region) 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 conflict resolution approaches facilitated by 
elders were used to resolve the conflict. At year's end the government 
had not responded to ONLF accusations that the ENDF killed 48 civilians 
in Mooyaha village and six civilians in Galashe in the Ogaden region in 
December 2008.

    Abductions.--In September 2008 an unknown armed group kidnapped two 
foreign staff members of the French NGO Medecins du Monde near Shilabo 
town in the Somali region. On August 1, the two staff members were 
released unharmed in Mogadishu.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--International rights 
groups and NGOs reported that alleged unlawful killings, torture, rape, 
abductions, and arbitrary arrests continued in the conflict zone in the 
Ogaden. While there were numerous reports of human rights violations in 
the conflict-affected areas, there were no successful attempts at 
substantiating the reports due to lack of access to the region.
    There were continued reports of violence against women. For 
example, one ethnic Somali woman reported that she was gang-raped by 
five Ethiopian soldiers in January near the town of Fik and that 
Ethiopian troops routinely raped young women in her village.

    Child Soldiers.--During the year the Somali Regional Security and 
Administration Office increased recruitment of Special Police Forces 
and local militias in conflict zones. Both government forces and 
insurgent groups in Degehabur and Fik zones reportedly recruited 
children as young as 14.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--During the year the government 
loosened restrictions on the delivery of food aid from donor 
organizations into the five zones of the Somali region in which 
military activity was the most intense. Approximately 83 percent of 
food aid reached beneficiaries, a significant improvement from the 
previous year. Starting in January a group of international NGOs and 
donors attempted to work with the Somali Regional Government to 
establish standard operating procedures to ensure access to the region, 
but no agreement had been reached by year's end. NGOs operating in the 
region depended on permission from local militia and the ENDF to 
deliver humanitarian assistance. Commercial traffic into these zones 
somewhat increased.
    The government restricted access of NGO workers and journalists to 
affected 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, 
alleging it cooperated with the ONLF. During the year, some 
humanitarian groups reported roadblocks manned by insurgent groups who 
occasionally briefly detained them. These same humanitarian groups 
reportedly were interrogated by the ENDF on their encounters at the 
roadblocks with the insurgents.
    In January 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-CH property 
and vehicle keys in Kebri Dehar, limiting its staff members' movement 
to the town for three weeks. There was no judicial process or charges 
filed in the cases. MSF-NL had partial access to the Ogaden region 
during the year.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--While the constitution and law 
provide for freedom of speech and 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 except three private FM radio 
stations. Private sector and government journalists routinely practiced 
self-censorship.
    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.
    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 operated the sole television station and tightly 
controlled news broadcasts. The broadcasting law prohibits political 
and religious organizations or foreigners from owning broadcast 
stations.
    Foreign journalists and local stringers working for foreign 
publications at times published articles critical of the government but 
were subjected to government pressure to self-censor. 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.
    During the year the government convicted and sentenced journalists 
for articles and reports in their publications. Journalists were 
intimidated, harassed, arrested, and detained on charges of defamation 
and threatening public order.
    On April 16, 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 never disclosed.
    On July 9, unidentified individuals beat Addis Neger journalist 
Abraham Begizew, who was attempting to report on a disagreement within 
the leadership of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC).
    On August 24, Asrat Wedajo, former editor of the now-defunct weekly 
Seife Nebelbal, was convicted in connection with a 2004 story alleging 
human rights violations against ethnic Oromos. The Federal High Court 
sentenced him to one year's imprisonment based on provisions of the 
Press Proclamation of 1992, notwithstanding that a new media law had 
superceded it in December 2008.
    In February 2008 police arrested Al-Quds publisher Maria Kadi 
Abafita, Al-Quds editor in chief Ezeddin Mohammed, and Salafia 
publisher and editor in chief Sheikh Ibrahim Mohammed Ali following 
their publication of articles critical of a Ministry of Education 
directive on religious worship in schools. On July 27, the Federal High 
Court acquitted Maria Kadi Abafita, fined Ezeddin Mohammed 10,000 birr 
($800), and sentenced Ibrahim Mohammed to one year's imprisonment.
    There were no developments in the March 2008 case of Dawit Kebede, 
editor in chief of the weekly Awramba Times, who was accused by the 
National Electoral Board (NEB) of violating the electoral regulations 
by posting an advertisement for his newspaper on a poster promoting 
EPRDF candidates for local elections.
    There were no developments in the May 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 was also charged with threatening public 
order. The magazine continued operating during the year.
    In July the Federal High Court acquitted Addis Neger editor in 
chief Mesfin Negash of the defamation charges against him. In July 2008 
the EOC had sued Mesfin for defamation in connection with the 
newspaper's reporting on an ongoing EOC embezzlement case. There were 
no developments in the August 2008 cases of Dawit Kebede and Wosseneged 
Gebrekidan, charged with inciting the public through false rumors for 
publishing articles about the Ginbot Seven, an opposition political 
group advocating change in the government by any means. Both were 
released on bail.
    In August 2008 two police officers, one from Addis Ababa and the 
other from Gondar, arrested Amare Aregawi, editor in chief of the 
Amharic- and English-language newspaper The Reporter, at his office. 
The arrest was in connection with a private libel suit brought by the 
Gondar-based, ruling-party-owned Dashen Brewery in response to a July 
20 Reporter story on a labor dispute at the brewery. Amare appeared in 
court on September 1 but learned there were no charges against him, and 
the bail money was returned to him. The article's author, Teshome Niku, 
appeared in court on July 30 and was released on bail of 300 birr ($29) 
on August 1. Following his release, Teshome reportedly received 
anonymous, threatening telephone calls and was beaten and intimidated 
by unidentified persons in September 2008. In January a private 
newspaper reported that Teshome fled to Kenya. The Dashen Brewery 
manager filed defamation charges against Amare on August 13. The 
Federal High Court 10th Criminal Bench ordered Amare to defend his 
case. The case continued at year's end.
    In October 2008 Amare Aregawi was attacked by civilian assailants 
in front of his son's school. Three individuals who admitted attacking 
Amare appeared at the Federal High Court and testified that they were 
hired to attack him. Amare reported he suspected he was attacked by 
agents of the government or those acting with government support who 
were threatened by his paper's reporting on corruption. The trial 
continued at year's end.
    Several journalists remained in self-imposed exile, including 
journalists detained following the 2005 elections but released in 2007.
    On September 29, Ethiopian-citizen Washington Post reporter (based 
in Addis Ababa) Kassahun Addis fled the country due to a credible fear 
of persecution.
    In July 2008 the parliament passed the Mass Media and Freedom of 
Information Proclamation, published in the official Negarit Gazette in 
December 2008. 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 crossmedia ownership, 
grants the government unlimited rights to prosecute the media, 
criminalizes defamation of public officials, increases defamation fines 
to 100,000 birr ($8,000), 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 (formerly Ministry of Information--MOI) absolute 
authority to regulate the media.
    The MOI was dissolved in October 2008. The new Communication 
Affairs Office reports directly to the prime minister. The Ethiopian 
Broadcasting Authority (EBA) took over responsibility for press 
registration and oversight from the dissolved MOI. All existing 
newspapers and magazines were required to reregister with the EBA 
during the year.
    In February 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 positions of editor or deputy editor in the 
respective media houses.
    In June 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.
    Regional governments censored the media during the year by 
prohibiting NGOs and health centers from providing information to, or 
allowing photography by, foreigners or journalists about malnutrition 
caused by the drought.
    The government used its licensing authority to indirectly censor 
the media. On June 8, 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 High Court found that granting licenses to these 
individuals would be tantamount to circumventing the 2005 High Court 
ruling ordering the dissolution of the former companies.
    On February 6, the Federal High Court dropped the monetary fines 
levied against the same three publishers in July 2008 for a combined 
amount of 300,000 birr ($24,000) in connection with their papers' 
coverage of the 2005 elections. They appeared in court in December 2008 
and delivered a written petition citing pardon law 395/2004, article 
231/2, which stipulates that pardons granted to persons automatically 
pertain to monetary penalties against them.
    The government owned the only newspaper printing press and used its 
monopoly position, inter alia, to regularly increase costs to 
publishers.
    In June 2008 Ayele Chamisso, chairman of the Coalition for Unity 
and Democracy Party, filed charges against three private newspapers: 
Addis Neger, Awramba Times, and the now-defunct Soressa. Ayele claimed 
that the papers used his party's name for other groups. The editor of 
Awramba Times, Dawit Kebede, appeared in court in November 2008 on 
defamation charges and was released on bail of 2,000 birr ($160). He 
appeared in court again in December 2008. In December Ayele Chamisso 
asked the court to drop the charges against Awramba Times. The cases 
against the other two newspapers were pending at year's end.
    In December Addis Neger, an Addis Ababa-based weekly often critical 
of government policies, ceased publishing following months of 
government harassment. Three staff members of Addis Neger--Abiy Tekle 
Mariam, Mesfin Negash, and Tamirat Negera--fled the country for fear of 
arrest.

    Internet Freedom.--The government restricted access to the Internet 
and blocked opposition Web sites, including the sites of the OLF, ONLF, 
Ginbot Seven, and several news blogs and sites run by opposition 
diaspora groups, such as Nazret, Ethiopian Review, CyberEthiopia, 
Quatero Amharic Magazine, Tensae Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Media 
Forum.
    In early March the government lifted an Internet blockade on all 
Ethiopian news Web sites and opposition Web sites. However, some Web 
sites, including nazret.com, reported being blocked again soon after.
    In August 2008 a release by the NGO Committee to Protect 
Journalists (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 the CPJ was investigating the detention of The 
Reporter editor Amare Aregawi. The Reporter also alleged blocking of 
its Web site for four days during this time. CPJ's Web site was also 
inaccessible at other times during the year.
    As of March the ETC reported 42,707 Internet subscribers. Citizens 
in urban areas had ready access to Internet cafes; however, rural 
access remained extremely limited. Acccording to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, approximately 0.45 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet. Mobile telephone text 
messaging, which restarted in September 2007, remained available. The 
number of mobile telephone subscribers reached 3.3 million.

    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 
discouraged political activity and association of any kind on 
university campuses. Frequent reports continued of uniformed and 
plainclothes police officers on and around university and high school 
campuses. College students were reportedly pressured to pledge 
allegiance to the EPRDF to secure enrollment in universities or 
postgraduation government jobs. Non-EPRDF members were also reportedly 
denied teachers' benefits, transferred to undesirable posts, and 
restricted in 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 elementary and high school teachers from various parts of 
the country complained that the government favored teachers who were 
members of the EPRDF in job assignment, promotion, and professional 
development opportunities. Teachers who were members of, or perceived 
to support, opposition parties--particularly in Oromiya, Tigray, 
Amhara, and the Southern region--reported being harassed and threatened 
by local officials with losing their jobs if they continued such 
support.

    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. The government sometimes issued permits 
to political parties to assemble in halls, but there were several 
complaints that the government threatened hall owners not to rent out 
halls to opposition political parties, effectively preventing them from 
doing so.
    Opposition political parties frequently reported during the year 
that their supporters were targets of frequent and systematic 
harassment and violence by government security forces. Regional 
governments, including the Addis Ababa regional administration, were 
reluctant to grant permits or provide security for large meetings.
    On August 16, 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 
several shouting participants who, according to the UDJ, were an 
organized group of EPRDF supporters. Security guards did not attempt to 
stop the disruption. The meeting was adjourned 15 minutes after it 
began. The minister of communications announced that it was an illegal 
act, and the government would launch an investigation; however, no one 
was held accountable by year's end.
    On August 30, the UDJ successfully held a town hall meeting in 
Awasa, although the local administration forbade the UDJ to publicize 
the event in advance.
    Street demonstrations have been barred since 2005, but on April 16, 
the UDJ held a peaceful public demonstration in Addis Ababa to protest 
the rejailing of its chairperson, Birtukan Mideksa. Municipal 
authorities authorized the demonstration, and local and federal police 
coordinated security.
    There were few attacks by police and militia against demonstrators, 
since not many public assembly permits were issued and illegal 
demonstrations were infrequent.
    There were no developments in the 2008 beatings of Dejen town 
residents who were protesting local officials' stalling of the 
residents' application for use of nearby farmland.
    There were no developments in the 2007 police shooting of two 
demonstrators in Damot Weyde District.

    Freedom of Association.--Although the law provides for freedom of 
association and the right to engage in unrestricted peaceful political 
activity, the government in practice limited this right. Opposition 
parties received no government subsidies for their political activities 
despite laws providing for them.
    In accordance with the Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO 
law), adopted on February 13, civil society organizations (CSOs) are 
required to reregister by February 2010 with the recently established 
Charities and Societies Agency (CSA), under the authority of the MOJ. 
Most observers questioned the newly established CSA's capacity to 
register more than 3,000 CSOs by February 2010.
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) screens applications for 
international NGOs and submits a recommendation to the MOJ whether to 
approve or deny registration.
    The Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) has operated since 1967, 
but in 1993 after the EPRDF took power, 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 August 2008 the original ETA applied to the MOJ 
for registration as the National Teachers Association, but was denied 
registration.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice; however, local authorities and members of society 
occasionally infringed on this right. The EOC and Sufi Islam are the 
dominant religions; 80 percent of the population adhered to one or the 
other faith. Religious organizations, like NGOs, must renew their 
registration with the MOJ every three years. The EOC and the Ethiopian 
Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (EIASC) did not reregister and did not 
face government sanctions, prompting some religious groups to complain 
of a double standard.
    In accordance with the CSO law, religious organizations that 
undertake development activities must register their development wings 
separately as NGOs and follow the strict new guidelines of the CSO law.
    Various religious groups seek the return of real property 
confiscated from them by the government between 1977 and 1991. In Addis 
Ababa and Oromiya, buildings that had been registered under federal 
statutes have been returned; however, structures registered under 
regional statutes were not returned.
    Unlike previous years there were no reports of minority religious 
groups reporting discrimination in the allocation of government land 
for religious sites. Authorities continued to ban Waka-Feta, a 
traditional animist Oromo religious group, because it suspected that 
the group's leaders had close links to the OLF. Protestant groups 
occasionally accused local officials of discriminating against them 
when they sought land for churches and cemeteries. Evangelical leaders 
charged that because authorities perceived them as ``newcomers,'' they 
were at a disadvantage compared with the EOC and the EIASC in the 
allocation of land.
    On June 30, police in Dessie town (northeast Ethiopia) shot and 
killed Mesfin Worku, Dawit Defaru, and Bizuye Hussein, who were among a 
crowd demonstrating after being forced to stop unlawful construction of 
a church at a site that Muslims claimed was their burial ground. 
Several were injured in the ensuing violence. On July 7, the head of 
the Dessie EOC Diocese Aba Gebreselassie was arrested on charges of 
inciting violence. He was released on bail after seven days, and no 
future court appointment had been scheduled. No one was charged in 
connection with the three deaths. Orthodox and Muslim leaders in Dessie 
blamed the government for its nonresponsiveness in resolving the land 
dispute and for conveying conflicting messages to each side.
    In December 2008 police opened fire at a public gathering near a 
church in the southern city of Arba-Minch, wounding three individuals. 
Police were reportedly attempting to disperse a crowd following a 
disagreement between Orthodox priests. No arrests were made by year's 
end.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--In most regions Orthodox 
Christians and Muslims generally respected each other's religious 
observances, and there was tolerance for intermarriage and conversion 
in certain areas. However, there were some highly publicized religious 
conflicts that heightened tensions and precipitated government 
intervention. Some victims in these and other instances of religious 
conflict sought protection from local authorities.
    On January 8-10, a series of localized religious clashes in Dire 
Dawa in the eastern part of the country left one dead and 20 injured. 
In one neighborhood Muslim youth, reportedly angry about Israeli 
attacks on Gaza, threw stones at Christian youth who were singing 
religious songs in the street during the EOC Christmas holiday. 
Christian youth retaliated by throwing stones at Muslims until police 
intervened. These violent clashes spread from one neighborhood to 
another.
    The EIASC continued to express concern over the allegedly 
increasing influence of Saudi-funded entities within the Muslim 
community, which the EIASC blamed for exacerbating tensions between 
Christians and Muslims.
    On February 16-17 and April 23-24, the MFA held forums in each 
regional state, which included representatives from local government, 
security bureaus, and police commissioners, to build interreligious 
understanding and resolve sectarian conflicts.
    The Jewish community numbered approximately 2,000, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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.
    Throughout the year the government severely restricted the movement 
of persons into and within the Ogaden area of the Somali region, 
arguing that its counterinsurgency operation against the ONLF posed a 
security threat (see section 1.g.).
    The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not employ 
it. A steadily increasing number of citizens sought political asylum or 
remained abroad in self-imposed exile, including prominent human rights 
advocates.
    In contrast to the previous year, the ICRC did not assist in the 
repatriation of any Ethiopians from Eritrea or Eritreans from Ethiopia 
because the government of Ethiopia canceled the only repatriation 
operation scheduled during the year. In principle, most Eritreans 
living in Ethiopia and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin who registered 
with the government in 2009 received identity cards and six-month 
renewable residence permits that allowed them to gain access to 
hospitals and other public services.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The conflict between 
government and insurgent forces in the Ogaden area of the Somali region 
resulted in the displacement of thousands of persons (see section 
1.g.). During the year violent clashes between different clans, often 
reflecting competition for scarce resources or disputes over 
territorial boundaries, caused these displacements and resulted in an 
estimated 248,700 IDPs, according to the UN High Commission for 
Refugees (UNHCR), including an estimated 24,000 from the Gambella 
region, 83,000 from Oromiya, and 107,000 from the Somali region. In 
February more than 160,000 persons were displaced by conflict over land 
between the Garre of the Somali region and the Boran of the Oromiya 
region.
    According to a Gambella Regional Government report, the 24,000 IDPs 
in the Gambella region were from Lare, Itang, and Jor woredas. Reasons 
for displacement included an attack by Murle people from across the 
southern Sudanese border and infighting among the Nuer tribe.
    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 is no coordination 
mechanism and no government policy dedicated particularly to IDPs and 
issues related to them. The DRMFSS mandate includes only assistance and 
not protection, return, resettlement, or finding durable solutions, and 
IDP issues are dealt with mostly on an ad hoc basis.
    In July Menit Goldia and Menit Shasha 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 Institution 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 year's end 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 Southern Nations, Nationalities, and 
People's (SNNP) region.

    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 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 Ethiopia.
    In April the government, in cooperation with the UNHCR, opened a 
new refugee camp, Bokolmayo, northwest of the town of Dolo Odo near the 
border with Kenya and Somalia, to accommodate new Somali refugees. The 
capacity of this camp was 20,000 refugees, and it held more than 18,000 
at year's end. Registration of new arrivals in Bokolmayo camp averaged 
1,700 per month. The UNHCR and the government's Administration for 
Refugee/Returnee Affairs also initiated discussions about opening a new 
camp for Somali refugees, to be called Melkadidi, located approximately 
36 miles from Dolo Odo (and 12 miles from Bokolmayo) and with a 
capacity of 20,000 refugees.
    As in the previous year, an average of 800 to 1,000 new Eritrean 
refugees arrived monthly, while approximately 400 to 600 Eritrean 
refugees departed monthly on secondary migration through Egypt and 
Sudan to go to Europe and other final destinations. The UNHCR assisted 
in the reception and transportation back to My Ayni of more than 150 
Eritrean refugees who had been detained in Egypt and deported by the 
Egyptian authorities.
    The government required all refugees to 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. Such 
permission was given primarily to attend higher education institutions, 
undergo medical treatment, or avoid security threats at the camps. 
During the year the government expanded its policy of providing greater 
freedom of movement to some Eritrean refugees with family members 
living outside of the camps. More than 600 urban refugees were 
registered with the UNHCR and the government, most of them from 
Somalia, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    While some conflict continued between ethnic groups in the Gambella 
region, this did not directly interfere with the UNHCR's refugee 
protection activities.
    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 UNHCR processed 764 refugees who departed for 
resettlement abroad. In contrast to last year, interest in Sudanese 
repatriation has waned, and the UNHCR and the government assisted the 
safe, voluntary return of only 942 Sudanese refugees to their homes 
during the year.
    As in 2008, there were no allegations of government cooperation 
with the government of Sudan in the forcible repatriation of Ethiopian 
refugees.
    On December 21, police entered Kebrebeya refugee camp and arrested 
eight refugees. They turned the refugees over to the military who 
transported the individuals to the village of Gilo, more than 18 miles 
away from the camp. The military shot three of those arrested, 
including one minor. The government told the UNHCR that the individuals 
were IDPs, not refugees. When shown proof from the UNHCR database that 
the individuals were indeed registered refugees, the authorities then 
claimed they were Ethiopians posing as refugees. The UNHCR requested an 
investigation into the killings.
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. There were no elections scheduled or conducted 
during the reporting period. In practice the ruling EPRDF and its 
allies dominated the government. In local and by-elections held in 
2008, virtually all of the more than three million seats open at the 
federal and local levels were taken unopposed by the ruling EPRDF and 
allied parties. Prior to the vote, ruling party agents and supporters 
engaged in coercive tactics and manipulation of the electoral process, 
including intimidation of opposition candidates and supporters during 
the period prior to the vote. Citing these obstacles, two leading 
opposition parties withdrew from the elections shortly beforehand.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The constitution provides 
citizens the right to change their government peacefully and to freely 
join a political organization of their choice; however, in practice 
these rights were restricted through bureaucratic obstacles and 
government and ruling party intimidation and arrests.
    The April 2008 local and by-elections were the first nationwide 
elections since the historic 2005 national elections, which ended in 
heavy postelection violence and large-scale arrests. According to 
domestic and international observers, the 2005 elections, in which the 
EPRDF coalition won 372 of 547 seats, generally reflected the will of 
the people and were an important step forward in the country's 
democratization efforts. However, irregularities in 2005 marred polling 
in many areas. For instance, observers reported vote count fraud, 
improper handling of ballot boxes, and barring of party agents from 
polling stations and ballot counts. Observers also reported killings, 
disappearances, voter intimidation and harassment, unlawful detentions 
of opposition party supporters, and bribery. Opposition parties accused 
the NEB of ruling-party bias and of failing to address the complaints 
it received. Following an ad hoc complaints resolution process, the NEB 
decided to hold new elections in 31 constituencies in 2005; however, 
opposition parties boycotted due to perceived flaws in the review 
process.
    Opposition parties made an unexpectedly strong showing in the 2005 
elections, increasing their parliamentary representation from 12 to 172 
seats and earning 137 of 138 Addis Ababa City Council seats. Despite 
this, some opposition members refused to take their seats and instead 
boycotted. Violent antigovernment protests then erupted in November 
2005 and led to a government crackdown including arrests of several 
dozen opposition leaders, journalists, and civil society group members, 
as well as between 30,000 and 50,000 demonstrators. Most prisoners were 
released in three months, but many prominent individuals spent almost 
two years in prison, with an unknown number of individuals still in 
custody at year's end. Military intervention also led to widespread 
abuses such as arbitrary detention and killings.
    In the 2008 local and by-elections polling went smoothly and 
peacefully, and there were no postelection mass arrests or violence, 
unlike in 2005. However, the preelection weeks and months were marred 
by innumerable and credible reports of harassment, intimidation, 
arrests, and killings of opposition party candidates and their 
supporters, and incomplete compliance by the NEB with the Electoral 
Law, prompting some of the major opposition parties such as the United 
Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) and OFDM to boycott the election. 
Ruling party, regional, federal, and NEB officials mostly denied these 
incidents and, with few exceptions, neither rigorously investigated 
such allegations nor otherwise sought to hold perpetrators responsible.
    This climate, along with a dearth of opposition candidates, 
contributed to starkly different election results from those in 2005. 
Of the 3.6 million local and by-election seats open to be contested, 
opposition parties won three: a federal parliament seat, an Addis Ababa 
city council seat, and a Gambella town council seat. According to the 
NEB, the EPRDF coalition took more than 3.5 million seats with the 
remainder going to noncoalition but EPRDF-allied parties. For instance, 
the EPRDF took 38 of 39 contested federal parliament seats and 137 of 
138 Addis city council seats; this latter result was an exact reversal 
of 2005. Prior to the 2008 local elections, the government 
significantly increased the number of kebele council members. There can 
now be up to 300 council members for urban kebeles and up to 100 for 
rural kebeles.
    The NEB reported a 93 percent voter turnout in the 2008 elections, 
approximately 24.5 million of 26.3 million registered voters. However, 
the government refused to allow foreign election observers and offered 
no basis for its reported turnout.
    Opposition parties fielded very few candidates in some regions. 
This was due in part to widespread harassment of opposition candidates 
and supporters as well as the delayed reopening of party offices in 
2007, following forced closures after the 2005 elections. Together, 
opposition parties were able to register only an estimated 16,000 
candidates countrywide. For example, in one area of Oromiya where the 
opposition won overwhelmingly in 2005, there were 60,955 EPRDF 
candidates running against seven opposition candidates. Given a lack of 
capacity, some opposition groups chose not to contest town seats and 
instead focused on district and zonal seats.
    In April 2008 the UEDF, a coalition of opposition parties from SNNP 
and Oromiya regions, announced its withdrawal from the elections. This 
followed their delivery to the NEB of a list of seven preconditions for 
their electoral participation because of incomplete implementation of 
the Electoral Law, including proper elections of poll observers, an end 
to candidate harassment, and registration of all rejected UEDF 
candidates.
    The 2007 Electoral Law requires each polling station to have five 
nonpartisan observers elected from the community, or approximately 
200,000 election observers for the more than 42,000 polling stations. 
There were, however, widespread reports that many of these poll 
observers were instead appointed directly by the NEB from EPRDF 
affiliates. The Electoral Law also allows NGOs to conduct either voter 
education or election observation, but not both. While the Electoral 
Law stipulates that election observers shall monitor the electoral 
process, the NEB finally released its election observation guidelines 
in February 2008, three months after voter registration commenced and 
weeks after the conclusion of candidate registration. This came too 
late for some NGO monitors, and others did not even request permission 
to observe, due to a lack of confidence in the process. Still others, 
such as EHRCO, simply did not receive an NEB response. In the end, the 
NEB approved 11 domestic NGOs as observers.
    During the 2008 elections, there were reports of closed voter 
registration stations in pro-opposition rural areas and of prospective 
voters advised to return the following day after walking two or more 
miles. Opposition candidates also reported registration office closures 
and fraudulent dropping of opposition names from NEB candidate 
registration lists.
    The EPRDF, its affiliates, and its supporters controlled 408 seats 
in the 547-member House of People's Representatives and all seats in 
the 112-member House of Federation, the upper house of parliament, 
whose members were appointed by regional governments and by the federal 
government.
    The government policy of ethnic federalism led to the creation of 
individual constituencies to ensure representation of all major ethnic 
groups in the House of People's Representatives. Nevertheless, small 
ethnic groups lacked representation in the legislature. There were 23 
nationality groups in six regional states that did not have a 
sufficient population to qualify for constituency seats; however, in 
the 2005 elections, individuals from these nationality groups competed 
for 23 special seats in the House of People's Representatives. 
Additionally, these 23 nationality groups have one seat each in the 
unelected, largely ceremonial House of Federation.
    During the year the UEDF, 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 and intimidation of 
landlords to force them to evict the political groups (see sections 
1.d. and 3).
    During the year some opposition political leaders, including 
federal and regional members of parliament (MPs), were discouraged or 
blocked from traveling to their constituencies to meet with supporters, 
although others visited constituents without incident.
    Credible sources report that on February 17, militiamen and 
plainclothes police officers followed and harassed federal MP and OPC 
member Major Mekonnen Geleta while he was visiting his constituency in 
Guduru woreda. Militiamen reportedly told him that he had no reason to 
visit the area and threatened to kill him if he returned. On February 
18, Mekonnen left his constituency and took a bus to Shambu town. 
Mekonnen reported that two militiamen, Shewle Shibeshi and Bedada 
Shibeshi, followed him and rode the same bus. In Shambu town, Mekonnen 
was followed by several police and militiamen.
    There were 116 women in the House of People's Representatives, two 
female judges on the 11-seat Supreme Court, and four women among the 35 
state ministers.
    Membership in the EPRDF conferred advantages upon its members; the 
party directly owns many businesses and was broadly perceived to award 
jobs and business contracts to loyal supporters. There were frequent 
credible 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 OFDM and 
the Oromo National Congress, the Oromiya Regional Government continued 
to dismiss opposition party members--particularly teachers--from their 
jobs.
    There were many credible reports of ruling-party or government 
harassment intended to prevent individuals from joining opposition 
parties, registering their candidacies for elected office, or renting 
property. In October and November, there were several credible reports 
that the ruling EPRDF used humanitarian assistance to gain support for 
the party by denying opposition political party supporters access to 
humanitarian assistance, including relief food, public services, and 
microfinance loans.
    There were numerous reports of intimidation, harassment, abuse, and 
detention of opposition candidates and their supporters. For example, 
in March Getachew Teshale Kassa, federal MP and opposition party 
member, fled the country after he reported being harassed, beaten, and 
tortured by government security officials near the Awi desert, Amhara 
region.
    In early June UDJ party members Getahun Abdu Bushra, Mekonnen Abdu 
Hida, Abdu Seid Amede, Mubarek Seid, and Girma Teshome in South Wello 
zone, Amhara region, all alleged being harassed and beaten by local 
authorities.
    On July 4, Oromiya regional security officials beat university 
student and OPC member Nimona Tuffa in a forest near Guder town (see 
section 1.e.). The government did not investigate the case.
    There were no developments in the 2008 beating of federal MP Gutu 
Mulisa and suspected CUD supporter Bilisuma Shuge.
    Registered political parties must receive permission from regional 
governments to open and occupy local offices. There were, however, 
widespread reports of opposition parties closing offices due to 
intimidation and coercion by local officials. A common tactic reported 
was to intimidate landlords into evicting their political party 
tenants. For example, the Oromo National Congress had only one 
remaining office, down from more than 100 in 2005, and AEUP had 29 
offices, down from 280 in 2005.
    Authorities often disrupted or unlawfully banned opposition-party 
meetings.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the government did not implement these laws effectively. The 
World Bank's 2008 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected 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 somewhat limited corruption. However, government 
officials appeared to manipulate the privatization process, and state- 
and party-owned businesses received preferential access to land leases 
and credit.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    In February 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 federal MP Belete Etana Disassa published a testimony 
alleging 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 ($200 
million).
    In February 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 ($126 
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.
    On December 24, the Federal High Court sentenced nine army officers 
and Kolfe-Keranyo subcity officials of Addis Ababa from seven to 10 
years' imprisonment and fines of 5,000 to 10,000 birr ($400 to $800) 
for illegally possessing land worth more than 6.7 million birr 
($532,000) for personal gains.
    In 2008 the Ethics Commission accused eight high-ranking National 
Bank officials of involvement in a gold scandal worth 158 million birr 
($12.6 million). The Federal High Court ordered the defendants to 
present their cases. The cases were pending at years' end.
    The law provides for public access to government information, but 
access was largely restricted in practice. The Press Law, passed in 
July 2008, included freedom of information provisions, but it will not 
take effect for two years.
    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 government routinely refused to respond to queries from 
the private press.
    Government tenders were commonly discontinued after bids were 
recieved, 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. Businesses 
across the private sector reported allegations of preferential access 
to credit, foreign exchange, relief from taxes and duties, and 
government contracts for ruling party-owned firms or companies owned by 
government loyalists.

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, although with significant government restriction, 
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. The 
government generally was distrustful and wary of domestic human rights 
groups and international observers.
    Two of the most prominent domestic human rights organizations were 
EHRCO and the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA). The 
government routinely discounted EHRCO's reports, labeled it a political 
organization, and repeatedly obstructed its activities on the ground.
    EWLA's primary function was to provide legal representation for 
disadvantaged women. These and numerous other groups mainly engaged in 
civic and human rights education, advocacy, legal assistance, and trial 
monitoring. However, the government neither shared information on nor 
acknowledged the existence of human rights abuses.
    On February 13, the government adopted restrictive legislation that 
affected numerous civil society organizations. The Charities and 
Societies Proclamation prohibits 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, 
gender and religion; or conflict resolution or reconciliation. Since 
nearly all CSOs that work in these areas relied on foreign funding, it 
was likely that many would be unable to continue their activities once 
the law was fully implemented in February 2010. Among the CSOs affected 
were the two most prominent human rights organizations, EHRCO and EWLA. 
While both were able to reregister in December, EHRCO closed six 
offices by December and was operating with only its core staff. EWLA 
reduced its work force from 60 to 13. In late June the leaders of EHRCO 
and EWLA fled the country due to fear of persecution.
    The government harassed individuals who worked for domestic human 
rights organizations. For example, on June 1, Werebabo woreda officials 
in South Wollo zone arrested EHRCO investigator Mulugeta Fentaw in 
Bistima town. He was charged with stealing 200 birr ($16) and sentenced 
to eight months in prison. On July 17, the zonal high court dismissed 
the case (see section 1.d.).
    The government generally cooperated with international 
organizations such as the UN. During the year, 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.
    The government continued to restrict Somali region access to the 
ICRC, MSF, and other NGOs (see section 1.g.).
    The government denied the ICRC 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 abuse allegations.
    From May 3 to 7, state-owned Ethiopian Television broadcast a 
three-part documentary claiming to refute cases of human rights abuses 
documented by foreign observers. The MFA initiated an ostensible 
``investigation'' conducted by the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA--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 EHRC investigates human 
rights complaints and produces both annual and thematic reports. EHRC 
released a report on prison conditions in December 2008.
    The Office of the Ombudsman has the authority to receive and 
investigate complaints with respect to misadministration by executive 
branch offices. The office received hundreds of complaints this year, 
mainly focused on delays or denials in services, improper institutional 
decisions, promotions or demotions, and pension issues. The majority of 
the complaints were from the Oromiya region. It is not known which 
complaints were investigated or acted upon.

Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution (article 25) 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 (article 35) 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 lagged. 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 shame, fear, or a victim's ignorance of legal 
protections. The National Committee for Traditional Practices in 
Ethiopia identified 120 HTPs. The 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health 
Survey found that more than 74 percent of women and girls were 
subjected to FGM, although the percentage was declining. 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 for which it 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 out of 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 of both years was 
unknown.
    Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a pervasive social 
problem. The 2005 Demographic and Health Survey 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, 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 per the new 
criminal code. Depending on the severity of damage inflicted, 
punishment varies from small fines to imprisonment 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 temporarily suspended 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. Prior to 2008 the government established a deputy 
commissioner of women's and children's rights in the EFRC.
    Prostitution was legal for persons over age 18 and was commonly 
practiced around the country; however, the law prohibits pimping and 
benefiting from the prostitution of others. Persons engaging in 
prostitution routinely reported that poverty was the principal reason. 
Article 634 of the penal code (revised May 2005) stipulates ``whoever 
for gain makes a profession of or lives by procuring or on the 
prostitution or immorality of another, or maintains, as a landlord or 
keeper, a brothel, is punishable with simple imprisonment and fine.''
    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 enforced. For example, a 2006 Pathfinder 
International study found that in the Amhara region, 48 percent of 
women were married before the age of 15, the highest early marriage 
rate in the country.
    Limited access to family planning services, high fertility, low 
reproductive health and emergency obstetric services, and poor 
nutritional status and infections all contributed to high maternal 
mortality ratio (673/100,000 mothers), according to the 2005 
Demographic and Health Survey. Maternal health care services did not 
reach the majority of women, and skilled birth attendants aided only 10 
percent of births. The national average for prenatal care was 28 
percent.
    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 Tigrai and SNNP regions, 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 Beni Shangul-Gumuz regions had not passed 
regional land laws.
    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 owning and/or 
managing a business was further limited by their low level of education 
and training, traditional attitudes, and limited access to information.
    The Ministry of Education reported that female participation in 
postgraduate programs increased from 20,418 in 2003 to 63,317 in 2007 
due to the expansion of higher-learning institutions, awareness 
trainings, and the establishment of gender offices in universities.

    Children.--The constitution (article 36) 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.
    According to the NGO Save The Children's 2008 annual report, in the 
country there were approximately 11.3 million children without basic 
health care, and 84 percent of children under five did not receive 
basic health care.
    Child abuse was widespread. Members of an NGO staffed 10 child 
protection units in Addis Ababa's police stations to protect the rights 
of juvenile delinquents and juvenile victims of crime. Some police 
officers received training during the year on procedures for handling 
cases of child abuse.
    A study conducted by the African Child Policy Forum during the year 
revealed that prosecuting offenders of 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 his 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 restrospective survey 
indicated that 68.5 percent of girls surveyed had been sexually abused 
and 84 percent had been physically abused.
    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. Regional governments in 
Amhara and Tigray ran programs to educate young women on issues 
assocated with early marriage.
    The majority of girls and women in the country had undergone some 
form of FGM. Girls typically experienced clitorectomies seven days 
after birth (consisting of an excision of the clitoris, often with 
partial labial excision) and faced infibulations (the most extreme and 
dangerous form of FGM) at the onset of puberty. The 2005 Health Survey 
by the Central Statistical Agency reported that the number of girls and 
women who had undergone FGM had decreased from 2000 to 2005 from 80 to 
74 percent, while support for the practice among women had dropped from 
60 to 29 percent. Additionally, a February 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 practioners of clitorectomy, with 
imprisonment of at least three months or a fine of at least 500 birr 
($40). 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.
    Although illegal, the abduction of women and girls as a form of 
marriage continued to be widespread in several regions, including the 
Amhara, Oromiya, and SNNP regions, 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.
    Child marriage was also a problem, particularly in the Amhara and 
Tigray regions, where girls were routinely married as early as age 
seven, despite the legal minimum age of 18 for marriage. There were 
some signs of growing public awareness in communities of the problem of 
abuse of women and girls, including early marriage.
    The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated there were between 
150,000 and 200,000 street children nationally, with a further one 
million vulnerable or at risk of ending up on the streets. UNICEF 
stated the problem was exacerbated because of families' inability to 
support children due to parental illness and decreased household 
income. These children begged, sometimes as part of a gang, or worked 
in the informal sector. 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 4.6 million orphans in the country, 
according to UNICEF. 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons; 
however, there were reports that persons were trafficked from and 
within the country. The law prescribes five to 20 years' imprisonment 
for such crimes. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA), in 
collaboration with the police, is responsible for monitoring 
trafficking in persons, while the MOJ is responsible for enforcing laws 
related to trafficking.
    The country is a source country for men, women, and children 
trafficked primarily for the purpose of forced labor and, to a lesser 
extent, for commercial sexual exploitation. High unemployment, extreme 
poverty, and the hope for better opportunities abroad drove migration. 
Local NGOs estimated 30,000 to 35,000 persons were trafficked 
internationally between March 2007 and March 2008. More women than men 
were trafficked. Young women, particularly those ages 16 to 30, were 
the most commonly trafficked group, while a small number of children 
were also reportedly trafficked internationally.
    Rural children and adults were trafficked to urban areas for 
domestic servitude and, less frequently, commercial sexual exploitation 
and other forced labor, such as street vending, begging, traditional 
weaving, or agriculture; situations of debt bondage were reported. 
Women were trafficked transnationally for domestic servitude, primarily 
to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but also to Bahrain, 
Djibouti, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Some of these women 
were forced into the sex trade after arriving at their destinations. 
Small numbers of men were trafficked to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf 
States for low-skilled forced labor.
    The government suspended travel for young women to Lebanon and 
Syria after several women were tortured and killed. The government also 
suspended the travel of young women to Qatar after diplomatic ties were 
cut in April 2008.
    On December 4, the government reported that 86 Ethiopian domestic 
workers were repatriated from Lebanon with the support of the Ethiopian 
consulate in Beirut and the government of Lebanon. Some of the 
repatriated domestic workers were residing in Lebanon illegally after 
their work permit expired, and the rest entered Lebanon illegally.
    Addis Ababa's police Child Protection Unit (CPU) reported that 
trafficking broker networks grew increasingly sophisticated and 
collaborative. Traffickers began approaching vulnerable individuals at 
bus terminals seven to nine miles outside of Addis Ababa to avoid 
police presence. Traffickers sometimes used agents and brokers to lure 
victims with false offers of jobs, food, guidance, or shelter. Cross-
country bus and truck drivers were involved in trafficking of children, 
while brokers, pimps, and brothel owners finalize deals at the 
receiving end.
    Local brokers operated and recruited at the community level, and 
many knew the victim or victim's family. To avoid police detection and 
identification, local brokers did not advertise, often worked from 
rented houses, cafes, or hotel rooms, and they changed places often. 
Some brokers used commission-based facilitators who were trusted by a 
potential victim's family to recruit victims.
    The government's efforts to prevent international trafficking 
increased, while measures to heighten awareness of internal trafficking 
remained limited. It employed two predeparture counselors to brief 
persons intending to work overseas, worked with NGOs and the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) to monitor immigration 
and emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking, and supervised and 
trained international labor migration firms.
    In October Mebrat Beyene, head of diaspora affairs at the MFA, 
reported that the government was working with the IOM and authorities 
in Tripoli to secure the release of 200 Ethiopian nationals who had 
been detained for two years in Libya. The detainees, some of whom were 
trafficked, said that they were arrested in Libya en route to other 
nations where they would seek work. At year's end the detainees had not 
been released.
    The government and its embassies and consulates provided little 
assistance to victims of trafficking: limited legal advice, infrequent 
temporary shelter, and no repatriation loans. Returning victims relied 
on psychological services provided by NGOs and government hospitals.
    The government accorded no special protections or restitution, and 
it had very limited shelter provisions or other special services 
benefits for victim returnees. In 2008 there were no reports of 
trafficking victims being detained, jailed, or prosecuted for 
violations of laws, such as those governing prostitution or 
immigration.
    While the government sustained its efforts to prosecute and punish 
international trafficking offenders and initiated investigations of 
internal child trafficking during the reporting period, no cases of 
internal trafficking were prosecuted. In addition, law enforcement 
entities lacked the institutional capacity to separate data on 
trafficking cases from broader fraud cases. In 2008, the CPU at the 
central bus terminal reported 899 cases of child trafficking to the 
police, an increase over the previous year.
    In June 2008 the Federal High Court sentenced a man to 15 years' 
imprisonment and fined him 17,000 birr ($1,360) for illegally sending a 
woman to Lebanon, where she was forced to work as a domestic servant 
and was later thrown from a building by her employer. A second 
defendant was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and a 5,650 birr 
($452) fine for facilitating the same woman's trafficking.
    A small number of local police and border control agents were 
believed to accept bribes to overlook trafficking.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution does not mandate equal 
rights for persons with disabilities. However, two recently passed 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 
(no. 568), gazetted in March 2008, prohibits employment discrimination 
on the basis on disability. It also states that employers are 
responsible for providing appropriate working or training conditions 
and materials to disabled persons. 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 (no. 624), gazetted in May, 
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 adopted in February prohibits organizations receiving 
more than 10 percent of their funding from foreign sources from 
promoting the rights of the disabled. Several domestic associations, 
such as the Ethiopian National Association of the Blind, the Ethiopian 
National Association of the Deaf, and the 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, was the 
largest. Although many groups influenced political and cultural life, 
Amharas and Tigrayans from the northern highlands played a dominant 
role. 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.
    The military remained an ethnically diverse organization at lower 
levels; however, Tigrayans increasingly dominated the senior officer 
corps both through preferential promotions and heightened attrition 
among, and purges of, non-Tigrayans. There were occasional reports that 
officials terminated the employment of teachers and other government 
workers if they were not of the dominant ethnic group in the region.
    Government, ONLF, and UWSLF forces were responsible for widespread 
human rights abuses in the Somali region (see section 1.g.).
    Several minority ethnic groups in the SNNP region (composed of more 
than 50 minority ethnic groups) complained that the government took 
measures to silence indigenous voices who protested the exploitation of 
natural resources. On June 26, the regional State Justice Bureau of the 
SNNP Region revoked the licenses and suspended the activities of 42 
community-based organizations (CBOs) for engaging in activities outside 
of 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 offend 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.
    Ethnic conflict in the western, southern, and eastern areas 
resulted in the death of hundreds and displacement of tens of thousands 
of persons. For example, from November 7 to 11, 2008, a conflict over 
cattle grazing land between residents of Derashe Special woreda and 
Konso Special woreda (SNNP Region) resulted in the death of Dayat 
Bongo. His body was mutililated by Konso residents. Nine others were 
injured, and a large amount of property was damaged.
    Following the incident, residents from Holte and Anota kebele 
(Derashe woreda) accused residents of Keyama kebele (Derashe woreda) of 
siding with the Konso residents. Anota kebele residents attacked Keyama 
kebele residents from January 2 to 4; 18 persons were killed and 26 
injured.
    In February a conflict between the Borena (ethnic Oromos) and Gheri 
(ethnic Somalis) tribes resulted in at least 600 deaths and the 
displacement of more than 160,000 persons. The conflict initially began 
as a dispute over the drilling of a borehole along the border between 
the regions. Another conflict between the same two groups erupted in 
early September, resulting in at least six deaths and 29 injured. The 
conflict was caused by the construction of a school and veterinary 
clinic on a contested piece of land.
    On May 20, clashes between Oromo, Afar, and Argoba ethnic groups 
left 14 dead and 18 severely injured.
    There was no development in the February 2008 death from stabbing 
of Zewdu Abate, allegedly due to ethnic tension.
    In connection with a May 2008 conflict over land rights between the 
Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups in the Sasiga, Diga, Bumto Gida, and Limu 
districts in the Oromiya region, federal and local police arrested a 
reported 103 suspects, including the Benishangul-Gumuz regional vice 
president. On August 24, the Federal High Court found 101 of the 
defendants guilty of ethnic cleansing and acquitted two. A few days 
later the same court sentenced six of the defendants to death and the 
remaining 95 to prison terms ranging from six years to life.
    In August zonal government representatives from the Benishangul-
Gumuz region complained to the House of Federation that federal 
authorities were not doing enough to help contain conflicts in the 
region.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality is illegal and 
punishable by imprisonment. Instances of homosexual activity involving 
coercion or involving a minor (age 13 to 16) are punishable by three 
months' to five years' imprisonment. 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 December 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. No action was taken on the resolution by year's end.

    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 allowed this in 
practice. However, the law specifically excludes managerial employees, 
teachers, and civil servants (including judges, prosecutors, and 
security service workers) from organizing unions. There was government 
interference in trade union activities during the year. Under a 
regulation passed in August 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 the Council of Ministers' regulation No. 157/2008, passed 
in December 2008, the government sued the Workers' Association of the 
National Bank of Ethiopia in the Federal High Court, claiming that the 
bank was a nonprofit government agency and the labor union should be 
dissolved. On February 19, 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.
    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 350,000 
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.
    In 2008 the Supreme Court ruled that the independent Ethiopian 
Teachers Association 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, and the 
case remained pending at year's end.
    In July 2008 employees of Shell Ethiopia demonstrated at the gate 
of their head office, expressing disappointment with Shell's decision 
to sell its interests in the country to Oil-Libya and demanding better 
treatment. In November 2007 Shell Ethiopia's labor union filed a 
lawsuit in the Federal First Instance Court alleging that Shell 
Ethiopia illegally changed its retirement and severance packages to 
save money on unemployment payments prior to a possible closure of 
operations. The Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions intervened in 
the dispute between the labor union and Shell Ethiopia and reached an 
agreement that workers' full retirement and severance packages would be 
transferred to the successor, Oil-Libya.
    In 2008 top management of the state-owned Bole Printing Enterprise 
disagreed with its trade union on worker compensation and terms of 
termination of nine fired employees. In late December an ad hoc labor 
advisory board composed of state ministers, representatives of the 
employees, the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions, and the 
management of the enterprise found that both sides were at fault and 
decided to reinstate the fired employees.
    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 if 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 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 the case has not already been referred to a court or labor 
relations board, workers retained 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 MOLSA 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.

    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.--While the law 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children, such 
practices occurred (see sections 6 and 7.d.).
    Courts could order forced labor as a punitive measure. 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. Forced child 
labor occurred.

    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. Under the 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 the hours of 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 Authority 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 the Amhara, Oromiya, SNNP, and Tigray regions 
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.
    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 out 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, engaged in activities such as 
cattle herding, petty trading, plowing, harvesting, and weeding, while 
other children, mostly girls, colleced firewood and fetch water. In 
urban areas many children, including orphans, worked in domestic 
services, often working long hours which may prevent them from 
attending school regularly. Children in urban areas also worked in 
construction, manufacturing, shining shoes, making clothes, portering, 
directing customers to taxis, petty trading, and herding animals. Many 
children believed they were unable to quit their jobs and feared 
physical, verbal, and sexual abuse from their employers while 
performing their work. 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.
    Estimates of the population of street children varied, with 
government estimates of approximately 100,000 and the UNICEF estimate 
of 600,000. In Addis Ababa alone, there were an estimated 50,000 to 
60,000 street children, according to the government, and 100,000 
according to UNICEF. Some of these children worked in the informal 
sector to survive.
    The commercial sexual exploitation of children continued during the 
year, particularly in urban areas. Girls as young as 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 the 
Oromiya and the SNNP regions to other regions of the country for forced 
or bonded labor in domestic service.
    Child labor issues are currently 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 of child rights violation cases 
was minimal.
    To prevent child trafficking, a joint police-NGO child victim 
identification and referral mechanism operates in the capital. The CPUs 
in each Addis Ababa police station rescued and collected information on 
trafficked children that facilitated their return to their families; 
the CPUs referred 240 trafficked children to IOM and local NGOs for 
care in 2006. The CPUs also collected data on rescued children to 
facilitate their reunification with their families.
    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 
($25); employees in the banking and insurance sector had a minimum 
monthly wage of 336 birr ($27). 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. Many young girls, often victims of 
traffickers, migrated illegally to the Gulf States in search of 
housekeeping work in order to assist families back home. Many of these 
girls were subjected to inhumane living and working conditions, and 
some have lost their lives. In an effort to prevent these situations, 
the MOLSA continued to encourage illegal employment agencies to 
register as legal organizations.
    The Ethiopian 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 40-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 is a republic dominated by a strong presidency and the 
Democratic Party of Gabon (PDG), which has held power since 1968. The 
population is approximately 1.4 million. Former president Omar Bongo 
Ondimba, who ruled the country for 41 years, died on June 8. His son, 
PDG leader Ali Bongo Ondimba, was elected to a seven-year term on 
August 30 and inaugurated on October 16. Irregularities marred the 
election process. The PDG dominated the political arena and controlled 
two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly. Security forces 
including the military answer to civilian authorities and, with few 
exceptions, civilian oversight of the security forces was effective.
    The country's human rights record remained poor. The following 
human rights problems were reported: arbitrary killings by security 
forces and ritualistic killings; use of excessive force, including 
torture of prisoners and detainees; harsh prison conditions; arbitrary 
arrest and detention; an inefficient judiciary susceptible to 
government influence; restrictions on the right to privacy; 
restrictions on freedom of speech, press, association, and movement; 
harassment of refugees; widespread government corruption; violence and 
societal discrimination against women, persons with HIV/AIDS, and 
noncitizen Africans; 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.--There were 
unconfirmed reports the government and its forces committed unlawful 
killings. Most of these reports came in the weeks following the 
presidential election. The government claimed three persons died in 
Port Gentil during postelection riots. The newspaper l'Union stated 
that at least six persons died. Opposition reports claimed much higher 
numbers killed by government security forces suppressing the unrest.
    Ritualistic killings occurred and generally went unpunished. For 
example, in June a six-year-old girl was found mutilated in the 
neighborhood of Petit Paris in Libreville. Two mutilated bodies were 
found on the beach of Libreville: a 10-year-old girl who was found in 
March whose clitoris and breasts had been removed, and a 37-year-old 
man who was found mutilated in October. Authorities condemned the 
killings but arrested no one for the crimes.
    The Association to Fight Ritual Crimes (ALCR), a local 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) dedicated to combating ritual 
crimes, reported 11 persons positively identified as victims of ritual 
crimes, including the examples noted above. Another eight cases were 
likely but unconfirmed. The ALCR estimated at least double that figure 
of ritual crimes occurred in the country but were not reported or were 
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 of security forces beating prisoners and 
detainees to extract confessions.
    Unconfirmed reports from the African immigrant community asserted 
that police and soldiers occasionally beat noncitizen Africans during 
operations to identify and deport illegal immigrants. Refugees 
continued to complain of harassment and extortion by security forces.
    There were isolated reports that practitioners of certain 
indigenous religions inflicted bodily harm and sometimes killed other 
persons.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons were overcrowded, 
and conditions were harsh. Food, sanitation, and ventilation were poor, 
but basic medical care was provided. NGOs and private citizens 
occasionally made contributions to augment prisoners' poor food 
rations. During the year juveniles were held in their own facilities, 
and pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
    There were no known visits by human rights monitors to prisons; 
however, there also were no reports that the government impeded such 
visits.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but the government did not 
always observe these prohibitions.
    In Port Gentil, in the days following the presidential election, 
there were numerous reports of extrajudicial incarcerations and 
detentions.

    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 law enforcement and public security; 
the gendarmerie was also responsible for operating checkpoints. 
Elements of the armed forces and the Republican Guard, an elite unit 
that protects the president, sometimes performed internal security 
functions. The police were inefficient, and corruption was a serious 
problem. Security forces often sought bribes at checkpoints to 
supplement their salaries. The Inspector General's Office was 
responsible for investigating police abuse; however, impunity was a 
problem.

    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 to initially 
detain a suspect up to 48 hours without charge, but police often failed 
to respect this time limit. Detainees usually were promptly informed of 
charges against them; however, authorities often did not file charges 
expeditiously and they detained persons arbitrarily, sometimes for long 
periods. There is a functioning bail system, and conditional release 
was possible after charges had been announced if further investigation 
was required. Detainees were allowed prompt access to family members 
and to their lawyer or, if indigent, to one provided by the state.
    Members of the security forces continued to detain individuals at 
roadblocks under the guise of checking vehicle registration and 
identity papers. Security forces frequently used such operations to 
extort money.
    Pretrial detention, limited to six months for a misdemeanor and one 
year for a felony charge, may be extended for six months by the 
examining magistrate. Pretrial detainees have the right of free access 
to their attorneys, and this right was generally respected. Detainees 
have the right to an expeditious trial, but overburdened dockets 
resulted in prolonged pretrial detention.

    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 judicial system includes regular courts, a military tribunal, 
and a civilian High Court of Justice. The regular court system includes 
trial courts, appellate courts, and the Supreme Court. The 
Constitutional Court is a separate body charged with examining 
constitutional questions, including the certification of elections. The 
Constitutional Court upheld and reaffirmed that the process for 
succession following president Omar Bongo's death was constitutional. 
In addition the court determined the succession of the interim 
president and the extension of the 45-day period to select a new 
president were constitutional, and it considered and ruled on formal 
complaints regarding the conduct of the election.
    The High Court of Justice is a nonpermanent special body composed 
of professional magistrates. It is constituted by the government as 
required to consider matters of security.
    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 their decisions.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides the right to a public 
trial and to legal counsel, and the government generally respected 
these rights. Defendants are presumed innocent. Nevertheless, a judge 
may deliver an immediate verdict of guilty at the initial hearing in a 
state security trial, if the government presents sufficient evidence. 
Defendants have the right to be present, have access to a lawyer--if 
indigent, to one provided by the state--confront witnesses against 
them, present witnesses or evidence on their own behalf, have access to 
government-held evidence against them through their lawyer, and to 
appeal. The government generally respected these rights. These rights 
extend to all citizens.
    A criminal tribunal is composed of one judge, two deputy judges, 
and two jurors.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Politically motivated arrests 
were usually rare; however, following the presidential election, 
numerous credible reports of politically motivated detentions and 
arrests became public.
    International NGOs have not requested formal visits or reviews of 
political prisoners in the last three years, but they are in principle 
allowed access.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There was an independent 
civil judiciary, but it was susceptible to government influence and 
corruption. 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.
    On September 2, the Telecommunications Regulation Agency suspended 
telephone texting after well-known figures (and journalists) reported 
receiving telephone text messages containing death threats. Texting was 
again suspended with no explanation on October 13 in advance of the 
inauguration of Ali Bongo Ondimba on October 15. Authorities restored 
telephone texting on November 10.

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. Many citizens 
hesitated to criticize the government for fear of losing their jobs. 
Local journalists generally practiced self-censorship due to harassment 
by the government. In one case in August, a political cartoonist was 
detained and questioned for two days because he drew a series of 
cartoons lampooning the PDG. The few opposition legislators in the 
National Assembly openly criticized the government, but virtually no 
citizen, journalist, or politician directly criticized former president 
Omar Bongo. After the death of president Bongo, however, the media 
engaged in a more open debate concerning the country's future and the 
presidential election.
    On September 1, five masked gunmen destroyed the transmitter of 
satellite television station Go Africa with automatic gunfire. At the 
time Go Africa was cobroadcasting for a station owned by independent 
presidential candidate Andre Mba Obame. Mba Obame's television station, 
TVPlus, had its broadcast cut off by authorities on election day on the 
grounds it misused archival images in a program about former president 
Omar Bongo Ondimba.
    In September opposition supporters assaulted Patrick Bibang, a 
reporter at Radio Africa No.1, as he was trying to make his way through 
a large opposition demonstration.
    On September 25, Albert Yangari, chief editor of l'Union, was 
detained and held for questioning for several hours in connection with 
postelection reporting on violence in Port Gentil.
    On September 29, authorities arrested and detained political 
cartoonist Pahe for three days for allegedly disparaging the country's 
military in a cartoon.
    On September 3, employees of Radio-Television Nazareth were 
attacked outside the entrance of the national electoral commission in 
Libreville by opposition supporters reacting to the announcement of Ali 
Bongo Ondimba's election victory.
    The only daily newspaper was the government-affiliated l'Union. 
Approximately nine privately owned weekly or monthly newspapers 
represented independent views and those of various political parties, 
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, but not the office of the president. Following 
the death of Omar Bongo Ondimba, privately owned newspapers appeared 
more regularly.
    Foreign newspapers and magazines were widely available.
    The government owned and operated two radio stations that broadcast 
throughout the country. Much of their news coverage concerned the 
activities of government officials, although editorials sometimes 
criticized specific government policies or ministers. Seven privately 
owned radio stations were operating at year's end. International radio 
stations broadcast locally.
    The government owned and operated two television stations. Four 
privately owned television stations transmitted 24 hours a day. 
Satellite television reception was available.
    Libel can be either a criminal offense or a civil matter. The law 
authorizes the government to initiate criminal libel prosecution 
against persons for libeling elected government officials; it also 
authorizes the state to criminalize civil libel suits.
    The law stipulates penalties for libel and other offenses to 
include a one- to three-month publishing suspension for a first offense 
and a three- to six-month suspension for repeat offenses. Editors and 
authors of libelous articles can be jailed for two to six months and 
fined 500,000 to five million CFA francs ($1,100 to $11,000).

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports 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 6.2 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 law provide for freedom of assembly and association, and the 
government generally respected these rights in practice prior to 
president Omar Bongo's death. In the period following his death, the 
presence of security forces became common in numerous well-trafficked 
areas of Libreville. The government dissuaded large opposition groups 
from assembling by not approving official requests to demonstrate and 
by maintaining a large security presence throughout urban areas.
    On August 7, an estimated 1,000 demonstrators led by opposition 
leaders clashed with police at a rally calling for then-defense 
minister Ali Bongo Ondimba to resign. The opposition leaders argued 
Bongo Ondimba should step down from the government because he could use 
his position to advance his own presidential campaign. The presidential 
candidates attending the demonstration did so despite not having 
official approval to demonstrate.
    Opposition candidates were allowed to hold rallies during the two-
week official election period without interference.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right.
    In practice the government allowed members of religious groups to 
assemble, practice their religion, and proselytize.
    In recent years some Protestant Christian denominations have 
alleged government television stations accorded free broadcast time to 
the Catholic Church but not to minority religious groups. Some critics 
alleged the armed forces favored Roman Catholics and Muslims in hiring 
and promotion.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was no significant 
Jewish community, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 frequently restricted 
these rights in practice.
    The government granted refugee status or asylum and cooperated with 
the Office of 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, 
but the military, police, and gendarmes continued to stop travelers 
frequently to check identity, residence, and registration documents, or 
to demand bribes. Members of the security forces harassed expatriate 
Africans working legally as merchants, service sector employees, and 
manual laborers. Some members of the security forces extorted bribes 
with threats of confiscation of residency documents or imprisonment. 
Residency permits cost 150,000 CFA francs ($340) 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.
    During September, after the riots in Port-Gentil, all opposition 
candidates were forbidden by the minister of interior to leave the 
country. The leader of the Rally for Gabon party, Paul Mba Abessole, 
was directly prevented from traveling to Cote d'Ivoire on September 8. 
Other opposition leaders cancelled plans to leave the country following 
the government's prohibiting Mba Abessole from traveling. However, four 
days after the announced ban on travel by opposition candidates, former 
presidential candidate Bruno Ben Moubamba left the country without 
obstruction.
    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 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. During the post-Omar Bongo Ondimba period, security forces 
commonly set up roadblocks and checkpoints where vehicles were 
searched. 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. However, refugees complained about widespread harassment, 
extortion, and detention by security forces.
    To reduce mistreatment of refugees, the government started 
replacing UNHCR-issued identity cards with government-issued ones. 
Steady progress continued on card issuance. Approximately 50 percent of 
refugees in the country who qualified had been issued new cards by the 
end of the year; an estimated 3,000 remained to be issued. This 
program, in conjunction with a UNHCR-led information campaign, helped 
reduce discrimination against refugees.

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.--On August 30, the 
presidential election was held. This was the first election in 41 years 
in which former president Omar Bongo Ondimba was not a candidate. The 
election ballots listed 19 candidates. The election was marred by 
irregularities. The announced election results, which indicated Ali 
Bongo Ondimba had won the election with 41 percent of the vote, were 
contested in the Constitutional Court by numerous opposition 
candidates. Announced results indicated the two leading opposition 
candidates each received approximately 25 percent of the vote. There 
were numerous irregularities regarding voting lists, voter 
registration, late opening polls, improperly secured ballot boxes, and 
armed security personnel present in or near voting sites. On October 
12, the Constitutional Court rejected a few hundred votes and validated 
Ali Bongo Ondimba's victory.
    In April 2008 local elections were held under the previous 
administration to fill 1,190 municipal and departmental seats 
throughout the country. The ruling PDG won overwhelmingly, taking 96 
percent of the seats. The independent electoral commission reported 
that only 25 to 30 percent of voters participated in the election, and 
independent observers estimated that the actual abstention rate was 
likely even higher. Polls did not open or close on time at several 
polling places, and elections in a handful of constituencies had to be 
rescheduled because of logistical and other problems. Approximately 70 
candidates brought electoral challenges before the Constitutional Court 
following the elections, and the court reviewed and ruled on all of the 
contested seats by year's end.
    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 to it by the president. The president 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 Ondimba in 1968.
    Women participated freely in the political process. Women held 
governmental positions from the ministerial level down and in all 
branches of government. Voting and political activism by women was 
common, and female voter numbers were increasing. There were six women 
in President Ali Bongo Ondimba's cabinet.
    Members of all major ethnic groups continued to occupy prominent 
government positions; however, members of the president's Bateke ethnic 
group and other southerners held a disproportionately large number of 
key positions in the security forces.
    Indigenous Pygmies rarely participated in the political process.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Official corruption was widespread, and there was extensive media 
coverage of police abuses, particularly at checkpoints.
    The most recent World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption was a severe problem.
    The law makes official corruption an offense punishable under the 
law with fines and possible incarceration. The Commission Against 
Illegal Enrichment is the primary body responsible for combating 
official corruption.
    On March 2, the country ratified the African Union convention on 
corruption deterrence. Throughout much of the year, the corruption laws 
were rarely used. However, the president made anticorruption efforts a 
major emphasis in the first months following his investiture.
    New government initiatives reinforce laws regarding required 
reporting by officials holding public office, obliging them to declare 
their wealth within three months following appointment. The Commission 
Against Illegal Enrichment may ask them to resign if they do not do so. 
During the year the government instituted a National Day Against 
Corruption (December 9) and launched a media campaign to raise public 
awareness of the issue. At year's end the commission was carrying out 
35 investigations, including 12 cases started during the year, 
involving government officials.
    The anticorruption commission required civil servants to disclose 
their financial assets before assuming office; however, this 
requirement was not always followed in practice.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information, and the government generally did not allow such access in 
practice.
    In October President Ali Bongo Ondimba recalled and ordered the 
arrest of Philibert Andzembe, the governor of the Central Bank of 
Central African States, on corruption charges. The government arrested 
two other officials on the same corruption charges, although the 
charges against one were dropped. The other accused individuals were 
under house arrest at year's end. President Ali Bongo Ondimba's chief 
of staff resigned amid corruption charges associated with the scandal.

Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Some local human rights NGOs and activists operated without 
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings. 
Government officials took no known actions on their recommendations.
    There were no reports of the government restricting the work of 
international human rights and humanitarian NGOs, and the government 
worked closely and effectively with representatives of the UN, 
including the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UNHCR.
    Local human rights NGOs included ALCR (combating ritual crime), Cri 
de Femmes (women's rights), EBANDO (pygmy rights), AVOGAB (women's and 
orphan's rights), Groupe Consience (promoting sex workers' rights), 
Reseau de Defense des Droits Humains du Gabon (an association of human 
rights NGOs), and others. The government did not hinder the work of 
these domestic NGOs or restrict their right to voice their opinions.

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.--Rape is against the law and carries a penalty of between 
five and 10 years' imprisonment; however, rape cases were seldom 
prosecuted. Rape was widespread. Only limited medical and legal 
assistance for rape victims was available. There are no provisions in 
the law regarding spousal rape.
    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. The government operated a counseling group to 
provide support for victims of abuse.
    Although it is illegal, female genital mutilation (FGM) was 
believed to occur among the noncitizen Africans in the country; 
however, there were no specific reports of such practices during the 
year.
    The law prohibits prostitution, and it was not a widespread 
problem. Penalties for soliciting a prostitute include from six months 
to two years' imprisonment and a fine of up to 1,068,221 CFA ($2,200). 
Penalties for prostitution include jail for three months to one year 
and fines of up to 240,000 CFA ($530).
    There is no law that prohibits sexual harassment, and it was not a 
widespread problem. The government and NGOs reported cases of female 
domestic workers (often victims of child trafficking) who had been 
sexually molested by employers.
    The government recognized the basic right of couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children.
    During the year authorities repealed a parliamentary decree 
prohibiting the use of contraceptives. However, access to 
contraceptives was a problem, and many women had 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 guaranteed free childbirth services, but health 
statistics from local NGOs, such as the Mouvement Gabonais Pour le Bien 
Etre Familial, showed a high infant mortality rate of approximately 99 
in 1,000 births. Maternal mortality was also high, with 500 deaths in 
every 100,000 deliveries.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections. Local health NGOs and clinics reported 
10 of 100 patients on average tested positive for HIV/AIDS.
    The government offers limited access to social insurance to 
vulnerable or impoverished citizens through the National Fund for 
Health Insurance.
    The law provides for equal rights and access for women 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. While poor women 
frequently suffered discrimination, women among the educated urban 
population were treated more equally. Women owned businesses and 
property, participated in politics, and worked throughout the 
government and in the private sector.
    Regulation requires that a woman obtain her husband's permission to 
travel abroad, although this regulation was very rarely enforced. 
Written authorization by both parents is required for minor children to 
travel outside the country.

    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, but individuals frequently 
complained of late or nonexistent registration. However, the great 
majority of births were registered appropriately.
    In general the government showed a commitment to children's rights 
and welfare. It publicly expressed its commitment to youth; provided 
13,000 academic scholarships during the year; and used oil revenues to 
build schools, pay teacher salaries, and promote education, including 
in rural areas. However, there were numerous reports of shortages of 
classrooms and teachers in public schools. Education is compulsory 
until age 16 and was generally available through sixth grade.
    There was some evidence of physical abuse of children. There were 
occasional reports family members sexually abused girls who had passed 
puberty. When reports of abuse surfaced, accused abusers were arrested 
and tried.
    Although it is illegal, FGM was believed to occur among the 
resident population of noncitizen Africans. Ritual crimes targeting 
children occurred and usually involved the amputation of limbs, 
genitals, or both. It is believed ritual crimes are tied to traditional 
religious practices. The Ministry of Justice was carrying out a study 
on ritual crimes, but in most cases ritual crimes were treated as 
criminal killings.
    The age of consent and for marriage is 15 years of age for girls 
and 18 for boys. Child marriage is rare. The statutory rape law states 
that 15 years is the minimum legal age for a minor (of either sex)) and 
an adult to have sex.
    Children in the large community of noncitizen Africans continued to 
face serious problems, including child trafficking and other abuses.
    According to the penal code, lewd pictures and photographs 
``against the morals of society'' are outlawed. This law is used 
against pornography of all kinds. Punishment for the possession of 
pornography includes possible jail time from six months to one year, 
fines up to 222,000 CFA ($460), or both.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons; 
however, there were reports that persons, particularly women and 
children, were trafficked to the country. Internal trafficking from 
rural to urban areas occurred but remained difficult to quantify.
    The law specifically prohibits child trafficking. The law 
criminalizes all forms of forced labor with penalties from one to six 
months and fines of 30,000 to 60,000 CFA ($65 to $130). Traffickers can 
face conspiracy charges, with penalties from six months to two years. 
No accurate statistics were available on the number of trafficking 
victims in the country, although most trafficking victims were from 
French-speaking West Africa (Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, and Senegal) 
and Nigeria.
    The police and an interministerial committee composed of 
representatives from the labor, justice, foreign affairs, and family 
ministries were responsible for combating trafficking. The government 
also cooperated with UNICEF, the International Labor Organization, and 
diplomatic missions in the country to address trafficking.
    The country was a destination for child trafficking, with victims 
trafficked primarily from Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Guinea, and Mali. 
Smaller numbers were trafficked from Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and 
Cameroon, although children were increasingly trafficked from other 
countries as well. Most arrived by boat and were trafficked to 
Libreville or Port Gentil. Boys were trafficked primarily for street 
hawking and forced labor in handicraft workshops, while girls were 
primarily trafficked for domestic servitude, forced market vending, 
restaurant labor, and commercial sexual exploitation. Nigerian 
children, in particular, were trafficked to the country to work in the 
informal commercial sector as mechanics. Trafficked children generally 
worked long hours, were subjected to physical abuse, received 
inadequate food, and received no wages or schooling.
    The law provides for prison sentences for traffickers of five to 15 
years' imprisonment and fines from 10 million to 20 million CFA 
($22,000 to $44,000). However, the government's antitrafficking law 
enforcement efforts were mixed. The government made significant efforts 
to comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, 
including continuing its efforts to intercept and assist victims; 
however, the government did not show progress in convicting offenders. 
There were several arrests for trafficking offenses and, in some cases, 
prolonged detention of suspects. However, prosecution was infrequent, 
and the government did not report any trafficking convictions during 
the year. In November President Bongo Ondimba named a new head to the 
antitrafficking in persons court. Authorities required some suspected 
traffickers to pay the cost of repatriating trafficked victims to their 
countries of origin; however, the consequent absence of victims made 
successful prosecution of traffickers more difficult. The government 
assisted in cross-border trafficking prosecutions. The country is a 
member of the Economic Community of Central Africa's multilateral 
Cooperation Agreement to Combat Trafficking of Persons in West and 
Central Africa.
    Government agencies, in cooperation with UNICEF, provided care for 
trafficking victims, in some cases through NGOs. The rights of labor 
trafficking victims were generally respected. Welcome centers were 
established for adult victims of trafficking; victims were no longer 
housed in jails.
    UNICEF and the government sponsored a toll-free 24-hour assistance 
hotline for child trafficking victims, which arranged free transport to 
a victims' shelter. A government-funded reception center offered 
protection and assistance for trafficking victims, including food, 
education, medical care, and repatriation assistance. A second center, 
run by Carmelite nuns, provided similar services for older girls and 
young women.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no laws prohibiting 
discrimination against persons with disabilities or providing for 
access to buildings or services; however, there were no reports of 
official discrimination against persons with disabilities. There was 
some societal discrimination against persons with disabilities, and 
employment opportunities and treatment facilities were limited.

    Indigenous People.--Pygmies are the earliest known inhabitants of 
the country. Small numbers of Pygmies continue 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 
postindependence 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.--There is no law criminalizing 
homosexual or transgender activity. Discrimination and violence 
occasioned by homosexual and transgender conduct was not a problem.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was considerable 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. Local NGOs worked closely 
with the Minister 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 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 giving eight days' advance notification and only after 
arbitration fails. Public sector employees' right to strike is limited 
if a strike could jeopardize public safety. The law prohibits 
government action against individual strikers that 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 entire industries. Labor and management met to negotiate 
differences, with observers from the Ministry of Labor. Agreements 
negotiated by unions also applied to nonunion workers.
    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 export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were 
unconfirmed reports that such practices occurred. Forced child labor 
occurred but was not a systemic problem. Boys were forced to work in 
local handicraft workshops; girls were primarily trafficked for forced 
domestic servitude, market vending, restaurant labor, and commercial 
sexual exploitation.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Although children below the age of 16 may not legally work without the 
express consent of the Ministries of Labor, Education, and Public 
Health, in practice child labor was a serious problem. According to the 
law, fines between 290,000 CFA to 480,000 CFA ($640 to $1,060) and 
prison sentences are appropriate punishments 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 years old worked in the formal wage sector; however, 
child labor occurred in rural areas, where the law was seldom enforced. 
Child prostitution occurred in the country.
    An unknown number of children, primarily noncitizens, worked in 
marketplaces or performed domestic work; many of these children were 
reportedly 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. 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. Many victims of 
trafficking were children brought to the country and forced to work. 
Domestic servitude was a sector with an unusually high number of child 
laborers trafficked into the country. The government took no notable 
action to combat child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum 
wage is 80,000 CFA ($172); government workers received an additional 
monthly allowance of 20,000 CFA ($43) 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. 
According to the law, representatives of labor, management, and the 
government are required to meet annually to examine economic and labor 
conditions and to recommend a minimum wage rate to the president, who 
then issues an annual decree. This procedure has not been followed 
since 1994, partly because the government has been following a policy 
of wage austerity recommended by international financial institutions. 
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; supervisors 
whose presence at the workplace is indispensable may also have hours 
extended. The additional time ranges 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 retail, transport, dock 
work, hotels and catering, housekeeping, guard services, other 
security, medical establishments, domestic work, and the press.
    The daily limit can be extended for urgent work to prevent or 
respond to accidents. The additional hours are without limit on the 
first day and two hours on following days. The general limit for 
overtime is 20 hours per week.
    Overtime compensation varies, since 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; or, 
especially in the case of illegal immigrants, were mistreated 
physically. 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.

                               __________

                               THE GAMBIA

    The Gambia is a multiparty, democratic republic with an estimated 
population of 1.86 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 elections held in 2007, which were also 
considered partially free and fair. While civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there 
were some instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently.
    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.
    In March 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.
    On April 3, 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. On October 18, 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, the BBC carried a series of reports on 
so-called ``witchdoctors'' from Guinea, who abducted up to 1,000 
villagers in the Gambia 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. 
Officials in the police, army, and the president's personal protection 
guard reportedly accompanied the Guineans, who were invited into the 
country after the death of the president's aunt, which was attributed 
to witchcraft, according to Amnesty International (AI). 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. On May 19, 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 governmental newspaper The Gambia 
Daily.
    During an April 6 address to the National Assembly, the 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.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases of security 
force torture and abuse: the March stabbing by members of the police 
intervention unit of Amadou Sanyang; the June torture and beating of 
five residents of Lamin Daranka during their arrest and transfer to 
Yundum Police Station; and the torture over an 18-day period in 
September by members of the police criminal investigation division of 
Abdoulie Faye.
    During his April trial for giving false information to a public 
officer, former National Assembly member Musa Suso alleged that while 
serving an earlier 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. On December 11, 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 30, the ECOWAS community court heard the case filed by the 
MFWA against the government for the 2006 illegal detention and torture 
of Musa Saidykhan, the editor in chief of the Independent newspaper. 
Saidykhan, who lived 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. 
During the trial, which was ongoing at year's end, 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. The trial was adjourned until February 2010.
    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, there were no known prosecutions 
in civil or military courts of security force members accused of 
mistreating individuals during the year. At the closing ceremony of a 
civil-military relations seminar in 2007, the chief of defense staff 
publicly announced a zero-tolerance policy for military abuse of 
civilians, and some reports indicated such abuse may have declined.

    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; however, prior to conviction, 
detainees were allowed to receive outside sources of food.
    Prisoners at the Mile 2 Prison died during the year as a result of 
poor food and inadequate medical care.
    On March 6, Benedict Jammeh, the former police inspector general, 
testified at Musa Suso's trial that inmates at Mile 2 Central Prison 
were fed with meat that resulted in the deaths of several prisoners; a 
committee of senior police officers subsequently confirmed the report. 
On May 8, 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 pain, and 
food poisoning.
    Pretrial detainees were occasionally held together with convicted 
prisoners. At year's end, there were 780 inmates in the country's 
prisons.
    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 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 actions 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 were often 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 promptly informed 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 that it no longer enforced the decrees; however, 
there were several 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.
    On November 21, security forces arrested former chief of defense 
Lieutenant General Lang Tombong Tamba and six of his close associates 
and friends. Those arrested were Brigadier General Omar Bun Mbye, 
former military director of training and operations; Lieutenant Colonel 
Kawsu Camara, commander of the military camp in the president's home 
village of Kanilai; Captain Modou Lamin Bo Badjie, former NIA director 
general; Commissioner Momodou Gaye, deputy inspector general of police; 
private businessman and customs clearing agent Alhaji Kebba Touray; and 
real estate developer Abdoulie Joof. All were held without charge 
beyond the 72-hour limit. Kebba Touray, who was held at NIA 
headquarters, was released on December 15; however, the other six 
detainees remained in Mile 2 Prison without charge at year's end.
    On December 30, NIA director Ousman Sowe was fired, 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 January 4, authorities released brothers Lamin Marong and Ebrima 
Marong, who were arrested in 2008 and held for three months without 
charge.
    Bakary Gassama, the former financial director of the NIA, remained 
in detention at year's end. In December 2008 Gassama was released after 
three months in detention for alleged abuse of office, but was 
immediately rearrested.
    During the year Gideon Adeoye, who was arrested in December 2008 
for allegedly ``spreading false information'' about the country's 
military, was released.
    Information surfaced on the incommunicado detention of four 
citizens. On June 10, 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 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, was ongoing at year's end.
    Backlogs and inefficiency in the justice system resulted in lengthy 
pretrial detentions. Approximately 30 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. On June 23, 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.
    The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, the Court of 
Appeal, high courts, and eight magistrate courts. 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.
    A judicial complaints board, chaired by the chief justice, heard 
several complaints during the year; the board deals with 
administrative, personnel, and case issues. Board members included the 
attorney general, the interior minister, the inspector general of 
police, the director general of the NIA, the master of the high court, 
and the judicial secretary.

    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 were also 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 courts-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 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, Shari'a, and general law. 
Customary law covers marriage and divorce for non-Muslims, inheritance, 
land tenure, tribal and clan leadership, and other traditional and 
social relations. Shari'a was 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.
    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 May 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. On July 29, 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 was reportedly 
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 was also arrested 
without charge in 2006, remained unknown at year's end. The government 
denied Manneh was in its custody.

    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 22 radio 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 Daily. 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, the 
Voice of America, and other foreign news reports, 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 February 2, Pap Saine, co-proprietor and managing 
editor of the independent newspaper 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 Prison and on the appointment of former minister Neneh 
Macdouall-Gaye to an ambassadorship. The high court withdrew the charge 
on July 29.
    On March 8, police arrested Halifa Sallah, a former presidential 
candidate and the publisher of the newspaper Foroyaa, for allegedly 
trying to incite people 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.). On 
March 19, the director of public prosecution announced that all charges 
were being dropped ``in the interest of peace and justice.''
    On June 15, 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. On June 18, the court charged the journalists with three 
counts of sedition and seditious publication. On July 27, 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 
($37,037); 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.
    On June 22, reporter Augustine Kanjia of the Point newspaper was 
arrested at Kanifing court for allegedly taking pictures of the six 
journalists charged with sedition and defamation. On June 24, Kanjia 
was released on bail
    On August 6, 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 released the same day without 
charge.
    The trial of Today proprietor and editor Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, 
arrested in July 2008 following the publication of a story about school 
children who skipped classes to salvage scrap metal, was ongoing at 
year's end; Hamid Adiamoh was charged with publication with seditious 
intent.
    Political activist Fatou Jaw Manneh, a foreign-based Gambian 
journalist who was convicted in August 2008 on sedition charges, 
departed the country after her family paid the 250,000 dalasi ($9,260) 
fine.
    Foreign missionaries David and Rachel Fulton, who in December 2008 
pled guilty in a magistrate court in Banjul to advocating the violent 
overthrow of the government, remained in jail at year's end serving a 
one-year sentence with hard labor. The two also were fined 250,000 
dalasi ($9,260) each, or in default to serve a further 18 months in 
prison. The Fultons had been under surveillance by court order, and 
were arrested in November 2008 for publishing ``negative articles'' and 
sending ``negative letters'' about the country and its government to 
individuals and organizations.
    Journalist Lamin Fatty of the Independent newspaper, who in 2007 
was convicted for publishing ``false news'' and fined 50,000 dalasi 
($1,850), went into self-imposed exile early in the year. He appealed 
his conviction, and the appeal was pending in the courts at year's end.
    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 stance.

    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. 
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 denied or 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 26 meeting in Serrekunda or an August 8 meeting in Bakau; the 
August 8 meeting was conducted without police permission.
    On October 24, Femi Peters, the UDP campaign manager, was arrested 
after his party held a rally in Serrekunda without a police permit. On 
October 26, Peters appeared in court on charges of ``control of 
procession and control of loudspeakers.'' Peters refused to make a plea 
in the absence of his lawyer, and the case was ongoing at year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuse or discrimination based on religious affiliation, 
belief, or practice.
    There was no known Jewish community, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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, 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 
in to 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.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol but 
maintains reservations on clauses regarding a number of refugee rights, 
including the right to work. It is also a party to the 1969 African 
Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem 
in Africa. 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 December 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 approximately 6,500 
Sierra Leoneans remaining in the country. The government also 
facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 27 Liberian refugees.
    Approximately 6,200 Senegalese refugees remained in the country 
during the year, pending conclusion of the Casamance conflict in 
Senegal. The UNHCR provided assistance with basic needs and services 
and implemented livelihoods programs.

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 for 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 
election 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 five women in the 18-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 were 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 often spoke against corruption, and leading political 
and administrative figures faced harsh sentences on charges of 
corruption and wrongdoing. The financial intelligence unit, which was 
established during the year, is responsible for combating corruption.
    During the year the government prosecuted some officials accused of 
corruption. For example, on November 6, 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.
    On November 4, 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 on 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 was ongoing 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.

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, and the government enforced the law 
effectively, although rape remained a widespread problem. The penalty 
for rape of an adult is life in prison, and the maximum penalty for 
attempted rape is seven years' imprisonment. 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. 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. 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 
occurred.
    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.
    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 extensive 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, women generally were 
employed in such pursuits as food vending or subsistence farming.
    Shari'a law is applied in marriage, divorce, and inheritance issues 
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. 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.
    The constitution and law mandate free, compulsory primary education 
from age 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 the 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.
    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.
    On March 21, 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 August 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 acquitted.
    Peter Paul Hornberger, a German national who was arrested in 
November 2008 for ``indecent assault'' of an 11-year-old boy, remained 
in prison awaiting sentencing at year's end.
    The law does not prohibit FGM, and the practice remained 
widespread. Between 60 and 90 percent of 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 the educated and urban groups. Some religious leaders publicly 
defended the practice. There were unconfirmed 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.
    On September 29, more than 30 National Assembly members attended a 
seminar organized by the NGO Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices 
Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP) on the harmful 
effects of FGM. GAMCOTRAP said it was campaigning for a law banning 
FGM.
    In May 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. 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 required to turn away all minors who approached 
the main resort areas without a genuine reason, although they seldom 
turned away such children.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons 
for all purposes; however, persons were trafficked to, from, through, 
and within the country. The government considered trafficking to be a 
serious problem.
    Due to its porous borders, the country was a destination for 
victims internationally trafficked from West African countries, mainly 
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, 
and Benin. Trafficking victims often were found in the greater Banjul 
area and were used as street sellers, domestics, and sex workers. The 
country was also a point of origin and transit for West African 
trafficking victims destined for Europe.
    The penalty for trafficking in children under the age of 18 is life 
in prison. Enforcement of the children's act is the responsibility of 
the various security services. The tourism security unit, a unit of the 
national army created specifically to enhance security in the tourism 
sector, is responsible for keeping minors out of resort areas. The 
minimum prison term for trafficking an adult is 15 years; a substantial 
monetary fine may also be imposed.
    While the government had no established victim care and health 
facilities for trafficked persons, the Department of Health and Social 
Welfare provided temporary shelter and access to medical and 
psychological services to reported victims of trafficking.
    The government's trafficking taskforce, which included 
representatives from government agencies, the UN Children's Fund, the 
National Assembly, and the NGO Child Protection Alliance finalized a 
national action plan for combating trafficking in persons in December 
2008.
    The Trafficking in Persons Act provides for a national 
antitrafficking agency; however, it had not been established by year's 
end. A dedicated officer for trafficking issues continued to operate at 
the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health and Social 
Welfare maintained a trafficking division. NGOs were active in raising 
awareness about trafficking.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Although the constitution protects 
persons with disabilities against exploitation and discrimination, no 
government agency is directly responsible for protecting persons with 
disabilities. The Department of Health and Social Welfare dealt mainly 
with supplying some persons with disabilities with wheelchairs received 
from international donors. 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 government continued to remove many persons with disabilities 
from the streets in an effort to end street begging, which it viewed 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 voting 
day.

    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. Many citizens shunned lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) individuals.
    In a March 27 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 May 2008 the president ordered all LGBT persons to leave the 
country within 24 hours and threatened to cut off their heads. There 
were no LGBT organizations in the country.

    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 provides for care, treatment, and support to 
persons living with, or affected by HIV/AIDS. The plan also protects 
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 was ongoing during 
the year as President Jammeh continued his controversial herbal 
treatment program for the virus. 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 and police officers, as well as 
other civil service employees, were 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 modern wage sector, where 
unions were most active.
    The government interfered with unions' right to strike. The law 
allows for the right to strike, but it places restrictions on the right 
by requiring unions to give the commissioner of labor 14 days written 
notice 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, are 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 women and children were trafficked for 
forced commercial sexual exploitation (see section 6.).

    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 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. The tourist industry stimulated a high level of child 
prostitution. Other sectors where children between the ages of 14 and 
17 were known to work include carpentry, sewing, 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.
    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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages and working hours 
are established by law through six joint industrial councils, composed 
of representatives from labor, management, and the government. The 
lowest 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 on 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 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 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 is a constitutional democracy with a strong presidency and a 
unicameral 230-seat parliament. The population is over 23 million. In 
the December 2008 election, the opposition National Democratic Congress 
(NDC) won both the presidency and a small majority in the parliament, 
marking the country's second successful peaceful transition of power 
between political parties. Domestic and international observers 
determined that the election was generally free and fair. Professor 
John Evans Atta Mills was inaugurated as president, and the new 
parliament convened on January 7. While civilian authorities generally 
maintained effective control over security forces, there were some 
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently 
of government authorities.
    There were deaths resulting from the excessive use of force by 
police; vigilante violence; harsh and life-threatening prison 
conditions; police corruption and impunity; prolonged pretrial 
detention; forcible dispersal of demonstrations; corruption in all 
branches of government; violence against women and children, including 
female genital mutilation (FGM); societal discrimination against women, 
persons with disabilities, homosexual persons, and persons with HIV/
AIDS; trafficking in women and children; ethnic discrimination and 
politically and ethnically 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 political killings; 
however, use of excessive force by security forces resulted in the 
deaths of several criminal suspects and other persons during the year. 
In July and August police in various jurisdictions shot and killed 15 
suspected armed robbers. Police claimed self-defense to justify the 
shootings.
    In August 2008, two soldiers and a policeman were acquitted of the 
2007 murder of a minibus driver in Suhum following his arrest. The 
Ministry of Interior set up a committee to investigate the death. The 
committee recommended compensation for the victim's family and 
disciplinary action against the leader of the patrol team.
    As in previous years, chieftaincy disputes resulted in deaths, 
injuries, and destruction of property.
    On February 4, two persons were killed in the Northern Region in a 
land dispute between rival clans. In a separate incident in the same 
region, one person died and 69 houses were burned on February 6 in a 
dispute over ownership of a parcel of land. Police were called in to 
restore order. At year's end there was no new information on these 
cases.
    On July 25, the Anloga chieftaincy dispute in the Volta Region 
became violent when a mob broke into the chief's residence and burned 
his property. One arsonist died. The 18 policemen called to the scene 
were unable to prevent the riot.
    In Bawku, in the Upper East Region, an ongoing chieftaincy and 
ethnic dispute led to violent outbreaks in January, March, April, May, 
June, September, and November. The violence caused an estimated 15 
deaths, including the Bawku district director of the Commission on 
Human Rights and Administrative Justice, and the destruction of 
property. The military and police were deployed to the region and the 
municipality was placed under curfew following the outbreaks. The 
curfew fluctuated and in December was daily from midnight until 5:00 
a.m. Sixteen persons were arrested on violence-related charges. At 
year's end there was no new information on the cases.
    In August two men were killed at the Kokomba Yam Market in the 
Agbogbloshie section of Accra following clashes between rival ethnic 
groups that have been locked in a chieftaincy dispute in the Northern 
Region since 2002. In September an additional three persons were killed 
as a result of the same dispute. At year's end there was no new 
information on these cases.
    Mob action sometimes led to deaths. In March a mob in Accra beat a 
man for stealing a mobile phone. He died from injuries sustained trying 
to escape.
    In May a woman was beaten to death near her village of Viepe, in 
the Volta Region, for allegedly stealing a piece of cloth.
    On July 25, two suspected armed robbers were lynched by a mob in 
Latebiokorshie, an Accra suburb. On July 29, a man was lynched in 
Adisadel Estate, a suburb of Cape Coast. The motive was unknown.
    In August one person was beaten to death by unknown assailants 
after taking part in a demonstration against the detention by the 
Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) of the former minister of 
information.

    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, demonstrators, and other citizens. Severe beatings of 
suspects in police custody reportedly occurred throughout the country 
but largely went unreported in official channels. In many cases, police 
denied allegations or claimed that force was justified by the 
circumstances.
    The many cases of police brutality leading to deaths during the 
year led several NGOs, lawyers, and civil society organizations to 
publicly denounce the tendency of police to use excessive force and to 
call for the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to take action against 
those responsible.
    On January 2, military police shot and wounded a man while he was 
riding a motorcycle with friends in a small coastal town. The man, 
resident in a foreign country, was in Ghana for a visit. Police stated 
that the bike was unregistered and was the type used by criminals. The 
police launched an investigation. At year's end there was no new 
information on the case.
    In March the Paramount Chief of the Goaso traditional area in the 
Brong Ahafo region ordered his men to beat with canes a 28-year-old 
woman for not kneeling before him. When the victim reported the 
incident to the police, the police refused to accept the complaint and 
detained the victim and her mother without charges. They were later 
released.
    On August 8, in Osu, Accra police shot the 18-year-old son of a 
former member of parliament in the leg outside a nightclub as he was 
leaving the venue with friends. Police have not determined a motive for 
the shooting. Two hospitals denied the victim medical treatment because 
he did not have a police report, a prerequisite for treating such 
cases. A third hospital treated him. At year's end there was no new 
information on the case.
    In November a video clip and still photos were released to the 
media depicting military personnel in Bawku (Upper East Region) 
interrogating and abusing two naked civilian suspects. Still photos 
showed a soldier kicking a suspect and placing the tip of his gun in a 
suspect's mouth. Earlier media reports accused the soldiers of 
stripping the suspects and parading them through the township following 
their arrest. The suspects were detained by military personnel for 
alleged involvement in sporadic shooting in the Natinga area of Bawku. 
According to the National Peace Council, the Military High Command 
questioned the Bawku unit commander and launched an inquiry into the 
incident.
    In May nine persons were wounded in the Central Region in a 
chieftaincy dispute clash.
    On May 14, violence erupted in the Western Region as a result of a 
dispute between two rival chiefs over the sale of a parcel of land. The 
dispute was resolved when the land owner offered a second parcel of 
land for sale.
    Vigilante-style justice conducted by angry citizens and mobs 
against suspected criminals and persons accused of witchcraft resulted 
in deaths and injuries.
    In February a mob of youths robbed and beat workers at a school 
building site in greater Accra then burned the building in protest 
against the construction of the school on a playing field.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally were harsh and sometimes life-threatening. 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. Many prisoners 
had to sleep on bare floors or take turns using beds. According to the 
2008 Prisons Service Annual Report, 14,128 prisoners (average daily 
lockup) were held in prisons designed to hold approximately one-third 
that number. There were 276 female prisoners and 118 juveniles. It was 
common for as many as 55 inmates to share a cell intended for 12. 
Overcrowding contributed to the prevalence of communicable diseases, 
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. 
Shortages of food, bedding, clean water, and clothing for prisoners 
persisted.
    In September a delegation of the Commission on Human Rights and 
Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), an independent government commission 
that investigates human rights abuses, corruption, and abuse of power, 
visited the Nsawam Medium Security Prison. The prison was built in 1960 
to accommodate 717 inmates and now has a population of 2,883, including 
1,549 prisoners awaiting trial. During the visit, the deputy director 
of the prison said that the ``Justice for All'' program introduced in 
2008, which was intended to accelerate the judicial process and ease 
overcrowding in prisons, had resulted in the release of only 15 
inmates.
    Of the prisoners awaiting trial, police acknowledged that they were 
not able to locate files for approximately 300 since at least 2007. 
This ostensibly was due to the transfer and retirement of prosecutors 
and investigators. The detainees were being held at Nsawam Prison while 
prison officials, courts and the police rebuild the cases.
    In 2008 107 prisoners died while in custody. The most common causes 
of death were TB, HIV/AIDS, and liver failure. In May the Inspector 
General of Police suspended two officers following the death of a 59-
year-old man who was in custody in the Tesano District following a 
police raid looking for suspected criminals. Police promised an 
investigation. The deceased's brother claimed that the victim was 
arbitrarily arrested. In August a suspected drug courier died in the 
police hospital in Accra after pellets of heroin in his stomach burst. 
At year's end, there was no new information on these cases.
    Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law provide 
for protection against arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the 
government did not always observe these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The police, under the 
jurisdiction of a 10-member Police Council, were responsible for 
maintaining law and order. The military continued to participate in law 
enforcement activities during the year. The Ghana Police Service is 
within the Ministry of Interior. A separate entity, the BNI, handled 
cases considered critical to state security and answered directly to 
the Ministry of National Security. The police maintained specialized 
units in Accra for homicide, forensics, domestic violence, trafficking 
in persons, visa fraud, narcotics, and cybercrimes. However, there were 
significant barriers to extending such services nationwide, including a 
lack of office accommodation, police vehicles, and equipment outside of 
the capital. In June the vice president criticized BNI agents for 
failing to identify themselves before making arrests. The criticism was 
based on complaints from members of the former government after the BNI 
approached them for questioning. In September the BNI lost a court 
appeal to keep the passport of a former foreign minister under 
investigation for corruption. The former minister claimed that the loss 
of his passport was a breach of his fundamental freedom of movement. 
The former foreign minister was indicted on corruption charges in 
October.
    The police service was criticized repeatedly for incidents of 
police brutality, corruption, and negligence. Impunity remained a 
problem. Delays in prosecuting suspects, rumors of police collaboration 
with criminals, and a widespread perception of police ineptitude 
contributed to an increase in vigilante violence during the year. There 
were also credible reports that police extorted money by acting as 
private debt collectors, by setting up illegal checkpoints, and by 
arresting citizens in exchange for bribes from the arrested persons' 
disgruntled business associates.
    Government officials stated that the policy of zero tolerance for 
corruption applied to police and other security officials; however, low 
salaries, which were sometimes not paid on time, contributed to the 
tendency of individual law enforcement officials to demand bribes.
    Officials of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) were accused of 
extorting money from drivers to allow them to cross a major bridge with 
overloaded vehicles endangering the structural security of the bridge. 
In June six policemen including a deputy superintendent of police and a 
chief inspector went on trial for robbing a businessman of 76,000.00 
cedis ($53,000). In November the six policemen were found guilty and 
each received a 20-year jail sentence. The 33-person Police 
Intelligence and Professional Standards Unit (PIPS) investigated human 
rights abuses and police misconduct. From January through September 
PIPS received 883 new cases, compared with a total of 491 in 2008. The 
investigation of 468 cases were completed, and 415 cases remained under 
investigation. At year's end, PIPS was investigating 83 complaints of 
harassment, unlawful arrest, and detention with human rights 
violations, compared with 134 in 2008 and 149 in 2007.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law provide for protection against arbitrary arrest 
and detention; however, the government did not always observe these 
prohibitions. The constitution provides that a detained individual 
should be informed immediately, in a language that the detainee 
understands, of the reasons for the detention and of his or her right 
to a lawyer and an interpreter at state expense. In most cases, lawyers 
were assigned promptly, although there were instances of delays. The 
law requires judicial warrants for arrest and provides for arraignment 
within 48 hours. 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. The law 
also provides for bail. In practice, however, many abuses of these 
rights occurred, including detention without charge for periods longer 
than 48 hours, failure to obtain a warrant for arrest, and detention of 
prisoners for indefinite periods by renewing warrants or by simply 
allowing them to lapse while an investigation was conducted.
    Police conducted anticrime patrols dubbed ``Operation Calm Life'' 
arresting individuals suspected of being criminals. Members of the 
patrol which killed eight armed robbers in a shoot-out in Kumasi in 
August received cash rewards from the Police Service. Authorities 
routinely failed to notify prisoners' families of their incarceration; 
such information often was obtained only by chance. The court has 
unlimited discretion to set bail, which 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. 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 2008 Annual Report, 30.5 percent of the prison 
population was in pretrial status, down from 31.55 percent in 2007. 
Detainees sometimes served more time in detention awaiting trial than 
the sentence for the crime required.
    CHRAJ reported that one inmate at Nsawam Prison has been in 
detention for 17 years. In another case, a woman was granted bail in 
January after 37 months in detention. A male arrested in the same case 
was granted bail after six months. No further information was available 
on these cases at year's end.

    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).
    The law establishes two basic levels of courts: the lower courts 
and the superior courts. The lower courts consist of the circuit and 
district courts, which also serve as juvenile courts and family 
tribunals. These courts try civil cases involving 5,000 cedis ($3,500) 
or less; and criminal cases for offenses punishable by a fine not 
exceeding 1,000 cedis ($700), imprisonment for a term not exceeding two 
years, or both. The superior courts consist of the Supreme Court, the 
Appeals court, the High court, the Commercial court, regional 
tribunals, and fast-track courts. Fast-track courts hear cases to 
conclusion within six months. The majority of cases filed before the 
fast track courts involved banking and commercial matters, human 
rights, and defamation.
    Members of the military were tried separately under the criminal 
code in a military court. There were no military tribunals separate 
from the military court system. Military courts were not permitted to 
try civilians. Military courts provide the same rights as civil courts.
    The Judicial Service has made efforts to mainstream alternate 
dispute resolution (ADR) procedures in order to decongest the courts 
and to address judicial inefficiency. Mediators have been trained 
throughout the country to implement ADR and mediation desks have been 
established in some district courts. An ADR secretariat was established 
within the Judicial Service.
    The Chieftaincy Act gives village and other traditional chiefs the 
power to mediate local matters and enforce customary tribal laws 
dealing with such matters as divorce, child custody, and property 
disputes. However, the authority of traditional rulers has steadily 
eroded 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. During 2008 the unit received 416 
complaints, of which 109 were resolved and 300 were 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. 
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. The constitution 
provides for the right to a fair trial, and the judiciary generally 
enforced this right.

    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 to try 
to improve access to justice and to streamline resolution of disputes. 
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, in practice the government sometimes infringed on privacy 
rights. Although the law requires judicial search warrants, police 
seldom obtained them in practice.
    Opposition politicians claim they were harassed by government 
institutions for partisan reasons.

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 criticized the government publicly without reprisal.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views without restriction.
    There were an estimated 70 newspapers and almost 200 FM radio 
stations across the country. The most wide-reaching print, radio, and 
television outlets were state-owned.
    There were at least eight reports that police arrested, detained, 
or used excessive force against members of the media. On February 12, 
two female sports journalists were assaulted by police while trying to 
gain access to the players' dressing room following a football (soccer) 
match. Both reporters had press credentials. On August 5, police 
arrested and detained the regional editor of Metro TV, an independent 
station, after he entered a court room to witness a rape trial. Police 
had prevented him from filming the suspect the day before. The 
journalist was released, and the police apologized.
    On September 17, police briefly closed an independent radio station 
in the Northern Region owned by a former vice president. The station 
was closed in connection with a chieftaincy dispute after it broadcast 
a press conference by the regent of a disputed territory. The regent 
called the press conference to explain that he walked out of a recent 
town hall meeting because he was made to sit with ``ordinary'' persons 
while another chief was seated with government ministers. The regional 
police commander ordered police to close the station. Station staff 
were arrested and detained for several hours. The station was back on 
air the following day.
    In February the director general of the state-owned Ghana 
Broadcasting Corporation gave a cease transmission order, thus cutting 
of the broadcast of a live program following a complaint of bias 
against the ruling NDC party made by the NDC communications chairman. 
The panel of one NDC and two opposition National Patriotic Party (NPP) 
members was discussing the president's state of the union address. The 
director general stated that the composition of the panel was not in 
the best interest of the station.
    On April 11, an Upper East Regional correspondent for the Accra-
based newspaper The Chronicle was assaulted by supporters of the ruling 
NDC for photographing party activity. They also destroyed his digital 
camera. The editor in chief of Today, an independent anti-government 
daily, reported receiving threatening messages on his cell phone. No 
arrests were made or charges filed.
    On May 28, a group of NDC supporters besieged a privately owned FM 
radio station in the Brong Ahafo Region, attacking three persons and 
vandalizing the station.

    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 2008, 
approximately 4.27 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; however, at times the government restricted this right. The 
government does not require permits for demonstrations, but police can 
deny use of a particular route.
    In June police obtained a court order to prevent an antigovernment 
demonstration from taking place on the grounds that they would not be 
able to control the crowd. The demonstration was held peacefully in 
August.
    In October the Oda Youth Association in the Eastern Region planned 
a demonstration to protest against the government for perceived neglect 
of the district. According to the association, on October 26 they wrote 
to the local police informing them of their intention to hold a 
protest, but that evening the president of the group was called into 
the regional BNI office and questioned about his plans. The next day, 
the local police commander informed the Association that their 
demonstration would be not be permitted.
    At the end of the year, there was no progress on the 2007 case in 
which police forcibly dispersed boycotting students at Takoradi 
Polytechnic Institute arresting 64 in connection with the rioting. The 
ban on campus demonstrations remained in effect, although it was not 
further challenged by students. There was no more information available 
on this case at year's end.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the government generally respected this 
right in practice. Members of security forces 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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    Some Muslims claimed political and social exclusion because of the 
pervasiveness of Christianity in many aspects of society. Factors such 
as the frequency of Christian-oriented prayers in public settings and 
the ubiquity of Christian slogans contributed to this perception of 
marginalization and discrimination.
    Muslim students generally enjoyed religious freedom in public 
schools. However, despite official policies promoting free religious 
practices, Muslim students complained that school administrators 
occasionally failed to accommodate students' religious obligations when 
regulating school attire or scheduling examinations on holy days.
    Trokosi, a practice indigenous to the southern Volta region, 
involves pledging family members, most commonly female teenagers, to a 
period of service from a few months to three years at a local shrine. 
Trokosis helped with the upkeep of these shrines and poured libations 
during prayers. Government agencies, such as the governmental 
Commission on Human Rights and Justice (CHRAJ), and some NGOs have at 
times actively campaigned against Trokosi, although local officials 
portrayed it as a traditional practice that was not abusive. Supporters 
of traditional African religions, such as the Afrikania Renaissance 
Mission regarded these campaigns against Trokosi as religious 
persecution.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or 
practice; however, there were occasional reports of interreligious and 
intrareligious friction during the year.
    The Jewish community had a few hundred members. There were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    The government often took steps to promote interfaith understanding 
during the year.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not 
use it.
    The country is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the 
Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa, the 1954 Convention on Stateless Persons and the 1961 
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 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. Its laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees.
    The government established the Ghana Refugee Board (GRB) to 
adjudicate claims for refugee status and to ensure that refugees 
receive all appropriate protections. The Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) participated as an observer on the 
refugee board. The country cooperated with UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees and 
asylum seekers. The law allows rejected asylum seekers to appeal and 
remain in the country until the appeal is adjudicated; however, there 
were some reports of delays in the appeal process. The minister 
responsible for adjudicating appeals did not make a decision on any 
appeals. The law also accords the right of protection to refugees who 
entered the country illegally without documentation.
    As part of the transition to a new government, the GRB was 
dissolved in January. As of September, with the exception of a 
chairman, new members of the board were nominated, but the new GRB had 
not convened by year's end. While the GRB secretariat continued some 
functions such as conducting refugee interviews, there were no board 
meetings to adjudicate claims or confer refugee status.
    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. The GRB and the UNHCR conducted interviews to 
determine if any of the Sierra Leoneans remaining in Ghana qualified as 
refugees based on an individual need for international protection. A 
total of 134 individuals went through the process, and the GRB issued 
decision letters to all concerned. Individuals who were rejected have 
filed appeals to the minister of the interior.
    Refugees enjoy freedom of movement within Ghana and were not 
required to always carry identification. 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 have access to public primary 
schools. Refugees in the Krisan camp, Buduburam settlement, and the 
Volta region have been enrolled in the national health insurance scheme 
(with funding from UNHCR), providing access to public health care. 
Urban refugees have access to health care on a fee-for-service basis.
    In March 2008 the governments of Liberia and Ghana, and the UNHCR 
formed a tripartite committee to facilitate the safe and voluntary 
return of Liberians. From April 2008 to March 31, the UNHCR, with the 
support of the government of Ghana, facilitated the voluntary return of 
9,294 Liberians. A UNHCR verification exercise concluded that 11,062 
Liberian refugees remained in Buduburam. During the same timeframe, the 
UNHCR facilitated the voluntary repatriation of 4,383 Togolese. Some 
1,200 refugees of various nationalities remained in the Krisan camp, 
4,000 Togolese refugees and asylum seekers remained in the Volta 
region, and 1,600 lived in greater Accra. Some 3,000 Liberian refugees 
and asylum seekers resided outside the Buduburam settlement.
    During the year the UNHCR conducted an exercise to verify the 
number and nationalities of the refugees and asylum seekers residing in 
urban areas. Sexual and gender-based violence remained a problem among 
refugee populations. The physical insecurity of refugees living in 
camps contributed to their vulnerability. In the Buduburam settlement, 
one case of defilement and 23 domestic violence cases were reported to 
the Women's Initiative for Self-Empowerment (WISE), UNHCR, and the 
police during the year. The survivor of the defilement could not 
identify the perpetrator, so no arrest was made. No prosecutions were 
initiated in any of the domestic violence cases.
    In June a man was convicted of sodomizing a child in 2007 and 
sentenced to five years' imprisonment. With the support of the UNHCR, 
the police force opened a police post on the Buduburam settlement in 
July. In the Krisan refugee camp six cases of physical child abuse and 
three of domestic violence were reported. One of the defilement cases 
reported in 2008 had been referred to the district court last year and 
was still pending.

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.--After two unsuccessful bids 
for the presidency, John Evans Atta Mills, the NDC party candidate, was 
inaugurated as president in January following a narrow victory over the 
NPP candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, in December 2008. The December 2008 
elections also gave the NDC 115 seats, the NPP 108, minor parties 
three, and independents four seats in the new parliament. The December 
2008 elections were generally peaceful and transparent. Activities at 
polling stations were observed by party agents and thousands of 
domestic and international observers. There were reports in some areas 
of voter intimidation and election irregularities, particularly in the 
regions of the country where the two main parties have their bases of 
support. 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 the preelection period there were some incidents that 
involved violence. In September 2008 there were violent clashes in 
Gushiegu District in the Northern Region between NPP and NDC supporters 
when they attempted to erect campaign flags in the same location. The 
clashes resulted in six deaths and the burning of houses and vehicles. 
Also in September 2008 an NPP rally in Tamale was disrupted by gunfire, 
forcing the party's vice presidential candidate to flee. The incident 
led to attacks on NDC supporters returning from their own rally, and in 
the destruction of houses and vehicles.
    In August 2008 the Electoral Commission conducted an exercise to 
update the voter registry, generally for persons who had turned 18 
since the last update in 2006. The exercise was marked by long lines 
and shortages of registration materials. Media reports and accusations 
by political party representatives described efforts to register 
underage persons and to transport persons into areas to facilitate 
multiple registrations. In October 2008 the Electoral Commission (EC) 
published revised voter lists with duplicate names removed, and allowed 
public review in each constituency of the revised list.
    There are no laws preventing women from voting or participating in 
political life on the same basis as men, but traditionally, women have 
much less access to leadership positions than men. There were 20 women 
in the 230 seat parliament, and 38 ministers of whom eight were women. 
There were four women in the cabinet, and five women on the Supreme 
Court.
    There are no laws, cultural or traditional practices that prevent 
minorities from participating in political life on the same basis as 
other citizens. According to the 2000 Population Census, Ghana has more 
than 80 ethnic groups, each of whom constitutes a minority. For 
example, the Ashanti were the largest ethnic minority with 14.8 percent 
of the total population.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Corruption in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches 
continued to be a problem. The law provides criminal penalties for 
official corruption; however, the government did not implement the law 
effectively, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices. 
CHRAJ was charged with investigating alleged violations of human 
rights, including corruption of public officials, and taking action to 
remedy proven violations. The attorney general, the minister of 
justice, and the Public Prosecutor's Office were responsible for 
combating corruption. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee is also 
responsible for auditing government spending. An auditor general 
reviews public sector accounts. The Serious Fraud Office is an 
independent government body that investigates corruption. Officials 
were subject to a financial disclosure process, but their responses 
were not available for public review. The World Bank's most recent 
Worldwide Governance Indicators (2008) reflected that corruption was a 
problem.
    President Mills has stressed the need to combat corruption. Soon 
after taking office, the minister of youth and sports, Alhaji Mohammed 
Muntaka Mubarak, was forced to resign after being accused of misuse of 
public funds. In October two ministers were forced to resign following 
allegations that they had accepted bribes from a British company during 
the 1990s. Also in October the former minister of foreign affairs and 
former chief executive of the National Investment Bank were indicted on 
corruption charges for activities that occurred during the previous 
government. There were reports that government officials pressured 
businesses to steer contracts toward favored companies and individuals.
    In July a presidential commission was established to investigate 
the activities of the former government's Ghana@50 Secretariat due to 
allegations of corruption. To date the commission has taken evidence 
from more than 200 witnesses, including suppliers, contractors, 
consultants, and officials involved in the celebration of the country's 
50th anniversary of independence in 2007. The investigation continued 
at year's end.
    Law enforcement authorities prevented the former minister of 
information from travelling abroad on the grounds that he was under 
criminal investigation for abuse of office for failing to follow proper 
procurement procedures when hiring his sister-in-law's firm to remodel 
his office at the ministry.
    In September and October the Metropolitan Oversight Committee of 
the Governing Council of the National African Peer Review Mechanism 
conducted a study in which 83.5 percent of respondents said that 
situations in which people paid bribes for justice had not improved. 
Seventy percent of respondents said judicial decisions were unfair.
    The constitution provides for public access to government 
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 
were generally cooperative and responsive to their views.
    Major local human rights NGOs acted independently of the government 
and political parties. The government does not apply any restrictions 
on domestic NGOs, although all must be registered with the State. The 
registration process is the same for all organizations.
    The government did not refuse visas to international human rights 
observers or otherwise restrict access to the country.
    The government cooperated fully with a range of United Nations 
organizations in country.
    CHRAJ mediated and settled cases brought by individuals with 
grievances against government agencies or private companies.
    CHRAJ operated with no overt interference from the government; 
however, some critics questioned its ability to independently 
investigate high-level corruption. 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 
nongovernment agencies. However, public confidence in 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 the 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 by 
authorities was generally inadequate. Limited financial resources and a 
generally permissive societal attitude toward such discrimination 
contributed to its perpetuation. The courts were empowered to 
specifically 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 
(FIDA), the Legal Aid Board, and several other human rights NGOs to 
combat domestic violence. From January through September, DOVVSU noted 
283 reports of rape, with 136 reported arrests leading to 57 
prosecutions resulting in five convictions, and 217 uninvestigated 
cases. Convicted rapists may be punished with jail sentences ranging 
from five to 25 years. There were also 858 defilement cases. DOVVSU 
investigated 5,458 cases of nonmaintenance.
    Although the law prohibits domestic violence, it continues 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. In addition to imposing a fine or a prison term, the 
court may order the offender to pay compensation directly to the 
victim. Aggravated assault is tried under a separate law. However, 
prosecution of domestic violence cases remained difficult. Despite 
growing public awareness that domestic violence was a crime, government 
officials and NGOs did not have evidence that the new law had increased 
victims' willingness to report abuse or affected the number of arrests. 
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. 
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 hospital administration to 
sign medical forms.
    Unless specifically called upon by DOVVSU, police seldom intervened 
in cases of domestic violence, in part due to a lack of counseling 
skills, shelter, and other resources to assist victims. Statistics were 
not available on the number of abusers who were prosecuted or convicted 
during the year.
    In the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West regions of the country, 
where belief in witchcraft remained strong, rural women were banished 
by their families or traditional village authorities for suspected 
witchcraft. Most accused witches were older women, often widows, who 
were identified by fellow villagers as the cause of difficulties, such 
as illness, crop failure, or financial misfortune. The banished women 
went to live in ``witch camps,'' villages in the north of the country 
populated by suspected witches, some of whom were accompanied by their 
families. Catholic Relief Services and other NGOs provided food, 
medical care, and other support to residents of the camps. Government 
officials and the regional office of CHRAJ claimed that the number of 
women in the witch camps in the Northern Region had decreased slightly 
in recent years.
    Although there were no confirmed reports of assaults on witches 
during the year, experts believed that discrimination and intolerance 
towards witches continued.
    Prostitution is illegal and is subject to criminal prosecution. 
Prostitution was prevalent in the major towns and transportation 
centers. In July police destroyed Soldier Bar, a well known brothel in 
Accra, as part of the mayor's efforts to improve living conditions in 
the city.
    There were no laws to specifically protect women from sexual 
harassment; however, some sexual harassment cases were prosecuted under 
the existing criminal code. Women's advocacy groups reported that 
sexual harassment remained a problem.
    Policy allows couples and individuals to freely decide on the 
number, spacing and timing of pregnancies. In 2008 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 using a modern contraceptive method. The fertility 
rate averaged four children per woman.
    The use of antenatal care for pregnancy and delivery was high, with 
more than 75 percent of pregnant women having four or more antenatal 
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 antenatal care. HIV 
prevalence in the general population declined and was less than 2 
percent. An estimated 10 percent of the population knows their HIV 
status, and about 30 percent of HIV-positive pregnant mothers receive 
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 
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 
back. 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.--The government was committed to protecting the rights 
and welfare of children, although its efforts were constrained by 
limited financial and logistical resources.
    Not all births were registered with the government. Citizenship is 
derived by birth within the country or parentage. Although a birth 
certificate was not a legal precondition to attend school, in practice 
some children were reportedly denied education because their births 
were not registered.
    Education is compulsory from preprimary through junior secondary 
school. Despite the constitutional provision for ``free compulsory and 
universal basic education,'' parents were required to purchase uniforms 
and writing materials. Uniforms are mandatory in all government-
supported schools. Students may be asked to leave school if they do not 
wear their uniform. The government provided textbooks.
    According to the Ministry of Education, the enrollment rate during 
the 2008-09 school year was 94.9 percent at the primary level; 48.6 
percent of those students are girls and 51.4 percent are boys. At the 
junior secondary school (JSS) level, 80.6 percent of eligible children 
were enrolled; 46.7 percent of the total enrollment was girls and 53.3 
percent were boys. Some children did not attend school because they 
worked to supplement their family's income or lived far from the 
closest school. Many schools, particularly in rural areas, had 
insufficient teachers and were inadequately resourced. The indirect 
economic cost associated with enrollment, including lost wages from 
children not in the labor force, was a significant obstacle for many 
children's families. In addition, authorities did not regularly enforce 
attendance, and parents were rarely sanctioned for keeping their 
children out of school.
    The government continued its Capitation Grant program, paying 
schools approximately three cedis ($2.08) per school year per child to 
cover cultural, sports, and other school fees. The National School 
Feeding Programme also helped alleviate the incidental costs associated 
with school attendance. During the year 645,000 children were enrolled 
in the program nationwide with a target of one million by 2010. The 
number of children in Accra participating in the school lunch program 
doubled during the year to an estimated 6,000.
    The government strongly supported the UN's Education for All goals. 
During the year the Ghana Education Service (GES) actively campaigned 
to expand education for girls by providing scholarships at the JSS and 
Senior Secondary School levels and by offering financial incentives and 
free housing to female teachers to work in some rural 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 enrollments for 
girls.
    The law prohibits defilement, incest, and sexual abuse of minors, 
but such abuse remained a serious problem. There were frequent 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. 
During the year there continued to be press reports of teachers and 
headmasters/headmistresses either arrested for sexual harassment of 
female students or dismissed for ignoring reported problems.
    In September the headmaster of a girls' school was arrested after 
impregnating a 16-year-old student. He was charged with forceful 
marriage of a minor and failing to take responsibility as a father. He 
could not be charged with defilement because the student was over the 
age of consent, and the girl's family consented to the marriage.
    During the year DOVVSU received 858 cases of suspected child 
defilement and 10 cases of attempted defilement.
    The law prohibits female genital mutilation (FGM), but it remains 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 women age 15-49 in Upper West had 
experienced some form of FGM, compared to 20 percent of women in this 
age group in Upper East and 5 percent of this group in Northern Region.
    Sylvester Kyei-Gyundi, head of the Information Research Advocacy 
Division of the Department of Children, said that national efforts 
focused on negative cultural practices (including FGM) have yielded 
positive results. 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.
    Among women 15-49 surveyed in Upper West where the practice was 
most common, 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 was 
highly correlated with increased education. There were no prosecutions 
of practitioners during the year.
    Forced child marriage, which was illegal, remained a problem. CHRAJ 
and NGOs reported that the problem had not improved during the year.
    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 girls were exploited by both their protectors and their 
customers.
    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. In March Vice President John Mahama spoke out against the 
involvement of children in this conflict, and ordered the security 
forces to work to prevent it.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
in persons and provides for a minimum prison sentence of five years for 
convicted traffickers.
    The country was a source, transit, and destination country for 
women and children trafficked for the purpose of forced domestic and 
commercial labor and sexual exploitation. The parliament passed a bill 
in July to amend the definition of human trafficking to include the 
phrase ``for the purpose of exploitation.''
    The number of trafficked victims was unknown, although NGOs 
estimated the number to be in the thousands annually. During the year 
DOVVSU received reports of 11 cases of child trafficking. Numbers 
reported in the media and obtained from police sources indicate that 
the actual figure was much higher.
    Trafficking was both internal and international, with the majority 
of trafficking in the country involving children from impoverished 
rural backgrounds. The most common forms of internal trafficking 
involved children, mostly boys, trafficked into the fishing communities 
along Lake Volta, and girls from the north and east trafficked to Accra 
and Kumasi to work as domestic helpers, porters, and assistants to 
local traders. Local and international NGOs reported these children 
were often subjected to dangerous working conditions and were sometimes 
injured or killed as a result of the labor they performed. Local 
authorities supported projects sponsored by the International 
Organization of Migration (IOM) and other organizations to decrease the 
incidence of trafficking in persons. IOM and various NGOs offered 
microcredit assistance and education to families who agreed not to 
provide their children to traffickers and to those whose children had 
been trafficked.
    Children between the ages of seven and 17 also were trafficked to 
and from the neighboring countries of Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, The Gambia, 
Nigeria, and Burkina Faso to work as farm workers, laborers, divers, 
street hawkers, or domestics.
    Much of the recruitment of children was done with the consent of 
the parents, who sometimes were given an advance payment or promised 
regular stipends from the recruiter and were told the children would 
receive food, shelter, and often some sort of training or education. 
Some parents sent their children to work for extended family members in 
urban areas. In other cases, children were given to professional 
recruiters, usually women, who placed the children with employers in 
cities. In many cases the children never received the education or 
vocational training the recruiters promised.
    Women and girls also were trafficked to Europe, mostly to Italy, 
Germany, and the Netherlands. International traffickers promised the 
women legitimate jobs; however, the women often were forced into 
prostitution once they reached their destination. Women were sometimes 
sent directly to Europe while others were trafficked through third 
countries. Some young women were trafficked to the Middle East, 
particularly Lebanon, where they worked in menial jobs or as domestic 
help. There were also reports that women and girls from Nigeria, Benin, 
Togo, and Burkina Faso were trafficked to or through the country in 
transit to Western Europe or the Middle East to work in the commercial 
sex industry. Traffickers sometimes operate under the guise of being 
employment agents, promising work as domestics or in other fields. 
Under the antitrafficking law, DOVVSU has responsibility for 
enforcement, and the Department of Social Welfare within the Ministry 
of Employment and Social Welfare (MESW) has responsibility for victim 
assistance, including locating family members and providing temporary 
shelter, counseling, and job skills training. Local police and social 
welfare officials reported insufficient resources to implement the law, 
particularly in rural areas without police stations.
    On March 30, a Nigerian woman was sentenced to eight years in 
prison with hard labor for trafficking a 14-year-old girl from Togo to 
Ghana.
    In April four Nigerians were arrested for trafficking three 
compatriots into Ghana for prostitution. The four were remanded into 
police custody. The traffickers were sent to Nigeria on May 1 to be 
tried in their home country. In June three Chinese were convicted and 
sentenced to prison terms of between 12 and 17 years with hard labor 
for trafficking eight compatriots to Ghana for prostitution. The court 
ordered more than $14,500 seized from the convicted Chinese traffickers 
to finance the victims' return to China.
    In August a Ghanaian woman was convicted of trafficking and 
sentenced to eight years' imprisonment with hard labor for trafficking 
two Togolese children and three Ghanaian children to Ghana and Cote 
d'Ivoire to work in the fishing industry. Ghana's Antihuman Trafficking 
Unit investigated the case, rescued the children, and returned them to 
their parents for reintegration.
    In December police arrested four Chinese nationals for trafficking 
seven women from China through Togo to work as prostitutes in Ghana. 
Three of the accused were remanded into custody. The fourth was 
released on bail.
    The government, the International Labor Organization (ILO), and 
NGOs continued to train security forces, immigration authorities, 
customs officials, and police on the new trafficking law. The Border 
Patrol Unit, part of the Immigration Service, is responsible for 
monitoring the flow of travelers in and out of the country, 
particularly along unapproved routes. Various ministries worked with 
the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO/
IPEC), the IOM, and NGOs to address trafficking. The MESW, in 
conjunction with ILO/IPEC, continued to implement a National Plan of 
Action for the Elimination of Child Labor. International and local NGOs 
and the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) worked to 
identify and return children trafficked to fishing villages, and to 
support the fishermen's transition to alternate forms of income 
generation.
    Authorities made ad hoc efforts to shelter and reintegrate 
trafficking victims from the country and other West African countries. 
However, the government devoted little attention to rehabilitating 
child trafficking victims.
    During the year the government continued to conduct community 
meetings and workshops for media and police to raise awareness of the 
trafficking law.

    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 on 
April 7. 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.
    In March 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.
    Persons with both mental and physical disabilities were frequently 
subjected to abuse and intolerance. In July 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 camps in which 
individuals believed to be possessed by evil spirits were chained up 
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 to be 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 on prayer camps 
based on interviews with current and former inmates. The report found 
that insufficient financial resources was a burden faced by many 
families caring for mentally ill members, and that prayer camps were an 
available option. The CHRI called for regulation of prayer camps.
    There are several government agencies and NGOs involved in 
addressing discrimination against persons with disabilities, including 
the Ministry of Health, the Department of Social Welfare in the MESW, 
the Ministry of Education, and the Center for Democratic Development.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The government has deemphasized 
the relevance of ethnic differences. President Mills and some of his 
ministers and close advisors are Fanti, but the vice president and many 
ministers are of other ethnic origins. There were numerous small-scale 
conflicts within ethnic groups during the year, most of which related 
to chieftaincy and land use issues. Efforts by NGOs to encourage 
reconciliation continued during the year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution protects 
human rights but does not specifically mention sexual orientation in 
its list of protected classes. The law makes consenting homosexual acts 
a misdemeanor, and strong sociocultural beliefs discriminated against 
and stigmatized same gender sex. The law does not differentiate between 
male-male and female-female sex. There are 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.

    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 some 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 put pressure on 
employers and employees to operate efficiently with limited 
interruptions. The right to strike can also be restricted for workers 
in private enterprise whose services were deemed essential to the 
survival of the enterprise by a union and an employer. A union may call 
a legal strike if 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 had ever gone through the complete 
dispute resolution process, and there were numerous unsanctioned 
strikes during the year.
    In May doctors in one hospital went on strike over unpaid 
allowances, and in August the miners in one large gold mine went on 
strike over wage disparities between expatriate and local workers. In 
July the National Association of Graduate Teachers threatened to strike 
over pay and allowances. At year's end , the graduate teachers had not 
called a strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference, and the 
government protected this right in practice. However, the armed forces, 
police, prison service, security, and intelligence personnel, and 
workers with policy making and managerial functions, do not have any 
possibility of bargaining 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 
contrary to the law. Although the Labor Act protects trade union 
members and their officers against discrimination if they organize 
within the free zones, in practice some employers persistently resisted 
unionization of the employees.

    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 in illegal 
mining. Local NGOs claimed victims forced to work on boats as children 
were sometimes unable to leave their employers and continue to work 
without pay as adults. In the illegal mining industry (galamsey), NGOs 
cited debt bondage as a problem.
    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 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 that was not likely to be harmful to the child and does not 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 for children age 15 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. During the year the MOWAC conducted 
seminars on child labor to educate the media, police, civil servants, 
and the general public. However, local custom and poverty encouraged 
children to work to help support their families 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; they 
received little or no health care and generally did not attend school.
    According to government labor officials and the Ghana Employers 
Association, child labor problems 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 runs regular stories 
about children being used in involuntary servitude, particularly as 
street hawkers and porters.
    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 conduct these efforts.
    During the year the government continued its five-year national 
Program for the Elimination of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector, which 
included awareness-raising initiatives regarding child labor practices 
in cocoa farming. The government worked closely with NGOs, labor 
unions, and the cocoa industry to better understand the role of 
children in the cocoa sector and to encourage changes, through the 
program to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa 
industry.
    The government continued to implement its National Plan of Action 
for the Elimination of Child Labor and collaborated with ILO/IPEC 
through June on a $4.75 million project to support this plan. This 
project withdrew 5,326 children from exploitative child labor and kept 
another 5,753 children from exploitative child labor.
    ILO/IPEC, government representatives, the Trade Union Congress, 
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. With the 
support of the government, NGOs and foreign governments funded more 
recent programs to combat child labor. 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 set 
daily minimum wages. The daily minimum wage of 2.65 cedis ($1.85) 
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 engaged in some family 
farming or other family-based commercial activities. The Ministry of 
Employment and Social Welfare was unable to credibly enforce this law.
    The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission was charged with ensuring 
fair, transparent, and systematic implementation of the government 
public service pay policy; advising 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 do not apply 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 to 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 effectively respond to 
violations. Inspectors did not impose sanctions or otherwise respond to 
violations during the year.
    In September 2008 CHRAJ issued a report, ``The State of Human 
Rights in Mining Communities in Ghana.'' The report found 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 impacted both public health and loss of 
livelihoods. Blasting in 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 of Western Ghana, 
independent miners suspected of stealing equipment from a nearby mine 
were arrested and beaten by security service members. The report cited 
a 2006 incident in Wassa West area where members of the Ghana military 
covered pits in which independent miners were known to be digging at 
the time. The miners were able to extract themselves.

                               __________

                                 GUINEA

    Guinea has a population of approximately 10 million. Its 
constitution was suspended by a military junta that seized power in a 
December 2008 coup, hours after the death of former president Lansana 
Conte. In 2003 Conte won an election boycotted by the opposition and 
criticized by international observers as neither free nor fair. The 
junta, known as the Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), 
proclaimed Captain Moussa Dadis Camara head of state and dismissed the 
National Assembly. Despite the appointment of a civilian prime 
minister, Kabine Komara, to serve as head of government, the CNDD 
consolidated power within the presidency. On December 3, President 
Camara was shot in the head in an apparent assassination attempt and 
was recovering in Morocco at year's end. Defense minister and CNDD vice 
president Sekouba Konate became the interim CNDD president on December 
3. The country's constitution and National Assembly remained suspended 
during the year. Civilian and military authorities did not maintain 
effective control of the security forces.
    Serious human rights abuses occurred during the year. Citizens did 
not have the right to change their government through periodic 
elections. Security forces conducted mass killings and beatings, 
publicly raped women and girls, and tortured and abused detainees to 
extract confessions. Prison conditions were inhumane and life 
threatening. Perpetrators of killings and abuse acted with impunity. 
There were arbitrary arrests, prolonged pretrial detention, and 
incommunicado detention. The judiciary was subject to corruption and 
outside influence, including intimidation from security forces. The 
government infringed on citizens' privacy rights and restricted 
freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and movement. Sexual 
violence against women and girls, societal discrimination against 
women, and female genital mutilation (FGM) were problems. Trafficking 
in persons, ethnic discrimination, and forced labor, including by 
children, occurred.
    Due to Captain Camara's August announcement that he might run for 
president, the opposition coalition known as ``Les Forces Vives'' held 
a large protest on September 28 in a Conakry sports stadium, which 
soldiers violently suppressed with live ammunition, resulting in deaths 
of at least 157 demonstrators and injuries to approximately 1,200. 
Security forces also publicly raped approximately 100 women in and near 
the stadium and arrested demonstrators, an unknown number of whom 
remained in detention at year's end. On December 3, an unsuccessful 
attempt to assassinate Captain Camara resulted in another military 
crackdown, in which an unknown number of civilians and military 
personnel were arbitrarily killed, injured, or detained.
                        
                       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 killed hundreds of citizens and demonstrators; many of 
the killings appeared to be politically motivated. Captain Camara and 
high-level government officials also endorsed and encouraged vigilante 
killings on numerous occasions during the year. The government did not 
investigate any security force killings and took no legal or 
disciplinary action against the perpetrators.
    In what Human Rights Watch (HRW) called an ``organized operation'' 
that the CNDD planned in advance, several hundred members of the elite 
Presidential Guard deployed on September 28 to a Conakry stadium where 
tens of thousands of unarmed and peaceful opposition demonstrators had 
gathered to protest CNDD policies and the possible candidacy of Captain 
Camara in the next presidential election. The soldiers surrounded the 
stadium, blocked the entrances, and used guns and bayonets on the 
demonstrators, resulting in at least 157 deaths; the government cited 
57 deaths and claimed that most resulted from crushing by the crowd and 
stray bullets. A number of opposition leaders, including Sidya Toure, 
Cellou Diallo, Jean-Marie Dore, Alpha Conde, and Mouctar Diallo were 
beaten and then detained by security forces for approximately 12 hours. 
According to HRW and other sources, security forces reportedly removed 
dozens of bodies from the stadium and local hospitals and subsequently 
buried them in mass graves.
    Following the December 3 attempted assassination of Captain Camara, 
the military launched a crackdown during its search for the suspected 
assassin Lieutenant Aboubacar ``Toumba'' Diakite; Diakite escaped and 
remained at large at year's end. Military personnel reportedly arrested 
approximately 60 soldiers, including civilians, as part of the roundup. 
Eyewitnesses told journalists that persons were being shot in the 
streets as they fled from patrols. There was at least one confirmed 
death but no information as to the numbers killed or injured during the 
search.
    No investigations were conducted into the killing of four persons 
by security forces during the May 2008 military mutiny in Conakry and 
the June 2008 killing by soldiers of 14 striking police officers.
    During the year government officials, including Captain Camara, 
endorsed and encouraged vigilante killings.
    For example, on February 3, Captain Camara issued a proclamation 
authorizing the use of lethal force against anyone engaged in drug 
trafficking, money laundering, armed robbery, or trafficking in 
children; the proclamation did not specify who was authorized to kill 
or if other crimes would be punishable by lethal force. During a May 10 
news conference, Captain Camara pronounced a blanket death penalty for 
all criminal activities and said that thieves caught in the act should 
be killed instantly.
    In a June 2 meeting with local officials, the minister of high 
crimes and anti-drugs, Moussa Tiegboro Camara, stated that armed 
robbers should be burned alive to avoid overcrowding the prisons. His 
proclamation was commonly known as ``Law 4550,'' in reference to the 
cost of a liter of gasoline and a book of matches in local currency. On 
June 5, Minister Tiegboro congratulated residents in the Yimbaya 
neighborhood of Conakry on the death of a local criminal who had been 
tortured by residents. In a June 24 interview with HRW, he claimed that 
his statements were meant to frighten criminals.
    On August 4, Captain Camara praised Boubacar Diallo, a taxi driver, 
who along with his passengers, beat and killed a bandit on July 21 
during a taxi robbery. Captain Camara rewarded Diallo with 10 million 
Guinea francs ($2,000) and a new car.
    Following the statements by Captain Camara and Minister Tiegboro, 
incidents of vigilante violence increased throughout the country.
    For example, on May 8, in the town of Mandiana, police arrested a 
man who had kidnapped and held an 8-year-old girl in his home. Despite 
warning shots from the police, a mob broke into the prison, stoned the 
man to death, and set his body on fire.
    On May 22, a mob gathered outside the Guekedou prison, removed 
imprisoned military officers Youssouf Keita and Pierre Bangoura, and 
burned them to death. Police had arrested the officers for a series of 
crimes and several murders.
    On July 15, a crowd gathered outside the Kissidougou jail and 
demanded that police hand over Faya Antaoine after his arrest for 
killing his wife. The police reportedly attempted to hold off the mob, 
but eventually the mob beat and stoned Faya to death outside of the 
station.

    b. Disappearance.--There were reports of disappearances, including 
some that may have been politically motivated. Following the September 
28 massacre at the opposition rally in a Conakry stadium, dozens of 
demonstrators disappeared. The CNDD stated that all bodies of victims 
killed were returned to family members; however, local press 
interviewed a number of individuals who stated that they were unable to 
identify their relatives among the bodies presented by the government. 
HRW reported that bodies were buried in mass graves (see section 1.a.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and law prohibit such practices; however, 
both civilian and military security forces tortured, beat, raped, and 
otherwise abused citizens and detainees. Nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) reported torture to extract confessions in police and military 
detention facilities. Minors also were tortured before being 
incarcerated, according to a May 2008 report by the local NGO Terres 
des Hommes. The government did not investigate any of these cases and 
took no legal or disciplinary action against security force members 
responsible for the abuses.
    During the September 28 stadium massacre, security forces used guns 
and bayonets to kill and injure hundreds of civilians (see section 
1.a.).
    On June 2, the local press reported incidents of torture, including 
possible castration, at the military prison on Kassa Island, where 
approximately 100 military personnel were reportedly detained in 
inhumane conditions.
    On August 8, three soldiers ambushed, beat, and kidnapped Dominic 
Aboayje, the Ghanaian ambassador, from his diplomatic vehicle in 
Conakry. The soldiers released the ambassador a few hours later but 
stole the vehicle.
    On August 25, according to a prison official, authorities at Kassa 
Island transferred a prisoner who had been tortured to Conakry's 
prison. The prisoner died that night of his injuries.
    No investigations were conducted into the November 2008 torture of 
six Cameroonian citizens authorized by Claude Pivi, an army lieutenant, 
who was subsequently appointed minister of presidential security during 
the year.
    Security forces used sexual violence to intimidate and brutalize 
civilians. During the September 28 stadium massacre, members of the 
Presidential Guard publicly raped and sexually assaulted with weapons 
approximately 100 women during a brutal repression of an opposition 
demonstration in Conakry (see section 1.a.). According to human rights 
organizations and survivors, approximately 20 women were also kidnapped 
and raped for several days. By year's end no perpetrators had been 
punished for these crimes.
    On March 31, a soldier raped a 15-year-old girl, according to HRW. 
The soldier was detained for a few days in the military camp. The 
girl's family did not press charges after the military agreed to pay 
for her medical expenses.
    No investigations or arrests were made into the November 2008 
stoning to death of Fanta Camara, whom a radio station erroneously 
identified as a child trafficker.
    No individuals were held responsible for the 2007 torture of 
Lansana Komara, an opposition party leader and professor who was 
imprisoned in 2007.
    Vigilante violence was common, in part due to lack of confidence in 
security forces and the judiciary (see section 1.a.). Citizens in 
N'Zerekore sometimes waited outside the local prison to attack and burn 
released convicts to death, according to one NGO.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in civilian 
prisons, which were under the Ministry of Justice, remained inhumane 
and life threatening. Prisoners, including children, were reportedly 
routinely tortured to extract confessions or to extort money. According 
to NGOs, prisoners claimed that guards routinely threatened, beat, and 
otherwise harassed them. Although the law condemns torture and other 
abuse, the government took no action against alleged torturers.
    All prisons were overcrowded. Conakry Prison, which was built to 
hold 300 prisoners, held 1,055 prisoners at year's end. Some Conakry 
prisoners reported sleeping on their knees because their cells were so 
small. In the N'Zerekore prison, approximately 60 prisoners 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.
    The prison administrator in Kankan who had routinely sexually 
abused a female prisoner in 2008 was transferred to another post.
    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. NGOs reported that the 
roof of N'Zerekore Prison was almost completely destroyed, exposing 
prisoners to the elements.
    A foreign observer reported that inmates in Siguiri Prison lacked 
access to medical care, adequate food and water, and legal 
representation, a situation that was common to prisons throughout the 
country. One prisoner, who appeared in better health than the other 
inmates, stated that he spent the day at home but returned at night due 
to a special arrangement with the prison's administrator.
    NGOs reported endemic malnutrition throughout the prison system. In 
a February 23 report, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) detailed their 
actions in the Gueckedou Prison after finding that 38 percent of the 72 
prisoners suffered from acute malnutrition, with 21 percent severely 
malnourished and 17 percent moderately malnourished. In follow-up 
visits to other prisons, MSF found similar situations, noting that 
``such cases of severe acute malnutrition are rare among adult 
populations, even in vastly more unstable settings of conflict and 
violence.'' MSF also reported that 42 percent of the prisoners in 
Gueckedou Prison suffered from dehydration.
    The government stopped delivering food and medicine to the prisons 
during the first five months of the year. During this period, prison 
directors relied on charities, the International Committee of the Red 
Cross (ICRC), and NGOs to provide food for the prison populations. The 
medical doctor at Conakry Prison confirmed that during the year, 
malnutrition contributed to the deaths of several prisoners.
    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 social stigma and the difficulty and cost of travel to 
the prisons. Guards often demanded bribes in exchange for delivering 
food to those incarcerated and routinely confiscated food, which was 
seldom delivered to the intended beneficiary.
    Inmates were not tested for HIV/AIDS upon entry into the prisons, 
and no statistics were kept; however, a physician working in Conakry 
Prison estimated that 15 percent of the prison population was infected. 
The lack of medicine in the prisons, combined with the endemic 
malnutrition and dehydration, made infection or illness life 
threatening. In Gueckedou, and commonly in other jails, prisoners with 
tuberculosis were living together with other inmates.
    Poor sanitation, malnutrition, disease, lack of medical attention, 
and poor conditions resulted in dozens of deaths, but no estimates were 
available. Although there was no data for the interior of the country, 
a local prisoner advocacy NGO reported 89 deaths in Conakry Prison 
during the year and an additional 26 detainees who perished in local 
hospitals.
    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 by controlling 
conditions and cell assignments, giving better conditions to prisoners 
who were able to pay.
    NGOs estimated that approximately 3,800 prisoners (including 
between 47 and 100 women) were incarcerated in 32 civilian prison 
facilities nationwide.
    In most prisons, men and women were held separately, but juveniles 
generally were held with adults in prisons outside the capital. In 
Siguiri Prison, children 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 as their male counterparts, such as access 
to fresh air.
    Nationwide figures regarding incarcerated minors were unavailable, 
but a local NGO reported that 135 minors were incarcerated at Conakry 
Prison. Approximately 85 percent of the minors had not 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 NGO Terre des Hommes reported that only five of 117 juvenile 
inmates in Conakry Prison had obtained access to legal representation 
during the year. The government did not make provisions for children's 
food, clothing, education, or medical care in prison.
    Pretrial detainees were not separated from convicted prisoners, and 
the prison system often was unable to track pretrial detainees after 
arrest. Political prisoners were reportedly held either at the Kassa 
Island military prison or at the Conakry Prison, but they were housed 
in separate cells from the general population.
    Conditions in military and gendarmerie prisons, which were under 
the Ministry of Defense, could not be verified since the government 
denied access to prison advocacy groups and international 
organizations; however, local media reported the use of torture, 
including castration, at the military police prison and other police 
and military facilities on Kassa Island. 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.
    The government permitted prison visits by the ICRC and other local 
humanitarian and religious organizations that offered medical care and 
food for those in severe need. The ICRC was allowed regular access to 
all official civilian detention facilities; however, no international 
organization was permitted access to military detention facilities. The 
ICRC continued partnership programs with prison and security 
authorities to improve prison conditions. During the year a local NGO 
attempted to visit a major military prison on Kassa Island, but 
government officials claimed that the facility was not a prison.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, security forces 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. Since the 
December 2008 military coup, the CNDD restructured the gendarmerie as a 
national police force with responsibility for policing customs, 
immigration, and airport and seaport security. The army is responsible 
for external security but also plays a role in domestic security. A 
quasipolice unit called the Anticrime Brigade, created to fight 
criminal gangs and bandits, also operated in Conakry. In January the 
CNDD created the Ministry of High Crimes and Anti-Drugs (HCAD) to 
investigate illegal drugs, trafficking in persons, money laundering, 
and organized crime. Since no agents were officially assigned to the 
HCAD, a small cadre of officers from the gendarmerie, judicial police, 
and Presidential Guard joined forces to sporadically investigate cases. 
The code of penal procedure permits only the gendarmerie to make 
arrests, but the army, Presidential Guard, and state police also 
detained persons.
    The police force was inadequately staffed and lacked training. In 
addition, a number of police officers were part of a ``volunteer'' 
corps that did not receive a salary. 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. Many 
citizens viewed all the security forces as corrupt, ineffective, and 
dangerous. Police ignored legal procedures and extorted money from 
citizens at roadblocks. The government did not take any action to train 
or reform security forces, although several NGOs conducted training 
programs.
    Discipline within the armed forces deteriorated significantly 
during the year. According to media reports, local NGOs, and 
international organizations, a culture of impunity emboldened soldiers 
to rob persons at gunpoint, loot businesses, and assault officials, 
foreign ambassadors, and civilians. According to an April 27 HRW 
report, soldiers in groups numbering up to 20 raided offices, shops, 
warehouses, medical clinics, and homes in broad daylight as well as at 
night. Victims included local citizens and foreigners, and many of the 
victims were also threatened or physically assaulted. No security force 
members were punished or prosecuted during the year for these cases.
    For example, on January 28, according to an HRW report, 10 soldiers 
robbed a businessman at his pharmacy. The soldiers reportedly entered 
the premises to search for counterfeit medicines but removed 
approximately 50 million Guinean francs ($10,000) from the safe. The 
soldiers also forced the owner into their car upon leaving but released 
him within hours.
    On May 30, two armed soldiers threw a businessman out of a third-
story window of his home and stole his car. The fall broke the man's 
back, both legs, and both arms.
    On July 30, members of the Presidential Guard attacked the first 
vice president and minister of security, General Toto Camara, during a 
dispute over a shipment at the port of Conakry. Captain Camara and the 
perpetrators apologized to Toto Camara, but the perpetrators were not 
punished.
    According to HRW, during the year small groups of soldiers 
interrupted judicial proceedings or threatened lawyers in an attempt to 
influence the outcome of proceedings.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--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 home 
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 did not 
respect the provision of the law that provides client access to 
attorneys. Indigent defendants were not provided attorneys at state 
expense. Although the law proscribes 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 and could occur 
in the presence of a government official.
    Throughout the year military personnel arbitrarily detained 
citizens, including members of the media, politicians, businessmen, 
demonstrators, civil servants, and civil society members. One 
international NGO reported that gendarmes routinely arrested civilians 
and detained them at Kassa Island military prison until they paid 
bribes for their release.
    Following the events at the stadium on September 28, security 
forces arrested and detained an unknown number of civilians. One 
demonstrator described to a foreign observer how he had been arrested 
at the stadium by military personnel and then detained at Camp Koundara 
for 48 hours. The demonstrator described being subjected to torture. He 
alleged withholding of food and water, beatings, removal of clothing, 
and being made to hold strenuous physical positions for hours at a 
time. The demonstrator was held with 11 other detainees and claimed 
that he was released only after a family member was able to bribe a 
military officer. There was no further information on the reported 
remaining 11 detainees by year's end.
    Since hundreds of people disappeared in the September 28 violence 
and the subsequent crackdown, NGOs were unable to determine how many 
people were killed during the violence or were arrested and detained. 
Similarly, NGOs could not ascertain how many detainees were still held 
at year's end. While a local NGO attempted to compile a list of the 
missing, they were not able to verify the names at year's end.
    On April 6, military personnel arrested the vice president of the 
audit committee, Mouctar Balde, after he stated in a press interview 
that a prominent businessman did not owe money to the state. Balde was 
held at Camp Alpha Yaya military barracks for a week before being 
released.
    Gendarmes and members of the Presidential Guard detained an unknown 
number of active and former military personnel for unspecified reasons. 
Credible human rights sources reported that the treatment of these 
military detainees was not monitored by independent agents.
    In early January the CNDD detained 12 military officers at Camp 
Alpha Yaya for approximately three months, where they reportedly were 
mistreated and beaten. On August 1, they were reportedly moved to the 
Kassa Island military prison; there was no further information by 
year's end.
    According to HRW, in April security forces at Kassa Island detained 
and beat a second group of at least three military personnel following 
an alleged coup plot against Captain Camara. There was no further 
information by year's end.
    On May 26, according to local media reports and HRW, military 
personnel severely beat Kader Doumbouya, a former military commander 
who remained detained without charge on Kassa Island prison at year's 
end.
    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. 
For example, Aboubacar Sylla had been in the Conakry Prison without 
trial since his arrest in 1999 for armed robbery.
    A number of those arrested were foreign nationals, current and 
former army officers under the previous regime, and their family 
members. For example, on November 15, security forces arrested Ousmane 
Conte and three associates, who remained in pretrial detention without 
charge at year's end. His brother, El Hadj Moussa Conte, was arrested 
on August 11 but released a few days later.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, but judicial officials often deferred to 
executive authorities. The judicial system was endemically corrupt. 
Magistrates were civil servants with no assurance of tenure, and 
authorities routinely accepted bribes in exchange for specific 
outcomes. Budget shortfalls, a shortage of qualified lawyers and 
magistrates, and an outdated and restrictive penal code limited the 
judiciary's effectiveness.
    The judiciary includes courts of first instance, two courts of 
appeal, and the Supreme Court, which is the court of final appeal. The 
law provides for a parallel structure for juveniles. 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.
    In practice the two appeals courts that handle serious crimes 
rarely functioned, which contributed to lengthy pretrial detentions. By 
law the courts of appeal must hold a session once every four months, 
but there were no sessions during the year.
    The state security court is composed of magistrates directly 
appointed by the president, and the verdict is open to appeal only on a 
point of law, not for the reexamination of evidence.
    In February the CNDD created the Bureau of Conflicts, an alternate 
judicial system that adjudicated approximately 3,000 civil and criminal 
cases heard by military and police personnel. Many of these cases had 
been previously adjudicated (see section 1.f.). Lawyers had no part in 
these extralegal, extrajudicial proceedings. In May, after a judiciary 
strike to protest the creation and function of the bureau, Captain 
Camara disbanded it.
    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. The traditional system discriminated against women in 
that 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 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 government is responsible for funding legal 
defense costs in serious criminal cases, in practice it rarely 
disbursed funds for this purpose. The attorney for the defense 
frequently received no payment.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Following the September 28 
massacre, there were reports of an unknown number political detainees 
being held at Camp Alpha Yaya and the Kassa military prison. However, 
junta officials denied the existence of political prisoners or 
detainees during the year.

    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 constitution and law provide for the inviolability 
of the home and require judicial search warrants; however, soldiers, 
police, and paramilitary police frequently ignored legal procedures in 
the pursuit of criminals or when it served personal interests. Soldiers 
repeatedly entered private residences and businesses to extort money 
and rob or threaten civilians.
    On January 28, according to HRW, ten soldiers robbed a businessman 
in Conakry; they entered his pharmacy on the pretext of searching for 
counterfeit medicines. The soldiers reportedly removed 50 million 
Guinean francs ($10,000) and forced the owner into their vehicle upon 
leaving. He was released within hours.
    On March 30, the Bureau of Conflicts, an alternate judicial system 
created and subsequently disbanded during the year, overturned a 
Supreme Court decision involving a property dispute between a 73-year-
old property owner and a neighbor who had allegedly purchased the land. 
According to HRW, when the elderly man refused to vacate the premises, 
military personnel arrived on April 2 and fired on the occupants, 
killing one civilian and wounding another.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of a designated 
family member serving out the sentence of a convicted relative.

Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution and law provide 
for freedom of expression and of press; however, the government 
generally did not respect these rights in practice. The law prohibits 
talk or chants in public that are perceived as seditious; establishes 
defamation and slander as criminal offenses; and prohibits 
communications that insult the president, incite violence, 
discrimination, or hatred, or disturb the public peace or security. 
Penalties include fines, revocation of press cards, imprisonment, and 
banishment. Journalists practiced self-censorship.
    Citizens could generally criticize the government publicly and 
privately without fear of reprisal, but on several occasions the CNDD 
threatened or imprisoned individuals who did so. Following the events 
at the stadium on September 28, many journalists self-censored due to 
fear of retribution from security forces.
    On November 26, HCAD officers arrested Mouctar Diallo, vice 
president of the Organization for the Defense of Human Rights, after an 
interview he gave to the foreign press regarding the September 28 
massacre. Diallo remained at Camp Alpha Yaya at year's end.
    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.
    The government published an official daily newspaper, The Horoya.
    The government did not permit political parties or religious 
institutions to own media outlets and restricted programming on 
political and religious subjects. On August 31, the CNC suspended all 
political discussion on the radio. The ban was lifted on September 9.
    The CNDD alternately praised and punished the media. Captain Camara 
met with the press on several occasions and offered them cash payments, 
subsidies, and lower taxes. On April 27, for example, Camara reportedly 
handed out a total of 230 million Guinea francs ($46,000) ``as a gift'' 
to print media members. However, on July 13, after press reports 
ridiculed a CNDD statement claiming ``narco-supported troops'' were 
mobilizing on the country's borders, Camara threatened that he would 
``deal with'' the media and any individual who contradicted his 
statements.
    Private media were frequently excluded from government meetings, 
leaving only coverage from state-run media outlets. On several 
occasions security forces physically assaulted members of the private 
media who tried to attend these meetings and cover other events. For 
example, on March 12, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange 
(IFEX) reported that Presidential Guard members whipped, kicked, and 
robbed Saa Momori Koundouno, a reporter for a private Conakry radio 
station, while he was covering a clash between soldiers and youth 
protestors over the sale of a soccer field.
    The government operated official television and radio stations. The 
state-owned media provided extensive and favorable coverage of the 
CNDD, replacing normal news content with coverage focusing almost 
exclusively on Captain Camara and other prominent CNDD figures. 
Opposition political party activities were not covered on national 
television, and several opposition political leaders reported that they 
were denied access to state-owned media outlets.
    During the year security forces threatened, arrested, detained, 
harassed, and abused print journalists who criticized the government.
    For example, on May 27, gendarmes arrested and detained Moise 
Sidibe, a prominent and outspoken newspaper critic of the CNDD, and 
took him to Camp Alpha Yaya, where he reportedly was beaten and 
tortured. Sidibe was released on June 8 after his family paid a bribe.
    On August 3, judicial police detained Aboubacar Sylla, founder of 
L'Independent newspaper and head of the political party Union of Forces 
for Change (UFC), after he criticized the CNDD during a press 
conference. Sylla was released later that day without explanation.
    According to IFEX, on August 9, soldiers arrested Amara Camara, 
editor of the private newspaper Le Confidentiel, after he disputed a 
statement HCAD Minister Tiegboro made regarding the danger posed by 
drugs found in a Conakry neighborhood. The soldiers reportedly took 
Camara to Camp Alpha Yaya under the minister's orders and released him 
two days later.
    Unlike in the previous year, no newspapers were suspended for 
libelous reporting.
    Radio remained the most important source of information for the 
public. Twenty-one private radio stations broadcast throughout the 
year, including 19 in the capital, one in Kankan, and one in Kamsar. 
There were also 12 rural and community radio stations in other parts of 
the country. Many citizens listened regularly to foreign-origin short-
wave radio.
    On August 13, members of the Presidential Guard arrested Hajaar 
Souhel, director general of the private Radio Nostalgie FM, as he was 
preparing the station's anniversary celebration at the People's Palace. 
Souhel was taken to the military barracks and released later that night 
with no explanation.
    Unlike in the previous year, no radio stations were suspended.
    The government did not restrict access to or distribution of 
foreign television programming via satellite or cable; however, 
relatively few citizens could afford these services.
    On August 27, police arrested and detained Diarouga Balde, an 
independent Internet journalist and reporter at the national television 
station, for photographing protesters during an antigovernment 
demonstration in Conakry. Balde was released the following day without 
explanation or charge.

    Internet Freedom.--There generally were no government restrictions 
on access to the Internet or reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms; however, on August 25, the CNDD ordered 
the four major cell phone companies to suspend text-messaging 
capabilities following a series of text messages that urged protests 
against the CNDD; the suspension lasted two days. Individuals and 
groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the 
Internet, including by e-mail. The Internet was a major platform for 
voicing criticism against the CNDD, with the most popular sites managed 
by diaspora members outside of the country. The Internet was available 
in the capital city and in a few larger towns, but fewer than 1 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet, according to 2008 
International Telecommunication Union statistics. Cost, illiteracy, and 
lack of availability remained major constraints to use by a broad range 
of citizens.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The Ministry of Pre-
University, Technical, Professional, and Civic Education and Scientific 
Research exercised limited control over academic freedom through its 
influence on faculty hiring and control over the curriculum; however, 
teachers generally were not subject to classroom censorship.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--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 government requires a 72-working-hour 
advance notification of 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.
    Security force use of excessive force to disperse demonstrators 
resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries during the year, 
particularly during the September 28 security force stadium massacre 
(see section 1.a.).
    On August 17, security forces killed Mohamed Camara, a youth 
protesting the lack of electricity in Kamsar.
    Immediately after the December 2008 coup, the CNDD imposed a ban on 
public demonstrations and lifted the ban on March 14. Following a 
September 27 opposition statement on radio and television calling for a 
demonstration against the junta on September 28, the CNDD issued a ban 
against any demonstrations or public gatherings scheduled for that day. 
On September 30, the junta banned any public demonstration or gathering 
``until further notice.'' This ban was in affect for the remainder of 
the year.
    During the year there was no punitive action against the soldiers 
who shot and wounded three youths during a peaceful August 2008 
demonstration in Kamsar.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association; however, the government infringed on this right 
in practice. The government imposed cumbersome requirements to obtain 
official recognition for public, social, cultural, religious, or 
political associations. Most of the restrictions focused on political 
associations. For example, political parties had to provide information 
on their founding members and produce internal statutes and political 
platforms consistent with the constitution before the government 
recognized them.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    The Secretariat General of Religious Affairs is responsible for 
providing liaison with all active religious groups in the country.
    Approximately 85 percent of the population practiced Islam, and 
most of these adhered to Sunni teachings and practices. Non-Muslims 
were represented in the presidency, cabinet, administrative 
bureaucracy, and the armed forces. However, the government continued to 
refrain from appointing non-Muslims to important administrative 
positions in certain parts of the country in deference to the 
particularly strong social dominance of Islam in these regions.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Relations among the various 
religions were generally amicable; however, in some parts of the 
country, Islam's dominance created strong societal pressure that 
discouraged conversion from Islam or land acquisition for non-Islamic 
religious use.
    There were few Jews in the country, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation; 
however, authorities at times infringed 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 refugees and asylum seekers.
    The government requires all citizens to carry national 
identification cards, which they must present on demand at security 
checkpoints.
    During the year police and security forces increased detentions of 
persons at military roadblocks to extort money, impeding the free 
movement of travelers and threatening their safety.
    On three separate occasions in August, security personnel prevented 
the airport departure of opposition leaders Alpha Conde of the Rally of 
The Guinean People (RPG), Sydia Toure of the Union of Republican Forces 
(UPR), and Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of 
Guinea (UFDG) until Captain Camara personally authorized their 
departures.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile, but the government did not 
use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of 
the Refugee Problem in Africa. 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 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 in conflict, 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 three refugee camps remained 
operational.
    The 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.
    During the year the government, with the UNHCR, continued to 
facilitate the local integration of approximately 1,000 Sierra Leonean 
refugees whose status had been revoked.
    During the year the government continued to provide temporary 
protection to approximately 66 individuals of various African 
nationalities who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention 
or the 1967 Protocol.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of rape, assault, 
or forced prostitution in refugee camps. 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 constitution and law provide for a popularly elected president 
and National Assembly, and for the National Assembly president to 
assume power in the event of the president's death; however, the 
military junta that seized power after former president Conte's death 
in December 2008 suspended the constitution, dismissed the National 
Assembly, and had neither scheduled nor conducted elections by year's 
end. The constitution provides that a presidential election be 
organized within 60 days of the president's death.
    After the December 3 attempted assassination of CNDD president 
Camara, defense minister and CNDD vice-president Sekouba Konate assumed 
control of the country as interim president while Camara recuperated in 
Morocco at year's end.
    On November 3, the CNDD and the opposition coalition ``Les Forces 
Vives'' began separate mediation talks facilitated by the Economic 
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to resolve the political 
crisis. Burkina Faso's president Blaise Compaore was the ECOWAS-
appointed mediator. No agreement was reached by the end of the year.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The last national election, 
in which the late president Conte won reelection, was held in 2003. All 
major opposition parties boycotted the election, criticized by 
international observers as neither free nor fair. In 2002 the 
government held municipal and legislative elections, and 16 of 46 
registered political parties participated, including all the major 
opposition parties. According to official results, President Conte's 
ruling Party for Unity and Progress (PUP) and associated parties won 91 
of the 114 seats in the National Assembly. The PUP also garnered 
approximately 80 percent of the vote with certified victories in 31 of 
38 municipalities and 241 of 303 local councils.
    The local electoral process in 2003 was characterized by both 
improvements over past practice as well as serious flaws. Positive 
developments included freer campaigning, a single ballot listing all 
parties, transparent ballot boxes, political parties represented at the 
polling stations, media coverage of events, and free access for 
national observers. However, the turnout was low, and there were 
significant irregularities and bias by officials towards the ruling 
party before and during the vote. These included government revision of 
voter rolls with limited oversight, exclusion of up to 50 percent of 
the opposition candidate lists, unequal provision and distribution of 
voter registration cards and identity documents, and susceptibility to 
cheating in the district-level vote consolidations.
    On March 14, the CNDD lifted the ban on political and union 
activity that had been in force since the December 2008 coup. With the 
lifting of the ban, more than 60 new political parties were launched 
during the year, bringing the total number of political parties to more 
than 100. The government limited the ability of opposition parties to 
organize and publicize their views.
    For example, on June 18, local authorities and military personnel 
prohibited UFDG leader Cellou Dalein Diallo and a delegation from 
campaigning in Kerouane. Soldiers also stopped the UFDG campaign 
outside of Kankan and escorted the delegation out of the city. In 
August local officials prohibited Francois Lounceny Fall, chairman of 
the United Front for Democracy and Change party, from campaigning in 
the Boke region. The local prefect also prohibited Fall from 
campaigning in Siguiri.
    Connection to Captain Camara, his powerful associates, or the CNDD 
often conferred exemptions from taxes and other fiscal obligations.
    Four women held seats in the 33-member cabinet appointed by the 
CNDD in January. There were four women at senior levels below minister, 
and women held leadership positions in three political parties.
    The Supreme Court and cabinet leadership included representatives 
of all major ethnic 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. 
Corruption remained widespread throughout all branches of government. 
The World Bank's 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.
    During the year the CNDD declared the elimination of corruption a 
high priority. On January 13, Captain Camara created the National Audit 
Commission to investigate corruption charges against members of the 
Conte regime. Commission members reportedly were authorized to 
personally retain 10 percent of any recovered funds. The audit process 
lacked transparency, and by year's end the commission had not issued 
any reports on its activities or released the amount of funds 
collected.
    The CNDD arrested several members of the former administration 
suspected of embezzling state funds. On March 6, four former ministers 
of mines--Ousman Sylla, Louceny Nabe, Ahmed Tidiane Diallo, and Ahmed 
Kante--were arrested for alleged mismanagement of the government's 
mining fund. Captain Camara and other CNDD members presided over the 
investigation, which was conducted on national television. Sylla, Nabe, 
and Diallo admitted responsibility for the missing funds and agreed to 
pay back between 200 million and 500 million Guinean francs ($41,000-
$103,000), according to a repayment schedule. Kante denied any 
wrongdoing and remained in jail without trial at year's end.
    In May Captain Camara announced the formation of another audit 
commission that would review 24 years of the Conte administration and 
the first six months of the CNDD regime. However, by year's end this 
commission's activities were temporarily on hold.
    Public officials were not subject to public disclosure laws.
    There is no law providing free access to government information. 
The government disseminated some information through radio, national 
television, and government-owned print media. Unlike in previous years, 
the government did not routinely publicize the deliberations of the 
weekly cabinet meetings; however, the junta frequently broadcast 
lengthy speeches and deliberations. The national television station 
broadcast announcements of presidential decrees and other government 
decisions. Most other government information was not available to the 
public, and there was no mechanism to request it formally.

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. The government met 
with domestic NGO monitors, but it did not respond to their inquiries 
or respond to NGO reports and recommendations during the year.
    On November 26, HCAD officers arrested Mouctar Diallo, vice-
president of the Organization for the Defense of Human Rights (see 
section 2.a). Diallo remained in detention at Camp Alpha Yaya at year's 
end following two trial delays.
    The 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 government 
generally cooperated with international governmental organization and 
permitted visits by UN representatives.
    On June 24, HRW recommended that the minister of high crimes and 
anti-drugs, Tiegboro Camara, publicly retract his statements 
encouraging vigilante justice and the burning of criminals (see section 
1.c.). The minister had not responded by year's end.
    On October 8, the CNDD established a National Commission of 
Investigation (CNEI) to investigate the September 28 massacre. The CNEI 
did not include representatives from the opposition, labor unions, or 
civil society. On December 16, the head of the CNEI, Siriman Kouyate, 
stated that eyewitness accounts of the sexual assaults of women on 
September 28 were false. The CNEI did not release an official report by 
year's end.
    From November 25 to December 4, representatives of the UN 
Commission of Inquiry (COI) conducted an investigation of the September 
28 massacre. The COI determined that there was sufficient evidence to 
suggest that the September 28 violence included ``crimes against 
humanity.'' The COI reported that three individuals might be found 
personally and criminally liable for those crimes: Captain Camara, 
Minister Tiegboro Camara, and Lieutenant Colonel Diakite Toubma. There 
was no official government response to the COI findings by year's end.
    The government has several mechanisms for addressing human rights 
issues, including a national directorate within the ministries of 
justice, defense, and interior. However, these organizations did not 
conduct investigations during the year.
    Due to lack of funds, an independent commission of inquiry, 
established in 2007 to investigate human rights abuses committed by 
security forces during the 2007 general strike, did not formally start 
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 government did not enforce these 
provisions uniformly.

    Women.--Rape is a criminal offense but was rarely prosecuted. 
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 of the nature of these crimes and promote increased 
reporting. The authorities were reluctant to pursue criminal 
investigations of alleged sexual crimes. There were no reports of 
prosecutions against rapists.
    Domestic violence against women was common, although estimates of 
its prevalence were unavailable. Due to fear of stigmatization and 
reprisal, women rarely reported abuse except at the point of divorce. 
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.
    Prostitution is illegal, but it was widely practiced and generally 
tolerated.
    In April security forces raided areas in Conakry frequented by 
prostitutes and detained numerous prostitutes, their customers, and 
uninvolved bystanders. The CNDD shaved the heads of the prostitutes, 
who were questioned and paraded on national television. The women, who 
were released within the week, were never formally charged.
    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 had 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. 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 seek health services for sexually transmitted infections.
    The law provides for equal treatment of men and women, and the 
Ministry of Social Affairs and Women's and Children's Issues worked to 
advance such equality; however, women faced discrimination throughout 
society, particularly in rural areas, where opportunities were limited. 
Women were not denied access to land, credit, or businesses, but 
inheritance laws favor male heirs over female heirs. 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 2007-11 action plan on women's empowerment.

    Children.--Citizenship in Guinea can be derived by birth, marriage, 
naturalization, or parental heritage.
    Exact figures were not available, but the 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, and enrollment rates were significantly 
higher than in recent years, although 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, particularly sexual assault, 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.
    Ritual murders occurred, although the extent of the practice was 
unknown due to cultural taboos and a general unwillingness to speak on 
the subject. 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 awaiting trial at year's end.
    FGM was practiced widely in all regions among all religious and 
ethnic groups, and was performed on girls between the ages of four and 
17. FGM is illegal and carries a penalty of three months in prison and 
a fine of approximately 100,000 Guinea francs ($22), although there 
were no prosecutions during the year. According to a 2005 Demographic 
and Health Survey (DHS), FGM prevalence was 96 percent nationwide, a 
slight decline from the 99 percent prevalence rate reported in the 1999 
DHS. Infibulation, the most dangerous form of FGM, was rarely 
performed.
    The government continued efforts to eradicate FGM and to educate 
health workers on the dangers of the practice; however, there were no 
statistics evaluating the success of the program. The government 
supported the efforts of the Coordinating Committee on Traditional 
Practices Affecting Women's and Children's Health (CPTAFE), a local NGO 
dedicated to eradicating FGM and ritual scarring. The CPTAFE reported 
high rates of infant mortality and maternal mortality due to FGM.
    The number of men and women opposed to FGM continued to increase. 
Urban, educated families increasingly opted to perform only a slight, 
symbolic incision on a girl's genitals rather than the complete 
procedure. 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. For 
example, in June a total of 67 communities in the N'Zerekore region 
declared an end to FGM, and by year's end approximately 364 communities 
throughout the country had publicly declared an end to FGM, underage 
and forced marriages, and other harmful traditional practices.
    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 the Fouta and Forest regions. During the year six young 
female inmates, who claimed in 2008 to have murdered their husbands in 
Kankan after having been forced into marriage, were convicted. No 
further information was available at year's end. The CPTAFE, in 
conjunction with the 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.
    There were no official statistics available on the number of street 
children.

    Trafficking in Persons.--Although the law prohibits trafficking in 
persons, the country was a source, transit point, and destination point 
for trafficked persons. The law carries a penalty of five to 10 years' 
imprisonment and confiscation of any money or property received as a 
result of trafficking activities. The government did not prosecute or 
convict any traffickers during the year.
    The HCAD and the Ministry of Social Affairs were responsible for 
combating trafficking. The Ministry of Social Affairs chaired the 
interagency antitrafficking committee. The level of coordination 
between the two ministries was unclear. Accurate statistics were 
difficult to obtain because victims did not report the crime, but the 
practice was believed to be widespread. Children were the primary 
victims of trafficking, and internal trafficking was more prevalent 
than transnational trafficking. Within the country, girls were 
trafficked primarily for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, 
while boys were trafficked for forced agricultural labor and as forced 
beggars, street vendors, shoe shiners, and laborers in gold and diamond 
mines. Some men were also trafficked for agricultural labor within the 
country.
    Girls from Mali, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Senegal 
were trafficked into the country for domestic servitude and sexual 
exploitation. Guinean women and girls were trafficked to Nigeria, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Greece, and Spain for domestic servitude and 
sexual exploitation. Chinese men in the country trafficked Chinese 
women for commercial sexual exploitation. Networks also trafficked 
women from Nigeria, India, and Greece through the country to the 
Maghreb countries and Europe.
    On February 3, Captain Camara issued a declaration giving security 
personnel blanket authority to shoot anyone caught trafficking 
children; however, there were no such shootings during the year.
    In March Alpha Samba, a 12-year-old Sierra Leonian boy escaped 
after being kidnapped, drugged, and transported from Sierra Leone to 
Kindia. On March 4, a judge ruled that Samba was a victim of 
trafficking and authorized the NGO Sabou Guinee, along with the 
International Organization for Migration, to care for Samba and locate 
his parents. The government repatriated Samba, but his trafficker had 
not been apprehended by year's end.
    In March, according to the NGO Sabou Guinee, four sisters (Kanny, 
Saran, Batrou, and Fatou Sangare) were returned to their home in Kankan 
after their mother took them to a trafficker in Liberia. No action 
against the mother was taken during the year.
    In January Liberian authorities handed over a trafficker suspected 
of the July 2008 kidnapping and transporting of 12-year-old Aboubacar 
Camara to Liberia. The alleged trafficker was detained in Macenta at 
year's end.
    There were no arrests or developments in the February 2008 case of 
the truck driver who attempted to traffic three children into Liberia 
or the March 2008 suspected trafficking of 11 children from Koundara to 
Senegal.
    The government renewed the National Action Plan to Combat 
Trafficking in Persons at the beginning of the year; however, there 
were no resources to implement the plan. During the year the National 
Committee to Combat Trafficking did not take actions to implement the 
2005 agreement with Mali to combat trafficking in both countries.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 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-run 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 not effective in practice.
    In March the UN reported that military personnel forcibly removed 
approximately 180 families with members with disabilities from their 
shacks in downtown Conakry near a mosque where they begged. Prior to 
their removal, representatives of the group reportedly asked the 
Ministry of Social Affairs to intervene on their behalf with the 
government or relocate their families.

    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 in the Forest Region and throughout 
the country. Conakry and 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 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. Under CNDD leadership, a disproportionate number of ethnic 
Forestiers started receiving special privileges, such as better access 
to government jobs and contracts. This practice contributed to 
resentment on the part of other ethnic groups.
    The major opposition parties had readily identifiable ethnic and 
regional bases. For the UPR and UFDG, the ethnic base was Peuhls, while 
for the RPG, it was the Malinke.

    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. 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.--Reports of 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 husband died of AIDS.
    Doctors and health workers routinely disregarded medical 
confidentiality standards resulting in widespread distrust of testing. 
During the year a domestic worker in Conakry was fired after her 
physician reported her November 2008 HIV test results to her employer. 
The employer also informed the community of the results to prevent 
future employment of the worker.

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. However, a ban on union 
activity imposed by the CNDD in December 2008 was in place until March 
14 and was imposed again on September 30. The ban remained in place at 
year's end.
    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 is 
executed through the Office of the Inspector General of Work within the 
Ministry of Labor (MOL). In practice, however, employers can 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 government did not break up 
strikes with violence. 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.--Under the labor 
code, representative workers' unions or union groups may organize in 
the workplace and negotiate with employers or employer organizations, 
and workers exercised this right in practice. The law protects the 
right to bargain collectively 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.
    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 reports that child labor was a problem.
    Gold and diamond mines routinely exploited minors who worked long 
hours extracting, transporting, and cleaning the minerals. Local NGOs 
reported that children lived in extreme conditions without water and 
electricity. Diseases and illnesses were common and there were reports 
of children being denied contact with family members. A 2006 study by 
the NGO AGRAAD reported that 45 percent of the 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.
    The law prohibits the exploitation of vulnerable persons for unpaid 
or underpaid labor. Violations carried a penalty of six months' to five 
years' imprisonment and a fine of approximately 50,000 to 382,500 
Guinea francs ($11 to $83). However, the government did not enforce 
this provision in practice.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
general labor code and the child code have specific provisions that 
pertain to child labor; however, the government did not enforce the 
laws effectively. Child labor was a serious problem and government and 
NGO sources indicated that exploitative child labor was common.
    By law the minimum age for employment is 16 years. Apprentices may 
start to work at 14 years of age. Workers and apprentices under the age 
of 18 are not permitted to work at night, for more than 10 consecutive 
hours, for more than 12 consecutive days, or on Sundays. The labor code 
also stipulates that the MOL maintain a list of occupations in which 
women and youth under the age of 18 cannot be employed. In practice 
enforcement by ministry inspectors was limited to large firms in the 
modern sector of the economy.
    According to a 2007 HRW report, nearly all children engaged in some 
type of work, many in the worst forms of child labor. Child labor 
occurred most frequently in the informal sectors of subsistence 
farming, small-scale commerce, and mining. Many children were exploited 
or enslaved as domestics in the urban sector, as miners, or as 
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 government did not take action when prostitution of minors was 
brought to its attention, and it did not actively 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.
    At an artisanal gold mine in Siguiri, a foreign observer noted 
hundreds of children working and exposed to extremely hazardous 
environmental conditions, including working in and around mine shafts 
that were approximately 160 feet deep. Children worked with no 
protective clothing and were injured from accidental falls into the 
shafts.
    Many young Muslim children sent to live with a Koranic master 
(marabout) for instruction in Arabic, Islam, and the Koran 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 former Conte government spoke out against child labor but 
lacked the resources and enforcement mechanisms to combat the problem. 
The MOL is responsible for enforcing child labor laws, but it conducted 
no child labor inspections or investigations and prosecuted no court 
cases during the year.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The labor code allows the 
government to set a minimum hourly wage enforced by the MOL; however, 
the government did not exercise this provision, nor did it promote a 
standard wage. Prevailing wages routinely did not provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family.
    The labor code mandates that regular work should not exceed 10-hour 
days or 48-hour weeks, and it also mandates a period of at least 24 
consecutive hours of rest each week, usually on Sunday. Every salaried 
worker has the legal right to an annual paid vacation, accumulated at 
the rate of at least 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 
enforced these rules. The government rarely monitored employers' work 
practices or sanctioned them for failure to follow the law.
    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 labor code contains general provisions regarding occupational 
safety and health, but the government has not established a set of 
practical workplace health and safety standards. Moreover, it has not 
issued any orders laying out the specific requirements for certain 
occupations and for certain methods of work that are called for in the 
labor code. The MOL is responsible for enforcing labor standards, and 
its inspectors are empowered to suspend work immediately in situations 
hazardous to health. Enforcement efforts were sporadic.
    In early May the Siguiri gold mine collapsed; 13 adult miners were 
killed and an unknown number were injured. Local authorities had 
recognized that the mine was dangerous and had discouraged the miners 
from accessing the area; however, the miners had returned at night to 
work the mine.
    Working conditions were worse in the private sector, excluding 
banking, insurance, and other similar institutions.
    Under the labor code, 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 in practice.

                               __________

                             GUINEA-BISSAU

    Guinea-Bissau is a multiparty republic with a population of 
approximately 1.7 million. On July 26, Malam Bacai Sanha of the African 
Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was elected 
president in elections that international observers declared free and 
fair; Carlos Gomes, Jr., was appointed prime minister on January 2 by 
former president Joao Bernardo Vieira. The presidential election 
followed the March 2 assassination of former president Vieira by the 
military as revenge for the bombing death a few hours earlier of former 
armed forces chief of staff General Jose Batista Tagme Na Waie. Speaker 
of Parliament Raimundo Pereira served as interim president between the 
assassination and Sanha's election. During the year members of the 
military were responsible for assassinating the president, the former 
armed forces chief of staff, a member of parliament, and a presidential 
candidate, providing further evidence that civilian authorities did not 
maintain effective control of the security forces.
    Human rights abuses included the following: arbitrary and 
politically motivated killings; beatings and torture; poor conditions 
of detention; arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of judicial 
independence and due process; interference with privacy; journalist 
intimidation; widespread official corruption, exacerbated by suspected 
government involvement in drug trafficking, and impunity; 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.--The government or 
its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including killings 
that were politically motivated.
    On March 1, the armed forces chief of staff, General Jose Batista 
Tagme Na Waie, was killed when a bomb detonated under the stairway 
leading to his office in military headquarters. On March 2, hours after 
the assassination of Na Waie, soldiers under the command of Colonel 
Antonio Indjai tortured and then hacked to death with machetes 
President Vieira in what was generally considered retaliation for the 
killing of Na Waie. Navy commander Jose Zamora Induta initially said 
the president was shot after admitting that he ordered the killing of 
Na Waie, although Induta subsequently denied any connection between the 
killings. Observers noted that the longstanding tension between Vieira 
and Na Waie had increased due to Na Waie's November 2008 accusation 
that Vieira was involved in the drug trade. It was unclear whether the 
killings were linked to the growing cocaine trade out of West Africa, 
but Vieira and senior military officers had been accused of profiting 
from it.
    The government convened a national commission of inquiry that 
launched its investigation of the Vieira and Na Waie killings on March 
11, but no one was identified or charged for Vieira's or Na Waie's 
killings by year's end.
    On June 5, military personnel beat, shot, and killed National 
Assembly deputy Helder Proenca, his bodyguard, and his driver on the 
outskirts of Bissau. Proenca, who had been accused on June 5 by Colonel 
Samba Djalo, chief of the Military Information and Security Service, of 
plotting to overthrow the government, reportedly was killed while 
resisting arrest. On November 20, the state attorney general filed a 
criminal complaint against Djalo; however, no perpetrators were 
formally identified or punished for Proenca's death by year's end.
    Also on June 5, soldiers shot and killed presidential candidate and 
national assemblyman Baciro Dabo in his bed. The soldiers accused Dabo 
of being involved with Proenca in plotting to overthrow the government. 
No perpetrators were identified or punished for Dabo's death by year's 
end.
    There were no developments in the April 2008 killing of a judicial 
police officer by security forces.
    During the year Alexandre Tchama Yala, the suspected leader of a 
November 2008 coup attempt in which two presidential guards were 
killed, escaped detention, and was rumored to be at large in Bissau at 
year's end.
    There were no developments in the case of the 2007 execution-style 
killing of former commodore Lamine Sanha.
    Unexploded ordnance resulted in four deaths and 10 injuries 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 security forces did not always respect this 
prohibition. The government did not punish members of the security 
forces who committed such abuses.
    On March 2, military personnel reportedly tortured former president 
Vieira before killing him in his home (see section 1.a.).
    On March 23, military members forcibly removed lawyer Pedro Infanda 
from his office in Bissau to a military installation, where he 
reportedly was beaten and tortured for four days, denied medical 
treatment, and released. Infanda had stated in a March 23 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 
those responsible for the torture and abuse.
    On April 1, soldiers beat former prime minister Francisco Fadul 
during his detention at armed forces headquarters. Faustino Imbali was 
arrested on June 5 and held without charge for two months after calling 
on the government to hold accountable security force members 
responsible for the military assassinations of then president Vieira 
and then armed forces chief of staff Na Waie, and for characterizing 
the assassinations as a de facto coup.
    On October 14, journalist Mario de Oliveira was verbally abused and 
beaten 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.--There were no prisons or 
detention centers in which to incarcerate convicted criminals and 
suspects, and the government detained most prisoners in makeshift 
detention facilities on military bases in Bissau and neighboring towns. 
Conditions of confinement were poor. Detention facilities generally 
lacked 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 Peace- Building Support Office in 
Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) visited prisoners. 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 repeated visits.

    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 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, 
the maritime police, and other groups.
    Police were ineffective, poorly and irregularly paid, and corrupt. 
Police could not afford fuel for the few vehicles they had, and there 
was a severe lack of training. Police in Gabu received more equipment 
during the year but had received no formal police training since 1996. 
However, judicial police received narcotics investigative training in 
Brazil, Cape Verde, and Portugal. 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 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 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. However, during the year members of the military 
assassinated the president, the armed forces chief of staff, a member 
of parliament, and a presidential candidate (see section 1.a.). After 
the assassination of Na Waie, members of the military usurped the chain 
of command and imposed naval captain Jose Zamora Induta as the interim 
armed forces chief of staff and Colonel Antonio Indjai as his deputy. 
Induta and Indjai were formally appointed by presidential decree on 
March 15.
    Soldiers also released imprisoned soldiers who were suspects in the 
November 2008 coup attempt. Following the July 2008 grounding at Bissau 
airport of a plane suspected of transporting narcotics, members of the 
armed forces tampered with evidence and interfered with the 
investigation.
    Military members also tortured and arbitrarily detained political 
opponents during the year.

    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.
    Criminal suspects, particularly immigrants, were sometimes arrested 
without warrants.
    On March 23, military members arbitrarily arrested Pedro Infanda, 
who was subsequently tortured (see section 1.c.).
    On April 1, soldiers arbitrarily arrested and beat Francisco Jose 
Fadul, the former president 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 trial; however, few detainees remained 
in custody for longer than one year. Most left 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 an October 2008 report published by the 
International Federation for Human Rights. The attorney general had 
little protection from political pressure since the president needs no 
other approval to replace the incumbent. Trials were often delayed by 
lack of materials or infrastructure, and convictions were extremely 
rare.
    The judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court, regional 
courts, a financial court, and a military court. The Supreme Court is 
the final court of appeal for civilian cases, and the Supreme Military 
Court is the final court of appeal for military cases. Regional courts 
have both criminal and civil branches. The financial court tries 
financial crimes, such as embezzlement, and has jurisdiction over 
regional courts. Military courts do not try civilians, although 
civilian courts try all cases involving state security, even if the 
accused are members of the military. The president has the authority to 
grant pardons and reduce sentences.
    Traditional practices 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.--On June 5, military officials 
arrested State Information Services director General Antero Correira 
and held him without charge until his release on July 7. Correira 
reportedly had refused to sign a Ministry of Interior communique about 
the June 5 killing of Helder Proenca and Baciro Dabo in connection with 
a coup plot.

    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 generally respected these prohibitions in practice. 
However, 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. Security forces detained 
persons for exercising their right to free speech, particularly when 
they spoke out against military officials or arbitrary killings during 
the year. Journalists practiced self-censorship.
    On April 1, soldiers entered the home of Francisco Jose Fadul, the 
former president and former chief justice of the Audit Court, and 
severely beat him and his wife with firearms before stealing many of 
their possessions. Fadul had held a press conference on March 30 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.
    On March 3, following the assassination of then president Vieira, 
the army shut down two private radio stations but reopened them later 
the same day.
    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.
    On October 14, the minister of the interior, Major Samba Djalo, 
ordered the arrest of Mario de Oliveira, the director of the newspaper 
Donos da Bola, following the publication of a fabricated interview with 
Djalo (see section 1.c). After intervention by the Guinea-Bissau Human 
Rights League, Oliveira was released after six hours.
    There were no developments in the 2007 case in which unknown 
persons broke into the home of Radio France Internationale reporter 
Allen Yere Embalo, stole his camera, video footage of a report on drug 
trafficking, and more than 600,000 CFA ($1,200). Embalo returned to the 
country during the year.
    There were no developments in the 2007 case against Reuters 
journalist Alberto Dabo, who was charged with defamation, abuse of 
freedom of the press, violating state secrets, and slander due to his 
statement that former navy chief Jose Americo ``Bubo'' Na Tchuto was 
involved in drug trafficking.

    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 generally respected this right in practice. Permits 
were required for all assemblies and demonstrations.

    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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    Although religious groups require a government license, there were 
no reports that any applications were refused.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was no known Jewish 
community, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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. 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 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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol and 
is also a party to the 1969 African Union 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. 
The government did not grant refugee status or asylum 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 
peacefully change their government; however, this did not occur during 
the year due to the military assassination of the president, the 
killing of one presidential candidate, and the arbitrary arrest and 
torture of another (see sections 1.a and 1.c).

    Elections and Political Participation.--The constitution provides 
that an election be scheduled within 60 days of the death of a 
president; however, interim president Raimundo Pereira postponed the 
first round of the presidential election until June 28, citing lack of 
resources. On June 28, PAIGC candidate Malam Bacai Sanha received 39 
percent of the vote, and Party of Social Renewal candidate Koumba Yala 
received 29 percent, which led in a second round election on July 26. 
On that day Sanha won with 63 percent of votes cast. Despite the 
violent context in which both rounds were conducted, international 
observers characterized the polls as free and fair.
    During the year the ruling PAIGC party attempted to restrict 
opposition political activity. Formal membership in the dominant party 
conferred some informal advantages. The political opposition was 
subjected to political violence due to military intimidation, torture, 
and killing of politicians, and candidates were not totally free to 
campaign as they preferred. Pedro Infanda withdrew from the 
presidential race because he feared for his own life following the 
killing of candidate Baciro Dabo. The Balanta ethnic group, mainly 
through its dominance of the armed forces, dominated the political 
system.
    In August 2008 former navy chief Na Tchuto fled the country 
following an alleged failed coup attempt. He returned to the country on 
December 28, sought refuge in the local UN office, and began 
negotiations with the government regarding the possibility of going on 
trial for his alleged involvement in the coup attempt. Na Tchuto 
remained in the UN office at year's end.
    The 98-member National Assembly has 10 female members. The Supreme 
Court president, three of the 19 government ministers, and one of nine 
state secretaries are also women.
    All ethnic groups were represented in the government, and the 
minority Balanta group dominated the army.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption from 
one month to 10 years in prison; however, the government did not 
implement the law, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity.
    Official corruption and lack of transparency were endemic at all 
levels of government. Members of the military and civilian 
administration reportedly assisted international drug cartels by 
providing access to the country and its transportation facilities. 
Customs officers frequently accepted bribes for not collecting import 
taxes, which greatly reduced government revenues. The largely 
nonfunctional and corrupt judiciary was unable and unwilling to enforce 
the law and investigate corruption cases. Attempts by the attorney 
general to investigate corruption were impeded by the armed forces. The 
World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators reflect that corruption 
was a severe problem.
    During the year several members of the administrative and 
financially autonomous FISCAP agency in the Ministry of Fisheries were 
arrested for embezzlement. However, at year's end no one had been 
formally charged nor was anyone in custody in connection with this 
case.
    According to a September 2008 UN report on the country and the 
activities of the UN Peace-Building Support Office, the country was 
rapidly moving from being a transit hub to a major market place in the 
drug trade. A 2008 UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report stated 
that the country was becoming a strategic link in the transport of 
illegal narcotics from South America to Europe, although the UNODC 
reported that the volume of drugs transiting through the country 
decreased during the year. The failure to interdict suspected narcotics 
flights 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. If 
judicial police were able to overcome this obstruction, they had no 
resources to conduct investigations, no detention facilities to detain 
suspects, and no means of transporting detainees to court. Judges and 
guards, who went months without receiving salaries, 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.
    During the year attorney general Luis Manuel Cabral launched an 
investigation into the military's protection of the crew and seizure of 
the cargo of an unauthorized airplane impounded at Bissau airport in 
July 2008. At year's end no military or government official had been 
charged with any crime relating to this matter. However, on June 4, 
Cabral sought refuge in the Angolan embassy after receiving threatening 
telephone calls related to the independent investigation into the March 
assassinations of the president and armed forces chief of staff.
    Public officials are legally required to disclose their personal 
finances before the Court of Audits, but the court's authority was 
weak.
    The National Assembly has an anticorruption committee, which was 
inactive during the year.
    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. The two major 
human rights organizations were the LGDH and the Observation League.
    There were reports that NGO workers were harassed during the year.
    For example, on April 1, LGDH president Luis Vas Martins reported 
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.). In 2007 Martins reported receiving threatening telephone 
calls that he believed were linked to his human rights activities. 
There were no developments in this case by year's end.
    Prior to his assassination on March 1, then army chief of staff 
Tagme Na Waie withdrew the arrest warrant against Mario Sa Gomes, 
president of the NGO Guinean Association of Solidarity with the Victims 
of Judicial Error. Sa Gomes had gone into self-imposed exile in 2007 
after calling for Na Waie's dismissal for alleged involvement in drug 
trafficking. The case against Sa Gomes officially ended with the March 
death of Na Waie, and Sa Gomes remained abroad by choice.
    The government permitted visits by UN representatives, including 
UNOGBIS personnel. The International Committee of the Red Cross visited 
several times. In October the UN issued the 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. There was no government response to the report by year's end.

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. No information on the extent of the 
problem was available.
    Domestic violence, including wife beating, was an accepted means of 
settling domestic disputes. 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 are no laws against prostitution and it was a problem.
    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.
    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, 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 
by parental relation. 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 results in the denial of education 
since school registration requires a birth certificate. Lack of 
registration does not result in the denial of health services.
    Public schooling was free and universal through high school, but 
compulsory only through the sixth grade. Teachers were poorly trained 
and paid, sometimes not receiving salaries for months, which resulted 
in closure of the schools for nearly half of the school year. 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 school.
    Violence against children existed but was seldom reported to the 
authorities.
    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. In September FGM 
was performed on a three-week-old baby in Bissau, who subsequently died 
from a hemorrhage.
    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 someone 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--There are no laws that prohibit 
trafficking in persons, and children were trafficked from, through, and 
within the country. Boys, known as ``talibes,'' were sent from rural 
areas to attend Koranic schools in neighboring countries, primarily 
Senegal, where they were exploited, abused, and forced to beg to meet 
daily monetary quotas for their Koranic teachers. Other boys were sent 
to work in cotton fields in the south of Senegal. Children were 
trafficked to work as domestic servants, shine shoes, or sell food on 
the street in urban areas. Girls were sometimes exploited as 
prostitutes.
    According to the local NGO Association of the Friends of Children 
(AMIC), there was a general reduction in the number of talibes sent 
abroad during the year.
    On April 8, AMIC organized the repatriation of 13 children from 
Senegal. On June 26, AMIC organized another repatriation of 20 children 
from Senegal. During the year 20 children returned from Senegal on 
their own accord. During the year six traffickers were captured in 
Pirada near the Senegalese border; they had not been tried at year's 
end.
    Traffickers often were teachers in Koranic schools and were related 
to the families of victims. Traffickers typically approached the 
parents of young children and offered to send the children for a 
religious education where they would be taught to read the Koran. 
Parents received no compensation for sending their children and in many 
cases paid for the initial travel. In some cases children sent away 
were unwanted, especially in second marriages, if the new wife did not 
want to raise children from the first marriage.
    Laws against the removal of minors, sexual exploitation, abuse, and 
kidnapping of minors can be used to prosecute traffickers. Kidnapping 
provides for a penalty of between two and 10 years in prison, and rape 
carries a penalty of between one and five years' imprisonment. Despite 
these laws, the government seldom investigated trafficking cases, and 
there were no successful prosecutions of traffickers. Instead 
authorities prosecuted parents who colluded with traffickers. Parents 
of returned victims had to sign a contract promising not to send their 
children away under penalty of jail, and during the year AMIC monitored 
the agreement through visits to the households of repatriated 
trafficked children and held antitrafficking education programs.
    The Ministry of Interior has responsibility for antitrafficking 
efforts; however, the government had no national plan to combat 
trafficking or the capability to monitor, interdict, or prosecute 
traffickers.
    There were reports that customs, border guards, immigration 
officials, labor inspectors, or local police may have been bribed to 
facilitate trafficking; however, no specific information was available.
    Government officials, including police and border guards, worked 
closely with AMIC and the UN Children's Fund to prevent trafficking, 
raise awareness, and repatriate victims. During the year the government 
actively assisted in the repatriation of dozens of children from 
Senegal. The regional court played an instrumental role during the year 
in alerting parents that they would be held legally accountable if they 
sent their children to beg in a foreign country. AMIC coordinated 
efforts with the government, police, and civil society to prevent 
trafficking, help returned victims find their families, and hold 
parents accountable in court if their children were retrafficked after 
participating in the reintegration program. AMIC also ran a facility 
for victims and conducted regular awareness programs on radio stations 
in the Gabu area and during visits to villages in source areas. AMIC 
and local police worked with religious and community leaders in Gabu 
and Bafata. Another program, founded by the local imam of Gabu, held 
evening Koranic studies after school as an alternative to the schools 
in Senegal.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 was no freedom of sexual 
orientation. Gay men and lesbians were afraid to be open in their 
behavior. There are no laws that criminalize sexual orientation, and 
there were no violent incidents or human rights abuses targeting 
individuals based on their sexual orientation or identity. There was no 
official or societal discrimination based on sexual orientation or 
gender identity in employment, housing, or access to education and 
health care.

    Other Societal Abuses 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. 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 primarily belonged 
to independent unions.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
government interference and provides for the right to strike, but the 
government did not always protect these rights. The only legal 
restriction on strike activity was a prior notice requirement. The law 
also prohibits retaliation against strikers.
    Unlike 2008, there were no reports that security forces 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 antiunion discrimination; however, no 
workers alleged antiunion discrimination, 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.

    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 
years for general factory labor and 18 years for heavy or dangerous 
labor, including labor in mines; minors are also 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. The incidence of 
children working in street trading in cities increased during the year. 
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 support 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. 
AMIC, in collaboration with the NGO International Cooperation and 
Development, succeeded in rescuing approximately 1,000 child workers. 
The NGO Network of Youth was also involved in removing child workers.

    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.
    The government was four months in arrears in salary payments by 
year's end, paying August salaries on December 5. Civil servants went 
on strike on October 7 to protest three months of salary arrears.
    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 it 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 June 1998 the U.S. Embassy suspended operations in the midst of 
heavy fighting in Guinea-Bissau, and all official personnel in the 
country were evacuated. This report is based on information obtained 
from U.S. embassies in neighboring countries, especially Senegal, from 
other independent sources, and from regular visits to Guinea-Bissau by 
U.S. officials assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Dakar. The U.S. 
Ambassador to Senegal, resident in Dakar, is also accredited to Guinea-
Bissau.

                               __________

                                 KENYA

    Kenya has a population of approximately 39 million. It is a 
republic with a mixed presidential and parliamentary system. It 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 1,333 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 President 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; these reforms were not completed by year's end. 
While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of 
the security forces, there were frequent instances in which the 
security forces, particularly the police, acted independently.
    The following human rights problems were reported: abridgement of 
citizens' right to change their government; unlawful killings, torture, 
rape, and use of excessive force by police and the military; mob 
violence; police corruption and impunity; harsh and life-threatening 
prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; arbitrary 
interference with the home; prolonged pretrial detention; executive 
influence on the judiciary; restrictions on freedom of speech, 
assembly, and of the press; forced return of refugees and societal 
abuse of refugees including killing and rape; official corruption; 
violence and discrimination against women including female genital 
mutilation; child prostitution and labor; trafficking in persons, 
including allegations of recruitment of child soldiers to fight in 
Somalia, and minors who were internally displaced; interethnic 
violence; and lack of enforcement of workers' rights.
                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were 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.
    In February Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on 
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, released a report which 
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 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. Law enforcement authorities offered no evidence to contradict 
reports that police officers perpetrated the shooting deaths. The final 
CIPEV report recommended that the government establish a special 
tribunal to investigate individuals suspected of such violence; 
however, no tribunal had been established by year's end, and the 
government had not systematically investigated or prosecuted 
individuals suspected of postelection violence through other means.
    In March unidentified gunmen, reportedly acting on orders from the 
commissioner of police, shot and killed Oscar Kamau King'ara, the 
executive director of the local NGO Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid 
Clinic Kenya (OFFLACK), and Paul Oulu, OFFLACK's program coordinator; 
the gunmen first blocked King'ara's car at a roundabout. On the day of 
the killing, government spokesman Alfred Mutua accused OFFLACK of being 
a front for the Mungiki, the country's largest criminal organization, 
and criticized OFFLACK's role in providing information on extrajudicial 
killings of Mungiki members to the UN special rapporteur. In 2008 
OFFLACK reported that police were linked with the continued 
disappearance and deaths of suspected Mungiki members. 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, and no credible 
investigation had been conducted by year's end.
    Security forces continued to claim that police must shoot to kill 
to defend themselves when confronted by armed suspects. For example, in 
September the media reported that the district commissioner for 
Murang'a East District issued a ``shoot to kill'' order against 
suspected members of the banned Mungiki criminal organization, and in 
October 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.
    During the year there were reports that persons died while in 
police custody or shortly thereafter, some as a result of torture. In 
2008 the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), a leading and credible 
human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO), reported one death 
while in police custody but noted that the actual number was likely 
higher; police often did not enter suspects into police custody 
records, impeding ability to track such cases.
    Police killed numerous criminal suspects during the year, often 
claiming that the suspects had violently resisted arrest or were armed. 
From January to October, IMLU documented 33 alleged extrajudicial 
killings by police officers, the majority of whom were criminal 
suspects killed by police during apprehension. Human rights 
organizations claimed that police often planted weapons to justify the 
killing of criminal suspects during apprehension.
    For example, in October police killed five persons traveling in a 
``matatu'' minibus in the Githurai area of Nairobi, claiming that they 
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 February 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.
    During the year more than 25 suspected Mungiki members were killed 
by security forces.
    No action was taken against security force members responsible for 
2008 extrajudicial killings of Mungiki members or the October 2008 
killing of a police officer who had cooperated with the KNCHR 
investigation of Mungiki killings.
    A journalist was abducted and killed during the year (see section 
2.a.).
    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 
demonstrator deaths: the January 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. There also 
were no reported developments in the October killing of the police 
officer who provided evidence to the KNCHR on extrajudicial killings of 
Mungiki members.
    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. For example, in April 
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.
    In August an armed gang killed internationally renowned gemologist 
Campbell Bridges when he confronted the group for trespassing on a mine 
near Voi. Police arrested six suspects in the case, but Bridges' family 
alleged that senior government officials involved in the killing were 
not investigated.
    There were no reports of developments in the following 2008 cases 
of death by mob violence: the February death by burning of two men in 
Meru who allegedly robbed a matatu driver, the March stoning of one man 
in Imenti South, or the September 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 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 six suspected witches were burned to death in Pokot 
District, and six others were killed in Kisii.

    b. Disappearance.--Disappearances and politically motivated 
abductions occurred during the year.
    For example, in January a journalist was abducted and killed (see 
section 2.a.).
    In September the Muslim Human Rights Forum (MHRF) alleged that five 
Muslims suspected by the government of involvement in terrorist 
activity were abducted by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) and 
subsequently disappeared. The ATPU denied the allegations.
    The KNCHR, 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 and 2007.

    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 
IMLU, physical battery was the most common method of torture used by 
the police.
    Human rights organizations, churches, and the press condemned 
numerous cases of torture and indiscriminate police beatings. In 2008 
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.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that police abused 
street children.
    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 refugee and among asylum seekers crossing into the 
country from Somalia. 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 shortage of civilian state prosecutors in the legal system 
(73 civilian prosecutors nationwide compared to 350 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 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 the 
government established the Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation 
Commission (TJRC) whose mandate included the investigation of alleged 
cases of torture since independence. However, the TJRC had conducted no 
hearings by the year's end.
    The government did not investigate alleged cases of torture by 
security forces that were documented by IMLU and Human Rights Watch 
(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. For example, in June a mob beat three 
suspected thieves to death in Nairobi.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions continued to be harsh and life threatening. A KNCHR 
prison assessment during the year concluded that torture, degrading and 
inhuman treatment, unsanitary conditions, and extreme overcrowding were 
endemic in prisons. Most prisons, particularly men's prisons, continued 
to be severely overcrowded in part due to a backlog of cases in the 
judicial system. In May 2008 the director of health services for prison 
services stated that the country's 90 prisons held 48,000 prisoners but 
were designed to hold only 12,000 persons. The WKHRW reported that in 
September, Bungoma Prison near Mount Elgon held more than 1,100 
prisoners in a facility with a 480-person capacity.
    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 the KNCHR documented beatings and assault by 
prison staff of prisoners at Nairobi Remand and Meru Women's prisons, 
and in April 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.
    In 2007 the Legal Resource Foundation released a report which 
stated that torture in prisons was commonplace and inflicted openly. Of 
948 prisoners from 29 prisons interviewed, 83 percent claimed they were 
beaten, and 59 percent witnessed wardens mistreating other prisoners. 
Police did not appear to target any particular ethnic, religious, or 
social group for torture. Authorities did not take action against those 
accused of torture.
    Prisoners generally received three meals per day, but portions were 
inadequate, and they were sometimes given half rations as punishment. 
Water shortages, an issue outside prisons as well, continued to be a 
problem.
    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 a transgender person alleged abuse by male prisoners and 
wardens in Nairobi's Kamiti Prison.
    Hundreds of prisoners died annually from infectious diseases spread 
by overcrowding, unhygienic conditions, and inadequate medical 
treatment. In August, 18 prisoners died of suspected tuberculosis and 
pneumonia in Kodiaga Prison in Kisumu. In July 2008 a Ministry of Home 
Affairs report on prison conditions estimated that 46 inmates died 
monthly because of overcrowding, unhygienic conditions, and poor health 
care.
    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.
    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 July 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.
    Some children under the age of four lived with their mothers in the 
14 prisons for women. Official data were unavailable, but the Law 
Society of Kenya issued a report in December 2008 stating that 281 
children lived with their mothers in prisons.
    The government permitted visits to prisons by local human rights 
groups during the year.
    Following the release during the year 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 Antiterrorism Prevention Unit; 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 (KWS), 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 were rarely arrested 
and prosecuted for criminal activities, 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 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, the 
civil society organization Bunge la Mwananchi (BLM) reported that when 
members were arrested following political forums, they and were often 
not booked at police stations.
    According to NGOs, the police practice of requiring an exam and 
testimony by a single police physician of victims of sexual assault 
resulted in substantial barriers to the investigation and prosecution 
of sexual violence cases (see section 6). During the year 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 continued to severely inhibit the investigation 
and prosecution of major crimes.
    The government took some steps to curb police abuse during the 
year; the media reported that several dozen police officers were 
arrested for petty corruption in the last quarter of the year.
    In September, 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; by year's end the government had not 
appointed the Police Reform Implementation Commission charged with 
overseeing the implementation of the recommended reforms.
    There were no developments 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 a member of parliament (MP) in 
Kericho.
    There were numerous instances in which police failed to prevent 
societal violence. In February and March, police failed to prevent the 
burning deaths of suspected witches in Pokot and Kisii. In April 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 murder defendants, 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 offences are not eligible for bail 
pending trial.
    Police often stopped and arrested citizens to extort bribes. Since 
few could afford even a modest bribe, many languished in jail unless 
family or friends raised the bribe money demanded by police (see 
section 2.c.).
    Muslim leaders claimed that police indiscriminately arrested 
Muslims on suspicion of terrorism and that some suspects subsequently 
disappeared, but the police denied this.
    There were reports during the year that police arbitrarily arrested 
persons demonstrating against the government. For example, in December 
police arrested 22 BLM members who were peacefully demonstrating 
against a corruption scandal in the Ministry of Education. Despite an 
order by the magistrate to release the demonstrators, police held them 
in detention for three days over Christmas, during which time they were 
alleged to have been deprived of food and water.
    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 chief justice, as of August 2007 there was a 
judicial backlog of nearly one million criminal cases, resulting in 
persons being detained for months before seeing a judge.

    Amnesty.--The president releases petty offenders periodically, with 
the largest amnesty occurring on December 12, Independence Day; 
however, the release is not automatic. According to the Kenya Prison 
Service, in 2008 the president amnestied 4,960 prisoners on 
Independence Day; the total number amnestied during 2008 was 11,523.
    In August 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 2006 the African Peer Review Mechanism, an 
African Union (AU) initiative which evaluates AU member states for 
conformance with commonly agreed political and economic standards, 
reported a ``visible lack of independence of the judiciary.'' In 
January 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.
    In 2008 the government established a National Task Force on 
Judicial Reforms; the task force presented a final report to the 
president in August but the report was not publicly released by year's 
end.
    The president has extensive powers over appointments, including of 
the attorney general, chief justice, and appellate and high court 
judges. The president can dismiss judges and the attorney general upon 
recommendation of a special tribunal appointed by him. Although judges 
have life tenure, except for a few foreign judges hired under contract, 
the president has authority over judicial appointments.
    The court system consists of the Court of Appeals, High Court, and 
various levels of magistrate courts, where most criminal and civil 
cases originate. The Court of Appeals is the highest court; the chief 
justice is a member of both the Court of Appeals and the High Court. 
All judges on the Court of Appeals and the High Court are appointed by 
the president upon recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission; 
magistrates are hired by the commission. The High Court has a criminal 
division that handles capital offences and other serious crimes. The 
bulk of criminal trials are conducted by magistrate courts, while the 
High Court and Court of Appeals also hear appeals. Civil cases may be 
heard by any of the courts, depending on the nature of the case.
    The constitution provides for Khadhi's courts and states that the 
``jurisdiction of a Kadhi's court shall extend to . questions of Muslim 
law relating to personal status, marriage, divorce, or inheritance in 
proceedings in which all the parties profess the Muslim religion.'' 
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.
    Military personnel are tried by court-martial, and verdicts may be 
appealed through military court channels. The chief justice appoints 
attorneys for military personnel on a case-by-case basis. Military 
courts do not afford defendants all the rights that civilian courts 
provide. Military courts are not empowered to try civilians.
    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 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 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, provided it. During the year the government launched a 
National Legal Aid Office, but the program was not functional by year's 
end.
    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 during the year. 
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 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 Judicial 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. During the year the attorney 
general filed a brief with the High Court arguing that the KNCHR should 
be stripped of judicial powers; the court has 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.
    Unlike in 2008, there were no reports that security officers raided 
homes in the Mount Elgon District, destroying property and setting 
houses on fire, in their search for militia members; however, police 
raided homes in the Nairobi slums in search of suspected Mungiki 
members.
    City Council 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 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. 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.

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. During the year security forces killed, 
harassed, beat, and arrested members of the media. 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. The 
government monitored many types of civil society meetings, and 
individuals were not always allowed to criticize the government 
publicly without reprisal. In September the speaker of parliament 
issued a ruling that the long-standing ``sub judice'' practice which 
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.
    On January 2, President Kibaki signed into law the 2008 amendments 
to the Communications Act; the amendments permitted government 
regulation of the media and allowed the information minister to exert 
political influence on the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), 
the media licensing body. Media pressure on the president resulted in 
the May withdrawal of the controversial amendments from the 
Communications Act, which was signed into law. The CCK, the 
government's agency mandated to oversee the implementation of the new 
law, circulated new regulations in late September.
    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 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 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 December 2007 general elections. Eleven television 
stations owned by other media companies and more than 100 radio 
stations operated in both rural and urban areas.
    The international media operated freely; approximately 120 
international correspondents worked in the country, and approximately 
100 media organizations reported from Nairobi. There were four 
international FM broadcasters in Nairobi: Radio France International, 
Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and China Radio 
International.
    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.
    In January journalist Francis Kainda Nyaruri was abducted and 
killed near Nyamira, Kisii. The KNCHR and IMLU reported that the police 
officer investigating the case stated that Nyaruri was killed on the 
orders of senior Nyanza police officers in retaliation for Nyaruris' 
reporting on police corruption. The Committee to Protect Journalists 
and the Overseas Press Club of America subsequently reported that 
neither the police nor the attorney general initiated a credible 
investigation of the case.
    Officials used libel laws to suppress criticism.
    During the year 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, initiated a libel case against the Standard Daily 
newspaper. No new details were available on these cases by year's end.
    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 for 
threatening national security. In October the KNDR reported that 
journalists reporting on the security sector were often intimidated by 
government officials and requested to reveal sources.

    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 the International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 8.6 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.
    In July the government announced that all cell phone users must 
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.
    For example, BLM and the KNCHR reported that police frequently 
disrupted weekly political discussions held by BLM on a weekly basis at 
Jevanjee Gardens, Nairobi, and at times arrested participants. In 
December police arrested and prosecuted 22 BLM members for unlawful 
assembly under the Chiefs Authority Act, which stipulates that any 
gathering of more than three persons must have government approval.
    Police forcibly dispersed demonstrators.
    In March, according to IMLU, police beat students with clubs and 
guns when breaking up a student demonstration at Kenyatta University, 
resulting in 14 documented injuries.
    No action was taken against police responsible for injuring six 
persons while dispersing demonstrators in Nairobi protesting election 
results.

    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 2008 
Political Parties Act, which increased the fee for registering a 
political party to 600,000 shillings ($8,000), resulted in a decrease 
in the number of political parties from 138 in 2007 to 47 by year's 
end.
    The 2002 ban on membership in the Mungiki criminal organization 
remained in effect. The Mungiki espoused political views and cultural 
practices that are 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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right. There was 
considerable tolerance among religious groups; however, some Muslims 
believed they were treated like second-class citizens in the 
predominantly Christian country.
    The government requires new religious organizations to register 
with the registrar of societies. The government allowed indigenous 
religious organizations to register, although many chose not to do so. 
Religious organizations generally received equal treatment from the 
government; however, some small splinter groups found it difficult to 
register due to their inability to define their status as more than an 
offshoot of a larger religious organization.
    According to Muslim leaders, authorities rigorously scrutinized the 
identification cards of persons with Muslim surnames, particularly 
ethnic Somalis, and sometimes required additional documentation of 
citizenship, such as birth certificates of parents and even 
grandparents. The government stated that the heightened scrutiny was an 
attempt to deter illegal immigration rather than to discriminate 
against ethnic Somalis or their religion. However, there were reports 
that the government arbitrarily arrested Muslim men as terrorist 
suspects.
    For example, in September the MHRF alleged that five Muslims 
suspected by the government of involvement in terrorist activity were 
abducted by ATPU and subsequently disappeared (see section 1.b.).
    There were no reported developments in the 2008 case of a Lamu imam 
arrested on suspicion of aiding the paramilitary training of youths.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--During the year tensions 
between Muslim and Christian groups occasionally resulted in violence.
    The Jewish community was very small, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    Witchcraft was illegal but still practiced, and mobs sometimes 
killed alleged witches (see section 1.a).
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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.
    Police routinely stopped vehicles throughout the country and often 
engaged in solicitation of bribes at such checkpoints. Ethnic Somalis 
were required to provide additional identification. HRW stated that the 
government illegally detained and deported ethnic Somalis and 
Ethiopians on the assumption they were potential terrorists; the NGO 
believed that some of these deportees were Kenyan citizens and legal 
residents.
    Refugee freedom of movement was severely restricted, and the 
government maintained its restriction on travel outside of refugee 
camps unless approved by the government and the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (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, 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 President Kibaki 
ordered 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 May 
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, the Kenya Red Cross Society reported 
that 99,198 IDPs resided in transit sites at the beginning of the year. 
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 May 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 an October 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.
    During the year government eviction and destruction of homes in low 
income areas resulted in IDPs. For instance, in July police bulldozed 
homes in Githogoro Village, Nairobi, displacing 3,000 residents.
    During the year there were many other causes of displacement, 
including land disputes and flash floods. Throughout the year 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. During the year 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 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 country is a signatory of this 
convention. Its laws minimally provide for the granting of asylum or 
refugee status, and the government has established a system for 
providing protection to some refugees.
    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 
reports of forcible returns of Somali asylum seekers throughout the 
year; the Kenya-Somalia border remained officially closed, preventing 
asylum seekers from legally entering Kenya. 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.
    During the year international donors initiated a program to 
transfer the responsibility of registering all asylum seekers and 
determining refugee status from the UNHCR to the government. The 
government also registered refugees in Dadaab camps, located in the 
northeastern part of the country; however, many refugees 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 more than 59,000 new arrivals in 
the Dadaab camps between January and the end of November, increasing 
the camp size to more than 266,000 (the three camps were designed to 
accommodate 90,000 refugees). In August the UNHCR requested government 
permission to build a fourth camp in Dadaab due to severe overcrowding; 
however, as of year's end the government had not responded. Between 
August and October the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
transported more than 13,000 newly arrived Somali refugees from the 
Dadaab camps to the Kakuma camps to minimize overcrowding.
    The UNHCR stopped providing newly arrived refugees with plots in 
the Dadaab camps, restricting assistance to limited nonfood items 
(plastic sheeting and cooking utensils) and instructions to locate clan 
members or search for accommodations in Dadaab refugee camp. Cholera, 
meningitis, H1N1, and measles outbreaks were all reported in Dadaab. 
Many new refugees reportedly were bypassing Dadaab camps because of the 
conditions and continued directly to the Kakuma camp or on to Nairobi.
    Despite the policy that all refugees must reside in camps 
(encampment policy), slightly more than 45,000 refugees were registered 
in Nairobi as of December; however, the UNHCR provided assistance to 
these refugees only in exceptional cases. Unofficially, the UNHCR and 
NGOs estimated that more than 100,000 refugees resided in Nairobi. The 
government did not provide opportunities for local integration; 
however, it worked closely with the UNHCR in facilitating refugee 
resettlement to other countries.
    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. During the year approximately 249 crimes 
were reported in Kakuma refugee camp, including two homicides and three 
cases of sexual assault. There were no reported cases of sexual assault 
by police in either camp. 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 female genital mutilation (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. The UNHCR requested increased 
police presence in the identified troubled areas, as well as increased 
patrolling within the refugee camps. Additional police were also 
assigned to the camps but not in sufficient numbers.
    There were isolated incidents of interclan violence at the Dadaab 
refugee camps.
    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 to 
leave to avoid security threats.
    The government introduced mobile courts to serve the camp 
populations, which were fully fledged judicial courts and instrumental 
in curbing crime and violence.
    The government had not provided temporary protection since 2004 to 
individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention 
and its 1967 protocol.

    Stateless Persons.--During the year 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 reporting 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 jus sanguinis 
(based on 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 finding employment.

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 December 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 December 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 were 
generally 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 during the year 
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 were sometimes 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 
November 2008 and an Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) 
was established in May. In August 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 register, and 
several political parties bribed voters in exchange for votes. By 
year's end the IIEC had not yet initiated the creation of a new 
national voter's register as mandated in the National Accord.
    Other reforms mandated by the National Accord and intended to 
address the root causes of violence following the 2007 elections (such 
as constitutional, judicial, police, and land reforms) were not 
completed by year's end.
    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 only 
10 percent of all parliamentary candidates and held 21 of the 222 seats 
in parliament. Women also held seven of 40 ministerial portfolios.
    While the constitution does not specify representation for women, 
youth, or minorities, it emphasizes gender equality. Moreover, the 
constitution provides that 12 nominated parliamentary seats be filled 
by parties in proportion to the number of seats held in parliament; six 
of the 12 nominated MPs were women.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency

    Executive and Legislative Corruption.--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 2008 Worldwide 
Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a severe problem.
    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.
    During the year the media reported on three major corruption cases 
linked to the government: one involving oil; one involving education; 
and one involving maize. In the oil case, parastatal Kenyan Pipeline 
Company directors and employees colluding with executives from the 
Triton Oil company allegedly illegally released over 126 million liters 
of oil to Triton. The scheme allowed Triton to make large profits 
selling oil that it did not own. Since the pipeline company was 
responsible for managing those stocks, the government owed creditors up 
to 7.6 billion schillings ($101 million) after Triton Oil collapsed. In 
the second case, 25 Ministry of Education officials were suspended 
after reports that an estimated 174 million shillings ($2.3 million) 
were stolen from the Free Education program. Foreign funding was 
suspended until those involved have been punished and the money 
returned. In the third case, the minister of agriculture, MPs, and 
officials from the National Cereals and Produce Board were implicated 
in the theft and resale of maize from the strategic grain reserve. In 
return for political favors, MPs were allegedly allowed to sell the 
grain, which was intended to help ordinary citizens, to millers for 
large profits. According to a World Bank report, the scandal cost 
citizens more than 22.7 billion shillings ($300 million). A report from 
the Anti-Corruption Commission exonerated all of the alleged 
participants. No one had been prosecuted in any of these cases by 
year's end.
    In December 2008 the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) sued 
seven current and former MPs for making fraudulent reimbursement claims 
for allowances totaling 20 million schillings ($250,000). Among those 
accused was Information Minister Samuel Poghisio, who denied taking 2.8 
million shillings ($37,000) in 2006 and 2007. Four additional MPs were 
sued in January for recovery of false reimbursements totaling 14 
million schillings ($187,000). Both cases were 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. By year's 
end, according to the KACC, it had recommended 382 cases for 
prosecution to the attorney general, including eight ministers, four 
MPs, 11 permanent secretaries, seven chairpersons of boards of public 
institutions, 65 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 316 of the cases and has 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. In 2007 the NGOs 
Name and Shame Corruption Network Campaign and the Center for Law and 
Research International claimed the KACC failed to investigate and 
prosecute influential persons and criticized its failure to address the 
Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing megascandals. Since President Kibaki 
assumed office in 2002, no top officials have been successfully 
prosecuted for corruption, despite numerous scandals.
    In August President Kibaki unilaterally reappointed Aaron Ringera 
as the head of the KACC. This action drew widespread outrage 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 KACC since its inception and was widely viewed as 
ineffective, voluntarily resigned in September.

    Judicial Corruption.--In May the government appointed a 
multidisciplinary task force to examine accelerating judicial reforms. 
The task force presented an interim report in June and the final report 
in August. The report was forwarded to cabinet for approval and once 
approved, a bill will be presented to parliament for vote. The main 
recommendations included hiring additional judicial personnel, 
standardization and automation of court processes, introduction of 
small claims courts, introduction of a permanent mechanism to handle 
complaints against the judiciary, and additional funding.
    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 mainly related to court management.

    Police Corruption.--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 were rarely arrested 
and prosecuted for criminal activities, 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 
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, following five months of gathering and analyzing 
views from the public and security experts.
    In September President Kibaki removed Hussein Ali as police 
commissioner. Ali was identified as one of the key officials that were 
a stumbling block to reforms in the police force in official reports. 
His tenure was marred by extrajudicial killings of more than 500 
Mungiki members in 2007 and also brutal police killings and human 
rights violations during the 2008 postelection violence. This move was 
widely hailed as a positive step by society, the NGO community, and 
international observers.
    In September 2008 the Ministry of Provincial Administration and 
Internal Security established a police oversight board to hear public 
complaints and recommend disciplinary actions. By year's end the board 
was not functional due to a lack of political will and police concerns 
that they were not represented.
    The Public Officers and Ethics Act require that senior officials 
disclose their assets. However, the law does not require that 
disclosures be released to the public or the media.
    There is no freedom of information law; however, access to 
government information, particularly through the Internet, improved. 
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 the year. Human rights activists 
also claimed that security agencies conducted surveillance of their 
activities.
    In February 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 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 August by-elections in cooperation with the 
KNCHR and foreign diplomatic missions.
    A number of human rights organizations, including the Kenya Human 
Rights Commission, IMLU, and 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, and the attorney general 
filed a brief with the High Court seeking to strip the KNCHR of its 
judicial powers (see section 1.e.).
    As required by the National Accord, 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.

Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
tribe, place of origin or residence, or other local connection, 
political opinions, color, creed, or gender. It also provides for 
limited rights for the disabled, but does not prohibit discrimination 
based on language or social status. 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. 
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. 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 victims 
be examined by a police physician; cultural inhibitions against 
publicly discussing sex; victims' 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 sexual 
assault created substantial barriers to the investigation and 
prosecution of suspected perpetrators of rape and sexual assault. 
Police prosecutors required victims 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 year's end 
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 
and 2007.
    Domestic violence against women was a serious and widespread 
problem but often 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 the Federation of 
Women Lawyers, provided free legal assistance to some victims of 
domestic violence.
    Prostitution is illegal but was widespread. While operating a 
brothel is illegal, soliciting prostitution is not a crime. Police 
arrested women engaged in prostitution. High rates of prostitution 
existed in tourist areas such as Nairobi and coastal tourist areas. A 
2006 study report by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimated that as 
many as 30 percent of minor girls ages 12 to 18 engaged in prostitution 
to varying degrees in coastal tourist areas.
    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. The UN 
estimated in 2007 that 39 percent of adult women used contraceptives 
regularly. Skilled obstetric and postpartum care was available in major 
hospitals, but many women were unable to access or afford these 
services. Also in 2007 the UN estimated that 88 percent of women had at 
least one antenatal exam, and 42 percent had skilled obstetric care 
during childbirth.
    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. In 2007 the government pledged to reserve 
one-third of civil service positions for women but had not implemented 
its pledge by year's end.
    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.--According to 2007 UNICEF data, only 64 percent of births 
in urban areas and 48 percent in rural areas were registered. 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. According to 2007 
UNICEF data, approximately 79 percent of eligible children were 
enrolled in primary school, while only 13 percent of eligible minors 
were enrolled in secondary school. Boys outnumbered girls in secondary 
education by approximately 25,000 students. Rural families were more 
reluctant to invest in educating girls than boys, particularly at 
higher levels. Approximately 40 percent of university students were 
female.
    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.
    Teachers often impregnated secondary students, a practice Minister 
for Education Sam Ongeri criticized in April. A report released in 
November by the Teachers Service Commission found that 12,660 female 
students were sexually abused by teachers from 2003 to 2007.
    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 during the year 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, with caning the most frequent form of punishment.
    The law prohibits FGM, 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 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); and Meru 
(42 percent). FGM was less practiced among the Kikuyu and Kamba, with 
34 percent and 37 percent respectively. 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 have 
instituted ``no cut'' initiation rites for girls as an alternative to 
FGM.
    In August 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. Newspapers contained 
frequent reports of molestation or rape of children by relatives, 
neighbors, teachers, police, and clergy. In 2007 the Nairobi Women's 
Hospital handled 915 cases of child abuse; however, the stigma attached 
to sexual violence made many persons reluctant to report such cases or 
seek assistance, and the true rate of occurrence was likely much 
higher. 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 ages 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 will apply the provisions of 
the 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. During 
the year political leaders expressed concern that minors in drought 
affected communities were leaving school and being lured to 
prostitution to cater for basic needs.
    There were reports of children joining gangs and militia and of the 
Mungiki gang recruiting young boys from schools. 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 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. In 2006 the African Network for the 
Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect, a children's 
rights NGO, estimated that 750,000 children lived on the streets. 
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 and street 
children exploited in the commercial sex industry.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not explicitly prohibit all 
forms of trafficking in persons, although it criminalizes trafficking 
of children and trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual 
exploitation. Persons were trafficked to, from, and within the country. 
Laws prohibiting the forcible detention of women for prostitution, 
child labor, transportation of children for sale, and the commercial 
sexual exploitation of children can also be used to prosecute 
trafficking-related offenses.
    The country was a source, transit, and destination point for men, 
women, and children trafficked for forced labor and commercial sexual 
exploitation. Children were trafficked within the country for domestic 
servitude, street vending, agricultural labor, and commercial sexual 
exploitation, including in the coastal sex tourism industry. During the 
year there were reports that ethnic-based criminal organizations and 
foreign militia, such as the Somali Al Shabaab, recruited youths, 
including those in refugee and IDP camps. Men, women, and girls were 
trafficked to the Middle East, other African nations, Europe, and North 
America for domestic servitude, enslavement in massage parlors and 
brothels, and forced manual labor. Foreign employment agencies 
facilitated and profited from the trafficking of Kenyan nationals to 
Middle Eastern nations, notably Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, 
and Lebanon, as well as to Germany. Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani 
women reportedly transited Nairobi en route to exploitation in Europe's 
commercial sex trade.
    Brothels and massage parlors in Nairobi continued to employ foreign 
women, some of whom were likely trafficked internally. Ethiopian and 
Somali nationals were trafficked into and through the country. In June 
a Ministry of Labor official reported that 800,000 children were out of 
school and working as manual laborers. According to a 2006 UNICEF/
Ministry of Home Affairs research report, between 10,000 and 15,000 
girls living in four main coastal resort areas were involved in 
prostitution, representing up to 30 percent of all 12- to 18-year-old 
girls living in these areas.
    Although police continued to investigate trafficking cases in the 
country, a database to track trafficking-in-persons cases was not 
operational by year's end.
    Victims trafficked abroad generally were recruited through 
employment agencies under false pretenses. Domestic trafficking victims 
were often lured by friends and relatives, who offered them false 
promises of marriage, good employment, or access to education. Poor 
families were misled into believing that their child was gaining the 
opportunity for a better life. Traffickers continued to target poor and 
illiterate girls in slum areas to work for little or no pay.
    For example, the media reported in May a story about a woman 
repatriated to the country after being lured into forced domestic labor 
in Saudi Arabia. The woman stated that while in a Saudi detention 
center, she met 11 other Kenyan women who had been trafficked for 
forced domestic labor.
    Trafficking of Asians generally occurred through recognized border 
crossing points, using both legitimate and forged travel documents. 
However, nationals of neighboring countries were often trafficked using 
forged travel documents and entered the country through unmonitored 
border crossing points.
    The minimum penalty for trafficking for sexual exploitation is 15 
years' imprisonment, a fine of up to two million shillings ($27,400), 
or both. The minimum sentence for child trafficking is 10 years in 
prison and a fine of approximately two million shillings ($27,400). 
Fines in practice were limited; jail time was imposed in some cases.
    During the year police assisted with international trafficking in 
persons investigations in other countries. There were no reports that 
the government had received any requests to extradite citizens accused 
of trafficking in persons offenses in other countries.
    The police antitrafficking unit, in conjunction with other police 
formations, has primary responsibility for combating trafficking. 
Fourteen community policing and child protection police units were 
established but not fully operational by year's end. Police had limited 
capacity to track data on trafficking arrests, and no year-end 
statistics were available.
    In September courts convicted a former managing director for the 
Java House coffee company for three counts of defilement and sentenced 
him to 15 years' imprisonment. Two codefendents were given 10-year jail 
terms for subjecting the three minors to prostitution.
    In March 119 parents and guardians of 209 children were charged in 
an Eldoret court with abusing their children by removing them from 
school and forcing them to work as domestic servants.
    There were no developments in the 2008 case of six suspects on 
trial for allegedly trafficking 14 children in Bomet and Nandi 
districts.
    The media reported in July that two men received one year's 
imprisonment each in a 2007 case in which an Ethiopian girl was 
trafficked into the country by her elder brother and forced into early 
marriage.
    Government collaboration with NGOs to combat human trafficking 
increased. Awareness among government departments continued to grow 
during the year, largely due to NGO efforts to study the issue, educate 
the media, and inform the public about the problem. The media, 
particularly the government-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, 
reported cases of suspected human trafficking.
    The National Steering Committee to Combat Human Trafficking did not 
meet during the year.
    The labor unions, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labor and 
local NGOs, particularly the Solidarity Center, IOM, and Kenya 
Association of Private Employment Agencies, worked to limit trafficking 
for forced labor abroad. The coalition developed a code of conduct to 
ensure that recruitment is done according to accepted standards and to 
educate citizens seeking employment abroad about the dangers of forced 
employment.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 has been slow. The government 
has 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.
    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 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 
disproportionately affected by postelection violence, especially in IDP 
camps. However, NGOs reported that camp administrators often failed to 
recognize those with mental disabilities.
    A 2007 study conducted by the KNCHR revealed that many students 
with disabilities were denied admission to regular schools, while in 
some cases the government declined to fund special schools. 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. However, the number of 
special education teachers who have graduated from the Kenya Institute 
of Special Education increased to 9,000 in 2007.
    The KNCHR also stated that the Kenya National Examination Council 
(KNEC) failed to provide adequate testing facilities and resources for 
students with disabilities. 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 whom discrimination and 
occasional violence were frequent. The 1999 census indicated that Bantu 
ethnic groups constituted approximately 67 percent of the population, 
of which the Kikuyu and closely related Embu and Meru accounted for 32 
percent, the Luhya 16 percent, and the Kamba 10 percent; Nilotic groups 
constituted 30 percent, of which the Kalenjin accounted for 12 percent 
and the Luo 11 percent; and Cushitic groups--mainly Somalis--
constituted 3 percent of the population. 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. Intervention by security forces to reclaim stolen 
cattle resulted in police expropriating cattle which had not been 
stolen and inflaming 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.
    In 2008 the government established CIPEV; it issued a report that 
called for the establishment of a special tribunal to try suspected 
organizers of postelection violence. By year's end the government had 
not established a special tribunal, and the list of suspects prepared 
by CIPEV was handed by Kofi Annan to the International Criminal Court 
for investigation. According to the director of public prosecutions, 
the government prosecuted a number of low level individuals suspected 
of having engaged in postelection violence; the cases continued at 
years' end.
    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: longstanding 
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 statue 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 advocacy organizations, 
such as the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, were permitted to 
register and conduct activities.
    There was frequent and widespread societal discrimination based on 
sexual orientation during the year. In 2007 the Council of Imams and 
Preachers of Kenya and other civic leaders condemned homosexuality and 
argued against legalizing gay marriages. A group in Mombasa created the 
Muslim Youth Pressure Group to oppose homosexuality in 2007.

    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 to date no socially or politically prominent 
individual has 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 44 unions representing an estimated 500,000 workers, approximately 
5 percent of total employment. The law allows unions to conduct their 
activities without government inference, 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.
    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, Central Organization of Trade Unions 
(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 which 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, and the 
National Youth Service and teachers under the Teachers' Service 
Commission do not have the right to bargain collectively.
    During the year NGOs and trade unionist reported a trend towards 
the elimination of permanent positions in favor of casual or contract 
labor especially in the EPZ, agricultural, and manufacturing sectors. 
One report stated that casual employment grew by 13 percent during the 
year, 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 have 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.
    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 Resource 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.

    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 
(see section 6.).
    Forced child labor occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits all forms of child labor that are exploitative, 
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; 
approximately 773,000 of those children were classified as child 
laborers. 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 statues, but implementation remained 
problematic due to resource constraints.
    Children under 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 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 
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. In addition thousands 
of children were exploited in the sex industry. 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 children participated in ethnic-based 
militia activity.
    The government worked closely with 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. In 
2006 the government renewed the three-year mandate for 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. An 
Interministerial Coordination Committee on Child Labor, chaired by the 
minister for gender and children's affairs, 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 73 programs for the elimination of child labor 
with 25 partner agencies. The partners placed the children in schools, 
vocational training institutions, and apprenticeships and supported 
income-generating activities for an estimated 10,000 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 hotels and tour operators 
to increase their awareness of child prostitution and sex tourism. They 
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. By year's 
end 66 hotels on the coast had signed the NGO's code of conduct. The 
Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife's campaign to register villas and 
cottages and impose the same requirements as on hotels resulted in an 
estimated 1,200 registrations. During the year the Child Protection 
Department employed a total of 160 children's officers, an increase of 
100 officers over 2008. In 2008 the government's cash transfer program 
for orphans and vulnerable children (partially funded by UNICEF) 
expanded to reach more than 25,000 children in 17 districts, providing 
approximately 500-1,000 shillings ($7-$15) per child per month to help 
fund basic needs, including school costs, so that the children would 
not have to work. During the year the government expanded the program 
to 47 districts serving 43,347 households at an average of rate 600 
shillings ($8) child per month.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Labor laws passed in 2007 
established two weeks' paternity leave, increased maternity leave with 
full pay from two to three months, and compensated both public and 
private employees for work-related injuries and diseases contracted at 
work, among other provisions. However, in 2008 employers challenged the 
workers' compensation provisions in court. At year's end the case 
continued.
    There is no national minimum wage. However, the government 
established minimum wages by location, age, and skill level. In many 
industries the legal minimum wage equaled the maximum wage. The lowest 
urban minimum wage was approximately 7,578 shillings ($105) per month, 
and the lowest agricultural minimum wage for unskilled employees was 
2,536 shillings ($35) per month, excluding housing allowance. In 2007 
the Productivity Center of Kenya, a tripartite institution including 
the Ministry of Labor, the Federation of Kenyan Employers, and COTU, 
set wage guidelines for various sectors based on productivity, 
inflation, and cost of living indices. The minimum wage did not provide 
a decent standard of living for a worker and his or her family. Most 
workers relied on second jobs, subsistence farming, other informal 
work, or the extended family for additional support. A large percent of 
the labor force worked in the informal sector and were 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 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. During the year DOHSS carried out 1,976 safety audits and 
prosecuted 38 companies. In 2008 informal surveys found widespread 
hazards such as lack of basic safety equipment and emergency escape 
routes. DOHSS occupational safety and health advisers made 405 safety 
audits from July 2007 through June 2008. DOHSS prosecuted 29 firms for 
violating occupational health and safety regulations during the same 
period. 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. DOHSS developed a program to help factories establish the 
committees and trained them to conduct safety audits and submit 
compliance reports to 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 effectively enforced, and workers were reluctant to risk 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 2007 the governing 
Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party won reelection; domestic and 
international observers characterized the election as free and 
peaceful. Some other observers, including members of the leading 
opposition parties and some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), felt 
it was not entirely fair. Many of the complaints were due to the 
complicated manner of allocating proportional parliamentary seats. The 
mediation begun by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 
2007 continued through the efforts of Ketumile Masire, the former 
president of Botswana. From October 2008 until July, mediations were at 
a standstill. On July 9, Masire returned to Lesotho to deliver a report 
on his findings. The report sparked civil society organizations to 
begin a new round of talks under the mediation of the Christian Council 
of Lesotho. On August 19, talks were again postponed after the LCD 
party and opposition parties disagreed about interpretation of the 2007 
case of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) vs. the Marematlou 
Freedom Party (MFP). Although civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces, there were unconfirmed 
reports of instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. However, the following human rights abuses were reported: 
torture and physical abuse; poor prison conditions; and lengthy 
pretrial detention and long trial delays. Societal abuses included 
abuse of spouses and children; restrictions on women's rights; 
discrimination against women and persons with disabilities or 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, during the first eight months of the year, the Police 
Complaints Authority (PCA), which monitors and investigates reports of 
police abuse, received six complaints of murder and three of deaths of 
detainees. Those cases were 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.--Although the constitution and law expressly prohibit such 
practices, local media reported complaints that security forces 
tortured and abused persons. Newspapers and radio stations reported 
several cases of alleged torture by police. For example, in August 
local newspapers and private radio stations reported that several male 
residents in the rural 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 
claims were being investigated by the Police Inspectorate, Complaints 
and Discipline Division, at year's end, but no formal charges had been 
filed.
    At year's end there was no official report available concerning the 
2007 case in which three street vendors accused of selling marijuana 
filed complaints of assault, unlawful detention, and theft against the 
Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS).
    In 2007 Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) soldiers detained several men 
in connection with an alleged coup plot and a search for weapons that 
allegedly had been forcibly taken from military guards at ministerial 
residences. Some of the men later gave media interviews in which they 
claimed to have been held in secret and incommunicado detention. They 
further stated the LDF interrogated them about their connections to the 
opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC) party.
    In late 2009 the magistrate court dismissed treason charges against 
the three soldiers, Major Mokhantso, Captain Ramotso, and Corporal 
Majalle. Two remained active duty soldiers in the LDF at year's end. 
One was demoted to the rank of captain (from major) following a court 
martial; he subsequently retired.
    Of the six other men who were granted political asylum in South 
Africa in 2007, four returned to Lesotho and two died in exile, 
including Makotoko Lerotholi, who died in October. On April 22, there 
was an unsuccessful attempt to kill the prime minister. Lerotholi was 
the suspected mastermind of the assassination attempt; he died before 
the government completed an extradition request.
    In March Motlomelo Elias Motlomelo, Mokherane Tsatsanyane, Thabo 
Thants'I, and Khotso Lebakeng returned to the country voluntarily and 
turned themselves in to police, who questioned and subsequently 
released them. On May 4, they held a press conference in Maseru, 
stressing that they would be ``staying out of politics.'' No charges 
were filed against them.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor, and facilities were overcrowded and in disrepair. Sanitation and 
nutrition were poor, and prison facilities lacked bedding. Some 
improvements were made in 2008, and renovation of the Maseru Central 
and Thaba Tseka District prisons was ongoing. Prisoners received free 
medical care from government hospitals and were eligible to vote in 
elections. 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) reported that the total 
prison population was 2,276, including juveniles. There were 61 
juveniles, 50 boys and 11 girls. Under the law, a juvenile is anyone 
under 18 years of age. A total of 97 percent of prisoners were male. 
When the prison facilities were built, there was no rule about maximum 
occupancy. The LCS was uncertain what the maximum number of prisoners 
per facility should be. Males are held separately from females. 
Juveniles are held in different detention centers, and males are 
separated from females within the juvenile detention centers.
    The law provides that pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners be 
held in separate facilities; however, due to lack of space, pretrial 
detainees--who constituted 18 percent of the prison population--were 
held with convicted prisoners. Security and military prisoners were 
held in a separate facility.
    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. These 
committees are 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. Officials from the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC) visited in December.
    International human rights groups were permitted to monitor prison 
conditions. During the year a committee composed of government 
officials and the Lesotho Red Cross visited a number of correctional 
facilities to evaluate the level of professional training and 
activities available for inmates. The committee concluded that the 
inmates received satisfactory professional training and guidance.
    Lesotho Red Cross officials visited facilities in December and 
concluded that inmates received satisfactory professional training and 
guidance.
    No further action was taken against prison officials implicated in 
the 2007 case involving mistreatment of inmates in the Quthing 
District.

    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 LDF, LMPS, and National Security Service (NSS). The 
prime minister is the minister of defense and national security, with 
direct authority over the LDF and NSS. The LMPS falls under the 
authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety.
    The LMPS is nationally managed. The country is divided into three 
police regions, which are further divided into districts. An assistant 
commissioner of police heads each region; senior superintendents head 
the districts. Other assistant commissioners are based at police 
headquarters. A shortage of human and financial resources limited the 
LMPS's effectiveness.
    Prison staff are part of the Lesotho Correctional Service, headed 
by a commissioner.
    The internal affairs organs that address corruption and other 
offenses by police are the LMPS Inspectorate, Complaints, and 
Discipline Unit and the Police Complaints Authority (PCA). The PCA, an 
independent oversight body, monitors police behavior and addresses 
grievances against police. These bodies prosecutedsome members of the 
security forces. Commonly imposed forms of disciplinary action include 
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. Also, local NGOs 
have complained that the PCA's inability to initiate cases based on 
public complaints limits its effectiveness. Cases are initiated only at 
the request of the minister of home affairs and public safety.
    Corruption was a problem, as confirmed by LMPS authorities. In 
addition to ``theft of exhibits'' (theft or disappearance of evidence 
related to a trial proceeding), private transport operators claimed 
that police solicited bribes from drivers of taxis and buses who 
violated traffic laws. However, no formal charges of police corruption 
were made during the year. According to the LMPS Inspectorate, 
Complaints and Discipline Unit, from January to August there were six 
complaints of abuse, one of unlawful arrest, one of unlawful search, 
one of ``theft of exhibit,'' and three of failure to attend to public 
reports. Lack of accountability was sometimes a problem. 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.
    PCA data indicated that, between January and August, the PCA 
received a total of 14 cases. These included six alleged murder cases; 
three cases of alleged death in custody; two cases alleging assault; 
one unlawful auction of a complainant's vehicle; unlawful release of a 
vehicle at an accident scene; and one case of harassment. Seven of the 
complaints were submitted to the police; the other seven were under 
investigation.
    The case against former police superintendent Ramoeletsi, accused 
of extorting 980 maloti ($123) from a local woman in 2007 and suspended 
that year from the LMPS, was proceeding at year's end.
    On June 18, the High Court issued a not guilty verdict in the 2007 
case of a deputy police commissioner accused of filing fraudulent per 
diem claims. The government appealed, and its appeal was pending at 
year's end.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires police to obtain a warrant prior to making an arrest. Suspects 
were apprehended openly and 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. However, according to media reports and LMPS 
officials, police did not always comply with these provisions in 
practice. The law provides for bail, which authorities granted 
regularly and in general fairly. Defendants have the right to legal 
counsel. Detainees are allowed prompt access to a lawyer; lawyers are 
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 ability to be effective. NGOs 
maintained a few legal aid clinics.
    Pretrial detention could last 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 for 
more than 90 days before a trial except in exceptional circumstances.

    Amnesty.--The government occasionally granted amnesties on the 
king's birthday, Independence Day, or Christmas Day. On July 17, the 
King's Birthday, 41 inmates were released early. On September 17, the 
Pardons Committee decided how many inmates would be freed during 
Independence Day celebrations on October 4; the LCS stated that 245 
were released in October.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--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. There is no 
trial by jury. Trials are public, but in civil cases judges normally 
hear cases alone. Defendants have the right to be present at their 
trials and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner; however, 
there have been some 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 a legal NGO. Defendants 
may confront and question witnesses against them and present witnesses 
on their own behalf. A defendant is allowed to present evidence on his 
own behalf at the magistrate court, but at the High Court legal 
representation is required. Defendants have the right to access 
unclassified government evidence during a trial. 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 have access. 
Defendants have the right to appeal. A defendant may either be held or 
released on bail until sentenced.
    In the formal court system, women and men are accorded equal 
rights. The 2006 Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act improved the 
status of married women, whether married under formal or customary law, 
by ensuring that they are no longer legally considered minors. However, 
in practice women were sometimes still not accorded their full rights 
under the law.
    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.

    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 resulting from such 
acts. Some administrative remedies are 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 sequester witnesses. 
This could damage the claims of the plaintiffs, leading to dismissal of 
cases.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution states 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 in the case of an emergency. The general public reportedly 
did not know that police are required to have a search warrant. A 
government source stated that police were known to flaunt their power, 
even when in possession of a warrant, and neglected to show warrants to 
homeowners. The Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act of 1981 states that 
any police officer of the rank of inspector and above can conduct a 
search without a warrant.
    The Lesotho Times reported that, in May and September, police 
raided the homes of three ABC supporters to search for illegal arms but 
found none. The men, including one member of Parliament, claimed they 
were being harassed because of their affiliation with the ABC. Police 
claimed that they had received a tip that the ABC supporters had 
weapons.

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.

    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 a lack of communication infrastructure and the high cost 
of access. The Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA) estimated that 
5.1 percent of inhabitants used the Internet 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.
    On October 22, students rioted at the National University of 
Lesotho over nonpayment of housing allowances for off-campus students. 
Police were called in: they opened fire on a group of students. One 
student, reportedly not involved in the riot, was killed. Statements 
released by the police immediately afterward claimed that she had been 
trampled to death, but an autopsy report showed that she was killed by 
gunfire. Investigations into the killing began, but there were no 
charges filed.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal violence, harassment, or discrimination against members of 
religious groups.
    There were a small number of Jews, but no practicing Jewish 
community. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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.
    According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 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 use it in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the government's 
granting of refugee status or asylum in accordance with the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the government has established 
a system to provide protection to refugees. The country is a party to 
the 1969 AU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee 
Problem in Africa. 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 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 the LCD party won 
reelection, claiming 61 of 80 constituency-based seats in the National 
Assembly; domestic and international observers characterized the 
election as free and peaceful, but major opposition parties and some 
NGOs claimed it was not entirely fair due to the complicated manner of 
allocating parliamentary seats. 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 in the 2007 election, the most contested 
issue was that the ruling LCD party gained an additional 21 seats. 
Despite the fact that some legal experts, including those associated 
with the SADC mediation process, stated that the memoranda of 
understanding clearly circumvented the intent of the constitution, the 
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) accepted the informal alliances.
    In July Ketumile Masire returned to Lesotho to deliver his report 
on the outcome of the SADC mediation--at a standstill since late 2008. 
Masire stated that the ``approach to the matter now taken by the 
Government of Lesotho'' was the reason he could no longer continue to 
mediate the disagreement. He further stated that the alliances entered 
into by the LCD and ABC were wrongly allowed, undermining the mixed-
member proportional electoral model and making it ineffectual. He added 
that the LCD's main position--that the High Court has 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.
    Masire's report reignited the desire of the opposition parties to 
revisit the 2007 allocation of parliamentary seats. On August 5, local 
civil society organizations led by the Christian Council of Lesotho 
(CCL) and the Lesotho Council of NGOs (LCN) intervened and brought the 
opposing sides together for further dialogue.
    The talks broke down on August 19, because the two sides still held 
different views about the High Court's judgment pertaining to the case 
filed by the MFP in 2007, a point of contention central to the dispute. 
Other outstanding challenges included the disputed allocation of 
proportional representation seats and the status of the official leader 
of the opposition in the National Assembly.
    The SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Kinshasa, 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, in September urged all Basotho 
stakeholders to continue to be engaged and mandated the SADC Troika of 
the Organ on Politics, Defense, and Security Cooperation, composed of 
Swaziland (outgoing chair), Mozambique (current chair), and Zambia 
(incoming chair), to monitor the ongoing discussions.
    There were 31 women in the 120-seat National Assembly and six women 
in the 33-seat Senate. The speaker of the National Assembly, six of 19 
government ministers, three of five 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.

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, but no 
new high-profile cases of corruption.
    The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offenses (DCEO) is the 
primary anticorruption organ and investigates corruption complaints 
against public sector officials. The DCEO reported that public 
officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws. The DCEO's 
official statistical report stated that during the year it received a 
total of 115 reports on subjects including bribery, fraud, abuse of 
power, embezzlement of public funds, and tender manipulation. Of these 
reports, nine were closed, 11 were under preliminary investigation, 22 
were referred to the police, 29 were referred elsewhere (to the 
Directorate of Dispute Prevention and Resolution or the Labor Court), 
32 reports were pending preliminary investigation, and 13 were referred 
to the DCEO investigatory division.
    In January 2008 the auditor general released an audit of the 
country's 2003-04 public accounts. The report stated that the public 
accounts suffered from serious errors and omissions which led to 
misrepresentation of the government's financial position. Errors 
included expenditure misappropriation, lack of ledger accounts 
reconciliations, lack of ministerial expenditure and revenue reports 
reconciliations, unauthorized excess expenditures, and nondisclosure of 
some capital projects. The auditor general stated that the government 
needed to confront a weak financial system and address extended delays 
in releasing public financial information.
    In April the government introduced the Integrated Financial 
Management Information System (IFMIS) to help manage government funds 
more effectively and ensure accountability. The system encountered 
multiple problems; critics said it was introduced too early, before 
officials had received the requisite training to operate it. However, 
in the fall, a visiting International Monetary Fund team stated that 
the problems were minor, the IFMIS rollout was normal, and the system 
was functioning correctly.
    Although there are no laws providing for access to government 
information, and access was limited, 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, and the media complained about the 
lack of access to government information.
    On August 19, Lesotho's first female police commissioner, Malejaka 
Letooane, was sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court. 
According to the magistrate's judgment, Letooane had authorized the 
release of a vehicle from police custody contrary to the order of the 
magistrate court. Local media reported that the commissioner failed to 
appear in court when summoned to explain why she released the vehicle. 
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.
    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 ($1,250) for contravening government 
procurement regulations in 2007. The defendant appealed, the Court of 
Appeal confirmed the High Court judgment, and Lebotsa paid the fine.

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 major human rights NGOs were the Transformation Resource 
Center, LCN, the Development for Peace Education, and the Catholic 
Church Justice and Peace Commission. According to LCN, there was 
regular collaboration between the government and NGOs at the 
ministerial level. NGOs participated regularly and made policy 
recommendations to the government. These NGOs operated independently, 
without government restrictions. The government cooperated with 
international governmental and humanitarian organizations, such as the 
ICRC. The government did not block release of any reports, and there 
were no reports that any international body criticized the government 
during the year.
    The independent Office of the Ombudsman exists to protect citizens 
against infringement of their rights by public and private sector 
organizations. The office appeared to function without undue 
governmental or political interference. However, the ombudsman was 
constrained by a 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 relocated to new areas in 
connection with Lesotho Highland Water Project activities, and 
compensation for and repairs of houses in communities close to 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 remain 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. Rape was reportedly commonplace; an estimate based on 
police national crime statistics indicated that in 2008 there were 
1,300 reported cases of rape. Courts heard a number of rape and 
attempted rape cases, several of which resulted in convictions.
    Domestic violence against women was widespread. An estimate based 
on police national crime statistics indicated there were 7,700 reported 
cases of domestic violence in 2008. 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 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 legal code does not address prostitution. It was known to occur 
in urban areas, but its pervasiveness was unclear.
    The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment, and 
sexual harassment was known to occur in places of work and to be 
commonplace elsewhere. The Law Office stated that complaints involving 
sexual harassment were not often reported through official channels and 
tended to be handled internally, if reported at all.
    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 provided equitable access for all, 
regardless of status, to reproductive health services. This included 
diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV. In addition, the independent Lesotho Planned Parenthood 
Association worked in partnership with the government to provide such 
services.
    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 law except 
in the area of inheritance, which it does not cover. The act further 
extends to traditional law and custom and 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 traditional (customary) law, a 
married woman was considered a minor during the lifetime of her husband 
and could not enter into legally binding contracts without her 
husband's 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 legalized in the civil system. 
Government officials publicly criticized customary practice regarding 
marriage.
    Women's rights organizations took a leading role in educating women 
about their rights under traditional 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 the traditional legal system by a small minority.
    Women were not discriminated against in access to employment, 
credit, or pay for substantially similar work. Some of the highest paid 
positions are held by women, including speaker of parliament, cabinet 
ministers, judges, ambassadors, the commissioner of police, government 
principal secretaries, the auditor general, certain directors of 
government ministries, and the chief executive officers of some public 
enterprises.

    Children.--According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 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 are registered by hospitals and 
local clinics. Children born in private homes are registered at the 
offices of local chiefs, and the information is then transmitted to the 
district administrator's office for issuance of birth certificates.
    The law provides for the protection of children; however, limited 
resources hampered the government's ability to enforce the law fully. 
In addition, the rapid rise in the number of AIDS orphans contributed 
to child prostitution, child homelessness, child-headed households, and 
children at risk of exploitation for labor or other purposes. The 
problem of parents getting sick or dying from AIDS was the most 
troubling issue facing children in the country.
    By law education is universal, although not compulsory, and as of 
2006 was tuition-free for grades one through seven. Secondary education 
is not free, but the government has scholarships for orphaned and 
vulnerable children. The education bill, making free primary education 
compulsory for children in grades one through seven, was passed by both 
houses of Parliament on November 18.
    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 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 children orphaned by HIV/
AIDS. The CGPU indicated that, from January to August, 190 cases of 
abuse were reported. These cases included 12 child neglect cases, 15 
common assault cases, 20 abduction (forced elopement) cases, and 143 
cases of sexual assault. The true number of child abuse cases was 
thought to be much greater. The CGPU was active in fighting abductions 
for forced marriage.
    During the year the news media frequently published reports of 
violence at traditional initiation schools, attended mainly by rural 
youth. While the activities of these initiation schools were kept 
secret, violence against students, teachers, and members of surrounding 
communities was reported in newspapers, on the Internet, and on the 
radio.
    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. 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 in 
prostitution was a growing problem. 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. The 
Sexual Offenses Act sets the minimum age for consensual sex at 18.
    Familial stress, poverty, the virulent spread of HIV/AIDS, and 
divorce led to a rise in child homelessness and abandonment. 
Consequently, according to UNICEF, an estimated 180,000 orphans and 
vulnerable children were living on the streets. Street children were 
hampered by lack of access to government services, such as medical care 
and schooling, and were not informed about their right to receive such 
services.
    The CGPU had branches in all 10 districts, but lack of resources 
restricted its ability to be effective. The CGPU dealt with sexual and 
physical abuse, neglected and abandoned children, and protection of the 
property rights of orphans.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit all forms of 
trafficking in persons; however, the constitution prohibits slavery and 
forced labor, and provisions in several other laws could be used to 
prosecute trafficking-related offenses. Persons were trafficked to, 
from, through, and within the country.
    According to a foreign government's current trafficking in persons 
report, the country was a source for women and children trafficked for 
the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Victims were 
trafficked internally and to South Africa for domestic work, farm 
labor, and commercial sexual exploitation. Women and girls were also 
brought to South Africa for forced marriages in remote villages. 
Nigerian traffickers acquired Basotho victims for involuntary servitude 
in households of Nigerian families living in London. Chinese organized 
crime units acquired victims while transiting Lesotho and trafficked 
them to Johannesburg, where they ``distributed'' them locally or 
trafficked them overseas. Identified traffickers in Lesotho tended to 
be white, Africaans-speaking men and long-distance truck drivers. Women 
and children attempting to support families impacted by HIV/AIDs and 
Basotho looking for better employment prospects in South Africa were 
most likely to be lured by a trafficker's fraudulent offer of a 
legitimate job.
    Trafficking offenders could be prosecuted under relevant provisions 
of the Child Protection Act of 1980, the Aliens Control Act, and the 
Sexual Offenses Act of 2003. They could also be prosecuted for 
kidnapping, which is an offense under common law and the Labor Code 
Order of 1981, as amended. The government supported women's rights, and 
the constitution provides for freedom from slavery and forced labor.
    The Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety and the CGPU are 
responsible for monitoring trafficking in persons. Despite the lack of 
legislation, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, some NGOs, 
immigration officers, and police offered assistance during the year to 
suspected victims of trafficking.
    The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare offered assistance to 
victims of abuse, orphaned and vulnerable children, and suspected or 
identified trafficking victims. Domestic and international NGOs 
provided some orphanages with supplies and funds to build new shelters 
or expand existing shelters, which could also be used to protect and 
assist child victims of trafficking.
    On July 2, the government established an committee, led by the 
Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety, to prepare draft 
antitrafficking legislation. The committee included representatives 
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Gender and Youth, 
Sports, and Recreation; the police Child and Gender Protection Unit; 
and local NGOs such as Women and Law in Southern Africa, among others.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, or 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, and such buildings completed 
after 1995 generally complied with the law.
    Election law provides for assisted voting for persons with 
disabilities, which is respected in practice. They are allowed to have 
anyone of their choice 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 also trains 
teachers to work with students with disabilities. The Skillshare-
government partnership also supported 20 income-generating projects 
with a minimum starting capital of 10,000 maloti ($1,250). 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, and general discrimination against gay persons was 
not present in the workplace, housing, statelessness, or access to 
health care or education. Homosexual conduct is taboo in society, and 
is not openly discussed. There were no reports of violence against gay 
persons during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There continued to be 
media reports that children orphaned by AIDS, persons with 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 and food to its employees with HIV/AIDS, and such 
assistance was available to all citizens at subsidized prices at all 
government hospitals.
    LDF policy states that if a soldier is found to be HIV positive 
after induction, the person is not retired or separated. The soldier is 
provided counseling and testing, and duties are adapted as appropriate.

Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. The Right of Association.--Under the law workers have the right 
to join and form trade unions without prior authorization or excessive 
bureaucratic requirements. Workers exercised this right in practice. 
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; both police and civil 
servants have established such associations. The law allows unions to 
conduct their activities without interference, and the government 
generally protected this right. The law provides for a limited right to 
strike. In the private sector, the labor code requires a series of 
procedures to be followed by workers and employers before a strike is 
authorized. However, civil servants are not allowed to strike and 
therefore all public sector industrial actions are unauthorized. Both 
locally and foreign-owned businesses still lacked a full understanding 
of the labor code's provisions regarding the right to form labor 
unions.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
protects collective bargaining and it is freely practiced.
    There are no restrictions on collective bargaining; unions are 
allowed to bargain for wages above the minimum wage set by the Wage 
Advisory Board. However, a majority of employers will bargain only with 
unions that represent at least 50 percent of their staff. The Labor 
Commissioner's Office reported that the unions were too weak to bargain 
effectively. Government approval was not required for collective 
agreements to be valid.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and other employer 
interference in union functions, and the government generally enforced 
this prohibition. Textile and apparel unions claimed that members are 
sometimes treated unfairly to compel them to leave. The Ministry of 
Labor and Employment claimed workers often believed they were dismissed 
for union involvement, but investigation revealed that often they were 
dismissed on grounds other than for union activities.
    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 men and women were forced to work in domestic work, farm labor, 
and commercial sexual exploitation, according to the trafficking in 
persons report mentioned in the trafficking subsection. Sources within 
the Ministry of Labor and Employment's inspectorate reported that such 
practices occurred in private dwelling houses and on small farms or 
cattle posts which are outside the scope of the labor code, making them 
impossible to inspect.
    Children often worked in herding, street vending, car washing, and 
domestic servitude, and sometimes as sex workers.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There are laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace; 
however, these laws only apply to labor in the formal economy. 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 government and 
its agents generally enforced these statutes. However, officials in the 
Ministry of Labor and Employment's inspectorate stated that child labor 
is a problem in the agricultural and other informal sectors, which 
child labor laws do not cover. The inspectorate has no mandate to 
inspect informal establishments, which are outside the scope of the 
labor code.
    The labor code defines a ``child'' as a person under the age of 15, 
and according to the Bureau of Statistics (BOS) the legal minimum age 
for employment in commercial or industrial enterprises is 15 years, or 
18 years for hazardous employment. Although the labor code prohibits 
child labor in the formal sector, the high unemployment rate, which the 
BOS estimated at 22.7 percent, increasing levels of poverty, and the 
high prevalence of HIV/AIDS (23 percent) all contribute towards 
children working at an early age in order to support themselves and 
their families. The majority of trade unions estimated unemployment to 
be between 40 and 50 percent. They attributed that to the loss of jobs 
in the textile and garments sector, which is the largest formal 
employer after the government.
    The 2008 Integrated Labor Force Survey preliminary report published 
by the BOS stated that 3 percent of children aged 6-14 years were 
participating in economic activities, i.e., being paid in cash or in 
kind for their labor; this statistic did not include children aiding 
their families or others without such compensation. Two of every three 
of these children were engaged in subsistence farming, while the rest 
were engaged in other economic activities, mainly in private 
households. Child labor was higher among male children (86.6 percent of 
child workers) than their female counterparts (13.4 percent). This was 
true regardless of the type of economic activity considered. In 
traditional rural society, rigorous and occasionally dangerous working 
conditions for young herd boys were considered a prerequisite to 
manhood, essential to the livelihood of families, and a fundamental 
feature of local culture beyond the reach of labor laws.
    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 occur in herding, street work, domestic 
work, and sex 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; teenage girls (and a few boys) were involved in prostitution; 
and both boys and girls worked as street vendors.
    Unlike in the past, there were no reports that young children, 
mostly orphaned or deserted, were forced to work very long hours at 
cattle posts and were poorly fed.
    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 work more than eight hours a 
day, which is the maximum stipulated in the law for an adult. They also 
work without breaks six or seven days a week. Domestic workers also 
start as young as 12 years.
    The Ministry of Labor and Employment and the CGPU are responsible 
for investigating child labor. However, the Labor Commissioner's Office 
indicated that it is difficult to track cases of child labor because 
the country does not have any program or strategy specific to child 
labor.
    The Labor Commissioner's Office indicated that the Ministry of 
Labor and Employment, 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.

    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 812 to 844 maloti 
($101 to $105). Examples of minimum monthly wages for other job 
categories include textile worker, 741 maloti ($93); construction 
worker, 990 maloti ($124); security guard, 982 maloti ($123); food 
service worker, 946 maloti ($118); and domestic worker, 304 maloti 
($38).
    Minimum wages are updated every October 1, through the amended 
labor code minimum wage schedule. The national minimum wage did not 
provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. In 
September textile workers asked the parliamentary portfolio committee 
(the committee responsible for labor issues) to request that parliament 
urgently intervene and help improve their ``miserable working 
conditions and meager wages,'' stating that the minimum wage should be 
increased to 1,500 maloti ($188) per month.
    The Wage Advisory Board determines the minimum wage for different 
occupation groups annually. The board includes representatives from the 
government, trade unions, and the Employers Association. The minimum 
wage is negotiated, taking into consideration the economic situation, 
exchange rate, trade matters, and inflation for the year.
    Many locally owned businesses did not keep records of employees' 
salaries to facilitate labor inspections as required by law. Many wage 
earners supplemented their income through subsistence agriculture or 
remittances from relatives in South Africa, although these remittances 
had declined.
    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 was legal as long as overtime wages were paid for 
work in excess of the standard 45-hour workweek. The maximum overtime 
allowed was 11 hours per week; however, there were exemptions under 
special circumstances. Labor laws do not, however, cover the 
agricultural and other informal sectors, where most workers are 
employed. The Ministry of Labor and Employment's inspectorate stated 
that employers did not always enforce these standards. According to the 
labor commissioner, employers in the retail sector were the worst 
violators. The most common allegations involved ignoring labor 
regulations mandating ordinary hours of work, 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; larger employers generally 
followed these regulations. However, health and safety violations were 
common in smaller establishments and some factories. For instance, 
textile workers from five factories petitioned the parliament in 
September for urgent intervention to improve their ``miserable working 
conditions'' in the factories. Among their concerns was an allegation 
that factories did not provide face masks, which exposed them to a 
health risk.
    The labor code requires employers to appoint a registered health 
and safety officer to supervise and promote safe conduct at work. They 
are also required to have first aid kits and safety equipment and to 
provide protective clothing. According to health and safety inspectors 
in the Ministry of Labor and Employment, most employers failed to 
appoint or train registered health and safety officers. Also, the law 
does not specify the contents of first aid kits. With the exception of 
the mining establishments, employers' compliance on health and safety 
was generally low. In addition, health and safety inspectors stated 
that employers in the retail sector were not in full compliance with 
health and safety standards, as they had no registered health or safety 
officers, complete first aid kits, or protective clothing.
    The labor code empowers the Ministry of Labor and Employment 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 done on a 
quarterly basis.
    The government and private sector implemented voluntary HIV/AIDS 
counseling and testing programs in line with Labor Code Act Number 5, 
which strengthened existing programs. The Labor Code Amendment Act of 
2006 provides for the further development of HIV/AIDS policies in the 
workplace. The Ministry of Labor and Employment's HIV/AIDS Support 
Group was responsible for the rollout of the Labor Code Amendment Act 
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 target sector was transportation.
    Working conditions for foreign or migrant workers were similar to 
those of residents.

                               __________

                                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 UN international police 
(UNPOL) have had primary responsibility for maintaining security. 
Efforts to select and train personnel for the Armed Forces of Liberia 
continued. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces, there were instances in which elements 
of the security forces acted independently.
    Mob violence and land disputes resulted in deaths, and ritualistic 
killings occurred. Police abused, harassed, and intimidated detainees 
and citizens. Prison conditions remained harsh, and arbitrary arrest 
and detention occurred. Judicial inefficiency and corruption 
contributed to lengthy pretrial detention and denial of due process. 
Some incidents of trial by ordeal were reported. The government 
restricted the press. Corruption and impunity were endemic through all 
levels of government. Violence against women, including rape, was a 
problem, and domestic violence was widespread. Some ethnic groups 
continued to practice female genital mutilation (FGM). Child abuse and 
sexual violence against children were problems, and a few cases of 
human trafficking were reported. Racial and ethnic discrimination 
continued, and instances of child labor were reported, especially in 
the informal sector.
    During the year the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) 
completed public hearings, solicited further input from county 
representatives and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and publicly 
released its Final Report to the government on the 1989-2003 civil war. 
Volume I, the Preliminary Findings, included a list of ``most 
significant'' warring factions and presented key recommendations for 
the future.
                        
                       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, on June 29, Senator Sumo Kupee (Lofa 
County) was accused of the ritualistic killing of a boy in Bong County. 
The Ministry of Justice did not prosecute the senator, citing lack of 
evidence, and Kupee remained free at year's end.
    On July 14, eight plantation police officers of the Liberian 
Agricultural Company beat a man to death. The officers were arrested 
and awaiting trial at year's end.
    On February 5, Senator Roland Kaine was acquitted due to 
insufficient evidence of ordering the June 2008 killings of 21 youths 
in Grand Bassa County in connection with a land dispute. Of the 15 
others accused in the incident, eight were found guilty and six were 
acquitted. Critics charged that the acquittals were a result of a weak 
judiciary and cited poor case preparation by the prosecution.
    The investigation into the August 2008 incident in which Special 
Security Service agents fired on alleged thieves, resulting in one 
death, was closed, and no action was taken against the perpetrators.
    Land disputes--exacerbated by pressure from returning landowners 
and refugees as well as unclear land titles--resulted in numerous 
deaths during the year.
    There were reports of ritualistic killings, in which body parts 
used in indigenous rituals were removed from the victim. The 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. In January women in Bong County complained to 
President Sirleaf that ritualistic killings were on the rise, and on 
July 13, a high school girl was found dead in Maryland County with body 
parts missing. The government treated such killings as homicides and 
investigated them accordingly, although there were no prosecutions 
during the year. Protests against such killings occurred and sometimes 
resulted in riots, injuries, and deaths.
    There were continuing reports of mob violence. On June 12, a mob 
burned down a police station in Harper, resulting in the death of a 
detainee. In August angry mobs in Monrovia beat to death two suspected 
criminals.

    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 security officials employed them. 
Police sometimes abused, harassed, and intimidated persons, 
particularly during attempts to extort money on the streets. Several 
cases of reported police brutality were referred to the attention of 
police commanders. Fourteen police officers were suspended for 
misconduct in May, and five officers were dismissed in August for 
unethical behavior.
    After a near collision on January 18 between the vehicles of former 
government official Prince Toe and House Speaker Alex Tyler, Tyler's 
bodyguards allegedly followed Toe to his church, pulled him out of the 
building, beat him in front of the speaker, and stole two kilograms of 
gold he had in his possession; it was unclear why Toe was taking two 
kilograms of gold with him to church. Toe claimed police briefly 
detained him after the beating until a local clergyman intervened for 
his release. On January 21, the Monrovia Magisterial Court issued a 
writ of arrest against Speaker Tyler on charges of aggravated assault 
and criminal solicitation; however, the arrest warrant was withdrawn 
for ``procedural errors'' after the justice minister intervened. No 
action had been taken against Tyler by year's end.
    LNP officers abducted and beat an NGO employee (see section 5).
    Several incidents involving the alleged abuse and mistreatment by 
high-level officials in 2008 came to light during the year. In June 
2008 Senator Nathaniel Innis allegedly beat a young woman for making 
noise in his neighborhood, and in December 2008 Deputy Minister of 
Public Works Roderick Smith allegedly ordered the beating of General 
Auditing Commission auditor Winsley Nanka after Nanka demanded more 
documents to verify earlier documents submitted by the ministry.
    During the year UNMIL completed its investigation into the 2007 
beating by LNP officers and UNMIL peacekeepers of students and 
journalists. No action was taken against police or peacekeepers.
    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. Despite President 
Sirleaf's 2007 vow to punish perpetrators of trial-by-ordeal, no 
perpetrators were punished during the year.
    Mob violence and vigilantism--which resulted in part from the 
public's lack of confidence in the police and judicial system--resulted 
in injuries.
    During the year the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and 
the UNMIL Conduct and Discipline Unit investigated two reports of 
sexual exploitation and abuse by UNMIL staff. One case remained under 
investigation at year's end; the second ended with the suicide of the 
accused perpetrator.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in the 
country's 14 prison facilities were harsh and in some cases life 
threatening. Women and juveniles were subject to abuse by guards and 
other inmates. Half the country's 1,420 prisoners were held at Monrovia 
Central Prison, which operated at four times its capacity due to the 
large number of pretrial detainees. The prison population included 14 
women and 64 juveniles. Prisons remained understaffed.
    Several mass escapes from prison occurred during the year, 
including the January 16 escape of prisoners from Sanniquelle Prison, 
the April escape of 40 prisoners from the Palace of Corrections in 
Zwedru, and the May escape of numerous prisoners from Monrovia Central 
Prison. Prison officials blamed collusion by prison guards, and an 
investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    During the year some counties without adequate prison facilities 
transferred their prisoners to Monrovia. The government relied on the 
World Food Program and various NGOs to provide food to the prisons. The 
UN and NGOs continued to provide medical services. During the year both 
the government and international partners continued renovations at 
several county prisons. Men and women were held together in some 
counties or cities with only one prison cell. In many counties 
juveniles and adults were held together, and pretrial detainees were 
generally held with convicted prisoners.
    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 
permanent representative of the UN Security Council toured Monrovia 
Central Prison during the year, and in October the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) toured all 14 prisons in the country.

    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 and maintaining order within the 
country and oversees the LNP and the National Bureau of Investigation. 
An estimated 10,000 UNMIL peacekeepers and 1,300 UNPOL officers had 
primary responsibility for maintaining security. Approximately 500 
UNPOL officers and 850 officers in the UN Formed Police Units (armed 
foreign police detachments assigned to UNMIL) assisted with monitoring, 
advising, and training the LNP. Since 2004 a total of 3,800 LNP 
officers, including 300 during the year, have been recruited, screened, 
trained, and deployed--primarily to Monrovia; 1,200 of those officers 
had deployed to the counties by year's end. The LNP operated 
independently and retained arrest authority; however, the Special 
Security Service, which is responsible for the security of presidential 
and senior government officials, UNPOL, and armed UN Formed Police 
Units, accompanied LNP officers in joint patrols around Monrovia. The 
LNP Women's and Children's Protection Section (WCPS) continued to 
establish offices outside Monrovia during the year.
    Members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), which was established 
in 2008, received specialized training and were armed, unlike most 
other LNP patrol officers. The ERU was charged with conducting special 
police operations in antiterrorism, hostage rescue, internal security, 
tactical anticrime, and search and rescue. The ERU increased its 
membership from 139 officers in 2008 to 288 by year's end.
    LNP officers were poorly equipped, ineffective, and slow to respond 
to criminal activity, which resulted in an increase in armed robberies 
during the year. LNP salaries were low and not always paid on time, 
contributing to widespread corruption. Police had limited 
transportation, logistics, communication, and forensic capabilities and 
did not have the capacity to adequately investigate many crimes, 
including murders.
    During the year the LNP investigated reports of police misconduct 
or corruption, and authorities suspended or dismissed several LNP 
officers. For example, in August five LNP officers were dismissed for 
unethical behavior. On September 3, the chief of patrol was indicted 
for looting the house of a private prosecutor who had filed a civil 
suit against him earlier.
    No action was taken against the deputy commissioner for criminal 
investigations or the chief of narcotics, both of whom were indicted by 
a grand jury in December 2008 for theft and making false statements. 
The chief witness against the deputy commissioner for criminal 
investigations was deported on January 9 on national security grounds; 
observers attributed the deportation to government efforts to protect 
the deputy commissioner.

    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, 
warrants were not always based on sufficient evidence, and detainees, 
particularly those without the means to hire a lawyer, often were held 
for more than 48 hours without charge. 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 right is ignored. 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 protect such rights for all detainees.
    Police arbitrarily arrested demonstrators (see section 2.b.).
    LNP officers attempted to arbitrarily arrest, and subsequently 
abducted and beat a staff member of an international NGO (see section 
5).
    Although the law provides for the right of a person who is charged 
to receive an expeditious trial, lengthy pretrial and prearraignment 
detention remained serious problems. An estimated 85 percent of 
prisoners were pretrial detainees, 600 of whom were released during the 
year as a result of the Fast Track Court to reduce prison overcrowding. 
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 crime. 
Trial delays were caused by judicial inefficiency and corruption, as 
well as lack of transport, court facilities, attorneys, and qualified 
judges.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary; however, the judicial system was corrupt 
and largely nonfunctional (see section 4). Judges were subject to 
political, social, familial, and financial pressures. By law 
magistrates must be lawyers; however, most were not. A partial strike 
by associate justices of the Supreme Court conducted over three months 
exacerbated judicial inefficiency.
    The judiciary is divided into four levels, including justice-of-
the-peace courts, magistrate courts, circuit and specialty courts, and 
the Supreme Court. In 2005 the Supreme Court ordered the closure of all 
justice-of-the-peace courts; however, some still operated during the 
year since no replacement courts had been established. The Supreme 
Court appointed judges to counties outside of Montserrado County, where 
the capital is located, but many judges and magistrates continued to 
abandon their posts, preferring to remain in Monrovia. In 2008 the Fast 
Track Court was established to relieve prison overcrowding, and 
magistrates rotated weekly to serve on this court. The newly formed 
military, which adopted a Uniform Code of Military Justice, did not 
have a functioning court system.
    On February 24, a special court for rape and other forms of sexual 
violence opened in Monrovia (see section 6).
    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. There was no effective system to 
provide public defenders in rural areas; however, government officials 
worked with international aid agencies to set up functional public 
defenders, raising the national total to approximately 17 qualified 
prosecutors and 13 public defenders; four of the 13 public defenders 
were responsible for cases in Montserrado County, where one-third of 
the population resided.
    Traditional forms of justice administered by clan chieftains and 
recognized by the Ministry of Internal Affairs remained prevalent in 
some localities. Chiefs, assisted by a jury of elders, dealt with 
village problems and conflicts. No written records were kept in 
traditional courts, and ``trial-by-ordeal'' was sometimes used to 
establish guilt.

    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 that worked 
on reducing 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.

    Property Restitution.--Despite a 2007 ruling that the disputed land 
in Nimba County currently occupied by Gio and Mano persons should 
revert to the original Mandingo owners, no action had been taken by 
year's end to assist the Mandingos in removing squatters. Even persons 
who could afford to take land disputes to a court trial had difficulty 
removing squatters from their property since judicial enforcement was 
weak; efforts to make other acceptable land available were ongoing at 
year's end.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.

Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally 
respected these rights in practice; however, a few journalists were 
arrested for criticizing the president, and there were some reports of 
security officials harassing journalists during the year.
    Individuals could criticize the government publicly or privately 
without reprisal.
    During the year the government closed two newspapers. In February 
authorities closed the New Broom newspaper because it had not 
registered with the Ministry of Information. After discussions with the 
ministry, the newspaper was allowed to resume publishing, but was 
closed again in August for again failing to properly register. In 
August the ministry also closed the Bi-Lingual newspaper for improper 
registration. Critics charged that the government rarely enforced 
registration laws unless a media outlet criticized the government.
    In September President Sirleaf sued the New Broom for 357.5 million 
Liberian dollars ($7.28 million) for reporting that she had accepted a 
bribe of 143 million Liberian dollars ($2.91 million). The president 
also called for the closing of the newspaper for ``deliberately and 
blatantly'' violating the public trust. The case was pending at year's 
end.
    In December security forces arrested the publisher and printer of 
The Plain Truth newspaper and charged them with sedition and libel 
against the president; in a December 9 article the newspaper claimed 
that the government was supplying arms to Guinean rebels, a charge the 
government characterized as ``beyond human imagination.''
    The independent media was 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 elsewhere in the country, newspaper distribution 
generally was limited to the Monrovia region.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that individuals 
had been bribed to kill newspaper publishers.
    During the year the prosecution closed the investigation into the 
2007 security force beatings of journalists at the University of 
Liberia; no action was taken against the perpetrators.
    Radio remained the primary means of mass communication, and 
stations operated without government restrictions. UNMIL Radio and Star 
Radio provided nationwide coverage. In addition there were 13 
independent radio stations that regularly broadcast in Monrovia and 
reached neighboring counties, including the government station LBS. 
There were approximately 24 community radio stations that provided a 
combination of local programs and relay of programs in Monrovia.
    On January 12, at the end of a soccer match, police stopped a Radio 
Star sports reporter, who had his press credentials in his pocket 
instead of on his chest. Police subsequently pushed and kicked the 
reporter. When another reporter rushed to the scene and began taking 
pictures of the incident, police seized and damaged the camera. The 
police officer later apologized.
    During a May 13 interview, the senate president pro tempore 
objected to questions asked by Truth Radio journalist Solomon Ware, 
charging that the questions were offensive. When Ware repeated 
questions about prematurely adjourning a legislative session against 
the disapproval of the Senate, the president pro tempore struck Ware 
with the back of his hand.
    There were three local television stations; however, television was 
limited to those who could afford to purchase sets, generators, and 
fuel to provide electricity. For those persons and businesses with 
satellite capability, CNN, BBC, Skynews, Al Jazeera and SABC Africa 
generally were available.

    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 and lack of infrastructure, less than 1 percent of the 
country's inhabitants used the Internet, according to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008. High illiteracy also 
limited public exposure 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 provides for the right of peaceful 
assembly; however, LNP officers forcibly dispersed demonstrators during 
the year, resulting in injuries.
    On March 2, police forcibly dispersed demonstrators in Gbarnga and 
arrested several persons. The demonstrators, who were protesting an 
alleged ritualistic killing, had burned down a police station. Although 
there were no civilian injuries, several UNMIL peacekeepers were 
injured. Several demonstrators were on trial at year's end for 
destruction of property.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for the right of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. Christianity was the dominant religion, and most meetings, 
including official government meetings, began and ended with prayers; 
however, both Christian and Muslim prayers were sometimes included. 
Islamic leaders complained of discrimination against Muslims.
    On August 29, members of the Presidential Task Force to clean up 
Monrovia used batons to forcibly disperse Muslim vendors who had set up 
food stalls near the Benson Street Mosque in celebration of Ramadan. On 
August 30, President Sirleaf apologized for the incident and disbanded 
the task force. Sirleaf and the acting mayor of Monrovia, who also 
headed the task force, visited the mosque on September 1 and met with 
Muslim leaders.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Despite frequent interaction 
between the Christian majority and Muslim minority, some tension 
existed. The Inter-Religious Council promoted dialogue among various 
religious groups.
    There were reports of ritualistic killings--the act of killing for 
body parts for use in traditional rituals--throughout the country (see 
section 1.a.).
    There was no significant Jewish community in the country, and there 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The program for permanent 
resettlement of internally displaced persons was officially closed in 
October 2008, and
    there were no reports of IDPs during the year.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and 
the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the 
Refugee Problem in Africa. The government has established a 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 Convention or the 1967 Protocol. The government 
generally cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. During the year 
the government assisted 405 refugees from Sierra Leone and provided 
them access to naturalization.
    Between April 2008 and March 2009 the UNHCR assisted in the 
voluntary repatriation of 10,046 Liberian refugees from west African 
countries. Since 2004 a total of 168,792 Liberians have returned out of 
a total registered refugee population of 233,264.
    Land disputes between returning land owners who fled the war and 
IDPs who took over their land as well as between villages trying to 
accommodate returning refugees resulted in violence and death during 
the year.
    The trial over the May 2008 killing of two persons in a land 
dispute between the residents of Wetchuken Village and Rock Town was 
transferred to Zwedru and resulted in the conviction of seven men, who 
were serving life sentences 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 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. The law provides that the head of 
state appoint county superintendents. Local governments had no 
independent revenue base and relied entirely on the central government 
for funds. As a result there was very limited government functioning 
outside of Monrovia. Local officials were provided funds through the 
County Development Fund but in many cases these were misused.
    During the year the National Elections Commission (NEC) revoked the 
licenses of 10 political parties for violating the constitution and 
election laws; all 10 had failed to maintain headquarters in Monrovia 
and had not presented their financial statements to the NEC. The 
leaders of most of the affected parties, known locally as ``briefcase'' 
parties, lived abroad and only returned to the country prior to 
elections. Twenty registered parties remained, although only 10 of them 
were represented in the legislature.
    There were six female ministers, 12 female deputy ministers, five 
women in the Senate, nine women in the House of Representatives, five 
female county superintendents, and several female mayors, including the 
acting mayor of Monrovia. There were two female Supreme Court associate 
justices. Women constituted 33 percent of local government officials 
and 31 percent of senior and junior ministers.
    On January 29, the nine female members of the House filed a formal 
motion of discrimination against Speaker J. Alex Tyler for sidelining 
them in his recent reshuffle of committee heads. Male House members 
responded by assigning the issue to the dormant and ineffective 
Committee on Claims and Petitions. Female legislators then demanded an 
open debate in plenary, but the majority of men voted for procedural 
motions to prevent such a debate. The women, who vowed not to cooperate 
with the men in future House actions, continued to push for a 
``fairness bill'' in the legislature, which would require at least 30 
percent of the candidates running for legislative seats to be women.
    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 2008 Anticorruption Act, which established the Liberian Anti-
Corruption Commission (LACC), does not provide criminal penalties for 
corruption, which remained systemic throughout the government. Official 
corruption was exacerbated by low pay levels for the civil service, 
lack of job training, and a culture of impunity. On October 8, the 
auditor-general said that boards of directors of public corporations in 
the country were being used as ``cover-ups'' to justify illegal 
transactions. The LACC and the Ministry of Justice are responsible for 
exposing and combating official corruption, but it was unclear whether 
the commission or the ministry had responsibility for prosecuting 
corruption cases. The LACC, which had a minimal budget and insufficient 
staff, had completed no corruption investigations by year's end.
    Judges regularly received bribes or other illegal gifts 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 or secure 
favorable rulings from judges, prosecutors, jurors, and police 
officers.
    Despite her strong emphasis on decentralization, President Sirleaf 
urged the legislature during the year to withdraw from allocating and 
implementing local development projects financed by County Development 
Funds; such funding was intended to support local projects to reduce 
poverty. The move to reclaim centralized executive administration of 
local development projects was widely seen as a result of inadequate 
management at the local level, which often funneled development funds 
to support political interests rather than to reduce poverty.
    The government dismissed or suspended a number of officials for 
corruption. For example, on September 5, President Sirleaf dismissed 
the managing director of the state-owned Liberia Petroleum Refining 
Corporation (LPRC) after an investigation revealed alleged 
irregularities in awarding a no-bid 1.75 billion Liberian dollars ($36 
million) concession.
    In October President Sirleaf dismissed the assistant superintendent 
for development in Grand Cape Mount County, for his alleged 
responsibility in the disappearance of more than 4.37 million Liberian 
dollars ($90,000) from the Grand Cape Mont County Development Fund. An 
investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    On April 30, a unanimous jury found former transitional government 
chairman Gyude Bryant, Representative Edwin Snowe, Senator Richard 
Devine, and two other officials innocent of economic sabotage and 
theft. Gyude Bryant was accused of spending almost 49 million Liberian 
dollars ($1 million) of LPRC funds illegally. To date, the government 
has been unsuccessful in every corruption case it has brought against 
present and former officials.
    Eleven corruption cases remained pending at year's end, including 
the 2007 embezzlement cases of David Zarlee, J.D. Slanger, and former 
finance minister Kamara.
    During the year the government continued to take steps to improve 
transparency. In December the president signed an executive order 
protecting whistleblowers, which provides that those who successfully 
report on corruption receive 5 percent of the amount retrieved.
    The legislature passed a Public Financial Management Act, designed 
to reduce financial mismanagement and lack of accountability within 
government agencies. The Ministry of Finance published the national 
budget and quarterly financial results, and state-owned enterprises 
published financial statements. International financial controllers, 
placed in key ministries and state-owned enterprises under the 
Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program, which began to 
phase out operations in September. Controllers 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 law requires all elected officials to publicly disclose their 
finances, and President Sirleaf began an enforcement campaign during 
the year and disclosed her own finances; however; few officials 
followed her lead.
    The law provides for ``no limitation on the public right to be 
informed about the government and its functionaries,'' but little 
government information was available, and there were few procedures for 
obtaining it.

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.
    There were three coalitions of human rights groups: the National 
Human Rights Center of Liberia with nine member organizations; the 
Network of Human Rights Chapters with eight groups; and the Human 
Rights and Protection Forum, an umbrella organization of 70 to 80 
groups. Approximately 40 groups, including members of the three 
coalitions, formed a civil society collective called the National Civil 
Society Organization. These coalitions sought to increase public 
discussion of human rights problems. Civil society NGOs continued to 
develop.
    During the year the government worked to facilitate the free and 
safe passage of relief supplies by international NGOs and permitted 
visits by a UN panel of experts, the ICRC, and various UN agencies.
    The nine commissioners appointed in 2007 by the president to the 
government's Independent National Human Rights Commission (INHRC) still 
awaited confirmation by the legislature at year's end.
    Security officials abused NGO personnel. For example, on April 26, 
in Nimba County, two LNP officers and several private security agents 
attempted to arrest a staff member of the international NGO EQUIP-
Liberia over a land dispute. The staff member was later abducted, 
beaten, and doused with pepper-water in his eyes. In August he was 
abducted again, held for 18 hours, and released. No arrests had been 
made by year's end, although a Ministry of Justice investigation was 
pending.
    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 TRC publicly released Volume I of its Final Reports on events 
in the country between 1979 and 2003. The Commission found that all 
warring factions used child soldiers, kept sexual slaves, and committed 
other violations of domestic human rights law as well as international 
criminal, human rights, and humanitarian law, including war crimes 
violations. The TRC determined that prosecutions were necessary to 
promote justice and reconciliation and to fight impunity, but 
maintained it would not recommend anyone for prosecution who truthfully 
admitted all wrong doings under oath. The TRC deemed reparations at the 
individual and community levels were needed to restore human dignity 
and declared a general amnesty for all children and those who committed 
lesser crimes.
    TRC commissioners initially withheld the names of perpetrators 
recommended for prosecution because they feared for the safety of TRC 
staff and their families. However, the report published a list of 
warring factions and divided them into ``significant Violator Groups'' 
and ``Less Significant Violator Groups'' based on the number of 
violations reported to the TRC. Listed among significant violator 
groups were the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, Liberians United 
for Reconciliation and Democracy, Liberia Peace Council, Movement for 
Democracy in Liberia, United Liberation Movement, Armed Forces of 
Liberia, United Liberation Movement-K, Independent National Patriotic 
Front of Liberia, United Liberation Movement-J, and Anti-Terrorist 
Unit. The Consolidated Final Report contains lists of ``Most Notorious 
Perpetrators'' (116 names), ``Names of Persons (Perpetrators) Not 
Recommended for Prosecution'' (38 names), ``Recommended for Domestic 
Prosecution'' (44 names), ``Recommended for Public Sanctions'' (44 
names, including President Sirleaf), and ``Individuals Recommended for 
Prosecution for Economic Crimes'' (26 names and 19 corporations).
    The TRC made two significant recommendations in Volume I: 1) a 
special domestic court should be set up to prosecute the alleged 
perpetrators the TRC determined were responsible for ``egregious'' 
crimes, ``gross'' human rights violations, and ``serious'' violations 
of humanitarian law; and 2) the INHRC would manage a National Palava 
Hut Forum to establish Palava Hut Committees in the country's 64 
legislative districts to promote reconciliation at the local level. 
Committee representatives would meet at a national conference to foster 
collective unity.
    The TRC completed its public hearings and held a national 
convention in June to finalize the report. The report was completed in 
draft form on July 1. In September the legislature tabled debate on the 
report's recommendations until the new session in 2010. The 
Consolidated Final Report was released in December.
    Effectiveness of the TRC, which has been hampered by poor 
management, staff shortages, and disharmony among commissioners, 
improved during the year, although conflicts between commissioners 
continued.

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, notably the Congos, Krahn, Mano, Gio, and 
Mandingo.

    Women.--Sentences for rapists range from seven years to life 
imprisonment, and accused rapists are not eligible for bail; however, 
the government did not effectively enforce the law. The law does not 
specifically criminalize spousal rape. The WCPS unit of the LNP stated 
that approximately 240 rape cases were reported to the unit during the 
first six months of the year, of which 129 were prosecuted; 
approximately 275 rape cases were reported in the previous year.
    As mandated by the 2008 Gender and Sexually-Based Violence Bill, 
the special court for rape trials opened in Monrovia on February 24. 
The court has exclusive original jurisdiction over cases of sexual 
assault, including abuse of minors. According to Deweh Gray, head of 
the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia, the court was established 
in response to the slow progress of rape cases in the existing courts. 
During the year the Liberia Rural Women Network, a rural women's group, 
called for the establishment of special rape courts in all 15 counties, 
instead of only Montserrado.
    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 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 2007 the Gender Based Violence Secretariat 
completed a national action plan, and during the year the Ministry of 
Gender and Development organized workshops and seminars to create 
awareness of such violence.
    Although prostitution is illegal, it was widespread.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it was a major 
problem, including in schools and places of work.
    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 in 
diagnosis or treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    Women have not recovered from the setbacks caused by the war, when 
many schools were closed and they were prevented from maintaining their 
traditional roles in the production, allocation, and sale of food at 
year's end. 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. 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 or by birth 
in the country if both parents are of African descent; however; if the 
parents are not of African descent, their child--even if born in the 
country--will not acquire Liberian citizenship. As a result, residents 
not of African descent, such as members of the large Lebanese community 
within the country, could not acquire or transmit Liberian citizenship. 
The law requires parents to register their infants within 14 days of 
birth; however, less than 5 percent of births were registered. In May 
the government announced that it had resumed registering births 
following a 19-year interruption resulting in large part from the civil 
war. During the year the government reestablished registration centers 
in five of the country's 15 counties.
    While primary education is compulsory and free, many schools still 
charged informal fees to pay unpaid teachers and to cover operating 
costs that ultimately 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 often were asked to provide their 
own uniforms, books, pencils, paper, and even desks. For primary 
education, the overall national gender ratio was 53 percent boys and 47 
percent females, although significant gaps favoring boys remained in a 
few counties.
    Widespread child abuse continued, and reports of sexual violence 
against children increased during the year. According to a December 9 
UNMIL report, 66 percent of girls between the ages of 10 and 19 had 
been raped; 20 percent of victims were under 10 years of age. Civil 
society organizations reported increased incidents of rape of girls 
under 12, and there were 37 cases of alleged child endangerment during 
the first six months of the year.
    FGM traditionally was 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. Two FGM practitioners were sentenced to 
life imprisonment after some of their victims died as a result of 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.
    During the year there were reports that young women and girls 
engaged in prostitution for money, food, and school fees. Statutory 
rape is prohibited, and 63 cases were brought to court in the first six 
months. The minimum age for consensual sex is 18, and statutory rape is 
prosecuted. 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 IDPs. Nearly all 
children had witnessed atrocities during the 14-year civil war, and 
some children had committed atrocities.
    The government continued to close unregistered orphanages during 
the year; however, 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons; 
however, there were police reports that persons were trafficked to, 
from, and within the country, particularly for domestic work and other 
labor. Although no national database on trafficking exists, there were 
39 trafficking victims identified between March 2008 and February 2009, 
according to the National Anti-trafficking Task Force. Young women and 
children were at a particularly high risk for trafficking, especially 
orphans or children from extremely poor families. Trafficking victims 
often were subjected to harsh living and working conditions.
    Traffickers enticed their victims with promises of a better life. 
Victims generally were not related to traffickers, although they were 
often from the same village. Parents of trafficking victims were 
persuaded that their children would have better food and educational 
opportunities and would eventually return home.
    Penalties for trafficking range from one year to life in prison. 
Monetary restitution to victims is also provided for in the law. The 
law was widely disseminated among law enforcement personnel, although 
lawyers and judges were often unfamiliar with it. The ministries of 
justice and labor have primary responsibility for combating 
trafficking, but enforcement efforts were weak, and there were no 
convictions for trafficking during the year. The government cooperated 
with other governments on trafficking cases and extradited two 
traffickers to Guinea in September.
    The government had limited capacity to provide services to victims; 
however, NGOs and church groups provided shelter for abused women and 
girls, including trafficking victims.
    International NGOs, local NGOs, and churches worked with the 
government to raise awareness about trafficking, and the WCPS continued 
to address trafficking issues. The National Anti-trafficking Task Force 
appointed by the president in 2006 continued to meet during the year; 
however, it had no program budget. The task force held a three-day 
workshop for government officials and NGOs during the year.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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; however, unlike in the 
previous year, there were no reports that babies with deformities were 
sometimes abandoned.
    The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. During the year the 
ministry conducted a series of sensitization programs for government 
social workers 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 the right to own property as a 
result of this racial 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 was 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 based on sexual orientation or against persons 
with HIV/AIDS.

Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows workers to freely form 
or join 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 subsistence level.
    The law does not prohibit retaliation against strikers; however, 
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 does not prohibit antiunion discrimination, but 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, including by children; however, there were 
no reports that such practices occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment 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 
were tapping rubber at smaller plantations and private farms. There 
were also unconfirmed reports that children were forced to work 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 Ministry of Labor's Child Labor Commission was responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws and policies; however, the commission was 
understaffed and conducted only two investigations during the year, 
neither of which resulted in any prosecutions or convictions. There 
were no government programs to prevent child labor or to remove 
children from such labor; however, 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 about the worst forms 
of child labor.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national law requires a 
minimum wage of approximately 15 Liberian dollars ($0.20) per hour, not 
exceeding eight hours per day, excluding benefits, for unskilled 
laborers. The law does not fix a minimum wage for agricultural workers 
but requires that they be paid at the rate agreed 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 raised during the year from 4,200 
Liberian dollars ($85) to 5,600 Liberian dollars ($114) per month.
    The relatively scarce minimum wage jobs 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 per 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, but enforcement was targeted solely at foreign-owned firms 
that generally observed these standards.
    The Ministry of Labor lacked the ability to enforce government-
established health and safety standards. 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 over 20 million, is ruled by an 
unelected civilian regime that assumed power in a coup March 17 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, has resided abroad since the coup; since March 21, the 
parliament has been suspended. In defiance of a negotiated agreement 
with the African Union (AU) and local political leaders, the regime 
failed to establish a 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.
    The right of citizens to choose their government has been 
effectively curtailed. In addition, the following serious human rights 
problems were reported: unlawful killings; other security force abuses; 
harsh prison conditions, sometimes resulting in deaths; arbitrary 
arrest and detention; lengthy pretrial detention; censorship; official 
corruption and impunity; societal discrimination and violence against 
women and children; trafficking of women and children; and child labor, 
including forced child labor.
    The conflict between Rajoelina and Ravalomanana began shortly after 
Rajoelina's election as Mayor of Antananarivo in 2007. An increasingly 
public feud between the politicians reached a turning point on December 
13, 2008, when Ravalomanana closed VIVA TV, owned by Rajoelina. 
Disparate opposition groups lined up behind Rajoelina, who seized on 
widespread discontent to mount increasingly large demonstrations in 
Antananarivo over the following two months, culminating in a series of 
violent confrontations in January and February. Domestic and 
international efforts to broker talks failed to achieve resolution and, 
in early March, a mutiny within the army removed the security forces 
from Ravalomanana's control. On March 17, Ravalomanana signed a decree 
granting executive power to a military directorate, which subsequently 
transferred it to Rajoelina. The ongoing political conflict has 
resulted in widespread abuses of power, restrictions on assembly, 
speech, and press freedom, and an increase in politically motivated 
arrests and detentions.
                        
                       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 or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings, under both the Ravalomanana government and 
Rajoelina's de facto government, which ruled after March 17. From 
January through April, there were a series of deaths and injuries as 
security forces struggled to maintain control of protests. On February 
7, at least 30 protesters were killed and more than 100 injured outside 
Ambohitsorohitra Palace after presidential guards opened fire on 
protesters threatening to overrun the main gate.
    Estimates of deaths during the conflict range from 150 to 300 
nationwide; many of those fatalities occurred during riots and looting 
in late January, when at least 44 persons were trapped in a burning 
department store in Antananarivo. Others were killed during failed 
attempts to control crowds or intimidate protesters. On January 26, the 
first day of violent protests in Antananarivo, a boy was shot in a 
crowd outside Ravalomanana's MBS television station. On April 20, 
security forces reportedly shot two protesters during a march into the 
city center; their deaths resulted in larger protests the following 
day, and an eventual ban on public demonstrations. There were several 
other such incidents in the course of near-daily protests between 
January and May, both in Antananarivo and several of the larger 
regional capitals, none of which resulted in official disciplinary 
action against members of the security forces.
    Between April and August, the pro-Ravalomanana opposition was 
blamed for a series of small explosions in the capital. The government 
has not convicted any of the suspects detained in connection with these 
bombings. On July 18, one man was killed and two injured when an 
explosive device they were carrying detonated prematurely. Testimony 
from the two injured suspects led to further arrests. There were 
allegedly numerous additional bombings, but no group claimed 
responsibility, and the de facto government has not been able to 
identify the source.
    Police and gendarmes continued to use unwarranted lethal force 
during pursuit and arrest. In September 2008, police shot and killed a 
suspected criminal and injured a bystander during pursuit through an 
Antananarivo market. In a similar incident in October 2008 in Ankasina, 
police shot and injured a suspected thief who was fleeing. In 2007 
gendarmes in Bekoby, near the northwestern town of Majunga, shot and 
killed two brothers for stealing a neighbor's cow; that same month a 
gendarme slashed another suspect's leg with a machete during pursuit 
and arrest, and the man bled to death after a day of questioning and 
beating. No action was taken against security force members responsible 
for these killings.
    There were no public investigations into any incidents of violence 
by security forces under either Ravalomanana or Rajoelina, and the de 
facto government's security forces continued to operate with impunity. 
On September 26, a soldier later associated with the Special 
Intervention Force (FIS) shot a woman in the leg in Antananarivo. The 
de facto prime minister at the time, Roindefo Monja, indicated to the 
press that the soldier may have been intoxicated although he was never 
tried or disciplined for the incident.

    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 provide for the inviolability of 
the person and prohibit such practices; however, security forces 
subjected prisoners to physical and mental abuse.
    After opposition leaders took power in March, Gendarme Commanders 
Charles Andrianatsoavina and Lylison Rene Urbain oversaw the Joint 
National Investigation Committee (CNME, later renamed the Special 
Intervention Force), which operated largely outside of the structure of 
the established security forces and was responsible for many of the 
high-profile arrests over the following six months. Andrianatsoavina 
was behind the March detention of Protestant pastor Lala Rasendrahasina 
and three military leaders due to their connections to Ravalomanana. He 
allegedly subjected Rasendrahasina to harsh treatment, including 
physical violence. Members of the CNME used excessive force during 
multiple arrests. On April 23, the CNME arrested four members of 
parliament accused of distributing money to protesters. One of the 
members of parliament accused Andrianatsoavina of striking him with his 
pistol while the members were forced to kneel in the street.

    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. As of December, the country's 
82 prisons and detention centers held approximately 17,700 prisoners, 
exceeding intended capacity by over one-third. This included 
approximately 700 women and girls, and almost 400 juveniles. Of those 
detained, 8,480 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 (MOJ's) efforts in 2007 and 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 NGOs supplemented the daily rations of 
some prisoners.
    The MOJ reported 34 prison deaths from January to October, a 
reduction from 2007 and 2008. However, NGOs and media sources indicated 
that there was substantial underreporting of this figure.
    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.
    The government's 2007 national action plan to rehabilitate and 
improve prison conditions had some success in reducing the number of 
pretrial detainees, but there was little change in other target areas. 
Due to the crisis, these gains were lost and the numbers of pretrial 
detainees rose to previous levels.
    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 kept separate. 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.
    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 around the 
country with private consultations in accordance with ICRC standard 
modalities. ICRC representatives were also permitted to visit detainees 
in pretrial or temporary detention, as need arose.

    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 17 coup; the 
actual number remained disputed, but several of those arrested since 
March remained imprisoned (see section 1.e. and section 2.a.).
    On April 29, CNME gendarmes arrested Manandafy Rakotonirina, a 
political ally of former president Ravalomanana, on the grounds that he 
was ``the mastermind'' behind anti-Rajoelina protests. On September 22, 
he was convicted on multiple charges, including inciting disorder and 
usurping public office, and given a two-year suspended sentence.
    On September 12, the FIS, acting without a warrant, arrested 
Senator Eliane Naika in her hotel on charges of attending an illegal 
gathering and damaging public property. On September 18, the court 
granted her provisional release to await the beginning of her trial 
scheduled for October 13. She left the country on September 20 and had 
not returned at year's end. There were no further developments in the 
case.

    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. By April security forces under the control of 
the de facto government began to assert control effectively over 
demonstrations in the capital, with an accompanying reduction in 
violence. The creation of the CNME in March diluted the authority of 
the minister for internal security, as it began to pursue high-profile 
targets independently outside regular judicial processes under 
commanders Charles Andrianatsoavina and Lylison Rene Urbain. Security 
forces routinely used excessive force during arrests and in crowd-
control operations to disperse demonstrations, employing teargas, flash 
grenades, and live gunfire.
    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 was unable to address the corruption and abuses 
of power perpetrated by security forces and did not play a visible role 
in addressing corruption problems associated with the ongoing political 
crisis.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
law requires that the 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 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 MOJ 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 on the charges faced.

    Amnesty.--As part of the August 9 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. In December 
however, Rajoelina formally abrogated the charter, and with it the 
existing agreement on amnesty during the transition administration.
    Shortly after taking power in March, 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 in a poorly enforced house arrest. 
These includes 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 related to 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 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 17. 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.
    The judiciary is under the MOJ and has four levels. Courts of first 
instance hear civil and criminal cases carrying lesser fines and 
sentences. The Court of Appeals includes a criminal court of first 
instance to adjudicate cases with potential sentences of confinement 
longer than five years. The Supreme Court of Appeals hears appeals of 
cases from the Court of Appeals. The High Constitutional Court reviews 
the constitutionality of laws, decrees, ordinances, and electoral 
disputes. The judiciary also includes specialized courts designed to 
handle matters such as cattle theft.
    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, on June 3, former president Ravalomanana was tried and 
convicted in his absence for alleged abuse of power while in office; he 
later asserted that he was unaware that the trial was taking place.

    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 regardless of 
whether their incarceration had a criminal aspect alongside their 
political affiliations (see section 1.d.). The de facto government 
imprisoned more than 50 opposition figures since March, many with 
little or no evidence of having committed criminal or civil offenses. 
Subsequently, most were released with no charges being filed, but at 
least two high-profile figures remained in government detention. 
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.
    On February 20, Rajoelina ally Jean Theodore Ranjivason was 
arrested for his alleged role in the January riots, and he remained 
incarcerated until the de facto government took power in March. 
President Ravalomanana blocked the request of several resident 
ambassadors to visit Ranjivason in prison after his arrest. On April 
24, four Tiako-I-Madagasikara (TIM) party (former president 
Ravalomanana's party) parliamentarians were arrested for allegedly 
distributing money to protesters, without substantial evidence; they 
remained in prison until August 18, when they received suspended 
sentences of one year. On April 29, Ravalomanana ally (and presumptive 
prime minister) Manandafy Rakotonirina was arrested with several 
members of his opposition cabinet; his trial was postponed several 
times before he and most of those arrested with him were released in 
August.
    Ralitera Andrianandraina, former head of security at the High 
Constitutional Court, was arrested in April for possession of illegal 
weapons, murder, and an alleged role in an attempt on Rajoelina's life. 
At year's end, his eight-month pretrial detention continued; he had not 
been to trial, although the government did not produce any evidence to 
justify his detention.
    Lalaharinoro Rabemananjara was arrested on August 5, while serving 
as the lawyer for Manandafy Rakotonirina. She was charged with 
complicity in the June and July bombings and remained in pretrial 
detention despite a continued lack of evidence against her. At year's 
end, she was the only person still in prison in connection with the 
bombings.
    Four opposition politicians were arrested on July 22 for their 
suspected role in the Antananarivo bombings; they remained in prison 
until August 14 without being charged and were then released on bail. 
There were a number of other politically motivated cases of detainees 
still pending; most of those detainees remained in pretrial detention 
without bail.
    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 was compromised by corruption and 
political influence, as indicated by 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 several occasions, security forces took suspects' 
family members hostage to force them to surrender. For example, in July 
five suspects were sought in connection with the bombs found in 
Antananarivo. Four were arrested, but family members of the fifth were 
held for several days before being released without charge, although 
authorities had not arrested the suspect.

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. For example, on February 7, Ando 
Ratovonirina, a reporter for the privately owned Radio et Television 
Analamanga, was shot and killed during the violence outside the 
presidential palace. Two private broadcast groups were closed over the 
course of the political crisis. In January three radio or television 
stations (private station MBS, and public stations RNM and TVM) were 
burned during riots.
    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 Le Quotidien, which is owned by 
the former president, was the newspaper most heavily influenced by the 
state; since March La Verite and La Gazette have been most closely 
aligned with the de facto government. The government owned nationwide 
television and radio networks. The former president's privately owned 
television and radio station, MBS, was permitted to broadcast 
nationally, a right denied to all other private stations, before it was 
destroyed by fire in late January. There were approximately 256 other 
radio stations and 39 other television stations nationwide, which 
provided more limited geographic coverage.
    The government forced the politically motivated closure of 
opposition media outlets during the year. The closure of then-mayor 
Rajoelina's VIVA TV in December 2008 by the Ravalomanana government for 
``disturbing order and public security'' immediately precipitated the 
crisis that led to the coup. In April Rajoelina's transition government 
closed Radio and TV Mada (owned by Ravalomanana) for ``inciting civil 
disobedience and disturbing public confidence in the institutions of 
the republic.'' Radio Mada had become a voice for the post-coup 
opposition; this role was then taken up by Radio Fahazavana, owned by 
the Protestant Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM).
    During the rioting in January, the residence of parliamentarian and 
media owner Mamy Rakotoarivelo was attacked for alleged support by his 
media of the Ravalomanana regime. In March Rivo Christian Rakotonirina, 
chief editor of a pro-Ravalomanana online magazine, was beaten by pro-
Ravalomanana demonstrators after they mistakenly accused him of working 
for pro-opposition Radio Antsiva. In May Radio Mada journalist Evariste 
Ramanantsoavina was arrested and jailed for ``inciting revolt''; he was 
released two weeks later but was required to pay a fine of one million 
ariary (approximately $500) for ``disseminating false information.''
    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.
    In December the de facto minister of communication sent a letter to 
private radio and television stations instructing them to avoid any 
incitement to violence or to tribal hatred--charges which had 
previously been used to silence opposition radio. As a result, the 
call-in program and all news from Protestant church radio Fahazavana 
were suspended. A separate reminder was sent to Rajoelina's radio 
station, VIVA Radio, to stop incitement to civil unrest.

    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 2008, approximately 1.65 percent of the country's 
inhabitants used the Internet.
    Political groups and activists used the Internet extensively to 
advance their agenda, 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 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.
    From January to March, Rajoelina's opposition alliance attempted to 
hold almost daily demonstrations in two locations in central 
Antananarivo. The government imposed restrictions on these gatherings 
after violent riots in early January, although security forces were 
routinely unable to control the crowds effectively. After the coup in 
March, the de facto government restricted protests by supporters of 
Ravalomanana. By April antigovernment demonstrations were limited to 
one location in Antananarivo at a facility owned by Ravalomanana. 
Police and gendarme forces moved quickly to disperse any crowds that 
formed elsewhere in Antananarivo and several provincial cities, citing 
security concerns.
    In 2008 opposition groups were denied permission to hold meetings 
in several cities, including Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa, and Tamatave. 
In several cases, police withheld authorization, citing public safety, 
security concerns, or lack of justification for the event. Several 
groups held their events regardless, and opposition leaders were 
arrested or detained for these activities. For example, opposition 
leader Henri Lecacheur was given a three-month suspended sentence in 
September 2008 for allegedly holding an unauthorized rally in 
Antananarivo in August.
    For several weeks starting in late April 2008, public 
demonstrations in Tulear, Diego Suarez, and Tamatave, originating with 
students' grievances against blackouts and study conditions, led to 
clashes between security forces and demonstrators. For example, 
protesters threw rocks at police, set fire to a public building in 
Tulear, took the regional director of Tulear's penitentiary hostage, 
and looted shops. Police responded by releasing tear gas and firing 
shots to disperse the crowd; one person was shot in the leg. All 
arrested protesters were released; some received suspended prison 
sentences for inciting violence and disturbing public order.

    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 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 coup, 
however, and the de facto government did not present any plans to do 
so.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice. However, some Muslims felt marginalized by the 
Ravalomanana government and expressed concern about their legal status. 
They expressed reluctance to describe some of their activities openly 
as ``Islamic'' for fear of discrimination although there were no 
reliable reports of government discrimination except regarding 
citizenship applications (see section 2.d.).
    In April leaders of the original New Protestant Church in 
Madagascar, formerly known by its acronym FPVM, were permitted by the 
new regime to reopen their church, which was closed in 2005 under 
Ravalomanana. The government had permitted the reorganization of the 
FPVM in 2007 under the new name and with new leadership. The Universal 
Church of the Kingdom of God remained banned.
    In 2007 Jesuit missionary Father Sylvain Urfer was deported on 
grounds that his entry visa had expired, although he had lived in 
Madagascar since 1974 and held a permanent visa since 1992. Some human 
rights activists claimed Urfer's expulsion was connected to 
Ravalomanana's opposition to his religious activities. Others cited his 
open criticism of the government as the reason. The Rajoelina 
transition government lifted the entry ban on Father Urfer, but he 
remained abroad at year's end.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were few reports during 
the year of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief 
or practice. Some Muslims felt they received unequal treatment in 
schools, hospitals, private businesses, and the workplace.
    The four largest Christian denominations occupy an important role 
in public life, although their collective role in politics has 
diminished somewhat in recent years. The Council of Christian Churches 
in Madagascar, led at the time by the Catholic archbishop, served as an 
intermediary in the early stages of the crisis this year, but it 
withdrew entirely following the March coup. Leaders of both the FJKM 
(associated with the former government of Marc Ravalomanana) and the 
Catholic Church (associated with the current regime of Andry Rajoelina) 
tried to maintain a careful distance from the ongoing political 
struggle. However, both have seen their reputations as neutral actors 
in civil society severely tainted by perceptions of partisan engagement 
during the recent political turbulence.
    There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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. 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 the year 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.
    In December the de facto government issued a ban preventing the 
return of the three political factions attending the Maputo crisis 
talks. Rajoelina permitted the politicians' return a week later, once 
he had announced his formal break with the negotiation process and made 
clear his intention to proceed with a transition government outside the 
context of prior agreements.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian agencies.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, but is not a party to 
its 1967 Protocol 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 the country'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. 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. Unable to consolidate his rule in the face of domestic and 
international condemnation, he engaged in a negotiating process from 
August to December. In December after the negotiations failed to yield 
results acceptable to him, Rajoelina unilaterally declared his 
intention to organize elections as early as March 2010. The opposition 
rejected this plan, pushing for a return to dialogue and an inclusive 
transition government. The resulting impasse, with political and civil 
society leaders divided over how to proceed, continued at the end of 
the year.

    Elections and Political Participation.--There were no elections 
during the year. Indirect elections to the 33-member senate took place 
in April 2008; the ruling 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 coup.
    In 2007 the country held a calm and relatively orderly legislative 
election marked by a low 46 percent voter turnout. The result was a 
national assembly in which all but 22 of 127 legislators were TIM party 
members. A number of domestic and international observer teams deemed 
the election generally free and fair, despite minor irregularities that 
did not affect the overall results. However, media coverage included 
unconfirmed reports of government interference and pressure at the 
local level, namely regional chiefs either promising local leaders 
rewards or threatening dismissal if the ruling TIM party candidate was 
not elected in their areas. Election observers also noted persistent 
structural shortcomings, including the need for an independent 
electoral commission, the need to revise the electoral code to include 
sanctions against fraud and to regulate campaign financing, and the 
lack of a single ballot. This absence could potentially disadvantage 
candidates who could not afford to print their own ballots or if the 
government failed to distribute its ballots adequately.
    Until March 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 were six women in the cabinet; parliament 
was suspended after the March coup and has not yet been re-established.
    Until March 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 coup. The World Bank's 
Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that in 2008 corruption was a 
problem, as was impunity. NGOs and the media reported that 
anticorruption efforts were more effective in pursuing low-level 
violators in recent years, with less success 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 was 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.
    Key members of Rajoelina's High Transition Authority (HAT), a 44-
member advisory council attached to the de facto executive, engaged in 
intimidation and extortion throughout the year with no penalty. Alain 
Ramaroson, president of the HAT's Defense and Security Commission, 
reportedly ran a private militia and abused his position to demand 
bribes, both in terms of money and goods, from both foreign and 
domestic private companies. Military leaders and the de facto justice 
ministry stated that they were unaware of such activities, although the 
allegations were widely publicized.
    In 2008 the government created an anti-money laundering agency, 
SAMIFIN, and an ethics unit within each ministry. BIANCO, the 
government's Independent Anti-Corruption Bureau, and the MOJ signed an 
agreement in June 2008 for increased cooperation concerning data 
collection and case referrals.
    Seventeen persons were arrested in 2007 in connection with the 
embezzlement of 10.8 billion ariary (approximately $5.4 million) from 
the Central Bank in Manakara; the director of the Central Bank and two 
of his staff subsequently left the country to avoid arrest. At their 
trial in April, four were acquitted, 10 were released for lack of 
evidence, and six (including the director, in his absence) were given 
sentences up to 15 years' imprisonment and fines up to 20 million 
ariary (approximately $10,000).
    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 were not enforced during the year.
    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
    The constitution and law require the government to create 
apolitical organizations that promote and protect human rights. 
Responsibilities have been delegated to several organizations covering 
areas such as child labor and domestic violence.
    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 
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 in 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 (ACAT) 
Madagascar, 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 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 AU, the 
International Organization of the Francophonie, and the South African 
Development Community.

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, and disability; 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. Rapes of children and pregnant 
women were 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 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 of prison and a fine of four 
million ariary (approximately $2,000), depending on the severity of 
injuries and whether the victim is 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 survey on conjugal violence conducted by the Ministry of 
Health (MOH) 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 
MOH 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.
    Prostitution is not a crime, but related activities, such as 
pandering and incitement of minors to debauchery, are criminal. 
Prostitution was pervasive and particularly visible in areas frequented 
by tourists. Sex tourism was an increasing problem with the growth of 
the tourism industry. 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.
    Sexual harassment is against the law. Penalties vary from one to 
three years of imprisonment plus a fine of one to four million ariary 
(approximately $500 to $2,000). This penalty increases to two to five 
years of 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. 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. Skilled attendance during childbirth was low, particularly in 
rural areas, where there were few trained health workers. During the 
year all delivery services, including Caesarean sections, were free in 
government health facilities. Men and women had equal access to 
diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV. However, since much of the population lived over two miles from 
public clinics, 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 an overall lack of resources to address the issue comprehensively.
    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. Although the country is party to the Convention 
for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 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 more traditional social structures tended to favor 
entrenched gender roles, as most of the population is engaged in 
subsistence farming. In 2003 the Ministry of Civil Services and Labor 
reported that women owned 30 percent of formal sector companies and 53 
percent of informal sector companies. 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.--The ministries of health, population, and education play 
the principal role in addressing child welfare, but the ministries of 
justice, civil services and labor, youth and sports, and the minister 
of internal security also play a role. In 2008 an increase in the 
budget for education had permitted some improvement in services for 
vulnerable groups, but already insufficient education funds were 
further limited by the suspension of donor funds following the March 
coup, resulting in inadequate services.
    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 one at birth. According to a 2003-04 study by INSTAT, the 
government's office of statistical studies, 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. 
According to government statistics, 85 percent of primary school-age 
children were enrolled, although a 2008 report from the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) indicated that far fewer actually attended 
school. Children in rural areas generally studied through middle 
school, whereas children in urban areas commonly finished the 
baccalaureate examination process for entrance into university.
    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 MOH, in collaboration with UNICEF, operated more 
than 14 multisector networks throughout the country to protect children 
from abuse and exploitation. In light of recent child-related 
legislation, 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 indicated that 33 percent of girls between 
the ages of 15 and 19 years 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 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 less 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. Three separate studies have been 
completed on this subject since 2007, including one that focused on the 
treatment of twins in Mananjary, and NGOs actively promoted awareness 
of the issue. However, no changes to the legal framework or enforcement 
policy had been adopted by year's end.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law specifically prohibits trafficking 
in persons, but there were reports that persons were trafficked within 
the country. The vast majority of cases involved children and young 
women, mostly from rural areas, trafficked for sexual exploitation and 
forced labor including domestic servitude, mining, and street vending. 
A sex tourism problem existed in coastal cities, as well as 
Antananarivo, with a significant number of children exploited as 
prostitutes. International trafficking was rare, although recent cases 
of young women trafficked for domestic work in Lebanon appeared in the 
media, following reports of at least one suicide by such a victim. 
There were unconfirmed anecdotal reports of women and girls trafficked 
for prostitution to the neighboring islands of Mauritius and Reunion.
    Principal traffickers ranged from organized criminals to 
``friends'' to taxi drivers to distant family members. Traffickers 
often took advantage of young women, girls, and boys in rural areas by 
falsely promising employment opportunities in urban areas, particularly 
in domestic employment.
    Traffickers may be prosecuted under provisions prohibiting 
procurement of minors for prostitution, pedophilia, procuring, and 
deceptive labor practices. In 2007 a law was adopted prohibiting all 
forms of violence against children, including sexual exploitation, and 
providing for punishment of adult exploiters of child prostitutes. Also 
in 2007 a law was adopted defining trafficking in persons, among other 
crimes, and stipulating sanctions for the authors of such crimes, 
particularly when committed against children. The MOJ is responsible 
for enforcement of such laws, but NGOs reported that the laws were not 
effectively enforced.
    During the year there were no reports of arrests specifically for 
trafficking, although there were several cases related to the 
commercial sexual exploitation of children. However, the absence of a 
centralized database of legal cases and a law specifically defining 
trafficking activities or sanctions before 2007 impeded prosecution and 
recordkeeping. A centralized database was established in September 2008 
under the authority of the Secretary of State for Internal Security; it 
was operational as of the end of 2008, but lacked the required legal 
standing for use in court.
    Police cooperated with neighboring countries and Interpol in the 
investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases. The government did 
not extradite foreigners charged with trafficking in other countries, 
nor did it extradite citizen nationals. Whether because of corruption, 
pressure from the local community, or fear of an international 
incident, local police and magistrates in tourist areas often hesitated 
to prosecute foreign pedophiles.
    The government continued to address child labor and trafficking 
through educational and birth registration campaigns. Child workers put 
in the country's three NGO-run welcome centers were either given 
vocational training or placed back in school. In 2008 the MOH worked 
with UNICEF to establish new multisector child protection networks 
throughout the country to handle individual cases of child 
exploitation, including trafficking; these centers continued to operate 
during the year.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 MOH is responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. Then-president Ravalomanana signed the International 
Convention on the Rights of the Disabled in 2007, but no implementing 
legislation had been passed by year's end. 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 Antiranana has 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 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 disabled 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 LGBT.
    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 the target 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 
and even a march in central Tana, but general attitudes have not 
changed.
    The country's penal code provides for a prison sentence of two to 
five years and a fine of two to 10 million ariary (approximately $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. 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.

    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 January 2008, labor laws in the 
EPZ vary somewhat from the country's standard labor code. 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 respect 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, unless the prisoner agrees to the 
terms of employment and monetary compensation stipulated in the labor 
code, they can still be hired out for public use by government offices. 
In addition under the Main d'oeuvre penale (MOP) system, prisoners can 
work voluntarily in prison fields or penal camps to engage in 
agriculture, sometimes producing their own food. Except for those 
condemned to forced labor, they are 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.
    Forced labor by children occurred.

    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 sometimes 
encountered trouble enforcing these laws, due to inadequate resources 
and insufficient personnel. 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 ILO's 2007 National Survey on Child Labor in Madagascar 
indicated that approximately 28 percent of the 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. They were 
also victims of commercial sexual exploitation. 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 or prostitutes. Children were 
trafficked internally for the purposes of forced labor and sexual 
exploitation.
    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. In 2008 the ministry had only 68 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 2008 the Ministry of Civil Services and Labor continued 
implementing its 15-year national plan to combat the worst forms of 
child labor, including prostitution. In addition to the existing 
Regional Committee to Combat Child Labor (CRLTE) in the north, two 
additional CRLTEs were established in 2007 in the southwest and on the 
east coast.
    In 2007 as part of the continuing ``red card campaign'' to raise 
awareness about the fight against child labor, the government worked 
with the Malagasy Soccer Federation (FMF) to conduct awareness 
campaigns around the country; this campaign 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.

    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 (approximately $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 68 labor inspectors in the Ministry of 
Civil Services and Labor were sufficient to monitor effectively 
conditions for workers only in the capital. 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 
13 million. In May Bingu wa Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive 
Party (DPP) was reelected president. International observers noted that 
the elections were an improvement compared with the 2004 elections and 
that they were conducted in a free and fair manner. Constitutional 
power is shared between the president and the 193 national assembly 
members. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of 
the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas, including police 
use of excessive force, although the government made some efforts to 
prosecute abusers; occasional mob violence; harsh and life-threatening 
prison conditions; impunity; 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 one person during the year. Perpetrators of past 
abuses were occasionally punished, but investigations often were 
abandoned or were inconclusive.
    On August 10, police raided a bar in the village of Karonga and, 
according to eyewitnesses, beat everyone present, including customer 
Stumai Mwalwanda. Mwalwanda was reportedly beaten unconscious, while 
the other individuals were arrested. Mwalwanda was later transported to 
the Karonga district hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon 
arrival. By year's end no action had been taken against the police 
involved in the beating.
    In the August 2008 case where police officers from a rapid response 
unit shot and killed truck driver Yusuf Abdullah, one of the officers 
was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment 
with hard labor. Three other officers were acquitted.
    There were no developments in the September 2008 case of a police 
officer who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy during a land dispute in 
the Mbayani area of Blantyre. Police had not identified the responsible 
officer by year's end.
    There were no developments in the following 2007 cases: the January 
police killings of Robert Phiri and Thomas Chizenga; the June killing 
of six persons in a vehicular accident by Henry Msinkhu, a Blantyre 
police officer; the October death of Grant Chilimba while in police 
custody; the December killing of Wilson Master by a guard for 
government-owned company Admarc; and the December killing of Dinnis 
Mashalubu by another Admarc guard.
    Mobs sometimes beat, stoned, or burned suspected criminals to 
death. For example, on February 9, villagers in the Nkhata Bay District 
beat to death village headman Pegson M'nkhwakwata Chirwa and then 
burned his body. Chirwa was suspected of being a practitioner of 
witchcraft. The police arrested several suspects, and investigation of 
the case continued at year's end.
    During the year police arrested 16 suspects in the February 2008 
killing of Laston Seunda by a mob in Thyolo. At year's end the suspects 
were released on bail and awaiting trial before the high court in 
Blantyre.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases of mob 
violence: the January killing of Chimwemwe Kanyoza by a mob in Ndirande 
Township, Blantyre, and the June killing of Harold Yobe by a mob in 
Chiradzulu. Investigations continued, but no arrests had been made by 
year's end.
    No further information was available in the following 2007 mob 
killings: the killing by six suspects of a man in Karonga, the killing 
of a man in Chiradzulu, and the stoning to death of an herbalist in 
Dowa.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    There were no developments in the 2007 disappearances of 
Christopher Chimbalanga and Hassan Twaliki from a Lilongwe police 
station.

    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 in handling 
criminal suspects. Unlike the previous year, there were no reports that 
police used torture. While senior officials publicly condemned prisoner 
mistreatment, their subordinates continued to employ unacceptable 
techniques. In an October 2 press release, Peter Mukhito, the new 
inspector general of police, publicly stated that he would not shield 
any police officer accused of wrongdoing. The Malawi human rights 
commission (MHRC) and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
condemned police for human rights violations several times throughout 
the year.
    For example, on July 15, police fired into an unarmed crowd, 
wounding two, in the Bangwe township of Blantyre. The crowd had 
gathered in response to a rumor that police were shielding a man 
suspected of engaging in witchcraft. There were no further developments 
by year's end.
    On August 29, Chrispin Ulemu Kam'mayani, a lawyer for the MHRC, was 
reportedly beaten and arrested by a police officer when he went to 
serve a high court order. Police denied the allegations, and there were 
no further developments by year's end (see section 2.d.).
    On September 3, the press reported that Nthethiwa Salamba, age 17, 
Charles Sadick, age 16, and Alexander Sadick, age 30, were beaten by 
police after being arrested outside a pub in Limbe. The alleged victims 
were held for two days before being released. The case was under 
investigation at year's end.
    There was no new information available regarding the March 2008 
report in The Nation of an unknown woman being abused and rendered 
unconscious by a police officer outside the Chilinde police station in 
Lilongwe.
    No further information was available regarding the alleged August 
2008 beating of Aubrey Kasten by three police officers from the Kabula 
police station in Blantyre.
    There was one instance of security forces engaging in rape and 
sexual abuse. On June 19, a Lilongwe magistrate's court sentenced 
police constable Patrick Machado to six years' imprisonment with hard 
labor for raping a female suspect while she was in his custody.
    In the August 2008 sodomy case against Lilongwe police officer 
Enock Chawanda, the accused was found guilty and sentenced to five 
years in prison.
    There were no developments in the following 2007 cases of police 
abuse: the use of excessive force by police to disperse demonstrators 
at Lengwe national park, and the machete hacking by two policemen of 
the back of a man's head.

    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. A Malawi Prison 
Service spokesman acknowledged that conditions in the prisons were 
poor, but attributed this to inadequate funding. Budget allocations for 
the prison system were less than 20 percent of the stated need.
    The prison system's 24 facilities, which were built to accommodate 
approximately 5,000 inmates, routinely held at least double that 
number. According to the prison commissioner, there were more than 
11,000 inmates in the prison system at year's end. Staffing in prisons 
remained inadequate despite a three- year program to recruit more 
staff. The warden to inmate ratio improved to one warden per nine 
inmates.
    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.
    Community service programs were available as alternatives to prison 
terms for first-time offenders convicted of less serious crimes, and 
who had permanent addresses.
    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.
    Women were not kept in separate facilities, but the more than 200 
female prisoners were segregated within the prison compound and 
monitored by female guards. A total of 16 prison facilities housed 
women. Juveniles were lodged in the same facilities as adults, but were 
kept in separate areas. There were three juvenile detention centers 
(Bvumbwe, Lilongwe, and Byandzi) and two prisons with juvenile wings 
(Zomba and North Mzimba).
    As of the end of September, according to the Malawi Prison Service, 
there were 571 children lodged in prisons, either serving sentence or 
awaiting trial. Blantyre Child Justice Court Magistrate Esme Tembenu 
continued to lead a program to remove children from prisons and put 
them into reformatory centers, but the problem continued.
    Police concluded their investigation into the November 2008 
Chitseko and Cosman case, where Thylo police officers allegedly 
arrested, handcuffed and questioned six children between the ages of 
four and 11. The investigation cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, 
but a review of the case by the Ministry of Justice continued at year's 
end.
    The law requires pretrial detainees to be held separately from 
convicted prisoners, but many prisons did not comply due to inadequate 
facilities. The number of pretrial detainees remained greater than 
2,000.
    During the year the government permitted domestic and international 
NGOs 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.

    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, 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 and poorly trained due in part to 
inadequate funding. The lack of a qualified pool of candidates from 
which to recruit was a major barrier to improvement. Corruption 
continued to be a problem. Police continued efforts to improve their 
investigative skills, including training on internal affairs 
investigations, and to introduce the concept of victims' rights through 
workshops and other training exercises, particularly in the areas of 
sexual abuse, domestic violence, and trafficking in persons. Police 
continued to receive foreign assistance for training officials and 
procuring equipment.
    On September 17, Casper Chalera, the head of the Malawi police 
service fiscal and fraud section, was charged for failing to account 
for 589,436 Malawi kwacha (MKW) ($4,040) that police had collected from 
a suspect in an arrest at Chileka International Airport. Chalera 
pleaded not guilty and was released on bail awaiting trial. A hearing 
date had not been set by year's end.

    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 a police 
officer 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 residents were often 
arrested without warrants. The use of temporary remand warrants to 
circumvent the 48-hour rule was widespread. Bail was frequently granted 
to reduce prison overcrowding rather than on the merits of the case. 
There were reports of officers requesting payment of a bribe for police 
bail, a system in which police are authorized to grant bail without a 
bond. During the year the MHRC received three complaints of arbitrary 
detention related to overstay of remand, denial of bail, and unheard 
appeals. 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.
    Relatives were regularly denied access to detainees.
    Arbitrary arrests remained a problem. Police regularly used ``bait 
arrests'' of relatives when a suspect could not be found to draw the 
wanted individual from hiding.
    On March 21, security forces arrested two opposition politicians 
after a political rally. On November 11, United Democratic Front (UDF) 
Deputy Secretary General Hophmally Makande was found guilty of 
``proposing violence,'' and Malawi Democratic Party President Kamlepo 
Kalua was found guilty of ``uttering seditious words.'' Both were 
sentenced to 20 months of hard labor but appealed their convictions. 
The appeal was pending at year's end.
    There were no further developments in the May 2008 treason cases 
against nine persons, most of whom had close ties to the UDF.
    There were no developments in the May 2008 treason case against 
former president Bakili Muluzi, who returned to the country on December 
12.
    Eighteen percent of the prison population were pretrial detainees, 
down from 25 percent the previous year. Pretrial homicide suspects were 
typically held in detention for two to three years, although at Maula 
Prison alone, there were believed to be 15 suspects who had been in 
jail for more than seven years awaiting trial. The longest known case 
was that of John Chima, who had been in Zomba Prison awaiting trial for 
murder for 18 years.
    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 and 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 
this provision. 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 law provides for a high court, a supreme court of appeal, and 
subordinate magistrate courts. A constitutional court (a panel 
consisting of three high court judges with jurisdiction over 
constitutional matters) also existed. The chief justice is appointed by 
the president and confirmed by the national assembly. The president 
appoints other justices, following recommendations by the judicial 
service commission. All justices are appointed to serve until the age 
of 65 and may be removed only for incompetence or misbehavior, as 
determined by the president and a majority of the national assembly. 
The military has courts martial but no military or security tribunals.
    The Malawi defense force (MDF) maintains a courts martial system. 
Military personnel accused and tried by courts martial are afforded the 
same rights as persons accused in civil criminal courts. The MDF courts 
martial can try civilians in cases concerning military operations; 
however, this has not occurred.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are presumed innocent. By law 
defendants have the right to a public trial but not to a trial by jury. 
The Ministry of Justice continued the indefinite suspension of the use 
of jury trials in murder cases, although juries are used in other types 
of cases. The public and press accepted the suspension, since murder 
suspects had sometimes been incarcerated for years awaiting trial by 
jury. 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. 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, although improvements 
were made due to increased staffing. The Department of Public 
Prosecutions had 15 prosecuting attorneys, an increase of two from 
2008, and 11 paralegals. The paralegals served as lay prosecutors and 
prosecuted minor cases in the magistrate courts. Retention of 
government attorneys was 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 remedies as well 
as 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 132 
complaints of limited access to justice and 26 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.
    On December 2, the parliament passed a law legalizing warrantless 
searches. The MHRC reported that in the period prior to the change, 
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.

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 (MBC) and Television Malawi (TVM).
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views; however, the government imposed some restrictions. A broad 
spectrum of political opinion was available in the country's 
newspapers. There were 11 independent newspapers, including two 
dailies, one triweekly, and four weeklies.
    There were 22 private radio stations that broadcast only in urban 
areas. MBC dominated the radio market with its two stations, 
transmitting in major population centers. State-owned TVM was the sole 
television broadcaster. In the period prior to the May national 
elections, the news coverage and editorial content of MBC and TVM 
clearly favored the president and his party; coverage of other 
political parties was more critical, and they received less airtime. 
Private broadcaster Joy Radio was closed by police on polling day to 
prevent it from covering the elections.
    Journalists were subjected to arrest, harassment, and intimidation 
due to their reporting.
    For example, on February 24, in the period prior to the national 
elections, police arrested Mzimba Community Radio Station manager Sam 
Lwara, accusing him of violating the Communications Act. The charges 
were later amended to conduct likely to cause a breach of peace. Lwara 
was released on bail, and the case was pending at year's end.
    On May 23, police arrested Gilbert Tembo, an editor employed by the 
information department at the Ministry of Information and civic 
education, accusing him of being in possession of seditious materials. 
Tembo was released on bail and the case was pending at year's end.
    On July 7, Gabriel Kamlomo, Zodiak Broadcasting Station editor, was 
arrested for publishing false material likely to cause public alarm and 
fear. Kamlomo was released on bail, and the case was pending at year's 
end.
    There were no developments in the 2008 arrest cases of journalists 
James Mphande and Mike Chipalasa.

    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 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.

    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.
    No action was taken against police responsible for the use of 
excessive force to disperse demonstrators in 2007 and 2008.

    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, and registration was 
routinely granted.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right. 
Churches continued to exert significant political influence, 
particularly in rural areas.
    There are no separate requirements for the recognition of religious 
groups, but they must register with the government. Foreign Christian 
missionaries experienced occasional delays in renewing employment 
permits; however, this appeared to be the result of bureaucratic 
inefficiency rather than policy.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal violence, harassment, or discrimination aimed at religious 
groups. However, there were anecdotal complaints from religious 
minorities regarding limited employment and educational opportunities.
    The Jewish community was very small, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of 
the Refugee Problem in Africa. Its laws provide for the government's 
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.
    According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR), there were two attempts of refoulement during the year. Since 
the UNHCR was unable to verify if the two individuals affected were 
under threat in their respective countries of origin, it classified the 
incidents as ``attempts.''
    On August 30, Congolese national John Badesire Mitterand, who had 
been in country as a recognized refugee since 2004, was deported to the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The UNHCR was given no official 
explanation for the deportation. Upon his return to Malawi on December 
14, Mitterand was arrested and, despite a court order staying another 
deportation until his case could be reviewed, deported again on 
December 25.
    Also on August 30, Ethiopian national Abute Bashayu was deported to 
Ethiopia. Bashayu, who had been in country since February 2008, had an 
asylum application pending at the time of his deportation. The UNHCR 
was given no official explanation for the deportation.
    By law the government does not accept refugees for permanent 
settlement. The government cooperated with the UNHCR in assisting 
refugees and asylum seekers but restricted refugees' ability to move 
freely and work outside of refugee camps.
    The government provided temporary protection to approximately 752 
individuals during the year who may not qualify as refugees under the 
1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol.
    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. The UNHCR, 
NGOs, and the government collaborated to provide education to children 
in refugee camps.
    Security forces sometimes intimidated refugee and asylum seekers. 
Police routinely performed sweeps of refugees found illegally outside 
of camps and returned them to camps. Local citizens often accused 
refugees of theft and demanded their deportation.
    In July a mob reportedly killed an Ethiopian refugee accused of 
stealing maize from a village near the Dzaleka camp. By year's end no 
arrests had been made.

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 largely free and fair elections based on universal 
suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--International election 
observers found the May presidential and parliamentary election an 
improvement on the 2004 elections; however, they identified some 
shortcomings. In particular, 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.
    In 2005 the five-year term of district and municipal assemblies 
ended as stipulated by law. Constitutionally mandated local government 
elections were scheduled for May 2005, but the government did not hold 
the elections, citing a budgetary shortfall related to a food crisis. 
Civil society criticized the government for delaying the elections. In 
November the parliament amended the constitution, placing the timing of 
local elections in the hands of the president. These elections were 
scheduled for 2010. The future structure of local government itself was 
expected to be addressed in the January 2010 session of parliament.
    There were 42 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, full 
implementation of the law continued to be a challenge. The World Bank's 
2008 Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a 
serious problem. Public sensitivity to corruption increased due to 
media campaigns. President Mutharika spoke out publicly against 
corruption and cautioned government officials to refrain from 
questionable activities. Efforts to combat corruption and promote 
transparency continued.
    The Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) functioned under a new 
director after an extended period without a permanent head. The ACB 
continued to bring cases and was generally seen as competent and 
effective, but it continued to be hampered by a lack of resources.
    Indictments of former high-level government officials proceeded 
slowly. Many of the cases were delayed in the courts due to legal 
challenges 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 volume and 
quality of complaints increased during the year; investigations by the 
media into alleged corruption also increased. The ACB had achieved 60 
corruption convictions since 2004.
    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 560 complaints of human rights 
violations during the year. The government cooperated with 
international governmental organizations and permitted visits by UN 
representatives and other organizations.
    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 by law to investigate and 
take legal action against government officials responsible for human 
rights violations and other abuses. The executive secretary of the 
Ombudsman's Office stated that government agencies usually cooperated 
in responding to requests for information. While activities of the 
ombudsman were subject to judicial review, he operated without 
government or party interference.
    The Office of the Ombudsman continued to lack adequate resources, 
having only 15 staff members to handle the investigations process for 
the entire country, and some recommendations were referred to 
parliament after being ignored or challenged by government departments 
and agencies. The ombudsman received fewer complaints during the year, 
due to the public's rising awareness that some complaints should be 
directed to other government agencies including the ACB, MHRC, and the 
Public Service Commission.

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; they suggested 
that rape was a widespread problem.
    The judiciary continued to impose penalties on persons convicted of 
rape, including up to 14-year prison sentences for child rape and 
assault.
    For example, on February 12, Kingstone Kambalame was sentenced to 
12 years' imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old.
    In March law professor Kandako Mhone was arrested for raping a 
minor repeatedly since 2006. The case was pending at year's end.
    On July 12, Paul Bobi was sentenced to five years in prison after 
pleading guilty to raping a 14-year-old girl.
    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 
victims support units provided shelter to some abuse victims and dealt 
with human rights and gender-based violence, but officers' capacity to 
assist and document cases was limited.
    Prostitution is legal and prevalent around hotels and bars in urban 
and tourist areas; however, the law prohibits living off wages earned 
through prostitution, owning a brothel, or forcing another person into 
prostitution. Loitering was the main charge under which prostituted 
women were arrested, resulting usually in small fines.
    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 female, 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. Due to a shortage of 
doctors, nurses and midwives were a critical component of prenatal and 
postnatal care. 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 speak out against 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 
utilize the formal legal system benefited from these legal protections. 
In a few isolated areas, a widow was sometimes forced to have sex with 
in-laws as part of a culturally mandated ``sexual cleansing'' ritual 
following the death of her husband. In some cases she was ``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.

    Children.--Citizenship can be derived at birth under the concept of 
jus soli--birth within the country--or jus sanguinis--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. The system had not been fully implemented by 
year's end, and until it is implemented, there is no requirement for 
registration of births. However, 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, have historically been unable to complete even a primary 
education and therefore were at a serious disadvantage in finding 
employment.
    Child abuse remained a serious problem. The press reported a 
significant number of cases of sexual abuse of children, including 
arrests for rape, incest, sodomy, and defilement.
    A July 2008 report from the Mzuzu police victims support unit 
indicated that abduction, child abuse, and child rape cases had risen 
during the year. The Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian, paralegal 
department also reported an increase in child abuse and defilement 
cases.
    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.
    Abusive practices, including the secret initiation of girls into 
their future adult roles, were widespread. 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, still existed in 
some areas. The MHRC expressed concern over reports of parents forcing 
their daughters into marriages for food.
    The 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, less often 
on 16 to 20 years. A joint government and UN Children's Fund awareness 
campaign against harmful cultural practices affecting children included 
the subject.
    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 various activities to enhance protection and 
support of 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.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit specifically 
trafficking in persons, and women, children, and men were trafficked 
to, from, through, and within the country. The government attempted to 
combat trafficking using existing laws. Although the age of sexual 
consent is 14, there is no age specified for the protection of minors 
from sexual exploitation, child prostitution, or child pornography.
    The country is a source, transit, and destination point for women 
and children trafficked for sexual purposes locally and to brothels 
abroad, particularly in South Africa. Victims trafficked to South 
Africa were typically between 14 and 24 years old and were recruited 
with false offers of marriage, study, or employment. There were also 
several documented cases of young boys and men being trafficked to 
Tanzania. For example, in July a group of 29 trafficked Malawian men 
and boys were found to be working in the fishing industry in the Lake 
Rukwa district of Tanzania. Child trafficking for agricultural work 
took place around borders with Zambia and Mozambique. Also, childrenand 
a smaller number of women from Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Burundi, 
and Zimbabwe were trafficked to Malawi for forced labor and commercial 
sexual exploitation.
    Poverty and low educational levels contributed to such 
exploitation. Traffickers involved in land border trafficking to South 
Africa and Tanzania were typically long-distance truck drivers and 
minibus operators. Local businesswomen, who also travel regularly to 
Tanzania, South Africa, and other neighboring countries to buy clothing 
items for import, were identified as traffickers as well. Children were 
primarily trafficked internally for agricultural labor but also for 
cattle herding, domestic servitude, commercial sexual exploitation, and 
to perform menial tasks for small businesses.
    A study issued in 2008 by the center for social research and 
Norwegian church aid found that between 500 and 1,500 women and 
children were trafficked within the country annually. Approximately 35 
percent of those trafficked were children between the ages of 14 and 
18.
    The penal code contains several provisions relating to prostitution 
and indecency that the government has used to prosecute traffickers. 
During the year the government prosecuted child traffickers; most of 
the cases involved trafficking of children for agricultural labor and 
cattle herding.
    International trafficking was done on valid travel documents 
obtained through unlawful means. The country's easily forged passport 
was used regularly by traffickers; the government continued attempts to 
remedy the misuse by recalling the passports and issuing a new type 
with enhanced security features. Trafficking occurred at both 
unmonitored crossing points and official points of entry.
    Some convicted child traffickers were sentenced to prison or 
required to pay fines; however, trafficking was usually treated as a 
misdemeanor, and perpetrators often paid only a small fine.
    Police and the Ministry of Gender, Child Development and Community 
Development handled cases brought to their attention and provided some 
services for victims, including counseling and reintegration 
assistance. The ministry repatriated victims to their home villages. 
Children were resettled with their families and most offenders were 
fined.
    While the government continued to implement a multiyear strategy to 
protect vulnerable children from exploitation, it did not provide 
specific funding to combat trafficking in persons. There was no 
reportable progress on the development of a nationwide, 
interministerial plan to identify the extent of trafficking and 
possible solutions.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 has 
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 defined 
as ``carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature.'' It 
is illegal and is punishable by up to 14 years in prison in addition to 
corporal punishment. On December 28, two men were arrested in Blantyre 
and charged with illegal carnal knowledge and committing acts of 
``gross indecency with another male person.'' The men were denied bail 
and were in jail awaiting trial at the end of the year.
    Societal violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation 
occurred. The Center for Development of the People (CEDEP) reported 
that two cases of violence resulting in serious injury were perpetrated 
against gay men during the year. The victims did not report the attacks 
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 were having some success. The national 
AIDS commission stated 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. Union leaders estimated that 12 
percent of the formal sector workforce belonged to unions; however, 
accurate statistics were not available. Employers, labor unions, and 
the government lacked sufficient knowledge of their legitimate roles in 
labor relations and disputes, which limited their effectiveness in 
implementation and enforcement of the law. The law provides for unions 
to conduct their activities without government interference.
    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 occur only after all 
settlement procedures established in a collective agreement and 
conciliation efforts have failed. 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).
    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.--Unions have the 
right to organize and bargain collectively, and the government 
protected this right. 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.
    There were no reports of antiunion discrimination.
    A total of 24 firms held licenses to operate under export 
processing zone (EPZ) status, and 20 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, including by children; however, 
there were reports that such practices occurred. Forced labor is 
punishable by a maximum fine of 10,000 MWK ($68) 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, leading to a situation of debt and bonded 
labor to repay the input and other costs.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years of age, and 
children between the ages of 14 to 18 may not work in jobs that are 
considered hazardous or that interfere with their education; 
nevertheless, child labor was a problem.
    In June 2008 the Ministry of Labor stated that more than 1.4 
million 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 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, 
and to Tanzania to work in the fishing industry.
    A report issued by Plan International in June 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.
    There were no further developments in the October 2008 arrest of 
Lilongwe restaurant owner Mohamed Abed Ali and his employee Petro 
Kandindi for hiring four boys to clean a septic tank used by the 
restaurant.
    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 ($136) or five years' imprisonment for violations.
    The 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 31 district labor officers and an estimated 150 labor 
inspectors at year's end. There was no information available on the 
number of inspections carried out during the year.
    The labor ministry 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.

    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 ($0.97) per day; in all other areas, it was 
105 MWK ($0.72) 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 12.6 million, is a 
constitutional democracy. International and domestic observers 
characterized the April 2007 presidential election, which resulted in 
the reelection of President Amadou Toumani Toure, and the July 2007 
legislative elections as generally free and fair; however, there were 
some administrative irregularities. The north experienced periodic 
violence involving Tuareg rebels, ethnic violence, and the terrorist 
organization al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). While civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security 
forces, there were instances in which elements of the security forces 
acted independently.
    The government generally respected its citizens' human rights; 
however, there were problems, including the arbitrary or unlawful 
deprivation of a 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, isolated cases of fraud in communal elections, official 
corruption and impunity, domestic violence and discrimination against 
women, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking in persons, 
societal discrimination against black Tamacheks, 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.
    Tuareg rebels, AQIM, and ethnic factions committed abuses against 
civilians in the north.
                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--In contrast to 2008, 
there were no reports that the government or its agents committed any 
politically motivated killings; however, there was one report of a 
killing by a national guardsman.
    On July 14, outside of Kita, national guardsman Lassine Goita shot 
minibus driver Sountou Koumba Sissoko for allegedly failing to stop at 
a checkpoint. The driver later died as a result. The next day 
widespread rioting occurred in Kita in reaction to the killing. Youth 
burned and looted public buildings as well as set fire to government 
vehicles. Security forces were deployed to Kita to restore order. The 
government arrested Goita as well as 35 rioters, and the National Guard 
dismissed Goita from its ranks. At year's end, Goita and the rioters 
remained in detention, and their cases were pending before an 
investigative judge.
    The investigation into the November 2008 killing of one person and 
the injuring of six others in Lere by troops from the National Guard 
Mehariste (camel back) Unit of Lere resulted in a finding by the 
government commission of inquiry that the guardsmen had not used 
excessive force.
    There were no developments in the April 2008 killings of two 
Tuaregs, Commandant Barka ag Cheikh and his driver Mohammed ag Moussa, 
or in the 2007 death of Youssouf Dembele.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports that the government 
committed 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 
the use of excessive force to disperse a demonstration.
    There were no developments in the September 2008 case of several 
Congolese accorded refugee status by the UN high commissioner for 
refugees (UNHCR), whom Malian police allegedly arrested, beat, and then 
released the same day.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Overall prison conditions 
remained poor. Prisons continued to be overcrowded. For example, the 
central prison in Bamako housed 1,825 prisoners in a facility designed 
to hold 400. The Sikasso Prison held 178 prisoners in a facility built 
for 50. In addition, medical facilities were inadequate and food 
supplies were insufficient. Inadequate sanitation and medical 
facilities posed 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.
    The government permitted prison visits by human rights monitors; 
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 week delay hindered the ability of 
monitors to ascertain if there were human rights violations. Several 
NGOs, including the Malian Association of Human Rights and the Malian 
Association of Women Lawyers (AJM), 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; however, there were reports 
that this occurred.
    In May the Supreme Court overturned the 2007 conviction of bank 
chief executive officer (CEO) Mamadou Baba Diawara and investment 
company CEO Ismaila Haidara for fraud; however, the minister of justice 
ordered that they not be released. Diawara remained in prison at year's 
end. Haidara was released prior to the minister's order reaching the 
prison where he was held. Authorities arrested the prison warden, 
Sekouba Doumbia, who released Haidara, and he remained detained at 
year's end (see section 1.e.).

    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. 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.

    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 on which 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 indigent; however, 
an insufficient number of lawyers--particularly outside of 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 the 48-hour period. During 
May, two magistrate labor unions, the Autonomous Union of Magistrates 
and the Free Union of Magistrates, as well as the National Union of 
Clerks of Court (SYNAG) went on strike, claiming that the government 
failed to comply with an agreement regarding magistrate pay; many 
criminal suspects were held in excess of the 48-hour period during the 
strike. Media reports also indicated that, during the strike, some 
persons were not released after completing their sentences. Suspects 
must be transferred from a police station to a prison within 72 hours 
after being arrested; however, in practice detainees were sometimes 
held more than 72 hours. Limited rights of bail or 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 that 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.
    In September the judiciary held the first of a series of special 
sessions planned by the Ministry of Justice to reduce the case backlog 
and ease prison overcrowding. Some prisoners awaiting trial were tried; 
many were found guilty and, having been detained for a period longer 
than the legal punishment, were sentenced to time served.

    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 that there were widespread instances of bribery and influence 
peddling in the courts.
    There were problems enforcing court orders.
    On March 31, authorities arrested Auditor General Sidi Sosso Diarra 
for failing to abide by a December 2008 Supreme Court order concerning 
a personnel dispute in the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). He was 
released later the same day following intervention by the minister of 
justice. It was alleged that Diarra's arrest had little to do with the 
personnel dispute, but was rather in retribution for his role in 
anticorruption efforts.
    On May 27, the Supreme Court's criminal division reversed the 
convictions of Habitat Bank of Mali CEO Mamadou Baba Diawara and West 
African Investment Company CEO Ismaila Haidara for fraud. The chief 
public prosecutor at the Supreme Court, Cheickna Detteba Kamissoko, 
then issued a routine order to release Diawara and Haidara. Media 
reports indicated that the court justices may have been bribed to reach 
this decision and that the court's handling of the case was irregular. 
For example, the public prosecutor failed to keep the minister of 
justice apprised of the case's progress, the case was added to the 
docket at the last minute while the country's president was out of the 
country, and the release order was signed faster than normal. Minister 
of Justice Maharafa Traore instructed authorities not to enforce the 
court's decision. Diawara was not released, but Haidara had already 
been released prior to the minister of justice's order reaching the 
prison. Minister of Justice Traore also ordered the chief public 
prosecutor to file an appeal of the decision; however, the law does not 
provide a process for appealing a Supreme Court decision. On June 3, 
the president's council of ministers fired Chief Prosecutor Kamissoko 
and the Supreme Court's general counsel, Moussa Keita. The minister of 
justice, in accordance with the law, appointed their replacements. On 
July 16, authorities arrested Lieutenant Sekouba Doumbia, the warden 
who released Haidara, after he publically defended his action. At 
year's end, Diawara and Doumbia remained in detention, while Haidara 
was reportedly in hiding in Germany.
    The minister of justice appoints and may suspend judges, and the 
Ministry of Justice supervises both law enforcement and judicial 
functions. The president of the country heads the Council of 
Magistrates, which oversees judicial activity.
    The country has a lower circuit court, a Supreme Court with both 
judicial and administrative powers, and a Constitutional Court that 
oversees constitutional issues and acts as an election arbiter. The 
constitution also provides for the convening of a High Court of Justice 
to try senior government officials in cases of treason.
    The military court system was not operational.
    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.--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 lacked the financial means to 
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 the 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.--
The north experienced periodic violence involving Tuareg rebels, ethnic 
violence, and AQIM.
    In January and February, in response to the December 2008 Northern 
Mali Tuareg Alliance for Change (ATNMC) attack on a military base in 
Nampala as well as previous repeated attacks by armed Tuareg groups 
against government forces, government forces launched an offensive 
against the ATNMC. The offensive contributed to defections among ATNMC 
leader Ibrahim ag Bahanga's men; Bahanga subsequently fled the country 
to Libya.
    During the year Tuareg rebel groups participated in disarmament 
ceremonies. For example, on February 13-17, several hundred Alliance 
for Development and Change members disarmed pursuant to their 
obligations under the 2006 Algiers Accord.
    Persons displaced by attacks by rebels and other armed groups of 
Tuaregs in 2008 were reported to be returning home.
    On January 7, on the road between Gao and Kidal, rebels believed to 
be associated with the ATNMC carjacked and detained two Malian Electric 
Company employees for five days. The rebels also briefly held and then 
released the car's driver and two other passengers, one of whom was a 
child.
    There were unconfirmed reports that government security forces 
mistreated Tuareg combatants taken prisoner during fighting. On January 
15, one Tuareg prisoner died while in government custody.
    Sporadic violence between the Ganda-Izo militia, composed of ethnic 
Peulhs and Songhai, and neighboring Tuareg factions in the area of 
Ansongo (Gao Region) continued. On January 1 and January 7, grenade 
attacks in Gao targeted Tuareg leaders and resulted in the death of at 
least one civilian. On June 12, six Tuaregs were killed in the town of 
Tandagdagorane when attacked by a group of 14 Peulh and Songhai 
assailants wielding automatic weapons and grenades. Twelve days later, 
three Peulhs were killed in an apparent reprisal attack in the town of 
Fitili. For three days beginning July 24, further attacks in the 
commune of Tessit caused an additional 16 deaths among the Peulhs. The 
violence was aggravated by the arrival of ethnic Peulh nomads from 
Niger and Burkina Faso seeking to pasture their livestock.
    In April authorities released Ganda-Izo leader Amadou Diallo, who 
was arrested in September 2008 in Niger and then extradited to Mali.
    On June 5, a group of Berabiche Arabs, believed to have been led by 
Lamine Tahar, abducted and held hostage nine elected officials from 
Timbuktu. The group reportedly wanted to disrupt the selection of 
representatives for Timbuktu's regional assembly and force an Arab 
candidate to be named president of the assembly. Three of the hostages 
were released on June 5, and the remaining six were freed on June 8.
    During the year the terrorist organization AQIM killed persons as 
well as held persons hostage.
    On June 10, in Timbuktu, armed assailants, believed to be 
affiliated with AQIM, assassinated Malian intelligence officer and 
Berabiche Arab leader Colonel Lamana Ould Bou at his residence.
    On January 22, bandits abducted European tourists Edwin Dyer, 
Marianne Petzold, Gabriella Greitner, and Werner Greiner along the 
border with Niger and later handed them over to AQIM. AQIM released 
Petzold and Greitner on April 22, killed Dyer on May 31, and released 
Greiner on July 12.
    There were developments in the case of UN envoy to Niger Robert 
Fowler, his assistant Louis Guay, and their driver Soumana Moukaila, 
who disappeared in Niger in December 2008. AQIM held them in Mali, 
where they were later released. Moukaila was released in March. Fowler 
and Guay were released on April 22 along with the two European tourists 
mentioned above.

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 an individual 
arrested for publically criticizing the government and of a journalist 
arrested.
    On January 14, the leader of the association Circle for Youth 
Reflection and Action, Mahamane Mariko, was arrested and held without 
charge for 28 hours following a press conference in which Mariko 
criticized government policy in the north and called for the use of 
force against Tuareg rebels.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views.
    On February 26, Nouhoum Keita, a journalist for Radio Kayira, a 
network of stations critical of the government, was arrested on charges 
of fraud. Prior to his arrest, Keita stated on a radio program that he 
suspected government officials tried to set him up and that he was 
going to file a lawsuit to learn the identities of those officials. On 
April 15, authorities released Keita.
    There were no developments regarding cases reported in 2008.

    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 April 13, police prevented a homosexual group from assembling on 
the margins of a conference in Bamako concerning HIV/AIDS.
    On the night of February 16-17, following days of rioting in the 
Bamako neighborhood of Banconi Salembougou, police allegedly used 
excessive force and tear gas to disperse demonstrators, resulting in 
numerous injuries. The confrontation stemmed from a land dispute in 
which a court ordered a popular neighborhood leader to vacate a 
property. The leader and his supporters occupied the disputed property, 
and protesters reportedly blocked roads as well as damaged and looted 
property.
    There were no developments in the October 2008 incident of police 
using excessive force to disperse protesters in the Bamako neighborhood 
of Medina Coura.

    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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right.
    The government required that all public associations, including 
religious associations, register; the process was routine and not 
burdensome. Traditional indigenous religious groups were not required 
to register.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Jewish population was 
estimated at fewer than 50, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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. Police routinely stopped and checked both citizens and 
foreigners to restrict the movement of contraband and to verify vehicle 
registrations. Some police and gendarmes extorted bribes.
    The government cooperated with the 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).--By midyear, large numbers of 
the several thousand IDPs who were displaced in Kidal region in 2008 by 
attacks by Tuareg rebels were reportedly returning home due to 
increased security.
    In June intercommunal violence in Gao Region, notably Ansongo, 
Tessit, Ouatagouna, Boura, Inmahag, Lellehoy/Tantala, and Baba Sorgos, 
displaced an estimated 200 families. In Boughessa, an estimated 400 
families were displaced due to drought and the impact of earlier 
confrontations between the army and Tuareg rebels.
    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 local terrain, land 
mine concerns, and rebel attacks early in the year hampered assistance 
efforts. The government did not attack or target IDPs or forcibly 
return or resettle them.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. Its 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 the UNHCR.
    The government provided temporary protection to individuals who may 
not qualify as refugees and provided it to 34 persons 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 the 2007 elections 
as generally free, fair, and without evident fraud, but there were 
administrative irregularities.
    On April 26, voters participated in local elections to select 
members of the country's 703 communal councils. Domestic and 
international observers characterized the elections as generally free 
and fair; however, some isolated administrative irregularities and 
instances of fraud were reported. For example, serious cases of fraud 
were reported in Ber and Tarkint. Prior to the election, political 
parties expressed concern regarding the accuracy of voter registration 
lists. In Bamako, on election day, authorities arrested 94 persons for 
suspected electoral fraud. Most of the 94 cases involved the possession 
of stolen voter registration cards. At least 16 of these persons were 
convicted and sentenced to one to three months in jail; others were 
released for lack of evidence. At year's end, all 94 persons had been 
released, either for lack of evidence or because they had served their 
sentence.
    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 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 frequently extorted money. Corruption in the judiciary was 
widespread.
    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 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 2008 (released in 2009) estimated that 
approximately 98 billion CFA francs ($210 million) in revenue had been 
lost due to fraud and mismanagement, including lost revenue in the 
Customs Office, the Treasury, and the Social Security Agency. There 
were no developments with regard to the previous annual reports of the 
auditor general.
    During the year the OAG examined nine entities that were discussed 
in its 2008 report. The examination found that 74 percent of the 
auditor general's fraud prevention and financial management 
recommendations had been implemented in these entities. There were no 
criminal prosecutions for corruption based on previous annual reports 
of the auditor general.
    There were no developments regarding the case of Ahmed Sow, who 
resigned from his position as minister of energy, mines, and water in 
September 2008 due to corruption allegations stemming from his previous 
role as the director of the EU's Center for Business Development.
    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.
    Major local human rights NGOS included the Collective of Women's 
Associations and NGOs (CAFO), the AJM, Women and Children Rights Watch 
(ODEF), the Women and Children's Rights Committee (CADEF), Women and 
Human Rights, the Mali Human Rights Association (AMDH), the black 
Tamachek Association (TEMEDT), Mali Enjeu, and ENDA-Tiers Monde. 
Government officials met with NGOs on a variety of matters.
    The government usually cooperated with international organizations 
and permitted visits by UN representatives and other organizations, 
such as the ICRC.
    The National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) is part of the 
Ministry of Justice. The CNDH is an independent institution under the 
constitution. It did not operate effectively during the year.

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.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape; however, the government did not 
enforce the law effectively. Only a small percentage of rape cases were 
prosecuted, and most rape cases were not reported. There is no law 
specifically prohibiting spousal rape, but law enforcement officials 
stated that 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. Information on 
the number of abusers who were prosecuted, convicted, or punished 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, which was meant 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 (approximately $1,071) or, if premeditated, up 
to 10 years' imprisonment.
    The Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children, and the Family 
(MPFEF) 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 and Action for the Promotion 
of Household Maids operated shelters for abused female domestic 
laborers.
    Prostitution is legal and was common in cities.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it occurred 
frequently.
    Women's ability to make decisions regarding reproduction was 
limited. Women faced pressure to defer to their husbands and family on 
reproductive issues and often lacked sufficient information. Women 
often did not have 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, but access to healthcare for both men and 
women was limited.
    Family law and traditional practices favor men. Women are legally 
obligated to obey their husbands. Women 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 MPFEF 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.
    The constitution provides for free universal education and the law 
provides for compulsory schooling; however, many children did not 
attend schools, 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. 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 Tamachek community reported that some Tamachek 
children were denied educational opportunities due to slavery-like 
practices.
    An unknown number of primary school-aged children throughout the 
country, mostly under age 10, attended part-time Koranic schools. 
Koranic schools taught only the Koran and were funded by students and 
their parents. Koranic masters often forced students, known as 
``garibouts,'' to beg for money on the streets or work as laborers in 
agricultural settings.
    There were no 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 for Solidarity 
and Social Development investigated and intervened in some reported 
cases of child abuse or neglect; however, the government provided few 
services for such children.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) was common, particularly in rural 
areas, and was performed on girls between the ages of six months and 
six years. Approximately 95 percent of women had been subjected to FGM. 
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.
    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.
    On August 29, police reportedly arrested Amadou Diallo for planning 
to marry his 12-year-old daughter to her 50-year-old-cousin. He was 
released after three days, and the case was sent to the judicial 
system. The child was sent to live with a female relative.
    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 police's Division for Protection of Children and Morals 
sometimes arrested child prostitutes. They were usually released a few 
hours after their arrest. A 2004 governmental study, which involved 450 
interviews, found that the children most at risk for sexual 
exploitation were girls between the ages of 12 and 18, who worked as 
street vendors or domestic servants or who were homeless children or 
the victims of child trafficking. Such exploitation was most prevalent 
in border zones, towns on transportation routes, and in mining areas. 
The study noted that most cases of sexual exploitation went unreported 
and recommended that the country strengthen its laws to protect 
children.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in children, 
but does not address trafficking in adults, and there were reports that 
women and children were trafficked to, from, and within the country.
    Persons, including children, were trafficked between Mali and other 
West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, 
Senegal, Mauritania, Niger, and Nigeria, for the purposes of forced 
labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Most child trafficking 
occurred within the country. Children were trafficked for agricultural 
work, domestic servitude, begging, gold mining, and prostitution.
    The principal traffickers were mostly from West African countries, 
and included Koranic teachers known as ``marabouts'', as well as 
smugglers of a variety of goods. In many cases, parents in rural areas 
entrusted their children to traffickers, mistakenly believing false 
assurances that the children would be provided with economic or 
educational opportunities.
    Child trafficking is punishable by five to 20 years' imprisonment. 
There were no reports of trafficking-related prosecutions during the 
year.
    On June 3, in Nioro du Sahel, government officials took Sidamar ag 
Cherif into custody after he attempted to cross into Mauritania with 16 
children and was turned back at the border by Mauritanian officials. 
The trafficker was released without charges the next day. The NGO ENDA-
Tiers Monde provided temporary care for the children and returned them 
to their families.
    On December 17, in Nioro du Sahel, officials arrested Sidamar ag 
Cherif for attempting to cross into Mauritania with eight children 
without proper travel documents. ENDA-Tiers Monde provided temporary 
care to the children. Authorities released ag Cherif, and the children 
were placed back into his custody. According to authorities, ag Cherif 
had parental consent to take the children to Mauritania. ag Cherif then 
attempted again to take the children to Mauritania, but Mauritanian 
authorities turned him away at the border. At year's end, ag Cherif and 
the children remained in Nioro.
    There were no developments in the cases of three persons in Kita, 
who were arrested for trafficking 26 children and then released in June 
2008 on their own recognizance; of seven Burkinabe children repatriated 
in December 2008 after being trafficked by a Koranic school teacher to 
the country; or of two Ivoirian nationals arrested in 2007 and then 
released on their own recognizance for trafficking boys from Cote 
d'Ivoire.
    The Ministry for the Advancement of Women, Children, and the Family 
is charged with coordinating activities to combat trafficking, but it 
lacked sufficient funding and was not effective. The Ministry of 
Justice, the Ministry of Territorial Administration, and the Ministry 
of Labor and Civil Service also have responsibilities related to 
combating trafficking.
    When requested, the government assisted with international 
trafficking investigations and the extradition of citizens accused of 
trafficking in other countries, but there were no such cases reported 
during the year. The government worked closely with international 
organizations and NGOs to coordinate the repatriation and reintegration 
of trafficking victims.
    Welcome centers operated by NGOs in Bamako, Kayes, Koulikoro, 
Mopti, Segou, and Sikasso assisted in returning trafficked children to 
their families. The MPFEF worked with foreign governments to facilitate 
repatriation of victims to their countries of origin.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no specific law protecting the 
rights of persons with physical 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 that 
provided basic services.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Societal discrimination against 
``black'' Tamacheks, often referred to by the label Bellah, continued. 
Some black Tamacheks were deprived of civil liberties by other ethnic 
groups due to traditional slavery-like practices and hereditary 
servitude relationships between certain ethnic groups. Black Tamachek 
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 of a gay rights association. On April 13, in 
Bamako, police prevented homosexual activists from assembling on the 
margins of a conference concerning HIV/AIDS in the homosexual 
community. Societal discrimination based on sexual orientation was 
widespread. There was not official discrimination on the basis of 
sexual orientation.

    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.
    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 years of age is 
involved.
    Many black Tamacheks continued to be subjected to slavery-like 
practices and hereditary servitude relationships, particularly in the 
northern regions of Gao, Timbuktu, and Kidal. According to NGOs, the 
judiciary was reluctant to act in slavery-related cases.
    In February local government officials facilitated the rescue of 
Nalewat, a black Tamachek woman in Bambara-Maounde, who was held as a 
hereditary slave for 14 years. Her child was also released. In November 
2008 Nalewat succeeded in escaping and filed a police report, but was 
reclaimed in December 2008 by the man who asserted traditional 
ownership rights. During the year Nalewat filed a legal complaint 
against him, resulting in an out-of-court settlement of 1,000,000 CFA 
($2,142).
    On February 6, a black Tamachek man with seven children, 
Aboubakrine ag Kamotane, filed a legal slavery-related complaint with 
local authorities in Timbuktu against Afna. The complaint included 
claims that Afna forcibly married ag Kamotane's daughter, gave ag 
Kamotane's sons to relatives, physically assaulted ag Kamotane, and 
took ag Kamotane's property. There were no further developments in the 
case by year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2008 slavery-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.
    There were no developments in the case of Moumou ag Tamou, a black 
Tamachek child taken from his family by Hamed Lamine ag Alwafi in Kidal 
in September 2007.
    Debt bondage occurred in the salt mines of Taoudenni, in the 
country's north. Individuals primarily of Songhai ethnicity, including 
some children, worked as salt miners to pay off debts owed to 
businessmen in Timbuktu.

    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 and domestic labor sectors.
    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 work in domestic work or light seasonal work, 
and limits the number of hours that they may work. No child is 
permitted to be employed for more than eight hours per day under any 
circumstances. Female children 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 the children between the ages of seven and 14 
were economically active, and over 40 percent of children in this age 
group were subjected to the worst forms of child labor. Child 
trafficking occurred. Some Koranic schoolmasters forced boys to beg for 
money or perform agricultural labor. Children, especially girls, were 
used for forced domestic labor and prostitution. Child labor in the 
mining sector, including salt mining in Taoudenni and gold mining, was 
also a problem. Black Tamachek children were forced to work as domestic 
and agricultural laborers.
    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.
    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. On February 4, the government 
finalized a list of hazardous occupations in which children are 
prohibited from working.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was 
28,465 CFA francs ($61) 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 minimum wage is set, with advice 
from the Ministry of Labor, by presidential decree. The ministry 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 3.4 million, is a 
highly centralized Islamic republic governed by President Mohamed Ould 
Abdel Aziz, whose election on July 18 ended the 11-month political 
crisis caused by the August 2008 coup d'etat against former President 
Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. President Aziz had served as head of state 
and head of the governing junta, the High State Council (HSC), until he 
resigned from the military on April 22 to formally run for office. The 
presidential election, declared free and fair by international 
observers, followed the June 4 Dakar Accord, a consensual agreement 
brokered by Senegalese President Wade and the international community 
to end the country's political stalemate. In compliance with the Dakar 
Accord, deposed President Abdallahi returned on June 27 to form a 
Transitional Government of National Unity and voluntarily resigned from 
office. Following the election, civilian authorities maintained 
effective control over the security forces.
    During the year there was deterioration in the human rights 
situation. Citizens did not have the right to choose their government 
until the July 18 election. Other problems included mistreatment and 
torture of detainees and prisoners; security force impunity; lengthy 
pretrial detention; harsh prison conditions; arbitrary arrests and 
political detention; limits on freedom of the press and assembly, 
including police beating of demonstrators and arrests of journalists; 
restrictions on freedom of religion; and corruption. Other problems 
included slavery and slavery-like practices, discrimination against 
women, female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, political 
marginalization of southern-based ethnic groups, and child labor.
    During the year the HSC and President Aziz's administration 
continued the national reconciliation program for the repatriation of 
Afro-Mauritanian refugees from Senegal and Mali, in coordination with 
the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). On 
December 31, repatriation operations were successfully ended with the 
arrival of the last group from Senegal. On March 25, the HSC signed a 
framework agreement to compensate 244 widows of Afro-Mauritanian 
military personnel killed during the 1989-91 expulsion of Afro-
Mauritanians and held a memorial for the victims on the same day. The 
agreement and memorial represented the authorities' first public 
acknowledgement of the government's role in the ethnic killings and 
expulsions of 1989-91. During the year President Aziz' government also 
conducted a census of former teachers among returnees in order to 
reinstate them in their former positions with the Ministry of 
Education.
                        
                       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.--Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices, 
there were credible reports that police beat and mistreated detainees 
and prisoners. Those who lacked money or influential family or tribal 
ties reportedly were most likely to be mistreated. The May and November 
reports of the Mauritanian National Bar Association (ONA) maintained 
torture was a common practice in prisons. As in the previous year, 
security forces used torture as a method of investigation and 
repression, and perpetrators acted with impunity. Security forces 
tortured detainees to extract confessions. Torture methods included 
electric shocks, burnings, beatings, pulling out of hair, and sexual 
violence. According to Amnesty International, there were no known cases 
where authorities investigated reports of torture or abuse or took 
action against perpetrators.
    On August 28, imprisoned terrorist suspect Taher Ould Biye called 
on authorities to end the mistreatment of himself and other Salafist 
prisoners at the Nouakchott Central Prison. There was no government 
response by year's end.
    On September 27, Al Jazeera television showed images of national 
guardsmen at the Nouakchott Central Prison beating and water boarding 
convicted terrorist suspect Khadim Ould Semane. Al Jazeera also aired a 
telephone interview with Semane, who stated that he was subjected to 
electric shocks and degrading treatment. Authorities said the images 
and interview were staged, and no government investigation occurred by 
year's end.
    On April 8, suspected terrorist Cheikhani Old Sidina died in 
prison. A spokesman for the families of imprisoned Islamists told the 
press that Cheikhani had been tortured while in prison and reportedly 
was denied medical treatment. There was no government response to the 
torture allegation by year's end.
    In August authorities arrested Mohamed Ould Zeidane for questioning 
allegedly related to his brother's suicide bomb attack near the French 
embassy on August 8. Zeidane's father told the press that Zeidane was 
tortured during his detention. There was no government response by 
year's end.
    During the year there were no reports that authorities investigated 
the May 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 May 2008 reported torture 
of 39 terrorist suspects involved in the 2007 killings of four French 
citizens and the February 2008 attack against the Israeli embassy.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh, and the government's capacity to administer detention facilities 
remained poor. Funds to improve prison conditions remained inadequate. 
The November ONA report denounced overcrowding, violence among inmates, 
and poor medical care in prisons. The Dar Naim Prison, for example, was 
designed for 300 prisoners, but held 899. Serious overcrowding 
contributed to the spread of diseases. Prisoners with health conditions 
received little or no care and medical supplies remained insufficient. 
Due to poor security conditions and the fact that dangerous prisoners 
coexisted with nondangerous ones, prisoners lived in a climate of 
violence and some had to pay bribes to other prisoners to avoid being 
brutalized and harassed. On September 24, the local press reported 
malnutrition, poor health, and hygiene conditions at the Dar Naim 
Prison. Conditions reportedly worsened further during Ramadan, and 
soaring food prices and shortages resulted in a daily diet of a can of 
sardines and a piece of bread for each of the 899 inmates.
    During the year there were reports on the poor prison conditions of 
terrorist suspects. For example, on August 28, the local press reported 
that Amar Ould Saleh, a terrorist suspect, was dying from tuberculosis 
and was not receiving medical treatment or medication. That same day 
suspect Tahere Ould Biye denounced the poor conditions and long 
detention periods at Nouakchott Central Prison. On September 14, 
families of Salafist detainees protested poor detention conditions in 
front of the Central Prison. The wife of detainee El Mami Ould Othman 
stated he was in declining health with deficient medical attention. 
There was no government response or investigation of these cases during 
the year.
    The ONA's August report criticized ``the nonrespect of human lives 
in prisons,'' and highlighted the April 8 death of terrorist suspect 
Chikhani Ould Sidina, reportedly due to negligence and denial of 
medical treatment. The report also highlighted the August 6 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.
    There were credible reports of torture, beatings, and abuse in 
police detention centers, several prisons throughout the country, and 
gendarmerie and military facilities.
    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 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), such as the Noura 
Foundation, Caritas, and Terre des Hommes provided educational and 
economic opportunities for current and former juvenile and female 
detainees. Prison overcrowding was reportedly due to the high number of 
pretrial detainees.
    Many prisoners were unable to leave their extremely crowded cells 
or breathe fresh air for months or years at a time. As a result 
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.
    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.
    On September 15, the fourth district judge visited the Dar Naim 
Prison to study the situation of incarcerated minors. No statements or 
reports were issued following the visit. On September 15, 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 by year's 
end.
    During the 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 on 
April and in Nouakchott on September 1. On April 26, the government 
opened a Center for the Re-education of Minors in Conflict with the Law 
in partnership with a local NGO, Terre des Hommes.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but the authorities did not 
observe these prohibitions.
    Under the HSC, the military arrested a number of political figures 
and journalists without charge or hearings.
    The ONA reports during the year highlighted multiple cases of 
arbitrary detentions and of individuals kept in prison without ever 
being charged, tried, or released despite court orders for their 
release.
    For example, on April 20, Moustapha Ould Mohamed Ahmed, was 
acquitted by the Supreme Court of all charges against him, but remained 
in prison until May 31.
    On March 3, Yahya Ould Mohamedou Nagi, the son of a well-known 
opposition leader, received a suspended sentence, but remained in 
prison until March 23.
    On December 24, Hanevy Ould Dehah, director of the news Web site 
Taqadoumy, was scheduled to be released after serving his sentence for 
crimes against Islam (see section 2.a.) and after paying all imposed 
fines and legal fees. In protest for his continued detention, Dehah 
began a hunger strike on December 28; however, he remained imprisoned 
without official public explanation at year's end. On December 31, 
Reporters Without Borders called for Dehah's release, stating that 
``keeping him in jail after having served a completely disproportionate 
prison sentence constitutes a serious violation of existing laws.''
    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.
    Police reportedly held suspects involved in the 2007 Aleg murders 
and 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.

    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 due to 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 nearby 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 is a bail system, but 
sometimes judges refused lawyers' requests for bail or set inordinately 
high bail amounts.
    According to ONA, 60 percent of detainees in the Dar Naim Prison 
were on preventive detention under judicial order to prevent them from 
fleeing from prosecution or committing criminal offenses. 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. ONA's November 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
    On April 8, General Aziz pardoned Al Aqsa newspaper director Abdel 
Fettah Ould Abeidna who was sentenced to one year in November 2007 for 
falsely accusing a prominent businessman of involvement in a drug 
scandal. Ould Abeidna had been in prison since November 2008 following 
his extradition from Dubai. According to the Mauritanian Human Rights 
Commission, 118 detainees received presidential pardons during the 
year.

    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.
    There is a single system of courts consistent with modified 
principles of Shari'a law. Departmental, regional, and labor tribunals 
are the courts of first instance at the lower level. The 53 
departmental tribunals, composed of a president and magistrates with 
traditional Islamic legal training, heard civil cases involving sums 
less than 10,000 ouguiya (approximately $37) and family issues, 
including domestic, divorce, and inheritance cases. A total of 13 
regional tribunals accepted appeals in commercial and civil matters 
from the departmental tribunals and heard misdemeanor cases. At the 
middle level, three courts of appeal, each with seven chambers (civil, 
commercial, administrative, and penal chambers, as well as criminal, 
minors, and labor courts) heard appeals from the regional courts and 
have original jurisdiction for felonies.
    The High Court of Justice (HCJ) also lacked independence because 
its members are elected from both parliamentary houses. The HCJ reviews 
decisions and rulings made by the courts of appeal to determine their 
compliance with law and procedure. It also has jurisdiction to hear 
cases of abuse or corruption by high government officials.
    Constitutional review is within the purview of a six-member High 
Constitutional Council. The annual review is intended to determine 
whether courts applied the law correctly and followed proper 
procedures. Reviews also serve as a basis for evaluating the reform 
process and reassigning judges based on their qualifications. No 
reviews took place during the year.

    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. By law all defendants, 
regardless of the court or their ability to pay, have the legal right 
to representation by counsel during the 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 not efficiently 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 has proven 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.
    Shari'a 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. Those between the ages of 12 and 18 are tried and, if 
convicted, sentenced to the detention center for minors.
    During the year, ONA denounced violations of the legal code and 
procedural rules for political purposes, particularly in high-profile 
cases. For example, authorities arrested the director of the Agency for 
the Promotion of Popular Savings and Credit Accounts, Ahmend Ould 
Khattri, before the Mauritanian Central Bank launched an investigation 
into allegations of mismanagement, and before a judge had reviewed the 
case.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year ONA denounced 
the case of former prime minister Waghef whom junta authorities had 
arrested and charged for embezzlement by a civil court in November 2008 
following his initial arrest during the August 2008 coup. On June 4, 
Waghef was released on bail as an opposition precondition for signing 
the Dakar Accord.

    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 that it was 
not impartial in practice.

    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 usually 
respected these rights in practice. Individuals could criticize the 
government publicly or privately; however, police questioned and 
detained members of the press on several occasions.
    For example, journalists for the Web site Taqadoumy were arrested 
or detained on numerous occasions due to their online articles or 
comments criticizing the junta. On March 15, police arrested Taqadoumy 
editor Abou al-Abbas Ould Braham on charges of defamation and intent to 
destabilize the country for publishing articles about the junta. 
Following international and domestic protests, Braham was released on 
March 18.
    On June 18, Hanevy Ould Dehah, Taqadoumy's director, was arrested 
on charges of defamation against presidential candidate Ibrahima Sarr 
for publishing an article stating that Sarr bought a house with 
campaign money from General Aziz. Dehah, who was kept in prison despite 
the expiration and nonrenewal of his arrest warrant on July 26, was 
sentenced in August 19 to six months in prison and fined 30,000 ouguiya 
($111) for committing acts contrary to Islam and decency, charges 
unrelated to those leading to his arrest. The sentencing judge accused 
Dehah of creating a space allowing individuals to express anti-Islamic 
and indecent views due to a female reader's comments made on the 
Taqadoumy site calling for increased sexual freedom. On August 19, the 
NGO Reporters Without Borders condemned the decision as 
disproportionate.
    On September 12, police arrested Taqadoumy journalist Djibil Diallo 
after his article criticizing Libyan President Qadhafi was posted. 
Diallo was released without explanation or charge on September 15.
    Previous cases of journalist detention include the March 2008 
detention of Assiraje newspaper journalist Mohamed Salem Ould Mohamedou 
for unknown reasons. Mohamedou was released after a few days and was 
never charged.
    The trials of journalists Mohamed Nema Oumar and Mohamed Ould 
Abdellatif had not begun by year's end. Oumar and Abdellatif were 
detained and charged with defamation in June and July 2008 following 
the publication of an Al-hurriya newspaper article accusing three 
judges of corruption.
    There were no developments in the October 2008 case of trade union 
activists' assault on Al Jazeera cameraman Mohamed Ould Moustafa due to 
his film coverage of post-coup opposition activities.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views with limited restrictions. However, some journalists practiced 
self-censorship in covering areas deemed sensitive, including the 
military, foreign diplomatic missions, corruption, and Shari'a and 
there were reports of intimidation of journalists who covered sensitive 
issues.
    There were approximately 30 privately owned newspapers that were 
published on a regular basis in both French and Arabic. NGOs and the 
privately owned press openly criticized the government and its leaders. 
Two daily newspapers, Horizons (in French) and Chaab (in Arabic), were 
government owned and generally focused on official news. On December 
10, the government announced it would reopen official media to the 
opposition; but by year's end only some opposition views were released 
in official outlets.
    On August 6, immediately following the coup, military authorities 
blocked the road to the presidential palace. This action prevented 
several newspapers from publishing that day since the country's only 
printing press is located on the same road. There were no reports that 
the government restricted opposition access to the printing press 
during the year.
    All local broadcast media remained state owned. Radio France 
International was rebroadcast locally, and citizens could receive 
worldwide television broadcasts through satellite receivers and dish 
antennas. Nevertheless, despite the lack of deregulation laws, the 
private television channel DAVA continued to operate during the year 
following its 2008 launch. The June 2008 suspension of the privately 
owned Radio Citoyenne's broadcasts, plus other radio and television 
programs devoted to civic education, continued during the year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were occasional government restrictions on 
access to the Internet. On March 16, the general prosecutor ordered the 
two main Internet providers to block online access to the Taqadoumy 
site. Due to local and international protests, access was restored on 
March 19.
    On June 25, Mauritel, the leading Internet provider, blocked access 
to the Taqadoumy site for the day.
    Individuals and groups could generally engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
Nevertheless, Taqadoumy director Hanevy Ould Dehah was sentenced on 
August 19 for ``acts contrary to decent behavior'' for contributing to 
the creation of a space where a female user made comments calling for 
increased sexual freedom in the country.
    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 2008, approximately 1.4 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, on May 
24, customs police arrested singer and Senator Malouma Mint Elmeida 
upon her return to the country. The police seized 200 CDs and 1,000 
cassettes of Elmeida's new album, which featured anti-coup songs.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution guarantees 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 numerous occasions the authorities denied 
permission to hold demonstrations. Public demonstrations with varying 
levels of violence, both supporting and opposing the coup, were 
reported around the country. There were a number of incidents in which 
security forces forcefully dispersed opposition demonstrations.
    For example, on March 16, police violently dispersed a journalist 
demonstration in support of freedom of speech and Taqadoumy journalist 
Abbas Braham who had been arrested on defamation charges the day 
before. Several of the journalists were beaten and injured.
    On April 2, police used tear gas and batons to violently disperse 
hundreds of anti-coup activists who attempted to march from the 
National Union for Democratic Alternatives party headquarters to the 
Capital Stadium. Several people, including political leaders were 
injured. Boubacar Messaoud, president of the NGO SOS Esclaves received 
neck injuries after reportedly being targeted by police during the 
march.
    On April 3, police used tear gas and batons to disperse a group of 
female activists from the National Front for the Defense of Democracy 
(FNDD), who were attempting to march outside of the Peoples Progressive 
Alliance headquarters.
    On April 19, police used batons to disband a peaceful protest by 
female politicians from the FNDD and Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD) 
parties who were protesting against the coup in front of the UN 
building. Some women were injured and taken to the hospital.
    On May 25, police attempted to enter the Union of The Forces for 
Progress (UFP) party headquarters in Nouadhibou during a peaceful UFP, 
RFD, and Tawassoul sit-in calling for a return to constitutional order. 
Police beat several demonstrators with batons.
    On December 16, police used tear gas and batons to break up a 
protest in support of arrested businessmen Mohamed Ould Noueiguedh, 
Cherif Ould Abdellahi, and Abdou Maham.

    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, while all international NGOs must register 
with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development. The government 
encouraged local NGOs to join the Civil Society Platform, a government-
sponsored entity implemented in January. NGOs that are members of the 
platform do not receive government funding.
    The country has approximately 74 registered political parties and 
numerous NGOs, which generally functioned openly, issued public 
statements, and chose their own leadership. The government did not 
prevent unrecognized political parties or NGOs from functioning

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution establishes the country 
as an Islamic republic and decrees that Islam is the religion of its 
citizens and the state. The government continued to prohibit 
proselytizing by non-Muslims and the printing and distribution of 
bibles and other non-Islamic religious materials. However, the 
possession of bibles and other Christian religious materials in private 
homes was not illegal. Bibles and other religious publications were 
available among the small Christian community, which was composed 
almost entirely of expatriates. There was a multidenominational church 
in Nouakchott with a regular schedule of services.
    The government did not register religious groups, although NGOs--
including humanitarian and development NGOs affiliated with religious 
groups--had to register with the Ministry of the Interior. The 
government continued to restrict Protestant groups from meeting in 
members' homes until they received official permits. On September 14, 
Police Commissioner Abdel Vettah Ould Hababa shut down three churches 
frequented by West Africans in the Sebkha district of Nouakchott. 
According to press reports, the police confiscated bibles and furniture 
and briefly arrested 81 persons, including the pastor.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--A very small number of 
expatriates practiced Judaism.
    Prior to the June 18 election, tracts showing a demon-like 
depiction of President Abdallahi's face inside a Star of David and 
surrounded by anti-coup leaders were distributed widely in Nouakchott 
during the period leading up to the June 6 elections. The designer of 
the tracts remained unknown.
    On June 23, a foreign NGO worker, Christopher Leggett, was killed 
by two gunmen upon arriving at his workplace in Nouakchott. Al-Qa'ida 
in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the murder, 
stating Leggett had been targeted for his Christian proselytizing 
activities. Government authorities and civil society condemned the 
killing. Two suspects were arrested on July 17 and a third on July 24. 
They remained in custody and awaited trial at the end of the year.
    In February 2008 terrorists affiliated with AQIM shot at the 
Israeli Embassy and adjacent buildings. The government publicly 
condemned the attack. Five persons were reportedly injured. The nine 
suspects who were arrested remained in prison at year's end without 
trial.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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. 
During the year HSC authorities reportedly restricted international 
travel of some opposition members.
    During the year the government, in response to an increased 
terrorist threat, set up 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 UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless 
persons, and other persons of concern; however, the government lacked 
resources to effectively support these persons. 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. According to UNHCR, the deficiencies stemmed 
from bureaucratic delays rather than policy. 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. 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 in order to reinstate them 
in their positions with the Ministry of Education. According to UNHCR, 
approximately 17,130 Afro-Mauritanian refugees returned during the year 
as part of a national repatriation program. These were among the 
estimated 25,000 to 34,000 Afro-Mauritanians who took refuge in Senegal 
and Mali during the 1989-91 expulsion.
    The contents of the settlement agreement between the HSC and the 
widows of 1989-91 victims on March 25 remained secret, and some victims 
complained they were not fully aware of the terms and conditions of the 
settlement when they accepted it. Some victims favorable to the 
settlement described it as a first step, but not a final resolution.

    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 or its 1967 protocol, or the 1969 
African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee 
Problem in Africa. However, there is a system for providing such 
protection. In practice the government provided protection against the 
expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or 
freedoms would be threatened. The government provided protection to 
approximately 790 refugees during the year.
    During the year the government worked to assist UNHCR, the European 
Commission, and the government of Spain in returning migrants to their 
countries of origin after attempts to reach the Canary Islands by sea. 
The government operated a migrant reception center in the Dahklet 
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 July 2008 report that recommended the center's closure 
based on its operation outside legal frameworks.
    UNHCR determined that conditions at the Nouadhibou migrant 
reception center were acceptable. During the year local human rights 
organizations denounced police abuses of foreigners in the Nouadhibou 
region based on reports of police picking up immigrants 
indiscriminately in order to fill quotas or to request bribes in return 
for their release. The government did not respond to these reports by 
year's end.
    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 in the act of attempting illegal travel to the Canary 
Islands.

Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides for universal direct and indirect 
suffrage, a republican government, and the regular election of the 
president and legislature. However, prior to the July 18 election, the 
HSC, led by General Aziz, remained in power due to the August 2008 coup 
which supplanted the office of the president while retaining the 
parliament and appointing a new prime minister. The HSC also reserved 
the right to exercise legislative authority as well if it deemed the 
legislature ineffective. The country returned to constitutional rule on 
June 27 following the voluntary resignation of then president Abdallahi 
and the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity. The 
election was boycotted by the opposition, and Aziz won with 53 percent 
of the vote. The results were recognized by the international 
community.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The country enjoyed a 
peaceful transition from military rule to a democratically elected 
government with the July 18 election as president of former HSC leader 
General Aziz, who won 53 percent of the vote. Although opposition 
groups claimed the election was fraudulent and requested an 
investigation, national and international observers judged the election 
to be free and fair, and the Constitutional Council certified the 
election results on July 23.
    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 on November 8 resulted in the 
ruling UPR party winning 14 of 17 seats. The Islamic party Tawassoul 
and independent candidates won the remaining seats. The opposition RFD 
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.
    There were 15 women in the National Assembly and nine women in the 
Senate. The 29-member cabinet included six women, two Black Moors, and 
seven 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 
Brigade of Economic Crimes 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; however, corruption and impunity were 
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.
    On November 11, the former governor of the Central Bank, Sidel 
Mokhtar Ould Nagi, and his deputy, Mahomed Ould Oumarou, were arrested 
for mismanagement and diversion of approximately 24 billion ouguiya 
($88 million) in 2000-01. On December 3, they were charged with 
treason, forgery, diversion, and waste of public funds; their trial did 
not begin by year's end.
    On December 3, authorities arrested Mohamed Ould Noueiguedh, 
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. On December 10, the 
public prosecutor charged them with conspiracy in defrauding the 
Central Bank of 14 billion ouguiyas ($52 million). The government 
claimed the charges were part of an anticorruption investigation, but 
the opposition claimed the arrests and charges were in retaliation for 
the men's support of the opposition and their tribal affiliation.
    On September 3, a Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and 
Malaria investigation uncovered widespread corruption in the management 
of the fund's grant to the country. The Economic Crimes Brigade 
arrested the country program coordinator, his executive secretary, and 
two other individuals on October 3 in connection with the fraud scheme. 
The suspects were not tried by year's end.
    The government did not enforce the requirement for senior 
officials, including the president, to file a declaration of their 
personal assets. Members of the HSC did not declare their personal 
wealth 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.
    Major local human rights organizations included the Mauritanian 
Association of Human Rights (AMDH), the Mauritanian League of Human 
Rights (LMDH), SOS Esclaves, and the Mauritanian Association for 
Maternal and Child Health, all of which were independent NGOs. These 
NGOs were also members of several networks or coalitions such as the 
National Forum of Organizations for Human Rights (FONADH) and the 
National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH). Since the CNDH included 
government members, it was not fully independent.
    The government met with local NGO monitors during the year and 
cooperated during visits by the UN and ICRC. UN Special Rapporteur on 
Contemporary Forms of Slavery Gulnara Shahinian visited from October 24 
to November 4 to study actions taken by the government to end slavery. 
No report was released by year's end.

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 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 time. 
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 highlighted 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 
victims responsible for the rape.
    Domestic violence was considered a serious problem. Spousal abuse 
and domestic violence are illegal; however, the government did not 
usually 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, but the 
Association Femmes Chefs de Familles (AFCF) provided legal assistance 
to 1,152 domestic violence victims during the year.
    The police and 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 
victims.
    Although prostitution is illegal, NGO reporting indicated that it 
was a growing problem in some urban areas, particularly among Afro-
Mauritanian and Black Moor women. Trafficking of Chinese women for 
brothels catering to foreigners in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou was 
reported.
    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 in rural and urban areas. Many urban women endangered their 
health by taking pills to gain weight or increase their appetite.
    The government recognized the right of individuals and couples to 
make reproductive health choices on their own without violence or 
coercion. Men and women had equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    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 focussed on reproductive rights. 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's NGOs reported sexual harassment was a common problem at the 
workplace, but there are no laws or penalties against it.
    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 loose 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 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. In 
theory, the legal marriage age in the country is 18 but the law was 
rarely enforced, and there were widespread reports of child marriages. 
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 Shari'a, 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. In addition the validity 
of and right to establish prenuptial agreements was not always 
respected. The personal status code provides a framework for the 
consistent application of secular law and Shari'a-based family law, but 
the code had yet to be implemented. Human rights lawyers reported 
judges treated differently cases concerning White Moor women and those 
concerning slave or lower-caste women. Foreign women and Mauritanian 
women also received different treatment by judges.
    Women did not face legal discrimination in areas not addressed 
specifically by Shari'a. The law provides that men and women should 
receive equal pay for equal work. While not applied universally in 
practice, the two largest employers, the civil service and the state 
mining company, observed this law. In the modern wage sector, women 
also received family benefits, including 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 health 
care, communications, police, and customs services. Women continued to 
become more involved in the fishing industry and established several 
women's fishing cooperatives.
    On February 25, the Ministry of Social, Child, and Family Affairs 
launched a two-year program in cooperation with the UN Population Fund 
to promote a socio-cultural 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 NGO GTZ, publicized women's rights and organized workshops 
regarding their rights.

    Children.--According to a new law adopted on December 25, 
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 obtain the country's citizenship one year before 
reaching majority. Minor children of parents who acquire Mauritanian 
nationality are also eligible for Mauritanian 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 were no official data on the number of births that 
go 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.
    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 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. Local experts agreed that the least 
severe form of excision was practiced and not infibulation, the most 
severe form.
    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 performing the 
practice. According to several women's rights experts, the campaign 
against FGM appeared to be changing attitudes towards the practice. On 
February 6, the government and civil society organized a Zero Tolerance 
day to raise awareness about FGM.
    Local NGOs estimated that there were approximately 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
in persons; however, persons were trafficked to, from, and within the 
country. Trafficking in persons was a serious problem. There were no 
available estimates on prosecutions or sentencing of traffickers during 
the year.
    Young boys known as talibes were trafficked within the country and 
from Mali and Senegal for forced begging by religious teachers called 
marabouts. Children were trafficked within the country by street gang 
leaders, who forced them to steal, beg, and sell drugs. Girls were 
trafficked internally and from Senegal and Mali for domestic servitude.
    There were reports that children were trafficked for forced labor 
in agriculture, construction, fishing, and cattle herding.
    Local NGOs reported trafficking of young girls to the Gulf States. 
Often, the girls were married off to wealthy Gulf men in exchange for 
bride price payments to their families, and the girls reportedly were 
held as sex slaves, or prostitutes.
    UNICEF, the Ministry of Justice, and the government of the United 
Arab Emirates (UAE) continued collaborative efforts to compensate 
children trafficked to the UAE as camel jockeys. According to UNICEF, 
the UAE compensated 497 child jockeys between 260,000 and 1,560,000 
ouguiyas ($1,000 to $6,000) per child. The UAE also provided 260 
million ouguiyas ($1 million) towards a social reinsertion and poverty 
reduction program for the children and their communities.
    Despite the antislavery law, NGOs reported that slavery-related 
practices and slavery itself persisted in isolated areas of the country 
where a barter economy still prevailed (see section 7.c.) and also in 
urban centers like Nouakchott. In March and April, local antislavery 
organization SOS Esclaves reported two slavery and child abuse cases 
involving minors Hana Mint Maria and Vatimetou Mint Mata Moulana. 
According to SOS Esclaves and human rights lawyers, the court system 
failed to remove the children from their abusive households or to 
prosecute the alleged slave owners under either antislavery or child 
abuse laws.
    Government assistance and protection services for trafficking 
victims remained limited, with most resources going towards prevention 
in the form of training for police, gendarmes, and legal officials to 
better identify, investigate, and convict traffickers. In addition 
human rights organizations criticized the special police unit 
established to protect talibes for not enforcing the laws. On October 
23, the government announced the creation of a new security agency to 
monitor all forms of trafficking via roads; but, at year's end, the 
agency had not been established.
    The labor code includes criminal penalties for human trafficking in 
all of its recognized forms.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 or 
education or public accessibility for persons with disabilities, 
although it did provide some rehabilitation and other assistance for 
such persons. The Ministry of Social Affairs, Children, and Family 
oversaw social reinsertion programs for people with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic minorities faced 
governmental discrimination. The inconsistent issuance of national 
identification cards, which were required for voting, effectively 
disenfranchised numerous 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 ethnolinguistic 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.
    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. On August 23, according to human rights activists, 
members of the Jaavra tribe physically attacked the former slave family 
Ehel Brahim in Kifa following a land dispute. Fatimetou Mint Brahim and 
her children were wounded. The attack was reportedly instigated by 
Brrou Ould Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Cheikh. The perpetrators 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. In March human rights 
groups reported the case of Salma Mint Jiddou, a Nouakchott widow, 
whose inheritance was claimed by her husband's owners. In another case 
in Hodh El Gharby, the family of Zeinabou Mint Brahim was deprived of 
its inheritance by Cheikh Mohamedou Ould Cheikh Hamadoullah, who 
claimed Mint Brahim was his slave. Despite a court ruling establishing 
Mint Brahim's brothers and sister as the rightful heirs, the 
authorities did not enforce the ruling by year's end.
    On March 21, the government launched the 1 billion ouguiya ($3.7 
million) Program to Eradicate the Effects of Slavery. 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. On March 9, the 
government, in conjunction with the UN and a foreign donor, launched a 
three-year 1.3 billion ouguiya ($5 million) conflict prevention program 
aimed at promoting democratic values and the rights of marginalized 
populations, including former slaves.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Under Shari'a 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. Although the official HIV-positive rate was estimated at 
less than 1 percent, it was likely to be significantly higher because 
of the stigma related to the disease, the lack of viable health 
statistics, and the impression that victims were guilty of violating 
Islamic practices.

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 military 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. 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 exercised this right in practice.
    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 purposes of forced labor. 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 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-related practices, typically flowing from 
ancestral master-slave relationships, continued in rural areas where 
education levels were generally low and a need existed for herding 
livestock, tending fields, and other manual labor. Slavery also 
occurred in urban centers where young children were retained as unpaid 
household servants. Some individuals considered themselves either 
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 continuing to work for former masters in exchange 
for some combination of money, lodging, food, or medical care. The 
reasons for the persistence of such practices varied widely among the 
different ethnic groups; however, a barter economy, poverty, and 
persistent drought provided few economic alternatives for many and left 
some former slaves and 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. Deeply embedded psychological 
and tribal bonds also made it difficult for many individuals, who had 
generations of forebears who were slaves, to break their bonds with 
former masters or their tribes. Some persons continued to link 
themselves to former masters because they believed their slave status 
had been divinely ordained and they feared religious sanction if that 
bond were broken. Former slaves often performed manual labor in 
markets, airports, and ports.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides that children cannot be employed before the age of 14 in 
the nonagricultural sector or under age 13 in the agricultural sector 
unless the minister of labor grants an exception due to local 
circumstances; however, child labor in some parts of the informal 
sector was common and a significant problem, particularly within poorer 
inner city areas. The law states that employed children between the 
ages of 14 and 16 should receive 70 percent of the minimum wage and 
that those between the ages of 17 and 18 should receive 90 percent of 
the minimum wage. They should not work over eight hours a day and 
should have one or several one-hour breaks.
    The law prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons; however, 
children were trafficked to, from, and within the country for the 
purpose of forced labor.
    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 young talibes, nearly all from Halpulaar 
tribes, begged in the streets as part of an arrangement with marabouts 
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 like 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 seven, often unpaid, continued to be a problem. There 
was no child labor in the modern industrial sector.
    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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The nationally mandated minimum 
monthly wage for adults, which was not enforced, was 21,150 ouguiya 
(approximately $81), which 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 guaranteed minimum wage and they worked in very unfavorable 
conditions. Sometimes they were not paid for several months.
    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. In 2005 the Social 
Alliance, a coalition led by Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, 
defeated the party alliance of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) 
and the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) in national elections judged 
by international and local observers to be generally free and fair. 
Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces.
    The following human rights problems were reported: security force 
abuse of suspects and detainees; prison overcrowding; harassment and 
intimidation of journalists; official corruption; violence and 
discrimination against women; abuse and sexual exploitation of 
children; discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS; 
restrictions on labor rights, antiunion discrimination, forced labor, 
including by children, 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.
    On May 29, the court exonerated for lack of evidence four police 
officers involved in the 2006 death in custody of Rajesh Ramlugon, a 
detainee; the officers were initially accused of abuse of authority and 
of concealing evidence. On June 20, the daily L'Express reported that 
the director of public prosecutions (DPP) had appealed the exoneration 
to the Supreme Court, which had not heard the case by year's end. 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.
    For example, on September 24, police arrested and beat a man who 
later claimed he also was sexually assaulted, according to media 
reports; the man was accused of obstruction, property damage, and 
assaulting a police officer. Doctors at a private clinic determined he 
had a skull fracture, bruising, and injuries to his genitalia and groin 
area. A police investigation was ongoing at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--There were reports of 
prisoner abuse, overcrowding, and drug abuse in the country's five 
prisons, although unlike in previous years, there were no reports that 
prison guards tortured prisoners. The Central Prison, which has a 
capacity of 946, held 1,281 prisoners at year's end. On November 30, 
there were 138 female prisoners and 2,216 male prisoners in the 
country's prisons; 12 boys and 20 girls were held in juvenile prisons.
    Unlike in the previous year, the independent National Human Rights 
Commission (NHRC), which accompanied the UN subcommittee during its 
2007 prison visits to the main island and Rodrigues Island, received no 
complaints of abuse from prisoners.
    A prisoner in Central Prison died after being stabbed by another 
prisoner, according to a February 15 report in the newspaper Week-End. 
A police investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    The government permitted prison visits by independent observers, 
including the press, the NHRC, local nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs), and the UN. The local NGO Association Kinouete also ran 
programs to rehabilitate prisoners.

    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 NHRC investigates allegations of police abuse and may report 
such cases to the Office of the DPP. By November 30, the NHRC had 
received 66 complaints of physical or verbal abuse by police: 18 
complaints were withdrawn or dismissed for lack of evidence, four cases 
were referred to appropriate authorities for follow-up, and 44 cases 
remained under investigation.
    During the year the governmental Independent Commission Against 
Corruption registered 88 complaints of corruption against police 
officers: 23 cases remained under investigation, and 65 were 
discontinued for lack of substantiation.
    On June 8, the court sentenced a police officer who was initially 
arrested and released in 2007 to 18 months in prison for conspiring to 
facilitate the entry of Chinese citizens into the United Kingdom with 
fraudulent documents.
    Orientation training for all new police recruits included a segment 
on human rights; management officers were required to take a refresher 
course which was offered several times yearly. More than 200 candidates 
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 person may bring the issue of bail before a magistrate. 
Alternatively, if police concur with the accused, that person may be 
released on bail the same day as the arrest. 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 a third 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.
    The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, which has 
appellate powers, and a series of lower courts. The Supreme Court has a 
chief justice and 16 other judges, who also serve on the Court of 
Criminal Appeal and the Court of Civil Appeal. Magistrates sit on 
intermediate courts, the Industrial Court, the Family Court, the 
Criminal Court, and the 10 district courts. Final appeal may be made to 
the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. Both the family and criminal 
courts heard cases throughout the year.
    The DPP determines which court hears particular cases based on the 
severity of the crime and anticipated punishment if the defendant is 
found guilty. The DPP sends cases of crimes carrying a potential 
penalty of life imprisonment to the Supreme Court, crimes of medium 
severity to intermediate courts, and lesser crimes to district courts.

    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 a 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, and the government generally 
respected these rights in practice. However, police intimidated radio 
journalists, and officials used libel laws to suppress media criticism 
of political leaders.
    Individuals could criticize the government publicly or privately 
without reprisal.
    The independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of 
views. There were five daily and 12 weekly newspapers and three private 
radio stations that offered diverse political viewpoints.
    On December 2, police arrested the chief editor of Samedi Plus for 
an article that he wrote and published on June 20. Authorities accused 
the chief editor of publishing false news regarding potential 
candidates to replace the commissioner of police. Authorities released 
him on bail the same day, and an investigation was ongoing at year's 
end.
    The government owned and regulated the sole domestic television 
network, 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.

    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 2008, 
approximately 30 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. Unlike in the 
previous year, police did not fine bookstore owners for carrying copies 
of The Satanic Verses, which has been banned since 1989.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.
    Foreign missionary groups were allowed to operate on a case-by-case 
basis. Although there were no regulations restricting their presence or 
proselytizing, each missionary was required to obtain both a resident 
permit and a work permit. The Prime Minister's Office must approve 
issuance of these documents, and in practice there were limits on the 
number of missionaries issued the requisite permits.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Approximately 120 Jews resided 
in the country. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of 
graffiti on the walls of the local Jewish community organization's 
headquarters.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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.
    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, 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. 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.
    In November 2008 the Passport and Immigration Office arrested six 
Iraqi citizens who entered the country with fraudulent documents and 
were en route to Australia to seek refugee status. The six were charged 
with entering the country on fraudulent documents and detained at the 
Central Prison. On March 25, the UN High Commission for Refugees 
granted them refugee status and the next day the six were released on 
bail. At year's end Amnesty International and the UN Development 
Program were assisting the refugees in their search for asylum in a 
third country.

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 2005 national elections, in which the 
opposition Social Alliance defeated the ruling MMM-MSM alliance, as 
generally free and fair. Political parties operated without restriction 
or outside interference.
    There were 12 women in the 71-seat National Assembly. Following the 
September 2008 cabinet reshuffle, there were two female ministers in 
the 22-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. Authorities required 
National Assembly candidates to identify themselves as Hindu, Muslim, 
Sino-Mauritian, or ``general population,'' the latter term referring to 
the Creole and Franco-Mauritian communities. Based on these categories, 
in the National Assembly there were 41 Hindus, 19 members of the 
general population, 10 Muslims, and one Sino-Mauritian. In the cabinet 
there were 15 Hindus, three 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 most recent Worldwide Governance 
Indicators reflected that corruption was a problem.
    On May 9, the local daily L'Express reported that the District 
Council of Pamplemousses-Riviere du Rempart paid 13.8 million rupees 
($460,000) above the agreed contract price to two cleaning companies; 
the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was investigating 
the case at year's end.
    On September 26, L'Express reported that the ICAC arrested the 
director of the National Art Gallery for bribing the board chairman to 
reappoint him as director; he was later released on bail.
    On September 30, L'Express reported that the council of ministers 
cancelled a call for tenders to import flour after bidders protested 
tender criteria that favored a particular company.
    The investigation of the former chairman of the Mauritius Ports 
Authority for allegedly accepting a bribe in 2006 from a Dutch dredging 
company was ongoing at year's end.
    Ministers of Mauritius and commissioners of the Rodrigues Island 
Regional Assembly are required to make a disclosure of family assets, 
including the assets of spouses and children, upon taking office and at 
the dissolution of the National Assembly or of the Regional Assembly.
    The law provides for access to government information, and the 
government generally complied with requests from noncitizens and 
foreign media as well as from citizens.

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.
    Local human rights NGOs worked to assist persons with HIV/AIDS; 
rehabilitate former prisoners; promote women's rights; and support the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. The 
government regularly consulted NGOs in formulating policy and worked in 
partnership with UN bodies and the local branch of Amnesty 
International.
    Police harassed an NGO worker during the year (see section 6).
    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 
also seeks redress for injustices committed by a public officer or 
authority in official duties as an alternative to the court system.
    The government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
international organizations.

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. The penalty for rape is 20 
years' imprisonment, with a fine not exceeding 200,000 rupees ($833). 
From January 1 through November 30, police received50 reported rape 
cases, of which 47 were prosecuted; some prosecutions led to 
convictions and punishment. Rape was widespread, and 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 complained police did not 
effectively enforce the law. During the year more than 1,700 domestic 
violence cases were reported; 415 abusers were prosecuted during the 
year. Anyone found guilty of violating a protection order may be fined 
up to 25,000 rupees ($833) 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 Women's Rights, Child Development, and 
Family Welfare maintained an abuse hotline and a Web site on legal 
protections for victims.
    Prostitution is illegal; however, it was prevalent.
    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 37 complaints; six involved sex 
discrimination, 15 involved sexual harassment, and 16 involved moral 
harassment. At year's end six cases remained under investigation, 
authorities dismissed nine for lack of evidence, the parties resolved 
15 cases, plaintiffs withdrew two cases, and authorities completed five 
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 
provided access to contraception and skilled attendance during 
childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care. Women 
were equally treated for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV.
    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, women were paid less than 
men for substantially similar work in the private sector. 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.
    Primary education was compulsory, free, and universal.
    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, although the government was 
unable to enforce complete compliance. The state-funded National 
Children's Council and the Ministry of Women's Rights, Child 
Development, and Family Welfare 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 January 7, a 15-year-old boy from Rodrigues Island filed a 
complaint for indecent act against a foreign citizen with permanent 
resident status. A police investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    Police investigations were ongoing in the following cases of child 
abuse from 2008: 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.
    The government assisted victims of child abuse by offering 
counseling at a drop-in center 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons, 
and there were few reports that persons were trafficked to or from the 
country; however, there were reports of child prostitution within the 
country. The law provides for up to 15 years' imprisonment for 
trafficking in persons. There were reports that some schoolgirls 
voluntarily worked in conjunction with prostitution rings, while others 
were forced into prostitution by family members.
    Police prosecuted four trafficking cases during the year.
    The Ministry of Women's Rights, Child Development, and Family 
Welfare maintained a hotline for reporting cases of child prostitution. 
The ministry also conducted information campaigns on child trafficking 
for NGOs, high school students, women, and community leaders. The 
Minors Brigade and the Family Protection Unit conducted information 
campaigns on child prostitution and child sexual abuse for high school 
students and the general population. The government drop-in center 
provided shelter, counseling, and education for victims of child 
prostitution.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities, and the Training 
and Employment of Disabled Persons Board effectively enforced it. The 
government partially implemented a law mandating access to buildings 
for persons with disabilities; however, many older buildings remained 
inaccessible to persons with disabilities, making it difficult for them 
to fill many jobs. 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.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Local NGOs working on LGBT 
issues included Collectif Arc en Ciel, Vivre+, and PILS. LGBT victims 
of verbal abuse or violence within the family reported such incidents 
to Collectif Arc en Ciel; however, victims refused to file complaints 
with police for fear of reprisal.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law protects the 
rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS from stigmatization and 
discrimination; however, there were reports of discrimination against 
such persons and their relatives.
    On June 6, the local newspaper Le Mauricien reported that for 48 
hours prison officials denied anti-retroviral treatment to a new 
detainee living with HIV. In the same article a Vivre+ social worker 
reported 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 PILS recorded seven 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.
    On August 29, Le Mauricien 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, and a police 
investigation was ongoing at year's end.

Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. The Right of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
the right of 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 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. There were 337 unions 
representing approximately 107,000 workers; 18 major labor federations 
served as umbrella organizations for smaller unions. The unionized 
workforce represented approximately 20 percent of the labor force.
    In February the government promulgated the Employment Relations Act 
and the Employment Rights Act, which provide 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, 
passage of the Employment Relations Act and Employment Rights Act 
during the year lengthened the process to declare a legal strike. 
According to the new legislation, a labor dispute must 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. Foreign workers who 
participated in strikes can be deported.

    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, and the government 
generally respected this right. The law does not provide for the 
reinstatement of dismissed employees; however, employees can resort to 
the Industrial Relations Court to seek redress.
    Unlike in the previous year, no trade union leaders were suspended 
or dismissed for union activities. All six trade union leaders who had 
been previously suspended for union activities were reinstated during 
the year.
    National labor laws cover workers in the EOE; however, there are 
some EOE-specific labor laws that 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.

    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 ($333) 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 (MOL) is responsible for the enforcement of 
child labor laws and conducted frequent inspections; however, it 
employed only 45 inspectors to investigate all reports of labor abuses, 
including those of child labor.
    The MOL developed vocational training programs to prevent 
employment of underage 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 worker in the EOE was approximately 607 rupees ($20) per 
week, while the minimum wage for an unskilled 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 industrial sector 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. 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 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. From January through November, the MOL 
registered 160 industrial accidents. 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 21.5 million. President Armando Guebuza was reelected in 
October 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. Although election day itself was 
largely peaceful, donor nations, domestic and foreign observer groups, 
and local civil society expressed concern over the ruling party's use 
of government vehicles to campaign and the electoral procedures which 
preceded the balloting, particularly the exclusion of six of nine 
presidential candidates and the disqualification of one opposition 
party's parliamentary candidates from seven of 11 provinces. Freedom 
House has since removed Mozambique from its list of electoral 
democracies.
    The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) has been the 
ruling political party since independence from Portugal in 1975. While 
civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces, there were some instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently.
    Incidents of serious human rights abuses, including vigilante 
killings, occurred during the year. Security forces continued to commit 
unlawful killings although the government took steps to prosecute 
perpetrators. 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, 
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, 
security forces killed several individuals.
    According to a 2009 report by Amnesty International (AI), unlawful 
killings were carried out with near impunity and perpetrators impeded 
families from pursuing justice. Despite claims that action was taken 
against police officers for such acts, few of these crimes were 
prosecuted, and there was a general lack of transparency in police 
accountability mechanisms.
    Violence as a first resort, excessive use of force, and abuse by 
police remained problems. Between January 2006 and June, AI documented 
26 incidents of police shooting resulting in at least 46 deaths. Many 
of these cases were not adequately investigated, and in most of the 
cases, no police officer was brought to justice for the killings. 
However, the local nongovernmental organization (NGO) Human Rights 
League (LDH) reported that authorities terminated and, in a few cases, 
brought criminal charges against some officers for disciplinary 
offenses during the year.
    Police use of excessive force against striking laborers resulted in 
one death (see section 7.a.).
    On September 11, the newspaper O Pais reported that the police shot 
and killed a 30-year-old for attempting to steal a side-view mirror. 
There were no further developments by year's end.
    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. An overly 
anxious police force responded with a strong show of force and often 
resorted to violence.
    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.
    In September 2008 a Maputo public prosecutor indicted Criminal 
Investigation Police (PIC) agent Alexandre Francisco Balate of the 2007 
killing of Abranches Afonso Pencelo. Balate was sentenced to 30 months' 
imprisonment.
    There were a few reports of death resulting from police abuse. 
Unlike in the previous years, there were no reported killings as a 
result of torture and other abuses by members of the Community Policing 
Councils (CPC), nonstatutory bodies set up by the Mozambican National 
Police (PRM) in many districts to prevent crime.
    Landmine accidents resulted in deaths and injuries. The government 
continued to cooperate with donors and international organizations as 
well as commercial firms to clear suspected landmine areas. Despite 
significant progress, landmines placed during the Rhodesian conflicts 
of the 1970s, the war for independence in the 1980s, and the civil war 
in the 1990s remained in many provinces. During the year hundreds of 
landmines were removed from the base of power transmission stanchions 
along a main transit corridor from the capital to the South African 
border.
    Killings by vigilante groups continued to be a problem. The 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. While nationwide statistics were not available, the press and 
civil society reported killings by vigilantes, most of which occurred 
in and around major urban areas, including the capital city.
    For example, on May 12, the press reported that a mob attacked and 
briefly occupied the police station in the southern town of Magude, in 
an attempt to seize and lynch a suspected murderer.
    On October 25, health workers and Mozambican Red Cross (CVM) 
volunteers were accused of spreading cholera and attacked by irate mobs 
in the coastal city of Quinga. Three CVM volunteers were killed. The 
CVM volunteers were using chlorine to disinfect wells. Press reports 
speculated that part of the violence might have been due to a 
linguistic misunderstanding, given that Portuguese is not the first 
language for many residents. (The Portuguese word for ``chlorine'' 
sounds like the word for ``cholera,'' and neither word was commonly 
used.)
    On December 17, a 13-year-old boy was beaten and burned to death by 
a mob in Beira for allegedly stealing four ducks.
    There were no developments in the 2008 deaths of several persons at 
the hands of vigilante groups in Chimoio, Maputo, Matola, and Chokwe 
districts.

    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 continued to commit abuses. 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.
    Following reports of torture and high rates of death among prison 
inmates in Tete, an observer group from the EU visited the prison. The 
group reported that torture of prisoners by guards had occurred and 
that the prisoners suffered from overcrowding, poor nutrition, lack of 
medical care, and overall unhealthy living conditions.
    On March 17, 13 prisoners suffocated to death in an overcrowded 
jail cell in the northern district of Mogincual. On March 24, the 
General Command of the police set up a commission of inquiry to 
investigate the circumstances that resulted in their deaths. At year's 
end the results of the investigation were pending.
    Police use of excessive force against strikers resulted in death 
and injuries (see section 7.a.).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and life threatening.
    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 14,309 prisoners, 66 percent of whom had been convicted 
and the rest detained awaiting trial.
    Overcrowding remained the most serious problem. In 2008 the LDH 
noted 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, the most recent 
statistics available showed that Maputo Central Prison held 2,538 
prisoners in a facility designed to hold 800, and the Inhambane 
Provincial Prison held 339 prisoners in a facility for 75.
    During the year the LDH made 253 visits to prisons and detention 
facilities. Based on those visits, LDH noted the following 
characteristics of conditions in the prisons: harsh detention, 
inadequate food, poor hygiene, overcrowding, adults and juveniles held 
together, and prisoners kept beyond their sentences. The LDH described 
35 facilities as ``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 
(xima) 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. In May the UN Interregional Crime and Justice 
Research Institute (UNICRI) announced plans to reorganize the juvenile 
justice system with the creation of pre- and post-judgment centers for 
juvenile offenders to support the juvenile justice courts. According to 
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 UNICRI program includes training for 500 
members of the justice and legal sectors, including police and judges.
    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.
    According to the LDH and confirmed by a report issued by the 
UNICRI, pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners, and, 
contrary to law, juvenile offenders were held with adults.
    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. Following their visit to Tete's prison, the EU 
noted that in the first three months of the year, 28 prisoners had 
died, most from ``unknown'' causes. Also, in September O Pais newspaper 
reported that two Zimbabwean prisoners died in March while in prison in 
Manica.
    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 that the LDH had entered into a memorandum of understanding 
with the Ministry of Justice allowing it to visit prisons unannounced. 
The LDH agreed to provide to the ministry any reports it planned to 
issue but would be free to publish its own independent findings.

    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 PIC, the PRM, and the Rapid 
Intervention Force, 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.
    The police continued to be poorly paid, despite an increase in pay 
during the year. Trainee-level officers reportedly received 
approximately 3,100 meticais ($105) a month, while those at higher rank 
received approximately 4,500 meticais ($153) a month. Corruption and 
extortion by police were widespread, and impunity remained a serious 
problem. Police routinely removed their identification at checkpoints 
after dark and refused to identify themselves or their police 
precincts.
    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.
    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. During a May visit, AI was told by police officials that since 
2005 a total of 356 police officers had been disciplined for breaching 
disciplinary regulations. Of these 108 were expelled from the police 
force, and 37 were convicted of criminal offenses. In AI's view, 
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 openly 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.
    On October 26, musician Felix da Silva Manguane was detained for 
singing a song about corrupt traffic police who extort motorists. 
Manguane was held for several days and, according to his family, was 
threatened by police during his detention.
    Although the government made some progress in alleviating judicial 
backlog, 34 percent of inmates were in pretrial detention.
    There continued to be reports that detainees, subjected to often 
lengthy incarceration prior to the determination of their guilt or 
innocence, spent more time in pretrial detention than the length of the 
sentence they eventually received.

    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 FRELIMO party 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 sentence, and 
traveling tribunals continued to be employed.
    A shortage of judges and prosecutors hampered the effective 
administration of justice.
    There were 271 judges (or approximately one per 80,000 
inhabitants), 202 of whom held law degrees as required by law for all 
judges appointed after 2000. Most court employees had secondary school 
or university educations. Continuing problems included chronic 
absenteeism, unequal treatment, low salaries, corruption, deliberate 
delays, and omissions in handling cases.
    The president appoints both the Supreme Court president and vice 
president. The Higher Judicial Magistrates' Council prepares Supreme 
Court nominations and submits a list of qualified potential nominees to 
the president. The president also makes all other judicial 
appointments.
    Under the Supreme Court there are province and district-level 
courts, and each province has a court of appeal. There also are courts 
that exercise limited, specialized jurisdiction, such as the 
Administrative Court, the Customs Court, and the Maritime Court. The 
Constitutional Council is charged with determining the 
constitutionality of laws and decrees, supervising the electoral 
process, declaring and validating electoral results, and ruling on 
electoral disputes. A separate court system exists for minors 16 years 
of age and younger. The government may send minors to correctional, 
educational, or other institutions.

    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.--Although there were no reports 
of political prisoners or detainees, there were many reports of 
questionable detentions and harassment of opposition political party 
members during the elections season.

    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. 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.
    On April 5, O Pais reported that in Tete Province, the governor 
threatened a journalist for writing an article critical of the 
provincial leader's governance.
    In May during a high-profile murder case involving a police 
officer, plainclothes policemen issued death threats against 
journalists and attempted to prevent cameramen from taking photographs 
during the trial. The law governing trials states that the accused may 
not be photographed while giving evidence inside the courtroom, but 
there is no legal barrier to photographing accused persons on the 
public pavement as they enter or leave court.
    In August the PIC in the northern province of Cabo Delgado demanded 
that a journalist reveal the identity of his sources for an article 
written in April that had agitated local military officers. The 1991 
press law explicitly defends the right of journalists not to reveal 
their sources. According to the Media Institute of Southern Africa's 
annual report, although the independent media continued to rapidly 
expand and diversify, in general the media faced increasing harassment 
from the courts, prosecutors, and district administrators, particularly 
outside Maputo Province. In addition court rulings on libel cases 
involving several independent media outlets during the year constrained 
press freedom.
    In September Alfane Momade Antonio, from Nacala Community Radio, 
was attacked on Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) premises while 
en route to an interview with the head of the RENAMO campaign in 
Nacala. The attack was reportedly carried out by party members due to 
Antonio's criticism of RENAMO. There were no further developments by 
year's end.
    By some estimates newspapers reached only an estimated one million 
of the country's 21.5 million citizens. The government maintained 
majority ownership of Noticias, the main newspaper and one of three 
daily 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, occasionally reported news items 
critical of government policies.
    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 for 
Televisao de Mocambique (TVM), the television station with the largest 
viewership. TVM's news coverage demonstrated a bias favoring the 
incumbent government and ruling party FRELIMO.
    Defamation of the president is prohibited. In August three Zambeze 
newspaper journalists were tried on charges of defamation and 
threatening state security over an article questioning the prime 
minister's nationality. They were convicted and sentenced to six 
months' imprisonment and fined 30 meticais ($1).

    Internet Freedom.--Internet access was modest, and online 
communications did not play a significant role in the country. Although 
there were no government restrictions on access to the Internet, 
opposition party members reported that government intelligence agents 
monitored e-mail. Individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail and through 
political blogs. 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 phone use, 
including text messaging, was widely available and frequently used. 
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 
September police stopped a demonstration called by war veterans 
demanding better living conditions. According to a report by AI, 19 
persons were arrested and held for a few days before being released. At 
year's end their trial was pending.
    Unlike in the previous year, security force use of excessive force 
did not result in demonstrator deaths (see section 1.a.).

    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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    The constitution and the law governing political parties 
specifically forbid political parties from directly affiliating with a 
religion or church and from sponsoring religious propaganda as threats 
to national unity.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Relations among various 
religious groups were generally amicable.
    There was a very small Jewish population, and there were no reports 
of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 legal and under the jurisdiction of traffic 
police. Checkpoints occasionally affected freedom of movement, and 
according to press reports, authorities sometimes abused and demanded 
bribes from citizens at checkpoints. 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, including members of the 
CPCs, 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 country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of 
the Refugee Problem in Africa. Its 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 cooperated with the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in assisting some 7,600 recognized refugees and asylum seekers.
    The government continued to work closely with the UNHCR to 
implement a local integration program for longer-term refugees, 
primarily from the Great Lakes region, at the Marratane Camp located 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 continued to limit refugee movement within the 
country. Refugees must request authorization to move outside the 
geographic region in which they have been registered. In addition 
refugees residing within the Marratane camp in Nampula Province must 
request authorization to leave its boundaries.

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.--On November 11, the 
National Elections Commission (CNE) announced that Armando Guebuza of 
the ruling FRELIMO party had been elected president in the October 28 
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.
    In a statement released October 30, the Electoral Institute for 
Southern Africa questioned the transparency, integrity, impartiality, 
and independence of the CNE. It noted that improvements were required 
to ``level the playing field, afford equal opportunity to all, and 
improve the transparency of the electoral process.''
    The opposition parties RENAMO and Democratic Movement of Mozambique 
(MDM) complained of election fraud and noted that 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 that 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.
    In August the Constitutional Council (CC) disqualified six of nine 
presidential candidates for application signature irregularities. The 
decision was not subject to appeal. 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 September 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 questionable decisions, 
provoked protests from the diplomatic community, objections by civil 
society, and extensive commentary in the media.
    In response to decisions by the CC and the CNE, the Center for 
Public Integrity called for an independent audit of electoral processes 
and highlighted several significant flaws in the electoral process. No 
such action was taken.
    In the run-up to the elections, the coverage of the campaign by 
Radio Mocambique, Noticias, and Domingo was regarded by many political 
observers as balanced and neutral. However, the volume of coverage 
heavily favored incumbent President Guebuza over his opponents. 
Following the elections, the media reported observers' praise for 
polling day but failed to note their harsh criticism of the CNE or the 
view that the playing field was not level.
    The political process was dominated by FRELIMO and by the executive 
branch of government, and such influence continued to grow. In the 
October elections, FRELIMO secured approximately 75 percent of the 
presidential vote and more than 75 percent of the seats in parliament. 
In 1999 FRELIMO won 133 of 250 seats in the parliament. In 2004 it 
raised its plurality to 160 seats. In 2003 it controlled 28 of 33 
municipalities. By 2008 FRELIMO mayors had been elected in 42 of 43 
municipalities, and it had become the largest party in all municipal 
assemblies, controlling 79.8 percent of all seats.
    Opposition political parties were permitted to operate but were 
subject to some restriction and interference by the ruling party, 
including unlawful arrest, unlawful disqualification of candidates, and 
other interference by the ruling party and the government.
    Women, including the 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. A total of 
10 of 51 ministers and deputy ministers were women.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    While the law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, 
the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials 
engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There are no laws against 
conflict of interest for government officials. No corruption cases 
involving high-profile individuals were concluded during the Guebuza 
administration; however, during the year several senior current and 
former government officials, including the former ministers of interior 
and transportation, were arrested on charges of corruption. Their cases 
remained pending, more than a year after their arrests.
    Despite the government's strong anticorruption rhetoric, corruption 
in the executive and legislative branches was widely perceived to be 
endemic. The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected 
that corruption was a serious problem. Petty corruption by low-level 
government officials to supplement low incomes 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.
    Corruption largely resulted from a lack of checks and balances, 
minimal accountability, and a culture of impunity. Local NGOs, such as 
the Center for Public Integrity, and media groups continued to be the 
main civic forces fighting corruption, reporting 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. Aside from the minister of finance, no 
senior governmental official declared and reported his assets as 
required by law.
    In January three senior executives of the national data processing 
center, including the director, were charged with theft of more than 
seven million meticais ($240,000). By year's end no judgment had been 
announced.
    In September the Maputo Judicial Court charged several defendants, 
including the chairperson of the publicly owned Mozambican Airports 
Company (MAC), its former financial director, and a former transport 
and communications minister with diversion of state funds, demanding 
payment of 42 million meticais ($1.4 million). Two of the defendants 
had been in detention since October 2008. A trial continued at year's 
end and attracted prominent coverage by local media. The trial revealed 
that significant MAC funds were diverted to build a FRELIMO training 
center and to underwrite its 45th anniversary celebration, as well as 
to purchase real estate for MAC principals.
    On September 27, in a case brought by Britain's Serious Fraud 
Office (SFO), the construction firm of Mabey and Johnson (M&J) was 
found guilty of systematically bribing government officials around the 
world, including in Mozambique. Carlos Fragoso, then national director 
of roads and bridges in the Ministry of Public Works, received payments 
of approximately $460,000 into a Swiss account. Americo Fortuna of the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs was paid approximately $42,000. M&J records 
noted that he was ``involved to some extent in the selection of 
eligible recipients.'' An engineer identified as ``Mr. Notece'' in the 
National Roads and Bridges Directorate was found by the SFO to have 
been paid 25,000 pounds sterling. There was no further information 
available at year's end.
    The provinces also suffered from increased corruption. In March 
over one million meticais ($34,000) were missing from the Tete office 
of the National Institute of Social Security Tete office. In July 
Manica Governor Mauricio Vieira reported that a similar amount had 
disappeared from the Provincial Directorate of Education and Culture. 
In August four high-ranking officials from Tete's Provincial 
Directorate of Planning and Finance were accused of embezzling more 
than 144 million meticais ($4.9 million). On September 30, five 
employees of the Manica Provincial Department of Finance were detained 
for allegedly having obtained state funds intended to pay salaries. 
There were no further developments at year's end.
    In March the investigating magistrate, Octavio Chumba, threw out 48 
of the 49 charges against former interior minister Almerino Manhenje, 
reducing the damages sought from 322 million meticais ($12.3 million) 
to 500,000 meticais ($19,000). Manhenje had been charged in September 
2008 with embezzlement of 211 million meticais ($8.3 million) of state 
money. Former president Chissano had publicly urged leniency, noting 
that others had committed worse offenses and remained at liberty.
    There were no further developments in the 2007 and 2008 
investigations into alleged corruption by Deputy Director of the Maputo 
Central Prison Arminda Parruque and six health services administrators 
in Cabo Delgado Province.
    The Central Office for the Combat of Corruption (GCCC) functions as 
an autonomous unit under the Attorney General's Office with its own 
state budget. In a report released on December 9 to mark International 
Anti-Corruption Day, Director Ana Maria Gemo stated the GCCC's central 
office and its 11 provincial branches investigated 403 corruption cases 
during the year. A total of 19 were brought to trial. She reported that 
the GCCC had reviewed 534 cases of theft of state funds and property, 
27 of which had been brought to trial.
    There were no laws providing for public access to government 
information, and in practice the government restricted citizens' and 
noncitizens' 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 were often cooperative and responsive to 
their views. 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.
    UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and 
international NGOs were resident in the country and had access to 
investigate human rights abuses. In August the Ministry of Justice 
agreed to work with the UN to draft and issue in 2011 its own human 
rights report.
    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 parliament passed a domestic violence law, which 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. A survey indicated that 54 
percent of female respondents admitted suffering an act of physical or 
sexual violence perpetrated by a man at some point in their lives, 37 
percent in the last five years, and 21 percent during the past year.
    The government and NGOs often worked together to combat domestic 
violence. The PRM operated special women and children's units in police 
squadrons that received cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, and 
violence against children; the units provided assistance to victims and 
their families. All 30 police squadrons in Maputo had women's and 
children's centers. In addition all police squadrons in the country 
installed a ``green line'' (a free telephone line) to receive 
complaints of violence against women and children; however, the lines 
were not fully operational by year's end.
    Prostitution is not illegal, although it is governed by several 
laws against indecency and immoral behavior and restricted to certain 
areas. The practice was particularly prevalent along major 
transportation corridors and in border towns where long-distance 
truckers stop overnight. Young women without means of support were at 
the greatest risk for being drawn into prostitution.
    Economic and political disturbances in Zimbabwe led to increased 
frequency of prostitution and sexual exploitation of Zimbabwean women 
who crossed the border into the country in search of better living 
conditions.
    Sexual harassment is illegal; however, it was pervasive in 
business, government, and education. Although no formal data existed, 
the media reported numerous instances of harassment during the year. 
The law is based on the Portuguese penal code from the 1920s; sexual 
harassment charges are usually regarded as acts of ``indecency'' with a 
maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.
    The government 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 the Ministry of 
Women and Social Action. There were no restrictions on the right to 
access contraceptives, but the continued high rate of HIV/AIDS 
suggested that they were not sufficiently used. 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 more serious health complications. 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 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 parental consent. 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 four 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 Mozambican 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 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 poverty level are exempt 
from fees, but for most families, fees and associated costs remained a 
significant financial burden. Despite joint government/NGO initiatives 
in certain localities and districts to improve girls' school 
attendance, completion rates for primary school students were 
approximately 41 percent for boys and 29 percent for girls.
    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. The law prohibits 
pornography, child prostitution, and sexual abuse of children under 16 
and prescribes prison sentences and fines for perpetrators; however, 
exploitation of children below the age of 15 continued, child 
prostitution remained a problem, and no instances of prosecution were 
reported. Child prostitution appeared to be most prevalent in Maputo, 
in Nampula, in 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.
    Children begging who appeared to be living on the streets were 
visible in major urban areas, but no nationwide figures were available.
    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 the province of Manica.
    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 to children of broken homes in local schools. 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.
    In May the Minister for Women's Affairs and Social Action, Virg!lia 
Matabele, decried the lack of regulations for the law's implementation. 
The Southern African Network Against the Trafficking and Abuse of 
Children Executive Secretary Margarida Guitunga observed that such 
abuse was taking root in the country and expressed the fear that the 
massive influx of tourists expected for the World Cup in South Africa 
in 2010 would provide fresh opportunities for the sexual exploitation 
of women and children.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
in persons; however, there were reports that persons were trafficked 
to, from, through, and within the country. Most trafficking victims 
were transported to South Africa on the highway from Maputo to 
Johannesburg. Some reports of trafficking to Swaziland also were 
reported. The majority of victims were women and children trafficked 
for the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labor. To a lesser 
extent, boys were trafficked for labor on South African farms and in 
mines, and girls were trafficked for use in prostitution and domestic 
servitude. International NGOs noted concerns about a possible increase 
in trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation in South 
Africa during the 2010 soccer World Cup competition.
    Traffickers were principally citizens or South Africans. 
Trafficking groups included small networks of citizens based in Maputo 
and Nampula, and there were reports that Chinese, Pakistani, and 
Nigerian organized crime groups were involved. Traffickers often lured 
victims by promising better jobs or education in South Africa. Once 
there, they were threatened with exposure of their illegal status and 
forced to work for little or no pay. Often women were sexually 
assaulted en route to their destinations or once they arrived in South 
Africa and Swaziland. There were also reports that international 
syndicates trafficked victims from Asia, South Asia, and East Africa 
through the country en route to South Africa. Small numbers of children 
and adults reportedly were trafficked to Zambia for agricultural labor, 
and Zimbabwean women and girls were trafficked to Mozambique for sexual 
exploitation and domestic servitude.
    The law provides for penalties of 16 to 20 years' imprisonment for 
those recruiting or facilitating exploitation of a person for purposes 
of prostitution, forced labor, slavery, or involuntary debt servitude; 
however, there were no convictions or arrests under the trafficking law 
during the year. The government's law enforcement efforts increased, 
although at year's end regulations that describe implementation of the 
new trafficking law had not been published by the Ministry of Women and 
Social Action. Law enforcement authorities were hesitant to charge 
persons under the trafficking law due to a lack of published 
regulations. Following passage of the antitrafficking law, the PRM 
created a special unit to deal specifically with apprehensions, 
investigations, and reintegration. This unit developed special 
facilities to support victims of trafficking, including one in the 
capital city.
    The Mozambican woman implicated in the ``Diana Case'' was on trial 
at year's end in South Africa. She was alleged to have trafficked 
Mozambican girls to Pretoria for forced prostitution.
    Due to a lack of resources, government officials regularly called 
on NGOs for the provision of protection and assistance to victims, 
including shelter, food, counseling, and rehabilitation. The police 
conducted general training on trafficking and detecting at-risk 
children.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Although the constitution and law 
stipulate that citizens with disabilities shall fully enjoy the same 
rights as all other citizens, the government provided few resources to 
implement this provision, and persons with disabilities could 
frequently 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 to 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. Special access 
facilities 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 newly arrived Chinese guest workers, often employed in 
construction, and citizens in the cities of Maputo and Beira.
    There were reports of discrimination by police against Zimbabwean 
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.

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. Some unions alleged that 
the Mozambican Workers Association was under the influence of FRELIMO. 
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 October 1, Noticias reported that approximately 400 employees of 
the Grindrod Coal Terminal near the port of Maputo, on strike since 
September 24, had returned to work pending final resolution of their 
disputes after mediation by the provincial Labor Directorate.
    At the end of April, laborers at the new national stadium in the 
outer Maputo district of Zimpeto went on strike for the second time in 
three months. They asserted that they were receiving 63.85 meticais per 
day ($2.18), less than the statutory minimum wage, and that the Chinese 
contractor employing them had agreed to pay 93.85 meticais ($3.20). 
Police fired live rounds to disperse the workers, resulting in the 
death of one demonstrator and the injuring of two others. Eyewitnesses 
stated that the police aimed to kill, not to injure.

    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. The government did not set private sector salaries. 
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 going on strike, 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, forced 
prostitution and domestic servitude occurred. There were also numerous 
reports of children forced to work as domestic workers and in the 
agricultural sector.

    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. Many 
children in rural areas were forced to work, particularly in commercial 
agriculture, as domestics, as well as to engage 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 each piece 
of work completed rather than an hourly minimum wage.
    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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Trade unions estimated that a 
minimum livable monthly wage to provide for a family of five was 
approximately 5,000 meticais ($170). There are 11 different minimum 
wages averaging approximately 2,300 meticais ($78.55) 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 a decent 
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 finding 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.
    In July Manica Governor Mauricio Vieira cited China Henan 
International Cooperation Group for several labor and safety 
violations. Some of the badges of Mozambican workers wore were reported 
to bear the word ``escravo'' (slave).
    On September 3, O Pais newspaper reported that postal workers in 
the province of Inhambane had not been paid for seven months. Minister 
of Labor Helena Taipo met with union representatives to address their 
concerns, but by year's end no results or changes had been announced.
    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 July the Ministry 
of Labor announced that 280 unlawful foreign workers had been relieved 
of their positions.
    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. In April the Ministry of Labor reported 
that in the previous 12 months, it inspected workplaces affecting 
353,579 employees and noted 1,550 labor accidents resulting in injury 
or fatality.

                               __________

                                NAMIBIA

    Namibia is a multiparty democracy with a population of 
approximately two million. The presidential and parliamentary elections 
held November 27 and 28 resulted in the re-election of President 
Hifikepunye Pohamba and the retention by the ruling South West Africa 
People's Organization (SWAPO) of its parliamentary majority. Both the 
president and SWAPO won more than 75 percent of the vote. Despite some 
irregularities, international observers characterized the election as 
generally free and fair. Several opposition parties have challenged the 
outcome in court, and the case was pending at year's end. Civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security 
forces.
    Human rights problems included police use of excessive force; poor 
conditions in prisons and detention centers; arbitrary arrest, 
prolonged pretrial detention and long delays in trials; limitations on 
press freedom; 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; 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.
    The investigation into the February 2008 case in which a police 
officer shot and killed a demonstrator who stabbed a police constable 
was ongoing at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2007 suffocation death of William 
Cloete, who died in a shipping container that police in the town of 
Rosh Pinah used as a detention center.
    The trial of nine police officers accused of killing a suspect 
during interrogation in 2006 was ongoing at year's end.
    On March 6, 14 police officers accused of the 2005 beating of five 
men, one of whom died from his injuries, were acquitted of all charges; 
two other police officers charged in the case were acquitted in 2008.
    Following the discovery of six mass graves along the country's 
border with Angola in August 2008, the National Society for Human 
Rights (NSHR) submitted a dossier to the UN Working Group on Enforced 
or Involuntary Disappearances, alleging that the graves could be linked 
to ``enforced disappearances'' in Caprivi and Kavango regions between 
1994 and 2003. The UN subsequently requested that the government 
confirm the allegations and explain any steps taken to address the 
discovery. By year's end the government had not provided an 
explanation. In 2008 the government investigated one of the six grave 
sites, 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. None of the other mass graves had been 
investigated 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 sometimes used excessive force when apprehending, interrogating, 
and detaining criminal suspects.
    Windhoek City police mistreated suspects in a secret cell before 
handing them over to the main police station, according to media 
reports. Police denied the accusations, and no investigation had been 
conducted by year's end.
    In September, in Kalkrand, authorities filed criminal charges 
against four police officers for allegedly assaulting two residents, 
Gerhard Lodewyk and Johannes Kooper, who were accused of stealing a gas 
cylinder from a police officer's home. The trial had not started by 
year's end.
    In May police use of force to disperse demonstrators resulted in 
injuries (see section 2.b.).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and detention 
centers were overcrowded, were poorly maintained, and lacked basic 
sanitation and adequate food. Guards sometimes abused prisoners. In 
April 2008 the newspaper The Namibian reported that Windhoek Central 
Prison held 1,172 prisoners--almost 30 percent more than its official 
capacity of 912 prisoners. The government-owned newspaper New Era 
reported during the year that one police holding facility designed to 
accommodate 105 persons held 224.
    Conditions of police holding cells showed little change since a 
2008 ombudsman's report cited the cells for poor sanitary conditions, 
overcrowding, insufficient food, unsafe infrastructure, and lack of 
access to medical care and potable water. In April The Namibian 
reported that police holding cells at the Windhoek, Wanaheda, and 
Katutura stations, which together have a capacity of 705 persons, held 
approximately 1,079 pretrial detainees. The Wanaheda police station, 
with a capacity of about 180 persons, held 325 suspects, while the 
Windhoek police station, built to hold 100 suspects, housed at least 
253.
    Minister of Safety and Security Nickey Iyambo, who visited a number 
of police holding facilities in June, criticized their poor conditions.
    In July inmates at the Katutura police station set fire to trash 
bins and threw sewage at police officers to draw attention to their 
conditions.
    Victims of prison abuse were able to pursue legal remedies, 
although lengthy delays were common. For example, in April the 
prosecutor general began to prosecute five Keetmanshoop police officers 
and their station commander for negligence in connection with the 2007 
death of Noel Thompson, who died after being attacked by another 
inmate. The court case was ongoing at year's end.
    Some detainees were held with convicted prisoners, and juveniles 
continued to be held with adults in many rural areas. In August a 15-
year-old boy who was arrested for theft allegedly was imprisoned with 
adult males who sexually assaulted him. The Rainbow Project, a group 
that lobbies for the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and 
transgender persons, provided legal counsel to the victim. An 
investigation was pending at year's end.
    The government continued to grant both local and international NGOs 
regular access to prisons and prisoners. In January, May, and December, 
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 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. Media 
representatives were allowed to accompany the minister of safety and 
security on his prison tours.
    Suspects in the Caprivi treason trial continued to complain of poor 
medical services and intimidation of their visitors by prison 
officials.
    Pilot programs, such as placing youths in shelters and foster 
homes, provided alternatives to incarceration for juvenile offenders. 
During the year the government expanded its community service pilot 
project from four to all 13 of the country's regions; the program 
provides an alternative to incarceration for adults and juveniles 
convicted of petty crimes. The NGO CHANGE, led by a former deputy 
minister for prisons, also 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.--The Namibian Police 
Force (NAMPOL), which has approximately 12,000 members, is under the 
Ministry of Safety and Security. The Namibian Defense Force (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. NAMPOL 
lacked the resources, training, and personnel to effectively deter or 
investigate street crime.
    Police corruption and impunity were problems.
    In April police arrested traffic officer Jacobus Coetzee on bribery 
charges; in exchange for bribes Coetzee allegedly destroyed traffic 
tickets he had issued, primarily to taxi drivers.
    On May 12, police constable Lawrence Foreman arrested Hendrik 
Mathews for possessing cannabis; Mathews allegedly had 10,350 Namibian 
dollars ($1,377) in his possession at the time of arrest. When only 
4,100 Namibian dollars ($546) were returned when he was released on 
bail, Mathews filed theft charges against Foreman for the missing 6,250 
Namibian dollars ($832). Mathews also claimed that he had more than 100 
grams of cannabis when arrested, but that he was charged for possessing 
only 100 grams.
    In June the Anticorruption Commission (ACC) arrested police 
constables Chris Garoeb and Paul Jarson for allegedly impersonating 
immigration officials and defrauding a foreign tourist of 1,800 
Namibian dollars ($240). An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    In August the weekly Informante reported that more than 20 million 
Namibian dollars ($2.7 million) in cash, drugs, counterfeit traveler's 
checks, and other valuables confiscated from suspects and kept as 
evidence had vanished from police safes since the beginning of the 
year. Other media outlets made similar allegations during the year.
    In April Andrew Iyambo, the deputy commissioner of police for 
Erongo Region who was suspended in 2007 for misappropriating funds, was 
acquitted of all charges and reinstated in his position.
    There were continued reports that police officers threatened to 
arrest prostitutes who did not agree to give them free sex.
    Although some security force members accused of abuse and 
corruption were arrested and tried in military courts or the civilian 
criminal justice system, the government took no action against others.
    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.

    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 NSHR recorded 12 cases of arbitrary arrest during the year.
    In January--five years after the last arrest in connection with the 
Caprivi high treason trials following the attacks on government 
institutions in 1999--police arrested Albius Moto Liseli on treason 
charges. Liseli's name had been mentioned during a trial that concluded 
in 2007 as an alleged participant in the secessionist movement. The 
NSHR issued a press statement claiming the police threatened Liseli's 
mother and forced her to sign a document implicating her son in the 
secession plot. The prosecutor general had not decided whether to 
prosecute Liseli by year's end.
    On February 4, Windhoek City police assaulted, arrested, and 
detained without charge Timoteus Amunyela, a youth who was walking 
around the city looking for employment, according to the NSHR. Amunyela 
was released the following day.
    On September 14, the NSHR reported that an intoxicated police 
officer arbitrarily arrested and assaulted Lukas Nekongo, who 
subsequently filed criminal charges against the police officer. No 
action had been taken on the case by year's end.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of police 
arresting and detaining homeless children. After the 2008 arrests of 
such children, the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare 
condemned the police action and demanded an end to the practice. Most 
homeless children who were arrested were placed into childcare 
shelters.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security 
forces arrested opposition members.
    A trial must take place within ``a reasonable time,'' or the 
accused must be released; however, 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, the high cost of legal aid, slow or incomplete police 
investigations, and the continued postponement of cases resulted in a 
serious backlog of criminal cases and delays of years between arrest 
and trial.

    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.
    The formal court system has three levels: 30 magistrate courts; two 
high courts; and the Supreme Court, which served as a court of appeals 
and constitutional review court. 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 role, 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 remaining 117 
Caprivi treason detainees imprisoned in Windhoek, for example, have 
been detained since 1999 and awaiting the completion of their trials 
since 2004. The law provides for public trials but not juries. 
Defendants have the right to be present at trial, to consult with an 
attorney in a timely manner, and along 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.
    Three of the 127 civil suits stemming from alleged mistreatment of 
Caprivi treason detainees while in custody were heard during the year; 
the court ruled in favor of the Ministry of Home Affairs in one case, 
and two cases remained pending at year's end.
    Procedural problems continued to delay the Caprivi high treason 
trials. In July a major state witness was involved in a serious road 
accident, further delaying the trial. During the year a judge ruled 
that 10 Caprivi detainees sentenced in 2007 could appeal their 
sentences; however, no hearings on appeals had begun by year's end.
    The trial of two ethnic Mafwe witnesses who 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 ongoing at year's end. The two, who remained incarcerated, claimed 
their statements were obtained under duress inflicted by security 
forces.

    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 were mostly well 
enforced.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
government generally respected these prohibitions in practice; however, 
in November the government enacted the Communications Act, popularly 
known as the ``Spy Bill,'' after intense public debate. 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. In an 
unusual move, the National Council, the upper house of parliament, 
sought testimony from the public, including journalists and civil 
society representatives, many of whom argued that interception should 
only be authorized by the judge president of the High Court or a judge 
assigned by the judge president. Despite such objections, the National 
Council passed the bill without any amendments. Opponents called the 
law an invasion of privacy and a violation of the right to freedom of 
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; however, the government partially 
limited press freedom. Some independent and government journalists 
practiced self-censorship.
    The 2009 Communications Act establishes the Communications 
Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) to regulate communications, 
including the media. The legislation does not specify how the media 
will be regulated. The CRAN's other duties include setting up a 
licensing framework for both telecommunications and broadcasting, 
determining interconnection tariffs, allocating radio and 
telecommunication frequencies, promoting competition in the 
telecommunications industry, and establishing telecommunications data 
(such as Internet and telephone) interception centers.
    There were four daily national newspapers, three of which were 
independent, and four independent weekly newspapers. The New Era 
newspaper and the Namibian Press Agency were both parastatals, whose 
boards the minister of information and broadcasting appointed. The 
government shared equal ownership of the regional weekly newspaper 
Southern Times with the government of Zimbabwe. The ruling SWAPO party 
owned one publication, Namibia Today.
    On February 2, the SWAPO Party Elders' Council called on The 
Namibian to stop publishing cell phone text messages that criticized 
President Pohamba and former president Nujoma, charging that the 
messages fueled chaos and anarchy. The Namibian did not heed the 
request, and the Elders' Council took no action to convince the 
government to impose the proposed ban.
    In a September 7 article, The Namibian charged the Electoral 
Commission of Namibia (ECN) had not provided it election information 
distributed to other newspapers. ECN Director Moses Ndjarakana 
countered that the ECN had no authority to include The Namibian in its 
distribution of election materials due to a cabinet resolution 
prohibiting the government and its agencies from advertising or buying 
copies of The Namibian. The ECN subsequently provided the election 
materials but required The Namibian to pay for them.
    In an October address to a SWAPO rally, SWAPO Party Secretary 
General and Justice Minister Iivula-Ithana called The Namibian's editor 
Gwen Lister a ``big snake in the country'' and accused the newspaper of 
publishing false news to tarnish the country's image and of ``desiring 
to bring war.'' Iivula-Ithana also said that Lister should ``not forget 
that she is white,'' and could be held responsible for the ``evil 
deeds'' of her parents and grandparents.
    During the July arrival of Cuban President Raul Castro, independent 
media were positioned separately from state media, giving them an 
inferior angle for coverage. When a cameraman from One Africa 
Television moved to the state media position without permission, he was 
handled roughly and, according to some accounts, expelled from the 
event.
    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.
    On February 3, SWAPO Secretary for Information and Mobilization 
Jerry Ekandjo called for the dismissal of NBC Director General Bob 
Kandetu after a flag of the opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress 
(RDP) party flashed on the screen following President Pohamba's New 
Year's speech. The newspaper New Era reported that the NBC board cited 
incompetence and lack of performance as the reasons for the dismissal.
    In March NBC modified the format of its popular radio call-in 
program, National Chat Show, to limit the topics for discussion; NBC 
Director General Matthew Gowaseb, who replaced Kandetu, attributed the 
move to inappropriate language and comments. The new format limited the 
topics to socio-economic issues, precluding political discussions. In 
November Gowaseb required the host of the 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. Gowaseb also threatened to cancel the 
evening talk show Openline; however, Openline and the talk show Ewi la 
manguluka (roughly translated as ``free to speak'') continued to 
operate and to feature political discussion.
    During the year the government arrested foreign journalists. In 
July authorities arrested British investigative journalist Jim Wickens 
and South African filmmaker Bart Smithers for filming undercover the 
annual seal cull at Cape Cross. The two journalists, who had tourist 
rather than work visas, also were charged with trespassing in a marine 
protected area, failure to apply for permission to film at the Namibia 
Film Commission, and failure to apply for accreditation from the 
Ministry of Information. Seal hunters assaulted the journalists and 
confiscated their filming equipment. Wickens and Smithers claimed the 
attack took place in front of an official of the Ministry of Fisheries 
and Marine Resources. The journalists pled guilty to the charge of 
trespassing and were each fined 10,000 Namibian dollars ($1,331), of 
which 5,000 Namibian dollars ($665) was suspended for five years 
provided the two did not repeat the crime.
    The trial of South African television journalist Bonita Nuttall, 
who was arrested and subsequently released in November 2008 for working 
on a tourist visa, was ongoing at year's end. In December 2008 the 
international NGO Reporters Without Borders called Nuttall's detention 
``an abuse of authority out of proportion to the offense.''
    The Media Institute of Southern Africa issued six media freedom 
alerts for the country in its 2008 and 2009 annual reports, including 
three in which the government was cited for banning journalists from 
covering events; two for September passage of the Communications Bill; 
and one for the November 2008 arrest of journalist Bonita Nuttall.
    In August the Editors' Forum of Namibia created the country's first 
media ombudsman and appointed to the position Clement Daniels, a well-
respected human rights lawyer. Along with the media-operated Media 
Complaints Committee and a Media Appeals Board, the media ombudsman 
receives and adjudicates grievances and complaints by members of the 
public against the media.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, the Communications Bill passed in September 
provides that the intelligence services can monitor e-mails and 
Internet usage with authorization from any magistrate (see section 
1.f.).
    According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 5 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Although there were no 
reports of government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural 
events, all government-owned institutions of higher learning, including 
the University of Namibia, Polytechnic of Namibia, and the Windhoek 
College of Education, continued to bar the 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 the government generally respected this right; however, SWAPO 
supporters attempted to block opposition RDP gatherings on several 
occasions.
    For example, according to press reports, in February 100 SWAPO 
supporters surrounded a shack in the Havana settlement of Windhoek for 
five hours after learning that an RDP branch meeting reportedly was 
taking place inside. Police fired warning shots to disperse the crowd; 
no arrests were made.
    In May police used tear gas to disperse approximately 500 young 
members of the ``Children of the Liberation Struggle'' who had taken 
control of a bridge and were demanding to see the president to ask for 
jobs and educational opportunities. The approximately 10,000 registered 
members of the ``Struggle Children,'' who ranged in age from 19 to 40 
years old, grew up in refugee camps and claimed to lack the education 
and skills required to obtain employment. Six of the demonstrators were 
hospitalized as a result of their injuries. On September 2, members of 
the group marched to parliament to present petitions. Police reportedly 
assaulted and arrested one marcher who was subsequently released.
    In two separate incidents in October, groups of more than 200 SWAPO 
supporters prevented RDP members from campaigning in the towns of 
Outapi and Onesi in the Omusati region. Police escorted the RDP 
campaigners out of the traditional SWAPO strongholds.
    In November, after an RDP rally in the town of Outapi, a group of 
approximately 250 SWAPO supporters lined both sides of the road and 
threw stones at a convoy of RDP vehicles as it departed town. RDP party 
members retaliated, and police used teargas to control the crowd. Seven 
people were arrested, and their cases were ongoing at year's end.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was a very small Jewish 
community and no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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, 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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. Its 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 7,200 refugees and asylum 
seekers resided in Osire Settlement, formerly called the Osire Refugee 
Camp, while approximately 1,300 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 
that they were still prevented from working outside the settlement. 
Free education through grade 10 was available to all refugee children, 
and the government financially sponsored further secondary education 
for students at schools outside the settlement. The government provided 
antiretroviral therapy to refugees infected with HIV/AIDS.
    On July 8, 41 Congolese refugees voluntarily departed Osire 
Settlement, where many had been living for the past decade, and 
subsequently sought asylum in Botswana. The group, which included 23 
children, claimed that the government issued ``death threats'' against 
them after they had complained about living conditions. UNHCR 
determined that refugee claims of poor living conditions and government 
threats were unfounded, and the group decided to stay at the Mamuno 
border crossing between Namibia and Botswana rather than return to the 
camp. After the Namibian government stated that the refugees were not 
welcome to return to Osire, the government of Botswana agreed to take 
charge of the group until a decision could be reached on the group's 
request for asylum. At year's end the situation remained unresolved.
    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 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 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. Opposition members lodged numerous claims of 
harassment against SWAPO supporters.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In presidential and 
parliamentary elections held in November, SWAPO candidate Hifikepunye 
Pohamba was re-elected president with 76 percent of the vote, and SWAPO 
candidates won 54 of 72 elected National Assembly seats. International 
and domestic observers characterized both elections as free and 
reflecting the will of the electorate despite some irregularities. 
Observers criticized the inefficient vote tabulation system and the 
unequal access to media coverage and campaign financing. In the 
National Assembly, eight opposition parties won a total of 18 seats.
    Individuals and political parties could declare their candidacy 
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 Owambo tribe dominated the political 
system. Membership in the dominant SWAPO party was widely perceived to 
confer advantages, particularly in securing public sector jobs and 
government tenders.
    In August the president signed into law the Electoral Amendment 
Act, which permits citizens living abroad to vote, empowers the 
Electoral Commission of Namibia to accredit election observers, and 
provides that ballots be counted and results announced at polling 
stations immediately after polls close. The act also provides that new 
political parties advertise in the Government Gazette and that the 
names of the 500 supporters and founding members required for the 
registration of the party also appear in the Gazette.
    In August the police inspector general asked all political parties 
to stop conducting door-to-door campaigning to avoid political violence 
and preserve citizen privacy. Most political parties objected, and 
police did not enforce the request.
    On February 8, The Namibian newspaper reported that a SWAPO 
supporter armed with a pistol allegedly attacked opposition RDP member 
Sam Hamunyela, who filed a criminal charge against his attacker. The 
case was ongoing at year's end.
    The July 2008 case in which a mob of ruling SWAPO party supporters 
attacked two RDP supporters remained under investigation at year's end.
    Two days prior to the by-election for Tobias Hainyeko constituency 
in 2008, unknown assailants threw tear gas at the house of RDP 
candidate Erasmus Hendjala. A police investigation into the incident 
failed to identify the perpetrators, and the case was dropped during 
the year.
    Investigations into the incident in 2008 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 six female 
ministers, including the deputy prime minister, and five female deputy 
ministers among the 45 ministerial and deputy ministerial incumbents.
    Historic economic and educational disadvantages limited the 
participation of the indigenous San ethnic group in politics; however, 
a SWAPO member of the San community represented the community in the 
National Assembly. Virtually all of the country's other ethnic 
minorities were represented in parliament and in senior positions in 
the cabinet. Members of smaller ethnic groups held the offices of 
deputy prime minister, speaker of the National Assembly, and 
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.
    In May the government implemented the Prevention of Organized Crime 
Act, which provides for monitoring and prosecuting money laundering and 
combating financial crimes, such as tax evasion, false accounting, and 
corruption. Also in May the ACC organized the ``Great Walk against 
Corruption'' to raise awareness of the problem. Several senior 
government officials joined the march.
    During the year the ACC conducted several investigations into 
corruption, and, unlike in previous years, the ACC was not widely 
criticized for pursuing only ``small fish.'' In April the National 
Assembly criticized the ACC for publicizing cases under investigation.
    In March the ACC launched an investigation into the Bethanie 
Village Council for alleged mismanagement of funds, tender 
irregularities, and abuse of power.
    In June the ACC arrested Hardap Regional Governor Katrina Hansa-
Himarwa on two counts of corruption. She was accused of failing to 
account for 2,000 Namibian dollars ($266) from an entertainment budget 
and for misappropriating 3,290 Namibian dollars ($438) to pay a 
relative to make curtains for her residence. In September Hansa-Himarwa 
was acquitted of all charges.
    In July the ACC arrested Public Service Commissioner Teckla Lameck, 
businessman Kongo Mokaxwa, and Chinese national Yang Fan on charges of 
fraud, bribery, and corruption. Assets belonging to the three were 
frozen following accusations that they received kickbacks of 42 million 
Namibian dollars ($5.6 million) in connection with a government 
contract with a Chinese company for scanning equipment for the 
Directorate of Customs and Excise. Lameck and Mokaxwa were granted bail 
of 50,000 Namibian dollars ($6,650) each, while Yang Fan's bail was set 
at 250,000 Namibian dollars ($33,300). The court case was ongoing at 
year's end.
    Also in July, President Pohamba suspended NDF chief Lieutenant 
General Martin Shalli amid unspecified claims of corruption. The claims 
related to alleged kickbacks paid by a Chinese company which supplied 
the NDF with equipment.
    In November the ACC began investigating Immanuel Mulunga, the 
country's petroleum commissioner, regarding his role in a shareholding 
dispute over an exclusive exploration license for coal methane gas 
which involved several prominent individuals. The investigation was 
ongoing at year's end.
    Investigations into corruption cases from 2007 and 2008 continued; 
however, charges were withdrawn in some cases. On February 27, a 
magistrate dismissed the 2008 charges against Vincent Hailulu, the 
chief executive officer of the National Housing Enterprise, who was 
arrested for ``enriching himself and for not following proper hiring 
procedures.'' In addition, the magistrate ordered that the bail of 
30,000 Namibian dollars ($4,000) that Hailulu had paid be refunded. The 
ruling confirmed a February 6 court ruling that Hailulu's arrest had 
been unlawful. Nevertheless, ACC Director Paulus Noa maintained that 
investigation of corruption in the National Housing Enterprise would 
continue, and it was unclear whether Hailulu would be charged again.
    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; however, government 
officials continued to disapprove publicly of NGO criticism of the 
ruling party and government policies.
    The NSHR 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 the NSHR reported incidents of police brutality and abuse of 
power.
    Prominent SWAPO leaders continued to criticize NSHR Director Phil 
ya Nangoloh, accusing him of ``falsehoods'' and of being misguided. In 
August ya Nangoloh sued the SWAPO newspaper Namibia Today for 250,000 
Namibian dollars ($34,070) for calling him ``a noted twister of facts 
and pathological liar.'' The case was pending assignment of a court 
date at year's end.
    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 
for convicted rapists. According to police statistics for 2008, 11,611 
cases of gender-based violence were reported, 940 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.
    Domestic violence is against the law; however, domestic violence, 
including beatings and rape, was widespread. Information on enforcement 
was unavailable.
    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. On July 
31, the government launched the ``Zero Tolerance Campaign against 
Gender Based Violence, Including Human Trafficking,'' to raise public 
awareness and highlight ways the public could help address the problem.
    The law does not prohibit prostitution, which was widespread; 
however, generating an income from prostitution is illegal.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment. Statistics were unavailable, 
but the problem was believed to be widespread. No sexual harassment 
cases were filed during the year.
    There are 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. The government and NGOs made a strong effort 
to educate men and women equally in the diagnosis and treatment of 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    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 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 (jus soli) or from one's parents (jus 
sanguinis). 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 of the country 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.
    During the year the Ministry of Home Affairs, in partnership with 
the UN Children's Fund, opened offices at hospitals throughout the 
country to provide birth certificates for newborns. Officials from the 
Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration also deployed mobile units to 
towns and villages countrywide to facilitate issuance of birth 
certificates and identity documents. 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 fees for uniforms, books, boarding costs, and school 
improvement--placed a heavy burden on poor families and precluded some 
children from attending school. In general, more girls than boys were 
enrolled in secondary schools. Many San children and children from 
destitute families did not attend school.
    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 200 children 
were murdered, 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 actively to reduce the 
trauma suffered by abused children.
    Child prostitution occurred generally without third-party 
involvement and primarily 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.
    During the year the government continued to take several steps to 
provide medical care and other assistance to HIV/AIDS orphans and 
vulnerable children. For example, the government eliminated all school-
related fees and provided social grants for such children during the 
year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The Prevention of Organized Crime Act, 
which was implemented during the year, specifically criminalizes 
trafficking in persons, slavery, kidnapping, and forced labor, 
including forced prostitution, child labor, and alien smuggling. 
However, there were reports that persons were trafficked to, from, and 
within the country.
    In June an assessment by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child 
Welfare identified eight cases of confirmed trafficking and numerous 
reports of suspected trafficking. In one instance, a mother sold her 
teenage daughter into prostitution in Walvis Bay; an investigation was 
pending at year's end. In another, in Katima Mulilo, police 
investigated a Zambian man whom Namibian farmers paid to recruit young 
Zambian boys to work on their farms. The recruiter fled to Zambia 
before police could arrest him. The police returned the young boys to 
Zambia and issued a warning to the farmers.
    During the year there were reports that Zambian and Angolan 
children were trafficked to Namibia for domestic servitude, 
agricultural labor, and livestock herding. There were also reports of 
trafficking for sexual exploitation of women from Zimbabwe. The 
government's assessment conducted during the year also highlighted 
internal trafficking of girls from rural areas to urban centers to work 
as babysitters. Girls were commonly denied education, sometimes 
sexually exploited, and their income forwarded directly to their 
mothers.
    The Prevention of Organized Crime Act provides for fines of up to 
one million Namibian dollars ($133,000) or jail terms of up to 50 years 
for persons who participate in or aid and abet trafficking in persons.
    The police's Women and Child Protection Unit is responsible for 
monitoring and investigating possible cases of trafficking. The 
Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare coordinated the 
government's efforts to combat trafficking.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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. 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. The 
Office of the Prime Minister's Disability Advisory Unit was responsible 
for assisting persons with disabilities.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of 
discrimination against persons with disabilities by state-owned 
enterprises.

    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 have been 
unable to exercise these rights fully as a result of minimal access to 
education, limited economic opportunities, and their relative 
isolation. The government took measures to end societal discrimination 
against the San, including seeking their advice about proposed 
legislation on communal lands and increasing their access to education. 
Indigenous lands were effectively demarcated, but poorly managed. 
During the year the government continued promoting special projects for 
the advancement of the San community. For example, the ``Back to School 
and Stay at School for San Children Project'' has benefited more than 
100 San children by paying for their studies, upgrading the schools and 
hostels in the San community, and locating mobile schools closer to San 
villages.
    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, according to The 
Rainbow Project, which represents lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and 
transgender persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
against and stigmatization of persons living with HIV/AIDS remained a 
problem. The government supported the work of the Namibia Business 
Coalition against HIV/AIDS to eliminate discrimination in the work 
place.
    In June the LAC filed a lawsuit against the government on behalf of 
20 HIV-positive women who claimed they were sterilized against their 
will after being told the procedure was a routine treatment for HIV/
AIDS. The LAC argued that the alleged practice was discriminatory 
against persons living with HIV and interfered with their right to 
procreate. The government denied it had a policy of forced 
sterilization, and the court case was ongoing at year's end.
    In July 22 persons reached an out-of-court settlement with their 
former employer who allegedly hired a medical doctor to conduct HIV 
tests on them. The employees, who were told the tests were for 
``general hygiene,'' claimed they were unaware of the nature of these 
tests and that no pre- or post-test counseling was provided. Test 
results, including the names of all employees who had tested HIV 
positive, were allegedly displayed on a notice board at the place of 
business.

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 an organization, 
according to the 2004 Labor Force Survey.
    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 a 48-hour 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.
    The parties to a 2008 case in which a private security firm at the 
Skorpion Zinc mine used rubber bullets to disperse 50 workers reached 
an undisclosed settlement during the year.

    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. On December 14, the Supreme Court declared 
unconstitutional a provision in the 2007 Labor Act that prohibited 
employers from hiring third-party temporary or contract workers 
(``scabs'').
    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, there 
continued to be media reports that farm workers, including some 
children on communal farms, and domestic workers often received 
inadequate compensation for their labor and were subject to strict 
control by employers. Given the Ministry of Labor's resource 
constraints in vehicles, budget, and personnel, as well as difficulty 
in gaining access to some large communal and family-owned commercial 
farms, labor inspectors sometimes found it difficult to investigate 
possible labor code violations.

    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 ($2,660) 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 in construction, unloaded trucks, pushed 
trolleys, begged on the streets, and worked in family businesses. 
Children below the age of 14 often worked on family-owned commercial 
farms and in the informal sector, and some also worked in communal 
areas or assisted parents working in the charcoal industry.
    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 August 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.
    During the year the Ministry of Labor established an interagency 
Project Advisory Committee on Child Labor (PACC) to oversee 
implementation of the 2008 Action Plan for the Elimination of Child 
Labor in Namibia. PACC facilitated the review of national and 
international policies and legislation, developed a list of hazardous 
child labor activities, conducted an in-depth study of child labor in 
the agriculture sector, and analyzed the impact of HIV/AIDS on child 
labor. PACC also identified implementing agencies that could assist in 
preventing and removing children from child labor situations. In 
November PACC trained labor inspectors, social workers, and police 
officers to enforce child labor law better.
    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 authority to implement and 
enforce child labor laws, but generally used regular labor inspections 
as well as other monitoring mechanisms for orphans and 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 has introduced 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 print 
and 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, and failing to 
respect work-hour regulations for public holidays and Sundays. During 
the year there were reports that some mining companies denied workers 
sanitary and safe working and living conditions.
    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; 
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.

                               __________

                                 NIGER

    Niger is a republic that restored its multiparty system in 1999 
following coups in 1996 and 1999; it has a population estimated at 15.4 
million. In 2004 voters elected Mamadou Tandja to a second five-year 
presidential term in an election that international observers deemed 
generally free and fair. The ruling coalition of the National Movement 
for the Development of Society (MNSD) and the Democratic and Social 
Convention (CDS), joined by four other parties, won a majority of 
national assembly seats. President Tandja's second--and final, due to 
constitutional limits--five-year term was due to expire on December 22, 
2009; however, he organized a controversial referendum that established 
the Sixth Republic and allowed him to remain in office for three 
additional years and that eliminated the term-limits provision, 
although this provision was specifically prohibited from revision in 
the 1999 constitution. To consolidate the power needed to approve these 
changes, President Tandja dissolved the National Assembly and the 
Constitutional Court, modified the electoral code, restricted basic 
freedoms, curtailed press freedom, and granted himself emergency powers 
to rule by decree and executive order. In 2007 the Tuareg rebel group 
Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ) launched a series of attacks 
against military and strategic installations in the north. The 
frequency and intensity of attacks diminished during the year, but the 
government continued to extend the state of alert declared in 2007 in 
90-day increments until November 26, when the president lifted the 
state of alert. While civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces, there were instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted independently of government 
authority.
    Government 
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
 did not improve from the 
previous year. Human rights abuses included the undemocratic 
manipulation of the constitution and the electoral process; 
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; 
excessive use of force and other abuses in internal conflict; 
restrictions on press freedom; forcible dispersal of demonstrators; 
restrictions on freedom of movement; official corruption; official 
impunity; societal discrimination and violence against women; female 
genital mutilation (FGM); trafficking in persons; the practice of 
slavery by some groups; and child labor.
    On April 4-6, the government and Tuareg rebels began peace talks in 
Tripoli under Libyan mediation, which resulted in direct meetings in 
Niger and led at least 1,000 rebels to surrender their arms during the 
second week of October. On November 26, the government lifted the state 
of alert it had imposed in 2007.
    Claiming he was responding to calls by allies and ordinary citizens 
to extend his term and complete some of the projects he initiated, 
President Tandja organized a controversial referendum and legislative 
elections after he dissolved the National Assembly, assumed emergency 
powers, dissolved the Constitutional Court, suspended related 
constitutional provisions, and amended the electoral code. The 
opposition, trade unions, and civil society organizations boycotted 
both consultations, arguing that the president's move was 
unconstitutional. International, regional, and bilateral bodies also 
rejected it. This situation prompted a series of demonstrations 
involving arbitrary detentions, beatings, and mistreatment of 
protesters, and restrictions on freedoms of assembly and of the press 
(see sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
                        
                       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 were responsible for the deaths of civilians in 
connection with the conflict in the north (see section 1.g.).
    Disputes between herders and farmers over land rights and grazing 
areas continued and resulted in several deaths.
    For example, on March 6, unidentified gunmen killed at least 10 
persons and burned hundreds of hectares of pasture in attacks on two 
herders' camps. State radio reported that an area of pasture estimated 
at 800 hectares (30 square miles) was burned in the attacks, close to 
the town of Mangaize (Ouallam) in Tillabery Region, 80 miles north of 
Niamey near the border with Mali. Tillabery regional authorities who 
visited the site stated that they would take every measure to find and 
arrest the killers. The case was settled during the reconciliation 
forum in April.
    On March 20, dozens of sedentary villagers attacked a Fulani herder 
camp in Aboyok (Filingue), Tillabery Region, killing 18 persons, 
including 12 women, three children, and three elderly persons. The 
assailants also abducted and beat two young persons, one of whom 
reportedly died. Seventeen others were injured in the incident. 
Villagers also burned the camp's school, several huts, and large areas 
of grazing land, and stole cash and livestock. Authorities arrested 13 
suspects. The case was settled during the reconciliation forum in 
April.
    On August 23, a group of eight armed Fulani stopped a passenger 
vehicle traveling from Baleyara to Bani Bangou, near the village of 
Dangara, Tillabery Region. They stripped the passengers of their 
possessions, ordered everyone off the bus, and separated passengers 
into Fulani and Djerma groups. The attackers then opened fire on the 
Djerma group, immediately killing seven. Three others later died of 
injuries sustained during this attack.
    On August 23, sedentary villagers carried out organized attacks on 
an unnamed Fulani herder community in Tillabery Region. According to 
local human rights groups, local authorities, and the Fulani community, 
these attacks resulted in 13 deaths (including four women, four 
children, and two elderly individuals); five victims suffered serious 
injuries. Authorities continue to investigate these killings.
    On September 1, one person was killed and another injured in a 
skirmish between Malian herders and Nigerien villagers in Wanzarbe, 
Tillabery Region, near the Malian border.
    On November 17, between Chinagoder and Banibangou in Tillabery 
Region, unidentified armed individuals killed a young man riding a 
motorcycle. On November 18, unidentified individuals attacked a nomad 
camp in the same area, killing three persons. Two tribal leaders were 
placed under custody as investigations continued.
    The September 2008 community conflict that resulted in the death of 
12 villagers in Chiwilli was settled via a forgiveness and 
reconciliation forum. In April the prime minister chaired a forum for 
the reconciliation of populations in northern Tillabery Region. Those 
in attendance urged the various communities to ``forgive one another.''
    There were no further developments regarding either the 2007 
dispute in Zinder Region that resulted in four deaths or the 2007 clash 
that left seven dead and seven injured in Tillabery Region.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances; however, in December 2008 the UN secretary general's 
special representative for Niger, former Canadian ambassador Robert 
Fowler, and his special assistant Louis Guay and their driver 
disappeared. Kidnappers reported to be members of Al-Qaeda in the 
Maghreb freed the driver in Mali. He returned to Niger on March 26, 
after more than 100 days in captivity. The two UN officials were 
released on April 22.
    On January 22, unknown assailants kidnapped four European tourists 
in Niger close to the border with Mali. On April 22, captors released 
two of the hostages (one Swiss woman and one German woman) in Mali. 
They killed a third hostage (a British man) in May and released the 
last hostage (a Swiss man) on July 12.
    On December 28, unidentified armed individuals attacked a convoy of 
Saudi citizens en route to the Malian border, approximately 21 miles 
from Tillabery. The assailants killed three persons on the spot and 
injured four. One of the injured subsequently died at a Niamey 
hospital. The criminals tied and left the convoy's guides (two Malian 
nationals), who later managed to set themselves free. Authorities 
detained several individuals and investigations continued at year's 
end.
    On December 30-31, an armed group, reportedly drug traffickers, 
clashed with the national army at Telemses, northwest of Tahoua near 
the Malian border. Resulting skirmishes took place over several days 
and left seven government soldiers, nine traffickers, and one civilian 
dead. The army reported seizing one vehicle and several weapons and 
taking an undetermined number of prisoners.

    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 and the MNJ beat and tortured 
civilians in connection with the conflict in the north, where fighting 
between government and rebel forces also resulted in civilian injuries 
(see section 1.g.).
    Police reportedly mistreated detained protesters, including 
politicians and civil society activists, and forcibly dispersed 
demonstrations, which resulted in injuries.
    Disputes between farmers and herders resulted in deaths and 
injuries.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--There were 38 
penitentiaries with an estimated total of 7,000 detainees countywide. 
Prison conditions were poor and life threatening. Prisons were 
underfunded, understaffed, and overcrowded. For example, Niamey's civil 
prison, a facility built for 350, held 861 inmates, including 654 
awaiting trial and 207 sentenced; there were 35 women and 26 juveniles 
among the detainees. Family visits were allowed, and prisoners could 
receive supplemental food, medicine, and other necessities from their 
families; however, nutrition, sanitation, and health conditions were 
poor, and deaths occurred from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
    Corruption among prison staff continued. 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.
    Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners.
    Human rights observers, including the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC), the governmental National Human Rights and 
Fundamental Liberties Commission, 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.
    On March 2, the Ministry of Justice and the ICRC organized a 
training session for the penitentiary administration, aimed at 
improving detention conditions.
    On October 5-15, the National School of Public Health (ENSP) 
conducted a capacity-building course intended to train and upgrade the 
skills of 29 members of the National Intervention and Security Forces 
(FNIS) who provide health care in various penitentiaries. The FNIS and 
the penitentiary administration funded the training with support from a 
foreign embassy.

    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.
    The state of alert in the north allowed security forces to arrest 
and detain individuals without charge indefinitely (see section 1.g.).

    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 Intervention and 
Security Forces (FNIS), under the Interior Ministry, are responsible 
for domestic security and the protection of high-level officials and 
government buildings. The national police, also under the Interior 
Ministry, are charged with urban law enforcement.
    The police were ineffective, largely due to a lack of basic 
supplies such as vehicle fuel, radios, uniforms, handcuffs, batons, and 
badges. 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, 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 in areas outside the north. Judges 
and prosecutors weigh evidence and issue warrants accordingly. Persons 
are brought before an independent judiciary. However, there were 
reports that several persons were detained arbitrarily under the state 
of alert. The law allows individuals to be detained initially for up to 
48 hours without charge and allows an additional 48-hour detention 
period 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 penalty of fewer than 10 
years' imprisonment. Those arrested must be notified of their right to 
a lawyer within 24 hours. 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 journalists and political and 
civil society activists during the year.
    On July 2, police released from custody Marou Amadou, leader of the 
United Front for the Safeguarding of Democratic Achievements (FUSAD, a 
civil society umbrella group made up of 22 labor unions and other 
organizations) and member of the Independent National Electoral 
Commission (CENI), after detaining him for several days on charges of 
provoking and demoralizing the security and defense forces. On August 
10, the judicial police again arrested Amadou on charges of 
``undermining state security'' following a FUSAD statement rejecting 
the August 4 referendum results and denouncing President Tandja's 
regime. Amadou was released on August 11, but security forces arrested 
him again and transferred him to the judicial police for questioning on 
new charges of ``operating a nondeclared organization.'' On August 13, 
Amadou appeared before the investigating judge who determined that he 
should remain in custody pending further examination of the case. He 
was transferred to a maximum security prison where he remained in 
detention after various failed attempts to obtain provisional release. 
He was released on bail on September 15. On September 17, Amadou moved 
from his house to an undisclosed location following rumors that the 
police were trying to arrest him again after he criticized the regime 
in a press conference on September 16. He reappeared on September 21, 
and was able to travel overseas on October 4. He returned on October 
29.
    On July 18, security forces detained Niger Party for Democracy and 
Socialism (PNDS) member Alassane Karfi for questioning following his 
July 17 remarks on Dounia Television about opposing the August 4 
referendum. On July 19, security forces transferred Karfi to Koutoukale 
maximum security prison based on orders from the public prosecutor. The 
Tribunal of Niamey granted him provisional release on October 13.
    On July 21, security forces detained former foreign minister, 
National Assembly deputy, and deputy chairperson of the PNDS Bazoum 
Mohamed and questioned him regarding his participation in opposition 
efforts to organize a boycott of the August referendum.
    Between September 3 and 5, Niamey police summoned, questioned, and 
detained 35 former National Assembly deputies, mostly from opposition 
parties; members of the administrative staff; and vendors. Reportedly, 
the arrests related to ``illegally received amounts.'' These involved 
deputies accepting benefits that they had approved for themselves by 
motion rather than through enactment of a law. The Constitutional Court 
found against this maneuver, whereupon the deputies passed a law to the 
same effect. The government took issue with their retaining the excess 
benefits from the period before the passage of the law. The ``illegally 
received amounts'' involved 124 National Assembly members during the 
previous three legislatures. On September 7 and 8, the 35 arrested 
former parliamentarians appeared in court. Three former lawmakers, two 
staff members, and two vendors were jailed; 28 deputies were arraigned 
and granted provisional release.
    Police occasionally conducted sweeps to detain suspected criminals.
    There were serious backlogs in the judicial system. 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; however, some persons waited as long as six 
years to be tried. At year's end, 76 percent of the prisoners in 
Niamey's civil prison were awaiting trial. Trial delays occurred due to 
factors including lengthy legal procedures, inadequate resources, staff 
shortages, and corruption.

    Amnesty.--On October 23, President Tandja granted amnesty to Tuareg 
rebels who had given up arms, to security forces, and to all those 
involved in the conflict in the northern region.

    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. These defendants were seldom called back for trial, had 
complete freedom of movement, and could leave the country.
    The Court of Appeals reviews questions of fact and law, while the 
Supreme Court reviews application of the law and constitutional 
questions. The High Court of Justice (HCJ) deals with cases involving 
senior government officials. The justice system also includes civil 
criminal courts, customary courts, traditional mediation, and a 
military court. The military court provides the same rights as civil 
criminal courts; however, customary courts do not. The military court 
cannot try civilians.
    Under customary courts and traditional mediation, individuals do 
not have the same legal protections as those using the formal court 
systems. Traditional chiefs can act as mediators and counselors. They 
have authority to arbitrate in many customary law matters, including 
marriage, inheritance, land, and community disputes, but not in 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 
knowledgeable in the society's 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, including at public expense for minors and indigent defendants 
charged with crimes carrying a sentence of 10 years or more. 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, to 
confront witnesses, and to 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.
    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.

    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 
entity 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.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
In 2007 the MNJ began a series of attacks against military and 
strategic installations in the country's uranium-rich northern region. 
The MNJ demanded greater regional autonomy and a larger share of the 
region's resources and claimed the government had not honored 
provisions of the 1995 peace accord that ended a five-year Tuareg 
rebellion. The government stated it had fulfilled most of the peace 
accord provisions. In response to the attacks, the government sent at 
least 4,000 troops to the region, where they continued to operate under 
special powers the president granted under the state of alert declared 
in 2007, until the government on November 26 lifted the state of alert. 
The state of alert allowed the government to arrest and detain persons 
without charge indefinitely, restrict freedom of movement, and ban live 
broadcasts discussing the government's policy in the north.

    Killings.--Fighting between government and rebel forces resulted in 
the deaths of several civilians during the year. For example, on 
February 13, the army reported having killed one civilian in Tamazlak.
    Soldiers killed suspected informants and rebel collaborators. There 
were reports that the army killed at least four civilians in the north 
during the period of January 9 to March 19.
    There were no developments regarding the government's investigation 
into the army's 2007 killing of six civilians and an off-duty police 
officer near Tiguidit. In late September the victims' families decided 
to refer the case to the Economic Community of West African States 
(ECOWAS) Court of Justice, with a complaint against the government for 
failure to investigate the case and to bring suspected perpetrators to 
justice.
    During the year landmines killed and wounded several persons, 
according to press reports. The government and the MNJ accused each 
other of laying the landmines.
    According to local media, on March 8, a landmine exploded and 
injured three persons in Dao Timi, Bilma; on September 12, a landmine 
accidentally killed at least one government soldier and injured several 
others in Gougaram, Arlit.

    Abductions.--Local human rights organizations and media published a 
list of at least 50 individuals held since 2007 in connection with the 
conflict in detention centers in various localities. While several were 
released in March, there were no credible reports that other detainees 
were released (see section 1.d.).
    In February security forces detained four Swiss nationals in 
Dirkou, a town and military outpost located in the country's northeast 
corner, within the area under the state of alert. The four had traveled 
throughout the country and apparently were en route to Chad when 
security forces detained them and escorted them to Niamey.
    There were several cases of abduction by alleged Tuareg rebels. On 
October 7, two unidentified gunmen briefly detained four employees of a 
mining company (three French citizens and one Nigerien) near the town 
of Arlit. The captors forced their victims to drive approximately 15 
miles from the town, then forced them out and stole the vehicle.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--There were reports of 
torture by both government soldiers and Tuareg rebels.
    There were reports that the army arrested several civilians and 
beat and detained them in military barracks before turning some over to 
law enforcement officials. Security forces held some individuals 
incommunicado.
    Alleged rebels stopped transport vehicles, beat passengers, and 
stole their valuables.

    Child Soldiers.--There were no reports of children being used in 
conflicts.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--Due to the peace efforts that 
reduced the conflict during the year and the recent disarmament of 
rebel groups, there were reports that displaced populations were 
gradually returning to their villages. Humanitarian organizations 
estimated that of approximately 5,000 persons who fled Iferouane, only 
an estimated 500 were still displaced at the end of August. The state 
of emergency still in effect in the region and landmines on all major 
roads had limited the government and humanitarian organizations' access 
and assistance north of Agadez.

Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--The constitution provides for 
freedom of expression; however, the government did not respect press 
freedom in practice, particularly in relation to the conflict in the 
north. Journalists practiced self-censorship. The state of alert in the 
north restricted journalists' travel and their reporting on the 
conflict (see section 1.g.).
    Individuals generally could criticize the government publicly or 
privately without reprisal; however, the government attempted to impede 
criticism.
    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.
    International media were not allowed to operate freely. The 
government did not allow them to cover events freely in the north (see 
section 1.g.). BBC World Service was available in Niamey and Zinder. 
Private radio stations carried Voice of America and Deutsche Welle.
    Security forces arrested and detained journalists during the year, 
mostly in relation to reporting on the conflict in the north. Security 
forces also arrested journalists under libel laws for reporting on 
other subjects.
    The government suspended or closed several private media outlets 
during the year. One radio station--Sahara FM--remained closed at 
year's end. Government officials continued to use criminal libel laws 
and the media regulatory body to intimidate critics.
    On January 23, judicial police arrested Boussada Ben Ali, 
publication director for independent weekly newspaper L'Action, 
following a complaint filed by the minister of economy and finance. Ben 
Ali was arrested for allegedly ``divulging information likely to 
undermine public order.'' The charge stemmed from an article published 
in the January 13 edition of L'Action, which questioned the minister's 
awarding of a contract for the procurement of medical equipment. The 
same article also reported that the minister had inappropriately 
diverted CFA 127 billion (approximately $283 million) from a petroleum 
agreement between Niger and China. On January 17, the High Council for 
Communications (CSC), the governmental media regulatory body, summoned 
Ben Ali to watch a video it said disproved his claim. The High Council 
ordered him to retract the story, but he refused. The Tribunal of 
Niamey arraigned Ben Ali and remanded him into custody on January 26. 
On February 6, the court convicted him of ``disseminating information 
likely to undermine the public order'' and sentenced him to three 
months in prison. He was released on April 26.
    On April 1, police arrested and detained Abibou Garba, owner of the 
private media group TV and Radio Dounia, on charges of ``broadcasting 
false information.'' Garba's arrest resulted from a March 27 debate 
broadcast on Dounia TV on French President Sarkozy's visit to Niger. 
During the debate, a civil society activist alleged that the true 
motive of Sarkozy's visit was to attend to private business matters 
related to French energy company Areva. Authorities provisionally 
released Garba on April 2 pending trial. No trial date was announced.
    On April 6, the judicial police arrested and detained Ali Soumana, 
publisher of the independent newspaper Le Courrier, following a 
defamation complaint brought against him by the managing director of 
the state-owned water company SPEN, based on an article printed in the 
newspaper's March 26 issue accusing SPEN's manager of engaging in 
``dirty business deals'' with a Chinese geological engineering company, 
which the newspaper claimed was corrupt, deceptive, and blacklisted by 
the World Bank. On April 7, the state prosecutor charged Soumana with 
two counts of ``defamation'' and ``publishing false information'' and 
released him until his trial on a date that had not been determined.
    On April 29-30, the judicial police temporarily summoned Moussa 
Aksar, director of publication of the independent newspaper 
L'Evenement, in connection with an article which called for 
parliamentary investigations into certain mining licenses and a 
contract for one billion CFA (approximately $2.2 million) that the 
minister of the interior awarded to President Tandja's brother for the 
purchase of police motorcycles. When the police requested that he 
disclose his sources, Aksar refused to do so.
    On June 29, the CSC ordered TV and Radio Dounia to suspend 
broadcasting indefinitely. The CSC president signed the order despite 
the objections of a majority of CSC board members, who issued a public 
statement to denounce the procedure as improper. Independent media 
organizations issued a strong statement criticizing Dounia's 
suspension. Dounia reopened on July 3 following a legal reversal of the 
CSC's suspension order. This was the second recent court decision 
vacating a CSC suspension order in Dounia's favor. On June 17, the 
Supreme Court ruled that the CSC overstepped its legal authority in 
suspending the Dounia Group for one month. The Supreme Court also ruled 
that the CSC's decision to suspend Dounia in August 2008 was 
unwarranted and ordered the government to compensate Dounia for lost 
revenue.
    On July 8, President Tandja signed a resolution to amend Law No. 
2006-24 of July 24, 2006 and greatly expand the authority of the CSC 
chairman. The resolution was implemented under the president's 
invocation of Article 53, granting himself emergency authority to rule 
by decree. The CSC chairman was empowered to take preventive measures 
without prior notification or approval from other council members if he 
determines that a media outlet has published or broadcast information 
deemed threatening to the state or public order. Under the new 
resolution, the CSC chairman is required to inform other council 
members only after disciplinary action has been taken, whereas until 
then such action could only be done with the approval of a quorum of 
council members, formal notification, and a hearing. The political 
opposition and defenders of press freedoms decried this attempt to 
constrain the private press.
    Between July 20 and 26, independent media organizations went on 
strike to protest the president's unilateral decision to restrict their 
activities by expanding the authority of the CSC chairman. They decried 
the new powers of the CSC chairman to close independent media operators 
without due process, which they claimed undermined democracy and the 
rule of law during a critical period of national political debate. They 
demanded an immediate repeal of this decision.
    On August 1, police summoned eight editors of independent local 
media organizations for questioning, just three days before the 
constitutional referendum intended to extend President Tandja's term of 
office. Police questioned the eight journalists (Moussa Aksar of 
L'Evenement, Ibrahim Souley of L'Enqueteur, Oumarou Keita of Le 
Republicain, Zakari Alzouma of Opinions, Abard Mouddour Zakara of 
L'Actualite, Assane Sadou of Le Democrate, Abdoulaye Tiemogo of Le 
Canard Dechaine, and Ali Soumana of Le Courrier) on reports published 
the previous week implicating one of the president's sons in a deal 
alleged to have netted him millions of dollars in kickbacks for 
brokering a uranium mining contract (see section 4). After being 
questioned and accused of defamation, six of the eight journalists were 
released after several hours without charges.
    Two of the journalists, Tiemogo and Soumana, were held at the main 
police station in Niamey until their trials on August 11. In addition 
to questioning regarding the corruption charges levied against the 
president's son, officials accused Tiemogo of libel for a report 
published by his newspaper implicating the minister of justice in the 
mismanagement of 220 million CFA (approximately $490,000), meant for a 
study on slavery in Niger, while he served as the president of the 
National Commission for Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties 
(CNDHLF). The police also questioned Tiemogo regarding a statement he 
made on Dounia TV on July 31 claiming that the new international arrest 
warrant for former prime minister Hama Amadou on charges of ``illicit 
enrichment'' and money laundering was politically motivated. Police 
accused Tiemogo of ``discrediting the Ministry of Justice.''
    On August 18, Tiemogo was sentenced to a three-month jail term for 
``discrediting a judicial decision'' because of his statements 
criticizing the prosecutor' decision to issue an international arrest 
warrant for former prime minister Amadou. Tiemogo appealed the 
sentence. An appeal hearing took place on October 12; a verdict to 
reduce his sentence to two months (time already served) was delivered 
on October 26, and Tiemogo was released.
    On August 31, security officers forcibly moved Tiemogo from the 
Niamey National Hospital, where he was being treated for acute malaria, 
to a remote prison in Ouallam, 60 miles north of Niamey. Tiemogo's 
transfer was reportedly a deliberate attempt to isolate him and put his 
health at risk.
    Officials detained Ali Soumana of Le Courrier in connection with a 
report that claimed that the CNDHLF misused 350 million CFA 
(approximately $780,000) allocated for oversight of the August 4 
constitutional referendum. Soumana was granted provisional release on 
August 5. No date was set for his trial.
    On August 2, 10 independent media organizations released a 
statement criticizing the government and police attempts to block 
investigations of corruption and to prevent antireferendum voices from 
being heard. Media organizations also said that the CSC president 
blamed the deputy director of Dounia Media Group for granting nearly 
unlimited air time to opposition leaders who called for action to 
prevent the referendum. The statement further noted that the minister 
of the interior had forbidden a Dounia journalist to report on citizens 
who planned to abstain from voting in the August 4 referendum. The 
Africa Program coordinator of the New York-based nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said, ``The 
detention of Abdoulaye Tiemogo and Ali Soumana is part of a disturbing 
trend of harassment of independent journalists reporting on corruption 
in Niger.''
    On August 5, the police summoned the editor of Dounia TV, Seyni 
Amadou, and the director of Dounia Radio, Mahirou Amadou, for 
questioning about the July 31 Tiemogo interview. They were released 
without charge.
    On September 20, security officials arrested the director of the 
private news weekly Le Temoin, Ibrahim Soumana Gaoh, for alleged 
defamation after publishing an article accusing the then minister of 
communications and government spokesperson, Ben Omar, of embezzlement. 
On September 23, the Tribunal of Niamey prosecutor charged Gaoh with 
defamation and ordered that he be held without bail until his trial on 
September 29. Security officials transferred Gaoh from police custody 
to the Niamey civil prison. On September 29, the court released him and 
dropped charges against him after his newspaper ran a full retraction 
in its September 28 edition. The retraction apologized for the false 
accusation linking the former minister of communication to a financial 
scandal at the telecommunications firm SONITEL.
    Sahara FM, a private radio station in Agadez, which the CSC closed 
in April 2008 for broadcasting interviews with alleged victims of abuse 
by government troops, remained closed.
    There were no further developments regarding journalists Aksar and 
Aboubakar's appeal of the November 2008 suspended sentences against 
them.
    There were no further developments in the case of journalist Moussa 
Kaka (see section 1.d.). There were no further developments in the case 
of Air Info editor Ibrahim Manzo (see section 1.d.).

    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, few citizens used the Internet, due to lack of infrastructure. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 0.54 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, police forcibly dispersed demonstrators. The government 
retained authority to prohibit gatherings under tense social conditions 
or if organizers did not provide 48-hour advance notice.
    On February 26, three civil society umbrella groups organized a 
protest march and rally to denounce a bill increasing National Assembly 
members' allowances. There were reports that police used tear gas to 
prevent students from attending the protest.
    On April 1, students staged a strike and violent protests in 
support of contract teachers in their dispute against the government 
over improvement of their working and living conditions. Police 
arrested two student leaders. On April 7, the Tribunal of Zinder 
charged the students with damaging private vehicles. On April 8, while 
the strike continued, the governor of Zinder terminated contract 
teachers and requested labor inspectors to prevent the private sector 
from employing them. On April 8, authorities released the students.
    On April 13, supporters of former prime minister Hama Amadou 
attempted to prevent a meeting of the new MNSD leadership. Police 
intervened to disperse the crowd. At least 20 protesters were injured.
    On April 13, students demonstrated in Tahoua. Police arrested 52 
students; they released 35 the same day and kept the 17 others in 
custody. On April 14, the Tribunal of Tahoua dismissed the cases of 14 
students and granted provisional release to the other three.
    On June 1, an antireferendum demonstration turned into a riot in 
the city of Dosso, located 85 miles east of Niamey. Local police and 
armed forces with support from additional troops from Niamey restored 
order. Protesters set fire to the traditional chief's house and the 
governor's office and damaged several vehicles and other property. The 
police arrested and detained 11 local opposition members. The Niamey 
Court of Appeals heard the defendants' appeal and released them on 
November 3.
    On July 15, security forces used batons and tear gas to break up a 
rally by a group of women activists associated with the FDD 
demonstrating in support of the dissolved Constitutional Court and its 
former president.
    On July 17, pro-Tazarce youths (``Tazarce'' is Hausa for ``let it 
continue'') who supported an extension of President Tandja's presidency 
interrupted an antireferendum conference being held in Zinder.
    On July 22, the government requested the judiciary to ban the 
planned strike by the Inter-Union of Nigerien Workers (ITN), an 
association of the nation's seven labor confederations. A Niamey court 
ruled the threatened strike to be illegal. The ITN notified the 
government of its intention to hold a 48-hour strike to commence on 
July 23 in opposition to the referendum. The strike took place on July 
30.
    On July 23, the mayor of Niamey's Commune III refused to grant a 
rally permit to opposition groups which planned to demonstrate on July 
26. Opposition representatives declared that they reserved the right to 
protest with or without rally permits through the referendum period. On 
the other hand, a proreferendum rally under the auspices of the first 
lady took place in Niamey on July 25.
    On August 11, between 2,000 and 3,000 persons gathered outside the 
courthouse and staged a protest when police denied some of them access 
to FUSAD president Amadou's hearing. Police used tear gas and batons to 
disperse the crowd and detained an estimated 50 persons. Several 
individuals were injured including a journalist who suffered a broken 
wrist. The police released all those detained the same day.
    On August 22, police prevented the CFDR from organizing a rally 
against the new constitution in front of the National Assembly. 
Municipal authorities had banned the rally, but the CFDR vowed to defy 
the injunction. When they were denied access to the National Assembly, 
hundreds of protesters moved to the Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and 
Progress (ANDP) headquarters, where they met. The police used tear gas 
and batons to disperse the crowd, and made several arrests. A few 
protesters suffered minor injuries in the confrontation with the 
police. Violent demonstrations were reported in Tahoua and Tillabery, 
where police arrested several persons. The CFDR reported that police 
arrested 16 individuals in Niamey, 11 in Tillabery, and 14 in Tahoua. 
Among those arrested were former member of parliament Soumana Sanda, a 
supporter of former prime minister Amadou, and Mamane Wada, secretary 
general of the Nigerien Association for the Fight Against Corruption 
(Niger's chapter of Transparency International). On August 27, the 
Tribunal of Niamey granted provisional release to 11 of the 18 persons 
detained, including Wada. The seven others were released during the 
first week of September.
    On August 30, police forcibly dispersed a rally by the CFDR 
supporting the reinstatement of former members of the National 
Assembly. Police tracked down, beat, and injured several persons, 
including reportedly innocent onlookers.
    On September 21, Zinder regional police used tear gas and batons to 
disperse the population of Korin Bakoye for celebrating Eid al-Fitr one 
day later than the government's announced Eid date.
    On October 6, national police prevented 67 former National Assembly 
members from entering the headquarters of an opposition political party 
where they hoped to hold a meeting.
    On October 27, the mayor of Niamey's Commune III refused to grant 
the Coordination of Niger's Civil Society (CSCN), another opposition 
umbrella group and member of the CFDR opposition coalition, a permit to 
demonstrate on October 31. The mayor claimed that ``according to 
information in his possession'' the proposed protest would disturb 
public order and that he did not have enough forces to police the 
event.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association; however, citizens may not form political parties based on 
ethnicity, religion, or region.
    During the year the government attempted to restrict the activities 
of various civil society associations.
    For example, on August 13, the government brought a case against 
FUSAD president Amadou on charges of ``operating a nonauthorized 
organization.''
    On October 22, the Ministry of Youth and Sports sent a notice of 
eviction to Mahaman Hamissou, president of the CSCN, for alleged 
nonpayment of rent by his association. The CSCN rents an office within 
the government-owned Seyni Kountche Stadium. Hamissou said that he had 
receipts for all payments made during the year and denounced the 
government action as an attempt to restrict the activities of his 
association.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free 
practice of religion. Although the minister of religious affairs 
attempted to ban religious speech he considered threatening to public 
order, the government generally respected religious freedom in 
practice.
    Islam was the dominant religion, and the Islamic Association, which 
acted as an official advisory committee to the government on religious 
matters, broadcast biweekly on the government- controlled television 
station. Government-controlled media broadcast Christian programs only 
on special occasions, such as Christmas and Easter, although 
independent media regularly broadcast such programs.
    Religious organizations must register with the Interior Ministry. 
Registration is a formality, and there was no evidence that the 
government favored one religious group over another or that it ever had 
refused to register a religious organization. Approval is based on 
submission of required legal documents and the vetting of organization 
leaders.
    The government monitors religious expression it views as 
potentially threatening to public order or national unity.
    On March 11, the Niger Islamic Council (CIN), which includes the 
Islamic Association as a member, recommended to the government that 
sermons be regulated by requiring the CIN's approval of any preaching 
sessions. There were no reports that the government enforced this 
proposal in practice.
    On March 17, the minister of religious affairs issued a statement, 
which constituted a ban, on national radio and television, regarding 
the practice of public preaching, to prevent ``provocative sermons.'' 
The minister banned ``parallel preaching'' in markets or other 
``inappropriate locations.''
    On September 21, Zinder regional police used tear gas and batons to 
disperse the population of Korin Bakoye for celebrating Eid al-Fitr one 
day later than the government's announced Eid date.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, 
belief, or practice, and prominent societal leaders took steps to 
promote religious freedom during the year. However, on March 3, two 
Muslim sects clashed in Niamey over the interpretation of Islamic 
doctrine. The police dispersed the crowd and briefly detained several 
protagonists.
    On February 24, the Catholic Church in Niamey conducted an 
evaluation of its training that promoted interfaith sensitivity and 
dialogue. Evaluators recommended continued dissemination of positive 
views shared by Muslims and Christians and called on religious leaders 
to continue educating people to avoid behavior and language likely to 
sow discord.
    There was no significant Jewish community, and there were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation; 
however, the government continued to restrict freedom of movement in 
the north (see section 1.g.). The government also restricted foreign 
travel by former parliamentarians.
    Throughout the country security forces at checkpoints monitored the 
movement of persons and goods, particularly near major population 
centers. They sometimes demanded bribes. Transportation unions and 
civil society groups continued to criticize such practices. During the 
year bandits set up roadblocks along highways where they robbed and 
killed travelers.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons of concern.
    Following the November 3-8 arrests of former parliamentarians, the 
government banned foreign travel for 124 former National Assembly 
members for an unspecified period. Former National Assembly members 
accused President Tandja of harassing them because of their refusal to 
approve a three-year extension to his original mandate and their 
intention to investigate alleged corruption scandals involving the 
executive branch regarding the allocation of mining permits and 
management of funds generated by the mining sector. According to former 
lawmakers, this resulted in the dissolution of the National Assembly 
and the organization of the controversial referendum.
    For example, authorities told Fatouma Zara Zeine, a member of the 
dissolved National Assembly, to refrain from traveling to the United 
States on September 4. On September 10, police at Niamey Airport denied 
former deputy and opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou access to his 
flight to Benin and confiscated his passport. Subsequently, Issoufou 
received a summons requesting him to appear before a judge in 
connection with the National Assembly-related travel ban (see section 
2.b.). Issoufou lodged a complaint regarding the travel restriction. On 
September 22, the court ordered that his passport be returned and he be 
allowed to travel.
    The law prohibits forced exile, and there were no reports that the 
government used it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The conflict in the north 
displaced many persons (see section 1.g.).
    International humanitarian organizations also reported that 
community conflict between farmers and herders especially in northern 
Tillabery Region caused displacement. 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 food for 
IDPs. In April, following a request from the Agadez governor's office, 
the World Food Program delivered 690 metric tons of food to the 
northern communes, intended for 20,000 persons. According to local 
NGOs, approximately 100 school children were displaced from Iferouane. 
Agadez regional authorities stated they allowed many displaced parents 
from Iferouane and Tchintelous who settled in Agadez City or Arlit to 
register their children in public schools. Authorities assigned 
teachers to the schools and supplied those that had canteens.
    With the easing of the conflict in 2009, many IDPs started to 
return home. According to NGO reports, the return movement to Iferouane 
started at the beginning of the year with dozens of persons with 
support from the local town council. According to the UN Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of July, five 
humanitarian clusters (health, nutrition, food security, education, and 
water, sanitation and hygiene) were functioning across the country and 
OCHA had opened a suboffice in Agadez.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. However, its laws do not provide for granting asylum or refugee 
status in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention 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 352 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, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic and generally free and fair elections held on the 
basis of universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2004 voters elected 
Mamadou Tandja to his second five-year presidential term with 65 
percent of the vote in an election that international observers 
described as generally free and fair, despite some irregularities on 
election day. However, citizens' right to choose their leaders was 
subsequently abridged by the president's actions, widely viewed as 
unconstitutional and taken to consolidate his hold on power.
    On August 4, the government organized a controversial referendum on 
a new constitution after President Tandja dissolved the National 
Assembly, assumed emergency powers, dissolved the Constitutional Court, 
suspended related constitutional provisions, and amended the electoral 
code.
    Opposition parties, civil society organizations, labor unions, and 
regional and international bodies in vain pressed the president to 
refrain from organizing the referendum. Although accounts of the level 
of voter participation vary widely, the CENI claimed that 92.5 percent 
voted in favor of adopting the new constitution, which permits the 
president to remain an additional three years in office, confers full 
executive powers, and eliminates presidential term limits after 2012.
    On October 20, the government organized legislative elections based 
on the new constitution to replace the 113 members of the National 
Assembly which had been dissolved on May 26. Under the previous 
constitution, the president was required to organize legislative 
elections within 45-90 days after the dissolution of the National 
Assembly. Six million voters were registered for both the referendum 
and the legislative elections. There were 19,331 polling stations 
nationwide. The referendum and the legislative elections took place in 
a generally peaceful atmosphere. Several groups of African and local 
observers monitored the polls and stated that the elections were 
generally free, fair, and transparent despite some irregularities on 
election day.
    However, traditional observer groups including the UN, the African 
Union, ECOWAS, the Francophonie Organization, and foreign embassies 
refused to monitor the referendum and legislative elections. Various 
competing parties and independent candidates complained about purported 
illegal practices such as the distribution of money and other gifts for 
votes, partisan transportation of voters, ballot stuffing, missing 
ballots for some parties at some polling stations, late opening of 
polling stations, interference with voting by government officials, and 
corruption of local CENI members.
    Under the new constitution, enacted on August 18, the president 
appoints one-third of the Senate's 60 members, the prime minister, five 
of nine members of the Constitutional Court (the presidents of the 
National Assembly and the Senate appoint two each), four of seven 
members of the CSC media regulatory body (the presidents of the 
National Assembly and the Senate each appoint one, and the minister of 
communication appoints one), and the presidents and vice presidents of 
the latter two institutions.
    The new constitution established a presidential-type political 
regime under which the president cannot dissolve the National Assembly 
and the latter cannot sanction the prime minister via a motion of no 
confidence. Unlike under the previous constitution, the prime minister 
is no longer head of government. The president now holds that position.
    The new constitution states, ``The President of the Republic is the 
exclusive holder of the executive power. He is the head of government. 
He appoints the Prime Minister and cabinet members and determines their 
powers. The Prime Minister and members of the cabinet report to the 
President. He terminates their functions'' (Article 48). ``The 
President of the Republic is elected via free, direct, equal, and 
secret universal suffrage, for a mandate of five years renewable'' 
(Article 39).
    While the previous parliamentary system comprised only a single-
chamber National Assembly, the new constitution provides for a 
bicameral parliament. ``The legislative power is executed by the 
Parliament. Parliament is made up of two chambers: the National 
Assembly. [and] the Senate'' (Article 68). National Assembly members 
(Deputies) ``are elected via free, direct, equal, and secret universal 
suffrage. The legislature lasts 5 years'' (Article 69). The Senate 
``ensures the representation of local councils, traditional chiefs, and 
Nigeriens abroad. Two-thirds (2/3) of Senate members are elected via 
indirect universal suffrage. The other third is appointed by the 
President of the Republic. Senators' mandate lasts 5 years. No one can 
be elected or appointed Senator if he/she is not at least 45 years old 
on the day of voting or appointment'' (Article 72).
    Some provisions of the new constitution are not subject to change. 
``No revision procedure can be engaged or pursued when there is an 
offense against the integrity of the national territory. The republican 
form of State, the multiparty system, the separation of State and 
religion, and the provisions of articles 154 and 159 cannot be 
revised'' (Article 152).
    Article 154 of the new constitution stipulates, ``The incumbent 
President of the Republic shall remain in office until the presidential 
election, which will take place in December 2012.''
    Article 159 provides that ``Law 2000-14 of January 24, 2000[,] 
regarding amnesty for the authors of the January 27, 1996[,] and April 
9, 1999[,] coups d'etat shall remain in force in all its provisions.''
    ``Legislative elections will take place no later than October 2009. 
While awaiting the installation of the National Assembly, the President 
of the Republic is empowered to execute legislative powers via 
ordinances, in the following areas: political elections, installation 
of new institutions, [and] implementation of agreements with foreign 
partners'' (Article 155). ``Local elections will take place no later 
than December 2009'' (Article 156).
    In the October 20 legislative elections, the MNSD, the main party 
of the coalition supporting President Tandja, won 76 of the 113 
National Assembly seats. Five parties aligned with the MNSD won 25 
seats while 11 seats went to independent candidates. The Nigerien Party 
for Self-Reliance (PNA), one of the three opposition parties that did 
not boycott the election, won one seat. The Constitutional Court 
validated the results on November 10, and the National Assembly was 
installed on November 14. Due to the ongoing political crisis, the 
referendum, and legislative elections, the president reshuffled the 
cabinet several times--on May 14, June 29, August 19, October 2, and 
October 10. On October 2, the president appointed Ali Badjo Gamatie as 
prime minister; former prime minister Seini Oumarou had resigned 
September 23 to be eligible to run in the October legislative 
elections.
    Opposition parties, civil society organizations, and labor unions 
boycotted and rejected the results of the August referendum, which they 
considered ``a constitutional coup d'etat.'' They also boycotted the 
October legislative elections. Regional and international bodies 
continued to press the political protagonists for a dialogue to restore 
a ``normal constitutional order.''
    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 25 percent of senior government 
positions and 10 percent of elected seats; women held at least 10 
percent of the 3,724 local council positions. There were 11 women in 
the 113-member National Assembly and seven female ministers in the 32-
member cabinet; 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 National Assembly designated 
for representatives of ``special constituencies,'' specifically ethnic 
minorities and nomadic populations. President Tandja, reported to be 
half-Fulani and half-Kanuri, is the country's first president who is 
not from either the Hausa or Djerma ethnic groups, which respectively 
make up 56 percent and 22 percent of the population.

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.
    In January 2008 the government established an intersectoral 
committee on corruption charged with ``examining and approving general 
and annual . plans for actions to be carried out in . support for the 
fight against corruption.'' On September 24, the minister of justice 
chaired the opening of a capacity-building workshop for judges on the 
implementation of laws and regulations relating to economic and 
financial crimes.
    As a consequence of this year's political crisis, there was a delay 
in drafting the legislation to establish a national agency for the 
fight against corruption.
    On July 27, several local newspapers featured a purported 
memorandum of agreement between Multimedia Communications and one of 
the president'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.'' Under the agreement, 
signed in January 2008, the manager of Multimedia Communications, 
Ibrahim Hamidou, a reported political and business associate of the 
president's family, and the president's son were to share a commission 
of $5 million plus 25 percent of the new company's shares. In a 
television interview the manager of Multimedia Communications 
acknowledged the existence of the contract but said he had not yet 
received the money. There were no further developments or prosecutions 
in the matter.
    On December 11, the Tribunal of Maradi ordered the arrest of five 
mayors from Maradi Region on charges of embezzling public funds. The 
defendants included the mayors of Aguie, Tchadaoua, Madarounfa, Tibiri, 
and Gangara, and their respective financial managers. Investigations 
continued at year's end.
    There were no further developments regarding the three district 
mayors of the city of Maradi detained in March 2008 for purported 
involvement in corruption and given provisional release.
    There were no further developments regarding the case of the mayors 
of Falmey, Ngonga, and Dosso in Tillabery Region, detained in April 
2008 on mismanagement and corruption charges.
    There were no further developments regarding the case of the mayors 
of Sokorbe and Loga in Dosso Region, detained in May 2008 on charges of 
embezzlement.
    There were no further developments regarding the case of the mayor 
of Niamey Commune II, Seyni Mounkaila, suspended in June 2008 for 
embezzlement of 125 million CFA (approximately $280,000).
    In June 2008 the National Assembly passed a resolution requesting 
that the HCJ indict former prime minister Amadou on charges of misusing 
funds meant to support the private press, and the HCJ subsequently 
ordered Amadou be detained at the maximum security Koutoukale prison. 
On April 23, the HCJ approved Amadou's request for provisional release. 
He left the country on April 24 to seek medical care in Europe. On July 
29, the Tribunal of Niamey issued an international warrant via Interpol 
for his arrest on charges of ``illicit enrichment'' and money 
laundering in the amount of 15 billion CFA (approximately $33 million), 
including 500 million CFA ($1.1 million) in shares of a 
telecommunications company put in his son's name. Amadou and his 
supporters continued to claim that the warrant for arrest was another 
example of political harassment against him.
    In November 2008 the Supreme Court indicted and ordered the arrest 
of former justice minister Maty Elhadji Moussa on charges of illicit 
enrichment and fraud. The Supreme Court granted Moussa provisional 
release in June.
    There were developments in the 2007 corruption case involving the 
president of the Niamey City Council, Aboubacar Seydou Ganda, and five 
of his senior staff members. Ganda and 12 other persons involved in the 
case remained on provisional release.
    There were no developments in the MEBA corruption case reopened in 
December 2007 and subsequently postponed.
    Articles 43 and 44 of the new 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 
term. Initial statements and updates are published in the National 
Register and the press. Copies of the statements are forwarded to 
fiscal services. Any discrepancy between the initial and the updated 
statements must be justified. The Constitutional Court has authority to 
assess such matters.
    The State Inspectorate and the country's courts are responsible for 
combating government corruption.
    There were no laws that provided for public access to government 
information; however, many documents could be obtained from individual 
ministries and the National Archives. The government 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 
and travel restrictions in the north limited the ability of human 
rights groups to investigate human rights violations.
    The government-established CNDHLF operated without government 
interference; however, it lacked resources, was generally considered 
ineffective, and it issued few reports or recommendations.
    In August 2008 the government established a mediator of the 
republic. The mediator's role is to solve difficulties in the 
implementation and interpretation of laws and regulations. The 
president appoints the mediator, who is an independent administrative 
authority charged with investigating citizens' complaints and trying to 
find amicable solutions. The mediator has no decision-making powers, 
however, and instead submits results of investigations to the president 
and the prime minister.
    There were no further developments regarding the August 2008 
appeals of the Niamey District Court's verdict on the 2005 beating of 
civil society activist Nouhou Arzika.

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 effectively 
enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape is punishable by 10 to 30 years' imprisonment, 
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. For example, on January 5, the Konni Court of Assizes 
had four rape cases on its calendar; on January 12, the Maradi Court of 
Assizes had 15; and on December 2, the Tribunal of Dosso had 17. 
However, in many cases spousal rape did not lead to prosecution, as 
victims 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 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 (approximately $22) 
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 
legal system and fear of repudiation or social stigma. The Ministry of 
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.
    According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), 429 cases of violence 
against women were reported from October 2006 through September 2007. 
However, this figure is thought to understate greatly the actual 
prevalence. Battery represented 44.9 percent of the cases, indecent 
assault 17.6 percent, and rape or attempted rape 16.4 percent.
    Prostitution is illegal but remained prevalent in big cities and 
near major mining and military sites.
    Sexual harassment is a crime punishable by prison sentences from 
three to six months and fines of 10,000 to 100,000 CFA (approximately 
$22 to $220). 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 ($45 to $450). 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. However, while the law protects reproductive 
rights, information regarding reproductive rights was not readily 
available. There are no restrictions on the right to access 
contraceptives. 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. According to the 
ministry, use of contraceptives increased from 8.5 percent in 2006 to 
13 per cent in 2008.
    Men and women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Since 2007, the 
government has guaranteed free health care for children up to five 
years of age; this contributed to increased women's access to health 
centers for general and essential obstetric and postpartum care, 
including prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. However, 
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.
    The constitution provides for equal rights regardless of sex; 
however, 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, water- and wood-
gathering, and other work. Despite constituting 47 percent of the 
formal sector work force, only 26 percent of civil service workers 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 wives and prevented them from leaving their homes unless 
escorted by a male relative and usually 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 25 
percent of senior government positions and at least 10 percent of 
elected seats in order 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. The 
government with the support of UNICEF worked to address this problem. 
The government's failure to register births did not result in denial of 
public services.
    In principle, elementary education, which lasts six years, was 
compulsory, free, and universal from the age of six; however, in 
practice only a fraction of children attended school. The country's 
minimum age requirement for labor is consistent with the national 
requirement that children complete six years of education. The 
government estimated that the gross national primary school enrollment 
rate was 52 percent in 2006, and the net primary school enrollment rate 
was 41 percent; boys constituted 60 percent of those who finished 
primary school. UNICEF in 2007 estimated that only one-third of primary 
and only 6 percent of secondary-school-age girls were enrolled, and 
even fewer attended regularly. Most parents kept young girls at home to 
work, and girls rarely attended school for more than a few years. This 
resulted in estimated literacy rates of 15 percent for girls and 43 
percent for boys, according to a 2006 UN Development Program report. 
Literacy rates, particularly for girls, were even lower in rural areas. 
The conflict in the north led thousands of children to avoid school and 
caused schools in the north to shut down (see section 1.g.).
    Violence against and abuse of children was common. Each of the 10 
district courts and the 36 magistrates' courts had at least one 
juveniles' 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 the judge. 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.
    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 
10-20 years' imprisonment. Certain ethnic groups practiced FGM, 
predominantly the Fulani and Djerma in the western region. According to 
UNICEF, the FGM rate decreased from 5 percent in 1998 to 2.2 percent in 
2006. However, an October 2008 UN IRIN 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 crossborder FGM. FGM was 
practiced on young girls, and clitoridectomy was 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 April 7, as a result of an 18-
month sensitization and training session provided by the Inter-
Ministerial Committee for the Fight against FGM and a local NGO, 10 
villages in the Makalondi local council area near the border with 
Burkina Faso publicly abandoned the practice of FGM. Such training was 
extended to 10 other villages in May.
    Child marriage was a problem, especially in rural areas. The law 
allows a girl deemed to be ``sufficiently mature'' to marry as young as 
15 years old. Some families entered into marriage agreements under 
which girls from rural areas were sent by the age of 10 or 12 and 
sometimes younger to join their husbands' families under the tutelage 
of their mothers-in-law. The Ministry of Women's Promotion and Child 
Protection cooperated with women's associations to sensitize rural 
communities and their traditional chiefs and religious leaders 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. There was no 
precise age of consent; however, the law prohibits ``indecent'' acts 
toward minors. It was left to a judge to determine what constituted an 
indecent act. Such activity and a corollary statute against ``the 
incitement of minors to wrongdoing'' were punishable by 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 50 percent of the female prison 
population was charged with the crime.
    Many displaced children, mostly boys from rural areas and were 
indentured to Islamic schools, begged on the streets of larger cities. 
Hundreds of children were displaced in conjunction with the conflict in 
the north (see section 1.g.). Displaced children had access to 
government services (see section 2.d., IDPs).

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
trafficking in persons, and persons were trafficked to, from, and 
within the country. Traffickers could be prosecuted under a law against 
slavery and coerced labor; punishments ranged from 10 to 30 years' 
imprisonment. Child prostitution is not criminalized specifically; 
however, the law prohibits indecent acts toward minors. Such activity 
and a corollary statute against ``the incitement of minors to 
wrongdoing'' were punishable by three to five years in prison.
    A 2005 NGO survey found that 5.8 percent of households interviewed 
claimed that at least one member of their family had been a trafficking 
victim.
    A traditional form of caste-based servitude was still practiced by 
the Tuareg, Djerma, and Arab ethnic minorities.
    The country was a transit point for persons trafficked between 
Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali; final destinations 
also included North African and European countries. The country was a 
source of women trafficked to Nigeria, North Africa, Europe, and the 
Middle East for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation.
    The country was a destination for a small number of persons, 
including young boys, trafficked into the country for labor 
exploitation. Women and girls were trafficked into and within the 
country for domestic service and prostitution. Child prostitution was 
especially prevalent along the main east-west highway, particularly 
between the cities of Birni n'Konni and Zinder.
    There was internal trafficking of boys. Some rural parents sent 
their sons to learn the Koran in the cities, where the boys worked for 
their teachers (marabouts) as beggars or provided manual labor. 
Traffickers also transported boys to Mali and Nigeria for this purpose. 
Traffickers transported children internally for work in mines.
    Generally, small operators trafficked persons with false promises 
of well-paid employment in the country. Victims usually had to perform 
poorly paid domestic work or prostitution upon arrival and had to pay 
off a ``debt'' to the trafficker. Traffickers had victims sign 
agreements before departing their country of origin and took the 
victims' travel documents. Traffickers used similar methods to 
transport victims from Niger to other countries. Traffickers within the 
country forced or falsely enticed some girls into prostitution, 
sometimes with their families' complicity.
    The government prosecuted traffickers. During the year, law 
enforcement authorities arrested several traffickers in connection with 
the trafficking of at least 47 children. Of these, officials released 
two without charge but charged the others with the abduction of minors.
    During the year local authorities assisted UNICEF and a local NGO 
partner to identify and rehabilitate child victims of trafficking in 
the Agadez and Niamey regions. From May through August, police and 
prosecutors rescued 23 children (15 in Agadez and eight in Niamey) but 
made no arrests because the children were sent by their families ``to 
look for work'' and were at risk of being trafficked. Police handed the 
children over to a local NGO for rehabilitation and return to their 
families.
    On January 15, EPAD, a local NGO, acting in conjunction with local 
law enforcement authorities, apprehended two Malian marabouts suspected 
of trafficking 22 Malian children to live and work in remote villages 
in the vicinity of Ayorou, Tillabery Region. EPAD reported that 
migration of adult workers to the new work site of the Kandadji Dam 
project had left the area with a labor force shortage, and the 
marabouts were hiring out the children to work in rice fields. The two 
marabouts were in custody in Tillabery at years' end. EPAD temporarily 
hosted the children in its welcome center in Makalondi before returning 
them to their families.
    On February 16, Nigerien police referred to a local NGO a young 
Nigerien woman suspected of being a victim of trafficking. She was 14 
years old when a Togolese lured her to travel with him to Togo, where 
he obtained false identity documents for her, married her, and had two 
children with her. According to the woman's parents, Togolese law 
enforcement authorities kept custody of the children, but did not 
indict the suspected trafficker. The woman and her parents sought 
assistance in taking legal action to claim custody of the two children. 
The case was pending at year's end.
    On August 4, Nigerien and Nigerian police arrested a Nigerien on 
charges of trafficking his 15-year-old nephew in Ogbomosho, Nigeria. 
The child had not been found, and the suspected trafficker remained in 
custody in Niamey prison at year's end.
    The Malian marabout suspected of trafficking 11 children in 2008 
remained in prison pending his trial.
    There were no further developments in the case of three traffickers 
in custody since 2007 on charges of child trafficking in Agadez.
    The ministries of justice, interior, and the promotion of women and 
protection of children shared responsibility for combating trafficking 
in persons. The National Commission for the Coordination of the Fight 
Against Trafficking in Persons existed on paper but had no budget.
    The government provided some services directly to some trafficking 
victims, including basic health care and assistance in returning to 
their home villages. The government also supported the efforts of NGOs 
and international organizations in providing food, temporary shelter, 
and primary health care to victims of trafficking, and sponsored public 
outreach sessions on trafficking and child abuse.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 state 
services, and the government generally enforced these provisions. The 
law mandates that the state provide for such persons, but there were no 
specific regulations mandating accessibility to buildings, 
transportation, and education for those with special needs. 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 and Social Welfare is responsible for protecting the rights 
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 lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, or transgender persons' organizations and no reports of 
violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation or 
gender identity. However, gay persons experienced social 
discrimination.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
experienced social 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.
    For example, on February 26, the first lady, with support from the 
government's National Coordination for the Fight against AIDS, local 
NGOs, and the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), launched an 
advocacy campaign for the fight against HIV/AIDS. NGOs led public 
advocacy sessions and discussions in order to eliminate the stigma 
against persons living with HIV/AIDS. Between April 20 and 26, the 
Nigerien Social Marketing Association, a local NGO, led a nationwide 
campaign on ``demystifying AIDS and combating stigma'' featuring public 
testimony by persons living with HIV/AIDS, town hall meetings in 
various regions, and radio shows which continued at year's end.

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; however, in 
2006 more than 85 percent of the workforce worked in the nonunionized 
subsistence agricultural and small trading sectors.
    The constitution and the law provide for the right to strike, 
except for the police and other security forces, and workers exercised 
this right. Requirements for conducting a legal strike are not lengthy 
or cumbersome; workers must give employers at least three days' advance 
notice. However, on several occasions during the year the government 
filed lawsuits before the Tribunal of Niamey, which declared some 
strikes proposed by unions to be illegal on the grounds that they 
involved political rather than labor issues.

    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. Antiunion discrimination 
and employer interference in union activities occurred occasionally. 
There were no further developments in the 2006 case of the dismissal of 
106 Liptako Mining Company union members for striking.
    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; however, it does not 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 traditional social 
structure. Estimates regarding the number of persons who work under 
such conditions vary widely, and include a 2004 estimate of 8,800 and a 
2003 estimate of 43,000. Under this system, 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 slave 
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.
    The government publicly banned slavery in 2003, and during the year 
slaves continued to be liberated and given certificates to show that 
they were free. Individuals had the legal right to change their 
situations, and it was illegal for their masters to retain them; 
however, in practice, most victims of slavery did not act on their 
rights. Fear and physical or social coercion as well as a lack of 
viable economic alternatives for freed slaves were factors in 
maintaining the slave/master relationship.
    On November 24, the Tribunal of N'Guigmi, Diffa, sentenced Moussa 
Adam to five years in prison, 10 million CFA (approximately $22,000) in 
damages to the victim, a CFA 500,000 ($1,100) fine to the government, 
and CFA 500,0000 ($1,100) to the NGO Timidria as compensation for moral 
prejudice for the enslavement of Ibrahim Ayitawe. The defendant was 
arrested and put in custody in August, following Timidria's complaint 
before the tribunal based on reports that Moussa Adam, a Mohamid Arab, 
held Ibrahim Ayitawe, a Hausa from Maradi Region, as a slave in his 
village of N'Gourti. At year's end, the defendant had neither appealed 
the judgment nor paid the fines ordered by the court.
    In compliance with the October 2008 Economic Community of West 
African States' Court of Justice ruling in the case Timidria and 
Hadidjatou Mani Koraou vs. the Government of Niger, on March 13, the 
defendant paid 10 million CFA (approximately $22,000) in damages to the 
victim.
    On July 21, the tribunal of Birni n'Konni convicted and sentenced 
Souleymane Naroua to a two-year suspended prison term and ordered him 
to pay one million CFA (approximately $2,200) in damages to Hadizatou 
Mani and a fine of CFA 500,000 ($1,100) to the government. On July 25, 
Naroua complained that the sentence was excessive and filed an appeal 
before the Court of Appeals of Niamey. The same day, domestic human 
rights NGOs counterappealed before the same court, claiming that the 
sentence against Naroua was not sufficiently stringent. No date had 
been set for hearings.
    In December 2008 the Court of Appeals of Niamey held hearings on 
the 2006 slavery case of Timidria and Assibit Wanagoda vs. Tafane and 
delivered its verdict on February 9. The court found no grounds for 
prosecution and dismissed the case. Plaintiffs said they would file an 
appeal before the Supreme Court but had not done so by year's end.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children under age 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 
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 ensure minimum 
sanitary working conditions for children.
    In June 2008 the country's unions and women's associations stated 
that 46 percent of school-age children were in 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 used them for work as beggars and for manual 
labor. Child labor also occurred in largely unregulated artisanal gold 
mining operations, as well as in trona (a mineral used as a source of 
sodium compounds), salt, and gypsum mines. Children working in gold 
mines were particularly vulnerable to poor ventilation, collapse 
hazards, and insufficient lighting; they also were susceptible to 
alcohol and substance abuse. Young boys from neighboring countries were 
trafficked into the country to work in mines, on farms, as mechanics, 
or as welders.
    Child trafficking, prostitution, forced labor, and traditional 
caste-based servitude and slavery occurred.
    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 had not been 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's International Program for the Elimination of Child 
Labor (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 (approximately $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 June 10-12, on the occasion of the World Day Against Child 
Labor, ILO/IPEC and the government organized public events and a 
conference to raise awareness of the issues the country faces in 
combating the worst forms of child labor and child trafficking.
    On June 25, foreign diplomats visited three artisanal gold mines in 
Tillabery Region and noted that the government and several NGOs had 
made noticeable investments in both infrastructure and social programs 
to combat the problems of child labor and trafficking.
    In October the Ministry of Labor launched the review process for 
the draft National Action Plan against Child Labor. The review will be 
carried out in all regions, and proposed amendments will be included in 
the final document expected to be adopted during the first quarter of 
2010.

    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 (approximately $62) per 
month, with an additional 1,000 CFA ($2) added per month per child. 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 charged with enforcing these 
standards, although due to staff shortages inspectors focused on safety 
violations only in the most dangerous industries: mining, building, and 
manufacturing. The government effectively enforced the standards within 
those 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. There are no exceptions from such protections for 
migrant or foreign workers.

                               __________

                                NIGERIA

    Nigeria is a federal republic of 36 states and a capital territory, 
with a population of approximately 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; the PDP won 70 percent of seats in the 
national legislature and 75 percent of state governorships. The 
election was marred by what international and domestic observers 
characterized as massive fraud and serious irregularities, including 
vote rigging and political violence. Numerous election tribunals, which 
continued to hear complaints brought by losing parties at all levels, 
nullified several state and local elections during the year. In 
December 2008 the Supreme Court rejected the appeals of two major 
opposition presidential candidates, upholding the election of President 
Yar'Adua. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces, there were numerous instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted outside the law.
    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; vigilante killings; abductions by militant groups; 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 prolonged pretrial 
detention; denial of fair public trial; executive influence on the 
judiciary and judicial corruption; infringement of privacy rights; 
restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and 
movement; official corruption and impunity; domestic 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; trafficking in persons for the purpose of prostitution 
and forced labor; discrimination against persons with disabilities; 
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and 
child labor.
    Militant and criminal groups in the Niger Delta were responsible 
for numerous killings, kidnappings, and injuries, as well as the 
displacement of thousands of persons; however, lead militant groups 
accepted the president's offer of an amnesty by the October 4 deadline, 
after which reports of incidents attributed to these militant groups 
decreased, although violence remained pervasive in the south.
    From July 26 to 29, violent clashes erupted in four northern states 
after supporters of Boko Haram (``western education is sin''), an 
Islamic extremist group, launched a four-state assault on police 
stations and other government facilities. In quelling the uprising, 
security forces committed serious human rights abuses, including 
executions, extrajudicial killings, and widespread and indiscriminate 
arrests.
                        
                       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 were responsible for numerous extrajudicial killings, 
including politically motivated killings of leaders of Boko Haram, an 
extremist Islamic group.
    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. Credible reports also indicated that military 
personnel and paramilitary mobile police carried out summary 
executions, assaults, and other abuses across the Niger Delta (see 
section 1.g.).
    From July 26 to 29, violent clashes between police and militant 
members of Boko Haram in four northern states resulted in more than 700 
deaths; quick burials in mass graves precluded an accurate accounting 
of the dead. There were numerous injuries, and the Red Cross estimated 
that approximately 4,000 persons were displaced. The conflict began on 
July 26, in Bauchi, when approximately 70 members of Boko Haram 
attacked a police station with grenades and guns in retaliation for the 
mid-June arrest of several of the group's leaders and the injuring of 
group members. During the nights of July 27 and 28, the group attacked 
police stations and government buildings in Maiduguri, Borno state. 
Police and soldiers counterattacked, and the violence quickly spread to 
Potiskum in Yobe state and Wudil in Kano state. There were reports of 
summary executions, use of excessive force, and widespread arrests of 
suspected extremists, many based on little or no evidence. Some sect 
members allegedly shaved their beards and changed the style of their 
dress to avoid being identified. Corpses of militants were found at 
police stations, and there were numerous reports of persons being 
pulled from cars and summarily shot. According to Amnesty International 
(AI), on July 30, 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, that they 
said triggered the violence.
    On July 30, after four days of Boko Haram assaults on police and 
other local government institutions, the military entered Maiduguri, 
capital of Borno state and headquarters of Boko Haram, where soldiers 
located and arrested sect leader Muhammad Yusuf. Credible media reports 
claimed that police executed Yusuf, whose bruised body was subsequently 
seen at state police headquarters with multiple bullet wounds. While 
police initially admitted killing Yusuf in custody, they subsequently 
claimed he was killed trying to escape. Yusuf's father-in-law, Baba 
Mohammed, and Buji Fai, a former state government official suspected of 
funding Boko Haram, were also reportedly killed in custody. On August 
4, President Yar'Adua pledged to conduct a full investigation of the 
Boko Haram uprising, including the circumstances surrounding Yusuf's 
death; however, there was no public release of the investigation by 
year's end.
    On December 29, in the northern state of Bauchi, a clash between 
members of the Islamic sect Kala-Kato, town residents, and security 
forces resulted in approximately 40 deaths, including children, in 
fighting that lasted approximately 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 they 
had killed sect leader Mallam Badamasi and recovered ``bomb-making 
tools and explosives.'' Civil society groups reportedly were trying to 
locate family members of the 23 children orphaned in the clash. In a 
December 30 statement, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) expressed 
concern for the orphaned children, noting that millions of children in 
the northern part of the country lived in precarious circumstances, 
many away from their families.
    On December 9, 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 of this year. According to the report, 
national police were responsible for 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 
neither investigated nor perpetrators punished. When investigations did 
occur, they did not comply with international standards, and officers 
suspected of extrajudicial executions were generally sent 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 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.''
    National police, army, and other security forces committed 
extrajudicial killings and used lethal and excessive force to apprehend 
criminals and suspects. According to AI, the government executed 
detainees in custody, suspected armed robbers under arrest, persons who 
refused to pay bribes, or persons stopped during road checks. While not 
confirming the report, Parry Osayande, the retired police deputy 
inspector general in Nasarawa state, told reporters that police killed 
hundreds of detainees annually, which he blamed on lack of training and 
inadequate funding.
    On January 25, 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, whose offense reportedly was to have sat on the Ovie's 
throne, subsequently died, according to the Network on Police Reform in 
Nigeria, a network of 39 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 had been 
taken against the perpetrators by year's end.
    On April 15, 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.
    On December 1, 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 his absence, and 
remained at large at year's end.
    On October 27, the district coroner absolved police of any 
involvement in the August 2008 killing in Lagos of journalist Abayomi 
Ogundeji and ruled that armed thieves were responsible. Police also 
claimed 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.
    During the year authorities charged a police officer with 
responsibility in the October 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. On April 24, however, the trial was 
adjourned indefinitely to search for the other police officer involved 
in the killing.
    No action taken against the four police officers from Ede, Osun 
state, who in October 2008 beat to death Misitura Ademola following her 
arrest for theft; or the police officers in Oshogbo, Osun state, who in 
October 2008 beat to death Dauda Najeem while attempting to extract a 
confession of theft.
    Authorities 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 apprehension, illegal 
detention, and sometimes execution of criminal suspects. The reports of 
state or federal panels of inquiry investigating suspicious deaths were 
not published.
    According to the December AI report, police officers from the Ketu 
Anti-Robbery Squad arrested persons attending a December 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.
    In April, 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, which occurred 
in prior years. The investigators had not released a report on their 
findings by year's end, despite multiple petitions.
    A panel, established by Plateau state to investigate the November 
2008 security force killings of approximately 700 civilians in the Jos 
North local government area, 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 had not been 
released by year's end, and no one had been charged or punished for any 
of the killings. A second panel called by the president to investigate 
the incident began public hearings the week of December 14.
    No investigation was conducted into the February 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.
    Police use of excessive force, including live ammunition, to 
disperse demonstrators resulted in numerous killings during the year 
(see section 1.g.).
    There were no developments in the following 2008 police killings of 
demonstrators: the January shooting deaths of three youths in Okeagbe, 
Ondo state and the January 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 report, commercial drivers were often stopped and asked 
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 
there was a disagreement about the price or when it was unclear whether 
a bribe had been paid.
    Bystanders sometimes were shot by mistake. For example, on April 5, 
a two-year-old girl was accidentally shot at a checkpoint in Lagos.
    On May 15, 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 for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. 
The three police officers involved in the shooting were arrested; one 
was dismissed from the police and awaited trial at year's end.
    On September 3, 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.
    On November 7, 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 police 
officer, who was drunk, from the scene.
    Despite police pledges to fully disclose details of the prosecution 
into the October 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 during the year.
    Police and military personnel used excessive and sometimes deadly 
force to quell civil unrest, property vandalism, and interethnic 
violence.
    For example, on October 19, in Biu, Borno state, two of 100 
motorcycle riders protesting the enforcement of required crash helmets 
were killed during a confrontation with police; several riders also 
were injured. A mob retaliated by burning Biu government offices.
    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.
    Ethnic violence, often triggered by disputes between farmers and 
herders, resulted in deaths and displacement during the year.
    For example, in June Fulani nomadic herders in Plateau state killed 
an ethnic Chala farmer, whose relatives retaliated the following day by 
killing three herdsmen. Conflicts were exacerbated by drought in the 
north, since many Fulani nomads had moved south to maintain their 
herds.
    On April 27, government authorities expelled an estimated 2,000 
Fulani nomads from Wase, Plateau state, after disputes over grazing 
their cattle on farm lands; in May another 700 nomads were also 
expelled from Borno state. Ahmed Idris, a congressman from Plateau 
state, charged that the expulsions of Fulani herdsmen violated the 
constitution and were an attempt to conduct ``ethnic cleansing.'' The 
land disputes occurred over traditional grazing rights given by local 
governments to farmers over the years, leaving no place for the Fulani 
to graze their herds.
    On December 18, at least 30 persons were killed in fighting between 
farmers and cattle herders in central Nasarawa state, when armed 
herders raided the farm village of Udeni Gida; a similar clash two 
weeks earlier occurred after herders led their cattle into rice fields.
    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.

    b. Disappearance.--There were increased abductions of civilians by 
militant and criminal groups in connection with the conflict in the 
Niger Delta, particularly in Port Harcourt (see section 1.g.).
    There was also a dramatic increase in abductions, some of which may 
have been politically motivated, in other parts of the country. In the 
first six months of the year, more than 500 persons reportedly had been 
abducted, 10 of whom were subsequently killed; 353 were reported as 
abducted in 2008.
    While kidnappings for ransom were a common occurrence in the south, 
none had occurred during the year in the northern part of the country 
until April 16, when armed men abducted one of five Canadian citizens 
in the country on a Rotary exchange program. The gunmen demanded a 
ransom of 20.5 million naira ($136,000); however, the victim was 
released two weeks later, with no public confirmation of a ransom 
payment.
    On March 12, in Benin City, the capital of Edo state, four gunmen 
abducted seven-year-old Etiosa Aghobahi, the son of the chairman of 
Ovia South West local government area of Edo state. After three days 
and payment of ransom, the boy was released unharmed. Edo police 
reported that 14 persons were arrested on kidnapping charges; none had 
been prosecuted by year's end.
    On August 7, armed men abducted two Kogi state council chairmen, 
killed three police officers, and critically injured three others; the 
incident occurred while the councilmen were in Kabba for their monthly 
forum. Eyewitnesses described police vehicles carrying the armed men to 
the scene.
    On September 21, 10 unidentified men dressed in military camouflage 
uniforms abducted Waje Yayok, secretary to the government of Kaduna 
state, and released him nine days later. Yayok's family reported that 
the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 40 million naira ($265,000). It was 
unclear whether the ransom was paid or the kidnapping was politically 
motivated.
    On October 23, in what was widely believed to be a politically 
motivated act, unidentified persons kidnapped the 78-year-old father of 
Chukwuma Soludo, the PDP candidate for governor of Anambra State and 
former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The victim was released 
unhurt after 10 days; there were reports of payment of a significantly 
lower ransom than originally demanded.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--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.).
    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.
    Citing the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Social Justice and 
Advocacy Initiative, the December AI report noted that ``intimidation, 
torture, and extortion of detainees are entrenched practices in the 
Nigerian 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 May the NHRC and the Legal Research Initiative 
established a center to create a database on acts of torture by law 
enforcement agencies.
    In 2007 the UN special rapporteur on torture visited the country at 
the government's invitation to assess reports of official abuse. On the 
basis of discussions with detainees, visits to prisons and police 
stations, and forensic medical evidence collected over a one-week 
period, the rapporteur reported that torture was endemic in law 
enforcement operations, including police custody, and was often used to 
extract alleged confessions. According to his report, methods of 
torture included flogging a suspect with whips; beating a suspect with 
batons and machetes; shooting a suspect in the foot; threatening a 
suspect with death and then shooting him with powder cartridges; 
suspending a suspect from the ceiling; and denying a suspect food, 
water, and medical treatment.
    In 2007 the local NGO Network on Police Reform in Nigeria stated 
that it had monitored 400 police stations in 13 states for a year and 
found that killings, torture, extortion, and rape had become routine 
because authorities shielded police officers from the law.
    On August 18, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 
arrested and detained without charge student leader Abduliahi Ebiloma. 
In July Ebiloma had asked to meet with the education minister to 
discuss the teachers' strike and the removal of the minister of 
education; the education 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. On October 3, 
he was released without explanation.
    Police and military use of excessive force in quelling the late 
July uprising in Boko Haram communities resulted in numerous deaths and 
injuries (see section 1.a.).
    Police occasionally beat children. For example, on July 3, 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 them, rendering two girls unconscious.
    Security forces beat journalists during the year (see section 
2.a.).
    No investigation was conducted into the July 2008 beating by police 
of Baba Mohammad, who subsequently lapsed into a coma; there also were 
no developments in the November 2008 beating by navy officers of Uzoma 
Okere.
    There were credible reports during the year that security forces 
committed rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and 
girls with impunity. Police officials acknowledged that rape was a 
problem. AI reported that women frequently were raped while in 
detention but did not report the abuse because of the social stigma 
attached to rape and the fact that police officers were the 
perpetrators. In July 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 Shari'a penal codes were in place in 12 northern states, 
and Shari'a courts delivered ``hadd'' sentences, for example 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 by year's end. States did not carry out any death sentences 
(stoning) pronounced in prior years for adultery. There were numerous 
Shari'a cases from previous years pending appeal or implementation of 
sentence, including pending amputation and stoning 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 
conviction.
    Statutory law mandates that state governors either impose a stay or 
implement amputation or death sentences. Sentences under Shari'a often 
were not carried out because of 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 
violate 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 had not been challenged in the courts as a violation of statutory 
law. In some cases, convicted persons were allowed to pay a fine or go 
to jail instead of being caned. Shari'a courts usually carried out 
caning immediately, while the Shari'a 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. In 2007 the UN special 
rapporteur on torture reported that those awaiting trial suffered more 
than those already convicted due to lack of funding for their care, and 
that inadequate medical treatment caused many prisoners to die of 
treatable illnesses. On October 12, Jerry Manwe, the chairman 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 comptroller 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. 
HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis were of particular concern. 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. Many inmates lacked beds or mattresses, forcing them to 
sleep on concrete floors, often without blankets. Prison officials, 
police, and other security forces often denied inmates food and medical 
treatment as punishment or to extort money.
    Following a 2007 visit to 10 prisons in the states of Enugu, Kano, 
Lagos, and the Federal Capitol Territory (FCT), AI issued a report 
citing appalling prison conditions, noting that many prisoners were 
considered ``forgotten inmates'' because they had been incarcerated for 
years without trial.
    In 2007 the UN special rapporteur on torture also reported 
appalling conditions in detention centers, noting crowded and 
unsanitary cells, exacerbated by insufficient food, clean water, and 
medical care. The rapporteur noted, however, that conditions for female 
detainees were much better than those for males.
    Inmates died from harsh conditions and denial of proper medical 
treatment during the year; however, an accurate count was not available 
from prison authorities.
    The country's prisons held an estimated 42,000 inmates; reliable 
data was not available on the number of persons held in the 86 
satellite facilities. Prisons held up to 250 percent of their designed 
capacity. For example, prisons in Lagos had a capacity of 2,905 
prisoners but held more than 4,000. Makurdi prison in Benue state, with 
a capacity for 240 prisoners, housed 456, while Ado-Ekiti prison in 
Ekiti state, with a capacity for 200 prisoners, held 290 as of 
November. The federal prison in Enugu, built to house 400 inmates, held 
more than 1,000. There were approximately 630 female and 840 juvenile 
inmates in the country's prisons and detention facilities.
    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.
    Although the law precludes the imprisonment of children, Justice 
Minister Aondoakaa acknowledged in 2008 the presence of more than 300 
children in the country's prisons, many of whom had been born there. 
Despite a government order to identify and release such children and 
their mothers, the problem had not been solved by year's end. In 
November 2008 the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, a 
coalition of human rights organizations, reported the imprisonment of 
97 juveniles with adults in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. Authorities 
had taken no action to remove juveniles from these prisons by year's 
end.
    Prisoners with mental disabilities were incarcerated with the 
general prison population, and no mental health care was provided.
    Until 2008 the government allowed AI, Prisoners Rehabilitation and 
Welfare Action (PRAWA), and other NGOs regular access to prisons. After 
an unflattering report in 2007, AI no longer had unrestricted access to 
prisoners. During the year the government allowed only PRAWA to conduct 
regular prison visits.

    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.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Nigeria Police 
Force (NPF) is under 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-level 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 police 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.
    According to AI's December report, only a fragment 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 gasoline and 
stationery necessary to conduct an investigation.
    Such lack of resources contributed to corruption, which 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 had 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. In its 
December report, AI noted that families of victims often could not pay 
for a lawyer, afford court fees, or even pay to retrieve a body.
    Police use of alcohol while on duty reportedly contributed to 
abuses. For example, on November 28, in Effurun, Delta state, a police 
officer drinking in a local business opened fire, injuring the owner 
and a customer. On November 17, a foreign diplomat visiting police 
headquarters in Makurdi, Benue state, was threatened by a drunken 
police officer in full view of dozens of police officers, who did not 
intervene.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police and 
security forces were empowered to arrest without warrant, based on 
reasonable suspicion that a person had 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, 
suspects were routinely detained without being informed of charges and 
denied 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 
there was no functioning bail system, so suspects were incarcerated 
indefinitely in investigative detention within the prison system. 
Detainees often were kept incommunicado for long periods. Numerous 
detainees alleged that police demanded bribes before they were taken 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, they frequently were asked to 
return for further questioning.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested numerous persons during the 
year. During the July fighting between security forces and militant 
members of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, hundreds of persons 
in Bauchi, Yobe, Kano, and Borno states were arrested, many based on 
little or no evidence of involvement (see section 1.a.). Bystanders 
were released within a few days; however, as of September 21, 58 
persons were being held without bail.
    In August police arrested approximately 4,000 members of Darul 
Islam, an Islamic sect, and detained them for questioning before 
deporting them to their states of origin (see section 2.c.).
    The Eagle Squad, a special security force sponsored by the 
commissioner of police in Osun state, continued to arbitrarily arrest 
citizens and civil society leaders (see section 4.).
    Security forces detained journalists and demonstrators during the 
year (see sections 2.a. and 2.b.).
    The EFCC reportedly singled out political opponents in its arrests 
and detentions of state, local, and federal government officials on 
corruption charges during the year (see sections 1.c. and 4).
    Most of the 78 members of the Movement for the Actualization of the 
Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) who were arrested in June 2008 for 
conspiracy to commit a felony were released during the year; however, 
members without influence or money to bribe authorities remained in 
detention. The members were arrested during a commemoration of the 
Nigerian civil war era secessionist state of Biafra and charged with 
intent to stage a protest.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a serious problem, and human 
rights groups reported that detainees awaiting trial constituted 65 
percent of the prison population, with some awaiting trial more than 10 
years. At year's end there were 27,000 pretrial detainees in the 
country's prisons, who constituted 65 percent of the prison population. 
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 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 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. Since prison budgets did not 
allot funds for pretrial detainees, conditions were worse than those 
for convicted prisoners.

    Amnesty.--In August 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 said 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 executive and legislative branch pressure. 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 
education and 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.
    The regular court system consists of federal and state trial 
courts, state appeals courts, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the 
Supreme Court.
    Military courts tried military personnel only.
    Shari'a and customary (traditional) courts of appeal function in 12 
states that use Shari'a for civil or criminal law, including a 
customary court in the FCT. Courts of first instance include magistrate 
or district courts, customary or traditional courts, Shari'a courts, 
and, in some specified cases, the state high courts. The constitution 
also provides that the government establish a federal Shari'a Court of 
Appeal and Final Court of Appeal, but these courts had not been 
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 Shari'a penal code in the courts. While Shari'a 
courts had been in operation throughout the north for centuries, in 
2000 Shari'a courts were empowered to also hear criminal cases and pass 
sentences based on the Shari'a penal code, which outlines hadd offenses 
and punishments, including caning, death by stoning, and amputation.
    The nature of a case usually determined which court had 
jurisdiction. The return to the Shari'a courts stemmed at least in part 
from inefficiency and corruption in the regular court system.
    Defendants have the right to challenge the constitutionality of 
Shari'a 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 Shari'a remained 
the Supreme Court, staffed by common law judges who were not required 
to have any formal training in the Shari'a 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 Shari'a courts, indigent persons without 
representation were more likely to have their sentences carried out 
immediately upon being sentenced, although all convicted persons have 
the right to appeal. The federal government instituted a panel of legal 
scholars in 2003 to draft a uniform Shari'a penal code to replace 
divergent Shari'a 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 Shari'a courts. Some ``qadis'' 
(Shari'a 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 Shari'a courts. By 
contrast men could only be convicted by confessing to the crime or if 
there was eyewitness testimony. However, Shari'a courts provided women 
with some benefits, including increased access to divorce, child 
custody, and alimony, because it was significantly easier, faster, and 
cheaper to get an audience in a Shari'a court than a common law court.
    There was a lack of due process in numerous trials during the year. 
For example, on April 28, 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. In 
August 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.
    There were no developments in the trial of MASSOB leader Ralph 
Uwazurike and 10 others accused of treason in 2005; all of the accused 
remained free on bail.
    On July 11, the trial of Hamza Al Mustapha and his four 
codefendants resumed; subsequent defense procedural filings resulted in 
another court adjournment. The five defendants, who were arrested in 
2001 on treason charges for alleged assassination attempts on former 
president Obasanjo and other prominent prodemocracy activists, remained 
in prison at year's end. Al Mustapha, an army intelligence officer on 
the staff of late military leader Abacha, still had not been allowed to 
retrieve personal papers and evidence that he claimed would exonerate 
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 and the legislature 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 extremely 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 government typically 
claimed that demolished homes or offices 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 who had their homes 
destroyed had no recourse to appeal and received no compensation. 
According to the Swiss-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions, 
authorities have 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.
    In July 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 home owners able to provide genuine title documents 
would be compensated and denied the claims of many homeowners, alleging 
fraud.
    The government also destroyed the homes of suspected opponents. For 
example, in January 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.
    On April 27, authorities expelled 2,000 Fulani nomads from the Wase 
Local Government Council in Plateau state after disputes over grazing 
their cattle on farm lands; in May another 700 nomads were expelled 
from Borno state (see section 6.).
    After the July uprising by Boko Haram, the government of Niger 
state forcibly relocated 1,200 members of the Darul Islam sect (see 
section 2.c.).

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
The Niger Delta region is home to one of Africa's largest oil 
industries, which exported nearly 2 million barrels of crude per day. 
Particularly since 2006, militant groups have used violence, including 
kidnapping oil company workers, to demand greater control of the 
region's resources. Abductions 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.
    Criminal gangs, called ``cults'' in some areas, have copied the 
methods of more sophisticated militants to amass wealth and power, 
including kidnapping. In a new trend, kidnappings targeted citizens of 
modest means--including businessmen, doctors, teachers, and priests--as 
well as expatriates. Gangs extended their reach beyond the core Niger 
Delta states, where they originated as politically sponsored thugs to 
intimidate opponents and aid election rigging. Kidnappings, perpetrated 
primarily for ransom, occurred all across the country, including in the 
north. Power struggles between gangs resulted in hundreds of deaths in 
the previous two years, including of civilian bystanders, and resulted 
in extensive property damage.
    On June 25, the government announced a general and unconditional 
amnesty for militants in the Niger Delta, and all major militant groups 
had accepted the offer by the October 4 deadline. Early reports 
indicated the amnesty program resulted in a significant decline in 
militant violence; however, some observers were skeptical that the 
militants had surrendered all of their weapons.

    Killings.--The JTF was responsible for numerous killings during the 
year, but no investigations were conducted.
    For example, on February 22, the JTF reportedly killed 10 persons 
during an attack on a Rivers State community.
    On August 26, 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.
    On October 12, in the Bundu waterfront neighborhood of Port 
Harcourt, JTF troops used firearms to disperse a crowd demonstrating 
against a planned demolition; three persons were killed, and 11 were 
injured. According to eyewitness accounts, two armored vehicles drove 
into the crowd, and several soldiers fired directly into the crowd. 
Security forces arrested 23 demonstrators, who were charged with 
conspiracy, breaching the peace, and destruction of public property; 
all 23 remained in prison without charge at year's end.
    There were no developments 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; 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.
    Militants were responsible for numerous killings. For example, on 
July 1, a gang of unidentified gunmen ambushed a convoy of police and 
expatriate workers in the city of Aba, Abia state, and killed five 
police officers as the convoy was escorting workers to their offices at 
a bottling company. No arrests were made.
    On June 1, militants attacked two police officers who were 
escorting a Scottish oil services worker from Port Harcourt; one of the 
officers died from his injuries. No arrests were made.

    Abductions.--Hostage takings increased during the year. According 
to the minister of police affairs, there were more reported kidnapping 
cases in the first seven months of the year than in all of 2008. In the 
past kidnappers targeted foreign nationals, but an increasing number of 
citizens, including women and children, were being abducted. Police 
reported that most kidnappings involved the complicity of persons close 
to the victim's family, including relatives.
    In some areas tensions remained high between oil-producing 
communities and oil company employees and contractors.
    Some kidnappings were perpetrated by militant groups trying to 
force the government to develop local economies, increase local control 
of oil revenues, or release prisoners; others were conducted for 
ransom. 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 mothers) of prominent state politicians 
for ransom or to force payment for services, such as protection details 
and voter intimidation during elections.
    On January 5, unknown persons abducted Chief Nelson Effiong, the 
house speaker of Akwa Ibom state; he was released unharmed with no 
official report of ransom paid.
    Also on January 5, gunmen hijacked a foreign oil supply vessel and 
took nine crew members hostage, demanding a ransom of $25 million. Four 
days later, all crew members were released safely, with no public 
report of ransom being paid.
    In separate incidents on February 3, 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 ransom being paid.
    On June 5, 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 ransom.
    Government authorities responded to kidnappings in the Niger Delta 
by deploying the JTF, which used excessive force and engaged militants 
and criminals in gun battles. Such battles resulted in deaths and 
injuries, widespread civilian displacement, destruction of communities 
and property, and decreased security during the year.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--On January 21, following 
the razing of 10 villages in Abala, Abia state, the Abia state 
vigilante forces, local security forces hired by 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.
    On June 24, during another JTF attack in the same area of Abia 
state, JTF forces 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, 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 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 as a result of the attacks. Critics charged that the 
attacks reduced security in the area because 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.
    Government authorities attempted to impede public criticism. For 
example, on August 18, SSS officers arrested The Guardian newspaper 
journalist John Nnia Nwodo after a speech in which he urged army 
officers to ``not keep quiet if they see political changes need to be 
made.'' No charges were filed, and Nwodo was released after being flown 
the next day from his home to Abuja for ``a routine chat.''
    A large and vibrant private domestic press frequently criticized 
the government. Only one national, government-owned daily newspaper was 
published. State and local governments controlled the majority of print 
and electronic media, and several state 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.
    During the year journalists were killed. For example, on September 
20, unknown assailants in Lagos shot and killed Bayo Ohu, a journalist 
with The Guardian, when he opened his front door. The assailants took 
only his laptop and cell phone, generating speculation that his killing 
was linked to his work as a journalist. No arrests had been made in the 
case by year's end.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 killings of 
journalists: the August killing by unknown assailants of Paul Abayomi 
Ogundeji and the October killing by six unknown assailants of Eiphraim 
Audu.
    Security forces beat journalists. For example, on June 23, in 
Asaba, Delta state, 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 
(see section 1.f.). On June 29, the international NGO Committee to 
Protect Journalists urged the inspector general of police to 
investigate the incident. 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.
    Journalists were also attacked by unknown assailants. For example, 
on January 15, unidentified gunmen broke into the apartment of The 
Scroll editor Janet Mba; the assailants fled when police, whom Mba had 
called before the assailants entered the apartment, arrived. Reporters 
Without Borders described the incident as the latest in a long series 
of violence, threats, and intimidation against the country's 
journalists.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 attacks on 
journalists: the August beating by security operatives of 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 
September beating by police officers in Lagos of three journalists for 
attempting to cover an opposition political rally.
    Security forces detained journalists and seized newspapers during 
the year. For example, on March 24, police in Bayelsa State arrested 
and detained Akin Orimolade, the Abuja bureau chief of the weekly 
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.
    On March 25, 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.
    On July 22, 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.
    On November 18, SSS agents raided the offices of the newspaper 
Leadership and seized several computers. In November 2008 SSS agents 
arrested and detained Leadership publisher Sam Nda Isaiah and 
questioned him for two days about a story reporting that the president 
was critically ill.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases of arbitrary 
arrest: the August arrest without charge of online editor Jonathan 
Elendu after he published several reports speculating about the 
president's health; the October arrest of Murtala Muhammad for 
speculating on the president's health in his online magazine Web site; 
the November 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.
    On May 11, 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; NBC claimed the interview was ``capable of inciting 
people to violence on the eve of an April 24 local election.'' On May 
12, the Ondo state high court ordered NBC to allow the station to 
resume broadcasting, charging that it had not followed due process.
    On September 16, 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 said he was taken to the chief 
security officer, who took off his shoe and beat the reporter, followed 
by more beatings by subordinates. Oluokun, who was hospitalized and 
later discharged, 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 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 during the 
year. For example, on May 11, the NBC suspended for two weeks the 
broadcast license of radio station Adaba 88.5 FM, based in Akure, 
because it not paid an April fine for political reporting that 
constituted ``incitement to violence.''
    Hamisu Lamido, a filmmaker who was arbitrarily arrested in March 
2008 for releasing a film before submitting it to the state censorship 
board, was released on bail after three months. The attorney general 
ordered a retrial due to the court's improper handling of the case.
    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 
with possible fines.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that the government monitored e-mail or 
Internet chat rooms. However, 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.
    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 7 percent of 
the country's inhabitants used the Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--State governments continued 
to restrict academic freedom by controlling curriculum at all levels, 
including mandating religious instruction. Student groups alleged that 
numerous strikes, inadequate facilities, and the rise of gangs on 
campuses, particularly in the south, continued to hamper educational 
progress. During the year academic and nonacademic unions, along with 
student groups, went on strike for four months before resuming class.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; 
however, police prohibited any rally they deemed could result in 
violence, which effectively precluded antigovernment rallies. 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 due to fears 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. 
The prohibition of all political, cultural, and religious meetings in 
Plateau state also continued on a case-by-case basis. In January the 
director general of the Kano Hisbah Board cancelled a planned protest 
by divorced women, citing concerns over security; he also characterized 
the idea of street protests as ``un-Islamic'' and ``morally wrong.''
    Security forces used excessive force to disperse demonstrators 
during the year, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries (see section 
1.a.).
    On March 23, police forcibly dispersed students from the University 
of Ibadan after they barricaded the entrances to the school to protest 
the lack of electrical power and water in dormitories; some students 
received minor injuries as a result.

    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 51 parties 
registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at 
year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected religious freedom in 
practice, although local political actors stoked sectarian violence 
with impunity.
    The constitution prohibits state and local governments from giving 
preferential treatment to a religious or ethnic community; however, 
states, whether predominantly Christian or Muslim, generally favored 
the faith practiced by the majority of their residents. Many Christians 
alleged that the 2000 reintroduction and enforcement of criminal 
aspects of the Shari'a legal system and the continued use of state 
resources in 12 northern states to fund construction of mosques, the 
teaching of qadis (Shari'a court judges), and subsidies for pilgrimages 
to Mecca amounted to the effective adoption of Islam as a state 
religion. Moreover, the NGO Civil Liberties Organization contended that 
establishment of a Ministry of Religious Affairs and creation of a 
preacher's council in Zamfara state amounted to adopting Islam as a 
state religion. However, several states, including northern ones, 
apportioned funds to finance Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem, the 
Sinai, and Rome and to construct churches.
    The constitution provides that states may establish courts based on 
the common law or customary court law systems. Individual northern 
states had elected to create Shari'a courts alongside common law and 
customary courts. Many other states, including the central states of 
Benue and Plateau, had Shari'a appellate courts. In 2000 12 northern 
states (Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Yobe, 
Bauchi, Borno, Zamfara, and Gombe) reintroduced criminal law aspects of 
the Shari'a legal system. Before 2000 the courts used the Shari'a 
system to adjudicate civil matters only. Adherence to Shari'a criminal 
law remained compulsory for Muslims in some states and optional in 
others. While the constitution does not permit non-Muslims to consent 
to Shari'a jurisdiction, in practice non-Muslims possess the option of 
doing so when the penalty under Shari'a is less severe than under civil 
law (for example, a fine rather than a prison sentence).
    Although several northern states continued to ban public 
proselytizing to forestall ethnoreligious violence, some Christian 
proselytizing groups nonetheless remained active. The prohibitions 
generally were enforced on a case-by-case basis. The constitution does 
not require students to receive religious instruction in secular public 
schools. However, state governments occasionally passed laws seeking to 
incorporate religious studies into the curriculum. NGOs such as the 
Civil Liberties Organization claimed that the 12 northern states had 
made Islamic religious education compulsory in previously secular 
schools. Authorities of several states claimed that schools did not 
require students to attend classes of religious groups other than their 
own and that students could request teachers of their own religious 
beliefs to provide alternative instruction. Nonetheless, there often 
were no teachers capable of teaching Christianity in northern schools 
or of teaching Islam in southern schools.
    On August 15, 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 found, the government forcibly 
relocated sect members, including children, in an effort to disperse 
the group 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 charged that the government 
violated the constitutional and human rights of thousands of innocent 
persons.
    Following the Boko Haram violence in Maiduguri, the state 
government suspended some religious services and instructed selected 
clerics on how to preach without inciting violence. In September the 
Borno assembly passed a law providing for a censorship board to 
regulate the preaching licenses for imams.
    On January 24, in Port Harcourt, gunmen abducted a Catholic priest 
from the steps of his church. News media reported he was released under 
orders of an unnamed militant leader and was returned without ransom 
payment.
    Although the government generally did not restrict distribution of 
religious publications, it sporadically enforced a prohibition against 
broadcasting religious notices on state-owned radio and television 
stations. Private radio stations regularly broadcast religious 
programming.
    Although the expanded jurisdiction of Shari'a did not apply to non-
Muslims in civil and criminal proceedings, certain social mores 
inspired by Shari'a, such as separation of the sexes in public schools, 
health-care facilities, and public transport services, affected non-
Muslim minorities in the north.
    Four states with expanded Shari'a laws (Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, and 
Kano) authorized enforcement by private groups known as the Hisbah, 
funded by state governments. In some cases, these groups had authority 
to make arrests, but they primarily served as traffic wardens and 
regulated commercial market activity.
    Although most Shari'a states did not criminalize alcohol 
consumption by non-Muslims, Kano state maintained laws providing for 
steep fines and prison sentences for the distribution and public 
consumption of alcohol. Despite the prohibition, alcohol remained 
available in Kano at some hotels and restaurants and in Sabon Gari, 
where a majority of non-Muslims lived. During the year the governor and 
state Hisbah restricted importation of alcohol into Sabon Gari by 
establishing checkpoints and impounding vehicles carrying alcohol.
    Hisbah leaders in Kano cited prohibitions of alcohol and 
prostitution as their primary focus. In April the director general of 
the Kano Hisbah Board threatened to enter Sabon Gari to confiscate 
alcohol and crack down on prostitution if the hoteliers did not comply 
with an agreement to clean up ``beer spots and brothels.'' At year's 
end hotels in Kano continued to serve alcohol.
    In January the Kano Hisbah Board reportedly ordered the Association 
of Divorcees, Widows, and Orphans to refrain from staging a rally in 
Kano, calling the rally ``un-Islamic''; rally organizers had intended 
to publicize legislation that would improve the lives of female 
divorcees. Hisbah leaders claimed they prohibited the rally to prevent 
conflict following November 2008 violence in Jos, but they agreed to 
grant the association permission to host radio programs instead.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Violence between Christians 
and Muslims increased. Political and socioeconomic conflicts often 
divided persons along religious lines and were expressed in the 
targeting of religious symbols and spaces. Acute sectarian violence in 
the Middle Belt heightened tensions between religious groups, even in 
parts of the country that did not experience the violence. 
Ethnoreligious violence resulted in numerous deaths and the 
displacement of thousands of persons throughout the country.
    Religious differences often mirrored regional, tribal-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.
    The law prohibits religious discrimination in employment and other 
practices. Private businesses, however, frequently discriminated on the 
basis of religion or ethnicity in hiring practices and purchasing 
patterns. In nearly all states, ethnic rivalries between ``indigenes'' 
and ``settlers'' resulted in societal discrimination against more 
recently arrived minority ethnic and religious groups.
    A few instances of societal abuse and discrimination occurred 
against members of Jehovah's Witnesses, who refused for religious 
reasons to join local age-grade associations or women's associations.
    No action was taken against police, whose use of lethal force to 
quell November 2008 ethnoreligious violence in Jos resulted in numerous 
civilian deaths.
    There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year. An 
estimated 30,000 members of the Jewish community resided in the country 
and worshipped in 26 synagogues.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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; however, police occasionally restricted freedom of 
movement by enforcing curfews in areas experiencing ethnoreligious 
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, its federal commissioner, and the National 
Emergency Management Agency. 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 
February 21 to March 7 in Bauchi, after churches and a mosque were 
burned and more than 1,000 persons were displaced, and on December 2, 
in Oyo state, when rival youth gangs started to fire weapons injuring 
approximately 50 youths. In late July the government imposed curfews in 
the northern towns of Bauchi, Maiduguri, Potiskum, and Wudil as a 
result of fighting between security forces and Boko Haram militants 
(see section 1.a.)
    The FCDA continued to demolish homes, businesses, and churches in 
the FCT illegally, which left numerous persons homeless. During the 
year authorities in Port Harcourt forcibly displaced residents on the 
Bundu waterfront in an area slated for redevelopment, an action that 
left thousands of residents homeless.
    Since 2001 the government repatriated 2,557 Liberian refugees 
during the UNHCR's voluntary return program that ended in April.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--There were an estimated 80,000 
internally displaced persons in the country.
    After the July uprising by Boko Haram, the government of Niger 
state forcibly relocated 1,200 members of the Darul Islam sect (see 
section 2.c.).
    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.
    In November 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 moved 
from Nigeria to Cameroon in response to the International Court of 
Justice's 2007 Greentree agreement to settle the disputed land border 
between the two nations. Rivers state emergency services were trying to 
provide permanent housing and services for displaced citizens at year's 
end.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; it 
is a member of the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific 
Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa. Its 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 National Commission for Refugees, the country had 
approximately 10,000 refugees, most of whom were from Sudan, Chad, 
Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    Refugee status for refugees displaced by the civil war in Sierra 
Leone terminated on January 1, 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.
    The government also assisted in the repatriation of numerous 
Liberians and the resettlement in third countries of 232 Liberians. 
Another 349 Liberian refugees were registered for local integration in 
the country and resided in refugee camps administered by the UNHCR.
    As a result of repatriation and local integration, overcrowding in 
refugee camps decreased during the year. 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 
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, 
presidential, national assembly, gubernatorial, and state-level 
elections were marred by poor organization, widespread fraud, and 
numerous incidents of violence. Although INEC claimed 60 percent voter 
turnout nationwide, most independent observers estimated it at less 
than 20 percent. All major independent observer groups, international 
and domestic, issued statements questioning the fairness of the 
elections and cited problems throughout the country, including ballot 
stuffing, intentional miscounting at both polling stations and 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 INEC and state electoral 
committees as key deficiencies in the 2007 electoral process. The 
report recommended a system of proportional representation for both 
legislative and local elections as well as the reinstatement of 
independent candidacies. The report also called for the creation of 
three new commissions that would relieve INEC of many responsibilities 
to allow it to focus solely on conducting elections. The national 
assembly had not taken action on the recommendations by year's end.
    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. By the end of 2008, tribunals had nullified nine 
senatorial and 11 gubernatorial elections, and courts continued to hear 
and adjudicate cases during the year. Most of the nullifications were 
based on technicalities such as ballots lacking the party logo or not 
having the party name listed, rather than for criminal activity or 
fraud related to the elections.
    Political violence occurred at federal, state, and local levels, as 
well as within political parties. The South Africa-based Institute for 
Democracy claimed that as many as 280 persons were killed in the 
country between February and March 2007. The government made little 
effort to investigate or bring charges in any of these cases of 
political violence.
    Authorities did not investigate the January 2008 clash between 
members of the PDP and Action Congress in Ibadan, Oyo State, which 
injured 10 persons.
    Violence marred local elections during the year. In Ekiti state, in 
the August 14 senatorial rerun election, youth gangs attacked election 
observers and burned cars. During the September 19 Ondo state by-
election, youth gangs attacked a candidate, allegedly in the presence 
of police and INEC. Intimidated voters in both elections stayed away 
from the polls, and turnout was low.
    During the December 5 by-election to fill a House seat in Ondo 
state, politicians and citizens caught three sitting PDP legislators in 
the act of stealing and stuffing ballot boxes. The legislators were 
taken into police custody, INEC rejected more than 4,000 illegitimate 
votes, and the opposition Labor Party candidate won.
    During the year INEC registered three new political parties, 
bringing the total number of parties to 57. Establishing a political 
party was relatively easy if fees were paid. Parties generally formed 
around individuals rather than on ideological grounds. In 2008 there 
were allegations that new parties were established by the PDP to 
confuse voters with large numbers of candidates.
    PDP membership conferred advantages, primarily in employment. 
Police arbitrarily arrested opposition leaders. For example, in Oyo 
state, police arrested an Action Congress candidate who challenged the 
2007 election results and imprisoned him for confronting the ruling PDP 
local government chairman. The candidate was released, but police 
continued to harass him.
    Opposition party members accused the president and the PDP of 
``tyranny'' and ``plotting to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.'' On 
June 24, the Bauchi state house of assembly served Deputy Governor 
Muhammad Gaba Gadi with an impeachment notice for alleged financial 
wrongdoing. The impeachment notice followed Gadi's refusal to defect 
from the All Nigeria Peoples Party and join Bauchi governor Isa 
Yugudain in his move to the PDP in April. According to press reports, 
two-thirds of the house of assembly had signed the impeachment notice 
even before an impeachment offense had been named. Legislators 
reportedly were offered 10 million naira ($67,000) each for their 
signatures.
    According to January 27 media reports, the Federal High Court in 
Abuja ruled in favor of the diaspora leaders' lawsuit to allow citizens 
living abroad to vote; however, no expatriate voters had been 
registered by year's end, and no polling booths had been prepared in 
the country's high commission offices in Commonwealth countries.
    Men continued to account for more than 90 percent of the country's 
appointed and elected officials, which included more than 500 
ministerial and national assembly positions. There were only six female 
ministers out of 42, nine female senators out of 109, and 30 female 
representatives out of 360. Although there were no female governors, 
five of 36 states had female deputy governors.
    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 Yar'Adua administration was an example of 
this diversity. President Yar'Adua is a Fulani from the northern city 
of Katsina, the vice president is an Ijaw from the southern state of 
Bayelsa, and the senate president is an Idoma from the central state of 
Benue. The government also attempted to balance other key positions 
among the different regions and ethnic groups. The political parties 
also engaged in ``zoning,'' a practice of rotating positions within the 
party among the different regions and ethnic groups to ensure that each 
region was given adequate representation. Despite this effort, with 
more than 250 ethnic groups, it was difficult to ensure representation 
of every group in the government.

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.
    The EFCC's anticorruption efforts were largely ineffectual. 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 that were in favor continued 
their activities with impunity. The EFCC claimed that approximately 10 
former state governors were facing corruption charges; however, none of 
the cases had moved forward by year's end. In December the judge 
dismissed the 170 counts of illegal activity against former Delta state 
governor James Ibori, although the judge ordered a retrial. Ibori 
remained free on bail at year's end.
    The EFCC's inability to bring a number of corruption investigations 
to closure; the 2008 replacement of its internationally respected 
chairman; and the 2008 transfer of many of its senior personnel raised 
questions about the government's commitment to fighting corruption. 
During the year the EFCC was accused of using its authority to harass 
citizens who objected to government policies (see section 1.c.).
    In June the newly appointed Central Bank governor fired the 
managing directors of eight banks with large portfolios of 
nonperforming loans. Seven of the accused executives were free on bail, 
and their cases were pending at year's end. The eighth managing 
director escaped arrest by leaving the country. By year's end the EFCC 
claimed that it had recovered 300 billion naira (approximately $2 
billion) in loans issued without sufficient collateral.
    In October the courts convicted the 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.
    On December 9, 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 Bafarawa denied. Observers charged that 
the arrest was an attempt to harass opponents of the ruling party.
    The corruption trial of former Ekiti state governor Fayose had not 
been heard by year's end, despite a December 2008 court ruling against 
Fayose's request for a delay. Fayose subsequently requested an exit 
visa to travel outside the country for alleged ``urgent medical 
attention.'' The visa had not been granted by 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 (approximately $130 
million); former Adamawa state governor Boni Haruna for 
misappropriating 93 million naira (approximately $618,000); former 
chairman of the NPA Board of Directors and five other NPA members for 
illegally awarding contracts worth 84 billion naira (approximately $558 
million); and former Edo state governor Lucky Igbinedion, against whom 
the EFCC was appealing a December 2008 verdict due to the light 
sentence he received for the alleged embezzlement of more than 3.6 
billion naira (approximately $24 million).
    There were no developments in any of the 2007 pending corruption 
cases against former government officials.
    There are no laws that provide for access to government 
information; in practice the government provided limited 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 
were sometimes cooperative and responsive to their views.
    Numerous domestic and international NGOs were active. Significant 
domestic NGOs included the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center 
Nigeria, the Alliance for Credible Elections, the Center for Law 
Enforcement Education, the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, 
the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, Project Alert, the Women 
Trafficking and Child Labor Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), and the 
Women's Consortium of Nigeria. NGOs were generally independent of the 
government although some, such as WOTCLEF, which the previous vice 
president's wife chaired, had close government ties.
    The government frequently met with NGOs and civil society 
organizations, but few tangible results came from such meetings.
    International NGOs, including AI, Global Rights, and Human Rights 
Watch, as well as the UN special rapporteur on torture, actively 
addressed human rights issues in the country during the year.
    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 were 
limited by insufficient funding. The commission also lacked an 
independent budget or 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. In March the government removed the effective 
and outspoken NHRC executive secretary two years into her five-year 
term, replacing her with a former justice ministry official. This 
followed the replacement of her also outspoken predecessor after one 
year of his five-year term. The president is empowered by law to remove 
the executive secretary if the public is not being well served, 
although critics noted that the former executive secretaries were 
strong human rights advocates. In June the new NHRC leadership visited 
the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to submit the country's four-year 
(2009-13) action plan to promote and protect human rights. While 
ambitious in scope, the plan did not identify resources, timelines, or 
strategies to achieve results.
    During the year the government arbitrarily arrested NGO members. 
For example, on May 12, 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 July 2008 for protesting an election 
tribunal decision.
    Police detained and harassed civil society activists from the Osun 
state Coalition Against Rights Violations in Oshogbo throughout the 
year. The courts repeatedly adjourned their cases, leaving the accused 
in legal limbo for extended periods
    On December 9, 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.

    Women.--The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of 10 
years' to life imprisonment as well as fines of 200,000 naira 
(approximately $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 October the government implemented its Niger Delta amnesty 
program to rehabilitate former militants. In November a group was 
relocated adjacent to the University of Port Harcourt, where shortly 
thereafter 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.
    The constitution provides for equality and freedom from 
discrimination; however, there are no laws that 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 on November 23, 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 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), 
64.5 percent of women and 61.3 percent of men agreed that a husband was 
justified in hitting or beating his wife for at least one of six 
specified reasons, including burning food and not cooking on time.
    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 
skills acquisition. The Women's Rights Advancement and Protection 
Alternative also served as a leading voice in the campaign on violence 
against women and continuously advocated passage of legislation to 
protect women's rights.
    Prostitution remained pervasive, particularly in urban areas. 
Statutes at both the federal and state levels criminalize prostitution. 
All states that adopted Shari'a had criminalized prostitution but 
enforced such prohibitions with varying success. The police frequently 
used the antiprostitution statutes as tools for harassment, arresting 
prostitutes and holding them until they paid bribes but rarely 
prosecuting the cases in court. Corporate prostitution (hiring of women 
as corporate employees to perform sexual acts to attract or retain 
clients) remained a problem, particularly in the banking sector.
    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. Although this 
practice restricted women's movement during daylight hours, many women 
pursued economic and social activities outside the home in the evening.
    Couples and individuals had the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of children; however, safe 
and effective information and counseling on reproductive health were 
not widely available to women and couples. According to the 2009 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 were adolescents, many of whom were sexually active, but few 
of whom had access to contraceptives. Maternal mortality, partially due 
to births to adolescents and women at high risk of complications from 
pregnancy, was high. Women married young and averaged 5.7 children; 36 
percent of mothers did not receive any prenatal care, and only 38 
percent of new mothers received postnatal check-ups 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 east, 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 
Shari'a. In Zamfara state, local governments enforced laws requiring 
the separation of Muslim men and women in transportation and health 
care. Kano state's 2005 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. 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 directed 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.
    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.
    The 2008 NDHS reported that 30 percent of females 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 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 female who 
offers herself for FGM; any person who coerces, entices, or induces any 
female to undergo FGM; or any person who, for other than for medical 
reasons, performs an operation removing part of a woman or girl's 
sexual organs. The law provides for a fine of 50,000 naira 
(approximately $332), 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. Because of the considerable impediments 
that anti-FGM groups faced at the federal level, most refocused their 
energies on combating the practice at the state and local levels. 
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 were often left 
to rely on charity.
    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.
    During the year reports of missing children in Kano more than 
doubled. In July approximately 50 parents placed radio announcements 
about missing children; 20 announcements were placed in July 2008. The 
reason for the increase in missing children was unclear.
    Children accused of witchcraft were kidnapped, tortured, and 
killed, particularly in Akwa Ibom state. According to local NGOs 
Stepping Stones Nigeria and Child's Rights and Rehabilitation Network 
(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 
November 2008 authorities arrested Williams and charged him with 
torture and murder; he was arraigned in May, and the case continued at 
year's end. The government did not acknowledge the wider problem of 
accusing children of witchcraft.
    On July 3, police in Eket, Awka Ibom state, raided a 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, who were later released 
after the governor's office intervened; two girls, aged 11 and 12, were 
left unconscious.
    In December UNICEF reported that 10 percent of the country's 
children--or 7.3 million children--were orphans, based on a survey 
released by the Ministry of Women's Affairs and Social Development; 
according to 2007 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.
    Many children were homeless and lived on the streets. There were no 
known statistics on their numbers. Major factors that caused 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 the north between two and 10 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 (approximately 
$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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons 
for all purposes; however, persons were trafficked to, from, through, 
and within the country. The extent of the problem was unknown.
    The country was a source, transit, and destination country for 
trafficked persons during the year. No government or NGO estimates on 
the extent of trafficking were available, but the magnitude of the 
problem was believed to be significant. This was based on several 
factors, including the number of deportees returned to the country and 
reports of Nigerians stranded along trafficking routes, particularly in 
North African countries. The largest segment of trafficking victims 
rescued by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in 
Persons (NAPTIP) came from Edo state.
    Criminals smuggled citizens to Europe, the Middle East, and other 
countries in Africa for forced labor, domestic servitude, and sexual 
exploitation. Traffickers moved girls and women for forced prostitution 
and domestic labor to Italy, Austria, Spain, Norway, Belgium, the 
Netherlands, Greece, the United Kingdom, Russia, and countries in West 
and Central Africa. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated 
that 72 percent of female trafficking victims for prostitution in Italy 
came from the country. Traffickers moved children for involuntary 
domestic and agricultural labor and street peddling within the country 
and to countries in West and Central Africa. Both women and children 
were trafficked to Saudi Arabia for the purposes of prostitution, 
sexual exploitation, and labor. There also were reports that trafficked 
children were used as camel jockeys in the Middle East. The country was 
a destination country for children trafficked for forced labor from 
other West African countries, primarily Benin. UNICEF estimated 5,000 
Beninese children were trafficked into Abeokuta, Ogun state, and forced 
to work in the granite quarries.
    Women and children were most at risk of being trafficked, and 70 
percent of all trafficking victims in the country were female. Boys 
were trafficked primarily to work as forced bondage laborers, street 
peddlers, and beggars, while girls were trafficked for domestic 
service, street peddling, and commercial sexual exploitation. 
Trafficking in children, and to a lesser extent in women, occurred 
within the country's borders. Traffickers moved children from rural 
areas to cities to work as domestics, street peddlers, and beggars.
    The UNODC reported that individual criminals and organized criminal 
groups conducted trafficking, often involving relatives or 
acquaintances of victims. Traffickers employed various methods. Many 
organized themselves into specialties, such as passport and other 
document forgery, recruitment, and transportation. To recruit young 
women, traffickers often made false promises of legitimate work outside 
the country. Traffickers also deceived child victims and their parents 
with promises of education, training, and pay. Once away from their 
families, children underwent harsh treatment and intimidation. 
Traffickers subjected victims to debt bondage, particularly those 
forced into prostitution. In some cases traffickers employed 
practitioners of traditional magic to threaten victims with curses to 
procure their silence. Victims were transported by air, land, and sea. 
Established land routes to Europe transited Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Morocco.
    Child trafficking occurred most frequently in the southeast states 
of Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu, specifically the selling of babies through 
illegal and unregistered hospitals and maternity homes. Many young 
girls, upon discovering they were pregnant, decided to enter these 
hospitals to obtain money from selling their babies. NAPTIP officials 
reported that the girls received 20,000 to 30,000 naira (approximately 
$133 to $200) for selling a baby; the baby was then resold for 300,000 
to 400,000 naira ($2,000 to $2,650) in illegal and undocumented 
transactions. Reportedly babies were sometimes sold to legitimate 
couples who wanted a child, but many babies also were sold for use in 
rituals during which they were killed.
    The law prohibits human trafficking and provides for penalties 
including monetary fines, imprisonment, deportation, forfeiture of 
assets and passport, and liability for compensation to victims in civil 
proceedings. Prison terms range from 12 months to life, while fines 
range from 50,000 to 200,000 naira (approximately $332 to $1,330).
    NAPTIP, a 555-employee agency with 175 investigators and 32 
prosecutors nationwide, has primary responsibility for combating 
trafficking. The NPF and the Nigerian Immigration Service also had 
antitrafficking units.
    During the year the government took steps to implement the National 
Plan of Action passed in August 2008. The action plan is a broad 
framework of antitrafficking programs that cover research, prevention, 
prosecution, and protection and requires coordination between 
government, law enforcement agencies, the legislature, and NGOs.
    By year's end the government had obtained 25 trafficking 
convictions. Preliminary data indicated that during the year NAPTIP 
investigated 149 new cases and prosecuted 37 new cases, with 88 cases 
pending. Observers attributed the low conviction rate to witnesses' 
reluctance to testify and to the slow progress of cases through the 
courts.
    The NPF Antitrafficking Task Force staffed 22 units in states with 
the worst trafficking problems. Officials complained of insufficient 
funding to support investigative field work.
    The government increased collaboration on investigations with law 
enforcement agencies in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, and 
Benin. By year's end NAPTIP had signed mutual cooperation agreements 
with eight nations. Officials attended international workshops on 
trafficking, and the government collaborated with Benin to arrest 
traffickers and repatriate trafficking victims. The Ogun State 
government signed a memorandum of understanding with Benin to stop the 
trafficking of Beninese children in the rock quarries of southwest 
Nigeria.
    Reports continued from informants and foreign officials that law 
enforcement officers and other individuals in the immigration and 
airport authorities collaborated in trafficking persons across the 
country's borders. NAPTIP provided training to police and customs 
officials on trafficking. The law provides penalties for officials who 
aid or abet trafficking.
    The government provided protection and rehabilitation for 
trafficking victims, although funding was insufficient. NAPTIP served 
as the point of contact for immigration and police officials who 
discovered victims. During the year 928 victims passed through the 
agency. NAPTIP operated shelter facilities at secure locations in 
Lagos, Abuja, Benin City, Uyo, Enugu, Sokoto, Maiduguri, and Kano. The 
Ministry of Women Affairs operated two shelters, one in Kano and 
another in Benin City. NAPTIP officials connected victims to 
nongovernmental or international organizations for shelter, counseling, 
and reintegration assistance. NAPTIP also maintained hotlines for 
victims and anyone seeking or wanting to provide information on 
trafficking. During the year the government helped victims to 
repatriate to their home countries and reunited trafficked children 
with their families.
    The Labor Ministry, in collaboration with the International Labor 
Organization (ILO), NAPTIP, police, and other federal agencies, 
provided food, transportation, and other logistical assistance to 
reunite internally and externally trafficked children with their 
families.
    The government provided some funding for protection activities. For 
victims serving as witnesses, divisional police officers were appointed 
to serve as witness protection officers. NAPTIP officials and police 
officers worked together to provide assistance. NAPTIP organized ``town 
hall'' meetings with NGOs to bring together community and traditional 
leaders, teachers, school children, and other groups to raise awareness 
of the dangers of trafficking, legal protections, and available 
resources. Several state governments in the south continued efforts to 
protect victims. An Edo state NGO, Idia Renaissance, operated a youth 
resource center, funded by UNICEF and foreign organizations, that 
provided job-skills training and counseling to trafficking victims and 
other youth. The Society for the Empowerment of Young Persons, with 
support from a foreign donor organization, provided vocational training 
and business mentoring support to trafficking victims in Edo State.
    The stakeholder forum, established by NAPTIP to provide 
antitrafficking training to security and immigration officials and to 
raise awareness of trafficking issues among local government leaders, 
met quarterly in Abuja. Law enforcement officials, government 
representatives, NGO groups, and diplomatic missions attended the 
quarterly meetings. NAPTIP also worked with the media to raise 
awareness among the public, and NAPTIP officials appeared on national 
talk shows and state programs.
    State-level antitrafficking committees, consisting of immigration 
officials, civil society organizations, law enforcement agents, and 
federal ministries, operated in 26 states, but not all were active. 
These groups coordinated actions in trafficking cases between their 
respective organizations.
    During the year the government conducted public information 
campaigns, such as the first annual race against trafficking in Edo 
state in which more than 5,000 students took part. Additional public 
campaigns were being planned in other areas of the country.
    On September 23, Dutch police, in conjunction with United Kingdom 
legal and law enforcement officials, conducted a training seminar for 
NAPTIP and police on the use of e-mail, voice and video recordings, and 
digital photographs as evidence in prosecuting trafficking cases; 
current law does not accept such digital media as evidence in court 
cases.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no laws that prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other 
state services. There are no laws requiring physical accessibility for 
persons with disabilities.
    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, 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.
    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. 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 area, 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 destroying 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.
    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 scholarships and government 
representation.
    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 
delta area (see section 1.g.).
    Religious differences often mirrored regional and ethnic 
differences and resulted in numerous deaths and the displacement of 
thousands of persons during the year.
    Unlike in previous years, there was no interethnic fighting in 
Warri, Delta state; however, numerous ethnic clashes occurred in other 
parts of the Niger Delta, including the states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, 
and Cross River. On February 27, for example, six persons died as a 
result of ethnic fighting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, and on March 13, 
20 persons died in an intercommunal clash in Cross River state.
    Interethnic fighting elsewhere resulted in numerous deaths and 
injuries. Clashes between the Ezra and Ezillo communities in Ishielu, 
Ebonyi state, continued and resulted in more than 100 deaths since May 
2008.
    On September 3, 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; the violence was triggered by a 
dispute over a proposed name change for the community. 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 Shari'a 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. 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.
    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 
September 2008 with sodomy and subsequently charged with vagrancy, had 
been postponed multiple times. Five defendants were able to pay bail, 
set at 20,000 naira ($133), and were released; the remaining 13 
defendants remained in jail.

    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 September 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, 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. Some of these restrictions were 
implemented to curb the practice of forming thousands of small unions 
with as few as three or four employees each.
    Workers, except members of the armed forces and employees 
designated as essential by the government, may join trade unions. 
Essential workers included government employees in the police, customs, 
immigration, prisons, the federal mint, and the Central Bank.
    According to figures provided by the Michael Imoudu National 
Institute for Labor Studies, eight million persons--or 60 percent of 
formal sector workers--belonged to unions. Most workers in the informal 
sector belonged to thrift and cooperative societies, which helped with 
daily savings and loans to meet business needs.
    Trade union federations, called ``central labor organizations,'' 
must be registered formally by the government. Each federation must 
consist of 12 or more trade unions, and trade union membership in a 
federation must be exclusive. A minimum of 50 workers per enterprise is 
required to form a trade union.
    The law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference; however, the law also narrowly defines what union 
activity is legal.
    The law limits the right to strike to matters pertaining to breach 
of contract or wages and conditions of work, thereby prohibiting 
strikes over matters of national economic policy; however, the ILO 
ruled that this policy was contrary to ILO conventions. The government 
chose not to enforce this provision of the law during the four-month 
public university strikes over public education policy, the national 
minimum wage, university research and development funding, academic 
autonomy, and increased representation on university education boards.
    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 are no laws prohibiting 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 Labor Ministry. The panel's decisions 
were binding on parties but could be appealed to the National 
Industrial Court. In practice the decisions of these bodies 
infrequently carried the force of law. Union representatives described 
the arbitration process as cumbersome, time-consuming, and an 
ineffective deterrent to retribution against strikers.
    On June 19, Ekiti state Governor Olusegun Oni ordered the closure 
of state-owned television and radio stations following a workers' 
strike and ordered the removal from the stations of three union leaders 
who led the protest. Despite the intervention of the Nigerian Labor 
Congress and the Ekiti chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the 
stations remained closed as a result of the governor's order.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to both organize and bargain collectively 
between management and trade unions. 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, but in most cases workers' 
fears of negative repercussions inhibited their reporting antiunion 
activities.
    In October 2008 the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas 
Workers picketed the headquarters of Shell Oil in Nigeria for firing 21 
contract workers with 15 to 25 years of service after they attempted to 
unionize.
    Solidarity Center Nigeria reported that ``yellow dog'' contracts, 
which explicitly require that employees not join a union as a condition 
of employment, were used despite being technically illegal.
    During the year Chinese employers reportedly failed to comply with 
labor laws pertaining to the protection of union organizing, especially 
in the construction and textile sectors.
    Workers and employers in export processing zones (EPZs) were 
subject to sections of the national labor laws pertaining to EPZs, 
which provided for a 10-year prohibition on trade unions, strikes, or 
lockouts following the commencement of operations within a zone. In 
addition, the law allows the Nigerian Export Processing Zones 
Authority, which was created by the federal government to oversee 
management and operations of EPZs, to handle the resolution of disputes 
between employers and employees, instead of workers' organizations or 
unions.

    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. 
Enforcement of the law was not effective in many parts of the country. 
The government did not take steps to identify or eliminate forced 
labor.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law, which sets a general minimum age for employment of 12 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 NAPTIP estimated there were more than 15 
million children involved in child labor.
    Young persons under age 14 may only be employed on a daily basis, 
must receive the day's wages at the end of each work day, and must be 
able to return each night to their parents' or guardian's residence, 
but 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.
    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 at the age of 13 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; children in 
ethnic, religious, political conflicts, and violence; and children 
engaged 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.
    In addition to citizen children, there were reports of thousands of 
trafficked Beninese children forced to work in granite mines in 
Abeokuta, Ogun state. In Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, children could be 
seen hammering down large pieces of rocks, bundling them into bunches, 
and carrying them on their heads, but there were no official statistics 
on their country of origin.
    In an effort to withdraw children from the worst forms of child 
labor, the Ministry of Labor established and upgraded skills 
acquisition and vocational training centers in Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu, 
and Lagos; four other centers were being developed. Thousands 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 2008 to June 
2009, the Labor Ministry conducted more than 29,882 inspections with 
408 officers. Although the inspectorate employed nearly 400 inspectors 
for all business sectors, there were fewer than 50 factory inspectors 
for the entire country. Complaints were rarely made by victims or their 
guardians 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. 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 10 training and 
awareness raising programs and additional child labor staff were funded 
by the government during the year.
    During the year four states (Akwa Ibom, Benue, Osun, and Edo) 
passed the Child Rights Act, bringing the total to 21 cooperating 
states plus the FCT; the federal government passed the Child Rights Act 
in 2003, but it required state-level ratification for full 
implementation. UNICEF continued to advocate passage and enforcement in 
all other states.
    Private and government initiatives to eliminate child labor 
continued but remained 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 on hazardous child 
labor and child trafficking for labor exploitation issues. 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 8,630 naira (approximately $57) with one month's extra pay for 
Christmas. The national minimum wage did not provide a decent standard 
of living for a worker and family. A tripartite committee infrequently 
reviewed the minimum wage and provided recommendations to the national 
assembly, which is responsible for passing minimum wage legislation; 
however, the committee had not conducted such a review in more than 10 
years. The government directed each state administration to establish 
its own salary structure based on its ability to pay, with a floor of 
at least the national minimum wage. Some federal ministries, states, 
and private sector companies raised their monthly minimum wage for all 
employees to 9,000 naira ($60). However, workers in some states 
complained that the minimum wage had not been implemented.
    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.
    There has been no review of the national minimum wage for 10 years. 
On January 12, unions in the public education, aviation, medical and 
health, radio and television, federal and civil service, and petroleum 
sectors either threatened to go on strike or went on strike to press 
for a new minimum wage review.
    From June to October, the Academic Staff of Universities Union 
(ASUU) and the Nonacademic Staff Union conducted a nationwide strike 
that lasted four months, during which universities remained closed. The 
union called for a standardized national wage structure, living wages, 
increased institutional resources, and government implementation of 
other commitments negotiated in 2004 with the ASUU. In June the 
National Union of Teachers went on strike to protest the failure of 
state and federal governments to honor wage commitments also negotiated 
in 2004. The government, through the Ministries of Labor and Education, 
refused to negotiate with the union, since teachers' wages were set at 
the state level. Teachers returned to work after the Labor Ministry 
agreed to some, but not all, of their demands.
    The law 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; however, the Labor Ministry did not 
properly monitor and enforce health and safety conditions due to 
insufficient police and factory inspectors. The law also establishes 
general health and safety provisions, some of which were aimed 
specifically at young or female workers, and requires that the 
inspectorate division of the Ministry of Labor inspect factories for 
compliance with health and safety standards. However, this agency was 
greatly underfunded, lacked basic resources and training, and 
consequently did not sufficiently enforce safety oversight at most 
enterprises, particularly construction sites and other nonfactory work 
locations. The law requires employers to compensate injured workers and 
dependent survivors of those killed in industrial accidents; however, 
the law was not strictly enforced. The Factories Law provides for the 
protection of factory employees in hazardous situations, including the 
right of employees to remove themselves from such situations; however, 
the law did not provide similar provisions for other workers.
    The labor laws apply to legal foreign workers, but not all 
companies respected these laws in practice.

                               __________

                                 RWANDA

    Rwanda, with a population of 10 million, is a constitutional 
republic dominated by a strong presidency. In 2003 voters elected 
President Paul Kagame to a seven-year term in largely peaceful but 
seriously marred elections. Chamber of Deputies elections took place in 
September 2008 and were peaceful and orderly, despite irregularities. 
The Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) dominated the government and 
legislature. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    Citizens' right to change their government was effectively 
restricted. Violence against genocide survivors and witnesses by 
unknown assailants resulted in deaths. 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. The 
government forcibly returned refugees. Official corruption and 
restrictions on civil society remained a problem. Societal violence and 
discrimination against women, trafficking in persons, and 
discrimination against Twa and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) community occurred. There were restrictions on labor 
rights, and child labor occurred.
    In January the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo 
(DRC) and Rwanda accelerated efforts to achieve a rapprochement, which 
they had initiated in late 2008. In January and February the two 
governments carried out a joint operation called Umoja Wetu (Swahili 
for ``Our Unity'') in the eastern DRC against the Hutu rebel group 
known as 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). 
According to a December report by the international nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Human Rights Watch (HRW), the joint DRC-Rwandan 
operation resulted in civilian deaths.
                        
                       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 that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports 
of unlawful killings by local defense members. The government generally 
investigated security force killings and prosecuted perpetrators; 
however, authorities took no action against police officers responsible 
for the 2007 shooting deaths of 22 criminal suspects.
    There were no developments in the case of the July 2008 killing of 
a university student by a local defense member 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.
    Unidentified individuals killed witnesses to the 1994 genocide 
throughout the country to prevent testimony and undermine the gacaca 
process, which the government established to address certain categories 
of crimes related to the genocide (see section 1.e.).
    The government investigated and prosecuted individuals accused of 
threatening, harming, or killing 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. A special protection bureau in the Office 
of the National Public Prosecution Authority (formerly the Office of 
the Prosecutor General) investigated 473 cases, 181 of which were filed 
in court (see section 1.e.).
    In December HRW released the report You Will Be Punished, which 
describes 201 killings of civilians attributed to government forces 
during the DRC-Rwanda joint operation of January and February. The 
report also described 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 that 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 HRW report, in late February 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, soldiers killed 
approximately 40 residents of Byarenga, North Kivu. There were smaller 
numbers of civilians killed in other incidents during January and 
February.
    The government denied the RDF had participated in any killing of 
civilians. Neither Congolese nor Rwandan authorities had taken any 
steps to investigate or prosecute any soldiers allegedly involved in 
such incidents by year's end.
    At least one mob killing occurred during the year. In September 
residents of Kayonza district killed a suspected thief. While the main 
suspect fled after the killing, the trial of several accomplices 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, 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; however, 
authorities took no action against police officers responsible for the 
2007 shooting deaths of 22 criminal suspects.
    A local NGO that assists torture and abuse victims reported that it 
received no new cases during the year and that incidents and severity 
of abuse by authorities continued to decline.
    There were reports that police beat members of the Jehovah's 
Witnesses who refused to participate in nighttime security patrols, and 
authorities arrested some members (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 
their alleged ties to the FDLR. All reported being returned to the DRC 
after being held for a period of 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 any 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 harsh. Individuals convicted of genocide-related 
offenses since gacaca hearings began nationwide in 2006 made up the 
majority of the prison population. 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 July 2008 call for 
its closure due to substandard conditions (see section 1.d.).
    In July 2008 the government discontinued food contributions from 
family members of prisoners and instituted a prepaid canteen system 
that families could access. At year's end human rights groups 
monitoring the government's ability to provide adequate nutrition to 
prisoners--especially those previously receiving family farm 
contributions--reported a slight increase in malnutrition among 
prisoners. Pregnant and breastfeeding prisoners, as well as female 
prisoners with small children, continued to receive food supplements 
from family members. 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. Some prisoners transferred from police 
jails to national prisons had not been fed for several days. Police in 
previous years told crime victims that if the victims did not provide 
food to the accused, authorities would release the accused.
    On August 11, prisoners in the Kimironko and Cyangugu prisons 
rioted over lack of food and visitation rights, resulting in several 
injuries.
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (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.
    All of the country's 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.
    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 Prisons 
Service reported that prisoner deaths declined during the year as a 
result of a Global Fund program that facilitated the placement of 
medical personnel in all 14 prisons, treatment for diseases including 
HIV/AIDS, and improvement in hygiene and sanitary conditions.
    On September 26, 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.
    By the end of October, the prison population was approximately 
64,000 in a system designed for 43,400. The population consisted of 
approximately 59,100 men, 4,200 women, and 700 minors. Additionally, as 
of August there were 679 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 extra privileges.
    In some cases juvenile prisoners had access to the adult wards. 
There were reports of abuse of minors, both by other minors and by the 
adult prison population, especially among the male inmate population.
    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.
    The remaining high-profile political prisoner, former transport 
minister Ntakirutinka, remained in a special section of the Kigali 
``1930'' prison.
    The ICRC reported unimpeded access on an unannounced basis to all 
prisons during the year. Local human rights NGO League for Human Rights 
in the Great Lakes Region (LDGL) reported similar ease of access to all 
prisons; at year's end another local human rights NGO was awaiting a 
renewed permit to visit prisons. The government also permitted 
independent monitoring of prison conditions by diplomats and 
journalists. The ICRC continued its visits to communal jails and 
military-supervised jails.
    During the year the government completed construction of a new 
block of prison cells in compliance with international standards for 
treatment of prisoners convicted by international criminal tribunals. 
In November 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 that it had enrolled all 
prisoners in the national health insurance plan, although medical 
treatment remained inadequate.

    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 Rwandan Defense 
Forces (RDF) under the Ministry of Defense maintain external security. 
The Rwanda National Police (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 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 police Office of Inspectorate 
Service, which reports directly to the RNP commissioner general, 
handled approximately 400 cases of police misconduct during the year. 
During the year the RNP fired 74 police officers for alleged 
corruption, abuse of power, or misconduct; 391 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 in the local radio and press and 
provided complaint/compliment boxes in many communities to encourage 
citizens to report problems regarding police and the local defense 
members.
    During the year 330 officers received training on 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 the 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 10 
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 that public 
safety is threatened or that the accused might flee. There is bail for 
minor crimes (with a maximum sentence of five years); authorities may 
otherwise release a suspect pending trial if they are satisfied that 
there is no risk that the person may flee or become a threat to public 
safety and order. 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 450 attorneys in the country, of which 292 were trainees, most in 
Kigali) impeded 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 Bar Association, and university law faculties, 
provided legal aid services to indigent and vulnerable groups. Such 
resources were insufficient to provide lawyers to every indigent 
person. The Bar Association provided 314 lawyers to clients during the 
year. One international NGO also provided limited access to defense 
counsel and provided 596 lawyers for 724 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 government authorities arrested Laurent Nkunda, leader 
of a Congolese armed group, while he was in the country. At year's end 
Rwandan and Congolese officials were negotiating the extradition of 
Nkunda, who remained under house arrest.
    On several occasions police and the local defense detained street 
children, vendors, beggars, and undocumented nonresidents in Kigali and 
other 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.
    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 that 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. The government made significant progress in 
reducing the gacaca case backlog. 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 had 
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 in gacaca cases. Unlike in 
previous years, there were no reports that members of the executive 
branch called judges to discuss ongoing cases privately and to express 
executive preferences.
    In its July 2008 report entitled 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 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 
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) panels 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 October 2008 the Military Court in Kigali acquitted two senior 
RPF officers of the June 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 on grounds that the 
crimes were not premeditated. The prosecutor appealed the decision to a 
higher court, which confirmed the lower court ruling.
    The constitution provides for a system of ordinary and specialized 
courts. Ordinary courts include the Supreme Court, the High Court, 
provincial courts, and district courts. Specialized courts include 
gacaca courts, commercial courts, and military courts.
    By year's end there were 19,247 criminal and 26,364 civil cases 
pending in the regular courts; approximately 47,000 such cases were 
pending at the end of 2008.

    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 used 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 those 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 
government did not have a sufficient number of prosecutors, judges, or 
courtrooms to hold trials within a reasonable period of time.
    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 that military courts should try civilian accomplices of 
soldiers accused of crimes. As of October military courts had tried 67 
civilians as co-perpetrators 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. (The 
government estimated that adjudicating the caseload in ordinary courts 
would have taken decades.) Gacaca defendants are presumed innocent 
until proven guilty, and gacaca courts normally decide a case the day 
of the trial. There is no bail in the gacaca system, and 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. Defendants can appeal gacaca proceedings 
at sector-level courts. Lawyers are not permitted to participate 
officially in gacaca, 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 
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 June 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 
1.1 million cases. As of December, 2,261 gacaca cases remained.
    In August there were 123,365 gacaca judges or ``persons of 
integrity'' elected by the community and trained in gacaca law, serving 
in 13,708 cell, sector, and appellate gacaca benches, or groups of 
judges, across the country.
    Unlike in previous years, no lawyers fled 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 or trained 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.
    There were reports that government officials 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 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 serious problems. 
Some citizens were too frightened to testify in gacaca courts. The 
government reported that unknown attackers killed six genocide 
survivors and witnesses during the year, whereas the survivors' 
organization Ibuka reported 24 killings of survivors from January 
through December. Ordinary courts also handled the cases of hundreds of 
persons accused of participating in the killing, injuring, or 
threatening of witnesses, survivors, and judges.
    During the year police processed approximately 473 cases involving 
such violence against survivors and witnesses, 181 of which were filed 
in court. Nearly all cases involved gacaca proceedings. The government 
asserted that the genocide ideology law was necessary to prevent a 
reincitement to 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 that organized groups 
targeted and killed genocide witnesses. However, the government 
continued to conduct criminal investigations of individuals, which 
resulted in the prosecution of some persons.
    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. During the 
year it increased joint patrols in rural areas by survivors and 
security personnel; used preventive detention of genocide suspects to 
prevent attacks deemed imminent by security officials; expanded 
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 that some suspects confessed to avoid lengthy prison 
terms. Unlike in the previous year, 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 a group of more than 300 genocide 
suspects fled to Burundi claiming persecution in Rwanda (see section 
2.d.). Government officials claimed that most persons fled due to 
pending gacaca cases, not persecution.
    The ICTR, based in Tanzania, continued to prosecute genocide 
suspects during the year (see section 5).

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Local human rights NGOs 
reported 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.

    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, and subsequently 
reinstated, a media outlet. 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 harassment or intimidation.
    In August the government passed a new media law called the Law on 
Media. Provisions in the new law grant the Media High Council the power 
to suspend newspapers, increase the amount of capital required to start 
new media outlets, impose criminal penalties on journalists who incite 
discrimination or show contempt to 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. The New Times, an English-language 
paper with close ties to the government and whose shareholders 
reportedly included senior government officials, was the only daily 
newspaper. There were 67 newspapers, journals, and other publications 
registered with the government, although fewer than 20 published 
regularly. Sporadically published independent newspapers--including 
Focus, Umuseso, and Umuvugizi--maintained positions contrary to or 
critical of the government. The New Times also sometimes criticized 
government policies and officials. Journalists from the BBC's 
Kinyarwanda-language service reported being denied access to cover 
certain government events and difficulty reaching officials between 
January and June. As of June BBC Kinyarwanda journalists reported 
receiving invitations to government events and interviews with 
government officials.
    Unlike in the previous year, the government did not expel members 
of the press from the country for articles deemed in violation of the 
divisionism statute, the press law, or other articles of the criminal 
code; however, journalists were expelled from public events. Police 
also detained journalists.
    During a February 14 lecture given by High Court President Johnston 
Busingye to police cadets, police expelled two journalists from the New 
Times who had been invited to cover the event. Police subsequently 
forced the journalists to delete their photographs when they were 
unable to produce their letters of permission from the Ministry of 
Internal Security to attend the event. The lecture included discussion 
of human rights in policing.
    In August a gacaca court in Butare sentenced Amani Ntakandi, a 
journalist for the biweekly Rushyashya, to three months in prison for 
taking photos of an August 5 gacaca trial. Ntakundi, who had a permit 
to take notes issued by the national agency for Gacaca courts, claimed 
he was unaware that he needed separate permission to take photos. 
Authorities released him in November.
    The law imposes criminal sanctions on the media for libel and other 
forms of defamation. In December authorities arrested, then released, 
Umuseso editor Didas Gasana on charges of defamation and insult after 
he published a story alleging an affair between the minister of cabinet 
affairs and the mayor of Kigali.
    In August the government charged Umuvugizi editor and journalist 
Jean Bosco Gasasira, one of three journalists expelled from a 
government event in May 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. In reaction to a media 
question during a July 27 press conference, the minister of 
information, Louise Mushikiwabo, announced that the ``days of 
destructive media are numbered.'' Gasasira, who was attacked by unknown 
assailants in 2007 after Umuvugizi published articles that criticized 
the government, claimed that he had been followed during the August 
trial by men whom he believed were state security agents.
    In August the Media High Council recommended that the government 
suspend the weekly Umuseso for three months following a July article 
that called President Kagame a dictator and compared him to former 
president Habyarimana; however, no action had been taken against the 
newspaper by year's end. According to the Committee to Protect 
Journalists, Minister of Information Mushikiwabo explained that she 
could not understand how anyone would make such a comparison, saying, 
``one man started the genocide, while the other ended it.'' Police and 
immigration officials seized the shipment of a subsequent edition of 
Umuseso at the country's border with Uganda (where it was printed), but 
released it several hours later. Umuseso continued to publish.
    In May 2008 government officials expelled three local journalists--
Charles Kabonero of Umuseso, Jean Bosco Gasasira of Umuvugizi, 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 and Kabonero remained outside the country. The 
government later began allowing Rushyasha's reporters to cover 
government events.
    The case against Umuco editor Bizumuremyi remained pending; 
Bizumuremyi fled the country in March 2008 after his newspaper ran 
side-by-side photographs of President Kagame with Adolf Hitler and an 
article equating the two. The government had not suspended Umuco, but 
the newspaper had not published since October 2008. In 2007 the 
government began prosecuting Bizumuremyi for defamation, divisionism, 
and disobeying public authorities.
    The appeal of the one-year suspended sentence of local journalists 
Charles Kabonero and Didas Gasana of Umuseso, who were convicted in 
February 2008 of libel for critical articles written about a prominent 
businessman, remained pending at year's end.
    Critics 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, which affected newspapers' 
revenues.
    The law authorizes private radio and TV broadcasting, subject to 
the approval of the government, although some 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. In addition to 
government-owned and operated Radio Rwanda, there were six community 
radio stations, five religious stations, one university station, and 
six independent FM radio stations broadcasting during the year; they 
offered mostly music and talk shows. Foreign media groups, including 
Voice of America, BBC, and Deutsche Welle, broadcast throughout the 
year and were among the few stations in the country that regularly 
broadcast independent news.
    Radio stations broadcast criticism of government policies during 
the year, including through the use of popular citizen call-in shows.
    In April the Ministry of Information suspended the BBC's 
Kinyarwanda radio service after it broadcast quotes excerpted from an 
episode of The Roots of the Origin, a weekly radio program focused on 
conflict in the Great Lakes region; the quotes were considered 
inflammatory given the 1994 genocide. The government charged that the 
quotes were ``likely to obstruct national unity and reconciliation 
efforts.'' Following direct discussions between the government and the 
BBC, the government revoked the suspension. However, in June Minister 
of Information Mushikiwabo asked the BBC to reaffirm its commitment to 
balanced and accurate editorial content. According to the New Times 
daily, the minister ``warned that if the station did not change the way 
it dealt with the 1994 genocide, broadcasts in Kinyarwanda would be 
``definitively and unconditionally'' suspended.
    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.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. There were reports that the government monitored e-
mail, but not 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, although 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, on September 
30, police arrested university lecturer Dieudonne Nyamulinda, from 
Eastern Province, on charges of insulting the president and denying the 
genocide; Nyamulinda remained in prison awaiting trial at year's end. 
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that authorities 
suspended secondary and 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. 
During the year the PS-Imberakuri party attempted to hold four 
assemblies to register as a political party, but police dispersed two 
of the assemblies due to procedural errors; the party was unable to 
secure a notary for the other two. PS-Imberakuri held a successful 
assembly in June and became an official political party in July.
    In April the mayor of Nyarugenge District cancelled the Republican 
Democratic Alliance/Legacy of Agathe Uwilingiyimana party (ADRUIUA), 
mistakenly believing they needed authorization by local officials. 
ADRUIUA attempted to hold another assembly, but did not have enough 
attendees and had not registered as a political party by year's end.
    Authorities cancelled three assemblies of the Democratic Green 
Party of Rwanda (DGPR or Green Party), including two for procedural 
errors and one to 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 type 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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free 
practice of religion; however, there were some exceptions. Local 
government officials continued to arrest, detain, and beat members of 
Jehovah's Witnesses for refusing to participate in security patrols. 
Unlike in the previous year, no Jehovah's Witnesses teachers were fired 
for refusing to participate in government-sponsored solidarity camps.
    The law requires that all nonprofit organizations, including 
churches and religious organizations, register with the Ministry of 
Local Government and the Ministry of Justice to acquire the status of 
``legal entity.'' During the year the government was drafting a new law 
on religious organizations and did not accept new applications.
    The government allowed religious groups to hold services only at 
established places of worship and banned the use of private homes for 
this purpose. Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that 
police arrested persons who held night prayers in their homes.
    In May and June soldiers beat members of Jehovah's Witnesses for 
refusal to participate in armed night patrols. During the year police 
arrested and detained members of Jehovah's Witnesses for an average of 
six days as a result of their failure to participate in nighttime 
security patrols. Such arrests occurred despite a 2005 government 
ruling that the National Public Prosecution Authority had wrongly 
applied a law requiring some form of community work to religious 
groups.
    In August the High Court of Musanze summoned a 16-year-old 
Jehovah's Witness and charged him with disturbing national peace; the 
youth had been expelled from another school in February 2008 for 
refusing to sing the national anthem. The judge acquitted the youth at 
his October 8 trial.
    Of the 112 children of Jehovah's Witnesses who were expelled from 
school in 2008 for refusing to sing the national anthem, 97 had been 
readmitted by September.
    In April 2008 the government fired 215 Jehovah's Witnesses teachers 
for failing to participate in government-sponsored solidarity camps on 
religious grounds. As of September, 119 remained unemployed, 48 had 
gone to the DRC, 47 found different employment, and one had returned to 
teaching.
    Government officials presiding over wedding ceremonies generally 
required couples to take an oath while touching the national flag, a 
practice to which members of Jehovah's Witnesses objected on religious 
grounds. This practice made it difficult for church members to marry as 
they had to find officials willing to perform the ceremony without the 
flag requirement. Some members found that placing their hands on a 
bible on top of the flag was an acceptable alternative.
    During the year government authorities and Jehovah's Witnesses 
leaders continued to address problems and misunderstandings through a 
collaborative mechanism begun in 2005. However, church leaders reported 
little official willingness to respond to their concerns.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was a very small Jewish 
community, consisting entirely of expatriates, and there were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    The government endorsed the opening of Agahozo Shalom Youth Village 
during the year, a residential community for orphaned teenagers 
sponsored by an American Jewish organization, which teaches tolerance 
and acceptance of all persons.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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, 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, and returning refugees.The law prohibits forced exile, and 
the government did not use it.
    During the year the country accepted 15,452 citizens returning from 
other countries, all but 5,702 returning from the DRC; most were 
settled in their districts of origin. The government set a deadline of 
July 31, later extending it to August 31, for the return of the 
approximately 20,000 Rwandan refugees and asylum seekers from Uganda; 
approximately 5,000 returned. The government worked with the UNHCR and 
other aid organizations to assist the resettled returnees. Government 
mediators handled land disputes resulting from the large number of 
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 8,284 former combatants from 
armed groups in the DRC, including 715 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 1,152 adult former 
combatants from armed groups and rehabilitated approximately 90 
children, 49 of whom arrived during the year. It also demobilized 1,910 
RDF soldiers during the year. With international support, the 
government's Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, the lead 
agency for the reinsertion 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. Unlike in the previous year, there were no complaints 
of inadequate notice given to residents to vacate their properties.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, as 
well as the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific 
Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa; 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. However, the government was slow to implement refugee 
registration procedures, and most persons seeking asylum or refugee 
status had to seek private assistance (in finding housing, food, and 
other supplies) while awaiting formal recognition by the government.
    In the past 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, on June 2, soldiers and police forcibly closed the 
Kigeme refugee camp, which had sheltered approximately 2,000 Burundian 
refugees. As of May 31, the date agreed upon by the UNHCR and the 
governments of Rwanda and Burundi for closing the camp, approximately 
1,500 of the refugees had voluntarily returned home. Of the remaining 
500 refugees, the UNHCR had slated 70 for resettlement, leaving 
approximately 440 persons. On June 2, police and soldiers rounded up 
these remaining refugees and forcibly transported them to Burundi. The 
UNHCR criticized the action.
    The UNHCR, with government support, continued to assist refugees 
and asylum seekers. As of November 30, it had provided temporary 
protection to 54,004 persons, mostly refugees from the DRC.
    Some refugees seeking third-country resettlement reportedly had 
difficulty obtaining exit visas from the government. Lack of 
government-issued identity cards also created difficulties for refugees 
when they were outside the camps.
    In September a group of more than 300 genocide suspects fled from 
Rwanda to Burundi claiming persecution. Government officials claimed 
that most fled due to pending gacaca cases, not persecution.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that 
representatives of a DRC-based armed group recruited children and 
adults from Rwandan refugee camps to be combatants or laborers. The 
government noted that 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 access to employment.

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; however, this right was effectively 
restricted.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Chamber of Deputies 
elections in September 2008 were peaceful and orderly, with a heavy 
turnout; however, observers noted irregularities in the electoral 
process. The RPF won 42 of 53 directly elected seats (with 79 percent 
of the vote), the Social Democratic Party (PSD) seven seats (13 
percent), and the Liberal Party (PL) four (7.5 percent). The councils 
of women, youth, and persons with disabilities elected the other 27 
chamber members. Nine political parties contested the elections; six of 
them had joined in coalition with the RPF rather than fielding 
independent lists of candidates.
    National Electoral Commission (NEC) rulings restricted the ability 
of the PSD and the PL to effectively disseminate their messages, 
allowing the RPF to dominate the 22-day electoral campaign. The media 
devoted the bulk of its coverage to the RPF. There were credible 
reports of local government interference with PL and PSD rallies and 
meetings, and security forces briefly detained several campaign 
workers.
    According to observers, many voting stations opened early, did not 
make proper use of forms, and did not initially seal ballot boxes. NEC 
and other government officials often prevented observers from 
monitoring the ballot counting above the polling station and polling 
center levels (the first two levels). The Civil Society Election 
Observation Mission observed in its Statement of Preliminary Findings 
that ``in a significant proportion of cases, it was not possible to 
confirm the accuracy of consolidated results at any stage beyond 
polling center consolidation.''
    In 2003 President Paul Kagame won a landslide victory against two 
independent presidential candidates, receiving 95 percent of the vote 
in a largely peaceful but seriously marred election.
    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 for 
women, and provide a written political program signed by a notary in 
order to register.
    The government registered the PS-Imberakuri political party during 
the year; however, the registration process was cumbersome. The 
government impeded the registration of the newly formed Green Party. In 
September the Green Party had to cancel a planned assembly because a 
public notary was not available. In October, 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 planned 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 local authorities arrested a PS-Imberakuri member for 
political 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.
    During the year authorities prevented political party organizers 
from meeting (see section 2.b.).
    In accordance with the constitution, which states that ``a 
political organization holding the majority of seats in the Chamber of 
Deputies may not exceed 50 percent of all the members of the Cabinet,'' 
independents and members of other political parties held key positions 
in government including that of the prime minister.
    The constitution requires that at least 30 percent of the seats in 
parliament be reserved for women. At year's end there were seven women 
in the 26-seat Senate and 45 women in the 80-seat Chamber of Deputies. 
There were nine women in ministerial positions, representing 36 percent 
of cabinet positions.
    There was one member of the Twa ethnic group in the 26-seat 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. During the year authorities 
prosecuted 404 cases of corruption and embezzlement, some of which 
involved senior officials, and 169 cases were pending.
    For example, in December the court sentenced Vincent Gatwabuyege, 
former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure, to three 
years in prison for embezzlement of state funds. In November 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. In August 
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.
    Following its 2008 annual report, the ombudsman's office conducted 
several dozen investigations into judicial corruption and provided them 
to the National Public Prosecution Authority. Authorities dismissed 
several judges and court registrars for abuse of office or corruption 
after investigations by the Judicial Council, a body charged with 
oversight and discipline of the judicial branch.
    The Office of the Auditor General worked to prevent corruption, 
including through investigations of improper tendering practices at 
government ministries. The government's Office of the Ombudsman had an 
active good governance program and several anticorruption units that 
worked at the local level. Prior to acquiring the authority to 
prosecute cases in October, the office recommended cases to the 
National Public Prosecution Authority, and during the year the office 
pursued several hundred corruption cases, the majority of which 
involved misuse of public funds. During the year the police and 
National Public Prosecution 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 public 
officials complied.
    In January 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. During the year 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.
    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.

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 that relations with the government were generally positive; 
however, others indicated that 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. International and local NGOs 
reported unfettered access to the country's prisons, following a formal 
application process.
    Domestic NGOs LIPRODHOR and 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. LIPRODHOR employed its 180 
members (down from 400 last year) 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. A 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; however, unlike in the previous year, 
no domestic human rights NGOs were unable to register. 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 required domestic NGOs to submit financial and activity 
reports each year to the national government. NGOs complained that 
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 to obtain yearly provisional authorization from 
the local governments of every district in which the organizations 
intend to work, followed by final authorization from the requisite 
ministry. This requirement made registration difficult for some 
organizations. The government also requires international organizations 
to submit yearly reports with 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 that the government 
controlled some of these umbrella NGOs.
    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.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that government 
authorities harassed local NGOs.
    The government generally cooperated with international NGOs; 
however, it frequently criticized HRW as being inaccurate and biased 
and reportedly conducted surveillance on some international NGOs.
    Unlike in the previous year, the government did not deny visas to 
NGO personnel.
    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) enjoyed the 
government's cooperation but did not have adequate resources to 
investigate all reported cases of violations and remained biased 
towards 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 had completed 49 cases, with 41 
convictions and eight acquittals. At year's end there were 26 
individuals on trial, two persons awaiting trial, and 11 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; 
nine 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 police investigated 2,356 cases of 
rape, the court tried 3,152 cases, and 1,487 new rape cases were filed 
in court; 2,020 cases were pending at year's end, compared to 3,685 
pending cases at the end of 2008. 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 
that 31 percent of women over age 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 and provides for imprisonment of six 
months to two years for threatening, harassing, or beating one's 
spouse. Cases normally were handled within the context of the extended 
family. Between January and November police investigated 2,108 cases of 
gender-based violence. 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 December 2008 the RDF cooperated with local authorities in Northern 
Province to increase reporting 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 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.
    Prostitution is illegal but was prevalent.
    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 (approximately $180 to $360). Sexual harassment 
was common.
    The government respected the basic right of couples and individuals 
to decide freely and responsibly the number, timing, and spacing of 
their children. 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, and there was no charge for the poorest of the 
population. 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. According to the 
Population Reference Bureau, the government provided 73 percent of 
available contraceptives. Overall, the unmet need for family planning 
was 38 percent, a statistic that reflected rural access issues, lack of 
accurate information, and religious reasons.
    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. Despite the election in September 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. 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 minister 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 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, and children 
with one Rwandan parent must apply for citizenship before turning 18. 
Children born in Rwanda 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 fees through nine years of basic education; however, 
most parents were required to pay unofficial fees to support basic 
school operations. According to 2008 World Bank statistics, 54 percent 
of children completed primary school. Girls accounted for 51 percent of 
children enrolled in primary school and 49 percent of children enrolled 
in secondary school. Female enrollment at higher education levels 
lagged behind that of males.
    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 numerous 
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 is considered rape and is punishable by between 20 
years to life in prison. Between January and July prosecutors filed 
2,045 rape cases of minors in regular courts; 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 
(approximately $360 to $900).
    The government continued to support the Muhazi rehabilitation 
center for children in Eastern Province, which provided care and 
reintegration preparation during the year for approximately 90 
children, who had previously served as soldiers in the DRC. During the 
year 75 of the former child soldiers were reunited with their families.
    There were numerous street children throughout the country. 
Authorities rounded up 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 35 child-
care institutions across the country that provided shelter, basic 
needs, and rehabilitation for approximately 2,600 street children. The 
government worked with international organizations and NGOs to provide 
vocational training and psychosocial support to street children, to 
reintegrate them into their communities, and to educate parents on how 
to prevent their children from becoming street children.

    Trafficking in Persons.--While there was no specific 
antitrafficking law, laws against slavery, prostitution by coercion, 
kidnapping, rape, and defilement were available to prosecute 
traffickers. Additionally, the law on prevention and prosecution of 
gender-based violence included an article on gender-based human 
trafficking with penalties of 15 to 20 years' imprisonment and a fine 
of 500,000 to 2,000,000 Rwandan francs (approximately $900 to $3,600). 
There were reports that persons were trafficked from and within the 
country during the year.
    The country was a source for small numbers of women and children 
trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic labor. Some children 
also were trafficked to Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya for agricultural 
labor or use in commercial sexual exploitation.
    The largest trafficking problem was underage prostitution. Small 
numbers of impoverished girls, typically between ages 14 and 18, used 
prostitution as a means of survival; some were exploited by loosely 
organized prostitution networks.
    Due to the genocide and deaths from HIV/AIDS, numerous children 
headed households, and some of these children resorted to prostitution 
or may have been trafficked into domestic servitude. While police 
reportedly conducted regular operations against prostitution, no 
statistics were available on prosecutions of those who utilized or 
exploited children in prostitution.
    Traffickers included individuals and small, loosely organized 
prostitution networks. There were reports of such networks in secondary 
schools and universities. In some instances older students offered 
vulnerable younger girls room and board, eventually pushing them into 
prostitution to pay for their keep.
    In November 2008 Ugandan authorities arrested a Rwandan national in 
Uganda for attempting to sell a 15-year-old boy she had trafficked from 
Rwanda.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that children were 
recruited from refugee camps for soldiering in eastern DRC and forced 
labor.
    The RNP is the lead government agency responsible for combating 
trafficking of persons.
    Authorities investigated several cases and prosecuted traffickers 
using laws against prostitution by coercion, slavery, kidnapping, rape, 
and defilement; however, no traffickers were convicted during the year. 
If convicted, individuals face penalties including imprisonment.
    Several investigations into other trafficking cases continued at 
year's end, including two cases involving adults caught at borders with 
children.
    When the government dismantled prostitution rings, it offered women 
rehabilitation programs that included employment training. There were 
no shelters specifically for trafficking victims.
    The government provided training on combating sex crimes and crimes 
against children as part of the police training curriculum. During the 
year the police offered specialized training for police cadets in 
recognizing trafficking, particularly trafficking involving children. 
The government also monitored immigration and emigration patterns, as 
well as border areas that were accessible by road. The RNP conducted 
sensitization programs against prostitution and warned hotel owners 
against allowing underage girls to frequent their hotels.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 Federation of the Associations of 
Persons with Disabilities appointed one member of the Chamber of 
Deputies.
    In March 2008 the National University of Rwanda began admitting 
blind students, becoming the second public higher education institution 
(following the Kigali Institute of Education) to do so.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Long-standing tensions in the 
country culminated in the 1994 state-orchestrated genocide, in which 
Rwandans killed up to a 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. This 
government included members of eight political parties and ruled until 
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. 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.
    French-speaking citizens charged that 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 organization 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 33,000 to 35,000, 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 
Indigenous Peoples of Rwanda (CAURWA) and the Ligue pour la Promotion 
des Potiers du Rwanda (LIPOPORWA), organizations that focused primarily 
on Twa community needs, as advocates for the most marginalized, rather 
than organizations that support an indigenous ethnic group. Despite 
official recognition of CAURWA and LIPOPORWA and ongoing joint health 
and education projects with the government, 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 conducted in Kigali, gay men claimed to 
have been verbally and physically abused in workplaces, bars, prisons, 
and elsewhere in public.

    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 the 
stigmatization of 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 to 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, and 
while the government respected this right in practice, some private 
sector employers did not and often harassed union members. Between 20 
and 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.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, but the government severely limited 
this right. The government was heavily involved in the collective 
bargaining process since most union members were in the public sector. 
Only the Central Union of Rwandan Workers (CESTRAR) 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 CESTRAR, 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 a total of 
94,466 persons to community service. As of December, 19,000 persons 
were serving their sentences in one of the 55 community service camps, 
11,000 had completed their community service, and 64,466 were waiting 
to begin community service.
    Unlike in the previous year, 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.

    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. There were 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 under the age of 16 from working without their parents' or 
guardians' permission. The law prohibits children under 16 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 engagements. 
The minimum age for full-time employment is 18 (16 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 (particularly on tea plantations), 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, the 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 to effectively 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, 
to identify children involved in child labor, and to send them to 
school or vocational training. Since 2005, in collaboration with 
multiple NGOs, the government rescued 3,485 children from exploitative 
labor conditions and provided training and prevention services to 
another 2,582 children considered at risk for trafficking or other 
exploitation. 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.

    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, minimum 
wage in the tea industry ranged from 500 to 750 Rwandan francs per day 
(approximately $0.90 to $1.35), while in the construction industry it 
ranged from 1,000 to 1,500 Rwandan francs a day ($1.80 to $2.70). 
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 of full salary to six weeks of full salary, with an optional 
additional six weeks at 20 percent of the 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 150,000. 
The head of state is President Fradique De Menezes, and the head of 
government, chosen by the National Assembly and approved by the 
president, is Prime Minister Joaquim Rafael Branco. International 
observers deemed the 2006 presidential and legislative elections free 
and fair. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control 
of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. However, there were problems in some areas, including harsh 
prison conditions, prolonged pretrial detention, official corruption, 
impunity, violence and discrimination against women, child labor, and 
harsh 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 
security forces generally observed these prohibitions.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh but generally not life threatening. Facilities were overcrowded, 
sanitary and medical conditions were poor, and food was inadequate. 
Pretrial prisoners were held with convicted prisoners, and juveniles 
were held with adults. Men and women were held separately. There was 
one prison and no jails or detention centers. In general police 
stations had a small room or space to incarcerate detainees for brief 
periods.
    There were a total of 240 inmates, approximately 65 of whom were 
awaiting trial. The number of inmates included seven women and 20 
juveniles. There were no reports of prison deaths.
    The government permitted human rights monitors to visit the prison; 
however, there were no 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 June 2008 the 
national police and immigration service came under the control of a new 
ministry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Government Reforms, and 
Civilian Protection. The Ministry of National Defense continues to 
supervise and control the military. Despite increased personnel and 
training offered throughout the year, police remained ineffective and 
were widely viewed as corrupt.
    Rivalry between military soldiers and police led to two separate 
confrontations in May and August in which shots were fired. No one was 
injured in the incidents and no one was held accountable for either 
incident.
    Impunity was a problem, and efforts to reform the Criminal 
Investigation Police, a separate agency under the Ministry of Justice, 
were unsuccessful.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires that a judge issue arrest warrants 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 to be informed promptly of charges against them, and this was 
generally followed in practice. There was a functioning bail system. 
Detainees were allowed prompt access to a lawyer and, if indigent, to 
one provided by the state.
    Severe budgetary constraints, inadequate facilities, and a shortage 
of trained judges and lawyers resulted in lengthy pretrial detention. A 
total of 27 percent of the country's prisoners were awaiting trial, and 
some pretrial detainees had been held for more than a year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, at times the judicial system was 
subject to political influence or manipulation.
    The legal system is based on the Portuguese model. The court system 
has three levels: circuit courts, the Supreme Court, and the 
Constitutional Court, which is the highest judicial authority.

    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 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; however, journalists practiced self-censorship. 
The government owned part or all of most media outlets and had a strong 
say in what stories or opinions were published or broadcast.
    Unlike the media, 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. International 
media operated freely.
    The government operated television and radio stations. The Voice of 
America, Portuguese Distribution Radio, and Radio France International 
also were rebroadcast locally. The law grants all opposition parties 
access to the state-run media, including a minimum of three minutes per 
month on 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. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 15 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 peaceful assembly and association, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
discrimination against members of religious groups.
    There was no known Jewish community and no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile; however, there were no 
reports that the government used it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law does not specifically 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, 
and 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 social group, or 
political opinion.
    During the year there were no known requests for refugee or asylum 
status. In the past the government cooperated with the Office of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
assisting refugees and asylum seekers.

Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution 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 2006 legislative 
elections gave a plurality of seats in the National Assembly to a 
coalition of parties, the Democratic Movement Strength of Change/
Democratic Convergence Party (MDFM/PCD), supporting President De 
Menezes. The MDFM/PCD subsequently formed a government. President De 
Menezes was reelected in 2006 with 60 percent of the vote. 
International observers deemed both elections generally free and fair. 
Also in 2006, for the first time in more than a decade, local elections 
were held; on the same date, regional elections were held on the island 
of Principe. The MDFM/PCD won control of five of the six districts in 
these elections; the principal opposition party, the Movement for the 
Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP/PSD), won one district, and 
a new party, Novo Rumo, won one seat in the parliament. The Union for 
Change and Development of Principe Island (UMPP) won the presidency of 
the regional government on Principe.
    Political parties operated without restriction or government 
interference.
    Women held positions throughout the government, including two seats 
in the 55-seat National Assembly, four 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.
    Official corruption was widespread. The World Bank's 2008 Worldwide 
Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a serious problem. 
In 2008 several high-level officials, including one former prime 
minister, were brought before the circuit court only for questioning 
regarding their alleged involvement in the disappearance of millions of 
dollars from the government's foreign aid fund. The trial resumed on 
January 30. No high-level officials were tried as they have expansive 
immunity. However, two administrative officials were convicted and 
sentenced to nine and seven years in prison, respectively.
    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. 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.
    Reports of domestic violence against women continued to increase. 
Although women have the right to legal recourse--including against 
spouses--many were reluctant to bring legal action or were ignorant of 
their rights under the law. Tradition inhibited women from taking 
domestic disputes outside the family. A newly passed law against 
domestic violence carries penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment. 
The law was strictly enforced, including in cases of domestic violence, 
but there were no data on the number of prosecutions for domestic 
violence.
    The Ministry of Justice and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 
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.
    Prostitution is illegal but did occur. Prostitution was rare in the 
past, but observers estimated its prevalence is increasing with the 
growing number of foreign workers in the country.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and it was a problem. 
No data were 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 Public Health. There were no restrictions 
on the right to access contraceptives but they were not widely used. 
NGOs and the Ministry of Health have run out of supply of 
contraceptives in the past due to lack of funds, leading to a drop in 
availability and use. The government provided free childbirth services, 
but lack of sufficient doctors meant many women, especially in rural 
areas, used 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. 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 the professions. The Gender 
Equality Institute (INEPG) within the Office of Women's Affairs held 
numerous seminars and workshops to raise awareness about discrimination 
against women. A high teenage pregnancy rate further reduced economic 
opportunities for women. The government held a conference on teen 
pregnancy in July.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired either through parents or by 
being born within the borders of the country. Either parent, if a 
citizen, can confer citizenship to a child born outside the country.
    A law passed in October 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 and compulsory through sixth grade, 
and tuition-free to the age of 15 or sixth grade, whichever comes 
first. In practice many rural students stopped attending school after 
the fourth grade.
    Mistreatment of children was not widespread; however, there were 
few protections for orphans and abandoned children.
    Child labor was a problem within the family.
    The Ministry of Labor and Solidarity 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons, 
and there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or 
within the country. In 2007 the UNICEF and the Economic Community of 
Central African States held a conference in the country that addressed 
trafficking in persons and continued with an awareness campaign about 
the issue.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 
homosexual activity and there were no reports of societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or 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 and NGO sponsored workshops and awareness 
campaigns to reduce such instances. The government also provided free 
AIDS testing and distributed antiretroviral drugs to many 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. 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 and private workers, who constituted the majority of formal 
sector wage earners, and members of farmers' cooperatives.
    The constitution provides for the freedom to strike, including by 
government employees and other essential workers, although during the 
year no strikes occurred.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The 
constitution and law state that workers may organize and bargain 
collectively; however, due to its role as the principal employer in the 
formal wage sector, the government remained the key interlocutor for 
organized labor on all matters, including wages.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination or retaliation 
against strikers, but there were no reports of such actions during the 
year.
    There are no export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including by children, and there were no 
reports that such practices occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Employers in the formal wage sector generally respected the legally 
mandated minimum employment age of 18; however, child labor was a 
problem within families. The law prohibits minors of 14 years old and 
up from working more than seven hours a day and 35 hours a week. 
However, 14-year-olds are permitted to work in family businesses or in 
an apprentice position. Children worked in subsistence agriculture, on 
plantations, in informal commerce, and in domestic work. No cases of 
child labor abuses were prosecuted, although the law states that 
employers of underage workers can be fined. The Ministry of Labor and 
Solidarity is responsible for enforcing labor laws.
    Limited initiatives taken by the government in previous years to 
prevent child labor continued. The Ministry of Education extended 
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 also created 
teams of labor inspectors to increase inspections at work sites.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage. Although the legal minimum wage for civil servants was 650,000 
dobras ($41) per month, it was insufficient to provide a decent 
standard of living for a worker and family. There has been no 
adjustment to the minimum wage since 2007. 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, and the Criminal Investigation Police, earned 
up to 400 percent more than other public sector employees.
    Working conditions on many of the cocoa plantations, the largest 
informal wage sector, were harsh. The average salary for plantation 
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 the 
high rate of inflation. While difficult, the situation is not forced 
labor since most of the workers own a portion of the land due to 
agricultural reforms recommended by the World Bank in the late 1980s 
and 1990s.
    The legal workweek is 40 hours, with 48 consecutive hours mandated 
for rest. However, shopkeepers could work up to 48 hours a week. 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's and the 
Ministry of Labor and Solidarity's enforcement of these standards was 
not effective. Employees have the right to leave unsafe working 
conditions, but none sought to do so, and enforcement of the right was 
very limited. Migrant work is all but unknown, although all workers 
would be entitled to the same protections.

                               __________

                                SENEGAL

    Senegal, with an estimated population of 12.5 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 
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 elections as generally free and transparent. 
Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces.
    The government generally respected citizens' rights; however, there 
were problems in the following areas: inhuman and degrading treatment 
of detainees and prisoners; overcrowded prisons; questionable 
investigative detention and long pretrial detention; corruption and 
impunity; limits on freedoms of speech, press, and assembly; domestic 
violence, rape, sexual harassment of women, 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.--Neither the 
government nor its agents committed any politically motivated killings. 
However, unlike previous years, there was a report of an arbitrary 
killing by security forces.
    On August 11, gendarme Gora Diop shot and killed Sangone Mbaye in 
the city of Joal after stopping Mbaye's car and demanding a 1000 CFA 
($2.20) bribe. When Mbaye refused, an argument ensued, and the gendarme 
shot Mbaye, who died after receiving no emergency care. On August 23, 
the minister of defense announced that the gendarme would face justice, 
and Diop was put in pretrial detention, where he remained at year's 
end.
    There were no developments in the following 2007 cases: the January 
killing of a young man by a police officer in Diourbel; the April death 
in police custody of Dominique Lopy in Kolda; the June killing of 
Cheikh Ahmet Tidian Fall by customs officers in Mbour; the July killing 
of Abdoulaye Seck in Bignona; and the December death in police custody 
of Badara Diop in Kaolack.
    The 2007 killings of Mamadou Sakho Badji and the government's 
special adviser for the Casamance peace process, Cherif Samesidine Nema 
Aidara, continued under investigation at year's end; one suspect 
remained in pretrial detention.
    Handicap International (HI) reported one landmine accident during 
the year. On June 8, in the village of Kouring in the Ziguinchor 
Region, two persons were injured by landmines. From January to June, 
HI's humanitarian demining team cleared and neutralized 88 mines. HI 
continued working under the supervision and coordination of the 
National Mine Action Center, a government organization.
    During the year MFDC rebels reportedly attacked civilians and 
committed highway robberies in the Casamance.
    The level of violence increased considerably during the year in the 
Casamance. In August fighting between MFDC and the army near the 
regional capital of Ziguinchor caused the displacement of several 
hundred persons for a couple of days.
    On June 7, three persons were killed in a car hijacking allegedly 
perpetrated by rebels of the MFDC near the village of Kawane in the 
northern Casamance. Gunmen reportedly shot Elhadj Babou Ndiaye several 
times in the chest and hit Ndiaye with a machete on the feet and the 
head. The gunmen then robbed him and two other car occupants. According 
to one witness, the gunmen told Ndiaye he was not a native of the 
Casamance before they shot him. There were no further developments at 
year's end.
    On June 9, gunmen allegedly belonging to the MFDC shot and killed 
Youssouf Sambou (``Rambo''), a former warlord in the MFDC. The media 
reported the shooting was an execution by dissident rebels who did not 
appreciate the peace mediator role Rambo was playing between the 
government and MFDC. There were no further developments at year's end.
    On October 2, gunmen allegedly belonging to the MFDC shot and 
subsequently killed six soldiers trying to free their vehicle from mud 
in the Sedhiou area. At year's end there were no further developments.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances during the year.
    The government did not take any action to resolve older cases of 
disappearances, particularly in the Casamance, 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. 
The African Assembly for Human Rights (RADDHO) continued to demand 
prosecutions for the 2007 deaths of two suspects in police custody. 
They also denounced the 2007 abusive treatment inflicted by gendarmes 
in Dakar on the city's former mayor, Mamadou Diop, who indicated that 
he was stripped and made to lie on a stone floor.
    On May 17, the media reported that a citizen of Guinea-Bissau, 
Julilson Niniken Vaz, died while in custody at the office of the 
gendarmes in Mbour. Although security forces allegedly claimed that he 
died following severe stomach pains, other prisoners arrested at the 
same time as Vaz reported that the latter had been tortured to death by 
the gendarmes. The family supported these allegations based on injuries 
to Vaz's head. There were no further developments at year's end.
    On November 17, Abou Dia died while in police custody in the city 
of Matam. Dia was arrested and taken to the police station for 
identification. Shortly thereafter the police informed his sister that 
Dia was not feeling well. When the sister reached the police station, 
she found Dia dead with marks of violence on his neck. The family 
accused the police of mistreating Dia and causing his death. No 
prosecution had been undertaken by year's end.
    There were no further developments in the reported cases of torture 
reported by human rights organizations by security forces following a 
riot in December 2008 in the city of Kedougou. The court had dismissed 
allegations of torture made by attorneys.
    In 2008 the National Assembly and the Senate jointly amended the 
constitution to allow retroactive prosecution of genocide and crimes 
against humanity. In July the National Assembly introduced new 
provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure giving defendants the 
right to appeal a case to the Cour d'Assises, where only judges 
deliberate cases (see section 1.e.). These legal provisions lifted the 
last obstacles to the prosecution of former Chadian dictator Hissene 
Habre on charges of torture and crimes against humanity. Habre has 
lived in exile in the country for 20 years. However, the government 
continued to argue that Habre's prosecution could not take place 
without international donor funding. No further action was taken by 
year's end.
    There were several cases of mob violence. Due to a weak judiciary 
and widespread impunity, civilians often administered punishment by 
beating presumed thieves before handing them over to security forces.
    For example, on December 1, three armed men tried to rob a woman in 
Thiaroye Tally Diallo, in the suburbs of Dakar. One was caught by a mob 
and beaten to death, another managed to escape, while the third took 
refuge in a private home and was saved by the police. There were no 
prosecutions by year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions were poor, in part because no prisons have been built 
since the colonial era. The 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 July that there were in 
fact 7,139 prisoners. A UN Study Group on pretrial detention visited 
the country September 5-7 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 use of 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 being held in 
prison facilities in pretrial detention. There were 200 children being 
held with their mothers in prison.
    Men and women were held in separate facilities. Prison conditions 
were generally inadequate due to lack of funding.
    Local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that the rape 
of female prisoners was a serious issue not addressed by government 
authorities during the year.
    On April 23, 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 and 
stifling heat, and were infested with bugs; food was of low quality. 
Prisoners suffered sexual assault.
    On May 15, three prisoners reportedly died at the prison of 
Oussouye. All three were reportedly sick and died after they were 
transferred to a local hospital.
    During the year the government permitted prison visits by local 
human rights groups such the ONDH, which also provided humanitarian 
support to inmates.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, authorities at times 
arbitrarily arrested and detained persons. Human rights groups 
described arbitrary detention as a growing problem.

    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 security personnel involved in ``political crimes, 
except those who committed assassinations in cold blood.''
    According to human rights groups, attorneys, and victims, security 
forces regularly extorted money from detainees in exchange for release 
and from prostituted persons to overlook noncompliance with 
prostitution regulations.
    The Criminal Investigation Department (DIC) is in charge of 
investigating police abuses. For example, during the year the DIC 
investigated the case of journalists Boubacar Kambel Dieng and Karamoko 
Thioune, who were beaten in June 2008 by police special forces unit 
following a soccer match in Dakar. There were no further developments 
at year's end.
    According to human rights groups, new members of the police force 
received training in human rights protection.

    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 to access to family; however, family access was not 
generally allowed. The accused has the right to an attorney at the 
accused's expense after this initial period of detention. Attorneys are 
provided at public expense to all criminal defendants who cannot afford 
one. 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.b.).
    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. During the year a UN 
study group on pretrial detention criticized the country for its use of 
long pretrial detention (see Prison and Detention Center Conditions).
    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 may order release pending 
trial with the prosecutor's consent. 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. 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 equipment, and 
inadequate transportation. Magistrates also openly questioned the 
government's commitment to judicial independence.
    Based on French civil law, the judiciary is composed of ordinary 
courts and several higher and special courts. The Supreme Court is the 
final court of appeal for all criminal and civil cases and is the 
highest judicial institution. Other components of the judiciary include 
the Constitutional Council, which has jurisdiction over all 
constitutional and electoral issues, the High Court of Justice, and the 
Accounting Court, which has jurisdiction over financial and budgetary 
affairs.
    The Cour d'Assises, a specialized court attached to the Court of 
Appeals, meets twice a year to prosecute felony cases. In the Cour 
d'Assises, only judges deliberate on cases. It is possible to appeal 
verdicts of the Cour d'Assises.
    The High Court of Justice presides over cases against senior 
government officials concerning acts committed in an official capacity. 
The court has the authority to convict and sentence or to acquit. It is 
composed of eight National Assembly deputies and one judge. The 
National Assembly elects the eight deputy members of the High Court and 
eight substitutes at the beginning of each session. Three-fifths of all 
deputies must vote to pass a resolution to permit prosecution of a head 
of state or minister. If a resolution is so passed, the High Court 
convenes.
    While civil court judges preside over civil and customary law 
cases, plaintiffs can also bring disputes involving family matters to 
religious judges, who act as advisors. Religious law has been 
incorporated into the country's laws. Individuals and companies can 
also refer commercial disputes to arbitration courts, and some citizens 
still rely on tribal 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 
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 presented prior to trial. Access to 
evidence may be limited by police who want to protect their informants. 
A panel of judges presides over ordinary courts in civil and criminal 
cases since trials by jury were eliminated by a law passed on July 28. 
The right of appeal exists in all courts, except for the High Court of 
Justice. All of these rights extend to all citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees.
    On June 25, seven members of the youth movement of the political 
party AJ/PADS were detained by police in Point E. They were accused of 
attempting to hold a meeting at the headquarters of their party; the 
government has banned any form of activities there. The party spokesman 
called the arrests an attempt to intimidate the party and accused the 
government of supporting a dissident faction in the party.

    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.

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 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 several 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 often 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), three 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 fact that some religious leaders 
were able 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 RMD, 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 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 the media 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 September 11, the DIC interrogated journalist Pape Ale Niang for 
seven hours and then released him without charge. Niang's Web site had 
aired an interview with Abdou Latif Coulibaly, author of a book on lack 
of transparency in public works bid tendering in which the president's 
son was allegedly implicated.
    On September 18, Abdou Dia, a journalist with Radio Futur Media 
(RFM), and Pape Samba Sene, a correspondent for l'As newspaper in 
Kaolack, were arrested and put in pretrial detention. They were charged 
with libel, broadcasting false news, and associating with criminals. 
The journalists had reported that the governor of Kaffrine and senior 
officials were involved in embezzlement of seeds provided to local 
farmers. On September 30, the two journalists were released; however, 
the case was pending at year's end.
    On September 25, a group vandalized the premises and equipment of 
the independent television station Wal Fadjri. The owner accused the 
government of being behind the attack. Following a vigorous protest by 
journalists, civil society, and opposition parties, the prosecutor 
ordered an investigation. No arrests were made by year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2008 cases in which journalists 
were intimidated, beaten, or jailed, including the April death threats 
against the publisher of the weekly magazine Weekend and the June 
police attack on journalists Boubacar Campbell Dieng and Karamokho 
Thioune.
    24 Heures Chrono, which was suspended from publication in 2008, 
resumed publication on January 25. Editor El Malick Seck was pardoned 
by President Wade on April 24 and resumed work at the newspaper.
    On April 23, the president pardoned the 12 men sentenced to jail 
terms of five to six years for ransacking the premises of 24 Heures 
Chrono and L'As in 2008.

    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. 
With more than a dozen Internet service providers and an estimated 2.3 
million subscribers, the country had extensive online access. 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.
    There were no developments in the 2007 killing by Kolda police of 
Dioutala Mane, who had been participating in a demonstration protesting 
the death of Dominique Lopy in police custody.
    During the year there was no action taken against the Ziguinchor 
riot police who beat seven female elementary teachers in 2007.

    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.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice. However, on August 21, the prefect of Dakar closed a 
United Methodist Church in the Nord Foire area on the grounds that it 
was disturbing neighbors. At year's end the church remained closed.
    Any religious group seeking to form an association with legal 
status must register with the Ministry of Interior in accordance with 
the civil and commercial code. Registration was generally granted.
    Unlike other religious groups, Muslims could choose Islam-based 
laws contained in the family code for marriage and inheritance cases. 
Civil court judges preside over civil and customary law cases, but many 
disputes were turned over to religious leaders for adjudication, 
particularly in rural areas.
    The government provided some financial support for both Muslim and 
Christian pilgrimages.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--During the year there were no 
reports of societal violence or harassment against members of religious 
groups.
    There were approximately 50 resident Jews; there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts during the year.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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.
    On June 12, the governor of Ziguinchor increased military 
checkpoints and restricted night travel in the northern Casamance 
following several car hijackings and the shooting of passengers by 
armed gunmen. Passenger vehicles were forbidden to use Road 4 between 
Bignona and Diacounda and Road 5 between Bignona and Selety at the 
Gambian border, from 7:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Security forces continued 
to enforce this restriction at year's end (see section 1. a.).
    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 27-year-old 
Casamance conflict, tens of thousands of persons left villages in the 
region due to fighting, forced removal, and landmines. Many persons 
were reportedly displaced during the year in the region. The government 
estimated that there were approximately 10,000 IDPs in the Casamance, 
although this number tended to fluctuate with the ebb and flow of the 
conflict. 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 supported IDPs in Ziguinchor by supplying food and 
enrolling children in local schools.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. Its 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 cases, 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, as of October 2, a total of 2,744 
asylum seekers were 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. In 
2008 the UNHCR began a repatriation program of Afro-Mauritanians from 
the country to Mauritania. At year's end the program had returned 
14,711 persons. According to the UNHCR, as of October 25, a total of 
25,393 remained in the country, of whom 24,617 were Mauritanians. In 
addition the government continued to permit generally unsupervised and 
largely informal repatriation.

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 2007 presidential and legislative elections as well as the 
local elections held in March during the year. For the first time 
military and paramilitary forces were allowed to vote.

    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 preelection 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 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 March 22 municipal elections led to significant victories for a 
multiparty opposition coalition. The mayors of Dakar, St Louis, Podor, 
Kaolack, Fatick, Thies, Louga, and most of Dakar's major suburbs are 
from various opposition parties. International observers declared the 
March elections to be generally free and fair, although there were 
instances of voter disenfranchisement. Additionally many polling 
stations throughout the country opened late due to a lack of election 
materials and poor training for the presidents of the voting centers. 
For example, in the Dakar suburb of Pikine, voting materiel did not 
arrive at the polling stations until 5 p.m., and the voting was 
extended for only two hours beyond the deadline.
    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 four women in the 32-member cabinet. Only 13 percent of locally 
elected leaders were women. The 100-member Senate included 40 women.
    There were approximately 39 members of minority groups in the 
National Assembly and an estimated 12 members in 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.
    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 and 
National Assembly members and civil servants salary increases, 
vehicles, and land over the last few years exacerbated the perception.
    The National Commission to Fight Non-Transparency, 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.
    During the year the government admitted that it made unauthorized 
extra-budgetary commitments to businesses of approximately 175 billion 
CFA ($385 million). Private sector sources claimed that the real amount 
was closer to double the amount the government acknowledged.
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to access 
government information freely; however, the government rarely provided 
access in practice.
    In August journalist Abdou Latif Coulibaly published a book 
outlining corruption in accepting bids on government procurement 
contracts for infrastructure projects managed by the National Agency 
for the Preparation of the Islamic Summit Conference. Coulibaly's 
allegations were never investigated by authorities, and the government 
allegedly put pressure on local bookstores, which refused to distribute 
the book for fear of reprisals.

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 the authority to investigate abuses; 
however, it lacked credibility since it was poorly funded, did not meet 
regularly, did not conduct investigations, and did not release a report 
during the year.
    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 inquiries by NGOs 
and held meetings with them to discuss rights issues such as torture, 
domestic violence, and the Hissene Habre case.
    Death threats against leaders of opposition political parties, 
unions, journalists, NGOs, and even a senior official 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 on women and children, often were 
not enforced.
    On October 21, the prime minister announced the creation of a body 
to coordinate all matters dealing with discrimination. The Ministry of 
Justice was tasked to take all necessary actions to combat domestic 
violence.

    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 ten 
years' imprisonment. A women's rights NGO criticized the lack of rape 
shield laws that 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 proof 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. Ministry of Justice statistics estimated that 47 
percent of accused rapists go unpunished and released without going to 
trial. According to a journalists' NGO, there were 400 documented cases 
of rape and sexual abuses during the year. However, almost 60 percent 
of persons committing incest and rape were never brought to justice 
because of familial ties.
    Domestic violence, including spousal abuse, was a widespread 
problem. Several women's groups and the NGO CLVF reported a rise in 
violence against women during the year. 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. During the year the NGO Action Aid reported 167 
cases of domestic violence on schoolgirls.
    Domestic violence against women is punishable by one to 10 years in 
prison and fines range from 30,000 CFA ($66) to 500,000 CFA ($1,100), 
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.
    There were no government programs to combat domestic violence. 
According to the NGO GRAVE, the Ginndi Center had 22 cases (including a 
case of incest and a case of an 11-year-old girl who was raped and 
became pregnant). As of November 10, a total of 10 women died from 
domestic violence, according to the CLVF local branch in Louga.
    Although soliciting customers is illegal, prostitution is legal if 
individuals are at least 21 years of age, register with the police, 
carry a valid sanitary card, and test negative for sexually transmitted 
infections. NGOs working with prostitutes claimed that police targeted 
female prostitutes for abuse and extortion. There were arrests of 
illegal foreign prostitutes, underage prostitutes, and pimps during the 
year. Evidence suggested foreign prostitutes' entry into the country 
was professionally organized.
    The law mandates prison terms of five months to three years, and 
fines of 50,000 to 500,000 CFA ($110 to $1,100) 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.
    In March a Frenchman managing a hotel in Saly in the Mbour Region 
allegedly raped a 37-year-old female employee. His case was pending at 
year's end.
    In April a soldier raped his 21-year-old domestic maid in the Mbour 
Region. In September he was sent to prison for five years.
    In October a 70-year-old woman was raped by serial rapist Elabalin 
Diatta in the village of Kabendou in the Kolda Region. The rapist fled 
and was being sought by the police and gendarmerie at year's end.
    The law provides for the right of all individuals to be informed 
about and to choose methods for child spacing. It also provides for the 
right to access medical services to 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, particularly in rural areas 
and in some urban areas where lack of funds led to the closing of 
maternity wards and operating rooms, constrained these rights. Social 
and cultural pressures to have large families led some husbands 
reportedly to ask health workers to terminate the use of contraceptive 
by their spouses. This often led women to be discreet in the use of 
contraception. Men and women were diagnosed and treated equally for 
sexually transmitted diseases and 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 need be 
notified nor give prior consent if the man takes 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 by naturalization; 
only the father can pass on nationality. Children are not registered at 
birth unless a parent requests it be done, but failure to do so did 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.
    The law provides for free education, and education is compulsory 
for all children ages 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. Due to 
efforts of the government, NGOs, and international donors, primary 
school enrollment reached 82 percent during the year.
    Young girls encountered greater difficulties in receiving higher 
education. For example, when families could not afford for all of their 
children to attend school, parents tended to remove their daughters 
rather than sons from school. Only 25 percent of women and girls over 
15 years of age were literate, compared with 42 percent of boys and 
men.
    Child abuse was common. Poorly dressed, barefoot young boys, known 
as talibes, begged on street corners for food or money for their 
Koranic teachers, known as marabouts. These children were exploited by 
their teachers and exposed to dangers. Physical abuse of talibes was 
widely known and discussed. A 2008 joint study by the UN Children's 
Fund (UNICEF), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World 
Bank, and a newly created NGO called the Partnership for the Withdrawal 
and the Reinsertion of Street Children (PARER), identified 7,800 child 
beggars in the Dakar area. There were an estimated 50,000 child beggars 
in the country. Most were approximately 10 years old, although some as 
young as two were reported. In general they were undernourished and 
prone to sickness. Since they begged full time, they devoted almost no 
time to Koranic 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 ($0.88) per day.
    The law punishes sexual abusers of children with five to 10 years' 
imprisonment. If the offender is a family member, 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 ($660 to $8,790). If the crime involves a minor 
younger than 13 years, 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.
    In April an uncle raped and impregnated his 14-year-old niece. The 
man was in jail awaiting trial at year's end.
    On June 18, the Regional Court of Diourbel sentenced Layine Wilane 
to the maximum of 10 years' imprisonment for raping 12 girls and 
committing acts of pedophilia on 13 others. All his victims were 
minors. Wilane perpetrated his crimes in Touba, and the victims were 
his students in the Koranic school he managed. A local psychologist, 
Serigne Mor Mbaye, who conducted his own investigation, concluded that 
the number of victims raped by Wilane exceeded 50 and that the police 
investigation was not thoroughly conducted.
    In January a 60-year-old marabout named Mohamadou Thierno Diallo 
raped his two nieces (ages 13 and 15), impregnating the 13-year-old 
girl. In September the marabout was convicted and sent to prison for 
ten years and fined 10,000,000 CFA ($22,000).
    In May in Saly in the Mbour Region, a Nigerian trader raped a 14-
year-old girl. In November he was sentenced to four years in prison.
    In October serial rapist A. P. assaulted two students ages 12 and 
13 years in the Thiaroye suburb of Dakar. In November he was convicted 
and sent to prison for two years.
    There were no further developments in several 2008 rape cases of 
children, including the October rape of a 17-year-old girl in Dakar by 
a man posing as a police officer, the March rape of a 13-year-old girl 
in Keur Massar, and the May 17 rape of a nine-year-old girl in 
Guediawaye.
    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.
    Tostan and UNICEF estimated that female genital mutilation (FGM) 
was practiced widely throughout the country. Some girls were as young 
as one 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.
    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 fought to end FGM by 
collaborating with Tostan and other groups to educate persons about its 
inherent dangers.
    On May 28, the Court of Matam sentenced a woman who had carried out 
FGM on a 16-month-old baby. The court also handed down the same 
sentence to the baby's grandmother, who had requested the FGM to be 
performed. The baby's parents received a suspended sentence of six 
months' imprisonment. After failing in their efforts to pressure 
government authorities to abandon the case, local religious groups 
influenced local persons to stone security force members.
    Tostan reported that 3,791 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 60 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 considered child 
marriage 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 years old, 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 the Casamance displaced 
children suffered from the psychological effects of conflict, 
malnutrition, and poor health. UNICEF reported an estimated 100,000 
talibe boys and 10,000 street children.
    Prostitution is legal, and there were reports of European tourists 
traveling to the Saly district of Mbour to procure the services of 
prostitutes. Procuring a minor for prostitution, however, is punishable 
by imprisonment for two to five years and a fine of 300,000 to four 
million CFA ($660 to $8,791).
    Pornography is prohibited and pornography involving children under 
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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The constitution and law prohibit 
trafficking in persons; however, persons were trafficked to, within, 
through, and from the country. Laws that prohibit pimping and 
kidnapping can be used in some trafficking cases.
    Trafficking in and through the country was a serious problem, 
especially with regard to child begging. Talibes were trafficked from 
neighboring countries, including The Gambia, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea-
Bissau, and internally to participate in exploitive begging for some 
Koranic schools.
    Young girls were trafficked from villages in the Diourbel, Fatick, 
Kaolack, Thies, and Ziguinchor regions to urban centers for work as 
underage domestics.
    Young girls from both urban and rural areas were involved in 
prostitution, which NGOs stated involved an adult pimp to facilitate 
commercial sex transactions or provide shelter. Young boys also were 
involved in prostitution, particularly to support their families.
    The country was believed to be a transit point for women en route 
to Europe for commercial sexual exploitation.
    By law those who recruit, transport, transfer, or harbor persons, 
whether by means of violence, fraud, abuse of authority, or otherwise 
for the purposes of sexual exploitation, labor, forced servitude, or 
slavery are subject to punishment of five to 10 years' imprisonment and 
a fine of five to 20 million CFA ($10,100 to $40,400). When the crime 
involves torture, barbarism, the removal of human organs, or exposing 
the victim to a risk of death or injury, prison terms range from 10 to 
30 years. The government did not effectively enforce the law, and there 
were no prosecutions for trafficking offenses during the year. There 
was no available identification of the principal traffickers.
    Following an October 19 interministerial conference, the Ministry 
of Justice was put in charge of coordinating an interagency group to 
respond to human trafficking issues. The group includes representatives 
from the human rights commission; the Ministry of Women, Family, Social 
Development, and Women's Entrepreneurship; the Ministry of Interior; 
and a presidential adviser on childhood.
    Most government efforts to combat trafficking in persons were 
centered in the Ministry of Women, Family, Social Development, and 
Women's Entrepreneurship. The ministry operated the Ginddi Center in 
Dakar, where child trafficking victims received nutritional, medical, 
and other assistance. The center accommodated children from The Gambia, 
Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea. The center's toll-free child 
protection hotline fielded many calls. With assistance from a foreign 
government, the police established a trafficking-in-persons database. 
There were no government programs to protect or assist trafficked 
women.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 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, the 
government must issue an executive decree 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 
lacks of special education training for teachers and facilities 
accessible to children with disabilities, only 40 percent of such 
children were enrolled in primary school.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--While the country's many ethnic 
groups have coexisted relatively peacefully, interethnic tensions 
between Wolofs 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. Gay men and lesbians faced criminal prosecution 
and widespread discrimination, social intolerance, and acts of 
violence.
    On January 7, the court sentenced Diadji Diouf, director of AIDES 
Senegal, an NGO providing HIV prevention services, and seven other men 
to eight years in prison for committing ``unnatural sex'' and acting as 
a gang of criminals. They appealed the sentences and were released on 
April 20 after the court ruled that the evidence against them was 
inadmissible because the men were arrested in a private location, in 
violation of the code of criminal procedure.
    On May 2, several young persons in the neighborhood of Darou Salam 
exhumed the body of Madieye Diallo in the belief that the deceased was 
gay and should not be buried in their cemetery. After the police 
intervened, Diallo's family reburied the body. However, when the police 
left, local persons reexhumed the body and dragged it half-naked to the 
home of the bereaved family. The family reburied Diallo in a cemetery 
in Touba. There were no arrests or prosecutions by year's end.
    On June 18, Amsa Gueye and Matar Gueye were arrested in Darou 
Mousty for performing unnatural sex acts. The gendarmes also arrested 
Ousmane Gaye and two minors, Massamba Gaye and Khadim Gueye. Khadim 
reported that another man, Thierno Wade, forced himself on him. By 
year's end Wade had not been arrested. On August 12, the Regional Court 
of Louga sentenced Amsa Gueye to five years in prison for enticing a 
minor into vice and unnatural sex acts. Ousmane Gaye and Matar Gueye 
were found guilty of unnatural sex and sentenced to two years of 
imprisonment.

    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.
    While there was no reported discrimination against persons with 
albinism, many suffered and died due to lack of health care skin 
products. 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 lacks 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 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 to the majority of the 
workforce. Approximately 4 percent of the workforce was employed in the 
private industrial sector, of which 40-50 percent belonged to unions.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised 
this right in practice. The law states that workplaces may not be 
occupied during a strike. Transportation, health, education, bakery, 
and waste collection workers staged several strikes during the year. 
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.

    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 also provides for 
the right to collective bargaining, and it was freely practiced 
everywhere but in private security companies. Collective bargaining 
agreements applied to an estimated 44 percent of union workers.
    Antiunion discrimination is prohibited by law, and no antiunion 
discrimination was reported 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.).

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law bans the exploitation of child labor, and regulations on child 
labor set the minimum working age, working hours, and working 
conditions; and bar children from performing particularly dangerous 
jobs. However, child labor was a problem, 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 was 15; however, children under the 
age of 15 continued to work in traditional labor sectors, 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.
    In August 2008 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 years 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, fishing, 
artisanal gold mining, garages, dumpsites, slaughterhouses, production 
of salt, and metal and woodworking shops.
    Many religious instructors in Koranic schools brought young boys 
from rural villages to urban areas and held them under conditions of 
servitude, forcing them to beg on a daily basis in unsanitary and 
dangerous conditions or work in the agriculture sector under the threat 
of physical punishment.
    One particularly egregious area 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.
    According to an October 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 drop out of 
school.
    Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor were in charge of 
investigating and initiating lawsuits in child labor cases. They 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 
because of a lack of resources and relied on unions to report 
violators. Labor inspectors closely monitored and enforced minimum age 
rules within the small formal wage sector, which included state-owned 
corporations, large private enterprises, and cooperatives. However, 
there were no statistics available on the number of violations found.
    The government has raised awareness of the dangers of child labor 
and exploitive begging through seminars with local officials, NGOs, and 
civil society. In October the government participated in a project 
funded by a foreign government to withdraw 3,000 children from the 
streets and prevent 6,000 others from entering exploitive child labor 
in agriculture, fishing, begging, and domestic service. The government 
also participated in an ILO project to combat child labor. The 
government is 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 Koranic schools whose teachers 
do not force their students to engage in begging.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was 
209 CFA ($0.45) 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 40-48 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 
Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF), which since July has been 
renamed the People's Party, dominated the country through a pervasive 
system of political patronage and control over government jobs, 
contracts, and resources. The 2007 national assembly elections did not 
result in any change in the balance of power between the ruling 
People's Party (former SPPF) and the opposition Seychelles National 
Party (SNP). Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. However, the following human rights problems were reported: 
prolonged pretrial detention; abuse of detainees; an inefficient and 
politically influenced court system; restrictions on speech, press, and 
assembly; 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.--The government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
on July 28, a man was found dead in a cell while in police custody. Two 
police officers were suspended in connection with the case. An internal 
police inquiry was ongoing at year's end. The Office of the President 
ordered a separate investigation, but the report, presented to the 
president on November 3, was not made public to prevent interference 
with the ongoing police investigation.

    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 
police and prison officers were accused of inhumane treatment of 
detainees.
    Following reports of unrest at the Montagne Posee Prison between 
March 6 and March 15, an investigation by the National Human Rights 
Commission (NHRC) found that private security guards had been brought 
in to support the prison guards and contain the situation. On March 6, 
a prisoner was bitten by a dog that was not appropriately muzzled and 
controlled by its handler, a private security guard. The prisoner was 
later taken to the hospital for treatment.
    On March 11, the same dog bit eight inmates. All were sent to the 
hospital for treatment; one inmate was admitted after he suffered groin 
injuries. The prisoners had previously protested that one of the 
inmates should not have been sent to solitary confinement in the 
``black cell,'' a dark room only large enough to hold one person. 
Prison guards allegedly used pepper spray on the inmates and hit the 
legs of the prisoner who refused to go into the ``black cell.''
    On March 15, the NHRC found that the same dog bit three other 
detainees. All three were sent to a hospital for medical treatment; one 
of the three was later admitted for further treatment.
    On September 4, Regar, a local newspaper, reported that a prison 
guard at the Montagne Posee Prison assaulted a detainee on July 28. 
According to the newspaper, the detainee was beaten with a metal chain 
and suffered injuries to his ribs and lungs. He was later taken to a 
hospital for medical care. The prison guard was suspended from duty.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Detention centers 
previously included the Grand Police High Security Prison for violent 
inmates and the Montagne Posee Prison for all other prisoners and those 
awaiting trial or sentencing. In June 2007 the Grand Police High 
Security Prison began transitioning all inmates to the newly opened 
Montagne Posee Prison. This transition was completed in 2007, and the 
Grand Police High Security Prison was closed, leaving Montagne Posee 
Prison as the only prison in the country. Prison officials stated that 
staff shortages forced guards to limit prisoner time outside their 
cells. The new facility housed high security and ordinary prisoners, 
including female prisoners, as well as those in pretrial detention. As 
of November 17, the prison, which had a maximum capacity of 400, held 
323 prisoners, including 311 men and 12 women. Female prisoners were 
kept separately in a section of the prison until the completion of the 
women's prison wing in February. The NHRC noted that juveniles were 
kept together with adult inmates. Remand prisoners were still kept with 
convicted criminals.
    On February 8, a group of prisoners petitioned the president to 
rectify the shortage of water, food, utensils, and poor sanitary 
conditions at the prison. The NHRC found that violence erupted between 
prison guards and a detainee on the morning of March 11, after the 
latter complained that he had not received the soap that his relatives 
sent him. In response prison authorities stated that prison guards 
would need to thoroughly search incoming packages due to drug 
activities in the prison. The NHRC recommended that additional staff be 
immediately recruited and that existing prison staff be trained to 
discharge their responsibilities effectively.
    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.
    Prison authorities recruited 16 new prison guards; on October 14, 
the new recruits completed a two-week course as part of the first phase 
of their training.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally 
observed these prohibitions. Unlike the previous year, there were no 
reports of arbitrary arrest or detention.

    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 president, commands 
the unarmed police and the armed paramilitary Police Mobile Unit, which 
together have primary responsibility for internal security. When 
necessary, police were assisted by the SPDF on matters of internal 
security.
    Corruption remained a problem. The Enquiry Board, a police 
complaint office, existed but was rarely used. In practice private 
attorneys filed complaints or published them in the opposition party 
newspapers Regar and Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly. Although human 
rights was included as a core precept in officer training, such 
training was limited in practice.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law provide that 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 constitution and law also provide for detention 
without charge for up to seven days if authorized by court order, and 
police generally respected this provision. Detainees have the right to 
legal counsel. Free counsel is not a legal right, but courts usually 
provided it to indigent persons. Courts provided bail for most 
offenses. Although warrants are required by law, police made some 
arrests and detentions without a warrant.
    The law provides that detainees have a right to prompt judicial 
determination of the legality of detention; to be notified promptly of 
charges against them; and are allowed prompt access to family members. 
However, there were cases in which these rights were not respected.
    The constitution provides for remand prisoners to be released after 
six months 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 23 percent of the 
prison population consisted of pretrial detainees. The NHRC recommended 
that other institutions work to reduce the prison population to avoid 
stretching the already limited resources of the prison.

    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.
    The judicial system includes magistrates' courts (or small-claims 
courts), the Supreme (or trial) Court, the Constitution and Law Court, 
and the Court of Appeal.
    One supreme court judge, one appeals court judge, and two 
magistrate court judges were citizens by birth. All others were either 
naturalized citizens or citizens of other Commonwealth countries. The 
bar association criticized the government for not advertising 
domestically that judicial positions were available. Critics widely 
believed that some foreign justices bent to the will of the executive 
branch because of fear that they might lose their jobs.
    Several justices of the peace were responsible for small-claims 
cases, and there were allegations that many of the justices were 
appointed because of their affiliation with the People's Party.
    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. The 
government empowered the family tribunal to issue protection orders to 
victims of family violence. 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, and trials were public in practice. A magistrates' court or the 
Supreme Court heard criminal cases, depending on the gravity of the 
offense. Cases involving murder or treason use juries.
    Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty, and have 
the right to be present at their trial, to confront witnesses, and to 
appeal. 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 above 
rights are enjoyed equally by 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, the judiciary was inefficient and subject to executive 
influence.
    On March 10, the NHRC was established to examine cases of human 
rights abuses. Prior to the creation of the NHRC, citizens turned to 
the ombudsman office to investigate human rights abuses and to seek 
redress for other issues.

    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. 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. Journalists 
practiced self-censorship.
    Individuals could not criticize the government publicly or 
privately for fear of reprisal.
    On November 27, Regar reported that the Supreme Court awarded 
damages, ranging from 30,000 to 75,000 rupees ($2,750 to $6,875), to 13 
victims of the 2006 police assault on SNP partisans for an alleged 
illegal gathering.
    On August 21, two independent media consultants published a report 
on the media and recommended the creation of a media council and a 
media association, as well as a joint consultation committee. The 
latter would act as a consultative platform and would settle any issue 
between the media council and the media association. The report also 
recommended amendments to the libel laws. The media association was 
established in August.
    There are two privately owned daily newspapers, the The Rising Sun 
and The Nation, and a government-owned newspaper, which generally 
supported government policies. The Nation gave limited attention to the 
opposition and generally ignored news that reflected adversely on the 
government. There were three weekly political party newspapers: Regar, 
The People, and Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly.
    The law allows the minister of information technology to prohibit 
the broadcast of any material believed to be against the ``national 
interest'' or ``objectionable.'' The law also requires 
telecommunications companies to submit subscriber information to the 
government.
    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 ($73,320) per year discouraged the 
opening of any independent broadcasters. Following the 2006 elections, 
the opposition SNP collected funds for the radio licensing fee and 
announced plans to apply for a license. Subsequently, and as a response 
to the SNP plan, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the 
Broadcasting and Telecommunications Act that prevents political parties 
and religious groups from obtaining radio licenses. By year's end the 
Law and Order Committee, established in 2007, had not made 
recommendations on the amendment to the act.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet; however, there were reports that the government 
monitored e-mail and Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups 
engaged in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including 
by e-mail. According to the International Telecommunication Union 
statistics for 2008, approximately 38 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 not allowing 
academic professionals to reach senior positions in the academic 
bureaucracy without demonstrating at least nominal loyalty to the 
People's Party. The government controlled faculty appointments to the 
Polytechnic and the University of Seychelles, which opened on September 
15.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly and 
association; however, the government did not always respect it.
    On August 28, Regar reported that police denied the SNP permission 
to hold a public meeting on private property, claiming that the meeting 
would cause annoyance to nearby residents and breach the security and 
peace of the area.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association; however, the government did not always respect 
this right. There were complaints that government officials intimidated 
and even dismissed civil servants who participated in opposition party 
activities.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.
    Religious groups are not required to register but must apply to the 
Ministry of Finance to receive tax exemptions.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Jewish community numbered 
fewer than 10 persons; there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at http://www.state.gov/j/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. Although it was not done during the year, the law allows the 
government to deny passports to any citizen if the minister of defense 
finds that such denial is ``in the national interest.''
    The law prohibits the forced exile of citizens, and the government 
did not use forced exile in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
refugee status or asylum in accordance with the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 
African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee 
Problem in Africa, but 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.--In July 2008 an SNP 
candidate won a national assembly by-election by an 87 percent margin. 
Only candidates from the SNP and the Democratic Party (DP) contested 
the election. There were reports that partisans of the former SPPF (the 
present People's Party) harassed opposition supporters in the days 
prior to the voting, and both the SNP and DP filed complaints with the 
electoral commissioner's office.
    The 2007 national assembly elections produced no change in the 
balance of power between the ruling party and the opposition SNP. 
International observers found the elections to be credible. Minor 
complaints of electoral irregularities were filed with the electoral 
commissioner.
    In 2006 approximately 88 percent of eligible voters elected 
incumbent and then-SPPF presidential candidate James Michel with 54 
percent of the vote. International observers characterized the 
electoral process as credible and well-organized; however, opposition 
partisans 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. On August 8, Regar 
reported that police denied the SNP permission to hold a public meeting 
(see section 2.b.).
    The newly renamed 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. Following 
the July 2008 cabinet reshuffle, 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 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. There were reports of rewards to People's 
Party supporters in the form of job assistance, land distribution, free 
building materials, and monetary payments.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws upon 
taking office; however, there were no reports that such disclosures 
occurred in practice.
    An ombudsman has legal authority to investigate and report on 
allegations of official fraud and corruption. He investigated 128 cases 
during the year involving problems such as labor law litigation, human 
rights abuse, and land and property disputes. Only one case involved 
allegations of fraud and corruption.
    There are laws allowing public access to government information, 
although the government did not enforce them, and citizens routinely 
did not have 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 being 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.
    A government-run National Humanitarian Affairs Committee (NHAC) 
operated with a range of members from both civil society and the 
government. The ICRC acted as a technical adviser to the NHAC.
    On March 10, the NHRC was established by law to investigate 
allegations of human rights abuse, including those committed by members 
of law enforcement agencies. The commission enjoyed the government's 
cooperation and operated without government or party interference, had 
adequate resources, and was considered effective. It issued a report on 
the March Montagne Posee Prison disturbances and recommended additional 
staff and training (see section 1.c.).

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. The 
government enforced the law effectively and the Family Tribunal issued 
500 protection orders related to domestic violence during the year. 
Rape was a problem. The police registered 66 rape cases for the year; 
however, many rape cases went unreported for fear of reprisal or social 
stigma. The Social Affairs Division of the Ministry of Health and 
Social Development and Women in Action and Solidarity Organization 
(WASO), a local NGO, provided counseling services to rape victims, and 
two rape victims received counseling services from the NGO during the 
year. At year's end, there were no statistics available for the number 
of prosecutions regarding rape cases.
    Domestic violence against women was a continuing 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, or the court gave the perpetrator a light sentence.
    In 2008 the Ministry of Health and Social Development launched the 
2008-12 National Strategy Plan on Domestic Violence. In November GEMSA 
Plus, a local NGO working for the rights and empowerment of women, 
jointly organized a 16-day campaign against gender violence with the 
help of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, and 10 persons 
attended a workshop to raise awareness of the different forms of 
domestic violence.
    Prostitution is illegal but remained prevalent. Any person found 
guilty of prostitution may be imprisoned for two years. Police 
generally did not apprehend persons for prostitution unless their 
actions involved other crimes.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment, but it was rarely enforced. 
The penal code does not provide any penalty for persons found guilty of 
sexual harassment; however, the court can order a person accused of 
sexual harassment 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 preferred using nurses or midwives 
during childbirth as well as prenatal and postnatal care, unless the 
mother or child suffered more serious health complications. Men and 
women received equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections, including HIV.
    Women enjoyed the same rights as men. The society is largely 
matriarchal. Unwed mothers are 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 are registered immediately. Failure to do so, 
however, did not result in the denial of public service.
    The government requires children to attend school through the 10th 
grade and made free public education available through the secondary 
level until age 18.
    The law prohibits physical abuse of children; however, child abuse 
was a problem and was rarely reported. Sexual abuse of children, 
usually perpetrated by stepfathers and older brothers, was a problem. 
According to WASO, rape of girls under the age of 15 continued to be a 
problem; however, most cases 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.
    On April 29, The Nation reported that a local NGO, Young Soldiers 
for Christ, observed an increase in prostitution and feared that some 
youth could engage in prostitution as a consequence of the economic 
downturn.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons 
for all purposes, and there were no reports that persons were 
trafficked to, from, through, or within the country.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    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, or education, or in 
the provision of other state services.

    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. Some citizens were reluctant to join the Seychelles National 
Trade Union (SNTU), a nongovernmental labor union, due to fear of 
government reprisal. Unions organized between 15 and 20 percent of the 
workforce.
    The Seychelles Federation of Workers' Unions (People's Party-
associated) was the only trade union in active operation; the SNP-
associated SNTU ceased operations in 2007. Despite the legal provisions 
allowing workers to form and join unions, membership in the SNTU had 
continued to decrease because workers feared losing their jobs. The 
SNTU claimed that employers did not reinstate workers fired for union 
activity.
    Strikes are illegal unless arbitration procedures are first 
exhausted. Observers noted that the Industrial Relations Act provisions 
regarding the holding of strikes hinder unions' right to strike.

    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. 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. The 
employer generally set wages in the private sector through individual 
agreements with the employee, 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, and there were no 
reports of it during the year.
    There was one export processing zone, the Seychelles International 
Trade Zone (SITZ), with 25 participating companies. Only the Seychelles 
Trade Zone Act applied in the SITZ, and the government did not require 
the SITZ 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 ($550) 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 ($213) 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; in practice some workers 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.
    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 has 
been amended to allow 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 
6.4 million. In peaceful 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 whole 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. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. However, there were problems in a number of areas, including: 
security force abuse and use of excessive force with detainees, 
including juveniles; police theft and extortion; harsh conditions in 
prisons and jails; official impunity; arbitrary arrest and detention; 
prolonged detention, excessive bail, and insufficient legal 
representation; restrictions on freedom of speech and press; forcible 
dispersion of demonstrators; widespread official corruption; societal 
discrimination and violence against women; female genital mutilation 
(FGM); child abuse; trafficking in persons, including children; 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, stole, extorted, and demanded bribes. The law allows up to 36 
lashes as punishment. Although nongovernmental organization (NGO) 
sources state that such incidents occurred less frequently than in 
previous years, prison guards reportedly beat prisoners with impunity.
    No action was taken against the prison warden who severely beat an 
inmate in July 2008.
    No action was taken in any of the 2007 cases involving police use 
of excessive force.
    Police use of excessive force to disperse demonstrators resulted in 
injuries and death. For example, in September police shot and killed 
three persons and injured numerous others after the civilians attacked 
the local police station.
    Compared to the previous year, fewer men and women were initiated 
forcibly into tribal secret societies, a process that for women usually 
involved FGM.
    Vigilante violence was common in urban areas, particularly for 
suspected thieves and unsettled debts. Crowds often set upon suspected 
thieves.
    By year's end no one had been charged for the March 2008 killing of 
a thief in eastern Freetown.
    There were continued reports that Guinean troops along the eastern 
border harassed local residents.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and sometimes life threatening. Overcrowding was a major problem. 
The Bureau of Prisons stated that as of October there were 2,317 
prisoners in the country, including 112 women. The Pademba Road Prison, 
which was designed to house 324 prisoners, held 1,222 as of October, 
according to the Bureau of Prisons. In some cases, cells measuring six 
feet by nine feet housed nine prisoners. According to UNIOSIL's 2007 
assessment of prisons, corporal punishment, solitary confinement, 
reduction in food rations, loss of visitor privileges, and loss of 
exercise privileges were routine disciplinary measures. In Kabala and 
Port Loko Prisons, UNIOSIL reported that officers in charge were 
present when guards beat inmates with canes and plastic water pipes. 
While such practices continued, NGOs reported that, as in the previous 
year, training and monitoring resulted in a reduction in the number of 
such incidents.
    Human rights observers reported that detention conditions 
frequently fell 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 during the year. The Bureau of Prisons received only 
2,500 leones ($0.63) per prisoner per day for food rations; increased 
food prices throughout the year posed a significant challenge. Prison 
cells often lacked proper lighting, bedding, ventilation, and 
protection from mosquitoes.
    Few prisoners had access to adequate medical facilities, and 
clinics lacked supplies and medical personnel to provide services 
beyond the basics. Authorities allowed only emergency patients to visit 
the clinic outside of the assigned schedule. Women were treated as 
outpatients or were 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.
    Local NGO Prison Watch reported that there was a shortage of prison 
staff and 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.
    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 magistrate judges deployed to the districts to process 
cases.
    During the year a total of 36 prisoner deaths occurred allegedly as 
a result of anemia, respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, and heart 
failure.
    Men and women were held in separate cells; however, 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 continued to be detained there with their mothers. These 
children were later released to family members once weaned. Five 
children were housed with adult prisoners at year's end, and the first 
lady was involved in improving the standard of care for them. 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 no shower facilities, no exercise area, and few 
rehabilitation programs.
    Although authorities made an effort to prevent detaining juveniles 
with adults, minors regularly were imprisoned with adult offenders. 
Police sometimes released juveniles suspected of committing crimes to 
avoid incarcerating them with adults. At the same time, when questioned 
by 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, education, or vocational 
training, and sometimes were unable to attend court hearings due to 
lack of transportation. The 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 youth was a problem, and small riots occurred 
in some facilities. Juveniles housed with adults and then moved to age-
appropriate facilities were often instigators of violence, as the 
Justice Sector Development Program (JSDP) noted.
    In most cases pretrial detainees were held with convicted 
prisoners. According to Prison Watch, only 200 of the 1,222 prisoners 
in Pademba Road Prison had been convicted.
    The government permitted family visits to prisoners and detainees 
regularly during the year. Unlike the previous year, the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not provide a message delivery 
service that allowed prisoners housed in all district prisons to 
communicate with their families on a quarterly basis.
    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.

    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.
    There were fewer cases of police brutality during the year, but 
police corruption was a serious problem, in part exacerbated by low 
salaries. There were continued reports that police officers took 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 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, and there were several mechanisms available to investigate police 
abuses. The Police Complaints Commission and the 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 trust in the organization. There was also 
a Police Council composed of 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 junior police officer complaints. 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.
    Between January and July the CDIID received 1,281 complaints 
countrywide, resulting in at least 291 officers being dismissed, 
demoted, suspended, or officially warned. The other cases were 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 or 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 be 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 legal 
representation; however, due to a lack of financial resources, only 5 
to 10 percent of inmates had access to legal representation. Lawyers 
generally were allowed unrestricted access to detainees. Although the 
constitution provides for legal aid, fewer than 10 state counsels 
served the entire country, and they were only available for more 
serious criminal cases. 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, however, family members often paid bribes to 
facilitate visitation.
    There were provisions for bail, and there was a functioning bail 
system; however, the bail regime was inconsistent and sometimes 
excessive.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. According to Amnesty 
International, 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. In one 
case, nine years of pretrial detention was ongoing at year's end. 
Approximately 60 percent of detainees in prison were in pretrial 
detention. On November 10, inmates at the prison in Bo engaged in a 
small-scale riot to protest against their lengthy pretrial detentions 
and what they considered to be their lack of access to justice. 
According to the 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 better areas of 
the 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.
    The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, 
High Court of Justice, and magistrate courts in each of the 12 
districts and the Western Area. There was also one juvenile court. The 
president appoints and parliament approves justices for the courts. 
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 on 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 government and NGO training of traditional elders and an 
influx of 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. A majority of cases on the magistrate 
level were prosecuted by police officers, many of whom had little or no 
formal legal training. Although the law provides defendants with the 
right to appeal, the appeals process was delayed excessively, sometimes 
for over two years.
    Human rights NGOs noted wide disparities in sentencing patterns 
from district to district. There were numerous cases in which sentences 
imposed were grossly 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 to falsely legitimize arrests for civil complaints. 
Local chieftains at times exceeded their mandates and administered 
harsh punishments.
    There are a number of civil laws and customary laws that 
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.
    Trials continued before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) 
of those bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes against 
humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of international law 
committed during the civil war. On October 31, the eight individuals 
convicted of war crimes by the tribunal were transferred to Rwanda to 
serve their sentences.

    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 sentencing was 
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 practiced self-
censorship.
    The government rarely attempted to impede criticism, although some 
believed that political figures used sympathetic media outlets to 
target their opposition. One editor noted an incident in which high-
level government officials threatened to sue a paper if it did not 
retract a critical story. When the paper stood by its reporting, the 
officials backed down but asked that the paper publish a progovernment 
article to compensate for the bad press. There were also reports of 
interference by local government officials in the provinces.
    The Attitudinal and Behavioral Change Secretariat, under the 
purview of the Office of the President, urged musicians to perform 
songs that would help rebrand the country and discouraged disk jockeys 
from playing songs critical of the government. This encouraged self-
censorship by radio stations concerned about losing their licenses.
    More than 88 newspapers were registered with the Independent Media 
Commission (IMC), and during the year many were published in Freetown, 
covering a wide spectrum of interests and editorial opinion. Most of 
the newspapers were independent, and several were associated with 
political parties. Reporting was often politicized and inaccurate, in 
large part because of poor journalistic skills, insufficient resources, 
and the lack of professional ethics. Corruption among journalists was 
widespread. While sometimes subject to official pressure and 
restrictions, newspapers openly and routinely criticized the government 
and its officials as well as the opposition parties. Newspapers also 
libeled individuals.
    International media could operate freely but were required to 
register with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the IMC 
to obtain a license. Five new local newspapers registered with the IMC 
during the year. Although the IMC instituted stricter registration 
requirements, 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. The 
IMC and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) continued to 
lobby parliament without success to amend the law, and the SLAJ filed a 
lawsuit with the Supreme Court asking it to rule on the law's 
constitutionality. On November 10, the Supreme Court upheld the libel 
portions of the law. The ruling makes a future repeal of the law in its 
entirety difficult since it would give the appearance of executive 
interference in judicial independence.
    The IMC regulated independent media organizations and generally 
demonstrated independence from government influence. During the year 
the IMC considered multiple claims of libel or false reporting in 
various newspapers, but some members of the media opined that the IMC 
failed to exercise its authority effectively or enforce the law.
    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) set up radio stations; however, the vice president shut 
them down in the wake of the March riots, since they were used to 
incite political violence and hysteria (see section 2.b.). The IMC 
objected to this unilateral action, although the executive branch has 
the power to make such decisions if national security is at stake. The 
IMC ultimately approved the decision, and the stations remained closed 
at year's end. UN Radio provided additional coverage of news and other 
current events.

    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 at least five Internet service providers in the country. In 
Freetown there were many Internet cafes but few in rural areas due to 
infrastructure constraints. According to International 
Telecommunications 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, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice. As in 
the previous year, there were no reports that the government monitored 
or prevented opposition meetings.
    On March 13 and 16, riots occurred outside and within the SLPP 
party headquarters. Ruling APC and opposition SLPP supporters clashed 
on both occasions, and APC supporters stormed the SLPP building, 
destroyed furniture and equipment, and burned vehicles. Women were 
allegedly raped during the March riots and many criticized police for 
their perceived inability to handle the event. Some police officers 
allegedly colluded with the rioters. An independent investigation 
concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove the rape charges, 
and complaints made against the police to the CDIID were forwarded to 
the Department of Public Prosecutions for possible civil legal action. 
At year's end there were no further developments.
    On other occasions police forcibly dispersed demonstrators, 
resulting in injuries. Police occasionally were unable to control 
violence, and demonstrators at times attacked police stations.
    In September a community angry at perceived police ineffectiveness 
in handling a recent crime spree attacked a small local station; one 
officer opened fire on the crowd, killing three. The situation remained 
under investigation at year's end.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of association, and the government generally respected this 
right in practice; however, there were some reports that the government 
under the ruling APC denied members of opposition parties the right to 
demonstrate publicly against government policies.

    Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for freedom 
of religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
discrimination against members of religious groups. In April a church 
was burned in Kambia Province, but a subsequent government 
investigation revealed that the cause of the incident was community-
based secular strife, rather than religious intolerance.
    There reportedly was a small Jewish community; there were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    An application filed in 2006 to the Inter-Religious Council for 
official recognition of the approximately 20 Jews in Makeni lapsed 
during the year.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at http://www.state.gov/j/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 laws 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, and the 1969 
African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee 
Problem in Africa. The government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees and has cooperated with the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other organizations in assisting 
refugees.
    The law provides for refugee status as defined by international 
convention to be granted to eligible asylum seekers. The 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 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.
    There were no further developments in the 2007 sexual abuse case of 
two Liberian refugee minors or the rape of host community minors by a 
refugee in Tobanda Refugee Camp.
    There were no reports of discrimination against refugees with 
regards to employment, access to social services, and arbitrary arrest.

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 and 2007, the opposition APC 
won a majority in parliament, with party leader Ernest Bai Koroma 
elected president. 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 elections as generally free 
and fair, noting that irregularities did not affect the outcome.
    The Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), which 
governed the behavior of political parties, does not have the authority 
to sanction any political party for inappropriate behavior. It received 
ten inter- and intra-party complaints during the year and acted as a 
mediator to address the problems. The PPRC can only use moral suasion 
to convince people 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 paramount chief 
elections during the year. The election of paramount chiefs at times 
exacerbated ethnic tensions.
    Women are permitted to vote, but husbands or other patriarchal 
figures are known to influence their decisions. Of the 124 
parliamentarians, 16 were women. Women held two 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. Only citizens can vote, and the law 
restricts the acquisition of citizenship at birth to persons of 
``patrilineal Negro-African descent.'' Legal requirements for 
naturalization effectively denied citizenship to many long-term 
residents, and a large number of persons of Lebanese ancestry who were 
born and resided in the country could not vote. While a small 
percentage of the Lebanese population was naturalized during a previous 
period of government leniency, some insisted that naturalization 
implied second-class citizenship and refused to vote.
    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 included 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 minority groups had no strong political party 
affiliations. The new cabinet consisted of 11 Temnes, two Mendes, two 
Fullah, two Limbas, and three Krios.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government attempted to implement the law effectively. Corruption 
in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches was widespread, 
and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 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 Anticorruption Commission (ACC) made some progress in curbing 
corruption during the year and in improving transparency by enforcing 
the new offenses, tougher penalties, and broader prosecutorial powers 
of the law.
    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. In September the 
ACC released a report with a number of recommendations for the Ministry 
of Education noting in particular the presence of ``ghost teachers,'' 
aid mismanagement, and illegal charges.
    On November 4, the ACC indicted the Minister of Health and 
Sanitation, Sheiku Tejan Koroma, on three charges of corruption, 
including abuse of public office, abuse of public position, and failure 
to comply with government procurement laws and policies. At year's end 
the minister was on administrative leave while the court addressed the 
matter. This was the first time the ACC had indicted a sitting member 
of government or used the abuse of public office and public position as 
offenses.
    On December 21, a press release from State House announced that the 
commissioner general of the National Revenue Authority was ordered on 
leave pending an investigation by the ACC. There were no further 
developments at year's end.
    During the year the ACC recovered more than two billion leones 
($500,000) from public officers and private business officials as 
settlement for corruption-related cases. Many cases either were settled 
out of court, or defendants chose to pay fines rather than face a 
custodial sentence. The ACC also convicted prominent government 
workers, including education officials and the former ombudsman. During 
the year a total of 10 cases of corruption were forwarded to the 
Ministry of Justice for authorization to prosecute; five received 
authorization, and five were pending at year's end.
    The law also provides for public officers, their spouses, and 
children to declare their assets and liabilities to encourage integrity 
in public life. The president declared his assets the day the law came 
into force in 2008, and all other public servants were required to 
declare their assets before year's end. While this process was 
significantly delayed, most government agencies complied fully by 
year's end.
    There is no provision in the law for public access to government 
information; however, the government at times provided 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 National Forum for Human Rights (NFHR) served as an umbrella 
organization for human rights groups in the country. There were 41 
human rights NGOs registered with the NFHR, and all reportedly were 
active. Most domestic human rights NGOs focused on human rights 
education. A few NGOs, including the Campaign for Good Governance, 
LAWCLA, and Access to Justice, monitored and reported on human rights 
abuses.
    Human rights monitors traveled freely throughout the country. 
Representatives of international and domestic NGOs, foreign diplomats, 
and UN human rights officers monitored trials and visited prisons and 
custodial facilities during the year.
    The National Human Rights Commission generally operated without 
government interference; however, government agencies were slow to 
support the commission, and it also was hampered by lack of funds. The 
commission's annual report on the status of human rights recommended, 
among other things, abolishing the death penalty, repealing the Public 
Order Act, allowing the IMC to operate without interference, 
introducing a temporary court to address case backlogs, increasing 
funding for agencies and NGOs involved in human rights, and making the 
protection of women's and children's rights a priority.
    The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee was active in protecting 
human rights, and it operated without government or party interference. 
The committee 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 resumed in January and was ongoing at year's end.
    The trial phase of the case against Revolutionary United Front 
leaders Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon, and Augustine Gbao ended in 2008, 
and the judgment delivered in February found Sesay and Kallon to be 
guilty on 16 counts and Gbao guilty on 14 counts of war crimes, crimes 
against humanity, and other serious violations of international 
humanitarian law. The October 26 appeals judgment upheld all 16 counts 
against Sesay and Kallon but overturned Gbao's conviction for 
collective punishments. The appeals court also found Gbao not guilty of 
one of the two attacks on UN peacekeepers. The judgment did not impact 
the sentences of 52, 40, and 25 years for Sesay, Kallon, and Gbao 
respectively.
    Recommendations were being implemented of the Truth and 
Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established to provide a forum for 
publicly airing the grievances of victims and the confessions of 
perpetrators during the civil war. The Human Rights Commission 
continued its work, including efforts at enforcement of the Child 
Rights Bill, and three gender bills. There was increased use of its 
human rights violations reporting system. 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 at the 
slow implementation of some of the TRC recommendations, such as the 
trust fund and separating the positions of attorney general and 
minister of justice, which would require 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 ``patrilineal 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. This reluctance to pursue justice 
for women, combined with a lack of women's income and economic 
independence, helped perpetuate a cycle of violence and a culture of 
impunity for violence against women. Since the establishment of the 
Family Support Units (FSUs) and the passage of the Gender Acts in 2007, 
however, reports of rapes, especially involving child victims, steadily 
increased. Rapes of children as young as a few months old were 
documented. An NGO providing services to rape victims reported that 6 
to 7 percent of the cases seen involved victims under age five. Rape 
victims, especially when pregnancy occurred, were encouraged to marry 
their attackers, although some NGOs reported that this practice 
appeared to be waning.
    During the year the FSU recorded 1,186 cases of sexual assault. In 
these cases, 437 perpetrators were charged, while 555 were still under 
investigation. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) reported that 
at least 25 cases resulted in convictions, with perpetrators receiving 
sentences between 18 months and seven years. Rape cases frequently were 
settled out of court or did not make it to trial because of 
inefficiencies 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 to file charges, 
and for 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. During the year 
the Rainbo Centers worked with 1,235 sexual assault clients, the vast 
majority of whom were 11-15 years old, with almost all under 20 years 
of age. Approximately 7 percent of the victims were between one and 
five years old, with the youngest client only one year old at the time 
of the incident.
    Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating and rape, 
was common and often surrounded by a culture of silence. The police 
were unlikely to intervene in domestic disputes except in cases 
involving injury or death. The SLP used mediation as their primary tool 
for handling domestic violence, although the law provides for up to two 
years' imprisonment and a fine up to five million leones ($1,272), or 
both. During the year the FSUs noted that 2,738 women reported domestic 
violence. In these cases, 360 perpetrators were charged, and 1,434 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. Awareness of the law has resulted in an increase in 
reported cases in urban areas; however, most human rights organizations 
note that domestic violence continues 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 domestic 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.
    Prostitution was widespread and not prohibited by law; however, 
prostitutes occasionally were arrested and charged with loitering or 
vagrancy. Many women and girls, particularly those displaced from their 
homes and with few resources, resorted to prostitution to support 
themselves and their children.
    Sexual harassment is not specifically prohibited by law, and it was 
widespread.
    Women and men generally were free to decide 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. The Ministry of Health and 
Sanitation reported 128,000 new 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 did their best to 
meet the demand for oral contraceptives, but government shipments 
frequently were pilfered. Rural women and families rarely were served 
by outreach teams. Organizations also battled misconceptions about 
family planning, particularly in rural areas; many parents believed 
contraceptives would prevent pregnancy later in life and refused 
treatment for their sexually active teenage children.
    Approximately 25 percent of women gave birth in hospitals, 
according to a 2008 government study, and 45 percent were delivered by 
a health professional. Urban mothers were more than twice as likely to 
receive medical assistance during delivery as rural mothers (67 versus 
33 percent). However, few hospitals in each district offered the full 
array of 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.
    Women were more frequently diagnosed 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 law on customary marriages and divorce 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 law 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 
often 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.
    Throughout the year the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and 
Children's Affairs rolled out its action plan for the implementation of 
the law, but little progress was made beyond sensitization. At year's 
end the government had not given the forms or training to paramount 
chiefs and local magistrates to register persons under the law, nor had 
it implemented any of the Acts.
    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 for 
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 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 
tribe, there were several female leaders. Every local council had at 
least one female representative.
    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, 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, the government cut 
the ministry's budget despite increasing its responsibilities. 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 the lack of 
gender equality and other women's issues, and they encouraged women to 
enter politics as candidates for mayoral positions and local councils.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived by birth to Sierra Leonean 
parents and restricted to persons of ``patrilineal Negro-African 
descent.'' Children not meeting the criteria must be registered in 
their parents' countries of origin.
    Birth registration was not universal; however, lack of registration 
did not impact access to public services.
    Primary school education is tuition-free countrywide, and secondary 
school education is tuition-free for girls in the north. 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. New laws were enacted to allow girls to return to school after 
giving birth, but many communities did not abide by these.
    Sexual violence against children was a growing problem, and 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 
accept 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.
    No law specifically prohibits FGM, and it was practiced widely. 
However, NGOs reported a decline in the practice, likely due to 
increased awareness and interventions. UNICEF and other groups 
estimated that 80 to 90 percent of women and girls had been victims of 
the practice. FGM was practiced on girls as young as two years old, and 
many NGOs reported cases in which toddlers underwent FGM because their 
young age made it cheaper for parents.
    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 
FSUs successfully rescued several girls in Bo and Kenema who were about 
to be forcibly mutilated.
    The investigation into the October 2008 death of a 10-year old girl 
in Port Loko District claimed that there was no proof that FGM caused 
the death.
    It is illegal to subject anybody 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; however, the 
law does not explicitly address FGM. The law prohibits marriage of 
girls under the age of 18, including forced marriage. Despite the new 
legislation, forced child marriage continued to be a problem. UNICEF 
estimated that 62 percent of females under the age of 18 were married.
    The law also provides 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 October the FSU reported 136 
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.
    The number and plight of street children were problems. Many were 
forced to engage in prostitution, in addition to petty trading and 
other economic activities to survive and were vulnerable to trafficking 
and other exploitive practices.
    According to UNICEF there were 54 residential homes for 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons 
for all purposes; however, there were reports that persons were 
trafficked to, from, and within the country.
    The country continued to be a source, transit point, and 
destination for internationally trafficked persons. The majority of 
victims were women and children, and the majority of traffickers were 
family members or friends who lured victims from their home villages 
with false promises of education, care, or employment. Orphaned 
children were the most vulnerable population for trafficking. There was 
no evidence of trafficking through employment agencies, organized 
crime, or marriage brokers. NGOs reported that boys increasingly were 
becoming victims but were generally unnoticed because they were not the 
targets of sexual exploitation. However, boys were more likely than 
girls to attempt to escape from traffickers or seek help.
    Reports indicated that women and children were trafficked from the 
provinces to work in the capital or in diamond areas as laborers and 
commercial sex workers. Persons were trafficked from neighboring 
countries for forced domestic and street labor, forced begging, and for 
sexual exploitation. Persons were trafficked out of the country to 
destinations in West Africa, including Liberia and Nigeria for labor 
and sexual exploitation; persons were also trafficked to Lebanon, 
Europe, and North America; and the country also served as a transit 
point for persons trafficked from elsewhere in West Africa. According 
to a center for street children, 80 to 90 percent of the cases they 
dealt with involved internal trafficking.
    A person convicted of trafficking could be sentenced up to 10 years 
in prison. During the year the FSUs reported 38 cases of human 
trafficking, of which more than half were girls under the age of 16. In 
the cases reported, 12 individuals were charged with trafficking, but 
none was convicted.
    In October Abdul Aziz Bandu was sentenced to 22 years for 
trafficking, harboring, and sexually exploiting three girls in Bo.
    There were no further developments in the 2007 case of two minors, 
Abu Bakarr Koroma and Nasira Mansaray, who were arrested for 
trafficking a five-year-old boy.
    A number of government agencies, including the SLP, Ministry of 
Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs, the Immigration 
Department, and the Office of National Security, are responsible for 
combating trafficking. The government assisted in reintegrating 
trafficking victims when requested. There were no known requests for 
assistance with international investigations or extraditions.
    Document fraud was common and government registry officials, 
police, immigration officials, and border guards frequently accepted 
bribes. Although there was no proof that forged documents were used to 
facilitate trafficking, government officials who forged documents such 
as birth, marriage, and death certificates rarely suffered punishment.
    The country's only shelter for trafficking victims, run by the 
International Organization for Migration, closed during the year due to 
lack of funding, negatively impacting the efficacy of the victim 
referral network. The shelter had served 24 victims at the time of 
closure.
    Government officials continued to work with NGOs on trafficking-
related issues and attended NGO training sessions on trafficking. The 
Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children's Affairs and the SLP 
publicly supported NGO antitrafficking efforts. However, the 
trafficking secretariat established by the 2005 law was yet to be 
funded, and the three-year work plan developed by the antitrafficking 
task force remained largely unfunded.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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.
    There was no outright discrimination against persons with 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services. However, 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 against people with mental health 
issues. The Kissy Mental Hospital served approximately 125 residential 
patients and 4,000 outpatients, although it was believed that more than 
400,000 citizens need psychiatric care. The hospital lacked beds and 
mattresses for its patients and could not provide sufficient food to 
sustain them. The hospital used expired medications, did not provide 
rehabilitative therapy, and had no running water and only sporadic 
electricity due to a lack of financial resources. Patients were chained 
to their beds until they proved that they are not destructive, and 
sexual violence and consensual sex between patients was common since 
there were no barriers between the men's and women's wards.
    The Ministry of Health and Sanitation is responsible for providing 
free primary health care services to people 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 people 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 is meant to 
provide policy oversight for issues impacting people with disabilities 
but has limited capacity to do so.
    Some of the many individuals maimed in the civil war, including 
those who had their limbs amputated by rebel forces, 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 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, armed forces, and business. 
Complaints of ethnic discrimination in government appointments, 
contract assignment, and military promotions were common with the 
former SLPP and current APC ruling parties.
    Residents of non-African descent faced institutionalized political 
restrictions. Legal requirements for naturalization, such as continuous 
residence in the country for 15 years, or the past 12 months and 15 of 
the previous 20 years, effectively denied citizenship to many locally 
born residents, most notably members of the Lebanese community.

    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 attempts of the crime. However, the law was not 
enforced in practice due to the secrecy surrounding homosexual conduct 
and the tendency for communities to handle the issue through 
discrimination rather than enforcement.
    There are only a few organizations working to support gay, 
bisexual, lesbian, and transgender persons. Because such individuals 
were not culturally accepted, particularly among men, the groups must 
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, both for young and mature 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.
    An NGO reported that a woman had recently been beaten by her 
common-law partner when her HIV status was discovered. However, 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 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 for a lawful 
strike.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for collective bargaining, and the government protected this 
right in practice. Collective bargaining must take place in trade group 
negotiating councils, each of which had an equal number of employer and 
worker representatives. 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.
    The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination against union 
members nor employer interference in the establishment of unions; 
however, during the year there were no reports of such occurrences.
    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. 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.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
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.
    Children aged 15 may be apprenticed (provided they have finished 
schooling) and employed full-time in nonhazardous work. The law also 
proscribes work by any children 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 
these children 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 to support 
themselves.
    In remote villages children are made to carry heavy loads as 
porters, resulting in stunted growth and development. Children are also 
engaged in sand mining, fishing, hawking, diamond mining, 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 on a limited 
basis 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 non-financial support to 
programs that provided free schooling and services to at-risk youth.

    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 lacked the funding to enforce them properly. Trade 
unions provided the only protection for workers who filed complaints 
about working conditions. Initially a union could make a formal 
complaint about a hazardous working condition. If this complaint was 
rejected, the union could issue a 21-day strike notice. 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, 
was 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 an expanded Transitional Federal 
Parliament (TFP) extended the TFG's mandate until August 2011. For the 
first time, the Transitional Federal Institutions were all located in 
Mogadishu after the TFP relocated from Baidoa in February.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A political process to establish peace and stability in the country 
progressed as the TFG and the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia 
continued to implement the terms of the Djibouti Agreement, signed in 
August 2008; however, significant problems remained. The withdrawal of 
Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) opened the political space for 
elections and the establishment of a new TFG administration led by 
President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The TFG assumed control of some 
of the strategic positions in Mogadishu formerly occupied by ENDF 
personnel, but other antigovernment groups, including al-Shabaab, moved 
into many of the former ENDF sites in the South Central Somalia. 
Fighting by TFG troops, allied militias, and African Union Mission in 
Somalia (AMISOM) forces against antigovernment forces, terrorist 
groups, and extremist elements increased and resulted in widespread 
human rights abuses, including the killing of thousands of civilians 
(estimates vary widely), the displacement of more than one million 
persons, and widespread property damage, particularly in Mogadishu. The 
larger clans had armed militias at their disposal, and personal 
quarrels and clan disputes frequently escalated into killings. Targeted 
assassinations continued. While roadside bombings became less frequent, 
there was an increase in suicide bombings reported during the year. 
There were eight suicide bombings that targeted TFG officials and 
offices and AMISOM installations. Civilian authorities allied with the 
TFG gained some control over security forces in Mogadishu but did not 
maintain effective control of the security forces in other areas. 
Elected civilian authorities in Somaliland and Puntland maintained 
significantly more control over security forces in their respective 
regions.
    The TFG's 
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
 improved. It appointed a human 
rights focal point and participated in international efforts to 
encourage better human rights practices; however, the poor human rights 
situation deteriorated further during the year, especially in the areas 
controlled by al-Shabaab and allied extremist groups. Also contributing 
to the worsening picture was the absence of effective governance 
institutions and rule of law, the widespread availability of small arms 
and other light weapons, and continued conflicts. As a consequence, 
citizens were unable to change their government through peaceful, 
democratic means. Human rights abuses included unlawful and politically 
motivated killings; kidnappings; torture, rape, amputations, and 
beatings; official impunity; harsh and life-threatening prison 
conditions; and arbitrary arrest and detention. In part due to the 
absence of functioning institutions, perpetrators of human rights 
abuses were rarely punished. Denial of 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; 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, 
including by children; and child labor were also problems.
    According to Mogadishu-based human rights organizations, the TFG 
showed some improvements in its human rights practices: it was not 
responsible for politically motivated killings, executions, or 
disappearances. Allegations against its security forces decreased, and 
its police and prison personnel were generally responsive on human 
rights problems. This improvement occurred amid an overall 
deterioration in the human rights situation of the country, including 
in Somaliland and Puntland.
    In a July report, the international nongovernmental organization 
(NGO) Human Rights Watch stated that the ``Somaliland administration 
committed human rights violations and generated a dangerous electoral 
crisis.''
    In March 2008 the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human 
Rights in Somalia (UNIE) noted that despite the overall deteriorated 
situation, incremental improvements in human rights awareness were 
taking place in some areas of the country. UNIE's September 17 report 
to the UN General Assembly accused extremist groups of fueling violence 
by dashing opportunities for peace presented by the Djibouti peace 
process and the withdrawal of ENDF personnel, and by not taking 
advantage of the opening provided by the TFG's adoption of Shari'a 
(Islamic law).
    Members of antigovernment groups, extremist groups, and terrorist 
organizations like al-Shabaab, some of whose members were affiliated 
with al-Qa'ida, committed an increasing number of egregious human 
rights violations, including killings of TFG members 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.
                        
                       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 some 
reports that the government or its affiliated militia committed 
arbitrary or unlawful killings, but fewer than during the prior two 
years.
    Fighting between TFG forces and its allied militias against 
antigovernment groups resulted in at least 1,000 civilian deaths in the 
south central region, particularly in Mogadishu. Political killings and 
assassinations also occurred (see section 1.g.).
    Politically motivated killings by antigovernment groups, extremist 
elements, and terrorist organizations resulted in the deaths of 
approximately 10 senior TFG officials, fewer than in previous years 
(see section 1.g.).
    Prominent peace activists, clan elders, and their family members 
became targets and were either 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 able to punish the perpetrators. Reports indicated that al-
Shabaab and its affiliated militias were behind many of these killings. 
On January 1, al-Shabaab killed Abdullahi Abdi Egal, a National 
Reconciliation Commission member in Baidoa. He is believed to have been 
targeted for his role as a commissioner and for his association with 
the TFG. On March 30, gunmen killed Abdurrahman Mohamud Jimale 
``Shifti'' and two others in Mogadishu. On April 15, unknown gunmen 
killed Abdullahi Isse Abtidoon, a member of Parliament (MP), in 
Mogadishu. Both Shifti and Abtidoon were actively involved in peace and 
reconciliation efforts between the newly reconstituted TFG and opposing 
extremist groups. On August 16, masked armed men killed Omar Ali Alasow 
``Fiasco,'' an aid worker and former army colonel, in Mogadishu. On 
September 7, assailants killed Ali Ahmed ``Irro,'' a prominent 
Mogadishu elder and spokesman for the pro-TFG faction of Hawiye elders. 
Irro was consistently critical of al-Shabaab and allied extremists for 
their violent activities. Also on September 7, al-Shabaab militia 
beheaded Ugas Adan Nur Matan ``Madobe,'' a traditional elder in the 
Bakool Region, for allegedly making telephone contact with a TFG 
official. On several occasions, al-Shabaab leaders issued death threats 
against anyone working for or suspected of having links with the TFG. 
On April 20, gunmen pursued and shot at Ahmed Diriye, a prominent clan 
elder and spokesperson. Diriye escaped the assassination attempt and 
blamed al-Shabaab for the attack. As in all previous killings of peace 
activists, the perpetrators had not been arrested by year's end.
    Unlike in previous years, 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.
    Use of excessive force by Somaliland government forces resulted in 
the deaths of demonstrators during the year (see section 2.b.).
    There were no reports of government forces deliberately killing 
street children. Some 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 February 22, al-
Shabaab fired upon peacekeepers, resulting in the death of 11 Burundian 
soldiers. On July 11, al-Shabaab mortar attacks on Villa Somalia killed 
three AMISOM peacekeepers. Several other mortar attacks on the 
president's residence landed in surrounding neighborhoods, causing 
civilian deaths, injuries, destruction of property, and displacement. 
Al-Shabaab instigated clashes with the TFG in Mogadishu--these were 
most intense in May and June, killing an estimated 500 persons and 
displacing another 250,000 from their homes. In the second half of the 
year, al-Shabaab launched almost daily attacks on TFG-controlled areas, 
and local human rights organizations held the group responsible for 
killings, injuries, torture, and abuse of the civilian population. 
Resultant AMISOM and TFG counterattacks involving street combat and 
mortar attacks also caused civilian deaths.
    On April 27, a mortar attack on the parliament building in 
Mogadishu killed a police officer and three school children and wounded 
several other persons. On May 17, mortar attacks on the police academy 
killed and wounded civilians in the vicinity. On September 11, groups 
associated with al-Shabaab launched mortar attacks on a disabled 
veterans home, killing an estimated 11 and wounding 20; al-Shabaab 
claimed responsibility.
    During the year fighting among armed moderate and extremist 
religious factions, as well as between extremists, caused hundreds of 
civilian casualties and displacements. In January, for example, clashes 
between Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a (ASWJ), a historically nonpolitical 
moderate Islamic organization, and al-Shabaab in Galgadud Region killed 
an estimated 100 persons and displaced 160,000. On October 1, clashes 
in Kismayo between al-Shabaab and Hisbul Islam, armed antigovernment 
groups that had previously been allied against the TFG, killed an 
estimated 30 persons and wounded 100.
    Senior members of the TFG were killed. On March 11, General Ubaid 
Ali was killed in a roadside explosion in Mogadishu's Shibis District. 
General Ali served as head of security for two former prime ministers. 
Two of Ali's security guards and his brother, riding with him, also 
were killed.
    On June 18, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide car 
bomb explosion at a Beledweyne (Hiraan Region) hotel. The explosion, 
which destroyed the hotel, killed an estimated 40 persons and wounded 
100. Among those killed were prominent TFG political and security 
officials, including Minister of National Security Omar Hashi, clan 
elders, and community leaders.
    On December 3, a suicide bombing of Benadir University's graduation 
ceremony at Hotel Shamow in Mogadishu killed 22 persons, including 
three TFG ministers. Minister of Health Qamar Aden Ali, Minister of 
Education Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh Mohamed ``Wayel,'' and Minister of 
Culture and Higher Education Ibrahim Hassan Addow were killed along 
with graduating medical students, professors, journalists covering the 
event, and graduates' family members. The explosion also wounded more 
than 60 persons.
    During the year Puntland officials were also killed. On April 26, 
gunmen killed Yasin Said Hussein, governor of Puntland's Karkaar 
Region, while he was on a mission to mediate between two warring 
subclans. On April 29, the Puntland Intelligence Service chief in Mudug 
Region was killed by a roadside bomb in Gaalkacyo Town. On August 5, 
unidentified gunmen killed Puntland Minister of Information Warsame 
Abdi Shirwa when they opened fire on his car in Galkayo. The minister 
was part of a team preceding the Puntland president's planned trip to 
address residents on security issues.
    Other TFG officials were injured. Minister of the Interior 
Abdikadir Ali Omar was wounded in a roadside bomb explosion near Bakara 
market; also his assistant was killed and one of his guards was 
wounded.
    Islamic extremists trying to impose strict social edicts killed 
several persons.
    During the year unknown assailants killed several prominent 
persons.
    During the year unknown assailants killed two journalists and media 
owners (see section 2.a.).
    Attacks on humanitarian workers, NGO employees, and foreign 
peacekeepers resulted in deaths during the year (see section 5).
    During the year hundreds of civilians were killed in inter- or 
intraclan militia clashes. The killings resulted from clan militias 
fighting for political power and control of territory and resources, 
revenge attacks, banditry and other criminal activities, private 
disputes over property and marriage, and vendettas after such incidents 
as rapes, family disagreements, killings, and abductions. With the 
breakdown of law and order, 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.
    Tension remained high in Galkayo with intermittent gunfights 
between clan militias. After a July 20 clash in Galkayo, several 
prominent persons were killed in retribution attacks.
    Between July and September, intraclan conflict in Harar Dhere, 
Mudug Region, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 20 persons and 
injuries to numerous others. On August 5, intraclan fighting killed 
five persons; on September 6, six others were killed in the same area. 
These deaths followed the collapse of clan elders' conflict mediation 
efforts. During the year recurrent intraclan conflicts caused several 
deaths along the border of Hiraan and Middle Shabelle regions.
    On August 12, a land- and water-related dispute between two 
subclans in Ufweyn and Qandala districts of Puntland's Bari Region 
resulted in the killing of five persons and wounding of several others. 
The dispute further escalated, killing an estimated 40 persons and 
wounding several others during the year. In late September President 
Farole visited the areas of conflict to bolster conflict mediation 
efforts by local political and traditional leadership. On October 21, a 
delegation of Puntland elders and government officials led by President 
Farole returned to Ufweyn with a set of binding resolutions for all 
parties to the conflict.
    In April five persons were killed in disputes over the El-Berdaale 
farming land in Gabiley, Somaliland. More than 100 clan elders went to 
Kalabeyd, used traditional mediation strategies, and brokered a 
ceasefire. In a related incident on July 11, unidentified militia 
members stopped travelers along the Borame-Gabiley road; they took 10 
hostages and summarily executed four of them. Somaliland authorities 
did not make any arrests in connection with the killings. Clan elders 
sought to capture and hand over the suspects to police.
    No action was taken against members of the security forces or 
militias who committed killings in 2008 or 2007, and there was no 
progress in the investigations of killings reported in previous years.
    Land mines throughout the country caused numerous civilian deaths 
(see section 1.g.).

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances, although cases could easily be concealed due to 
continuing chaos in the country. Abduction as a tactic in clan disputes 
or to attain political ends was less frequent. The Somali NGO Safety 
Preparedness and Support Program reported a decreased incidence of 
kidnapping, in part because of fewer international staff in the 
country.
    During the year there was a decrease in kidnappings by militia 
groups and armed assailants who demanded ransom for hostages. The 
majority of reported kidnappings were in the southern regions, 
especially in areas surrounding Mogadishu, where ransoms allegedly 
funded purchases of weapons and ammunition. Seven aid workers and NGO 
workers were kidnapped during the year (see section 5).
    Maritime piracy and the kidnapping of crews declined in the first 
half of the year in the Gulf of Aden as a result of international 
antipiracy efforts and seasonal winds that reduced all offshore 
maritime traffic; however, piracy increased in the second half of the 
year and continued to complicate humanitarian efforts to provide 
essential commodities to thousands of IDPs (see section 1.g.).
    During the year there were no investigations or actions taken 
against the perpetrators of any kidnappings. Several persons who were 
abducted in 2008 were released. On January 15, kidnappers released 
Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi, a local journalist kidnapped with two foreign 
journalists in August 2008 along the Mogadishu-Afgoye road; the two 
foreign journalists were freed on November 25. On August 12, captors 
freed six international aid workers kidnapped in November 2008 in 
Dhusamarebb, Galgadud Region. On October 3, kidnappers released three 
international aid workers kidnapped on July 18 from the Kenyan border 
town of Mandera and held in undisclosed locations in Somalia.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The Transitional Federal Charter (TFC) prohibits torture. 
The Puntland Charter prohibits torture ``unless sentenced by Islamic 
Shari'a courts in accordance with Islamic law.'' Unlike in previous 
years, there were no reports of the use of torture by the TFG, 
Puntland, or Somaliland administrations. Various clan militias and al-
Shabaab continued to torture their rivals and civilians. Observers 
believed that many incidents of torture were not reported.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of persons 
assembled at food distribution centers being killed or injured.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of police raping 
women; however, there continued to be reports of militias using rape to 
punish and intimidate rivals. Rape was commonly perpetrated in 
interclan conflicts.
    There were no reports of action taken against TFG and Somaliland 
government forces, warlord supporters, or members of militias 
responsible for torturing, beating, raping, or otherwise abusing 
persons in 2008 or 2007. Unlike in previous years, Puntland police took 
action against a police officer for abuse. On August 26, in Garsor 
District of Mudug Region, local authorities arrested a police officer 
for using excessive force that resulted in the death of a businessman 
who refused to pay his license tax. Similarly, on September 27, police 
in Bossasso arrested a police officer who was implicated in the death 
of a civilian.

    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.
    According to Mogadishu-based human rights organizations, TFG prison 
conditions improved and wardens were generally responsive on human 
rights problems. There were far fewer prisoners and detainees held in 
TFG prisons than in previous years. There were an estimated 400 
prisoners held at Mogadishu central prison, the only TFG-operated 
prison during the year. The reduction in the number of TFG prisoners 
was largely due to a reconciliation policy that did not emphasize 
arrests and a lack of capacity to detain those who sought to undermine 
or attack the government. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) 
Somalia supported local partners to institute judicial and rule of law 
reforms. Through such initiatives as the UNDP-supported Police Advisory 
Committee, authorities released more than 5,000 prisoners in the 
previous two years.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of TFG-allied 
militias operating detention centers. Antigovernment groups, extremist 
elements, and clan leaders 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. Thousands of prisoners were incarcerated in 
inhumane conditions for relatively minor offenses such as smoking, 
listening to music, and not wearing the hijab. For example, on July 19, 
al-Shabaab in Baidoa jailed 20 women for disobeying the decree 
requiring them to wear the hijab. In October al-Shabaab flogged women 
in Mogadishu for not wearing the hijab, and on October 25 arrested 20 
women and detained them in Bakara market. The women were released after 
three days, some after paying a fine of 600,000 Somali shillings ($15). 
Unlike in previous years, 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. The September 17 UNIE report described 
conditions at Puntland's Garowe central prison as ``terribly bad.'' 
According to UNIE, this was due to lack of capacity to hold large 
numbers of prisoners rather than intentional abuse. A project of 
Somaliland and the UNDP resulted in the formation of an independent 
prisoner monitoring committee. The UNDP also extensively trained the 
prison custodial corps on a variety of human rights problems. There 
were no visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross to 
prisons in Somaliland or in the rest of the country during the year; 
however, a prisons conditions management committee organized by the 
UNDP and composed of medical doctors, government officials, and civil 
society representatives continued to visit prisons in Somaliland. 
During the year the 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, militias allied 
with it, and various clan militias across the country continued to 
engage in arbitrary arrest and detention, and there was no system of 
due process. Although precise figures were unobtainable, local human 
rights organizations and international organizations reported that, 
although there were fewer arrests than the previous year, the TFG 
continued to arrest and detain persons, most of whom were quickly 
released; however, there were allegations that detainees were subjected 
to beatings, other mistreatment, and torture. Reports by NGOs and other 
international organizations indicated that mistreatment continued 
during the year.
    Al-Shabaab 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 approximately 2,000 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 to government 
authorities. There were fewer allegations that TFG security officials 
were responsible for extrajudicial killings, indiscriminate firing on 
civilians, arbitrary arrest and detention, extortion, looting, and 
harassment than in the previous two years.
    In Somaliland an estimated 60 percent of the budget was allocated 
to maintaining a militia and police force composed of former soldiers. 
Abuses by police and militia members were rarely investigated, and 
impunity remained a problem. Police generally failed to prevent or 
respond to societal violence.
    The Puntland police force was not paid on a regular basis. 
Puntland's armed militia was not aligned with the TFG armed forces, 
although the TFG prime minister and the Puntland president began 
negotiations for collaboration in the security sector and over the 
formation of a coordinated Somali National Army.

    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.
    During the year authorities in Somaliland and Puntland arbitrarily 
arrested journalists during the year (see section 2.a.); however, 
unlike in previous years, TFG forces did not arrest journalists, NGO 
workers, or UN employees (see section 4.).
    Unlike in previous years, 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.
    There were no reports of TFG police detaining persons without 
charge.
    There were reports of politically motivated arrests in Somaliland. 
On April 4, Somaliland police arrested two Hargeisa mosque imams, 
Sheikh Ahmed Dayib Aden and Sheikh Abdullahi Mohamud. Police arrested 
Aden after morning prayers for comments made in Friday sermons about 
the upcoming presidential election. Somaliland authorities did not 
offer specific reasons for the arrests, and on April6, both clerics 
were released without charge. On April 14, Somaliland police arrested 
clan elder Boqor Saleban Hassan for attending a rally organized by an 
opposition group on the previous day. On August 20, the opposition 
party UCID and KULMIYE Borame District party chairmen were arrested for 
allegedly fomenting insecurity by organizing unauthorized 
demonstrations. On August 21, the two leaders were released without 
charge. There were reports that arrested persons were sometimes held 
for extended periods while awaiting trial. Militias and factions held 
pretrial detainees without charge and for lengthy periods.
    Authorities in the country arrested or detained numerous persons 
accused of terrorism and support for al-Shabaab.
    Al-Shabaab and other extremist elements arrested and detained 
persons. For example, on March 26, al-Shabaab militia in Baidoa 
violently dispersed local residents during a peaceful demonstration 
against al-Shabaab's March 24 orders banning trade in and consumption 
of khat. Al-Shabaab forces arrested approximately 50 persons, mostly 
women, during and after the demonstrations.
    On April 9, one person was killed and three others wounded after 
al-Shabaab opened fire on khat traders in Dinsor town, Bakol Region. On 
May 18, al-Shabaab Merka and Bardhere administrations banned youth from 
playing soccer. On May 19, following the ban, armed al-Shabaab militia 
arrested several young persons playing soccer at the main field in 
Merka. The youth were released after 12 hours with warnings not to play 
games again. This ban followed an earlier edict banning movies and 
watching soccer games on television. On June 13, the al-Shabaab 
administration in Kismayo outlawed watching movies on DVDs, television, 
and even storing pictures on cell phones. Al-Shabaab issued a stern 
warning that it would raid the homes of persons suspected of violating 
the ban. On August 16, al-Shabaab militias arrested and flogged a young 
man for allegedly storing ``obscene'' pictures on his cell phone.
    On July 19, the Hisbul Islam administration in Afgoye, Lower 
Shabelle, arrested nine prominent traditional elders. The elders' 
arrest was linked to their involvement in holding ``Istun,'' a 
traditional ceremony popular with the local community. Earlier the 
Hisbul Islam administration banned the tradition and warned that anyone 
contravening the ban would be punished. The elders were released on 
July 20, after being held overnight in prisons in Afgoye.

    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 outlines a five-year transitional 
process that includes the drafting of a new constitution to replace the 
1960 constitution that was in force prior to the 1991 collapse of the 
Barre regime; however, for many issues not addressed in the Charter, 
the former constitution still applies in principle.
    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 existed. 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, Shari'a, and the penal 
code of the pre-1991 government. On May 13, President Sharif ratified a 
parliamentary bill establishing Shari'a nationwide; however, by year's 
end there were no official institutions charged with the administration 
of Shari'a. On August 5, 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, Shari'a was applied; 
however, there were no trained Shari'a judges to preside over cases, 
resulting in uneven and at times draconian sentencing. For example, on 
January 28, in Kismayo, a man's hand was amputated for stealing three 
sacks of fishing nets. On March 9, four male youths ages 15-18 were 
sentenced to death for raping an 18-year-old girl. Their sentences were 
commuted to a public flogging of 100 lashes each, since none of the 
boys had been previously married.
    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 Charter 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. These courts functioned, although they lacked the 
capacity to provide equal protection under the law.
    Traditional clan elders mediated in and resolved intra- and 
interclan conflicts throughout the country. During the year, in 
Somaliland traditional elders intervened during political disputes 
between the government and opposition political parties. Clans and 
subclans frequently used traditional justice, which was swift. 
Traditional judgments sometimes held entire opposing clans or subclans 
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. The 
TFC 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 Shari'a.
    With the support of UNDP programs addressing judicial reform, 
Somaliland registered some improvement, except in cases of a political 
nature. Defendants generally enjoy 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 but are 
unable to hire the services of private attorney. Authorities in this 
region did not recognize the TFC and continued to apply the Somaliland 
constitution and pre-1991 laws.
    In Puntland, as in most other areas, clan elders resolved the 
majority of cases using traditional methods; those with no clan 
representation in Puntland, however, were subject to the 
administration's judicial system. In this system, as outlined in 
Puntland's 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. As in the other regions, the constitution 
states that free legal representation is provided for defendants who 
cannot afford an attorney; in practice these 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. On September 12 and 13, there were reports that Somaliland 
authorities arrested and detained more than 100 persons, including 
several opposition leaders, after four persons were killed during the 
September 12 public demonstration in Hargeisa.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The inability of the 
judiciary to handle civil cases involving such matters as defaulted 
loans or contract disputes encouraged clans to take matters into their 
own hands and led to increased interclan conflict. There were no 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation. 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; however, looting, land seizure, and forced entry into 
homes continued in Mogadishu and elsewhere with impunity. The Puntland 
Charter and the Somaliland constitution recognize the right to private 
property; the authorities did not generally respect this right in 
practice.
    On July 7, TFG-allied militia looted and forcefully extorted money 
from small-scale traders in Mogadishu's Wadjir District.
    During the year there were fewer cases of TFG forces extorting 
money from taxi, bus, and truck drivers transporting goods; however, on 
June 8, TFG soldiers at a checkpoint near Afgoye killed a driver after 
he did not pay the checkpoint fee they demanded.

    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 in south central regions resulted 
in the deaths of at least 1,000 persons, according to the Somalia-based 
Elman Human Rights Organization. An estimated 3,500 others were 
injured, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported 
that more than one million civilians were displaced, some for the first 
time and others after several earlier occurrences, as a result of 
conflict during the year. All parties to the conflict employed 
indiscriminate lethal tactics. 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. In addition, such groups conducted suicide bombings, 
used land mines and remote controlled roadside bombs, and conducted 
targeted killings of journalists, aid workers, and civil society 
leaders. Al-Shabaab conducted almost daily attacks against the TFG and 
AMISOM, resulting in significant civilian casualties. TFG and AMISOM 
forces responded to these attacks, which sometimes resulted in shelling 
of civilian populated areas. The international NGO Human Rights Watch 
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. As a result homes, hospitals, schools, 
mosques, and other infrastructure were destroyed in Mogadishu. Since 
the collapse of the government in 1991, tens of thousands of persons, 
mostly noncombatants, have died in interclan and intraclan fighting. No 
action was generally taken against those responsible for the violence.
    For example, on January 12, armed opposition groups launched an 
attack against TFG troops in Mogadishu. As a result, 12 civilians were 
killed and more than 30 wounded. Similarly on January 14, al-Shabaab 
launched an attack on the presidential palace resulting in 21 civilians 
killed and 30 injured.
    On January 26, four civilians were killed and 10 wounded in an 
exchange of gunfire in Baidoa as al-Shabaab forces tried to take 
control of the town.
    On January 16, in Waberi District, Banadir Region, TFG forces 
attacked civilians, resulting in nine deaths. On June 17, in Mogadishu, 
armed opposition groups and the TFG exchanged mortar rounds, resulting 
in the death of 15 and injuries to 32 civilians. On October 22, mortar 
exchanges between TFG forces, supported by AMISOM, and al-Shabaab in 
Mogadishu's Howlwadag and Hodan districts killed an estimated 30 
civilians and wounded 70. AMISOM and TFG forces were responding to al-
Shabaab mortar attacks on the airport during the departure of President 
Sharif and his delegation.
    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--in Mogadishu, Bay, Bakol, the Lower and Middle Jubas, 
the Lower and Middle Shabelles, and the Galgadud and Hiiraan regions. 
On January 16, 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. He was arrested on January 5. On September 28, al-
Shabaab publicly executed two young men in Mogadishu after an al-
Shabaab court found them guilty of espionage. Similarly, extremist 
armed groups in the Jubas, Bay, and Bakol regions arrested and beheaded 
several persons they accused of spying. On March 19, al-Shabaab militia 
beheaded two ASWJ clerics in Balad, Middle Shabelle.
    In July al-Shabaab from Bay and Bakol regions beheaded an elderly 
disabled man after removing his eyes. Al-Shabaab reportedly fitted the 
man's spectacles on his dismembered head and displayed it in the open. 
On December 14, Hisbul Islam militia in Afgoe, Lower Shabelle, executed 
a man accused of committing adultery. The man was buried waist-deep and 
pelted with stones until he died. Militia leaders rounded up members of 
the community to witness the punishment.
    Roadside bombings, suicide attacks, and armed raids targeting TFG 
officials and sympathizers as well as civil society groups continued 
throughout the year. Antigovernment and 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.
    For example, on April 16, al-Shabaab militia reportedly killed 
Sharif Mohamud Hassan ``Kariye,'' a TFG-allied militia commander, in 
Hodan District when they opened fire on his vehicle, also killing two 
other persons accompanying him. On April 23, Abdi Mohamud ``Dhabaney,'' 
Hodan district commissioner, escaped unhurt after a landmine attack 
that blew up his car and wounded three others. On June 17, militia 
associated with al-Shabaab killed Colonel Ali Said, Banadir region 
police commander, during fighting between TFG troops and al-Shabaab in 
Mogadishu. On September 26, Mohamed Nur, TFG deputy police 
commissioner, died from injuries sustained during a September 17 
suicide attack against AMISOM headquarters in Mogadishu. None of the 
assailants were identified by year's end. Al-Shabaab claimed 
responsibility for several attacks against the TFG and its supporters 
during the year.
    During attacks on TFG troop positions in Mogadishu and elsewhere, 
al-Shabaab summarily executed security officers. For example, on June 
16, al-Shabaab extremist militia elements attacked TFG troops 
positioned in Galgalato, a village on the outskirts of eastern 
Mogadishu, and summarily executed by decapitation nine TFG soldiers.
    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, 
several civilians were killed or injured during clashes between members 
of TFG's security forces and affiliated militia in parts of Mogadishu. 
For example, on July 30, two civilians were killed and five wounded 
when they were caught in a cross fire during clashes among TFG police 
officers at Zobe in the KM5 area of Mogadishu. On August 3, six 
persons, including two TFG soldiers, were killed when TFG-affiliated 
security forces exchanged fire at KM4 in Mogadishu. On August 12, 
several civilians were killed during clashes between two TFG armed 
militia groups affiliated with the police and regional security. These 
clashes reportedly occurred when security forces intervened to prevent 
their colleagues from engaging in criminal activities such as looting 
and extortion.
    Unlike in previous years, during the year 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 attacks on Ugandan and Burundian troops 
participating in AMISOM increased. Al-Shabaab killed nearly 120 persons 
and injured 200, mostly civilians, in eight suicide car bomb attacks 
against TFG and AMISOM targets during the year.
    For example, on January 24, a suicide car bomb explosion targeted 
an AMISOM convoy near its Mogadishu base at Maka-al-Mukarama road and 
reportedly killed at least 16 persons and wounded approximately 40. 
Among the casualties were 13 passengers in a bus near the explosion 
site. An ensuing gunfight between AMISOM and armed gunmen reportedly 
caused most of the injuries. On February 22, another suicide car bomb 
attack inside the AMISOM base killed 11 and wounded 19 peacekeepers. On 
April 24, a suicide car explosion killed 10, including six TFG police 
officers outside the police academy in Mogadishu. Police guards at the 
entrance detonated a suspicious car before it could enter the police 
training school compound, averting more casualties.
    On September 17, al-Shabaab suicide bombers killed 21 persons, 
including a dozen AMISOM peacekeepers, and wounded several others. Five 
suicide bombers in two cars laden with explosives drove past security 
guards at AMISOM headquarters and detonated inside the compound. The 
December 3 suicide bombing at the Benadir University graduation was the 
deadliest suicide attack. It killed 22 civilians, including three TFG 
ministers, and wounded as many as 50 other civilians.
    Land mines throughout the country resulted in human and livestock 
casualties, denial of access to grazing and arable land, and road 
closures. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported a continued 
proliferation of mines and ordnance during the year, resulting in 
numerous deaths and injuries from land mines. Antipersonnel and 
antivehicle land mines, most of them remotely controlled, were 
frequently deployed by antigovernment groups against TFG forces, its 
allied militia, and civilians.
    For example, on January 2, in Hodan District, Banadir Region, a 
land mine exploded, killing seven civilians.
    On January 9, a land mine killed four civilians in Mogadishu. Ahmed 
Abdullahi Magan, the TFG's Garbaharrey district commissioner, was 
killed in a landmine explosion along Bulla Hawa-Garbaharrey road, as 
were three other officials in the same car. On March 15, Ahmed Hassan 
``Da'I,'' Wadajir district commissioner, was wounded by a targeted 
remote-controlled land mine near Mogadishu's international airport. The 
explosion killed Hassan's driver and wounded two of his security 
guards. On June 1, a roadside explosion against a TFG police car killed 
six police officers and wounded three civilian passersby. On June 7, a 
roadside explosion blew up a civilian car in KM4, killing three 
occupants and wounding three after missing its target, a TFG police 
car.
    Attacks on and harassment of humanitarian, religious, and NGO 
workers resulted in numerous deaths.
    Numerous children were killed while playing with unexploded 
ordnance (UXO). For example, on February 24, a UXO killed two children 
and wounded three from the same family in Biya Adde, Middle Shabelle. 
On July 8, a UXO killed two children in Ganjaroon village, Lower Juba. 
On June 14, a land mine killed at least one child and wounded five in 
Dharkenley District, Mogadishu.
    Police officers and local administrators also were killed by land 
mines. For example, on June 1, a remote-controlled roadside bomb struck 
a TFG police car and killed six officers on board and wounded three 
civilian passersby. On June 30, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a 
landmine explosion targeting a TFG vehicle in Waberi District in which 
five TFG troops on board were killed. On November 1, a remote-
controlled roadside bomb killed Osman Yusuf Nur, Somaliland's Sool 
Region military commander. The explosion wounded two military personnel 
and two civilians. Somaliland security arrested five persons who 
remained in custody at year's end.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--On June 25, al-Shabaab 
insurgents carried out double amputations on four young men in 
Mogadishu, cutting off their right hands and left feet as punishment 
for theft. A hurriedly convened al-Shabaab Shari'a court found all four 
men guilty and promptly carried out the punishment without allowing any 
form of legal representation or appeal. The four victims were allegedly 
al-Shabaab deserters, and the robbery charge was reportedly part of a 
ploy to use them as an example. Al-Shabaab carried out numerous other 
amputations as punishment for theft in Kismayo, Merka, Wanlaweyn, and 
Qansaxdhere.
    Al-Shabaab carried out these amputations and other violent physical 
punishments in front of community members whom they forced to attend.
    Extremist groups devised a new form of torture of their victims 
involving crude weapons to cause physical and psychological harm. For 
example, al-Shabaab militia reportedly burned plastic that they molded 
into sharp tools, the tips of which were used as torture instruments. 
The tool was pierced into the skin repeatedly to elicit information. On 
several occasions during the year, al-Shabaab used this method to 
torture TFG members and individuals suspected to be sympathetic to the 
government.
    On August 10, the al-Shabaab administration in Merka began removing 
residents' gold and silver teeth, alleging that they are a sign of 
vanity and against Islam. There were numerous reports of al-Shabaab 
identifying persons in the street and using unsterile tools to remove 
the teeth.

    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 is often difficult to determine the exact age of persons, 
including recruits to armed groups. Children continued to be recruited 
into militias by the TFG and its allied forces. An October UN report, 
The Recruitment and Use of Children by Armed Forces or Armed Groups in 
the Somali Conflict, indicated that while all parties recruited 
children, the TFG was not systematic in its practice. The TFG 
reportedly targeted older children between the ages of 14 and 18, while 
extremist opposition groups recruited younger children into their 
militias. During the year the TFG improved its recruitment practices 
and formal troop training to stop child soldier recruitment. New 
forces, trained in Uganda and Djibouti, were thoroughly vetted, and 
underage soldiers were purged from the units that were formed once the 
soldiers returned to the country.
    Children were recruited, as well as forcibly conscripted, more 
often by clan militias and antigovernment groups. The July 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 having continued 
recruitment of children into their militias. For example, on July 30, 
it was reported that al-Shabaab near Baidoa was recruiting children as 
young as eight years old to train in Labatan Jirow and Daynuunay, 
former TFG bases. UNICEF monitors identified children between the ages 
of 13 and 17 who were recruited and used as child soldiers. 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 of youth to empower them to decline offers 
by any of the armed groups. In some administrations in the country, 
like that of Jowhar, authorities committed to demobilize child soldiers 
with UNICEF's assistance; however, no progress was made.
    The TFG pledged to address child recruitment when ministers signed 
the Paris Commitments in February 2007; however, children were enlisted 
into TFG forces. During the year all parties to the conflict continued 
to recruit child soldiers. UNICEF continued its public outreach program 
with radio broadcasts to highlight the problem of child soldiers.
    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.
    On May 30, TFG police arrested 11 minors who had been kidnapped in 
the Lower Shabelle Region and forced by al-Shabaab into its militia 
fighting force. In Kismayo, Baidoa, and Merka, al-Shabaab obligated 
boys 15 years of age and older to fight as ``mujahedeen'' or face 
death. Al-Shabaab killed an estimated 16 teenagers after they refused 
recruitment as al-Shabaab fighters.
    The Somaliland constitution contains no minimum age for recruitment 
into the armed forces, but there were no reports of minors in its 
forces; however, an inadequate system of birth registration made it 
difficult to establish the exact age of recruits.

    Other Conflict Related Abuses--Security problems complicated the 
work of local and international organizations, especially in the south. 
During the year attacks on NGOs, looting, and piracy disrupted aid 
flights and food distribution. As a result of killings, kidnappings, 
threats, and harassment, some organizations evacuated their staffs or 
halted relief food distribution and other aid-related activities.
    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 conducted 47 successful hijackings and 
167 unsuccessful attacks on vessels off the Somali coast, an increase 
over the previous year 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 town of Eyl. Fueled by lucrative ransoms, Eyl 
developed a burgeoning industry to support the pirates and their 
hostages. Following ransom payments that in some cases reached several 
millions of dollars, the hijacked vessels were released. In each 
instance crews were held hostage until ransom was paid.
    During the year Puntland security forces made some progress against 
pirates operating along its coast, raided some hideouts, arrested 
several suspected pirates, and sentenced some to long jail terms. Clan 
elders and religious groups began sensitization efforts in Puntland's 
coastal towns to demobilize pirates and discourage youths from becoming 
pirates. Through these efforts an estimated 100 pirates renounced 
piracy. Despite the Puntland government's efforts against pirates, 
prominent persons linked with piracy circulated freely and lived 
ostentatiously in Puntland cities. At year's end 12 vessels and 263 
crew members remained in the custody of Somali pirates.
    The TFG continued to improve its treatment of humanitarian agency 
personnel and appointed a minister of humanitarian and emergency 
assistance to better liaise with UN agencies and NGOs. While the 
relationship improved, the TFG was unable to prevent attacks against UN 
and NGO personnel. Attacks on aid workers were fewer than the previous 
year, in large part because many NGOs and aid organizations had 
withdrawn their staff from the country. According to a July UN Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) report, access 
difficulties resulted in instances of humanitarian organizations 
withdrawing, temporary suspensions of programs in certain areas, or 
delays in the delivery of humanitarian assistance; however, the report 
stated humanitarian access was generally good in Puntland and 
Somaliland. UNOCHA reported a general reduction of violence against aid 
workers during the year, mainly because there were so few workers in 
the country. UNOCHA noted a marked shift from attacks on humanitarian 
personnel to raids by al-Shabaab on UN and NGO compounds, offices, and 
warehouses, in which they looted humanitarian supplies, food, 
equipment, vehicles, and other assets. The deteriorating security 
situation and continued targeting of national and international relief 
workers presented significant challenges to humanitarian operations in 
The country. During the year 10 aid workers were killed and 7 kidnapped 
and released. At year's end 10 persons who were kidnapped in 2008 
remained captive. Relief agencies continued to operate with 
significantly reduced or no international staff. Aid agencies 
increasingly relied on national staff, which was equally under threat, 
and partnerships with local implementing organizations to deliver 
relief assistance to vulnerable beneficiaries.
    On January 6, three masked gunmen shot and killed Ibrahim Hussein 
Duale, an employee of the World Food Program. At the time of his death 
Hussein was monitoring a school feeding program in Yubsan village, 
Garbahare. On March 19, the al-Shabaab administration in Burdubo 
arrested one of the gunmen, and in a five-day hearing an al-Shabaab 
Islamic court tried and convicted him after he pled guilty to Hussein's 
murder. The convicted killer paid Hussein's family 100 camels to avoid 
being executed.
    On March 16, gunmen abducted four UN staff on their way to an 
airstrip in Waajid, Bakol Region. The four were released on March 17 
after clan elders and local administrators intervened on their behalf.
    On April 19, unknown gunmen killed Omar Sharif, a local aid worker 
in Merka, as he left a mosque after evening prayers.
    Also on April 19, unknown armed men abducted two international aid 
workers-a Belgian doctor and Dutch nurse--working with international 
NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) near Rabdhure, Bay Region. They were 
released on April 28 through the efforts of local elders. In June the 
MSF closed its programs in Bakol Region, citing security reasons.
    On May 17, al-Shabaab raided the UNICEF compound in Jowhar, 
stealing and destroying tons of essential nutritional and medical 
supplies and cold chain equipment--including immunizations for infants, 
children, and expectant and lactating mothers. On July 20, al-Shabaab 
militiamen in Bay Region raided the UN agency compound in Baidoa, stole 
several vehicles, many computers, and expelled three UN agencies. 
Earlier in the year, al-Shabaab shut down the operations of two 
international aid organizations in regions under its control.
    In early August armed militia groups affiliated with al-Shabaab 
attacked and occupied at least five NGO compounds in Jilib and Jamaame 
districts in Middle and Lower Juba regions. There were no aid workers 
injured in the attacks, but militia looted computers, vehicles, and 
other equipment, causing several NGOs to suspend humanitarian 
operations.
    On August 17, several gunmen attacked a UN World Food Program (WFP) 
compound in Wajid, Bakol Region. Guards at the compound fought off the 
attackers, killing three.
    There were some developments in kidnapping cases from 2008. On 
August 11, kidnappers released four Action Contre la Faim staff, 
including two pilots, kidnapped from Dusamareb airstrip in November 
2008.
    In October 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, the Hargeisa regional court 
arraigned 14 suspects in the attack.

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 press; however, there 
were instances of violence including murder, harassment, arrest, and 
detention of journalists in all regions of the country, including 
Puntland and Somaliland. The Puntland Charter provides for press 
freedom ``as long as journalists respect the law''; however, this right 
was not respected in practice. Journalists engaged in rigorous self-
censorship to avoid reprisals.
    The print media 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: Geeska 
Africa, Ogaal, Jamhuriya, Haatuf, Waahen, Sahansahan, and Maalmah'a) 
There was also one government daily--Maandeeq--and two English-language 
weekly newspapers--Somaliland Times and The Republican. There were 
three independent television stationsHorn Cable TV, Horn Cable, and 
Somaliland Space Channel, and one government-owned station, Somaliland 
National TV. Although the Somaliland constitution permits independent 
media, the Somaliland government has consistently prohibited the 
establishment of independent FM stations. The only FM station in 
Somaliland was the government-owned Radio Hargeisa. The independent 
media suffered increased harassment from the Somaliland government, 
especially in the period preceding the presidential elections that had 
been scheduled for September 27.
    Most citizens obtained news from foreign radio broadcasts, 
primarily the BBC's Somali Service and the Voice of America's Somali 
Service that transmitted daily Somali-language programs. 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 parts 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.
    The relationship between journalists and the TFG improved, and 
unlike in the previous year, journalists did not receive direct threats 
from the TFG; however, opposition elements, especially 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 all regions reported 
harassment, including killings, kidnappings, detention without charge, 
and assaults on persons and property. Most experienced field reporters 
and senior editors had fled the country due to direct threats from 
antigovernment groups. During the year nine journalists were killed in 
targeted or collateral incidents.
    There were two targeted killings of journalists during the year, 
compared to one such killing in 2008. On February 4, HornAfrik 
Mogadishu director Said Tahil Ahmed was killed while walking with nine 
other media leaders to a meeting with al-Shabaab representatives. On 
June 7, Shabelle director Muktar Mohamed Hirabe was killed in Bakara 
Market. Al-Shabaab reportedly instigated both of these killings.
    Seven journalists were killed during the year as a result of cross 
fire, stray bullets, and proximity to the December 3 suicide bombing in 
Mogadishu in which three journalists were killed. There were no arrests 
in connection with any killings or attempted killings of journalists 
during the year.
    Numerous journalists were arrested and detained during the year, 
but unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the TFG 
ordered such arrests. For example, on January 23, Muhammad Hasan Haji 
Abukar, a Holy Koran Radio reporter, was reportedly arrested by al-
Shabaab authorities in Baidoa and tortured; they also confiscated his 
equipment. On April 18, al-Shabaab arrested Mohiddin Hassan Mohamed of 
Shabelle in Baidoa; he was released a day later. On August 22, the al-
Shabaab administration of Gedo Region ordered Radio Markabley to fire 
two journalists and submit to edicts issued that day.
    Journalist arrests and detentions increased in Somaliland. On 
February 26, in Hargeisa, Somaliland authorities arrested Mohamed Abdi 
Guled, editor of the privately owned weekly Yoo'l; he was released on 
March 20. On March 29, Ahmed Suleiman Dhuhul, a member of the executive 
committee of the Somaliland Journalists Association and producer of 
Horyaal private radio, was arrested for trying to report on a meeting 
of the upper house of Somaliland's parliament to debate the extension 
of the mandates of Somaliland's president and vice president. On July 
13, in Hargeisa, two Radio Horyaal journalists were arrested after 
reporting on a clan conflict over land rights. On July 29, Somaliland 
authorities ordered the closure of Horn Cable TV and arrested its chief 
editor. On August 4, Somaliland.org Web site reporter Foosi Saleban 
Awbiindhe was arrested in Burao after writing a report on corruption 
involving the governor. He was freed on August 26.
    There were also several incidents in the Puntland region during the 
year. For example, on March 26, in Bossaso, security forces arrested 
Jama Ayanle Siti, a reporter for Laas Qoray newspaper and its Web site, 
and Abdiqani Hassan, a freelance reporter. On March 30, also in 
Bossaso, Jama Ayenle Feyte was sentenced to two years in prison after 
being accused of defamation and disseminating false information about 
the Puntland authorities. On August 25, Voice of America reporter 
Mohamed Yasin Isaq was arrested in northern Galkayo after releasing a 
report on the failure of the Puntland administration to curb growing 
insecurity in the town. On December 21, Puntland security forces again 
arrested Isaq, held him for 17 days, and released him without charge.
    Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist 
Nigel Brenan, who were kidnapped in August 2008, were released on 
November 25 in Mogadishu, reportedly after ransoms were paid by the 
journalists' families. On January 17, Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, who was 
kidnapped with Lindhout and Brenan, was freed.
    The British and Spanish journalists who were abducted in November 
2008 in Bosasso were released on January 4. They were held captive in 
an unknown location in the Puntland region.
    Several broadcasting stations were closed during the year. At least 
two radio stations were closed by Islamic administrations. On April 9, 
al-Shabaab closed Radio Mandeeq after it broadcast news about a clan 
dispute. On April 27, the al-Shabaab administration in Baidoa closed 
Radio Jubba and detained three journalists. They were freed the 
following day after an agreement that the station would no longer 
broadcast music. On September 30, 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 airing 
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. 
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that the TFG pressured 
journalists to produce positive reporting.

    Internet Freedom.--Somalia has some of the lowest cost 
telecommunications and Internet services in the region. There were no 
government restrictions on access to the Internet; however, opposition 
elements 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 one percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet; however, independent 
researchers have noted that this figure may be higher because Internet 
users frequently accessed the technology in cybercafes and other public 
centers and Somalia's country domain was not in use.

    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 academicians practiced self-
censorship. In Puntland a government permit was required to conduct 
academic research.
    During the year there were fewer attacks on schoolchildren, 
teachers, and schools across the country. 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 August 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 education 
workers. For example, on February 18, 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, although the security situation 
effectively restricted access to and organization of cultural events, 
except in al-Shabaab-controlled areas.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The TFC, the Somaliland constitution, and the Puntland 
Charter provide for freedom of assembly; however, a ban on 
demonstrations continued, and the lack of security effectively limited 
this right in many areas. Security force use of excessive force to 
disperse demonstrators resulted in numerous deaths and injuries.
    On several occasions Somaliland security personnel prevented 
opposition political parties from meeting with supporters and from 
holding public rallies. For example, on April 6, Somaliland police 
prevented opposition supporters from holding peaceful processions to 
commemorate Somalia National Movement Day. Police fired in the air and 
would not allow party leaders to address their supporters. Security 
agents often prevented opposition parties from organizing public 
gatherings and demonstrations.
    On September 12, Somaliland security forces used excessive force 
when they killed four demonstrators and wounded many others during a 
peaceful protest in front of the parliament. Police and military 
personnel shot in the air to disperse hundreds of demonstrators, mostly 
youth, gathered to press authorities to reopen parliament. Police also 
arrested more than 100 persons in the incident. On September 13, the 
Somaliland Regional Security Committee (RSC) sentenced without due 
process 40 of those arrested to six months in prison. At years' end 
most of these persons were still detained. In its July report on 
Somaliland, Human Rights Watch accused the RSC of perpetrating gross 
human rights violations, stating the RSC routinely incarcerated 
persons, including juveniles, without any pretense of respecting the 
due process provided for in Somaliland's constitution.
    There were no updates on the April and May 2008 killings of 
demonstrators in Somaliland and Mogadishu, respectively, and neither 
the TFG nor the Somaliland administration took action to punish the 
police perpetrators.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of use of excessive 
force by security forces in the south and central regions against 
persons assembled at food distribution centers.

    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 Charter 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; however, in July 
2007 Somaliland authorities arrested three opposition politicians who 
were planning to form a new political party. These persons were 
released in December 2007. President Riyale stated that he issued an 
official pardon; however, their judicial record was not cleared, and 
the leaders remained effectively blocked from participating in the 
electoral process as candidates for any party.
    Legislation governing the formation of political parties in 
Somaliland limits the number of parties allowed to contest general 
elections to three. An ad hoc commission nominated by the president and 
approved by the legislature was responsible for considering 
applications. The law provides that approved parties obtaining 20 
percent of the vote in a general election are allowed to function. 
There were three approved political parties.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--Although the TFC provides for religious 
freedom, this right was widely ignored in practice. The TFG generally 
did not enforce legal restrictions or protections concerning religious 
freedom.
    On May 10, the TFG ratified legislation to implement Shari'a 
nationwide. In practice the TFG does not have the capacity or 
mechanisms to implement the legislation uniformly.
    Militia groups, particularly those associated with al-Shabaab, 
often imposed a strict interpretation of Islam on communities under 
their control. There were reports that individuals who did not practice 
Islam in line with al-Shabaab's interpretation were discriminated 
against, and several nonobservant Somalis may have been killed.
    The TFC, Somaliland constitution, and Puntland Charter establish 
Islam as the official religion. Somalis are overwhelmingly Sunni 
Muslims of a Sufi tradition. There also is a very small, extremely low-
profile Christian community, in addition to small numbers of followers 
of other religions. The constitutions and Charters governing the 
various regions provide the right to study and discuss the religion of 
one's choice; however, in practice freedom of worship for non-Muslims 
was respected only for non-Somalis. Conversion from Islam is not 
allowed in any of the three regions. The TFG and the Somaliland and 
Puntland administrations did not have the capacity to enforce freedom 
of worship. The number of adherents of strains of conservative Islam 
and Islamic schools supported by religiously conservative sources 
continued to grow.
    In Puntland only Shafi'iyyah, a moderate Islamic doctrine followed 
by most citizens, is allowed in public religious expression. Puntland 
security forces closely monitored religious activities. Religious 
schools and places of worship must receive permission to operate from 
the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs; such permission was 
granted routinely to schools and mosques espousing Shafi'iyyah.
    In Somaliland religious schools and places of worship must obtain 
the Ministry of Religion's permission to operate. Proselytizing for any 
religion except Islam is prohibited in Puntland and Somaliland and 
effectively blocked by informal social consensus elsewhere. Apart from 
restrictions imposed by the security situation, Christian-based 
international relief organizations generally operated freely as long as 
they refrained from proselytizing; however, there were reports that a 
few Somalis who converted to Christianity were killed by al-Shabaab and 
allied extremist groups during the year.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--During the year, in the Bay 
and Lower Juba regions as well as in Mogadishu, al-Shabaab extremists 
killed several prominent clerics, most belonging to ASWJ. For example, 
on February 7, a religious scholar was shot and killed near his home in 
the Medina district of Mogadishu. In religiously motivated violence, 
al-Shabaab destroyed the tombs of revered ASWJ Sufi clerics and killed 
clerics, civilians, and government officials of Sufi orientation. For 
example, on March 28, in Barawe District, Bay Region, al-Shabaab forces 
destroyed five graves of famous clerics and removed their remains. On 
May 5, near Kamsuma village,in Kismayo District, al-Shabaab forces 
destroyed 10 graves of famous Islamic scholars. On June 10, in Bardhere 
town,in Gedo Region, al-Shabaab destroyed an undisclosed number of Sufi 
graves. In targeted assassinations, members of al-Shabaab killed TFG 
officials and allies whom they denounced as non-Muslims or apostates. 
On January 1, Sheikh Mohamed Ibrahim ``Elbuur,'' a prominent religious 
leader, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Elasha Biyaha, an 
internally displaced persons (IDP) settlement on the outskirts of 
Mogadishu. Sheikh Mohamed was shot outside a mosque after evening 
prayers. He was reportedly targeted for his moderate views and 
condemnation of violence.
    On April 5, in Jamame town in Lower Juba Region, a Koranic school 
teacher was beheaded by armed opposition group members. Al-Shabaab 
bombed cinemas, attacked persons whom they asserted were not behaving 
``appropriately,'' and banned all sporting events. On September 21, al-
Shabaab killed two ASWJ clerics in Lower Shabelle Region when they 
opened fire on a congregation gathered for Eid prayers to mark the end 
of Ramadan.
    Women were disproportionately affected by Islamic extremists during 
the year. In March al-Shabaab issued a decree mandating that women wear 
the hijab outside of the home; any woman found not wearing the hijab 
would be arrested and face punishment.
    Non-Sunni Muslims often were viewed with suspicion by members of 
the Sunni majority. Non-Muslims who practiced their religion openly 
faced societal harassment. Those suspected of conversion faced 
harassment or even death from members of their community.
    In April 2008 a worshipper was stabbed in a mosque in Somaliland 
after two groups clashed over differences in interpretation of Islam. 
There was no new information about this case.
    The small Christian community kept a low profile. There were no 
public places of worship for non-Muslims. Christians, as well as other 
non-Muslims who proclaimed their religion, faced harassment or even 
death. On July 10, al-Shabaab beheaded seven persons in Bay Region 
after accusing them of converting to Christianity and spying for the 
TFG. On July 27, al-Shabaab reportedly beheaded four Christians after 
kidnapping them in Merka, Lower Shabelle. The four victims were working 
for a local organization caring for orphans and were killed after they 
reportedly refused to renounce Christianity. On September 15, al-
Shabaab extremists killed Omar Khalafe after they found him in 
possession of several Bibles.
    There is no known Jewish community in the country, and there were 
no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The TFC and the Puntland Charter 
provide for freedom of movement; however, this right continued to be 
restricted in some parts of the country. Checkpoints operated by the 
TFG and its associated militias decreased. Checkpoints operated by 
armed militias, clan factions, and groups associated with al-Shabaab 
and its affiliates inhibited passage and exposed travelers to looting, 
extortion, rape, and harassment, particularly of civilians fleeing 
conflict. In the absence of effective governance institutions, few 
citizens possessed the documents needed for international travel.
    There were no reports of armed clan factions operating checkpoints 
during the year. Puntland security forces dismantled ad hoc checkpoints 
by armed clan militias. According to a report by UNOCHA, al-Shabaab 
established checkpoints at the exit/entry routes of the towns under its 
control for security reasons. There were no reports of checkpoints 
between towns or within towns, as was common in previous years.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile; however, none of the 
authorities used forced exile during the year.
    During the year there were no organized repatriations to any 
region.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--UN agencies estimated that 
since January 2007 more than 900,000 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, especially al-Shabaab. The Somalia office of the UNHCR, based 
in Kenya, estimated that there were 1.5 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 Afgoye corridor between Mogadishu and Baidoa. Militia 
groups, aligned with both sides of the conflict, had restricted 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'' on humanitarian aid, and al-Shabaab's expulsion in August of 
three UN agencies made it more difficult to deliver basic services. 
During the year Puntland authorities in Galkayo and Garowe forcibly 
repatriated Somalis from the south and central regions who were accused 
of being responsible for increased insecurity in the region. In 
December Puntland residents attacked IDPs from the south and called for 
their expulsion from Puntland, forcing IDPs to close their businesses. 
The attack followed president Faroole's media comments accusing persons 
from the south of contributing to the rise in insecurity.

    Protection of Refugees.--The 1990 constitution and TFC do not 
include provisions for granting asylum or refugee status in accordance 
with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 
1967 protocol. The country signed the African Union Convention 
Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Program in Africa in 
1969, but neither ratified it nor deposited it. 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 (complete with new standard language as applicable), and in 
practice the authorities granted refugee status or asylum. The UNHCR 
reported that at year's end there were 2,960 refugees and 18,600 asylum 
seekers in Somaliland and Puntland, an increase over 2008. Human rights 
organizations estimated there were as many as 1.75 million displaced 
due to conflict, food shortages, and inflation. An additional 3.76 
million citizens were in need of humanitarian assistance; 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 60,000 citizens attempted more 
than 900 illegal boat crossings from Somaliland, Puntland, and Djibouti 
to Yemen, resulting in at least 273 confirmed deaths. By the end of 
September, there were 50,486 recorded new arrivals in Yemen, a 50 
percent increase over the number of arrivals during the same period in 
2008. The UNHCR estimated that 158,000 Somali refugees were in Yemen at 
year's end.
    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 on a case-by-case basis. Despite the border 
closure, during the year 55,658 asylum seekers made their way to the 
already overcrowded Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya through the porous 
border. In the same period, an estimated 20,000 asylum seekers entered 
Ethiopia, bringing the number of Somali refugees there to more than 
40,000. The sudden influx of 11,000 Somalis to Dolo Ado in southeastern 
Ethiopia led the UNHCR to establish a fourth refugee camp. By the end 
of the year, the Bolkamayo camp in southeastern Ethiopia had already 
reached its 20,000 refugee capacity. The UNHCR estimated that at year's 
end it was providing humanitarian assistance and protection to more 
than 541,600 Somalis in Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Uganda, 
an increase over 2008.
    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
    On August 19, the TFG parliament approved the implementation of 
martial law in the country for three months; however, in practice 
martial law was not implemented in any area.
    In the absence of effective governing institutions, citizens could 
not exercise the right to change their government. In January, through 
the Djibouti Process, the parliament was expanded, and it extended the 
TFG mandate until 2011, to prepare the country for national elections. 
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 fell under the rule of armed militias, 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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The TFG was formed in late 
2004 and early 2005 following two years of negotiations in Kenya led by 
the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. The TFC is the legal 
framework for the transitional federal institutions of parliament and 
government, which operated under a five-year mandate originally 
scheduled to expire in 2009; however, the TFP, under the Djibouti peace 
process, extended the initial mandate by another two years until 2011. 
In 2004 the clan-based TFP elected Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the former 
president of Puntland, as transitional federal president, and he then 
appointed Ali Mohammed Gedi as prime minister. Gedi resigned in October 
2007. In November 2007 President Yusuf appointed Nur ``Adde'' Hassan 
Hussein as prime minister. In 2008 Yusuf attempted to remove Prime 
Minister Hussein, first by supporting a no-confidence parliamentary 
vote and then by dismissing him through a presidential decree. Both 
plans backfired, and in December 2008, after significant discord within 
the TFG, Abdullahi Yusuf resigned. Speaker of Parliament Sheikh Adan 
Mohamed Nur became interim president following Yusuf's resignation. The 
TFC stipulates that the interim president remain in office for 30 days 
until the parliament selects a new president.
    In August 2008 the leaders of the TFG and the Alliance for the 
Reliberation of Somalia (ARS) signed the UN-brokered Djibouti Agreement 
and agreed to cease all armed confrontation, ensure unhindered 
humanitarian access, and work toward a durable peace. The Djibouti 
Agreement set the stage for the formation of a unity government in 
January 2009. Between January 22 and 24, members of the TFP relocated 
to Djibouti from the previous seat of parliament in Baidoa to take part 
in the election of a new TFG president. On January 26, while in 
Djibouti, the TFP adopted an amendment to the TFC to both extend the 
TFG's initial five-year mandate by an additional two years and allow 
for the expansion of the number of MPs from 275 to 550 to accommodate 
275 new MPs from ARS under the Djibouti Agreement. On January 31, the 
expanded TFP elected Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed--who was until then ARS 
executive chairman--as the new TFG president. The election was 
considered free and fair, and it attracted more than a dozen 
candidates, including former prime minister Nur Hassan Hussein. On 
February 13, while in Djibouti, President Sharif appointed Omar 
Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as the new TFG prime minister. On February 20, 
Prime Minister Sharmarke formed his first government with 36 ministers. 
On February 23 and 26, President Sharif and Prime Minister Sharmarke 
relocated to Mogadishu. It was the first time that the TFG and TFP were 
based in the country's capital since the TFG was formed.
    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.
    Elected in April 2003, President of Somaliland Dahir Riyale Kahin 
initiated several actions to postpone elections for the fourth time and 
extend his term in office. Beginning in 2006 Riyale initiated a process 
to extend the mandate of the unelected upper house of parliament, the 
Guurti, for four years. In April 2008 the Guurti postponed presidential 
and local elections and extended President Riyale's term in office for 
an additional year. After successful international mediation, the major 
political parties agreed to hold presidential elections in April 2009 
after a national voter registration process under which each Somaliland 
citizen would receive a national identity card. On March 3, the 
National Electoral Commission announced that presidential elections 
would be held on May 31; however, on March 28, the Guurti voted to 
postpone the elections and extend President Riyale's term in office to 
September 27. The political impasse deepened, and on August 29, police 
closed the parliament building. In March and September, opposition 
political parties protested the decision to extend Riyale's term 
despite an earlier agreement not to allow any further extensions, and 
in September legislators tabled an impeachment motion in parliament. 
During a demonstration on September 12, Somaliland police fired into a 
crowd gathered in front of the parliament, killing four demonstrators 
and wounding others. Police arrested and detained more than 100 
persons. An extrajudicial process resulted in an estimated 40 persons 
being sentenced to six months in prison. The deadlock was broken on 
September 25, when the Guurti unanimously endorsed a six-point 
memorandum of understanding (MOU) produced by the international 
community to move the electoral process forward. The Guurti announced 
that President Riyale's term in office would end one month after 
elections were held. On September 30, the president and the two 
opposition political party leaders signed the MOU. On October 4 and 5, 
to begin implementing the MOU, all members of the National Electoral 
Commission resigned and President Riyale appointed a new commission, 
endorsed by all stakeholders. At year's end no date had been set for 
the elections.
    In 2007 Somaliland opposition figures Mohamed Abdi Gaboose, Mohamed 
Hashi Elmi, and Jamal Aideed Ibrahim were released from prison after 
serving three months on charges of founding an illegal organization and 
creating instability. At year's end the three leaders' political rights 
had not been fully restored. They were able to register to vote, but 
they were not allowed to participate in the electoral process as 
candidates for any party.
    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, on June 29, the Puntland parliament endorsed a 
constitution allowing the establishment of multiparty democracy in two 
years. The new constitution, which is subject to a public referendum, 
limits the number of political parties to three. On January 8, the 
council elected Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud ``Farole'' 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 are 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. On January 1, the new members of Parliament were 
sworn in. On January 17, President Farole appointed 16 ministers, 
including three from the previous administration, to form a new 
cabinet.
    Some Puntland cabinet ministers maintained their own militias, 
which contributed to a general lack of security. As part of the 
election process, each presidential candidate was required to pay a 
$5,000 qualification fee and each vice presidential candidate a $2,500 
fee. Some of these funds were used for security during the elections.
    Somaliland and Puntland continued to contest parts of Sanaag 
Region, as well as Sool Region and the Buhodle Ddistrict of Togdheer 
Region during the year. Both governments maintained elements of their 
administrations in 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. In January militias 
suspected of being from Puntland killed four Somaliland officials--two 
civil and two military--who were registering voters in Widhwidh, Sool 
Region. Unlike in 2008, there were no reports of population 
displacement due to conflict between Puntland and Somaliland. 
Somaliland forces remained in control of Las Anod, although Puntland 
forces threatened attack and had reportedly expanded their security 
presence in surrounding areas.
    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. Among the 39 ministers and six state ministers 
appointed in February and August, there were only three women 
ministers. Minister of Health Qamar Aden Ali, who was killed in the 
December 3 suicide bombing, was not replaced.
    In the Somaliland government of 28 ministers, a woman held the post 
of gender and family minister, and two women were elected to the 82-
member lower house of parliament.
    In Puntland there have never been any women on the Puntland Council 
of Elders. In December there were two women selected as representatives 
to the 66-member parliament, down from five in the previous parliament. 
Asha Gelle was reappointed minister of gender and family and as in the 
previous administration was the only female minister in the new 
Puntland administration. In January three women deputy ministers were 
appointed to the cabinet out of a total of 22 deputy ministers.
    There were 60 members of the minority Bantu and Arab ethnic groups 
in the TFP and four in the TFG cabinet. There were no members of 
minority groups in the Somaliland parliament and cabinet. There are 136 
distinct subclans in Puntland, 46 of which were represented in the 
Council of Elders. These are the largest subclans, and each has one to 
four representatives in the 66-member parliament. The other subclans do 
not necessarily consider themselves ``minorities,'' and most thought 
they were represented within the larger Darod/Harti clan and the 
parliament.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Official corruption was endemic throughout the country, although 
the TFG took measures during the year to limit corruption. For example, 
the TFG appointed a commission to oversee port revenues, resulting in a 
significant increase in funds for the treasury. The law does not 
provide criminal penalties for official corruption, and officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption 
existed in almost every transaction in the country, and there is no 
regulatory or penal framework in place to combat it. This is true even 
in the provision of humanitarian assistance. The 2009 World Bank 
Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a severe 
problem. Government officials in all three regions were not subject to 
financial disclosure laws.
    There were no laws providing for public 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 operated 
in some 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 organizations. The Mogadishu-based Dr. Ismael 
Jumale Human Rights Center (DIJHRC), Elman Peace and Human Rights 
Center (EPHRC), Peace and Human Rights Network (INXA), 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, several women's NGOs, and other civil 
society organizations also played a role in promoting intraclan 
dialogue in Puntland and parts of the south central region.
    Somaliland human rights organizations accused authorities of 
meddling in their internal affairs and fomenting conflict among them.
    During the year attacks and incidents of harassment of 
humanitarian, religious, civil society, and NGO workers resulted in at 
least 10 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 during the year al-Shabaab administrations in Bay, Bakol, and 
Gedo regions ordered local and international NGOs to register and pay 
``taxes,'' threatening serious consequences for noncompliance. Al-
Shabaab militia raided and looted humanitarian supplies and equipment 
from NGO compounds in Bay, Bakol, Middle Shabelle, and Middle Juba 
regions. In March al-Shabaab ordered all international aid agencies to 
leave Bay and Bakol regions and ordered all local NGOs to register. 
After public protest, this decision was reversed, but two international 
aid agencies were expelled. On October 7, militia groups associated 
with al-Shabaab dropped leaflets at Medina Hospital warning the 
International Committee of the Red Cross, which operates the hospital, 
to immediately stop its work. The leaflets, which accused the hospital 
of being a TFG institution, also warned the hospital administration and 
staff to cease operations and vacate the hospital or face unspecified 
consequences.
    Somaliland authorities ordered NGOs operating in Somaliland to 
present their programs and budgets to the authorities or cease 
operations.
    There were numerous occurrences of looting, hijacking, and attacks 
on convoys of WFP and other humanitarian relief shipments during the 
year. On January 2, al-Shabaab militias broke into and looted relief 
food rations from the WFP warehouse in Merka, Lower Shabelle Region.
    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 Charter prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender or 
national origin, but these rights were not respected in practice.

    Women.--Laws prohibiting rape exist; however, they were not 
enforced. There were no laws against spousal rape. There were no 
reports that rape cases were prosecuted during the year. NGOs 
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 practiced 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 March 2008 the UNIE reported that in Mogadishu and Kismayo 
IDP women and girls, particularly those belonging to minority groups, 
were increasingly becoming the targets of sexual violence by youth 
gangs. In Somaliland gang rape continued to be a problem in urban 
areas, primarily 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. According to 
UNIE's October report, sexual violence, including gang rape of teenage 
girls, was on the rise. In the report, UNICEF monitors reported 11 rape 
cases in IDP camps in Puntland and 13 cases in Somaliland camps; 
victims included mentally and physically handicapped children.
    Domestic violence against women remained a serious problem. There 
are no laws specifically addressing domestic violence; however, both 
Shari'a and customary law address the resolution of family disputes. 
The UNIE reported that ``honor'' or revenge killings continued. No 
statistical information was available on the extent of domestic 
violence. 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.
    Prostitution is illegal, and there were no statistics on its 
prevalence. Sexual harassment was a problem, but there were no laws, 
data, or government programs to address it.
    In the country's overwhelmingly patriarchal culture, women do not 
have the same rights as men and are systematically subordinated. 
Polygamy is 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 Shari'a 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.
    Women's groups in Mogadishu, Hargeisa (Somaliland), Bossaso 
(Puntland), and other towns 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 Somaliland some public services may not 
be available to children who were not properly registered.
    During the year UNICEF reported that more than 60 percent of 
schools in Mogadishu were closed and the remaining schools operated 
with reduced enrollment and attendance, as many parents withdrew their 
children because of security concerns. Since the collapse of the state 
in 1991, education services have been partially revived in various 
forms, including a traditional system of Koranic 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. 
Few children who entered primary school completed secondary school. 
There was a continued influx of foreign teachers to teach in private 
Koranic 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.
    There was no formal system of state-provided medical care for 
children; however, children were generally treated for life-threatening 
illnesses and injuries at hospitals, even if their families could not 
afford to pay. Boys and girls had equal access to these services.
    Child abuse and rape were serious problems, although no statistics 
on its prevalence were available. A 2003 UNICEF report noted that 
nearly a third of all displaced children reported rape as a problem 
within their families, as did 17 percent of children in the general 
population.
    Children remained among the chief victims of continuing societal 
violence. Child protection monitors verified that hundreds of children 
were killed or injured during the year as a direct result of conflict.
    Militia members raped children during the conflict and departure of 
civilians from Mogadishu.
    The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) was widespread 
throughout the country. As many as 98 percent of women 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.
    Children were occasionally enlisted in the TFG security forces. 
Antigovernment 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. Close to 100 of the estimated 400 prisoners 
in the TFG-operated Mogadishu central prison were children detained at 
the request of their parents or guardians for truancy and disobedience.
    A UNICEF monitoring trip at the beginning of the year revealed that 
many children were imprisoned in Somaliland, most without passing 
through the court system, usually for disobedience to parents or for 
petty crimes. UNICEF and the UNDP started a project to provide the 
children with legal assistance, and many were released. The juvenile 
justice program also educated justices and lawyers about human rights 
problems for children.
    Child prostitution was practiced; however, because it was 
culturally proscribed and not reported, no statistics were available on 
its prevalence. Child prostitution, like all other forms of 
prostitution, was legally prohibited in all areas. In most cases 
regional authorities imprisoned persons from five to 15 years for this 
crime. In al-Shabaab areas, the penalty may be flogging or even stoning 
to death. There is no formal statutory rape law or minimum age for 
consensual sex. Child pornography is not expressly prohibited.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The TFC does not explicitly prohibit 
trafficking. In February 2008 Puntland authorities announced that 
persons who were caught engaging in human trafficking would be punished 
by death. During the year Puntland authorities combated human 
trafficking. For example, on February 15, Puntland police raided the 
small coastal hamlet of Marera, seized three boats, and arrested 12 
suspected traffickers. On July 2, Puntland authorities arrested six 
Yemeni in Zaylac District for trafficking. On July 24, Bosasso police 
arrested six human traffickers and dispersed 84 persons who were 
attempting to use the trafficker's services. In December, off the coast 
of Bossaso, the Puntland coast guard arrested four human smugglers whom 
they also suspected of piracy. At year's end they remained in detention 
pending a continuing investigation. The seven human traffickers who 
were arrested in April 2008 in the Maydh District of Sanaag Region were 
prosecuted through Puntland's court system. One person was released and 
the other six were sentenced to prison terms of three to six years.
    There are no laws against slavery or forced or involuntary 
prostitution. Information regarding trafficking in the country was 
extremely difficult to obtain or verify; however, the Somali territory 
was known to be a source, transit, and possibly destination country for 
trafficked women and children, and there were reports of trafficking 
during the year. Human smuggling was widespread, and there was evidence 
that traffickers utilized the same networks and methods as those used 
by smugglers. Dubious employment agencies were involved with or served 
as fronts for traffickers, especially to target individuals destined 
for the Gulf States. Somali women were trafficked to destinations in 
the Middle East, including Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, as well as to 
South Africa, for domestic labor and commercial sexual exploitation. 
Somali men were trafficked into labor exploitation as herdsmen and 
menial workers in the Gulf States. Somali children were reportedly 
trafficked to Djibouti, Malawi, and Tanzania for commercial sexual 
exploitation and exploitative child labor. Ethiopian women were 
believed to be trafficked to and through the country to the Middle East 
for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Small numbers of Cambodian men 
were trafficked to work on long-range fishing boats operating off the 
coast of Somalia. Armed militias reportedly also trafficked women and 
children for forced labor or sexual exploitation, and some of those 
victims also may have been trafficked to the Middle East and Europe. 
Trafficking networks were reported to be involved in transporting child 
victims to South Africa for sexual exploitation.
    Puntland was noted by human rights organizations as an entry point 
for trafficking. The UNIE reported that trafficking in persons remained 
rampant and that the lack of an effective authority to police the 
country's long coastline contributed to trafficking. Various forms of 
trafficking are prohibited under some interpretations of Shari'a and 
customary law, but there was no unified policing in the country to 
combat these practices, nor was there an effective justice system for 
the prosecution of traffickers.
    Because of an inability to provide care for all family members, 
some persons willingly surrendered custody of their children to persons 
with whom they shared family relations and clan linkages. Some of these 
children may have become victims of forced labor or commercial sexual 
exploitation. At various times, political authorities in the regional 
administrations of Somaliland and Puntland expressed a commitment to 
address trafficking, but corruption and lack of resources prevented the 
development of effective policies and programs. Some officials in these 
administrations were known to facilitate or condone human trafficking. 
No resources were devoted to trafficking prevention or to victim 
protection. There were no reports of trafficking-related arrests or 
prosecutions. Somaliland and Puntland officials were not trained to 
identify or assist trafficking victims. NGOs worked with IDPs, some of 
whom may have been trafficking victims.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The TFC, the Somaliland constitution, 
and the Puntland Charter all prohibit discrimination against persons 
with disabilities.
    The TFC states that the state is responsible for the welfare of 
persons with disabilities, along with orphans, widows, heroes who 
contributed 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 Charter 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 to the UNIE.
    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. The 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, and Faqayaqub. 
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.
    For example, in Galkayo in September 2008, militiamen from the Omar 
Mohammud subclan shot and killed a taxi driver. The driver was from the 
Marehan clan, and most residents reported that the killing was clan-
linked. There were no developments in this case.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sexual orientation is 
considered a taboo topic, and there is 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 Charter 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 there were no 
activities undertaken by the SOLTUO 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 are generally not enforced.
    Wages and work 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; however, there were reports that such practices occurred. It 
could not be confirmed whether, as had been reported in 2005, local 
clan militias or other armed militia forced members of minority groups 
to work on banana plantations without compensation. It also could not 
be confirmed if in Middle and Lower Juba and Lower Shabelle, Bantus 
were used as forced labor, as in previous years.

    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.
    The recruiting 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 is 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 40,000 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. The country has a population of approximately 49.3 million. 
On April 22, in generally free and fair national elections the ruling 
African National Congress (ANC) gained 65.9 percent of the vote, and 
its parliamentary representation was reduced from 297 to 264 of 400 
seats. Parliament then elected ANC President Jacob Zuma as the 
country's president. Civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. However, the government, nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs), and local media reported the following serious human rights 
problems: police use of excessive force against suspects and detainees, 
which resulted in deaths and injuries; vigilante and mob violence; 
abuse of prisoners, including beatings and rape and severe overcrowding 
of prisons; lengthy delays in trials and prolonged pretrial detention; 
forcible dispersal of demonstrations; pervasive violence against women 
and children and 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.--There were no 
reports of politically motivated killings by the government or its 
agents; however, police use of lethal force during apprehensions 
resulted in a significant number of deaths, and deaths in police 
custody were a problem. Police efforts to control vigilante violence 
also resulted in deaths. In some cases, the government investigated and 
punished the perpetrators.
    According to the governmental Independent Complaints Directorate 
(ICD), there were 300 deaths in police custody and 612 deaths as a 
result of other police action in the year ending March 31, a 15 percent 
increase from the previous year. The ICD cited 29 deaths due to the 
negligent use of a firearm; domestic violence and off-duty shootings by 
police resulted in 39 deaths. Forty-four civilians died due to 
negligent handling of a police vehicle. The ICD report expressed 
concern that 32 bystanders were killed during police activity.
    According to the ICD, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province recorded a 47 
percent increase in deaths in police custody and as a result of other 
police action, accounting for 258 of the national total. Of these, 
authorities attributed 117 deaths to natural causes, 108 to suicide, 48 
to injuries sustained prior to detention, and 27 to injuries sustained 
in custody.
    Police struggled to address a violent crime rate that ranked 
highest in the world. Following inflammatory comments by Deputy Police 
Minister Fikile Mbalula, who called for the use of firepower against 
criminals, the media and civil society groups criticized what they 
called the police's ``shoot to kill'' policy. President Zuma stressed 
that the police do not have a ``license to kill'' and attributed the 
use of excessive force to a lack of training and resources.
    On November 1, two intoxicated off-duty police officers in Pretoria 
shot and killed a street vendor after refusing to pay for the food the 
officers had eaten. Both officers were arrested, and the ICD launched 
an investigation; there were no further developments by year's end.
    On November 7, outside Johannesburg, three-year-old Atlegang 
Phalane was shot and killed when police officer Shadrack Malaka, a 
constable, fired through the window of the parked car Phalane was 
sitting in. Malaka stated he mistook a metal pipe the child was holding 
for a gun. Malaka was arrested for murder and denied bail; the trial 
was pending at year's end.
    Deaths while in police custody were a problem. On February 9, 
police officers kidnapped Sidwell Mkwambi and Siyabulela Njova, took 
them to the offices of the Bellville South Priority Crime Investigation 
(DPCI) unit, also known as ``the Hawks,'' and assaulted them for hours. 
According to Njova, the men were beaten with fists, handcuffs, the butt 
of a gun, and a traditional heavy leather whip during interrogation. In 
a statement to police, Njova said he later saw unit members dragging 
Mkwambi's limp body down a passage. On February 11, Mkawmbi's body was 
found in a police vehicle parked outside Tygerberg Forensic Pathology 
Services. The ICD stated that an investigation produced enough evidence 
to establish a murder case against 14 officers from the specialized 
unit; however, the Western Cape police commissioner had neither 
suspended nor arrested the officers by year's end.
    There were reports of deaths from political conflict among parties, 
including killings between rival parties during the election period 
(see section 3).
    There were no developments in the 2007 arrests of three persons in 
connection with the 2006 killings of Estcourt deputy mayor Dolly Dladla 
and councilor Music Mchunu, both members of the Inkatha Freedom Party 
(IFP).
    Incidents of vigilante violence and mob killing continued, 
particularly in Gauteng, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, and KZN in the 
rural areas and townships. For example, on January 4, in Durban, a 
Zimbabwean citizen and a Tanzanian citizen fell to their deaths from a 
high-rise building as they tried to escape a 150-person mob armed with 
homemade knives. Durban ANC municipal councilor Vusi Khoza, considered 
to be the mob leader, was charged with murder; the trail continued at 
year's end.
    There were no further developments in the June 2008 stoning of a 
man by vigilantes who suspected he had stabbed another man in KZN.
    Xenophobic attacks on foreign African migrants remained a problem; 
however, attacks did not occur on the scale of the previous year.
    Killings and other violent crimes against white farmers and, on 
occasion, their families, continued in rural areas. Despite concern 
among the farmers that they were targeted for racial and political 
reasons, studies indicated that the perpetrators generally were common 
criminals motivated by financial gain. The South African Police Service 
(SAPS) incorporated farm attacks and killings into overall statistics 
of violence and homicide, rather than reporting them separately. The 
Freedom Front Plus, an Afrikaner minority political party, and farmers' 
unions criticized what they viewed as an inadequate government response 
to the scale and brutality of farm attacks.
    There were reports that persons accused of witchcraft were attacked 
and driven from their villages in rural communities, and in some cases 
murdered, particularly in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KZN, and the Eastern 
Cape, where suspicion of witchcraft activity could lead to accusation, 
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.
    For example, on March 13, a man in the Eastern Cape killed two 
women he suspected of trying to thwart his financial success through 
witchcraft and then hanged himself.
    The September 2008 trial of two brothers in the Eastern Cape who 
admitted to killing their younger brother whom they suspected of 
practicing witchcraft continued at year's end. There were no 
developments in the 2007 killing of three family members accused of 
witchcraft in the Eastern Cape.
    Ritual killings (muthi killings), especially of children, to obtain 
body parts believed by some to enhance traditional medicine practices, 
remained a problem. SAPS incorporated occult-related cases into its 
standard crime reporting of killings and assaults; specific muthi 
killing statistics were unavailable.
    On March 4, the mutilated body of single mother Norah Dyanti was 
found outside of her home in the village of Etholeni in the Eastern 
Cape. Her throat and genitals had been cut out and her body exhibited 
multiple stab wounds. Police believed Dyanti was one of several victims 
of serial killings perpetrated by a crime syndicate, but they did not 
classify it as a muthi killing.
    There were no further developments in the November 2008 suspected 
muthi attack on a man in the Eastern Cape, in which an assailant cut 
off the man's nose and genitalia. SAPS believed the attacker was a 
serial killer who used body parts in the preparation of muthi.
    In August 2007, a South African military court found Air Force 
Sergeant Philippus Jacobus Venter guilty of raping and murdering a 14-
year-old girl and assaulting a Burundian security guard while serving 
as a peacekeeper in Burundi in 2004. He was sentenced to 24 years' 
imprisonment. In October 2008 Venter appealed the ruling, claiming his 
constitutional right to a fair trial was breached, as the arresting 
military police officer failed to follow proper procedure. The judge 
reserved judgment on Venter's appeal; 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 and law prohibit such practices; however, 
some police officers reportedly tortured, beat, raped, and otherwise 
abused suspects. According to Amnesty International in a September 
memoranda to the government, methods included the use of electric 
shock, suffocation, and prolonged assaults with batons, fists, and 
booted feet. Police torture and physical abuse allegedly occurred 
during interrogation, arrest, detention, and searches of persons' 
homes, and sometimes resulted in death (see section 1.a.).
    During the year the ICD reported 25 complaints of rape; however, 
unlike in previous years, they did not report complaints of torture. 
The report stated that three cases of torture from previous years were 
investigated but did not indicate the disposition of the complaints. 
The ICD received 928 reports of assault with the intent to cause 
grievous bodily harm. 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.
    On September 10, David Ndzumeka alleged he was kidnapped and 
tortured for several hours by Cape Town members of the DPCI. Ndzumeka 
stated that the officers placed a plastic bag over his head and 
repeatedly suffocated him until he was unconscious. An ICD 
investigation into the incident continued at year's end.
    In a 2008 report to parliament, the ICD reported it was 
investigating 20 reports of torture and 739 reports of assault with the 
intent to cause grievous bodily harm. 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 of unnatural causes 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. 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 237 
operational prisons did not meet international standards, and prison 
conditions did not always meet the country's minimum legal 
requirements. The Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons (JIP) received 2,010 
complaints of assaults against prisoners by correctional officers for 
the reporting period from April 2008 through March 2009. 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 JIP report, there were 1,048 prison 
deaths during the reporting period. Of these, 982 were from natural 
causes, including HIV/AIDS; the remaining deaths were the result of 
suicides, assaults, or accidents. Of the total deaths, 751 were 
sentenced prisoners, while the remaining 297 were pretrial detainees.
    According to the JIP report, there were 165,230 prisoners in 
facilities designed to hold 114,822. Of these, 3,659 were women. There 
were 1,663 juveniles in prison facilities, 803 of whom were pretrial 
detainees. Due to severe overcrowding, many prisoners had less than 13 
square feet in which to eat, sleep, and spend 23 hours a day. The unmet 
norm applied to prisons for floor space per prisoner is approximately 
36 square feet for communal space and 60 for single cells. Chief Deputy 
Commissioner for Security Willem Damons reported to parliament's 
correctional services committee that prison overcrowding was down to 
142 percent of capacity in 2008-09 from the 164 percent recorded the 
previous year.
    A 2008 Department of Correctional Services (DCS) study on HIV/AIDS 
indicated 19.8 percent of sentenced prisoners between the ages of 15 
and 49 were HIV-positive. However, NGOs working on HIV/AIDS in prisons 
believed that the percentage of HIV-positive prisoners was higher than 
that of the general population's 25 percent. According to the DCS's 
annual report, 18 centers dispensing antiretroviral (ARV) therapy were 
operational during the year.
    Corruption remained a problem within prisons, although in most 
cases correctional services officials were either suspended or fired 
following an investigation. According to the JIP report, there were 500 
complaints of corruption during the annual reporting period out of the 
260,268 complaints received. In November 2007 then President Thabo 
Mbeki ordered the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to look into 
allegations of tender abuse in the DCS. In May 2008 SIU briefed the 
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services. 
Investigations, which continued, raised procedural concerns, identified 
irregularities in 23 contracts, and recommended that 433 officials be 
penalized. Twenty-six doctors and ten officials were charged with 
criminal offenses; an additional 433 officials were disciplined. In 
August 2008 the DCS national commissioner launched an investigation 
into allegations of malfeasance in tendering for contracts in which 
funds were allegedly awarded unlawfully to a catering company. On 
September 17, the SIU delivered its final investigation results to 
Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. On December 7, 
the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) forwarded the findings to the 
Serious Economic Offenses Unit of SAPS for further investigation.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of abuse at the 
Lindela Repatriation Center, the country's largest detention facility 
for undocumented immigrants.
    The government operated 13 youth detention facilities. Unlike in 
previous years, the JIP did not report on any children under the age of 
18 being held with adults in order to be close to the courts.
    Pretrial detainees generally were held with convicted prisoners.
    The government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions, including visits by human rights organizations to most 
facilities.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally 
observed these prohibitions; however, prolonged pretrial detention was 
a problem, and police arbitrarily arrested demonstrators.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The 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.
    On January 30, the government officially disbanded the NPA's 
Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), known as ``the Scorpions,'' 
which had coordinated efforts against organized crime and official 
corruption. The political opposition and general public criticized the 
move, charging that it was retaliation for DSO investigations of high-
ranking ANC officials, including Jacob Zuma. On July 6, the Scorpions 
were replaced by the DPCI, also known as ``the Hawks.''
    During the year the ICD received 6,119 complaints against the 
police, a 5 percent increase from the 5,830 complaints the previous 
year. Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa reported to parliament that in 
2008-09, a total of 669 officers faced disciplinary hearings, of whom 
538 were found guilty. Among the accused, 38 officers were charged with 
murder, 33 with attempted murder, and 30 with rape. Minister Mthethwa 
stated that the status of the court cases was unavailable and declined 
to provide figures for previous years.
    To address problems of crime and misconduct, SAPS provided its 
officers with comprehensive training in corruption prevention, human 
rights, and ethics and with access to social workers, psychologists, 
and chaplains to enhance psychological well-being. The ICD investigated 
reports of police misconduct and crime; during the reporting period, 14 
officers were found guilty of murder and sentenced to imprisonment, 
while four officers were found guilty of culpable homicide and 
sentenced to imprisonment, suspended sentences, and/or fines.
    There were no further actions taken by the 10 task groups 
commissioned in 2008 by the minister of justice to recommend reforms 
following a presidentially mandated review of the criminal justice 
system in August 2008. SAPS continued efforts to professionalize; 
however, it remained ill equipped, overworked, and poorly trained. 
Although SAPS made efforts to improve coverage in rural and township 
areas, most law enforcement activities remained focused on wealthy 
residential and business areas.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires arrest warrants 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, and 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. Courts and police generally respected 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. According to the 
annual JIP report, 8,500 prisoners remained in detention as of March 31 
because they were unable to post bail. Some schoolchildren spent more 
than a year in detention because their families could not post bail.
    Human rights groups, judges, and judicial scholars continued to 
express concern about the Criminal Procedure Second Amendment Act, 
which mandates minimum jail sentences and prohibits bail in certain 
cases.
    There were cases of arbitrary arrest during the year. For example, 
on September 26, 40 local tavern owners in Durban ransacked and 
demolished the offices of Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), an organization 
that advocates for the rights of those who live in informal 
settlements, also known as the ``shack dwellers movement.'' The AbM had 
been fighting the KZN provincial government's attempts at forcibly 
removing inhabitants and demolishing the Kennedy Road informal 
settlement. The mob also demolished the homes of several AbM members, 
allegedly in the presence of the local police. The attacks lasted for 
two days, during which time two persons were killed. Police 
subsequently arrested 13 members of AbM; the 13 were held without 
charge until December 16, when 12 members were charged with a range of 
crimes, including property destruction, public violence, and murder. Of 
these, seven members were released on bail; the additional person was 
released with all charges dropped. By year's end bail hearings for the 
five remaining prisoners had been postponed several times.
    Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. According to the JIP 
annual report, detainees waited an average of three months, but some as 
long as two years, before a trial. The report found that 49,477 
prisoners were awaiting trial as of March 31, an increase from 48,729 
prisoners from the previous year.

    Amnesty.--The remains of the three Port Elizabeth Black Civic 
Organization leaders, known as the Pebco Three, who were murdered by 
apartheid-era police in 1985 but not discovered until 2007, were 
finally identified and handed over to the families of the activists for 
burial. On October 3, during a ceremony attended by President Zuma, the 
remains of the Pebco 3 were reburied in Port Elizabeth. The 1999 Truth 
and Reconciliation Commission refused four security police officers 
amnesty for their involvement in the crime, and they were later found 
guilty on multiple charges, including murder.

    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 concerned with the judicial process, 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 state funded 
legal counsel when ``substantial injustice would otherwise result''; 
however, a general lack of information for accused persons regarding 
their rights to legal representation and the government's inability to 
pay for these services remained problems. 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 Criminal Procedures Act provides for an 
automatic review of all prison sentences longer than three months.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) 
maintained that 384 IFP members had been imprisoned since 1994 for 
political reasons. 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 then president Mbeki and 
Justice Minister Mabandla had ignored the matter. On September 30, 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; no applications had been processed by 
year's end.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters. There is 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. On July 1, 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 in order 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 enables 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 
that farm workers were generally unaware of their right to legal 
counsel during eviction proceedings. In Limpopo, where several hundred 
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 articulate criticism of the government 
openly, without fear of reprisals, although some journalists expressed 
concern that the government heavily influenced and tried to control the 
media. The practice of appointing journalists to key positions in the 
media due to their political allegiances remained a problem, 
particularly within the public broadcaster the South African 
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
    According to the South African Advertising Research Foundation, 
print media reached 46.4 percent of the population. Despite the 
diversity of publications, the concentration of media ownership in the 
hands of large media groups limited plurality of opinion within the 
press.
    The majority of citizens received news through radio broadcasts 
from the government-owned 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 in the country's 11 
official languages, with its signal received by an estimated 92 percent 
of citizens. After allegations surfaced in 2008 of mismanagement, 
nepotism, and political infighting, the SABC removed senior leaders and 
the board of directors during the year. On September 17, the National 
Assembly named 12 new board members, some of whom had already been 
named to an interim board in July. The nominations received a generally 
positive reaction from the media and opposition parties.
    The SABC's election coverage was initially criticized by opposition 
parties; however, after the election the coverage was acknowledged to 
be ``largely fair'' by the media watchdog Media Monitoring Africa.
    During the year an investigation by the Independent Communications 
Authority of South Africa into the SABC's alleged 2006 blacklisting of 
certain political commentators from appearing on the SABC's airwaves 
due to their political affiliations concluded. The committee found it 
had no jurisdiction over the SABC during the period in question, as the 
Broadcasting Act guarantees journalistic independence from the SABC, 
and referred the issue to the SABC board.
    Due to alleged mismanagement, the SABC was unable to pay creditors, 
including independent content production companies, in a timely manner, 
leading commentators and analysts to predict that the local television 
industry faced collapse. In response to cost-cutting measures driven by 
the alleged mismanagement, the SABC proposed to develop content in-
house rather than relying on more expensive independent companies. This 
decision raised questions within civil society about media independence 
in the country. The SABC sought a government bailout, which raised 
further concerns regarding the editorial independence of the public 
broadcaster.
    Low-power, nonprofit community radio stations continued to play an 
important role in informing the mostly rural public; however, they 
often had difficulty producing adequate content and maintaining staff. 
Government broadcast regulators regularly issued new community radio 
licenses and withdrew others for noncompliance with the terms of 
issuance.
    Privately owned E.tv was the second largest channel in the country, 
and the most viewed English-language channel, with a viewership of 11.9 
million, approximately 25 percent of the population. Beginning in June 
2008, E.tv's owners, Midi TV, operated a 24-hour news service, E-News 
Channel.
    Government and political officials on occasion reacted sharply to 
media criticism and accused black journalists of disloyalty and white 
journalists of racism. Some journalists believed that the government's 
sensitivity to criticism caused self-censorship in the media.
    In the period preceding the April elections, several high-ranking 
politicians, including the head of the ANC Youth League, made widely 
reported disparaging remarks about the media, accusing it of being 
unpatriotic and part of ``third force'' elements aimed at destabilizing 
the country. Several opposition parties also accused the SABC of giving 
disproportionate coverage to the ruling ANC. As a result, the SABC 
appointed a political coverage liaison to adjudicate complaints.
    Several laws enacted during the year impacted press freedom. On 
August 28, the Films and Publications Act was passed by parliament. The 
act states that every publication not regulated by the press ombudsman, 
including online material, must 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.'' The bill was criticized by media watchdog 
organizations, as well as individual media commentators, as a possible 
vehicle for restriction of press freedom.
    In addition, a February amendment to the Broadcasting Act allowed 
for 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. 
There were no reports that these laws were invoked during the year; 
however, journalists and media managers considered them a threat to 
constitutional protections.
    The Film and Publications Board reviewed written and graphic 
materials published in, or imported into, the country. The board had 
the power to edit or ban books, magazines, movies, and videos, and it 
regularly exercised that power, mostly regarding pornographic material. 
Journalists, media houses, and industry associations continued to 
criticize efforts to extend the board's authority to newspapers and 
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 peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. A 2008 World 
Bank World Development Indicators survey estimated there were 4.5 
million Internet users in the country, representing approximately 9 
percent of the population. The study reported an increase in access of 
12.5 percent since 2007, attributed largely to small businesses.

    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 several demonstrations during the 
year, which resulted in injuries.
    Several protests over poor delivery of basic services took place 
across the country, including violent demonstrations in Western Cape, 
Gauteng, and North West provinces. Police used batons and rubber 
bullets to control the demonstrations; several injuries were reported.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were occasional reports 
of desecration and vandalism or verbal or written harassment directed 
against religious minorities during the year.
    On August 31, in Kulis River, a senior manager at the store Mr. 
Price Home told Shaheeda Groenmeyer, a Muslim employee, to remove her 
headscarf as she was in violation of the company's uniform policy. The 
company publicly apologized after Groenmeyer filed a complaint with the 
Muslim Judicial Council, which insisted that the chain store change its 
uniform policy.
    The Jewish community was estimated at 75,000 to 80,000, although it 
was contracting due to the emigration of young professionals seeking 
economic opportunities.
    On January 14 at a pro-Palestine rally organized by the Congress of 
South African Trade Unions (COSATU), then Deputy Foreign Minister 
Fatima Hajaig stated that ``the control of America, just like the 
control of most Western countries, is in the hands of Jewish money, and 
if Jewish money controls their country then you cannot expect anything 
else.'' Then foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma distanced herself 
from the comments, and the South African Board of Jewish Deputies filed 
a complaint against Hajaig at the South African Human Rights 
Commission. On February 3, Hajaig apologized for her comments; however, 
the Board of Deputies accused her of giving an insufficient apology 
that ``failed to address, let alone repudiate her anti-Semitic 
statements'' and rejected it. On February 4, Hajaig was summoned to the 
office of then President Kgalema Motlanthe and later that day gave an 
apology for her hate speech that was accepted by the Board.
    On March 5, at Witwatersrand University, COSATU International 
Relations Secretary Bongani Masuku made comments that the South African 
Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) found to be of an ``extreme nature'' 
that amounted to hate speech. The SAHRC subsequently launched an 
investigation. They reported that Masuku appeared to advocate hatred 
against Jews and Israel and ``incited violence based on religion, an 
area which freedom of expression does not protect.'' The SAHRC 
recommended that the matter be resolved through litigation to seek a 
public apology from Masuku before the Equity Court. Masuku planned to 
appeal the decision; there were no further developments at year's end.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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.
    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 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.
    The law does not prohibit forced exile; however, the government did 
not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Foreign African migrants were 
displaced during the year following xenophobic attacks. On November 17, 
a mob chased approximately 3,000 Zimbabwean migrants out of the town of 
De Doorns by attacking and destroying the migrants' shacks. Police 
fired rubber bullets to disperse the mob and arrested 24 persons for 
public violence. The minister of home affairs sent a delegation to the 
town to assist those migrants who lost their identification documents 
during the attack. The migrants set up an informal IDP camp on a local 
rugby field and remained there at year's end. 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. On December 17, Witswatersrand University's Forced Migration 
Studies Project (FMSP) released a study that indicated that 
dissatisfied local labor brokers pressured local leaders and residents 
to chase the Zimbabweans away because they were angered by income 
losses blamed on Zimbabwean labor brokers.
    In May 2008 xenophobic attacks against foreign African migrants and 
ethnic minorities by South African civilians in townships in 
Johannesburg escalated into a national wave of violence in which 62 
persons were killed in Western Cape, Gauteng, and KZN provinces. Of 
these, 21 were South African citizens, 11 were Mozambican, five were 
Zimbabwean, and three were Somali. The remaining 22 bodies were not 
identifiable. Fifty-three of the killings took place in Gauteng 
Province. An estimated 670 persons were seriously injured nationwide. 
The perpetrators blamed the immigrants for job and housing losses and 
increasing levels of crime. Most attacks were perpetrated by small mobs 
adopting vigilante tactics, in some cases under the influence of 
alcohol. Some victims were beaten to death, others were stabbed, and 
their shacks were looted and burned.
    In 2008 the SAHRC stated that it would conduct a thorough inquiry 
into the xenophobic attacks; however, no investigation had been 
launched by year's end. The government was widely criticized for its 
slow response in arresting and prosecuting 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. In March the NPA 
reported that 1,627 xenophobia suspects were initially arrested, 
resulting in 469 criminal cases based on the 2008 attacks. Of these, 70 
suspects were found guilty, 35 were found not guilty, 208 cases had 
been withdrawn, and 156 cases were outstanding. NGOs noted that none of 
the arrests or prosecutions were for murder, but the FMSP reported that 
one suspect was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in 
prison. There were no further developments by year's end.
    Although the government announced in May 2008 that it would set up 
special courts to speed the prosecution of the perpetrators of the 
violence, only the Western Cape created such courts, and significant 
delays were reported. On September 2, the Equality Court in Cape Town 
postponed until September 28 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.
    The estimated 80,000 migrants who were displaced by the violence 
fled to 72 temporary shelters set up by NGOs and the government in the 
wake of the attacks. Humanitarian organizations raised concerns that 
government efforts did not adequately meet the UN Guiding Principles on 
Internal Displacement.
    The provincial governments' threatened closures of the shelter 
sites throughout July and August 2008 drew criticism from the UN and 
assistance organizations, which voiced concern that government efforts 
to encourage host communities to accept foreigners were inadequate. All 
sites in Gauteng Province were officially closed by October 2008, while 
the last shelter in Western Cape closed in November 2008. The 
provincial governments claimed that migrants were safe to return to the 
townships; however, some attacks continued to occur. Populations at the 
shelter sites gradually decreased, as some IDPs returned to their 
countries of origin, while others returned to their former homes or 
sought safer accommodation in new locations. The 80,000 displaced 
persons from the 2008 attacks had dispersed or reintegrated by year's 
end.

    Protection of Refugees.--The law provides for the granting of 
asylum and 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. The law also provides for a broader definition of refugee 
status to be granted if a person satisfies the definition in the 1969 
Organization of African Unity's (now African Union's) Convention 
Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa.
    In practice the government generally provided protection against 
the expulsion or return of those recognized as refugees. However, 
refugee advocacy organizations charged that police and immigration 
officials abused refugees and asylum seekers and forcefully repatriated 
some asylum seekers, particularly Zimbabweans. 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.
    Following concern about the expulsion or return of refugees and 
asylum seekers to countries where their lives or freedom would be 
threatened, the government took steps to address these concerns during 
the year, which were welcomed by some watchdog organizations. On May 1, 
the government suspended deportations of Zimbabweans; 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 proposed permit would allow holders to remain in 
South Africa for six months and afford the right to education, work, 
and access to basic health care; however, the permit system had not 
been implemented by year's end.
    Due to the ongoing economic and political problems in neighboring 
Zimbabwe, the number of Zimbabweans seeking employment in the country 
continued to increase. While the DHA publicly stated that it did not 
know how many illegal immigrants were in the country, reports by 
independent organizations such as UNHCR and Doctors without Borders 
estimated there were one to three million Zimbabweans in South Africa. 
DHA struggled to keep up with processing asylum claims.
    The government cooperated to some degree with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in assisting recognized refugees and asylum 
seekers. The government also offered temporary protection to some 
individuals who may not have qualified as refugees under the 1951 
Convention or the 1967 Protocol. According to the DHA Annual Report, 
117,436 temporary and permanent residence permits were issued. The 
report did not indicate how many permits were rejected.
    Although the law provides for guaranteed access to basic services, 
education for refugee children, and access to police and courts, NGOs 
such as Human Rights Watch found that in practice, asylum seekers, 
migrants, and refugees faced discrimination at health care facilities 
and by law enforcement representatives.

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.--On April 22, the country 
held a largely peaceful, free, and fair national election. The ANC 
received 65.9 percent of the vote, a decrease from 69.7 percent in 
2004, and its parliamentary seats were reduced from 297 to 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 lead opposition party, the Democratic 
Alliance (DA), increased its share of the vote to 16.7 percent and its 
seats to 67. The new ANC breakaway party established in 2008, Congress 
Of the People (COPE), won 7.4 percent of the vote for 30 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, DA had 
10, and COPE seven seats. 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.
    There were some reports of irregularities during the elections, 
including a few instances of violence and one attempted vote rigging.
    According to an April 21 newspaper report, statistics released by 
the government's security sector ministers showed that KZN continued to 
be the province with the highest number of cases of election-related 
violence and intimidation. In the six weeks prior to the elections, 162 
cases related to election violence were reported, including four 
killings, four attempted killings, one case of arson, and one case of 
intimidation with a firearm. Twenty-five cases of intimidation were 
reported, including 62 in the Northern Cape and 30 in Limpopo.
    A report released by the NGO KZN Violence Monitor stated that at 
least nine killings believed to be politically motivated were reported 
in KZN since the beginning of the year.
    On January 22, ANC stalwart Inkosi Mbongeleni Zondi was shot dead 
in Umlazi, KZN, while visiting his fiancee. Two IFP members, Makhosabo 
Mkhize and Siphamandla Mhlongo, were arrested and charged with murder. 
On July 1, the court granted Mkhize bail but denied it for Mhlongo. The 
case was adjourned until July 29; however, on July 28 Makhosabo Mkhize 
was killed, allegedly by a group of men who attacked him while he was 
sleeping in his home. No arrests were made; Mhlongo's trial was 
adjourned until next year.
    On April 22 in KZN, Ulundi election official Sindisiwe Mncube was 
arrested after being caught with illegally marked ballot papers 
favoring the IFP. On June 26, Mncube was found guilty on five charges 
of forgery and violating the electoral code and sentenced to five years 
in prison.
    On April 15, ANC member Ndikho Tyawana was found guilty of stabbing 
former ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha to death at a party 
meeting in June 2008 and sentenced to eight years in prison, three of 
them suspended.
    In the new administration, women held 14 of 34 ministerial 
positions, including the ministerial portfolio of foreign affairs, 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 generally implemented these laws effectively. Public 
officials were subject to financial disclosure laws, and the government 
continued its efforts to curb corruption; however, corruption remained 
a problem. The public perception of widespread official corruption, 
particularly in the police and the DHA, continued despite government 
assurances that the issue was being addressed. Additionally, public 
perception of corruption at the local government level increased 
following President Zuma's declaration that his government would fight 
to curb corruption among provincial and local government officials. 
Several officials, including leaders in Gauteng and Northwest 
provinces, were removed by the government following allegations that 
they took bribes.
    On August 9, North West Province Auditor General Douglas Maphiri 
and four other officials in his office were suspended following 
allegations that Maphiri solicited bribes from politicians in the 
provincial legislature to cover up cases of corruption. An 
investigation continued at year's end.
    The government's anticorruption actions included ongoing 
investigations into the alleged misconduct of public officials. At 
least 10 agencies were engaged in anticorruption efforts. Some, like 
the Public Service Commission, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, and 
the Office of the Auditor-General, are constitutionally mandated. SAPS 
had a unit dedicated to anticorruption activities.
    On September 17, Finance Minister Praven Gordhan revealed the 
Treasury's review of provincial budgets and spending. The task team had 
identified more than 2,000 officials engaged in improper activity. In 
November President Zuma signed a proclamation authorizing an SIU 
investigation into provincial government corruption. The investigation 
probe alleged widespread financial irregularities in all 24 
municipalities in North West Province; the investigation continued at 
year's end.
    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. On November 27, Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo 
Sexwale reported 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 
investigation continued at year's end.
    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.
    There were no developments in the trial, postponed since 2006, of 
Bloemfontein's former mayor, Pappie Mokoena, the municipal manager, 
chief operating officer, and nine other city officials on charges of 
corruption and fraud. The trial was postponed until early 2010.
    The government suspended prosecutions in ``Travelgate,'' the 2004 
controversy involving misuse of official funds by parliamentarians and 
their travel agents. In May 2008 the liquidators of Bathong Travel, the 
agency at the center of the scandal, announced that the parliamentary 
probe had been terminated. Opposition parties asked parliament to 
explain why all civil actions against members of parliament (MPs) were 
abandoned. Parliament responded that internal parliamentary proceedings 
against 11 implicated MPs continued. One of the MPs identified for 
prosecution, Mnyamezeli Booi, was later appointed as the ANC's chief 
whip in the National Assembly. Following the elections, Booi was 
appointed chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defense and 
Military Veterans. On September 28, Booi pleaded guilty and admitted to 
defrauding parliament of 92,000 rand ($12,450) worth of travel 
vouchers. The court fined Booi 50,000 rand ($6,765) and gave him a one-
year suspended sentence. The DA quickly called for Booi's removal as an 
MP, but the ANC refused to recall him, saying Booi had shown remorse in 
admitting his guilt and by repaying the money to parliament.
    On April 6, prior to the elections, the NPA dropped its 
investigation into corruption charges against ANC President Jacob Zuma. 
In December 2007 the NPA had indicted Zuma on 16 counts of 
racketeering, corruption, money laundering, and fraud. In July 2008 
Zuma lost a Constitutional Court appeal to have the warrants used by 
the DSO to search his properties ruled invalid. In September 2008 High 
Court Judge Chris Nicholson dismissed the corruption charges against 
Zuma, ruling that the government had mishandled the case, and that Zuma 
had been wrongly denied a chance to give his side of the story to 
investigators before being charged. In his ruling, Nicholson stated he 
was not convinced that Zuma ``was incorrect in averring political 
meddling in his prosecution,'' an inference that led the ANC to recall 
President Mbeki in October 2008. In March the NPA, citing state 
politicization of the case against Zuma, dropped all charges. The NPA 
subsequently reorganized, and Zuma became president on May 9 with no 
pending accusations against him.
    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 process that excludes groups or 
individuals who cannot afford it. The Open Democracy Advice Center 
(ODAC) continued to report that many requests for information went 
unanswered or were answered outside the period provided for in the 
legislation. However, ODAC's 2007 annual report noted that many 
requests were unclear or poorly drafted, making a response difficult.

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. Many 
organizations participated in governmental bodies that gathered 
information and developed policies related to human rights. Major 
independent human rights NGOs included Lawyers for Human Rights, the 
Foundation for Human Rights and the Human Rights Institute of South 
Africa. International and domestic NGOs and UN agencies spoke out 
against xenophobic violence in the country during the year and 
criticized the government's response.
    The SAHRC, which was created by the government but operated 
independently, was responsible for promoting the observance of 
fundamental human rights at all levels of government and throughout the 
general population. The SAHRC also has the 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, crime, refugees, human rights, 
and democracy.
    The SAHRC investigated several complaints during the year, 
including an investigation into hate speech by COSATU International 
Relations Secretary Bongani Masuku (see section 2.c.).
    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 denied these rights 
in practice.

    Women.--Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal but remained a 
serious and pervasive problem. The country had one of the highest 
incidences of rape in the world. According to the 2008-09 SAPS annual 
report, the number of sexual offenses increased by 12 percent during 
the year to 71,500 reported cases from 63,818 reported cases in 2008. 
According to NGOs, rape of elderly women increased. SAPS began 
recording all sexually related offenses under a single category, as 
required by amendments to the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) in 2007. Among 
other provisions, the amendments also expanded the definition of rape 
to include all forms of sexual penetration without consent irrespective 
of gender and broadened definitions of sexual assault against children 
and persons with mental disabilities.
    A June report released by the Medical Research Council found that 
more than 25 percent of men interviewed in KZN and Eastern Cape 
Province admitted to committing at least one rape and, of those, more 
than half admitted to raping more than one person.
    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 rapes was 
reported to SAPS, as in most cases the attackers were friends or family 
members of the victims, who therefore were afraid or reluctant to press 
charges. This estimate implied that during the year well over half a 
million women suffered sexual violence. The NGO Treatment Action 
Campaign reported that one in three South African women would be raped 
in her lifetime.
    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 December 2007 parliament passed amendments to the SOA 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 in an effort to improve the government's 
capacity to punish perpetrators and protect victims. Victims' rights 
groups were critical, however, of the law's conditional provision of 
postexposure 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 waiting rooms and counseling for 
victims. During the year the NPA's Sexual Offenses and Community 
Affairs Unit (SOCA) opened seven and operated 17 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.
    The number of courts for sexual offenses decreased from 64 to 42 
during the year. While the NPA made no official statement on the 
decrease, it did appear to some stakeholders that support for dedicated 
sexual offenses courts was eroding and that some of the previously 
dedicated courts were hearing other types of cases. Subsequently, 
sexual offenses cases took longer to resolve, were harder to track for 
case managers, and the conviction rate within the sexual offenses 
courts, which was previously the highest in the country, decreased. The 
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 50 percent. In their November report 
to the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional 
Development, the NPA outlined its desire to increase the number of 
sexual offenses courts.
    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. According to a 2008 
study by SAPS and the Centre for the Study of Violence and 
Reconciliation, only 4.1 percent of reported cases resulted in 
convictions. One in every eight suspects was under the age of 17. In 
rape cases involving victims under the age of 16, one of every 10 cases 
resulted in a conviction.
    On June 10, seven men were found guilty of the 2005 rape of a woman 
known as Buyisiwe; the case had been postponed more than 20 times. On 
September 4, the men were sentenced to between 17 and 20 years' 
imprisonment each.
    Domestic violence was pervasive and included physical, sexual, 
emotional, and verbal abuse, as well as harassment and stalking by 
former partners. The Domestic Violence Act of 1998 defines victims of 
domestic violence (including persons who are not in legal or common-law 
marriages), 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.
    According to NGOs, about one in four women were in an abusive 
relationship, but few reported it. A June report released by the 
Medical Research Council found that more than two-fifths of men 
interviewed in KZN and the Eastern Cape Province 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 August 9 
National Women's Day, the government hosted numerous events focused on 
empowering women in government, health, sports, and the arts.
    Prostitution is illegal but was widespread and practiced openly. 
Women were trafficked to, from, and within the country for exploitation 
in prostitution. Calls by some government officials to legalize 
prostitution in advance of the International Federation of Association 
Football (FIFA) World Cup in 2010 did not gather momentum. In September 
Cape Town created a vice squad to ``clean up'' the city's brothels. On 
October 7, the vice squad arrested 17 suspected sex workers. On October 
16, they closed two brothels in Goodwood.
    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, and 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 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. Women were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections, including 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. A 
constitutional court ruling in June 2008 upholding a tribe's decision 
to allow Tinyiko Shilubana to succeed her father as chief was 
criticized by traditional authorities who said the verdict contravened 
African custom.
    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 provided incentive 
grants to promote the development of small and medium-size businesses 
and microenterprises for women, young persons, and persons with 
disabilities.
    According to the Businesswomen's Association's annual census, the 
number of women in top leadership positions remained constant. Women 
held only 18.6 percent of executive-level and 14.6 percent of director-
level positions. The government's Labor Force Survey published in July 
indicated unemployment among women was higher than among men, at 25.7 
percent versus 21.8 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 presidential Office of the Status of Women, and numerous NGOs 
monitored and promoted women's rights.

    Children.--The government was generally committed to children's 
rights and welfare. 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. According to Social Development Minister Edna Molewa, 
more than nine million children were receiving social welfare grants. 
The government's 2008 budget extended child support grants from age 14 
to 15; however, it was sometimes difficult for children, particularly 
those in rural areas or without documentation, to obtain access to 
health care facilities and other programs.
    The law provides for access to education for disadvantaged 
children, traditionally black children, through a uniform system for 
the organization, governance, and funding of schools. It 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. 
However, public education is fee based and the government does not 
fully subsidize education. Even when children qualified for fee 
exemptions, low-income parents had difficulty paying for uniforms, 
books, and supplies. Some children, therefore, were enrolled in school 
but did not attend.
    According to the 2007 Education Statistics Report by the Department 
of Education, 91 percent of grade 1-12 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 15, when 
eligibility for the Child Support Grant ends. There were an equal 
number of boys and girls in grades 1-12, with boys slightly 
outnumbering girls in primary school (grades 1-7), but 3 to 4 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 of girls at school by teachers, students, and 
other persons in the school community. The law requires schools to 
disclose sexual abuse to the authorities; however, administrators often 
concealed sexual violence or delayed disciplinary action. The level of 
sexual violence in schools also increased the risk for girls of 
contracting HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as 
unwanted pregnancies.
    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 20 percent of maternal deaths and 40 
percent of deaths of children under age five. HIV/AIDS activists, 
physicians, and opposition parties continued to criticize the 
government for failing to provide antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to all 
pregnant and breastfeeding women and thereby protect young children 
from HIV/AIDS transmission. 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 crimes continued to impede the delivery of needed services 
to young victims. According to the 2008-09 SAPS report, 20,141 children 
were victims of all sexual offenses between April and December 2007, 
843 were killed, and 12,422 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, girls have a one-in-four risk, and boys a one-in-five risk, 
of being raped before age 16. According to a June report released by 
Solidarity, the country's largest independent trade union, 45 percent 
of all rapes were perpetrated against children, a child was raped every 
three minutes, and more than 88 percent of child rapes were never 
reported to the police.
    The country had a low conviction rate for rape and child abuse. 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 judges 
discretion to issue more lenient sentences. The traditional practice of 
``ukuthewala,'' the forced marriage of girls as young as 12 to adult 
men, continued in remote villages in the Eastern Cape.
    Penalties for child prostitution include fines and imprisonment of 
up to 20 years. The country was a destination for child sex tourism. 
The law prohibits child pornography and provides for penalties 
including fines and imprisonment up to six years. The Film and 
Publication Board ran a web site 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. 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.
    The Department of Health in the Eastern Cape provided surgeons, 
health officials, and vehicles during the June initiation season to 
monitor initiation practices. Nonetheless, 52 circumcision-related 
deaths, more than double the total in the previous year, and several 
penis amputations at the hands of unmonitored practitioners were 
reported in the Eastern Cape during the June initiation period, 
according to press reports. Twenty-six boys died in the Eastern Cape 
during December, the first month of the summer initiation period. From 
2001 through 2007, the Eastern Cape recorded nearly 2,600 hospital 
admissions, 156 genital mutilations or amputations, and 232 deaths due 
to dehydration and infection from unsafe and unsterile procedures. Two 
boys died in Limpopo Province as a result of botched circumcisions. 
Eleven illegal traditional surgeons were arrested and charged with 
culpable homicide and illegal circumcision during the winter 
circumcision season.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit trafficking in 
persons for all purposes, and there were reports that persons were 
trafficked to, from, through, and within the country. The government is 
limited to the use of piecemeal provisions of various laws to prosecute 
traffickers. The Prevention of Organized Crime Act of 1998 can be 
applied to trafficking, as can specific laws against child labor and 
forced labor. The SOA makes interim provisions outlawing trafficking 
for purposes of sexual exploitation, in addition to creating new or 
expanded statutory offenses applicable to all forms of sexual violation 
of children and the mentally disabled and provisions for prosecutions 
of extraterritorial sexual exploitation. The 2005 Children's Act 
prohibits ``the recruitment, sale, supply, transportation, transfer, 
harboring or receipt of children, within or across the borders of the 
Republic.'' The law also prohibits the commercial sexual exploitation 
of children, sexual intercourse with children under 16, or permitting a 
female under 16 to stay in a brothel for the purpose of prostitution. 
The maximum penalty for violations of the law is 20 years in prison. 
The Children's Amendment Act of 2007 addresses unlawful child labor in 
extreme forms such as slavery and commercial sexual exploitation; 
however, the act was not fully implemented.
    The country was a source, transit point, and destination for the 
trafficking of persons, including children, from other countries in 
Africa, Asia, and Europe for prostitution and forced labor. Domestic 
and international organized crime syndicates trafficked women in and 
out of the country for use in the sex industry, and girls were 
exploited for sex or domestic servitude. Young men were trafficked 
internally and across borders chiefly for agricultural work, but also 
for street vending, crime, begging, and prostitution.
    The precise extent of trafficking operations was unknown, but a 
substantial number of persons were believed to be trafficked annually 
both internally and across borders. Of the 306 total victims directly 
assisted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) from 
2004 through December, most were Thai (153), Congolese (36), Zimbabwean 
(29), South African (25), Mozambican (20), Indian (12), and Chinese 
(11). From 2005 through November, IOM assisted 57 child victims of 
trafficking, almost half of whom were from the Democratic Republic of 
Congo.
    Trafficked women and children forced to work in the commercial sex 
industry often lived with other trafficked victims in segregated areas. 
They were frequently under constant surveillance; usually had no money 
or identifying documents; were often in debt to the agents who arranged 
their travel; often worked long hours--in some cases up to 18 hours 
each day and on weekends and when ill; and sometimes were fined by 
their traffickers for infractions of arbitrary rules. Young men 
trafficked for forced agricultural labor, were often subjected to 
violence and food rationing.
    Children were especially vulnerable to trafficking for sexual and 
labor purposes and remained relatively unprotected from exploitation. 
The trafficking of Mozambican, Malawian, and Zimbabwean children for 
agricultural labor resulted in the children's deportation as illegal 
aliens without appropriate protections. The government began to address 
the growing problem of child sex tourism, for which girls and boys were 
trafficked internally and across borders. For example, in conjunction 
with the June FIFA Confederations Cup and in advance of the 2010 FIFA 
World Cup, provincial governments developed action plans and mobilized 
antitrafficking teams to protect children. The government issued 
guidelines on how to identify at-risk children and police were trained 
to identify suspicious activity.
    According to the NPA, which leads government efforts to combat 
trafficking, Chinese traffickers made Johannesburg a regional hub for 
collecting victims from Lesotho, Mozambique, and Swaziland for 
exploitation locally and in other cities. Trafficking from neighboring 
Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe was believed by 
law enforcement officials to be on the rise. Nigerian syndicates 
reportedly began moving trafficked women to the United States where 
they were exploited to attract African migrant clientele. The flow of 
trafficked Thai women to South Africa appeared to decrease during the 
year, potentially due to pressure by law enforcement. According to law 
enforcement officials, new brothels proliferated near football stadiums 
in advance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Many of the new venues undertook 
recruitment drives, for both willing sex workers and trafficking 
victims.
    In most cases traffickers lured foreign women with phony promises 
of employment, marriage, or educational opportunities abroad. 
Traffickers often lured the children of poor families with fraudulent 
promises of jobs, education, or a better way of life. Victims, who 
might have been kidnapped or forced to follow their traffickers, were 
subjected to threats of violence, withholding of documents, and debt 
bondage to ensure compliance.
    Although the country had 42 sexual offenses courts with authority 
to handle trafficking cases, the lack of clear and complete 
antitrafficking legislation inhibited prosecutions. However, the 
amended SOA provides some specific protections to trafficking victims 
by stipulating that victims cannot be charged with crimes, such as 
immigration violations or prostitution, which are the direct result of 
their having been trafficked. Following awareness and sensitivity 
training conducted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, IOM, and 
others, police treatment of trafficking victims improved. However, 
extensive pretrial delays caused some trafficking victims not to 
testify at the trials of their alleged traffickers.
    On March 24, after a month-long investigation by a newly formed 
provincial task team comprising members of the organized crime unit, 
the NPA, and child prostitution experts, police arrested several 
businessmen linked to a child prostitution ring in Durban. The 
businessmen were charged under the human trafficking and child 
pornography provisions of the SOA. The investigation into the 
prostitution ring and the case were pending at year's end.
    On November 26, Giang Broodryk, a Thai citizen, was arrested for 
allegedly assisting girls from Thailand to enter the country illegally. 
She was denied bail by the Rustenburg Magistrate's Court. Brooderyk 
allegedly promised the girls employment in her massage parlor but then 
forced them to work as prostitutes in her brothel; the case was pending 
at year's end.
    According to the IOM, the prosecution concluded argument during the 
year in the trial of Mozambican Aldina dos Santos, which began in 2008. 
There were no further developments at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2008 alleged trafficking cases 
involving a Sierra Leonean child trafficker in Durban and five Nigerian 
traffickers of Nigerian women.
    Corruption within the police, immigration, customs, and private 
services at the international airports impeded interdiction efforts. 
Traffickers reportedly bribed officials to help them move victims out 
of transit areas to avoid detection. The DHA dismissed immigration 
officers for involvement in trafficking and for petty corruption 
relating to trafficking. The border police, SAPS, and judicial 
officials received additional antitrafficking training during the year, 
but confusion by officials between smuggling and trafficking remained a 
problem.
    The NPA's SOCA unit leads an interagency task force to formulate 
new strategies for dealing comprehensively with trafficking in persons. 
The NPA subcontracted IOM to conduct training workshops for hundreds of 
social workers and government officials to improve recognition of 
trafficking victims, care and attention to victims, and referrals of 
cases to authorities. The government commissioned the Human Sciences 
Research Council to research the scale and nature of trafficking.
    In conjunction with the June FIFA Confederations Cup, local 
governments established Provincial Joint Operation Command Centers 
staffed by NGOs, youth workers, and police. The centers reported to the 
National Joint Operation Command Center to protect and assist children 
at risk of becoming trafficking victims. The government also mobilized 
antitrafficking teams of police, issued guidelines on how to identify 
children being recruited for trafficking, and trained police to 
identify suspicious activity.
    The NPA maintained a witness protection unit headed by a special 
director of public prosecutions, but it relied heavily on NGOs to 
provide witness protection for trafficking victims. Some domestic 
victims of trafficking were placed in government facilities for the 
sexually abused. The government continued to fund private shelters that 
provided short- and long-term health care, counseling, and legal 
support to trafficking victims.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination on the 
basis of both physical 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. 
General responsibility for the rights of persons with disabilities fell 
within the Department of Health, with individual NGOs advocating for 
the rights of persons with specific disabilities such as blindness.
    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 3.4 percent of the 
general population, but only an estimated 0.02 percent of the public 
service workforce. The law does not allow persons with mental 
disabilities to vote.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Although not as pervasive as in 
the previous year, xenophobic attacks on foreign African migrants and 
ethnic minorities occurred and sometimes resulted in displacement (see 
section 2.d.). Civil society organizations criticized the government 
for failing to address the root causes of the violence, provide 
opportunities for conflict resolution in affected communities, or 
undertake investigations and prosecutions on a scale necessary to deter 
additional attacks.
    On May 24, a mob in Darling set fire to a shop belonging to Omar 
Josef and Hazim Amad, both Somalis. Josef and Amad were killed in the 
fire; an investigation continued at year's end.
    On June 6, several taxi drivers beat a refugee near the Nyanga 
Refugee Reception Center and ripped his clothes off. No further action 
was taken in the case.
    On June 15, Angolan refugee Sebastian Santana was stabbed to death 
by an unidentified man on a bridge near the Nyanga Refugee Reception 
Center when he resisted an attempted robbery. Angolan refugee leader 
Joao Nascimento told a local newspaper that Santana was on his way to 
the center to renew his papers when he was approached by the man and 
told to go back to his country. Police opened an investigation into the 
killing; there were no new developments by year's end.
    On June 22, hundreds of Franschhoek residents stoned Somali-owned 
businesses over disputed food prices. Four foreign-owned shops were 
damaged and one Somali businessman was injured during the attack. The 
police dispersed the crowd with rubber bullets. Three men were charged 
with public violence, and an investigation continued at year's end. 
Police reported that they increased patrols in the area.
    On December 7, residents of the Westernburg Township outside 
Polokwane attacked Zimbabwean nationals with sticks, knives, and 
stones. Six men were seriously injured. Residents blamed Zimbabweans 
for a spate of robberies, murders, and rapes in the township. More than 
200 persons sought shelter at the Peter Mokoba Stadium under heavy 
police guard. Police arrested 12 suspects for public violence and 
assault; there were no further developments by year's end. All of the 
displaced persons returned home or found other housing by year's end.
    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 2007 
Employment Equity Analysis reported that Blacks remained 
underrepresented, particularly at the professional and managerial 
levels. According to the report, Blacks held only 22.2 percent of top 
management positions and approximately 36.5 percent of 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.
    In June 2008 the Pretoria High Court ruled in favor of the Chinese 
Association of South Africa's petition that ethnically Chinese South 
African citizens be defined as Black in legislation benefiting 
previously disadvantaged groups such as the Broad-Based Economic 
Empowerment Act and the Employment Equity Act.
    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.

    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. In the late 1990s, the Khomani, one of the last 
surviving San communities, reclaimed most of their land rights by 
lodging a claim with the Commission for the Restitution of Land Rights. 
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 November 2008, the Human Sciences Research 
Council found widespread public intolerance of homosexuality activity, 
which was commonly labeled ``un-African,'' with 80 percent of 
respondents believing sex between two same-gender persons was 
``wrong.''
    Rights groups reported that the LGBT community was subject to 
societal abuses including hate crimes, gender violence targeting 
lesbians, and killings. The NGO People Opposed to Women Abuse reported 
that attacks increased during the year and estimated that a lesbian was 
killed every three months in the country's townships. On September 22, 
Themba Mvubu was sentenced to life in prison for the April 2008 gang 
rape, robbery and murder of Eudy Simelane, a former player on the 
national women's soccer team and well-known lesbian activist. 
Khumbulani Magagula and Johannes Mahlangu, who were arrested with 
Mvuba, were acquitted based on testimony that the two were present but 
did not participate. The fourth accused, Thato Mphiti, was sentenced on 
February 13 to 32 years in prison for murder, robbery, and being an 
accomplice to rape.
    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; there were no further developments.

    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 began 
to decline but remained a general problem.
    In May 2008 the Constitutional Court ruled that SANDF must conduct 
individualized health assessments of members of the armed forces and 
SANDF could not exclude HIV-positive persons from recruitment, external 
deployments, or promotions.

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 are governed by provisions in the 
National Defence Bill that state that the unions cannot affiliate with 
any of the existing union federations and that they do not have the 
right to strike. A labor court and labor appeals court enforced the 
right of association. As of March trade union membership was estimated 
at three million, or approximately 35 percent of the population 
employed in the formal sector.
    Labor laws extend to farm workers. The National African Farmers' 
Union received no complaints of harassment of union representatives. 
The DOL and unions enlisted the cooperation of AgriSA, the national 
farmers' organization, to educate farmers about workers' rights and to 
improve working conditions. According to Cosatu's 2006 report, only 10 
percent of the workers in the agricultural labor force were unionized.
    The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised 
this right; however, workers considered to be providing essential 
services were prohibited from striking. Essential services were those 
deemed vital to the public's safety or health, such as police and 
military, prison wardens, firefighters, emergency health workers and 
maintenance workers providing critical services. Disputes between 
workers in essential services and their employers that are not resolved 
through collective bargaining, independent mediation, or conciliation 
are referred to arbitration or the labor courts.
    Police occasionally used excessive force that resulted in injury 
against protesters during the year, particularly during the April to 
August period of wage negotiations for civil servants and subsequent 
strikes. On August 13, police used rubber bullets and tear gas to 
disperse a strike by municipal street cleaners and garbage collectors, 
who are barred from striking under the law, over a wage dispute.
    On August 26, in Pretoria, a wage protest by the South African 
Security Force Union and the South African National Defense Union 
turned violent as 3,000 soldiers, who were union members but barred 
from striking under the law, attempted to gain access to the Union 
Buildings, the official seat of the government, to demand a 30 percent 
wage increase. Protesters armed with rocks, bottles, and petrol bombs 
hurled them at police and bystanders. Police attempted to disperse the 
protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas. The government 
subsequently launched a review of the soldiers' right to strike, and a 
decision was pending at year's end.
    Some workers were dismissed for participating in strikes during the 
year. On February 2, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union reported 
that 60 percent of the Johannesburg Metro Police went on strike 
regarding the Occupational Specific Dispensation wage negotiations, a 
2007 wage and promotion package signed with the government but only 
partially implemented in during the year following mass actions by 
public sector workers. The union reported that some workers were 
dismissed for participating in an illegal strike.

    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. Women and children were 
trafficked for prostitution, and domestic servitude. Young men were 
trafficked for forced labor in the agricultural sector (see section 6).

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor is prohibited by law. However, child labor was widespread 
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 the levels had remained relatively 
stable since the General Household Survey began in 2002.
    Child labor was almost nonexistent in the formal and developed 
sectors of the economy. In the informal sector, children were engaged 
in the worst forms of child labor; reports indicated that these 
practices were most common in the sex trade industry, followed by the 
domestic sector. Children worked in subsistence and commercial farms 
and family business, particularly in former homeland areas. 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 commit robberies, including armed 
robbery, and sell drugs. Children were trafficked within the country 
for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, 
forced street vending, begging, crime, and agriculture, and for 
``muthi'' (the removal of their organs for traditional medicine). Local 
criminal rings and street gangs organized child prostitution.
    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. Violation of laws 
regulating child employment is punishable by a maximum prison sentence 
of three years or a fine of 15,000 rand ($2,030). 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. However, the single 
largest factor in reducing child labor remained the government's 250 
rand ($34) per month Child Support Grant to primary care givers of 
children under the age of 15.

    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 the retail sector, 
farm laborers, domestic workers, and taxi (minibus) drivers. The 
minimum wage for farm workers was approximately 6.31 rand ($.85) per 
hour. The minimum hourly wages for domestic workers employed more than 
27 hours per week ranged from 4.85 rand ($.65) to 7.06 rand ($.95). 
Depending on the province, compliance with the minimum wage rate 
generally ranged from 65 to 90 percent, according to 2007 DOL figures. 
Minimum wages did not provide a decent standard of living for a worker 
and family; the government undertook other actions to alleviate 
poverty, including annual above inflation mandatory wage increases for 
farm workers, exemptions from school fees, and improved access to 
health care.
    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 wage 
increases to compensate for rising inflation and price hikes. Local 
government employees received a 13 percent increase and national and 
provincial public servants received a 12 percent increase, which was 
above the August inflation rate. Such negotiated wages were generally 
sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and 
family; however, this was not the case in sectors where workers were 
not organized sufficiently to engage in collective bargaining. As a 
result, many unskilled or rural workers were unable to provide an 
adequate standard of living for themselves and their families. 
Following the April elections, the Ministry of Rural Development and 
Land Reform was established to assist with poverty and unemployment 
alleviation in rural areas.
    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. On May 1, 
the government suspended deportations of Zimbabweans, introduced a 90-
day visa-free entry for Zimbabwean nationals and an associated right to 
work, and proposed longer-term permits for Zimbabweans already in the 
country under the Immigration Act; however, the new permit had not been 
implemented by year's end. In March 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 (DME) 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 where 
processes were dangerous and sometimes deadly. The law provides for the 
right of mine employees to remove themselves from work deemed dangerous 
to health or safety. 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.
    The 2008 DME Presidential Mine Audit reported 220 mining deaths in 
2007; the mines subsequently underwent a DME compliance inspection. In 
November 2008 parliament passed amendments to the Mine Health and 
Safety Act, making employers liable for heavy fines or imprisonment for 
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. In February 2007 Human Rights Watch 
reported low wages, a lack of basic services in farm workers' housing, 
and inadequate education for workers' dependents. Farm owners continued 
to evict workers legally and illegally. There was a lack of compliance 
with labor legislation and significant violence and crime against farm 
workers and farm owners. Health and safety regulations often were not 
observed when chemicals were used in agricultural work.

                               __________

                                 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 CPA calls for national elections to be 
held in 2009; however, elections did not occur during the year. 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), the political wing of the Sudan People's 
Liberation Army (SPLA) led predominantly by Christians and 
practitioners of traditional indigenous religions from the south. The 
most recent national elections were held in 2000; Bashir was reelected, 
and his political party won 340 out of 360 seats in the parliament in 
deeply flawed elections boycotted by all major opposition parties. The 
SPLM is the ruling party of the semiautonomous Government of Southern 
Sudan (GOSS), established in 2005. The GOSS ratified a separate 
constitution in 2005. A referendum to determine whether the south will 
become an independent entity is scheduled for 2011. The country 
experienced several violent conflicts during the year. While civilian 
authorities in the north generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces and government-aligned militia outside of Darfur, there 
were frequent instances in which elements of the security forces and 
government-aligned militia acted independently in Darfur. In the south, 
civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of security 
forces, but there were frequent instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently.
    Conflict and human rights abuses in Darfur continued despite the 
2006 Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) between the government and Minni 
Minawi's faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army. Civilians in 
Darfur continued to suffer from the consequences of genocide. 
Government forces and government-aligned militia continued to kill 
civilians; the government continued to bomb civilian areas. Women and 
girls experienced continued gender-based violence. The government 
supported Chadian rebel groups. Darfur rebel groups committed serious 
abuses. According to the UN nearly 2.7 million civilians have been 
internally displaced, and over 250,000 refugees have fled to 
neighboring Chad since the conflict in Darfur began in 2003. The UN 
estimated in 2006 that 200,000 persons had died as a result of the 
conflict, and that by 2008 up to 100,000 more may have died.
    On March 4, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest 
warrant for President Bashir as an indirect perpetrator or as an 
indirect coperpetrator of five counts of crimes against humanity--
murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape--and two 
counts of war crimes--intentionally directing attacks against a 
civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking 
part in hostilities, and pillaging in Darfur between March 2003 and 
July 2008. Following the announcement, the government expelled 13 
humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from the country. The 
government also shut down three Sudanese NGOs in March. The expulsions 
and closures decreased the provision of humanitarian and development 
assistance, particularly in Darfur and the Three Areas (Abyei, Blue 
Nile, and Southern Kordofan).
    Interethnic fighting and attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army 
(LRA) resulted in an estimated 2,500 deaths and the displacement of 
359,000 persons during the year in the south. Tensions over CPA 
implementation persisted between the north and the south. Fighting 
between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and SPLA members in Malakal 
resulted in civilian deaths.
    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 humanitarian 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 IDPs; harassment and closure of 
human rights organizations; violence and discrimination against women, 
including female genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse, including 
sexual violence and recruitment of child soldiers, particularly in 
Darfur; preventing international human rights observers from traveling 
to/within Sudan; trafficking in persons; discrimination and violence 
against ethnic minorities; denial of workers' rights; and forced and 
child labor.
    In Darfur government-aligned militias killed and injured civilians, 
including during attacks on villages; raped women and children; 
destroyed and looted civilian property; and used child soldiers.
    Rebel factions and bandits in Darfur killed and abducted civilians, 
humanitarian workers, and United Nations--African Union Mission in 
Darfur (UNAMID) personnel; beat and raped civilians; and recruited and 
used child soldiers.
    In Southern Sudan, serious human rights abuses were reported during 
the year, including extrajudicial killings, physical abuse, and rape of 
persons by the SPLA; poor prison and detention center conditions; 
arbitrary arrest; lengthy pretrial detention; use of child soldiers; 
abduction of women and children; restrictions on media freedom; forced 
evictions without due process; and child labor. Interethnic violence 
was a severe problem.
    The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attacked villages and killed and 
abducted civilians in the south.
                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were numerous 
reports that the government and its agents committed arbitrary and 
unlawful killings. Government forces, government-aligned militias, and 
rebels killed civilians in connection with the conflict in Darfur (see 
section 1.g.).
    For example, SAF and SPLA forces, and the LRA killed civilians in 
the south (see section 1.g.). Interethnic conflict in the south 
significantly increased and resulted in civilian deaths (see section 
1.g.). Interethnic conflict in Darfur killed civilians. (see section 
1.g.).
    There were no reported developments regarding civilians killed by 
fighting between the government and rebels during the May 2008 Justice 
and Equality Movement (JEM) attack on Omdurman.
    There were also no developments regarding persons killed by the 
National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Khartoum and 
Omdurman following the attack.
    There were no developments regarding protestors killed by security 
forces in 2008.
    SPLA soldiers committed extrajudicial killings.
    On May 19, in Pibor, SPLA soldiers indiscriminately fired at 
civilians and their homes, killing five civilians and injuring three 
other persons. The SPLA claimed that an unknown gunman shot and injured 
a soldier near their barracks prior to the incident. Five soldiers were 
detained in SPLA headquarters in Panpandiar, pending military 
investigation.
    There were developments in the June 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.
    Nine civilians reportedly died due to landmines in the south during 
the year. The government continued to cooperate with the UN Mine Action 
Group to remove landmines in the south.
    There were developments in the January 2008 killings of diplomat 
John Granville and driver Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama. In June a court 
convicted four suspects of the killings. On October 12, the four were 
sentenced to death. According to a UN report, they were held 
incommunicado for a month after their arrest in 2008, and the 
defendants claimed that they were tortured during that initial period 
of detention. A fifth man, who provided weapons for the attack, was 
convicted of arms offenses. Authorities released him for time served in 
jail.

    b. Disappearance.--The government was responsible for politically 
and ethnically motivated disappearances.
    There was one reported development regarding the up to 2,500 cases 
of Darfuris detained by the NISS following the May 2008 JEM attack. By 
the end of 2008 authorities had released most of the detainees, but 
several hundred were still reported missing at the end of that year. On 
April 5, authorities released Barood Sandal, a prominent human rights 
lawyer arrested in the days following the May 2008 attack, after the 
prosecutor dismissed the case for lack of evidence. NISS agents 
immediately arrested him again and held him until April 23.
    There were no 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 May 
2008. As of year's end his whereabouts were unknown.
    An estimated 15,000 Dinka women and children were abducted from 
villages in Southern Sudan, mainly from 1983 to 1999; thousands of 
these persons remain unaccounted for. In contrast with the previous 
year, the government Committee to Eradicate the Abduction of Women and 
Children (CEAWC) did not receive government funding and did not return 
any previously abducted persons. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) 
estimated that 4,000 Dinka abductees remained in South Darfur.
    Gunmen in Darfur abducted humanitarian workers and UNAMID personnel 
(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 Shari'a (Islamic law), the Criminal Act provides 
for physical punishments, including flogging, amputation, stoning, and 
crucifixion--the public display of a body after execution. Under the 
Interim National Constitution, the government exempts the 10 southern 
states from Shari'a, although its application in the south occurred 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.
    On March 6, in Dongola, Northern State, the NISS arrested a man for 
publishing statements in support of the ICC arrest warrant for 
President Bashir. Authorities held the man for six days and beat and 
tortured him, causing vision and hearing damage. He was released 
without charge on March 12.
    On June 11, at the University of Khartoum, men dressed in black 
abayas entered a women's dormitory and assaulted 15 Darfuri women. The 
five most severely injured students sought medical treatment, but 
police forced them to leave the hospital. The NISS detained many of the 
assaulted women, as well as others from the same dormitory. Authorities 
beat them during the detention and later released them without charge. 
During the attack the women tackled one assailant and held him for 
authorities, but authorities freed him and did not file charges.
    On December 7, police arrested and beat SPLM Head of Northern 
Sector Yassir Arman, as well as others, following a protest in front of 
the National Assembly. Security forces arrested 266 persons in protests 
in several cities the same day, as well as arrested and used excessive 
force to disperse protesters on December 14 (see sections 2.a. and 
2.b.).
    There were no developments in the 2008 cases of the secretary of 
legal affairs for the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA), 
Abdelaziz Sam, and three of his family members; journalist and head of 
the Darfur Journalist Association Al-Ghali Shegifat; and human rights 
activists Moniem El Gak, Osman Hummaida, and Amir Suleiman, whom the 
NISS detained and abused.
    Indecent dress is punishable by a maximum of forty lashes, by a 
fine, or both. Authorities in the north sometimes applied this law 
against women (see section 2.c.); they did not apply it against men.
    Police and NISS officers forcibly dispersed protestors, which 
resulted in serious injuries (see section 2.b).
    Security forces in the south abused civilians, including two 
political party members (see section 3).
    There were developments regarding the 2008 case in which the SPLA 
military police detained eight third-country nationals suspected of 
stealing SPLA payroll funds and reportedly abused four of them. The 
SPLA reported that the commander and the deputy commander were 
reassigned for failure to properly supervise and train soldiers, and 
that a sergeant was permanently dismissed due to wrongfully treating 
persons in custody.
    There were no developments in the March 2008 shooting of an SAF 
soldier trying to escape an unofficial SPLA detention facility or the 
June 2008 case of an SPLA captain detained for beating a foreign 
national.
    There were cases in which Southern Sudan Police Services (SPSS) 
officers and SPLA officers reportedly raped women, including with 
impunity.
    For example, on July 19, in Warrab State, an SPLA soldier raped a 
woman. The woman and her husband reported the assault to the police and 
the SPLA Military Intelligence Unit, but the commander denied that one 
of his soldiers had committed the act, and no action was taken.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
throughout the country remained harsh and overcrowded. Almost all 
prisons lacked basic facilities such as toilets and showers. Health 
care was primitive; prisoners usually relied on family or friends for 
food. Officials continued to arbitrarily deny visits to prisoners.
    The government routinely mistreated persons in custody. There were 
credible reports that 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, according to Amnesty International, Ahmed Suleiman 
Sulman, one of the 103 persons sentenced to death by antiterrorism 
courts in relation to the May 2008 JEM attack, died on October 21 from 
tuberculosis in a police hospital after being transferred there from 
Kober Prison. Amnesty International stated that authorities did not 
provide him access to appropriate medical care, that his body showed 
signs of torture, and that the NGO had received reports that he was 
suffering from a mental illness during his trial.
    Men and women were not held together in the north. Juveniles often 
were held with adults 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.
    The government allowed some restricted visits to prisons by human 
rights observers in the north. 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.
    Prisons in Southern Sudan provided inmates with at least one meal 
per day. The Prisons Directorate of Southern Sudan (SSPD) provided 
separate quarters for male and female prisoners and usually housed 
juveniles in separate cells. In contrast with the previous year, there 
were no reports that prison labor was used for the construction of 
private residences for SPLM officials.
    Pretrial detainees were generally held in jails separate from 
convicted prisoners in the south. Detention centers in Southern Sudan 
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 UN reported that the SPLA held persons in jails in Kurmuk and 
Samir in Blue Nile State, and that persons held there reported torture 
and abuse.
    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, and Shagil 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 IDP camp during the year.

    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. In Southern Sudan, 
arbitrary arrests and detention were common. While the law does not 
provide the SPLA 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 also has a presence in the south. The NISS also controlled 
the Central Reserve Police (CRP). The Ministry of Defense's Border 
Intelligence Force, a loosely organized force composed of former 
janjaweed fighters, also operated in Darfur.
    Security force corruption was a problem, and security force members 
supplemented their incomes by extorting bribes.
    The SPSS has responsibility for law enforcement in the south under 
the interim GOSS 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. 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 
GOSS constitution, except when requested by civil authorities due to 
necessity; however, the SPLA detained persons, including in SPLA-run 
detention facilities.
    The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) regularly trained SSPS and SPLA 
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 30 days with the approval of the prosecuting attorney. Under 
the National Security Act, which superseded the Criminal Code, an 
individual accused of violating national security may be detained for 
three months without charge, and the director of security may extend 
this period for another three months. In practice, indefinite 
detentions were common. 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. In Southern Sudan, under the GOSS 2008 Criminal Procedures 
Code, a warrant issued by a duly authorized official is required for an 
arrest, although arbitrary arrests occurred. Police may detain 
individuals for 24 hours without charge in the south. Detainees in the 
south were generally informed of charges against them.
    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. Persons 
in the south were not always informed regarding their right to access 
to a lawyer, and there was an insufficient number of lawyers.
    Individuals were arbitrarily arrested and detained. The NISS 
committed numerous arbitrary arrests. Authorities often detained 
persons for a few days before releasing them without charge, but many 
persons were held for much longer.
    Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists, NGO 
members, and political opponents (see sections 1.e., 1.g., 2.a., and 
5).
    There were reports that some businessmen were held in detention 
without due process for failure to pay back large loans to Sudanese 
financial institutions.
    Security forces frequently arbitrarily arrested and detained 
university students (see section 1.b.).
    In April authorities reportedly arrested several Darfuri university 
students who were members of the United People's Front party. At year's 
end they remained detained without charge at Kober Prison. They did not 
have access to legal representation.
    Security forces in the north often targeted southern women in IDP 
camps because they produced and sold traditional home-brewed alcohol 
beverages; these women were arrested and imprisoned for up to six 
months under Shari'a.
    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. In Southern Sudan trial delays 
also resulted in unreasonably lengthy pretrial detentions, and persons 
were not provided prompt access to lawyers.
    The government routinely imposed house arrest without due process.

    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. The 
judiciary was inefficient and subject to corruption.
    An executive-level judiciary committee recommends and the president 
appoints the chief justice and justices of the Supreme Court. The 
president appoints the Constitutional Court's seven members. On 
occasion courts displayed a degree of independence. However, political 
interference with the courts was commonplace.
    The judicial system includes four types of courts: regular, 
military, special, and tribal. In the regular court system, there are 
civil and criminal courts, appeals courts, and the Supreme Court. 
Military courts tried only military personnel and did not provide the 
same rights as civilian and criminal courts. 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; 
however, the courts did not function during the year. Tribal courts 
functioned in rural areas to resolve disputes over land and water 
rights, and family matters.
    Antiterrorism courts set up to try persons arrested in connection 
with the May 2008 JEM attack on Omdurman continued to operate. Persons 
tried under these courts did not have the same rights as those tried in 
regular courts.
    In the south the GOSS employed a judicial system of traditional 
chiefs' courts, payam (district) courts, county judges, regional 
judges, and a court of appeals. 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. 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.

    Trial Procedures.--The Interim National Constitution and law 
provide for fair and prompt trials as well as a presumption of 
innocence; however, this was often not respected. Trials were 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 had the right to present 
evidence and witnesses; to be present in court; to confront accusers; 
and had 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 the calling of defense witnesses. 
Defendants have a right to appeal, except in military trials, where 
there is no appeal.
    Persons continued to be tried in antiterrorism courts in connection 
with the May 2008 JEM attack on Omdurman. Authorities did not permit 
defendants access to lawyers before trial, held them incommunicado for 
up to four months, and reportedly tortured defendants. From April to 
June the antiterrorism courts sentenced 53 persons to death. At year's 
end the total number of death sentences in the JEM trials was 103.
    On January 28, a court found Mohamed Alsary Ibrahim, a former 
popular police force member, guilty of planning to provide information 
to the ICC. UNMIS expressed concern that he was not provided access to 
counsel for three months, that his counsel did not have access to 
evidence against him, and that his confession was allegedly coerced.
    On April 13, authorities hung nine men who received the death 
sentence for the 2006 killing of the editor in chief of Al Wafaq, 
Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed. Observers expressed concern that their 
trials had not been fair, and defendants reported being tortured.
    In both the north and south, women were usually not allowed to 
testify as witnesses without the backing of three men.
    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 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. Witnesses 
may be permitted to appear at military trials.
    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.
    Shari'a is applied in the north, but not in the south, under the 
Interim National Constitution. However, some judges in the south 
reportedly continued to follow Shari'a legal procedures. In the south 
traditional or customary law was often used.
    In Southern Sudan observers continued to report concerns that 
persons sentenced to death often did not receive fair trials due to 
lack of capacity of the legal system and a lack of adequate legal 
representation.
    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.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The government held an 
undetermined number of political detainees. Security forces detained 
without charge, tortured, and held incommunicado political opponents. 
Detentions of such persons often were prolonged.
    On January 14, authorities arrested without charge Popular Congress 
Party (PCP) founder Hassan Abdalla al-Turabi and PCP Secretary of 
Foreign Relations Bashir Adam Rahmaand. Both were released on March 8. 
Two days before the arrests, Turabi had called for President Bashir to 
appear before the ICC.
    On February 15, authorities arrested PCP Deputy Secretary General 
Kamal Omar and subsequently sentenced him to eight months in prison for 
defamation and publication of false news. The charge was in relation to 
an article he had written in 2006 in which he claimed the NISS 
discriminated against a group of Darfuris. He spent two months in 
prison before being released upon appeal.
    The government detained persons who participated in political 
protests (see section 2.b.).
    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.

    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.
    In Darfur government armed forces, aligned militia, and rebels 
continued to kill civilians. The government continued to bomb villages 
(see section 1.g.).
    Police often entered IDP areas without a warrant in search of 
illegal alcohol brewing and often 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 Shari'a, 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 government detained persons for alleged violations by a member 
of their family.
    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 at lower levels 
than in previous years. Attacks and other acts of violence by all 
parties to the conflict resulted in civilian deaths and injuries, 
displacement, and property destruction. For example, the UN reported 
that between January and mid-May, approximately 137,000 persons in 
Darfur were displaced as a result of the conflict. Government forces 
provided support, weapons, and ammunition to government-aligned 
militias, and the government generally took no action against soldiers 
or militia members who attacked civilians. Rape and recruitment of 
child soldiers continued to be widespread.
    On March 4, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir 
as an indirect perpetrator or as an indirect coperpetrator of five 
counts of crimes against humanity--murder, extermination, forcible 
transfer, torture, and rape--and two counts of war crimes--
intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such 
or against individual civilians not taking part in hostilities, and 
pillaging in Darfur between March 2003 and July 2008. Following the 
announcement, the government expelled 13 humanitarian NGOs from the 
country. The government also shut down three Sudanese NGOs in March. 
The expulsions and closures resulted in significant gaps in food, 
shelter, health care, water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance. While 
some programs were able to continue utilizing local staff and 
government assistance, the expulsions dramatically decreased 
nonemergency humanitarian services.
    On May 7, Ahmad Muhammad Haroun, for whom the ICC issued a warrant 
of arrest in 2007 when he was then state minister for humanitarian 
affairs, was appointed the governor of Southern 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.
    The African Union High-Level Panel on Darfur, led by former South 
African president Thabo Mbeki, conducted extensive meetings and 
hearings throughout the year in Khartoum and Darfur. In October the 
panel released a report with recommendations that included the creation 
of a hybrid court of Sudanese and international judges to prosecute the 
most serious crimes committed in Darfur and a truth and reconciliation 
commission.

    Killings.--Government forces and government-aligned militias 
engaged in the deliberate killing of civilians, including continued 
aerial bombardment of civilian areas. The aerial bombardment of 
villages was often followed by ground attacks by janjaweed.
    In January in and around Muhajeria, South Darfur, fighting 
involving government forces and SLA/MM against the JEM resulted in 
deaths, injuries, and displacement of civilians. On January 14, the JEM 
attacked SLA/MM-controlled Muhajeria and took control of the town until 
February 3, when it withdrew. Government forces conducted aerial 
bombing of the area from January 22 to February 4. Two of the bombs hit 
an IDP site, killing a child. The fighting and bombing resulted in the 
almost complete displacement of the area's 30,000 residents.
    On June 27 and 28, government aerial attacks and a subsequent 
ground assault on the village of Hashaba resulted in 38 deaths.
    Beginning in early September, the SAF attacked SLA/Abdul Wahid 
(SLA/AW)-controlled Korma, North Darfur. On September 17, SLA/AW 
withdrew from Korma. Estimates on the number of civilians killed and 
displaced varied. A September 29 UNAMID assessment found that the 
fighting resulted in 13 civilian deaths and the displacement of 31,000 
persons, extensive looting, and sexual violence.
    Government security forces frequently fired on uniformed rebels in 
civilian areas, including those of DPA signatory SLA/MM.
    Conflicts between different government security forces and between 
government forces and militiamen resulted in civilian casualties.
    For example, on May 2, near Nyala, shots fired between NISS and CRP 
forces resulted in three civilian deaths.
    On May 9, in the main market area of El Fasher, shots fired between 
an SAF soldier and militiamen resulted in four civilian deaths.
    Conflicts among different rebel groups and with militia in Darfur 
resulted in civilian casualties throughout the year.
    In May JEM attacked SLA/MM positions in Gorbora and east of Um 
Barro. Reportedly, 50 civilians were killed in the clash.
    On February 8, in Wada'ah, North Darfur, fighting broke out between 
the SLA/MM and armed Mima militiamen, who opposed SLA/MM attempts to 
recruit them and to increase ``taxes'' on them. On February 10, SLA/MM 
forces attacked Wada'ah, destroying much of town and causing deaths and 
injuries. Government forces attacked SLA/MM forces on February 11 and 
gained control of the town.
    There were developments in the ICC prosecutor's November 2008 
sealed request for an arrest warrant for three rebel commanders for war 
crimes pertaining to the 2007 attack on African Union peacekeepers at 
Haskanita. On May 18, United Resistance Front in Darfur commander Bahr 
Idriss Abu Garba, alleged to have planned and executed the attack along 
with other persons, voluntarily appeared before the ICC in response to 
a summons. He was charged with three war crimes: violence to life in 
the form of murder, whether committed or attempted; intentionally 
directing attacks against personnel, installations, materials, units, 
and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission; and pillaging. On 
October 19-29, the court held confirmation hearings for the case. The 
names of the two other rebel commanders were not announced publicly 
during the year, and they did not appear before the ICC.
    Chadian armed groups, who operated openly in Darfur and were 
supplied and supported by Sudanese authorities, committed abuses in 
Darfur.
    According to an NGO report, in December Chadian rebels in North 
Darfur committed abuses including attacking villages, killing, raping, 
and looting from civilians.
    Intertribal fighting also resulted in the killings of civilians, 
particularly in South Darfur. For example, in March fighting between 
the Habaniya and Fallata tribes resulted in an unconfirmed number of 
civilian casualties.
    In North Darfur in late October, fighting between Birgit and 
Zaghawa tribesmen near Shangil Tobayi town killed 12 persons.

    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 
janjaweed, rebels, and government security forces raped women and 
children.
    In 2005 the UN noted the ``widespread and systematic'' prevalence 
of sexual violence in Darfur directed against women and girls. An 
October UN Panel of Experts report found that sexual and gender-based 
violence continued throughout Darfur. IDPs reported that perpetrators 
of such violence were often members of Arab militia, government forces, 
rebel groups, and Chadian armed opposition groups. Assailants 
assaulted, raped, threatened, shot, beat, and robbed women.
    For example, the panel noted a May 15 case, near Al Hamadiya Camp 
in Zalingei, in which three armed men gang-raped and stabbed a woman 
who was collecting firewood; the woman had been raped previously in 
2003.
    The government's expulsion of 13 NGOs resulted in closure of most 
gender-based violence programs.
    Authorities often obstructed access to justice for rape victims, 
and during the year only four soldiers were convicted of rape in 
Darfur.
    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 the period of September 2007 to December 2008 
reported that there were more than 14 Sudanese and foreign armed forces 
and groups in Darfur that recruited and used children. The majority of 
cases occurred in West Darfur. These groups included the SAF; police 
including the CRP; 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 2007 UNICEF signed an action plan with SLA/MM that committed the 
rebel group to identifying locations of child soldiers; however, SLA/MM 
continued to use child soldiers.
    Between August and July, in Northern Darfur, SLA/Free Will released 
144 child soldiers.
    There were developments in the 2008 case of children detained in 
connection with the JEM attack on Omdurman. As of December, 119 
children received pardons and were released, but some children were 
sentenced to death and remained detained at year's end.

    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.
    Immediately following the March 4 ICC announcement of the arrest 
warrant for President Bashir, the Humanitarian Affairs Commission (HAC) 
ordered 13 NGOs to depart the country within 24 hours. The government 
also shut down three Sudanese NGOs in March.
    The expulsions reduced the access of 1.5 million persons to 
healthcare; 1.16 million to water, sanitation, and hygiene; and 1.1 
million to food aid. While some programs were able to continue by 
utilizing local staff and government assistance, the expulsions 
dramatically decreased nonemergency humanitarian services.
    Following the expulsions, armed SAF and NISS officers arrived at 
the Darfur field offices of several NGOs and confiscated office 
equipment and personal possessions of NGO staff. NGOs reported that not 
all seized assets had been returned by year's end.
    According to the UN, the NISS detained four staff members of 
expelled international NGOs in South Darfur, severely beating one.
    The UN also reported that the NISS arrested, detained, and later 
released four Sudanese UNAMID staff members in the period before and 
after the ICC announcement. One was arrested on February 29 and another 
on March 6. They were both questioned regarding their work with UNAMID 
and were released after two weeks. On April 11, two other UNAMID 
national staff members were arrested. They were accused of helping the 
ICC and were beaten, deprived of sleep, threatened with death, 
subjected to painful positions, and later released.
    On April 11, authorities arrested Mohamed Al Mahjoub, director of 
the Amal Centre in El Fasher, and detained him incommunicado. He was 
released on April 17 without charge.
    IDP leaders temporarily blocked humanitarian access to Kalma camp 
in protest of the NGO expulsions.
    Despite the March 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.''
    On May 12, the NISS briefly detained 12 staff members of national 
NGOs at Zalingei airport and took possession of 177,000 Sudanese pounds 
($75,000) of project funds that the NGOs received from UNAMID.
    Policy discrepancies between Darfur state-level and Khartoum-based 
officials in the 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.
    Rebel forces and bandits obstructed humanitarian assistance, 
regularly attacked the compounds of humanitarian organizations, and 
seized humanitarian aid, assets, and vehicles. Attacks against 
humanitarian convoys increased during the year. According to the UN, 
bandits and other armed persons killed seven humanitarian workers, 
assaulted 26 humanitarians, abducted 11 humanitarians, attacked 103 
humanitarian compounds, and stole 64 humanitarian vehicles during the 
year as of September 28. Instability forced many international aid 
organizations to reduce their operations in Darfur.
    On March 11, in Saraf Umra, North Darfur, armed men abducted three 
international and two national staff of Doctors without Borders-
Belgium. They released one national staff member the same day. The 
three international staff and the other national staff member were 
released on March 14.
    On July 3, in Kutum, NGO workers Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki 
were abducted from their homes and held for 107 days.
    On October 22, armed men abducted ICRC staff member Gauthier 
Lefevre near Al Geneina, West Darfur. Authorities reportedly detained 
three persons in connection with the abduction. At year's end Lefevre 
was still being held.
    The government restricted UNAMID's movement, including its access 
to IDP camps. Government forces at times threatened to use force 
against, and fired shots toward, UNAMID forces. Between January and 
October the government restricted UNAMID's movement on at least 42 
occasions. The government was uncooperative with the UN Panel of 
Experts.
    SLA/AW also restricted UNAMID's movement. On November 4, in 
Deribat, South Darfur, SLA/AW members surrounded a UN helicopter and 
prevented it from taking off for three hours.
    According to the UN, bandits and other armed persons killed four 
UNAMID personnel, assaulted five UNAMID personnel, attacked 122 UNAMID 
structures, and stole 31 UNAMID vehicles during the year as of 
September 28. At year's end UNAMID reported that violence had killed 22 
UNAMID personnel since January 2008.
    For example, on August 29, gunmen abducted two UNAMID staff members 
from their residence in Zalingei, West Darfur. They were released on 
December 13.
    On September 29, armed men attacked a UNAMID convoy. The attack 
resulted in the death of one peacekeeper and injured two others. The 
attackers also stole one vehicle in the convoy.
    On December 4-5, unidentified assailants in North Darfur killed a 
total of five UNAMID peacekeepers in two separate incidents.
    According to the UN, nearly 2.7 million civilians had been 
internally displaced, and more than 250,000 refugees had fled to 
neighboring Chad since the conflict in Darfur began in 2003. Despite 
the signing of the DPA in 2006, continued attacks and violence in 
Darfur, perpetrated by all parties to the conflict, resulted in 
displacement during the year. For example, the UN reported that between 
January and mid-May, approximately 137,000 persons in Darfur had been 
displaced as a result of the conflict. Some existing IDPs were 
displaced for the second or third time. Darfur IDPs did not return in 
any significant numbers to their place of origin, although small-scale 
spontaneous returns to certain villages occurred.
    There were numerous reports of abuses committed by security forces, 
rebels, and militias against IDPs, including rapes, beatings, and 
attempts by the government to forcibly return or relocate persons to 
other sites. The government harassed IDPs in Darfur who spoke with 
foreign observers.
    On August 1-4, following the July killing of IDP camp leader Omer 
Adam Ishaq and his wife, authorities took 14 IDP leaders into custody. 
The IDP leaders were released on August 19, but were arrested again 
that same day. Two additional leaders were arrested in September. At 
year's end the IDP leaders remained detained without access to legal 
counsel at Shala Prison outside of El Fasher and at NISS facilities. 
Authorities charged only two of the detainees.
    Insecurity in Darfur, especially outside of IDP camps, restricted 
IDPs' freedom of movement; women and girls who left the town and camps 
risked sexual violence.
    The government forced IDPs to relocate to alternative IDP camps or 
other sites.
    There were reports that the government forced or coerced IDPs to 
return to their villages by promising food and money; however, most 
IDPs who returned to the villages to receive the assistance later 
returned to the IDP camps. Government attempts to resettle IDPs were 
generally unsuccessful.
    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.
    Rebel forces based in Chad attacked government military 
installations, resulting in civilian displacement. For example, on May 
24, in Umm Barro, North Darfur, fighting between government and JEM 
forces resulted in the displacement of 300 civilians.
    There were no developments regarding the August 2008 killings of 33 
IDPs and injuring of 108 IDPs by the CRP at Kalma IDP Camp.

    Southern Sudan.--Interethnic violence and LRA attacks in the south 
significantly increased during the year. The violence resulted in an 
estimated 2,500 deaths and the displacement of 359,000 persons.
    Tensions over CPA implementation persisted, and fighting between 
SPLA and SAF members in Malakal resulted in civilian deaths.
    On July 22, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) issued a 
determination on the boundaries of Abyei. The NCP and the SPLM 
announced they would accept the decision. Misseriya elements later 
rejected the findings. Little progress was made on demarcating the 
border due to insecurity and lack of political will. Deployment of 
joint integrated units continued, but the units did not have sufficient 
equipment or training. Few persons displaced by May and December 2008 
fighting in Abyei town returned.

    Killings.--On February 24 and 25, in Malakal, fighting between SPLA 
and SAF members of joint integrated units resulted in 31 civilian 
deaths and injuries to 21. Reports indicated that both the SPLA and the 
SAF were responsible for civilian deaths. An SAF tank reportedly fired 
into a civilian area, killing eight persons. A UN investigation 
indicated that SPLA soldiers shot six unarmed civilians from the north.
    On October 2, SPLA forces loyal to Deputy Chief of Staff Paulino 
Matiep and bodyguards for the Unity State governor, Brigadier General 
Taban Dang Gai, clashed in Bentiu, resulting in the deaths of four 
civilians, including a child, and injuries to four more.
    The LRA killed civilians in Southern Sudan, particularly in Western 
and Central Equatoria, throughout the year. According to UN agencies, 
LRA attacks killed more than 200 persons between December 2008 and 
November. They often attacked near food distribution locations.
    On January 2, LRA members attacked the village of Mboroko, killing 
18 persons and injuring eight others.
    On October 14, LRA members attacked Bambia Village in Yambio 
County, killing two women.
    On December 15, LRA members attacked Boro-Medina in Raja County, 
killing one person and abducting 13 others.
    Intertribal and intercommunal clashes, particularly in Jonglei, 
Upper Nile, Lakes, and Warrab states, increased during the year and 
resulted in civilian deaths.
    For example, between March 5 and 13, in Pibor County, Jonglei 
State, fighting between Luo Nuer and Murle tribes resulted in civilian 
deaths and displacement. The Lou Nuer reportedly attacked the Murle 
after Murle raids on Nuer cattle camps. The commissioner of Pibor 
County stated that more than 450 persons were killed, several hundred 
wounded, more than 1,000 persons displaced, and an unknown number of 
women and children abducted as a result of the fighting. The UN 
reported that 5,000 persons were displaced. GOSS President Salva Kiir 
denied the casualty rates were this high and cited only 52 deaths.
    On August 2, in Akobo County, Jonglei State, members of the Murle 
tribe attacked Lo Nuer villages, resulting in the deaths of 161 
persons.
    On September 20, in Duk Padiet, Jonglei State, at least 1,000 Luo 
Nuer tribemen attacked a Dinka village. The fighting resulted in the 
deaths of approximately 72 civilians and security force members, 
numerous injuries, and the destruction of approximately 250 homes.

    Abductions.--LRA members abducted civilians. Between December 2008 
and November, the LRA abducted approximately 150 persons in the south, 
according to the UN.
    On June 24, LRA members reportedly attacked Bariguna Payam in Ezo, 
Western Equatoria, and abducted nine men, eight women, and three 
children.
    On August 12, LRA members abducted persons during an attack in Ezo 
Town. Several humanitarians left the area as a result of the violence, 
and the UN temporarily suspended operations. As of October 
humanitarians were still unable to work in Ezo County.
    On November 12, near Sakure Town in Western Equatoria, five LRA 
members attacked the area and abducted eight men.
    Children were abducted during intertribal and intercommunal 
clashes, particularly in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Lakes, and Warrab states.

    Child Soldiers.--A UN report covering the period of September 2007 
to December 2008 cited that the SAF and SPLA used child soldiers.
    On November 20, the SPLA signed an action plan with UNICEF to end 
the use of child soldiers.
    The LRA, who used child soldiers, abducted children from Southern 
Sudan.

    Other Conflict-Related Abuses.--The order for 13 NGOs to depart 
Sudan resulted in the disruption of humanitarian services in the Three 
Areas.
    The SAF obstructed UNMIS access to areas north of Abyei Town before 
the PCA decision and continued to deny access to Heglig and Kharasana 
throughout the year.
    Intertribal conflict and LRA attacks limited the ability of 
humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to vulnerable 
populations.
    On June 12, in Upper Nile State, Jikany Nuer men attacked a World 
Food Program boat convoy that was transporting food assistance. The 
attackers killed 31 civilians and destroyed five boats; 15 boats were 
looted during the attack.
    Interethnic and LRA-related violence in the south resulted in the 
deaths of an estimated 2,500 and displacement of 359,000 persons during 
the year.
    According to the UN, approximately two million persons had returned 
to south since 2005. These persons had been displaced as a result of 
conflict, famine, and fighting during the north-south conflict.
    Few persons displaced during the May and December 2008 fighting in 
Abyei returned to the area.

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, through the NISS, continued to 
censor print and broadcast media, and harass vocal critics of the 
government. The government controlled the media through the National 
Press Council, which administered mandatory professional exams for 
journalists and editors. Journalists also practiced self-censorship.
    On June 8, the Press and Publication Law was passed. The law states 
that no restrictions will be placed on freedom of the press except on 
issues pertaining to safeguarding national security and public order 
and health. Civil society expressed concern that the new law did not 
meet international standards for freedom of expression. For example, it 
gives the National Press and Publication Council the power to shut down 
newspapers for three days without a court order.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    On February 1, authorities ordered Egyptian-Canadian journalist 
Heba Aly, who had been researching the manufacture of Sudanese weapons, 
to leave the country. Aly reportedly had been harassed by security 
officials since October 2008.
    In early March authorities deported foreign journalist Zouhir 
Latif. Prior to his deportation, he was arrested and detained for two 
days. Latif had been in Darfur before his arrest.
    Journalists were subjected to arrest, harassment, intimidation, and 
violence due to their reporting.
    On November 10, the government's National Press and Publications 
Council reportedly revoked the journalism license of Al-Wifaq editor 
Ahmed Fadallah. The following day a court suspended the revocation.
    On December 14, Rushan Oshi, a journalist for the Al-Tayier 
newspaper, was arrested while covering a political demonstration (see 
section 2.b.). She was beaten and suffered a broken finger. Authorities 
released her after several hours and charged her with disturbing the 
peace.
    The government directly censored the media.
    On February 10, March 17, and July 28, the newspaper Al-Maidan was 
reportedly not published after authorities censored articles from those 
issues.
    Official censorship prevented the publication of the newspaper 
Ajras al-Hurriya multiple times during the year.
    On September 9, the NISS censorship prevented the publication of 
the newspaper Al-Sudani.
    On September 27, President Al-Bashir issued a decree to eliminate 
the nightly direct NISS newspaper censorship that began in March 2008. 
The decree is based on a new code of honor signed by a group of editors 
and NISS officials. Other restrictions, such as calls from government 
officials to editors and writers warning of off-limit topics and 
prohibiting advertisers from placing ads in newspapers the government 
did not favor, continued.
    Authorities similarly harassed English-language newspapers whose 
primary readership was southerners.
    There were some reports of harassment of journalists in Southern 
Sudan.
    On January 13, biweekly Juba Post editor in chief Isaac Billy 
Cideon was detained for nine hours for publishing a press release in 
October 2008 accusing SPLA Major General Wilson Deng of illegally 
selling local land to Somali businessmen without community consent.
    On October 9, following false rumors that GOSS President Salva Kiir 
had died, armed SSPS officers entered the Juba compound of UNMIS and 
demanded that UNMIS Radio Miraya FM shut down temporarily following a 
taped interview with GOSS Vice President Riek Machar aimed at 
dispelling a hoax.
    On May 16, in Juba, SPLA military police reportedly briefly 
detained, searched, and questioned journalists Abdulgadir Mohammed and 
Adil Badir and confiscated their telephones.

    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. 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 frequently censored films, especially those imported 
from the West, if they were deemed offensive to public morality.

    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.
    Islamic orders associated with opposition political parties, 
particularly the Ansar (Umma Party) and Khatmiya (Democratic Unionist 
Party), continued to be denied permission to hold large public 
gatherings, but did hold 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.
    Authorities prevented persons from meeting to discuss the elections 
planned for April 2010.
    Police use of excessive force to disperse persons resulted in 
injuries.
    On March 11, at Dilling University in Southern Kordofan State, a 
group identified as students, former students, and NISS officials broke 
up an authorized student forum. The NISS officials and others attacked 
the group of approximately 200 students with sticks and iron bars. Ten 
students were reportedly injured.
    On December 7, authorities in Omdurman arrested 146 persons, 
including SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum and Head of Northern Sector 
Yassir Arman. Many, including Yassir Arman, were beaten by police. The 
arrests followed an SPLM-led demonstration aimed at delivering a memo 
to the National Assembly speaker calling for progress on pending key 
legislation needed for CPA implementation. Authorities also arrested an 
additional 120 persons in protests in the northern cities of Wad 
Madani, El Obeid, and El Hasahisa. All those arrested were released by 
the following morning.
    On December 14, police arrested several high-ranking opposition 
party members, including prominent Umma Party member Mariam Al-Sadiq, 
along with approximately 100 other protesters as the group attempted to 
march to the National Assembly following a political rally in Omdurman. 
Security forces used excessive force and tear gas to disperse the crowd 
of approximately 300 demonstrators. Authorities released those arrested 
by the following morning.
    Authorities took no action against security forces that used 
excessive force.

    Freedom of Association.--The Interim National Constitution and law 
provide for freedom of association, but the government severely 
restricted this right in practice. There were 76 officially registered 
political parties as of August 31. The law effectively prohibits 
political parties linked to armed opposition to the government. SLM/MM 
was not permitted to register. The government continued to harass some 
opposition leaders who spoke with foreign organizations or embassies.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The Interim National Constitution and law 
provide for freedom of worship throughout the country; however, the 
government continued to place restrictions on non-Muslims, non-Arab 
Muslims, and Muslims from tribes or sects not affiliated with the 
ruling party. The NCP, which originally came into power with a goal of 
Islamization, treated Islam as the state religion, declaring that Islam 
must inspire the country's laws, institutions, and policies.
    Religious organizations, including churches, were subject to the 
same restrictions placed on nonreligious corporations. Although the law 
requires religious groups to register to be recognized or to assemble 
legally, the registration requirement was not enforced, and churches, 
including the Catholic Church, declined to register.
    Blasphemy and defaming religion are punishable by imprisonment in 
the north, although these restrictions were rarely enforced.
    The Commission for the Rights of Non-Muslims in the National 
Capital, a CPA mechanism for protecting religious freedom, issued 
regular reports and recommendations to the government.
    On March 27, local officials in Chat, a Nuba Mountains village, 
allegedly led a mob that razed a building used by the Evangelical 
Presbyterian Church and the Sudanese Church of Christ.
    In February in Southern Kordofan, two local members of the NCP-
aligned Popular Defense Force (PDF) reportedly threatened to kill a 
Presbyterian church leader. On March 1, PDF members interrupted a 
church service and threatened further destruction after breaking the 
cross on the church's roof. On March 7, a church in Shatt Mazarik was 
the target of an arson attack, and on March 21, there was a similar 
attack on a church in Shatt Dammam.
    There were numerous ongoing disputes between the government and 
various churches involving confiscated church property. There were no 
reports of court-ordered property restitution or compensation.
    The construction and use of houses of worship required government 
approval.
    According to an NGO report, in June a group of Christian clergy 
members in Khartoum were arrested while worshipping.
    Under the state-mandated curriculum, all schools in the north--
including private schools operated by Christian groups--are required to 
teach Islamic education classes from preschool through university.
    While the law permits non-Muslims to convert to Islam, conversion 
by a Muslim is punishable by death. Authorities occasionally subjected 
converts to intense scrutiny, ostracism, and intimidation or encouraged 
them to leave the country; however, there were no reports of conversion 
punished by death.
    The government restricted foreigners from entering the country 
expressly for Christian missionary work. Foreign Christian religious 
workers, including priests and teachers, experienced lengthy delays in 
obtaining visas.
    On February 1, the HAC expelled the NGO Thirst No More from Darfur, 
accusing it of Christian proselytizing.
    The NISS routinely monitored religious activities at mosques and 
churches.
    Various governmental bodies have decreed that women must dress 
modestly according to Islamic standards, including wearing a head 
covering, and there were instances in which police in the north and 
south arrested women for their dress. However, women often appeared in 
public wearing trousers or with their heads uncovered. In Khartoum an 
informal group of persons known as religious police, who were not 
government officials, occasionally demanded that women pay on-the-spot 
fines for violating Islamic standards. The government's public order 
police conducted raids of public establishments in Khartoum to arrest 
women for violating Islamic dress codes. Punishment for violating the 
dress code was 50 lashes, although those arrested were sometimes able 
to pay bribes to escape punishment.
    On March 26, in Khartoum, police reportedly arrested two Christian 
women for wearing trousers. They were released pending trial. On March 
29, a court sentenced them to 40 lashes or to a fine. The two women 
paid the fine and were released.
    On July 3, authorities arrested 13 women and girls for wearing 
pants. Ten of them, including three girls, did not have legal 
representation and received 10 lashes and had to pay fines. Three of 
the women, including Lubna Hussein, asked for legal representation. Two 
of these women accepted a presidential pardon; one, Lubna Hussein, did 
not accept the pardon. On September 7, a court found Lubna Hussein 
guilty of immoral or indecent dress. Hussein was sentenced to either 
pay a fine or serve one month in jail, but was released on September 8, 
when, against her wishes, the head of the progovernment Sudanese 
Journalists' Union reportedly paid the fine on her behalf. Hussein was 
not permitted to enter a plea or call witnesses on her behalf. 
Authorities arrested and later released 45 peaceful protesters who 
waited outside the trial in support of Hussein. They also harassed and 
arrested journalists covering the trial. Hussein's appeal of the 
conviction was pending at year's end.
    On November 18, police reportedly arrested 16-year-old Silva Kashif 
for indecent dress; she was wearing a skirt. Authorities lashed Kashif 
50 times.
    In the south Christians, Muslims, and followers of traditional 
indigenous beliefs generally worshiped freely. The GOSS officially 
favored secular government. Christians dominated the GOSS. Local 
government authorities often had a close relationship with local 
Christian religious leaders.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Muslims in the north who 
expressed an interest in Christianity or converted to Christianity 
faced severe social pressure. Christians reported pressure on children 
in school; some teachers and media characterized non-Muslims as 
nonbelievers.
    There were reports that some Muslims received preferential 
treatment regarding limited government services, such as access to 
medical care, and in court cases involving Muslim against non-Muslim.
    Non-Arab Muslims and Muslims from tribes and religious groups not 
affiliated with the ruling party, such as in Darfur and the Nuba 
Mountains, stated that they were treated as second-class citizens and 
were discriminated against in applying for government jobs and 
contracts in the north and government-controlled southern areas.
    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.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 government impeded the work of the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and delayed full approval of UNHCR activities, 
particularly in North and South Darfur. In some cases it cooperated 
with the UNHCR and other humanitarian assistance organizations in 
assisting refugees and asylum seekers. In previous years the government 
defied agreements and targeted refugees and asylum seekers for abuse, 
although specific information regarding whether this occurred during 
the year was not available. The government permitted refugees from 
Eritrea and Ethiopia to remain in the country and travel to Khartoum.
    In the south the GOSS cooperated with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
IDPs and returning refugees.
    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 did deny some 
humanitarian workers exit visas.
    Women cannot travel abroad without the permission of their husbands 
or male guardians; however, this prohibition was not applied in the 
south and was not strictly enforced.
    The government restricted persons from traveling outside of the 
country to attend conferences. In May the government restricted more 
than 50 Darfuris from traveling to a conference in Ethiopia, hosted by 
the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, to discuss peace-building and reconciliation 
in Darfur. The restriction resulted in the cancellation of conference.
    While movement was generally unhindered for citizens outside 
conflict areas, foreigners needed government permission for domestic 
travel outside of Khartoum, which could be 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 law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it. 
Opposition leaders remained in self-imposed exile throughout northern 
Africa and Europe during the year.

    Internally Displaced Persons.--In Darfur approximately 2.7 million 
civilians had been internally displaced since the conflict began in 
2003. Violence continued to displace persons in Darfur during the year. 
For example, the UN reported that between January and mid-May, 
approximately 137,000 persons in Darfur had been displaced as a result 
of the conflict. Many persons were displaced for the second or third 
time during the year (see Section 1.g.).
    In the south interethnic fighting and LRA attacks resulted in the 
widespread displacement of persons during the year (see section 1.g.).
    According to the UN, approximately two million persons had returned 
to south since 2005 (see section 1.g.).
    There were no developments regarding the thousands of persons 
displaced by the Merowe dam in previous years.
    In January authorities in Juba began to forcibly evict persons from 
residential areas and markets, which were subsequently demolished, 
displacing more than 30,000 persons, including IDPs. On May 25, UNMIS 
called for the demolitions to be halted and stated that they were not 
done in accordance with the law or international human rights 
standards.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and 
the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the 
Refugee Problem in Africa. Its 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.
    The government granted asylum to a large number of asylum seekers, 
but there was no standard determination procedure or documentation. 
Government officials reportedly were 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.
    Child refugees did not receive free primary school education nor 
were they treated as citizens as required by the 1951 convention.
    The government provided temporary protection to individuals who 
might not qualify as refugees under the 1951 convention and the 1967 
protocol.

Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The Interim National Constitution provides citizens the right to 
change their government peacefully; however, elections, originally 
scheduled under the CPA for July were rescheduled for 2010.
    The Interim National Constitution provides for power sharing 
nationwide between the NCP and the SPLM. The DPA contains provisions 
for power sharing and the inclusion of Darfuris at all levels of 
government; however, the majority of the power-sharing provisions in 
the DPA remained unimplemented at year's end.
    The Interim National Constitution established a three-member 
presidency to head the government, consisting of a president, Omar 
Hassan al-Bashir (NCP); a first vice president, Salva Kiir Mayardit 
(SPLM), the president of the GOSS; and a second vice president, Ali 
Osman Taha (NCP), who was formerly the country's first vice president. 
The DPA created a fourth ranking member in the presidency, a senior 
assistant to the president, Minni Minawi, leader of the Darfur rebel 
group SLA/MM.
    A bicameral legislature is composed of the 450-member National 
Assembly and 52-member Council of States. Legislative and cabinet 
positions are allocated by a CPA-specified formula that reserves 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.
    GNU members took office in 2005, and in October of that year Salva 
Kiir Mayardit, the country's first vice president and president of the 
GOSS, appointed the GOSS cabinet. At the same time, Kiir appointed 
governors of the 10 states of Southern Sudan, and each southern state 
also formed its legislative assembly with 48 members allocated 
proportionally as stipulated in the CPA: 70 percent to the SPLM, 15 
percent to the NCP, and 15 percent to other southern political forces. 
Southern Sudan's legislative assembly approved an interim constitution 
in 2005, which President Kiir signed in December of that year.
    On October 19, SPLM delegates temporarily withdrew from the 
national assembly due to concerns over lack of progress on legislative 
reforms pertaining to the CPA. On December 13, the SPLM and NCP reached 
an agreement pertaining to legislation on the referendum on southern 
independence, the Abyei referendum, and popular consultations. On 
December 20, the National Assembly passed national security legislation 
without the support of the SPLM or opposition parties. On December 29, 
the National Assembly passed legislation on the southern referendum in 
line with the previously agreed language with the SPLM; this superseded 
legislation passed on December 23 that was not in accordance with the 
December 13 agreement. On December 30, the assembly passed legislation 
on the Abyei referendum and on popular consultations in Southern 
Kordofan and in Blue Nile states.
    The DPA-mandated TDRA, headed by Minawi and charged with 
implementing the DPA and promoting coordination and cooperation among 
the three Darfur states, was established in 2007, but the government 
withheld 99 percent of its budget during the year.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Presidential and 
parliamentary elections were last held in 2000; they were marked by 
serious irregularities, including official interference, electoral 
fraud, insufficient opportunities for voters to register, and 
inadequate election monitoring. All major opposition parties boycotted 
the elections.
    On April 1, the National Electoral Commission scheduled national 
elections for February 2010; they were later rescheduled to begin on 
April 5, 2010, and then again rescheduled for April 11-18, 2010.
    From April 28 to May 9, a UN team conducted an elections assessment 
in the country. The UN reported that important advances had been made, 
but noted that several basic actions, including the protection of civil 
liberties, needed to be implemented to provide a free and fair 
environment. The report also expressed concern that election 
preparations were behind schedule, voters needed increased civic 
education, and the national elections commission needed to address 
registration constraints of IDPs, refugees, and those without necessary 
documentation.
    Political parties and NGOs also expressed concern that the legal 
environment did not guarantee civil liberties needed for free and fair 
electoral environment.
    On June 18, the National Electoral Commission's members were sworn 
in.
    Voter registration occurred from November 1 to December 7. The 
Carter Center observed the registration process. The center's findings 
included that the process was mostly peaceful and that officials 
registered relatively high numbers of voters, but also that there was 
uneven participation across geographic areas, a shortage of 
registration materials, the collection of registration receipt slips by 
some political parties, lax procedural compliance, and proxy 
registration. In Darfur the center noted that election committees could 
not access all areas, including some IDP camps; some IDPs chose not to 
participate; and security forces were present at registration centers. 
UNMIS noted high voter turnout as well, but also reports of 
irregularities throughout the process including registration of 
military units outside their constituencies and the registration of 
more persons than the estimated population in some areas.
    On June 29, the results of April 2008 national census were 
released. The CPA states that certain power sharing provisions of the 
agreement are to be adjusted based on the census. The SPLM rejected the 
results, claiming that populations in the south were underestimated. 
Many IDPS in Darfur also rejected the results.
    The law permits the existence of political parties, but prohibits 
parties linked to armed opposition to the government, and the 
government routinely denied permission for, or disrupted, gatherings 
viewed as politically oriented. Security forces arrested, detained, and 
tortured political opponents.
    Authorities regularly impeded and monitored political party and NGO 
meetings and activities, and arrested participants.
    For example, on June 23, in the state of Khartoum, authorities 
prevented a public discussion on elections by an NGO. Authorities told 
the organizers that they needed prior approval to hold the event.
    On August 6, the NISS disrupted a public talk about the upcoming 
elections. Security forces dispersed the crowd from the Sudanese 
Congress Party and ordered the organizers to cancel the event. The 
organizers had reportedly obtained all the necessary permissions and 
clearances to hold the public event.
    On September 9, the NISS prevented three organizations from holding 
a symposium on elections at Khartoum University.
    In the south authorities obstructed the activities of Democratic 
Change (SPLM-DC).
    On July 3, SPLA soldiers arrested two members of the recently 
formed SPLM-DC. One of the men was released on July 13 and stated that 
SPLA members beat him while in custody. The other person was reportedly 
beaten so severely that he required hospital care and was subsequently 
released by the SPLA.
    On November 9, the GOSS issued an order to governors in the south 
to not impede the actions of any political party, except the SPLM-DC. 
SPLM-DC founder Lam Akol appealed the decision and later announced that 
the Constitutional Court granted the appeal.
    Women had the right to vote. There were approximately 80 women in 
the 450-seat National Assembly, three national female state ministers, 
and one female minister in the GNU. The GOSS agreed to set aside 25 
percent of all government positions for women, although in practice 
representation was far short of that goal. The DPA also includes 
provisions to ensure the representation of women at all levels of 
government; however, in practice there were few women in government in 
Darfur. Under the July 2008 National Elections Law, 25 percent of the 
seats in the national, Southern Sudan, and state assemblies are to be 
filled from state-level women's lists.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law does not provide criminal penalties for official 
corruption, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices. The 
government did not investigate officials suspected of corruption. 
Government officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    There were no laws providing for public access to government 
information, and the government did not provide such access.
    The Auditor General's report on fiscal year 2008 found that 5.4 
billion Sudanese pounds ($2.3 billion) was embezzled from government 
institutions.
    In Southern Sudan, GOSS officials often engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity. Corruption was a problem in all branches of 
the GOSS.
    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.
    While various local human right groups were active in the country, 
the government, in addition to expelling 13 international 
organizations, closed three major domestic NGOs in March: the Khartoum 
Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development, the Amal Centre 
for Treatment and Rehabilitation, and the Sudan Social Development 
Organization (SUDO). The Khartoum Centre and SUDO's assets were seized.
    Members of local and international human rights organizations were 
subject to arrest and detention, including in Darfur (see section 
1.g.).
    For example, on August 30, the NISS arrested Abdel Majeed Saleh 
Abakr Haroun, a Darfuri human rights activist and leading member of the 
Darfur Democratic Forum. He was on his way to meet students who were 
beaten in the June 11 Khartoum University attack. At year's end he 
remained in NISS custody without charge.
    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, despite 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 of international organizations for investigations into 
human rights violations, and it did not provide lists of detained 
individuals to the international community.
    On April 21, the National Commission for Human Rights Act was 
adopted. A commission had not been set up by year's end.
    The government did not cooperate with the ICC (see section 1.g.).
    In Southern Sudan 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 against disability, 
language, or social status.

    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.
    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 did not report their cases either to family or 
authorities for fear they would be punished or arrested for ``illegal 
pregnancy'' (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. Prostitution is illegal but widespread throughout the 
country.
    While no law specifically prohibits sexual harassment, 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.
    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. Women had 
equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted 
diseases, including HIV.
    The law discriminated against women, including many traditional 
legal practices and certain provisions of Shari'a 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. It was much easier for men than for women to initiate legal 
divorce proceedings.
    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).
    Traditional or customary courts in the south routinely imprisoned 
women for lengthy pretrial detention on allegations of adultery.
    Women cannot travel abroad without the permission of their husbands 
or male guardians; however, this prohibition was not enforced strictly.
    To obtain an exit visa, children must receive the permission of 
their father or their paternal uncle. Women cannot apply for exit visas 
for their children.
    Various governmental bodies have decreed that women must dress 
modestly according to Islamic standards, including wearing a head 
covering. There were instances in which police in the north and south 
arrested women for their dress, and authorities subjected women to 
flogging. However, women 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.
    Women experienced economic discrimination in access to employment, 
credit, and 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.

    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. Boys 
and girls generally had equal access to primary education, although 
girls were more affected by early marriage and the fact that many 
families with restricted income chose to send sons and not daughters to 
school. In Darfur few children outside of cities had access to primary 
education. Primary school enrollment in the south has tripled since 
2005 according to UNICEF. Lack of schools was a serious problem in the 
south. Girls in the south did not have equal access to education.
    In 2005 UNICEF reported that in Southern Sudan only approximately 
500 girls completed primary school each year.
    Many children were abused, abducted, or used as slaves. Child labor 
remained a problem.
    Female genital mutilation (FGM) remained widespread, particularly 
in the north, where a 2005 UNICEF estimate put prevalence at 90 
percent. 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. 
Several NGOs 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 child marriage was a problem.
    Child prostitution, trafficking of children, and sexual abuse of 
children remained problems, particularly in the south. Children engaged 
in prostitution for survival, usually without third-party involvement.
    The country does not have a statutory rape law and there is no 
minimum age for consensual sex.
    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 ``reformation 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 poor, and basic living 
conditions often were primitive. All of the children in the camps, 
including non-Muslims, must study the Koran, and there was pressure on 
non-Muslims to convert to Islam.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit all forms of 
trafficking in persons, but does prohibit abduction, luring, and forced 
labor. The Interim National Constitution prohibits slavery. The State 
of Emergency Law prohibits all forms of sexual exploitation, and 
penalties include fines and imprisonment. However, internal trafficking 
for the purposes of forced labor, sexual exploitation, and domestic 
servitude occurred. Women and girls were trafficked to Middle Eastern 
countries for domestic servitude and to Europe for sexual exploitation. 
Ethiopian women were trafficked to and through the country for domestic 
servitude. Children were trafficked through Yemen into Saudi Arabia for 
forced begging. The recruitment and use of child soldiers was a 
problem. In the south intertribal abduction of women and children 
continued.
    There were no informed estimates on the extent of trafficking.
    Government and other armed groups continued to recruit child 
soldiers (see section 1.g.).
    The LRA, which used child soldiers, continued to operate in the 
south despite its 2006 signing of an agreement to cease hostilities. 
The LRA abducted adults and children in the south.
    Intertribal abductions of women and children continued in the 
south. Victims frequently became part of the new tribe, with most women 
marrying into, or being forcibly married into, the new tribe; however, 
other victims were used for labor or sexual purposes.
    In August police in Jonglei State rescued 12 children and arrested 
suspected child abductors.
    Thousands of Dinka were abducted by the Misseriya and Rezeigat 
tribes during 1980s and 1990s. In contrast with the previous year, 
government's Committee to Eradicate the Abduction of Women and Children 
(CEAWC) received no funding from either the GNU or the GOSS and did not 
repatriate any individuals to their home regions during the year.
    In 2007 the governments of Sudan and the United Arab Emirates 
signed an agreement establishing claims facilities to compensate former 
Sudanese child camel jockeys for their injuries. In previous years the 
government's National Council for Child Welfare reported the 
repatriation of former child camel jockeys, although none were 
repatriated during 2009.
    There were no prosecutions of trafficking cases during the year.
    The government conducted antitrafficking public information and 
education campaigns at the national, state, and local levels.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 per day, and mentally 
disabled prisoners were not exempted from trial.

    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 
severe 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 
homosexuality; there were no reports of persons being prosecuted on 
this basis. Societal discrimination against homosexual persons 
occurred. Sexual orientation was not openly discussed in the country. 
There were no visible lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender 
organizations.

    Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal violence or discrimination based on HIV/AIDS.

    Incitement to Acts of Discrimination.--The government and 
government-supported militias actively promoted hatred and 
discrimination, using standard propaganda techniques to incite tribal 
violence.

Section 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.
    On November 12, authorities reportedly arrested Sudan airways 
pilots after they participated in a strike.
    In the south, on September 10, the SSPS reportedly beat doctors and 
nurses following a one-day strike.

    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, CEAWC 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 (see sections 1.g. and 4).
    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 124 
Sudanese pounds ($53) 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, was responsible for 
enforcing the minimum wage, which employers generally respected. In the 
south civil service workers, including teachers, often worked for long 
periods without getting 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. The population 
was approximately 1.02 million, according to the 2007 census. There was 
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 September 2008 
did not meet international standards. The 2008 Suppression of Terrorism 
Act to silence dissent and ban certain political organizations remained 
in effect. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces, there were some instances in which 
elements of the security forces committed abuses
    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 transsexual 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.--The government and 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, 
security force members committed extrajudicial killings and were 
responsible for several deaths during apprehension. Authorities claimed 
to have investigated cases, but officers were either cleared of 
wrongdoing, or results were not reported. No known action was taken 
against perpetrators.
    On June 13, in Big Bend, members of the Royal Swaziland Police 
Service (RSPS) shot and killed Mjomane Msibi, a suspected drug dealer 
who reportedly tried to evade arrest.
    On May 12, police shot and killed Sibusiso German Matsebula, a 
suspect in the killing of Sibusiso Mashaya.
    On August 10, Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF) soldiers 
patrolling in the Shiselweni region along the border with South Africa 
shot and killed Sonnboy Mthandeni Mamba, who was allegedly trying to 
smuggle a car into the country.
    No action was taken against security force members responsible for 
the following 2008 killings: the January police killing of a suspected 
thief; the March and April killings of suspected car smugglers by USDF 
soldiers; and the killing of a suspected poacher in his home by the 
general manager of Mkhaya Private Game Reserve, who was accompanied by 
three police officers.
    No action was taken in any of the 2007 killings perpetrated by 
security forces.
    During the year there were reports of killings by community police, 
volunteers with arrest authority under the supervision of a chief.
    For example, on February 28, community police in Mahwalala attacked 
and killed a man with bush knives and machetes; the victim had 
allegedly beaten a security guard.
    On July 1, community police and residents of Mpolonjeni beat to 
death Sibusiso Mtsetfwa, who was suspected of killing his girlfriend.
    There were numerous reports of mob killings during the year. On 
February 12, the Times of Swaziland newspaper reported that a mob of 
seven Mhlalini residents in the Shiselweni region attacked and killed a 
man who was allegedly stealing bags of cement from the Sibovu Primary 
School. The matter was pending at the High Court at year's end.
    On March 4, a mob attacked and killed a traditional healer from the 
Shiselweni region with bush knives and stones. The mob reportedly 
pushed the healer, who was suspected of stealing cattle to fund his 
sister's dowry, into his car, which they sprinkled with gasoline and 
set on fire.
    No action was taken, nor was any expected, against persons who 
participated in 2008 and 2007 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, and only one case was investigated. 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, Kuseni Hlophe alleged that police officers in January 
temporarily suffocated him with a rubber tube during interrogation to 
coerce a confession of murder.
    In a May 5 High Court appearance, theft suspect Sibusiso Mdluli 
alleged that police officers beat him with machine guns, revolvers, and 
sticks and refused his request for medical attention.
    In a July court appearance, suspects Thabo October Dlamini, Nganono 
Sabelo Manyatsi, Bheki Dlamini, Thulasizwe Ndlovu, and Sidumo Sikhondze 
alleged that five police officers based at the Mbabane police station 
had beaten them with a crowbar and temporarily suffocated them with a 
plastic bag. The presiding officer in the case ordered the police to 
take the five suspects to the hospital before taking them back to 
custody.
    On September 4, police reportedly detained and tortured the head of 
the banned political group Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) (see 
section 3).
    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 2007 abuse cases.
    Despite numerous requests from civic organizations, the special 
commission's investigative report into the alleged 2005 torture of 17 
political organization members had not been released by year's end; the 
report was submitted to the Prime Minister's Office in 2007.
    There were credible reports of excessive force by community police 
during the year.
    For example, on February 12, the Times of Swaziland newspaper 
reported that Mbhuleni community police officers tied a man of 
Mozambican origin with a chain and severely whipped him for allegedly 
taking payments from local residents for furniture that he did not 
deliver.
    No action was taken against community police responsible for the 
following 2008 abuse cases: the April beating in detention of a 16-
year-old girl; the August beating of five homeless children; or the 
September beating of Sifiso Vilakati.
    Mob violence continued, and persons accused of rape were often 
severely beaten by community members.
    On July 9, an angry mob in Nhlangano assaulted Sikhumbuzo Dlamini 
of Mhlalini for allegedly stealing a two-kilo package of chicken.
    No action was taken, nor was any expected, against the perpetrators 
of 2008 and 2007 mob violence.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Government prisons and 
detention centers remained overcrowded, and conditions generally were 
poor. According to the 2006-07 annual report issued by the Ministry of 
Justice, there were 2,829 prisoners in 12 correctional centers. Prison 
guards tortured and 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.
    Rape and consensual sex between prisoners contributed to the spread 
of HIV/AIDS. Correctional facilities had prevention programs and 
medical clinics, and prisoners were offered free HIV/AIDS testing, 
counseling, and antiretroviral treatment.
    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.
    The government did not permit independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local human rights groups or the media. International 
officials and NGOs working on programs to fight HIV infection were 
permitted frequent entry to prisons and detention centers. The 
government generally cooperated with international organizations and 
permitted visits by UN representatives; however, it denied Amnesty 
International (AI) and other groups access to a political prisoner (see 
section 1.e.).

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, police arbitrarily 
arrested and detained numerous persons.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The king is the 
commander in chief and holds the position of minister of defense. He 
presides over a civilian principal secretary of defense and a 
commanding general.
    The Royal Swaziland Police Service (RSPS), under the authority of 
the prime minister, is responsible for maintaining internal security. 
The 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, 
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 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. Traditional chiefs are 
required to hand over cases of serious crimes to the RSPS for further 
investigation; however, this did not always occur.

    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, and their families had access to them. There is a 
functioning bail system, and suspects can request bail at their first 
appearance in court, except in serious cases such as murder and rape.
    Police arbitrarily detained opposition members and demonstrators, 
one of whom was charged under the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act 
(see sections 2.b. and 3).
    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 vested in two systems: one 
based on Roman-Dutch law, and the other based on a system of 
traditional courts that follows traditional law and custom. The Roman-
Dutch judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the High Court, and 
magistrate courts.
    The Supreme Court, which is primarily composed of foreign-born 
judges but includes two Swazis, has appellate and supervisory 
jurisdiction over the High Court and magistrate courts. Some observers 
believed foreign justices increased the judiciary's credibility and 
independence, while others believed that reliance on foreign 
professionals undermined the development of a strong national base of 
professional justices. 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 which were 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 public prosecutor has the legal authority to determine which 
court should hear a case, but 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 
violated 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 September 21, the High Court 
dismissed for insufficient evidence the terrorism and sedition case 
against political prisoner Mario Masuku, the 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 November 2008 on terrorism and sedition 
charges. During the year the government denied access to Masuku to AI, 
the Council of Swaziland Churches, the Swaziland Federation of Trade 
Unions, and a group of Danish students. 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.

    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, including 
the home of Mario Masuku (see section 1.e.).
    Police conducted physical surveillance of members of labor unions, 
political groups, religious groups, and others. For example, on May 11, 
police searched offices of the Foundation for Socioeconomic Justice and 
seized items. On June 12, mourners at the funeral of alleged bomber 
M.J. Dlamini complained of police surveillance. Comfort Mabuza of the 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) Media Institute in Southern Africa 
reported he was followed by police throughout the year.
    In November 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.

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. 
Individuals--and family members of individuals--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.
    During the year the foreign minister criticized foreign diplomats 
for speaking publicly about political matters and warned that they were 
not to interfere in the internal affairs of the country.
    There were two daily newspapers, the independent Times of Swaziland 
and the Swazi Observer, which was owned by the king's investment 
company, Tibiyo Taka Ngwane. Both newspapers criticized government 
corruption and inefficiency but generally avoided criticizing the royal 
family. The Ministry of Public Service and Information periodically 
published the Swaziland Today newspaper. Private companies and church 
groups owned several newsletters and magazines.
    In November 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 January 12, after being pressured by police and 
government authorities, former cabinet minister and Times of Swaziland 
columnist Mfomfo Nkambule publicly apologized to the king for a series 
of articles that criticized the monarchy. Prime Minister Sibusiso 
Dlamini had threatened to charge Mfomfo Nkambule and other media 
commentators under the 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act. Nkambule, who 
at one point had been ordered to buy between four and six cows as a 
fine to appease the king, reported in his newspaper column that failure 
to pay the fine could result in the eviction of his family from their 
homestead. On April 27, the Times of Swaziland stopped publishing 
Nkambule's articles.
    Journalists were called to the offices of the king, prime minister, 
and senate subcommittee for their reporting on political events or the 
royal family.
    For example, on May 12, a senate subcommittee summoned Times of 
Swaziland editor Mbongeni Mbingo and other journalists for reporting 
about a verbal exchange between Senate President Gelane Zwane and 
Senator Ndileka Dlamini. Senators advised journalists that internal 
parliamentary discussions were private and raised the possibility of 
charging journalists with contempt of parliament.
    On June 30, at the George Tums Hotel in Manzini, organizers of an 
HIV/AIDS workshop ejected journalists covering the event after members 
of parliament (MPs) complained of the press presence. Parliamentarians 
cited an incident in which an MP was publicly embarrassed after papers 
headlined his statement that HIV/AIDS patients should be branded on 
their buttocks.
    In August Prime Minister Dlamini reportedly threatened to close 
media outlets if they reported on an August royal trip abroad; there 
was no domestic coverage of the event. In August 2008 USDF soldiers 
assaulted Times of Swaziland journalists who were at the airport to 
cover the return of nine of the king's wives and their entourage from a 
lavish shopping spree abroad; soldiers also seized the journalists' 
cameras.
    Journalists received anonymous telephone calls advising them not to 
pursue particular stories, and many of them complied. For example, 
freelance journalist and Times of Swaziland columnist Vusi Sibisi 
reported that he stopped writing after being told that a warrant for 
his arrest had been issued due to his articles that criticized the 
government and the monarchy.
    Unlike in previous years, defamation laws were not used to restrict 
the press.
    In March 2008 Speaker of the House Guduza, a brother of the king, 
sued the Times of Swaziland for two million emalangeni ($270,000) for 
articles it published about his involvement with a company that 
allegedly illegally imported cigarettes worth 17 million emalangeni 
(approximately $2.3 million). The case had not gone to trial by year's 
end.
    In February 2008 the High Court awarded MP Marwick Khumalo a 
default judgment of 120,000 emalangeni ($16,200); in July 2007 Khumalo 
had sued Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the private Nation magazine, for 
defamation after Makhubu wrote an article accusing Khumalo of 
corruption. However, on February 22, the High Court granted the Nation 
magazine an order for stay of execution, and the case remained pending 
at year's end.
    The March 2007 defamation suit filed by MP Maqhawe Mavuso against 
the Swazi Observer newspaper remained pending at year's end; the 
Observer had included Mavuso's name in an article about an alleged 
assault.
    There was one government-owned radio station and one independent 
radio station that broadcast religious programs and public information 
programs on issues such as HIV/AIDS; however, the government generally 
restricted media content, especially on government television and 
radio. There was one privately owned television station; however, the 
owner's mother was a daughter of the previous king, Sobhuza II, and the 
station's reporting favored the monarchy. The government-owned 
Swaziland Television Authority and radio stations were the most 
influential media in reaching the public, but neither generally 
broadcast news about antigovernment demonstrations or criticism by 
``progressives.'' Government broadcast facilities retransmitted some 
Voice of America and BBC news programs in their entirety.
    Consumers freely purchased and used satellite dishes to receive 
signals and programming from independent South African and other 
international service providers.

    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 
cafes existed in larger urban areas, but most citizens lived in rural 
areas. An estimated 4.1 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 restricted 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 31, the city council of Manzini refused to 
give permission to the unregistered African United Democratic Party to 
hold a rally at Freedom Square to demand political reform.
    On July 12, police stopped SWAYOCO, one of the four groups declared 
a ``specified entity'' under the Suppression of Terrorism Act, from 
holding a political meeting at the Caritas Center in Manzini. Police 
briefly detained four members of the organization for questioning.
    On July 30, the Tshaneni police station commander told foreign 
students visiting from the political science department of the 
University of Kwazulu Natal to stop holding meetings or discussions 
while in the country.
    Police attacked and forcibly dispersed demonstrators, although 
unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police arrested 
union members and legal strikers. No action was taken against police 
who used excessive force on demonstrators.
    On February 28, police used teargas to disperse SWAYOCO members, 
six of whom were arrested and later released for proceeding with a 
banned rally; four demonstrators were injured.
    On March 2, at the Kwaluseni Campus of the University of Swaziland, 
police fired teargas canisters to disperse university students 
protesting the introduction of a new school schedule.
    On September 21, at Matsapha Prison, correctional officers beat 
journalists and members of PUDEMO and SWAYOCO, who were waiting for the 
release of political prisoner Mario Masuku (see section 1.e.). Two 
SWAYOCO members were seriously injured.
    No action was taken against security force members who forcibly 
dispersed demonstrations in 2008.

    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 
September 2008 affidavit, the former prime minister reiterated that 
political parties were banned, and in November 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 September 
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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.
    New religious groups or churches are expected to register with the 
government, and there were no reports that any groups were denied 
registration during the year.
    Government permission was required for the construction of new 
religious buildings. Non-Christian groups sometimes experienced minor 
delays in obtaining permits from the government. The government-owned 
television and radio stations did not permit non-Christian religious 
groups to broadcast, although news of events in the Muslim world, such 
as Ramadan, did appear.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Relations between religious 
groups were generally amicable, although church-related land disputes 
and rivalry between branches of some sects resulted in occasional 
violence. There were no developments in the 2008 case involving 
fighting between rival church groups that resulted in two deaths.
    The Jewish community comprised less than 1 percent of the 
population, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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.
    Non-ethnic 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.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. Its 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 
applied after extended periods of time in the country, including 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 were banned. 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 MPs. 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 September 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 new government in 
October 2008. International observers concluded that the elections did 
not meet international standards. Political parties were not allowed to 
register or sponsor candidates. Ballots were cast in secrecy but could 
be traced by registration number back to voters, and some ballot boxes 
were not properly protected. Accusations of bribery were reported. 
There were widespread reports that citizens were advised that if they 
did not register to vote, they would no longer receive government 
services.
    During the year 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 new constitution took effect, the 1973 decree that banned 
political parties lapsed; the constitution provides for freedom of 
association but does not address political parties. 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.
    On September 4, police reportedly detained and tortured Wandile 
Dludlu, head of the banned political group SWAYOCO, for allegedly 
making seditious statements during a border blockade sponsored by a 
South African labor union. Dludlu claimed police also questioned him 
about a plot to smuggle weapons and explosives into the country to bomb 
buildings and kill influential politicians and royalty. Police 
reportedly took Dludlu to a forest, threatened him with death, and over 
a period of approximately two hours used plastic bags to temporarily 
suffocate him during interrogation. According to reliable sources, 
police had no information tying Dludlu to the plot and did not follow 
up on weapons locations Dludlu provided under torture, even though one 
location was within two miles of the police station. Dludlu 
subsequently recanted his statements. An investigation was ongoing at 
year's end.
    The government harassed and arrested opposition members and raided 
the offices of opposition groups.
    On May 9, in the Malkerns area, police raided the houses of Samson 
and Sabelo Ndlangamandla and seized materials relating to banned 
political entities PUDEMO and SWAYOCO.
    On May 11, in Manzini, police raided the offices of the Foundation 
for Socioeconomic Justice and confiscated PUDEMO t-shirts, a digital 
video of a PUDEMO meeting, and a program for the May worker's day 
celebration.
    Chiefs are custodians of traditional law and custom and are 
responsible for the day-to-day running of their chiefdoms and for 
maintaining law and order. Chiefs act as overseers or guardians of 
families within the communities. They are an integral part of society 
and traditionally report directly to the king. 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 of 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 in 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 EBC chairman 
Chief Gija Dlamini stated that there was no space in parliament to seat 
female regional members and that 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 had appointed only seven female 
senators, rather than the eight required. 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.
    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 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 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 ($6 
million) in potential government revenue is lost each month due to 
corruption. The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance 
Indicators reflect that corruption was a serious problem.
    The Anticorruption Commission (ACC), which is funded by the 
Ministry of Justice and was officially launched in September 2008, has 
the power to investigate cases, gather evidence, and arrest individuals 
for failure to respond to ACC requests. During the year it received 20 
to 30 cases each month; however, no ACC case had resulted in conviction 
by year's end. ACC commissioner Justice H.M. Mtegha attributed the 
commission's ineffectiveness to lack of training, inadequate staff, 
shortage of judges in the judiciary, and the general backlog of cases 
in the court system.
    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 16, the media reported that despite numerous 
reports to police, including the identity of the embezzler, no arrests 
were made in the embezzlement of 150,000 emalangeni ($20,300) at 
Hlathikhulu Government Hospital.
    During the year the director of public prosecutions dropped the 
corruption case against government official Maswazi Shongwe and Senator 
Thandi Maziya, who were arrested and charged with fraud in February 
2008. No reason was provided.
    According to April 2008 media reports, Clifford Mamba, the 
principal secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 
testified before parliament's Public Accounts Committee that Prince 
David, the former minister of justice and constitutional affairs, 
simultaneously received a salary as cabinet minister and as the 
country's ambassador to Denmark. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked 
the Attorney General's Office to intervene after Prince David refused 
to reimburse the government more than 430,000 emalangeni ($58,100); 
however, no action had been taken by year's end.
    The nine suspects released on bail in 2007, including the former 
principal secretary of the minister of finance and other individuals 
closely associated with the king, were still awaiting trial at year's 
end for spending 50 million emalangeni ($6.7 million) on a business 
training exercise for which the government had allocated only 10 
million emalangeni ($1.3 million).
    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; however, the Integrity Commission is under the 
Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration, which had not 
been established until September. In December news organizations 
reported that the prime minister declared his assets to the commission; 
however no other officials had declared their assets and liabilities by 
year's end.
    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 the active 
groups were the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse, Lawyers for Human 
Rights of Swaziland, and Women and Law in Southern Africa. 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.
    On June 3, 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 May 1 celebrations, 
Maseko reportedly expressed support for the two ``freedom fighters'' 
who died in September 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 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 constitution provides that the 
commission be established no later than 2007.
    The government generally cooperated with international 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives; however, it 
denied AI and other groups access to a political prisoner (see section 
1.e.).

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 2008 RSPS Annual Report, 770 rape cases 
were reported in 2008. 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. 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 to 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.
    Prostitution is illegal but prevalent. Enforcement of laws against 
prostitution was inconsistent, particularly near industrial sites and 
military bases.
    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.
    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. Access to contraception was 
broad, 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.
    Women occupied a subordinate role in society. The dualistic nature 
of the legal system complicated 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 were unclear and 
changed according to where and by whom they were interpreted. Couples 
often married in both civil and traditional ceremonies, creating 
problems in determining which set of rules applied to the marriage and 
to subsequent questions of child custody, 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 conflicted 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.
    During the year female attorney Mary-Joyce Doo Aphane sued the 
government to compel it to overturn Section 16(3) of the Deeds Registry 
Act, which prohibits women from registering property in their own 
names. Arguing that the Deeds Registry Act interfered with 
constitutional provisions for female equality, Aphane noted that 
despite constitutional provisions voiding laws in conflict with 
constitutional clauses, no such laws had been amended or suspended by 
year's end.
    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 divorce. Children born out of wedlock are viewed 
as belonging to the mother unless the father claims the child. 
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 risks losing 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 women between 15 and 49 years of age were widows, half of 
whom had been dispossessed of property.
    In 2008 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 did not provide free, 
compulsory education for children. The government paid textbook costs 
for first through seventh grade students, while the student paid 
varying school fees and contributed to the building fund. Students were 
sent home if their families did not pay school fees. However, during 
the year the Ex-Miners' Association sued the government to obtain free 
primary education on behalf of the country's children, and on March 25, 
the court ruled in favor of the association. As a result, the 
government began registering first and second grade students for the 
2010 term and is required to pay all tuition, fees, and books for those 
grades. The Ex-Miners' Association filed a second suit during the year 
after the government announced its plan to implement free education 
gradually; the government claimed it could not afford to implement free 
primary education immediately.
    The Ministry of Education received an annual budget allocation to 
pay school fees for OVCs in primary and high school; however, some 
schools continued to complain of delayed payment and expelled OVCs for 
nonpayment of fees. Supplemental money sometimes had to be raised for 
building maintenance, including 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 April 2008 found that one in three women 
in the country has suffered some form of sexual abuse as a child and 
that one in four experienced physical violence. Most sexual assaults of 
girls occurred at home, and fewer than half of sexual assaults were 
reported. Disabled children, children out of school, and orphans were 
at particular risk. Punishment for child abuse was minimal, and even 
the 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 that a teacher can 
administer a maximum of four strokes on the buttocks to a student 
younger than 16, and six strokes for students older than 16; however, 
teachers often exceeded this limit with impunity. For example, on 
February 4, a teacher beat a girl for not spreading her legs fully 
during physical education exercises, reportedly causing the girl 
permanent kidney damage. On February 9, the media reported that the 
head teacher and the mathematics teacher at Velebantfu High School gave 
a 15-year-old pupil 20 lashes, 10 on each buttock, as punishment for 
missing morning studies and not doing his mathematics homework. 
Authorities made no arrests in either case.
    On March 7, 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 for both men and women. However, 
with parental consent and approval from the minister of justice, girls 
can marry at age 16. The government recognized two types of marriage: 
civil marriage and marriage under traditional law and custom. 
Traditional marriages can be with girls as young as 14. 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 42 percent among persons between 15 and 49 years of 
age.
    During the year 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 
in traditional rites to Enock Mncina. On July 12, a 16-year-old pupil 
from Magojela was forced to enter into a traditional marriage with 
Samuel Dladla of Gege.
    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/or a fine of 100 emalangeni ($13.50). The law sets the 
age of sexual consent at 16 years 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/or 
a fine of 1,000 emalangeni ($133).
    With the help of local communities, police during the year closed 
two brothels in Mbhuleni, where 35 girls from seven to 14 years old 
were trading sex for meals or alcohol provided by their pimps or 
clients.
    During the year the numbers of street children in Mbabane and 
Manzini continued to grow. A large and increasing number of HIV/AIDS 
orphans were cared for by aging 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--On November 10, the king assented to the 
People Trafficking and People Smuggling (Prohibition) Act, which 
prohibits trafficking in persons and became law in December, when it 
was published in the government gazette; however, Swaziland was a 
source, destination, and transit country for women and children 
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, domestic 
servitude, and forced labor in agriculture.
    Swazi girls, especially orphans, were trafficked for commercial 
sexual exploitation and domestic servitude in Mbabane and Manzini, as 
well as to South Africa and Mozambique. Swazi boys were trafficked for 
forced labor in commercial agriculture and market vending. Some Swazi 
women were forced into prostitution in South Africa and Mozambique 
after voluntarily migrating there to look for work. Chinese organized 
crime units trafficked victims from Swaziland to hubs in Johannesburg, 
South Africa, where they were distributed locally or sent to be 
exploited overseas. Traffickers forced Mozambican women into 
prostitution in Swaziland, or transited the country with their victims 
to South Africa. Mozambican boys migrated to Swaziland to wash cars, 
herd livestock, and work as porters; some later became victims of 
trafficking.
    The new law provides a penalty of up to 25 years' imprisonment for 
convicted traffickers, who also are required to pay a fine to the 
victim in an amount determined by the court; the penalty for profiting 
from exploiting a trafficking victim is up to 15 years' imprisonment 
and a fine of up to 800,000 emalangeni ($106,000).
    There were no known investigations or prosecutions of trafficking 
cases during the year.
    No government agency is specifically responsible for combating 
trafficking in persons or maintaining records distinguishing trafficked 
persons from other illegal immigrants or refugees. However, in July the 
prime minister appointed a taskforce made up of officials from various 
ministries as well as representatives from NGOs and the UN to develop 
and begin implementation of a national strategy to fight human 
trafficking. The antitrafficking taskforce reviewed legislation, 
developed an action plan, and began documenting cases of human 
trafficking. In August the government began a campaign to raise public 
awareness of the issue.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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. 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.
    There is one school for the deaf and one special educational 
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 in Manzini was 
overcrowded and understaffed.
    In October 2008 a visually impaired man was appointed as a senator, 
marking the first time a person with disabilities served in parliament.

    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 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (LGBT) 
was prevalent, and LGBT persons generally concealed their sexual 
preferences. 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.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was a social 
stigma associated with being HIV positive, which discouraged persons 
from being tested. Nevertheless, there were often long lines of persons 
waiting to be tested during prevention campaigns, especially among the 
young. The military encouraged testing and did not discriminate against 
those testing positive.
    On July 5, in Lomahasha, a man assaulted his HIV-positive sister 
for using a family toilet, which the man believed would result in other 
family members becoming infected.

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.
    In May the government forced the Swaziland Association of 
Government Secretaries to cancel its May 19 meeting. The government 
justified its action by noting that the association had not been 
officially recognized, was not unionized, and could not collectively 
bargain; the association responded that it could not make progress in 
those areas unless it was allowed to meet.
    The law does not specifically permit strikes, but it allows 
employees who are not engaged in essential services to participate in 
peaceful protest action to promote their socioeconomic interests.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police 
detained union leaders; however, government officials intimidated union 
leaders. For example, on May 6, police officers searched the house of 
Alex Fakudze, president of the Swaziland Manufacturing and Allied 
Workers Union, for copies of comments he made during the May 1 
celebration.
    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.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police 
detained, shot, beat, or used tear gas against persons engaged in labor 
protests; however, police restricted protest actions. For example, on 
February 2, at Sibetsamoya, approximately 25 armed police officers were 
deployed to Chuan Yi paper factory to ensure that 28 employees who had 
engaged in a legal protest action returned to work.
    There were no reports that union leaders were ordered to surrender 
their travel documents after attending meetings abroad.

    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, including by children; 
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 commercial sexual exploitation, domestic 
servitude, agricultural labor, and market vending.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
constitution and law 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 
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 that 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. Minors were reportedly victims 
of prostitution and trafficking.
    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.

    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 12 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 for 12 hours a day or more 
without any overtime compensation. 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 had 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 deficiencies 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 approximately 
41 million, is a multiparty republic consisting of the mainland and the 
Zanzibar archipelago, whose main islands are Unguja and Pemba. The 
union is headed by a president who is also head of government; its 
unicameral legislative body is the National Assembly (parliament). 
Zanzibar, although integrated into the country's governmental and party 
structure, has its own president, court system, and legislature, and 
exercises considerable autonomy. In the 2005 union presidential and 
legislative elections, Jakaya Kikwete was elected president, and the 
ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party (CCM) made significant gains in 
parliament. Observers considered the union elections on both the 
mainland and in Zanzibar to be largely free and fair. The 2005 
elections for president of Zanzibar were more contentious, however, 
with serious irregularities and politically motivated violence. While 
the civilian government generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces, there were instances in which elements of the security 
forces acted independently of government authority.
    There were a number of human rights problems. Police and prison 
guards used excessive force against inmates and suspects, and police 
impunity was a problem. Prison conditions were harsh and life 
threatening. Police corruption and violation of legal procedures were 
problems, and the judiciary was corrupt and inefficient. The government 
partially limited freedom of speech and press, especially in Zanzibar. 
Government corruption remained a problem, and authorities restricted 
the movement of refugees. Societal violence against women and persons 
with albinism and women persisted. Female genital mutilation (FGM), 
especially of young girls, continued to be practiced. Trafficking in 
persons and child labor continued.
                        
                       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 May the inspector general of police warned his officers not to 
use lethal force; however, on several occasions security forces used 
such force against citizens in custody and during pursuit.
    For example, on March 27, police shot and killed a taxi driver in 
Dar es Salaam after mistaking him for a robber. Bystanders told 
reporters that the taxi driver was taking a client home when police 
shot and killed him. Police investigated the case and turned the file 
over to prosecutors, who dropped all charges. However, the officer died 
in custody of natural causes before he could be released.
    In July a Dar es Salaam family accused police of torturing and 
killing their relative, Rashidi Tuga, after arresting him at his home. 
According to a postmortem report, the body had marks on the neck, and 
the head was swollen. The inspector general of police appointed a 
seven-member team to investigate the killing. At year's end results of 
the investigation had not been released.
    The Tabora Senior State Attorney's investigation into the January 
2008 beating to death of 16-year-old James Deus while in police custody 
continued. The suspect remained in custody at year's end.
    A total of 15 police officers allegedly involved in the shooting 
deaths of three gemstone dealers and a taxi driver near Dar es Salaam 
in 2006 were acquitted of murder charges in August due to lack of 
evidence.
    A number of deaths resulted from mob violence, including by 
stoning, beating, hacking with machetes, and burning, although these 
incidents continued to decline following a government outreach campaign 
and nongovernmental organization (NGO) efforts. However, several mob 
killings of suspected thieves occurred.
    For example, on January 9, a mob killed Musa Juma in the Arusha 
Region for trying to rob a house. The police intervened but too late to 
save his life. At year's end there was no further information about the 
killing.
    In April Robhi Getaraswa, the chairman of Kitagasembe village in 
Tarime, was beaten, burned, and killed by villagers for stealing eight 
head of cattle. At year's end the police investigation was pending.
    There were no further developments in other cases of mob violence 
in 2008 including: three persons stoned to death in Rukwa Region; two 
thieves killed near Malangali; three persons burned to death for 
illegal fishing; and a man killed for stealing two chickens.
    The widespread belief in witchcraft and fear of witches led to the 
continued killing of alleged witches by persons claiming to be victims 
of witchcraft, relatives of victims, or mobs.
    For example, in August the Mwanza regional commissioner estimated 
that 60 elderly individuals were murdered in Mwanza on suspicion of 
being witches during the year; 56 of the victims were women.
    In March a mob killed a 70-year-old man in the Mpui village of 
Sumbawanga district for allegedly practicing witchcraft. The mob, armed 
with clubs, arrows, and machetes, also injured nine persons, destroyed 
cattle, and burned down the homes of persons they accused of harboring 
witches. At year's end there had been no arrests, but the police were 
looking for five men suspected of being the ring leaders.
    Officials condemned such killings. In June 2008 Prime Minister 
Mizengo Pinda condemned the killing of the elderly on suspicions of 
witchcraft and urged citizens to take their concerns to a court of law 
instead of using mob violence.
    It was difficult to prosecute persons accused of killing suspected 
witches due to lack of police resources and the unwillingness of 
witnesses to come forward, but the government attempted to prosecute 
several such cases. In September 2008 four persons were arrested for 
killing Nyabusa Nyanda, age 60, in Sengerema district, Mwanza Region, 
after accusing her of being a witch. The case remained pending and the 
suspects remained in custody at year's end.
    Violence continued against persons with albinism in the belief that 
their body parts could create power and wealth. There have been 
approximately 50 murders since 2007, with four in the month of July of 
this year alone. NGOs believed that attacks against persons with 
albinism may be underreported due to the involvement of family or close 
friends.
    In January President Kikwete told a rally organized by the Tanzania 
Albino Society that his administration would protect persons with 
albinism and would not tolerate attacks against them. In April 2008 the 
president appointed a person with albinism--Al-Shaymaa Kwegyr--to 
parliament to oversee efforts to defend the rights of persons with 
albinism.
    Prime Minister Pinda revoked the licenses of witchdoctors and 
traditional healers during the year to put an end to the killing of 
persons with albinism. The announcement received the support of some 
traditional healers in Manyara Region, who admitted publicly that their 
colleagues were encouraging the ritual killings.
    In March the government asked residents in regions where albino 
killings were concentrated to name the perpetrators in secret polls. 
The results of these polls were not released. However, by September 
there were an estimated 90 persons being held for crimes against 
persons with albinism. The first trials for alleged albino killers 
began in June. On September 23, a judge in the Shinyanga Region 
sentenced three men to death for killing a 14-year-old boy and severing 
his legs.
    In early November a court in Shinyanga Region sentenced four men to 
death in the killing of a 50-year-old man with albinism for his body 
parts.
    By year's end the courts had sentenced a total of seven persons to 
death for attacks on persons with albinism.
    The Commission on Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) 
launched an ``omnibus'' initiative in October to stop the killings, 
which included public inquiries, investigations, and educational 
outreach about human rights violations associated with attacks on 
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; however, 
police officers and prison guards abused, threatened, and otherwise 
mistreated civilians, suspected criminals, and prisoners on several 
occasions during the year. Beatings were the method most commonly used.
    For example, in May a suspect accused of pouring acid on the 
managing editor of the MwanaHalisi newspaper accused Segerea prison 
officials of severely beating him in front of their supervisor. The 
beatings allegedly left him paralyzed on the left side. Court officials 
ordered prison officials to investigate the complaint and report their 
findings to the magistrate. Prison officials denied the allegations of 
abuse and stated they were not aware of the court ordered 
investigation.
    Also in May, according to a report from the Legal and Human Rights 
Center (LHRC), soldiers assaulted a traffic officer at a crossroad in 
Dar es Salaam, allegedly because he was not directing traffic quickly 
enough.
    On September 19, approximately 15 soldiers stormed a bar in the 
Lindi Region, reportedly after the owner and its patrons refused to 
change the radio station. Six persons were seriously injured, and 18 
others suffered minor injuries during the clash. Police arrested 12 
soldiers and were seeking several others in connection with the 
incident. There were no further developments by year's end.
    There were no further developments in the following 2008 cases: the 
April complaint by 150 villagers that police beat them and forced them 
to vacate their homes; the April shooting of three gemstone miners by 
police; and the June beating of Godbless Kiwelu by police.
    Local government officials and courts occasionally used caning as a 
punishment for both juvenile and adult offenders.
    For example, in February 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. In September 
the teachers filed a civil suit against the district commissioner for 
Tanzanian shillings 300 million ($220,000), and the case continued at 
year's end.
    In August a witchdoctor from Ibongoya village in Mwanza was 
sentenced to 30 years in prison and four strokes of the cane by the 
Misungwi District Court for raping a student.
    In August international NGOs reported that local field force units 
forcibly evicted pastoralists and burned their homes and crops from the 
Loliondo Game Controlled Area (LGCA), an area where a foreign 
corporation owns the rights to hunt. Police were also alleged to have 
arrested and sentenced without due process pastoralists who refused to 
move. In October CHRAGG sent a team to investigate the incident but its 
report was pending at year's end (see section 6).
    Classes on respecting human rights and antitrafficking activities 
for police and soldiers in basic training continued during the year as 
part of the inspector general's commitment to professionalize the 
police force and reduce corruption.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police 
raped girls.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--During the year 
representatives from the LHRC, CHRAGG, the Tanzanian Red Cross (TRC), 
and the diplomatic community visited prisons. Prison conditions 
remained harsh and life threatening. In May the CHRAGG inspected the 
Ukonga maximum security prison in Dar es Salaam to follow up on reports 
that inmates were being denied access to toilet facilities. In 
interviews inmates complained of substandard food, lack of medication, 
and poor sanitation. Prisoners stated that when they demanded better 
conditions they were threatened with beatings and solitary confinement. 
The LHRC also received prisoner complaints of abuse by guards and other 
inmates.
    The LHRC visited 24 prisons on the mainland during the year 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 TRC, which visits prisons annually, stated that 
some prisoners had to sleep on the floor.
    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, cholera, and other diseases related to 
poor sanitation. Medical supplies were limited and medical care 
inadequate. 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.
    Food supplies in the prisons were inadequate. The TRC reported that 
some prisoners were malnourished.
    In May, 12 death row prisoners at the Ukonga maximum security 
prison reportedly went on a hunger strike to protest the poor quality 
of food. They accused officials of selling their weekly rations to 
nearby schools for profit. The prison's public relations officer 
refuted reports of a hunger strike.
    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 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. Community service 
was also rarely imposed due to an insufficient number of probation 
officers.
    The country's prisons held approximately 45,000 convicted prisoners 
and pretrial detainees, whereas the maximum capacity of the prisons was 
27,653. An estimated 1,500 convicted prisoners and pretrial detainees 
are women. While a precise figure was not available for juveniles in 
detention, officials estimated the juvenile population was similar to 
that of female prisoners, a small fraction of the total prison 
population.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that prison 
officers sexually abused individuals in detention.
    Police investigated the 2008 rape of a minor by prison officer Hija 
Mchwao and found sufficient evidence to charge him. However, in 
September the charges were dismissed because there were no witnesses 
willing to testify in the case.
    The law requires prisoners to be separated by age and gender, and 
whether a person is awaiting trial or has been convicted of a crime. 
For the most part, these laws were followed in practice. Women were 
separated from men and detainees were separated from convicted prisons. 
However, there were only three facilities for juveniles, and juveniles 
were often held with adults. Male juveniles awaiting trial were held in 
one of five remand homes, and girls were almost universally released on 
bail. For the most part remand prisoners were held separately from 
convicted prisoners.
    Authorities often moved prisoners to different prisons without 
notifying their families. According to CHRAGG, prisoners were moved to 
attend trials in specialized courts, but in some instances financial 
constraints precluded the prison system from returning them to their 
original locations after conviction.
    The International Committee of the Red Cross visited prisoners at 
the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, and 
visited refugees in various prisons across the country to monitor 
whether their fundamental rights were being observed. The Office of the 
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited prisons holding 
refugees to learn their immigration status and to provide help to those 
who believed they had been wrongly arrested and sentenced for illegal 
immigration. International and domestic NGOs also visited prisons and 
offered legal and humanitarian assistance. However, the TRC visits were 
restricted to the visitor areas and the TRC was not permitted to 
inspect internal prison conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed 
these prohibitions.
    The seven elderly residents of Pemba detained in May 2008 were no 
longer required to report periodically to the police station. In August 
the seven met with UN representatives without interference and were 
told that their petition asking for self-determination was under review 
by the UN.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police 
force under the Ministry of Public Safety and Security has primary 
responsibility for maintaining law and order. A special division called 
the Field Force Unit deals with unlawful demonstrations and riots. 
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 Ministry 
of Defense is responsible for external security and has some limited 
domestic security responsibilities.
    The police force remained underfunded and largely inefficient. 
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. In the year's National 
Governance and Corruption Survey, households, public officials, and 
enterprises identified the police force as one of the most corrupt 
public institutions.
    Police use of excessive force, police corruption, and impunity were 
problems.
    There were continuing efforts to improve the performance of police. 
For example, during the year the national police held seminars on 
corruption and took disciplinary action against police officers 
implicated in wrongdoing. On December 31, the Assistant Superintendent 
of Police Lwitiko Kibanda announced that during the year more than 15 
police officers were dismissed and an additional 15 demoted for 
unethical behavior, including corruption.
    During the year a community policing initiative was launched to 
mediate local disputes and reduce police corruption. The community 
police, working in villages, received standardized training, and police 
conducted an awareness campaign for citizens on how to work with the 
community policing units.
    During the year CHRAGG conducted a pilot study in Mwanza, Mbeya, 
and Dar es Salaam to determine the extent of police brutality; however, 
results of the study had not been released by year's end.
    In some cases police acted as prosecutors in lower courts, but this 
practice was being phased out. The Ministry of Justice began hiring and 
training state prosecutors to handle the entire national caseload. 
Judicial experts had criticized the practice of police acting as 
prosecutors because it allowed police to manipulate evidence in 
criminal cases.
    The police continued to hold training seminars on surveillance and 
detection, 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 TRC also trained members of the 
police force both on the mainland and in Zanzibar to educate them about 
human rights as well as the role of the TRC.
    The government took steps to speed up the judicial process by 
having the Director of Public Prosecution's (DPP) office review cases 
to identify those that could be dismissed due to weak evidence or 
resolved through plea bargains. The DPP developed a general instruction 
manual for prosecutors and collaborated with police on a similar 
resource for investigators to assist them in processing cases. In 
addition, the DPP introduced an electronic case management system 
during the year.
    In December the government launched the National Criminal Justice 
Forum to facilitate collaboration between law enforcement 
organizations.
    The law grants legal status to the Sungusungu village anticrime 
groups. Local governments appointed Sungusungu 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 to the Sungusungu 
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. Five cases (one in Shinyanga and four in Mwanza) 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 Tanzanian shillings 30,000 
($23) to the victim.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment while in Detention.--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, the lack of communication systems and 
infrastructure, and the 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 other 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 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 50 percent of the prison population 
consisted of pretrial detainees. Detainees charged with criminal 
matters generally waited several years for trial due to the time 
required to complete police investigations, a lack of judges to hear 
cases, and an inadequate judicial budget.
    CHRAGG reported that on average it took two to five years for 
suspects to have their cases heard and a judgment reached. Prisoners 
continued to protest the length of time it took to hear their cases. In 
January and again in August, pretrial suspects in the Keko Prison of 
Dar es Salaam went on hunger strikes in order to pressure the 
government to accelerate their cases. After five days, three of the 
inmates were reportedly in critical condition and had to be put on 
intravenous drip. There was no immediate response from prison officials 
as to the status of their trials.
    On April 26, President Kikwete ordered the release of 3,247 
prisoners to ease overcrowding. This group included ill, 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 4,000 prisoners 
on the occasion of Tanzania's Independence Day.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judiciary remained underfunded, 
corrupt (see section 4), inefficient, and subject to executive 
influence, especially in the lower courts. 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.
    The union Ministry of Justice faced a critical shortage of court 
buildings as well as magistrates and judges. However, during the year 
President Kikwete appointed 14 judges to the high court, bringing the 
total to 55 of whom 22 were female.
    In Zanzibar the president appointed two new high court judges, 
which brought the total number of judges to six. The Zanzibar 
government also eased the backlog of cases in the land tribunal by 
hiring three new magistrates, two from Unguja and one from Pemba. 
Previously the land tribunal only had one magistrate.
    Both the union and Zanzibar legal systems are based on British 
common law and also recognize customary and Islamic law in civil cases. 
In criminal matters both Christians and Muslims are governed by 
statutory or common law.
    A Judicial Service Commission, chaired by the chief justice of the 
Court of Appeal, appoints all judges except those for the Court of 
Appeal and the high courts, who are appointed by the president. All 
courts, including Islamic courts in Zanzibar, are staffed by civil 
servants.
    The country has a five-tier judicial system whose highest court is 
the Court of Appeal. In addition, in Zanzibar, whose population is 
almost entirely Muslim, there is a system of Islamic kadhi courts with 
its own hierarchy, topped by a kadhi court of appeal. These courts hear 
matters involving customary Islamic law on family and related matters. 
On the mainland, civil law essentially governs all persons involved in 
cases of child custody and divorce. Islamic and customary law governs 
other family matters for Muslims and Christians, respectively. The 
issue of establishing a kadhi court on the mainland, which has divided 
Muslim and Christian leaders, remained contentious.
    There was one juvenile court; however, it was overburdened and 
handled cases only for young offenders in Dar es Salaam. Juvenile 
offenders in other regions were tried in adult courts in most cases or 
waited months for cross-country transportation to the juvenile court.
    The law also provides for commercial courts, land courts, housing 
tribunals, and military tribunals. Military tribunals do not try 
civilians, but defendants convicted by military tribunals may appeal to 
the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

    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--generally are 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.
    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 
and cases examining the constitutionality of Zanzibar laws, could 
appeal decisions to the high courts and the Court of Appeal. 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. Most 
indigent defendants charged with lesser crimes did not have legal 
counsel, however. In Zanzibar prosecutors act as lawyers for both the 
state and the defendant. Suspects do not have the right to legal 
defense.
    There were approximately 1,000 registered lawyers in the country, 
80 percent of whom practiced in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza. 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 assistanceby the 
government and some NGOs, such as the Tanzania Women Lawyers 
Association (TAWLA) 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. During the year security forces 
increasingly sought search warrants in accordance with the law, and 
citizens had a greater awareness of their civil liberties and 
complained when they were violated. CHRAGG received between 125 and 150 
complaints regarding civil liberties each month during the year. 
Between 2001 and 2008, CHRAGG received a total of 1,670 such complaints 
or roughly 20 per month.
    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 was continuing. During the year the LHRC filed an 
application with the High Court seeking a court order to compel the 
government to compensate or resettle the villagers. At year's end no 
date had been set by the court for the hearing.

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 abusive or derogatory language to describe the country's 
leadership publicly.
    For example, on September 27, members of the opposition party Civic 
United Front (CUF) were arrested in Tanga and charged with unlawful 
abuse of the president following a rally at which they called for the 
dissolution of the National Electoral and Zanzibar Electoral 
Commissions, alleging that they were instruments of the ruling party. 
The CUF officials were released on bail. At year's end there were no 
further developments (see section 1.d.).
    The independent media on the mainland were active and expressed a 
wide variety of views without restriction.
    The president publicly expressed support for press freedom, and 
journalists were generally able to publish articles, for example, 
alleging corruption by government officials, without reprisal. However, 
the Ministry of Information acknowledged that it called four editors 
into its offices during the year for distorting government statements, 
criticizing the president without offering supporting evidence, and 
printing misinformation about a parliamentary debate. No further action 
was taken against the editors.
    During the year there were reports of journalists being attacked. 
For example, on December 22, five assailants attacked a journalist from 
Mwananchi Communications in his home in Mwanza. The suspects demanded 
the journalist turn over documents he had received in connection with 
an investigation into funds allegedly stolen from a government bank 
account. The police were investigating the case at year's end.
    The law allows police to raid and seize materials from newspaper 
offices and allows the minister of information to close media outlets 
for reasons of undefined ``public interest.'' Unlike in the previous 
year, the government did not exercise these powers during the year.
    Unlike in the previous years, no newspapers were suspended. The 
newspaper MwanaHalisi, which was suspended in October 2008, resumed 
operation in January.
    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. On the mainland there were an estimated 16 
daily newspapers, 25 television stations, and 30 radio stations.
    The mainland government allowed political opponents unrestricted 
access to the media. Publications such as the opposition party 
CHADEMA's Tanzania Daima were published daily. 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 one of the two newspapers was privately owned. The only 
daily newspaper was government owned. National newspapers were sold in 
Zanzibar without restriction. The Zanzibar government controlled all 
content of radio and television broadcasts, whether privately or 
publicly owned. 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, political opposition spokespersons had access. 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 Tanzanian shillings 250,000 ($190), 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.
    Reporters were often harassed and threatened on Zanzibar. For 
example, in October journalist Mwinyi Sadala was arrested while 
investigating a cholera outbreak in Karakana. When he reportedly 
refused to give police his camera, they seized it and charged him with 
taking pictures without the permission of the permanent secretary of 
the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. After deleting the pictures 
from the camera, police returned it to Sadala and withdrew the case 
against him. In 2008 the Committee to Protect Journalists criticized 
the government for arbitrarily arresting journalists.
    During the year there was one attempt to launch a new newspaper on 
Zanzibar, but Zanzibar officials denied it registration. However, the 
newspaper received approval from mainland officials and operated from 
the mainland.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. During the year the police monitored the Internet to 
prevent trafficking in persons and other illegal activities. Web sites 
and blogs critical of the government faced the same scrutiny and 
possibility of arrest as print media. During the year 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.
    On July 11, the Dar es Salaam police prevented a group of retirees 
of the East African Community from meeting for fear that they would 
create public disorder and unrest. The retirees claimed the police had 
given them a permit to assemble in advance of the planned meeting.
    On July 17, according to an article in Mwananchi, Zanzibar police 
banned a planned demonstration of five political parties who wanted to 
march in support of the Zanzibar government's decision to remove gas 
and petroleum from the list of union issues.
    The Zanzibar government forcibly dispersed and arrested 
demonstrators.
    On August 4, Zanzibar government militia reportedly fired bullets 
into the air to disperse crowds of CUF supporters gathered at 
registration facilities on Pemba to protest the electoral registration 
process.
    On September 27, police arrested seven members of the opposition 
party CUF after a rally in Tanga on charges of unlawful assembly, 
assembly to commit a breach of peace, and unlawful abuse of the 
president following the rally. CUF officials maintained they had 
obtained police permission to hold the rally and made no statements 
that could be construed as abusive to the president. The group was 
released on bail. At year's end there were no further developments.
    No action was taken against police officers who allegedly beat and 
injured opposition CHADEMA supporters during a by-election in Tarime, 
Mara Region, in October 2008.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion; however, there were some limits on this freedom.
    Religious organizations must register with the Ministry of Home 
Affairs. To register, a religious organization must have at least 10 
followers and present a constitution, the resumes of its leaders, and a 
letter of recommendation from the district commissioner of the locale 
where the organization would be based. Muslim groups on the mainland 
also were required to submit a letter of recommendation from the 
National Muslim Council of Tanzania, the body that governs Islamic 
matters on the mainland, and from the office of the mufti in Zanzibar.
    There were no reports that the government refused to register any 
group during the year.
    The law prohibits preaching, or distributing materials, that are 
inflammatory or a threat to the public order.
    The government occasionally rejected requests from religious groups 
seeking to hold demonstrations because of the possibility that the 
gathering could become confrontational or inflame religious tensions. 
During the year Muslim religious leaders appealed to the government to 
reintroduce kadhi courts on the mainland for the adjudication of 
Islamic civil matters. Christian groups have objected that such courts 
would violate government neutrality among religions and that the union 
constitution did not provide for a national kadhi court.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Government policy prohibits 
discrimination against any individual on the basis of religious beliefs 
or practices. Some Muslim groups charged that the government 
discriminated against them in hiring, education, and law enforcement 
practices. Some Christian groups claimed that all sensitive government 
positions were filled by Muslims, but neutral observers stated that 
there did not appear to be government bias toward any particular 
religious group.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that Muslim 
school girls were harassed for wearing headscarves.
    There were sporadic reports of religion-based disturbances in 
various communities. Most of these reports involved practitioners of 
animism targeted by members of the community who objected to their 
traditional beliefs.
    There were no further developments in the January 2008 case of 
villagers in Idiwili who burned down the house of a Pentecostal 
preacher.
    The Jewish population was very small, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 the Office of the 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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. Its laws provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status 
and the government has established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. For the most part, 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. However, in early November regional authorities in Kigoma 
Region forcibly returned 72 asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic 
of Congo (DRC) without allowing the UNHCR to conduct an independent 
status determination. The Ministry of Home Affairs stated it regretted 
the incident and would not allow it to occur again.
    In December 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 the UNHCR, the government 
continued the process of identifying those qualified for citizenship 
and local integration, and more than 155,000 refugees had been granted 
citizenship by year's end.
    There were approximately 125,000 refugees in the country at the 
start of the year, but only about 100,000 by the end of the year, 
primarily from Burundi and the DRC. All Burundian refugees from 1993 
except for approximately 36,000 were returned to Burundi as the 
political situation there improved.
    Burundian refugees continued to return home during the year, 
motivated by improved security in Burundi, strong encouragement from 
the government, and UNHCR relocation assistance packages. The 
tripartite commission composed of the UNHCR and the governments of 
Tanzania and Burundi encouraged repatriation by closing schools in the 
camps and stopping refugee income-generating projects. The UNHCR 
facilitated the repatriation of over 29,000 Burundian refugees and more 
than 1,400 refugees to the DRC. Repatriation of Congolese slowed 
considerably compared to the previous year. All returns were voluntary; 
however, some refugees departed under the perceived threat of 
restrictions on their activities from local politicians or of forced 
return to a country where they feared life was not safe or economically 
viable.
    By year's end there were only two UNHCR-supported camps in the 
country, one for Congolese and one for Burundians. 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 in earlier years. 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. A total of 97 refugees were detained for crimes committed 
inside and outside of the camps between January and June. UNHCR worked 
with authorities 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. However, electoral irregularities, 
political violence, and legal and financial provisions favoring the 
ruling CCM limited the effectiveness of the electoral process in 
Zanzibar. 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 were 
prohibited from fielding candidates during the 2005 elections.
    In preparation for the October 2010 national elections, the 
Zanzibar government began registering eligible voters in late June. The 
registration process became contentious when CUF party members alleged 
they were denied the right to register. A Zanzibar identification card, 
which some CUF supporters had difficulty obtaining, was required for 
registration. On August 4, 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 
(see section 2.b.). According to CUF the soldiers arrested and beat 
several party supporters. The charges against two of those arrested 
were later dropped, while a third case remained pending at year's end. 
Union police forces observed the attacks but did not attempt to 
intervene. Following this incident, the Zanzibar Electoral Commission 
halted registration. When it resumed in mid-September, CUF supporters 
staged protests and blocked access to the voter registration centers. 
Police dispersed the protesters.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Separate elections are held 
on the mainland and on Zanzibar, sometimes 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 there were three union parliamentary by-elections 
and one for the Zanzibar House of Representatives. On the mainland 
unidentified individuals reportedly attacked opposition party members 
in Busanda and Biharamulo during the campaigns preceding the by-
elections. The ruling CCM party made similar complaints regarding 
attacks. In addition, opposition parties complained of voting 
irregularities in Biharamulo but did not file a legal challenge.
    In 2005 Jakaya Kikwete, the CCM candidate, was elected president of 
the union with 80.2 percent of the vote in an election widely 
considered by observers as more free and fair than previous elections; 
however, the campaigns preceding them were marked by violence in some 
regions.
    In 2005 voters in the semiautonomous archipelago of Zanzibar 
elected a president, legislators, and local representatives for the 
archipelago. CCM candidate Amani Karume, the incumbent president, was 
reelected with 53 percent of the vote in an election marred by 
irregularities and violence.
    Harassment of opposition political parties by the government 
diminished after the 2005 elections. However, with political parties 
preparing for the 2010 elections, opposition parties alleged that the 
ruling party tried to hamper their campaign initiatives. For example, 
on September 27, seven CUF officials were arrested after a rally and 
charged with unlawful assembly (see section 2.b.). CUF officials 
maintained they had permission for the event, and the group was 
released on bail. A few days later, CUF held a march in Dar es Salaam 
to protest the ruling party's control over the national and Zanzibari 
electoral commissions.
    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.
    In Zanzibar, particularly on Pemba, opposition party members 
claimed that the government, the largest employer, discriminated 
against them in hiring.
    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.
    The election law provides for parliamentarians completing a term to 
receive Tanzanian shillings 20,000,000 ($15,000) as a ``gratuity,'' 
which incumbents can use in reelection campaigns. Several NGOs and 
opposition parties criticized this provision for impeding aspiring 
parliamentary candidates from opposition parties to mount an effective 
challenge.
    At year's end the government's 2007 appeal of a 2006 ruling by the 
High Court, which would allow independent candidates to contest local 
and national elections, remained pending.
    The law requires that women occupy at least 30 percent of seats in 
parliament. The political parties appoint women to serve in seats set 
aside for them according to the percentage of votes their parties win. 
After the 2005 elections there were 75 special seats for women, and at 
year's end there were 91 women in the 320-seat parliament. After taking 
office in 2005, President Kikwete appointed seven women ministers 
(compared with four in the former administration) and 10 women deputy 
ministers. At year's end, however, there were seven women ministers and 
three deputy ministers. More than 20 of the 55 high court judges were 
women, and one woman served as a justice of the Union Court of Appeal. 
Women held 18 seats in the 81-seat Zanzibar House of Representatives 
and four positions in the cabinet of the Zanzibar government.
    There were 11 members of parliament of Asian origin in the 320-seat 
National Assembly. There were no ministers of Asian 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 World Bank's 
Governance Indicators reflected that corruption remained a serious 
problem. In September the media reported that the World Bank urged the 
government to do more to fight corruption as lack of progress allows 
perpetrators to act with impunity. President Kikwete publicly 
reaffirmed his commitment to fight corruption, noting the increase in 
ongoing corruption cases from 58 in 2005 to 578 during the year. 
Although several high-profile corruption investigations were underway, 
including the case against former cabinet ministers Basil Mramba and 
Daniel Yona for granting unjustified tax exemptions on a gold 
production agreement, the government was criticized for slow progress 
in these cases.
    Judicial corruption was a problem. For example, in May a district 
magistrate was sentenced to 11 years in prison for demanding five 
million Tanzanian shillings ($3,700) from a businessman in return for a 
favorable judgment in his case.
    In September a primary court magistrate and a district court 
secretary in Mwanza were arrested and prosecuted on corruption charges. 
The two were charged with soliciting and receiving a bribe of Tanzanian 
shillings 60 million ($45,000). At year's end their case continued.
    In May a Kisutu Resident Magistrate's court found Jamila Nzota, a 
magistrate in the Temeke district court, guilty of soliciting a bribe 
of Tanzanian shillings five million ($3,700) and receiving Tanzanian 
shillings 700,000 ($526). Her case was on appeal at year's end.
    The PCCB is responsible for educating the public about corruption, 
investigating suspected cases, and prosecuting offenders in 
coordination with the DPP. The PCCB has 24 regional offices and an 
office in every district on the mainland. It received 3,780 allegations 
of corruption between January and August, investigated 584 cases, and 
completed 834 investigation files. According to the PCCB, 137 new cases 
were submitted to the courts during the year and 409 old and new cases 
prosecuted. As of August there had been 25 convictions and 40 
acquittals.
    A special unit of the police force in Zanzibar is responsible for 
corruption cases. However, there were no investigations as no 
complaints were received during the year.
    According to the PCCB, most corruption investigations concerned 
government involvement in mining, land matters, energy, and investment. 
NGOs also reported that allegations of corruption involved the Tanzania 
Revenue Authority, local government officials, the police, licensing 
authorities, hospital workers, and the media.
    In September four Bank of Tanzania (BOT) employees were charged 
with embezzling Tanzanian shillings 104 billion ($78 million) by 
manipulating contract prices and printing requests for currency 
procurement. One of the accused in this case was also charged in the 
ongoing external payment arrears corruption investigation. At year's 
end the accused were awaiting trial.
    The case against more than 20 individuals accused in October 2008 
of obtaining funds fraudulently from the BOT's external payment account 
was ongoing at year's end.
    There were no further developments in the November 2008 corruption 
case against two former ministers of finance and the December 2008 case 
against the former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance.
    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; however, this unit was not effective.
    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.'' For 
example, on October 31, the controller and auditor general completed a 
review of all claims made by secondary school teachers for back pay and 
found that in some instances teachers had made claims for payments 
already received, and in other instances they had submitted forged 
documents to substantiate claims. As a result of these irregularities, 
roughly half of the claimed amount was rejected.
    Government ministers and members of parliament are required to 
disclose their assets when they take office, at the end of each year, 
and when they leave office; however, there was no enforcement mechanism 
or means to determine the accuracy of these disclosures. At year's end 
only 23 percent of officials required to make disclosures had met the 
end-of-year 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. In Zanzibar 
journalists complained about lack of access to government information. 
Civil service regulations effectively allow only a handful of high-
level government representatives to communicate information to the 
media. Media groups pressed the government and parliament to adopt a 
freedom of information act. Although the government held consultations 
with civil society organizations as well as members of the media on a 
new media bill, no immediate action was taken. The legislation was 
pending at year's end.
    In January Haki Elimu, a local NGO, in partnership with 
International Budget Partnership, launched the Open Budget Index and 
concluded that although budget transparency has improved in recent 
years, problems persisted. Information was available about the budgets, 
but it was not meaningful or easily understood.
    According to a 2007-08 survey by Haki Elimu, the public did not 
have access to information about the government's fiscal activities and 
budget. Government officials estimated that 90 percent of all 
government documents, including administrative forms, were treated as 
classified. According to access-to-information advocates, laws blocked 
public access to government information relating to national security, 
broadcasting, newspapers, prisons, restricted areas, official secrets, 
and police. There was no mechanism for appealing denials.
    Parliament continued to use the Parliamentary Online Information 
System (POLIS), which was available to the public via the Internet, to 
increase access to government information. However, POLIS' reach 
remained limited, since only about 1 percent of the country's citizens 
used the Internet.

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. 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.
    Mainland government officials generally were cooperative and 
responsive to the views of human rights groups, although the government 
accused NGOs of exaggerating reports concerning the eviction of 
pastoralists from hunting reserves in Loliondo in September. The 
minister of natural resources and tourism criticized NGOs for 
misleading the public and stated the government planned to take 
measures against them.
    According to the Zanzibar Legal Council, the Zanzibar government 
worked well with NGOs during the year. Together with NGOs the 
government established a policy forum to encourage dialogue about 
Zanzibar's laws and public policies. The forum, made up of different 
stakeholders and senior members of the Zanzibar government, planned to 
meet every two months, alternating between Zanzibar and Pemba. In the 
past the government of Zanzibar was less tolerant of NGOs that 
criticized the government, subjecting them to fines, suspensions, and 
removal for violations of laws against sedition.
    Active domestic human rights NGOs included Tanzania Gender 
Networking Programme, Haki Elimu, the Center for Human Rights 
Promotion, the Legal and Human Rights Centre, Tanzania Media Women's 
Association, Action on Disability and Development, Tanzania Albino 
Society, and the Tanzania Women Lawyers' Association. There were also 
many smaller local human rights NGOs based outside of Dar es Salaam. 
The Zanzibar Legal Services Center was one of the few active human 
rights organizations in Zanzibar. All of these organizations were 
independent of the government.
    CHRAGG, which was financed by the government, operated without 
government interference on the mainland and in Zanzibar. CHRAGG 
received an increased number of complaints on issues of human rights 
and administrative justice, partly as a result of awareness campaigns 
conducted through the media and countrywide rural visits by the 
commissioners and investigative officers. CHRAGG received 2,341 
complaints during the year, of which 558 concerned human rights abuses 
such as police brutality and prison conditions, and 1,783 involved good 
governance issues such as labor disputes, land matters, and judicial 
delays. Following its visits to prisons throughout the country, CHRAGG 
recorded a spike in complaints. CHRAGG officials stated financial 
constraints limited their activities and prevented them from addressing 
the vast majority of complaints, but the organization closed 
approximately 300 cases during the year.
    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 
nevertheless acted independently of government and political party 
influence, and most observers viewed it as an unbiased institution.
    The government continued to host the ICTR in Arusha and was 
supportive of, and cooperated with, the ICTR. During the year there 
were 23 detainees involved in six continuing cases. Five other 
detainees were awaiting trial, and eight cases were pending appeal. In 
September and October respectively, Gregoire Ndahimana and Idelphonse 
Nizeyimana, two of the 13 remaining fugitives, were transferred to the 
ICTR. In addition, the trial of Augustin Ngirabatware, former minister 
of planning, began in September. In December the UN Security Council 
extended the ICTR's mandate until 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, and rape continued to be a 
serious problem. During the year several persons were prosecuted and 
convicted for rape and battery, although an estimated 80 percent of 
rape victims did not report their cases. During the year there were 
7,325 reported rape cases, 2,969 prosecutions, 362 convictions, and 67 
acquittals.
    In August Zanzibar's Ministry of Labor, Youth Development, Women, 
and Children announced the creation of committees in each region to 
combat rape. Between January and October there were 551 rape cases 
treated at the Mnazi Mmoja hospital in Zanzibar.
    A survey released in July 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 as a private 
matter and discouraged victims from taking legal action. Furthermore, 
the survey concluded that the way police and hospitals handled such 
cases 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.
    Domestic violence against women remained widespread. 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. Police reportedly were often reluctant to pursue 
domestic abuse cases, viewing them as family matters. However, domestic 
violence was increasingly viewed as unacceptable. During the year there 
were prosecutions and convictions for spousal abuse of husbands who 
beat their wives. There were also rare cases of husbands who took their 
wives to court for abuse. NGOs such as Kiwohede and TAWLA regularly 
educated the public about the laws concerning spousal abuse and 
provided education and shelter assistance to victims.
    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 wanting a 
divorce.
    During the year NGOs led efforts to sensitize society to the issue 
of domestic violence. Through an extensive television advertising 
campaign, they encouraged women to speak out about the issue.
    The law prohibits prostitution; however, prostitution remained 
common. Prostituted women were occasionally arrested, but the police 
did not keep official statistics on prostitution arrests. Rural women 
and young girls immigrating to urban areas were most at risk for 
prostitution.
    The government 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. Only an estimated 20 percent of women used 
contraception, while another 20 percent would have liked to but did not 
for reasons of culture, logistics, or commodity shortages. The 
government provided free childbirth 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, crippling small, rural 
clinics. Pregnant women giving birth at government health-care 
facilities often had to purchase their own medical supplies. 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. In the private sector, there were 
complaints that women at times faced discrimination because employers 
worried their household obligations would be a professional liability.
    Inheritance and marriage laws do not consistently provide full 
equality for women, and in practice women's rights often were not 
respected. The Ministry of Community Development, Women, and Children 
and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs were 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.
    In family matters the content and application of some customary and 
Islamic laws was viewed by many as discriminatory against women.
    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 did not own land or manage 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. The Committee of the UN 
Convention on the Rights of the Child reported in August that only six 
of every 100 Tanzanian children have birth certificates. Births are 
supposed to be registered within three months. After that parents must 
pay a small fee for registration. To encourage registration, children 
enrolling in preschool must present a registration certificate. 
However, 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 for all children; however, 
there were inadequate numbers of schools, teachers, books, and other 
educational materials to meet the demand.
    During the year fees continued to be charged for school enrollment 
beginning in form one, the equivalent of the first year of high school. 
As a result, many children did not have access to a complete secondary 
education. The responsibility to pay for books, uniforms, and school 
lunches fell primarily to parents.
    Girls represented roughly half of all those enrolled in primary 
school but were absent more often due to household duties. Overall 
school completion rates were the same for boys and girls: 56 percent 
for primary school and 33 percent for secondary.
    There continued to be reports of teachers raping students during 
the year. In February John Donart, a teacher in the Bagamoyo District 
of the Coastal Region, was charged with raping a 14-year-old girl. At 
year's end he was on bail pending a hearing.
    The law prohibits FGM; however, it continued to be practiced by 
some tribes and families. Statutory penalties for FGM on girls under 18 
ranged from five to 15 years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, but those 
who conducted the illegal procedure were rarely prosecuted. The law 
also provides for the payment of compensation by the perpetrator to the 
person against whom the offense was committed.
    The law provides that anyone who has custody, charge, or care of a 
girl under 18 and who causes her to undergo FGM commits the offense of 
cruelty to children. The penalty for such an offense is imprisonment of 
up to 15 years and/or a fine of Tanzanian shillings 300,000 ($220).
    According to 2005 data, 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 other parts of the country, less than 5 
percent of the population practiced 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.
    On June 15, a local government officer in Singida stated that 254 
out of 1,046 women in Manyoni District of the Singida Region who 
delivered in health clinics were circumcised.
    In June 2008 it was reported that infants below one year of age in 
Makiungu village, Singida Region, were subjected to FGM by their 
mothers, unlike in the past when the procedure was performed by 
traditional healers called ``ngaribas.'' AFNET, an NGO dealing with 
women's rights, reported that 47 out of 59 infants and girls up to age 
five who attended a village clinic in Singida Region had undergone FGM.
    There were no reports of prosecutions related to FGM during the 
year. Enforcement of the anti-FGM law was difficult for a number of 
reasons: many police officers and communities were not aware of the 
law, victims were often reluctant to testify, and some witnesses feared 
reprisals from supporters of FGM. Corruption was also a factor; some 
villagers reportedly bribed local leaders not to enforce the law in 
order to carry out FGM on their daughters.
    The government continued to implement the 2001-15 National Plan of 
Action for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence Against Women and 
Children. This strategy sought the elimination of FGM by involving both 
male and female practitioners and community leaders. Anti-FGM groups 
urged parliamentarians and local officials to take a more active role 
in enforcing the law.
    During the year the government and NGOs continued to make progress 
toward eliminating the practice of FGM. In 2008 the government embarked 
on an education program for magistrates, police officers, doctors, and 
community development experts on FGM. The Anti-Female Genital 
Mutilation Network and a coalition of anti-FGM NGOs engaged in 
awareness-raising activities and conducted research on FGM. Anti-FGM 
groups continued their attempts to educate the ngaribas about the 
harmful effects of FGM and to train them for other occupations. The 
chairman of the Tanga Regional Committee for Culture and Traditions 
reported in July 2008 that incidents of FGM declined during the year in 
Mkinga district, Tanga Region, following efforts by local communities 
to educate villagers about the long term and ill effects of FGM. In 
some areas there were reports of local clinics educating ngaribas on 
basic nursing skills to assist with community health education.
    Corporal punishment in schools remained a problem. Caning was 
supported by a law that allows head teachers to cane a student for a 
documented serious offense. Following public outreach by the government 
and the media, the practice has begun to decline.
    Family law provided for girls as young as 15 to be considered 
adults for the purposes of marriage. In order to marry, a girl under 18 
was required to obtain the consent of her father, mother, or guardian; 
no consent is required for an orphaned girl with no guardian. The 
courts also had discretion to allow for marriages of parties who were 
14 years old, for example 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.
    Under the law sexual intercourse with a child under 18 years is 
considered rape regardless of consent; however, the law was not 
effectively enforced. Child sexual abuse remained a problem. There were 
several convictions during the year; most persons convicted for the 
sexual abuse of children were given the maximum sentence of 30 years' 
imprisonment.
    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 are 
subject to a fine ranging from Tanzanian shillings one million ($740) 
to 500 million ($370,000) and/or a prison term of one to 20 years.
    There were reports that individuals practicing witchcraft killed 
children, especially children with albinism, for their body parts. For 
example, in October a ten-year-old boy with albinism was killed by 
attackers who were trying to remove one of his lower limbs. His body 
was buried in concrete to ensure the attackers did not return to steal 
his bones. At year's end no one had been charged for the killing.
    Infanticide continued to be a problem, especially among poor rural 
mothers who believed themselves unable to afford to raise a child.
    The number of orphans in the country was estimated at 2.5 million, 
most of them orphaned by AIDS. Most orphans were absorbed into other 
families. Those who were not absorbed were extremely vulnerable 
individuals who received additional support and counseling from the 
government and several state-sponsored NGOs. There were significant 
numbers of street children in Dar es Salaam and Arusha. Street children 
had limited access to health and education services because they lacked 
a fixed address and money to purchase medicines, school uniforms, and 
books. They were also vulnerable to sexual abuse by older street 
children and homeless persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The comprehensive Antitrafficking in 
Persons Act, which came into force during the year, prescribes 
punishments from one to 20 years' imprisonment for trafficking related 
offenses, depending upon the severity of the crime.
    The country is a source, transit, and destination country for men, 
women, and especially children trafficked for the purposes of forced 
labor and sexual exploitation. Children in low-income families were at 
significant risk of being trafficked, especially girls who were often 
considered an economic burden on their families. Most victims were 
trafficked internally from poor rural areas. Boys were trafficked 
within the country to work on farms, in mines, and in the informal 
business sector. Girls from rural areas were trafficked to urban 
centers and the island of Zanzibar for domestic work. Sexual 
exploitation was often reported after young girls were brought into 
homes as domestic help.
    Small numbers of persons were reportedly trafficked to South 
Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and possibly other European 
countries for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Indian women 
who entered the country legally to work as entertainers in restaurants 
and nightclubs were at times exploited as prostitutes after arrival. 
Small numbers of Somali and Chinese women were also trafficked into the 
country and sexually exploited. There were several reports of Malawian 
men being brought in for forced labor in the fishing industry. It was 
believed that in tourist areas, such as Zanzibar and Arusha, some girls 
who were hired for hotel work, both locally and from India, were later 
coerced into prostitution.
    During the year the African Network for the Prevention and 
Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect reported that Tanzanian 
children were being trafficked to Kenya. The organization discovered 17 
children working in Kenya and returned three to Tanzania.
    Trafficking methods varied. Victims were lured by false promises of 
income, opportunity to attend school, and better living conditions, 
especially from rural to urban areas. Some trafficking victims left 
their homes with assistance from their families; some left on their own 
to escape life in rural areas; and some were transported by someone who 
offered to help them find city work, legitimate or otherwise. There 
were reports that men recruited village girls who had completed primary 
school but were not entering secondary school. The men offered the 
girls money and employment and promised the girls a better life if they 
accompanied them to urban areas; however, these girls ended up in 
domestic labor or prostitution. Another method of trafficking involved 
low-income parents entrusting children to wealthier relatives or 
respected members of the community to care for the child as one of 
their own. Some took advantage of this traditional practice and placed 
children in abusive or exploitive situations such as domestic servitude 
or prostitution. Orphans were particularly vulnerable to trafficking.
    Living conditions for trafficking victims were usually grim, with 
only the most basic amenities, long working hours, little or no pay, 
and missed educational opportunities.
    During the year the International Office of Migration (IOM) worked 
with seven NGOs to provide assistance to victims and conduct prevention 
activities. Approximately 75 percent of trafficking victims who 
received counseling were female. Most were between the ages of 12 and 
17 years and had been exploited as maids or housekeepers. Between 
September 2005 and October, the IOM and its NGO partners assisted 304 
victims; during the year 96 victims were provided counseling, medical 
screenings, and educational opportunities.
    The IOM also provided training to government officials and NGOs in 
the Arusha area on victims' assistance in an effort to set up a 
systematic referral process. The IOM continued to support awareness 
raising activities such as a theater show. Between July and September, 
the show visited the eight regions with the highest incidence of human 
trafficking.
    The IOM also served as the coordinating office for the government's 
antitrafficking stakeholders meetings, which included various 
ministries, NGOs, UN agencies, and representatives of the international 
community.
    In February the government transferred responsibility for all 
antitrafficking law enforcement efforts from the Anti-Human Trafficking 
Unit to the police's Interpol office, which has broad responsibility 
for transnational crime.
    In December police arrested a man in Tarime on suspicion of 
trafficking two children from Kenya. He was charged under the new 
antitrafficking law. At year's end the case was pending. The arrest was 
the first under the new law.
    There were no prosecutions for trafficking during the year; 
however, law enforcement, prosecutors, and immigration officials were 
trained in the new antitrafficking law and the Ministry of Health and 
Social Welfare developed a training manual for health workers who have 
direct contact with victims of trafficking.
    In March a Rwandan woman who was attempting to traffic a Tanzanian 
child to France was convicted under the penal code by authorities in 
Mlandizi and paid a fine of Tanzanian shillings 300,000 ($220).
    The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare played the lead role in 
providing support services to victims but lacked sufficient resources. 
Counseling services for victims were inadequate.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, but there is no 
implementing law to prevent discrimination under this provision. 
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 through several 
pieces of legislation, few buildings were accessible. Many buildings 
were constructed before this requirement came into force, and no funds 
were available for retrofitting existing structures. However, new 
public buildings were being built in compliance with the law. The law 
mandates that 2 percent of total employment be offered to persons with 
disabilities. However, this stipulation was not enforced.
    There were three members of parliament with disabilities, appointed 
by the ruling party.
    The Ministries of Education, Justice, and Labor were responsible 
for enforcing the protection of rights of persons with disabilities for 
education, legal claims, and labor rights, respectively. The Department 
of Social Welfare had responsibility for coordinating matters related 
to persons with disabilities.
    There were approximately 2.4 million persons with disabilities in 
the country. The National Strategy for Economic Growth and Development 
provides for social services for the disabled and there have been some 
efforts to ensure social services were delivered. Action on Disability 
and Development, a UK-based NGO, reported that persons with 
disabilities were marginalized and often lived in abject poverty due to 
inadequate support mechanisms.
    Local NGOs and a federation of NGOs called SHIVYAWATA tried to 
highlight the plight of persons with disabilities.
    During the year the government started an education initiative to 
integrate students with disabilities into mainstream schools in order 
to reduce stigma. However, the program lacked adequate resources.
    There were reports that students with disabilities dropped out of 
schools that lacked adequate facilities. For example, braille paper and 
tape recorders were generally not available for blind students. In 
August 2008 the NGO Media Network for Disability reported that 317 
students with disabilities dropped out of school in Dodoma and Morogoro 
regions during that year. The report cited poverty and pregnancies as 
the chief reasons for dropping out. In April 2008 the principal of the 
Malangani School for the Blind in Rukwa Region claimed that that region 
had more than 600 blind children whose parents and guardians prevented 
them from attending school because they did not see the benefit of 
educating a child with a disability such as blindness.

    Indigenous People.--In August international NGOs reported that 
local Field Force Units forcibly evicted Maasai pastoralists from their 
homes in 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 
returned for the remaining months. In 2007, with drought conditions in 
some areas, the pastoralists did not migrate as they had. The Field 
Force Units allegedly forcibly removed the Maasai and burned their 
homes and crops when they refused to move at the start of hunting 
season. Police allegedly arrested and sentenced without due process 
pastoralists who refused to move. The government denied these 
allegations, claiming those evicted were Kenyans and criticized NGOs 
for exploiting and exaggerating the situation. In mid-September CHRAGG 
sent a team to investigate the alleged human rights abuses, but its 
report was pending at year's end (see section 1.c.).

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexuality is illegal. The 
penal code makes it an offense punishable by up to five years in prison 
to have carnal knowledge of any person of the same sex. 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. There were no reports that anyone was punished 
under the law during the year. However, gays and lesbians faced 
societal discrimination.
    In July a group of NGOs, including Global Rights, International Gay 
and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Centre for Human Rights 
Promotion, submitted a ``shadow'' report to the UNHRC detailing the 
legal and societal discrimination faced by gays, lesbians, and 
transgendered persons. The report stated that the laws against 
homosexuality interfere with an individual's right to privacy and 
encourage the stigmatization of gays, lesbians, and transgendered 
persons. The groups called on the government to amend the penal code, 
which makes homosexuality a criminal offence.
    In early October NGOs alleged that the arrest in Dar es Salaam of 
39 individuals on prostitution charges was motivated by sexual 
orientation. Police made the arrests reportedly after receiving 
complaints from residents about prostituted persons in their 
neighborhood. However, NGOs indicated that residents were upset that 
members of two local gay and lesbian organizations were meeting in 
their neighborhood. At year's end the case was pending.

    Other Societal Violence or and 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. At year's end, 
however, there were no regulations to guide the implementation of this 
law. Although several governmental and nongovernmental organizations, 
including the Tanzania Parliamentarians' AIDS Coalition, addressed 
discrimination against persons infected with HIV/AIDS, and several such 
organizations felt that society was more accepting, problems persisted. 
According to the 2007/08 HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey, there 
had been little change in attitudes towards persons living with HIV/
AIDS since the last 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. During the year these groups drafted a stigma 
and discrimination strategy which was under review at year's end.

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 are 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 
exerts significant power over trade unions, including the right to 
deregister unions if overlap exists within an enterprise. Unions must 
submit financial records and a membership list to the registrar 
annually. The registrar can suspend a trade union if it determines that 
the union violated the law or endangered public security. Association 
with an international trade union requires government approval.
    As of 2005 (the most recent data available), approximately 27 
percent of the formal sector work force were members of the Trade Union 
Congress of Tanzania, the sole labor federation. In the agricultural 
sector, the country's single largest employer, an estimated 5 to 8 
percent of the work force was unionized.
    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 October 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 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 and teachers began receiving their payments.
    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 only to private sector workers. 
Zanzibar government workers do not have the right to strike. 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. An estimated 40 percent of 
the Zanzibar workforce is unionized. In collaboration with the 
International Labor Organization (ILO), the Zanzibar government worked 
to redraft its labor laws during the year but legislation had not been 
finalized by 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 sets wages administratively, including for 
employees of state-owned organizations.
    On the mainland disputes are regulated and resolved by mediation 
through the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration. If the mediator 
fails 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 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 requires employers found guilty of antiunion activities to 
reinstate workers.
    On the mainland there are 23 export processing zones (EPZs); seven 
of them are developer licensees and the rest are operator licensees. In 
Zanzibar there are three free economic zones, which are treated as 
EPZs. There are 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 by 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. The 
IOM 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 the prison so that the prison can be more 
self-sufficient. Prisoners were also used as labor on projects outside 
of the prison, such as road repair and government construction 
projects.

    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 may 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 may be hazardous.
    The law establishes criminal penalties for employers of child labor 
as well as forced labor; violators can be fined an amount not exceeding 
Tanzanian shillings 4,680,000 ($3,500), 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 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 also widespread in Zanzibar; children were used in 
fishing, clove picking, domestic labor, small businesses such as 
selling cakes, and commercial sexual exploitation near tourist 
attractions.
    On April 23, Rahma Mshangama, the principal secretary in the 
Zanzibar Ministry of Employment, Youth, Women, and Children, reported 
that 2,000 children were rescued from child labor in the fishing and 
seaweed farming industries on the islands between 2007 and 2009. 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. The ministry continued 
conducting seminars on child labor in different parts of the country.
    Several government ministries, including the Ministry of Labor, 
Employment, and Youth Development, have special child labor units.
    The government took a number of steps to decrease 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. 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.
    The government revised the Child Development Policy to include 
prohibitions against the worst forms of child labor and conducted 
outreach to educate citizens about the policy.
    The national intersectoral committee on child labor within the 
Office of the Prime Minister, which includes representatives from 
several ministries and the NGO community, met in February and again in 
September. 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 Tanzanian shillings 7,000,000 ($5,200) for child labor related 
activities during the year.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--New minimum wage standards took 
effect in January 2008. Divided into eight employment sectors, the 
lowest minimum wage was Tanzanian shillings 65,000 ($50) per month for 
hotel workers and the highest, Tanzanian shillings 350,000 ($260) per 
month for workers in the mineral sector. These monthly wages were above 
the poverty line of Tanzanian shillings 13,998 ($11) per month per 
person established by the 2006/07 Household Budget Survey. 
Implementation proved difficult for some businesses, which complained 
that they would have to raise salaries more than 100 percent. The labor 
laws cover all workers.
    There were reports that some employers offered only short-term 
contracts of three to six months to avoid the salary and benefit 
requirements. During the year 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 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. There were no reported incidents 
during the year. Disputes are generally resolved through the Commission 
for Mediation and Arbitration. There were no exceptions for foreign or 
migrant workers.

                               __________

                                  TOGO

    Togo, with a population of 6.3 million, is a republic governed by 
President Faure Gnassingbe, who was declared president in 2005 in an 
election marred by severe irregularities. President Faure Gnassingbe 
replaced his father, former president Gnassingbe Eyadema, who died in 
2005 after 38 years in power. Eyadema and his party, Rally of the 
Togolese People (RPT), strongly backed by the armed forces, dominated 
politics and maintained firm control over all levels of the highly 
centralized government until his death. In 2007 the Independent 
National Electoral Commission (CENI) organized generally free and fair 
legislative elections for the 81 seats in the National Assembly. All 
major opposition parties participated in the elections, and the 
opposition won a total of 31 seats. While civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there 
were instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently.
    The human rights situation in the country improved; however, 
serious human rights problems continued, including the following: 
partial inability of citizens to change their government; abuse of 
detainees; 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 the press; restrictions on 
freedom of assembly and movement; corruption; female genital mutilation 
(FGM); discrimination and violence against women; regional and ethnic 
favoritism; trafficking in persons, especially children; child labor, 
including forced child labor; and lack of workers' rights in export 
processing zones.
                        
                       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 death of a former government 
minister found dead on a beach in Lome. The case officially stands as a 
drug overdose despite a contrary finding by a coroner from the 
international nongovernmental organization (NGO) Physicians for Human 
Rights.
    Despite promises to investigate, by year's end the government had 
not released a report on the 2007 killing of a soldier guarding the 
national radio station, Radio Lome.

    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, they 
continued to occur. In January a UN special rapporteur noted the 
government's commitment to combat torture. However, during his visits 
to police and gendarmerie stations, he found evidence of abuse by law 
enforcement officials during interrogation of detainees and beatings by 
prison guards. He also observed that young persons and children were at 
risk of corporal punishment while in detention.
    Unlike in the previous year, the international NGO Amnesty 
International (AI) reported no cases of torture of detainees. However, 
abuse and mistreatment of prisoners continued. Impunity remained a 
problem, and the government did not publicly prosecute officials for 
such abuses.
    In August during a joint mission by the UN and African Union 
special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, the rapporteurs noted 
that the number of attacks and acts of intimidation against human 
rights defenders had decreased; however, they expressed concern about 
the stigmatization of the defenders and impunity for violations against 
them.
    According to AI no progress was reported in resolving complaints 
lodged by victims of electoral violence in 2005.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of security 
forces raping prostitutes.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh, with serious overcrowding, poor sanitation, and unhealthy food. 
In April the media reported that prisoners were dying of hunger and 
received typically one meal a day worth 150 CFA francs ($0.33) because 
the prison system did not have adequate funds. Medical facilities were 
inadequate, and disease and drug abuse were widespread. Sick prisoners 
reportedly had to pay 1,500 CFA francs ($3.30) 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 of Lome confirmed two deaths 
during the year.
    At year's end the expanded Central Prison of Lome, which normally 
accommodated 666, held 1,759 prisoners, including 59 women and 25 
juveniles. The infants of convicted women were incarcerated with their 
mothers when they refused to allow the infants to stay with extended 
family. Pretrial detainees were not held separately from convicted 
prisoners.
    Local NGOs accredited by the Ministry of Justice could visit the 
prisons any time, although the process of acquiring an accreditation 
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.

    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 police are under the direction of the Ministry of 
Security, which reports to the prime minister. The Ministry of Defense, 
which reports directly to the president, oversees the military. The 
Ministry of Security oversees the gendarmerie. Police and gendarmes are 
responsible for law enforcement and maintenance of order. The army is 
in charge of external security. In 2008 approximately 80 percent of the 
army's officers and soldiers were from the previous and current 
presidents' ethnic group, the Kabye, which constitutes approximately 23 
percent of the population.
    Police generally were ineffective and corrupt, and impunity was a 
problem. Police often failed to respond to societal violence. The 
government in general did not investigate or punish effectively those 
who committed abuses, nor did it prosecute persons responsible in 
previous years for unlawful killings and disappearances. No progress 
was made in examining complaints from more than 100 victims of human 
rights abuses committed during the 2005 presidential election. In 2007 
the victims were asked to pay 25,000 CFA francs ($50) 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.
    In October 2008 the military trained approximately 40 senior and 
junior officers and subordinates under the theme ``the role of the 
armed forces in the promotion and protection of human rights.''
    There were no developments in the 2007 random beating of civilians 
by newly recruited police agents in Lome.

    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. On December 11, the government announced the 
creation of a fund of CFA 250 million ($550,000) to provide legal 
services for the indigent.
    On April 15, Kpatcha Gnassingbe, a member of the national assembly 
and half brother to President Faure, and 32 others, were arrested on 
charges of coup plotting. The ICRC and other human rights organizations 
were allowed access to the detainees. Attorneys representing Kpatcha 
claimed that due process was not followed, a charge denied by the 
minister of human rights, who stated that Kpatcha had declined legal 
representation, even though his wife had hired two attorneys. Public 
opinion and media reporting focused primarily on Kpatcha's status; that 
of the other detainees was largely ignored. All 33 remained in custody 
at year's end.
    On April 24, the Togolese League of Human Rights stated that an 
unknown number of persons were arrested for outstanding debts and 
detained in gendarmeries and police stations for more than 48 hours. 
Arrests for failure to pay debt are not lawful.
    A number of persons detained in 2005 in connection with election-
related violence continued to be held without trial in the Central 
Prison of Lome, including suspected critics of the government, although 
the government continued to claim that there were no political 
prisoners. An accurate count of the detainees was not available.
    A shortage of judges and other qualified personnel, as well as 
official inaction, resulted in lengthy pretrial detention--in some 
cases several years--and confinement of prisoners for periods exceeding 
the time they would have served if tried and convicted. Almost 80 
percent of inmates were pretrial detainees.

    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 
President Gnassingbe's party, the RPT. Judges who belonged to the pro-
RPT APMT 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. For example, the 
president of the Constitutional Court was the founder and leader of the 
APMT; in Lome, the presidents of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, 
and Court of First Instance were members of the APMT as were the public 
prosecutor and the attorney general. In Kara, the president of the 
Court of Appeals and the president of the Court of First Instance were 
members of the APMT.
    The Constitutional Court is the highest court for constitutional 
issues while the Supreme Court is the highest court for civil judicial 
cases. The civil judiciary system includes the Supreme Court, appeals 
courts, and courts of first instance. 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. Defendants have the right to access 
government-held evidence relevant to their cases, but in practice were 
denied that right.
    The law extends these rights to all citizens; however, 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 can take their cases to the regular court system, 
which is the starting point for cases in urban areas.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The government denied the 
existence of political detainees; however, six persons arrested after 
the 2005 election and affiliated with the opposition reportedly were 
being held in a prison near Kara, an area of strong RPT support. AI 
reported that dozens of persons were in detention following the 
election. Security forces sometimes moved political detainees to 
informal detention centers under the control of the military or RPT 
militia. Because the government did not acknowledge any political 
detainees, it did not permit any organizations to have access to them.

    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. During the year the government at 
times interfered with radio stations. Journalists and radio and 
television broadcasters practiced self-censorship.
    Although the government did not officially censor individual 
expression, most persons practiced self-censorship because of past 
violent reprisals by government agents.
    There was a lively independent press, most of which was heavily 
politicized, and some of which was highly critical of the government. 
More than 25 privately owned newspapers were published with some 
regularity. The only daily newspaper, Togo-Presse, was owned and 
controlled by the government. The official media heavily slanted their 
content in favor of the government.
    Radio remained the most important medium of mass communication. 
Some private radio stations broadcast domestic news.
    International media were allowed to operate freely.
    The government-owned Togo Television was the only major television 
station. Eight smaller television stations operated during the year--
four covering sports or religion, two private political stations, and 
two independent stations--but broadcast only to limited geographic 
areas. TV7, an independent station, also carried weekly political 
debates through the program Seven on Seven, a political forum in which 
governing and opposition party leaders, human rights organizations, and 
other observers participated in discussions of political issues and 
expressed either criticism of or support for the government. La Chaine 
du Futur, a private station established in 2008 and similar to TV7, 
reported positively on the ruling government.
    The constitution established the High Authority of Audiovisuals and 
Communications (HAAC) 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 an arm of the government.
    In January Radio Victoire was pulled off the air for failing to 
comply with the HAAC's instruction to ban a foreign journalist from 
participating in a radio discussion on a sports program which 
criticized the Togolese Confederation of Football.
    In February Daniel Lawson-Drackey, a journalist with Nana FM radio, 
was indefinitely suspended from the air by the HAAC after making 
comments critical of the authorities. The National Commission on Human 
Rights ruled that this decision violated the right to information and 
the right to press freedom. Lawson-Drackey was working for Nana FM at 
year's end, although one of his programs criticizing the government 
remained suspended.
    In July the HAAC suspended the interactive program of Radio 
Lumiere, a station in Aneho, southern Togo. The radio station allowed 
callers to comment freely on the Kpatcha affair.

    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 5 percent of the country's inhabitants 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 informer 
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, although less 
than in previous years. On January 9, students of Ecole Nationale des 
Auxiliaires Medicaux boycotted their classes to push for improved 
working and living conditions. Security forces were deployed to 
disperse the protest but no violence occurred. Students returned to 
their classes after Minister of Health Komlan Mally intervened.
    On January 21, students at the African School for Architecture and 
Urban Planning held protests during which security force members 
severely beat several protestors. Students returned to their classes 
following intervention by President Faure and the minister of technical 
and professional training.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.
    The government recognizes three main faiths as state religions: 
Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam. Other religious groups, 
such as animists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and 
Jehovah's Witnesses, were required to register as associations. 
Official recognition as an association affords a group the same rights 
as the state religions.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The Jewish community was very 
small, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/

    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. Checkpoints with armed security personnel and arbitrary 
searches of vehicles and individuals were common. Security forces 
frequently demanded bribes, which impeded freedom of movement. Although 
the government reduced the number of official checkpoints to four 
countrywide, there were many unofficial checkpoints where security 
forces solicited bribes.
    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. However, several opposition and human rights workers 
remained in self-imposed exile because they feared arrest.
    According to the UNHCR, approximately 3,000 Togolese refugees 
remained in Benin, and the number of Togolese refugees in Ghana was 
unknown. They received assistance from the UNHCR, which facilitated 
repatriation for those wishing to return to Togo and local integration 
for refugees who would not or could not return.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. Its laws do not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee 
status in accordance with the 1951 Convention, 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 facilitated local integration for remaining Ghanaian 
refugees. 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 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 partially 
through legislative elections in 2007 declared to be generally free and 
fair by the international community. However, the national assembly 
exercised no real oversight of the executive branch of the government. 
In 2005 Faure Gnassingbe was declared president in an election 
characterized by international observers as marred by severe 
irregularities and violence, including the deaths of an estimated 500 
persons.
    After the 2007 elections, the national assembly comprised three 
political parties, although cabinet members were drawn largely from the 
party of the president. The government remained highly centralized. The 
national government appoints officials and controls the budgets of 
government entities at all levels, including prefectures and 
municipalities, and influences the selection of traditional chiefs.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 citizens voted to 
elect the 81 members of the national assembly in 31 electoral 
districts, choosing from 2,000 candidates who ran on 395 party lists. 
International and national observers monitored the elections and 
declared them to be generally free, fair, transparent, and peaceful.
    The CENI later announced that the ruling RPT had won 50 seats, the 
Union of Forces for a Change (UFC) 27 seats, and the Action Committee 
for Renewal (CAR) four seats. The Constitutional Court, which is the 
final arbiter of all electoral issues, concurred and issued definitive 
results on October 30.
    A new government was appointed in September 2008 after the 
resignation of Prime Minister Komlan Mally following the completion of 
his mandate.
    Political parties are required to provide a 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.
    In August 2008 the government prohibited two opposition 
parliamentarians from leaving the country because they did not notify 
the president of the national assembly of their travel plans.
    There were nine female members of the national assembly and four 
female ministers in the 28-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. The 
April 2008 government's interim poverty reduction strategy paper noted 
that corruption and lack of transparency in the management of public 
funds was a problem throughout the government. According to the World 
Banks Worldwide Governance Indicators for 2008, government corruption 
was a severe problem.
    Corruption was common among prison officials, police officials, and 
members of the judiciary (see sections 1.c., 1.d., 1.e., and 2.d.).
    There were no further developments in the 2007 corruption 
allegations levied by the Anti-Corruption Committee against the 
director general of the Social Security Agency, who remained in his 
position at year's end.
    The constitution provides for the creation of a court of accounts 
to oversee public expenditures. The court was established on September 
24 and is an independent entity with an autonomous budget.
    Officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws.
    Although the press code provides for public access to government 
information, the government did not permit access for either citizens 
or noncitizens, including foreign media. Reasons for denial were not 
given.

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 were cooperative but typically were not responsive to NGO 
recommendations.
    There were several domestic private 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. Years of government threats and 
intimidation of human rights leaders, combined with a lack of results 
from human rights initiatives, have led some human rights groups to 
become inactive.
    The 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 and 
was not independent of the government.

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 anyone found guilty of the crime. 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 and prosecuting reports of 
rape, victims were reluctant to report it because of the social stigma 
associated with being raped. Rape was thought to be a widespread 
problem throughout the country. During the year 24 persons were 
arrested for rape. At year's end all were in prison, some awaiting 
trial and others awaiting convictions to be formalized.
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence, and 
domestic violence against women continued to be a widespread problem. 
According to a local NGO, 614 women in Lome reported being victims of 
domestic violence in 2008. Police generally did not intervene in 
abusive situations, and women were not made 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 combating the problem and making women aware of their rights.
    The law prohibits prostitution, including operating a brothel, and 
provides for fines of up to one million CFA francs ($2,200) for brothel 
owners and panderers. Prostitution in Lome was fairly widespread. In 
2008 several prostituted women in Lome reported that they had to bribe 
security forces or offer sex to pass through certain parts of town and 
that failure to do so often resulted in rape; however, there were no 
such reports during the year.
    A presidential decree, issued in 1984, prohibits sexual harassment 
and specifically mentions harassment of female students; however, 
authorities did not enforce the decree. While the law states that 
harassment is illegal and can be taken to court, no definitive 
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 the 
inhabitants used these measures. The government did not provide free 
childbirth services, and the lack of sufficient doctors meant most 
women used midwives for childbirth as well as for pre- and postnatal 
care, unless the mother or child suffered serious health complications. 
Men and women of heterosexual orientation 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. Men of homosexual orientation did not receive equal 
access to these services.
    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 
applies 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.
    As in the previous years, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Promotion 
of Women, and Protection of Children and the Elderly, along with 
independent women's groups and concerned NGOs, continued to campaign to 
inform women of their rights.

    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.
    The government provided education in state schools, and school 
attendance is compulsory for both boys and girls until the age of 15. 
In October 2008 the government announced that tuition for public 
nursery schools and primary schools would be free. 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 primary school. 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. The government continued to work with 
local NGOs on public awareness campaigns to prevent exploitation of 
children.
    The law prohibits FGM; however, according to UNICEF, FGM continued 
to be perpetrated on approximately 6 percent of girls, mostly in rural 
areas. It was believed the practice had decreased significantly in 
urban, but not rural, 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 range 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 seminars to educate and campaign 
against FGM. Several NGOs, with international assistance, organized 
campaigns to educate women of their rights and 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, broadcasts a weekly program for children titled ``Children 
Also Have Rights.''
    During the year the government established a toll-free line for 
persons to report cases of child abuse and seek help. The line provides 
free information on the rights of the child and legal procedure. 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 during the year of hundreds of children were released 
from service as assistants to traditional healers. During the year the 
International Labor Organization launched a program to raise awareness 
and rescue children from trafficking and 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in children 
but not adults. The country remained a country of origin, transit, and 
destination for trafficked persons, primarily women and children. 
Trafficking occurred throughout the country at both official points of 
entry and covertly at unrecognized, unmonitored border crossing points.
    The majority of trafficking victims were children from the poorest 
rural areas, particularly those of Kotocoli, Tchamba, Ewe, Kabye, and 
Akposso ethnicity and mainly from the Maritime, Plateau, and Central 
regions. More young girls than boys were victims of trafficking. 
Trafficking in women for the purposes of prostitution or forced labor 
as domestic servants were problems.
    Most trafficking occurred internally, with children trafficked from 
rural areas to cities, primarily Lome, to work as domestics, produce 
porters, or roadside sellers. However, according to the UN Office on 
Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Togolese children represented 30 percent of 
internationally trafficked victims recorded in eight West African 
countries. Children were trafficked to Benin for indentured servitude 
and to Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana for domestic servitude, which amounted 
at times to slavery. Boys were trafficked for agricultural work to Cote 
dIvoire, Nigeria, and Benin, and to Gabon for domestic servitude and 
street labor. They were fed poorly, clothed crudely, cared for 
inadequately, given drugs to work longer hours, and not educated or 
permitted to learn a trade. There were reports that young girls were 
trafficked to Nigeria for prostitution.
    The country also was a transit point for children trafficked from 
Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and Nigeria. There were credible 
reports that Nigerian women and children were trafficked through the 
country to Europe (particularly Italy and the Netherlands) for the 
purpose of prostitution. Victims were trafficked elsewhere in West 
Africa and to Central Africa, particularly Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and 
Gabon; to Europe, primarily France and Germany; and to the Middle East, 
including Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
    Traffickers were believed to be men and women of Togolese, 
Beninese, and Nigerian nationalities. Adult victims usually were lured 
with phony job offers. Children often were trafficked abroad by parents 
misled by false information. Sometimes parents sold their children to 
traffickers for 10,000 CFA francs ($22) or for commodities such as 
bicycles, radios, or clothing and signed parental authorizations 
transferring their children to the custody of the trafficker.
    Traffickers are penalized with sentences of five to 10 years in 
prison and fines of five to 10 million CFA francs ($11,000 to $22,000). 
The 2005 Law for the Repression of Child Trafficking provides for 
prison sentences and fines for anyone who recruits, transports, hosts, 
or receives trafficked children, as well as prison sentences for 
parents who willingly facilitate the trafficking of their children. The 
law provides for prison sentences from three months to 10 years and 
fines ranging from one to 10 million CFA francs ($2,200 to $22,000) for 
traffickers of children or their accomplices. Anyone who assists or 
provides information, arms, or transportation to facilitate the 
trafficking is considered an accomplice.
    The government had little or no funding to investigate traffickers. 
Police had limited success in intercepting victims of trafficking, and 
prosecution of traffickers was rare. Detained traffickers often paid a 
bribe to secure their release. During the year 13 traffickers were 
arrested; at year's end, 10 were in prison awaiting their sentences. 
The remaining three were on parole but had to report to court 
regularly.
    Four of the 10 traffickers arrested in 2008 were released following 
their trial; the remaining six were in prison at year's end.
    The government, along with international and local NGOs and some 
diplomatic missions, continued to train judges, security forces, and 
local volunteer committees on the 2005 antitrafficking law and other 
existing texts.
    The National Committee for the Reception and Social Reinsertion of 
Trafficked Children is the focal point for statistics on child 
trafficking and is represented in each prefecture. The committee worked 
with local officials to reintegrate returned trafficking victims, and 
during 2008 assisted in the repatriation of 67 trafficked children. 
Most of these children were integrated into their communities.
    The government provided only limited assistance for victims, 
primarily because of a lack of resources. The NGO Terre des Hommes 
assisted recovered children until their parents or other next of kin 
could be notified. Assistance was also available from the government-
funded Social Center for Abandoned Children. The center sends recovered 
children to school or finds apprenticeships for them. CARE 
International-Togo worked with NGOs including Terre des Hommes, La 
Colombe, The Network to Fight against the Trafficking of Children 
(RELUTET), and Ahuefaon on reintegration of trafficked children, 
awareness campaigns for parents and communities, keeping children in 
school, and supporting women's income-generating activities.
    Government agencies involved in antitrafficking efforts included 
the Ministry of Social Affairs, Promotion of Women, and Protection of 
Children and the Elderly; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of 
Security; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Labor, Employment, 
and Social Security; and the security forces (especially police, army, 
and customs units). The government cooperated with NGOs and the 
governments of Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria under a quadripartite law 
allowing for expedited extradition among those countries. In May UNODC 
and the government conducted a seven-day trafficking in persons 
awareness campaign in several regions of the country.
    During the year the government created observation groups in each 
state called the Regional Committees for the Promotion of Children's 
Rights. These groups act as informants of any suspicious activities in 
terms of children's displacement.
    In 2008 local officials, especially the Ministry of Social Affairs, 
Promotion of Women, and Protection of Children and the Elderly, worked 
closely with numerous NGOs, including Plan Togo, the World Association 
for Orphans-Afrique, CARE International-Togo, and Terre des Hommes, to 
conduct public awareness campaigns and training workshops for lawyers, 
journalists, judges, NGO representatives, and security personnel. The 
International Labor Organization (ILO) and UNICEF assisted the 
government in organizing and training regional and local committees and 
in sensitizing and educating parents on the dangers of child 
trafficking and labor throughout the country.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip

    Persons With Disabilities.--A law enacted in 2005 prohibits 
discrimination against persons with 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 some 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 have ramps. While the law nominally obliged 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, Women's Promotion, and the Protection of Children and the 
Elderly, 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 and especially 
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.
    In addition, due to the congruence of political divisions and 
ethnic and regional divisions, human rights abuses motivated by 
politics at times had ethnic and regional overtones.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual conduct is illegal 
but the law was rarely enforced. The penal code 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 ($220 to $1,100).
    There was societal discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--A 2005 law prohibits 
discrimination against persons infected with HIV/AIDS. 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, although the latter must 
ensure minimal services. The 2006 labor code prohibits retribution 
against strikers by employers. However, in December some culinary 
employees at the Sarakawa Hotel went on a 48-hour strike demanding 
year-end bonuses. The strike ended when management agreed to their 
demands.
    There were no further developments in the case of the nine striking 
workers who were fired in July 2008.

    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 that 
had to be negotiated and endorsed by representatives of the government, 
labor unions, and employers. All formal sector employees were covered 
by the collective bargaining agreement that set nationwide wage 
standards for all formal sector workers. The government participated in 
this process both as a labor-management mediator and as the largest 
employer in the formal sector, managing numerous state-owned firms that 
monopolized many sectors of the formal economy. Individual groups in 
the formal sector could attempt to negotiate agreements more favorable 
to labor through sector-specific or firm-specific collective 
bargaining, but this option was rarely used.
    The 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. Workers in the EPZs were prevented from exercising freedom of 
association, because unions did not have free access to EPZs or the 
freedom to organize workers there.

    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. 
Women were trafficked for prostitution or forced labor as domestic 
servants.

    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, prohibits 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 domestic servants 
and porters. In some cases children worked in factories.
    For some types of industrial and technical employment, the minimum 
age is 18. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor, 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 in their families' work. In rural areas, parents sometimes 
placed young children into domestic work in other households in 
exchange for one-time fees as low as 12,500 to 17,500 CFA francs ($28 
to $39).
    Children were trafficked into indentured and exploitative 
servitude, which amounted at times to slavery.
    There were credible reports that Nigerian women and children were 
trafficked through the country to Europe, particularly to Italy and the 
Netherlands, for the purpose of prostitution.
    The Ministry of Social Affairs, Promotion of Women, and Protection 
of Children and the Elderly was responsible for enforcing the 
prohibition of 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 child 
trafficking, child prostitution, child 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 
about child labor in general and forced labor in particular.

    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 ($22 to $35) to 28,000 CFA francs ($62). 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 dominant 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 Uganda. 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). While civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces, elements of the security 
forces occasionally acted independently of government authority.
    Serious human rights problems in the country included arbitrary and 
politically motivated killings; vigilante killings; politically 
motivated abductions; 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, association, and 
religion; 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 
homosexuals; restrictions on labor rights; and forced labor, including 
child labor.
    The LRA was responsible for killing, raping, and kidnapping 
hundreds of persons in the DRC, CAR, and Sudan.
    Violent riots erupted in Kampala on September 10 and 11 after the 
government imposed travel restrictions on the king of the Buganda 
Kingdom. Security forces used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse 
demonstrators, resulting in 26 deaths and numerous injuries. More than 
1,000 persons were detained, of whom more than 400 were in prison 
awaiting trial at year's end. Following the riots the government closed 
and suspended the licenses of four radio stations, closed a radio talk 
show, and suspended or dismissed journalists to control coverage of the 
event.
                        
                       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 allegedly committed politically motivated killings and were 
responsible for arbitrarily killing opposition members, demonstrators, 
detainees, and other citizens; some deaths occurred as a result of 
torture.
    For example, on January 17, security agents in Bukedea District 
reportedly tortured to death David Okwi, a member of the opposition 
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), for allegedly possessing a gun. On 
February 4, the FDC petitioned the Uganda Human Rights Commission 
(UHRC) to investigate Okwi's death. The UHRC was conducting an 
investigation into the death at year's end.
    Security force use of excessive force resulted in deaths. For 
example, on February 22, in Kyenjojo District, police reportedly killed 
Mucunguzi Katongole and injured John Mande and Musa Turigye during an 
attempt to settle a dispute between residents and owners of a biodiesel 
company in Rushambya village, Mpara subcounty. A police investigation 
recommended murder charges against special police constable (SPC) Fred 
Muhangi, a charge of causing grievous harm against SPCs Silver Mpabaisi 
and another officer, and a charge of death by negligence against 
assistant police inspector Angela Moses. (SPCs are local residents 
appointed and employed on contract to reinforce members of the police 
force.) The suspects had not been arrested by year's end; a court 
hearing was pending.
    On February 28, at Kamengo prison in Mpigi District, prison officer 
Paul Ekuma allegedly beat inmate Emmanuel Tindimwebwa with a metal bar. 
Tindimwebwa subsequently died from his injuries. On March 1, police in 
Mpigi arrested Ekuma, and an investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    On March 6, Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) soldiers Erisma 
Maseruka, Wilson Tumwebaze, and Gerald Muhumuza allegedly shot and 
killed Joseph Denaya and Cosmas Data during an operation to arrest 
smugglers in Koboko District, West Nile Region. The soldiers, who were 
arrested, also injured David Bata. A district security intelligence 
bureau directed the Uganda Revenue Authority to compensate the victims' 
families and forwarded the case to the UPDF Fourth Division for further 
investigation.
    On August 27, Mukono District SPCs Samuel Ejoku, Joash Hirya, 
Francis Okiti, James Wagyenda, and Samuel Mukwaya arrested and 
allegedly assaulted Ali Katende. On August 28, a court in Mukono 
charged Katende with interfering with police work and remanded him to 
prison. Katende, who then allegedly organized a mob in prison to lynch 
the SPCs, was found dead in his cell on August 30. Police arrested 
Ejoku, Hirya, and Okiti in connection with the killing; Wagyenda and 
Mukwaya remained at large. An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    Police use of excessive force, including live ammunition, to 
disperse demonstrators, resulted in deaths and injuries.
    For example, on February 16, in Nakaseke District, SPC Paul Baita 
allegedly shot and killed William Byamugisha and Daniel Tumwine, 
students at Kaloke Christian High School, who were demonstrating 
against the quality of meals provided at the school. Four other 
students were injured and required medical treatment. On March 11, a 
court in Nakaseke charged Baita with attempted murder and remanded him 
to prison. Police investigations were ongoing at year's end.
    On September 10 and 11, violent riots erupted in Kampala after 
security forces prevented the king of Buganda from travelling to 
Kayunga District, which is traditionally part of the Buganda Kingdom. 
The government claimed the travel restrictions were security measures 
imposed to prevent violence between Buganda and an ethnic minority that 
rejected the kingdom's authority. Rioters burned vehicles, blocked 
roads, and looted stores. Police, military, and paramilitary units used 
tear gas and live bullets to disperse protesters, resulting in 26 
deaths and numerous injuries. Security forces arrested 1,031 persons, 
965 of whom were charged with participating in an illegal assembly, 
rioting, destroying property, and inciting violence. Of the 965, 31 
were also charged with terrorism for burning the Nateete Police 
Station, and 66 were released without charge. By year's end 32 persons 
had been convicted of rioting.
    There were developments in some 2008, 2007, and 2006 security force 
killings.
    For example, during the year the state attorney exonerated and 
released SPC Simon Kirabira, arrested for the January 2008 killing of 
Jovina Busulwa and Patrick Maale Sentumbwe. SPC Peter Serukwaya, also 
charged in the killings, remained a fugitive at year's end. 
Eyewitnesses stated that Busulwa and Sentumbwe were killed when the 
SPCs shot indiscriminately into a suspect's home.
    On September 17, the High Court in Arua District sentenced police 
constable Rashide Nyakuni to 10 years' imprisonment for the December 
2008 killing of Stephen Enzabugo. The court acquitted and released 
police commander Michael Benedict Ojingo, also charged in the case.
    On March 16, a court in Arua District sentenced SPC Yasin Alayi to 
three years' imprisonment for manslaughter in the 2007 killing of 
Gerald Uroma.
    On May 1, the Lira District High Court sentenced to death former 
Amuka militia members Alfred Odema and Simon Ojoga for the 2006 
killings of 10 persons in the Ogwete camp for internally displaced 
persons (IDPs).
    There were no developments in the following 2007 cases involving 
security force killings: the trial of Peter Ahimbisibwe, who was 
charged with the April killing of presidential office official Nelson 
Ssendegeya; the May death of Faizal Kirunda from injuries inflicted by 
authorities at the Malukhu Prison in eastern Uganda; the October 
killing of suspect Ronald Bukyayanga by three Nabbingo SPCs; the 
October killing of Rogers Mugenyi by a Kampala traffic police officer; 
and the October rape and killing of a woman by UPDF soldier Ochen 
Obonyo.
    Members of Local Defense Units (LDUs), informal groups of local 
citizens who volunteered to provide security, were responsible for 
killings during the year. For example, on January 17, in Kabarole 
District, LDU member Moses Kabagambe allegedly killed civilian Lauren 
Arinaitwe during a night patrol in Rwimi subcounty. Police, who claimed 
that Arinaitwe was shot while resisting arrest, arrested Kabagambe and 
remanded him to prison. The trial was ongoing at year's end.
    During the year LDU members were punished for 2008 killings. For 
example, on January 22, the court martial sitting in Kitgum District 
sentenced LDU member Kenneth Albino to death by hanging for the July 
2008 killing of civilians David Olah, Ismail Okello, and Obina Torit. 
The killing occurred in a nightclub following a quarrel over a woman in 
Omiya-Nyima IDP camp.
    Murusi Katusabe, an LDU member arrested for the April 2007 killing 
of two civilians, remained at large.
    On June 24, the Kampala High Court sentenced LDU member Ramadhan 
Magara to 14 years' imprisonment for manslaughter for the 2006 killing 
of two supporters of opposition leader Kizza Besigye in Kampala. 
However, on September 3, the court rescinded the sentence and dismissed 
the case for lack of evidence. There were no developments in the civil 
suit filed by FDC supporter Haruna Byamukama, who was injured during 
the 2006 incident.
    Ritual killings of children resulted in deaths and injuries (see 
section 6).
    Mob attacks against criminal suspects resulted in deaths. Witnesses 
rarely cooperated with police, making investigation of such incidents 
difficult.
    For example, on March 22, a mob in Jinja District killed and later 
burned two suspected thieves in the village of Kangulumira.
    On March 23, a mob in Rukungiri District beat to death John 
Manziyabo and his son, Polly Mukamata, for killing Julius Twijukye in a 
suspected ritual sacrifice.
    Tensions between landlords and tenants resulted in mob violence. 
For example, on August 16, in Kayunga District, a mob beat to death and 
then burned Sam Kubo after he tried to sell his land despite protests 
from tenants. Police in Kayunga arrested 11 persons for suspected 
involvement in the incident. An investigation was ongoing at year's 
end.
    During the year authorities released Musa Mungomaon, arrested for 
involvement in the October 2008 burning of four suspected thieves. 
Mungomaon reportedly denied involvement and identified other suspects, 
who were reportedly on the run at year's end.
    There were no developments in other 2008 or 2007 cases of mob 
violence. In the Karamoja Region, there were fewer interclan cattle 
raids between Karamojong tribes than in previous years; however, 
violence in the region continued. According to the UPDF and media 
reports, 52 civilians and 10 UPDF soldiers died during the year due to 
cattle raids, the UPDF's response to those raids, and the government's 
disarmament campaign. The UN Office for the Coordination of 
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported fewer incursions of illegally 
armed Karamojong into neighboring districts, a reduction OCHA 
attributed to increased police presence and the government's 
disarmament program.
    There were no reports of LRA attacks within the country during the 
year; however, the LRA killed numerous persons in the DRC, CAR, and 
Sudan. OCHA reported that between June and July, for example, the LRA 
killed 105, abducted 352, and displaced approximately 12,500 civilians 
in the DRC.

    b. Disappearance.--Politically motivated abductions occurred.
    For example, on August 17, members of the opposition FDC Youth 
League told police that FDC member Ismail Wagaba was abducted on his 
way to attend a press conference at the FDC's headquarters in Kampala. 
Wagaba's whereabouts remained unknown until he reappeared in December. 
FDC officials reported that they still did not know the whereabouts of 
FDC party member Robert Mugyenyi, who disappeared in 2006. Human rights 
groups held the government responsible for the disappearances.
    In its April 8 ``Open Secret'' report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) 
noted that at least six individuals believed to have been detained in 
mid-2008 were last seen in Kololo detention facility and have not been 
seen since (see section 1.d.).
    An investigation into the disappearance and presumed death of 
Lutaya Saidi, a street vendor allegedly arrested by the Joint Anti-
terrorism Task Force (JATT) in 2007, was ongoing.
    There were no reports of LRA abductions in northern Uganda during 
the year; however, an estimated 5,000 of the 40,000 children and young 
adults abducted by the LRA in previous years remained unaccounted for, 
according to the international nongovernmental organization (NGO) Save 
the Children. The LRA continued to abduct children and adults 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.). Torture 
generally occurred in unregistered detention facilities and was 
intended to force confessions. From January to June, the African Center 
for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims registered 116 
allegations of torture against the police, 38 against the UPDF, three 
against the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), and 11 against 
the Violent Crime Crack Unit or Rapid Response Unit (RRU).
    In its 2008 annual report, the UHRC reported registering 1,060 
human rights complaints against 873 individuals, including 237 UPDF 
members, 148 police officers, and 300 private citizens. Of the 1,060 
complaints, 30 percent involved allegations of torture or cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment.
    There were numerous reports of torture and abuse in the 
unregistered detention facilities operated by the JATT and CMI. In its 
April 8 report, HRW noted that detainees held in JATT headquarters in 
Kololo and at CMI headquarters in Kitante described being ``hit 
repeatedly with the butt of a gun, slapped in the head and ears, or 
beaten with fists, whips, canes, chairs, and shoes.'' JATT and CMI 
personnel ``put detainees into painful stress positions and forced red 
chili pepper into eyes, nose, and ears,'' causing excruciating pain. 
Some detainees described being shocked with electricity, and many 
reported seeing detainees struggling to walk or having to be carried by 
fellow detainees to vehicles. One detainee lost his leg due to 
infection in a wound caused by a severe beating.
    The UHRC, the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), and 
other human rights organizations reported incidents of torture by 
security forces, including caning, severe beating, stabbing, kicking, 
tying of limbs in contorted positions, forced marching, and rape.
    Torture victims included political activists and detainees. For 
example, Francis Atugonza, the mayor of Hoima and the FDC's trade and 
industry secretary, filed charges during the year against the CMI for 
alleged illegal detention and torture in a CMI ``safe house'' after he 
was arrested in April. Presiding high court justice Yorokamu Bamwine 
barred the public from court proceedings, which were ongoing at year's 
end. Atogunza was arrested again in December, held for two weeks on 
charges of abuse of office, and released; the second case against 
Atogunza was also pending at year's end.
    During the September 10-12 riots in Kampala, security forces beat 
suspects, including women, and went door to door in some neighborhoods, 
pulling residents out of their homes to be beaten and arrested, 
according to HRW (see sections 1.a. and 1.d.). The UHRC received 
complaints from individuals who sustained injuries during the riots. 
For example, a petition filed by Ssemukala Ismail alleged that security 
force members shot him while he was closing his shop in Nateete, 
impairing his left arm. Investigations into the incident were ongoing.
    Police use of excessive force during arrests, evictions, and land 
disputes resulted in injuries.
    For example, in March UPDF Major Otim Demoi Latek allegedly tied up 
and seriously beat residents David Obonyo and Walter Okeny over a land 
dispute in Gulu town. The army confirmed the incident and stated that 
an investigation was ongoing.
    On July 11, Soroti District SPCs James Anyou and Olupot Kokas 
allegedly shot and injured Jonathan Okello, a resident of Kadungulu 
village, during a night patrol. Police arrested the SPCs the following 
day, and an investigation was pending at year's end.
    On July 20, Nateete corporal Swaleh Swaib and SPC Henry Mukasa 
allegedly injured four persons during a forceful land eviction of 
tenants from Busega, a Kampala suburb. Swaib and Mukasa were arrested 
the same day, and an investigation was ongoing at year's end. On July 
31, a court in Kampala charged Swaib and Mukasa with neglect of duty 
and released them on bail. Hearing of the case was pending at year's 
end
    Police use of excessive force to disperse opposition politicians, 
religious members, and demonstrators resulted in deaths and injuries 
(see sections 1.a. and 2.b.).
    There were no developments in the October 2008 shooting in Muzulu 
village, Namutamba District, by SPC Eric Kiirya of Masaba Bakari for 
defying traffic police directives to stop.
    In its April report, HRW documented the 2007 death by torture in 
JATT custody of Yasin Tayebwa and Abdu Semugenyi.
    On May 20, the UHRC reported to parliament that the government owed 
torture and illegal detention victims two billion shillings 
($1,030,000) from previous years. The UHRC did not hold any tribunals 
during the first half of the year because the president did not appoint 
a new chair or members until May. Tribunal hearings began in August.
    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 mistreated 
their victims (see section 1.a.).

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and frequently life threatening. In addition there were reports 
that security forces and guards tortured inmates, particularly in 
military facilities and unregistered detention facilities. 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 also were among the most overcrowded. 
Serious problems in prisons outside of Kampala included long remand 
periods, overcrowding, inadequate staff, and lack of food, water, 
medical care, and bedding. The FHRI reported a slight improvement in 
nutritional provision in prisons in Kampala, Jinja, Bukedea, and 
Kamuli.
    There were 30,957 prisoners in the prison system in mid-December, 
approximately three times the capacity. Severe overcrowding was also a 
problem at juvenile detention facilities and in female wings of 
prisons. The Kampala remand home, designed for 45 persons, held 122 
children. The reception center, designed for 30 prisoners, held 85 
juveniles.
    Information was unavailable on conditions in unregistered 
facilities, which the government denied existed.
    Torture, overcrowding, malnutrition, poor sanitation, disease, 
overwork, and lack of medical care resulted in 141 prisoner deaths 
nationwide, according to the Prisons Service.
    During the year prison authorities confirmed that the June 2008 
deaths of prisoners Geoffrey Akandwanaho, Fred Mugisha, and Ephraim 
Nankunda resulted from strangulation by fellow inmates in Kiruhura 
prison; the three inmates suspected of involvement in the strangulation 
were transferred to Mbarara main prison on murder charges pending court 
hearings. The initial 2008 Prison Services investigation had cited 
suffocation from severe overcrowding as the cause of death.
    There were no developments in the case of Isaac Apungia, an inmate 
at Amuria Prison, who collapsed and died in April 2008 after he was 
subjected to harsh conditions on a prison farm.
    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 parts of 
the country. The Prisons Service had no budget for pregnant women or 
mothers with infants, although the number of infants in women's prisons 
continued to increase during the year, according to the FHRI. 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.
    During the year the government permitted access to prisons by the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), foreign diplomats, and 
local NGOs, principally the FHRI and the Uganda Prisoners' Aid 
Foundation. However, authorities required advance notification of 
intended visits. Authorities told human rights organizations seeking 
access to unregistered facilities that the government did not maintain 
safe houses or unregistered detention sites. 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 the key armed force 
charged with external security but had partial responsibility for 
maintaining order in the north, where it was deployed to protect 
civilian IDPs from rebel attacks and to prevent violence resulting from 
interclan cattle raids in the Karamoja Region. The Internal Security 
Organization (ISO) and External Security Organization (ESO), key 
security agencies and intelligence-gathering entities under the direct 
control of the president and the minister of security, occasionally 
detained civilians. The CMI is legally under UPDF authority, although 
it often acted as a semiautonomous unit by detaining civilians 
suspected of rebel and terrorist activity, as did the ISO and ESO. The 
Joint Anti-terrorism Taskforce (JATT), a paramilitary group under the 
CMI, has no codified mandate but illegally detained numerous civilians 
suspected of rebel and terrorist activity. The JATT is a joint command 
whose members are drawn from the UPDF, police, ISO, and ESO. LDUs 
reinforced government efforts to protect civilians and sometimes 
participated in offensive military operations and carried out police 
functions.
    The UPF continued to be constrained by limited resources, including 
low pay and lack of vehicles, equipment, and training. Corruption and 
impunity were problems. By year's end, 24 police officers had been 
charged with corruption, although none had been discharged or dismissed 
for accepting bribes. 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 5,000 allegations of human rights violations and 
unprofessional conduct from January 2008 to September 2009 and stated 
it took action in response to 3,000 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 30 new SPCs at each subcounty 
headquarters and 12 SPCs per division in municipalities. Many of the 
new SPCs were former members of LDUs, the overall membership of which 
continued to decrease. Of the 6,700 police officers in the north, 4,500 
were SPCs, who received less training than police officers and were 
employed on contract.
    In conjunction with the UHRC and international organizations such 
as the ICRC and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human 
Rights, the UPDF and police continued to train officers on 
internationally recognized human rights standards. During the year 289 
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. Indigent defendants 
accused of capital offenses are provided attorneys at state expense.
    The law provides for family visitation, but incommunicado detention 
remained a problem during the year. According to the FHRI, during the 
year the CMI held four civilians incommunicado and JATT, one. None of 
the detainees had been released by year's end. There were also credible 
reports of police moving recently arrested prisoners from one detention 
facility to another to confuse family members attempting to ascertain 
their whereabouts. In its April 8 report, 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 sedition, treason, incitement of violence, and 
terrorism charges. Persons suspected of sedition, treason, incitement 
of violence, or terrorism were subjected to numerous abuses, such as 
detention without charge, detention in unregistered and unofficial 
locations, and mistreatment, including torture. The Prisons Service 
held 29 pretrial treason suspects during the year.
    The UHRC received 149 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 
government compensation was often slow in coming. There were no 
developments in the April 2008 petition filed by former UHRC 
chairperson Margret Sekaggya to establish a national fund to pay 
victims. Past compensation payments have been made from general 
government funds administered by the Ministry of Justice and 
Constitutional Affairs.
    Human rights groups expressed 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.).
    Human rights groups reported that the government detained civilians 
in military facilities and unregistered detention facilities known as 
safe houses, where they often were held incommunicado. The government 
denied it maintained such facilities.
    In October the inspector general of police reshuffled senior 
leadership of the police RRU following allegations that its members 
illegally detained the wife of a government employee at an unknown 
location for more than a week and threatened her with torture. The 
RRU's director, Commandant Emmanuel Muhairwe, and two deputies, Peter 
Kakonge and Emmanuel Bwembale, were placed on extended study leave.
    In its April 8 report, HRW documented 106 cases of illegal 
detention by JATT, ranging from one week to more than a year. Many of 
the detentions, which occurred in 2007 and 2008, were made in the 
months leading up to the country's hosting of the 2007 Commonwealth 
Heads of Government meeting. In more than 25 instances, detainees were 
tortured or subjected to mistreatment (see section 1.a.). According to 
court records and interviews by HRW, the majority of detainees were 
never charged with any criminal offense.
    Six of the 106 detainees were held for more than a year without 
charge; the CMI confirmed that the suspects were in detention. On July 
27, the High Court ordered the UPDF to produce in court five of the 
detainees--Muhammad Adam Sekulima, Fatima Nantongo, Ismail Kambale, 
Abdulrahman Kijjambu, and Abdul Hamid Lugemwa--all of whom were accused 
of belonging to the ADF rebel group. The UPDF ignored the High Court's 
ruling and instead dropped the five detainees at the Uganda Amnesty 
Commission to apply for amnesty. On July 31, the commission granted the 
five suspects amnesty. According to the CMI, on February 28, 
authorities arrested the sixth suspect, Hamuza Mwebe, for alleged 
involvement in a killing; he had been released in November 2008 for 
lack of evidence.
    On June 15, the High Court ordered the UPDF to produce Patrick 
Otim, a reporter for Mega FM radio station in Gulu, after receiving a 
complaint from civil society organizations that he was being held 
incommunicado by the UPDF. Between September 2008 and May 2009, 
authorities arrested Otim and 13 other suspects--Alfred Layang Okot, 
former Gulu municipal council speaker; former LRA rebels Emmy Oryem and 
Philip Onekono Okello; and private citizens Francis Akena, Patrick 
Lumumba Komakech, Patrick Kidega, Jimmy Ochieng, Patrick Okello, John 
Otim, Alfred Olanya Lububoel, Meya Deovilente, Michael Obol, and 
Patrick Komakech--for allegedly forming a rebel group entitled the 
Uganda Patriotic Front and plotting to overthrow the government. On 
June 16, Otim and several others were charged with treason and remanded 
to prison. On December 18, a court in Kampala committed the 14 suspects 
for trial in the High Court.
    Some of the 106 persons illegally detained by JATT in 2007 and 2008 
reported to HRW that they had been physically coerced by JATT agents to 
apply for amnesty. Others said that long-term incommunicado detention 
and a lack of legal assistance compelled them to seek amnesty despite 
their insistence that they had no involvement in any rebel activity. 
Detainees who sought amnesty were stigmatized as rebels or terrorists, 
feared complaining of mistreatment by JATT, and could be targeted in 
the future.
    Police arbitrarily arrested hundreds of demonstrators, particularly 
during the September 10-12 riots in Kampala (see section 1.a.)
    Case backlogs in the judicial system contributed to pretrial 
detentions of between two and 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.--The government has offered a blanket amnesty since 2000 
to former combatants for treason charges to encourage defection from 
the LRA and other rebel groups. Almost 23,500 individuals have 
benefited from the law, more than half of whom were former LRA 
combatants.

    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 highest court is the Supreme Court, followed by the Court of 
Appeal (which also functions as the Constitutional Court), the High 
Court, magistrates' courts, local council (LC) subcounty courts, parish 
courts, and village courts. The LC courts have the authority to settle 
civil disputes, including land ownership and debt cases, and criminal 
cases involving children. These courts, often the only ones available 
to villagers, reportedly exceeded their authority by hearing criminal 
cases of adults. Decisions made by LC courts can be appealed to 
magistrates' courts, but there often were no records at the village 
level, and some defendants were not aware of their right to appeal.
    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 March 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.
    In August the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs 
reported that more than 76 percent of the cases filed in various courts 
across the country had not been disposed of due to staffing problems. 
The statement noted such staffing shortages impaired the dispensation 
of justice to most citizens.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports of political 
prisoners and detainees during the year, but reliable statistics were 
unavailable.
    Charges of treason against FDC opposition leader Kizza Besigye and 
nine other FDC members remained pending in the High Court due to the 
FDC members' petition to the Constitutional Court regarding the 
constitutionality of facing concurrent military court martial and 
civilian charges. On September 1, the Constitutional Court rejected the 
High Court's procedural objection to the petition, paving the way for a 
complete Constitutional Court hearing, which had not occurred by year's 
end.
    Bright Gabula Africa, whose death sentence for treason was upheld 
by the Supreme Court in 1995, remained imprisoned pending the outcome 
of his appeal to the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative 
of Mercy, a largely autonomous constitutional body.

    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 remedies. 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. 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.
    The government allegedly increased efforts to require 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. There were 
reports that graduates seeking government employment were also required 
to submit a certificate of attending the political education training 
in order to be considered for work.

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 law criminalizes offenses by the 
media, and the police Media Crimes Unit closely monitored all radio, 
television, and print media. Numerous journalists were charged with 
sedition; however, the government could not prosecute such cases until 
the Constitutional Court ruled on a 2005 petition, submitted by the 
Independent editor Andrew Mwenda, challenging the constitutionality of 
the sedition law. The government at times harassed and intimidated 
journalists, who continued to practice self-censorship.
    Government officials detained and interrogated political leaders 
who made public statements critical of the government and used libel 
laws and cited national security as grounds to impede freedom of speech 
(see section 3). The President's Office reportedly monitored political 
talk show debates closely, and the government occasionally attempted to 
block participation of opposition members on radio talk shows.
    On September 12, police in Kampala arrested parliamentarian and 
opposition Democratic Party (DP) member Issa Kikungwe for allegedly 
inciting violence during the September riots in Kampala; Kikungwe had 
delivered a speech on development at a youth church event. On September 
13, police released Kikungwe on bond. An investigation was ongoing at 
year's end.
    On December 10, police charged DP publicity secretary Betty 
Nambooze with sedition, alleging that Nambooze made statements with the 
intent to generate hatred, contempt, and dissatisfaction with President 
Museveni and his government during an August 19 appearance on CBS 
radio's Kiriza Oba Gaana (Accept or Deny It) program. Nambooze denied 
the charges and was released on bail, pendinga hearing scheduled for 
January 2010.
    On December 28, police in Kampala interrogated Hussein Kyanjo, a 
parliamentarian and member of the opposition Justice Forum party, for 
inciting violence during a December 17 Buganda Kingdom conference; 
Kyanjo had presented a paper warning that Buganda would resort to 
violence if the government failed to respect democracy and rule of law. 
Kyanjo was released on bail, and an investigation was ongoing at year's 
end.
    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.
    The government assaulted journalists during the year. For example, 
on July 2, the police RRU allegedly assaulted journalists Tony Kizito 
of the Red Pepper and Katende Malibu of Wavah Broadcasting Station 
(WBS) TV for taking pictures of a cyclist who was being tortured in 
front of RRU headquarters in Kireka, a suburb of Kampala. There were no 
reports of developments in the incident at year's end.
    The government also arrested and harassed journalists, some of whom 
were charged with sedition and forced to turn over their passports.
    On January 2, the police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) 
arrested and interrogated the Daily Monitor newspaper's managing editor 
Dan Kalinaki and senior reporters Grace Matsiko and Angelo Izama 
following a December 28 Monitor article titled ``Reclusive Kony: UPDF's 
Tactics under Spotlight,'' which authorities charged was prejudicial to 
national security. Kalinaki was released without charge after nine 
hours. Matsiko and Izama were released on police bond, and on January 
29, police withdrew both the bond and charges against them.
    On August 12, police in Kampala briefly detained without charge 
Daily Monitor photo journalist Stephen Otage, who allegedly took a 
photograph of Faith Mwondha, former inspector general of government 
(IGG), without her permission. Police confiscated Otage's camera.
    On August 18, Kampala police arrested and interrogated Daily 
Monitor newspaper editors Daniel Kalinaki and Henry Ochieng for 
allegedly publishing an altered version of a letter from President 
Museveni to a cabinet minister. The letter, which the Monitor published 
on August 2, included a controversial proposal to prevent members of a 
specific ethnic group from running for elective office in some areas of 
western Uganda. Kalinaki and Ochieng, who were charged with forgery and 
authorizing a false document, were released on police bond; the case 
was pending at year's end.
    On August 27, police arrested and interrogated the Independent 
Magazine managing director Andrew Mwenda, senior editor Charles 
Bichachi, and assistant news editor Joseph Were for publishing a 
cartoon depicting President Museveni reviewing a checklist for rigging 
the 2011 presidential election. On September 23, the three journalists 
were charged with sedition and released on bail. On October 15, the 
court suspended the case against Mwenda, Bichachi, and Were pending 
resolution by the Constitutional Court of Mwenda's 2005 petition 
against the country's sedition law.
    On December 21, police arrested Angelo Izama, a senior reporter 
with the Daily Monitor, for allegedly defaming President Museveni in 
the December 20 article ``Fears of war as polls draw close.'' Izama was 
released from police custody after five hours of questioning. The case 
was pending at year's end. Four radio stations were closed or suspended 
during the year, and radio journalists were assaulted, arrested, 
dismissed, suspended, and threatened, particularly in response to their 
coverage of the September 10-12 riots in Kampala. The government also 
restricted independent television and radio stations that hosted 
opposition political candidates critical of the government. The 
government continued to ban new radio stations in Kampala, reportedly 
because of limited available frequencies; however, the ban was widely 
disregarded without penalty.
    On May 27, police in Arua arrested journalist Victor Gadribo and 
UPC members Caleb Kamure, Jeffer Alekua, and Fagil Lemeriga for 
defaming the president while appearing May 23 on a weekly political 
talk show hosted by Arua One FM Radio in West Nile; the suspects had 
questioned the nationality of President Museveni.
    On September 10, the Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC) closed and 
suspended the licenses of four radio stations in Kampala: Radio 
Sapientia, Ssuubi FM, two frequencies owned by the Buganda Kingdom 
Central Broadcasting Services, and Akaboozi Ku Bbiri-Radio Two.
    On September 11, unidentified assailants accosted Radio One 
journalist Robert Kalundi Sserumaga outside WBS studios where he had 
just recorded the Kibaazo on Friday program. They forced him into an 
unmarked vehicle, beat him, and jail him in a safe house with 20 other 
inmates. On September 12, Sserumaga was delivered to an official police 
station, where he was arrested. On September 15, authorities charged 
Sserumaga with six counts of sedition and subsequently forced him to 
surrender his passports before being released on bail; a hearing of the 
case was ongoing at year's end. After his release, the UBC suspended 
Sserumaga from hosting and moderating radio talk shows. On December 4, 
Sserumaga and Radio Sapientia's Geoffrey Ssebagala petitioned the High 
Court to dismiss their suspensions as unlawful. Hearing of the petition 
was pending at year's end.
    On September 12, the UBC shut down one talk show on Radio Simba and 
the WBS television program, Kibaazo on Friday, for allegedly inciting 
violence and demeaning the president. Talk show host Peter Kibaazo was 
suspended for three months. On December 8, the UBC allowed Kibazzo to 
resume another suspended WBS television talk show, Issues at Hand. 
Authorities also suspended or dismissed other journalists in connection 
with the riots, including Uganda Broadcasting Corporation TV manager 
Mark Walungama, who aired footage of the riots and police response; 
Siasa Ssenkubuge of Radio Simba; Charles Odongotho of Vision Voice; and 
Radio Sapientia journalists Matovu Laoysius, Irene Kiseka, and Ben 
Mutebei Ameyengo. In October Ssenkubuge was reinstated to Radio Simba. 
The government allowed Radio Sapientia to reopen on September 15 with 
strict instructions to not broadcast political programs.
    Local government officials restricted press freedom during the 
year. For example, in July the district council in Bugiri District, 
eastern Uganda, blocked journalists from attending council sessions 
following the publication of stories exposing government corruption. In 
September Mbale Deputy Resident District Commissioner Henry Nalyanya 
banned all radio talk shows, except health programs, in his district.
    There were developments in several 2008 cases of press freedom. In 
March WBS journalists Francis Tumwekwasize and Timothy Sibasi, who 
alleged that police harassed and assaulted them in August 2008, 
petitioned the High Court for compensation; police accused the 
journalists of negative reporting about police. The September 2008 
petition filed by the journalists with the UHRC remained pending.
    On June 4, the Constitutional Court directed the Nakawa chief 
magistrate to continue with criminal proceedings against former Daily 
Monitor editors Joachim Buwembo, Bernard Tabaire, Emmanuel Gyezaho, and 
Robert Mukasa, who in January 2008 were charged with sedition for 
articles alleging that former IGG Faith Mwondha had filed bogus salary 
claims. At year's end hearing of the petition was pending, and the 
suspects were free on bail.
    On September 23, a court in Kabarole acquitted Life Radio station 
presenters Steven Rwagwere, William Gonza, Gerald Kankya, Joram 
Bintamanya, and Prosper Busingye for lack of evidence; the radio 
journalists were charged in January 2008 with inciting violence and 
defamation. In October the journalists filed a petition to sue 
government for unlawful arrest. Hearing of the petition was pending at 
year's end.
    There were no developments in the April 2008 sedition case against 
the Independent Magazine editor Mwenda, contributing editor Charles 
Bichachi, and reporter John Njoroge, who published an article alleging 
UPDF atrocities in 2003, including first-person accounts of torture in 
government safe houses.

    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 approximately 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.
    Unlike in the previous year, the Media Council did not block the 
screening of films for perceived promotion of homosexuality.

    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 May 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).
    For example, on August 23, police in Mubende blocked a rally by the 
Uganda Federal Alliance, a civil society organization led by FDC Member 
of Parliament (MP) Betty Kamya. On September 2, police in Kampala 
blocked a procession planned by FDC youth following the release on bail 
of their national youth leader, Abedi Nasser Obole. On December 1, 
police disrupted a procession of DP supporters in Entebbe. On December 
6, police in Hoima blocked FDC president Kizza Besigye from holding a 
rally.
    The use of excessive force to disperse demonstrators resulted in 
numerous deaths and injuries, particularly during the September 10-12 
riots (see section 1.a.).
    On July 26, 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 was ongoing at year's end.
    In February the parliamentary Select Committee completed an 
investigation into the alleged 2008 police beatings of parliamentarians 
during illegal political rallies. However, the committee had not 
released the investigation report by year's end.
    Opposition DP members Domic Matovu Savio, Emmanuel Mugandusi, 
Samuel Mulindwa, Margret Wazemba, and Ben Kiwanuka, charged in 2008 
with rioting, assault, and carrying arms during an illegal rally at 
their party headquarters, remained on police bond at year's end.
    During the year police dismissed the August 2008 case against 25 
Mandela Secondary School students, charged with staging an unlawful 
demonstration and engaging in malicious damage to property. The 
dismissal followed an agreement by parents of the students to 
compensate the school for the damaged property.
    Police suspended the investigation into use of excessive force 
during the February 2008 Kisekka market riot due to lack of evidence. 
Police were unable to provide an update on the number of rioters who 
remained in prison by year's end.
    There were no developments in the June 2008 assault and arrest of 
MP Nabilah Sempala for allegedly holding an illegal rally in Kampala. 
The parliamentary Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs was 
investigating Sempala's case at year's end.
    On August 12, 22 activists were charged with participating in a 
2007 demonstration which resulted in one death. Among those charged 
were MPs Hussein Kyanjo, Erias Lukwago, and Beatrice Atim Anywar; DP 
youth wing vice president Fred Mukasa; and Issa Ssekito, chairman of 
the Kampala Traders Association. The cases were pending at year's end.

    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 government established a committee to review the 
act in January 2008, when enforcement of the law was temporarily 
suspended. No action had been taken on the petition or by the committee 
by year's end. c. Freedom of Religion
    The constitution and law provide for freedom of religion, and the 
government generally respected this right in practice with some 
restrictions. The law requires religious groups and foreign 
missionaries to register with the government under the same law as 
NGOs, and failure to register is a criminal offense; however, 
enforcement was temporarily suspended (see section 2.b.). There were 
some reports of violence by the government or its agents against 
religious groups, leaders, or individual members, and there were 
reports that the government restricted worship by certain religious 
groups.
    For example, on July 20, the RRU allegedly attacked and tortured 
several worshippers at Christ Sanctuary International Church. Police 
arrested police deputy assistant inspector William Kanzira and officers 
John Bosco Odole, Jim Okello, Salidat Nakate, and Deo Abaine. On August 
13, a court in Kampala charged the suspects with causing grievous harm 
and threatening violence. The accused were released on bail, and the 
case was pending at year's end.
    On August 12, police in Tororo arrested Gospel Church members 
Stephen Otabong, Joseph Othieno, Dismas Ofambo, John Etonet, Richard 
Oketcho, David Ejakait, and John Obella following complaints from 
residents about the group, which prohibits its members from enrolling 
in public schools or seeking medical care at clinics and hospitals. The 
case hearing was pending at year's end.
    During the year police dismissed for lack of evidence the April 
2008 arrest case of 11 members of the Nyangakaibo cult, who were 
charged with holding an illegal assembly.
    Local officials imposed minor restrictions that indirectly impeded 
the activities of some religious groups. Groups considered cults 
experienced extra scrutiny and restrictions.

    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.
    Police reported that several 2008 cases were dismissed for lack of 
evidence, including the January arrests of Mbarara House of Grace 
pastors Patrick Mucunguzi, Michael Katongole, and Joshua Keinarugaba 
for allegedly extorting money from sick members of the church's 
congregation and of pastor Mike Ocaka for allegedly stealing an 
estimated 12.5 million shillings ($6,400).
    The Jewish community was very small, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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, 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. 
Domestic travel restrictions imposed on senior Buganda Kingdom 
officials triggered violent riots in September (see section 1.a.).
    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; however, the government did 
not use forced exile during the year. Internally Displaced Persons 
(IDPs)
    Improved security in the north combined with the government's 
implementation of the Peace, Recovery, and Development Plan and the 
work of international and local NGOs to rebuild physical and social 
infrastructure encouraged the return of 85 percent of the estimated 1.1 
million IDPs in the LRA-affected north by year's end. According to the 
UNHCR, 184,000 IDPs remained in camps in northern Uganda's Acholi 
region. 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 country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, as 
well as the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific 
Aspects of the Refugee Problem in Africa. Its 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 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 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.
    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 rather than 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 May, the government 
assisted the UNHCR in the voluntary repatriation of 29,909 refugees to 
Southern Sudan and 5,571 refugees to Rwanda.

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 ruling party's domination of 
the government and some restrictive constitutional and statutory 
provisions limited citizens' effective exercise of this right.

    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 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, incidents of violence, 
multiple voting, and ballot stuffing. Six election appeals were pending 
before the Constitutional Court and three at the Supreme Court at 
year's end. Three by-elections were held during the year to fill the 
seats declared vacant by the High Court in 2007; election monitors 
reported numerous irregularities.
    On May 21, the Ugandan Electoral Commission conducted local council 
elections in 1,474 electoral areas in 79 districts to fill vacant seats 
resulting from the lack of nominations in the 2006 general elections, 
resignations, deaths, and the creation of some new seats in town 
councils and subcounties. Voter turnout was relatively low, but the 
exercise was peaceful. The ruling NRM party operated without 
restriction, regularly holding rallies and conducting political 
activities. Approximately 36 other parties were registered and allowed 
to function, although members of some parties were subject 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.
    Police arbitrarily arrested opposition members during the year.
    For example, on May 31, police in Kampala arrested and later 
released without charge 30 members of the Uganda Federal Alliance 
(UFA), a pressure group advocating for a federal government. The 
suspects were arrested in Owino Market while selling UFA membership 
cards.
    On June 3, police in Kampala arrested without charge FDC deputy 
spokesperson Sarah Eperu for allegedly spreading harmful propaganda 
during celebrations to mark Martyr's Day at Namugongo, near Kampala. 
FDC officials claimed Eperu was only distributing leaflets with the 
message, ``FDC wishes you a blessed Martyrs' Day celebration.'' On June 
4, Eperu was released.
    On July 11 and 12, police in Kampala arrested 19 DP members from 
the Kyengera and Ndeeba suburbs of Kampala. The suspects were 
collecting signatures in an effort to block a government proposal to 
take over the management of Kampala and expand the city's boundaries. 
On July 13, the suspects were charged with criminal trespass, illegal 
assembly, and interfering in police work. The suspects were released on 
bail, and the case was pending at year's end.
    On September 3, police in Lira arrested UPC member Godwin Acai for 
statements he made during an August talk show on Unity FM radio. 
Authorities alleged Acai falsely claimed that the UPDF was involved in 
the 2004 killings of more than 400 civilians at Barlonyo IDP camp. 
Acai, who was detained in police custody for four days, appeared in 
court on September 7 and was remanded to prison without charge. Acai 
appeared in court again on November 3 and December 3, but the 
government failed to produce evidence against him. The case was 
adjourned until January 2010.
    On September 28, police in Kampala charged opposition 
parliamentarian and DP member Erias Lukwago and Buganda Kingdom's 
deputy information minister Medard Lubega Segona with sedition for 
alleged statements during the September 10-12 riots in Kampala. Both 
were released on bail, and the case was adjourned pending resolution of 
the 2005 challenge to the country's sedition law (see section 2.a.).
    The hearing of the March 2008 and August 2007 sedition cases 
against Makindye West MP Hussein Kyanjo was still pending a Supreme 
Court ruling on the constitutionality of the sedition law. Kyanjo 
stated in a 2007 talk show that President Museveni and other government 
officials used their positions to displace persons in the Kisozi region 
and promote hostility between ethnic groups.
    The July 2008 hearing of the sedition case against Buganda Kingdom 
deputy information minister Medard Seggona Lubega and Buganda Central 
Civic Education Committee chairperson Betty Nambooze was still pending 
a separate ruling on the constitutionality of the sedition law. No 
charges were filed against the minister for information and cabinet 
affairs, Charles Peter Mayiga, who was released on bond in 2008 pending 
investigation. The three had publicly criticized the government's 
proposed amendments to the 1998 Land Act.
    On August 18, police in Kampala arrested 11 members of the FDC 
youth wing for participating in an illegal assembly; the 11 included 
Hajji Twaibu Kakande, Festos Kurumira, Ali Buni, Mukiibi Sserunjogi, 
Muhammad Mutaasa Ali, Samuel Ariho Mugumya, Catherine Ddembe, Martin 
Musaazi Kanuma, Joseph Mulyankya, Isaac Mawanda, and Andrew Wakibogo. 
On August 19, a court in Kampala charged the suspects with holding an 
unlawful assembly and inciting violence. On August 20, the court 
released the suspects on bail. The case was pending at year's end.
    On August 31, police questioned FDC youth leader Abedi Nasser Obole 
for allegedly organizing and participating in unlawful assemblies. On 
September 1, a Kampala court charged Obole with participating in an 
August 18 unlawful assembly and released him on bail; however, police 
rearrested Obole for threatening the Electoral Commission's chairman 
and four commissioners. During a September 2 court hearing, Obole 
denied the charges and was released on bail. On October 28, Obole 
appeared in Makindye Magistrate's Court on the charge of threatening 
the Electoral Commission's chairman and four commissioners. The court 
adjourned the case on November 15 and again on December 15 for lack of 
witnesses and police documentation. Hearings were rescheduled for 
February 2010. On November 30, due to lack of witnesses, the Buganda 
Road Magistrate's Court postponed until January 2010 a hearing against 
Obole for participating in unlawful assembly.
    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; five for youth; and 10 for the army, selected by the UPDF 
High Command and President Museveni.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government investigated offenders, but officials engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity, and corruption was a serious problem. 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. On August 19, President 
Museveni signed into law the 2008 Anticorruption Bill. The new law 
increases powers of the IGG and DPP to investigate public and private 
corruption, provides for the disposal of property related to corruption 
investigations, and allows for confiscation of property derived 
directly or indirectly from corruption. The law also increases 
protections for witnesses and informants. In September a 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 ($250 million).
    A number of government ministries and agencies were implicated in 
corruption. Hearings conducted by the parliamentary Accounting 
Committee linked at least 12 ministries and several senior government 
officials to misuse of funds intended for the country's hosting of the 
2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). A 2008 
investigation by the Auditor General of CHOGM procurements failed to 
account for approximately 53.3 trillion shillings ($27 million) in 
unexplained expenses.
    Judicial corruption was a problem, and in August the Judicial 
Service dismissed Aggrey Bwire, a grade I magistrate of Nabweru 
subcounty, and Jimmy Agolei, a grade II magistrate of Kiboga District, 
for corruption and abuse of office. On November 15, a court in Mbarara 
convicted grade II magistrate Moses Ndifuna of abuse of office for 
soliciting and receiving a 190,000 shilling ($100) bribe. Ndifuna, who 
was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and ordered to refund the 
money, was released on bail in December pending hearing of his appeal.
    The National Agricultural Advisory Services, the National Social 
Security Fund, the National Forestry Authority, the Uganda National 
Roads Authority, and the police were all investigated for corruption 
during the year. The ministries of health, education, and water and 
environment were also involved in numerous corruption scandals.
    Members of the Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda were harassed by 
security services in December following publication of a booklet 
detailing survey results on local perceptions of government corruption.
    The Anticorruption Division of the High Court (ACD), which has 
three judges and five magistrates on staff and can only hear corruption 
cases referred by the IGG and DPP, convicted seven individuals of 
corruption during the year. Four of these were convicted of stealing 
money from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. At 
year's end all four were free on bail pending hearing of their appeals.
    On March 13, the ACD sentenced Fred Kavuma, former employee of 
Uganda Television, to five years' imprisonment for using false 
documents to unlawfully obtain 41 million shillings ($21,200) from the 
Global Fund. Kavuma was ordered to refund the money and was released on 
bail on September 10, pending hearing of his appeal.
    On April 8, the ACD sentenced Teddy Seezi Cheeye, the Internal 
Security Organization's director of economic monitoring, to 10 years' 
imprisonment for embezzling 107 million shillings ($56,600) of Global 
Fund money. Cheeye was ordered to refund the money to the Global Fund 
and was released on bail on July 24 pending the hearing of his appeal.
    On July 14, the ACD convicted Annaliza Mondon and Elizabeth 
Ngororano of embezzling Global Fund money; each was sentenced to five 
years' imprisonment and ordered to repay 26 million shillings ($14,000) 
to the Global Fund. On August 14, Mondon and Ngororano were released on 
bail pending appeal.
    On August 31, a magistrate's court in Kampala charged and remanded 
to prison Winnie Musoke Kabogonza, the police department's 
undersecretary and accounting officer, for failing to remove duplicate 
names and bank accounts from the police payroll, resulting in a loss of 
1.7 billion shillings ($880,000). Also charged and arrested were Dennis 
Nyagweso, Dennis Twinamasiko, Alfred Okello, Ashe Kawooya, Primo 
Nyokatre, and Harriet Kyomugisha. On September 9, the Anticorruption 
Court granted bail to Kabogonza, Nyagweso, Twinamasiko, and Nyokatre; 
the case was pending at year's end.
    An IGG report on investigations into 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, was still pending at year's end. Both 
Tibaruha and Matsiko remained suspended from their offices.
    There were no developments in the 2008 parliamentary investigation 
into former IGG 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.
    No action was taken on the investigation into the 2007 case 
involving Martin Odwedo, the former permanent secretary in the prime 
minister's office, and three others for failure to account for 1.3 
billion shillings ($673,000).
    The parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts completed its 
examination of the auditor general's report of the 2006-07 budget, but 
the committee's report had not been published at year's end.
    An estimated 17,000 public officials were subject to financial 
disclosure laws. On November 2, the government suspended the Ministry 
of Health's principal accountant, Nestor Gasasira, after an IGG 
investigation revealed that Gasasira's expenditures were incommensurate 
with his earnings. The IGG recommended firing Gasasira for failing to 
publicly account for his wealth.
    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 January 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 (see section 2.b.). Enforcement of the law remained suspended 
during the review process.
    The government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and 
organizations such as the ICRC. The UHRC is a permanent independent 
body with quasijudicial 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. On May 7, President Museveni reappointed two 
and named five new commissioners to the UHRC to fill vacancies. The 
appointments allowed the UHRC to resume its work, which had been 
stalled since November 2008, when the term of the previous team 
expired. The UHRC continued to pursue suspected human rights abusers, 
including in the military and security forces, and had branches 
countrywide; however, its resources were inadequate to investigate all 
complaints received.
    On October 12, the UHRC released its 11th annual report to 
parliament, in which it called on the government to ban torture and 
renounce the use of ``safe houses,'' the unregistered detention 
facilities operated by JATT and the CMI. The report also highlighted 
lengthy trial delays, overcrowding, and poor health services as the 
main challenges facing the prison system. The report maintained that 
detention of suspects beyond the constitutional limit of 48 hours was 
``rife.''
    In its April 8 ``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 ill-treatment, 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 1,536 
rape cases registered with the police in 2008, of which 241 went to 
court, resulting in only 52 convictions.
    Domestic violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained 
widespread, and reports of such incidents continued to increase. 
Approximately 48 percent of married women between the ages of 15 and 49 
have experienced physical violence from their intimate partners, 36 
percent have experienced sexual violence, and 49 percent have 
experienced emotional violence. 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 November 12, parliament passed 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. During the year the government arrested and prosecuted 15 
persons responsible for domestic violence. For example, police in Gulu 
District arrested Richard Tito Okello, who killed his wife Scovia Acayo 
on April 13 following a family argument; the case was pending at year's 
end. On August 18, police rearrested former Mukono District police 
chief James Aurien for the April 2008 killing of his wife Christine 
Opolot; the hearing was pending at year's end.
    In September the police launched an informational campaign focused 
on marriage and child rights to further curb domestic violence.
    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 
September 8, the Constitutional Court started hearing a petition 
against the practice filed in 2007 by the Mifumi Project, a women's 
rights group that claims bride prices impede the right of a woman to 
choose her husband and also exacerbate domestic violence. A court 
ruling was pending at year's end.
    Prostitution is illegal but common. In August the Uganda AIDS 
Commission reported that 11 percent of new HIV/AIDS infections were due 
to commercial sex. In July the government stopped the recruitment of 
women as domestic workers abroad following reports that many were being 
forced into prostitution.
    Although it is prohibited with penalties of up to 14 years' 
imprisonment, sexual harassment was a widespread problem, and the 
government did not enforce the law effectively. In April police 
inspector 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 May 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 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 were 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.
    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 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, 
women did most of the agricultural work but owned only 7 percent of the 
agricultural land. Women also experienced economic discrimination in 
access to employment, credit, pay, and in owning or managing 
businesses.
    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 August 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 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 other 
sexual abuse of girls.
    A September report released by the African Network for Prevention 
Against Child Abuse and Neglect showed that 8,286 child-related abuses 
were reported to police and other sources between January and April. Of 
the total, 2,592 cases involved defilement, 1,292 involved 
disappearance, and 1,613 involved child stealing or kidnapping. The 
report cited other offenses committed against children, including 
torture (773 cases), desertion (594 cases), child trafficking (100 
cases), child neglect (680 cases), infanticide (317 cases), and assault 
(325 cases).
    Reported incidents of corporal punishment in schools continued to 
decrease since the 2006 ban on the practice. Sexual contact outside of 
marriage with girls less than 18 years of age, regardless of consent or 
the 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 2008 there were 8,635 reported defilement cases, of 
which 4,124 went to court, with only 333 resulting in convictions.
    Perpetrators of sexual abuse often were family members, neighbors, 
or teachers.
    On May 3, a court in Nebbi District, West Nile Region, remanded 
Colber Ruping to prison for defiling a six-year-old girl. The court 
charged Ruping with aggravated defilement, and the trial was pending at 
year's end.
    On June 2, the Kampala High Court sentenced former primary school 
teacher John Bosco Ssempijja to 12 years in prison for defiling two 
female students of St. Mary Kevin Kajjasi school in February 2008.
    On June 27, police in Bukedea District, Eastern Region, arrested 
teacher Joseph Ibaat after he was found defiling a 16-year-old girl of 
Life Line Secondary School. Hearing of the case was pending at year's 
end.
    On July 13, police arrested teacher Gyaviira Nsika for sexually 
abusing 32 female pupils; Nsika was subsequently convicted and 
sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
    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 rape cases 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 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; some examinations were conducted during the 
year.
    FGM was practiced by the Sabiny ethnic group in rural Kapchorwa 
District and the Pokot ethnic group along the northeastern border with 
Kenya despite local laws that prohibit the practice. In 2006 the 
subcounties of Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts passed bylaws to make FGM 
illegal; however, the practice still occurred. 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.
    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, into early marriage and sexual 
arrangements. A March UN report stated that 32 percent of marriages 
involved underage girls. In December a court in Soroti District charged 
Mutwalib Adam, Yusuf Adam, Asha Adam, Mawuzu Shamim, Amoi Fatuma, 
Maimuna Katushabe, and Mariam Ramathana with compounding a felony for 
their role in aiding the marriage of a 14-year-old girl. The seven 
remained in detention at year's end, and an investigation was ongoing.
    Reports of the ritual sacrifice of children increased during the 
year. For example, on March 7, police in Pallisa District arrested Issa 
Wayibi, Sebastian Musana, Bbumba Aramazan, and Daudi Byendala for the 
ritual killing of a girl the previous day in Butesa subcounty. An 
investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    On April 16, police in Gulu District arrested John Okech and six of 
his family members for allegedly participating in the ritual killing of 
a one-year-old girl in Awach subcounty. An investigation in the case 
was pending at year's end.
    The December 2008 case of businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi, charged 
with the ritual killing of 12-year-old Joseph Kasirye, remained pending 
in court. On November 13, a court in Masaka adjourned the case to 
February 2010. Kajubi remained on remand along with Moses Musisi, Umar 
Kateragga, and Mariam Nabukeera, who confessed to killing the child on 
Kajubi's orders.
    There were no reported developments in the 2007 ritual killing of a 
two-year-old child in Iganga District by family members Laston Muyaga, 
Jane Magezi, Elizabeth Kantono, and Aidah Kasubo.
    On January 7, the Kampala High Court in convicted and sentenced 
Ssenoga Setuhwa to 16 years in prison for stealing and selling a two-
year-old child for sacrifice in 2006. Setuhwa was reportedly paid 
100,000 shillings ($52).
    On April 29, UN special representative for children and armed 
conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy announced that Uganda had been removed 
from the list of countries that actively recruit children into the 
armed forces; in previous reports, the government was accused of 
turning a blind eye to the recruitment of children. Coomaraswamy said 
the country's ``de-listing'' was a result of its successful 
implementation of an action plan to demobilize and reintegrate child 
soldiers.
    There were no reports that during the year the LRA abducted and 
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.
    In January police in Kampala rounded up approximately 200 street 
children, the majority from the Karamoja Region, and took them to 
Kampirigisa rehabilitation home in Mpigi District. In October city 
authorities in Kampala rounded up 300 street children and delivered 
them to a rehabilitation home. Street children were often the victims 
of poverty, famine, and instability in Karamoja Region.

    Trafficking in Persons.--Trafficking in persons was a problem, and 
there were reports that men, women, and children were trafficked to, 
from, and within the country. On October 1, President Museveni signed 
into law the 2007 Antitrafficking in Persons Bill to protect victims 
and prosecute traffickers. The act provides for a maximum of 15 years' 
imprisonment for trafficking in persons; imprisonment for life for 
aggravated trafficking; the death penalty for trafficking children; and 
10 years' imprisonment for engaging the labor services of a victim of 
trafficking in persons.
    Trafficking in persons primarily occurred internally for labor, 
commercial sexual exploitation, and criminal activities, but 
trafficking of Chinese and other Asian laborers to the country also 
occurred. There were reports that children were trafficked for labor 
from the country to Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, 
Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.
    Immigration and police officials reported that traffickers 
continued to use legal means to take children out of the country for 
illicit purposes. Some NGOs reportedly located children and convinced 
their families that the children would receive an education or better 
life if they were trafficked. An expatriate then entered the country on 
a tourist visa and obtained a guardianship order through the courts, 
usually with the permission of the family. The magistrates, at the 
insistence of the guardian, required the passport office to issue the 
child a passport. In a 2008 case involving two young boys taken to 
South Africa, immigration officials learned that one boy had died after 
his kidneys were harvested for a transplant. Immigration officials 
formed a task force to examine the trend and make recommendations to 
the ministries of internal affairs and justice.
    Victims of internal trafficking were subjected to hazardous working 
conditions, and commercial sex victims were subjected to physical abuse 
and the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Victims of 
commercial sex trafficking in urban centers often came from small rural 
villages. According to NGOs, women and girls often willingly placed 
themselves with intermediaries fraudulently offering employment in 
other areas of the country, only to find themselves exploited for labor 
or sex. NGOs also found evidence of a well-connected network of 
traffickers who facilitated the movements of victims to prospective 
buyers, negotiated their salaries in advance, and received a percentage 
of their monthly wages. A 2007 study conducted by the International 
Labor Organization's (ILO) International Program on the Elimination of 
Child Labor found that women and girls could be purchased for 
approximately 5,000 to 30,000 shillings ($2.60 to $15.60) and used as 
domestic workers. In the case of child trafficking for labor and 
commercial sexual exploitation, intermediaries such as pimps, 
employment bureaus, churches, transporters, NGOs, fishermen, and peers 
lured children and facilitated their travel with accommodations and 
travel documents.
    The Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development (MGLSD) is 
the lead agency on child trafficking issues, the national police force 
is responsible for investigating trafficking related crimes, and the 
Justice Ministry and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions prosecute 
cases.
    The government arrested suspected traffickers during the year and 
assisted with international trafficking investigations or extradited 
citizens accused of trafficking in other countries.
    For example, on January 7, police in Kampala arrested Sylvia 
Kampiire, a Rwandan national, for allegedly stealing three-year-old 
Daina Nyakiti from Rwanda and transporting her to the country for 
trafficking. Police reported that they transferred Kampiire and the 
baby to Rwandan authorities.
    On August 12, police in Lyatonde Town arrested Safe Hands for 
Africa Church pastor John Mubanda for holding four girls without the 
permission of their parents. The police rescued the girls and returned 
them to their families. A court charged Mubanda, who reportedly 
received three million shillings ($1,500) from the parents of the girls 
for promising to provide them with an education, with obtaining money 
by false pretense. Mubanda, who pled guilty, was fined and ordered to 
refund the money.
    Several victims of trafficking were deported during the year.
    For example, in May police in Kampala rescued Sri Lankan nationals 
Nadarasa Jagatheeswaran, Mohammed Murras Abdul, Verupillal Ratman 
Jeevtharan, Writheran Suntharalingam, Rajathumi Makesvarn, and 
Sebastian Christopher from suspected human traffickers in Makindye 
Ssabagabo subcounty. The victims, who were deported to Sri Lanka, 
claimed they had been promised jobs by Sri Lankan nationals Alputha-
Kumar and Nithianan, both of whom were believed to fugitives.
    During the year the International Organization on Migration (IOM) 
repatriated 13 Ugandan women who had been recruited by a local Ugandan 
firm to work as domestic servants in Iraq. Some of the women reported 
abuse, including sexual harassment, at the Iraqi homes where they 
worked. In July authorities questioned the management of Uganda 
Veterans Development Ltd, the local external employment agency that 
recruited them. While no specific sanctions were placed on the company, 
the government did suspend the recruitment of Ugandan women to work as 
domestic servants abroad.
    The four Ugandan girls who were stranded in Iraq in 2008 after 
their employers confiscated their passports were returned to the 
country and reunited with their families, according to the police Anti-
Human Sacrifice and Trafficking in Persons Task Force Unit. An 
investigation was still ongoing at year's end.
    The government's prosecution of child defilement cases included an 
undetermined number of cases involving trafficked children.
    The government and NGOs worked together to identify and provide 
assistance to persons at risk for trafficking. However, the government 
deported victims of foreign origin, unless the minister of internal 
affairs granted an extended stay to aid in prosecution of the case. The 
UPDF has child protection units in all districts and, along with 
government agencies, continued to work with NGOs to reintegrate 
thousands of former LRA abductees into society.
    In January police established an Anti-Human Sacrifice and 
Trafficking in Persons Task Force Unit with investigative teams at the 
national, regional, and district levels to curb trafficking in persons 
and increased ritual killings.
    The national police maintained a Child and Family Protection Unit 
to train local police on women's and children's rights, including 
identification of trafficking victims and prevention of trafficking. 
The police also allowed the local NGO Uganda Development Youth Link to 
place its social workers in police stations to assist children and 
other trafficking victims, primarily in Kampala District.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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, 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. In July Francis Kinubi, 
chairman of the National Union of Disabled Persons in Uganda, reported 
that the Public Service Commission had failed to formalize the 
employment of persons with disabilities who had worked in government 
service for as long as 10 years.
    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. Government 
agencies responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities included the Ministry of State for Disabled Persons and 
the MGLSA but both lacked sufficient funding to undertake or support 
any significant initiatives. In August the president appointed members 
to the Equal Opportunities Commission, which is responsible for 
enforcing laws that protect persons with disabilities and ensure that 
they have equal access to public office. National/Racial/Ethnic 
Minorities
    There were isolated reports of violence between ethnic minorities 
in some parts of the country. For example, in August a group of ethnic 
Madi forcefully evicted several families of the Alur ethnic group from 
Kasomenga village in Rhino Camp subcounty. During the eviction property 
was destroyed and several grass-thatched huts were torched. The police 
in Arua District arrested and remanded to prison six suspects who were 
alleged to have incited the violence, and the case was ongoing at 
year's end.
    During the September 10-12 riots in Kampala, demonstrators harassed 
Asian business owners and looted and destroyed some of their shops; the 
actions reflected public perception that the government favored Asian 
investors and businessmen with tax breaks, land, and other incentives 
unavailable to local businessmen.

    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, or 
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.

    Societal Abuses and 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 have been charged under the law. The September introduction in 
parliament of a bill providing the death penalty for ``aggravated 
homosexuality'' and for homosexual ``serial offenders'' resulted in 
increased harassment and intimidation of LGBT persons during the year; 
the proposed legislation also provides for a fine and three years' 
imprisonment for persons who fail to report acts of homosexual conduct 
to authorities within 24 hours.
    Public resentment of homosexual conduct sparked significant public 
debate during the year, and the government took a strong position 
against such conduct despite a December 2008 ruling by the High Court 
that constitutional rights apply to all persons, regardless of sexual 
orientation. The local NGO Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) protested 
alleged police harassment of several members for their vocal stand 
against sexual discrimination.
    For example, on April 5, police in Mbale District arrested SMUG 
activists Fred Wasukira and Brian Mpadde. On April 17, a court in Mbale 
charged Wasukira and Mpadde with homosexual conduct and remanded the 
suspects to Maluke prison. On May 20, the court released Wasukira on 
police bail; Mpadde was released on June 16. The case was ongoing at 
year's end.
    On June 19, police in Kitgum interrogated former police coach 
Charles Ayeikoh over allegations that he was involved in homosexual 
acts. An investigation was ongoing at year's end.
    In July the administration of Mbalala Senior Secondary School in 
Mukono District dismissed student John Paul Mulumba after he 
acknowledged that he was a SMUG member.
    During the year the UHRC stopped investigating the July 2008 case 
in which SMUG activist Usaam Mukwaya alleged that police tortured and 
humiliated him during an illegal detention; Mukwaya reportedly decided 
not to pursue the case.
    During the year police dismissed for lack of evidence a September 
2008 case against SMUG members George Oundo and Brenda Kiiza, who were 
charged with indecent practices.
    LGBT persons were also subject to societal harassment and 
discrimination.
    For example, on March 17, the Uganda Joint Christian Council and 
the Family Life Network launched a campaign to curb homosexual conduct 
in higher institutions. SMUG accused the organizers of using religion 
to attack the LGBT community in the country.
    On June 24, the Uganda Coaches Association instituted a code of 
conduct that requires members to denounce support for or involvement in 
homosexual activity.
    In June in Entebbe, activists organized a three-day workshop to 
discuss the rights of LGBT persons and ways to address increasing 
public resentment against homosexual activity in the country.

    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 unionized, 
representing approximately 10 percent of workers.
    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 several companies did not allow 
employees to join 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; and Kibimba Rice Scheme.
    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 engaged in organizing strikes 
during the year.
    For example, in May police in Mukono arrested and later released 31 
sugar cane cutters of Lugazi Sugar Corporation during a strike to 
protest low pay and poor working conditions.
    In February a court in Mukono acquitted 75 workers of Lugazi Sugar 
Corporation on charges of destruction of company property during a 
strike in November 2008.
    The plantation union reported that the four workers from the 
Kakonde Tea Estate arrested in 2007 for organizing a strike were 
released during the year following negotiations with the management.

    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, but a few employers recognized the agreements. 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. There were no reports of antiunion discrimination during the 
year. Despite the dismissals of 100 workers from Kasese Cobalt and 
another 100 workers from Hwansung, Ltd, for participating in union 
activity, the government took no action and did not investigate reports 
that employers suppressed 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; 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.

    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 MGLSD 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 the 
Bureau of Statistics estimated that more than 1.76 million children, 
including 798,451 girls, between the ages of five and 17 (17 percent) 
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 MGLSD 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, domestic 
servants, and prostitutes.
    The ILO and the Federation of Uganda Employers sponsored a January 
2008 survey on child labor in the fisheries and tobacco industries that 
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 MGLSD; 
however, financial constraints limited efforts. The MGLSD 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 MGLSD district 
labor officers reported on child labor issues at the local level. The 
government coordinated its efforts to stop child labor through the 
National Steering Committee on Child Labor, which included 
representatives of the MGLSD, the Ministry of Education and Sports, the 
Ministry of Local Government, the Federation of Uganda Employers, the 
National Organization of Trade Unions, NGOs, journalists, and 
academics. 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum legal wage was 6,000 
shillings ($3.16) per month, a rate set in 1984 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 rate 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.
    In September Mulugeshe Kittan, a manager with AK Plastics, 
allegedly assaulted Rashid Kibirango, a machine operator, after he 
refused to enter a hot plastic-molding machine. Kibirango reported the 
case to police, and a court hearing was pending. Kibirango resigned 
after management declined to transfer him to another section.
    The MGLSA recorded four deaths due to poor safety practices at 
several construction projects during the year.

                               __________

                                 ZAMBIA

    Zambia is a republic of 12.5 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 an October 2008 by-
election, then-vice president Rupiah Banda was elected president in 
generally free and fair multiparty elections. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government's human rights record remained poor, and it 
deteriorated during the year in a few areas. Human rights problems 
included an unlawful killing; 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 an unlawful 
killing 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 February 22, police officers at Chelstone Police Post in Lusaka 
shot and killed 20-year-old student Maybin Chongo as he fled by car. 
Police stated that they suspected Chongo was eluding capture. The case 
remained pending at year's end.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, 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.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the 
following 2007 police killings: the January shooting death of a man 
caught siphoning fuel; the February alleged rape and killing of a 
female suspect in custody; and the October shooting death of a suspect 
who refused to relinquish a fuel container to police.
    In 2007 the Lusaka High Court ordered the government to pay the 
family of the late Chanda Chayafya 13.36 million kwacha ($2,672) plus 
interest as compensation for Chayafya's death. The police killed 
Chayafya, a security guard, in 1998. Chayafya was a suspect in the 
murder of former finance minister Ronald Penza. Chayafya's family's 
lawyers advised the family to appeal the amount of compensation to the 
Supreme Court.
    Mob violence that targeted suspected criminals, persons accused of 
witchcraft, persons suspected of sexual impropriety, or persons with 
mental illness resulted in killings; no action was taken against 
perpetrators.
    In February a mob in Kaoma killed an alleged arsonist and killer 
identified as ``Kalaye'' after he attempted to kill a couple with an 
assault rifle and burn down their house. Kaoma residents beat him to 
death when he attempted to escape from police custody.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, 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. No action was 
taken in cases of mob killings in 2007.

    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 February 5, the Lusaka High Court ordered the government to pay 
65.7 million kwacha ($13,140) plus 14 percent interest as compensation 
to Godfrey Michelo's family. Michelo died in 2000 in police custody 
after a police officer threw a teargas canister into his cell at the 
police station in Monze.
    On March 16, Kawambwa police detained and assaulted two Copperbelt 
University lecturers, Edward Nkonde and Ephraim Munshimfwa, before 
releasing them the next day. Police allegedly mistook them for thieves 
when the lecturers visited the area on a field research trip.
    On July 14, a 27-year-old woman gave birth to a baby boy at Kasama 
police station after police detained her for alleged child abuse. The 
woman claimed that a police officer denied her bond and that another 
female detainee assisted her with delivering the baby. On July 21, 
Police Inspector General Francis Kabonde ordered the officer arrested 
for unprofessional conduct. Police arrested the officer and charged her 
with negligence of duty. The case remained pending at year's end.
    On July 27, a police officer shot and wounded Copperbelt University 
student Cornelius Mwape as Kitwe police tried to quell student 
demonstrations. On July 28, President Banda expressed disappointment 
that the police had used live ammunition to quell the protests and 
ordered a police review of the incident. No action was taken by year's 
end against the officer who allegedly wounded Mwape.
    There were no new developments, and none were expected, in the July 
2008 alleged police abuse of Monde Naluli. There were no new 
developments, and none were expected, in the 2007 case of prisoners 
allegedly stripped and beaten by guards at Mufulira State Prison.
    There were instances of mob violence reported during the year. On 
August 12, Copperbelt University students reportedly beat Konde Mamadi 
and destroyed his vehicle for his allegedly having stolen a laptop 
computer. Mamadi's case remained pending at year's end.
    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. There were no new developments, and none were 
expected, in the following 2007 cases: the alleged rape of a 14-year-
old girl on numerous occasions by police officer Sitali Ikowa and the 
arrest of a police officer for raping a suspect at Nkana East Police 
Station.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor and life threatening. An inefficient judiciary delayed court 
proceedings and exacerbated overcrowding. The country's prisons, which 
were built to hold 5,500 inmates, held nearly 15,000 prisoners and 
detainees. For example, Lusaka Central Prison, which was designed to 
accommodate 200 prisoners, held more than 1,500. 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.
    Prisoners routinely complained that authorities denied them access 
to medical care as provided for 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. 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.
    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.
    Juveniles often were not held separately from adults. 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. Pretrial detainees were not held separately 
from convicted prisoners.
    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. ICRC visits were performed in accordance with standard 
modalities.
    In January 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 August 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.

    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, 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 for the 
first time in several years, only 16,500 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-strong military, 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 and employs 
approximately 300 agents to oversee 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. Police released prisoners for bribes, extorted 
money from victims, and required ``document processing fees'' or ``gas 
money'' to commence investigations. Police enjoyed a high degree of 
impunity.
    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 November it received 245 
complaints regarding police misconduct; 32 were related to unlawful 
detention, 72 to unprofessional conduct, 25 to police brutality, 48 to 
police inaction, 56 to abuse of authority, and four to death in police 
custody. In 27 of the 245 cases, the perpetrator was punished or a 
settlement was mediated. The PPCA recommended and imposed punishments 
that included fines, demotion in rank, and dismissal. 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 limited 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.
    On July 13, Lusaka police briefly detained The Post news editor 
Chansa Kabwela for allegedly circulating obscene material (see section 
2.b.).
    Prolonged pretrial detention was a problem, and some defendants 
awaited trial for as long as three years. Approximately one-third of 
persons incarcerated in 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.
    For example, Siavonga resident Nobert 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 
April 2008 case of alleged unlawful detention of Rachel Bwalya and the 
case of Ernest Banda, who had been in detention since 2005.

    Amnesty.--On January 16, President Banda commuted the death 
sentences of 53 prisoners to custodial sentences or life imprisonment.

    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.
    For example, on August 31, the Lusaka High Court awarded Patriotic 
Front (PF) party leader Michael Sata damages for malicious prosecution. 
In 2002 Sata was arrested and indicted for allegedly stealing two motor 
vehicles, but a magistrate exonerated him.
    The nine-member Supreme Court in Lusaka has final appellate 
jurisdiction for all legal and constitutional disputes. The High Court, 
with branches based in Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, Livingstone, and Chipata, 
is second in jurisdiction to the Supreme Court and regularly held 
mobile court sessions in all nine provincial capitals. The High Court 
has primary jurisdiction over civil litigation and criminal matters 
relating to treason, murder, and aggravated robbery, and it has 
appellate authority in cases referred to it from lower courts. High 
Court decisions can be appealed to the Supreme Court. The High Court 
handles parliamentary election petitions; the Supreme Court has 
jurisdiction over presidential election disputes. One Supreme Court 
justice is chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Zambia.
    The Justice Ministry oversees 75 lower magistrate courts 
countrywide that have original jurisdiction in some criminal and civil 
cases and limited appellate authority over matters referred to them 
from local courts. Local or customary courts heard most civil and petty 
criminal cases in rural areas.
    The military forces have a separate court with jurisdiction over 
military cases. Accused military personnel may appear for summary trial 
before their commanding officers or be referred for trial 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 and generally 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 his 
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.
    On September 17, the Lusaka High Court dismissed a petition 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. Kabwe and Chungu, who were convicted August 17 in 
a corruption case brought against them and former president Frederick 
Chiluba, had submitted their petition following a June 9 Supreme Court 
decision to allow their corruption cases to proceed (see section 4).
    There were 150 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, 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.
    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 and the ZSIS authority to monitor 
communications using wiretaps based on probable cause.
    Authorities sometimes detained, interrogated, and physically abused 
family members of criminal suspects to obtain their cooperation in 
identifying or locating suspects.
    In January the Lusaka High Court ordered the DEC to pay Christine 
Luunga of Mwenda-Lice 12 million kwacha ($2,400) for unlawful 
imprisonment. The court found that DEC agents illegally arrested and 
detained her at Kabwata Police Station in Lusaka after failing to 
arrest her husband, Levy Hamalala, for allegedly cultivating marijuana. 
Agents released Luunga after Hamalala turned himself in to Lusaka 
police.

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 a car honk-and-whistle 
campaign by arresting nine individuals for disturbing the peace (see 
section 2.b.). 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, and although these circulated without government 
interference, officials used the law to suppress criticism of political 
or other leaders. Government officials and ruling MMD 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 print 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.
    Ruling party supporters harassed independent journalists. On 
February 28, MMD supporters assaulted Thomas Nsama, a photojournalist 
at The Post, at Chipata Airport while he covered President Banda 
welcoming South African President Zuma. No charges were filed. On May 
2, MMD supporters assaulted The Post journalists George Chellah and 
Eddie Mwanaleza at Lusaka City Airport while they covered the return of 
President Banda. No charges were filed against those involved in the 
assault. On May 17, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ronnie 
Shikapwasha defended the harassment of The Post journalists by saying 
that ``they were reaping what they sowed.'' He claimed that the 
criticism of the president was unjustified and accused the newspaper of 
``promoting discontent in the country.'' On July 29, MMD Lusaka 
Province Youth Chairman Chris Chalwe assaulted The Post journalist 
Chibaula Silwamba and Times of Zambia reporter Anthony Mulowa as they 
covered President Banda's arrival at Lusaka International Airport. On 
August 6, the Lusaka Magistrate's Court released Chalwe on bail. His 
case remained pending at year's end. On August 7, Shikapwasha justified 
violence against journalists by MMD supporters, saying ``President 
Banda's supporters demand that the president be given due respect by 
The Post.'' Shikapwasha warned that ``unless the media operated within 
the set confines of their profession,'' the public would be forced to 
call for a statutory body to regulate the media.
    On July 13, police arrested The Post news editor Chansa Kabwela and 
charged her with circulating obscene material. Kabwela received photos 
of a woman giving birth on the sidewalk outside a hospital shuttered 
due to a healthcare workers' strike, and later Kabwela sent the 
unpublished photos to government, women's groups, and church leaders to 
raise awareness of hospital conditions during the strike. On November 
16, Lusaka Chief Magistrate Charles Kafunda acquitted Kabwela. On July 
28, Vice President Kunda dismissed chairperson Tamala Kambikambi and 
spokesperson Amos Chanda from the National Governing Council of the 
African Peer Review Mechanism, a voluntary organization that assesses 
countries' adherence to international and African human rights 
standards, for publicly supporting Kabwela.
    On September 2, Lusaka Chief Magistrate Charles Kafunda found The 
Post deputy editor Sam Mujuda guilty of contempt of court and issued an 
arrest warrant for Post editor Fred M'membe for publishing an editorial 
written by Cornell University law professor Muna Ndulo that criticized 
the Kabwela case. On September 25, Lusaka High Court Judge Albert Wood 
overturned Kafunda's ruling. On October 14, prosecutors submitted the 
case to a different magistrate, David Simusamba. On November 18, 
Simusamba ordered M'membe's case reinstated, and his trial began on 
December 4. At year's end the trial continued.
    There were no new developments, and none were expected, in Deputy 
Secretary to the Cabinet Robert Mataka's 2007 defamation suit against 
the Zambian Watchdog newspaper.
    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 July 27, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Shikapwasha 
threatened to close the Sky FM radio station in Monze for broadcasting 
``unpalatable remarks'' from a radio listener criticizing President 
Banda and the visiting King Mswati III of Swaziland.
    On September 5, Minister Shikapwasha warned television and radio 
stations in a press statement that they risked having their licenses 
revoked if they broadcasted material outside the parameters of the 
provisions of their licenses. Shikapwasha further indicated that the 
government would investigate reports that television station MUVI TV 
and some private radio stations circumvented the provisions of their 
broadcasting licenses by using digital satellite technology to 
broadcast countrywide. On October 11, Shikapwasha accused The Post of 
encouraging individuals to participate in live call-in programs on Sky 
FM radio.
    There were no developments, and none were expected, in the 
investigation of Cabinet Protocol Officer Lovewell Jere's 2007 barring 
of local journalists from covering the Southern African Development 
Community Summit.

    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 2008, approximately 5.5 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.
    During the year the government revoked the visa of a foreign 
national living in Zambia who criticized a deputy minister on her blog. 
The government threatened to deport another foreign national who posted 
remarks on the Internet deemed critical of the government.

    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 arbitrarily 
change the time and date of rallies, particularly of opposition 
political parties and NGOs, and did so during by-election campaigns 
during the year.
    Unlike in previous years, there were no cases of police using 
violence to break up protests.
    On October 2, police arrested nine individuals, including PF 
members of parliament (MPs) Mumbi Phiri and Jean Kapata, in Lusaka for 
protesting the acquittal of former president Frederick Chiluba with car 
honks and whistles (see sections 2.a and 4). They were released on 
October 7.
    There were no developments in the May 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 Ministry of 
Home Affairs' 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, although it deregistered the 
Islamic Council of Zambia and threatened to deregister organizations 
that had not paid fees or were otherwise not in compliance with the law 
(see section 2.c.). On August 26, the government enacted the NGO Law 
regulating NGOs operating in the country (see section 5).

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice. Although the constitution declares the country to be a 
Christian nation, the government generally respected the right of all 
religious groups to worship freely.
    On October 4, the registrar of societies deregistered the Islamic 
Council of Zambia for violating the constitution and infighting between 
members related to accusations by one faction of financial 
improprieties.
    The government required the registration of religious groups and 
approved all applications for registration from religious groups 
without discrimination.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were approximately 80 
persons in the Jewish community and no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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, 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 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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol 
relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1969 African Union 
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problem in 
Africa. The law provides for asylum based on these conventions and 
protocol.
    The law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and 
the government has established a system for providing 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. 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 migrants.
    According to the UNHCR, at year's end the country hosted 64,000 
refugees, mainly from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
During the year the government assisted in the repatriation of 16,000 
Congolese refugees. Refugees 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 with the right to change 
their government, 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. After Banda defeated lead opposition 
candidate and PF leader Michael Sata by 35,209 votes, Sata petitioned 
the Supreme Court to request a recount. On March 11, the court ruled 
against Sata's petition and affirmed Banda's election on April 27. In 
its ruling, the Supreme Court dismissed Sata's allegations of election 
irregularities, stating that Sata submitted insufficient evidence of 
anomalies in the counting, compilation, and transmission of election 
results.
    The constitution requires all elected officials except the 
president and vice president to vacate their offices one month 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.
    On August 13, MMD candidate Solomon Musonda was elected the MP 
representing Chitambo. Reportedly, violence occurred during an 
altercation between Deputy Minister Gaston Sichilima from the Office of 
the Vice President and a United National Independence Party supporter. 
Some observers alleged that ruling party supporters engaged in vote 
buying, misused government vehicles, distributed food and clothing for 
partisan purposes, and promised local development projects to entice 
voters to the polls.
    On October 15, PF candidate Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba was elected the 
MP representing Kasama Central following the resignation of the 
incumbent MP from the PF to form his own political party. On October 
14, violence reportedly occurred during an altercation between MMD and 
PF supporters. As in the Chitambo by-election, some observers alleged 
that MMD supporters engaged in vote buying and misuse of government 
resources for partisan purposes. On October 14, opposition supporters 
chased Minister of Commerce, Trade, and Industry Felix Mutati and 
Minister of Health Kapembwa Simbao from a Kasama market where they were 
allegedly engaging in vote buying.
    On November 19, United Party for National Development (UPND) 
candidate Watson Lumba was elected the MP representing Solwezi Central 
following the September 5 death of incumbent MP and Minister of Housing 
Ben Tetamashimba. Violence occurred during reported altercations 
between MMD and UPND supporters. As in other by-elections during the 
year, some observers alleged that ruling party supporters engaged in 
vote buying and similar abuses 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 political influence over 
the electoral process by using government resources to conduct 
political campaigns.
    There were 21 women in 158-seat parliament, three in the 27-member 
cabinet, and three 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.
    The National Constitutional Conference (NCC) continued to meet 
throughout the year to consider the draft constitution proposed by the 
2005 Mung'omba Constitutional Review Commission. 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. On September 7, President Banda extended the NCC's 
mandate through April 2010.

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.
    The World Bank's latest worldwide governance indicators reflected 
that corruption was a serious problem; however, the government made 
some improvements in fighting it. On August 27, the government 
announced its National Anti-Corruption Policy. The Anti-Corruption 
Commission (ACC), which reports independently to the president, is 
responsible for combating government corruption. On October 30, Vice 
President Kunda disbanded the Task Force for Corruption (TFC), which 
prosecuted cases of corruption committed during then-president 
Chiluba's administration, and assigned its duties to the ACC. The 
disbandment drew criticism from some civil society representatives as a 
sign that the government would not prosecute Chiluba-era corruption 
cases. 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 the ACC continued its prosecution 
and public educational activities. During the year the ACC received 
2,073 reports of corruption, 658 of which were investigated. Of those, 
17 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 the disposal of 
confiscated assets, and the process to liquidate assets seized in the 
anticorruption campaign 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.
    During the year the ACC and TFC prosecuted several military 
commanders and government officials for corruption.
    On January 12, a judge convicted former air force commander 
lieutenant general Christopher Singogo of embezzlement and abuse of 
authority and sentenced him to six years' imprisonment with hard labor. 
Singogo was convicted on a second abuse of authority charge on February 
26 and sentenced to an additional five years' imprisonment with hard 
labor. Both cases remained on appeal at year's end.
    On February 14, 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. The case remained on 
appeal at year's end.
    On March 2, a judge convicted former army commander lieutenant 
general Georjago Musengule of 12 counts of corruption and abuse of 
authority and sentenced him to 16 years' imprisonment with hard labor. 
Musengule's accomplice, Base Chemicals Zambia Limited chief executive 
officer Amon Sibande, was convicted in the same case and sentenced to 
three years' imprisonment. The case remained on appeal at year's end.
    On March 3, 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. Her appeal remained pending, 
and she remained free on bail.
    On March 3, a judge convicted former air force commander lieutenant 
general Sande Kayumba of corruption and sentenced him to seven years' 
imprisonment with hard labor. His accomplices, former air force chief 
of logistics brigadier general Andrew Nyirongo and base executive Amon 
Sibande, were also convicted of corruption in the same case and 
sentenced to seven years' imprisonment with hard labor. On May 4, 
Kayumba was also convicted of abuse of authority and sentenced to two 
years' imprisonment with hard labor.
    On May 13, the ACC announced that it was investigating allegations 
of embezzlement of more than 35.7 billion kwacha ($7.14 million) at the 
Ministry of Health by 32 ministry officials. The case remained pending 
at year's end.
    On August 17, Magistrate Jones Chinyama acquitted former president 
Chiluba of embezzling 2.5 billion kwacha ($500,000) in public funds. At 
the same hearing the magistrate convicted two Chiluba accomplices, 
Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu, of embezzlement in the same case and 
sentenced them to five years in prison. On August 24, TFC Director Max 
Nkole appealed the Chiluba case to the High Court. On August 25, 
President Banda dismissed Nkole and named ACC Chairperson Godfrey 
Kayukwa acting TFC director, and Director of Public Prosecutions Chalwe 
Mchenga withdrew Nkole's appeal. On August 19, Chiluba appealed for an 
unprecedented reinstatement of his political immunity. On September 23, 
Vice President Kunda asserted that the government would not appeal 
Chiluba's acquittal.
    As of year's end the attorney general had not registered in the 
Zambian courts a British court's 2007 finding that Chiluba, his wife 
Regina, and several accomplices' misappropriated 164 trillion kwacha 
($32.8 million) in public funds.
    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 ad hoc 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.
    Major local, independent human rights NGOs included the LRF, Jesuit 
Centre for Theological Reflection, Women for Change, NGO Coordinating 
Council, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction, and Southern Africa 
Center for Constructive Resolution of Disputes.
    On August 26, the government enacted a law to regulate NGOs. 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. At year's end the government had not implemented the law, and 
there had been no cases where the law had directly restricted NGO 
operations.
    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.

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 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 2008 the ZPS's Victim 
Support Unit (VSU) recorded 229 cases of rape, 34 cases of attempted 
rape, and 141 cases of indecent assault; 72 defendants were convicted, 
four were acquitted, and three cases were withdrawn. 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 sexual assault range from two 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 report that this meant the true 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 that the unit lacked equipment to analyze forensic 
evidence. The government operated gender-based violence shelters, a 
toll-free hotline, and six 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 120 police officers.
    Although prostitution is not illegal, the penal code criminalizes 
certain conduct associated with prostitution. Police routinely arrested 
street prostitutes for loitering. Prostitution was prevalent in major 
cities. Sex tourism occurred but was not prevalent.
    Sexual harassment was common. The law prohibits sexual harassment 
in the workplace, and 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, and that lack 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 obstetric and postpartum care. 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.
    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 Gender in Development Division in the cabinet office is 
the government's agency especially charged with promoting the status of 
women.
    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 if the first wife agrees to it 
at the time of her wedding or both families agree and the man has paid 
a dowry. 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 relatives 10 percent. The widow's 
share must be divided proportionally with other women who can prove a 
spousal relationship with the deceased man. 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 handed down were low.

    Children.--The Ministries of Labor and Social Security (MLSS), 
Sport, Youth, and Child Development (MSYCD), Community Development and 
Social Services (MCDSS), 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. The ICRC indicated in 2002 that fewer than 10 
percent of 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 and carnal knowledge of a child 
under the age of 16,'' was particularly common. The police VSU recorded 
1,224 defilement cases in 2008; prosecutions resulted in 150 
convictions and seven acquittals.
    Child marriage was a minor problem and was not common. 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. Magistrates' courts intervened in cases of gross 
abuse.
    The law criminalizes child prostitution and child pornography with 
penalties of up to life imprisonment. 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. Approximately 1.2 million children under the age of 15 were 
orphaned, including an estimated 800,000 as a result of HIV/AIDS. These 
children faced greater risks of child abuse, sexual abuse, and child 
labor. Approximately 75 percent of all households cared for at least 
one orphan, and orphaned children headed an estimated 7 percent of 
households.
    An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 children lived on the streets, often 
begging or prostituting themselves to survive. The MCDSS' 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. In 2007 the CPU 
reintegrated 346 street children with their families, sent 234 children 
to school, and placed 185 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. In 2007 the transfer program 
benefited 7,476 households. 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 are placed in youth resource centers throughout the country, 
where they receive training in carpentry, tailoring, farming, and other 
trades.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons 
for all purposes, including transporting, receiving, and harboring of 
trafficking victims. However, the country was a source, transit point, 
and destination for trafficked persons, and internal trafficking 
occurred. Victims, principally women and children from rural areas, 
were trafficked within the country and to other parts of Africa and to 
Europe, and the country was used as a transit point for regional 
trafficking.
    The government did not collect or maintain data on the extent or 
nature of trafficking; however, trafficking, particularly in the form 
of child prostitution, was believed significant. A 2007 International 
Labor Organization (ILO) study on child trafficking in the country 
concluded that trafficking was predominantly domestic and informal. The 
ILO noted that children were often trafficked as a source of cheap 
labor and that girls were more at risk of being trafficked than boys.
    The ILO indicated that traffickers frequently included parents, 
other relatives, truck drivers, businesspersons, traders, and religious 
leaders. Traffickers often used false promises of employment to entice 
victims to leave their homes and families and then forced them into 
prostitution or domestic service.
    The law provides for penalties of 25 years' to life imprisonment 
for those convicted of human trafficking. Law enforcement and 
immigration officers had varying levels of knowledge about trafficking, 
a problem exacerbated by the challenge of monitoring extensive and 
extremely porous borders. The government assisted with international 
investigations or extradited citizens who were accused of trafficking 
in other countries. The government investigated one case of trafficking 
and convicted one trafficker in 2008.
    Through its social welfare agencies, the government provided 
counseling, shelter, and protection to victims of child prostitution or 
referred victims to NGOs that provided such services. In some cases 
victims were placed in protective custody at rehabilitation centers or 
victim support shelters operated by NGOs.
    The government did not knowingly detain, jail, deport, or prosecute 
victims for violations of other laws. When trafficking investigations 
substantiated allegations, the government encouraged victims to assist 
with investigation and prosecution. The government did not have its own 
means of protecting victims and witnesses; however, it arranged for 
protective custody and security protection through facilities operated 
by NGOs.
    The government did not have programs that specifically targeted 
trafficking, although law enforcement officers attended training 
courses that raised awareness of the problem. A government interagency 
committee on human trafficking, chaired by the Ministry of Home 
Affairs, met during the year to promote coordination and information 
sharing among agencies. Government agencies responsible for combating 
trafficking included the police, immigration authorities, and the 
Ministries of Justice, Labor and Social Services, and Education.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination in 
general, but there is no law that specifically prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical or mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services or in other areas. 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. On September 19, The Post reported that conditions 
at the country's only mental health facility, Chainama Hills Mental 
Hospital, were generally good.

    Indigenous People.--The country's seven major indigenous groups--
Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Ngoni, and Tonga--are divided into 
73 ethnic subgroups. Indigenous persons participated in decisions 
affecting their lands, cultures, traditions, and the exploitation of 
energy, minerals, timber, or other natural resources on indigenous 
lands. The government effectively 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 indigenous people by 
encouraging the practice of local customary law. Some political parties 
maintained political and historical connections to indigenous groups 
and promoted their interests.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law criminalizes 
homosexual behavior and provides penalties of up to 14 years' 
imprisonment for individuals who engage in homosexual acts. The 
government enforced the law that criminalizes homosexual conduct and 
did not respond to societal discrimination. Societal violence occurred 
based on sexual orientation, and societal discrimination based on 
sexual orientation occurred in employment, housing, or access to 
education or health care. There were no known cases of lesbian, gay, 
bisexual and transgender persons becoming stateless because of their 
sexual orientation. There were active groups promoting rights of such 
persons, but the Ministry of Home Affairs' Registrar of Societies 
continued to refuse to register them. Groups held social gatherings but 
did not participate in open demonstrations or marches.

    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 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 October 5, the High Court agreed to hear a case in which two 
former air force officers, Stanley Kingaipe and Charles Chookole, had 
sued the air force for dismissing them because they were diagnosed HIV-
positive. Kingaipe and Chookole alleged that the air force tested them 
for HIV in 2001 without their knowledge or consent and later dismissed 
them.
    Individuals increasingly sought free access to HIV/AIDS counseling 
and testing, and more than 200,000 HIV patients 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 for 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 service, 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 was 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.
    During the year the government established Multi-Facility Economic 
Zones in Lusaka and Chambishi. There are no known special laws or 
exemptions from regular labor laws in these 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. 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.

    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, quarries, mines, 
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, 
military conscription, 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 is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of 
child labor laws and regulations. The MLSS can bring charges that 
provide for penalties ranging from a fine to a maximum three months' 
imprisonment, or both, for violations. 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. By year's 
end local governments had established 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 
and to mobilize communities to eliminate the worst forms of child 
labor.
    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. 
During the year a government-supported project to withdraw 3,000 
children from exploitive work and prevent 7,000 other children from 
entering it through the provision of education and training services 
concluded. A second multinational project to combat child labor through 
education continued at year's end.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage in the formal 
sector was 268,000 kwacha ($53.6) 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 
nonunionized minimum wage. The standard workweek was 40 hours, and 
there were limits on excessive compulsory overtime, depending on the 
work category of work. The law requires required 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 January 14, the government closed operations at the Chinese 
Collum Coal Mine in Sinazongwe after two miners died in two mine 
accidents caused by poor safety conditions. The mine was reopened on 
February 23 after the mine owners complied with the required safety 
rules.
    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 nine 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 aligned with 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 between ZANU-PF and 
the two MDC factions on a power-sharing government. 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-elect. On February 11, 
Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister. On February 13, new cabinet 
ministers and deputy ministers from MDC-T, MDC-M, and ZANU-PF 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 opposition party members and 
supporters and obstructed their activities. The Joint Operation 
Command, a group of senior security and civilian authorities, 
maintained control of the security forces and often used them to 
repress opposition to ZANU-PF.
    Security forces, the police, and ZANU-PF-dominated elements of the 
government continued to engage in the pervasive and systematic abuse of 
human rights. 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. Politically motivated, arbitrary, and 
unlawful killings by government agents continued. State-sanctioned use 
of excessive force continued, and security forces tortured members of 
the opposition, student leaders, and civil society activists with 
impunity. Security forces continued to refuse to document cases of 
political violence committed by ruling party loyalists against members 
of the opposition. Prison conditions improved but remained harsh and 
life threatening. Security forces, who regularly acted with impunity, 
arbitrarily arrested and detained the opposition, 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. The government continued 
to use repressive laws to suppress freedom of speech, press, assembly, 
association, and movement. The government restricted academic freedom. 
Government corruption remained widespread. High-ranking government 
officials made numerous public threats of violence against 
demonstrators and members of the opposition. The government continued 
to evict citizens and to demolish homes and informal marketplaces. 
Thousands of citizens were displaced in the wake of increasingly 
violent farm invasions, and the government impeded nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) efforts to assist the displaced and other vulnerable 
populations. The following human rights violations also continued: 
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.--The government or 
its agents committed politically motivated, arbitrary, and unlawful 
killings during the year. By year's end at least 19 citizens had 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 
200 who died in 2008. At least three persons were killed as a result of 
politically motivated violence during the year. The MDC-T continued to 
claim that approximately 200 other members and supporters were missing 
and presumed dead in the wake of election-related violence in 2008. 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. NGOs also estimated security forces killed at least 40 
persons in the Chiadzwa diamond fields in Manicaland Province during 
the year.
    Security forces killed opposition members during the year. On 
August 30, MDC-T activist Godknows Dzoro Mtshakazi was beaten to death 
by four soldiers in Shurugwi, Midlands Province, after being accused 
along with several other MDC-T members of organizing an MDC-T rally and 
playing a pro-MDC-T song in a bar. The four soldiers assaulted the 
group before taking Mtshakazi to a nearby army base, where he was 
beaten further and killed, according to witnesses. The soldiers 
subsequently sent word to Mtshakazi's wife to collect her husband's 
body. There was no further investigation by year's end.
    Security forces continued to engage in extralegal killings in 
connection with illegal diamond mining. For example, on March 30, 
Takunda Neshumba died as a result of being tortured in police custody. 
Neshumba was visiting a relative near the Marange diamond fields when 
he was abducted by soldiers who turned him over to a police officer, 
who subsequently beat him over the course of several days. According to 
a post-mortem report, Neshumba died as a result of severe injuries to 
his feet, wrists, hands, buttocks, and lower back. Neshumba's family 
requested an investigation by the police station that facilitated the 
post-mortem exam. No further action had been taken by year's end.
    On June 21, 20-year-old Barnabas Makuyana was illegally digging for 
diamonds in Marange when he and a friend were captured by soldiers. 
Soldiers beat them for 16 hours until Makuyana died from his injuries. 
The friend then carried Makuyana's body to a hospital mortuary, where 
Makuyana's family could only identify his disfigured body from his 
clothing. Police refused to issue a post-mortem report to the family. 
No further action had been taken by year's end.
    On September 5, soldiers captured and beat Moreblessing Tirivangani 
at a military base in Chiadzwa; Tirivangani died from his injuries. 
Police transported Tirivangani's body to a morgue and reported that he 
was captured while attempting to disarm a soldier in the diamond fields 
in Marange. However, witnesses reported the soldiers seized Tirivangani 
when they found him in the mining area after an army-imposed curfew. 
There were no further developments in the case.
    In late 2008 security forces undertook a major operation to kill 
illegal diamond miners in the Marange/Chiadzwa area of Manicaland to 
ensure the government retained the proceeds from diamond sales. 
According to a July report by the international NGO Human Rights Watch 
(HRW) entitled Diamonds in the Rough: Human Rights Abuses in the 
Diamond Fields of Marange, at least 214 informal diggers were killed in 
the operation, known as Operation Hakudzokwi, meaning ``you will not 
return.''
    There were killings by political party supporters during the year. 
For example, on July 30, 16-year-old Arnold Mosterd died after being 
beaten by ZANU-PF supporters in Macheke, Mashonaland East. Mosterd was 
reportedly killed after he asked for outstanding wages from a local 
ZANU-PF chairman, Harry Munetsi. According to villagers, seven suspects 
who had previously accused Mosterd of supporting the MDC, tied Mosterd, 
cut his chin with a knife, and pierced his stomach with hot iron bars 
before carrying his dead body in a wheelbarrow to the road. The 
suspects were arrested, but Minister of State in the President's Office 
Didymus Mutasa reportedly ordered the release of the suspects on bail 
three days later. Mutasa also allegedly told villagers to ``deal with'' 
strangers who visited the area inquiring about the killing, as they 
would be MDC supporters. No further action was taken by year's end.
    Despite the more than 200 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 400 civil suits in 
the High Court against perpetrators for wrongful deprivation of life; 
all were pending at year's end.
    There were no other developments in previously reported killings 
from 2007 or 2008.

    b. Disappearance.--There were numerous 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 opposition and civil society 
members, as well as student leaders, as part of an effort to intimidate 
MDC supporters and civil society members and leaders. 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 and tortured for one or two days, and abandoned. In some 
cases the abducted person was located in police custody days or weeks 
later.
    For example, on March 11, in Mudzi, ZANU-PF supporters abducted an 
MDC-T leader and took him to a nearby ZANU-PF base, where they beat him 
on the buttocks with sticks while accusing him and his family of 
supporting the MDC-T. The MDC-T leader was forced to listen to ZANU-PF 
propaganda throughout the day. Upon his release, he discovered that 
ZANU-PF supporters had stolen one of his cows and eight goats. That 
night the ZANU-PF supporters returned to the MDC-T leader's homestead 
and again took him to the base and beat him. He received medical 
treatment for his infected wounds and reported the incident to police. 
No further action had been taken by year's end.
    On May 17, suspected ZANU-PF youths abducted and tortured an MDC-T 
party chairperson from Sicola Farm in Wedza North after the chairperson 
attended an MDC-T meeting at which the prime minister was present. The 
victim was reportedly taken to the house of the local ZANU-PF 
chairperson, where firewood was used to burn his hands and foot; he was 
released the following day, and no action was taken in the case.
    On May 18, in Mashiri village in Mashonaland Central, suspected 
Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) agent Chamunorwa Shutu ordered 
four ZANU-PF youths, Rodrick Kanengoni, Nyashadzashe Kanengoni, Munetsi 
Kanengoni, and Chamunorwa Shutu, to abduct 13 MDC-T supporters for 
allegedly holding an MDC-T meeting. The 13 had attended a May 16 
memorial service to commemorate the deaths of six MDC-T activists who 
were killed by ZANU-PF officials and war veterans at Chaona Primary 
School in May 2008. The youths abducted and severely beat the 13 MDC-T 
supporters; all sustained serious injuries, and one underwent surgery 
for his wounds. Subsequently, the MDC-T supporters were arrested and 
charged with assaulting the same four ZANU-PF youths who had abducted 
them. On September 10, magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka found 11 of the 
MDC-T supporters guilty of assault; they were sentenced to pay fines of 
$20 and did not appeal. Two others were acquitted. The four ZANU-PF 
youths and Shutu were also arrested and charged with assault; their 
trial was postponed indefinitely after Magistrate Charles Murove 
recused himself from the case on September 25, reportedly under 
pressure from Shutu. The case was referred to the attorney general; no 
decision had been made by year's end.
    Several abductions were committed by MDC supporters in retaliation 
for ZANU-PF initiated violence. For example, on February 6, in Buhera 
South, suspected MDC supporters abducted a ZANU-PF party activist from 
Chinyoka Vvillage, forced him to march to nearby hills, and reportedly 
tied him to a tree and beat him.
    The government seldom investigated reported abductions.
    Multiple 2008 court cases against 18 persons, 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 in December 2008, continued during the year. Medical 
examinations confirmed injuries consistent with torture. On January 26, 
a magistrate dismissed a January 21 affidavit filed by State Security 
Minister Didymus Mutasa that sought to block an investigation into the 
abductees' allegations. Police were ordered to investigate the 
allegations and report to the court on February 9; at year's end no 
report had been made available. During the year the abductees were 
denied medical treatment in violation of high court orders, and their 
court cases were repeatedly delayed in an apparent effort to prevent 
details of their abductions from becoming public.
    On January 6, the government filed charges of sabotage against 
seven of the abductees--freelance journalist Andrison Manyere and MDC-T 
activists Gandhi Mudzingwa, Zacharia Nkomo, Chinoto Zulu, Chris 
Dhlamini, Mapfumo Garutsa, and Regis Mujeyi, also known as the 
``bombers''--for alleged involvement in various 2008 police station and 
railroad bombings. All seven continued to face charges at year's end. 
On January 16, Justice Tedius Karwi ruled that the seven should be 
allowed medical treatment by a medical practitioner of their choosing 
outside of Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, where the men were being 
held. This was the third high court order granting them medical 
treatment after two other orders were issued in 2008. On February 6, 
Andrisson Manyere, Ghandi Mudzingwa, and Chris Dhlamini were taken to a 
private hospital and granted medical treatment. However, prison 
officials interrupted the examination and took the men back to 
Chikurubi Prison. During the brief examination, doctors identified 
serious medical conditions that required hospitalization. On February 
12, prison officials took Mudzingwa back to the hospital. On February 
16, a high court judge issued another order directing prison officials 
to take all seven men to a private clinic for treatment; however, only 
Nkomo and Zulu were taken. On February 19, Justice Yunus Omerjee 
granted four of the seven men bail; however, the government immediately 
blocked their release by notifying the judge of its intent to appeal. 
On February 27, the defense lawyers alerted the judge that the 
government had not yet filed its appeal. Justice Yunus Omerjee then 
informed the defense lawyers that the February 19 bail order remained 
valid. On March 4, Nkomo, Zulu, Garutsa, and Mujeyi were released after 
meeting the strict bail requirements. On February 27, Dhlamini was 
admitted to the hospital under prison guard where he was held with 
Mudzingwa and Manyere. On April 9, Justice Charles Hungwe granted 
Dhlamini, Mudzingwa, and Manyere bail; however, the government again 
blocked their release by notifying the court of its intention to appeal 
to the Supreme Court. When the government failed to lodge the appeal 
within the legally mandated seven days, the remaining three were 
released on April 17.
    Upon Dhlamini, Mudzingwa and Manyere's release, prison guards 
outside Mudzingwa and Dhlamini's room in a local hospital returned 
their personal belongings to them and left the hospital. Although 
Mudzingwa and Dhlamini had been granted bail, prison guards resumed 
guarding their hospital room on April 20, citing ``instructions from 
above.'' On April 30, Justice Bharat Patel issued a high court order 
ruling that the Easter weekend public holidays had extended the seven-
day period for the government to note its bail appeal. Authorities 
subsequently arrested Dhlamini and Mudzingwa's lawyer, Alec 
Muchadehama, and court clerk Constance Gambara, who had prepared the 
orders of release on April 17(see section 1.d.).
    On January 7, in a separate case against some of the 18 abductees, 
nine persons--Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) Director Jestina Mukoko, ZPP 
officer Broderick Takawira, and MDC-T activists Fidelis Chiramba, 
Concillia Chinanzvavana, Emmanuel Chinanzvana, Pieta Kaseke, Violet 
Mupfuranhehwe, Collen Mutemagu, and Audrey Zimbudzana, known as the 
``recruiters''--were accused of recruiting persons to commit terrorism 
and banditry, including the recruitment of insurgents to train in 
Botswana for an alleged armed uprising against the Zimbabwean 
government. Two other abductees, Tawanda Bvumo and Pascal Gonzo, were 
ordered released without charge in December 2008. However, despite the 
court order, prison officials did not release Bvumo until January 23 
when another judge ordered his release. Gonzo was released after a 
judge again ordered his release on February 5.
    These abductees experienced similar delays in accessing medical 
care while in custody. On January 20, authorities at Chikurubi Prison 
allowed Mukoko to see a doctor of her own choosing at a private 
hospital. Her doctor found that she was extremely hypertensive and 
needed to be checked every four hours. Against her doctor's 
recommendations, prison officials returned Mukoko to the prison the 
same day, where she was taken to the prison medical unit and held in 
leg irons for 24 hours. On February 6, 72-year-old Chiramba was granted 
access to medical care; on January 30, a magistrate ordered that he be 
granted same-day medical treatment. Shortly after arriving at the 
private hospital, Chiramba was abruptly returned to prison by 
officials. On February 12, prison officials again brought Mukoko and 
Chiramba to the hospital but returned them to the prison several hours 
later. Later that evening, prison officials relented and again 
transported Chiramba and Mukoko to the hospital. On February 13, 
another magistrate again ordered prison officials to grant Mukoko and 
Chiramba access to medical care at a private hospital until their own 
doctors deemed them fit to return to prison. During the February 13 
hearing, a prison doctor testified that Chiramba and Mukoko suffered 
from serious conditions that could not be controlled at the prison 
clinic. The doctor also testified that Mukoko suffered from 
thrombophlebitis, swelling consistent with beating on the soles of the 
feet. On February 27, a magistrate granted bail to the nine abductees 
accused of recruiting others to launch an armed insurgency. They were 
released in subsequent days after meeting strict bail requirements.
    On May 4, the attorney general formally indicted 16 of the 
abductees, including the seven alleged ``bombers'' and the nine alleged 
``recruiters.'' In the May 4 hearing, the prosecutor applied for the 
group to be recommitted to prison, arguing that the presentation of 
their indictments for trial cancelled their bail. On May 5, magistrate 
Catherine Chimwanda refused to hear evidence from the Attorney 
General's Office about the February 27 bail agreement or to allow the 
defense to call two witnesses who had been subpoenaed. She declined to 
entertain further argument and granted the prosecutor's application to 
commit the abductees to prison. Consequently, the 13 abductees who had 
previously been released on bail were sent back to Chikurubi Prison. 
Three other abductees--Dhlamini, Mudzingwa, and Manyere--remained in 
private medical facilities under prison guard. On May 6, the attorney 
general told the abductees' lawyers he no longer opposed bail, and 
after a hearing the same day the government consented to the 
reinstatement of bail for these 13 abductees on the same conditions; on 
May 6, the 13 were rereleased. On May 13, Dhlamini, Mudzingwa, and 
Manyere were granted bail by Justice November Mtshiya. Two journalists 
were arrested after publishing the names of the security officials 
involved in the abduction and torture of these abductees (see section 
2.a.).
    The 16 abductees facing banditry and terrorism charges were 
scheduled to be tried in three different groups in June and July; their 
trials were delayed pending appeals to the Supreme Court. The first 
appeal, filed by Jestina Mukoko, was heard by the Supreme Court on June 
24. Mukoko argued that her abduction, torture, and illegal detention in 
December 2008 constituted such a grave violation of her human rights 
that the court should permanently stay the prosecution's case against 
her. During the hearing Mukoko's lawyers described her abduction and 
torture in detail; the government's lawyer conceded that the details 
presented by Mukoko's lawyer were generally accurate. On September 28, 
the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that Mukoko's 
constitutional rights were violated to such an extent that a permanent 
stay of the prosecution against her was warranted, and the case was 
dropped. An additional 15 abductees' appeals to the Supreme Court were 
pending at year's end.
    Mukoko and other abductees separately sued two cabinet ministers 
and the security agents who abducted them for a combined $19.2 million 
in damages for the unlawful abduction, detention, and deprivation of 
liberty. In a July 27 high court application, Mukoko claimed $220,000 
from co-Ministers of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa and 
Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mukoko sued Minister of State for 
National Security Didymus Mutasa, who had attempted to block an 
investigation into Mukoko's torture allegations. Mukoko also sued 
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, Police Commissioner General Augustine 
Chihuri, Police Chief Superintendent Peter Magwenzi, and CIO agent 
Walter Tapfumaneyi. At year's end the High Court had not set a date to 
hear Mukoko's application. She also claimed $20,000 from Tomana for 
allegedly failing to meet his constitutional obligation to ensure the 
arrest and prosecution of her alleged kidnappers. At year's end police 
had not launched an investigation into the abduction of any of the 
above named abductees.
    On January 15, the government acknowledged that three additional 
abductees, MDC-T activists Lloyd Tarumbwa, Terry Musona, and Fanny 
Tembo, were in custody, claiming that the three were witnesses in the 
case against the ``recruiter'' abductee group and were in ``protective 
custody.'' The three were abducted in October 2008 by security agents, 
tortured, and forced to make false confessions against those charged 
with recruiting insurgents. The three were not allowed to contact their 
families until March. All three were released on March 7 following an 
order by High Court Justice Ben Hlatshwayo. On June 2, the three were 
again taken from their homes by a man who initially refused to identify 
himself. The man, later identified as a police inspector, drove them to 
the Attorney General's Office in Harare, where they were held for 
several hours and forced to sign affidavits swearing to their false 
confessions. Police and officials in the Attorney General's Office 
refused to grant them access to their lawyer. An unidentified official 
warned the three that if they did not testify, they would face serious 
unspecified consequences. After they had signed the affidavits, the 
three were driven towards their homes near Banket, Mashonaland West, 
and dropped several miles outside of town, forcing them to complete the 
rest of the journey on foot. The affidavits were taken in anticipation 
of the first trial for one group of abductees that was scheduled to 
begin on June 8. However, that trial had not begun at year's end 
pending an appeal to the Supreme Court. On June 6, Tarumbwa, Musona, 
and Tembo appeared before a high court judge with their lawyers to 
state that their testimony had been extracted after torture by security 
agents and that their affidavits were signed under duress. During a 
closed-door hearing with the judge and lawyers for the three abductees 
and the government's lawyer, MDC-T Director General Toendepi Shonhe 
signed an affidavit saying that the three had been abducted again. 
Shonhe was subsequently arrested and charged with perjury on June 17 as 
a result of his statement (see section 1.d.).
    One abductee, Bothwell Pasipamire, an MDC-T councilor from Kadoma, 
escaped his captors and fled to South Africa. He later told the press 
that he was abducted from his home in December 2008 and driven to a 
base near Harare, where he was interrogated by Army Warrant Officer 
Mabhunu. Pasipamire stated that Mabhunu beat him on the soles of his 
feet and forced to him to lie naked on a table while Mabhunu squeezed 
Pasipamire's testicles and threatened him. Mabhunu then forced 
Pasipamire, under the threat of further torture, to act out beating a 
soldier while being videotaped. Pasipamire was subsequently forced to 
confess to beating the soldier at the instigation of then prime 
minister-designate Tsvangirai. Several days later Pasipamire escaped to 
South Africa.
    On June 29, Peter Munyanyi, who was abducted in December 2008 in 
Gutu South, fled his captors after spending six months in captivity in 
an unknown location. Munyanyi reported that he was held by security 
agents in a dark room without blankets, clothing, or toilet facilities. 
When he was abducted, his captors beat him, breaking his arm in the 
process. He was not allowed access to medical treatment during his 
detention.
    At year's end the whereabouts of the following MDC-T activists 
abducted in 2008 remained unknown: Gwenzi Kahiya, Ephraim Mabeka, 
Lovemore Machokoto, Charles Muza, Edmore Vangirayi, and Graham Matehwa.
    There were no further developments in the 2007 or 2008 cases of 
disappearance.

    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 that occurred 
during the year or during widespread political violence in 2008. Police 
used excessive force in apprehending and detaining criminal suspects. 
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 government supporters 
continued during the year. One NGO report stated that at least 3,316 
victims of torture and assault received medical treatment during the 
year, a reduction from the 6,300 victims recorded in 2008. Victims of 
2008 election violence continued to require medical care for injuries 
inflicted in 2008. Torture and other assault methods commonly reported 
included beating victims with sticks, logs, whips, and cables; 
suspension; burning; electric shock; and falanga (beating the soles of 
the feet).
    On October 27, suspected security agents in Harare abducted MDC-T 
Transportation Manager Pascal Gwezere, whom they subsequently tortured 
by suspending, beating and biting on the face and ear to extract 
information about the MDC-T before conducting a mock burial. On October 
31, Gwezere was taken to Harare Remand Prison as a result of injuries 
from the beatings. On the same day, Gwezere was charged with stealing 
21 weapons from a military barracks in Harare. Despite repeated 
requests, Gwezere was not allowed to contact a lawyer before his 
hearing. On November 23, High Court Judge Charles Hungwe granted 
Gwezere bail; however, the prosecution immediately appealed to the 
Supreme Court, which, under the law, required the magistrate to deny 
bail pending the outcome of the appeal. On December 21, Supreme Court 
Judge Wilson Sandura dismissed the government's appeal and ordered 
Gwezere's release; however, prison authorities delayed the release 
until December 24. Despite repeated requests beginning on October 31, 
Gwezere was denied medical treatment throughout his detention. The case 
was pending at year's end.
    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, hundreds of soldiers 
were detained, questioned, and physically assaulted in November to 
extract confessions of stealing the weapons. The press reported that at 
least one soldier died in custody, likely as a result of injuries 
sustained during repeated torture sessions.
    Police repeatedly used cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or 
punishment against those in custody. After four women were beaten by 
police on June 17 (see section 2.b.), Amnesty International, in a June 
9 press release, called for an independent body to provide oversight to 
the police to prevent abuses and described the incident as ``one of the 
many cases documented by Amnesty International that shows Zimbabwean 
police's poor record of policing peaceful demonstrations and ill-
treatment of perceived political opponents while in custody.''
    Police also used excessive force to disperse demonstrators. For 
example, on February 10, approximately 600 members of the NGOs Women of 
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and Men of Zimbabwe Arise led a demonstration in 
Harare under a banner proclaiming ``let love light the way.'' After the 
demonstrators marched toward Parliament and handed out roses and 
Valentine's Day cards to bystanders and members of Parliament (MPs), 
police violently disrupted the march and used batons to seriously 
injure several women. Eight women were arrested, along with two lawyers 
walking by Parliament during the demonstration; all were charged with 
disturbing the peace. Three of the women were beaten in police custody; 
one was pregnant and was treated for deep tissue bruising after her 
release from the hospital. All 10 were tried and acquitted on May 28 in 
a Harare magistrate's court. During the trial a police officer 
testified he had not personally beaten any women because he did not 
``have time.''
    In 2008 Eric Matinenga, MP for Buhera West and a prominent 
attorney, presented a case before the High Court alleging that defense 
force members harassed, assaulted, and humiliated MDC-T supporters. The 
case named Commander of the Defense Forces Constantine Chiwenga and 
Major Svosve as the organizers of the repressive activities by security 
personnel in Buhera. In May 2008 Justice Bhunu issued a court order 
declaring the deployment of defense forces in Buhera unlawful and 
ordered their withdraw; however, army personnel, including Major 
Svosve, reportedly remained in the area.
    Youth militia and ``war veterans'' trained by ZANU-PF were also 
deployed to harass and intimidate members of the opposition, labor, 
student movement, civic groups, and journalists considered critical of 
the government, and white farmers and their employees. For example, on 
January 13, a man was tortured after stating that President Mugabe was 
responsible for the political stalemate. After making the comments at 
work, he was locked in a closet until the end of the day when his 
bosses, war veterans and ZANU-PF supporters, took him outside and tied 
him to a tree. Between four and eight persons beat him on his back, 
buttocks, and feet while pouring water on him and threatening to throw 
him in the river. The perpetrators put a sock in his mouth to prevent 
him from screaming.
    On April 3, an estimated 300 ZANU-PF youths attacked a 77-year-old 
MDC-T member at his home near Murehwa. The youths accused him of 
supporting the MDC-T and beat him with iron bars and logs on his 
testicles, hand, and neck. They also beat his wife and destroyed his 
home.
    On April 21, ZANU-PF youths occupying Twyford Farm in violation of 
a March 9 high court order prohibiting the occupation harassed 18 farm 
workers and beat five of them, including an elderly man. The ZANU-PF 
youths were reportedly acting on instructions of ZANU-PF Senator Jamaya 
Muduvuri, who subsequently claimed ownership of the farm. A report was 
filed at Chegutu Police Station; however, police took no action. The 
employer of the 18 men was instructed by the senior police officer at 
the station to contact Muduvuri and resolve the matter with him since 
he was the owner of the farm.
    On numerous occasions citizens were harassed or assaulted for 
listening to music or singing songs affiliated with the MDC-T. For 
example, on May 9, in Machingambi village in Zaka District, ZANU-PF 
supporters dragged a man to the court of a nearby traditional leader; 
he was questioned for four hours and then reprimanded for playing ``MDC 
songs'' at his home.
    On June 14, ZANU-PF youths in Zvimba assaulted a man and crushed 
his radio after he tuned in to the independent Studio 7 station; the 
victim was accused by the perpetrators of spreading MDC propaganda.
    On July 31, MP for Chinhoyi Stewart Garadhi was arrested for 
allegedly insulting the president. When police stopped him at a 
roadblock, they noted that he was playing the MDC-T 2008 campaign song 
Nharembozha by fellow MDC-T MP Thabitha Khumalo. Police released 
Garadhi without charge after several hours.
    The government admitted that state security agents had tortured 
Jestina Mukoko, Broderick Takawira, and others who were abducted in 
late 2008 (see section 1.b.).
    Rape was also used as a tool of political violence. For example, on 
May 1, a group of youths in Bare Vvillage in Mashonaland Central 
ordered a well-known MDC-T activist to chant ZANU-PF slogans. When the 
activist refused, she was raped in front of her 10-year-old son. The 
perpetrators, Richard Gomo and John Chitima, were arrested and 
reportedly sentenced to five years in prison.
    MDC members used violence and torture in retaliation for past ZANU-
PF-led violence. For example, on February 7, MDC youths in Buhera 
Central reportedly assaulted a war veteran for threatening to ``go back 
to the bush if Tsvangirai gets into power.''
    On February 11, suspected MDC supporters in Muzvezve, Kadoma, 
assaulted a suspected ZANU-PF supporter who had denounced Tsvangirai's 
inauguration.
    No action was taken in the other 2007 or 2008 cases of abuse.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and life threatening. The government's 42 prisons were designed 
for a maximum of 17,000 prisoners. Local NGOs and the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimated that there were 
approximately 12,000 to 14,000 prisoners in the Zimbabwe Prison System 
(ZPS) at year's end, 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 and 
overcrowding persisted, which aggravated outbreaks of cholera, 
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 2008, shortages 
of food, water, electricity, clothing, and soap continued. In April an 
undercover film crew produced a documentary entitled ``Hellhole'' that 
depicted serious malnutrition and unsanitary conditions that directly 
contributed to severe cholera in prisons in late 2008 and early 2009. 
Local NGOs believed that the publicity from the documentary prompted 
the government to grant NGOs greater access to provide prisoners with 
food, clothing, and medical and legal services.
    NGOs reported that the death rate decreased significantly during 
the year; however, the ZPS did not keep statistics on prisons deaths. 
NGOs estimated that the death rate was 40 deaths per month during the 
year, a reduction from the estimated 40 to 50 deaths per week during 
the height of the 2008 prison crisis. Most observers attributed the 
dramatic decrease to the ICRC's feeding program, which was the direct 
result of efforts by MDC-T Deputy Minister of Justice Jessie Majome to 
permit the ICRC and NGOs increased access to the prisons. Most prison 
deaths were attributed to harsh conditions, hunger, and HIV/AIDS. NGOs 
continued to estimate that half 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 were consistently ill, and routine medical 
conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and asthma were life 
threatening.
    NGOs estimated that there were 500 women in prison; 43 children 
under the age of five lived with their incarcerated mothers. NGOs 
reported that female prisoners generally fared better than males. Women 
generally received more food from their families than male prisoners, 
resulting in reduced rates of malnutrition. 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, and suggested that female guards may have 
been more diligent about protecting female prisoners from abuse and 
that female prisoners may not have reported abuse. However, women 
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. According to 
lawyers, female offenders also received sentences that were on average 
two to three years longer than male offenders for the same crime.
    NGOs and the ZPS estimated there were approximately 300 juveniles 
in prison facilities; the majority were being held in pretrial 
detention. Although juveniles were not officially held separately from 
adults, officials in remand prisons generally tried to place juvenile 
inmates in cells separate from adults. However, an estimated 20 
convicted juveniles were held in the same prison cells as adult 
offenders. Juveniles were particularly vulnerable to the effects of 
poor prison conditions, and local NGOs reported several complaints of 
physical and sexual abuse.
    In January a two-year-old child who was abducted with his mother 
from Zvimba South in October 2008 and appeared in police custody in 
December 2008 was released from prison. Due to overcrowding in police 
stations and remand prisons, pretrial detainees were often held in 
prisons with convicted prisoners until their bail hearings.
    The law provides international human rights monitors the right to 
visit prisons, but government procedures and requirements made it 
difficult to do so. The government granted local NGOs access on a 
number of occasions during the year. After being denied permission to 
visit the prisons for several months, the ICRC resumed visits in April 
to all prisons and detention centers in the country. With the ICRC's 
help, severe malnutrition was greatly reduced in the prison community. 
At year's end the ICRC reported that 100 prisoners were receiving 
therapeutic feeding, reserved for prisoners who were severely 
malnourished. The ICRC reported that all of their meetings with 
prisoners occurred without third parties present and that there were no 
restrictions placed by the ZPS on how they operated within the prisons.
    Local NGOs continued to lobby the government to release prisoners 
who had committed misdemeanors and whose incarceration put pressure on 
the crowded prison system. Judges in Bulawayo released 400 prisoners 
and detainees who had experienced prolonged detention from the Khami 
Remand Prison on compassionate or medical grounds.

    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.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Zimbabwe Republic 
Police (ZRP) is responsible for maintaining law and order. Although the 
ZRP officially is under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs, 
in practice the President's Office, through the Joint Operation 
Command, controlled some roles and missions. 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.
    Police were poorly trained and equipped, underpaid, and corrupt. 
Severely depleted human and material resources, especially fuel, 
further reduced police effectiveness during the year. Corruption 
continued in part due to low salaries. Security forces perpetrated 
government-sponsored politically motivated violence. Police routinely 
and violently disrupted public gatherings and demonstrations, and they 
tortured opposition and civil society activists in their custody. It 
was difficult for rank-and-file police to remain impartial due to 
continued politicization of the force's upper echelons. There were 
reports that police and army personnel suspected of being sympathetic 
to the political opposition were threatened with demotion or 
suspension.
    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. In March 2007, after security forces 
violently prevented a public gathering, Mugabe was widely quoted as 
saying that ``the police have a right to bash'' protesters who resist 
them. Mechanisms to investigate security force abuses remained weak. 
Court orders compelling investigations into allegations of abuse were 
routinely ignored by authorities. For example, security forces refused 
to comply with court orders to investigate security agents involved in 
abducting and torturing more than a dozen activists in 2008 (see 
section 1.b.). Government efforts to reform the security forces were 
minimal, and training was rarely provided.
    Police continued to refuse to investigate cases of political 
violence. The November 2008 report, Our Hands Are Tied: Erosion of the 
Rule of Law in Zimbabwe, described occasions when police officers were 
ordered not to investigate or arrest ZANU-PF supporters who might have 
been implicated in political violence.
    Police seldom responded during incidents of vigilante violence.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arrests 
require court-issued warrants, and 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. Although 
the law requires a preliminary hearing before a magistrate within 48 
hours of an arrest (or 96 hours over a weekend), authorities routinely 
disregarded the law if a person did not have legal representation. 
Police typically made arrests, which may have been politically 
motivated, on Friday, which permitted legal detention until Monday. 
There were numerous reports of security forces arbitrarily arresting 
opposition and civil society activists, interrogating and beating them 
for information about their organizations' activities, and then 
releasing them the next day without charge.
    Although the Criminal Procedures and Evidence Act (CPEA) 
substantially reduces the power of magistrates to grant bail without 
the consent of the attorney general or his agents, a circular issued by 
the attorney general giving a general authority to grant bail lessened 
the negative effect of the law in practice. 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. Prosecutors routinely invoked section 121 of the CPEA, which 
automatically provides the government seven days to file an appeal 
against a ruling granting bail. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights 
(ZLHR) condemned the repeated invocation of section 121 and described 
it as the most abused provision used by the government to prolong the 
detention of political opponents. On June 17, ZLHR attorney Alec 
Muchadehama filed an application for referral to the Supreme Court to 
challenge the constitutionality of section 121 of the CPEA. On June 23, 
a magistrate referred Muchadehama's 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 opposition members and civil society activists. 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 opposition 
members and supporters, civil society activists, student activists, and 
journalists.
    There were reports that victims of theft during 2008 political 
violence were detained or charged with extortion or theft when 
attempting to recoup their property. Between February 11 and 13, at 
least 59 citizens were arrested in Mutoko on charges of robbery after 
attempting to recover property from ZANU-PF bases where perceived MDC 
supporters were beaten and intimidated during the 2008 election. The 
stolen property included livestock that was subsequently eaten by those 
who ran the bases. The theft victims had approached the ZANU-PF 
supporters who stole their goods and asked for the return of their 
property or appropriate compensation. Many of those who took property 
in 2008 admitted they had done so, and several signed proofs of 
resolution of any outstanding disputes after returning animals to the 
MDC supporters. On February 18, the Mutoko magistrate recused himself 
from the case after facing pressure from police who wanted him to deny 
bail. The recusal forced the case's transfer to a Marondera court, 
where the prosecutor suggested the accused be released while police 
further investigated the matter. That night, without any legal 
authority, police in Marondera detained the group in jail. On February 
19, police denied lawyers access to their clients and refused to 
explain why they were still in jail. Detective Inspector Chimimba told 
lawyers they were taking the accused persons back to Mutoko and that 
the lawyers should wait until the following day for further information 
about their clients. On February 20, Chimimba initially refused lawyers 
access to their clients. After an hour she relented and had allowed a 
brief meeting when, without explanation, the accused were rushed back 
to Marondera where their cases were heard by two magistrates. One 
magistrate postponed any decisions on bail to February 23. Another 
magistrate granted bail to some of the accused. Those who were granted 
bail were taken back into custody after the prosecutors invoked section 
121 of the CPEA. In the end all 59 accused persons remained in custody. 
During the following week, some of the 59 were released when the 
government failed to appeal within seven days. On March 9, a magistrate 
in Marondera removed the cases from remand, which effectively removed 
them from the court's list of pending cases, although the prosecution 
can summon the defendants back to court through a trail summons. By 
removing the case from remand, the magistrate freed the last 45 
detainees who remained in jail. During the hearing the prosecutor 
affirmed that investigating police had acted against their professional 
opinion to follow instructions from the director of public 
prosecutions, Florence Ziyambi, to ensure accused persons remained in 
custody. At year's end the cases were pending trial at the Mutoko 
Magistrates' Court.
    On February 27, 88 persons from Nyanga were arrested and charged 
with extortion after they attempted to retrieve property and livestock 
seized by ZANU-PF supporters in 2008. The villagers, perceived to be 
MDC supporters, were targeted in the period prior to the 2008 election 
and lost cattle, goats, chickens, ploughs, and food stocks harvested 
from their fields. There was no intervention from the government to 
ensure a return of the looted property and no compensation to the 
villagers. Prior to their arrest, the villagers approached the looters 
from Chifambe village and demanded that their property be returned. 
They were released on bail on February 28. The villagers alleged that 
the ZANU-PF supporters used their food to feed militias camped in the 
nearby bases of Chawagonahapana and Avilla Business Centre in Katerere. 
The magistrate removed the case from remand after the prosecutors 
failed to be prepared for trial in October.
    During the year police arrested numerous leaders of the MDC on 
trumped-up charges. On February 13, Roy Bennett, MDC-T treasurer, was 
taken by police from Prince Charles Airport in Harare to the eastern 
city of Mutare, where he was jailed. On February 13 and 14, police 
forcibly expelled Bennett's lawyers when they attempted to see Bennett. 
On February 15, police charged Bennett with insurgency, and on February 
16, they charged him with attempting to violate the Immigration Act and 
issued a warrant of further detention without informing Bennett's 
lawyers, despite their presence at the courthouse. On February 17, 
police further charged Bennett with allegedly possessing weaponry with 
the intention of using it in connection with acts of insurgency. 
Bennett denied all three charges. On February 24, High Court Judge 
Tedius Karwi granted Bennett bail, but the government invoked section 
121 of the CPEA to appeal. During a routine bail hearing on March 4, 
Magistrate Livingstone Chipadza approved Bennett's release on $5,000 
bail; however, the government argued that an appeal was pending in a 
superior court. On March 5, Supreme Court Judge Paddington Garwe ruled 
that the government could appeal the February 24 issuance of bail. On 
March 11, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyasiku dismissed the appeal. 
Bennett was released on March 12. After several delays, Bennett's trial 
began on November 9 in the High Court and continued 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. On November 2, 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. On November 3, Mahlangu was 
released on bail after spending a night in jail. His case was pending 
at year's end.
    On June 16, MDC-T Director General Toendepi Shonhe was arrested and 
charged with perjury for falsely stating in a high court affidavit that 
government security agents had abducted three MDC members. Shonhe made 
the statement shortly after three MDC activists were abducted from 
their homes in Banket in early June. After they were located, Shonhe 
withdrew his statement from the court. On June 18, a magistrate granted 
Shonhe bail; however, the government invoked section 121 of the CPEA. 
On June 26, a high court judge dismissed the government's appeal, 
resulting in Shonhe's release from Harare remand prison. On August 17, 
a magistrate acquitted Shonhe of all charges.
    During the year civil society 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. Section 42 of the constitution states that upon the 
sentencing of a legislator to death or a jail term of six months or 
more, ``such member shall cease forthwith to exercise his 
functions...and his seat shall become vacant at the expiration of 30 
days from the date of such sentence.'' Police arrested at least 17 MPs 
during the year; at least 15 were from the MDC-T party. At least four 
MPs were suspended after they were sentenced for jail terms of more 
than six months; however, all four appealed their suspensions in the 
High Court. The MPs were allowed to retain their seats during the 
appeal process, which was pending at year's end.
    For example, on January 15, police arrested Meki Makuyana, MP for 
Chipinge South, and charged him with kidnapping two ZANU-PF supporters. 
On January 29, Makuyana was granted bail; on July 9, a magistrate found 
him guilty and sentenced him to 18 months in prison with hard labor, 
with six months suspended. He was granted bail on July 30 and allowed 
to retain his seat pending appeal; the case continued at year's end.
    On April 10, police arrested Mathias Mlambo, MP for Chipinge East, 
and charged him with defeating the course of justice; he was granted 
bail on May 2. The charges arose after Mlambo attended a funeral on 
April 2 and allegedly prevented police from arresting someone at the 
funeral. Mlambo was sentenced on May 22 to 10 months' imprisonment; 
however, he was released the same day on bail pending appeal. On July 
16, Parliament suspended Mlambo from his seat; at year's end his appeal 
had not been heard.
    On July 27, a Mutare magistrate found MP for Mutare West Shua 
Mudiwa guilty of kidnapping a 12-year-old girl in 2007 and sentenced 
him to seven years in jail. Two years and six months of the sentence 
were suspended. Mudiwa's appeal to the High Court was pending at year's 
end. Because his sentence exceeded six months, Parliament suspended 
Mudiwa on July 16.
    There were developments in three cases reported in 2008. On 
February 6, Magistrate Olivia Mariga stated that prosecutors appeared 
unprepared to proceed against MDC-T Secretary General and MP Tendai 
Biti for treason; Mariga removed his case from remand and advised that 
police could summon him to trial when they were ready. The ruling 
effectively removed Biti's case from the court's schedule but did not 
eliminate the charges against him. Mariga also ruled that Biti had been 
improperly arrested at the Harare International Airport upon his return 
from South Africa in June 2008. His whereabouts were unknown for two 
weeks until police brought him to court and the government charged him 
with treason, which carries the death penalty. On February 13, Biti 
began serving as the finance minister of the inclusive government.
    On May 26, a magistrate acquitted MDC-T MP for Buhera West and 
Minister of Constitutional Affairs Eric Matinenga of allegedly inciting 
public violence. Matinenga, a lawyer, was arrested in May 2008 when he 
visited a police station to investigate the arrest a client.
    On June 4, 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 October 
2008. The court promised to issue a ruling before the women's scheduled 
trial date of July 7; however, at year's end the court had not done so.
    There were no developments in the arrest cases reported in 2007.
    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 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. Women received longer prison 
sentences than men (see section 1.c.). 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.
    The law provides for a unitary court system consisting of headmen's 
courts, chiefs' courts, magistrates' courts, the High Court, and the 
Supreme Court. Victim-friendly courts, which had jurisdiction over 
children and victims of sexual abuse, had specially trained magistrates 
and prosecutors and equipment that allow victims to testify without 
being seen. Civil and customary law cases may be heard at all levels of 
the judiciary, including the Supreme Court.
    Military courts deal with court martial and disciplinary 
proceedings only for military personnel. Police courts, which can 
sentence a police officer to confinement in a camp or demotion, handle 
disciplinary and misconduct cases. Defendants in these courts have the 
right to appeal to the Supreme Court. Military and police courts 
provide the same rights as civil criminal courts.
    Judges are appointed to serve until the age of 65 and may extend 
their terms until the age of 70 if they remain in good physical and 
mental health as certified by a physician and receive presidential 
approval in consultation with the Judicial Services Commission. The 
constitution provides that they may be removed from the bench only for 
gross misconduct and that they cannot be discharged or transferred for 
political reasons. In November 2008 HRW reported on several methods the 
government used to undermine the independence of the judiciary, 
including giving farms and homes to judges. Also in 2008 the government 
newspaper The Herald reported that the Reserve Bank had given judges 
luxury cars, plasma televisions, and electricity generators.
    Magistrates, who are part of the civil service rather than the 
judiciary, heard the vast majority of cases. 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 HRW report, most junior magistrates and magistrates in 
rural areas did not benefit from government patronage. Instead, 
government 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. During the 
year numerous lawyers and court officers were arrested on criminal 
charges after taking action that some in government opposed.
    For example, on March 5, Manicaland Provincial Magistrate 
Livingstone Chipadza was arrested on charges of criminal abuse of 
office the day after signing the warrant of release for MDC-T treasurer 
Roy Bennett, who a had been granted bail by the High Court. Chipadza 
spent two nights in jail before being released on bail. His trial began 
in July; on August 4, he was acquitted. The court ruled that the 
government had not provided any evidence to show that Chipadza had 
committed a crime.
    On May 6, police arrested Constance Gambara, the clerk for High 
Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, and held her and her nine-month-
old child at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison until she was granted 
bail on May 14. Gambara was charged with criminal abuse of public 
office after she typed the warrant of release for 2008 abductees Chris 
Dhlamini, Ghandi Mudzingwa, and Andrison Manyere on April 17 (see 
section 1.b.). On May 14, police also arrested lawyer Alec Muchadehama 
and charged him with obstruction of justice for assisting with the 
release of Dhlamini, Mudzingwa, and Manyere. Muchadehama was held in 
jail overnight and released on bail the following day.
    On October 22, during Muchadehama and Gambara's trial, Magistrate 
Chioniso Mutongi found prosecutor Andrew Kumire in contempt of court 
and sentenced him to five days in prison after Kumire repeatedly 
disobeyed the magistrate's orders. The prosecutor fled to the Attorney 
General's Office, where prison guards arrested him and brought him back 
to court. However, Kumire appealed to a different magistrate for bail, 
who granted it. Kumire then appealed the conviction to the High Court; 
on October 26, Judge Tedius Karwi dismissed the appeal. The case was 
then transferred to another magistrate and was pending at year's end. 
On November 3, Mutongi resigned her position, citing interference and 
threats to her life in connection with the Kumire case. On November 21, 
Kumire was promoted to Area Public Prosecutor for Harare. On December 
11, Magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni acquitted Muchadehama and Gambara of 
all charges.
    There were no updates in any of the 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 certain security cases. 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 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 opposition members or civil society activists. 
Defendants have the right to present witnesses, present evidence in 
their own behalf, and question witnesses against them. However, these 
rights were not always observed in practice. While defendants and their 
attorneys sometimes had access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases, this was often not allowed in politically sensitive cases. 
The right to appeal exists in all cases, and 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 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.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were dozens of reports of 
political detainees throughout the year, including opposition 
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 severely beat and tortured 
numerous opposition, civil society, and student leaders while in 
detention.
    At year's end there were no known political prisoners in police 
custody.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There was an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters; 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.

    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, the government 
pressured local chiefs and ZANU-PF loyalists to monitor and report on 
suspected opposition supporters, and the government forcibly displaced 
persons from their homes. Elements of the government coerced ZANU-PF 
supporters and punished opposition supporters by manipulating the 
distribution of food aid, agricultural inputs, and access to other 
government assistance programs.
    In 2007 the president signed into law the Interception of 
Communications Act (ICA) to provide 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 
opposition and civil society activists. In 2008 the Chief Executive 
Officer of the state-run Zimpapers secretly monitored subordinates' 
private e-mails for political content.
    In 2005 the government embarked on Operation Murambatsvina (loosely 
translated from Shona as ``Restore Order'' or ``Get Rid of the Filth'') 
without prior notice, during which more than 700,000 persons lost their 
homes, their means of livelihood, or both through a program of forced 
evictions. The government's stated reason for the operation was to curb 
illegal economic activities and crime in slums and illegal settlements 
in several cities and towns, but it made no provision for the victims 
of its policy. Those who returned to rural areas often faced 
unemployment, food shortages, and other economic and social stresses. 
According to the Amnesty International report Zimbabwe: Between a Rock 
and a Hard Place-Women Human Rights Defenders at Risk, the operation 
resulted in the destruction of more than 32,500 small businesses across 
the country and the loss of livelihood for more than 97,550 persons, 
most of whom were women. An estimated 300,000 children lost access to 
education as a result of displacement. The operation disrupted access 
to medical care, particularly for HIV/AIDS patients. The government 
reportedly prevented or interfered with UN and other humanitarian 
organizations' efforts to provide shelter and food assistance. The 
government's actions were widely condemned by local civil society 
organizations and the international community.
    The 2008 HRW report Neighbors in Need: Zimbabweans Seeking Refuge 
in South Africa detailed the struggles of the estimated 1.5 million 
Zimbabweans living illegally in South Africa. The report noted that a 
significant but unknown portion of them were displaced by Operation 
Murambatsvina.
    According to local human rights and humanitarian NGOs, sporadic 
evictions, which were often violent, continued during the year, 
especially of tenants and informal vendors suspected of supporting the 
opposition. On November 9, Godfrey Tonde, an informal vendor, was 
killed in Mbare, a high-density area of Harare. According to press 
reports, police officer Anos Zharare targeted and chased Tonde while 
dispersing informal vendors. Tonde reportedly died due to injuries 
sustained from a fall after Zharare tripped him. Zharare was arrested 
and charged with murder; the case was pending at year's end. No action 
was taken against security forces involved in 2008 forced evictions.
    Land seizures, often violent, 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. In 2006 the Gazetted Land 
(Consequential Provisions) Act passed into law, requiring 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 ZANU-PF supporters.
    In 2007 Didymus Mutasa, then minister for lands, land reform, and 
resettlement, announced that the government was going to take action to 
seize the remaining estimated 400 white-owned farms for resettlement. 
The announcement was followed by a sharp increase in invasions, 
evictions, and arrests of farm owners and workers. Several farmers 
subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court to declare the eviction 
notices unconstitutional.
    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 ensure 
that SADC member states, including Zimbabwe, adhere to the SADC treaty 
and protocols, protect the rights of citizens, and ensure 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 in Zimbabwe failed to issue a judgment 
on the case. The tribunal issued an interim protective order, which 
prohibited the government from evicting or allowing the eviction of or 
interference with the farm pending a decision by the tribunal; 
government representatives told the three-member tribunal it would 
abide by the decision. However, in January 2008 the Zimbabwe Supreme 
Court issued a judgment dismissing the Campbell case. Soon after the 
ruling, Mutasa declared that the country would be bound only by its 
laws and 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 recent land seizures and turning the issue over to the 
SADC summit for further action. However, the government asserted that 
it would move forward with prosecutions 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 Zimbabwe's courts, the government violated the rule of law; 
the farmers were discriminated against on the basis of race; and the 
government should compensate three dispossessed landowners by June 30, 
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 state-confiscated farms during the year.
    In an August 7 letter, Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa 
informed the SADC tribunal that the country was pulling out of the 
tribunal. Chinamasa claimed that because the SADC Protocol on the 
Tribunal was not ratified 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 it into SADC as an integral organ 
and exclude the tribunal from the usual SADC requirement for 
ratification by two-thirds.
    Disruptions at farms and seizures of property increased during the 
year and were often violent. ZANU-PF supporters invaded numerous farms 
involved in the SADC case and stole crops, farming materials, and 
personal property of the farmers and farm workers. Tens of thousands of 
black farm workers on white-owned farms were beaten, intimidated, or 
displaced (see section 2.d.).
    For example, although Richard Etheredge, the owner of Stockdale 
farm near Chegutu, was found innocent of charges of refusing to vacate 
his farm in February, on March 5, ZANU-PF youths and ``war veterans'' 
forced the Etheredges and many of their 400 employees and their 
families to vacate their farm. The perpetrators acted at the behest of 
Senate President and ZANU-PF MP Edna Madzongwe, whose daughter moved 
onto the farm after the Etheredges were displaced. The Etheredges were 
party to the Campbell case in the SADC tribunal, and an offer letter 
that the government issued to Madzongwe in 2007 was found invalid by a 
court. On April 12, Madzongwe's guards beat to death a local man for 
allegedly stealing oranges from the farm. According to a medical 
report, the man's spine was broken in three places. Police detained 
three of Madzongwe's guards and two former employees of the Etheredges' 
for questioning; they were later released without charge. On April 17, 
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara toured several farms under 
dispute, including Stockdale, and told the press, ``We will not 
tolerate any government official who is promoting lawlessness in our 
country.'' On April 21, police guarding the farm shot two of the 
Etheredge's farmworkers when they attempted to return to the farm with 
Peter and James Etheredge. The men were shot while lying in the bed of 
the Etheredges' truck as they left the farm, and one worker sustained a 
serious bullet wound to the leg. Police then arrested Peter Etheredge 
and threatened to charge him with disorderly conduct and inciting 
violence; he was released four days later without charge.
    Campbell's Chegutu farm, Mount Carmel, continued to experience 
similar problems throughout the year as a result of Campbell's role, 
along with that of his son-in-law Ben Freeth, in the SADC tribunal 
case. On March 9, a local representative of the Ministry of Lands and 
Rural Resettlement arrived at the farm with police, CIO officers, and 
Peter Chamada, who claimed to be the son of ZANU-PF Spokesman Nathan 
Shamuyarira. Chamada showed Freeth an offer letter that listed 
Shamuyarira as the owner of Mount Carmel and refused to acknowledge 
court orders protecting the Freeth's claim. ``War veteran'' Lovemore 
Madangonga (known as ``Landmine'') led a group of youths and ``war 
veterans'' on numerous subsequent invasions of the property for varying 
periods. During one occupation on April 10, Freeth visited the farm 
where Madangonga was selling the mango crop from Freeth's farm for his 
own personal benefit. At least 50 tons of export-quality mangoes were 
rotting in the farm's shed. On August 30, Freeth's home burned in a 
fire that may have been arson. On September 2, Campbell's home was 
destroyed in another apparent arson attack, during which war veterans 
stole items from Freeth's car as he attempted to put out the fire. By 
year's end police had not investigated the fires. On September 9, 
police detonated several explosions on the property; they later claimed 
they were detonating weapons caches found on the farm. After the 
release of the documentary Mugabe and the White African about the 
continuing dispute at the farm, police on September 14 detained Freeth 
and the al Jazeera news crew accompanying him after claiming the group 
had strayed into a sealed-off crime scene at the farm; all were later 
released.
    No action was taken against perpetrators of numerous 2008 and 2007 
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 
2008 and 2007 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.
    The Ministry of Media, Information, and Publicity (MMIP), headed by 
Webster Shamu, continued to restrict freedom of speech, particularly of 
those making or publicizing comments critical of President Mugabe. The 
ICA continued to be used to monitor speech and to punish those who 
criticized the government. Under authority of the Official Secrets Act, 
the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), or the Criminal Law Act, the 
government arrested individuals for criticizing President Mugabe in 
public.
    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, and 
torture. On October 10, police arrested student leaders Clever Bere, 
Blessing Vava, Obert Masaraure, Kurayi Hoyi, and Tafadzwa Kutya, after 
one of the students remarked that President Mugabe was stalling 
progress on establishing an inclusive government. The students were 
taken to Harare Central Police station, where they were detained for 
two days and beaten with whips, fists, and batons. The group was 
charged with misconduct and undermining the office of the president; 
the case was pending at year's end.
    The government continued to restrict freedom of the press. The MMIP 
controlled the state-run media, including the two daily newspapers, the 
Chronicle and the Herald, and a new daily, Harare Metro. 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 three main independent domestic weekly newspapers, The 
Zimbabwean, the Zimbabwe Independent, and the Standard, and a semi-
independent weekly newspaper, the Financial Gazette, all of which 
continued to operate despite threats and pressure from the government. 
The independent newspapers continued to criticize the government and 
ZANU-PF; however, they also continued to exercise some self-censorship 
due to government intimidation, a reluctance to criticize the MDC-T for 
fear of further strengthening ZANU-PF, 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, supervised by the MMIP. The popularity of 
independent short-wave 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 Voice of America's 
(VOA) Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa. The government controlled the only 
domestically based television broadcasting station, the Zimbabwean 
Broadcasting Corporation. International satellite television broadcasts 
were available through private firms but too expensive for most 
citizens.
    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 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. Senior ZANU-PF officials 
repeatedly criticized both local and foreign independent media for what 
they deemed biased reporting meant to discredit President Mugabe and 
misrepresent the country's political and economic conditions. For 
example, in September army commander Lieutenant-General Philip Sibanda 
accused private radio stations and NGOs of waging ``asymmetric'' 
warfare against the government by spreading hate messages that he 
claimed would lead to ``rioting, despondency, and eventually cause 
war.'' Sibanda stated that Western countries were using 
``disinformation'' through ``pirate radio stations,'' citing VOA's 
Studio 7.
    On October 20, security officials in Harare from the President's 
Office detained an al Jazeera news crew as they were filming outside 
the Munhumutapa Building, where the prime minister's office and cabinet 
room are located. Reporter Haru Mutasa and camera operator Austin 
Gundani were interrogated for approximately three hours. They were 
later transferred to Harare Central Police Station, where they were 
released without charge. The crew was outside the building to cover 
events in the wake of a highly-publicized MDC-T decision not to attend 
cabinet meetings.
    Security forces arbitrarily harassed and arrested local and foreign 
journalists who contributed to published stories critical of government 
policies or security force operations. On March 17, 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 April 7, Bulawayo magistrate John Masimba 
charged the two with defamation under the Criminal Law Codification and 
Reform Act; the case was pending at year's end.
    On May 11, police arrested Zimbabwe Independent editors Constantine 
Chimakure and Vincent Kahiya for publishing a May 8 story that revealed 
the role and names of police and intelligence agents in the abduction 
of human rights activists (see section 1.b.). The two were charged with 
publishing or communicating a statement with the intention of 
undermining public confidence in law enforcement agents under the 
criminal code. The information in the article had already been revealed 
in public court indictments filed on May 4 in the case of activists 
abducted in 2008. Chimakure and Kahiya were granted bail on May 12; on 
July 30, a Harare magistrate agreed to refer the matter to the Supreme 
Court, and the case was pending at year's end.
    On October 8, 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 detained 
overnight in Chiadzwa before being transferred to Mutare Central 
Prison, where she was detained for four days. Mpalume was charged with 
violating the Protected Areas Act and released on bail; the case was 
pending at year's end.
    In the 2008 case of the government seizure of a satellite truck and 
camera belonging to the South African company GlobeCast Satellite, a 
magistrate ruled in favor of the company, and the police subsequently 
returned their equipment in July.
    On July 14, a magistrate dismissed the April 2008 public violence 
charges against freelance journalists Frank Chikowore and Luke 
Tamborinyoka for lack of evidence.
    There were no developments in the May 2008 bombing case of a truck 
belonging to The Zimbabwean. Government and ZANU-PF officials continued 
to display open hostility towards the newspaper, labeling it part of 
what they called the ``regime change'' agenda.
    The May 2008 case involving Davison Maruziva, editor of The 
Standard, for publishing an opinion article critical of President 
Mugabe, was pending in the Supreme Court at year's end.
    There were no developments in the 2007 cases of harassment, abuse, 
and detention of journalists.
    Journalists and publishers continued to practice self-censorship as 
a result of government action and threats. There were credible reports 
that the permanent secretary of the MMIP, George Charamba, routinely 
reviewed state-owned media news and excised reports on the activities 
of groups critical of the government. For example, on October 23, the 
independent media reported that the ministry ordered government-
controlled print and electronic media to stop reporting on MDC 
ministers until the party reversed its decision to suspend contact with 
ZANU-PF. In November local NGOs reported that three managers at 
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings had been suspended for 10 days for 
allegedly leaking information on the order.
    The government continued to use the Access to Information and 
Privacy Protection Act (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 January 2008 the 
government amended AIPPA in order to abolish the Media and Information 
Commission (MIC). During its existence the MIC, under the MMIP, denied 
many local and foreign journalists accreditation. However, in 2008 MMIP 
officials continued to demand MIC accreditation from journalists. On 
May 28, High Court Judge Bharat Patel overruled the MMIP and found for 
applicants Stanley Gama, Valentine Maponga, Jealous Mawarire, and 
Stanley Kwenda, all freelance journalists, stating that MIC was 
abolished in January 2008. Patel ordered the MMIP minister and 
permanent secretary to retract statements that journalists had to 
register with MIC to cover an upcoming Common Market for Eastern and 
Southern Africa (COMESA) summit and also ordered them to place notices 
to that effect in the media. Patel stated that his ruling would have 
effect notwithstanding any government appeal. However, security 
officials at the June 7 COMESA summit refused the journalists entry, 
claiming they could grant entry only to those on the list provided by 
the ministry.
    In May the MMIP convened a media conference and pledged to repeal 
AIPPA. At least four independent newspapers, including the Daily News, 
had been shut down since its enactment in 2002. No further action to 
repeal the law had been taken by year's end.
    Amendment 19 of the constitution provides for the establishment of 
the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), a statutory media regulatory body, 
to succeed the MIC and oversee media regulation, registration, and 
accreditation. On August 18, the Parliamentary Standing Rules and 
Orders Committee announced that it had selected 12 candidates for the 
ZMC to forward to the president. According to amendment 19, the 
president should then appoint nine persons from the list of 12 to serve 
on the ZMC, and three of the remaining six nominees to serve on the 
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), the regulatory body that 
licenses radio and television stations. At year's end neither committee 
was formally constituted.
    In its annual meeting in July in Libya, the African Commission on 
Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) ruled that the Zimbabwean government 
should repeal sections 79 and 80 of AIPPA because they contravene 
article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. Section 
79 addresses compulsory accreditation requirements for journalists and 
optional accreditation for part-time or freelance journalists. It 
prohibits the permanent accreditation of noncitizens, although they may 
be granted temporary accreditation for a period not exceeding 60 days. 
Section 80 addresses abuse of journalistic privileges in relation to 
publication of falsehoods and injurious statements. The ACHPR also 
ruled that statutory media regulation was contrary to the principle of 
media self-regulation as enunciated under the African Charter to which 
Zimbabwe is a party. The government took no action by year's end to 
comply.
    In January the government published application and registration 
fees for mass media services that were significantly higher than the 
regional norm and described by civic and media groups as exorbitant. 
For example, foreign media houses wishing to establish a representative 
office were required to pay an application fee of $10,000, an 
additional $20,000 for permission to operate, and $2,000 in 
administration fees. Local journalists working for foreign media 
organisations were required to pay $1,000 and $3,000 as individual 
application and accreditation fees, respectively. Temporary 
accreditation for a foreign journalist was $1,500. This contrasts 
sharply with the accreditation and administration fees for journalists 
working in the rest of SADC, which were $150 and $200 respectively.
    ZANU-PF elements of the government continued to politicize 
licensure of media outlets. In March a private company, Zimind 
Publishers, applied for a license to start the daily Newsday; at year's 
end Zimind was still waiting for a license to print. On October 7, 
Charamba threatened Newsday editor Barnabas Thondlana with arrest if 
the newspaper began publishing without a license.
    On August 7, the BAZ issued regulations for television and radio 
but did not invite applications for new broadcasting licenses as 
required by the law. The new regulations announced high fees for 
broadcasters.
    On September 7, the government-controlled media group, the Zimbabwe 
Newspapers Private Limited, launched the daily newspaper Harare Metro. 
Civic organizations, including the NGO Media Institute of Southern 
Africa, argued that the government had used its ``political prerogative 
to expand state-funded newspapers in the country to the distinct 
disadvantage of other media players awaiting licensing.''
    The Broadcasting Services Act, which Parliament's legal committee 
found to be unconstitutional when it was passed in 2001, was amended in 
January 2008 to give the BAZ 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 MMIP minister. During the year Deputy Minister of the 
MMIP Jameson Timba stated that the frequency spectrum allocated to BAZ 
by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority allowed for 
over 30 commercial radio and an additional four television stations. 
Independent journalists welcomed Timba's statements as the government 
had historically limited alternative television and radio options.
    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 recommends 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 have 
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. For example, since the transfer, 
making a false statement prejudicial to the state now carries a maximum 
prison sentence of 20 years. Failure to give police the requisite 
advance written notice of a meeting or demonstration remains an offense 
under POSA.
    In July Minister of Finance Tendai Biti removed the 40 percent 
import tax on all foreign newspapers imposed by ZANU-PF in June 2008. 
Several newspapers published in South Africa subsequently began 
circulating in Zimbabwe. The removal of the tax encouraged a number of 
Zimbabweans to publish newspapers from outside the country. These 
included the Zim Star and the News Leader.
    In the September 2008 GPA that led to the formation of the 
inclusive government, all parties agreed to ensure the immediate 
processing of all applications for reregistration of media houses and 
new registrations. However, at year's end a system to register new 
independent media organizations had not yet been established.

    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 2008, 
approximately 11.4 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. The 2006 National Council for Higher Education Act mandated 
the establishment of a nine-member council made up of members of the 
higher education community from both public and private institutions. 
The council advises the minister of higher and tertiary education on 
matters pertaining to education, including funding for higher education 
and accreditation of higher education institutions. The minister, 
however, selects and appoints the council members, controls state 
universities, and nominates vice chancellors; the minister also 
appoints the deans of faculty, and most members of the university 
council. The appointed deans and heads of departments require faculty 
to submit final examinations well in advance of the end of term and 
have the right to censure exam content if they feel it is too 
controversial or threatens ``sovereignty and national interest.'' 
During the year some lecturers were asked to revise final exams, and 
department chairs rewrote exam questions before they were given to 
students.
    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 criticize government policies and actions. CIO officers 
regularly attended all lectures where noted MDC activists were 
lecturers or students. In response both faculty and students often 
practiced self-censorship in the classroom and academic work.
    According to the Students Solidarity Trust, a local NGO that 
provides assistance to student activists, 128 students were arrested or 
detained and 43 students were expelled or suspended for engaging in 
student activism during the year.
    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 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. During the year the two teachers' unions 
continued to pressure the government to further improve wages. In May 
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.
    In December police or ZANU-PF local officials in Mashonaland East 
and Central cancelled eight performances of the play ``Heal the 
Wounds,'' which dramatized healing and reconciliation processes after 
the violent 2008 election and included a facilitated discussion on 
healing with audiences. In most cases the performances were blocked 
despite prior permission from police and the successful showing of the 
play in other provinces.

    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 seven 
days in advance. Failure to do so results in criminal prosecution as 
well as civil liability. In January 2008 POSA was amended as part of 
constitutional amendment 18 to require police to go to a magistrate's 
court and to state in an affidavit why a public gathering should not 
take place. Although many groups that conducted 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 June 18, 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. 
After four police officers arrested Clara Manjengwa, they forced her 
into a police vehicle and proceeded to jump on her and beat her with 
batons. One of the demonstrators, who was carrying her baby, and the 
three journalists were released without charge on the same day. Four 
women, including Manjengwa, were kept in custody at the police station 
and denied medical treatment for injuries sustained during their 
arrest. Four of the arrested demonstrators suffered severe deep tissue 
injuries, one had a broken finger, and two were unable to walk without 
assistance. The four were charged with disturbing the peace and 
released on bail on June 18. One police officer accused WOZA lawyers 
from ZLHR of ``stage-managing'' the demonstration to embarrass 
authorities during the visit of Amnesty International Secretary General 
Irene Khan. On July 3, the prosecutor withdrew the charges, as the 
government could find no witnesses. During the hearing ZLHR defense 
attorney Beatrice Mtetwa insisted that the magistrate address the issue 
of the assaults carried out by police. The officer in charge of the Law 
and Order Unit at Harare Central Police Station claimed that he had not 
received a report of the assaults from the four WOZA members while they 
were under arrest. Mtetwa stated that she had personally shown him the 
women's injuries and had requested medical treatment for them on June 
18. Magistrate Majonga postponed the case to allow the police time to 
prepare a report. No further action was taken by year's end.
    On September 22, approximately 1,300 WOZA members in Bulawayo 
marched to commemorate the UN's International Day of Peace. Riot police 
disrupted the march and beat a number of protesters. According to 
witnesses, police searched for WOZA leaders Jenni Williams and 
Magodonga Mahlangu to beat them. One victim, Frances Vale, was unable 
to walk after being beaten by four police officers; he also suffered a 
fractured arm. In all, 23 persons sought medical treatment for injuries 
inflicted by police.
    Police erected roadblocks in urban and rural areas to prevent 
public gatherings, repeatedly used excessive force in dispersing 
demonstrations by the opposition and civil society, and arrested 
numerous demonstrators during the year.
    No further action was taken in the 2008 or 2007 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 at 
increasing tuition, the government continued its harassment of 
university student unions and student demonstrators. On February 3, 
police used excessive force to disperse a group of approximately 200 
students who gathered to protest an announcement that the University of 
Zimbabwe was planning to charge $400 in student fees. Approximately 80 
riot police beat and used tear gas against the students as they fled, 
resulting in 10 injuries. Police arrested 60 persons. Vitalis Mudzonga, 
Tawanda Katsuro, and Justice Chikanya were charged with public violence 
and released on bail on February 9; the rest were released without 
charge on February 3 and 4. On June 2, after a series of court 
hearings, a Harare magistrate removed the case from remand, effectively 
removing it from the list of pending cases, and advised the government 
to summon the three to court if it wished to pursue the case.
    On April 16, 10 students from the National University of Science 
and Technology were beaten by school guards and riot police and then 
arrested following a demonstration on campus against the suspension of 
students who failed to pay tuition and examination fees. Two of the 
students sustained serious injuries after being assaulted by a 
university security guard--one student sustained a fracture, and 
another suffered blurred vision after being hit on the nose with a 
truncheon. The students were held at Bulawayo Central Police Station 
and charged with malicious injury to property before being released on 
April 20 after meeting strict bail conditions. The case was pending at 
year's end.
    On August 5, 14 representatives of the Zimbabwe National Students' 
Union were arrested at the University of Zimbabwe while speaking to 
students about school fees. Ten were immediately released; Clever Bere, 
Kudakwashe Chakabva, Archieford Mudzengi, and Brian Rugondo, were held 
overnight at a police station. Police refused to advise the students or 
their lawyers of the charges for more than 24 hours. The detentions 
came days after the coministers of home affairs assured the public that 
peaceful gatherings would not be disturbed and stated that arbitrary 
arrests would no longer be tolerated. On August 7, the students were 
charged under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act with 
participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, 
breach of peace or bigotry and granted bail by a Harare magistrate. 
During a hearing on September 1, a magistrate conceded that the section 
of the law the students were accused of contravening had been found 
unconstitutional and repealed several years before. The case was 
pending at year's end.
    There were no developments in student cases reported in 2007 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 the opposition. Suspected security force members 
visited the offices and inquired into the activities of numerous NGOs 
and other organizations that it believed opposed government policies.
    For example, on March 18, in Shamva, Mashonaland Central Province, 
police disrupted a civic education meeting led by the NGO Crisis in 
Zimbabwe Coalition. The meeting was held to solicit public views on the 
new inclusive government. Police, who earlier provided clearance for 
the meeting, ordered organizers to stop the meeting, saying it had 
started late. Police accused the organizers of being sympathetic to the 
MDC and threatened them with arrest.
    On October 25, police arrested National Association of NGOs 
director Cephas Zinhumwe and chairperson Dadirai Chikwengo after a two-
day NGO meeting that concluded with a statement expressing concern 
about the slow progress in implementing the GPA. Police charged the two 
with contravening POSA for holding a meeting without police clearance. 
In a hearing on November 25 in Victoria Falls, Magistrate Richard 
Ramboea dismissed the charges, stating that the association's meeting 
was exempt from POSA.
    The formation of political parties and unions was not restricted; 
however, security forces and ZANU-PF supporters interfered with 
activities of both during the year. For example, on March 25, 10 ZANU-
PF supporters disrupted an MDC meeting of an estimated 50 persons in 
Mufakose. The ZANU-PF supporters attacked with a metal bar the man 
leading the meeting. Several MDC supporters were injured in the attack. 
The perpetrators threatened to kill the local MP, who was not at the 
meeting. The incident was reported to police; however, no action was 
taken by year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of religion, and the government generally respected this right 
in practice. The government and the religious communities historically 
have had good relations; however, the government continued to criticize 
and harass religious leaders who were critical of government policies 
and who spoke out against the government's human rights abuses. Church 
leaders and members who criticized the government faced arrest, 
detention, and, in the case of foreigners, possible deportation. 
Although not specifically aimed at religious activities, POSA and other 
laws continued to be used to interfere with religious and civil society 
groups organizing public prayer rallies.
    The government arrested, harassed, and prevented church attendance 
of Anglican clergy and parishioners from the Church of the Province of 
Central Africa (CPCA), the regional body of the Anglican Communion. 
Police continued to disrupt Anglican church services and strike 
worshippers, primarily women, with batons. They arrested parishioners, 
interrogated priests and lay leaders, and locked the doors of churches 
to keep worshippers away.
    On October 18, police detained and questioned Brandon Conway, a 
Roman Catholic priest, after he read the Zimbabwe Roman Catholic 
Bishops' annual pastoral letter at his parish. The letter stated that 
the country was traumatized as a result of widespread violence in the 
period prior to the 2008 election and that politicians involved in 
committing acts of violence should not be allowed to hold any public 
office, as part of the national healing process provided for in the 
GPA. Conway was released the same day.
    The government continued to favor Nolbert Kunonga, the ZANU-PF-
affiliated, former Anglican bishop of Harare, who formed the Church of 
the Province of Zimbabwe in 2007. In late November and December, police 
and priests aligned with Kunonga renewed disruptions of CPCA church 
services and functions after several months of peaceful sharing of 
church facilities by Kunonga and the CPCA. On November 22, 10 police 
officers and six priests in Mangwende, Mashonaland East aligned with 
Kunonga interrupted services at St. Clare's Church and forced Reverend 
Chad Gandiya, bishop of the diocese of Harare of the CPCA, and church 
parishioners to leave.
    On December 20, police blocked parishioners' access to every 
Anglican church in Harare during Sunday morning services and made 
several arrests. For example, an employee of the CPCA at the Harare 
Anglican Cathedral, Misheck Dangirwa, was abducted and beaten by men 
aligned with Kunonga before being arrested. He was released on December 
23. The same day, Sam Chikumbirike, a warden for a church in the Harare 
suburb of Hatcliff, was beaten and arrested for permitting a meeting of 
the church's women's group on December 19; he was released on December 
21. At year's end it was unclear what charges, if any, Dangirwa and 
Chikumbirike faced.
    On December 24 and 25, police again blocked access to Anglican 
churches in Harare, preventing parishioners' access to Christmas 
services. On December 27, both the archbishops of Canterbury and York 
condemned police intimidation of Anglicans in a statement.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal violence, harassment, or discrimination against members of 
religious groups, including interreligious and intrareligious 
incidents, other than incidents that were politically motivated.
    The Jewish community numbered approximately 270. There were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/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; 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 and asylum seekers, 
but it interfered with some humanitarian efforts directed at internally 
displaced persons (IDPs).
    During the year armed police continued routinely to erect 
roadblocks in and around cities and rural districts, especially before 
planned demonstrations. Security forces claimed that they were looking 
for criminals, smuggled goods, and food; however, in many cases police 
arbitrarily seized goods for their own consumption.
    During the year travel bans on a variety of persons remained in 
effect. Foreign correspondents were denied visas during the year. On 
October 29, the government deported Manfred Nowak, the special 
rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, 
after security officers refused to grant him entry on October 28. Nowak 
was in South Africa in transit to Zimbabwe on October 27 when he 
learned that the government had rescinded its invitation for a fact-
finding mission. Prime Minister Tsvangirai then invited Nowak for a 
meeting on October 29. However, when Nowak arrived in Harare, security 
officials claimed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not granted 
clearance for the meeting and refused him entry.
    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 guaranteed 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 one has a parent or parents that are born out of 
the country, they are citizens of the other country by descent. In 
addition, some countries, including in southern Africa, do not have a 
means to renounce citizenship. Independent groups estimate that as many 
as two million citizens may have been disenfranchised by the law, 
including those perceived to have opposition 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.--According to independent 
assessments, hundreds of thousands of 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. Since 2007 the International Organization on 
Migration (IOM) helped more than 200,000 displaced persons with 
temporary shelter and food. A total of 8 percent of citizens surveyed 
in 2007 stated they had moved in the last five years because they were 
``asked to move.'' 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). During the year the 
government acknowledged 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.''
    The government's campaign of forced evictions and the demolition of 
homes and businesses continued during the year under the land reform 
policy, which affected more than 5,000 farm workers and their families. 
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 people 
mightay have been affected by the land reform program during the year. 
Most were displaced from farms taken over 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, during the year evictions increased and hundreds of 
workers' homes were burned by new proprietors
    During the year some local government officials facilitated donor 
and NGO provision of humanitarian assistance to IDPs. However, in 
certain cases, particularly those involving disputed farms, the 
government refused to grant NGOs access to assist displaced persons.
    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. The government did not 
provide assistance to IDPs, prohibited humanitarian agencies from 
assisting IDPs or conducting surveys to assess the scope of the 
problem, and refused to acknowledge that its policies had caused 
internal displacement. In August 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. During the year many IDPs continued to return to 
their rural home areas and rebuilt homes damaged or destroyed in 2008. 
At year's end some families continued to live in tents that were 
provided as temporary shelter in 2008 by independent organizations. 
Others had integrated into new communities within the country or in the 
diaspora.
    In 2005 an estimated 700,000 persons lost their homes or businesses 
during Operation Murambatsvina, and approximately 2.4 million persons 
were directly affected. The government program ``Operation Live Well,'' 
purportedly launched to build housing for those displaced, primarily 
benefited government officials and the police rather than victims of 
Operation Murambatsvina. The Swiss-based Internal Displacement 
Monitoring Centre's 2008 report The Many Faces of Displacement: IDPs in 
Zimbabwe reported that victims of Operation Murambatsvina continued to 
suffer and lacked permanent shelter. Some of those who returned to 
rural areas were regarded with suspicion by rural chiefs and were 
unable to remain. In urban areas the continued lack of housing 
contributed to high rent and overcrowding.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and 
the 1969 African Union Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the 
Refugee Problem in Africa. Its 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.
    By law refugees must live at the Tongogara refugee camp, where they 
had access to basic services and accommodation. However, the 
government's encampment policy posed limitations on refugees' freedom 
of movement and ability to earn a livelihood. In some cases the 
government permitted 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. 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 to have access 
to legal representation.
    The UNHCR had a resettlement program that processed approximately 
300 individuals for third-country resettlement 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; however, this right was restricted in practice 
because the political process continued to be tilted heavily in favor 
of ZANU-PF, which has dominated since independence in 1980.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 SADC designated 
then South African president Thabo Mbeki to serve as mediator between 
Robert Mugabe's government and the MDC. The mediation aimed to produce 
a mutually agreed election date and procedures to rewrite the 
constitution. Mbeki described his main objective as facilitating 
elections ``whose outcome would not be contested.'' While the mediation 
was ongoing, Mugabe announced in January 2008 that elections would be 
held in March 2008, despite Morgan Tsvangirai's protests that mediation 
was still under way and there was not enough time to campaign. On March 
29, 2008, the country held harmonized elections for the presidency, 
House of Assembly, Senate, and local government.
    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 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 carry out its 
responsibilities. 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. 
During the year 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 fraudulently 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 March 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. In August 2008 
Lovemore Moyo of the MDC-T was elected Speaker of the House by secret 
ballot, marking the first time a member not affiliated with ZANU-PF 
ever held the seat.
    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, 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 up to the run-off election were marred by 
widespread violence and intimidation perpetuated 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 Mugabe had won with more 
than 85 percent of the vote; he was inaugurated the same day.
    Due to a government policy shift from the March election, 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 a means to curtail the ability of civil society to 
monitor the election, especially polling.
    While the country did not allow nationals of most Western countries 
to observe the elections, it allowed election observer missions from 
three African groups: the Pan African Parliament, SADC, and the African 
Union. All of the groups subsequently issued statements critical of the 
election. Leaders of a number of neighboring countries, including 
Botswana and Zambia, condemned the election conduct.
    Following domestic and international protests of Mugabe's 
inauguration, ZANU-PF and MDC resumed negotiations, with 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, 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. On February 5, Parliament passed constitutional amendment 
19, which added to 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 February 11 inauguration of MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime 
minister, alongside Deputy Prime Ministers Arthur Mutambara and 
Thokozani Khupe. On February 13, 41 ministers and 20 deputy ministers 
were sworn into office.
    On December 21, several months after parliament submitted 
nominations to his office, President Mugabe named the members of three 
of four independent commissions, including for the Media, Human Rights, 
and Electoral Commissions, as provided for in the GPA. Nominees for the 
Anti-Corruption Commission had not been named by year's end, and none 
of the commissions were legally constituted, as their chairpersons had 
not yet been named.
    A number of issues set forth in the GPA remained unresolved at 
year's end. There were selective prosecutions of MDC-T officials, and 
intimidation of civil society leaders and opposition members continued. 
In addition, President Mugabe appointed an attorney general and a 
reserve bank governor without consulting with Prime Minister Tsvangirai 
as stipulated in the GPA. On October 16, following months of protests 
from the prime minister and observers that Mugabe was not fulfilling 
his commitments under the GPA, Tsvangirai and MDC-T ministers announced 
they were ``disengaging'' from ZANU-PF. In subsequent weeks MDC-T 
officials did not attend cabinet meetings, and Tsvangirai sought 
intervention by numerous heads of state from other SADC countries 
before the matter was ultimately referred to SADC, as the guarantors of 
the GPA. On November 5, SADC heads of state, including South African 
President Jacob Zuma, the SADC-mandated mediator, reaffirmed their 
commitment to ensuring the implementation of the GPA; the MDC-T 
subsequently returned to government. By year's end the three parties 
had resolved most of the more than 20 outstanding GPA issues. However, 
there was no resolution of several high priority issues, including the 
appointments of provincial governors, the reserve bank governor, and 
the attorney general.
    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. ZEC is comprised 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. ZEC also has 
provincial and district offices. Since ZECec's inception, observers 
have questioned its independence and impartiality. President Mugabe 
announced the eight members of the ZEC on December 21 but had not named 
a chairperson at year's end. Without a properly constituted ZEC, there 
is no legal body authorized to oversee elections in Zimbabwe.
    In September 2007 Parliament unanimously passed constitutional 
amendment 18. Among other changes the amendment expanded the House of 
Assembly by increasing the number of constituencies from 120 to 210. It 
also empowered ZEC to set the boundaries of parliamentary and local 
constituencies. The delimitation report was finalized in January 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, the ruling 
party and security forces intimidated and committed abuses against 
opposition 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, has sole power 
to dissolve Parliament and to appoint or remove a vice president and 
any minister or deputy minister, and directly appoints eight provincial 
governors who sit in Parliament and six senators.
    The government routinely interfered with MDC-led local governments. 
In the 2008 elections, the MDC won a majority of seats in city councils 
across the country. 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 should fill ``gaps'' by including 
members of business and civil society in the councils. However, 
Minister Ignatius Chombo used this authority to appoint losing ZANU-PF 
candidates to councils across the country. City councils in Mutare, 
Harare, Bulawayo, and other cities challenged such appointments.
    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 House and Senate elected positions, 57 were filled by women, 
constituting 21 percent of the total, short of the SADC target for 
female representation of one-third. In 2006 Rita Makarau became the 
first woman to hold the position of judge-president of the High Court. 
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, and his replacement selected by the ZANU-PF 
party congress, Vice President Joshua Nkomo, who was sworn in on 
December 14. 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. The most recent World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators 
reflected that corruption was a severe problem. Implementation of the 
government's ongoing redistribution of expropriated white-owned 
commercial farms substantially 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 one-farm per official policy. 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.
    High level ZANU-PF officials and entrepreneurs supporting the 
ruling party received priority access to farm inputs such as 
fertilizer, seed, and fuel. The government's campaign to provide 
housing plots and vending sites for victims of Operation Murambatsvina 
mostly benefited civil servants, security forces, and ZANU-PF 
supporters.
    A government-appointed Anticorruption Commission was established in 
2005 but had yet to register any notable accomplishments. 
Constitutional amendment 19 required the previous commission to be was 
disbanded and a new one to be appointed; however, commission members 
had not been named by year's end.
    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. For example, in March 
Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, head of a committee to 
administer the provision of farming inputs, 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 of Dzivarasekwa, Ernest Mudavanhu of Zaka 
North, Hamandishe Maramwidze of Gutu North, Edmore Marima of Bikita 
East, Heya Shoko of Bikita West, Ransome Makamure of Gutu East, 
Tachiona Mharadza of Masvingo West, and ZANU-PF MPs Tranos Huruba of 
Chivi North and Ivine Dzingirayi of Chivi South. The nine stood trial 
separately. On July 21, Mudavanhu was found guilty and sentenced to two 
years in jail with six months suspended if he paid a fine of $15,000. 
He was released on bail on September 11 pending appeal. Makamure, 
Marima, and Shoko were acquitted; the remaining cases were pending at 
year's end. Convicted MPs could lose their seats in Parliament.
    There were reports that ZANU-PF officials in the government removed 
from the civil service and the military persons perceived to be MDC 
supporters. There also were reports that the government assigned 
soldiers and youth service members to work in government ministries. In 
August the comptroller and auditor-general submitted a report to 
Parliament that documented significant irregularities within the 
Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation, 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 market stalls in the major cities. On August 14, a 
magistrate's court convicted MDC-T Mayor of Chitungwiza Israel Marange 
of accepting a $1,000 bribe to allocate a vending stall and sentenced 
him to one year in jail. Marange was released on bail pending appeal in 
the High Court; the case was pending at year's end. On December 7, the 
MDC-T announced it was suspending Marange and several other MDC-T 
officials who were accused of corruption.
    In April Transparency International-Zimbabwe's (TI-Z) Advocacy and 
Legal Advice Center began an anticorruption campaign by inaugurating a 
toll-free hotline for residents to report corruption, seek free legal 
advice, and propose solutions for the prevention of corruption, TI-Z 
also established a corresponding monthly newsletter to discuss hotline 
complaints. Although the hotline was initially advertised in 
government-controlled media, in August the national public broadcaster, 
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings, refused to carry TI-Z's advertisements. 
Many of the hotline's callers complained about police soliciting bribes 
at traffic stops, corruption in the allocation of vending stalls, and 
officials' misappropriation of funds.
    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 AIPPA; election observation; constitutional and electoral reform; 
increasing poor women's access to the courts; raising awareness of the 
abuse of children; conducting civic education; preserving 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, ZPP, 
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.'' On July 27, President Mugabe criticized NGOs, 
describing them as having ``exceeded their terms of reference'' and 
questioned ``the advisability of having NGOs.''
    During the year police arrested or detained NGO members, often in 
connection with demonstrations or marches; many were beaten during 
arrest and tortured while in custody. Numerous NGO members died in 
postelection violence in 2008.
    The government harassed some NGOs it believed opposed government 
policies, investigated their activities, and harassed their leaders. 
Unlike in previous years, there were no known cases of police raids of 
NGO offices. The government continued to obstruct the activities of 
organizations involved in humanitarian activities, particularly in 
rural areas.
    Representatives of international and foreign NGOs were harassed. On 
September 23, security forces interrupted a workshop in Mutare and 
arrested Kenyan environmental activist Patrick Ochieng, the founder and 
executive director of the NGO Ujamaa Centre. Police charged him with 
attempting to incite villagers in the Chiadzwa region to subvert a 
constitutionally elected government, detained him for several hours, 
withheld his passport, and issued a ``warned and cautioned'' statement. 
On September 24, police returned Ochieng's passport and allowed him to 
leave the country.
    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 on February 5. On October 12, the Judicial 
Service Commission and Parliament's Committee on Standing Rules and 
Orders forwarded a list of 16 names to President Mugabe for 
consideration, as required by the amendment. On December 21, Mugabe 
announced eight members of the human rights commission, four of whom 
are required to be women, but he had not named a chairperson by year's 
end.

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 was a widespread 
problem, particularly during the 2008 elections. 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 
victims knew their rapists. The criminal code also makes it a crime to 
knowingly infect anyone with HIV. Local NGOs dealing with women's 
rights reported that rape cases were brought to the court and there 
were convictions; however, statistics were unavailable.
    In December the international NGO AIDS Free World published a 
report entitled Electing to Rape: Sexual Terror in Mugabe's Zimbabwe, 
which was based on interviews with 70 women who survived rape in 2008. 
The women, most of whom were affiliated with the MDC, reported they 
were collectively raped at least 380 times by 241 different ZANU-PF 
youth militia and war veterans. Each woman reported being raped five 
times on average, although the actual number could be higher as many 
women fell unconscious during the attacks. Sixty-seven of the women 
reported that the perpetrator made political statements during the 
rape; most victims were affiliated with the MDC.
    According to reports, soldiers and illegal miners continued to rape 
numerous women in the diamond fields in Chiadzwa during the year. One 
local NGO reported that at least 50 women were raped during the 2008 
election-related violence. Because rape was underreported, NGOs believe 
the actual number was much higher. In a locally produced documentary 
entitled Hear Us: Women Affected by Political Violence in Zimbabwe 
Speak Out, survivors of rape and torture detailed their experiences.
    In November IOM, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the UN 
Population Fund (UNFPA) announced plans to set up centers for survivors 
of sexual abuse to access medical and psychological help. The 
announcement came in response to a survey that found that the country's 
social, political, and economic instability had led to an increase of 
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 said 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. In 2006 the Musasa Project, a local NGO that 
worked for the protection and promotion of women's rights, reported 
that approximately one-third of 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 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.
    During the year the government continued a public awareness 
campaign on 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. 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--at 30 pages long, it was difficult to complete and photocopy.
    Prostitution is illegal, and several civil society groups offered 
anecdotal evidence that the country's economic problems continued to 
force women and girls into prostitution. Police often tolerated 
prostitution at nightclubs, truck stops, and bars in urban areas. 
Clients were rarely arrested. The maximum penalty for soliciting for 
prostitution is a fine of $200 or imprisonment up to six months. 
According to local lawyers, the maximum penalty was rarely imposed; 
those found working as prostitutes typically were forced to pay a fine 
at a police station. Although police occasionally arrested prostitutes, 
they usually paid small fines and were not detained at length. In March 
12 women in Harare pled guilty to soliciting for prostitution clients 
after they were arrested while loitering outside a bar. One woman was 
sentenced to one month in jail because she was already out on bail for 
the same crime; the other 11 paid fines and performed community 
service. There were reports that girls as young as 12 worked as 
prostitutes for soldiers and illegal miners in the Chiadzwa diamond 
fields. There continued to be reports that women and children were 
sexually exploited in towns along the borders with South Africa, 
Botswana, Mozambique, and Zambia. During the year numerous media 
reports discussed police efforts to halt prostitution throughout the 
country. Police arrested both prostitutes and their clients during the 
year.
    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 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. 
According to the UNFPA's 2009 State of the World Population Report, 58 
percent of women used modern methods of contraception and 69 percent of 
births were attended by skilled attendants. 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. 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 and children continued to be adversely affected by the 
government's forced evictions, demolition of homes and businesses, and 
the takeover of commercial farms. Many widows who earned their income 
in the informal economy or by renting out 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. 
Traditionally, women joined their husband's family upon marriage and 
were considered an unwanted burden by their childhood families. 
Likewise, they were sometimes unwelcome in their husband's family in 
rural areas where resources were already strained.
    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 military 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 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.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from birth in the country (jus 
soli) and from one's parents (jus sanguinis). 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 of a 
government hospital. 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.
    Schools and clinics reopened 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, and 100,000 children lived in child-
headed households.
    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 Orphans and Vulnerable Children designed to ensure that 
orphans and vulnerable children were able to access education, food, 
health services, and birth registration and were protected from abuse 
and exploitation. UNICEF reported in 2008 that the NGOs involved had 
reached more than 200,000 orphans and vulnerable children with 
comprehensive support and protection since the beginning of the 
program.
    Primary education is not compulsory, free, or universal. During the 
year 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 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.
    The continued low enrollment resulted from 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, inability to pay 
school fees, and Operation Murambatsvina.
    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. In 2006, in collaboration with UNICEF and other partners, the 
government launched a National Girls' Education Strategic Plan to 
increase the likelihood of achieving universal primary education and 
ensuring that girls stayed in school.
    Child abuse, including incest, infanticide, child abandonment, and 
rape, continued to be serious problems during the year. Police 
statistics showed that 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 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 and 
AIDS. In 2008 UNICEF and the government launched the ``Stand Up and 
Speak Out'' child abuse awareness and prevention campaign. In October 
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.
    The traditional practice of offering a young girl in marriage as 
compensatory payment in interfamily disputes continued during the year, 
as did arranged marriage of young girls. The legal age for a civil 
marriage is 16 for girls and 18 for boys. 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 16 years of 
age. According to UNICEF in 2006, 29 percent of young women married 
when they were under 18 years of age. 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.
    A child is defined as a person under 16 years of age. Statutory 
rape, legally defined as sexual intercourse with a child, carries a 
fine of $2,000, imprisonment up to 10 years, or both. A person in 
possession of child pornography could be charged with public indecency 
and face 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. There were reports of children as young as 14 
engaged in prostitution in Chiadzwa; however, because of restricted 
access to the area, NGOs were unable to confirm the age of the girls.
    The government gave preference to national youth service graduates 
among those seeking employment in the government, especially in the 
security forces. 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 saying 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. 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. Persons under 18 are 
prohibited from joining the military or police.
    With 1.6 million orphans with HIV/AIDS, the country had the world's 
highest percentage of orphaned children at one in four, and the number 
increased during the year. Ninety percent 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, and to suffer discrimination and 
social stigma. Extended families and communities often refused to take 
in orphans out of 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 
during the year. At year's end NGOs were uncertain how many children 
remained affected. Ongoing economic hardships and the government's lack 
of support for social welfare institutions contributed to a highly 
vulnerable population of approximately 5,000 street children throughout 
the country. NGOs operated training centers and homes for street 
children and orphans, and government officials referred children to 
these centers.

    Trafficking in Persons.--No laws specifically address trafficking 
in persons, and the country was a source, transit, and destination 
country for trafficking in persons. Domestic trafficking also occurred.
    Trafficking was a serious problem. NGOs, international 
organizations, and governments in neighboring countries reported that 
Zimbabwean emigrants continued to face exploitation. Rural children 
were trafficked domestically and regionally into farms or cities for 
agricultural labor, domestic servitude, and commercial sexual 
exploitation, often under false pretenses of job or marriage proposals, 
according to one NGO. Reports suggested that those children in 
desperate economic circumstances, especially those in families headed 
by children, were most at risk. Women and children were reportedly 
trafficked for sexual exploitation in towns across the borders with the 
four neighboring countries. In recent years women and girls were lured 
to South Africa, China, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Zambia 
with false employment offers that resulted in involuntary domestic 
servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Women and children from 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia 
were trafficked through the country to South Africa. Small numbers of 
South African girls were trafficked to the country for forced domestic 
labor.
    Men also were trafficked in the region after being lured by the 
promise of employment. For example, at least one group of six 
Zimbabwean men was lured to Angola with the promise of employment in 
construction. On arrival, they were not paid and were subjected to 
forced labor.
    Traffickers were typically independent businesspersons who were 
part of small networks of local criminal groups that facilitated 
trafficking within the country, as well as into South Africa or other 
surrounding countries. Anecdotal reporting indicated that traffickers 
approached a potential victim, usually young women or girls, with the 
offer of a lucrative job in another part of the country or in a 
neighboring country. Many young men and boys were exploited by 
``guides'' when they attempted to cross the border illegally into South 
Africa to find work. Trafficked citizens often labored for months 
without pay in South Africa before their ``employers'' reported them to 
authorities as illegal immigrants. Traffickers often transported 
victims covertly across borders at unofficial border crossing points. 
The use of child laborers, especially as farm workers or domestic 
servants, was common in the country, often with the complicity of 
family members. Some children were trafficked internally to work as 
farm workers or domestic servants.
    The constitution and law prohibit forced or compulsory labor, 
including by children, with the exception of working for parents or the 
national youth service, and traffickers could be punished under this 
law. Forced labor is punishable by a fine, two years' imprisonment, or 
both. It is a crime under the criminal code to transport persons across 
the border for sex. The law provides for a fine and a maximum prison 
sentence of two years (10 years if the victim is under the age of 16) 
for procuring another person to become a prostitute, whether inside or 
outside the country. Traffickers also can be prosecuted under other 
legislation such as immigration and abduction laws.
    The government demonstrated interest in combating trafficking; 
however, it did not devote sufficient resources to investigating and 
prosecuting cases.
    The primary government authority to combat trafficking was the ZRP, 
which relied on NGOs to alert them to cases. The Interpol National 
Central Bureau Zimbabwe's ``antitrafficking desk'' was staffed with ZRP 
officers who assisted with international investigations.
    There were reports suggesting that corruption in law enforcement, 
especially at the local level, directly or indirectly facilitated 
trafficking. The government took steps during the year to educate and 
train officials to combat trafficking. Government officials attended 
IOM seminars on trafficking during the year. The IOM held numerous 
sector-specific training workshops during the year: four for law 
enforcement, eight for social services professionals, two for 
educators, and one for local government officials.
    In 2008 the government signed a memorandum of understanding with 
the South African government for a joint project to regularize the 
status of illegal Zimbabwean migrant farm workers in South Africa's 
Limpopo Province and ensure them proper employment conditions.
    Although the government lacked resources to provide protective 
services on its own, the police's Victim Friendly Unit, social 
services, and immigration officials used an established process for 
referring victims to international organizations and NGOs that provided 
shelter and other services. The government coordinated closely with the 
IOM-run migrant reception centers in Beitbridge on the border with 
South Africa and Plumtree near the Botswana border that provided social 
and reintegration services to the large number of repatriated illegal 
migrants and screened them to identify trafficking victims.
    Victims suffering from child or domestic abuse were offered special 
procedures in victim-friendly courts, and trafficked persons had the 
option to take cases before such courts. Local immigration and social 
services officials referred trafficking victims to NGO-funded centers. 
Save the Children Norway also offered shelter and referrals for medical 
attention at the IOM reception centers in Beitbridge and Plumtree for 
unaccompanied children and trafficking victims.
    The government-run media prominently featured articles about 
trafficking in persons, and the government had prevention programs to 
provide alternatives for children at risk. The government also 
continued to cooperate with the IOM and Interpol in a public awareness 
radio campaign in five languages that led to the identification of 
several victims during the year. In 2008 the IOM and local NGO Oasis 
Zimbabwe launched an antitrafficking hotline. However, the hotline 
received few calls during the year due to lack of public awareness.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/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 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 
children with disabilities often were hidden when visitors arrived. In 
2008 the government announced it was reviewing the Disabled Persons 
Act, the Mental Health Act, and the constitution to align them with the 
Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities; no further action 
was taken by year's end.
    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.
    The amendments to electoral laws changed voting procedures for the 
disabled. In February 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 violated persons with 
disabilities' right to cast their votes in secret. Ahead of the June 
2008 run-off, 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. During the year 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.
    Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 severely affected persons with 
disabilities and, according to the UN special envoy's report on the 
operation, the government held approximately 50 persons with physical 
and mental disabilities without care at a transit camp separated from 
the rest of the camp population.
    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 less than 1 percent, and other 
ethnic groups 3 percent. There was some tension between the white 
minority and other groups, between the Shona majority and the Ndebele 
minority, and among the various Shona subgroups.
    The government continued its attempts to attribute the country's 
economic and political problems to the white minority and Western 
countries. On several occasions President Mugabe, members of ZANU-PF, 
and the government-controlled media attempted to reignite resentment of 
the white minority. Ruling party 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 Mugabe signed the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment 
Bill into law. The bill's official purpose was to increase 
participation of indigenous citizens in the economy with the ultimate 
objective of at least 51 percent indigenous ownership of all 
businesses. An indigenous Zimbabwean was defined as any person, or the 
descendant of such person, who before April 18, 1980--the date of the 
country's independence--was disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on 
the grounds of his or her race. The bill was criticized as an attempt 
to create patronage for ZANU-PF.
    During the year ZANU-PF used the bill 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, along with Shona or Ndebele, depending on the region, in 
schools. 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 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.--Over a period of years, Mugabe 
publicly denounced the LGBT community, blaming them for Africa's ills. 
Although there was no statutory law proscribing homosexual conduct, 
common law prevents homosexual men, and to a lesser extent, lesbians, 
from fully expressing their sexual orientation and, in some cases, 
criminalizes the display of affection between men. In 2006 the 2004 
amended criminal code became effective, broadening the definition of 
sodomy to include ``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.
    There was one organization, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), 
that was dedicated to advancing the rights of the LGBT community. GALZ 
experienced discrimination and interference in its operations during 
the year. 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 to release the 
materials. Due to the courts' refusal to act, three cases from 2008, 
three cases from 2007, and two cases from 2006 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.
    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, by 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 the LGBT community were reported.

    Other Societal Discrimination.--The government had a national HIV/
AIDS policy that prohibited discrimination against persons with HIV/
AIDS, and the law aims to protect against discrimination of workers 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, mounted increasingly vocal lobbies for improved wages 
and conditions during the year; however, union leaders and members were 
harassed, arrested, and beaten during the year. The government also 
restricted union activity indirectly by defining all senior employees 
as managers even though such employees did not enjoy benefits 
commensurate to the title; this 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 300,000 persons belonged to the 36 
unions that form the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU); 
approximately 65 percent of industries were unionized. The ZCTU 
estimated that 600,000 persons were employed in the formal sector. 
Approximately 3 million persons worked in the informal sector, of which 
1.2 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. 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, and were not very 
influential during the year. In September over 20,000 teachers 
discovered that their pay slips showed a deduction for dues paid to the 
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, a ZFTU affiliate. Thousands of teachers 
complained that their union membership was changed from one of the more 
prominent unions, or from no union affiliation, without their consent. 
The Ministry of Education, Sport, Art, and Culture corrected the error 
in subsequent months but did not reimburse the teachers.
    ZANU-PF elements of the government openly targeted the ZCTU, 
declaring it aligned with the opposition 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. For example, unions were 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 May 22, police arrested Chris Mahove, a journalist with the ZCTU 
publication The Worker, after he took photographs of a demonstration by 
Harare municipal workers, and deleted the pictures from Mahove's 
camera. Police then arrested The Worker editor Ben Madzimure, when he 
enquired about the arrest of his colleague; both were released without 
charge the same day.
    On September 12, riot police in Harare barred the ZCTU from holding 
a march commemorating a 2006 incident in which police violently 
dispersed a union protest. Police acted in defiance of a high court 
order by Judge Tedius Karwi permitting the demonstration when, armed 
with batons, guns, and water cannons, they cordoned off the road 
leading to the demonstration site. Union supporters dispersed 
peacefully, and police did not ultimately use force against the crowd.
    On November 8, ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo and four other union 
leaders were arrested in Victoria Falls after they attempted to hold a 
labor meeting. Police held the five labor leaders without charge until 
a November 12 hearing. During the hearing the magistrate reprimanded 
police for arresting the labor leaders under POSA, as labor 
organizations are exempt from the legislation.
    In 2008 the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Application of 
Standards Committee, in its report on trade union rights abuses, 
included cases filed by the ZCTU concerning violations of freedom of 
association and protection of the right to organize for the second 
consecutive year. Zimbabwe was one of two countries the committee 
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. The International Trade Union Confederation also 
criticized government harassment of unions during the year.
    In November 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, a three-person ILO commission 
of inquiry visited Zimbabwe and interviewed more than 100 individuals 
from government, civil society, unions, workers, and employers. The 
report was not completed by year's end.
    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, and, in some 
industries, the government defined most employees as managers.
    In practice the government harassed and arrested union leaders who 
called for strikes and union members who attempted to participate in 
strikes. In September teachers, including several members of the 
Progressive Teacher's Union Zimbabwe, were threatened or beaten by 
ZANU-PF youths for not going on strike. For example, Duncan Mapasure, a 
teacher at Mtasa Primary School in Mtasa district, Manicaland, was 
beaten by ZANU-PF youth militias outside his classroom. Mapasure told 
the press the youths ``demanded that all teachers should stop teaching 
and stay home until Tsvangirayi removes sanctions.'' 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 2008 or 2007 cases 
of union harassment.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The LRAA 
provides workers with the right to organize and permits unions to 
bargain collectively over wages and conditions of employment, and 
workers exercised this right in practice; however, government 
harassment of union leaders and interference by 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. For example, the Apex Council, which 
represents civil servants, negotiated with the government over 
salaries. Teachers, the largest civil servant sector, engaged in labor 
actions during the year.
    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 himself directly in labor negotiations unless requested to do 
so by one of the parties.
    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 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, 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. Forced child 
labor occurred across a wide range of sectors; however, no detailed 
information was available on the extent of the practice.
    HRW 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 HRW 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 HRW, ``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.

    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 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, as domestics, in 
illegal gold and diamond mining, as street vendors, and as car-
watchers. There were continued reports of large numbers of girls 
subject to sexual exploitation. 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. Given the economic downturn and 
reduction in school hours in 2008 and continued low school enrollment, 
the organization believed the percentage of children working was higher 
than one-third during the year.
    Most economically active children still 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; and on tea and coffee 
plantations and 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. HRW 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. According to HRW, a 13-year-old girl 
reported that ``for two weeks in January 2009, I worked in the diamond 
fields together with several other children to carry sacks of diamond 
ore from the field and to fetch water to sieve the ore. I was too 
afraid to run away. Every day I would carry ore and only rest for short 
periods when the men were digging. We always started work very early in 
the morning before eight and finished when it was dark after six. All I 
want now is to go back to school.'' Teenage girls also reportedly were 
sexually exploited by soldiers and diamond diggers in the Chiadzwa 
area. Children working in agriculture, mining, as street vendors, or 
who were sexually exploited faced threats to their health and safety.
    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 in small spaces in 
abandoned gold mines shafts near Shurugwi in Midlands Province. 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 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 used AIDS-orphaned children 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 July 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage except for agricultural and domestic workers. Government 
regulations for each of the 22 industrial sectors continued to specify 
minimum wages, hours, holidays, and required safety measures. 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 the 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. In April the National Social Security 
Administration (NSSA) announced that pensioners would receive $25 per 
month; the ZCTU and pensioners complained that the pension was 
inadequate.
    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 the 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 ineffective. The NSSA continued to experience 
difficulty monitoring the thousands of work sites across the country; 
however, it continued to close shops and factories not in compliance. 
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. In 2007 government media 
reported 64 workplace fatalities and 5,568 injuries through November. 
By 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 so.
    Information on the treatment of foreign and migrant workers was not 
available. The government considered many commercial farm workers 
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 21.4 
million. Citizens periodically choose their representatives in free and 
fair multiparty elections. In federal parliamentary elections held in 
2007, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) defeated the governing Liberal 
Party and National Party coalition, and ALP leader Kevin Rudd became 
prime minister. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    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 people.
                        
                       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. However, 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 monitoring visits by independent human rights 
observers.

    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 an 
extension of the initial court order.
    Although the law states that the maximum investigation period for 
which a person can be held and questioned without charge is 24 hours 
(unless extended by court order), it also provides that this allowable 
time for questioning a suspect can 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. 
In August the government released a discussion paper on proposed 
changes to national security legislation that included a proposal to 
replace ``dead time'' with a seven-day limit on holding a suspect for 
questioning. Action had not been taken on that proposal by year's end.
    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 order must be sought from a court.
    Bail generally is available to persons facing criminal charges 
unless the person is considered to be a flight risk or is charged with 
an offense carrying a penalty of 12 months' imprisonment or more. 
Attorneys and families were granted prompt access to detainees. 
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. Law enforcement agencies require a warrant 
to intercept telecommunications, including Internet communications. In 
emergency situations the director general of ASIO, for example, 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 ACMA 
investigation concludes the complaint is justified. The list is made 
available to providers of filtering software.
    Individuals and groups engaged in the peaceful expression of views 
via the Internet, including by e-mail. The Internet was widely used. 
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 72 percent of 
households had Internet access as of June.

    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.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--According to the 2006 census, 
the country's Jewish community numbered 88,832 persons. In the 12-month 
period ending September 30, an annual report on anti-Semitism by the 
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, a nongovernmental 
organization (NGO), recorded 962 anti-Semitic incidents, compared with 
652 during the previous 12 months. According to the report's author, 
the overall increase resulted primarily from ``new peaks'' in reported 
incidents of harassment of Jewish citizens on the street, such as 
abusive remarks directed at Jewish persons walking to or from synagogue 
services, and in anti-Semitic e-mails and Internet postings. On the 
other hand, the report also noted a ``marked decrease'' in physical 
assaults against Jewish persons and property, with 27 such incidents 
reported compared with 58 and 46 respectively during the previous two 
years. Telephone threats, hate mail, and anti-Semitic graffiti also 
were reported at rates below the 20-year average for such incidents.
    In May a Perth man was charged under Western Australia (WA) racial 
vilification laws for allegedly posting anti-Semitic videos on the 
Internet. The case remained pending at year's end.
    In February the local council in Gold Coast, Queensland State, 
unanimously approved plans to construct an Islamic school. In June the 
New South Wales (NSW) Land and Environment Court upheld a decision by 
the local council in Camden, NSW to reject the construction of an 
Islamic school on planning grounds alone. Some Christian leaders in the 
area had claimed that the school was ``incompatible with the Australian 
way of life.''
    The government promoted acceptance of diversity through a number of 
programs, including public awareness programs conducted by the Human 
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and the Department of 
Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). The National Action Plan (NAP) for 
Social Cohesion, Harmony, and Security was developed in 2005-06 with 
the assistance of state governments. A particular focus of the plan was 
engaging the Muslim community with the broader society. The NAP's 
Diverse Australia Program funded projects in areas considered 
``hotspots'' of racial and cultural tension. The 16-member Australian 
Multicultural Advisory Council provides the government with advice on 
``social cohesion issues relating to Australia's cultural and religious 
diversity.''
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol. 
Its 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. The government 
funded refugee resettlement services such as language and employment 
programs.
    In October the Australian customs vessel Oceanic Viking picked up 
78 Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka in Indonesia's search and rescue 
zone. The Tamils initially refused to disembark from the vessel unless 
the Australian government agreed to take them to Australia for 
processing. After a standoff lasting several weeks, the asylum seekers 
agreed to disembark for processing in Indonesia after Australian 
officials assured them the UNHCR would process applications and 
resettlement expeditiously. All had disembarked by November 18, and the 
government assigned a mobile team of five immigration officers to 
Indonesia to help process their claims. Some media commentators, 
opposition politicians, and asylum seekers in the country asserted that 
the 78 were receiving special treatment not extended to other asylum 
seekers; the government denied this was the case.
    Unauthorized arrivals are processed at the Christmas Island 
detention center, located off the country's northwest coast. In 2008 
the government announced major changes to the mandatory detention 
policy for unauthorized arrivals. Under the new policy--following 
health, identity, and security checks--unauthorized arrivals 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 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). In September Parliament 
passed legislation abolishing liability of detained migrants for 
detention costs. (In practice most of this debt was written off.) Human 
rights groups welcomed the change.
    DIAC provided immigration advice and assistance to persons making 
an initial asylum claim or application for lawful residence. DIAC also 
has a statutory obligation to facilitate access to legal representation 
for persons in immigration detention.
    As of October 30, there were 1422 persons in immigration detention, 
including 284 on the mainland and 1138 on Christmas Island. Although 
delays in processing asylum applications were not a significant problem 
during the year, a small number of asylum seekers 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 two years or more.
    As of September 14, there were 17 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.
    During a visit to the country in November, Amnesty International 
Secretary General Irene Khan welcomed the changes made to immigration 
detention policy but urged the government to close the Christmas Island 
detention center and process unauthorized arrivals on the mainland. On 
November 21, violence broke out at the center between groups of Afghan 
and Sri Lankan asylum seekers, who assaulted each other with tree 
branches, pool cues, and broom handles. Approximately 150 detainees 
were involved in the incident; 37 persons were reported injured, 
including four who were transferred to a hospital in Perth. The 
authorities were investigating the incident at year's end. Advocates 
for the asylum seekers asserted that overcrowding was a contributing 
factor in the unrest. The center originally could accommodate 
approximately 800 persons. In response to a surge in unauthorized 
arrivals during the year, by December the government had expanded the 
center's holding capacity to 1560 persons, including some tent 
accommodations. The facility was approaching this capacity 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 based on universal suffrage and 
mandatory voting.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In federal elections held 
in 2007, the ALP won a majority of seats in the lower house of 
Parliament, and ALP leader Kevin Rudd became prime minister. Political 
parties operated without restriction or outside interference.
    There are no legal impediments to public office for women or 
indigenous people. There were 67 women in the 226-seat federal 
Parliament (40 in the House of Representatives and 27 in the Senate). 
There were four female ministers in the 20-member federal cabinet, 
three women among the 10 ministers outside the cabinet, and three 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 deputy prime minister and the governor-general were 
women, and there were three female judges on the seven-member High 
Court.
    Indigenous people generally were underrepresented among the 
political leadership. There were no indigenous citizens in the federal 
Parliament. There was one indigenous citizen in the Tasmania State 
parliament, one in the NSW State parliament, two in the WA State 
parliament, and five in the Northern Territory (NT) legislative 
assembly. The NT deputy chief minister was an indigenous woman. 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 laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption.
    Queensland, WA, and NSW 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. In July a former Queensland government 
minister was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for receiving 
secret payments from two businessmen. Also in July, the Queensland 
Crime and Misconduct Commission released a report into police 
misconduct, much of it relating to improper relationships with criminal 
informants. The report implicated 25 officers, recommending that 
disciplinary action be considered against 17 and that a further six 
receive managerial guidance. Of the latter six, five were given 
managerial guidance. Among the remaining 17, five resigned or retired 
before charges were heard, six received managerial guidance, and 
misconduct was proven against three. Of those three, one officer was 
dismissed, one resigned, and one applied for medical retirement. Three 
officers (including two of the 17) were charged with perjury; those 
cases were pending at year's end.
    Federal, state, and territorial governments have freedom of 
information (FOI) 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 (AAT), an executive body that reviews 
administrative decisions by government entities. An adverse AAT 
decision may be appealed to the Federal Court of Australia.
    The Australian Press Association and others have criticized the FOI 
application process as unduly lengthy and costly, particularly with 
regard to requests for non-personal information. On March 24, 
Australia's Right to Know Coalition, an organization composed of 12 
major media outlets, held a conference in Sydney to voice concerns 
about what the group called a lack of transparency on the part of 
government officials, and to call for reform of the country's FOI and 
secrecy laws to provide for greater public access, including media 
access, to government information. The government announced proposed 
changes to the laws in response to expressed concerns, but the 
proposals were not implemented by year's end.

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 cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations.
    In April the UN Human Rights Committee released its Concluding 
Observations on Australia. It welcomed the government's National Human 
Rights Consultation Process (NHRCP), which was reviewing human rights 
protections (see section 6), and the 2008 apology to the ``stolen 
generations'' of indigenous people. It also made a number of 
recommendations, among them that the country ensure that its 
antiterrorism laws and practices were in conformity with the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; consider 
abolishing the remaining elements of its mandatory immigration 
detention policy (see section 2.d.); implement the recommendations made 
in the committee's Immigration Detention Report of 2008; consider 
closing down the Christmas Island detention center; enact in 
legislation a comprehensive immigration framework in compliance with 
the covenant; and increase its efforts for effective consultation with 
indigenous people in decision making that impacted their rights. The 
government was asked to provide relevant information to the committee 
within a year on its implementation of the recommendations. The 
government had not yet issued its reply by year's end.
    UN special rapporteurs on health and indigenous issues also visited 
the country during the year and issued reports (see section 6).

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. The 
HREOC investigates complaints of discrimination or breaches of human 
rights under the federal laws that implement the country's human rights 
treaty obligations. In December 2008 the government launched a National 
Human Rights Consultation Process (NHRCP) to seek the public's views on 
how to better protect human rights. In this connection the government 
noted that ``the options identified should preserve the sovereignty of 
the Parliament and not include a constitutionally entrenched bill of 
rights.'' On September 30, the NHRCP committee released its report. 
Recommendations included an audit of legislation to determine 
compliance with international obligations, establishment of a joint 
parliamentary committee on human rights, adoption of a human rights 
act, and a national human rights education campaign.

    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 Australian 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 to 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 funding of numerous women's shelters. Police were 
trained in responding to domestic violence.
    Prostitution is legal or decriminalized in several states and 
territories, and the governments of Victoria, Queensland, NSW, and the 
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) license brothels operating within 
their borders. However, some brothels operated illegally. In some 
locations state-funded sexual health services employees visited 
brothels to educate workers about sexual health matters and to prevent 
worker mistreatment. Local governments or prostitution licensing 
authorities inspected brothels to ensure compliance with planning laws 
and licensing requirements, including health and safety regulations. 
However, government officials faced difficulties enforcing health and 
safety standards in illegal, unlicensed brothels. Some women, primarily 
from Asia, were trafficked for prostitution. The Australian Federal 
Police (AFP), state police, and DIAC worked together to identify and 
close down illegal brothels.
    The Sex Discrimination Act 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 complainant.
    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 obstetric 
and postpartum care, and women and men had equal access to diagnosis 
and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. 
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.
    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 also 
is a federal Office for Women.
    The HREOC received 547 complaints alleging 964 grounds of 
discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act from July 2008 through 
June 2009. Of these, 22 percent alleged discrimination based on 
pregnancy, and 22 percent alleged sexual harassment. The commission 
resolved 542 of the complaints, 246 by conciliation.
    Women have equal status under the law, and the law provides for pay 
equity. 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.

    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.
    Through the welfare system, the government provides a financial 
``baby bonus'' to assist families with the cost of new children.
    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 and 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 55,120 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect from July 
2007 to June 2008, the latest period for which national statistics were 
available. These included physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional 
abuse, and neglect. The Child Sex Tourism Act prohibits child sex 
tourism and related offenses for the country's residents and citizens 
overseas and provides for a maximum sentence of 17 years' imprisonment 
upon conviction. 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 ACT, NSW, NT, 
Victoria, and WA, 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 tough criminal laws aimed at restricting 
the trade in, and possession of, child pornography; the law allows 
suspected pedophiles to be tried in the country regardless of where the 
crime was committed. 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 $245,540).
    The AFP 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 its predecessor to combat child sexual abuse in 
73 NT Aboriginal communities. The measures were taken following a 2007 
government report of widespread 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 NT 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. The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human 
rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, who toured NT 
indigenous communities in August, echoed these concerns. An Australian 
Institute of Health and Welfare report released in December suggested 
the intervention had significantly improved health outcomes for 
indigenous children, although the report also noted that continuing 
follow-up services would be needed because of the chronic nature of 
many of the children's medical problems.
    In November the prime minister apologized on behalf of Parliament 
to individuals abused as children in orphanages and foster care. Some 
had been sent from the United Kingdom to help populate Australia; this 
occurred until the early 1970s.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
in persons, but the country continued to be a destination for some 
trafficked women in the sex industry and trafficked laborers.
    Some women, primarily from the People's Republic of China (PRC), 
the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Southeast Asia, entered the country 
for the purpose of prostitution, sometimes entering with fraudulently 
obtained tourist or student visas. Many of these women traveled to the 
country voluntarily to work in both legal and illegal brothels but 
under conditions that amounted to debt bondage or sexual servitude. 
Some men and women from several Pacific islands, India, the PRC, the 
ROK, the Philippines, and Ireland recruited to work temporarily in 
Australia subsequently were subjected to conditions of forced labor. 
Child protection NGOs raised community awareness of child trafficking. 
There were no reports of children trafficked into the country during 
the year. Some minor indigenous girls were subjected to forced 
prostitution at rural truck stops.
    Authorities believed that sex trafficking networks were composed 
primarily of individual operators or small crime groups that often 
relied on larger organized crime groups to procure fraudulent 
documentation for the trafficked women.
    The law comprehensively criminalizes ``people trafficking'' 
offenses, including sexual servitude, slavery, deceptive recruitment, 
debt bondage, child trafficking, and domestic trafficking. These 
offenses carry penalties of up to 25 years' imprisonment for slavery, 
debt bondage, child trafficking, and domestic trafficking; 15 years for 
sexual servitude; and seven years for deceptive recruitment. It is an 
offense for citizens or residents to travel abroad to engage in sex 
with minors under age 16.
    In September two men were sentenced to 14 and 10 years' 
imprisonment respectively for involvement in a sex slavery scheme that 
brought Thai women to Melbourne brothels. The court was told the women 
had to service up to 750 clients before their ``debt'' was paid.
    The government had a wide range of programs to combat trafficking, 
prosecute traffickers, and assist trafficking victims. The AFP and DIAC 
have lead roles in combating trafficking in persons. The AFP's 
Transnational Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Teams are responsible 
for investigating trafficking syndicates operating in the country and 
abroad. State police forces worked closely with the AFP on a 
comprehensive policing strategy to counter trafficking in persons. 
According to a report published in October by the Australian Institute 
of Criminology, between January 2004 and December 2008, the AFP 
conducted 210 trafficking investigations, charged 34 persons, and 
recorded seven convictions, while 113 persons received assistance from 
the government's victim support program.
    An ambassador for people-smuggling issues is responsible for 
promoting a coherent and effective international approach to combating 
trafficking in persons (particularly in the Asia-Pacific region), 
assisting in the negotiation of international agreements for the return 
and resettlement of persons brought illegally into the country, and 
working for the prosecution of traffickers. The ambassador coordinates 
the country's participation with Indonesia in the Bali Process on 
People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational 
Crime. The government has antitrafficking agreements with Cambodia, 
Burma, Laos, and Thailand designed to improve international cooperation 
and police investigation of trafficking syndicates. The government also 
funded awareness campaigns in source countries and continued funding 
the Asia Regional Cooperation to Prevent People Trafficking project. 
Underway in four countries--Thailand, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia--the 
project focused on strengthening the criminal justice process to combat 
trafficking in persons.
    Within the country the government continued an awareness campaign 
targeting the sex industry and the community at large and widely 
publicized criminal cases against traffickers. Trafficking victims 
willing to cooperate with authorities in the investigation and 
prosecution of traffickers qualify for a temporary visa and a range of 
social services. In June the government announced changes to improve 
victims' ability to access this assistance, including offering such 
support regardless of whether a victim was willing to assist police, 
reducing the time needed to qualify for a permanent visa, and enabling 
family members outside the country to be included in a visa 
application. Between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009, DIAC granted 77 
visas under the ``people trafficking'' visa framework.
    In March the government established guidelines to assist NGOs that 
were often the first point of contact for trafficking victims. 
Counseling, temporary shelter, and other assistance were available to 
all trafficking victims.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip/.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with 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. 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 2008 to June 2009 annual report stated that 980 
complaints citing 1,474 alleged grounds of discrimination were filed 
under the Disability Discrimination Act during that period. Of these, 
40 percent were employment related, and 35 percent involved the 
provision of goods and services. The resolved 1,117 complaints, 518 of 
them through conciliation.
    During the year the government began development of a national 
disability strategy.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--According to the HREOC's July 
2008 to June 2009 annual report, it received 396 complaints under the 
Racial Discrimination Act (RDA), citing 617 alleged grounds of 
discrimination. Of these, 54 percent involved employment, 23 percent 
involved provision of goods and services, and 10 percent alleged 
``racial hatred.'' Persons born outside the country filed 45 percent of 
the complaints, and Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders filed 42 
percent. Of the 396 complaints, 392 were resolved, 206 through 
conciliation.
    During 2008 and 2009, there were a number of incidents of possibly 
racially motivated assaults against Indian and Chinese students. In 
late May and early June, Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney held 
rallies protesting violent attacks some claimed were racially 
motivated. Subsequently, the government formed a taskforce headed by 
the prime minister's national security adviser and discussed the issue 
with the Indian government. Victoria police also increased their 
presence in neighborhoods where many Indian students resided.

    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-3urban areas; 
the land was previously government owned. The 1976 Federal Aboriginal 
Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act transferred almost 50 per cent of 
land in the NT 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 leasehold rights and 
native title rights are in conflict, leaseholder rights prevail but do 
not extinguish native title rights. As of year's end, the WA government 
was attempting to negotiate an out-of-court native title agreement with 
the Nyoongar people, a development that the HREOC characterized as 
``long-awaited good news.'' In 2008 the Federal Court had overturned on 
technical grounds a 2006 federal court judge's decision recognizing 
Nyoogar native title to the land in question and referred the case back 
for another hearing on the merits.
    The A$1.7 billion (approximately $1.5 billion) Indigenous Land 
Corporation is a special account that provides a continuing source of 
funds for indigenous people to purchase land for their use. It is 
separate from the Native Title Tribunal and is not for payment of 
compensation to indigenous people for loss of land or to titleholders 
for return of land to indigenous people.
    As part of the NT intervention to address child sexual abuse in NT 
indigenous communities (see section 6, Children), the government took 
control of certain indigenous communities through five-year land 
leases. However, 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. 
(These townships are not Aboriginal land but special-purpose leases 
granted to local indigenous associations by the NT government.)
    The government expressed a commitment to ``closing the gap'' on 
indigenous disadvantage, and in 2008 the prime minister undertook to 
report to Parliament on this at the beginning of each year. The 
government budgeted A$4.3 billion (approximately $3.8 billion) for 
indigenous-specific services in 2008-09 and A$4.8 billion 
(approximately $4.3 billion) in 2009-10.
    In July 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. The imprisonment rate for 
indigenous citizens worsened between 2000 and 2008. Indigenous adults 
were 13 times as likely as nonindigenous adults to be imprisoned in 
2008, compared with 10 times as likely in 2000. According to the 
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, life expectancy for 
indigenous persons was 59 years for males and 65 for females, compared 
with 77 and 82 respectively for the nonindigenous.
    A UN special rapporteur on health visited the country between 
November 24 and December 4 and met with senior officials. He praised 
the government's additional investment in indigenous health services 
but expressed concern about inadequate access to such services, ``often 
due to direct discrimination and culturally inappropriate services 
being provided.'' The indigenous health minister noted that the 
government had increased the indigenous health budget by 57 percent in 
two years.
    During the year a former NT minister for indigenous affairs 
criticized the NT government's handling of a two-year-old A$672 million 
(approximately $600 million) indigenous housing and infrastructure 
program, noting that no houses had been built yet. The program was part 
of the broader NT intervention program.
    In August the UN special rapporteur on indigenous issues reported 
on the human rights of indigenous people following an 11-day visit that 
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 the 
NT intervention was incompatible with the country's international 
obligations and urged the government to make it compliant with the RDA. 
The minister stated that the government was consulting with indigenous 
people and was seeking to make the intervention compliant with the RDA.
    On November 22, the government announced the establishment of a new 
national representative body for Aboriginals and Torres Strait 
Islanders, to be known as the National Congress of Australia's First 
Peoples. It was expected to be fully operational by January 2011.
    Indigenous NGOs included groups working on native title issues, 
reconciliation, deaths in custody, and indigenous rights in general. 
International NGOs, such as Amnesty International, also monitored and 
reported on indigenous issues and rights. 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. A large 
number of these reforms came into effect on July 1.
    A number of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender NGOs were 
openly active in the country, and gay pride marches took place in major 
cities; police provided sufficient protection to participants.
    The HREOC received 17 complaints of employment discrimination based 
on sexual orientation from July 2008 through June 2009.

    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 
April indicated that in 2008, union membership was 19 percent of the 
total workforce and 13.6 percent of the private-sector workforce--
virtually identical to 2007 percentages. Unions carried out their 
functions free from government or political control.
    In March Parliament passed the Fair Work Act, the major component 
of the government's workplace reforms, which replaced the Workplace 
Relations Act as the country's basic labor law. Some provisions of the 
Fair Work Act became effective during the year, while others were 
scheduled to go into effect 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.
    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.
    According to the ABS, during the 12-month period ending September 
30, 202 industrial disputes began, 33 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 fell from 189,800 to 
119,100.

    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 (AIRC). 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 March 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, 
and businesses that had staff on AWAs before December 1, 2007 could 
continue to sign individual contracts, known as Individual Transitional 
Employment Agreements (ITEAs), provided these passed the ``no 
disadvantage'' test. To do so, an ITEA must not disadvantage an 
employee as compared to an applicable collective agreement or to an 
industry-standard award if there is no collective agreement. ITEAs 
could only run until December 31, 2009. In addition, the 2008 law 
directed the AIRC to create a national safety net of minimum employment 
standards and industrial awards, which is scheduled to come into effect 
in 2010.
    On July 1, new collective bargaining provisions came into effect 
under the Fair Work Act that require employers to act in ``good faith'' 
when a majority of employees want a collective agreement; give unions 
greater ability to access worksites; enable low-paid workers to engage 
in multi-employer ``good faith bargaining'' ; reduce the list of 
``prohibited content'' issues that may not be included in a collective 
agreement; and give stronger intervention powers to a new independent 
industrial relations umpire, Fair Work Australia, which was scheduled 
to assume the functions of the AIRC and other workplace bodies in 2010. 
Also on July 1, new provisions took effect providing unfair dismissal 
rights--previously removed under 2005 amendments to the WRA known as 
WorkChoices--to employees in small businesses.
    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.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There is no federally mandated minimum age of employment, but state-
imposed compulsory educational requirements, enforced by state 
educational authorities, effectively prevented most children from 
joining the work force full time until they were 15 or 16 years of age. 
Federal and state governments monitored and enforced a network of laws, 
which varied from state to state, governing the minimum ages for 
leaving school, claiming unemployment benefits, and engaging in 
specified occupations. The Australian Council of Trade Unions also 
monitored adherence to these laws. Workers under age 18 required 
parental or guardian consent to sign an ITEA.

    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. In July the 
Australian Fair Pay Commission, which determines minimum wage 
increases, maintained the federal minimum award wage at A$543.78 
(approximately $485) per week, citing deteriorating economic 
conditions. The Fair Work Ombudsman provides employers and employees 
advice about their rights and has authority to investigate employers 
alleged to have exploited employees unlawfully.
    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 December, approximately 3.27 million persons (30 
percent of the workforce) were employed as ``part-time'' workers, of 
whom 70 percent were women. Labor force ``underutilization'' was 13.5 
percent as of November. Federal or state occupational health and safety 
laws apply to every workplace. The law provides federal employees with 
the right to cease work without endangering their future employment if 
they believe that particular work activities pose an immediate threat 
to individual health or safety. Most states and territories have laws 
that grant similar rights to their employees. Employees 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. 
However, there were complaints 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. In 
response, during the year 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.

                               __________

                           BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

    Brunei Darussalam is a sultanate ruled by the same family for more 
than 600 years, and it has a population of approximately 391,000. 
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. The sultan 
maintained control over the security forces.
    The following human rights problems were reported: inability of 
citizens to change their government; arbitrary detention; limits on 
freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; restrictions on 
religious freedom; discrimination against women; 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 184 
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.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards. There were 372 convicted persons 
and 14 persons awaiting trial. Jerudong Prison holds ``serious 
offenders,'' and, separately, approximately 40 female prisoners. 
Juveniles are not subject to imprisonment. The maximum designed 
capacity of the prison system is 400 persons.
    In previous years conditions in police station detention cells were 
considered Spartan.
    In January four policemen were charged for culpable homicide not 
amounting to murder and voluntarily causing grievous hurt on Abdul 
Rahim Abdullah Tan, who died in police custody. At year's end the trial 
of four accused continued.
    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.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law provides for prompt 
judicial determination regarding the validity of an arrest, but in 
practice these provisions were superseded through 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. The police and the ISD were considered free of 
major corrupt practices, although there were reports of petty 
corruption. There were no reports of prosecution or conviction of 
police or military personnel for corruption.

    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 instances of persons considered a 
threat to the public who were detained for years without trial.
    The Internal Security Act (ISA) permits the government to detain 
suspects without trial for renewable two-year periods. According to 
reports, detainees were promptly informed of the charges against them. 
Information on detainees was made public only after their release.
    The government regularly convened 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.
    In January foreign national Aji Ajak was released from detention 
under the ISA. Aji Ajak was detained for his involvement in 
counterfeiting activities.
    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 and serve at the pleasure of the sultan.
    The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, intermediate courts, 
and subordinate courts, with a final appeal for civil cases available 
through the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. A Shari'a (Islamic 
law) court with three levels supersedes the secular courts for Muslims 
in cases of divorce, inheritance, and some sexual crimes. Shari'a is 
not applied to non-Muslims.
    A court run by the military legal unit provides military personnel 
with the same rights as in civilian criminal court.

    Trial Procedures.--Secular law, based on English common law, 
provides all citizens with a fair and efficient judicial process. 
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 in criminal proceedings are 
presumed innocent. Most criminal cases are conducted in public trials 
by a judge or panel of judges. 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. The government confirmed that as of 
November there were no detainees being held under the ISA.

    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 a civil wrong 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. Shari'a permits enforcement 
of khalwat, an Islamic prohibition on the close proximity of a Muslim 
and a member of the opposite sex other than a spouse or close male 
relative. During the year 262 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,'' and they may be disqualified for service on the basis of 
various offenses, including disloyalty to the sultan.
    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 B$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.
    The country's daily newspapers, the Borneo Bulletin and the Brunei 
Times, practiced self-censorship. However, letters to the editor often 
included comments critical of government handling of certain social, 
economic, and environmental issues. On occasion the government 
responded to public opinion on topics concerning social or 
environmental problems and the delay of public services.
    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.

    Internet Freedom.--According to International Telecommunication 
Union statistics for 2008, approximately 55 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 Ministries of Home 
Affairs, Religious Affairs, and the Prime Minister's Office 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 (ROS) 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.
    In November 2008 the ROS deregistered the Football Association of 
Brunei for failing to submit annual general meeting reports for the 
previous two years.
    A Brunei political party maintained that government restrictions 
limited the party's growth.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The law states that ``the religion of 
Brunei Darussalam shall be the Muslim religion according to the Shafi'i 
sect of that religion: Provided that all other religions may be 
practiced in peace and harmony by the person professing them in any 
part of Brunei Darussalam.'' However, in practice the government 
restricted non-Islamic religions and non-Shafi'i Islamic groups, 
reinforcing the legitimacy of the observance of traditional and Islamic 
values through its national Malay Muslim Monarchy ideology. All mosques 
are government controlled, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs 
prepared the weekly Friday sermons delivered in mosques countrywide.
    The government used its internal security apparatus against persons 
it considered to be purveyors of radical Islam, non-Muslims who 
attempted to proselytize, and religious groups that did not belong to 
the official religion.
    Registration is required by law for a group to worship communally. 
An organization that fails to register can face charges of unlawful 
assembly. All non-Shafi'i religious groups are required to register as 
associations. There continued to be credible reports that certain 
Christian groups were denied permission to register or chose not to 
register out of the expectation that their applications would be 
rejected.
    The government routinely restricted the practice of non-Muslim 
religions by prohibiting proselytizing and, in the past, occasionally 
denying entry to foreign clergy, banning the importation of religious 
teaching materials or scriptures such as the Bible, and denying 
requests to expand or build new churches, temples, and shrines.
    Muslims who wished to change or renounce their religion faced 
considerable difficulties. Born Muslims faced both official and 
societal pressure not to leave Islam; permission from the Ministry of 
Religious Affairs must be obtained to do so. During the year the 
ministry recorded four applications from Muslims wishing to renounce 
the religion. Applicants were required to undergo counseling prior to 
the finalization of an endorsement. In 2008 the ministry sanctioned one 
renunciation of Islam. There were instances of persons who converted to 
Islam (often foreign nationals) as a prelude to marrying Muslims; 
conversion is required by the country's Islamic law. As of July 2008, 
653 persons had converted to Islam. After marriage those who wished to 
return to their former religion faced intense official pressure not to 
do so or encountered extraordinary delays in obtaining permission.
    Authorities continued to arrest Muslims for offenses under Shari'a, 
such as khalwat and consumption of alcohol.
    The Ministry of Education requires courses on Islam and the 
national ideology, and prohibits the teaching of other religions and 
comparative religious studies. Private Christian schools were not 
allowed to give Christian instruction to Christian or Muslim students 
but could offer voluntary, Islamic instruction to Muslim students. 
During the year the government warned Christian schools that they or 
their personnel could be fined or imprisoned for teaching non-Muslim 
religious subjects. However, the government did not prohibit or 
restrict parents from giving religious instruction to children at home.
    The government routinely censored magazine articles on other faiths 
by blacking out or removing photographs of crucifixes and other 
religious symbols. Government officials also confiscated religious 
materials and prevented public display, distribution, and sale of items 
featuring non-Islamic religious symbols. However, some Christian 
churches displayed crosses on their buildings.
    The government requires residents to carry an identity card that 
states the bearer's ethnicity, which is used in part to determine 
whether they are subject to Shari'a law. Visitors to the country were 
asked to identify their religion on their visa applications. Ethnic 
Malays are assumed to be Muslim and therefore subject to Shari'a law. 
Non-Muslims are not held accountable to Shari'a precepts. Religious 
authorities checked identity cards for ethnicity when conducting raids.
    Only Islamic groups belonging to the Shafi'i school were permitted 
to organize public religious processions; however, the government 
allowed public lion dances to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The country's various 
religious groups coexisted peacefully. There were no known Jewish 
communities in the country, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 
the government introduced guidelines stating that no government 
officials may travel alone and nonrelated male and female officers may 
not travel together. The government restricts the movement of former 
political prisoners during the year following their release. The 
country is not a party to the Convention relating to the Status of 
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and does not cooperate with office of 
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
    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 laws do 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, 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.

    Stateless Persons.--The law, which was 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. This 
coupled with illiteracy 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. 
These individuals did not enjoy full privileges of citizenship, they 
did not have the right to own land, and were not entitled to subsidized 
health care or higher education. In July 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.
    Primary education is free for citizens and permanent residents. 
Secondary education (above grade 10 equivalent) fees of B$140 
(approximately $100) per month are required for noncitizens. University 
fees for noncitizens are B$2,800 to B$3,500 (approximately $2,000 to 
$2,500).

Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Citizens did not have the right to change their government 
peacefully.
    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 made up 
primarily of appointed members, provided a forum for public discussion 
of proposed government programs as well as administrative deficiencies. 
It convenes once a year.
    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 communicated constituent wishes 
through a variety of channels, including periodic meetings chaired by 
the minister of home affairs. The government also met with mukim 
(collections of villages) representatives to allow for airing of local 
grievances and concerns.
    The Brunei National Development Party (NDP) remained the country's 
only registered political party. The NDP, as had other parties when 
they were registered, pledged to support the sultan and the government. 
Although the parties criticized administrative deficiencies, their few 
activities received limited publicity and they were hindered by 
membership restrictions.
    In October the NDP cohosted a public seminar on party development 
and the importance of civil society that included a foreign guest 
speaker. Reportedly, the authorities confiscated documents on the 
speaker and the event. Customs officials attempted to confiscate the 
speaker's books on politics upon his arrival in the country.
    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.
    There were no female ministers in the government or female members 
of the LegCo. Two 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, the first female 
attorney general. There were two female permanent secretaries, one in 
the Prime Minister's Office and one in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
and Trade. One cabinet-level post and two LegCo positions were held by 
ethnic Chinese.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    There were reliable reports of corruption in the government. In 
accordance with its zero tolerance policy for corrupt practices, the 
government successfully prosecuted a number of low-level officials. At 
year's end the case of a former government minister accused of 
corruption in awarding government projects was pending a final ruling 
from the chief justice. In September the former minister's alleged 
partner in crime was declared absconded and an arrest warrant was 
issued. In December six of 24 custom officers suspended from duty for 
their alleged role in smuggling heavily subsidized fuel to a 
neighboring country, were charged under the Prevention of Corruption 
Act, which carries a penalty of seven years' imprisonment and B$30,000 
fine ($21,000). 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.
    During the year the LegCo approved, and the government published, a 
summary of the fiscal year government budget. 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 if any 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. During the year 27 rape cases were reported; at year's end 
police were investigating 23 and had forwarded four 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 will 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 124 
cases of spousal abuse reported; at year's end 122 cases were under 
investigation and two 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 (DCD) 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 both male and female officials offered 
counseling to married couples in domestic violence cases. Officials did 
not encourage wives to reconcile with flagrantly abusive spouses, and 
Islamic courts recognized assault as grounds for divorce.
    Prostitution is illegal. Women who entered the country for purposes 
of prostitution generally were tried, sentenced, and deported swiftly. 
There were isolated instances of women forced into prostitution, and 
there were also reports that women arrested for prostitution attested 
to having been victims of trafficking. However, the government did not 
identify any trafficking victims during the year.
    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. 
Citizens enjoy free medical and health care, including skilled 
attendance during childbirth and essential obstetric and postpartum 
care. Women had equal access to diagnostic and treatment facilities for 
sexually transmitted infections.
    In accordance with the government's interpretation of Koranic 
precepts, Muslim women have rights similar to those of Muslim men in 
areas such as divorce and child custody. The law requires that males 
receive twice the inheritance of women. The law permits female citizens 
to pass their nationality on to their children and to own property and 
other assets, including business properties.
    Men were eligible for permanent positions in government service 
whether or not they had university degrees. In previous years married 
women without university degrees were eligible to hold government 
positions only on a month-to-month basis. However, since December 2008 
such women were eligible for permanent positions, although they could 
not apply for travel allowances for their husbands and children. 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's issues were addressed by the Women's Council of Brunei, an 
NGO consisting of 14 women's associations; its objective is to improve 
the status of women in all areas.

    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 Brunei; should they fail 
to register their child, it would be difficult to enroll the child in 
school.
    No statistics were available regarding the welfare of children. The 
strong commitment to family values within society, the high standard of 
living, and government funding for children's welfare provided most 
children a healthy and nurturing environment.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The country is a destination for men and 
women trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and commercial sexual 
exploitation. The Trafficking and Smuggling Persons Order of 2004 
prohibits sex and labor trafficking, and violations are punishable by 
up to 30 years' imprisonment, but there have never been any 
prosecutions under the order. It was believed that trafficking of 
foreign workers recruited from Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, 
India, and Bangladesh took place. Such workers occasionally faced 
harsh, exploitative conditions in which their freedom of movement was 
restricted. Many of the 25,000 female domestic workers in the country 
were required to work exceptionally long hours without being granted a 
day for rest, creating an environment consistent with involuntary 
servitude. There were reports that women arrested for prostitution 
subsequently claimed to have been victims of trafficking. There were 
also reports that the country was used as a transit stop for 
traffickers transporting women to third countries. However, the 
government did not identify any victims of trafficking during the year.
    Immigration and other law enforcement officials were trained to 
investigate and prosecute suspected offenders and to deal with 
trafficking victims. During the year there were no trafficking cases 
investigated or prosecuted by the authorities, and there were no 
reports of government officials involved in trafficking.
    The government made limited efforts to protect foreign trafficking 
victims. There was no formal system of protection or benefits for 
foreign trafficking victims. While immigration authorities were active 
in identifying violators of immigration law after they had entered the 
country, there were no cases reported of immigration authorities 
identifying potential trafficking victims among such immigration 
violators. There were no specific NGOs to assist trafficking victims as 
such, and victims were subject to prosecution for violations of 
immigration and labor codes. In cases where the government considers a 
victim to be a material witness in the prosecution of traffickers, 
police can provide temporary protection and shelter as necessary. 
Several foreign embassies also provided shelter for persons who may 
have been victims of trafficking.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 
countrywide the level of services available was uneven. The DCD 
conducted several programs targeted at promoting awareness of the needs 
of people 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; however, in practice trade union activity was 
minimal. The government discouraged union formation, and employers in 
the industrial sector did not encourage foreign workers to form unions. 
The three registered trade unions were in the oil sector and had a 
total membership of less than 5 percent of the industry's total work 
force. Official statistics reported 87,867 foreign workers, including 
4,636 garment industry workers. None were members of any trade union.
    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 
(DOL).
    The law makes no explicit provision allowing the right to strike. 
There were no strikes reported during the year.

    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.
    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; however, there were credible reports of 
some nationals from Asian countries experiencing nonpayment of wages 
and many of the 25,000 female domestic workers were required to work 
exceptionally long hours without being granted a day for rest, creating 
an environment consistent with involuntary servitude.

    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 DOL, 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 the case in practice.
    Occupational health and safety standards were established by 
government regulations. The DOL inspected working conditions on a 
routine basis and in response to complaints. The DOL generally enforced 
labor regulations effectively, 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. The DOL 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 
generally, this did not occur.
    According to government data, 87,867 foreigners worked in the 
country. Foreign workers are excluded from most labor law protections, 
including freedom of association. In the past the rights of the 
estimated 25,000 female domestic workers frequently were abused and 
they had little access to legal remedies. During the year the minister 
responsible for labor was given additional authority to protect their 
rights, and the government was usually 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 in 
the local economy. There were also credible reports of nationals 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 Attorney General Chambers. Two cases involved 
complaints made by workers in the formal sector and at year's end both 
were under investigation.
    The government also prosecuted employers who employed illegal 
immigrants or did not process workers' documents, rendering them in 
illegal status.
    Immigration law allows for prison sentences and caning for workers 
who overstay their work permits and illegal immigrants seeking work, as 
well as for foreign workers employed by companies other than their 
initial sponsor. While the majority of prosecutions were for long-term 
overstayers, many workers stayed in an illegal status due to their 
former employers' negligence.

                               __________

                                 BURMA

    Burma, with an estimated population of 54 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 May 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 constitution specifies that the SPDC will continue to rule 
until a new parliament is convened, scheduled to take place following 
national elections in 2010. The military government controlled the 
security forces without civilian oversight.
    The regime continued to abridge the right of citizens to change 
their government and committed other severe human rights abuses. 
Government security forces allowed custodial deaths to occur and 
committed extrajudicial killings, disappearances, rape, and torture. 
The government detained civic activists indefinitely and without 
charges. In addition regime-sponsored mass-member organizations engaged 
in harassment, abuse, and detention 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. The 
government sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi--general secretary of the 
country's independence movement, the National League for Democracy 
(NLD)--to 18 additional months of house arrest for violating the terms 
of her confinement. 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 allegedly committed 
human rights abuses, including forced labor and recruitment of child 
soldiers.
                        
                       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 the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings. The government rarely punished officials responsible for the 
deaths. During the year there were reports of killings in connection 
with conflict in Shan and Karen states (see section 1.g.).
    In May in Rakhine State, government troops reportedly killed two 
Rohingya attempting to cross the Naff River into Bangladesh.
    In May in Magwe Division, military agents killed army sergeant 
Myint Soe during interrogation regarding the theft of firearms and 
ammunition from a military armory.
    In November in Bago Division, Win Maung reportedly died one day 
after police interrogated him regarding a theft case. A police agent 
declared officials would investigate the incident.
    In 2008 security forces killed several persons in their custody; 
however, at year's end no officials had been held accountable. For 
example, there were no developments in the killings by soldiers and 
riot police of at least 40 inmates at Insein Prison in May 2008. The 
government did not investigate or punish those responsible for other 
custodial deaths in 2008, including the following persons, all of whom 
died during interrogation: Zawmir Uddin in Rakhine State in February, a 
medical worker in Khawzar police station in Mon State in May, and a man 
at Magwe police station in June.
    The government took 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, including Buddhist monk U Thilavantha and 
Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai. Additionally, 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 in the incident, 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.).
    Ko Naing Ngan Lin, an NLD youth member, disappeared in the last 
week of June after leaving an Internet cafe in Rangoon. His whereabouts 
were unknown for four months, until he reappeared at the beginning of 
November. Family members said he had been held at the Aung Tha Pyay 
police guest house.
    During October 26-27, authorities arrested seven members of Lin Let 
Kye (Shining Star), a group formed in May 2008 to assist in the Cyclone 
Nargis relief effort. At year's end the whereabouts of the seven and 
the reason for their arrest were unknown.
    According to an NGO, more than 10 other persons, including 
entertainers, writers, and press workers, were arrested in October. 
There was no information on their whereabouts or the reason for their 
arrest.
    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.--There are laws that 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.).
    Between April 10-19, during the annual Thingyan water festival and 
Burmese New Year, thugs assaulted five NLD members, reportedly on order 
from the regime, in four separate incidents. At year's end police had 
not investigated the attacks.
    Former political prisoners released in September claimed the 
government subjected them to eight different types of torture--ranging 
from forced squatting for prolonged periods of time to electric 
shocks--during interrogation to extract confessions or 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.
    Monks in particular allegedly were subjected to cruel treatment. 
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. 
For example, in Chin State throughout the year there were reports the 
government army forced villagers to fence an army camp with bamboo 
sticks and transport army rations and supplies. The government took no 
action against those responsible.

    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), 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 the Asian and Pacific Conference of 
Correctional Administrators, in 2008 there were approximately 65,000 
male and 9,100 female prisoners. Pretrial detainees were held together 
with convicted prisoners. Former prisoners complained of being held in 
aging physical structures, which 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 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 
during the year, approximately three prisoners per month in one 
particular prison died due to the prison conditions.
    On April 7, there were reports the health of political prisoner Su 
Su Nwe, who suffered from a congenital heart problem, was 
deteriorating. The regime allowed her to be treated by a general 
practitioner but not a specialist. In July she reportedly was placed in 
solitary confinement for three days after singing an anthem composed by 
Min Ko Naing to mark Martyr's Day. Authorities moved her to the remote 
Hkamti Prison, reportedly as further punishment for her act.
    On April 16, the comedian/activist Zarganar, arrested and sentenced 
in 2008 to 59 years for speaking to foreign media about the situation 
of the persons left homeless after Cyclone Nargis, reportedly lost 
consciousness for approximately three hours, but prison officials did 
not permit him to see a doctor until two days later. He also reportedly 
suffered from acute symptoms of jaundice and hypertension for more than 
a week before receiving medical care.
    In May the group Burma Democratic Concern expressed serious 
apprehension about the health of Myo Yan Naung, to whom prison 
authorities allegedly denied treatment. Myo Yan Naung became paralyzed 
in 2007 when authorities severely tortured him during interrogation.
    In January the parents of Kay Thi Aung reported that in December 
2008 she suffered a second-trimester miscarriage in O Bo Prison. 
Arrested in September 2008, she was serving a 26-year sentence for 
allegedly crossing the border and maintaining contact with illegal 
organizations.
    On December 23, political prisoner Tin Tin Htway, the former NLD 
member who was arrested in 2007 for her involvement in the monk-led 
protests, died of a brain aneurysm. She suffered from heart disease and 
hypertension and was denied adequate medical treatment for her 
condition after her arrest, although she was transferred to a hospital 
outside the prison compound before her death.
    The government did not permit media and 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 minors, foreigners, and sick and elderly 
prisoners. The ICRC's mandate was limited to supporting family visits 
to detainees and providing physical rehabilitation for landmine victims 
and other persons with disabilities.

    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 Myanmar Police 
Force falls administratively under the Ministry of Home Affairs. 
Military Security Affairs (MSA) officers and Special Branch (SB) police 
officers are 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.
    Police corruption and impunity were serious problems. Police 
typically required victims to pay substantial sums for crime 
investigations and routinely extorted money from the civilian 
population. There are no effective legal mechanisms available to 
investigate security force abuses. 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 producing 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 it was 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 police arrested Nyi Nyi Aung of Sagaing Division and 
four others and detained them until April; they were accused of having 
attempted to establish an antigovernment organization. Police allegedly 
presented no legitimate evidence to support the charge.
    On February 27, police in Bago Division reportedly arrested three 
women and three girls and accused them of running an illegal lottery 
ring. One of the girls was judged to be under 15 years old and 
transferred to the juvenile justice system; the other two, also under 
15, and the three women were held without bail or access to legal 
counsel. They were later tried and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment 
with hard labor.
    On September 24, a Magwe court sentenced U Aye Myint to two years' 
imprisonment for threatening to injure a public servant. In August U 
Aye Myint, a lawyer active in land rights cases for farmers, confronted 
a forest manager for having filed a criminal complaint against two 
villagers who cut down trees on land confiscated from them. The judge 
claimed it was up to the defense to prove no threat was made, rather 
than for the prosecution to prove the case.
    During the year the regime detained 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 at year's end.
    House arrest was a common form of detention, usually reserved for 
high-profile political prisoners.

    Amnesty.--In February the government released 6,313 prisoners, 
including 19 political prisoners. On September 18, the government 
released 7,114 prisoners, including an estimated 127 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 judiciary system includes courts 
at the township, district, state, and national levels. While separate 
military courts for civilians do not exist, the regime frequently 
directs 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 outcome of 
the August trial of Aung San Suu Kyi on grounds that she violated the 
terms of her house arrest was predetermined by the government. On 
August 11, the Rangoon District Court convicted Aung San Suu Kyi and 
sentenced her to three years in prison. On August 10, a day before the 
court rendered the verdict, Senior General Than Shwe issued an 
executive order commuting the sentence to 18 months' house arrest.
    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, 
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 deprive citizens of the right to a fair 
trial and to stifle peaceful dissent. Executive Order 5/96, which 
provides for the arrest of any person deemed a threat to the National 
Convention 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 2000 Judiciary 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, 
this 15-day delay did not always apply in political cases. 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 their clients immediately upon entering the courtroom, 
without arguments. 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 without fear the lawyers might be 
imprisoned; 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. One father said 
police took his son for questioning and did not allow him to return 
home. After three weeks the father was granted limited access to see 
his son and was allowed to attend his son's trial until the judge 
revoked the defense lawyer's powers, effectively ending the trial. In 
another case the mother of a law student complained her son was given a 
13-year sentence but was not allowed to have a defense lawyer.
    The penal code allows the government to render excessive sentences 
against political activists. For example, article 505 of the penal code 
allows authorities to impose two-year prison terms on anyone who 
publishes material likely to cause alarm. Another provides an 
unspecified prison term for spreading rumors. In addition, the regime 
often prosecuted political prisoners under the Emergency Provision Act, 
Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to 
Cause Subversive Acts, Television and Video Act, Unlawful Association 
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 has with 
detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
    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 
at year's end there were more than 2,000 ``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.
    According to media reports, on January 15, authorities detained Pho 
Phyu, who had reported labor rights violations to the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) on behalf of a group of farmers. In April or 
May, Pho Phyu was sentenced to four years in prison for allegedly 
taking part in an illegal organization of lawyers. Zaw Htay, the 
facilitator in the farmers' case, reportedly took photographs of the 
land involved in the dispute and sent a video to the Democratic Voice 
of Burma, a nonprofit media organization outside the country, which 
showed it on foreign television. Zaw Htay was convicted of violating 
the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to 10 years in prison. On 
January 16, another human rights lawyer was arrested for confronting an 
immigration official over the issuance of a registration form to a 
local monk.
    On April 22, authorities arrested Twantay Township NLD Vice 
President Chit Phay and NLD member Maung Soe Wai after they led a 
Buddhist prayer meeting at a local pagoda to call for the release of 
Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners. They were each 
sentenced to an 18-month prison term for defaming religion.
    On May 13, authorities transferred Aung San Suu Kyi and two of her 
aides from her house to a guest house on the Insein Prison compound, 
where they were charged with violating the terms of her house arrest 
after an uninvited foreigner entered her home. On August 11, the 
government convicted her of the charges and returned her to house 
arrest for an additional 18 months. On October 2, the Rangoon 
Divisional Court rejected the appeal of her conviction. At year's end 
the Supreme Court had agreed to hear Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal but had 
not scheduled oral arguments.
    In August authorities detained at least 50 persons who had gathered 
near Insein Prison after the announcement of the verdict of Aung San 
Suu Kyi's trial, allegedly to preserve the peace. Riot police, security 
forces, and Swan Arr Shin militia detained the persons, mostly NLD 
members, but later released them with a warning not to return to the 
streets.
    On October 3, SB police arrested four female activists--NLD member 
Naw Ohn Hla, Myint Myint San, Ma Cho, and Cho Cho Lwin--after they 
returned from offering alms to monks at Magwe monastery in a suburb of 
Rangoon. Naw Ohn Hla was the organizer 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 the four were in custody while 
their trial continued.
    On October 13, the media reported the government sentenced four 
political activists--Ashin Sandimar, Kyaw Zin Min, Wunna Nwe, and Zin 
Min Shein--for violating the explosives and unlawful association law. 
Another seven--Saw Maung, Aung Moe Lwin, Moe Htet Nay, Tun Lin Aung, 
Zaw Latt, Naing Win, and Tun Lin Oo--received five years for violating 
the unlawful association law.
    On October 26, Ko Tin Htut from North Okkalapa Township in Rangoon 
Division was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for carrying a poster 
calling for the release of all political prisoners.
    During the year authorities handed down sentences for previously 
arrested political detainees. On January 3, the regime sentenced Bo Min 
Yu Ko, a member of the Mandalay branch of the All Burma Federation of 
Student Unions who was arrested in September 2008, to 104 years in 
prison. In February Kyaw Ko Ko, leader of the same student union 
federation who was arrested in March 2008, received three years' 
imprisonment.
    On February 13, NLD parliamentary members-elect Tin Min Htut and 
Nyi Pu, arrested in August 2008, were sentenced to 15 years' 
imprisonment. Both were cosignatories of a letter addressed to the UN 
Secretary-General expressing concern over the 2008 constitution.
    Ye Min Oo, Ye Myat Hein, Kyi Phyu, and Si Thu Maung, convicted in 
November 2008 of sedition after participating in the 2007 prodemocracy 
protests and sentenced to terms ranging from five to six and one-half 
years, remained in prison. Aung Kyaw Oo, also a participant in the 2007 
protests, remained in prison serving a term of four and a half years. 
Human rights observers believed Si Thu Maung remained in detention at 
year's end.
    Members of the group Generation 88 Students, Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko 
Gyi, Kyaw Min Yu, Mya Aye, Aung Thu, Min Zeya, and Myo Aung Naing, 
sentenced in November 2008 to 65 years' imprisonment, remained in 
prison. Fellow member Tin Htoo Aung, sentenced to 33 years' 
imprisonment, also remained in prison, as did Nilar Thein, sentenced to 
65 years. Generation 88 Students members Zeya, Kyaw Kyaw Htwe (Markee), 
Panneik Tun, and Zaw Zaw Min, sentenced in November 2008 to 65 years, 
remained in prison. Phone Cho, Arnt Bwe Kyaw, Htay Kywe, Thet Zaw, 
Sandar Min, and Nyan Lin, arrested and convicted in 2007, also 
continued to serve 65-year sentences. Zaw Htet Ko Ko remained in 
custody at year's end, serving a 12-year term in Taunggyi Prison in 
Shan State.
    Zaw Thet Htwe, sentenced in June 2008 to 19 years under the 
Electronics Act, continued to serve his prison term, reduced to 15 
years on appeal. Monk U Gambira, sentenced in November 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 November 2008.
    Numerous prodemocracy and human rights activists arrested in 2007 
were formally sentenced to prison terms during the year.
    NLD members Ko Kyi Phyu, Aung Min Naing, Ko Wunna Aung, and Ko Tin 
Mying, sentenced in 2007 to terms ranging from two and a half to six 
and a half years, remained in prison. Human rights observers believed 
several other NLD members arrested in 2007 remained in detention 
without conviction at year's end, including Ko Ye Min Zaw, Ko Soe 
Khine, Shwe Maung, Ko Myo Khin, Ko Tun Myint, Ko Tin Oo Maung, Thin Gan 
Gyun, Ko Phyo Min Kyin, Ko Tin Zaw Oo, Ko Law Lwin, Ko Taw Taw Aung, 
and Ko Ye.
    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. Human rights observers believed several of Htin 
Kyaw's supporters remained in detention at year's end, including Zaw 
Nyunt, Ko Han, and Han Ti.
    Human rights observers believed prodemocracy activist Myat San, who 
was arrested in 2007, remained in detention at year's end. They also 
believed the leader of the Maggin Monastery, Sayada Aindakaat, remained 
in detention, as well as other monks arrested in 2007, including Sanda 
Wara.
    The government extended the house arrest of NLD Vice-Chairman U Tin 
Oo for another year in February. U Tin Oo has been detained since May 
2003 without trial.
    The whereabouts of several persons detained in during 2007-2008, 
including Aung Htun, Myat Thu, and Aung Kyaw San, remained unknown; 
human rights observers believed they continued to be detained without 
charge. The whereabouts of Khun Maung and several others could not be 
verified.

    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.
    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. Authorities in Rangoon 
Division continued sporadically to require households to have ``family 
photographs'' taken for government agents to use when conducting 
nighttime checks of residences. Households subjected to this 
requirement were required to pay for the cost of their photographs, 
usually at significantly higher than market rates, and permanently 
display in their homes the photographs of authorized residents.
    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 routine monitoring of 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.
    Government employees generally were prohibited from joining or 
supporting political parties; however, this proscription was applied 
selectively. The government used coercion and intimidation to induce 
persons, including nearly all public-sector employees and many 
students, to join the government's mass mobilization organization--the 
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)--the government-
backed Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation (MWAF), and the Myanmar 
Maternal and Child Welfare Association, and attend meetings in support 
of the regime. The government also used coercion to entice or force 
members of the NLD and other opposition parties to resign, and it 
publicized the coerced resignations in government media.
    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.
    The media reported that in May authorities in Rakhine State seized 
150 acres of farmland to set up an oil terminal after promising to pay 
compensation. At year's end the villagers had not received any 
compensation.
    In 2008 there were reports of forced relocations, often accompanied 
by executions, rapes, 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 particularly widespread 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.
    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, through its 
armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army. 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.
    In June a reported 4,000 Karen fled to Thailand after attacks by a 
joint force of the army and the government-allied Democratic Karen 
Buddhist Army soldiers. In July approximately 500 Karen fled into the 
jungle without food, water, or medicine after similar attacks launched 
by the army.
    From August 27-29, government soldiers attacked the Kokang 
ceasefire group, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. Press 
reports claimed tens of thousands of civilians fled to China as a 
result of the fighting. Government soldiers destroyed several villages 
in Shan territory; some media estimates suggested the army razed up to 
500 homes in Kokang territory. On August 31, the government declared 26 
government troops and eight Kokang militants were killed during the 
attack, which the government claimed was to shut down narcotics and 
arms factories.

    Killings.--In May in Shan State, government troops reportedly 
summarily executed two villagers who were detained after a joint Karen 
National Liberation Army/Pa-O National Liberation Army attack on 
government forces.
    On June 17, government army soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion 
205 in Hpa An District on the border with Thailand reportedly raped and 
killed two Karen girls. The girls, ages 17 and 18, reportedly were 
attacked after their husbands fled into the jungle to avoid being 
forced to work as porters for the government army.
    In July government authorities gave 500,000 kyat (approximately 
$500) and food to compensate the family of a 15-year-old girl who was 
raped and killed by government soldiers in Kachin State. Although 
eyewitness accounts suggested other soldiers were involved in the 
incident, only one soldier was convicted of murder. No rape charges 
were filed.
    According to reports from Wan Kart villagers who fled to Thailand, 
on August 3, government soldiers beheaded Nang Hsoi, whom they believed 
to be the wife of a Shan State Army (South) fighter.
    According to an NGO report, in August, as part of a campaign to cut 
food, funds, intelligence, and recruits to the armed resistance by the 
local populace, the government army forcibly relocated hundreds of 
villagers after razing houses in three townships in Shan State. During 
the forced relocation, authorities reportedly beat and killed 
villagers; others sought safety by hiding in the jungle.
    On September 8, the media reported the rape and murder of a 14-
year-old girl by a group of policemen in Shan State. Police then 
allegedly arrested, detained, and tortured seven innocent persons, 
including some of those who found her body. Police also threatened the 
victims' relatives to prevent the perpetrators from being tried.
    According to the most recent data available, 47 persons died and an 
estimated 400 were injured by landmines in 2007.
    In 2008 there were unverified reports of deaths and injuries caused 
by security forces using civilians to clear landmines, particularly in 
Karen State, where the army continued attacks against ethnic villages.

    Disappearance.--There were reports of disappearances during 
government army attacks in Shan and Karen states. Observers believed 
many persons were killed and others fled to the border.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--The Thailand-based Karen 
Women's Organization documented more than 4,000 cases of abuse 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 
government army battalions.
    On August 5, the media reported the rape of a 15-year-old girl in 
Shan State by a government army patrol as she and her sister were on 
their way to look for livestock.
    According to media reports, a government army soldier in Shan State 
attempted to rape a 16-year-old girl. The soldier reportedly paid the 
girl's parents 600 yuan (approximately $86) after the incident as an 
apology, and he gave local military authorities 1,000 to 1,600 yuan in 
bribes ($143 to 229) to evade legal action. (Note: Chinese yuan is a 
commonly used currency near the border with China.)
    NGOs and international organizations continued to report numerous 
sexual assaults by soldiers throughout the rest of the country.
    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. Some reports indicated the army recruited 
children as young as 11. Credible sources indicated the number of child 
soldiers may have risen to 12,000, although accurate statistics were 
difficult to obtain.
    In September the media reported 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 (approximately $200) for each 
child soldier they conscripted. Other children were kidnapped.
    Authorities charged some recruiting staff and other military 
personnel for unlawful recruiting child soldiers. During the year a 
captain was dismissed from the army and sentenced to one year with hard 
labor in a civilian prison. This was the first case of military 
personnel being punished in a civilian prison for unlawful child-
soldier recruiting. This offense may also result in one to three months 
in military prison with hard labor, loss of 12 months' seniority for 
pension and promotion rights, salary deductions, and reprimand.
    Ethnic militias, among both ceasefire and non-ceasefire groups, 
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. In his 2009 report on the use of child soldiers in 
Burma, the UN Secretary-General cited evidence both the government army 
and several armed insurgent and ceasefire groups recruited child 
soldiers. The ILO reported there were 78 complaints of cases of child-
soldier recruitment. The government cooperated with the ILO to return 
46 child soldiers--34 from 2009 cases and 10 from 2008 cases. The 
government agreed to discharge two others because they were children 
when recruited. There were no reports of harassment of persons who 
complained about child-soldier cases.

    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.
    Forced relocations generated large refugee flows to neighboring 
countries or to parts of the country not controlled by the government. 
Ethnic groups reported continued military action, which sent thousands 
of refugees and migrant workers into neighboring countries.
    According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR), 184,413 Burmese refugees lived in camps in Thailand. The 
regime did not allow the UNHCR to monitor fully the potential areas of 
return to assess conditions for the voluntary return of the refugees 
and internally displaced persons, leading the UNHCR to determine 
conditions remained unsuitable for their return.
    Approximately 21,000 Rohingyas 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.

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 December 31, a Pakkoku district court added 20 years to the 
seven-year prison sentence of Hla Hla Win for violating the Electronic 
Transactions Act. According to the media, Hla Hla Win was a freelance 
journalist working for the Democratic Voice of Burma. Her associate, 
Myint Naing, was given 18 additional years for two unspecified charges. 
The two initially were arrested in September and subsequently sentenced 
in October to seven years each by a Pakkoku township court for riding a 
motorcycle that had not been properly registered. They reportedly had 
visited a monastery to interview monks shortly before being arrested.
    On July 30-31, authorities detained 16 NLD members in Rangoon and 
approximately 20 NLD members in the cities of Magwe and Mandalay in 
anticipation of the announcement of the then scheduled verdict in the 
Aung San Suu Kyi trial. Some of those detained were members of the 
Tuesday Prayer Group. Although some were released, the whereabouts of 
the majority were unknown at year's end.
    On August 31, police reportedly arrested Zaw Naing for staging a 
silent protest of the detention of more than 2,000 political prisoners 
by hanging a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi around his neck. Zaw Naing 
received seven days in prison.
    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.
    According to media reports, on December 10, local authorities 
banned a scheduled ceremony commemorating Human Rights Day in Pyay.
    On September 1, SB police arrested six politically active Arakanese 
university students. 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. The media reported the authorities arrested up to 20 Arakanese 
youth. At year's end their whereabouts were unknown.
    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 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 
censors all private publications, including books. The censorship 
process for books can take several months or several years.
    In late May/early June, the press was prohibited from publishing 
information about the investigation into the collapse of the Danoke 
pagoda in Dala, in which several persons died. Also in June government 
censors banned the publication of news regarding the pending arrival of 
a foreign ship suspected of transporting weapons. Censors also banned 
articles on demonstrations following the disputed elections in Iran.
    In August the government ordered the indefinite closure of the 
weekly newspaper Phoenix for repeatedly submitting articles late to the 
Press Scrutiny Board.
    Privately owned media existed, but the government's Press Scrutiny 
Board 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. 
Government agents or supporters held an estimated one-third of private 
media licenses.
    Reporters were subject to arrest, harassment, intimidation, and 
violence by the authorities and supporters of the regime.
    On May 5, government authorities detained two foreign journalism 
trainers in Mandalay. On the following day the two were taken to 
Rangoon and deported.
    On June 18, a Bahan court sentenced freelance journalist Zaw Tun to 
two years in prison, allegedly for obstructing the work of an official. 
Zaw Tun was arrested near the home of Aung San Suu Kyi by a police 
officer, who claimed Zaw Tun had shown ``hostility'' toward the 
officer.
    On June 23, military intelligence agents went to several Rangoon 
media offices and demanded the names of journalists who had 
participated in training sessions at a foreign embassy in Rangoon, 
although no action was taken against the journalists.
    On October 28, government agents arrested 12 persons, including 
staff members from The Voice, Foreign News, Pyi Myanmar, and 
Kandarawaddy journals. It appeared the government was targeting persons 
involved with a relief program for Cyclone Nargis victims.
    In September Thet Zin, editor of Myanmar Nation magazine, was 
released after having been sentenced in November 2008 to seven years' 
imprisonment for violating the Printers and Publishers Act. Sein Win 
Maung, the magazine's office manager, sentenced to seven years at the 
same time, remained in prison.
    Many prominent writers and journalists remained in prison for 
expressing their political views. According to Reporters Without 
Borders, at the beginning of 2008, eight journalists were in prison, 
including Myat Swe (Sunny Swe) and his father Thein Swe, co-owners of 
the English- and Burmese-language weekly newspaper Myanmar Times. Ko 
Aung Gyi, former editor of 90 Minutes, was released in September.
    The media practiced self censorship due to fear of government 
reprisal. Publications generally did not report domestic political 
news, 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 had no expatriates 
based in the country. Foreign news agency bureau chiefs were rarely 
permitted to enter on journalist visas.
    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 continued to monopolize and control the content 
of the two domestic radio stations. Foreign radio broadcasts, such as 
those of Radio Free Asia, the Voice of America, the BBC, and the 
Democratic Voice of Burma, remained the principal sources of uncensored 
information.
    The government continued to monopolize and control all domestic 
television broadcasting tightly. It offered four public channels--three 
controlled by the Ministry of Information and one controlled by the 
armed forces. The general population was allowed to register satellite 
television receivers for a fee, although it remained far too expensive 
for the majority of the population.
    The law makes it a criminal offense 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.
    Internet access and usage was extremely limited, due to government 
restrictions and lack of infrastructure. According to the International 
Telecommunication Union, in 2008 the number of Internet subscribers was 
less 0.04 percent of the population and 0.2 percent of inhabitants used 
the Internet, mostly in cybercafes in cities.
    Authorities frequently blocked access to Web sites attracting many 
users or 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 free e-mail services 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 the 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.
    Nay Phone Latt (Nay Myo Kyaw), Internet blogger and owner of three 
Internet cafes who in November 2008 was sentenced to 20 years and six 
months, remained in prison at year's end.

    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. 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 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 
madrassas. During the year the government cracked down on private 
tutoring and tried to ban the practice.
    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. An ordinance officially prohibits 
unauthorized outdoor assemblies of more than five persons, although it 
was not enforced consistently, and authorities sometimes prohibited 
smaller gatherings. While the NLD is a legal political party, all of 
its offices, except its Rangoon headquarters, remained closed by 
government order, and the NLD could not lawfully conduct party 
activities outside its headquarters building. The government required 
the nine other legally registered political parties to request 
permission from the government to hold meetings of their members.
    The regime and its supporters routinely used intimidation, 
violence, and the power of arrest to disrupt peaceful demonstrations 
and meetings.
    At least 50 persons reportedly were arrested outside Insein Prison 
after the verdict from Aung San Suu Kyi's trial was announced in 
August, but they were released soon thereafter and told not to go back 
onto the streets.

    Freedom of Association.--The Association Law provides for citizens 
to form associations and organizations; however, the government 
restricted freedom of association, particularly for NLD members, 
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 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 USDA. Few secular, nonprofit organizations existed, and 
those that did took special care to act in accordance with government 
policy. There were 10 legally registered political parties, but most 
were moribund. Authorities harassed and intimidated parties not 
supportive of regime policies.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The government restricted freedom of 
religion.
    There is no official state religion, but the government showed 
preference for Theravada Buddhism, the majority religion. However, the 
government continued its efforts to control the Buddhist clergy 
(Sangha) for political reasons. The government did not hesitate to 
arrest and imprison lower-level Buddhist monks who opposed the 
government. Authorities did not allow imprisoned monks to shave their 
heads or receive food in accordance with the monastic code. Like other 
political prisoners, monks often were beaten and forced to do hard 
labor. The government also subjected the Sangha to special restrictions 
on freedom of expression and association.
    In the weeks leading up to the September anniversary of the 2007 
protests and crackdown, security forces monitored many of the largest 
monasteries in the cities of Rangoon and Mandalay and the state of 
Rakhine suspected of involvement in prodemocracy activities.
    In August nine monks arrested in July 2008 at Rangoon's Central 
Railway Station were sentenced to two years' imprisonment for ``the 
deliberate and malicious...outraging of religious feelings.'' 
Authorities arrested the nine monks for no apparent reason. The monks 
had arrived separately at the station and were returning to their 
hometowns for a visit.
    The government required citizens and permanent residents of the 
country to carry government-issued national registration cards that 
often indicated religious affiliation and ethnicity. There appeared to 
be no consistent criteria governing whether a person's religion was 
indicated on the identification card. The government required citizens 
to indicate their religion on certain official application forms, such 
as for passports.
    Most adherents of registered religious groups generally were free 
to worship as they chose; however, the government imposed restrictions 
on certain religious activities and promoted Buddhism over other 
religions. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has a separate department 
for the ``promotion and propagation of Sasana'' (Buddhism). The 
government promoted education at Buddhist monastic schools in rural 
areas and subsidized Buddhist universities in Rangoon and Mandalay.
    Virtually all organizations, religious or otherwise, must register 
with the government. Although an official directive exempts ``genuine'' 
religious organizations from registration, in practice only registered 
organizations were allowed to buy or sell property or open bank 
accounts. Consequently, most religious organizations registered with 
the government.
    The government prohibited efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote 
human rights and political freedom. Members of the Sangha were not 
allowed to preach sermons pertaining to politics. Religious lectures 
could not contain any words, phrases, or stories reflecting political 
views. The regime told Sangha members to distance themselves from 
politics, political parties, and members of political parties. The 
government prohibited any organization of the Sangha other than the 
nine state-recognized monastic orders under the authority of the State 
Clergy Coordination Committee. The government prohibited all religious 
clergy from membership in a political party.
    Religious activities and organizations were subject to restrictions 
on freedom of expression and association. The government's pervasive 
internal security apparatus imposed de facto restrictions on collective 
and individual worship through its infiltration and monitoring of 
meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including 
religious ones.
    The government discouraged proselytizing by all clergy. 
Evangelizing religions, including some Christian denominations, were 
most affected by these restrictions. The government generally did not 
allow permanent foreign religious missions to operate in the country.
    There was no information on the whereabouts of monks U Damathara 
and U Nandara from the Thardu monastery in Rangoon, who were arrested 
in August 2008.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
conflicts between Muslims and Buddhists in the country. While official 
religious discrimination was limited, de facto preferences for 
Buddhists remained. There was one synagogue in Rangoon serving a small 
Jewish congregation. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 tight 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 Rohingyas, 
particularly in Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, and Rathedaung 
townships along the border with Bangladesh. Muslim youth 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 occurring.
    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 under 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 (approximately 
$400), roughly equivalent to the average annual salary of a skilled 
worker.
    The government regularly declined to issue passports to former 
political prisoners, activists, and some local staff of foreign 
embassies. College graduates who obtained a passport (except for 
certain government employees) were 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; all other travel required advance 
permission and was commonly denied.
    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).--The main causes of 
displacement were army offensives against ethnic opposition groups, 
forced relocation and labor, and recruitment of child soldiers. 
According to the UNHCR, there were at least 500,000 IDPs in the 
country, although accurate figures were difficult to determine due to 
poor access to affected areas. 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 ongoing fighting between government army and 
insurgent groups, according to credible observers along the border. In 
addition female IDPs frequently suffered rape, according to these 
observers.
    According to NGOs, in late July government troops operating in Shan 
State burned 10 villages and forcibly relocated an additional 30, 
affecting 2,000 to 2,500 individuals. Shan groups also accused the army 
of other grave human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrest, 
torture, gang rape, and arbitrary execution. According to reports, an 
estimated 4,000 to 10,000 ethnic Karens were displaced by the latest 
wave of violence in June and July.

    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 
``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 Rohingyas in northern Rakhine 
State, whom the government does not recognize as citizens.
    A two-year MOU signed in 2007 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.
    UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres visited the 
country March 7-12.

    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 majority-Muslim Rohingya 
fare the worst, with nearly all Rohingya denied any benefits of 
citizenship.
    According to the UNHCR, there were approximately 730,000 legally 
stateless persons, mostly Rohingya, residing in northern Rakhine State 
near the border with Bangladesh. The government does not recognise 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 Rohingyas 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 Rohingyas who were able to 
prove long familial links to the country were eligible to apply for 
naturalization.
    Rohingyas experienced severe legal, economic, and social 
discrimination. The government required them to receive prior approval 
for travel outside their village tract of residence. Local residents 
reported the farther from home the applicant intended to travel, the 
more difficult it was to obtain permission, with travel outside of 
Rakhine State severely restricted. In contrast, citizens do not need 
approval to travel within the country; they need only be in possession 
of a citizenship card. Rohingyas had extremely limited access to higher 
education and could not work as civil servants, including as doctors, 
nurses, or teachers. Access to medical care was extremely limited. 
Rohingyas did not have access to state-operated schools beyond primary 
education. In 2008 Rohingyas without temporary identification cards did 
not have the right to vote in the constitutional referendum. 
Authorities required Rohhingyas to obtain official permission for 
marriages.
    The government continued a program supported by the UNHCR to issue 
Temporary Registration Certificate's (TCRs) to stateless persons in 
Rakhine State. The UNHCR reported the government issued 35,000 TCRs in 
2007 and nearly 50,000 in 2008. The cards, which are necessary for many 
basic tasks, such as seeking a marriage license and travel 
authorization, did not confer citizenship but, by confirming lawful 
residence, contributed to improving legal status.

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--provides for popularly 
elected legislators to a bicameral parliament; however, it stipulates 
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 within 90 days of the general election. At year's end a date 
for the 2010 elections had not been set, nor had electoral legislation 
been issued.
    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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In May 2008 the regime 
announced 98.12 percent of eligible voters had participated in a 
referendum to approve its new constitution and the constitution had 
been approved by 92.48 percent of voters, figures no independent 
observers believed were valid. The regime did not permit comprehensive 
election monitoring. It allowed diplomats to visit only handpicked 
polling places under supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
Despite these restrictive conditions, foreign diplomatic observers 
witnessed irregularities, including voters being photographed by 
authorities and officials following voters into ballot booths. Domestic 
and international human rights groups reported numerous, more serious 
election irregularities, including voter intimidation and ballot 
stuffing.
    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. At year's end the 
SPDC and military remained in control of all organs of government.
    The government severely restricted the operations of political 
parties, and persons who opposed the government were subjected to 
imprisonment, violence, and harassment. The government restricted 
political opponents' right to organize and publicize their views.
    Military operations against civilians in contested areas in the 
ethnic states increased; many observers believed the government engaged 
in such actions to reduce potential opposition to the 2010 elections. 
Ethnic ceasefire 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.
    Women were excluded from political leadership. Members of certain 
minority groups also 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.
    On October 15, the media reported the dismissal of two senior 
judges, Win Myint Oo and Thawtar Min, and one legal advisor, Bo Min 
Phyu, in Shan State after government officials accused them of 
accepting 100 million kyat (approximately $100,000) in bribes.
    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.
    Approximately 45 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, its frequent interrogation of citizens 
concerning contacts with foreigners, its restrictions on the freedom of 
expression and association of citizens, and its practice of arresting 
citizens who passed information about government human rights abuses to 
foreigners obstructed efforts to investigate human rights abuses. 
Reports of abuses, especially those committed in prisons or ethnic 
minority areas, often emerged months or years after the abuses 
allegedly were committed and seldom could be verified.
    Authorities often allowed NGO staff to travel ``unaccompanied'' to 
areas affected by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, although SB police monitored 
many visits. 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. UN agencies and NGOs continued to 
negotiate with the government to agree on mutually acceptable 
guidelines for the activities of humanitarian organizations.
    There were several high-level visits by UN officials during the 
year. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited in July. During his 
visit he met with Senior General Than Shwe, Prime Minister Thein Sein, 
several opposition and ethnic leaders, and the UN country team; 
however, Than Shwe denied Secretary-General Ban's request to meet with 
Aung San Suu Kyi, who was on trial at the time. Secretary-General Ban 
said he conveyed a strong message on the need for political and 
economic reform to the generals. He delivered a speech in Rangoon 
highlighting the need for good governance. UN Special Envoy Ibrahim 
Gambari visited the country in late January and again in July 
accompanying Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
    In February UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Burma Tomas 
Ojea Quintana also visited the country. The report issued by his office 
highlighted concerns about the situation of political prisoners and the 
lack of freedom of expression, assembly, and association as they relate 
to the 2010 elections. It also covered a wide range of other issues 
including internal conflicts, discrimination, and human rights. Ojea 
Quintana concluded the human rights situation remained serious and 
recommended the government implement four core human rights elements 
before the 2010 elections: a review of national legislation in 
accordance with the 2008 constitution and international obligations, 
the progressive release of prisoners of conscience, the reform of the 
armed forces to ensure respect for international human rights and 
humanitarian law, and the establishment of an independent and impartial 
judiciary. According to the report, government officials were generally 
receptive to his recommendations, but by year's end the special 
rapporteur had not seen a progress report from the government. The 
special rapporteur was scheduled to return in December, but no 
agreement could be reached with the government regarding a date for his 
visit.

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 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, 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. Typically punishment for men in these 
cases was a fine but no jail time. The government-affiliated 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 is controlled by 
wives of regime leaders, police usually investigated cases referred to 
them by the group.
    Prostitution is prohibited by law and punishable by up to five 
years in prison. In practice most prostitutes received three years' 
imprisonment, while brothel owners received five years in prison. 
Clients were not punished; they received HIV/AIDS counseling. 
Prostitution grew in urban areas, particularly in some of Rangoon's 
``border towns,'' ``new towns'' (populated chiefly by poor families who 
were relocated forcibly from older areas of the capital), and in 
downtown massage parlors that doubled as brothels. Police tolerated the 
existence of these brothels and prostitution in exchange for bribes and 
in-kind payments.
    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, and they did so free from 
discrimination. Access to information on contraception was limited, and 
reproductive health services, including the availability of 
contraceptives, generally were limited to private clinics. 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 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 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 association enjoyed good 
relations with the government and was allowed to conduct its activities 
to support women in business.

    Children.--According to the Burma Citizenship Law, citizenship is 
derived through parents, both of whom must be nationals of the country.
    Education is compulsory, free, and universal through the fourth 
standard (approximately age 10). However, the government continued to 
allocate minimal resources to public education. 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.
    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; it 
is 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits enslaving and 
trafficking persons, but trafficking within and from the country was a 
significant problem. Government and military use of forced labor 
remained widespread. Shan and other ethnic minority women and girls 
were trafficked across the border to nearby provinces in China. Karen 
and Mon women and girls were trafficked into nearby provinces in 
Thailand. Both adults and minors were trafficked for the purpose of 
forced labor in some places. Victims of both genders were trafficked to 
East and Southeast Asia and the Middle East for sexual exploitation, 
domestic servitude, and bonded labor. Young women and girls were at the 
highest risk for trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. 
Victims of trafficking faced hazardous conditions, including sexual and 
physical abuse by their traffickers, poor nutrition and sanitary 
conditions, and disease, including tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
    Some human traffickers appeared to be freelance, small-scale 
operators using village contacts to send victims to brokers overseas. 
Brokers were primarily foreign, but some Burmese brokers operated in 
Thailand and China.
    A report issued in August by a local NGO, which documented 40 
incidents of sexual abuse and trafficking against 71 women and 
children, found traffickers often promised women good jobs and higher 
living standards in other cities or countries. Ultimately, the women 
were forced to become sex workers, sold to factories in neighboring 
countries, or forced to marry or bear children. The incidents primarily 
occurred in the south, along the border with Thailand.
    There was evidence internal trafficking generally occurred from 
poor agricultural and urban centers to areas where prostitution 
flourished (trucking routes, mining areas, military bases, and 
industrial areas), as well as along the borders with Thailand and 
China.
    Military and civilian officials remained directly involved in 
forced labor and the unlawful conscription of child soldiers, with 
reported cases of child soldiers increasing annually. The military 
forcibly recruited thousands of children and adults to serve as 
civilian laborers and uniformed soldiers. The risk of forced military 
recruitment was widespread and not limited to specific states or 
divisions. Some children were threatened with jail if they did not 
agree to join the army. Poor villagers in rural regions were often 
required to provide corvee labor on demand as a tax imposed by 
authorities. ILO staff engaged the military through meetings and 
training to raise awareness of the need to end the practice of child 
recruitment. The ILO reported growing awareness of the topic at all 
ranks within the military.
    The penalties for trafficking women and minors is 10 years to life; 
for trafficking men, five to 10 years; for fraud for the purpose of 
trafficking, three to seven years; for using trafficked victims for 
pornography, five to 10 years; for trafficking with an organized 
criminal group, 10 years to life; for serious crime involving 
trafficking, 10 years to life or the death penalty; for a public 
official accepting money related to an investigation of the trafficking 
law, three to seven years. All penalties also include the option of a 
fine.
    The government made a degree of progress against trafficking in 
persons. Officials recognized the importance of preventing cross-border 
trafficking and prosecuting traffickers. In the past they sometimes 
conflated human smuggling and human trafficking, according to experts 
in the region. Police contacts displayed increasing sophistication in 
their understanding of the differences between trafficking victims and 
illegal migrants. The government did little to combat internal 
trafficking and took minimal action on forced labor.
    The Ministry of Home Affairs continued to maintain there was no 
complicity of government officials in trafficking; however, corruption 
among local government officials was believed to be widespread. NGOs 
reported the complicity of government officials in trafficking, 
although it appeared to be mainly a question of local and regional 
officials turning a blind eye to trafficking activities rather than 
active involvement by members of the central government. Authorities 
took unprecedented action against members of the military involved in 
child recruitment. An army captain was sentenced to one year of hard 
labor in a civilian prison for his role in child recruitment. Two 
enlisted soldiers were sentenced to shorter terms in a military prison, 
and two noncommissioned officers received stronger administrative 
punishments than were reported in the past.
    The government had four vocational training centers and one house 
to shelter female trafficking victims; male victims were temporarily 
sheltered in training schools. The government requires repatriated 
victims to stay in these centers for a minimum of two weeks, and in 
practice often longer, where they were confined contrary to 
international norms of victim protection. The MWAF and the Department 
of Social Welfare reported they provided some basic health and 
compulsory counseling services and job training for trafficking victims 
before turning them over to an NGO or returning them to their families. 
However, government funding for these programs was very limited.
    The Ministry of Home Affairs placed antitrafficking task forces at 
22 locations known to be trafficking points. With assistance from 
international NGOs, the government conducted training and advocacy 
workshops and also approved nationwide television and radio 
announcements and distribution of materials at the state/division 
level.
    The government worked with the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human 
Trafficking to sponsor seminars for national, state/division, and 
lower-level authorities and received training from the Asia Regional 
Trafficking in Persons Project. International and local NGOs offered 
poverty alleviation and educational programs designed to counter 
trafficking.
    The government continued to implement a National Action Plan 
against Trafficking in Persons. The five-year plan lays out the 
government's priorities for 2007-2011. A senior police official stated 
the government's priorities included conducting training courses, 
improving support services provided to victims, raising public 
awareness, and improving coordination with neighboring countries on 
cross-border trafficking in persons matters.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law providing for equal 
treatment before the law and for general protection against 
discrimination. Under the constitution, all citizens have the right to 
education and healthcare. The government did not actively discriminate 
against persons with disabilities in employment, access to healthcare, 
education, or the provision of other state services, 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 who returned to Rakhine State were discriminated 
against because of their ethnicity. Returnees 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. According to media reports, during the 
year the government resettled approximately 300 ethnic Burmese in 
Maungdaw Township in Rakhine State; the government offered many 
individuals land, housing, and food for six months.
    There were several reports of ethnic villages being displaced for 
economic development. In Shan State, the Pa-O Youth Organization 
reported plans to develop an iron ore mine could displace more than 
7,000 homes. In Rakhine State the All Arakenese Student and Youth 
Congress claimed six villages were relocated. In each case local 
villagers claimed they were not adequately consulted or compensated 
prior to the relocation. Kachin villagers in the Hukawng Valley also 
reported that as many as 40,000 ethnic Burmese were relocated there to 
work for the Rangoon-based Yuzana Company's sugarcane plantation.

    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.--HIV-positive patients 
were discriminated against, although HIV activists reported 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.''
    In the past the government forbade seafarers who found work on 
foreign vessels through the Seafarers Employment Control Division from 
having contact with the Seafarers' Union of Burma--affiliated to the 
government-banned FTUB--and the International Transport Workers' 
Federation. During the year the government sometimes refused to 
document seafarers who were abroad, which complicated the efforts of 
seafarers to find regular employment.
    Several FTUB leaders and labor activists continued to serve long-
term sentences, including FTUB Central Executive Committee members Myo 
Aung Thant, U Aung Thein, Khin Maung Win, Ma Khin Mar Soe, Ma Thein 
Thein Aye, U Aung Moe Tin Oo, Kyi Thein, Chaw Su Hlaing, U Tin Hla, and 
10 FTUB organizers in the Bago area.
    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 in May 2007 and sentenced in 
September 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 ahalf years' and 10 years' 
imprisonment in December 2008, respectively. The status of Khin Mauong 
Cho, also arrested in 2008, was unknown.
    The law prohibits labor strikes. In contrast with 2008, there were 
no reports of informal strikes during the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The government 
generally does not allow workers to organize or bargain collectively. 
However, Workers' Supervision Committees (WSCs) 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 WSC 
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 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 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 reported one 
complaint during the year of internal trafficking for child forced 
labor at a horticultural plantation, where 100 boys ages 13 to 15 
reportedly were forced to work and held in a barracks at night. The boy 
who reported the case was initially abducted in Rangoon Division and 
taken to the plantation.
    The Chin Human Rights organization reported in Chin State the SPDC 
forced villagers to cut wood from the forest, repair and construct army 
camps, transport army rations and supplies, and dismantle fences around 
the camps. The government army also allegedly forced students to work 
for them on weekends and holidays.
    The government's use of forced labor in support of military 
garrisons or military operations remained serious in ethnic or 
religious minority regions. According to NGO sources such as the Karen 
Human Rights Group, villagers were ordered to build or repair military 
camp infrastructure and perform other tasks within the camps, such as 
standing guard. The same source also reported villagers were required 
to bring lumber, at their own expense, to construct and repair military 
facilities.
    During the year the Karen Human Rights Group also reported on the 
army's continued use of ethnic Karen villagers as porters in attacks 
against Karen villages in Bago Division and Karen and Kayah states.
    Reports of forced labor for smaller projects in villages 
countrywide persisted. Authorities also 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. In May the 
government reportedly forced some villagers to work on a road 
construction project in Rangoon for six days. Each person who refused 
had to pay a fine of 2,000 kyat (approximately two dollars) per day.
    In October 12 farmers in Magwe Division were sentenced to hard 
labor on charges of trespassing after returning to land confiscated by 
the government. The farmers allegedly refused to grow sugarcane for the 
army-run sugar factory. With the help of the ILO, in March the farmers 
reached an agreement with the government to return to the land. 
However, the factory later sued, and the court convicted the farmers.
    There were reports in 2007 and 2008 from nearly every division and 
state of authorities forcing citizens to buy and plant physic nut trees 
on public and private property as part of the regime's campaign to 
produce more biodiesel fuel. Those who tried to avoid planting the 
trees were threatened with fines.
    On February 26, the 2007 Supplementary Understanding on Forced 
Labor, an agreement between the government and the ILO, was extended 
for an additional 12 months. Under the agreement the government permits 
the ILO to set up a system allowing citizens to register complaints 
with the ILO without government retaliation; it also requires the 
government and the ILO to investigate jointly allegations of labor 
abuses referred by the ILO. However, the ILO reported rare instances of 
persons arrested after filing forced-labor complaints to the ILO and 
charged under the Official Secrets Acts.
    Although the government took steps to address forced labor, it 
remained widespread. The government publicly supported the 
Supplementary Understanding--the 2007 agreement under which the 
government investigates forced labor complaints--and worked with the 
ILO to engage in awareness-raising activities, in addition to willingly 
participating in some joint investigations of forced-labor cases.

    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. The use of child labor was found in the production of 
rubies, teak, rice, rubber, and sugarcane. 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 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 ceasefire groups also 
allegedly recruited child soldiers (see section 1.g.).
    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.

    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 15,000 kyat (approximately $15) for what was in 
effect an eight-hour workday. The rate for day laborers was 500 kyat 
($0.50) 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 500 to 1,000 kyat ($0.50 to $1.00) per 
day, while rural agricultural workers earned approximately half that 
rate. 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 kyat ($30) 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 and state 
enterprise 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 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 existed, but the government 
did not enforce them. Although workers may remove themselves from 
hazardous conditions, many could not expect to retain their jobs if 
they did so.

                               __________

                                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 July 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 
past 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 the CPP leadership.
    The government's human rights record remained poor. Security forces 
committed extrajudicial 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 were a 
problem. The government restricted freedom of speech and the press 
through defamation and disinformation lawsuits and at times interfered 
with freedom of assembly. Corruption was endemic. 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 
extrajudicial killings, although significantly fewer than in previous 
years.
    The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) 
reported 18 arbitrary killings, seven of which allegedly were committed 
by police, three by soldiers, one by a military police officer, and the 
remaining seven by local-level government officials. Police arrested 
suspects in at least four cases.
    On March 4, Inn Pheang, a soldier in the military's Battalion 617, 
reportedly shot and killed opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) activist 
Mang Vith during a dispute in Kampong Cham's Memot District. Sources 
agreed that Mang Vith was drunk at the time of the incident, and the 
two men exchanged words briefly before Inn Pheang opened fire. The 
soldier reached a settlement with the victim's family out of court.
    On June 18, Ou Bunthan, a soldier in the military's 14th 
Intervention Brigade in Pursat Province, immolated civilian Loeung 
Saroeun. The victim reportedly worked for Ou Bunthan as part of an 
illegal wildlife trade business. The military court issued a warrant 
for the arrest of Ou Bunthan, who remained in hiding at year's end.
    On July 6, Phnom Penh military police officer Kep Bros, a bodyguard 
for the Phnom Penh governor, shot and killed Soy Sokhorn during a 
dispute. At year's end he had not been arrested.
    There were several cases of suspected killings while victims were 
held in government or police custody. On March 23, fisherman Mao Sok 
died while in custody of the Takeo Provincial Fishery Department. The 
victim's family said the body displayed signs of torture; however, 
provincial authorities stated that Mao committed suicide in his cell, 
and they did not conduct an investigation. The victim's family filed a 
complaint to the provincial court, but the provincial prosecutor 
dismissed the complaint. The family appealed the decision to the 
appeals court; at year's end the court had taken no action.
    On April 1, Kong La died while in custody of the Mong Russei 
district police in Battambang Province. The victim's family reported 
that the body showed signs of beating. The district police chief stated 
that Kong sustained the injuries after he fainted while in custody; the 
commune chief claimed Kong fell from a motorbike while resisting 
arrest. Local authorities gave money to Kong's family, who did not file 
an official complaint.
    Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported three killings of 
political activists during the year, but their investigations could not 
confirm that the deaths were politically motivated.
    There were no developments in the following cases: the April 2008 
death of Buern Soksina, who was shot and killed by a police officer 
during a motorcycle chase in Preah Vihear Province; the April 2008 
death of a villager who died after sustaining severe head injuries from 
a beating allegedly by security forces during an eviction in Preah 
Vihear Province; and the October 2008 death of a bystander who was 
killed when a military police officer reportedly opened fire on a 
crowd.
    There also were no developments in the following cases of killings 
by unidentified persons: the May 2008 deaths of former CPP activists 
Cheang Sorm and Norodom Ranariddh, Party Deputy Chief Sok Run; and the 
July 2008 deaths of journalist Khem Sambo and his son.
    There were no developments in the 2007 deaths of Khmer Kampuchea 
Krom monk Eang Sok Thoeurn, SRP activist Chea Sovin, and SRP commune-
level vice chairperson Kleb Un.
    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 40 deaths, 54 amputations, and 122 other 
injuries.
    On February 9, seven men allegedly killed Hang Heoun, whom they 
accused of sorcery in Sandan District, Kampong Thom Province. 
Provincial authorities arrested the seven men and charged them with 
premeditated murder. At year's end the perpetrators were in pretrial 
detention, and no trial date had been set.
    Local NGOs reported two other mob killings in the first six 
months--one related to a robbery and the other to an attempted rape.
    There were no developments in the two mob killings reported in 2008 
or the five mob killings in 2007.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances during the year.
    On April 4, Khmer Kampuchea Krom monk Tim Sakhorn returned to his 
home province of Takeo after being released from house arrest in 
Vietnam. After unsuccessfully attempting to obtain Cambodian 
citizenship documents, he crossed the border into Thailand on April 12. 
In July he was granted refugee status and accepted third-country 
resettlement.
    There was no development in the 2007 disappearance of Land Border 
Protection Unit 504 soldier Im Bun Ny.

    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 significantly from previous years.
    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 NGOs reported that authorities allegedly tortured at 
least 118 prisoners: 100 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 shocks, suffocation, 
caning, and whipping with wire. 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 January 31, five persons from the village of Tumnob Teuk 
reported 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.
    On February 27, Chea Ly and his wife Chhoun Eng reported that 
soldiers beat them after the couple refused to pay a bribe at the Prey 
Nob District checkpoint. The soldiers belonged to the military's 
Battalion 1 in Preah Sihanouk Province.
    On May 25, Pok Un reported that O Chrov District military police in 
Banteay Meanchey Province beat and kicked him while detaining him on 
suspicion of theft.
    During the year ADHOC noted that there were 100 cases of physical 
assaults on civilians by local authorities, government agents, or 
private bodyguards, compared with 110 cases in 2008.
    In December national drug control authorities required 21 drug-
addicted persons to participate in a human trial of a liquid herbal 
substance called Bong Sen, used for several years in Vietnam for 
detoxification of drug-dependent persons. Officials claimed the 21 were 
volunteers, but informed sources confirmed that many of the addicts 
were given the choice of participating in the study or being 
incarcerated. According to the World Health Organization, there was no 
ethical review of the plans to administer the substance, nor was it 
registered as a drug under Ministry of Health guidelines. There was 
little or no information available about the efficacy, 
contraindications, or side effects of Bong Sen prior to the experiment. 
Eight of the 21 were HIV-positive, and two of those were on 
antiretroviral drugs at the time of the Bong Sen ``treatment.'' Several 
of the 21 reported adverse reactions to the substance, including 
illness, during the trial. Following the 10-day trial, there was no 
patient follow-up planned or implemented by authorities. According to 
local NGO statements, at least 17 of the 21 individuals resumed drug 
use within two days of the trial.
    There was no development in the 2007 case of Kampong Speu Province 
military police officer Prak Vutha, who reportedly arrested and beat 
unconscious a man named Sok Soeun.
    In response to 2008 reports that police and the Ministry of Social 
Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation (MOSAVY) guards raped, 
physically abused, robbed, and extorted detainees in police custody at 
two MOSAVY rehabilitation centers, officials released all of the 
detainees at the two rehabilitation centers. At year's end one center 
remained closed, while another was being used to house and rehabilitate 
homeless families. MOSAVY officials investigated conditions at the 
centers but did not issue conclusions or reports. The guards and the 
MOSAVY deputy director with oversight for the centers retained their 
positions.

    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 (MOI) Prison Department, 
there were 13,324 prisoners and detainees, including 802 women and 840 
juveniles. There are 25 prisons in the country, which were designed to 
hold between 8,000 and 11,000 prisoners and detainees. The government 
was building new prisons designed to accommodate 2,500 additional 
prisoners. There were reports at some prisons that cells of 40 by 20 
feet held up to 110 prisoners. At Correctional Center 1 prison, cells 
of 26 by 26 feet held an average of 50 prisoners. In some prisons 
authorities used shackles and held prisoners in small, dark cells as a 
form of harsher punishment. There were reports that at least 58 
prisoners died in custody in 18 prisons in 13 provinces during the 
year.
    An investigation continued into the November 2008 death of Heng 
Touch, who died after sustaining injuries in prison under suspicious 
circumstances. In March the Phnom Penh Municipal Court summoned the 
victim's family, two prison officers, and a prison doctor for 
questioning, but at year's end no charges had been filed.
    There were no developments in the following 2008 cases: the death 
of Bun Vannarith after being taken from a hospital into police custody; 
the death of prisoner Yan Sok Kea reportedly from a high fever after 
treatment was allegedly delayed; or the death of an elderly woman 
confined to a MOSAVY rehabilitation facility without access to medical 
care.
    Government ration allowances for purchasing prisoners' food 
routinely were misappropriated and inadequate, exacerbating 
malnutrition and disease. One NGO claimed that in some cases prison 
authorities withheld 20 to 30 percent of food or materials brought by 
prisoners' families. Rights organizations confirmed that families 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 full jail terms.
    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 32 percent of 
prisoners held in municipal and provincial prisons were pretrial 
detainees.
    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 MOI 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. The MOI reported having 428 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. On July 22, a local newspaper 
reported the case of Roeun Sophea, who had been held in Banteay 
Meanchey provincial prison for 37 months, awaiting trial on drug 
smuggling charges. Roeun was in prison with her daughter, who was an 
infant at the time of Roeun's arrest. After the court located the 
misplaced file, on August 5 a judge convicted Roeun of the charges and 
sentenced her to time served.
    ADHOC reported at least 103 cases of illegal arrest or detention 
during the year. ADHOC stated that victims in 43 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 out 
of fear 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; in at 
least one case, an HIV-positive woman lost her medication and 
authorities would not provide substitute medicines. Authorities called 
the street sweeps part of a citywide ``beautification'' process and 
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 MOI, 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 are 
permitted to arrest civilians if the officers meet the training and 
experience requirements to serve as judicial police, if civilians are 
on military property, or when authorized by local governments.
    Police officials killed citizens and committed other abuses with 
impunity, and in most cases the government took little or no action. 
There were reports that police, prosecutors, investigating judges, and 
presiding judges received bribes from owners of illegal businesses.
    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 22, commune policeman Thoeun Hok opened fire on a crowd of 
villagers from Chi Kraeng commune in Siem Reap Province, wounding two 
villagers. Another unnamed police officer shot and wounded a third 
villager. The provincial governor had sent the officers in a mixed 
group of armed forces including district police, military police, and 
soldiers to remove the villagers from a disputed piece of farmland. 
Provincial authorities first detained the wounded but then took them to 
a hospital approximately three hours after the shooting occurred. On 
August 18, and on two subsequent occasions, the Ministry of Justice 
sent letters to provincial authorities requesting action in the case, 
but the orders were not enforced.
    On June 22, a provincial police sergeant shot and wounded a 
villager in Ratanakiri Province during a protest over an economic land 
concession leased to a private company. The sergeant was held at 
provincial police headquarters for disciplinary action. Military 
soldiers reportedly injured another villager in a brawl and fired shots 
but did not aim at or injure any villagers.
    There were no developments in the July 2008 case of Brigade 70 
Major Meur Bora, who reportedly beat two men following a minor traffic 
accident, or in the September 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. 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 April 22, the Kampot Provincial Court sentenced policeman Priep 
Pov in absentia to one year in prison. Phnom Penh Order Police had 
detained Priep for five weeks in February 2008 due to his alleged 
involvement in a Kep Municipality land dispute. Priep appealed the 
decision and remained in hiding at year's end.
    At year's end no trial date had been set for the appeals by four of 
the six persons convicted in 2007 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for 
planning bombings at the 2006 Water Festival.
    In the 2007 case of a 13-year-old Jarai ethnic minority youth 
sentenced to eight months and 10 days despite his being under the 
minimum age for imprisonment when arrested, the youth's lawyer 
confirmed his release on appeal in 2007.

    Amnesty.--The king may grant amnesty in certain cases, which he 
often does during important Buddhist religious ceremonies and national 
holidays. The MOI reported that King Norodom Sihamoni pardoned 75 
persons during year.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, but in practice the government generally did not 
respect judicial independence. The courts were subject to influence and 
interference by the executive branch, and there was widespread 
corruption among judges, prosecutors, and court officials.
    The court system consists of lower courts, an appeals court, and 
the Supreme Court. The constitution also mandates a Constitutional 
Council, which is authorized to review the constitutionality of laws, 
and a Supreme Council of the Magistracy, which appoints, oversees, and 
disciplines judges and prosecutors. The composition of both councils 
heavily favored the CPP.
    There is a separate military court system, which suffered from 
deficiencies similar to those of the civilian court system. While 
civilians may fall under military court jurisdiction in some cases, the 
legal distinction between the military and civil courts sometimes was 
ignored in practice.
    On November 23, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of 
Cambodia (ECCC) heard closing arguments in the case against Kaing Guek 
Eav (alias Duch), 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. A verdict was expected in early 2010. The ECCC 
continued investigations against four other detained Khmer Rouge 
leaders charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. 
On September 2, the Office of the International Co-Prosecutor submitted 
a list of five additional names for review by the coinvestigating 
judges and for possible future prosecution.

    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 appeal sometimes 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 in 
the absence of the defendant.
    On February 16, the appeals court upheld the 2005 conviction of 
Thach Saveth for the assassination of labor leader Ros Sovannareth. 
Thach's lawyer, local NGOs, and the International Labor Organization 
(ILO) continued to report procedural irregularities in the case and a 
lack of evidence linking Thach to the crime.
    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 ensure 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 often in 
effect were denied the right to a fair trial. According to the Bar 
Association, approximately 30 percent of the country's 712 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.
    On August 17, the appeals court held a new hearing in the case of 
Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, finding that the case should remain with 
the appeals court for reinvestigation and retrial. The two men had 
spent nearly five years in prison since their 2004 arrest and 
conviction for the killing of labor leader Chea Vichea before the 
Supreme Court ordered a retrial in December 2008 and released the men 
on bail. At year's end the two remained free on bail pending further 
appeals court action.

    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 the forced 
collectivization during Khmer Rouge rule and the return of hundreds of 
thousands of refugees, land ownership often was unclear. The 2001 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 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, although some cleared properties had not been 
developed at year's end.
    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. Despite calls from 
various government officials to increase social land concessions for 
landless citizens, implementation was limited.
    On September 4, the government canceled World Bank support for its 
Land Management and Administration Program, citing ``complicated 
conditions'' for adjudicating land titles. The World Bank had assessed 
the program in August and found that the government had not complied 
with requirements for a resettlement policy framework. The government 
continued the program on its own.
    Cases of inhabitants being forced to relocate continued to occur 
when officials or businesspersons colluded with local authorities, 
although the numbers reported dropped significantly from 2008. 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 186 land-related cases during the year. 
During the same period, another NGO received 115 land-related cases in 
Phnom Penh and 14 provinces, affecting a total of 8,806 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 still being processed.
    On January 24, police, military police, municipal authorities, and 
employees of the construction firm 7NG forcibly evicted residents of 
the Dey Krahorm community in the Tonle Bassac area of Phnom Penh. At 
the time of the unannounced eviction, residents had been negotiating 
compensation packages with the Phnom Penh municipal government and 7NG. 
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into a group of protesters 
attempting to resist the eviction, injuring at least 16 individuals, 
while 7NG employees dismantled residents' houses. Bulldozers belonging 
to 7NG demolished some houses with occupants still inside and seriously 
injured two individuals. Municipal authorities and 7NG employees moved 
the evictees to the community's designated resettlement site in Damnak 
Trayoeng, approximately 10 miles west of the city, which lacked 
sufficient apartments for the resettled community and basic facilities 
such as water and sewage. In the immediate aftermath, the evictees 
lived under tarps along the road next to Damnak Trayoeng and depended 
on NGOs for basic humanitarian support. At year's end all families 
recognized by the municipal government and 7NG as landowners in Dey 
Krahorm received apartments in Damnak Trayoeung. Municipal authorities 
and 7NG moved former Dey Krahorm renters to empty plots of land without 
basic infrastructure in neighboring Kandal Province. Despite government 
claims that the Dey Krahorm site had to be cleared quickly to make way 
for development, the site remained an empty field at year's end.
    In June Phnom Penh municipal authorities moved more than 40 HIV/
AIDS-affected families from Phnom Penh's Borei Keila neighborhood to a 
resettlement site located approximately 15 miles from the city, despite 
the fact that some of the families were eligible for on-site 
resettlement in Borei Keila under a social land concession plan. 
Families at the resettlement site, Tuol Sambo, lived in green metal 
sheds that became hot during the day and made storage of antiretroviral 
medication difficult. Like many resettlement sites, Tuol Sambo was not 
equipped with sufficient infrastructure to support a community, and the 
remote location restricted families' access to livelihood opportunities 
and medical care. As of year's end, NGOs and the UN Joint Program on 
HIV/AIDS planned to upgrade the housing at Tuol Sambo and provide 
limited livelihood support.
    In April a Ratanakiri provincial court prosecutor dismissed both 
criminal complaints related to a land dispute between Keat Kolney and 
Jarai ethnic minority villagers from Kong Yu and Kong Thom villages. 
The villagers had filed a criminal 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. Keat Kolney's lawyers filed a countersuit in 2007. 
At year's end the community's civil case against Keat Kolney remained 
pending. Villagers reported that the commune chief threatened to file 
unspecified charges against them if they did not drop the civil case. 
In December villagers filed complaints with the Ministry of Interior 
against the commune chief for allegedly forcing them to thumbprint the 
documents transferring their land to Keat Kolney. The villagers' 
attorneys filed complaints seeking the removal of the case's 
investigating judge, Thor Saron, for failing to act on the case. The 
Ratanakiri Provincial Court had assigned Judge Thor to the case in 
September 2008. Reports that Keat Kolney's company was clearing land in 
the disputed territory continued, despite an agreement to halt 
development during court proceedings.
    Also in April, in the case of villagers evicted from Anlong Khmeng 
Leng Village in Kampot Province, the prime minister announced the 
distribution of the confiscated land to approximately 90 families. A 
local NGO reported that none of the receiving families was from Anlong 
Khmeng Leng Village.
    On April 28, authorities arrested and then released on bail Chea 
Sam Ath, who allegedly posed as a local village chief and ordered 
soldiers to shoot villagers protesting eviction in Malai District in 
Banteay Meanchey Province in March 2008. The investigation continued at 
year's end.
    There were no developments in the February 2008 case of authorities 
who reportedly beat villagers during an eviction from the Russei Keo 
District of Phnom Penh.
    There were no developments in the June 2008 eviction carried out by 
soldiers in the Anlong Kroum area of Kampot Province.
    In the April 2008 eviction case of the Tonle Bassac neighborhood 
Group 78 (G78), on April 20, the Phnom Penh Municipal Government issued 
its sixth eviction notice to G78 residents. The community then filed an 
injunction request against the eviction notice. While authorities 
claimed the land was state property, the government did not provide 
documents classifying it as such, and the land did not meet the 2001 
land law definition for state public land. On July 17, municipal police 
removed 86 families that did not accept the municipal government's 
compensation package.
    On February 13, the Supreme Court upheld the decisions of the Siem 
Reap Provincial Court and appeals court regarding SRP parliamentarian 
Son Chhay's 2006 complaint. Son was ordered to sell 7.8 acres of his 
land to a government agency for an amount reportedly below the market 
price. Son requested a retrial, as he was absent during the Supreme 
Court hearing, but no new trial occurred. On December 18, the Siem Reap 
Provincial Court issued an order instructing Son Chhay to vacate the 
land within 15 days of the receipt of the order.

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 MOI 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 and disinformation 
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. In both types of cases, 
judges can order fines, which may lead to jail time if not paid.
    On April 27, opposition parliamentarian Mu Sochua filed a lawsuit 
against Prime Minister Hun Sen for character defamation. The prime 
minister filed a countersuit against Mu and her lawyer, stating that 
comments Mu made in a press conference and her subsequent efforts to 
attract international support defamed him. On June 10, the court 
dismissed Mu's suit. On June 22, during a closed-door session, the CPP-
dominated National Assembly voted to lift Mu's parliamentary immunity, 
which allowed the prime minister's countersuit against Mu to move 
forward. Simultaneously, the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia 
pursued an ethics complaint against Mu's lawyer, which was filed by the 
prime minister's lawyer for the same reasons as the defamation lawsuit. 
Under pressure of the ethics complaint, Mu's lawyer admitted 
wrongdoing, apologized to the prime minister, resigned as Mu's lawyer, 
and joined the CPP. The court used the lawyer's admission as evidence 
against Mu in her July 24 trial, and on August 4, the court found Mu 
liable for defaming the prime minister but dismissed the complaint 
against her lawyer in the same verdict, while the bar association 
suspended its investigation of the ethics complaint without reaching a 
decision. Mu appealed both the dismissal of her original complaint and 
her conviction. On October 14, the appeals court upheld the municipal 
court decision to dismiss her suit against the prime minister; Mu did 
not pursue the case further. On October 28, the appeals court also 
denied her appeal of her August 4 liability for defamation. Mu 
thereafter appealed the decision to the Supreme Court; at year's end no 
trial date had been set.
    Government authorities filed several similar lawsuits against 
critics. On May 11, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An filed a disinformation 
lawsuit against the publisher of pro-opposition newspaper Khmer Machas 
Srok (Khmer Owners of the Land), Hang Chakra, for a series of articles 
that alleged corruption among the deputy prime minister's advisers and 
staff. On June 26, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Hang Chakra 
in absentia, sentencing him to one year in prison and a large fine. 
Hang was apprehended the same day in Battambang Province and 
imprisoned. On August 11, the appeals court upheld the lower court 
verdict. Hang did not appeal to the Supreme Court, and the verdict went 
into effect. In September Hang sent a letter of apology to the deputy 
prime minister requesting release due to medical complications 
experienced as a result of incarceration, but he had received no 
response by year's end.
    Over a four-day period in June, Phnom Penh municipal authorities 
arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and fined Soung Sophorn, a resident of 
the Boeung Kak Lake community, on charges of defaming the government. 
Soung Sophorn, a member of the SRP's youth wing, had spray-painted 
messages on the side of his house protesting the impending eviction of 
communities around the lake to make way for a development project owned 
by CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin.
    On July 7, Dam Sith, editor in chief of the pro-opposition 
newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer (Khmer Conscience), received a summons to 
appear for court questioning on charges of defamation, disinformation, 
and incitement. The charges reportedly related to the content of 
several articles published between February and May. Dam Sith, who 
served time in pretrial detention in June 2008 on similar charges, 
apologized in writing to the prime minister and promised to cease 
publication of the newspaper. The lawsuit was dismissed; the newspaper 
immediately ceased publication and remained closed at year's end.
    In early December the Svay Rieng Provincial Court charged 
opposition party leader Sam Rainsy with destruction of public property 
and incitement of racial/national hatred in connection with an October 
25 incident in which a group of villagers uprooted wooden stakes 
demarcating the border with Vietnam. The National Assembly voted to 
lift Sam's parliamentary immunity on November 16, and the court 
summoned Sam to appear for questioning on December 28; Sam declined to 
appear and departed the country in November.
    In the April 2008 defamation suit filed in France by Foreign 
Minister Hor Namhong against Sam Rainsy, on January 27, the French 
court of first instance found Sam and his book publisher guilty of 
defamation and disinformation and ordered the defendants to pay a 
symbolic one euro ($1.43) to the foreign minister, 5,500 euros ($7,865) 
to the French government in legal fees, and the cost of publishing the 
verdict in two French newspapers of their choice. Sam Rainsy appealed 
the decision; an October 8 appeals court hearing was postponed and had 
not been rescheduled at year's end.
    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. 
However, due in part to defamation lawsuits against pro-opposition 
editors, only three pro-opposition newspapers were publishing at year's 
end. Although the three largest circulation newspapers 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. In June the MOI 
granted a radio broadcast license to Soy Sopheap, the publisher of the 
pro-CPP Deum Ampil (Tamarind Tree) daily newspaper, but denied similar 
requests by stations that were politically unaffiliated or operated by 
opposition parties.
    Journalists, publishers, and distributors were also subject to 
other forms of harassment and intimidation, including one threat by 
gunshot, and most reporters and editors privately admitted to some 
self-censorship due to fear of government reprisals.
    In January an unnamed military police officer allegedly fired three 
shots over the head of a local journalist, Lim Lyheang, for covering a 
story on illegally procured timber being transported to Phnom Penh. 
Also in January a foreign journalist was assaulted by an off-duty 
police officer working as a security guard outside the offices of the 
7NG construction firm in Phnom Penh.
    The government-controlled national television and radio stations 
broadcast live segments of the first trial at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal 
(see section 1.e.) 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 some reports of government 
restrictions on access to the Internet. In March the Ministry of Post 
and Telecommunications banned a series of Web sites with content deemed 
``offensive'' by the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA). Some sites 
included half-naked Khmer Rouge women, and another featured modern 
representations of traditional Khmer dancers dressed like those carved 
on the walls at Angkor Wat. The artist maintained the work was 
artistic, not pornographic. 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 most recent industry survey, 0.5 percent of the 
total population had Internet subscriptions, most of them 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 for fear of 
offending politicians.
    In February the Ministry of Education removed Sun Thun from his 
position as civics teacher at Treal High School in Kampong Thom for 
criticizing the prime minister in front of students. Sun Thun stated he 
was teaching the textbook lessons on anticorruption and democracy that 
are part of the approved curriculum. Some NGOs alleged the decision was 
politically motivated, because the deputy schoolmaster and provincial 
education officials belonged to the ruling CPP, while Sun was the 
provincial president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association 
and a member of the opposition SRP. The ministry offered Sun a teaching 
position at a different school several miles away. In May Sun was 
elected to a provincial council seat and suspended his teaching career 
to serve on the council.
    On March 10, Tieng Narith was released from prison after serving 
his full prison term of two years and six months for teaching from a 
self-published text containing antigovernment material.
    In contrast with previous years, the government restricted some 
cultural events. On January 12, the Council of Ministers banned the 
broadcast of ``Where Elephants Weep,'' a rock-opera retelling of a 
traditional Khmer story set in the post-Khmer Rouge era, which the 
Buddhist Supreme Council of Monks claimed insulted Buddhism. The 
artists agreed to modify the production, and after the cast sent a 
letter of apology to the Supreme Council of Monks, the Council of 
Ministers permitted broadcast of the production. In February Prime 
Minister Hun Sen suggested that in the future, all artistic works 
featuring Buddhism should seek permission from the Ministry of Cults 
and Religion before going public.
    On August 2, MOSAVY banned a Norwegian organizer from staging a 
beauty contest for women who had lost limbs to land mines. The ministry 
stated that the contest ``would make a mockery of Cambodian land mine 
victims.'' A local NGO, the Cambodian Disabled People's Organization, 
also retracted its support for the contest after receiving ``advice'' 
from MOSAVY Minister Ith Sam Heng. When the pageant organizer expressed 
the desire to proceed with the pageant in an overseas location, the 
government forbade the 20 participants to leave the country. The 
pageant was held in exile in Norway using photographs of the 
contestants; the pageant organizer visited Cambodia in December to 
distribute prizes to contestants.

    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. The 
government required that a permit be obtained in advance of a march or 
demonstration. The government routinely did not issue permits to groups 
critical of the ruling party or of nations with which the government 
had friendly relations. Authorities cited the need for stability and 
public security as reasons for denying permits.
    In June the Phnom Penh municipal government twice denied requests 
from the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) to hold on-site 
public forums on human rights and development for residents of the 
Boeung Kak Lake community in Phnom Penh, who faced eviction to make way 
for a development project. The municipal government claimed that the 
forum could jeopardize public safety. The CCHR reported that local 
authorities intimidated guesthouse owners who offered to host the 
session, threatening the owners with closure if the meetings went 
forward. The CCHR did not seek to hold the forums in other public 
venues.
    Police forcibly dispersed groups that assembled without a permit, 
in some instances causing minor injuries to some demonstrators.
    On August 4, police attempted to disperse an impromptu protest by 
opposition supporters following Mu Sochua's conviction on defamation 
charges (see section 2.a.). At various points along the route, police 
clashed with marchers, resulting in minor injuries to several 
protesters. Two men were also arrested, although police released them a 
few hours later without charges.
    During the year ADHOC reported 158 protests, most of which were 
related to land or labor disputes.
    A law on peaceful demonstration was passed by the National Assembly 
in October, approved by the Senate on November 17, and signed into law 
by the king on December 5. Critics found faults in the law, such as a 
provision requiring five days' advance notice for most peaceful 
demonstrations or another provision requiring 12 hours' notice for 
impromptu gatherings on private property or at the peaceful protest 
venue in each province, and limiting such gatherings to 200 persons. It 
remained for implementing decrees to clarify concepts of national 
security and public disorder that would be used by authorities to allow 
or prevent demonstrations. A street march and rally in support of Human 
Rights Day on December 10 showed the law could effectively support 
public demonstrations.

    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 labor law.
    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. The constitution also prohibits discrimination based on 
religion, and minority religions experienced little or no official 
discrimination. Buddhism is the state religion, and more than 93 
percent of the population is Buddhist. Ethnic Cham Muslims constitute 
most of the remaining population.
    The law requires all religious groups, including Buddhists, to 
submit applications to the Ministry of Cults and Religious Affairs to 
construct places of worship and conduct religious activities. However, 
there is no penalty for failing to register. A 2007 Ministry of Cults 
and Religious Affairs directive restating a 2003 order prohibiting 
public proselytizing continued to be loosely enforced.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Minority religions experienced 
little or no societal discrimination. There was no known Jewish 
community in the country, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 Annual Report on 
International Religious Freedom at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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. 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 Office of 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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
Its laws provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the 
government has established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. On December 17, the government issued a subdecree giving 
practical effect to its assumption of sole responsibility for the 
refugee status determination process, taking final control of what had 
been a jointly managed process with the UNHCR since June 2008. The 
UNHCR provided training and other technical assistance to facilitate 
the transfer of responsibility, and for most of the year 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 nine Montagnard and 55 other new arrivals sought asylum 
in the country. According to the UNHCR, 40 Montagnard and eight other 
refugees departed for a third country, while authorities deported 116 
rejected Montagnard asylum seekers to Vietnam, and five Montagnards 
voluntarily returned to their country of origin. Two of the three 
protection sites closed during the year, and there were 83 Montagnards 
in the remaining UNHCR protection site in Phnom Penh. The Montagnard 
protection site 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. However, 
on December 19, the government forcibly deported to China a group of 20 
ethnic Uighur asylum seekers. One Uighur arrived legally in May; the 
remaining members were smuggled into the country in October and 
November. All requested political asylum, registering as persons of 
concern with the UNHCR and the government. On December 18, police 
entered a UNHCR safe house, detained the 20 Uighurs, and transported 
them to a municipal detention center. After approximately 27 hours, 
they were placed on a chartered jet that arrived from China and were 
transported back to China. At the time of the deportation, all of the 
Uighurs were awaiting adjudication of their asylum claims through the 
refugee status determination process, although neither the UNHCR nor 
the government had initiated the joint adjudication process at the time 
of the deportation. The government claimed the Uighurs were in 
violation of immigration laws and therefore subject to deportation. The 
deportation coincided with a state visit by the vice president of China 
and bilateral aid agreements totaling $1.2 billion in assistance for 
Cambodia.
    With the exceptions of the Montagnard and Uighur cases, there were 
no reported cases of government abuse, restriction of movement, or 
mistreatment of refugees or asylum seekers.

    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 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. The most common reason for statelessness was lack of 
proper documents from the country of origin.

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 July 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.
    On May 15, 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. In June the Norodom Ranariddh Party 
officially became the Nationalist Party, following Prince Ranariddh's 
withdrawal from politics.
    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 indirect provincial and district 
council elections. There were 27 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 advisors, and there were 23 female judges 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 but one of 23 provinces and 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. There 
is no dedicated anticorruption law.
    Corruption was considered endemic and extended throughout all 
segments of society, including the executive, legislative, and judicial 
branches of government. 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 June a justice ministry official was charged 
with accepting bribes. In September the Ministry of Justice 
investigated a provincial court judge in Ratanakiri for several alleged 
incidents of corruption, including personal use of a vehicle seized as 
evidence in a case, but the investigation concluded there was no 
wrongdoing. Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure 
laws.
    At year's end the Council of Ministers approved a draft 
anticorruption law and was preparing to send it to the National 
Assembly for review and passage. Donors and potential investors 
continued to express concern about the lack of an anticorruption law 
and the urgent need to pass such legislation. Civil society 
organizations continued to await a response to their May 2008 petition 
to the National Assembly calling for the passage of an anticorruption 
law compliant with international standards. The petition contained 
signatures and thumbprints of more than 1.1 million persons of voting 
age.
    Legislation does not contain provisions offering protection to 
persons who expose corruption in an organization. An independent 
anticorruption body does not exist. The Council of Ministers' 
Anticorruption Unit is charged with developing anticorruption measures 
and presenting proposals to the government. The Ministry of National 
Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspections is mandated to investigate 
allegations of corruption. The National Audit Authority has the 
authority to audit ministries, institutions, and other entities.
    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.
    In July the Ratanakiri Provincial Court summoned two ADHOC 
representatives for questioning regarding a complaint that they were 
inciting villagers in a dispute over a company's economic land 
concession. On August 4, the court agreed to a delay questioning to 
allow time for the defendants' attorney to review the case. ADHOC 
removed its two employees from Ratanakiri and reassigned them to 
different provinces after the investigating judge in the case, Thor 
Saron, publicly suggested that if the employees left the province, no 
charges would be brought against them. At year's end one ADHOC employee 
remained in Phnom Penh, and the other had returned to Ratanakiri.
    Also in July the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court charged three 
employees of local NGO Independent Democracy of Informal Economic 
Association and one SRP commune councilor with incitement and placed 
them in pretrial detention. The four were among a larger group of 30 
individuals arrested on incitement and other charges stemming from a 
protest in a Poipet land dispute. At year's end all the arrested had 
been released on bail and were awaiting trial, although no date had 
been set.
    The government cooperated with international governmental bodies 
and permitted visits by UN representatives. In June UN Special 
Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi visited the 
country. The prime minister and other senior government officials met 
with Subedi, in contrast with their shunning requests by previous 
representatives for meetings.
    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 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 ECCC, which was jointly 
administered 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 responsibility to 
apprehend and hand over to the tribunal all individuals indicted by the 
ECCC. There were no tribunal decisions rendered against the accused 
during the year.

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 could 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 431 cases of rape and 497 cases of 
domestic violence reported as of November; courts tried 71 of these 
cases. A different NGO documented 127 cases of domestic violence 
affecting 131 victims in 14 provinces as of September. During the year 
the MOI's antitrafficking department investigated 355 cases of violence 
against women and children, resulting in the arrest of 394 perpetrators 
and rescue of 469 victims. Of the 355 cases, 249 were for rape and 
attempted rape. The MOI 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.
    A 19-year-old woman reportedly was raped in November by one police 
officer while another held her down. Police officials insisted that the 
perpetrators were sent to court for prosecution and that the court 
granted bail; court officials insisted that they received a file on the 
case, but not custody of the perpetrators, and that police released the 
perpetrators. The victim vanished after allegedly being paid one 
million riels (approximately $250) in compensation. Prosecution stalled 
and the perpetrators remained free at year's end. The MOI did not 
respond to requests for clarification by members of the National 
Assembly.
    In February the Council of Ministers approved a three-year plan to 
prevent violence against women. There was a launch event organized by 
the MOWA, the main entity charged with implementing the plan. 
Approximately 2,000 books containing the three-year plan were published 
and distributed to all 24 MOWA provincial offices, all other 
ministries, and some NGOs.
    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 MOWA produced programming on women's 
matters. NGOs provided shelters for women in crisis.
    The constitution prohibits prostitution; however, there is no 
specific legislation against working in prostitution. Trafficking in 
women for the purpose of prostitution was a serious problem, despite 
laws against procuring and kidnapping for purposes of sexual 
exploitation. There were reports that police sexually abused detained 
women suspected of prostitution and allowed newspapers to take 
photographs of them even though they were not charged with a crime. 
Despite increased crackdowns on brothel operators in Phnom Penh, 
prostitution and related trafficking persisted. The National Center for 
HIV/AIDS, Dermatology, and STDs reported there were approximately 3,000 
women working as direct prostitutes and nearly 31,200 as indirect 
prostitutes through entertainment work. Some NGOs and club owners 
reported an increase in the number of women seeking employment in both 
direct prostitution and indirect sex services such as massage parlors 
and karaoke bars. Sex tourism was a problem, fueled by pervasive 
poverty and the perception of impunity.
    The labor law has provisions against sexual harassment in the 
workplace but does not specify penalties.
    Couples and individuals could decide the number, spacing, and 
timing of children, and they had the information and means to do so 
free from discrimination. Women had access to contraception as well as 
skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care, but access was 
often limited due to income and geographic barriers. 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 
largely were excluded from management positions. Men made up the vast 
majority of the military, police, and civil service.
    The MOWA, 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. Twenty-
two percent of teachers at the 37 vocational training centers managed 
by the government were female, an increase from 13 percent in 2005. 
Sixteen government ministries instituted gender mainstreaming action 
plans with support from the UN Development Program and in close 
collaboration with the MOWA. The government's National Strategic 
Development Plan 2006-10 committed to ensuring that women as a share in 
wage employment would increase by 50 percent in agricultural and 
industrial sectors, and by 37 percent in the service sector.

    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 MOI 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 as a result of the Khmer Rouge/
Vietnam 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; a local NGO reported 
351 cases of rape and attempted rape committed on persons under age 18. 
Eighteen of the cases involved children below age five, 144 involved 
children ages five to 10, and 189 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 MOI reported arrests of 31 foreign pedophiles during 
the year. Some children engaged in prostitution for survival without 
third-party involvement.
    In May the prison director for Preah Sihanouk Province allowed 
convicted Russian pedophile Alexander Trofimov, who was serving an 18-
year sentence for child sexual abuse, to leave prison for a day to 
visit various investment projects. Government officials issued a 
warning to the prison director for this breach in regulations but took 
no further action until media reports uncovered the story. MOI 
authorities then investigated the incident, and the prison director was 
demoted and moved to an administrative job in Phnom Penh. On June 22, 
authorities charged a senior justice ministry official for accepting 
large bribes in exchange for attempting to engineer the release of 
Trofimov on the pretense of extradition to Russia. The official 
reportedly counterfeited false extradition papers and forged the 
signatures of the justice minister and prime minister on the documents. 
At year's end the case was pending before the courts.
    The government offered limited services to street children at a 
rehabilitation center, but the services were inadequate. 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 17,000 
children worked on the streets but returned to families in the 
evenings. An estimated 500 to 1,000 children lived with their families 
on the streets in Phnom Penh.
    The MOI reported at least 44 children under the age of six 
reportedly were living with their mothers in prison. A local NGO 
reported 40 such children 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.
    Child labor was a problem in the informal sector of the economy.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The government continued efforts to 
implement its 2008 Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual 
Exploitation, which criminalizes all forms of trafficking. However, the 
country remained a source, destination, and transit country for men, 
women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor. 
Children were trafficked domestically for sexual exploitation and 
labor. Some Vietnamese women and girls were trafficked through the 
country for exploitation in the commercial sex trade in other Asian 
countries.
    Children were trafficked to Thailand and Vietnam for begging, 
soliciting, street vending, and flower selling. The children frequently 
were placed into debt bondage to beg or sell, or they formed part of 
organized begging rings. Women as well as children were trafficked to 
Malaysia and Thailand for sexual exploitation and forced labor in 
factories or as domestic servants, while men were trafficked for forced 
labor in the agriculture, fishing, and construction sectors. The 
country is a destination for foreign child-sex tourists, and there were 
increasing reports that Asian men travelled to the country to have sex 
with underage virgin girls.
    Trafficking victims, especially those trafficked for sexual 
exploitation, faced the risk of contracting sexually transmitted 
diseases, including HIV/AIDS. In some cases victims were detained and 
physically and mentally abused by traffickers, brothel owners, and 
clients.
    Local traffickers covered specific small geographic areas and acted 
as middlemen for larger trafficking networks. Organized crime groups, 
employment agencies, and marriage brokers were believed to have some 
degree of involvement. Traffickers used a variety of methods to acquire 
victims. In many cases victims were lured by promises of legitimate 
employment or travel documents. In other cases acquaintances, friends, 
and family members sold the victims or received payment for helping 
deceive them. Young children, the majority of them girls, were often 
pledged as collateral for loans by desperately poor parents; the 
children were responsible for repaying the loan and the accumulating 
interest. A 2007 report by the International Organization for Migration 
stated that child domestic workers, particularly those used as 
collateral or placed into debt bondage, were more likely to be 
trafficked and to enter commercial sexually exploitive activities.
    The law establishes a prison sentence of 15 to 20 years for a 
person convicted of selling, buying, or exchanging a person under 18 
years of age; the penalty is seven to 15 years in prison for 
trafficking persons 18 or older. According to the Cambodian National 
Police Antihuman Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, police 
investigated 38 cases of trafficking in persons during the year. The 
investigations resulted in the arrest of 63 offenders. However, NGOs 
continued to report the limited ability and inadequate resources of law 
enforcement and other government officials to act on trafficking tip-
offs.
    The Ministries of Interior, Women's Affairs, and Justice had 
primary responsibility to combat trafficking in persons. The government 
merged its national task force with a high-level oversight body to 
create a single national committee, an interministerial antitrafficking 
coordination body. There was a Department of Antihuman Trafficking and 
Juvenile Protection within the Cambodian National Police, and the MOI 
operated specialized antitrafficking divisions in all provinces and 
municipalities. While the government arrested and prosecuted 
traffickers and continued its support for prevention and protection 
programs through collaboration with foreign and domestic NGOs and 
international organizations, its antitrafficking efforts continued to 
be hampered by corruption and a weak judicial system. Certain observers 
of trafficking in persons in the country believed that some law 
enforcement, court officials, and other government officials received 
bribes that facilitated the sex trade and trafficking in persons.
    In March the Supreme Court upheld the August 2008 appeals court 
decision reducing the sentence of Belgian pedophile Philippe Dessart 
from 18 years to three years in prison under the new antitrafficking 
law, although Dessart committed his child abuse crimes in 2006. 
According to an NGO, Dessart compensated the victim, and the victim 
thereafter dismissed the NGO lawyers. In April Dessart was released 
after completing the three-year sentence, and he subsequently moved 
into the home of his victim and married the victim's mother. Several 
NGOs petitioned the government to expel Dessart from the country, which 
the law allows in cases of convicted felons. On September 23, the 
government confirmed that it had deported Dessart the previous week.
    The MOI reported two convictions on human-trafficking charges. An 
unconfirmed Phnom Penh Municipal Court report stated there were 10 
convictions of human-trafficking offenders during the year. Police, 
court officials, and judges often did not separate victims from 
perpetrators during raids, arrests, and trials. In some cases officials 
mistreated victims.
    In September MOSAVY approved both a policy on protecting the rights 
of trafficking victims and a set of national minimum standards for the 
care of such victims. NGOs continued to provide most of the assistance 
to victims. The government participated as a willing partner in a 
number of these efforts; however, its contributions were severely 
hampered by limited resources. NGOs provided intake screening services 
to identify trafficking victims. Some victims were encouraged by NGOs 
and the MOI to file complaints against perpetrators; however, victim 
protection was a problem, and some victims were known to be intimidated 
into abandoning their cases. Social stigma against women who were 
prostitutes, victims of sexual assault, or victims of sex trafficking 
made it difficult for victims to reintegrate into families, 
communities, and society.
    The antitrafficking law contains no provisions to protect foreign 
victims from being charged under immigration laws, but during the year 
there were no reported cases of trafficking victims being treated as 
illegal immigrants. MOSAVY, often working with the International 
Organization for Migration, repatriated from Thailand, Vietnam, and 
Malaysia 992 child and adult victims, as well as others vulnerable to 
becoming victims, and reintegrated them with their families.
    Both the government and international donors had programs to 
prevent child labor or remove children from labor. The country is a 
signatory to the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against 
Trafficking, whose activities include ensuring the legal, social, and 
community protection of victims of trafficking; strengthening law 
enforcement capacity to combat trafficking; and building a 
comprehensive response involving all relevant ministries. Several 
ministries, including the MOWA and the Ministry of Tourism, had 
antitrafficking initiatives to reduce child labor. Donors supported 
programs to combat child labor implemented by the ILO and World 
Education, among others.
    MOSAVY worked with the UN Children's Fund and local NGOs to manage 
community-based networks aimed at preventing trafficking.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--On May 29, the National Assembly passed 
the Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with 
Disabilities. The new law prohibits discrimination, neglect, 
exploitation, or abandonment of persons with disabilities. It includes 
persons with mental illnesses in the definition of persons with 
disabilities and requires that buildings and government services be 
accessible to persons with disabilities. At year's end MOSAVY was 
drafting subdecrees to support the law, which the king promulgated in 
July.
    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 in December 
that it had recorded 14 land disputes involving minority groups during 
the year, an increase from seven in 2008.
    The Khao Chuly Group continued to clear land in Pech Chreada 
District, Mondulkiri Province, for a rubber plantation, doing so before 
the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries approved the 
economic land concession for the plantation. Ethnic Phnong villagers 
claimed to own part of the land and demanded that the company leave or 
pay compensation. The Khao Chuly Group's partner company, foreign 
rubber conglomerate Socfin, took managerial control of the plantation, 
and at year's end it was reportedly conducting an environmental and 
social impact assessment of the project. An NGO found that the project 
led to the loss of traditional agricultural land, water supplies, and 
spirit forests and restricted access to schools.
    There were no developments in the April 2008 land case affecting 
members of the indigenous community of Kak Village in Ta Lav Commune, 
Andoung Meas District, Ratanakiri. NGOs stated that the government 
granted a 17,000-acre economic land concession covering the disputed 
land to the company for a rubber plantation in 2006. NGOs reported that 
much of the area in the concession may be eligible for registration as 
indigenous community land under the 2001 law. The affected community 
members were not aware of the concession until the land was cleared.
    In the May 2008 case in Ratanakkiri Province where the provincial 
governor reportedly granted a lease that included indigenous lands 
without consulting the indigenous communities, the BVB Investment 
Company and members of one of the affected communities, Yeak Laom 
Commune, reached a mutual agreement for use of the lands in August 
2008. The agreement allowed the villagers to continue farming cleared 
land while preserving forest land in the 1,250-acre site for tourism 
development. Villagers in the second community, Pachon, continued to 
report encroachment on the part of the BVB Investment Company and Yeak 
Laom Commune.
    There were no developments in the 2007 cases of a Ratanakiri 
provincial official preventing Tampoun indigenous villagers from 
burying their dead on land that had served as their traditional burial 
ground since 1979, or of the Ratanakiri Jarai indigenous families 
demanding the removal of local officials allegedly involved in the 
fraudulent sale of more than 3,000 acres of their communal land.
    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Act 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. The LGBT community 
was visible and active in urban areas, particularly Phnom Penh and Siem 
Reap. There were a few NGOs dedicated to serving the needs of LGBT 
persons, primarily focused on delivery of health care. In May several 
local businesses and NGOs hosted the Fifth Annual Phnom Penh Pride 
festival, a week-long series of events that highlighted the LGBT 
community.
    There were no reports of 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 1997 labor law permits private-
sector workers to form and join trade unions of their own choice 
without prior authorization. Despite some improvement, enforcement of 
the labor 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. While the law applies to foreign workers, it does not 
apply to civil servants, including teachers, judges, and military 
personnel, or to workers in the informal sector. Personnel in the air 
and maritime transportation industries are not entitled to the full 
protections of the law but are free to form unions.
    Less than 3.5 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 70 to 80 percent of the 
estimated 278,400 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 1,600 
registered factory-level unions and 48 union federations and 
associations, the majority of which were aligned with the government, 
and five of which were independent.
    The Cambodia Independent Teachers Association (CITA), registered as 
an ``association'' due to prohibitions on public sector unions, 
represented 9,263 of the country's 98,690 teachers. CITA's requests for 
marches and other protests were sometimes denied, although the union 
reported no direct government interference in day-to-day activities.
    Another public sector association, the Cambodian Independent Civil 
Servants' Association (CICA), represented approximately 1,129 officials 
from ministries, provincial departments, and commune councils, out of 
approximately 184,000 civil servants nationwide.
    Some CITA members feared that affiliation with the teachers 
association could hamper their chance of career advancement. CICA 
leaders alleged that fears of harassment or demotion prevented other 
civil servants from joining.
    There were no developments in the 2007 killing of local union 
leader Hy Vuthy. The investigation remained open at year's end.
    On February 18, the appeals court upheld the 2005 conviction of 
Thach Saveth for the killing of union leader Ros Sovannareth in 2004. 
Thach Saveth appealed to the Supreme Court (see section 1.e.).
    On August 17, the appeals court ruled to reinvestigate the case of 
the 2004 killing of labor union leader Chea Vichea. In December 2008 
the Supreme Court provisionally released the two suspects convicted of 
the crime (see section 1.e.).
    The labor law provides for the right to strike and protects 
strikers from reprisal. 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 40 strikes occurred in the Phnom Penh area 
during the year. The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia 
reported 57 strikes nationwide. 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 of the factory area. 
Police intervention in strikes generally was minimal and restrained, 
even in those cases where property damage occurred.
    On January 22, two workers were injured during a strike staged by 
more than 3,000 workers of the Yung Wah factory in Kandal Province. The 
protest took place after the factory management told the workers that 
they would not receive the traditional 200,500 riel bonus 
(approximately $50) for the Lunar New Year. A Kandal police deputy 
chief claimed that his officers used minimal force to subdue the 
protesters.
    On February 9, approximately 450 workers from Van Lida factory in 
Phnom Penh staged a strike and appropriated equipment after learning 
that the foreign owner had left the country without paying salaries.
    On May 20, more than 1,000 workers from the Sangwoo factory in 
Kampong Speu Province clashed with police during a strike over working 
conditions. On May 21, strikers and policemen threw stones at each 
other, and shots were fired. There were no serious injuries.
    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 can 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, can be brought before the 
Arbitration Council for a decision. Parties can 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 can 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, the Cambodian Confederation of Unions together with the 
Cambodian Labor Confederation led a march to appeal for the creation of 
an independent and impartial labor court as stipulated in the 1997 
labor law.

    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 131 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 labor 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'' (MRS) for unions, which entitles a union 
representing an absolute majority of workers in a given enterprise to 
represent all of the workers in that establishment. The government 
began reexamining its MRS certification process with support from 
international organizations and a diplomatic mission. In April 2008 
authorities issued a new MRS notification detailing the procedures for 
applying, objecting to, and holding of elections. This resulted in a 
marked improvement in MRS procedures, as evidenced by the 400 percent 
increase in certifications.
    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. During the year approximately 30 union leaders were 
dismissed or suspended without cause. Prominent independent and 
opposition union leaders reported receiving veiled threats of violence. 
Two union leaders affiliated with the Free Trade Union of Workers in 
the Kingdom of Cambodia were injured by factory security guards, one 
was hurt by two unidentified men, and two others were threatened. Both 
independent and progovernment union leaders were injured by 
unidentified assailants. In four cases, 25 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. At other 
times the government upheld labor rights. For example, during the year 
the MOLVT formally warned 691 companies of legal violations. The MOLVT 
sent 87 cases of unresolved labor disputes to the Arbitration Council. 
The Arbitration Council received 178 cases from across the country (up 
from 159 complaints in 2008), of which approximately 65 percent were 
successfully resolved.
    Unions continued to gain strength, but many were not able 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 progovernment Khmer Youth Federation of 
Trade Unions habitually threatened and harassed workers from other 
unions.
    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.
    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, almost exclusively in the informal sector. There were reports 
of forced labor by domestic servants.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects 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. The National Plan of Action on the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor (2008-12) aimed to reduce the number of working children ages 5-
17 to 10.6 percent in 2010 and 8 percent by 2015.
    Child labor was widespread in agriculture, brick making, fishing, 
the commercial sex industry, domestic service and on tobacco and 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, and an additional 500,000 
children (12 to 14 years old) conducting nonlight 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. In October police arrested Meas Nary, a high-school teacher, 
and her husband Va Saroeun, a former government official, for the 
severe mistreatment of their ward, an 11-year-old girl, whom they used 
as a domestic servant. The child told investigators she had been forced 
to do housework for years and was repeatedly abused by the couple, 
including punishments with pincers, beatings with whips and electrical 
wires, and burns.
    No aspect of the law prohibiting child labor was adequately 
enforced in the formal employment sector. No employer was prosecuted 
for violating laws against child labor. The MOLVT has responsibility 
for child labor matters 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 is 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 in the commercial sex 
industry, particularly among those ages 15 to 18. Law enforcement 
agencies failed to combat child prostitution in a sustained, consistent 
manner. Widespread corruption, lack of transparency, inadequate 
resources, and staffing shortages remained the most challenging 
obstacles.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law requires the MOLVT to 
establish a garment-sector minimum wage based on recommendations from 
the Labor Advisory Committee. There was no minimum wage for any other 
industry. Garment-sector workers were guaranteed a minimum wage 
equivalent to $50 per month, plus a minimum $6 living allowance. 
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 were often paid 
less.
    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 691 
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 complain 
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.
    On October 12, 414 garment workers at a Will Bes garment factory 
fainted and were sent to a hospital for treatment. Workers said strong 
chemicals used at the factory caused them to faint. After the incident, 
the factory was ordered to shut down for cleaning.

                               __________

              CHINA (Includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)

    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 source 
of power. 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.
    The government's human rights record remained poor and worsened in 
some areas. During the year the government increased the severe 
cultural and religious repression of ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang 
Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR).Tibetan areas remained under tight 
government controls. The detention and harassment of human rights 
activists increased, and public interest lawyers and law firms that 
took on cases deemed sensitive by the government faced harassment, 
disbarment and closure. The government limited freedom of speech and 
controlled the Internet and Internet access. Abuses peaked around high-
profile events, such as the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square 
uprising, the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising, and the 60th 
anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
    As in previous years, citizens did not have the right to change 
their government. Other serious human rights abuses included 
extrajudicial killings, executions without due process, torture and 
coerced confessions of prisoners, and the use of forced labor, 
including prison labor. The government continued to monitor, harass, 
detain, arrest, and imprison journalists, writers, dissidents, 
activists, petitioners, and defense lawyers and their families, many of 
whom sought to exercise their rights under the law. A lack of due 
process and restrictions on lawyers, particularly human rights and 
public interest lawyers, had serious consequences for defendants who 
were imprisoned or executed following proceedings that fell short of 
international standards. The party and state exercised strict political 
control of courts and judges, conducted closed trials, and continued 
the use of administrative detention. Prolonged illegal detentions at 
unofficial holding facilities, known as black jails, were widespread.
    Individuals and groups, especially those deemed politically 
sensitive by the government, continued to face tight restrictions on 
their freedom to assemble, practice religion, and travel. The 
government failed to protect refugees and asylum-seekers adequately, 
and the detention and forced repatriation of North Koreans continued. 
The government increased pressure on other countries to repatriate 
citizens back to China, including citizens who were being processed by 
UNHCR as political refugees. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), both 
local and international, continued to face intense scrutiny and 
restrictions. The government failed to address serious social 
conditions that affected human rights, including endemic corruption, 
trafficking in persons, and discrimination against women, minorities, 
and persons with disabilities. The government continued its coercive 
birth limitation policy, in some cases resulting in forced abortion or 
forced sterilization. Workers cannot choose an independent union to 
represent them in the workplace, and the law does not protect workers' 
right to strike.
    In April the government unveiled its first National Human Rights 
Action Plan. The 54-page document outlined human rights goals to be 
achieved over the next two years and addressed issues such as 
prisoners' rights and the role of religion in society. However, the 
plan has not yet been implemented.
    On July 5, riots broke out in Urumqi, the provincial capital of 
Xinjiang, after police used force to break up a demonstration 
reportedly composed mostly of Uighur university students who protested 
the killing of Uighur migrant workers by Han co-workers in Guangdong 
Province. Violence erupted leaving approximately 200 people dead and 
1,700 injured. According to official sources, most of the dead were Han 
Chinese. On July 7 and September 4, groups of Han Chinese engaged in 
retaliatory violence, resulting in more deaths. At year's end Urumqi 
remained under a heavy police presence and most Internet and 
international phone communication remained cut off.
                        
                       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 January Lin Guoqiang died suddenly while in custody at the 
Fuqing Detention Center in Fujian Province. His family claimed that his 
body was swollen and covered with bruises. At year's end there was no 
official investigation into the case.
    On February 8, Li Qiaoming was reportedly beaten to death in a 
detention center in Jinning County, Yunnan Province. Prison officials 
initially claimed he died after accidentally running into a wall during 
a game of ``hide and seek.'' However, Li's father, who viewed the 
corpse, reported Li's head was swollen and his body covered with purple 
abrasions. Following Li's death, public security officials launched a 
campaign to eliminate ``unnatural deaths'' in prisons. An investigation 
determined three inmates were responsible for the death. The inmates, 
along with two prison guards, were sentenced to prison.
    In March Li Wenyan died while in custody in Jiujiang, Jiangxi 
Province. The Xinhua official press quoted a senior prison official as 
stating that Li died while having a ``nightmare.'' Official press 
reports also stated that an autopsy performed by the Jiangxi Provincial 
Public Security Department in May showed that Li died of various 
diseases, including an ulcer, an abscess, and heart disease, none of 
which were discovered until after his death. The same press report 
stated that an injury on the body was caused by electric shock 
administered during resuscitation attempts.
    Also in March Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that a Tibetan monk, 
Phuntsok Rabten, was beaten to death by police in Sichuan Province 
after urging Tibetans to boycott farming to protest a massive security 
clampdown.
    In April the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) disclosed that at 
least 15 prisoners died in ``unnatural deaths'' under unusual 
circumstances during the year. 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.
    According to official media reports, 197 persons died and 1,700 
were injured during the July 5 rioting in Urumqi. A second wave of 
riots, on a smaller scale, occurred on July 7. On September 25, charges 
were brought against 21 of the more than 200 persons facing prosecution 
in connection with the riots. On November 9, eight Uighurs and one Han 
were executed without due process for crimes committed during July 
riots. At year's end 22 persons had been sentenced to death; five 
others reportedly received suspended death sentences. Of these, one was 
reported to be ethnically Han Chinese and the rest were Uighurs.
    According to RFA reports, police detained Uighur Shohret Tursun in 
Urumqi during the July 5 riots. In September police returned his 
disfigured body to family members and ordered them to bury him; the 
family refused to do so without an explanation of his death from the 
police. On September 20, the police surrounded the family home and 
forced the family to bury the body without an autopsy.
    During the reporting period no new information became available 
regarding the deaths of Falun Gong practitioner Yu Zhou, who was 
arrested in Beijing in January 2008 and died in February 2008; Tibetan 
protester Paltsal Kyab, detained in April 2008 in Sichuan Province and 
who died in police custody in May 2008; or a motorcyclist surnamed 
Ouyang, who died in July 2008 and was allegedly killed by security 
guards in Guangdong Province.
    During the year no new information was available regarding a 2007 
incident in which 18 persons were killed and 17 were arrested during a 
raid at a location in the XUAR that officials called a terrorist 
training camp.
    Defendants in criminal proceedings were executed following 
convictions that sometimes took place under circumstances involving 
severe lack of due process and inadequate channels for appeal.

    b. Disappearance.--On February 4, authorities detained human rights 
lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who had represented Chinese Christians and Falun 
Gong practitioners. At year's end his whereabouts remained unconfirmed, 
although according to NGO reports, in August he reportedly was seen in 
his hometown under heavy police escort. Before his arrest Gao published 
a letter detailing his torture during a previous period of detention.
    On March 30, underground Catholic bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of 
Zhengding, Hebei Province, was arrested; at year's end his whereabouts 
were unknown. The whereabouts of underground Catholic priests Zhang Li 
and Zhang Jianlin, from near Zhangjiakou city in Hebei Province, whom 
authorities detained in May 2008, and Wu Qinjing, the bishop of 
Zhouzhi, Shaanxi Province, who was detained in 2007, also remained 
unknown.
    In an October report, the NGO Human Rights Watch documented the 
disappearances of hundreds of Uighur men and boys following the July 
protests in Urumqi.
    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 Dui Hua Foundation estimated that 
approximately 20 individuals continued to serve sentences for offenses 
committed during the demonstration.

    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. However, during the year there were reports that officials 
used electric shocks, beatings, shackles, and other forms of abuse.
    According to a November Human Rights Watch report, on March 6, An 
Weifeng was released on bail from Bancheng prison in Chengde City, 
Henan Province, for medical treatment. His father claimed that An 
Weifeng's body was swollen and scarred as a result of beatings and the 
administration of electric shocks.
    In 2007, 30 farmers from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, who traveled to 
Beijing seeking resolution of a land dispute were abducted and taken to 
a military base, where they were tortured, threatened, and starved. One 
of them allegedly attempted suicide, ``because (the guards) didn't 
allow me to sleep or eat in order to force me to write self-
criticisms.'' According to the same report, a 15-year-old girl who 
traveled to Beijing to get help for her disabled father was kidnapped 
and taken back to Gansu Province, where she was beaten and held 
incommunicado for nearly two months. There were no new developments in 
this case during the year.
    In November 2008 the UN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) stated 
its deep concern about the routine and widespread use of torture and 
mistreatment of suspects in police custody, especially to extract 
confessions or information used in criminal proceedings. However, UNCAT 
acknowledged government efforts to address the practice of torture and 
related problems in the criminal justice system. Many alleged acts of 
torture occurred in pretrial criminal detention centers or Reeducation 
Through Labor (RTL) centers. Sexual and physical abuse and extortion 
occurred in some detention centers.
    According to China News Weekly, the country had 22 ``ankang'' 
institutions (high-security psychiatric hospitals for the criminally 
insane) directly administered by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). 
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. The regulations for 
committing a person to an ankang facility were not clear, and detainees 
had no mechanism for objecting to public security officials' 
determinations of mental illness. Patients in these hospitals 
reportedly were given medicine against their will and forcibly 
subjected to electric shock treatment. Activists sentenced to 
administrative detention also reported they were strapped to beds or 
other devices for days at a time, beaten, forcibly injected or fed 
medications, and denied food and use of toilet facilities.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in penal 
institutions for both political prisoners and common criminals 
generally were harsh and often degrading. Prisoners and detainees often 
were kept 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.
    On March 2, an inmate at the Danzhou First Detention Center in 
Hainan was beaten to death by inmates while guards looked on.
    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 and 
was tightly controlled.
    In August Vice Minister of Health Huang Jiefu stated that inmates 
were not a proper source for organ transplants, that prisoners must 
give written consent for their organs to be taken, and that their 
rights were protected. In a 2007 interview, Ministry of Health 
spokesman Mao Qunan stated that most transplanted organs were from 
executed prisoners.
    Adequate, timely medical care for prisoners remained a serious 
problem, despite official assurances that prisoners have the right to 
prompt medical treatment. Prison officials often denied privileges, 
including the ability to purchase outside food, make telephone calls, 
and receive family visits to those who refused to acknowledge guilt.
    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.
    The law requires juveniles to be held separately from adults, 
unless facilities are insufficient. In practice children sometimes were 
held with adult prisoners and required to work. Political prisoners 
were segregated from each other and placed with common criminals, who 
sometimes beat political prisoners at the instigation of guards. Newly 
arrived prisoners or those who refused to acknowledge committing crimes 
were particularly vulnerable to beatings.
    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 permits police and security 
authorities to detain persons without arresting or charging them. 
Because the government tightly controlled information, it was 
impossible to determine accurately the total number of persons 
subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The security apparatus 
is made up of the Ministries of State Security and Public Security, the 
People's Armed Police, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the 
state judicial, procuratorial, and penal systems. The Ministries of 
State Security and Public Security and the People's Armed Police were 
responsible for internal security. SPP and Supreme People's Court (SPC) 
officials admitted that courts and prosecutors often deferred to the 
security ministries on policy matters and individual cases. The SPP was 
responsible for the investigation of corruption and duty crimes (crimes 
committed by public officials or state functionaries, including 
corruption, crimes of dereliction of duty, and crimes involving 
violations of a citizen's personal rights). The PLA was responsible for 
external security but also had some domestic security responsibilities.
    The MPS coordinates the country's law enforcement, which is 
administratively organized into local, county, provincial, and 
specialized police agencies. Some efforts were made to strengthen 
historically weak regulation and management of law enforcement 
agencies; however, judicial oversight was limited, and checks and 
balances were absent. Corruption at the local level was widespread. 
Security officials, including ``urban management'' officials, 
reportedly took individuals into custody without just cause, 
arbitrarily collected fees from individuals charged with crimes, and 
mentally and physically abused victims and perpetrators.
    The SPP acknowledged continuing widespread abuse in law 
enforcement. Domestic news media reported the convictions of public 
security officials who had beaten to death suspects or prisoners in 
their custody. On August 12, Deng Hongfei, a police officer in 
Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and 
fellow officer Xia Xiangdong was sentenced to one year in prison for 
beating to death suspect Wang Jianguo during an interrogation in 2006.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Public 
security organs do not require court-approved warrants to detain 
suspects under their administrative detention powers. After detention 
the procuracy can approve formal arrest without court approval. 
According to the law, in routine criminal cases police can unilaterally 
detain persons for up to 37 days before releasing them or formally 
placing them under arrest. After a suspect is arrested, the law allows 
police and prosecutors to detain a person for up to seven months while 
public security organs further investigate the case. Another 45 days of 
detention are allowed where public security organs refer a case to the 
procuratorate to decide whether to file charges. If charges are filed, 
authorities can detain a suspect for an additional 45 days between 
filing and trial. In practice the police sometimes detained persons 
beyond the time limits stipulated by law. In some cases investigating 
security agents or prosecutors sought repeated extensions, resulting in 
pretrial detention of a year or longer. The criminal procedure law 
allows detainees access to lawyers before formal charges are filed, 
although police often limited such access.
    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.
    Detained criminal suspects, defendants, their legal 
representatives, and close relatives are entitled to apply for bail; 
however, in practice few suspects were released on bail pending trial.
    The government used incommunicado detention. The law requires 
notification of family members within 24 hours of detention, but 
individuals often were held without notification for significantly 
longer periods, especially in politically sensitive cases. Under a 
sweeping exception, officials were not required to provide notification 
if doing so would ``hinder the investigation'' of a case. In some cases 
police treated those with no immediate family more severely.
    There were numerous reports of citizens who were detained with no 
or severely delayed notice. On July 27, Noor-Ul-Islam Sherbaz, a Uighur 
minor, was detained and accused of participating in the July 5 riot. In 
contravention of law on the detention of juveniles, Sherbaz's parents 
had no contact with him after his arrest and were not allowed to be 
present during police interrogations.
    Authorities advised a number of activists in Shanghai and Beijing 
to remain at home in the days prior to and during U.S. President 
Obama's November visit to China. Some activists in provinces outside 
these two cities were told not to travel outside their province.
    Citizens who traveled to Beijing to petition the central government 
for redress of a grievance were frequently subjected to arbitrary 
detention, often by police from the petitioner's hometown. Some 
provincial governments operated detention centers in Beijing or in 
other localities to hold such petitioners without official procedures 
or right to appeal. The law protects the right to petition the 
government for resolution of grievances.
    In August a guard raped a 20-year-old petitioner at a detention 
facility operated at a Beijing hotel by officials from Tonbai County in 
Henan Province. In November the guard pled guilty to raping the woman 
and in December was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. 
Petitioners frequently were forcibly returned to their hometowns after 
stays in detention facilities lasting several days to several weeks. 
According to an International Herald Tribune report, Huang Liuhong, a 
woman from Guizhou Province, was held in a Beijing detention facility 
for nearly a year.
    The law permits nonjudicial panels, called labor reeducation 
panels, to sentence persons without trial to three years in RTL camps 
or other administrative detention programs. The labor reeducation 
committee is authorized to extend a sentence up to one year. Defendants 
could challenge RTL sentences under the administrative litigation law 
and appeal for a reduction in, or suspension of, their sentences. 
However, appeals rarely succeeded. Many other persons were detained in 
similar forms of administrative detention, known as ``custody and 
education'' (for women engaged in prostitution and those soliciting 
prostitution) and ``custody and training'' (for minors who committed 
crimes). Administrative detention was used to intimidate political 
activists and prevent public demonstrations.
    On February 1, Zhu Lijin was arrested for distributing Falun Gong 
pamphlets. She was sentenced to 15 months in RTL without a trial. 
Authorities used special reeducation centers to prolong detention of 
Falun Gong practitioners who had completed terms in RTL.
    Authorities arrested persons on allegations of revealing state 
secrets, subversion, and other crimes as a means to suppress political 
dissent and social advocacy. Citizens also were also 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 
figures, and former political prisoners and their family members were 
among those targeted for arbitrary detention or arrest.
    The government continued to use house arrest as a nonjudicial 
punishment and control measure 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 1 National Day holiday period. 
House arrest encompassed varying degrees of stringency but sometimes 
included complete isolation in one's home or another location under 
lock and guard. In some cases house arrest involved constant 
monitoring, but persons under house arrest were occasionally permitted 
to leave the home to work or run errands. Sometimes such persons were 
required to ride in the vehicles of their police monitors when 
venturing outside. When outside the home, subjects of house arrest were 
usually, but not always, under surveillance. In some instances security 
officials assumed invasive positions within the family home rather than 
monitor from the outside.
    On May 31, police at Guiyang Airport apprehended human rights 
activist Chen Xi as he was attempting to fly to Beijing to commemorate 
the Tiananmen uprising. He was detained for nine hours without 
explanation and then sent home, where he remained under house arrest. 
Chen was again detained on December 7, presumably to prevent him from 
attending the Guizhou Human Rights Symposium, which he helped organize. 
In February Shanghai activist Dai Xuezhong was prohibited from leaving 
his home for approximately one week by local police to prevent a 
planned meeting with fellow activist Deng Yongliang. In August 
authorities placed writer Zhao Hun, who blogs under the name of Mo 
Zhixu, under house arrest for several days.
    At year's end Yuan Weijing, wife of imprisoned family-planning 
activist lawyer Chen Guangcheng, remained under virtual house arrest. 
According to Reporters Without Borders, when journalism professor Wang 
Keqin and a student tried to visit Yuan in March in Linyi County, 
Shandong Province, both were physically and verbally assaulted by five 
or six plainclothes individuals, who Wang reportedly claimed were hired 
by the local government to prevent visitors to Chen's family.
    Police continued the practice of placing under surveillance, 
harassing, and detaining citizens around politically sensitive events, 
including the plenary sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) 
and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the 
60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC and the 20th anniversary of 
the Tiananmen Square student uprising. In early June authorities in 
Hangzhou placed several dissidents, including Charter 08 signatories 
Wen Kejian and Zou Wei and CDP activist Zhu Yufu, under house arrest 
for several days. Published in December 2008, Charter 08 calls for free 
elections and greater freedom of speech. Coauthored by Liu Xiaobo, who 
was later imprisoned, the document, originally signed by more than 300 
Chinese activists and intellectuals, received more than 7,000 
signatories online. Many dissidents in Beijing reported that police 
prevented them from leaving their houses on June 4, the anniversary of 
the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Authorities in the XUAR used house 
arrest and other forms of arbitrary detention against those accused of 
subscribing to the ``three evils'' of religious extremism, 
``splittism,'' and terrorism. Raids, detentions, arrests, and judicial 
punishments indiscriminately affected not only those suspected of 
supporting terrorism but also those who peacefully sought to pursue 
political goals or worship.

    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. It received policy 
guidance from both the government and the CCP, whose leaders used a 
variety of means to direct courts on verdicts and sentences, 
particularly in politically sensitive cases. At both the central and 
local levels, the government and CCP frequently interfered in the 
judicial system and dictated court decisions. Trial judges decided 
individual cases under the direction of the adjudication committee in 
each court. In addition, the CCP's law and politics committee, which 
includes representatives of the police, security services, 
procuratorate, and courts, had the authority to review and influence 
court operations at all levels of the judiciary. People's congresses 
also had authority to alter court decisions, but this happened rarely.
    Corruption often influenced judicial decision making, and 
safeguards against corruption were vague and poorly enforced. Local 
governments appointed judges at the corresponding level of the judicial 
structure. Judges received their court finances and salaries from these 
government bodies and could be replaced by them. Local authorities 
often exerted undue influence over the judges they appointed and 
financed. Several high-profile corruption cases involved procuracy 
officials.
    Courts lacked the independence and authority to rule on the 
constitutionality of laws. The law permits organizations or individuals 
to question laws and regulations they believe contradict the 
constitution, but a constitutional challenge first requires 
consultation with the body drafting the questioned regulation and can 
be appealed only to the NPC. Accordingly, lawyers had little or no 
opportunity to use the constitution in litigation.
    The SPC is followed in descending order by the higher, 
intermediate, and basic people's courts. These courts handle criminal, 
civil, and administrative cases, including appeals of decisions by 
police and security officials to use RTL and other forms of 
administrative detention. There were special courts for handling 
military, maritime, and railway transport cases.
    The CCP used a form of discipline known as ``shuang gui'' for 
violations of party discipline, but there were reports of its use 
against nonparty members. Shuang gui is similar to house arrest, can be 
authorized without judicial involvement or oversight, and requires the 
CCP member under investigation to submit to questioning at a designated 
place and time. According to regulations of the Central Discipline 
Inspection Commission governing shuang gui, corporal punishment is 
banned, the member's dignity must be respected, and he or she is 
regarded as a comrade unless violations are proved. Absent any legal 
oversight, it is unclear how these regulations were enforced in 
practice.
    On August 12, authorities in Chengdu closed the trial of Tan 
Zuoren, charged with defaming the CCP, from the public (see Political 
Prisoners section). Tan attempted to collect the names of students who 
died in the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Police blocked persons who 
tried to attend the proceedings at the courthouse. When contemporary 
artist and civil society activist Ai Weiwei traveled to Chengdu to 
participate in the trial and testify on Tan's behalf, security forces 
beat him and prevented him from leaving his hotel room until the trial 
had adjourned.
    On November 6, 70-year-old Lin Dagang was sentenced to two years in 
prison for illegally possessing state secrets. According to an NGO 
report, his wife and son were not allowed to attend his two-hour trial.
    On December 25, Liu Xiaobo, a well-known dissident and coauthor of 
Charter 08, which called for increased political freedoms and human 
rights in China, was found guilty of the crime of inciting subversion 
of state power and sentenced to 11 years in prison and two years' 
deprivation of political rights, in a trial that was believed to 
contain serious due process violations. At year's end Liu's case was on 
appeal.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials took place before a judge, who often was 
accompanied by ``people's assessors,'' laypersons hired by the court to 
assist in decision making. According to law, people's assessors had 
authority similar to judges, but in practice they often deferred to 
judges and did not exercise an independent jury-like function.
    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. The combined conviction rate 
for first- and second-instance criminal trials was more than 99 percent 
in 2008; 1,008,677 defendants were tried, and 1,373 were found not 
guilty. In many politically sensitive trials, which rarely lasted more 
than several hours, the courts handed down guilty verdicts immediately 
following proceedings. Courts often punished defendants who refused to 
acknowledge guilt with harsher sentences than those who confessed. 
There was an appeals process, but appeals rarely resulted in reversed 
verdicts. Appeals processes failed to provide sufficient avenues for 
review, and there were inadequate remedies for violations of 
defendants' rights.
    SPC regulations require all trials to be open to the public, with 
certain exceptions, such as cases involving state secrets, privacy, and 
minors. Authorities used the legal exception for cases involving state 
secrets to keep politically sensitive proceedings closed to the public 
and sometimes even to family members, and to withhold access to defense 
counsel. Under the regulations, foreigners with valid identification 
are allowed the same access to trials as citizens, but in practice 
foreigners were permitted to attend court proceedings by invitation 
only. As in past years, foreign diplomats and journalists sought 
permission to attend a number of trials only to have court officials 
reclassify them as ``state secret'' cases, fill all available seats 
with security officials, or otherwise close them to the public. For 
example, foreign diplomats requested but were denied permission to 
attend human rights advocate Huang Qi's February trial on charges of 
illegally possessing state secrets. Huang's trial was adjourned without 
a verdict. Some trials were broadcast, and court proceedings were a 
regular television feature. A few courts published their verdicts on 
the Internet.
    The law gives most suspects the right to seek legal counsel shortly 
after their initial detention and interrogation, although police 
frequently interfered with 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 did.
    Both criminal and administrative cases remained eligible for legal 
aid, although 70 percent or more of criminal defendants went to trial 
without a lawyer. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of 
legal-aid cases reached 546,859 in 2008. The country had 12,778 full-
time legal aid personnel, although the number of legal-aid personnel 
remained inadequate to meet demand. Nonattorney legal advisors provided 
the only legal-aid options in many areas.
    Lawyers often refused to represent defendants in politically 
sensitive cases, and defendants frequently found it difficult to find 
an attorney. The government took steps to discourage lawyers from 
taking sensitive cases. For example, following the July unrest in the 
XUAR, the Beijing Municipal Judicial Bureau posted a note on its Web 
site urging justice bureaus, the Beijing Municipal Lawyers Association, 
and law firms in Beijing to ``exercise caution'' in representing cases 
related to the riots. Similar measures were taken with respect to 
Tibetan defendants. In some cases Beijing-based rights lawyers were 
told they could not represent jailed Tibetans. Local governments in the 
XUAR and Tibetan areas imposed arbitrary rules that defendants could be 
represented only by locally registered attorneys.
    When defendants were able to retain counsel in politically 
sensitive cases, government officials sometimes prevented effective 
representation of counsel. Officials deployed a wide range of tactics 
to obstruct the work of lawyers representing sensitive clients, 
including unlawful detentions, disbarment, intimidation, refusal to 
allow a case to be tried before a court, and physical abuse. For 
example, in April Beijing lawyer Cheng Hai was attacked and beaten 
while on his way to meet with a Falun Gong client in Chengdu. According 
to Cheng, those responsible for the attack were officials from the 
Jinyang General Management Office, Wuhou District, Chengdu. In May 
police officers in Chongqing arrested and beat lawyers Zhang Kai and Li 
Chunfu when they interviewed the family of a Falun Gong practitioner 
who allegedly died in police custody.
    During its yearly professional evaluation procedures for Beijing 
attorneys, the Beijing Lawyers Association did not renew the 
professional licenses of a number of human rights lawyers, effectively 
barring them from practicing law, including Li Heping, Cheng Hai, Jiang 
Tianyong, Li Xiongbing, Li Chunfu, Wang Yajun, Tang Jitian, Yang 
Huimin, Xie Yanyi, Li Dunyong, Wen Haibo, Liu Wei, Zhang Lihui, Peng 
Jian, Li Jinglin, Lan Zhixue, Zhang Kai, and Liu Xiaoyuan. Two lawyers 
who practiced outside of Beijing, Wei Liangyue and Yang Zaixin, 
reported that authorities warned them that their licenses were in 
jeopardy. Shanghai lawyers Zheng Enchong and Guo Guoting lost their 
licenses in 2008 in a similar decision and, as a result, were barred 
from practicing law.
    According to the law, defense attorneys can 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 speak during trials. In practice criminal 
defendants often were not assigned an attorney until a case was brought 
to court. Even in nonsensitive criminal trials, only one in seven 
defendants reportedly had legal representation.
    The mechanism that allows defendants to confront their accusers was 
inadequate; the percentage of witnesses who came to court in criminal 
cases was less than 10 percent and as low as 1 percent in some courts. 
According to one expert, only 1 to 5 percent of trials involved 
witnesses. In most criminal trials, prosecutors read witness 
statements, which neither the defendants nor their lawyers had an 
opportunity to question. Approximately 95 percent of witnesses in 
criminal cases did not appear in court to testify, sometimes due to 
hardship or fear of reprisals. Although the criminal procedure law 
states that pretrial witness statements cannot serve as the sole basis 
for conviction, officials 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. In practice 
pretrial access to information was minimal, and the defense often 
lacked adequate opportunity to prepare for trial.
    Police and prosecutorial officials often ignored the due process 
provisions of the law, which led to particularly egregious consequences 
in death penalty cases. By law there are at least 68 capital offenses, 
including nonviolent financial crimes such as counterfeiting currency, 
embezzlement, and corruption.
    In 2007 the SPC reassumed jurisdiction to conduct final review of 
death penalty cases handed down for immediate execution (but not death 
sentences handed down with a two-year reprieve). In most cases the SPC 
does not have authority to issue a new decision or declare a defendant 
innocent if it discovers errors in the original judgment; it can only 
approve or disapprove lower-court decisions. SPC spokesman Ni Shouming 
stated that since reassuming the death penalty review power in 2007, 
the SPC had rejected 15 percent of the cases it reviewed due to unclear 
facts, insufficient evidence, inappropriateness of the death sentence 
in some cases, and inadequate trial procedures. The SPC remanded these 
cases to lower courts for further proceedings, although it did not 
provide underlying statistics or figures. Because official statistics 
remained a state secret, it was not possible to evaluate independently 
the implementation and effects of the procedures.
    Following the SPC's resumption of death penalty review power, 
executions were not to be carried out on the date of conviction, but 
only after final review by the SPC was completed. The government 
continued to apply the death penalty in a range of cases, including 
cases of economic crimes. In April a Beijing court upheld the death 
sentence of Yang Yanming, who was convicted of embezzlement. Yang was 
executed on December 8. On August 7, Li Peiying, former chairman of the 
Beijing Capital International Airport, was executed for bribery. On 
December 29, British citizen Akmal Shaikh was executed for drug-
trafficking crimes.
    The foreign-based Dui Hua Foundation estimated that approximately 
5,000 persons were executed during the year.

    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 confine 
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 the crime of ``counterrevolution,'' repealed in 1997, and 
thousands of others were serving sentences under the state security 
law, which authorities stated covers crimes similar to 
counterrevolution. Foreign governments urged the government to review 
the cases of those charged before 1997 with counterrevolution and to 
release those who had been jailed for nonviolent offenses under 
provisions of the criminal law, which were eliminated when the law was 
revised. At year's end no systematic review had occurred. The 
government maintained that prisoners serving sentences for 
counterrevolution and endangering state security were eligible on an 
equal basis for sentence reduction and parole, but political prisoners 
benefited from early release at lower rates than those enjoyed by other 
prisoners. Dozens of persons were believed to remain in prison in 
connection with their involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen prodemocracy 
movement. International organizations estimated that at least 10 and as 
many as 200 Tiananmen activists remained in prison. The exact number 
was unknown because official statistics have never been made public.
    On March 4, labor activist and lawyer Yuan Xianchen was found 
guilty of ``inciting subversion of state power'' and sentenced to four 
years in prison and five years' deprivation of political rights. Yuan 
was detained in May 2008 after publishing an article in Beijing Spring, 
a New York-based human rights journal. He was formally arrested in June 
2008.
    Activist Huang Qi, a long-time campaigner for public recognition of 
Tiananmen victims, was arrested in June 2008 for possessing state 
secrets. On August 5, Huang was tried in Sichuan Province on charges of 
``illegal possession of state secrets,'' and on November 24, he was 
sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Also in August activist Tan 
Zuoren went on trial for defaming the CCP, a charge allegedly linked to 
his work on social issues perceived by the government as sensitive. At 
year's end no verdict had been issued in his case.
    Zhou Yongjun, a former Tiananmen Square student leader and foreign 
resident, was detained in September 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 mainland authorities, 
detained in Shenzhen, and transferred to his hometown in Sichuan 
Province on the same financial charges. Zhou's trial was held November 
19, and at year's end the case was awaiting a verdict.
    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; dissident Wang Xiaoning; lawyer and 
activist Yang Maodong (also known as Guo Feixiong); land-rights 
activist Yang Chunlin; Internet writer Xu Wei; labor activists Hu 
Mingjun, Huang Xiangwei, Kong Youping, Ning Xianhua, Li Jianfeng, Li 
Xintao, Lin Shun'an, Li Wangyang, and She Wanbao; CDP cofounder Qin 
Yongmin; family-planning whistleblower Chen Guangcheng; Catholic bishop 
Su Zhimin; Christian activist Zhang Rongliang; Inner Mongolian activist 
Hada; Uighur activist Dilkex Tilivaldi; and Tibetan Tenzin Deleg.
    Political prisoners obtained parole and sentence reduction much 
less frequently than ordinary prisoners. In January labor activist Yue 
Tianxiang was released from prison; he was convicted and sentenced to 
10 years in 1999. On February 10, Uighur Tohti Tunyaz was released from 
prison after serving 11 years. Internet writer Yang Zili and labor 
activist Yao Fuxin were released from prison in March; both served 
their full sentences. On March 16, labor activist Yao Fuxin was 
released after serving his seven-year prison term on a conviction of 
``subversion of state power.'' According to Human Rights in China, at 
year's end Yao was under three years of deprivation of political 
rights, including the freedoms of speech, assembly, and association. On 
April 22, Tibetan Jigme Gyatso was released from detention.
    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 status in society, 
ability to find employment, freedom to travel, and access to residence 
permits and social services severely restricted. Former political 
prisoners and their families frequently were subjected to police 
surveillance, telephone wiretaps, searches, and other forms of 
harassment, and some encountered difficulty obtaining or keeping 
employment, education, and housing.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Courts deciding civil 
matters suffered from internal and external limitations on judicial 
independence. The State Compensation Law provides administrative and 
judicial remedies for deprivations of criminal rights, such as wrongful 
arrest or conviction, extortion of confession by torture, or unlawful 
use of force resulting in bodily injury. In civil matters prevailing 
parties often found it difficult to enforce court orders, and 
resistance to the enforcement sometimes extended to forcible resistance 
to court police.

    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; moreover, the 
Public Security Bureau (PSB) and prosecutors can issue search warrants 
on their own authority without judicial consent, review, or 
consideration. 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. All major hotels had a 
sizable internal security presence, and hotel guestrooms sometimes had 
concealed listening devices and were searched for sensitive or 
proprietary materials.
    Some citizens were under heavy surveillance and routinely had their 
telephone calls monitored or telephone service disrupted, particularly 
in the XUAR and Tibetan areas. The authorities frequently warned 
dissidents and activists, underground religious figures, former 
political prisoners, and others whom the government considered to be 
troublemakers 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.
    The 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 birth-planning officials using physical coercion to 
meet government goals. Such practices required the use of birth-control 
methods (particularly intrauterine devices and female sterilization, 
which according to government statistics accounted for more than 80 
percent of birth-control methods employed) and the abortion of certain 
pregnancies.
    In February, according to international media reports, three women 
who were acting as surrogate mothers were reportedly forced to undergo 
abortions in a hospital in Guangzhou.
    In the case of families that already had two children, one parent 
was often pressured to undergo sterilization. The penalties sometimes 
left women with little practical choice but to undergo abortion or 
sterilization.
    Laws and regulations forbid the termination of pregnancies based on 
the sex of the fetus, but because of the intersection of birth 
limitations with the traditional preference for male children, 
particularly in rural areas, many families used ultrasound technology 
to identify female fetuses and terminate these pregnancies. National 
Population and Family-planning Commission regulations ban nonmedically 
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 enough to deter unlawful behavior. 
According to government estimates released in February 2008, the male-
female sex ratio at birth was 120 to 100 at the end of 2007 (compared 
with norms elsewhere of between 103 and 107 to 100).
    Several provinces--Anhui, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jilin, 
Liaoning, and Ningxia--require ``termination of pregnancy'' if the 
pregnancy violates provincial family-planning regulations. An 
additional 10 provinces--Fujian, Guizhou, Guangdong, Gansu, Jiangxi, 
Qinghai, Sichuan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Yunnan--require unspecified 
``remedial measures'' to deal with unauthorized pregnancies.
    In July the Shanghai Population and Family-planning Commission 
announced plans to encourage couples to have a second child if both 
parents grew up as ``only children.''
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 interpreted the CCP's 
``leading role,'' as mandated in the constitution, as superseding and 
circumscribing these rights. 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 largely prevented from obtaining permits 
to travel to Tibet except for highly controlled press visits. While 
foreign journalists were allowed access to Urumqi during and after the 
July riots, authorities forced foreign journalists to leave other 
cities in the XUAR.
    Media outlets received regular guidance from the Central Propaganda 
Department (CPC), which listed topics that should not be covered, 
including politically sensitive topics. After events such as the July 
riots or the Sichuan earthquake, media outlets were told to cover the 
stories using content carried by government-controlled Xinhua and China 
Central Television. In the period preceding the October celebration of 
the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, authorities mandated 
that newspapers, magazines, and other news outlets minimize the 
reporting of negative stories.
    The General Administration of Press and Publication; the State 
Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, and the CPC remained 
active in issuing restrictive regulations and decisions constraining 
the content of broadcast media.
    As long as the speaker did not publish views that challenged the 
CCP or disseminate such views to overseas audiences, the range of 
permissible topics for private speech continued to expand. Political 
topics could be discussed privately and in small groups without 
punishment, and criticisms of the government were common topics of 
daily speech. However, public speeches, academic discussions, and 
speeches at meetings or in public forums covered by the media remained 
circumscribed, as did speeches pertaining to sensitive social topics. 
On May 10, 19 scholars held an unauthorized academic conference in 
Beijing to discuss the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. Some participants 
later received warnings from their employers to cease their 
participation in such events. Authorities also frequently intervened to 
halt public speeches and lectures on sensitive political topics.
    In March police detained Zhang Shijun, a former soldier who 
publicly expressed regret over his involvement in the Tiananmen 
uprising, for publishing an open letter to President Hu Jintao urging 
the CCP to reconsider its condemnation of the 1989 demonstrations. At 
year's end his whereabouts remained unknown.
    In March and May, police interrogated and searched the home of 
Jiang Qisheng, Chinese PEN center vice president, author of a widely 
cited report on the Tiananmen uprising and an original signer of 
Charter 08.
    The government also frequently monitored gatherings of 
intellectuals, scholars, and dissidents where political or sensitive 
issues were discussed. Those who aired views that disagreed with the 
government's position on controversial topics or disseminated such 
views to domestic and overseas audiences risked punishment ranging from 
disciplinary action at government work units to police interrogation 
and detention. In December 2008, to commemorate human rights day, a 
group of 303 intellectuals and activists released a petition entitled 
Charter 08, calling for human rights and democracy. Within one month 
more than 7,300 persons signed the petition, of whom police questioned 
at least 100. Many Charter 08 signers reported experiencing harassment 
during the year, especially around the time of sensitive anniversaries, 
trials, or official visits.
    The CPC continued to list subjects that were off limits to the 
domestic media, and the government maintained authority to approve all 
programming. Nearly all print media, broadcast media, and book 
publishers were owned by, or 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 February two New York Times reporters were 
detained for 20 hours after police stopped their car in a Tibetan area 
of Gansu Province. Authorities made the two spend the night in Lanzhou, 
the provincial capital, and eventually forced them to return to 
Beijing. In April reporters with the Voice of America (VOA) were 
detained for two hours in Sichuan Province before being told that they 
could not proceed farther. Local authorities first told them that it 
was illegal for tourists to visit the area and later told them they 
could not proceed because of ``hazardous road conditions.''
    In May a Financial Times correspondent reporting in Mianzhu on 
families who lost children during the Sichuan earthquake was followed 
to an interview and attacked by unknown assailants who tried to take 
his camera. When police arrived, they also tried to take his video 
camera by force. Also in May on three separate occasions, foreign 
reporters were attacked while filming in Sichuan.
    Authorities barred foreign journalists from filming in, or 
entering, Tiananmen Square during the 20th anniversary of the crackdown 
on prodemocracy demonstrations. On July 10, police detained and 
deported an Associated Press photographer for taking pictures in 
Kashgar. In September police broke into the hotel room of three 
journalists from Kyodo News covering a National Day parade rehearsal, 
beat them, and destroyed their computers. On September 4, antiriot 
police beat three Hong Kong reporters in Urumqi. Five other Hong Kong 
reporters were briefly detained the same day in Urumqi to prevent them 
from filming protests.
    In July the Foreign Correspondent's Club of China (FCCC) polled its 
members about reporting conditions following the 2008 Olympics. FCCC 
members reported 23 incidents of violence against reporters, sources, 
or assistants, along with multiple incidents of destruction of 
photographs or reporting materials, intimidation, and summoning for 
questioning by authorities. They also reported 100 incidents of being 
denied access to public spaces by authorities.
    The government refused to grant a visa to a foreign journalist who 
was planning to serve as the newspapers' new bureau chief in Beijing.
    Authorities tightened restrictions on citizens working as 
assistants for foreign news bureaus. In February the government issued 
a code of conduct for news assistants of foreign correspondents. The 
code threatens dismissal and loss of accreditation if news assistants 
engage in ``independent reporting'' and instructs them to provide their 
employers with information that projects a good image of the country. 
The FCCC denounced the code of conduct as part of a government effort 
to intimidate news assistants.
    Officials can be punished for unauthorized contact with 
journalists. Editors and journalists continued to practice self-
censorship as the primary means for the party to limit freedom of the 
press on a day-to-day basis. Official guidance on permitted speech was 
often vague, subject to change at the whim of propaganda officials, and 
retroactively enforced. Propaganda authorities can force newspapers to 
fire editors and journalists who print articles that conflict with 
official views and can suspend or close publications. The system of 
postpublication punishment encourages editors to take a conservative 
approach, since a publication could face enormous business losses if it 
were suspended for inadvertently printing forbidden content.
    Government officials used criminal prosecution, civil lawsuits, and 
other punishments, including violence, detention, and other forms of 
harassment, to intimidate authors and domestic journalists and block 
controversial writings. In June police arrested writer, former 
Tiananmen prisoner, and dissident Wu Gaoxing for publishing a letter 
asserting that former Tiananmen prisoners were facing economic 
hardships because of their past political troubles.
    A domestic journalist can face demotion or job loss for publishing 
views that challenge the government.
    Journalists who remained in prison included Lu Gengsong, Lu 
Jianhua, Huang Jinqiu, Cheng Yizhong, and Shi Tao. On February 10, Yu 
Huafeng was released from prison.
    Journalists and editors who exposed corruption scandals frequently 
faced problems with the authorities. In May officials in Hubei 
physically assaulted two reporters, Kong Pu from the Beijing Times and 
Wei Yi from the Nangfang People's Weekly, as they researched a story of 
a waitress who killed a party official when he attempted to assault 
her.
    According to an official report, during the year authorities 
confiscated more than 65 million copies of pornographic, pirated, and 
unauthorized publications. 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 riots in Urumqi. Authorities also continued to 
ban books with content they deemed controversial.
    The law permits only government-approved publishing houses to print 
books. The State Press and Publications Administration (PPA) controlled 
all licenses to publish. No newspaper, periodical, book, audio, video, 
or electronic publication may be printed or distributed without the PPA 
and relevant provincial publishing authorities' approval of both the 
printer and distributor. 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 off limits.
    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, postpublication sanctions.
    According to the PEN American Center, Korash Huseyin, former editor 
of the Uighur-language Kashgar Literature Journal, was released in 
2008, but his whereabouts were unknown. Korash Huseyin, who was 
sentenced in 2004 to three years in prison for publishing a short story 
that authorities considered critical of CCP rule of Xinjiang, remained 
in prison serving a 10-year sentence.
    The authorities continued to jam, with varying degrees of success, 
Chinese-, Uighur-, and Tibetan-language broadcasts of the VOA, BBC, and 
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, which were 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.

    Internet Freedom.--During the year the China Internet Network 
Information Center reported that the number of Internet users increased 
to 338 million, 94 percent of whom had broadband access. The government 
increased its efforts to monitor Internet use, control content, 
restrict information, block access to foreign and domestic Web sites, 
encourage self-censorship, and punish those who violated regulations, 
but these measures were not universally effective.
    The MPS, which monitors the Internet under guidance from the CPC, 
employed thousands of persons at the national, provincial, and local 
levels to monitor electronic communications. Xinhua News Agency 
reported that in 2008, authorities closed 14,000 illegal Web sites and 
deleted more than 490,000 items of ``harmful'' content from the 
Internet. In January the government began an ``antivulgarity'' campaign 
aimed at cracking down on ``unhealthy information'' on the Internet. In 
January official media claimed that the campaign had resulted in the 
closure of 1,250 Web sites and the deletion of more than 3.2 million 
items of information. Many 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 major news portals, which reportedly were complying 
with secret government orders, began requiring 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 the 
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology 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 appeared 
to contribute to the indefinite postponement of enforcement of the 
directive.
    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 crackdown. The government 
also at times blocked access to selected sites operated by major 
foreign news outlets, health organizations, foreign governments, 
educational institutions, and social networking sites, as well as 
search engines, that allow rapid communication or organization of 
users.
    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 the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown and 
immediately following the July unrest in the XUAR, and many sites 
remained blocked during other major events. In the wake of the deadly 
July riots in Urumqi, the government asserted that information spread 
on the Internet contributed to the violence, resulting in the complete 
shutdown of all Internet access, text messaging, and international 
telephone calls from the region. At the end of the year, international 
calls, full Internet access, and text messaging capabilities remained 
limited.
    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, the Ministry of Industry and Information 
Technology, 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, 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.
    Authorities continued to jail numerous Internet writers for 
peaceful expression of political views. In July Wu Baoquan was 
sentenced to 18 months in prison for posting articles critical of the 
local government of the northern region of Inner Mongolia. In September 
the court convicted Wu of libel for publicizing the efforts of farmers 
who fought local officials over land rights.
    Also in July three bloggers--Fan Yanqiong, Wu Huaying, and You 
Jingyou--were 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.
    On November 12, authorities sentenced Kunchok Tsephel, literary Web 
site editor and founder of Chodme (tibetcm.com), to 15 years in prison 
on a charge of ``divulging state secrets'' in connection with some of 
the Web site's content. On November 14, a court in Gansu Province 
sentenced Kunga Tseyang to five years in prison. Police arrested 
Tseyang (pen name Snow Sun) on March 17 for articles he posted on a 
Tibetan Web site.
    In November 2008 Chen Daojun, an Internet writer and environmental 
activist, was sentenced to three years in prison for ``inciting 
subversion of state power.'' Chen was arrested after he participated in 
an environmental protest and posted articles online supportive of 
Tibetan demonstrators. According to Chen's lawyer, three of his 
articles were submitted as evidence that he had attacked the CCP.
    In January blogger Jia Xiaoyin was released from prison after six 
months in detention. On April 18, authorities released Internet writer 
Zhu Yufu from prison. In August blogger Guo Baofeng, known online as 
Amoiist, was released from prison after his announcement of his own 
arrest on the social networking site Twitter sparked a letter-writing 
campaign calling for his release.
    According to Reporters Without Borders, at year's end there were 30 
reporters and 68 cyberdissidents in prison.
    Regulations prohibit a broad range of activities that authorities 
interpret as subversive or slanderous to the state. 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.''

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government continued its 
restrictions on academic or artistic freedom and political and social 
discourse at colleges, universities, and research institutes.
    Authorities canceled university conferences and speaking events 
involving foreign and domestic academics on short notice when they 
deemed the topics too sensitive or the timing too close to a sensitive 
date. 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. Central or provincial authorities 
disciplined university administrators for showing the film Please Vote 
for Me by Chen Weijun in May, a film on student elections in a third-
grade class in Wuhan.
    In September the government denied visa applications from two 
foreign filmmakers, preventing them from participating in panels and 
attending the screening of their documentary about the Sichuan 
earthquake at the Beijing Independent Film Festival. Festival 
organizers invited the pair as headliners for the festival but delayed 
publication of the exact location of the screening until only hours 
before the event in an effort to minimize the possibility of 
interference from security officials.
    During the year the government imposed new restrictions on cultural 
expression and banned artists it deemed controversial. The government 
continued to use 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 were subject to sanctions, including 
denial of visas, 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.
    In May parents of Sichuan earthquake victims were told not to 
gather at the sites of destroyed schools for a memorial service. Those 
who planned to mark the anniversary of the earthquake were reportedly 
detained or threatened with detention. In June authorities prevented 
several Tiananmen mothers, including Ding Zilin, from joining memorial 
services or otherwise marking the date when their children died; 
plainclothes officers reportedly followed Ding and her husband to 
ensure compliance. In September there were several reports of parents 
being detained or otherwise prevented from gathering to commemorate the 
anniversary of the melamine milk scandal.
    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. In September three dozen parents reportedly gathered in 
Beijing to draw attention to their belief that unsafe vaccines sickened 
their children. Local officials forcibly returned them to their 
hometowns.
    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 the General 
Office of the State Council issued new guidelines for handling 
petitioners. According to the new rules, officials are to be sent 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.

    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. There were reports that the government maintained a task 
force aimed at blocking political change advocated by NGOs involved in 
social, political, and charitable activities, and also by groups 
dedicated to combating discrimination against women, persons with 
disabilities, and minorities.
    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 had been registered as private or for-profit businesses 
reportedly were requested to find a government sponsor and reregister 
as NGOs during the year. Although registered organizations all came 
under some degree of government control, some NGOs were able to operate 
with some degree of independence.
    The number of NGOs continued to grow, despite tight restrictions 
and regulations. According to the World Bank, at year's end there were 
more than 415,000 officially registered civil society organizations. 
NGOs existed under a variety of formal and informal guises, including 
national mass organizations created and funded by the CCP.
    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 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 
March 2008.
    On July 29, officials arrested Xu Zhiyong, cofounder of the Open 
Constitution Initiative (OCI, or Gongmeng), a civil society 
organization and legal research center, on accusations of tax evasion. 
Media reports suggested he was arrested because of his legal work on 
behalf of families affected by the melamine-tainted milk scandal. 
Officials also raided the OCI's offices, seized equipment, and ordered 
the OCI to close. On August 23, after a public outcry, Xu and an OCI 
office assistant were released from jail on bail.
    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.--The constitution and laws provide for 
freedom of religious belief and the freedom not to believe. The 
constitution limits protection of religious activities to those the 
government defined as ``normal.'' The constitution states that 
religious bodies and affairs are not to be ``subject to any foreign 
domination'' and that the individual exercise of rights ``may not 
infringe upon the interests of the state.''
    The government continued to strictly control religious practice and 
repress religious activity outside government-sanctioned organizations 
and registered places of worship. The government controlled the growth 
and scope of the activity of both registered and unregistered religious 
groups, including house churches. Government authorities limited 
proselytizing, particularly by foreigners and unregistered religious 
groups, but permitted proselytizing in state-approved religious venues 
and private settings. Throughout the country foreign citizens' 
participation in religious activities was viewed by the government as 
highly suspect and, in some cases, led to repercussions against both 
Chinese citizens and foreign citizens.
    Religious groups are regulated by the 2005 Regulations on Religious 
Affairs, which indicate that the State Administration for Religious 
Affairs (SARA) or the religious affairs bureaus (RABs) supervise all 
religious activities. To be considered legal, religious groups must 
register with a government-affiliated patriotic religious association 
(PRA) associated with one of the five recognized religions: Buddhism, 
Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. Religious groups must 
register according to the Regulations on Social Organizations (RSO), 
which specifies that organizations must find a supervisory unit to 
sponsor their application. Religious groups that register under the RSO 
need to obtain the sponsorship of SARA or the RABs. The PRAs supervised 
activities of each religious group and liaised with government 
religious affairs authorities charged with monitoring religious 
activity. Government efforts to control and regulate religious groups, 
particularly unregistered groups, continued. Nonetheless, freedom to 
participate in religious activities continued to increase in many 
areas. Religious participation grew not only among the five main 
religions but also among the Eastern Orthodox Church and folk 
religions. Because the RSO states no organization may be registered in 
the same area if another organization is already performing similar 
work, no religious groups other than the five PRAs have registered at 
the national level. Unregistered groups reported that local RABs also 
would not approve registration applications without support from the 
relevant PRA.
    Several large house churches reported increased government 
interference with their activities in periods preceding sensitive 
anniversaries. In Beijing the government reportedly pressured landlords 
to stop renting space to house church groups. During an outdoor worship 
service, authorities reportedly conducted surveillance, used 
loudspeakers to warn against unauthorized public gatherings, detained 
church leaders to prevent them from attending services, and closed 
public parks to dissuade the groups from gathering.
    In September in Shanxi Province, members of the Linfen house church 
and police were involved in a confrontation over the demolition of a 
church building. Five church leaders were charged with ``disrupting 
public order'' and sentenced to between two and three years of RTL.
    On March 5, Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a government report 
stating, ``We will fully implement the party's basic principles on work 
related to religions and enable religious figures and people with 
religious belief to play a positive role in promoting economic and 
social development.'' The work of faith-based organizations became more 
visible during and after the Sichuan earthquake of May 2008. 
Nevertheless, leaders of such organizations reported that, due to the 
continued lack of official registration, they were not allowed to 
fundraise publicly, hire employees, or open bank accounts.
    The government's repression of religious freedom continued in 
Tibetan areas and intensified in the XUAR. Followers of Tibetan 
Buddhism, including those in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region and 
most Tibetan autonomous areas, faced more restrictions on their 
religious practice and ability to organize than Buddhists in other 
parts of the country. However, Buddhist communities outside of Tibet 
also faced continued government controls, and unregistered Buddhist 
temples remained subject to closure or demolition. The Tibetan Buddhist 
Labrang Monastery, in Gansu Province, was closed to foreign visitors 
for several months following 2008 unrest in and around the monastery. A 
heavy security presence remained in this and other Tibetan Buddhist 
monastery areas.
    In the XUAR the government often conflated peaceful religious and 
political expression with the ``three evils'' of religious extremism, 
terrorism, and separatism. Government policies that repressed religious 
activities included surveillance in mosques, regulation of sermons, and 
public admonishments against and punishment of individuals engaging in 
``illegal religious activities.''
    In August 2008 authorities in Kashgar reportedly issued 
accountability measures to local officials who were responsible for 
high-level surveillance of religious activity in the XUAR. Also in 
August 2008 in Kashgar District, authorities called for ``enhancing 
management'' of groups that included religious figures, as part of 
broader measures of ``prevention'' and ``attack.'' On December 29, the 
official XUAR government Web site announced that a new law on 
``education for ethnic unity in Xinjiang'' had been adopted at a local 
legislature session. The law reportedly bars individuals and 
organizations from spreading opinions deemed not conducive to national 
unity and also from gathering, producing, and spreading information to 
that effect.
    XUAR authorities maintained the most severe legal restrictions in 
the country on children's right to practice religion. Authorities 
continued to prohibit the teaching of Islam outside the home to 
elementary- and middle-school-age children in some areas, and children 
under the age of 18 were prohibited from entering mosques in some 
areas.
    Authorities reserved the right to censor imams' sermons, and imams 
were urged to emphasize the damage caused to Islam by terrorist acts in 
the name of the religion. Certain Muslim leaders received particularly 
harsh treatment. Authorities in some areas conducted monthly political 
study sessions for religious personnel, which, according to one CCP 
official who took part in a study session, called for ``creatively 
interpreting and improving'' religious doctrine. Authorities also 
reportedly tried to restrict Muslims' opportunities to study religion 
overseas. The China Islamic Conference required religious personnel to 
study ``new collected sermons'' compiled by the Muslim PRA, the Islamic 
Association of China, including messages on patriotism and unity aimed 
at building a ``socialist harmonious society.'' In contrast to the 
heavy-handed approach to Muslims in the XUAR, officials in Ningxia, 
Gansu, Qinghai, and Yunnan provinces generally did not interfere 
heavily in Muslims' activities.
    On October 27, a Xinjiang court sentenced Uighur Christian house 
church leader Alimujiang Yimiti to 15 years in prison on charges of 
``divulging state secrets.'' Yimiti was originally accused of engaging 
in illegal religious activities in the name of business and preaching 
Christianity to ethnic Uighurs, according to an overseas NGO. At year's 
end his case was on appeal. In 2008 the Kashgar District Intermediate 
People's Court tried Yimiti on the charge of endangering national 
security but eventually returned his case to prosecutors due to 
insufficient evidence. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 
declared Yimiti's arrest and detention arbitrary in 2008.
    Harassment of unregistered Catholic bishops, priests, and 
laypersons continued, including government surveillance and detentions. 
On March 31, Bishop Jia Zhiguo was arrested again. At year's end his 
whereabouts were unknown. There was no new information about 
unregistered Bishop Su Zhimin, who remained unaccounted for since his 
reported detention in 1997.
    The Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) did not recognize the 
authority of the Holy See to appoint bishops. However, it allowed the 
Vatican's discreet input in selecting some bishops.
    The distinction between the official Catholic Church, which the 
government controlled politically, and the unregistered Catholic Church 
was less distinct than in the past. In some official Catholic churches, 
clerics led prayers for the pope, and pictures of the pope were 
displayed. An estimated 90 percent of official Catholic bishops have 
reconciled with the Vatican. Likewise, the large majority of Catholic 
bishops appointed by the government have received official approval 
from the Vatican through ``apostolic mandates.''
    Authorities continued a general crackdown on groups considered to 
be ``cults.'' These ``cults'' included not only Falun Gong and various 
traditional Chinese meditation and exercise groups (known collectively 
as ``qigong'' groups) but also religious groups that authorities 
accused of preaching beliefs outside the bounds of officially approved 
doctrine.
    Public Falun Gong activity in the country remained negligible, and 
practitioners based abroad reported that the government's crackdown 
against the group continued. In the past the mere belief in the 
discipline (even without any public practice of its tenets) sometimes 
was sufficient grounds for practitioners to receive punishments ranging 
from loss of employment to imprisonment. Falun Gong sources estimated 
that since 1999 at least 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners had been 
sentenced to prison, more than 100,000 practitioners had been sentenced 
to RTL, and almost 3,000 had died from torture while in custody. Some 
foreign observers estimated that Falun Gong adherents constituted at 
least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in RTL camps, 
while Falun Gong sources overseas placed the number even higher.
    Falun Gong members identified by the government as ``core leaders'' 
were singled out for particularly harsh treatment. More than a dozen 
Falun Gong members were sentenced to prison for the crime of 
``endangering state security,'' but the great majority of Falun Gong 
members convicted by the courts since 1999 were sentenced to prison for 
``organizing or using a sect to undermine the implementation of the 
law,'' a less serious offense. Most practitioners, however, were 
punished administratively. Some practitioners were sentenced to RTL. 
Others were sent to ``legal education'' centers specifically 
established to ``rehabilitate'' practitioners who refused voluntarily 
to recant their belief in public after their release from RTL camps. 
Government officials denied the existence of such ``legal education'' 
centers. In addition, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners were 
confined to mental hospitals, according to overseas groups.
    Police continued to detain current and former Falun Gong 
practitioners and used possession of Falun Gong material as a pretext 
for arresting political activists. The government continued its use of 
high-pressure tactics and mandatory anti-Falun Gong study sessions to 
force practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. Even practitioners who had 
not protested or made other public demonstrations of belief reportedly 
were forced to attend anti-Falun Gong classes or were sent directly to 
RTL camps. These tactics reportedly resulted in large numbers of 
practitioners signing pledges to renounce the movement.
    The government supported atheism in schools. Authorities in many 
regions barred school-age children from attending religious services at 
mosques, temples, or churches and prevented them from receiving 
religious education outside the home.
    Official religious organizations administered local religious 
schools, seminaries, and institutes to train priests, ministers, imams, 
Islamic scholars, and Buddhist monks. Students who attended these 
institutes had to demonstrate ``political reliability,'' and all 
graduates had to pass an examination on their political, as well as 
theological, knowledge to qualify for the clergy. The government 
permitted registered religions to train clergy and allowed an 
increasing number of Catholic and Protestant seminarians, Muslim 
clerics, and Buddhist clergy to go abroad for additional religious 
studies, but some religion students had difficulty getting passports or 
obtaining approval to study abroad. In most cases foreign organizations 
provided funding for such training programs.
    The five PRAs published religious literature, and state-run 
publishing houses published religious materials. However, printing of 
the Bible was limited to Amity Press and to a few presses affiliated 
with CPA dioceses that published the Catholic Bible. Bibles produced 
through these means could be purchased at Three-Self Patriotic Movement 
or CPA churches. The government authorized publishers (other than Amity 
Press) to publish at least a thousand other Christian titles. Amity has 
published more than 50 million Bibles for Chinese readership and 
distributed them through a network of 70 urban distribution points and 
a mobile distribution network that traveled to rural areas. Increased 
demand for Bibles and other Christian literature was noted by groups 
that print, buy, and sell Bibles, and members of unregistered churches 
reported that the supply and distribution of Bibles was inadequate, 
particularly in rural locations. Individuals could not order Bibles 
directly from publishing houses. Customs officials continued to monitor 
for the ``smuggling'' of religious materials into the country. In 
recent years individuals were imprisoned for printing and receiving 
unauthorized Bibles. Authorities in some areas reportedly confiscated 
Bibles, Korans, and other religious material. In June Shi Weihan was 
sentenced to three years in prison for ``illegal business practices'' 
(printing Bibles). The Xinjiang People's Publication House was the only 
publisher officially permitted to print Muslim literature.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses of religious practitioners or anti-Semitic acts during 
the year. The government does not recognize Judaism as an ethnicity or 
religion.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 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, 
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 qualify 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. 
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. In July Tsering Woeser, a well-known 
Tibetan writer, filed a lawsuit against the government for denying her 
a passport for more than three years. At year's end she had not 
received a passport. In Tibetan regions of Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan 
provinces, in addition to the TAR, ethnic Tibetans experienced great 
difficult 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.
    On December 19, the Royal Government of Cambodia, at the request of 
PRC authorities, forcibly returned a group of 20 Uighur asylum seekers 
to the country.
    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 838 Tibetans had arrived at the UNHCR 
reception center in Kathmandu. The biggest disparities in arrivals 
occurred during the heavily trafficked fall and winter months when 
border security historically was weak. Decreased flows were attributed 
to tightened security across Tibet, along the border and inland, in the 
wake of the Lhasa crackdown in March 2008.

    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. The government largely cooperated with the UNHCR when 
dealing with the resettlement of ethnic Han Chinese or ethnic 
minorities from Vietnam and Laos resident in the country. During the 
year the government and 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, 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, and the UNHCR continued to have 
limited access to North Korean refugees inside China. The lack of 
access to UNHCR-supported 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 also 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.
    The government does not grant refugee or asylum status to refugees 
in China, although it allows the UNHCR more latitude in assisting non-
North Korean refugees. At year's end 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 Ministry of Civil Affairs, almost 
all of the country's more than 600,000 villages had implemented direct 
elections for members of local subgovernment 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 party 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.
    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 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.
    On September 15, 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. On October 16, after 
spending nine months in prison, Guo Quan was sentenced to 10 years in 
prison and 3 years of 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. One of the CDP's founders, 
Qin Yongmin, who was imprisoned in 1998, remained in prison, as did 
others connected with a 2002 open letter calling for political reform 
and reappraisal of the 1989 Tiananmen uprising. More than 30 current or 
former CDP members reportedly remained imprisoned or held in RTL camps, 
including Chen Shuqing, Sang Jiancheng, He Depu, Yang Tianshui, and 
Jiang Lijun. In January CDP member Wang Rongqing was sentenced to six 
years' imprisonment for ``subversion against the state'' after 
publishing articles critical of the political system. In August CDP 
member Zhang Lin was released from prison.
    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. There was one female member of the CCP's 25-member 
Politburo, who also concurrently served as one of five state 
councilors. Women headed three of the country's 27 ministries.
    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.
    Minorities, who made up approximately 8.4 percent of the 
population, constituted 13.9 percent of the 10th NPC. All of the 
country's officially recognized minority groups were represented in the 
NPC membership. 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 Commission of Ethnic Affairs, headed by Yang Jing, a 
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.
    In the first six months of the year, the SPP reported that 9,158 
corrupt officials were found guilty of offenses including embezzlement, 
bribery, dereliction of duty, and rights violations. The party's 
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) reported that 
106,000 members had been found guilty of corruption during the year, an 
increase of 2.5 percent over 2008. Of these, 85,353 received ``party 
discipline'' punishment and 29,718 received ``administrative 
punishment.''
    Party leaders announced new measures to combat corruption at key 
meetings, such as CCDI's annual conference on corruption in January and 
the State Council's Second Work Conference on Building a Clean 
Government in March. In addition, countering corruption, especially 
monitoring funds spent on earthquake relief and in the massive stimulus 
package, was a key theme during the NPC's March session. In April the 
party began running 45 new anticorruption public service announcements 
in print, radio, and television outlets across the country. For the 
first time ever, in May more than 2,000 secretaries of county-level 
discipline organs were summoned to Beijing for a ``focused training 
course'' run by the CDIC. The government also set up a Web site to 
allow the central government to directly receive accounts of corrupt 
officials.
    Numerous leaders of state owned enterprises, who generally also 
hold high party rank, were investigated for corruption during the year, 
including China National Nuclear Corporation General Manager Kang 
Rixin; China Development Bank Vice President Wang Yi, who was expelled 
from the party; China Mobile Vice Chairman Zhang Chunjiang; and Sinopec 
former Vice Chairman Chen Tonghai, who was sentenced to death--with a 
two-year suspension--for corruption. In November 2008 Huang Guangyu, 
the founder of Gome Electrical Appliance Holding and the country's 
richest man, was detained on unspecified charges of ``economic 
crimes,'' along with numerous government officials, including the 
following: Chen Shaoji, the chairman of the CPPCC's Guangdong 
Provincial Committee; Wang Huayuan, who was the highest-ranking 
anticorruption official in Zhejiang Province; Zheng Shaodong, the 
assistant minister of public security of Guangdong and head of that 
ministry's economic crimes investigation bureau; and his chief deputy, 
Xiang Huaizhu. Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng was dismissed in relation to 
this case and remained under investigation.
    The Ministry of Supervision and the CCDI are responsible for 
combating government corruption.

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 quasigovernmental, 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, 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 Abuse, and Trafficking in Persons
    There were laws designed to protect women, children, persons with 
disabilities, and minorities. However, some discrimination based on 
ethnicity, gender, 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. Deng Yujiao was found ``guilty of intent to harm'' but 
was not sentenced to prison after she stabbed a local official to death 
when he reportedly attempted to sexually assault her. The All-China 
Women's Federation (ACWF) advocated for ``fair treatment'' of Deng 
during the trials. Deng Yujiao was released after her trial on June 17.
    Violence against women remained a significant problem. According to 
a 2008 survey by the 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 such 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 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.
    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 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 a district court in 
Zhejiang Province granted the province's first antidomestic-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.
    Although prostitution is illegal, experts estimated that between 
1.7 million and 6 million women were involved in prostitution in the 
country. According to MPS statistics, police investigated approximately 
140,000 cases of prostitution annually. During the year the MPS 
launched a three-month crackdown on organized prostitution targeting 
individuals or groups who force, tempt, permit, or introduce women to 
prostitution; operators of entertainment venues that permit or 
introduce prostitution; and anyone who conducts illegal activities with 
minors. July MPS statistics reported that police arrested 3,311 
suspects who allegedly forced, abetted, harbored, or introduced women 
to prostitution and solved 2,503 cases related to prostitution, 
including 363 cases involving minors. A total of 457 criminal gangs 
were broken, and another 40 suspects were arrested for underage sex 
offenses.
    Despite official accounts of efforts to crack down on the sex 
trade, media reports claimed that some local officials were complicit 
in prostitution, owned prostitution venues, or received proceeds from 
such businesses. Media reports also claimed prostitution involved 
organized crime groups and businesspersons as well as the police and 
military. Social workers reported that high-profile entertainment 
centers that had powerful, behind-the-scenes supporters were beyond the 
reach of public security bureaus.
    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; however, the country's birth limitation policies retained 
harshly coercive elements in law and practice. The financial and 
administrative penalties for unauthorized births are strict. Although 
some officials suggested that adjustments to the policy were needed to 
address the problem of an unequal sex ratio at birth, the government 
continued to affirm the orientation of its family-planning policy at 
the highest levels. There was no information on whether women and men 
had equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV.
    The 2002 National Population and Family-planning Law standardizes 
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. 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. 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.
    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.
    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. 
Hunan Province required individuals conceiving children out of wedlock 
to pay 6 to 8 percent of their income from the previous year in 
addition to the standard social compensation fee. 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. For 
example, in Hebei Province fines ranged from RMB 200 to RMB 500 
(approximately $30 to $70), and in Henan Province fines ranged from RMB 
50 to RMB 500 ($7 to $70).
    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.
    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.
    On October 1, a new set of national family-planning regulations for 
the migrant population became effective. The new regulations 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.
    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 40 (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 had less earning power 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. The Beijing 
Psychological Crisis Study and Prevention Center reported 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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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 trafficked; 
however, according to media reports, as many as 20,000 children were 
kidnapped every year for illegal adoption. Most children trafficked 
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.
    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 girl 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 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 August 2008 state media reported that the 
number of children in rural areas left behind by their migrant worker 
parents totaled 5.8 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in women and 
children; however, there were reports that men, women, and children 
were trafficked to, from, through, and within the country for sexual 
exploitation and forced labor. Criminal law defines trafficking as 
purposefully selling women or children to make a profit, through 
abduction, kidnapping, buying, trading, or transporting.
    The government built on past efforts to combat trafficking, 
modifying countertrafficking regulations to strengthen the government's 
response to sex and labor trafficking, and conducting significant and 
new campaigns to prosecute traffickers and rescue trafficking victims. 
The MPS and 30 other government departments and agencies jointly issued 
National Plan of Action (NPA) implementation guidelines to restructure 
government antitrafficking work processes, assign responsibilities, and 
coordinate intragovernment cooperation. The SPP issued guidelines for 
prosecuting human trafficking cases. The central government changed 
local security officials' promotion criteria to include 
countertrafficking work and instructed public security bureaus 
nationwide to immediately investigate missing person or trafficking 
cases as criminal cases.
    In April the MPS initiated a new campaign to combat trafficking in 
women and children. From April to December, the MPS reported rescuing 
nearly 3,500 children and 7,400 women trafficking victims, breaking up 
1,684 criminal gangs in the process. Through the use of a DNA matching 
database, the identities of 298 trafficked persons have been confirmed. 
During the year prosecution and conviction of trafficking offenders 
increased, mostly focused on those trafficking women and children. 
Authorities investigated and dismantled criminal networks and organized 
crime syndicates involved in trafficking and by December had arrested 
19 of the country's 20 most-wanted human traffickers; they were 
awaiting prosecution at year's end. The government recognized the need 
to do more to provide services to trafficking victims. The government 
increased antitrafficking cooperation with other countries and 
international organizations and worked to raise public awareness on 
trafficking in persons. However, the country's capacity to effectively 
protect victims and prevent trafficking in persons did not reach 
international standards.
    The country was a source, transit point, and destination for 
trafficking in persons. The vast majority of trafficking was internal 
for the purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labor and begging, and 
forced marriage. Women and children, who made up 90 percent of reported 
trafficking cases, were often trafficked from poorer, rural areas where 
they were abducted or lured to urban centers with false promises of 
employment and then trafficked into prostitution or forced labor. The 
media and NGOs estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 were trafficked 
internally annually.
    Domestic and cross-border trafficking continued to be significant 
problems, although the exact number of persons involved could only be 
estimated, due in part to an itinerant population of approximately 150 
million. The MPS reported 2,500 cross-border trafficking cases in 2008, 
although experts claimed the number was much higher.
    The government reported strengthening its prosecution of 
trafficking. In April Hebei Provincial Higher People's Court sentenced 
two persons to death and nine others to various sentences, ranging from 
four years in prison to the death penalty with a reprieve, for a series 
of child-trafficking cases involving seven children across Henan, 
Hebei, and Shandong provinces. Also in April police detained two 
persons suspected of trying to traffic 300 youths to Costa Rica.
    In May Guizhou authorities launched a campaign to crack down on the 
forced prostitution of girls following a scandal in which 11 Xishui 
County schoolgirls were forced into the sex trade. The campaign, which 
lasted until the end of the year, also targeted those who force minors 
to beg or commit crimes. In June state media reported that police 
rescued 23 children during a crackdown on child trafficking. State 
media reported the Wuhan Rail Bureau apprehended 18 suspects in an 
eight-day campaign targeting trains arriving from Kunming, Yunnan 
Province. In August the government repatriated six trafficked Burmese 
women following a joint operation by Chinese and Burmese security 
forces.
    Some experts and NGOs suggested that trafficking of persons was 
fueled by economic disparity and the effects of population-planning 
policies and that a shortage of marriageable women increased the demand 
for abducted women, especially in rural areas. The serious imbalance in 
the male-female ratio at birth, the tendency for women to leave rural 
areas to seek employment, and the cost of traditional betrothal gifts 
all made purchasing a wife attractive to some poor rural men. Some men 
recruited women from poorer regions, while others sought help from 
criminal gangs. UN research indicated most women trafficked internally 
were taken from areas with a very low GDP to areas with a very high 
GDP. Once in their new ``families,'' these women were ``married'' and 
sometimes became victims of forced labor or rape. Some joined their new 
communities, others struggled and were punished, and a few escaped. 
Some former trafficking victims became traffickers themselves, lured by 
the prospect of financial gain.
    Most cross-border trafficked women and girls came from Vietnam, 
Burma, North Korea, Mongolia, and Russia. Others came from Laos and 
Ukraine. All were trafficked into the country for sexual exploitation, 
forced marriage, and indentured servitude in domestic service or 
businesses. Many North Korean women and girls were trafficked into the 
country to work in the sex industry and for forced marriages and other 
purposes, including forced labor. Because the government continued to 
classify all North Korean trafficking victims as economic migrants, 
they were routinely deported. North Korean women reportedly were sold 
for RMB 2,900 to RMB 9,700(approximately $425 to $1,420). The UN 
reported that Chinese citizens were most often trafficked to Malaysia, 
Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Second-tier 
destinations included Australia, European countries, Canada, Japan, 
Burma, Singapore, South Africa, and Taiwan.
    Trafficked persons sometimes became entangled with alien smuggling 
rings, which often had ties to organized crime and were international 
in scope. Persons trafficked by alien smugglers paid high prices for 
their passage to other countries, where they hoped their economic 
prospects would improve. Some reportedly promised to pay RMB 231,000 to 
RMB 385,000 (approximately $33,790 to $56,320) for passage. Upon 
arrival many reportedly were forced to repay traffickers for the 
smuggling charges or a larger amount at high interest rates, and in 
some cases in addition to their living expenses by working for a set 
period of time. Living and working conditions for trafficked persons 
were poor. Traffickers restricted their victims' movements and 
confiscated their travel documents. Threats to report trafficking 
victims to authorities or to retaliate against families made trafficked 
persons even more vulnerable.
    Criminal law prohibited trafficking, kidnapping, and sexual 
exploitation of minors. Persons convicted of engendering forced 
prostitution, abduction, or commercial exploitation face criminal 
sanctions; convictions for trafficking minors carry heavier sentences, 
such as a death sentence. Victims and their families can bring civil 
suits against offenders, but few civil suits made it beyond initial 
stages. Those that did encountered obstacles claiming compensation.
    In April more than 100 parents in Guangdong Province protested the 
authorities' poor response to the alleged abduction of more than 1,000 
children from the area over the past two years. During the year the 
government began to address child abduction and trafficking through 
stepped-up investigations and informational campaigns, sponsoring 
workshops for migrant worker parents on the dangers of child 
trafficking, meeting with parent and civic groups, and establishing a 
nation-wide DNA database to reunite rescued children with their 
families.
    NGOs reported an increase in child trafficking and children forced 
to work as beggars, petty thieves, and prostitutes, especially in rural 
areas. Some children, including Uighurs, worked in factories, but many 
ended up under the control of local gangs. Five ministries on the State 
Council issued regulations during the year imposing obligations on 
government officials to combat child trafficking, particularly for 
purposes of forced begging; nevertheless, experts noted that forced 
child labor and sexual exploitation continued to be serious problems in 
many cities.
    MPS officials stated that repatriated victims of trafficking no 
longer faced fines or other punishment upon their return. However, 
authorities acknowledged that some victims continued to be sentenced or 
fined because of corruption among police, the difficulty in identifying 
trafficked victims, and provisions allowing for the imposition of fines 
on persons traveling without proper documentation. Trafficking victims 
often lacked proper identification, which made it difficult to 
distinguish them from persons who illegally crossed borders. The MPS 
trained border officials to spot potential victims of trafficking, and 
it opened seven border liaison offices on the Burma, Laos, and Vietnam 
borders to process victims. However, the ACWF reported that ongoing 
problems required intervention to protect trafficking victims from 
unjust punishment.
    Trafficking victims often were returned to their homes without 
access to counseling or psychological care; however, in areas where 
trafficking in persons was prevalent, there was evidence that local and 
security officials worked with NGOs to provide victims access to 
medical services and counseling. Some NGOs provided victims with 
counseling or psychological care. The government's victim assistance 
efforts across the country remained uncoordinated, underdeveloped, and 
insufficient, although it took steps to rectify this problem through 
training and capacity-building programs in conjunction with 
international NGOs. Trafficking victims returning to China from abroad, 
for example, rarely received assistance from authorities, who largely 
were unaware of the victims and their plight. The government did not 
provide any assistance to Chinese sex-trafficking victims identified in 
Ghana, who faced threats and retaliation from their traffickers.
    The law criminalizing the purchase of women makes abduction and 
sale separate offenses. There were reports of local officials' 
complicity in both alien smuggling and in prostitution, which sometimes 
involved trafficked women. In some cases village leaders sought to 
prevent police from rescuing women who had been sold to villagers. 
Authorities did not take sufficient steps to deter or prevent 
trafficking-related corruption in the country.
    The government continued to centralize and institutionalize its 
antitrafficking work. The 2007 NPA on Combating Trafficking of Women 
and Children formalized cooperation among government agencies and 
established a national information and reporting system. However, there 
were no measures for resources to be allocated to local and provincial 
governments for implementation. Additionally, the NPA covered only 
trafficking of female and minor victims and did not address labor 
trafficking or male victims of sex trafficking. During the year 
implementation procedures and regulations were formulated by 30 
ministries and government entities. While all provinces under the NPA 
are required to create provincial-level plans to combat trafficking, by 
the end of the year only a handful of provinces had created and were 
actively implementing such plans. The government continued to make some 
progress in strengthening its antitrafficking legal framework; the 
highest court issued instructions on prosecuting traffickers.
    The MPS reported that its primary focus in implementing the NPA was 
to guarantee that provincial government and local public security 
bureaus took on antitrafficking work and that the local antitrafficking 
procedures were correct. The MPS issued regulations to standardize 
local public security officials' antitrafficking methods and for the 
first time tied security official's professional advancement to their 
efforts to assist antitrafficking work. The MPS also launched its sixth 
special campaign to combat trafficking in women and children. The 
campaign's mandate was to reduce trafficking in women and children by 
solving a large number of trafficking cases, rescuing victims, 
eliminating a large number of trafficking gangs, and apprehending a 
large number of traffickers.
    Principal government agencies responsible for combating trafficking 
or assisting its victims were the MPS, the State Council's Work 
Committee for Women and Children, the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), 
and the ACWF. While the government made increased efforts to assist 
victims of trafficking, the protection, return, and reintegration of 
trafficking victims needed greater improvement. Central government 
policy allows for provision of funds to provincial governments and 
local police to house victims and return them to their homes, although 
it remained unknown whether this resource was used. Government-funded 
women's federation offices and other women's organizations provided 
some counseling on legal rights, rehabilitation, and other assistance 
to trafficking victims, although lack of funding reportedly limited 
services in many areas.
    The ACWF assisted some victims in obtaining medical and 
psychological treatment. Overseas NGOs provided treatment to 
trafficking victims and conducted educational outreach programs to 
educate rural youth about the dangers of trafficking. The government 
and NGOs also supported centers in communities with large numbers of 
migrant laborers to train members of at-risk groups to avoid being 
trafficked and to get out of trafficking situations. The MCA began 
training staff at the 1,351 MCA relief centers for disadvantaged 
persons nationwide in identifying and providing services to trafficking 
victims. However, the country continued to lack comprehensive, 
countrywide victim protection services. Anecdotal evidence suggested 
that trafficking victims residing in provinces that lacked a large 
trafficking problem--and therefore a robust antitrafficking program--
had difficulty accessing assistance and services.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 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 63,400 new enrollments, bringing the total 
number of children with disabilities at school to 419,000. 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 against minorities, which remained the 
source of deep resentment in the XUAR, Inner Mongolia Autonomous 
Region, and Tibetan areas. In September 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 the 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 to move 
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 deep 
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 comprised 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 measures to reduce education in ethnic minority 
languages in XUAR schools and to institute language requirements that 
disadvantaged ethnic minority teachers. The government continued to 
apply policies that prioritized Mandarin 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 increased repression in the XUAR and 
targeted the region's ethnic Uighur population. On July 5, a Uighur 
demonstration was forcefully suppressed by police, and outbreaks in 
violence throughout the region following the crackdown drew an 
international spotlight on longstanding ethnic tensions in the XUAR and 
Uighurs' grievances toward government policies that undermined the 
protection of their rights. In late 2008 and during the first half of 
the year, officials in XUAR reiterated 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 instead 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 were sentenced to long prison terms, and in some cases 
executed, on charges of separatism. The government reportedly sought 
the repatriation of Uighurs living outside the country, where they 
faced the risk of persecution.
    Freedom of assembly was severely limited during the year in the 
XUAR. On September 8, 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 5 riots in 
Urumqi.
    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, Tohti Tunyaz, Adduhelil Zunun, Abdulghani Memetemin, and 
Nurmuhemmet Yasin.
    During the year XUAR officials defended the campaign against 
separatism and other emergency measures taken as necessary to maintain 
public order and continued to use the threat of violence as 
justification for extreme security measures directed at the local 
population and visiting foreigners.
    In September 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 
brought economic improvements to the XUAR, Han residents received a 
disproportionate share of the benefits.
    (See also 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.
    On March 30 and April 3, approximately 50 gay men were reportedly 
detained in Renmin Park in Guangzhou and questioned by police. On 
August 25, police in Guangzhou tried again to remove a group of gay men 
from Renmin Park. The men refused, and after a nonviolent standoff, the 
police desisted.
    In June the first gay pride festival took place in Shanghai. Also 
in June the Beijing Queer Film Festival was held. Police had blocked 
previous attempts to hold the festival.
    Homosexual plotlines and scenes are not allowed on broadcast 
television. While there is no legal prohibition against the 
registration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender student groups, 
none were allowed to register at any universities.
    In July a group of lesbians organized an online petition calling on 
the government to rescind a 1998 law banning gay persons 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.
    Despite provisions in the new 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.

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.'' While ACFTU constituent unions 
were generally unassertive and ineffective in protecting the rights and 
interests of members, the ACFTU successfully advocated for and 
positively influenced the implementation of government policies 
protecting rights and interests of workers.
    The ACFTU and its provincial and local branches continued to 
organize new unions at a rapid pace. According to the latest available 
ACFTU data, as of September 2008 there were 212 million ACFTU members, 
a net increase of 72.1 percent from 2003. The ACFTU claimed that 73.7 
percent of workers were ACFTU members. The number of ACFTU-affiliated 
trade union organizations increased to 1.7 million by September 2008, 
up 9.8 percent over 2007 and up 90.4 percent over 2003. A total of 3.7 
million enterprises established trade union organizations, up 15.3 
percent over 2007 and up 133.9 percent over 2003. Additionally, the 
ACFTU continued its campaign to target foreign-invested enterprises and 
announced that by the end of 2008, the number of trade union members in 
foreign-invested enterprises across the country (including Hong Kong, 
Macau, and Taiwan-invested enterprises) had reached 15.9 million and 
the rate of unionization in such transnational corporations had reached 
83 percent.
    Twelve Taiwan employees in Xiamen became members of the Xiamen 
General Labor Union, officially joining the mainland ACFTU-affiliated 
labor union. This was the first time the ACFTU accepted Taiwan 
employees.
    Although the law states that trade union officers at each level 
should be elected, most 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 
organization. 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.
    While many labor rights NGOs and lawyers were able to operate 
effectively, authorities continued to monitor labor rights 
organizations closely. Labor rights organizations reported close 
surveillance by government security agencies, and in some cases they 
were warned to stop their activities in support of worker rights. 
During the year many groups reported an increase in monitoring in 
advance of sensitive anniversaries.
    In some cases authorities interfered with the programs or 
activities of labor organizations. For example, in June trade union 
officials in Shaanxi Province reportedly threatened founders of a new 
workers' rights group. More than 380 workers from approximately 20 
enterprises in Shaanxi applied to the provincial party committee and 
trade union federation to set up the Shaanxi Enterprise Union Rights 
Defense Representative Congress to supervise existing unions and 
resolve issues by creating more effective unions. The municipal 
government of Xi'an formally banned the group, and union officials 
threatened some of the application signatories.
    In August local press reported that Zhao Dongming was arrested for 
applying to establish a trade union in Xian. In September, following 
the Tonghua Iron and Steel protests, Ren Fengyu was sentenced to RTL 
for 18 months for posting a notice at a factory demanding to select 
worker representatives.
    In November labor NGOs reported that in Hubei Province, Yang 
Huanqing, a laid-off community-operated school teachers' 
representative, was sentenced to one year of RTL. The RTL notice 
received by Yang's family claimed that Yang organized teachers to 
petition, met with other teachers' representatives, and petitioned with 
other representatives.
    Labor activists detained in previous years reportedly remained in 
detention at year's end, including Wang Sen, Ni Xiafei, Li Xintao, Hu 
Mingjun, Li Wangyang, Luo Huiquan, Kong Youping, Ning Xianhua, Li 
Jianfeng, Lin Shun'an, Chen Wei, She Wanbao, and Zhu Fangming.
    The right to strike is not protected in law. 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 
limited tolerance for strikes while others continued 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.
    During the year there were many reports of strikes or work 
stoppages throughout the country, and official media more aggressively 
publicized cases of worker rights violations and protests. The most 
publicized of these were three large-scale protests at state-owned 
enterprise (SOE) steel and coal plants in Jilin, Henan, and Hunan 
provinces. As a result of planned privatization of these SOEs, workers 
initiated large-scale strikes involving thousands of workers, one of 
which, in Jilin, resulted in the death of a manager. The privatization 
of the two steel SOEs was cancelled.
    Official media also more aggressively publicized worker protests 
other than strikes, involving actual or feared job loss, wage or 
benefit arrears, dissatisfaction with new contracts offered in 
enterprise restructuring, failure to honor contract terms, or 
discontent over substandard conditions of employment. Representative 
examples of the countless number of worker protest actions that 
occurred included the following: taxi drivers in northeastern 
Mudanjiang City staged sit-ins before local party and government office 
buildings to protest the local government's plan to reform the taxi 
operating system; more than 400 motorcycle taxi drivers held a rally to 
protest a government ban on their business in Quanzhou, Fujian 
Province; hundreds of workers at a holding company of a foreign company 
in Wuhan City blocked a major road to protest potential job cuts; more 
than 5,000 taxi drivers in Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, 
protested because of news that a new regulation would curtail the 
duration of their operating licenses; more than 400 workers blocked a 
road in a protest over unpaid wages in southwest China's Chongqing 
Municipality; and in Beijing more than 20 construction workers occupied 
a 17-floor block of apartments and demanded unpaid back wages. In 
November nearly 3,000 female workers of a German-invested company in 
Hainan Province went on strike to press their demands on bonuses, pay, 
and vacations.
    On July 13, the SPC announced that labor disputes climbed by 30 
percent in the first half of the year, with dramatic increases of 41.6 
percent, 50.3 percent, and 159.6 percent in Guangdong, Jiangsu, and 
Zhejiang, respectively. Much of this increase was due to the continued 
implementation of the three new labor laws, workers' increased 
knowledge of their rights under these laws, and workers' increased 
willingness to pursue their rights by filing claims. An ACFTU official 
was quoted by the press as reporting that, by the end of November, in 
Beijing approximately 80,000 workers were involved in disputes with 
their employers, double the number from 2008. During the year Beijing's 
arbitration committee received more than 70,000 cases of labor 
disputes, compared with 49,000 during the same period in 2008 and 
26,000 in 2007. In addition, Beijing's Second Intermediate People's 
Court reported that during the year labor dispute cases doubled 
compared with the previous year.

    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. 
Although the central government had not clarified the meaning of this 
article, some local jurisdictions interpreted it as a mandate for 
collective bargaining and reflected such an interpretation in local 
regulations on collective contract negotiations. In 2008 the ACFTU also 
called on its local organizations to carry out more aggressively their 
mandate to conclude collective contracts with employers.
    The ACFTU reported that by September 2008, 1.1 million collective 
contracts were signed nationwide (an increase of 13.6 percent from 
2007) covering 1.9 million enterprises (up 11.9 percent) and 149.6 
million workers (16.6 percent). As of September 2008, 60.2 percent of 
the workers in enterprises throughout the country were covered by 
collective contracts. The ACFTU also engaged in a campaign to target 
transnational enterprises and noted as an example that collective 
contracts had been signed in Walmart's 108 unionized enterprises in the 
country.
    The law provides for labor dispute resolution through a three-stage 
process: mediation between the parties, arbitration by officially 
designated arbitrators, and litigation. The 2008 labor dispute 
mediation and arbitration law improved workers' access to and 
streamlined this three-stage process. As noted above, the number of 
labor disputes nationwide rose significantly, which experts claimed was 
due in large part to an increase in workers' awareness of the laws and 
reduction in costs that a worker would incur in the process.
    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.
    Workers and their advocates suffered harassment and intimidation 
from officials and from by criminal elements often hired by employers. 
For example, in January in Shenzhen Province, local press reported that 
a developer who owed a contractor a significant amount of money 
colluded with police to violently attack and prosecute 47 wage-seeking 
workers, who claimed that they had not received wages for six months. 
Fifty-two migrant workers protested in Beijing against their employer, 
demanding unpaid wages. According to press reports, they were severely 
beaten and then arrested. In February more than 1,000 mostly female 
workers from a textile factory in Sichuan Province gathered to petition 
the government to demand legally entitled compensation. Police and 
security guards were dispatched to disperse the protesters; five 
workers were injured in the confrontation, and three were detained but 
later released by the police.
    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. In February two persons who 
admitted imprisoning and beating workers (resulting in the death of an 
elderly worker) at their illegal brickyard in Shaanxi were sentenced to 
18 months and 12 months (suspended for two years), respectively, in 
prison.
    In May a forced labor case at a brick kiln in Anhui Province was 
exposed. According to local press accounts, police rescued 32 persons 
with mental disabilities, who had been forced to work as slave 
laborers, from brick kilns in Zhuanji and Guangwu townships and 
arrested 10 persons.
    Forced labor remained a serious problem in penal institutions. 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 cooperated with international officials to 
investigate an allegation of exported prison labor goods, allowing 
visits to a prison facility to investigate allegations that prison-made 
goods were being exported. Information about prisons, including 
associated labor camps and factories, was tightly controlled.
    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. However, 
implementation of new labor laws, along with workers' increased 
knowledge of their rights under these new laws, reportedly reduced 
these practices.

    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 labor in mines.
    Social compliance auditors working for foreign buyers continued to 
report some use of child labor in factories producing for export. There 
were some reports that schools supplied factories with illegal child 
labor under the pretext of vocational training. The International Trade 
Union Confederation (ITUC) alleged that the program used forced child 
labor to make up for school budget shortfalls, including in dangerous 
and labor-intensive industries such as fireworks manufacturing and 
cotton harvesting. The ITUC further alleged that teachers and children 
reported they were pressured to meet daily quotas or faced fines if 
they failed to meet production targets. Other industries reportedly 
employing forced child labor include bricks, cotton, electronics, and 
toys.
    On April 6, Liu Pan, a 17-year-old migrant worker from Sichuan 
Province, was killed in a workplace accident at the Yiuwah Stationary 
factory in Dongguan, Guangzhou Province. In a follow-up investigation, 
a local labor NGO reported several labor law violations at the factory, 
including that underage and child labor were widespread at the factory, 
with workers as young as 13 being hired in busy seasons. To settle 
claims related to his death, local press reported that Liu Pan's family 
accepted a settlement from the factory.
    In November one child died and 11 children were critically injured 
in an explosion at an illegal fireworks shop near Guilin. Two owners of 
the workshop were in police custody on charges of employing child labor 
and producing dangerous goods without a license. The children, ages 7 
to 15, were local students paid to make firecrackers at the workshop 
after school.
    In June a local blogger posted photographs of child laborers in 
Wuhan, including two school-age children repairing vehicles outside.
    In July 2008 party secretary Ji Bingxuan of Heilongjiang directed 
local police to rescue Du Xiguang, a 14-year-old migrant child worker 
in Harbin, and instructed local police to ensure that no business in 
the city hired children.
    On April 1, the government announced a reward system to encourage 
persons to report the use of child labor, and it continued to react 
strongly to any publicized cases of child labor. However, many experts 
believed that child labor could not be eliminated without reform of 
rural education system and increased rural economic activity.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no national minimum 
wage, but the labor law requires local governments to set their own 
minimum wage according to standards promulgated by the Ministry of 
Human Resources and Social Security. These standards include the 
minimum cost of living for workers and their families, levels of 
economic development, and employment in the area, as well as the level 
of social insurance and other benefits contributions paid by the 
employees themselves. Labor bureaus set these standards to cover basic 
needs. 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.
    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. Legal aid lawyers and 
government sources reported that nonpayment or underpayment of wages 
accounted for a large portion of labor disputes. The incidence of wage 
arrears continued to increase early in the year as many of the 
country's export-oriented manufacturers, facing a sharp decline in 
orders from overseas, began to lay off large numbers of workers.
    The estimated 230 million migrant workers 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, particularly in the private sector and in 
enterprises that used low-skilled migrant or seasonal labor.
    There was inadequate enforcement of wage regulations, and a 
significant percentage of labor disputes filed by workers were due to 
insufficient overtime payments. There were reports that companies 
required workers to sign false contracts and often maintained 
fraudulent records to deceive government inspectors and factory 
auditors.
    Other illegal practices effectively reduced workers' wages, 
including arbitrary fines and wage deductions levied by employers for 
alleged breaches of company rules.
    While many labor laws and regulations on worker safety are fully 
compatible with international standards, implementation and enforcement 
were generally poor. The Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security 
reported that in 2008 there were only 23,000 full-time professional 
inspectors and indicated that there were areas in which a single labor 
inspector would be responsible for more than 50,000 workers.
    Inadequate and poorly enforced occupational health and safety laws 
and regulations continued to put workers' health and lives 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.
    Businesses and factories that violate occupational hazard 
regulations face closure and a maximum penalty of RMB 300,000 
(approximately $44,000); they also are required to inform employees 
about possible occupational hazards and their consequences and provide 
occupational hazards prevention training. In addition, employers are 
required to give their workers necessary health checkups and buy 
protective gear for employees working around hazards. Businesses that 
violate the provision received a warning from SAWS, ordering them to 
correct the practice within a time limit. Enterprises that did not 
correct the problem within the time limit were fined.
    The coal industry continued to have a high incidence of accidents 
and fatalities, but SAWS reported that annual deaths from coalmine 
accidents dropped 62.4 percent from a peak of 6,995 in 2002 to 2,630 
during the year, and the death rate per million tons of mined coal has 
dropped 84.4 percent from 2000. Independent labor groups stated the 
actual casualty figures could be much higher, since many accidents were 
covered up.
    The government continued efforts to improve mine safety, which 
included a policy of consolidating the industry into larger, better-
regulated mining companies. In December the government announced that 
it had closed approximately 1,000 small coal mines during the year, 
cutting down the total number of coal mines to 15,000 across the 
country. (This followed a similar number of shutdown mines in 2008). In 
May the government launched a new nationwide safety inspection program 
for small coal mines. The campaign, to be jointly carried out by the 
National Development and Reform Commission, the State Energy 
Administration, SAWS, and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, 
targeted small mines with an annual production capacity of less than 
300,000 tons.
    Many workers encountered difficulties in obtaining compensation for 
work-related injuries. In July migrant miner Zhang Haichao voluntarily 
underwent surgery to open up his chest to prove he had pneumoconiosis, 
an occupational lung disease, after repeated attempts to claim 
compensation for pneumoconiosis failed. After proving the lung disease, 
Zhang finally received compensation. According to official media 
reports, more than 100 migrant workers in Shenzhen who claimed 
compensation due to pneumoconiosis were refused by the local 
occupational health authority due to their lack of written labor 
contracts.
    The government sought to prosecute some employers responsible for 
work-related accidents. The most highly publicized was the State 
Council's decision to impose harsh criminal and disciplinary penalties 
on 169 persons held responsible for five major accidents in 2007 and 
2008. The cases, involving 131 individuals, were handed over to 
judicial departments for criminal prosecution. The five accidents 
included a 2007 mine blast in Linfen, Shanxi Province, that killed 105; 
an April 2008 train collision that claimed 72 lives; and a September 
2008 landslide at an unlicensed iron ore tailings facility, also in 
Linfen, that killed 277 persons.
    In addition, in May police detained the manager and four production 
and management directors of a privately owned mine in Dengfeng after 
seven persons died of gas poisoning and the managers tried to cover up 
the accident. In June four construction officials and a driver were 
arrested for actions that allegedly caused the deaths of 11 miners at 
the Majialiang coal mine in Shanxi Province, where concentrations of 
toxic gas were too high. In August police detained 11 individuals for 
allegedly covering up a coal mine accident that left six persons dead 
in Shanxi Province. In September authorities prosecuted 13 officials 
and managers after two mining accidents in Henan Province caused at 
least 57 deaths. In December a local court in Hebei Province handed 
down sentences, including one death penalty, to 21 persons connected 
with a fatal mine explosion that claimed 26 lives in 2008.

                               __________

                                 TIBET

    The United States recognizes the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and 
Tibetan autonomous prefectures, counties, and townships in other 
provinces to be a part of the People's Republic of China. The Tibetan 
population within the TAR was approximately 2.8 million, while the 
Tibetan population 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. The government intensified 
these controls following the March 2008 unrest in Tibetan areas and 
continued the policy during the year.
    The government's human rights record in Tibetan areas of China 
remained poor, and the severe repression of freedoms of speech, 
religion, association, and movement that increased dramatically 
following the March 2008 Lhasa riots and subsequent unrest that 
occurred across the Tibetan Plateau continued during the year. 
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.
    In March 2008 monks and nuns from a number of monasteries in Lhasa 
and other Tibetan communities mounted peaceful protests to commemorate 
the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising. After four days the 
protests and security response devolved into rioting by Tibetans and a 
violent police crackdown in Lhasa. Some protesters resorted to 
violence, in some cases deadly, against Han and Hui residents. The 
ensuing police actions resulted in an unknown number of deaths, 
injuries, arrests, and human rights abuses. During the year a number of 
Tibetans, especially monks, were sentenced to prison for their role in 
the 2008 protests and riots.
    A significant number of People's Armed Police (PAP) remained in 
many communities across the Tibetan Plateau during the year. The 
fallout from the protests continued to affect the human rights 
situation in Tibetan regions of China.

    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.
    On January 23, Pema Tsepag died of injuries sustained during 
beatings by authorities after he and two other Tibetan youths protested 
in Dzogang County, Chamdo Prefecture, calling for independence for 
Tibet and a boycott of the Tibetan New Year.
    According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy 
(TCHRD), on March 25, public security agents killed 27-year-old monk 
Phuntsok Rabten of Drango Monastery in Drango County, Kardze (Ganzi), 
Sichuan Province, for distributing leaflets calling for a work strike.
    In March Panchou Lede, a monk from the Hor Drago Monastery, was 
killed in a clash that erupted between Tibetan farmers and soldiers 
when the farmers refused to sign a pledge committing to keep a certain 
percentage of their land under cultivation. According to press reports, 
the monk had been organizing farmers to refuse to plant crops.
    In August, according to TCHRD reports, 32-year-old Kalden, a monk 
from Drepung Monastery, died after being tortured in a Lhasa prison. 
Kalden was arrested in March 2008, and his relatives were not informed 
of his detention location.
    Following the outbreak of protests in 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.
    According to official media, in April Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak 
were sentenced to death for their participation in the 2008 riots in 
Lhasa on charges related to ``starting fatal fires.'' The government 
confirmed that they were executed on October 23. Reports of a third 
Tibetan executed at the same time could not be confirmed.

    Disappearance.--Following the March 2008 riots in Lhasa, 
authorities arrested Tibetans arbitrarily, including monks and nuns, 
many of whom remained missing. Official statistics for the number 
detained were incomplete and covered only limited areas. On February 
10, 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.
    According to the International Campaign for Tibet, Northwest 
Nationalities University student Tashi Rabten disappeared in July, soon 
after publication of his book Written in Blood. Tashi Rabten had edited 
a banned collection of writings on the March 2008 demonstrations.
    Documentarian Dhondup Wangchen remained in an undisclosed prison 
near Xining, Qinghai Province. Authorities forced Dhondup Wangchen to 
fire his original Beijing-based defense counsel and told his family 
that only lawyers based in Qinghai Province could represent him. 
Qinghai authorities refused a request by foreign diplomats to observe 
his trial. On December 28, a court in Qinghai Province sentenced 
Dhondup Wangchen to six years in prison for making a film critical of 
human rights conditions in Tibet. At year's end there was no 
information on where he was serving his sentence.
    There was no information on the whereabouts of five monks, 
including Sonam Rabgyal, Damdul, and Rabgyal, who disappeared following 
an April 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 November 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 government officials in Tibet told 
a visiting foreign delegation that Gendun Choekyi Nyima was ``growing 
up very well, loves Chinese culture and enjoying his life.'' The 
officials asserted that his identification as the 11th Panchen Lama was 
``illegal.''

    Torture.--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 police severely beat 21-year-old Tibetan nun Lobsang 
Khandro from the Gema Dra-wok Nunnery for carrying out an individual 
protest in Kardze (Ganzi) Prefecture. She carried pamphlets and some 
prayer flags and shouted calls for freedom and the Dalai Lama as she 
walked to the Kardze (Ganzi) Prefecture government headquarters.
    On May 24, according to the TCHRD, police injured six persons in 
Tawu County of Kardze (Ganzi) Prefecture, Sichuan Province, while 
breaking up a protest against a hydroelectric project.
    According to numerous sources, many of those detained after the 
rioting in March 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.
    During his trial, which began on April 21, Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, 
head of Pangri and Yatseg nunneries in Kardze (Ganzi), who was arrested 
in March 2008, claimed that 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 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).
    On May 3, Tibetan monk Jigme Guri from the Labrang Monastery was 
released from prison. He alleged that prison authorities beat him 
repeatedly during two months of detention beginning in March 2008. 
According to Jigme, the beatings left him unconscious for six days, and 
he required two hospitalizations.

    Prison Conditions.--The mass detentions connected with the March 
2008 unrest amplified already crowded and harsh prison conditions. Some 
prisons used forced labor, including those in the public security 
reeducation through labor system (RTL), to which prisoners may be 
assigned for two years without court review, detention centers, and 
prison work sites. 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 having to ``sleep'' side by side with 20 to 
30 cell mates 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. Police legally may detain 
persons for up to 37 days without formally arresting or charging them. 
Following the 37-day period, police must either formally arrest or 
release the detainees. Police must notify the relatives or employer of 
an arrested person within 24 hours of the arrest. 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, although 
in November 2008, official media reported that approximately 1,317 
persons were arrested, 1,115 of whom were released afterwards. Overseas 
organizations and the Tibet government-in-exile 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.

    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 the year. 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 Congressional Executive 
Commission on China's political prisoner database, at year's end there 
were 754 Tibetan political prisoners imprisoned in Tibetan areas. 
However, the actual number of Tibetan political prisoners and detainees 
was believed to be much higher. Of the 754 documented currently 
detained political prisoners and detainees, 715 were detained on or 
after the March 2008 protests and 447 political prisoners and detainees 
were Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns. At year's end the commission's 
database contained sentencing information on only 148 of the Tibetan 
political prisoners. The judicial system imposed sentences on these 148 
political prisoners ranging from one year to life imprisonment. An 
unknown number of prisoners continued to be held under the RTL system.
    On February 5, six Tibetans in Kardze (Ganzi) Prefecture, Sichuan, 
were sentenced from 18 months to three years in prison for 
participating in protests.
    On May 21, according to the TCHRD, Tsultrim Gyatso, a monk of 
Labrang Monastery in southern Gansu Province, was sentenced to life 
imprisonment for ``endangering state security.''
    The TCHRD reported that on July 3, the Lithang County, Kardze 
(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.
    On August 13, the TCHRD 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.
    According to the Agence France Presse, early in the year 
authorities handed down sentences ranging from three years to life in 
prison to a total of 76 persons involved in the March 2008 riots. In 
April Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak were sentenced to death for setting 
fires to shops that reportedly resulted in seven deaths, and they were 
executed in October. Two others were given suspended death sentences.
    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 remained in a 
Sichuan prison on firearms 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 March 2008 protests continued serving prison 
terms.
    According to the TCHRD, the PSB arrested Kunga Tsayang, a monk from 
the Amdo Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery, during a late-night raid on 
March 17; at year's end his whereabouts remained unknown. The reported 
disappearance of Kunga Tsayang was part of a continuing sweep of 
Tibetan Internet writers that began after the March 2008 unrest. On 
November 12, he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of 
disclosing state secrets in a closed-door trial by the Kanlho 
Intermediate People's Court in Gannan, Gansu Province.
    The following persons also remained in prison: Rongye Adrak; Adak 
Lupoe; lama Jigme Tenzin (Jinmei Danzeng) aka Bangri Chogtrul; Jarib 
Lothog; monk Lodroe; Khenpo Jinpa; Jarib Lothog; art teacher and 
musician Kunkhyen; Buchung; Penpa; and 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.

    Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Legal safeguards for Tibetans 
detained or imprisoned were inadequate in both design and 
implementation. Most judges in the TAR had little or no legal training. 
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.
    Lawyers who volunteered to represent detainees involved in the 
March 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 involving 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 March 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.
    In November 2008 the Sichuan 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 May 2008.
    In late December Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche, a senior religious leader 
who allegedly had been tortured to get a false confession, was 
sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison on weapons charges 
following the riots in Tibet. Prosecutors maintained that a pistol and 
ammunition were found during a police raid, but Phurbu Tsering Rinpoche 
countered 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).

    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.
    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 
were frequently expelled despite new government rules, adopted in 
October 2008, that state foreign journalists no longer need the 
permission of local authorities to conduct reporting.
    In March the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China 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.
    For example, on February 27, PSB authorities detained Edward Wong 
and Jonathan Ansfield, two New York Times reporters, in Gansu Province 
for nearly 24 hours and forced them to board a flight back to Beijing 
the next day. On March 8, police detained Isabel Hormaeche, a producer 
with broadcaster TVE, and her team in Sichuan Province. Some of their 
materials were confiscated, and they were escorted out of the region. 
On March 9, authorities detained Beniamino Natale, a reporter with ANSA 
news agency, along with two colleagues for more than two hours after 
they visited a monastery in Qinghai Province. At approximately the same 
time, police repeatedly detained and followed Katri Makkonen of the 
Finnish Broadcasting Company on the road from Tongren to Xining, 
Qinghai Province. No explanation was given for the police actions.
    In August Reporters Without Borders reported the arrests of four 
Tibetan writers: Zhuori Cicheng, the monk Gang Ni, journalist Tashi 
Rabten (aka Therang), and Kang Gongque. Kang Gongque was sentenced to 
two years in a Sichuan Province prison.
    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 Oslo-based Voice of Tibet. In Tibetan areas 
of southern Gansu Province and the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous 
Prefecture, Sichuan Province, police confiscated or destroyed satellite 
dishes suspected of receiving VOA Tibetan language television as well 
as VOA and RFA audio satellite channels. Some Tibetans reported that at 
times they were able to receive such radio broadcasts despite frequent 
jamming. Some Tibetans were able to listen to overseas Tibetan-language 
radio and television on the Internet.
    Cell phone service 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).
    Officials also routinely denied foreign media representatives 
access to Tibetan areas, ostensibly out of concern for their safety. 
Domestic journalists reporting on repression in Tibetan areas faced 
punishment.

    Internet Freedom.--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. On March 24, government censors 
blocked the YouTube site after a video purporting to show police 
beating a Tibetan monk appeared on the site.
    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 blunt censorship, 
with entire sites closed down even when the content did not appear to 
touch upon sensitive topics.
    On February 26, 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 he was sentenced to 15 years 
in prison on charges of disclosing state secrets.
    According to the Dui Hua Foundation, 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, distort the true situation to incite 
separatism.''
    In February both Internet and cell phone text messaging was cut off 
in various parts of Kardze (Ganzi) and Aba prefectures in the TAR.

    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.
    Rapid economic growth, the expanding tourism industry, the forced 
resettlement of nomads, and the introduction of more modern cultural 
influences continued to disrupt traditional living patterns and 
customs.
    The 2002 revision of the 1987 Regulation on the Study, Use, and 
Development of the Tibetan Language in the TAR formally lowered the 
status of the Tibetan language from the primary working language to an 
optional language in many official contexts.
    In January the Lhasa Municipal PSB began a city-wide ``strike 
hard'' campaign. 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. 
According to a foreign press report, more than 5,000 suspects were 
investigated, and at least 81 were detained. Human rights groups 
believed the motive behind the ``strike hard'' campaign was to harass 
human rights activists and supporters of Tibetan independence.
    Many Tibetans both inside and outside the country advocated that 
the Losar Tibetan New Year holiday, which fell on February 25, be a day 
of remembrance and prayer, rather than celebration, in light of the 
deaths that occurred in 2008. To counter this Losar boycott, officials 
in many Tibetan regions ordered Tibetans to celebrate the holiday. In 
some Tibetan areas, authorities distributed fireworks to government 
offices and work units with orders that workers participate in 
celebrations. The state media devoted heavy coverage to Losar 
activities. More than 100 monks from Lutsang Monastery, in Guinan, 
Qinghai Province, conducted a candlelight vigil on the Tibetan New Year 
and a peaceful march to the county government headquarters. They were 
arrested, and all but six were released a few weeks later. In April 
four of the monks were sentenced to two years in prison.
    On March 28, the TAR celebrated a newly created holiday, ``Serf 
Emancipation Day,'' to mark the day in 1959 that China's rulers 
formally abolished the Dalai Lama's regional government. Government-
orchestrated celebrations included a large ceremony in the square of 
the Potala Palace and a televised musical gala. In the run-up to the 
new holiday, the official media launched a new round of criticism of 
the Dalai Lama. A government white paper released prior to the holiday 
stated the Dalai Lama's family once owned 6,000 slaves, and the 
country's liberation of Tibetan serfs ``is entirely comparable to the 
emancipation of slaves in the American Civil War.''
    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. 
On November 24, the Chinese government reported that the railroad into 
the TAR had carried 8.3 million passengers and 62.21 metric tons of 
freight since its opening in 2006.
    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.
    Tibetan and Mandarin are official languages in the TAR, and both 
languages appeared on public and commercial signs. 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. However, the illiteracy rate for this group was 
much higher in some areas. 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 if they could read and 
write the 30 letters of the Tibetan syllabary and read and write simple 
notes. Mandarin-speaking nomads and herders were considered literate if 
they could recognize 1,500 Chinese characters.
    The government established a comprehensive national Tibetan-
language curriculum, and many elementary schools in Tibetan areas used 
Tibetan as the primary language of instruction. Tibetan students also 
were required to study Chinese, and Chinese generally was used to teach 
certain subjects, such as arithmetic and science. In middle and high 
schools--even some officially designated as Tibetan schools--teachers 
often used Tibetan only to teach classes in Tibetan language, 
literature, and culture and taught all other classes in Chinese.
    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, since much of the curriculum, such as computer 
and business courses, was in Mandarin.
    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 the TAR to work 
on development projects inside the TAR.

    Freedom of Religion.--While the law provides for freedom of 
religious belief, the level of actual religious freedom remained poor. 
During the year the government maintained tight control over the 
teaching and practice of Tibetan Buddhism. During the year the CCP 
continued its efforts to discredit the Dalai Lama as a religious leader 
and link reverence for him with political opposition to the government 
and the CCP.
    Press and NGO reports suggested that continued tight government 
controls on religious practices and places of worship in Tibetan areas, 
in addition to social and economic factors, were among the major 
reasons for the buildup of resentments that led to the widespread 
protests that began in March 2008. Although authorities permitted many 
traditional practices and public manifestations of belief, they 
promptly and forcibly suppressed activities they viewed as vehicles for 
political dissent or advocacy of Tibetan independence, including openly 
worshipping the Dalai Lama. Government officials closely associated 
Buddhist monasteries with pro-independence activism in Tibetan areas.
    During the year authorities locked down many monasteries across 
Tibetan areas, detaining and physically abusing an unknown number of 
monks and nuns or expelling them from their monasteries. At year's end 
more than 500 monks from other Tibetan areas outside of the TAR who 
were expelled from monasteries in Lhasa in 2008 had not been permitted 
to return. In some Tibetan regions, local PSBs installed cameras and 
opened police substations inside monasteries to monitor the behavior of 
monks.
    On July 24, according to the TCHRD, Lobsang Tsultrim, the 
disciplinary head monk of the Jachung Monastery in a Qinghai Province, 
was expelled from his monastery and forbidden to join any other 
monastery after no monk turned up for a ``patriotic education'' session 
officials ordered him to call. Lobsang Tsultrim was accused of opposing 
the ``patriotic education'' campaign.
    Following the March 2008 unrest, authorities forced many monks to 
attend weekly, sometimes daily, political education sessions. This 
policy continued during the year, although the frequency and intensity 
of these campaigns declined. During the year ``patriotic education'' 
and ``legal education'' programs continued to be held at monastic 
institutions, workplaces, businesses, and schools. In some areas these 
political education campaigns involved forced denunciations of the 
Dalai Lama. Officials also forced monks to remove portraits of the 
Dalai Lama from prayer halls and personal residences, although 
enforcement varied significantly by region. Restriction on religious 
expression was most intense at high-profile monasteries, such as 
Drepung and Sera in Lhasa, in Kardze (Ganzi), and Kirti Monasteries in 
Sichuan, Labrang in Xiahe, Gansu Province and Kumbum near Xining, 
Qinghai province.
    Security measures intensified in the TAR and other Tibetan areas 
during the Dalai Lama's birthday, sensitive anniversaries, like the 
50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising in March, and festival 
days. The prohibition on celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday on July 
6 continued.
    The government continued to ban pictures of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, 
the boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the Panchen Lama. Photographs 
of the ``official'' Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, were not widely 
displayed except at some high-profile monasteries under tight 
government control and then only at the insistence of government 
leaders. However, photographs of the previous Panchen Lama, his 
daughter, and the Karmapa (the leader of Tibetan Buddhism's Karma Kagyu 
schools and one of the most influential religious figures in Tibetan 
Buddhism who fled to India in 1999) were widely sold and displayed. The 
ability of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns to possess and display 
photographs of the Dalai Lama varied greatly depending on location. In 
general rural monasteries rarely visited by Han tourists and officials 
were able to display photographs of the Dalai Lama. In some 
monasteries, monks were able to display photographs of the Dalai Lama 
in their private quarters, although such images were not always allowed 
to be shown in public areas.
    The government restricted ethnic Han Buddhists from living and 
studying in monasteries in the TAR and other Tibetan areas. Monks 
outside the TAR desiring to study in the TAR are required to obtain 
official permission from the religious affairs bureaus (RABs) of their 
home province and the TAR or Tibetan area involved, and such permission 
was not readily granted.
    Although Tibetan monks were not allowed to conduct large-scale 
religious teachings outside Tibetan areas, many monks continued to give 
private teachings to audiences in non-Tibetan regions of China. 
According to reports, ethnic Han Buddhists outside Tibetan areas were 
sometimes discouraged from inviting Tibetan monks to give teachings. 
Such visits required explicit permission from both the monk's local RAB 
and the receiving province's RAB. Nevertheless, Tibetan monks sometimes 
traveled in plain clothes outside the TAR and other Tibetan areas to 
teach.
    Monasteries in the TAR and major monasteries in other Tibetan areas 
were not allowed to establish relationships with other monasteries or 
hold joint religious activities. One example was the repeated refusal 
of authorities in Barkham County in the TAR to grant permission to hold 
an annual religious event at the Tsodham Monastery. This event, 
scheduled to take place in early 2010, would have brought together 
monks from 50 monasteries in the Kham and Amdo areas of the TAR.
    The government continued to fund restoration efforts of religious 
and cultural sites as part of its program to develop tourism in Tibetan 
areas. Many Tibetans worried that the promotion of tourism to 
monasteries distracted monks from their religious work.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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. 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.
    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 passports following the March 2008 protests. The 
renewal of existing passports was also difficult for ethnic Tibetans. 
In some cases, Tibetans had to promise not to travel to India to obtain 
a passport. In some cases Tibetan students with scholarships to foreign 
universities could not study abroad because authorities refused to 
issue them a passport.
    Tibetans continued to encounter substantial difficulties and 
obstacles in traveling to India for religious, educational, and other 
purposes. Government and CCP cadres in the TAR and Kardze (Ganzi) 
Prefecture in Sichuan were not allowed to send their children to study 
abroad. In addition to passport restrictions, reinforcement of border 
posts made travel, such as pilgrimages to Nepal and 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 detention 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 Tibet Reception Center in 
Dharamsala, India, received 838 visitors during the year. While this 
number was an increase from 2008, it was still down significantly from 
previous years.
    The Dalai Lama, the Karmapa, and leaders of all other schools of 
Tibetan Buddhism remained in exile.
    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 PRC 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 
March 2008 demonstration. Foreign tourists were again banned from the 
TAR in March during the 50th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising. 
After March the number of foreign tourists traveling to Tibet 
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 again had their movements restricted within the city and 
surrounding areas. PRC officials continued to severely restrict 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.
    Official visits to the TAR were supervised closely and afforded 
delegation members very few opportunities to meet local residents not 
previously approved by the authorities. With the exception of a few 
highly controlled trips, authorities repeatedly denied requests for 
international observers to visit Tibetan areas to assess the situation.

    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.
    Migrants to the TAR overwhelmingly were concentrated in urban 
areas, where government economic policies disproportionately benefited 
Han Chinese. Small businesses, mostly restaurants and retail shops, run 
by 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 resettlement campaign of 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, 
reports existed of incidences of compulsory resettlement with promised 
compensation that either failed to materialize or was inadequate.
    In January 2007 TAR Party Secretary Zhang Qingli stated that the 
restructuring of Tibetan farming and grazing communities was not only 
to promote economic development but also to counteract the Dalai Lama's 
influence. He also stated that to do so was essential for ``continuing 
to carry out major development of west China.'' According to a March 20 
Xinhua report on the progress to settle all 219,800 herder households 
in the TAR, by the end of 2008, 200,000 households, including one 
million farmers and herders, had been settled into permanent housing.
    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 2008 state media report noted that Tibetans and other 
minority ethnic groups made up 69 percent of government employees in 
the TAR, ethnic Han continued to hold the top CCP positions in nearly 
all counties and prefectures, including that of TAR party secretary. 
Tibetans holding government positions were prohibited from 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 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 Tibetans than Han to obtain permits and loans to open 
businesses. The use of the Mandarin language was widespread in urban 
areas and many businesses limited employment opportunities for Tibetans 
who did not speak Mandarin. New 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.
    Prostitution was a growing problem in Tibetan areas, and hundreds 
of brothels operated semi-openly in Lhasa. International development 
workers in the TAR reported there were no reliable data on the number 
of persons engaged in the commercial sex trade in Lhasa and Shigatse, 
the TAR's two largest cities. Some of the prostitution occurred at 
sites owned by the CCP, the government, and the military. Most 
prostitutes in the TAR were ethnic Han women, predominantly from 
Sichuan Province. However, some ethnic Tibetans, mainly young girls 
from rural or nomadic areas, also engaged in prostitution. While the 
incidence of HIV/AIDS among those in prostitution in Tibetan areas was 
unknown, the TAR Health Bureau reported 102 cases of HIV/AIDS in the 
TAR between 1993 and 2009, including 28 new cases during January and 
November. Lack of knowledge about HIV transmission and economic 
pressures on women and girls engaged in prostitution led them to engage 
in unprotected sex.
    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 
Chinese education statistics did not accurately reflect attendance and 
were not independently verified.
    The TAR is one of the few areas of China 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 September 2008 elections that were 
generally free and fair. Civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, although core issues remained. The SAR limits the ability of 
citizens to participate in and change their government. Claims of press 
self-censorship persisted. The legislature is limited in its power to 
introduce or amend legislation and is not empowered to approve 
executive appointments. Disproportionate political influence is granted 
to certain sectors of society through the existence of small-circle 
``functional constituencies,'' that elected half of the LegCo. Societal 
prejudice against certain ethnic minorities persisted. The government 
began steps to implement a minimum wage for all workers except live-in 
domestic helpers and student interns, who lacked a guaranteed right 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.--The government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings.
    On March 17, a fatal police shooting occurred during an altercation 
in which ethnic Nepali Dil Bahadur Limbu violently resisted a police 
constable's request to examine his identity documents. The officer 
reported he was unable to subdue Limbu with his baton or pepper spray 
and that he fired on Limbu after Limbu ignored verbal warnings and 
continued to threaten him with the sharp end of a broken chair. The 
police conducted an internal investigation into the incident and 
reported their findings to the coroner May 29. At year's end the 
coroner's inquest was continuing.
    Limbu's family and local activists expressed concern that the 
police officer had given his warnings only in Cantonese (which Limbu 
did not speak), as well as the subsequent decision to hold the 
coroner's inquest in Cantonese (simultaneous interpretation was 
provided in Nepalese and English for participants and observers in the 
public gallery). The family requested an independent inquiry into the 
incident. The LegCo's Security Panel called for an independent 
investigation.

    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, there were 184 allegations of assault by 
police officers on persons in detention. As of June, 51 officers were 
investigated with results endorsed by the Independent Police Complaints 
Council (IPCC); the rest were pending at year's end. Investigations 
found one case to be unsubstantiated, four to be false, and 14 to be 
not pursuable; the remaining 32 allegations were withdrawn. There were 
38 cases of assault by police officers on persons not in custody filed, 
with 20 pending investigation as of June. Investigations into the 
remaining 18 were endorsed by the IPCC, with three cases found not 
pursuable and 15 complaints withdrawn.
    The Police Force's Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO), 
monitored by the IPCC, investigated an August 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.
    On September 18, a police officer was sentenced to 12 years in jail 
for accessing his colleagues' files and then, in four separate 
incidents, sexually assaulting three of them and raping one. In 
response to this incident and five other serious offenses committed by 
police officers in 2008, the commissioner of police convened a 
committee of senior officers and a representative of the Independent 
Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to consider ways to better monitor 
officers' integrity and improve the police force's image. He also 
announced changes to the police recruiting process to take effect in 
2010.
    Police use of strip searches during detentions of protesters and 
criminal suspects, which the UN Committee Against Torture had 
criticized in its 2008 Concluding Observations, remained a concern for 
LegCo. A 2008 IPCC review of one case led the CAPO to rule in July that 
repeated searches conducted each time an individual entered and 
departed a holding facility were incorrect. The police amended their 
general orders to allow searches at officer discretion, rather than 
automatically, each time an individual reentered a detention facility. 
The police also revised guidelines when some or all of a detainee's 
clothing is removed, including providing a form explaining the reasons 
for the search and giving the detainee the right to register a 
complaint. In addition all full strip searches are reviewed by the 
relevant assistant divisional commanders.
    Police continued to defend the use of intrusive searches, noting 
the large quantity of narcotics seized from persons attempting to 
smuggle them into detention facilities. Correctional Services reported 
98 seizures of illegal narcotics in the January to July period.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards. The government permitted 
monitoring visits by independent human rights observers and such visits 
occurred during the year.
    There are separate facilities for adult male and female prisoners 
and for male and female juveniles. As of 2008 the total population in 
prison, rehabilitation, or pretrial detention was 10,491: 8,259 male 
and 2,232 female. As of June a total of 79 juveniles under age 16 were 
serving sentences in penal, retraining, or rehabilitation facilities.
    Through June the average prison occupancy rate was 94 percent. 
Overcrowding occurred in some prisons, particularly in maximum security 
prisons, pretrial detention facilities, and institutions for female 
inmates. The Lo Wu Correctional Institution was being modified to 
reduce overcrowding in facilities housing female inmates.
    Between January and June, there were two deaths in police custody. 
An inquest into one case led to a coroner's finding of death by 
``natural causes.'' At year's end the second case was pending an 
inquest.
    On August 31, the High Court (Court of First Instance) ruled 
against the system by which prison administrators adjudicated breaches 
of discipline, using denial of sentence reductions as a penalty. The 
decision called for an administrator not connected with the institution 
in which the offense occurred to hear the case, that a standard of 
``beyond a reasonable doubt'' be applied to the charges, and that the 
proceedings be recorded to permit review.

    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. A July 2008 bill provided a statutory basis for the 
existing IPCC, which is charged with overseeing CAPO. The IPCC began 
operations as a statutory body on April 1. It 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 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. In 2008 the UN Committee Against Torture, while ``welcoming 
the enactment of the Independent Police Complaints Council 
Ordinance.and the new Guidelines on Searching of Detained Persons,'' 
recommended that Hong Kong continue to take steps to establish a fully 
independent mechanism mandated to receive and investigate complaints of 
police misconduct.
    In April activists and media expressed concern about absenteeism by 
the IPCC vice chairmen and members. Some of the vice chairmen served 
concurrently as legislators and cited conflicts with LegCo meetings. Of 
the council's 18 members, the media reported that only three attended 
all six of the IPCC's 2008 meetings.

    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 average period of pretrial detention in the first half of the 
year was 68 days. There is a functioning bail system, and detainees are 
allowed prompt access to a lawyer and family members. The law provides 
accused persons with the right to a prompt judicial determination.

    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, 
the LegCo president, and the 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 panel 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.
    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 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. 
Certain exemptions allow authorities to transfer personal data to a PRC 
body for safeguarding the security, defense, or international relations 
of the SAR and for the prevention, detection, or prosecution of a 
crime. During the first half of the year, the commissioner investigated 
563 complaints. Of the 383 completed investigations, 18 were found to 
have violations, 278 cases were either rejected or resolved through 
mediation without use of the commissioner's formal power of 
investigation, 11 were resolved or rejected after formal investigation, 
and 76 were withdrawn or found not pursuable.
    In February and March, there were reports that Police Force and 
Fire Services Department data were leaked on to the Internet because 
officers used computers equipped with a file-sharing program. The 
police agreed to implement recommendations from the PCPD to prevent 
further data leaks.
    The privacy commissioner ordered some private companies and a 
public school to cease using biometric technology to record attendance, 
on the grounds that such methods were ``excessive.'' The commissioner 
did not declare biometric enrollment unlawful but stressed the need for 
fairness and consent by employees. Companies responded by calling for 
clearer regulation on the use of biometric technology.
    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.'' A 
2006 law established 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$ one 
million (approximately $128,000). In 2008, 1,719 interceptions and 205 
surveillances were authorized, leading to 603 arrests. There were 11 
reported violations of the Communications and Surveillance Ordinance, 
including one report that information that might be subject to legal 
professional privilege was inadvertently intercepted.

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 Code of Ethics of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) 
states ``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 2008 report, Freedom House changed its description of press freedom 
in the SAR from ``free'' to ``partly free.'' A July poll found that 49 
percent of those polled believed the media practiced self-censorship.
    During the year the HKJA expressed regret that Esquire magazine 
removed 16 pages from a feature story on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in 
its June issue. Two senior managers in the magazine's parent company 
hold positions in Mainland political consultative congresses, one at 
the provincial and one at the national level.
    Television Broadcasts (TVB), one of the SAR's two free-to-air 
television stations, faced criticism at a public hearing held by the 
Broadcasting Authority as part of the station's midterm license review 
that it deliberately downplayed coverage of the June 4 candlelight 
vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre. TVB management countered 
that more than a third of the day's 6 p.m. news broadcast was devoted 
to the vigil and that the vigil was the lead story on the 11 p.m. 
broadcast.
    In February bodyguards for the student daughter of a foreign 
country's leader assaulted two journalists outside her residence. 
Several editorials, journalists, and democratic legislators condemned 
the decision not to prosecute the bodyguards. In a separate incident, 
the student's mother was not prosecuted for a January assault on a 
photographer after the PRC authorities ruled that she enjoyed 
diplomatic immunity.
    Journalists and politicians across the political spectrum condemned 
the September 4 detention and reported beating of three SAR journalists 
covering protests in Xinjiang.
    The government ended uncertainty regarding the future of 
government-owned broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) by 
announcing that it would remain a government entity staffed by civil 
servants. The RTHK staff, union, activists, and media expressed 
concerns about the relationship between a new advisory board, to be 
appointed solely by the SAR's CE, and the editorial independence of 
RTHK news and programming. While the government stated that 
independence will be protected in a new charter, and the director of 
broadcasting said that final editorial decisions would lie with him, 
there were concerns that the political clout of committee members, as 
well as the committee's oversight of the station's budget, might allow 
it to influence editorial policy.
    International media organizations operated freely. Foreign 
reporters needed no special visas or government-issued press cards. 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; 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 International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 67 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 permits for public meetings 
and demonstrations.
    Approximately 150,000 persons joined the annual vigil commemorating 
the June 4 Tiananmen massacre, the highest turnout in many years and 
the largest such event anywhere in China. Approximately 50,000 persons 
joined the annual July 1 democracy march. Both events were conducted 
peacefully.
    On August 14, the High Court (Court of First Instance) granted a 
judicial review to a shipowner who was prevented from taking activists 
to the Diaoyu Islands in May. The Marine Department stopped three 
attempts by the ``Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands'' 
from traveling to the disputed waters (the Japanese claim the islands 
as the Senkakus). The government claimed its decision rested on safety 
concerns. Previous trips by the Action Committee to the Diaoyus in 
similar vessels had been permitted.
    On August 21, the High Court (Court of First Instance) found that 
the removal of a pro-Tibetan protest led by student activist Christina 
Chan Hau-man during the Olympic Torch relay May 2008 was justified. 
Officers protecting Chan from counterdemonstrators felt they could not 
adequately guarantee the safety of Chan's group, spectators, and the 
police themselves. The court also ruled Chan's protest was both lawful 
and peaceful.

    Freedom of Association.--In the first half of the year, 1,195 
societies were registered or exempted from registration under the 
Societies Ordinance. No applications were rejected by the police.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--No major societal abuses or 
acts of religious discrimination, including anti-Semitic acts against 
the small Jewish community, were reported during the year.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 
territory, 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.
    The High Court (Court of Appeal) dismissed an appeal by Falun Gong 
practitioners who challenged a 2003 decision by the Immigration 
Department to bar from entry four activists traveling from Taiwan. 
While affirming the decision, the court expressed concern at the 
Security Bureau's (which oversees the Immigration Department) 
destruction of relevant documents that may have shed light on the 
decision, describing the action as a breach of the government's duty of 
``full and frank disclosure.''
    In a number of cases, persons traveling 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 activists or others 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 response to a June 3 
question from the LegCo, the secretary for security stated the 
Immigration Department ``does not have a 'black list' of persons not 
allowed to enter the SAR.'' However, the media quoted the secretary as 
telling LegCo that the Immigration Department did maintain a 
``surveillance list.''
    A number of activists traveling to participate in events relating 
to June 4 were denied entry. Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot was refused 
entry on May 30. Xiang Xiaoli, a veteran of the June 4 movement, was 
denied entry on June 3. Three activists invited to attend a City 
University forum on June 4 were denied entry. June 4 veterans Wang Dan 
and Wang Juntao applied for and were denied Hong Kong visas by a PRC 
diplomatic post (overseas, visas for Hong Kong are issued by PRC 
diplomatic posts). Another June 4 veteran, Yang Jianli, was refused 
entry to Hong Kong in May.
    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 have been denied ``Home Return 
Permits'' to visit the Mainland.
    On occasion some of these legislators were permitted to visit the 
Mainland. For example, in May a 25-member LegCo delegation visited 
Guangdong Province in the PRC. Eleven members of the delegation were 
associated with the SAR's democracy movement (pan-democrats), including 
six without Home Return Permits. While 12 pan-democrats were invited to 
join a September LegCo delegation to Sichuan Province, only two joined. 
The media reported pan-democratic leaders expressed unhappiness that 
some legislators in the caucus were not invited but denied there was a 
boycott.
    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, 5,184 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, and the government did not use, 
forced exile.

    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. The government's practice was to refer 
refugee and asylum claimants to a lawyer or the UNHCR. In November 2008 
the UN Committee Against Torture expressed concern that there was 
``still no legal regime governing asylum and establishing a fair and 
efficient refugee status determination procedure.''
    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 3,772 persons were receiving assistance.
    Those whose claims are pending have no legal right to work. 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 September the first such claimant was 
approved to attend university as a part-time ``visiting student.''
    A March 2 High Court (Court of First Instance) decision ruled 
against the policy of charging claimants found to be working with 
``overstaying `` on grounds that their release on recognizance 
constituted authority from the director of immigration to remain in the 
SAR. The government appealed the ruling, which reportedly resulted in 
an increase in illegal immigration cases. On November 11, the LegCo 
passed government-proposed amendments making it illegal for claimants--
who are otherwise regarded as illegal immigrants by the government--to 
work or establish a business.
    The UNHCR worked with potential host-country representatives to 
resettle persons designated as refugees.
    In December 2008 the High Court ruled in favor of six applicants 
for relief from removal under the CAT. The applicants challenged the 
SAR's process for handling their applications in a December 2007 case, 
and the court found that the Immigration Department's process was not 
sufficiently ``certain and accessible.''
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, which provides for the selection of the CE by 
an 800-person election committee (composed of individuals who are 
directly elected, indirectly elected, and appointed). The Basic Law 
provides for the direct election of 30 of the 60 LegCo members. The 
other 30 seats in the LegCo are elected by 28 functional constituencies 
(FCs), which represent key economic and social sectors. As of 2008 the 
28 FCs represented 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 less than 200 
voters. FCs set their own voting rules, with some allowing heads of 
corporations to vote on behalf of their companies. Persons with 
interests in more than one sector represented by an FC may be able to 
cast three or more votes (one in their geographic constituency and one 
in each FC for which they meet eligibility requirements). The High 
Court (Court of First Instance) struck down a legal challenge to 
corporate voting December 10, ruling that the current 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 in practice.
    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.
    In June the LegCo passed the Voting by Imprisoned Persons Bill, 
which guaranteed voting rights to prisoners.

    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 September 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 returned uncontested.
    In the first six months of the year, the ICAC received 209 
election-related complaints. Of these, 188 were under investigation, 
nine were deemed nonpursuable, and 12 were found to be unsubstantiated.
    The Basic Law prohibits the 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, and 
the president of the LegCo upheld the government's position. 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. Four political parties or movements 
represented in the 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 the 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. It was 
believed there were a number of ethnic minorities in senior civil 
service positions. The requirement that civil servants pass 
qualifications in both English and Chinese meant that most nonnative 
speakers of Chinese failed to qualify.

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 ICAC.
    In the first half of the year, the ICAC received 498 reports of 
corruption involving government institutions or personnel. Of that 
total, 223 were under investigation, 164 were deemed nonpursuable, and 
111 were found to be unsubstantiated.
    There are no legal protections for whistleblowers. In an April 
submission to the 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 were also 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 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 its annual report, the Office of 
the Ombudsman reported receiving 21 code-related complaints, up from 16 
in 2008. The report expressed concern at ``instances of departments 
refusing information requests without providing any reasons or with 
reasons not specified in the code.'' The ombudsman also observed 
instances of ``gross misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the code 
or its spirit.'' In its annual report, the HKJA called on the 
government to pass a formal freedom of information law.

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.
    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.

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, 52 
rape cases and 647 indecent assault cases were reported to the police.
    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 2,311 cases of domestic violence involving heterosexual partners, 
of which 1,193 were found to be criminal and were 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.
    In August 2008 the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Ordinance took 
effect. It 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 new 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.
    Prostitution is legal, but there are laws against activities such 
as public solicitation, causing or procuring another to be a 
prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or keeping a vice 
establishment.
    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 August 31, 
the EOC had handled 355 complaints under the SDO.
    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 were given equal access to diagnostic services 
and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
    According to 2008 statistics compiled by the Census and Statistics 
Department, approximately 30 percent of managers and administrators and 
approximately 38 percent of professionals were women, with female 
managers earning comparable pay to males. Approximately 73 percent of 
clerks, 53 percent of service workers and shop sales workers, and 64 
percent of unskilled workers were women. Census Bureau statistics 
showed 48 percent of postsecondary degree holders were women, with 
women holding 59 percent of postgraduate program teaching positions and 
43 percent of postgraduate program research positions.
    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.
    The government established a Women's Commission as an advisory body 
for policy making, while a number of NGOs were also 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, which latter status 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 819 cases of crimes against 
children reported to police: 355 involved physical abuse (referring to 
victims younger than 14 years of age), and 464 involved sexual abuse 
(referring to victims younger than 17 years of age). The Domestic 
Violence Ordinance mandates substantial legal penalties for acts of 
child abuse such as battery, assault, neglect, abandonment, sexual 
exploitation, and child sex tourism, and the government enforced the 
law.
    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.
    Social service providers and the media remained concerned at the 
rise in ``compensated dating'' 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. On July 27, a man 
was sentenced to life imprisonment for the April murder and 
dismemberment of a 16-year-old girl he met through a compensated dating 
Web site.
    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. Authorities posted warnings on five internet forums 
and begun working with forum hosts on ways to prevent their being used 
for compensated dating advertisements. In April police concluded 
``Operation Whalediver,'' arresting 20 girls ages 13 to 16 and six 
persons accused of being online pimps. By September the media reported 
that police made 22 arrests and referred 13 girls to the Social Welfare 
Department.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--There is no consolidated antitrafficking 
law; however, various laws and ordinances allow law enforcement 
authorities to take action against traffickers.
    The SAR was a point of transit and destination for persons 
trafficked for sexual exploitation from the Mainland and Southeast 
Asia. Sex trafficking cases detected by the government, NGOs, and 
foreign consulates usually involved women recruited from rural areas of 
the Mainland, Thailand, Indonesia, or the Philippines to work in the 
SAR. While some had legal work visas, many arrived on 14-day tourist 
visas with the intention of working illegally. A small number were 
believed to have traveled on forged documents. The majority of these 
women came to the SAR believing they would be employed in restaurants, 
bars, and hotels, but upon arrival they were forced into prostitution 
through debt bondage or physical coercion. Syndicates sometimes held 
passports and travel documents until debts were paid. A smaller number 
came illegally, either on their own or were recruited to work in the 
legal sex trade, but fell victim to trafficking by their recruiters or 
organized crime after their arrival.
    Some foreign domestic workers, particularly those from Indonesia 
and the Philippines, faced high levels of indebtedness assumed as part 
of the terms of employment, which could in some cases lead to 
situations of debt bondage if unlawfully exploited by recruiters or 
employers. Many Indonesian domestic workers earned the minimum wage or 
less and entered into contracts requiring them to pay as much as 
HK$21,000 (approximately $2,700) to their Indonesian recruitment agency 
within their first seven months of employment, amounting to roughly 90 
percent of a worker's monthly salary if they were making minimum wage. 
Although these fees are lawful, reports indicated they may make some 
workers more vulnerable to labor trafficking. While these fees were 
imposed by Indonesia-based recruitment agencies, some Hong Kong-
licensed recruitment agencies reportedly were involved. Some Hong Kong 
agencies reportedly confiscated passports, employment contracts, and 
ATM cards of domestic workers upon arrival and withheld them until the 
debt had been completely repaid, factors that also may facilitate labor 
trafficking.
    Provisions in the Immigration Ordinance, the Crimes Ordinance, the 
Employment Ordinance, and other relevant laws enable law enforcement 
authorities to take action against trafficking in persons. The Security 
Bureau oversees the police, customs, and immigration departments, 
enforces antitrafficking laws, and combats migrant trafficking. The 
courts can impose heavy fines and prison sentences of up to 14 years 
for activities such as arranging passage of unauthorized entrants, 
arranging entrance or exit of a person for the purpose of prostitution, 
and aiding and abetting any person to use forged, false, or unlawfully 
obtained travel documents.
    However, the government's interpretation of trafficking continued 
to focus on illegal migration and smuggling. The law does not classify 
as a trafficking victim a voluntary migrant who, upon arrival, is faced 
with a situation of labor trafficking or sex trafficking. Although law 
enforcement officials received special training on handling and 
protecting victims and vulnerable witnesses, including victims of 
trafficking, they said it was difficult to identify trafficking victims 
from among illegal immigrants, particularly when victims declined to 
identify themselves or assist in investigations.
    There were no reports that government officials participated in, 
facilitated, or condoned trafficking, and no officials were prosecuted, 
convicted, or sentenced to imprisonment or were removed from their 
duties for trafficking during the year.
    NGOs contended that the government did not pursue cases in which 
workers reported that they received less than the legal minimum wage or 
that their travel documents were unlawfully held. The government made 
legal aid available to those taking legal action against an employer 
and immunity from prosecution for those assisting in the investigation 
and prosecution of traffickers. The Social Welfare Department and local 
NGOs provided social services to victims of trafficking, but victims 
are not permitted to work. Trafficking victims assisting in a 
prosecution were given a stipend by the government regardless of 
whether they ultimately served as a prosecution witness. The government 
tried to prevent trafficking by distributing pamphlets and by other 
public information campaigns, in a wide range of languages, on workers' 
rights.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
access to health care, or the provision of other state services, and 
the government effectively enforced these provisions.
    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 approximately 15,000 persons were participating 
in these programs.
    As of March the government employed 3,223 civil servants with 
disabilities, including 15 at the senior directorate grade, in a total 
workforce of 155,128.
    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. 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.
    The EOC sponsored a variety of activities to address discrimination 
against persons with disabilities, including offering youth education 
programs, distributing guidelines and resources for employers, carrying 
out media campaigns, and cosponsoring seminars and research.

    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 (RDO). 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.
    A June report by the Census and Statistics Department showed that 
acceptance of certain ethnic minorities by Chinese citizens was notably 
lower than acceptance of noncitizen Chinese, Caucasians, Japanese, or 
Koreans as tenants, employees, or classmates for their children.
    The RDO and various implementing regulations entered into force on 
July 10, 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.
    In its ``Concluding Observations'' issued August 28, the UN 
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 
recommended ``that all government functions and powers be brought 
within the scope of the RDO'' and ``the adoption of an equality plan 
with a view to ensuring the effective implementation of the law.'' The 
CERD also recommended that ``indirect discrimination with regard to 
language, immigration status, and nationality be included among the 
prohibited grounds of discrimination in the RDO.'' In response the 
government stated that protection under the RDO applies equally to all 
persons in the SAR. Conceding that ``the RDO does not specifically 
cover all functions of the government,'' the government argued the RDO 
does regulate the government with regard to employment, education, and 
provision of services. The government also stressed that there were 
organizations that deal with complaints against the government, and the 
government is subject to both the Bill of Rights Ordinance and court 
rulings on discrimination. Previously, the government argued that 
broadening the law could affect the government's ability to function, 
including in areas meant to correct societal inequities, and might open 
the government up to litigation.
    While English and Chinese are the two official languages, persons 
not fluent or literate in Cantonese faced tremendous challenges in 
seeking employment and in choice of education. The Constitutional and 
Mainland Affairs Bureau sponsored a ``Cross-Cultural Learning Program 
for Non-Chinese Speaking Youth'' through grants to NGOs. In its 
``Concluding Observations,'' the CERD expressed concern that, despite 
the provision of a Supplementary Guide to the Chinese language 
curriculum, no official education policy for teaching Chinese as a 
second language in the SAR had been adopted. The CERD recommended that 
a policy on Chinese teaching for non-Chinese speaking students be 
developed in consultation with teachers as well as the communities 
concerned and that efforts to improve the quality of Chinese-language 
education for immigrant children should be intensified.
    In response the government stated its policy to integrate non-
Chinese students into the regular education system. The government also 
noted it had 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.
    The government provided HK$ eight million (approximately $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. The first such center, International Social Service's 
HOPE Support Service Center for Ethnic Minorities, opened August 29. 
The fourth, operated by Hong Kong Christian Service, opened September 
5.
    Activists reported that citizens of South Asian descent faced 
discriminatory treatment 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 where the money 
came from.
    Activists and the government disputed whether new immigrants from 
the Mainland should be considered as a population of concern under 
antidiscrimination legislation. While the government argued they should 
not, activists contended language barriers (many new immigrants, 
although able to read Chinese, did not speak the prevailing Cantonese 
dialect) and other factors put these new immigrants at a disadvantage. 
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. 
In 2006 the Law Reform Commission began a review of sexual offenses in 
common and statue law; this review continued. 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.
    There were no reports of societal violence or official 
discrimination based on sexual orientation. On December 16, the LegCo 
amended the Domestic Violence Ordinance (renamed the Domestic and 
Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance) to cover domestic 
violence concerns among same-sex partners.
    A number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) 
organizations and LGBT-related organizations existed and held events in 
the SAR. Since 1998 the government has provided more than HK$5 million 
(approximately $650,000) for ``worthwhile community projects which aim 
at promoting equal opportunity on grounds of sexual orientation or 
gender identity, or seek to provide support services for sexual 
minorities'' through its Equal Opportunities (Sexual Orientation) 
Funding Scheme. In November the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 
celebrated its 20th anniversary, while the LGBT-oriented Pride Parade 
was held for a second 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 provides for the right of 
association and the right of workers to establish and join 
organizations of their own choosing. Trade unions must register under 
the Trade Unions Ordinance and must have a minimum membership of seven 
persons for registration. At the end of 2008, there were 796 registered 
trade unions, consisting of 752 employee unions, 19 employers' 
associations, and 25 mixed organizations of employees and employers. 
During the first half of the year, 13 new unions were registered and 
three unions were deregistered upon request.
    Government statistics indicated that, as of the end of 2008, there 
were 708,953 salaried employees and wage earners claiming affiliation 
with a union, totaling 21.5 percent of the workforce.
    The 1997 Employment and Labor Relations (Miscellaneous Amendments) 
Ordinance bans 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. 
Four strikes, collectively involving 655 workers, were held during the 
first half of the year.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to organize, and this right was implemented in 
practice; however, it does not guarantee the right to collective 
bargaining. The 1997 Employment and Labor Relations (Miscellaneous 
Amendments) Ordinance does not provide a legal framework for trade 
unions to engage employers in collective bargaining. In all but a few 
trades, unions were not powerful enough to force management to engage 
in collective bargaining. A motion supported by union activists in the 
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 government did not engage in collective bargaining with civil 
servants' unions. According to an International Trade Union Congress 
report, only 1 percent of the workforce was covered by collective 
agreements, and these were not legally binding.
    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.
    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, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--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. During the first half of 
the year, the Labor Department conducted 78,441 inspections. Three 
employers were convicted of offenses involving employment of children 
13 to 14 years of age without written parental consent and valid school 
attendance certificates. Fines were between HK$1,000 and HK$4,000 
(approximately $130 to $515).

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no statutory minimum 
wage except for domestic workers of foreign origin. Aside from a small 
number of trades where a uniform wage structure exists, wage levels 
customarily are fixed by individual agreement between employer and 
employee and are determined by supply and demand. Some employers 
provided workers with various kinds of allowances, 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.
    While the government provides assistance to many low-wage earners 
through the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme and housing 
assistance programs, workers and labor unions contended wages in many 
low-level positions were insufficient to guarantee workers a decent 
standard of living.
    On July 8, the government's Minimum Wage Bill had its first reading 
in the LegCo. The bill would create a minimum wage (but not set its 
rate) and establish a Minimum Wage Commission which would advise the CE 
on the rate to be set. On February 7, the government appointed a 
Provisional Minimum Wage Commission made up of academics, employers, 
and organized labor representatives, and government economic and labor 
officials. At year's end both the bill and the wage rate remained under 
discussion.
    Unionists alleged workers increasingly 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 59,475 
workplace inspections. There were 842 convicted summonses, resulting in 
fines totaling HK$6.06 million (approximately $780,000). 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, 709 improvement notices 
and 41 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 8,512 
occupational injuries, including 2,842 classified as industrial 
accidents. In the same period, there were two 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.
    The media reported on the danger of working on bamboo scaffolding. 
It cited a Labor Department study showing ``falling from height'' as 
the primary source of fatalities in the construction industry, with 
8,000 workers injured and 149 killed between 1998-2007.
    There are no laws restricting work during typhoon or rainstorm 
warning signals save a Labor Department recommendation that employers 
have only essential staff come to work during certain categories of 
typhoon or rainstorm warnings.
    The minimum wage for foreign domestic workers was HK$3,580 per 
month (approximately $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 anticipated 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, seven employers were 
convicted for labor law maltreatment violations under the Employment 
Ordinance relating to the employment of foreign domestic workers. 
During the first seven months of the year, 86 foreign domestic workers 
filed criminal suits, 43 of which were against employers, for 
maltreatment including rape (five), indecent assault (four), and injury 
and serious assault (34).

                                 ______
                                 

                                 MACAU

    Macau, with a population of approximately 557,400, 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. On July 26, the 
300-member Electoral Commission selected Fernando Chui Sai-on as chief 
executive (CE) in an uncontested election, and Chui took office 
December 20. On September 20, in elections considered generally free 
and fair, voters elected 12 of the legislature's 29 members in direct 
elections based on geographical constituencies; of the other 17 members 
of the legislature, 10 are elected indirectly, and seven are appointed 
by the CE. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control 
of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, some problems remained, most notably limits on 
citizens' ability to change their government, reports of official 
corruption, 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.

    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 half of the year, 
police examined eight cases of offenses against the ``physical 
integrity'' and two of ``threat'' against persons not in custody. 
Separately, the Commission for Disciplinary Control of the Security 
Forces and Services of Macau received two complaints, one of which was 
substantiated and forwarded to the Office of the Prosecutor for 
investigation. In 2008 there were 15 complaints of police brutality 
against persons in custody; four resulted in disciplinary proceedings, 
six were pending, and five were dismissed for lack of evidence.

    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. In 2008 prison 
authorities invited both local and international media to visit the 
prison and participate in workshops with inmates.
    The prison has a 1,050-person designed capacity and during the 
first half of the year housed 961 inmates. In 2008 (the most recent 
available figures) there were 108 female prisoners and 21 juveniles 
(ages 16 to 17) in prison. An additional 31 juveniles were held in a 
separate facility run by the Young Offenders Institute.

    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 SAR 
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. According to judiciary figures, the standard pretrial detention 
in 2008 was 8.2 months. 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 both 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. On June 26, the 
Strike Against Computer Crime Law passed. It 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 the police 
authority to take these actions without court order under some 
circumstances.

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.
    On February 26, in accordance with a requirement under Article 23 
of the Basic Law, the Law on Safeguarding National Security entered 
into force. It 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 all 
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 ``acts in preparation,'' which they saw as possibly 
criminalizing a broad range of activities. Government officials 
maintained that, to be prosecuted as preparatory acts, the actions 
would need to meet tests already established under criminal law of both 
intention and actual capability to commit a violent act as defined 
under the law.
    Activists and some legislators were also 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. There was also 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 impact enforcement of the law. The SAR government asserted that 
only persons in possession of secret information, which by definition 
should only be government officials, could be charged with revealing a 
secret. Journalists or others to whom such material was given (assuming 
they did not explicitly ask for it or offer to buy it) would not be 
held responsible. The government also stated that a person could not be 
held liable for revealing information not marked as classified. (The 
Law on Publications, which predates the Law on Safeguarding National 
Security, specifies that journalists do not have the right to publish 
material known to be classified as a state secret.) By year's end no 
one had been charged with a crime under the new 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 follow closely 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.
    The media reported that activists who attempted to run an 
advertisement critical of ``people from big business clans taking 
office,'' a reference to the uncontested election of Chief Executive 
Fernando Chui Sai-on, had their fundraising bank account closed. The 
bank told local media, ``the bank is entitled to terminate a bank 
account if it considers the use that a client is making, or is planning 
to make, of a bank account is detrimental to the bank.'' The money in 
the account was returned to the account holder. Activists alleged the 
account was closed under political pressure. No local media were 
willing to publish 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 engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 49 percent of the SAR'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 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.
    Local opponents of the Law on Safeguarding National Security held 
protest activities, although protesters from Hong Kong were denied 
entry into the SAR on several occasions (see section 2.d.). However, in 
March a group of Hong Kong activists who had been permitted into the 
SAR staged a protest in front of the Government House. By law 
demonstrations may not be conducted within thirty yards of government, 
court, or police buildings, or in front of central government and 
consular missions to the SAR.

    Freedom of Association.--The Basic Law and the Civil Code guarantee 
freedom of association. No authorization is required to form an 
association, and the only restrictions are that the organization not 
promote violence, crime, or disruption of public order. From January 
2008 through June 2009, 458 associations were formed, and no 
applications were rejected.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Relations among various 
religious groups were generally amicable. The Jewish population was 
extremely small, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 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 the police the authority to 
prevent entry and to deport nonresidents who are regarded under the law 
as unwelcome, or who constitute a threat to internal security and 
stability, or who are regarded as suspected of transnational crimes. 
The police used this provision of law to prevent the entry of several 
persons who sought to participate in peaceful political activities, as 
well as persons participating in academic exchanges or journalism, 
particularly when the Law on Safeguarding National Security was under 
consideration as well as in the period immediately following passage of 
the law.
    On March 9, Secretary for Security Cheong Kuoc-va told the media 
that immigration cases were decided on a case-by-case basis and denied 
the existence of a ``blacklist.''
    On March 15, a delegation of 35 Hong Kong activists, including 14 
legislators, traveled to the SAR. Thirty were admitted, but two 
legislators--Leung ``Long Hair'' Kwok-hung and Lee Cheuk-yan--along 
with three other activists were denied entry.
    On June 2, Tiananmen-era activist Wu'erkaixi tried to enter the SAR 
to ``turn himself in'' to PRC authorities with the stated goals of 
forcing the PRC government into a dialogue regarding the Tiananmen 
massacre and to see his parents. As a Taiwan passport holder, 
Wu'erkaixi would normally be permitted visa-free entry into Macau, but 
he was refused entry and returned to Taiwan on June 3.
    On December 19, two journalists were denied entry. One, planning to 
cover the 10th Anniversary of Macau's return to the PRC for the Hong 
Kong daily newspaper Ming Pao, told the media she was not informed of 
the reason she was denied entry. The Security Police, who oversee 
immigration, later told the media she posed a threat to public 
security. The Hong Kong Journalists' Association and the Hong Kong News 
Executive's Association condemned the decision.
    A journalist, for Hong Kong's Next magazine, who was traveling with 
her family for vacation, was also barred from the SAR.
    Also on December 19, Hong Kong legislator Long Hair Leung again was 
denied entry along with 14 other activists. They had intended to 
petition visiting PRC President Hu Jintao on universal suffrage in Hong 
Kong.
    On December 20--Macau Foundation Day and the inauguration day of 
the new Chui administration--two activists with Hong Kong's Alliance in 
Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China were denied entry 
into Macau. They had intended to demonstrate for the release of 
Mainland Charter '08 activist Liu Xiaobo. Alliance activist Chui Pak-
tai told the media he was physically abused by immigration officers, 
who then declined to allow him and fellow activist Richard Tsoi Yiu-
cheong to file a complaint. Three other Alliance activists were 
permitted to enter the SAR but chose to depart with their colleagues.
    In December 2008 a group of 24 Hong Kong activists, including nine 
legislators, was denied admission to the SAR. The group was traveling 
to participate in activities related to the then pending Article 23 
national security legislation (see section 2.a.).

    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. During the year there were five applications for refugee 
status.

Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law limits citizens' ability to change their government.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Only a fraction of citizens 
play a role in the selection of the CE. The 300-member Election 
Committee consists 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. 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 fifty nominations required to stand for 
election, former secretary for social affairs and culture Fernando Chui 
Sai-on ran unopposed for CE. He received 282 votes from the Election 
Committee on July 26 and was formally appointed by the PRC State 
Council as the third-term CE. Chui took office on December 20.
    On September 25, the SAR also elected parts of its Legislative 
Assembly. Seven seats were filled by appointment by the CE; 10 
indirectly elected legislators were returned uncontested after internal 
consultation among the four broad sectors that elect these seats. 
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.
    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 appoints members of the 
SAR Executive Council from among the principal officials of the 
executive authorities, members of the legislature, and public figures.
    There are no registered political parties; politically active 
groups register as societies or companies. These groups are active in 
promoting their political agendas, and those critical of the government 
do not face restrictions. Such groups participated in protests over 
government policies or proposed legislation without restriction.
    There were four women in the 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. Eleven of the SAR's 29 judges were women. Women 
made up almost 40 percent of the executive, more than 45 percent of the 
judicial, and more than 45 percent of the legislative branch work 
forces. There were three members of ethnic minorities in the 
Legislative Assembly. One member of the Executive Council was also 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, officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices.
    The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) investigates the public 
sector and has the power to arrest and detain suspects.
    The most recent figures showed that during the first half of the 
year the CCAC received 417 complaints against public officials in a 
variety of agencies; 336 were criminal cases, and 81 were 
administrative cases. The CCAC pursued 138 of these complaints, 
including 57 criminal cases and 81 administrative complaints, 11 of 
which were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office. The Ombudsman 
Bureau, within the CCAC, reviews complaints of maladministration or 
abuse by the CCAC. There were no reports of such complaints during the 
year. There also is an independent committee outside CCAC called the 
Monitoring Committee on Discipline of the CCAC Personnel, which accepts 
and reviews complaints about CCAC personnel.
    By law the CE, his cabinet, judges, members of the Legislative 
Assembly and the Executive Council, and executive agency directors are 
required to disclose their financial interests.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information. However, the executive branch published online, in both 
Portuguese and Chinese, an extensive amount of 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 issues.

Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law stipulates that residents shall be free from 
discrimination, and many local 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 six reported rapes. The police and courts promptly acted on 
rape cases.
    The government effectively enforced criminal statutes prohibiting 
domestic violence against women and prosecuted violators; however, 
various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and government officials 
considered domestic violence against women to be a growing problem. 
Domestic violence is punishable by one to 15 years in prison. In the 
case of both spousal abuse and 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, 221 cases of domestic violence were reported to the police.
    The government provided hospital treatment for victims of abuse, 
and medical social workers counseled victims and informed them of 
social welfare services. The government may provide victims of domestic 
violence with public housing until their complaints are resolved, but 
it did not reserve facilities expressly for this purpose. The 
government also supported two 24-hour hotlines, one for counseling and 
one 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 family 
counseling service was available to persons who requested such services 
at social centers. Two government-supported religious programs also 
offered rehabilitation programs for female victims of violence.
    Prostitution is legal and common; however, procurement and the 
operation of a brothel are illegal. Nevertheless, the SAR had a large 
sex trade, including brothels, most of which were believed to be 
controlled by Chinese organized crime groups, and many of those 
exploited by the trade were women.
    There is no law specifically addressing sexual harassment, although 
harassment in general is prohibited under laws governing equal 
opportunity, employment and labor rights, and labor relations. Between 
January and June, neither the Labor Affairs Bureau nor the Social 
Welfare Bureau received complaints either of discrimination based on 
gender or sexual harassment.
    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 were given equal access to diagnostic services 
and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
    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. There were no reports alleging sexual discrimination 
during the first half of the year.

    Children.--In accordance with the Basic Law, children of Chinese 
national residents of Macau born in or outside of the SAR, and children 
born to non-Chinese national permanent residents inside the SAR, are 
regarded as permanent residents. There is no differentiation among 
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.
    Education is compulsory and free for most children between ages 
five and 15 through general secondary education. However, the children 
of illegal immigrants were excluded from the educational system. 
Experts believed this exclusion affected only a few children.
    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 for participation in the legal sex trade. Child 
pornography is prohibited by law.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The SAR is a transit and destination point 
for women and girls trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual 
exploitation. Most victims were persons from inland Chinese provinces 
who migrated to the border province of Guangdong in search of 
employment, where they fell prey to false advertisements for jobs in 
Macau. Other foreign and mainland Chinese women and girls were deceived 
into migrating voluntarily for employment opportunities in casinos, as 
dancers, or other types of employment; upon arrival, some victims were 
passed to local organized crime groups, held captive, and forced into 
sexual servitude. Some foreign victims were misinformed about their 
destination and diverted to the SAR, where they were trafficked into 
prostitution.
    A 2008 comprehensive antitrafficking law prohibits all forms of 
trafficking in persons and prescribes penalties ranging from three to 
12 years' imprisonment. Penalties increase by one-third for trafficking 
victims under 14 years old. Retaining, hiding, spoiling, or destroying 
the identification or travel documents of a trafficking victim also 
incurs a penalty of one to five years' imprisonment, if no harsher 
punishment is available in other laws. In November the first person 
convicted under the 2008 law was sentenced to 7.5 years' imprisonment. 
Several other cases were awaiting trial.
    Although prostitution is legal, a ``procurement'' law makes it a 
crime to instigate, favor, or facilitate the practice of prostitution 
by another person for the purposes of profit or as a way of life, 
although the penalties for this crime are less severe and the 
procurement crime does not recognize a victim.
    Between January and December, there were four reported cases of 
human trafficking. On May 16, the Judiciary Police arrested four men 
and two women for human trafficking, controlling prostitutes, and 
illegal retention of identity documents. Nineteen victims were rescued 
from six residential apartments where they reportedly were forced to 
provide sex services. One victim told police she had been forced to 
perform sex services 60-70 times, and all her earnings were taken by 
the traffickers.
    Authorities believed that Chinese, Russian, and Thai criminal 
syndicates in some instances were involved in trafficking women to the 
SAR for prostitution, after which victims were passed on to local crime 
syndicates. Victims were from mainland China, Mongolia, Russia, the 
Philippines, Central Asia, Vietnam, and Thailand. There were no 
confirmed reports of official involvement in human trafficking. A 
police officer arrested in 2007 for allegedly blackmailing two women in 
prostitution for ``protection'' fees was expelled from the police force 
and was awaiting trial.
    The Social Welfare Bureau provided temporary shelter, counseling, 
and financial and medical assistance to identified victims of 
trafficking. The government also published leaflets to educate citizens 
on human trafficking, associated penalties, and the government's 
protection measures for victims. The leaflets, printed in Chinese, 
Portuguese, and English, were available at border and transit points, 
police and other government offices, health-care and social welfare 
facilities, and educational institutions. The government ran 
television, newspaper, and radio announcements to further educate the 
public about human trafficking. The Antitrafficking Commission launched 
a Web site in Chinese, Portuguese, and English to provide 
antitrafficking resources and information, including the two hotlines 
dedicated for reporting trafficking crimes.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
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 for persons with disabilities. The Social 
Welfare Institute was primarily responsible for coordinating and 
funding public assistance programs to persons with disabilities. The 
government employed 79 persons with disabilities as public servants.

    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 (LGBT) persons forming 
organizations or associations. There were no such organizations active 
during the year. No LGBT marches or other events occurred during the 
year. 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 provides for the right of 
workers to form and join unions or ``labor associations'' of their 
choice without previous authorization or excessive requirement, and the 
government generally respected this right in practice. Between January 
2008 and June 2009, the government registered 31 new labor 
associations, eight new professional associations, and 29 new private 
sector associations; none were deregistered. Data on the percentage of 
unionized workers was unavailable. A draft law on labor unions was 
rejected by the Legislative Assembly in April, due to concern that key 
issues were not addressed with sufficient clarity.
    According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), 
due to the PRC government's strong influence over local trade union 
activities, including the direct selection of the leadership of the 
Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), trade union independence was 
undermined and the protection of trade union members' rights 
compromised. PRC government policies emphasized minimizing workplace 
disruption, and some unions were criticized for tending to resemble 
local traditional neighborhood associations promoting social and 
cultural activities. The Union for Democracy Development Macau (UDDM) 
and some local journalists claimed that the FTU was more interested in 
providing social and recreational services than in addressing labor 
problems such as wages, benefits, and working conditions.
    Workers have the right to strike, but there is no specific 
protection in the law from retribution if workers exercise 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; however, there were reports 
that the government failed to enforce these provisions. Strikes, 
rallies, and demonstrations were not permitted in the vicinity of the 
CE's office, the Legislative Assembly, and other key government 
buildings.
    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 
had 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; however, the government did not 
impede or discourage collective bargaining. Pro-PRC unions 
traditionally have not attempted to engage in collective bargaining. 
Migrant workers and public servants did not have the right to bargain 
collectively.
    The ITUC maintained that under the law, the high percentage of 
foreign labor, which has no right to collective bargaining, was eroding 
the bargaining power of local residents to improve working conditions 
and increase wages.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and employer 
interference in union functions; however, the UDDM expressed concern 
that the local 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.

    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 was 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.
    In 2008 representatives of employers, employees, and the government 
discussed a minimum wage scheme for all sectors. They concluded that a 
minimum wage imposed on all industries would be complex and difficult 
and a mandatory minimum wage would be implemented only after the 
community reaches a consensus. In response to a legislative query, the 
Labor Affairs Bureau in April again stated that society had not yet 
reached a consensus on a minimum wage.
    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 as a means to circumvent 
obligations to pay for workers' benefits such as pensions, sick leave, 
and paid holidays. The short-term nature of the contracts also makes it 
easier to dismiss workers by means of nonrenewal. In its August 25 
``Concluding Observations'' on the report issued by China (including 
Macau and Hong Kong), the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination called on the SAR government to extend social welfare 
benefits to all workers, including migrant workers.
    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. During the first half of the year, the Labor Department 
Inspectorate conducted 2,830 inspections and uncovered 55 violations 
carrying fines totaling approximately 162,300 patacas ($20,330). In the 
first half of the year, there were 1,728 work-related injuries and 
three work-related deaths. Although the law includes a requirement that 
employers provide a safe working environment, no explicit provisions 
protected employees' right to continued employment if they refused to 
work under dangerous conditions.

                               __________

                                 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. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    Taiwan generally respected the human rights of its citizens; 
however, the following problems continued to be reported: corruption by 
officials, violence and discrimination against women, 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 conditions 
generally met international standards, and the authorities permitted 
monitoring visits by independent human rights observers. As of 
September, there were 54,782 adult prisoners, 50,353 males, 4,429 
women, and fewer than 1,000 juveniles. As of September prisons operated 
at 115.9 percent of design capacity.

    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.
    Police corruption, while limited, was a problem. The NPA did not 
keep statistics on police corruption cases. In March an officer with 
the Criminal Investigation Bureau in Taipei County was indicted on 
corruption charges for taking goods from a suspected burglar. In 
November 2008 several police officers in Taipei County were indicted 
for taking bribes from karaoke, video gambling, and gravel business 
operators. The prosecutors proposed jail terms of up to 14 years. At 
year's end the trial was ongoing. In December the Banciao District 
Court convicted five police officers of accepting bribes from casino 
operators in Taipei and Taoyuan counties and sentenced them to prison 
terms ranging from 12 to 20 years.
    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 investigated 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.--Warrants or 
summons are 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 can 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 can be requested in cases where the potential sentence is 
five years or more or where there is a reasonable concern that the 
suspect could flee, collude with other suspects or witnesses, or tamper 
or destroy material evidence. In October the Constitutional Court ruled 
that a defendant may not be detained solely on the basis of the 
potential sentence.
    Former president Chen Shui-bian was detained for approximately 10 
months, except for a short break, before his conviction on various 
corruption charges (see section 4). The district court, in justifying 
his detention, expressed concern that Chen could collude with 
witnesses, tamper with evidence, and posed a flight risk. His 
preindictment detention was for one month.
    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 expanded 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 sub-bureaus, one-third of the island's 158 sub-bureaus, 
were implementing the program. 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.
    In January the Constitutional Court issued an interpretation 
declaring that, effective May 1, discussions between defense counsel 
and their clients could no longer be taped or monitored by prison 
authorities or provided to prosecutors.

    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 on September 11; Chen has appealed the verdict. The Chen trial 
heightened scrutiny of issues such as preindictment and pretrial 
detention, prosecutorial leaks and other possible prosecutorial 
misconduct, and transparency in judicial procedures. In October the 
Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of judicial 
procedures used by the Taipei District Court in the Chen case.
    The JY is one of the five coequal branches of the political system 
and includes the 15-member Constitutional Court, which interprets the 
constitution as well as laws and ordinances. Subordinate JY organs 
include the Supreme Court, high courts, district courts, administrative 
courts, and the Committee on the Discipline of Public Functionaries.
    Active-duty military personnel are subject to the military justice 
system, which provides the same protections as the civil criminal 
courts. The Code of Court-Martial Procedure requires that prosecutors 
and judges not be under the same command.

    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 
dependency upon advertising revenue and loans from government-
controlled banks deterred a few media outlets from criticizing the 
authorities. The authorities denied using loans or advertising revenue 
to manipulate the media.
    In May the mass-circulation Apple Daily quoted a former journalist 
who said that the authorities had paid at least two leading newspapers 
to write and publish articles praising the authorities' achievements 
ahead of the anniversary of President Ma's inauguration. The Apple 
Daily also alleged that the MOI did not want newspapers to identify 
placements as paid advertising. In response the Government Information 
Office (GIO) reiterated that the authorities opposed using 
advertisements posing as news stories to promote policies. Some 
observers reported a significant increase in paid placements in the 
local print and electronic media by the authorities and private 
businesses as media revenues dropped in the wake of the global 
financial crisis.
    In January 3,000 persons gathered outside the Legislative Yuan (LY) 
to protest alleged political interference in the operation of the 
Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS). TBS includes the Public Television 
Service and was funded principally by the authorities.
    During the year several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) noted 
a deterioration in press freedom, citing attempts at interference and 
attacks by demonstrators against reporters. The GIO's chairman 
responded that the authorities absolutely had not interfered with press 
freedom.
    Seven People's Republic of China (PRC) news outlets have 
journalists in Taiwan, and PRC officials reportedly had asked for 
permanent media offices on the island.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no official restrictions on access to 
the Internet, and individuals and groups could engage in peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. According to 
the International Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, 
approximately 65.7 percent of the population used the Internet.
    Several 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. 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.
    In September the Kaohsiung film festival, reportedly at the urging 
of the city government, rescheduled the screening of a documentary 
about Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer so that it occurred before the 
official festival. Reportedly, the city officials were attempting to 
forestall PRC retaliation against the city's tourism business, but 
after pressure from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the film 
was placed back on the film festival schedule and shown at various 
venues throughout the island.

    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 restricts 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 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.
    In the first seven months of the year, 26 persons were under 
investigation for 18 alleged violations of the Assembly and Parade Law 
(typically failure to obtain a permit or failure to comply with a 
police order to disperse); six individuals were indicted in five cases. 
During the seven-month period, three persons were convicted, each given 
a sentence of less than two months of forced labor.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides this right, and the 
authorities generally respected it in practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the authorities generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination against persons for their religious 
beliefs or practices, and no reports of anti-Semitic acts. The Jewish 
population numbered approximately 200 persons.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution provides for freedom 
of movement within the 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$ one million ($30,800) 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.
    Prior to 2000, citizens residing in the PRC could lose citizenship 
if they had not returned within four years. They could apply to recover 
citizenship through relatives or a legal representative. Applications 
to recover citizenship were regularly granted, and there were no 
reports of rejected applications.

    Protection of Refugees.--Because of its international status, the 
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 nine PRC nationals on Taiwan seeking asylum 
elsewhere.
    Throughout the year the authorities repatriated illegal immigrants 
to their countries of origin. According to the MOI, the total number of 
illegal PRC immigrants deported to the mainland declined, from 595 in 
2007 to 365 in 2008. During the first eight months of the year, 200 
illegal PRC immigrants were deported. The amount of time PRC illegal 
immigrants remained in detention decreased. During the year the average 
detention lasted 71 days. As of August 31, 48 illegal PRC immigrants 
were awaiting deportation. There were 782 non-PRC illegal aliens 
(including 494 women and 288 men) awaiting deportation. Their average 
waiting time was 37.7 days.
    On January 1, a group of more than 100 ethnic Tibetans ended a 24-
day sit-in seeking legal status in Taiwan. The Tibetans entered the 
Taiwan at different times since 2002 and were overstaying their 
temporary visas. The LY passed amendments to the Immigration Act 
allowing Tibetans who overstayed their visas to apply for residency 
certificates. As of November, 78 had been granted residency and 40 of 
those with work permits.

    Stateless Persons.--On January 23, the LY passed an amendment to 
the Immigration Act granting residency to more than 400 descendants of 
soldiers left behind in Thailand and Burma at the end of the Chinese 
civil war in 1949. On June 10, the MOI promulgated a set of measures 
governing applications for residency by these descendants.

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 (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. Seven of the 40 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 peoples 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 September former president Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-
jen were convicted on corruption and money laundering charges, and both 
were sentenced to life in prison. Chen, who remained in detention, 
filed an appeal with the Taipei High Court. Some observers, including 
Chen's supporters, asserted the judicial process in Chen's case was 
flawed and protested his continued detention. Others said the trial 
demonstrated that even the highest officials would be held accountable 
to the law.
    Allegations of vote buying continued, although all political 
parties were publicly committed to ending the practice. In October two 
members of the KMT Central Standing Committee (CSC) were removed from 
that body for sending gifts to potential voters. Subsequently, 27 of 
the 30 remaining CSC members resigned, and a by-election was held 
November 14 for the 32 empty seats. During the year the courts removed 
three KMT legislators and one People First Party legislator from office 
on the grounds of vote-buying. There were criminal trials and prisons 
sentences were meted out.
    In April the LY amended the Act for the Punishment of Corruption to 
bring 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.
    In July, 15 incumbent and former supervisors of the Taipei 
Detention Center were indicted for receiving bribes from detainees and 
their families. Prosecutors suggested prison terms of from 12 to 26 
years. DPP lawmaker Gao Jyh-peng was indicted on charges of accepting 
bribes. In August Kinmen County Magistrate Lee Chu-feng (New Party) was 
indicted on charges of embezzlement and forgery.
    During the 12-month period from June 2008, prosecutors indicted 
1,973 persons on various corruption charges. Of the 992 officials 
accused, 60 were elected, 125 were high-ranking, 322 were mid-level, 
and 485 were low-level.
    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, 5,305 reports of 
rape or sexual assault were filed through July. As of July, 1,402 
persons were indicted for sexual assault and 1,098 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 September, 65,359 cases of domestic violence had 
been reported, and 2,370 persons had been prosecuted for domestic 
violence. Of those prosecuted, 1,695 persons were sentenced to prison 
terms of less than one year, seven were sentenced to life in prison, 
and one was given the death penalty. As of September, 7,815 protection 
orders had been issued to female domestic violence victims and 1,089 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.
    Prostitution is illegal. The Social Order Maintenance Act mandates 
punitive measures only for prostitutes; those patronizing prostitutes 
are not subject to penalties unless a minor is involved. In November 
the Constitutional Court ruled that this violated the principle of 
equality and gave the authorities a two-year window in which to amend 
the law.
    Trafficking in women remained a problem.
    Sexual harassment in the workplace is a crime, punishable by fines 
from NT$100,000 to NT$ one million (approximately $3,080 to $30,800) 
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. The 113 
hotlines received 61,856 calls reporting domestic violence through 
September. 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. However, unmarried persons are prohibited by law from 
obtaining fertility treatments. Access to contraception and skilled 
attendance during childbirth and postpartum were widely available. 
Women and men were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually 
transmitted infections.
    The law prohibits discrimination based on gender and stipulates 
that measures be taken to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. 
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. The law was revised in 2007 to 
increase penalties for violators. 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 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 per year 
while only approximately 3,000 were reported. According to MOI, 6,373 
cases, including cases of physical, mental, or sexual abuse or harm due 
to guardian neglect, were reported to the Child Welfare Bureau as of 
June and 20,058 cases of child abuse were reported through the child 
abuse hotline in 2008. 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 were authorized to appoint 
guardians for children whose parents were deemed unfit.
    The minimum age of consent to engage in sexual relations is 18. 
Persons who engage in sex with children under age 14 faced sentences of 
three to 10 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 $92,400). According to the MOI Child Welfare 
Bureau, 93 minors were rescued from prostitution in the first five 
months of this year and placed in shelters. The Child Welfare Bureau 
reported a significant decrease in the number of boys exploited as 
prostitutes.
    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. Citizens arrested abroad for having sex with 
minors could also be indicted and convicted for patronizing underage 
prostitutes in foreign countries under the law. The law also prohibits 
child pornography and violators are subject to sentences of up to six 
months and substantial fines.
    As of July, 215 persons were indicted and 273 persons were 
convicted of violating the CYSTPA, which criminalizes child 
prostitution and the possession and distribution of child pornography. 
The law requires publication of violators' names in newspapers.

    Trafficking in Persons.--Trafficking in persons continued to be a 
problem. In January the LY passed the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, 
which criminalized sex, labor, and organ trafficking. The Act and its 
corresponding measures went into effect June 1. In addition to the new 
trafficking law, trafficking acts were criminalized through a number of 
other statutes.
    The MOI, the MOJ, the National Immigration Agency (NIA), the CLA, 
the NPA, and several other agencies are responsible for combating 
trafficking. A senior-level prosecutor unit supervises district court 
handling of trafficking cases and there are antitrafficking task forces 
within the NIA, the NPA, the Coast Guard, and the 21 district court 
offices.
    Taiwan is primarily a destination for Southeast Asian and PRC 
nationals trafficked into forced labor or sexual exploitation. There 
were reports of women being trafficked from Taiwan to Japan for sexual 
exploitation purposes.
    Authorities reported that traffickers continued to use fraudulent 
marriages as a primary method for human trafficking, in part because 
penalties for ``husbands'' were lenient. Some women smuggled to Taiwan 
to seek illegal work were subsequently forced to work in the commercial 
sex industry. The Child Welfare Bureau reported a significant decrease 
in the number of children rescued from prostitution, and unlike in the 
past, there were no reports of children being trafficked into Taiwan to 
work in the commercial sex industry. Labor trafficking remained a 
serious problem (see section 7.e.).
    As of December the MOJ reported authorities had indicted 335 
individuals for trafficking offenses, of whom 266 were convicted. 
Approximately 51 percent of the cases closed through December involved 
sexual exploitation, forced labor accounted for 23 percent, and 27 
percent were convicted of both sexual and labor exploitation. The 
principal defendant in the October 2008 arrests of 34 persons at a 
large labor brokerage was found guilty of fraud, money laundering, and 
other charges and was sentenced to five years and six months in prison 
by the Miaoli District Court.
    Incidents of public employees or officials implicated in 
trafficking were rare, but they did occur. There were reports of local 
authorities accepting bribes in return for ignoring illegal sex- and 
labor-trafficking activities.
    There are island-wide guidelines for identifying and treating 
trafficking victims. The authorities regularly conducted exercises to 
train police, immigration officials, and other law enforcement 
personnel in identifying victims. However, police, prosecutors and 
other law enforcement personnel did not always consistently follow 
victim identification procedures. NGOs reported concerns that an 
increase in the number of raids and arrests had not resulted in 
increased convictions. Authorities enacted standard application 
procedures for new provisions of the Immigration Act that allow 
trafficking victims to obtain temporary residency and work permits. 
Between June 1 (when the new antitrafficking law went into effect) and 
August 31, 44 temporary residence permits and 32 work permits were 
issued. NGOs added that some trafficking victims continued to be 
punished with community service and fines for violating immigration, 
foreign labor, or prostitution laws.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities and sets minimum fines for 
violations.
    MOI and CLA are responsible for protecting the rights of persons 
with disabilities. The law stipulates that the authorities must provide 
services and programs to the disabled population. Free universal 
medical care was provided to persons with disabilities. NGOs continued 
to note 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 numbers 
of elderly persons.
    From July 11, 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.
    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 ($1,850 to $9,240).

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--As of August, 10 percent of all 
marriages included a foreign-born spouse, primarily individuals from 
China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, and an estimated 9.6 percent 
of all births were to foreign-born mothers.
    Foreign spouses were targets of discrimination both inside and 
outside the home.
    During the year 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 now also permitted to work on 
Taiwan immediately on arrival. In addition, the authorities canceled 
the quota for visas for PRC spouses in August.

    Indigenous People.--There are 13 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 people. The Indigenous Peoples Basic Act stipulates that the 
authorities should provide resources to help indigenous people 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. The cabinet-level Council 
of Indigenous Peoples worked with other ministries to raise living 
standards in aboriginal regions through basic infrastructure projects. 
The council also provided emergency funds and college scholarships to 
the indigenous population. However, one aboriginal leader blamed the 
authorities for making no progress over the past year on bills 
promoting Aboriginal autonomy and Aboriginal traditional domains.

    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, 
antihomosexual violence was rare, but societal discrimination against 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons with HIV and 
AIDS was a problem.
    LGBT rights activists said instances of police pressure to close 
gay- and lesbian-friendly bars and bookstores decreased.
    The seventh gay pride march was held in October. More than 25,000 
individuals participated.
    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 
($46,200).

    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 
law but is highly regulated under the Labor Union Law (LUL).
    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 or to assume union leadership 
positions in existing unions.
    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.
    As of June approximately 29 percent of the 10.9 million-person 
labor force belonged to one of the 4,721 registered labor unions. Many 
of them were also members of one of eight 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. Teachers and defense industry employees 
are not afforded the right to strike. The law requires mediation of 
labor disputes when the authorities deem them to be sufficiently 
serious or to involve unfair practices. The law prohibits labor and 
management from disturbing the ``working order'' while mediation or 
arbitration is in progress. Critics contended the law has a chilling 
effect on the right to strike because it does not clearly state what 
conduct is prohibited. The law mandates stiff penalties for violations 
of no-strike and no-retaliation clauses.

    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.
    As of September there were 49 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 that during employee cutbacks labor union leaders were 
sometimes laid off first or dismissed without reasonable cause. 
According to the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions and the Taiwan 
Labor Front, there is 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.

    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. As of May the LSL 
covered an estimated 6.5 million of the 7.9 million salaried workers. 
Those not covered included health-care workers, gardeners, bodyguards, 
teachers, doctors, accountants, lawyers, civil servants, and domestic 
workers.
    Foreign household caregivers and domestic workers were covered 
instead by the Employment Services Act, which does not guarantee 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 June, 
172,000 of the 341,000 foreign household caregivers and domestic 
workers had applied for coverage under the Employment Services Act.
    There were no plans to increase the minimum monthly wage of 
NT$17,280 (approximately $532) or the minimum hourly wage of NT$104 
($3.20) which were established in 2007. 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 alleged any benefit to foreign workers from previous 
increases to the monthly minimum wage failed to cover the increase in 
the maximum NT$5,000 ($154) 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 in the 
first half of the year at NT$42,909 ($1,321) was the lowest in the 13 
years. Many workers either lost their jobs or took unpaid leave in the 
first half of the year. To assist jobless workers, the authorities 
revised the Employment Insurance Act in May to extend unemployment 
relief payments from six months to nine months.
    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 continued 
employment. There was widespread criticism that the CLA did not 
effectively enforce workplace laws and regulations. In the first half 
of the year, CLA's 318 inspectors conducted 80,354 inspections, an 
increase of 38 percent from the same period in 2008. Those 318 
inspectors were responsible for inspecting approximately 300,000 
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.
    Regulations require intensified inspection and oversight of foreign 
labor brokerage companies. NGOs reported that labor brokers and 
employers regularly collected high fees or loan payments from foreign 
workers, frequently using debt as a tool for involuntary servitude, and 
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 only deduct 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 $1,850 to 9,240) and lose hiring privileges. Critics, 
however, complained that these practices continued and that the CLA did 
not effectively enforce statutes and regulations intended to protect 
foreign laborers from unscrupulous brokers and employers.
    In 2008 the CLA opened a Foreign Worker Direct-Hire Service Center. 
The center allowed local employers to rehire their foreign employees, 
especially caregivers, without a broker. NGOs, however, argued that 
restrictions on eligibility to use the service prevented widespread 
implementation and advocated lifting restrictions on transfers between 
employers. This year the CLA expanded the program to permit rehiring of 
foreign workers engaged in manufacturing, fishery, construction, and 
other industries. In April the LY ratified the two UN Human Rights 
Covenants, including the UN Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural 
Rights, without reservation and passed an implementing law that 
mandates that the laws meet obligations outlined in the covenants. 
Civic groups and labor rights advocates lauded these actions but noted 
room for improvement. 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 NIA is responsible for all immigration-related policies and 
procedures for foreign workers, foreign spouses, immigrant services, 
and repatriation of illegal immigrants.
    Foreign workers, not victims of trafficking or employer abuse, 
deemed to have worked illegally faced heavy fines, mandatory 
repatriation, and a permanent ban on reentering Taiwan.

                               __________

                                  FIJI

    Fiji is a republic with a population of approximately 837,000. The 
1997 constitution provided for a ceremonial president selected by the 
Great Council of Chiefs and an elected prime minister and Parliament. 
However, in 2006 the armed forces commander, Commodore Voreqe (Frank) 
Bainimarama, overthrew the elected government in a bloodless coup 
d'etat. In 2007 the interim military government was replaced by a 
nominally civilian interim government headed by Bainimarama as prime 
minister. Bainimarama and his Military Council controlled the security 
forces.
    On April 9, the Court of Appeal declared the coup and the interim 
government unlawful. On April 10, the government abrogated the 
constitution, imposed a state of emergency, and began to rule by 
decree.
    Bainimarama's de facto government denied citizens the right to 
change their government peacefully. In April the de facto government 
dismissed the entire judiciary and replaced it with its own appointees. 
It censored and intimidated the media and restricted freedom of speech 
and the right to assemble peacefully. Other problems during the year 
included police and military impunity; poor prison conditions; attacks 
against religious facilities; the dismissal of constitutionally 
appointed government officials, as well as elected mayors and town 
councils; government corruption; deep ethnic divisions; violence and 
discrimination against women; and sexual exploitation of children.
    Public Emergency Regulations (PER), initially promulgated April 10 
for a three-month period, were repeatedly extended and remained in 
effect at year's end.
                        
                       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 trials were held for military personnel and police 
officers charged in the 2007 deaths of Nimilote Verebasaga and Sakiusa 
Rabaka. Eight soldiers and one police officer were convicted of 
manslaughter in the Rabaka case and sentenced to four years' 
imprisonment. The lone soldier charged in the death of Verebasaga also 
was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years and three 
months in prison. However, in May all those convicted in the Rabaka 
case were released from prison after serving only six weeks of their 
sentences. The soldier convicted in the Verebasaga case also was 
released, after serving only two weeks of his sentence. All 10 
subsequently were reinstated in the military and police forces. The 
permanent secretary for information, Lieutenant Colonel Neumi Leweni, 
asserted that the Prisons Act gave the commissioner of prisons the 
discretion to allow release of prisoners under compulsory supervision 
orders for good behavior.

    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.
    The military in some cases assisted the Fiji Independent Commission 
against Corruption (FICAC) to investigate allegations of corruption, 
and there were reports members of the military detained and assaulted 
civilians to obtain evidence in corruption cases.
    Amnesty International reported that security forces beat politician 
Iliesa Duvuloco and several other men detained in April for 
distributing political pamphlets critical of the government (see 
section 2.a.) and forced them to perform military-type drills.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions did not 
meet international standards. The national prison system was seriously 
underfunded, with deteriorating infrastructure and poor delivery of 
essential services. The system had insufficient beds, inadequate 
sanitation, and a shortage of basic necessities. There were a large 
number of prison escapes during the year. The pretrial detention 
facility at Suva's prison remained closed due to its substandard 
condition.
    There were approximately 1,000 inmates in the country's 14 prisons, 
of which approximately 100 were pretrial detainees. Of the estimated 
900 convicted prisoners, approximately 25 were women and 120 were 
juveniles. The prisons had a total capacity of 1,080 inmates.
    In some cases pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners were held 
together. Courts released pretrial detainees, including some facing 
serious charges, on bail to minimize their exposure to an unhealthy and 
overcrowded prison environment.
    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. Family members were routinely permitted to visit prisoners.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, but the government did not always 
respect this prohibition in practice.

    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. After the 2006 dismissal of the police commissioner 
and his deputy, deputy army commander Captain Esala Teleni was 
appointed commissioner. Historically responsible for external security, 
the Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF) has maintained since 2005 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. The 
RFMF also participated in the awareness campaign to gain support for 
the People's Charter for Change, Peace, and Progress, a domestic policy 
initiative of the Bainimarama government.
    Police maintained a network of stations and posts throughout the 
country. Policing of more remote and smaller islands was done through 
regularly scheduled visits. 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 Internal Affairs Unit is statutorily responsible for 
investigating complaints of police misconduct. FICAC 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 
use of force deemed necessary to enforce PER provisions.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law police 
officers may arrest persons without a warrant for violations of the 
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.
    Following the April abrogation of the constitution, the government 
detained without charge journalists, lawyers, and nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) activists for periods up to two days. At least 20 
journalists were detained overnight before being released. On April 14, 
the authorities detained Dor Sami Naidu, president of the Fiji Law 
Society, after he and other lawyers appeared at the Lautoka High Court 
to pursue their cases and expressed support for judges and magistrates 
dismissed by the government; he was released without charge on April 
15. Another 20 critics were also arrested, detained overnight, and then 
released without charge.
    There was a generally well-functioning bail system.
    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.
    The Legal Aid Commission provided counsel to some indigent 
defendants in criminal cases, a service supplemented by voluntary 
services from private attorneys.
    The courts had a significant backlog of cases, worsened by the 
government's April 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 judicial structure is patterned on the British system. The 
principal courts are the magistrates' courts, the High Court, the Court 
of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. Except for the Family Court, 
Employment Court, and various administrative tribunals, there are no 
special civilian courts. Military courts try members of the armed 
forces.
    On April 9, a panel of three judges of the Court of Appeal ruled 
that the 2006 military coup was unlawful, and that the appointment of 
Bainimarama as prime minister in 2007, and the appointment of his 
interim cabinet, were unconstitutional.
    In response, on April 10, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo signed a 
decree that abrogated the constitution and terminated the appointments 
of all judicial officers appointed under the provisions of that 
constitution. The courts closed for three weeks and reopened on a 
limited basis at the end of May after the government made initial 
appointments to the lower courts. In June and July, high court judges 
were appointed. Due to a shortage of judges, some high court judges 
also were appointed to serve concurrently on the Court of Appeal and 
the Supreme Court, with different individual justices hearing a case 
referred from one of these higher courts to another. Sittings of the 
higher courts were deferred, leading to an even greater backlog of 
cases. The chief registrar also was dismissed and replaced by an army 
lawyer who was made a magistrate in 2007.
    The Administration of Justice Decree of April 16, 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; and all government decrees. The 
military-appointed chief registrar issued termination certificates for 
all such pending cases.
    The government had difficulty reconstituting the judiciary, leading 
to complaints those appointed after the April dismissal of the existing 
judiciary were not properly qualified, especially in such complex areas 
of the law as commercial and contract law. Women's NGOs also 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 the mistakes made by these magistrates.
    On July 16, the government dismissed the chief magistrate after he 
protested the firing of another magistrate earlier the same month. On 
December 2, the government appointed the chief registrar to serve 
concurrently as chief magistrate. On December 30, the government 
dismissed as ``threats to national security'' the assistant director of 
public prosecutions (DPP) and three more junior prosecutors. Also on 
December 30, the government dismissed the acting DPP and replaced him 
with a former soldier and FICAC prosecutor. On the same day, the 
government terminated, with 24 hours' notice, the contracts of three 
magistrates it had appointed after the April abrogation of the 
constitution. While the government gave no reasons for the 
terminations, there were media reports that one of the magistrates had 
criticized FICAC for prosecuting a critic of the regime for an alleged 
restaurant licensing violation (see section 4).
    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.
    The government continued to prohibit an International Bar 
Association (IBA) 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. On March 3, the IBA's 
Human Rights Institute released a report criticizing the government for 
taking measures ``to influence, control or intimidate the judiciary and 
the legal profession.''

    Trial Procedures.--The abrogated constitution provides for the 
right to a fair trial. Defendants have the right to a public trial and 
to counsel, and the court system generally enforced these rights in 
practice during the year. 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, but a case cannot be tried in a magistrate's court 
without the defendant's consent. Absent such consent, cases are tried 
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.

    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, it issued a decree on May 20 
prohibiting the FHRC from investigating cases filed by individuals and 
organizations alleging government violations of the constitution and of 
human rights.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, but the 
government frequently ignored these prohibitions in practice. After the 
April abrogation of the constitution, the government monitored Internet 
traffic in an attempt to control antigovernment reports by anonymous 
bloggers.
    RR and nothing further has
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 generally did 
not respect these rights in practice after the abrogation of the 
constitution on April 10.
    On April 26, police arrested politician Iliesa Duvuloco and two 
other men for distributing antigovernment pamphlets. They were detained 
and questioned at the Nabua police station for seven days and released 
without charge on May 3. Police in Lautoka detained three other men for 
distributing the same pamphlets.
    Between January and March, unknown assailants attacked with rocks 
the homes and cars of several antigovernment civilians, including 
Saikiusa Raivoce, a former RFMF colonel and vocal antigovernment 
critic; unionist and politician Attar Singh, head of the New Movement 
for Democracy; and lawyer Akuila Naco. On March 22, unknown assailants 
attacked Raivoce's home and that of Fiji Times editor in chief Netani 
Rika with Molotov cocktails. At year's end police investigations had 
not resulted in any arrests or prosecutions. On August 3, police 
arrested and detained Raivoce; he was held overnight and released 
without charge on August 4.
    Prior to April 10, the independent media were active and expressed 
a wide variety of views, albeit with some degree of self-censorship due 
to government intimidation. The country's television news program 
production was owned and operated by Fiji One, one of two national 
noncable television stations. A trust operated by the Ministry of 
Fijian Affairs, on behalf of Fiji's 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, and also retained a shareholding of less than 20 percent in 
the Daily Post newspaper.
    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.
    On April 10, police raided the Fiji Times after a complaint from 
the chairman of the Public Service Commission, who alleged that the 
Times was in possession of a petition signed by ministry of finance 
staff against the military-appointed acting permanent secretary, John 
Prasad, alleging that Prasad was unqualified for the position.
    Over the following days, police detained a number of journalists 
for up to 24 hours, including Edwin Nand, a Fiji TV journalist, on 
April 13; Fiji Times photographer Jai Prasad, Fiji TV reporter Ranbeer 
Singh, and Fiji TV cameraman Harry Tabanidalo on April 14; and Kavai 
Damu of online news service Fijilive on April 15. All were released 
without charge.
    On April 16, police arrested Pita Ligaiula, a local journalist and 
stringer for Agence France Presse, for articles he had written that 
appeared in The Australian newspaper. Ligaiula was released the next 
day. During his detention security officials intimidated and threatened 
him with imprisonment under PER provisions. Also on April 16, 
authorities told three journalists working for regional news 
organizations (Samisoni Pareti of Radio Australia, Makereta Komai of 
the Pacific regional news service Pacnews, and Radio New Zealand 
stringer Matelita Ragogo) to start practicing the ``journalism of 
hope'' and refrain from any negative reporting about the government, or 
face tough penalties from the authorities.
    On May 9, police arrested Fijilive journalists Dionisia Tabureguci 
and Shelvin Chand, and detained them under the PER for a report they 
published on the fijilive.com Web site regarding the release of several 
soldiers and a policeman who had been convicted of manslaughter for the 
death of Sakiusa Rabaka in 2007. The report was removed from the Web 
site after 30 minutes when police visited the Fijilive office and 
arrested the two journalists. On May 11, police released Tabureguci and 
Chand with a warning after they had spent two nights in custody.
    The PER authorize the Ministry of Information 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.
    On May 14, police in Labasa detained Theresa Ralogaivau, a Fiji 
Times journalist, for seven hours regarding a story published on May 11 
about a group of persons who were allegedly growing marijuana in 
Labasa. Although the story had been vetted by the government censor in 
the Times newsroom, it had quoted a police spokesperson who later 
denied that he had spoken to Ralogaivau. Police claimed that Ralogaivau 
was in breach of the PER because she had not spoken with the 
spokesperson quoted in the story.
    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 ensured government control over newspaper content through censors.
    In November 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 in progress at year's end.
    Legislation pertaining to the press is contained in the Newspaper 
Registration Act and the Press Correction Act. Under these acts all 
newspapers must register with the government before they can publish. 
The acts give the minister of information sole discretionary power to 
order a newspaper to publish a ``correcting statement'' if, in the 
minister's view, a false or distorted article was published. A 
newspaper refusing to publish the minister's correction may be sued in 
court and, if found guilty, fined. Individuals in such cases may be 
fined, imprisoned for six months, or both. These laws authorize the 
government to arrest any person who publishes ``malicious'' material. 
This would include anything the government considers false, likely to 
create or foster public alarm, or result in ``detriment'' to the 
public. However, this specific authority has never been used.
    On January 22, the High Court fined the Fiji Times F$100,000 
(approximately $51,800) and imposed a three-month suspended prison 
sentence on its editor in chief, Netani Rika, for contempt of court. A 
contempt case against the Daily Post was still pending at year's end. 
In November 2008 the interim government had pursued contempt of court 
proceedings against the Times and the Post after they published a 
letter to the editor criticizing a 2008 High Court decision upholding 
the interim government's legitimacy.
    In July the acting chief registrar cancelled pending court cases 
against the government by the Fiji Sun and Fiji Times for the 2008 
deportations of their respective publishers, Russell Hunter and Evan 
Hannah, in accordance with the April 16 decree that terminated all 
pending challenges against the 2006 coup and actions of the interim 
government between December 4, 2006 and April 9, 2009.
    The 1992 Television Decree permits the government to influence 
programming content. The government did not attempt to use this 
specific programming authority during the year, but it censored 
television news program content under the PER.

    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 (see section 1.f.).
    The International Telecommunication Union reported that 
approximately 12 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet 
in 2008. 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.
    After the abrogation of the constitution, the government closed 
Internet cafes at 5:00 p.m. each evening in an attempt to limit 
anonymous antigovernment blogging and citizens' access to news items on 
Fiji in the overseas media. Beginning in July Internet cafes were 
allowed to remain open beyond 5:00 p.m., after paying a fee to local 
officials.
    On May 21, police executed search warrants at the offices of three 
prominent lawyers--Tevita Fa, Richard Naidu, and Jon Apted--accused of 
anonymous antigovernment blogging. Fa was the lawyer for deposed prime 
minister Laisenia Qarase, while Naidu and Apted had criticized the 2006 
coup and represented litigants challenging actions of the interim 
government. In 2007 the interim government had instructed all 
government departments, statutory bodies, and companies to cease giving 
legal work to Naidu and Apted's law firm, Munro Leys. Police questioned 
the three lawyers and copied their computer hard drives before 
releasing them without charge.

    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. 
Although some civic organizations were granted permits to assemble, 
permits for all political demonstrations and marches were denied. 
Bainimarama and the police commissioner discouraged public dissent and 
politically oriented public gatherings by warning that security forces 
would actively enforce public order laws.
    Police denied the Fiji Law Society's application for a permit to 
hold a special general meeting to discuss the April abrogation of the 
constitution. The provincial administrator of Sigatoka initially 
granted the permit, but it was later nullified by the commissioner of 
the Central Division, one of four military officers appointed by 
Bainimarama to head the country's four geographic divisional 
administrations (see section 3). The police commissioner also denied 
the permit. The authorities also refused the Law Society's application 
for a permit to hold its regular annual general meeting in September.
    Police banned three prominent individuals critical of the 
government, including historian and constitutional scholar Brij Lal, an 
Australian citizen of Fijian origin and a professor at Australian 
National University, from speaking at the Fiji Institute of 
Accountants' annual conference on June 12. Police instructed the 
institute to remove the three speakers from the conference agenda in 
order for a permit to be granted to allow the conference to proceed. In 
November Lal was deported to Australia. The government also refused a 
permit for the Methodist Church, which historically has been associated 
with ethnic Fijian nationalism, to hold its annual conference (see 
section 2.c.).

    Freedom of Association.--The abrogated constitution provides for 
freedom of association. 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.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The abrogated constitution provides for 
freedom of religion. Although the government generally respected this 
right in practice, during the year there were a number of instances in 
which the government interfered with this right. Some municipal 
restrictions on opening hours for businesses during Christmas and 
Easter were imposed on all communities, not just those that were 
predominantly Christian.
    In May the government began a crackdown on Methodist pastors 
opposed to the government. From May 14 to 15, authorities detained 
Manasa Lasaro, a former president of the Methodist Church, to which 
approximately 30 percent of the population belongs, for writing a 
proposal for peaceful protests against the government. On May 29, the 
military issued an unsigned statement declaring that the Methodist 
Church would not be allowed to hold its 2009 annual conference. On July 
19, the church's executive body decided to proceed with the conference 
despite the permit denial. On July 21, police and military officers 
detained Ro Teimumu Kepa, minister of education in the ousted Qarase 
government and the paramount chief of Rewa Province, where the 
conference was to be held. Police and military officers also detained 
and questioned the church's president, general secretary, and seven 
other senior church officials. All were held at military headquarters 
in Suva until July 23, when Kepa and four of the nine detained 
Methodist officials were charged with various offenses relating to 
breach of public order and released on bail. Subsequently five 
additional church officials also were charged with offenses related to 
their roles in organizing the conference. All those charged were 
subjected to strict bail conditions, which prevented them from 
communicating with each other, traveling, or taking part in church 
meetings and other church events. At year's end the cases remained 
pending. In October police and military officers stopped an induction 
service for senior Methodist Church officials from taking place. The 
government stated that the ministers could not be inducted while court 
proceedings were pending against them.
    During the year Souls for Jesus, also known as the New Methodist 
Church, an evangelical Christian group founded and headed by the 
brother of police commissioner Teleni, spearheaded so-called 
``crusades'' sponsored by the police under Teleni's direct leadership 
as part of an anticrime campaign. All police personnel and their 
families, regardless of their religion, were required to attend these 
evangelical events, and there were reports that non-Christian officers 
and their families were pressured to convert to Christianity. There 
also were reports of Hindu and Muslim officers joining the 
commissioner's church for fear of being denied promotions or losing 
their jobs.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Racial polarization was 
reflected in religious differences, which were largely along ethnic 
lines; this contributed to political problems. Most ethnic Fijians were 
Christians, and most Indo-Fijians were Hindu, with a sizable minority 
of Muslims. The dominant Methodist Church has closely allied itself 
with the interests of the pro-indigenous-Fijian movement.
    Break-ins, vandalism, and arson directed at houses of worship, 
predominantly Hindu temples, were common. The attacks were broadly 
viewed as reflections of intercommunal tensions, although there was 
often evidence that theft was a contributing motive. There was no known 
Jewish community, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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. Some persons prohibited from leaving the country 
challenged the ban in court in 2007, but the chief registrar terminated 
their cases under the provisions of the Administration of Justice 
Decree.
    A court imposed strict bail conditions on former prime minister 
Qarase, who was charged with abuse of office, prohibiting him from 
traveling out of the country on the grounds that such travel would pose 
a ``threat to national security.'' The government had objected to 
interviews Qarase gave on Australian television during a 2008 visit to 
family members in Australia.
    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.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
but until 2008 the law did not specifically provide for the granting of 
refugee status or asylum. In February 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.

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 and the Great Council 
of Chiefs remained suspended. Effective January 31, the government 
dissolved the country's 12 elected municipal councils, many of which 
had criticized the government, and replaced them with six government-
appointed special administrators who each administer two municipal 
councils. The administrators each report to the minister for local 
government. During the year four military officers were appointed as 
divisional commissioners (for the Central/Eastern, Western, Southern, 
and Northern Divisions).

    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 the leadership of Commodore 
Bainimarama during the 2006 coup.
    On April 9, 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 
on April 10 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. On 
April 10, President Iloilo stated that five years would be necessary to 
implement the necessary reforms, and that elections (previously 
promised for 2009) would be held by 2014.
    In July President Iloilo resigned, and in October the cabinet 
appointed Ratu Epeli Nailatikau as president.
    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.

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 raised 
numerous allegations of nonaccountability, abuse of office, fraud, 
nepotism, misuse of public property, financial mismanagement, failure 
to complete statutory audits, and conflicts of interest regarding 
officials and ministries during the year. In 2008 the auditor general 
announced that in the absence of a sitting Parliament, audit reports 
would be submitted to the cabinet, but would not be made public. This 
practice continued during the year. The cabinet referred such reports 
to a government-appointed Public Accounts Committee for review.
    Under the Bainimarama government, many military personnel were 
appointed to positions within government ministries, the diplomatic 
corps, the police force, and other agencies, ostensibly to improve the 
inefficient bureaucracy.
    Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. 
FICAC is the primary body responsible for combating government 
corruption.
    In December FICAC charged Ratu Sakiusa Tuisola, 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. 
Jalal was charged with the same offenses on January 1, 2010. Tuisola 
and Jalal maintained that businesses in Suva typically operated while 
waiting for license issuance, and that the FICAC charges were 
politically motivated.
    The corruption case of former prime minister Qarase remained 
pending at year's end, and Qarase remained free on bail. In March 2008 
he was charged with abuse of office related to business transactions 
prior to becoming prime minister, and in May 2008 FICAC charged him 
with further abuse of office during his tenure as prime minister.
    In May UN officials visited the country for three days to assess 
its compliance with the Convention against Corruption as part of a UN 
pilot project in which the country volunteered to participate. The 
project was continuing at year's end.
    Although the 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 a government 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 noncivil 
servants.

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 coup and the government.
    There were several NGOs that concentrated on a variety of local 
human rights causes, such as the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team, 
the Citizens' Constitutional Forum, the Fiji Women's Rights Movement, 
and the Fiji Women's Crisis Center.
    There were instances of government harassment of NGOs critical of 
the interim government. For example, on April 15, police in Suva 
detained Young People's Concerned Network member and human rights 
activist Peter Waqavonovono for several hours and warned him about the 
implications of the PER.
    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.
    In May the major regional organization Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), 
whose secretariat is headquartered in Fiji, suspended the country from 
the organization 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 expressed in a statement by 
the PIF Leader's Roundtable in January. The government refused to 
accredit and permit entry to the country of three high-ranking PIF 
secretariat staff and blocked customs clearance of secretariat 
supplies.
    The Commonwealth of Nations suspended Fiji in September, citing 
Bainimarama's failure to reactivate a dialogue that would lead to 
democratic elections by October 2010.

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 government's 
Employment Relations Decree 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 penal code provides for a maximum punishment 
of life imprisonment for rape; however, 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 NGOs Fiji Women's Rights Movement and Fiji 
Women's Crisis Center pressed for more consistent and severe 
punishments for rape. The Court of Appeal has ruled that 10 years is 
the minimum appropriate sentence in child rape cases. Women's rights 
activists continued to press for the formal criminalization of spousal 
rape, which is not a specific offense; however, in the past husbands 
have been convicted under the general rape law of raping their wives.
    In August the government promulgated a decree creating a specific 
domestic violence offense; however, the decree had not come into force 
by year's end, and domestic violence cases continued to be prosecuted 
as assault. 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. Women's organizations 
reported an increase in abuse and violence against women after the 
abrogation of the constitution in April. They stated that the practices 
of selecting judges supportive of the government and censoring news 
stories critical of police and judges had led to poorer handling of 
abuse cases. Incest was widely believed to be underreported. 
Traditional practices of reconciliation between aggrieved parties 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.
    Prostitution is illegal, but it occurred, particularly in cities. 
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 2008 Employment Relations Decree, 
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 had been filed under the decree; it was 
pending before the Employment Relations Tribunal at year's end.
    Couples and individuals 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 physician. However, 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 obstetric and postpartum care were available. 
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 Employment Relations Decree prohibits 
discrimination on the basis of gender. 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.
    The government devoted approximately 25 percent of the national 
budget to education and also worked to improve children's health and 
welfare. 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. Child 
prostitution was reported among high school students and homeless and 
jobless urban youth.
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children continued to occur 
during the year. Under the penal code, commercial sexual exploitation 
of children is a misdemeanor, punishable by sentences of up to two 
years' imprisonment. 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 under this 
provision during the year. Children's rights advocates criticized 
existing law as inadequate and called for more severe criminal 
sanctions.
    Under a July decree, the marriage age for girls was raised from 16 
to 18, the same as for boys.
    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 girl under age 13, and five years' imprisonment in the case of a 
person who has sexual relations with a girl between age 13 and age 15. 
However, in the latter case it is considered a sufficient defense to 
establish that the perpetrator had ``reasonable cause'' to believe the 
girl 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 F25,000 (approximately $12,950) for a first offense and life 
imprisonment and/or a fine of up to F$50,000 (approximately $25,900) 
for a repeat offense, and the confiscation of any equipment used in the 
commission of the offense.
    Increasing urbanization led to more children working as casual 
laborers, often with no safeguards against abuse or injury.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons, 
with penalties of up to 20 years' imprisonment and fines of up to 
F$750,000 (approximately $388,600) for convicted traffickers. Several 
citizens of China who entered Fiji on student visas and were arrested 
for prostitution may have been trafficked. However, no further 
investigations were conducted before the women were deported to their 
country of origin. During the year there were some reports of 
commercial sexual exploitation of children within the country.
    Although the government expressed an intention to combat 
trafficking in persons more vigorously, during the year it did not 
sponsor or provide assistance to any programs specifically designed to 
combat or prevent such trafficking. The government has pursued criminal 
charges against some persons it termed trafficking victims, jailing 
some and deporting alleged victims with no effort at rehabilitation.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip/.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Under the constitution abrogated in 
April, 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. There were a number of community organizations 
to assist those with disabilities, particularly children.
    Most persons with mental disabilities were separated from society 
and typically were supported at home by their families. 
Institutionalization of persons with severe mental disabilities was in 
a single overcrowded, underfunded public facility in Suva. There were a 
number of special schools for persons with physical, cognitive, and 
sensory disabilities; however, cost and location limited access. 
Opportunities for a secondary school education for those with 
disabilities were very limited.
    The government-funded Fiji National Council for Disabled Persons 
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. 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.
    On September 8, the cabinet approved implementation of a new intake 
policy for the Fiji School of Nursing, under which considerations of 
geography and disadvantaged status would replace existing ethnicity-
based entry quotas.
    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.

    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 criminalizes homosexual acts between males, but 
the judiciary has held these provisions to be unconstitutional. The 
Employment Relations Decree prohibits discrimination in employment 
based on sexual orientation.
    The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender NGO ``Equal Ground 
Pasifik'' operated in the country. There were no reports of impediments 
to its operation.
    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, unions 
reported considerable government interference with, and denial of, 
their right to organize.
    An estimated 31 percent of the work force was unionized. While some 
unions were ethnically based, most were not, and both Indo-Fijians and 
ethnic Fijians held leadership roles in the trade union movement. All 
unions must register with, but are not controlled by, the government. 
The Employment Relations Decree gives unions the right to appeal to the 
Employment Relations Tribunal (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.
    The law 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.
    The law provides for the right to strike, except in the case of 
police, military, and prison personnel; their working conditions are 
covered under separate laws. Unions can conduct secret strike ballots, 
but must give the registrar 21 days' notice. 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, for example, 
emergency, health, fire, sanitary, electrical, and water services; 
telecommunications; air traffic control; and fuel supply and 
distribution--must give an employer an additional 28 days' 
notification.
    The law 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.
    There were strikes during the year, some of which were declared 
unlawful by the government and at year's end were in arbitration 
proceedings.

    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 industrywide. Traditional key sectors of the 
economy, including sugar and tourism, were heavily unionized. Although 
the law allows unionization, union organizers' jobs were not protected, 
resulting in low unionization in some sectors.
    Under the Employment Relations Decree, any trade union with six or 
more members may enter into collective bargaining with an employer. The 
decree allows individual employees, including nonunionized workers, as 
well as unions to bring a dispute with employers before the permanent 
secretary for labor for mediation. Nonunionized workers made up the 
majority (approximately 70 percent) of the work force. 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.
    Under the Employment Relations Decree, 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 constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, but there were reports of 
commercial sexual exploitation of children.

    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. 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 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; 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There was no single, national 
minimum wage, although the Wages Councils set minimum wages for certain 
sectors. The councils comprise representatives of both workers and 
employers and are required to publish wage proposals and provide the 
public, unions, and employers 30 days to comment on the proposals. Once 
the councils have prepared a final wage order, it must be approved by 
the minister of labor. The Labor Ministry enforced minimum wages 
through its Labor Inspectorate. On July 1, minimum wage increases went 
into effect in nine industrial sectors. Entry-level wages in 
unregulated sectors, especially service industries, provided a sparse 
and often only marginally adequate standard of living for a worker and 
family.
    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. 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.

                               __________

                               INDONESIA

    Indonesia is a multiparty democracy with a population of 
approximately 245 million. On July 8, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was 
reelected president in generally free and fair elections. April 9 
legislative elections were complex, but domestic and international 
observers judged them generally free and fair as well. Civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security 
forces, although the fact that the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) 
continued to be partly self-financed weakened this control.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens 
and upheld civil liberties. Nonetheless, there were problems during the 
year in the following areas: killings by security forces; vigilantism; 
harsh prison conditions; impunity for prison authorities and some other 
officials; corruption in the judicial system; limitations on free 
speech; societal abuse and discrimination against religious groups and 
interference with freedom of religion, sometimes with the complicity of 
local officials; violence and sexual abuse against women and children; 
trafficking in persons; child labor; and failure to enforce labor 
standards and worker rights.
    During the year the country continued to make progress in 
strengthening and consolidating its democracy. For example, the 
Indonesian National Police adopted a use of force policy that strictly 
proscribes the use of deadly force and allows it to track and minimize 
the use of force by police. The government also continued the 
prosecutions of high-level officials for corruption.
                        
                       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 committed a number of killings in the course 
of apprehending alleged criminals and terrorists.
    On April 2, the North Jakarta police allegedly beat and shot Bayu 
Putra Perdana while he was in custody. According to a hospital autopsy, 
Bayu died as a result of torture.
    The police continued vigorous action against accused terrorists. On 
August 7-8, the following members of the terrorist Jemaah Islamiya (JI) 
were killed in the course of raids on terrorist safe houses: Ibrohim, 
Air Setyawan, and Eko Joko. On September 16-17, in an exchange of 
gunfire, police killed the following additional JI members: Noordin M. 
Top, Hadi Susilo, Bagus Budi Pranoto, and Ario Sudarso.
    Violence affected the provinces of Papua and West Papua during the 
year. For example, on the legislative election day, April 9, a group 
armed with traditional weapons attacked a police station in Bepura, 
police killed one of the attackers; in a separate incident, police in 
Nabire reportedly arrested protestor Abet Nego Keiya and allegedly 
punched, kicked, and beat him with rifle butts and stabbed him with 
bayonets until he died. On June 6, police killed two persons while 
recapturing an airstrip in Memberamo Raya District; a local official 
was also killed and four police were seriously injured. On June 24, 
police shot and killed Melkias Agape in the city of Nabire. On June 30, 
Police Mobile Brigade (BRIMOB) officers shot and killed Mika Boma and 
injured another four persons during a clash with rioters in Paniai. On 
August 3, members of the BRIMOB allegedly shot and killed tribal leader 
and former political prisoner Yawan Wayeni at his house in Mantembu 
village, Yapen Island, Papua. On December 16, the well-known separatist 
leader Kelly Kwalik died following a reported exchange of gunfire with 
police. Kwalik was armed and reportedly resisted arrest. His body was 
turned over to his family for burial. At year's end there was no 
publicly available information regarding a police investigation.
    The Papuan separatist organization, Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), 
was also implicated in a number of killings during the year. On March 
15, OPM members killed a soldier in Puncak Jaya District; the same 
group was also accused of killing two civilians. On April 15, OPM 
members killed a police officer in Puncak Jaya.
    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. Some of the incidents occurred in the vicinity 
of a giant gold and copper mine.
    Other notable killings by police or unknown parties during the year 
occurred in Aceh Province. According to nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs), on February 2, the Pidie police allegedly killed former Aceh 
Independence Movement (GAM) combatant Fauzi Bin Syarifuddin. On 
February 3-4, two members of the Aceh Transition Committee (the 
successor organization to GAM) were shot and killed in separate 
incidents. On July 9, police in Krueng Raya allegedly tortured and 
killed Susanto, an alleged thief, while in custody. There were a number 
of nonlethal incidents in the preelection period in Aceh as well. 
Police arrested 37 individuals in connection with violent acts leading 
up to the elections. At year's end trials of persons accused of some of 
these violent acts were underway in courts in North Sumatra and 
Jakarta.
    During the year the Ambon Military Court convicted and sentenced 87 
TNI personnel to prison for their involvement in the February 2008 
attack on Masohi Police Station in Masohi City, Central Malaku. Prison 
sentences ranged from five to 12 months.
    In December 2008 the Bojoneggoro District Court convicted and 
sentenced the former head of forestry management unit in Bojoneggor 
District, Supriyanto, to three years in prison for the April 2008 
killing of two farmers.
    In December 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. On July 10, the 
Supreme Court upheld the acquittal and remanded the case to the 
district court. The Attorney General's Office (AGO) said that it 
intended to file a motion requesting the Supreme Court to ``review'' 
the ruling. Under the law, the AGO must present new evidence or 
identify judicial inconsistencies in the original ruling for the review 
to be granted.
    On January 1, an appeals court overturned a lower court acquittal 
of Rohainal Aini as an accomplice in Munir's murder and sentenced her 
to one year in prison.

    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 April 2008 the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) 
resubmitted its 2006 report on the 1998 abductions of prodemocracy 
activists to the AGO. Despite refusals from military personnel to 
cooperate in the investigation, Komnas HAM concluded that all victims 
still missing were dead and identified suspects for an official 
investigation without publicly releasing their names. The AGO took no 
action, stating that it could not prosecute unless the House of 
Representatives (DPR) declared these crimes gross human rights 
violations and recommended the creation of an ad hoc human rights 
court. On September 28, the DPR approved the formation of an ad hoc 
court to pursue investigations and possible prosecutions of the 
disappearances.

    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 that 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.
    On October 24, approximately 12 Jakarta police officers detained 
and allegedly beat Riko, a transgender person, as a suspect in a 
burglary. At year's end an internal police investigation continued.
    On November 11, Depok police officers raided a house and arrested 
several individuals for allegedly gambling. During the raid officers 
shot and killed Subagyo when he attempted to flee. On November 14, an 
internal police investigation found that 10 officers used excessive 
force during the raid and sentenced them to between two and three weeks 
in prison and transferred them to other posts.
    On December 5, four Depok police officers detained J.J. Rizal for 
possible drug use. Rizal was abused by the officers and suffered a cut 
lip, two contusions on his head, a bruised jaw, and ringing in the 
ears. At year's end an internal investigation found the officers used 
excessive force during the arrest and sentenced them to 14 to 21 days' 
detention and demotion.
    Komnas HAM said during the year there were 180 registered 
complaints of human rights violations against the National Police 
(INP). The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Jakarta Legal Aid 
Institute (LBH Jakarta) reported receiving 1,061 complaints of 
violations of civil and political rights against the INP.
    A January/February 2008 survey by LBH Jakarta of 412 respondents in 
various detention places found that acts of torture and other ill-
treatment were common. Of the respondents who were interrogated at 
police stations, 367 alleged abuse during the arrest and interrogation 
process.
    On April 6, police clashed with several thousand proindependence 
supporters in Nabire, Papua, and shot and injured nine persons. Police 
also arrested and charged Monika Zonggonau for treason after she 
allegedly displayed an outlawed separatist symbol. Monika suffered head 
injuries when police allegedly beat her with a rifle butt during her 
arrest and detention.
    On April 14, police officers from the Tegal and Slawi police 
stations in Central Java arrested and allegedly tortured Carmadi, a 
local resident. Two days later Carmadi died as a result of his 
injuries. According to NGOs, the police fabricated an autopsy report 
clearing them of Carmadi's death. At year's end there was no 
information about an investigation of the Tegal and Slawi police.
    On April 29, police in Cirebon, West Java, arrested Zainal Muhammad 
Latif for alleged drug trafficking. While he was in custody, 10 police 
officers allegedly blindfolded, gagged, and beat Zainal.
    On July 23, police officers from the Wamena airport security unit 
arrested and allegedly tortured Kiten Tabuni. Tabuni was hospitalized 
for his injuries. By year's end no known investigation of the police 
had been carried out.
    In May 2008 Masu'udi, the chief warrant officer of Malang Military 
subdistrict command, tortured Mujib, a local civilian. Mujid 
subsequently died from his injuries. Masu'udi was sentenced to 10 
months in prison.
    According to the most recent statistics available, 36 persons were 
publicly caned in Aceh under the local Shari'a (Islamic law) for 
gambling. There were no reported cases of caning for alcohol 
consumption or being alone with persons of the opposite sex.
    On February 3, a crowd of approximately 2,000 protesters 
demonstrated in front of the North Sumatra Provincial Parliament, and 
some forced their way into the building. They manhandled the 
parliament's speaker, Abdul Aziz Angkat, and forced him to confront the 
crowd. Angkat fainted and later that afternoon was pronounced dead. 
During the year 69 persons were tried in connection with the incident 
and were sentenced to between one and 10 years in prison.
    On November 6, unknown assailants in Aceh shot and wounded a German 
Red Cross official in a clearly marked Red Cross vehicle. No arrests 
had been made by year's end.
    There were instances in which police failed to respond to mob or 
vigilante violence. Mobs carried out vigilante justice, but reliable 
statistics on such actions were not available. Thefts or perceived 
thefts triggered many such incidents.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions at the 
country's 642 prisons and detention centers were harsh. Overcrowding 
was widespread. In Jakarta, occupancy frequently was two or three times 
more than recommended capacity. According to the government, the Pondok 
Bambu Detention Facility in Jakarta, designed for 500 prisoners, held 
1,172 prisoners. 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 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.
    Guards regularly extorted money from and mistreated inmates. There 
were widespread reports that the government did not supply sufficient 
food to inmates, and family members often brought food to supplement 
their relatives' diets. Family members reported that 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, 778 prisoners died 
during the year, compared with 750 in 2008. Prison officials reported 
that 9,000 rupiah/day ($0.90/day) is allocated for a prisoner's food 
and health care.
    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; however, in practice pretrial detainees at times 
were held with convicted prisoners.
    Since March the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was 
denied access to monitor prison conditions and treatment of prisoners. 
In addition the government requested the ICRC to close field offices in 
Aceh and Papua provinces. The government stated ICRC services were no 
longer required within the country.
    On November 26, 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.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law contains provisions that 
protect against arbitrary arrest and detention but lacks adequate 
enforcement mechanisms, and some authorities routinely 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 INP has 327,526 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. In 
Aceh the Shari'a police, a provincial body, is responsible for 
enforcing Shari'a.
    The Internal Affairs Division and the National Police Commission 
within the INP investigate complaints against individual police 
officers. Additionally, Komnas HAM and NGOs conducted external 
investigations, with the knowledge and cooperation of the police. 
During the year, 6,546 officers were charged with criminal and 
disciplinary infractions.
    On January 30, 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.
    During the year Komnas HAM received 1,302 complaints of human 
rights abuses by the police. Of these, 891 were related to torture and 
abuse allegedly committed during interrogations.
    On June 25, 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. Police 
commonly extracted bribes ranging from minor payoffs in traffic cases 
to large bribes in criminal investigations.

    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 any person who, based on adequate 
preliminary evidence, is strongly suspected of committing or planning 
to commit any act of terrorism for up to four months before charges 
must be filed.
    During his November 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 the 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.
    District, military, religious, and administrative courts fall under 
the jurisdiction and purview of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court 
normally considers only the lower courts' application of the law. 
Another avenue for appeal, judicial review, allows the Supreme Court to 
revisit cases that have already been decided (including by the Supreme 
Court itself), provided there is new evidence that was not available 
during earlier trials. Parallel to the Supreme Court is the 
Constitutional Court, which is empowered to review the 
constitutionality of laws, settle disputes between state institutions, 
dissolve political parties, resolve certain electoral disputes, and 
decide allegations of treason or corruption against the president or 
vice president. The Constitutional Court demonstrated significant 
independence and continued to overturn legislation that it found 
unconstitutional. During the year the Constitutional Court found 
provisions of the election law to be unconstitutional.
    Widespread corruption throughout the legal system continued. Bribes 
and extortion influenced prosecution, conviction, and sentencing in 
civil and criminal cases. In 2008 the National Ombudsman Commission 
reported receiving 166 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 that cases often moved very slowly unless a bribe was paid. As 
a result of an independent fact-finding team's investigation, President 
Yudhoyono appointed a Task Force to Eradicate Judicial Mafias tasked 
with investigating the network of case brokers and influence peddlers 
who act as intermediaries in judicial cases.
    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 said that some military court proceedings all the way 
to the Supreme Court were not public; however, the trials of the 
marines charged in the 2007 Alastlogo killings were public.
    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 Shari'a 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 Shari'a 
regulations were procedurally ambiguous. For example, defendants had a 
right to legal aid, but this right was inconsistently implemented. 
Although Shari'a 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 that 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 755 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 that 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 Shari'a 
and military trials, trials are public.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year at least seven 
Papuan independence activists, including a 16-year-old boy, were in 
detention for raising a banned separatist flag. Filep Karma and Yusak 
Pakage remained in detention serving 15 and 10 years, respectively, for 
their role in such a flag raising.
    On November 12, the Manokwari District Court convicted Roni Ruben 
Iba, Isak Iba, and Piter Iba for the January 1 raising of the banned 
separatist flag outside a government office.
    During the year individuals in Maluku, including Johan Teterisa, 
serving a life sentence, were imprisoned for raising a banned 
separatist flag. They were charged with incitement of hatred and 
rebellion. During the year Republik Maluku Selatan (RMS) separatists 
were sentenced for flag raising (see section 2.a.).
    According to the international NGO Human Rights Watch, there were 
more than 170 persons in prisons throughout the country for flag 
raising.
    In 2007 the authorities arrested Papuan human rights activist 
Iwanggin Sabar Olif on suspicion of incitement of hatred and 
defamation. On January 29, the Jayapura District Court acquitted Olif 
of all charges.

    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.''
    On November 23, the minister of communications and information said 
that he wanted to regulate wiretapping by requiring that law 
enforcement agencies obtain prior approval from the courts and his 
ministry. Some observers criticized the statement as an attempt to 
weaken the Anticorruption Commission (KPK) (see section 4). At year's 
end discussions were underway between the administration and the DPR 
concerning establishment of a central consulting agency for all law 
enforcement agencies with authority over wiretapping.
    Security officials occasionally broke into homes and offices. 
Authorities occasionally conducted warrantless surveillance on 
individuals and their residences and monitored telephone calls. Corrupt 
officials sometimes subjected migrants returning from abroad, 
particularly women, to arbitrary strip searches, theft, and extortion.
    In some parts of the country, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, 
residents believed that 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 6,756 
households moved in 2008 from overpopulated areas to isolated and less-
developed areas in 21 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 that 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. The NGO Poor People's Alliance reported that 
approximately 8,050 persons were evicted from their homes or informal 
businesses during the year. According to city officials, the Jakarta 
administration carried out eight evictions during the year, forcing 
7,814 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 which provided special protections to the president, the 
vice president, and the government.
    During the year there was a trend of persons accused of corruption 
and those involved in civil disputes filing criminal defamation 
complaints with police in an attempt to silence their critics.
    On July 15, Kho Seng Seng and Winny Kwee were convicted of 
defamation and given six-month suspended sentences and one-year 
probation each. Both had submitted letters to editors of different 
newspapers complaining about a property developer. At year's end both 
cases were pending appeal.
    On August 3, the Yogyakarta police named anticorruption activist 
Muhammad Dadang Iskandar a suspect for alleged defamation against 
members of the local legislature, Slamet and Arif Setiadi.
    On September 8, 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.
    On October 12, Illian Deta Arta Sari and Emerson Yuntho, staff 
members of the NGO Indonesia Corruption Watch, were identified as 
suspects in a criminal defamation case for campaigning against the 
criminal investigation of the deputy chairmen of the KPK (see section 
4).
    On December 24, the Jakarta police identified actress Luna Maya as 
a suspect for alleged defamation against journalists based on comments 
she had posted on her Twitter account.
    Based on recent statistics the authorities arrested at least 30 
persons for raising separatist flags in Papua. 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.
    On March 23, Bruce Nahumury was sentenced to four years in prison 
for his role in the display of the banned RMS flag during a dance 
welcoming President Yudhoyono in 2007.
    On April 6, police arrested 15 members of West Papua National 
Committee (KNPB) in Nabire, Papua, for a demonstration and charged them 
with treason. On September 14, a judge acquitted the members of the 
KNPB of all charges.
    On April 6, Musa Tabuni, Serafin Diaz, and Yance Mote were arrested 
and charged with subversion and separatism following a KNPB Customary 
Council meeting in Jayapura. At year's end they were in detention 
awaiting trial.
    The government continued to restrict foreign journalists, NGOs, and 
government officials 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. On November 15, two foreign journalists attempting to 
cover a demonstration by Greenpeace activists were detained by police 
in Riau Province and deported for lacking accreditation. The 
Immigration Police explained that the journalists were required to 
obtain news coverage permits from the Ministry of Communication and 
Information.
    Although journalists faced violence and intimidation, the Alliance 
of Independence Journalists reported a decrease in violence against 
journalists, with 38 cases during the 12-month period beginning August 
2008, compared with 60 cases in the previous 12 months. There were 22 
cases of physical violence, including the murder of a Radar Bali 
journalist, Anak Agung Prabangsa, in February. Nine cases were criminal 
and civil lawsuits. As of August, 14 cases of defamation were pending 
in court.
    On May 13, a bank security guard assaulted Carlos Pardede, a 
television journalist on his way to conduct an interview, resulting in 
serious injury. On August 8, a court convicted and sentenced the 
security guard to four months in prison.
    Defamation and libel suits made investigative journalism 
potentially expensive. On April 16, the Supreme Court overturned its 
2007 decision awarding former president Suharto one trillion rupiah 
(approximately $100 million) in a libel suit against Time.
    On July 15, the South Jakarta District Court rejected a libel suit 
filed by Islamic Troop (a militant Islamic protest group) commander, 
Munarman, against local newspaper Koran Tempo.
    During the year, the government took no legal action against any 
persons responsible for crimes committed against journalists in 2008.

    Internet Freedom.--The Internet had considerable impact in urban 
areas, and social networking media, for example, was used to rally 
support for two government anticorruption officials (see section 4) as 
well as for a woman convicted of defamation. According to International 
Telecommunication Union statistics for 2008, approximately 8 percent of 
the country's inhabitants used the Internet.
    In March 2008, the DPR passed the Information and Electronic 
Transaction (ITE) Law. The law, intended 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 ($100,000) or both. The 
Information and Communication Ministry Web site offered free software 
to block Web sites with adult content.
    On May 13, Prita Mulyasari was arrested and charged with defamation 
under the ITE law. She sent a personal e-mail complaining about poor 
services at a local hospital. The e-mail was widely circulated through 
Internet mailing lists and chat rooms, and the hospital filed a 
complaint with the police. On June 25, a district court threw out the 
defamation charge in a preliminary hearing, but the Banten High Court 
overturned the ruling and ordered a retrial. Mulyasari was found guilty 
in the retrial and ordered to pay 204 million rupiah (approximately 
$21,600). She received widespread financial support to pay her fines 
and legal expenses, including from senior political figures. On 
December 29, the Tangerang District Court ruled that her e-mail did not 
constitute defamation and acquitted her on all charges.
    Internet cafes are required to provide the identities of Internet 
users to a government agency on a monthly basis.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Following the arrest of two 
State Islamic University students for involvement in terrorist networks 
and hiding two suspected terrorists, the university's rector announced 
a decision to change the curriculum to improve students understanding 
of Islam.
    In October 2008, the DPR passed an antipornography bill. Critics 
considered its definition of pornography too broad and feared that 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. During the year one group of 
traditional ``jaipong'' dancers in West Java were told to cover up 
their costumes and cut down on their gyrations so as not to violate the 
law. On December 31, Bandung police arrested four female nightclub 
performers. In February the Constitutional Court began consideration of 
a complaint that the law violates freedom of religion and expression 
tenets of the constitution.
    During the year the government-supervised Film Censorship Institute 
(LSF) continued to censor domestic and imported movies for content 
deemed pornographic or religiously offensive. On December 1, the LSF 
banned the Australian movie Balibo. The movie depicts the killing of 
five journalists in East Timor by Indonesian soldiers. The TNI has 
consistently maintained that the journalists were killed in a cross 
fire with East Timor guerrilla fighters.
    The AGO has the authority to monitor written materials. During the 
year, the AGO banned five books: The September 30 Movement and Soeharto 
Coup de'tat by Jhon Roosa; Six Ways to Reach God by Darmawan M.M.; 
Resolving the Mystery of Religious Diversity by Syahrudin Ahmad; The 
Voice of Churches for Suppressed People, Blood and God's Tears in West 
Papua by Cocrateze Sofyan Yoman; and Lekra Never Burns Books by Roma 
Yuliantri and Muhidin Dahlan.

    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.).
    In general the INP exercised discipline and handled demonstrations 
responsibly. However, in Papua and West Papua, demonstrators complained 
of police overreaction and undue use of force; police said that 
demonstrators initiated the violence by throwing rocks and employing 
traditional weapons such as arrows and spears. Examples include an 
April 5 rally in Nabire calling for a boycott of the national elections 
during which seven civilians and five police were injured; on April 6, 
in Nabire police shot nine persons, and one police officer was shot 
with an arrow. At year's end there were a number of peaceful, 
anticorruption rallies throughout the country.

    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 Ahmaddiya have not held any national conferences since 
April 2008, when the Bali police refused to issue them a permit (see 
section 2.c.).

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides ``all persons 
the right to worship according to his or her own religion or belief'' 
and states that ``the nation is based upon belief in one supreme God.'' 
The government generally respected the former provision. Six faiths--
Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and 
Confucianism--received official recognition in the form of 
representation at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Unrecognized 
groups may register with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as social 
organizations. By law they have the right to establish house(s) of 
worship, obtain identity cards, and register marriages and births; in 
practice they faced administrative difficulties in doing so. In June 
2008 the government issued a decree prohibiting the Ahmaddiya from 
proselytizing and from practices deemed ``deviant'' from mainstream 
Islam.
    On September 29, the police in Garut, West Java, took members of 
the Daifillah sect into custody after local residents accused the group 
of blasphemy. At year's end the investigation continued, and the police 
had not filed formal charges against Daifillah members.
    On September 29, the Bandung State Administrative Court overturned 
the Depok mayor's decision to revoke the Huria Batak Kristen Protestan 
church building permit. The mayor revoked the permit following 
complaints by the local Muslim community. The renovations continued at 
year's end.
    Persons whose religion was not one of the six officially recognized 
faiths had difficulty obtaining an identity card, which was necessary 
to register marriages, births, and divorces. Men and women of different 
religions experienced difficulties in marrying and registering 
marriages. The government refused to register a marriage unless a 
religious marriage ceremony had taken place. However, very few 
religious officials were willing to take part in weddings involving 
couples of different faiths. For this reason, some brides and grooms 
converted to their partner's religion. Others resorted to traveling 
overseas to wed.
    The civil registration system continued to discriminate against 
members of minority religions. Civil registry officials refused to 
register the marriages or births of children of members of the Baha'i 
faith and others because they did not belong to one of the six 
officially recognized faiths. According to the Hindu association 
Parisadha Hindu Dharma Indonesia, despite official recognition of their 
religion, Hindus, particularly in North Lampung, Southeast Sulawesi, 
Kalimantan, and some areas in East Java, sometimes had to travel 
greater distances to register marriages or births because local 
officials would not perform the registration.
    During the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, many local governments 
ordered either the closure or limited operating hours for various types 
of ``entertainment'' establishments, particularly bars and nightclubs 
not located in five-star hotels. Government and mainstream Islamic 
leaders called on fringe groups not to carry out vigilante closings of 
establishments that violated these decrees, and these groups complied.
    On August 21, the INP announced that police officers would monitor 
sermons delivered in mosques.
    Under the terms of the 2005 Aceh peace agreement, Aceh is the only 
province in Indonesia formally permitted to implement aspects of 
Shari'a. The provincial government enacted ``qanun,'' regulations 
governing relations between members of the opposite sex, alcohol 
consumption, and gambling. On September 14, the outgoing provincial 
parliament enacted qanun, which prescribed stoning to death for 
adultery and steep prison terms and public caning for homosexual acts, 
rape, and pedophilia. Critics both inside and outside Aceh criticized 
the new qanun as unconstitutional, and more secularly minded parties 
dominated the incoming provincial parliament.
    In October the West Aceh regent announced a local regulation 
barring Muslim women from wearing pants. Although the law was not to go 
into effect until 2010, local Islamic police and other officials began 
enforcing it by stopping women wearing pants while on motorcycles and 
issuing warnings. Officials refused to serve women wearing pants at 
government offices, including medical facilities. Non-Muslim women 
reported that they also were refused medical and other services.
    Many local governments maintained laws with elements of Shari'a 
that abrogated the rights of women and religious minorities. In many 
cases these laws require Muslim women to wear headscarves in public; 
mandate elected Muslim officials, students, civil servants, and 
individuals seeking marriage licenses to be able to read the Koran in 
Arabic; and prohibit Muslims from drinking alcohol and gambling. Some 
of these laws were attempts to deal with local social problems, and in 
many cases the laws were not enforced. Although the central government 
holds authority over religious matters, it failed to overturn any local 
laws that restricted rights guaranteed in the constitution.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--On November 9, the Arastamar 
Evangelical School of Theology, also known as Setia College, reached a 
settlement with the Jakarta governor's office regarding a new campus. 
The school was attacked in July 2008 by residents of Kampung Pulo 
District, West Jakarta. At year's end the students continued to live 
and take classes in three different locations in the city, often in 
poor conditions.
    On December 17, the first day of the Islamic New Year, a mob 
attacked and damaged Saint Albert's Church in Bekasi Regency.
    The Jewish population was approximately 15,000. On January 7, an 
estimated 100 activists from a Muslim organization in East Java held a 
protest in front of a Surabaya synagogue to demonstrate support for 
Palestinians. Some protesters reportedly carried signs with anti-
Semitic references. Police prevented the protesters from entering the 
synagogue. There were no injuries or damage. In the context of the 
continuing Israel/Palestine conflict, articles in the media and public 
statements by community leaders often criticized Israeli policy using 
anti-Semitic rhetoric demeaning to Jewish persons and Judaism. Although 
the government promoted tolerance education in primary schools, there 
was no specific curriculum devoted exclusively to anti-Semitism 
education.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 698 persons from leaving and 
1,266 from entering the country in 2007. The immigration office 
prevented these departures at the request of the police, the AGO, the 
KPK, and the Department of Finance. Some of those barred from leaving 
were delinquent taxpayers, convicted or indicted persons, and persons 
otherwise involved in legal disputes.
    During the year approximately 300 Papuans who had been sheltering 
in Papua New Guinea for many years voluntarily returned to West Papua 
Province.
    The constitution prohibits forced exile, and the government did not 
use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The Internal Displacement 
Monitoring Center reported that there were between 70,000 and 120,000 
IDPs in the country. According to the Aceh Recovery Body, only 1,500 
IDPs remained in Aceh. According to International Organization for 
Migration (IOM), the number of IDPs in West Sumatra as a result of the 
October 30 earthquake was 4,000, spread throughout the province. A mud 
flow in 2008 in Porong, East Java, left 2,500 persons in camps. 
Approximately 2,000 IDPs who had been staying in the Porong Market Camp 
left the camp after receiving compensation payment. On September 18, 
the East Java governor officially handed over new houses to them. Due 
to preelection tensions in Aceh, tens of thousands of Javanese 
transmigrants fled and were displaced to neighboring North Sumatra 
Province. In all incidents the government allowed IDP access to 
domestic and international humanitarian organizations and permitted 
them to accept assistance provided by these groups. The government did 
not attack or target IDPs or forcibly return or resettle IDPs under 
dangerous conditions.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, 
and the national 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 529 refugees and 1,593 asylum seekers. 
The IOM estimated 1,014 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 from access to 
public elementary education.
    The above figures did not include 10,436 former refugees from East 
Timor who resided in East Nusa Tengara (NTT) at the end of the year, 
according to the Center for Internally Displaced Peoples Service in 
West Timor. According to NGOs, there were approximately 20,000 ex-East 
Timorese refugees resettled in NTT, and 5,000 were still in temporary 
shelters.
    In January and February, nearly 400 Rohingya and Bangladeshi landed 
in the country. The government initially threatened to deport them as 
economic migrants and, until April, blocked UNHCR officials' access to 
the migrants. At year's end the migrants were confined in squalid 
makeshift camps in Aceh Province and were not allowed freedom of 
movement.
    The 119 Bangladeshi migrants do not qualify for UNHCR protection. 
The government was working with the Embassy of Bangladesh to repatriate 
them.
    On May 14, 55 Sri Lankan migrants drifted ashore in western Aceh 
Province. The government placed restrictions on their free movement.
    During the year tensions at one overcrowded camp sheltering 
Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants led to mistreatment of the migrants 
by humanitarian workers. Reportedly the migrants had been well treated 
since coming onshore in February, but on March 19, Indonesian Red Cross 
(PMI) staff beat three of the migrants. On July 12, 21 migrants tried 
to escape the camp but were recaptured by police. Back at camp, the PMI 
staff beat two of the would-be escapees. IOM staffers intervened to 
stop the beatings. That night, after the IOM staffers had left, the PMI 
staff beat all 21 of the would-be escapees, some severely. On June 15, 
after two migrants successfully escaped, PMI staff reportedly went from 
tent to tent and threw hot water on the men and assaulted most of the 
persons in each tent.

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.--On July 8, President 
Yudhoyono was reelected overwhelmingly in generally free and fair 
elections.
    On April 9, the country conducted its third democratic legislative 
elections. These were a massively 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 
that 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, however, 
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.
    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 that 
parties put forward more women candidates. The Constitutional Court 
invalidated this clause when it struck down the law and ruled that 
voters for the first time could directly elect their representatives, 
regardless of their position on party lists. Nonetheless, the number of 
women in parliament increased significantly, from 11 percent to 18 
percent of the DPR seats in the April 9 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.
    In 2007 the Constitutional Court ruled that independent candidates 
could run for local office and that a political party's nomination was 
not required. In September 2008 the first gubernatorial election that 
involved independent candidates was held in South Sumatra. Not all went 
smoothly with gubernatorial elections. The Constitutional Court ordered 
a rerun for several districts in the November 2008 East Java 
gubernatorial election when it found evidence of fraud. Allegations of 
fraud also plagued the January rerun. Both sets of candidates likely 
engaged in vote buying, but election officials determined that the 
level of fraud did not affect the outcome. The new governor was 
inaugurated in February.
    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 Koran 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 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 Attorney 
General's Office under the deputy attorney general for special crimes 
have jurisdiction over investigation and prosecution of corruption 
cases. During the year the KPK investigated 67 cases, up from 46 in 
2008. As a result of the KPK's prevention and prosecutorial activities, 
it recovered a total of 142.3 billion rupiah (approximately $15.5 
million) in state assets. The deputy attorney general for special 
crimes reported investigating more than 1,500 cases and recovering 
approximately 4.8 trillion rupiah (approximately $524 million).
    Although members of parliament (MPs) were long considered to be 
untouchable by law enforcement, in 2008 and 2009, nine MPs, in separate 
cases, were either convicted by or had trials pending before the 
Anticorruption Court for violating corruption laws. Those convicted 
received sentences ranging from three to eight years in prison. Six 
other MPs or former MPs were under KPK investigation.
    The KPK came under attack during the year when two deputy 
commissioners were accused of extortion and abuse of power. A strong 
public reaction supporting the KPK and the two deputies ensued, 
especially after a KPK wiretap seemed to reveal a conspiracy to frame 
them. Under mounting pressure from the public and the media, a senior 
police official and a deputy attorney general resigned their positions. 
The AGO later dropped charges against the deputies; however, civil 
society organizations suggested that this was part of a larger attempt 
to systematically weaken the powers of the KPK.
    On September 29, the parliament passed the Anticorruption Court 
bill. The Anticorruption Court was established in tandem with the KPK, 
but in 2006 two alleged corruptors challenged the constitutionality of 
the court. The Constitutional Court agreed that the court as 
constituted was unconstitutional and gave the DPR three years to fix 
the problems. The DPR met the deadline, but the bill curbs the court's 
independence. The law requires corruption courts be established in all 
regencies within two years. The head of the Supreme Court decides how 
many career and ad hoc judges sit on the panel for the corruption 
courts. Under the new law there is no mandate for transparency in the 
selection of justices.
    In April 2008 the government passed the Freedom of Information Act, 
which acknowledges the right of citizens to access governmental 
information and provides mechanisms through which citizens can obtain 
such information. The law also provides for sanctions on public bodies 
if they do not comply. The authorities have not yet promulgated 
enforcement regulations. 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; however, the government subjected the organizations 
to monitoring, harassment, and interference.
    The government met with local NGOs, responded to their inquiries, 
and took some actions in response to NGO concerns.
    NGOs in Papua continued to report widespread monitoring of their 
activities by intelligence officials as well as threats and 
intimidation. Activists reported that intelligence officers took their 
pictures surreptitiously and sometimes questioned their friends and 
family members regarding their whereabouts and activities.
    The government generally viewed outside investigations or foreign 
criticism of its human rights record as interference in its internal 
affairs. The security forces and intelligence agencies tended to regard 
with suspicion foreign human rights organizations, particularly those 
operating in conflict areas. Government monitoring of foreigners was 
apparent in 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 recent years Komnas HAM's 
efforts to expose human rights violations and bring perpetrators to 
account were undermined by a number of court decisions regarding its 
jurisdiction or authority. In 2008 the AGO rejected Komnas HAM's 
recommendations to file charges in four incidents including Wamena-
Wasior, Trisakti, Semanggi I and II, and forced disappearances.
    On September 28, 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. Ten later resurfaced, accusing the 
military of kidnapping and torture. Thirteen activists remained 
missing, and one body was found. However, parliament failed to approve 
action regarding other cases of human rights violations that occurred 
before 2000.
    Although the 2006 Law on the Government of Aceh states that a human 
rights court would be established in Aceh, it was not established by 
year's end.
    In July 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 that 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 with emphasis that the military remain neutral 
in political controversies and elections and enhanced authority for 
institutions charged with investigation and prosecutions 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 Timor-Leste 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 failed to defend these rights 
adequately.

    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. 
Although rape is punishable by four to 14 years in prison, and the 
government imprisoned perpetrators for rape and attempted rape, most 
convicted rapists were sentenced to the minimum or less.
    Between November 2008 and October, local NGOs in Central Java 
recorded 614 cases of violence against women in the province, including 
210 rape cases.
    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. Komnas Perempuan, a semiautonomous government 
entity, reported that in 2008 there were 54,425 cases of violence 
handled by partner organizations across the country, and the local 
press reported that violence against women continued to increase. 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 that domestic violence was the most common 
form of violence against women, making up approximately 76 percent of 
total cases.
    Social pressure forced many women not to report spousal abuse. 
During the year, the Women's Legal Aid Foundation received 1,058 
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.
    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 that 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 areas.
    Prostitution is interpreted as a ``crime against decency/morality'' 
and against the law. Prostitution was widespread and largely tolerated, 
despite its contradiction with popular societal and religious norms. 
During the year security forces reportedly participated in operating 
brothels or protection rackets by shielding brothels from prosecution. 
International sex tourism and child sex tourism reportedly 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 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 making it 
available throughout the country, women were sometimes denied the 
opportunity to select the contraceptive methods best suited to their 
needs or preferences. According to NGOs, 55 percent of married women 
used contraception. 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 
Shari'a 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 Shari'a police. The most visible impact on women's rights appeared 
to be the enforcement of dress codes. It was not uncommon for Shari'a 
police to briefly stop and lecture women whose dress did not conform to 
local Shari'a requirements on appropriate attire.
    Local governments and groups in areas outside Aceh also undertook 
campaigns to promote conformity by women with the precepts of Shari'a. 
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. According to a 2007 
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) report, women on average 
earned 74 percent of what men earned, were overrepresented in unpaid 
and lower-paying positions in the informal sector, and held only 17 
percent of managerial positions. 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. 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.
    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.

    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 ostensibly 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 elementary school students 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 ($25) 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.
    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.
    According to Komnas Perlindungan Anak, 6.5 million children under 
the age of 18 were working because of poverty.
    FGM was practiced in many parts of the country. 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, nearly 96 percent of families reported 
that their daughters had undergone circumcision by the time they 
reached 14. NGO activists said that female circumcision was seen as a 
religious duty.
    During the year national attention continued to focus on the 
problem of child marriage following reports that a Muslim cleric, Syech 
Puji, married a 12-year-old girl in Semarang, Central Java, in 2008. 
Senior Muslim clerics strongly criticized the marriage, and the cleric 
was investigated. In November 2008 Komnas Perlindungan Anak persuaded 
the cleric to return the child to her parents until she reaches 16 
years of age. The commission was unable to annul the marriage. On 
October 13, a district court dismissed all charges against Syech Puji.
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children continued to be a 
serious problem. The number of child prostitutes in the country was 
unclear, but the problem was widespread. Many teenage girls were forced 
into prostitution often through debt bondage.
    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.
    There is no statutory rape law nor an established age for 
consensual sex. The 2008 Pornography Law prohibits child pornography 
and establishes penalties.
    In 2008 the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child 
Labor (ILO-IPEC) estimated that there were 1,450 street children in an 
East Jakarta municipality, 38 percent girls, a marked increase in the 
percentage of girls compared with earlier surveys. According to 
government officials, there were an estimated 233,000 street children 
in the country.
    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, in January there were 1,305 street 
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 that 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 International Centre for Prison Studies 
reported that there were 1,993 children awaiting trial and 2,516 
children in the prison 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. 
Substantial numbers of street children were apparent in Jakarta and the 
provinces of East Java, West Java, North Sumatra, and South Sulawesi.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The antitrafficking law outlaws all forms 
of trafficking, including debt bondage and sexual exploitation, and 
includes a comprehensive mandate for rescue and rehabilitation of 
victims. It provides stiff penalties for officials and labor agents 
complicit in trafficking. Penalties range from between three to 15 
years in prison, with penalties for officials assessed at a rate one-
third higher. Provincial and local governments also increased efforts 
and resources to fight trafficking. The country's embassies and 
consulates were active in rescuing and assisting victims.
    The country remained a major source for international trafficking 
in persons and faced a significant internal trafficking problem. It 
also was a receiving country for trafficked prostitutes, although the 
number was small relative to the number of citizen victims. The country 
was not a major transit point for trafficking. Malaysia and Saudi 
Arabia, as well as other countries in the Middle East and Asia, were 
destinations, and there were some cases of trafficking to the United 
States. Trafficking for prostitution, domestic service, and work in 
restaurants and hotels were more common, with some forced labor in 
construction and plantation work. Impoverished citizens were potential 
victims, but boys and girls under age 18 and women of all ages were 
most vulnerable. Victims were subjected to physical and psychological 
abuse, sometimes resulting in death.
    The sophisticated national trafficking network was decentralized 
with neighborhood brokers trafficking victims to labor-supply agencies 
in large cities, which in turn sold victims to labor-supply agencies in 
receiving countries. Local government, immigration, and manpower 
officials often were complicit in the process. The domestic trafficking 
of women and girls into prostitution operated in a similar manner. 
Local officials, police, and military were complicit in this activity 
as well. Some labor recruitment companies operated in a manner similar 
to trafficking rings, luring both male and female workers into debt 
bondage, involuntary servitude, and other trafficking situations.
    Law enforcement against traffickers has increased somewhat in 
recent years; the most recent statistics show prosecutions increased 
from 109 to 129, and convictions from 46 to 55. In 2008 the average 
sentence was 43 months in prison. The government trained more law 
enforcement officials on fighting trafficking, often in interagency 
courses also attended by NGOs. The numbers of special antitrafficking 
police and prosecutors increased. A new National Plan of Action was 
finalized in September.
    The government was renegotiating a memorandum of understanding 
(MOU) with Malaysia. One of the issues being renegotiated was the basic 
right of workers to hold their travel documents. Exploitation of 
workers by manpower placement companies continued to be widespread. The 
decentralized approach to rescuing, treating, and reintegrating victims 
and inadequate funding for victim assistance hindered implementation of 
the law. The national budget for antitrafficking remained far below 
needs, and local budgets were uneven and generally insufficient. There 
was no progress in stopping officials from abetting trafficking in 
prostitution, for example, by falsifying documents. No action was taken 
to protect women and children entrapped in debt bondage as domestic 
servants within the country. The migration system continued to allow 
exploitation of migrant workers and lacked sufficient protections 
against trafficking.
    During the year the media reported a large number of trafficking 
cases, and the police pursued cases, including cases of child 
trafficking, in Tanjung Pinang (Riau Province), Medan (North Sumatra), 
Bandar Lampung (Lampung Province), Bekasi and Bogor (West Java), 
Semarang (Central Java), and Malang and Jember (East Java). The police 
and the Ministry of Women Empowerment noted new modes of child 
trafficking recruitment. Traffickers offered vocational students 
internship opportunities abroad that ultimately led to labor or sexual 
exploitation.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The government classifies persons with 
disabilities into four categories: blind, deaf, mentally disabled, and 
physically disabled. 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 percent of the population 
had a disability.
    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.
    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 that 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 the 
government, there were 1,568 schools dedicated to educating children 
with disabilities, 1,202 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.
    The Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for protecting 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.

    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 
domestic and multinational 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 that 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.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The 2008 Pornography Law bans 
gay and lesbian sex. According to NGOs, lesbian, gay, transgender, and 
bisexual (LGBT) issues were characterized as socially taboo. The 
government took almost no action to prevent discrimination against LGBT 
persons or to spur action by the police in investigating societal abuse 
against LGBT persons. Police corruption, bias, and violence caused LGBT 
individuals to avoid interaction with police. NGOs reported that LGBT 
individuals were socially ostracized by family members and the general 
public.
    On September 6, the provincial legislature in Aceh passed a law 
criminalizing homosexual conduct.
    LGBT organizations and NGOs operated openly. However, certain 
religious groups sporadically disrupted LGBT gatherings and individuals 
were sometimes victims of police abuse.
    On May 16, LGBT organizations held gay pride marches in Jakarta, 
Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Makassar, and Banda Aceh commemorating the 
International Day Against Homophobia. Organizers were able to obtain 
necessary permits from the government and police provided protection to 
the marchers.
    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, 
the government 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, and workers exercised these rights. The law 
allows workers to form and join unions of their choice without previous 
authorization or excessive requirements, and workers did so in 
practice. The law stipulates that 10 or more workers have the right to 
form a union, with membership open to all workers, regardless of 
political affiliation, religion, ethnicity, or gender. Private sector 
workers are by law free to form worker organizations without prior 
authorization, and unions may draw up their own constitutions and rules 
and elect representatives. The 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. The vast majority of union members 
belonged to one of three union confederations.
    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.
    The law recognizes civil servants' freedom of association and right 
to organize, and employees of several ministries formed employee 
associations; union organizations sought to organize these workers. 
Unions also sought to organize state-owned enterprise (SOE) employees, 
although they encountered resistance from enterprise management, and 
the legal basis for registering unions in SOEs remained unclear.
    The law allows the government to petition the courts to dissolve a 
union if it conflicts with the state ideology or the constitution. A 
union may also be dissolved if a union's leaders or members, in the 
name of the union, commit crimes against the security of the state and 
are sentenced to at least 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.
    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' leeway to obstruct a union's move to strike because 
failure is classified as negotiations that lead to a deadlock 
``declared by both sides.''
    Before workers can strike, they must also engage in lengthy 
mediation with the employer, beginning with bargaining and, if that 
fails, proceed to mediation facilitated by a government mediator. The 
ministerial regulation also provides that, in the case of an illegal 
strike, an entrepreneur must 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.
    In practice strikes were prohibited in the public sector, in 
essential services, and at enterprises that served the public interest. 
The ITUC asserted that such practice clearly exceeded the definition of 
acceptable prohibitions on strike action by the ILO Committee on 
Freedom of Association, which has held that strikes may only be 
restricted where there exists ``a clear and imminent threat to the 
life, personal safety, or health of the whole or part of the 
population.'' The prolonged, legally mandated mediation procedures that 
must be followed before calling a strike were not enforced. Strikes 
tended to be unsanctioned ``wildcat'' strikes that broke out after a 
failure to settle long-term grievances or when an employer refused to 
recognize a union.
    The underpayment or nonpayment of legally required severance 
packages precipitated strikes and labor protests.
    On September 18, more than 300 food service workers from the 
Congress of the Indonesian Labor Union Alliance (KASBI) demonstrated at 
Surabaya Plaza Shopping Centre to protest the dismissal of two contract 
workers by a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet operated by PT Fast Food 
Indonesia. A KASBI spokesperson said that 20 of the company's 120 
workers were employed under an internship program without government 
authorization.
    On December 10, police injured at least nine persons among 
approximately 15,000 members of the Federation of Indonesian Metal 
Workers' Union who were demonstrating in front of the governor's and 
regent's offices in Batam demanding a wage increase.
    In December 2008 workers at an electronic components company in 
Bekasi went on a two-day strike to object to outsourcing of core 
positions. After the strike the company petitioned to the Manpower 
Ministry to terminate all of the 94 workers who were also members of 
the striking union. The company reported the union to the police for 
committing an unpleasant act by causing them to lose profits as a 
result of the strike and filed a lawsuit against the union in civil 
court also for lost profits. As a result of the dismissal of all union 
officers and strike participants, the union was dissolved. On September 
15, the Bekasi District Court dismissed the case on the grounds that 
the union was not a proper legal entity before the court but invited 
the corporation to refile against union officers.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--According to 
the Manpower Ministry, approximately 25 percent of companies with more 
than 10 employees had collective bargaining agreements. However, in 
reality these agreements rarely went beyond the legal minimum 
provisions set by the government and often resulted from employers 
unilaterally drawing up agreements and presenting them to workers' 
representatives for signature rather than negotiation. The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference; however, the 
government often did not protect this right in practice. The law 
provides for collective bargaining and allows workers' organizations 
that register with the government to conclude legally binding 
collective labor agreements (CLAs) with employers and to exercise other 
trade union functions. The law includes some restrictions on collective 
bargaining, including a requirement that a union or unions represent 
more than 50 percent of the company workforce to negotiate a CLA. The 
Manpower Act, which regulates collective bargaining, the right to 
strike, and general employment conditions, does not apply to SOEs. Some 
unions claimed that the law contains inadequate severance benefits and 
protection against arbitrary terminations and does not sufficiently 
restrict outsourcing and child labor. At year's end no implementing 
regulations had been issued.
    Company regulations, permitted under government regulations, 
substituted for CLAs in the vast majority of enterprises, many of which 
did not have union representation. The Manpower Act requires that 
employers and workers form joint employer/worker committees in 
companies with 50 or more workers, a measure to institutionalize 
communication and consensus building.
    Unions were directly affected by the increasing trend of using 
contract labor. Under the Manpower Act, contract labor is supposed to 
be used only for work that is ``temporary in nature.'' However, 
according to ITUC, many employers violated these provisions with the 
assistance of local offices of the Manpower Ministry. There also were 
credible reports of widespread use of vocational students under 
internship programs, which appeared to violate labor laws and weaken 
unions. Typically, 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. To date no 
labor court has ruled in favor of workers who have filed either for 
compensation or to be rehired.
    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. There 
were credible reports of employer retribution against union organizers, 
including dismissals and violence that were not prevented effectively 
or remedied in practice. Some employers warned employees against 
contact with union organizers. Some unions claimed that strike leaders 
were singled out for layoffs when companies downsized. Legal 
requirements existed for employers to reinstate workers fired for union 
activity, although in many cases the government did not enforce this 
effectively. According to ITUC, legal procedures were very long, 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 financially recompensed, they were rarely reinstated.
    Companies sometimes transferred union leaders to jobs where they 
could not continue their union activities.
    Labor activists charged that managers in some locations 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.
    In recent years employers have repeatedly filed criminal complaints 
against union officers following failed collective bargaining 
negtiations 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.
    On March 1, PT Tirta Samudera Caraka rejected its labor agreement 
with a Confederation of the Indonesian Prosperity Labor Union and 
informed its workers that they would have to sign individual employment 
contracts to continue their employment. The union began a strike on 
March 4 but returned to work the next day when the company said it 
would meet with the union. However, the company dismissed 40 workers, 
all of whom were union members. At year's end attempts to mediate the 
dispute through government procedures appeared unsuccessful.
    On March 27, PT Smart Glove Indonesia in Medan, North Sumatra, 
summarily dismissed 97 workers for attempting to form a union.
    On May 7, airport workers, represented by Serikat Pekerja PT 
Angkasa Pura 1 union (SPAP-1), staged strikes at five airports operated 
by state-owned PT Angkasa Pura 1. The union maintained that the company 
had not implemented provisions in their 2006 agreement concerning 
salaries, pension payments, and health insurance. Several SPAP-1 
members were fired or suspended apparently because of the strike 
action.
    On July 24, management at PT Bekaert Advanced Filtration in 
Tangerang dismissed all worker representatives of the Lomenik-SBSI. 
Additionally, the company allegedly retaliated against union members by 
denying overtime compensation, pressuring workers to resign from the 
union, offering bribes to union leadership, and interrogating workers 
about their union activities.
    On October 3, a company official at PT Remaja Pesona Industi, a 
garment factory in Malang, dismissed more than 50 of its 150 workers. 
According to union officials, the company dismissed workers who 
participated in a recent strike over holiday bonuses.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
special economic zones (SEZs). However, nongovernmental observers 
described stronger antiunion sentiment and actions by employers in 
SEZs. For example, employers in manufacturing enterprises in the Batam 
SEZ tended to hire labor on two-year contracts and favored workers 
under 24 years of age. Both practices inhibited union formation.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced labor or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that such 
practices occurred, including forced and compulsory labor by children. 
The government tolerated forms of compulsory labor practiced in the 
migrant worker recruitment process. The unscrupulous practices of 
migrant worker recruiting agencies and poor enforcement of government 
regulations often led to debt bondage and extended unlawful 
confinement. According to press reports and research by labor NGOs, 
recruiting agencies frequently kept migrant workers in holding centers, 
for as long as 14 months in some cases, before sending them abroad. 
While in the holding centers, migrant workers normally did not receive 
pay, and recruiters often did not allow them to leave the centers. In 
most instances workers were forced to pay recruiters for the cost of 
their forced stay, resulting in large debts to the recruiters. The 
Manpower Ministry took limited measures to enforce labor laws that 
prevent employment agencies from trafficking workers through debt 
bondage.
    At year's end the government was still in the process of 
renegotiating the 2006 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.
    Girls and women employed as household servants often were held in 
debt bondage. According to a 2007 study by the Women's Legal Aid 
Foundation, 89,930 domestic workers in Jakarta were working without 
pay.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits children defined as persons under the age of 18 from 
working in hazardous sectors and the worst forms of child labor. 
However, the government did not enforce these laws effectively. Law, 
regulations, and practice acknowledged that some children must work to 
supplement family incomes. 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. Implementation remained a 
problem.
    An estimated six to eight million children exceeded the legal 
three-hour-daily work limit, working in agriculture, street vending, 
mining, construction, prostitution, and other areas. More children 
worked in the informal than the formal sector. Some children worked in 
large factories, but their numbers were unknown, largely because 
documents verifying age could be falsified easily.
    Children worked in agriculture primarily on palm oil, tobacco, 
rubber, tea, and marijuana plantations. Children also worked in 
fisheries, construction, 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.
    NGOs documented hundreds of children ages 13 to 17 working in 
cottage shoemaking industry in West Java. Many girls between 14 and 16 
years of age worked as live-in domestic servants. A domestic worker 
advocacy group estimated that there were four million domestic workers 
in the country, of whom at least one million were under age 18. 
According to the Komnas Perlindungan Anak, approximately 2.1 million 
children worked as housemaids or sex workers within the country and 
overseas. Many child servants were not allowed to study and were forced 
to work long hours, received low pay, and generally were unaware of 
their rights.
    The law and regulations prohibit bonded labor by children; however, 
the government was not effective in eliminating forced child labor, 
which remained a serious problem. A significant number of children 
worked against their will in prostitution, pornography, begging, drug 
trafficking, domestic service, and other exploitive situations, 
including a small number on fishing platforms.
    Despite legislative and regulatory measures, most children who 
worked, including as domestics, did so in unregulated environments. 
Anecdotal evidence suggested that local labor officials carried out few 
child labor investigations.
    At the end of 2008, ILO-IPEC Jakarta, in collaboration with various 
local universities/research institutes, conducted baselines 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 plantations work (palm oil, rubber, tobacco, coffee, 
coconut), of whom 28 percent were age 12 years and below and 52 percent 
were not in school.
    According to the National Labor Force Survey conducted by National 
Statistics Body in 2007, approximately one million children were 
working, of whom 60 percent were boys and 40 percent girls. However, 
due to prejudice and less attention to girls in this issue, the number 
of working girls was often underestimated by statistical surveys, which 
did not generally account for unpaid economic activities such as work 
in household enterprises or hidden activities such as prostitution, 
child trafficking, and domestic work, in which a large numbers of girls 
were involved.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Provincial and district 
authorities, not the central government, establish minimum wages, which 
vary by province, district, and sector. Provincial authorities 
determined provincial minimum wage levels based on proposals by 
tripartite (workers, employers, and government) provincial wage 
commissions. The provincial minimum wage rates establish a floor for 
minimum wages within the province. Local districts set district minimum 
wages using the provincial levels as references. Districts also set 
minimum wages in some industrial sectors on an ad hoc basis. Provinces 
and districts conducted annual minimum wage rate negotiations, which 
often produced controversy and protests. In November 2008 scores of 
workers and union members protested a newly introduced joint 
ministerial decree on minimum wages designed to discourage local 
administrations from raising minimum wage rates beyond the financial 
capabilities of manufacturing firms. 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 $123) 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 and in the informal sector. In practice official 
minimum wage levels applied only in the formal sector, which accounted 
for 35 percent of the workforce. Labor law and ministerial regulations 
provide workers with a variety of benefits. Persons who worked at more 
modern facilities often received health benefits, meal privileges, and 
transportation. The law also requires employers to register workers 
with and pay contributions to the state-owned insurance agency, 
JAMSOSTEK.
    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. Workers in industries that produced retail 
goods for export frequently worked overtime to meet contract quotas. 
Unions complained that companies relied upon excessive overtime in some 
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 Solidarity Center reported that 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 were 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. JAMSOSTEK reported 37,845 accidents in the first three 
months of 2007, compared with 99,624 for the whole of 2006. 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 127.7 million. In elections held in August, the 
Democratic Party of Japan ended the Liberal Democratic Party's half-
century dominance of the government when it captured a majority in the 
legislature's lower house, adding to the plurality it captured in the 
upper house in 2007. Yukio Hatoyama became the prime minister in 
August, replacing Taro Aso. The elections were generally considered 
free and fair. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the rights of its citizens. 
Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported problems 
with the country's detention facilities and legal system. There were 
several reports of government corruption during the year. Reported 
cases of violence and other abuse against women and children increased. 
Sexual harassment and employment discrimination continued to be 
reported. Trafficking in persons remained a problem. Discrimination 
against children born out of wedlock and minorities 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.

    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.
    NGOs and foreign diplomats reported instances of alleged physical 
abuse in some prisons. In February, in the civil case against Wakayama 
Prefecture and the state regarding three police officers convicted for 
the 2004 death of a suspect, the court found Wakayama Prefecture 
responsible and ordered compensation.
    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.
    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. Officials 
at Fuchu Prison used such procedures to keep a foreign prisoner in 
isolation for the past four years. Prison officials said that solitary 
confinement was an important tool to maintain order in prisons that 
were at or above capacity.
    Hazing, bullying, and sexual harassment were increasingly 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 heating. NGOs 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 muscular mass. Cases of slow 
and in some cases 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. 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. The lack of heating subjected 
the prison population to a range of preventable cold injuries, from 
chilblains to more severe forms of cold injury. Foreign prisoners in 
the Tokyo area presented to visiting diplomatic officials chilblains-
affected fingers and toes of varying severity, the direct result of 
long-term exposure to deleteriously cold and at times freezing 
conditions in prison and detention facilities during the winter months. 
NGOs, lawyers, and doctors also criticized medical care in police-
operated preindictment detention centers and immigration detention 
centers.
    In 2008 there were 67,672 prisoners. 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.
    Prison management regulations stipulate that independent committees 
inspect prisons and detention centers operated by the Ministry of 
Justice (MOJ) and police-operated detention facilities. The committees 
included physicians, lawyers, local municipal officials, 
representatives of local communities, and other local citizens. 
Prisoner rights advocates reported that the committees visited MOJ 
prisons throughout the year. In 2008 these committees visited a total 
of 207 prisons and detention facilities (not including pretrial 
detention facilities) and interviewed 598 detainees. The committees 
made 659 recommendations to the prison or detention facility 
superintendants, of which 366 were considered implemented or in the 
process of being implemented. In addition, 198 recommendations were 
considered as requiring either further discussion or follow-up 
inspections, and 95 were referred to the Ministry of Justice.
    In July an amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee 
Recognition Law was passed establishing an independent inspection 
process for immigration detention 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, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions. NGOs continued to report instances of what appeared to be 
arbitrary detentions.

    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 for 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 authorities 
respected this right in practice. The law 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. A judge must interview a suspect prior to further 
detention. The 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 because extensions 
were routinely granted, the intent of the law--prompt judicial 
determination of the legality of the detention--was in fact undermined.
    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 MOJ 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. NPA guidelines limit 
interrogations to a maximum of eight hours. Overnight interrogations 
are prohibited.
    Preindictment detainees had access to counsel, including court-
appointed attorneys. Prisoner advocates said that in practice this 
access improved in terms of the duration and frequency. However, 
counsel may not be present during interrogations. Family members were 
allowed to meet with detainees, but only in the presence of a detention 
officer. Article 81 of the code of criminal conduct may, regardless of 
the charge, prohibit detainees from having interviews with persons 
other than their counsel only if there is probable cause that the 
suspect may flee or may conceal or destroy evidence. Detainees charged 
with drug offenses are routinely held incommunicado until indictment 
and are allowed only consular and legal access. Prosecutors at their 
discretion may partially record suspects' confessions, but NGOs pointed 
out that partial and discretionary recordings could be misleading. 
Police in Tokyo and 46 prefectures continued testing supervised 
interrogations.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. In July the country began a lay judge (jury) 
system for serious criminal cases.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides the right to a fair trial for 
all citizens and ensures that 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 (UNCAT), 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 to ensure that suspects cannot be 
compelled to confess to a crime or be convicted when a confession is 
the only evidence. In the past NGOs documented techniques used to 
extract confessions that include beating, intimidation, sleep 
deprivation, questioning from early morning to late at night, and 
making the suspect stand or sit in fixed positions for long periods. 
New NPA guidelines were created in January 2008. On April 1, the 
National Public Safety Commission issued regulations prohibiting the 
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. However, NGOs continued to report long interrogation 
sessions of eight to 12 hours in length, in which the detainee was 
handcuffed to a chair for the entire period, and aggressive questioning 
techniques were used.
    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. According to government 
statistics, more than 98 percent of arrested suspects were sent to 
police detention facilities. The other 2 percent were held in MOJ-
operated preindictment detention centers. More than 99 percent of cases 
that reached a trial court resulted in conviction. Independent legal 
scholars alleged that the judiciary gives too much weight to 
confessions, although the government disputed the assertion.
    There were media reports of persons convicted on the basis of 
police-obtained confessions who were later proved innocent. During the 
year a man sentenced to life imprisonment after DNA tests led to his 
conviction in 1990 for the murder of a four-year-old girl in Ashikaga, 
Tochigi Prefecture, was released after more-accurate DNA tests 
exonerated him. Despite errors in the basic investigation, including 
autopsy findings that conflicted with the suspect's confession, the 
prosecutors and the courts dismissed the possibility that the 
confession was coerced. The same questionable DNA testing methods 
contributed to guilty rulings in other cases, including some involving 
the death penalty.
    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'' (see section 4).
    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. 
In Gunma Prefecture, police recruited volunteers to translate for the 
police during investigations.

    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 administrative remedies as well as 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 75 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 distort 
the intended meaning. The national anthem and national flag continued 
to be controversial symbols. Since 2003 almost 400 teachers have been 
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.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice. However, 
the Unification Church continued to report that authorities did not 
intercede in reported cases of ``forced deprogramming'' and 
confinement.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Relations among religious 
groups were generally amicable. However, since September 2008, 
according to NPA authorities, more than 50 incidents of vandalism were 
reported at churches and other religious facilities belonging to 
Protestant groups in Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, and Shiga prefectures. At 
year's end authorities had not apprehended anyone or discovered the 
motive.
    An estimated 200 Jewish families live in the country. There were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts. Advertisements for anti-Semitic books 
appeared in the media.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol. 
Its 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 announced a small-scale third country 
resettlement program.
    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 Partial Amendment to the Immigration Control and Refugee 
Act, promulgated on July 15, includes language that forbids deportation 
in breach of conventions, including the Convention Against Torture.
    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 MOJ, 
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 
Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
    The UNCAT, NGOs, and lawyers criticized the indefinite and often 
long period of detention between the rejection of an application for 
asylum and deportation. NGOs in particular expressed concern over an 
increase in the number of asylum seekers detained after rejection of 
their initial application and while the appeal decision was pending.
    Applicants for refugee status normally are not allowed to work 
unless they meet certain conditions. Persons applying for refugee 
status to obtain the legal right to work must be in need and completely 
dependent on government shelters or NGO support. In the interim the 
Refugee Assistance Headquarters provides small stipends. However, 
because of budget shortfalls caused by the increase in applications, 
stricter criteria eliminated this aid to many applicants.
    Refugees faced the same patterns of discrimination that ethnic 
minorities did in the country: 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 or NGO support.

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 August the country held 
elections for the lower house of the Diet, which brought an opposition 
party into power for only the second time in 54 years. The elections 
were considered generally free and fair, as were the July 2007 
elections for the upper house of the Diet.
    Political parties operated without restriction or outside 
interference.
    As the result of the August elections, women held a record-high 54 
of 480 seats in the lower house of the Diet and 42 of the upper house's 
242 seats. At year's end there were three female governors. There were 
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. There were 
three Diet members who 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. During the 
first half of the year, the NPA reported 27 cases of bribery and 11 
cases of bid rigging. There were regular media report of financial and 
accounting irregularities involving politicians and government 
officials, including Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Democratic Party 
of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa (both cases ended up with no 
indictments against the two officials but several of their aides were 
indicted). According to NPA figures for 2008, there were 50 cases 
involving bribery and 27 cases of bid rigging.
    Independent academic experts stated that ties between politicians, 
bureaucrats, and businessmen were close and that corruption remained a 
problem. Academics cited the large entertainment industry and the 
business and government practices that make use of it, along with their 
large and frequently undisclosed entertainment budgets, as an example 
of a practice that could have a corrupting influence on government. In 
one case, considered typical, a leading member of the Diet upper house 
registered 2.4 million yen (approximately $26,580) spent at 11 
nightclubs between 2004 and 2007 as ``political activities costs.''
    Although financial disclosure laws exist, they were laxly enforced. 
Cooperation with international law enforcement officials investigating 
suspicious financial transactions and money laundering also was poor.
    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. A recent study by a nonprofit body disclosed that the 
Foreign Ministry destroyed approximately 1,280 tons of what it termed 
``sensitive records'' in fiscal year (FY) 2000 (ending in March 2001), 
ostensibly in anticipation of the information disclosure law that went 
into effect in April 2001. The Finance Ministry was second in the 
quantity of material destroyed, eliminating approximately 620 tons.

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 international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and 
representatives of other international governmental organizations, 
including the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and 
International Labor Organization.
    Human rights groups pointed out that the country had not 
established an independent national human rights institution. The Human 
Rights Commission reports to the MOJ. There were no official human 
rights committees in the Diet. However, there were unofficial groups 
that covered human rights-related matters. For example, there was a 
group focused on democratization in Burma and another focused on 
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 a problem.

    Women.--The law criminalizes all forms of rape, including spousal 
rape, and the government generally enforced the law effectively. 
According to government statistics, 1,582 rapes were reported in 2008 
and 676 during the first half of 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. MOJ statistics showed that 51 perpetrators were 
prosecuted in 2008 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 
$10,000). In 2008 courts granted 2,525 of 3,143 petitions for 
protection orders, with 450 withdrawals and 168 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 2008 there were 25,210 
reported cases of domestic violence involving women as victims, more 
than 98 percent of the total. Spousal violence consultation assistance 
centers reported 66,936 consultation cases in 2008, with women the 
victims in more than 99 percent of the cases.
    Prostitution is illegal but narrowly defined. Many sexual acts for 
pay that would be considered prostitution in other countries are legal.
    Sexual harassment in the workplace remained widespread. In FY2008 
the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) received 13,529 
consultations, mostly from female workers (60 percent of the total 
number of consulters). 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.
    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 skilled attendance 
during childbirth, including essential obstetric and postpartum care. 
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 Quality 2009'' 
reviewed 10 years of efforts since the passage of the Basic Law for a 
Gender-Equal Society and concluded that the situation had ``somewhat 
progressed.'' However, the white paper concluded that women's 
participation remained low by international standards, the most 
frequent obstacle cited being ``there are no, or insufficient, systems 
to support the balance of work and household activities.'' Other NGOs, 
such as the National Women's Education Center, were active in efforts 
to combat employment discrimination based on gender by focusing on 
training women leaders.
    Inequality in employment remained a problem in society. Women 
composed 41.9 percent of the labor force, slightly up from 2008, and 
their average monthly wage was 226,100 yen (approximately $2,500), 
about two-thirds of the monthly wage earned by men (333,700 yen, or 
$3,692).
    In August the 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.--A child becomes a Japanese citizenship if the father of 
a child in wedlock is a Japanese citizen, if the mother of a child in 
or out of wedlock is a Japanese citizen, if the father who died before 
the birth of a child in wedlock was a Japanese citizen at the time of 
his death, or if a child is born in Japan and both parents are unknown 
or do not have nationality. On January 1, a revision to the nationality 
law went in effect enabling a child born out of wedlock to a citizen 
father and noncitizen mother, but whose paternity was recognized by the 
father after birth, to obtain citizenship.
    Reports of child abuse continued to increase. In FY2008 there were 
42,662 possible cases of child abuse by parents or guardians reported 
to the National Child Discussion Center, an increase of approximately 
2,000 from the previous 12-month period. According to the NPA, 319 
children were abused and 45 were killed as a result of abuse by parents 
or guardians. To better ensure secure 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 not more than three years or a fine of not more than one 
million yen ($10,000) 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 on-line 
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 not less than two years' imprisonment at forced 
labor.
    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 ($30,000). 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. The absence of a statutory basis makes it 
difficult for police to obtain search warrants, preventing them from 
effectively enforcing existing child pornography laws or participating 
in international law enforcement efforts in this area. Along with child 
pornography involving real victims, some law enforcement and pedophilia 
experts stated that child molesters used cartoons and comics depicting 
child pornography to seduce children. The role of commonly available 
sexually explicit comics and anime in the sexual endangerment of 
children remained controversial, with the NPA stating the link had not 
been proved. However, other experts believed the situation could be 
harmful to children by creating a culture that appears to accept sexual 
intercourse with children or violence against children. Internet 
service providers acknowledged that the country was a hub for child 
pornography, leading to greater victimization of children both 
domestically and abroad.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law establishes human trafficking both 
for sexual and labor exploitation as a criminal offense. Nonetheless, 
human trafficking remained a significant problem despite government 
efforts. The relatively small number of identified victims led some in 
the police and Immigration Bureau to conclude that trafficking in 
persons was not a problem. The lack of reliable data on the scale of 
human trafficking made this controversy difficult to resolve.
    The country remained a destination and transit country for men, 
women, and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and 
other purposes. Victims came from China, the Republic of Korea, 
Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and to a lesser extent Latin America. 
There were also reports of an increase in the internal trafficking of 
girls for sexual exploitation. The majority of identified trafficking 
victims were foreign women who migrated to the country seeking work but 
upon arrival were subjected to debt bondage and forced prostitution. 
Male and female migrant workers from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, 
Vietnam, and other Asian countries were sometimes subjected to 
conditions of forced labor.
    Agents, brokers, and employers involved in trafficking for sexual 
exploitation often had connections with organized crime syndicates (the 
Yakuza), at a minimum in terms of ``protection money'' paid to 
organized crime figures or their associates. Some in the NPA pointed 
out that the identified trafficking cases did not appear to have 
connections with organized crime. Some NGOs also reported that the 
sexual exploitation cases appeared to be handled by individuals running 
prostitution businesses. However, many experts believed that the Yakuza 
were heavily involved in their traditional businesses, which include 
prostitution. Reports also showed an increase in former trafficking 
victims becoming traffickers.
    Most women trafficked into the sex trade had their travel documents 
taken away and their movements strictly controlled by their employers. 
Victims were threatened with reprisals to themselves or their families 
if they tried to escape. Employers often isolated the women, subjected 
them to constant surveillance, and used violence to punish them for 
disobedience. NGOs reported that in some cases brokers used drugs to 
subjugate victims.
    Debt bondage was another means of control. Before arrival in the 
country, trafficking victims generally did not understand the size of 
the debts they would owe, the amount of time it would take them to 
repay the debts, or the conditions of employment to which they would be 
subjected upon arrival. Women faced debts of up to 4.5 million yen 
($45,000). In addition, they had to pay their employer for their living 
expenses, medical care (when provided by the employer), and other 
necessities. ``Fines'' for misbehavior added to the original debt, and 
the process that employers used to calculate these debts was not 
transparent. Employers also sometimes ``resold,'' or threatened to 
resell, troublesome women or women found to be HIV positive, thereby 
increasing the victims' debts and often leading to even worse working 
conditions.
    In response to increased police enforcement, many sex business 
operators shifted from storefront businesses to ``delivery'' escort 
services. The shift to Internet-based solicitation and procurement made 
it much harder to measure the extent to which employers exploited 
victims of trafficking.
    There was no significant improvement in the country's prosecution 
of sex trafficking. The government reported 29 prosecutions and 13 
convictions in 2008 under the antitrafficking law, compared with 11 
prosecutions and 12 convictions in 2007. However, since prosecutors 
chose to prosecute under the crime they were most assured of getting a 
conviction, there may have been prosecutions and convictions of 
traffickers under other laws. Most authorities attributed a decline in 
numbers from a peak in 2005 as the result of a crackdown on the 
``entertainment'' visa category, forcing traffickers to use other 
means. Eleven of the 13 convicted offenders in 2008 received suspended 
sentences, however, and were not punished with imprisonment beyond time 
served in detention.
    Labor exploitation was widely reported by labor activists, NGOs, 
shelters, and the media (see section 7.e.). There were two convictions 
for labor trafficking during the past three years, although Labor 
Standard Inspection Bodies identified more than 1,209 violations of 
labor laws in 2006 alone. The NPA identified 36 victims in 2008, down 
from 43 victims in 2007. This number was considered disproportionately 
low relative to the suspected magnitude of the trafficking problem. 
Despite reports by both official and private entities of labor 
exploitation, the government identified only one victim of labor 
trafficking in 2008, associated with a sex trafficking case. However, 
the prosecution of labor traffickers in fact took place under a variety 
of other labor laws.
    There were media reports of government officials using their 
influence to facilitate trafficking, including a report at the end of 
2008 of a secretary to a minister who used his influence to obtain 
short-term visas for 300 Filipinas to sing at charity concerts but who 
in fact ended up working as hostesses in pubs. Low-level persons were 
arrested, but the charges against the secretary and his minister were 
dropped. In another case a senior immigration officer reportedly 
received a 5.8 million yen ($58,000) bribe to facilitate the issuance 
of ``entertainer visas'' between July 2007 and November 2009. At year's 
end the case was under investigation.
    There continued to be reports that police and immigration officers 
failed to identify victims adequately. Although antitrafficking 
education efforts for police and immigration officials continued, the 
country did not use formal victim identification procedures, although 
it cooperated with the IOM in victim identification.
    The country did not dedicate government law enforcement or social 
services personnel specifically to human trafficking, but there were 
individuals in various branches of the government and police whose main 
emphasis was human trafficking. NGOs continued to assert that the 
government was not proactive in searching for victims among vulnerable 
populations such as foreign women in the sex trade or migrant laborers. 
NGOs reported that police and immigration officers occasionally 
neglected to classify women working in exploitative conditions as 
victims because they willingly entered the country to work illegally. 
The government stated that although initially individuals may be 
identified as having broken a law, once they were recognized as 
trafficking victims, they received protection and were not held liable 
for any immigration laws they may have broken or any laws dealing with 
the type of employment they were forced to undertake.
    The MHLW encouraged police and immigration officers to use its 
preexisting network of shelters for domestic violence victims as 
temporary housing for foreign trafficking victims awaiting 
repatriation. The government repatriated 18 of 36 identified 
trafficking victims without referring them to the IOM for risk 
assessment and formal repatriation processing in 2008. According to the 
government, these early repatriations were at the request of the 
victim. The remaining 18 received services from government shelters. A 
significant percentage of the foreign women listed as victims of 
domestic violence may have been trafficking victims and were provided 
shelter. The government paid for victims' medical care and subsidized 
repatriation through a grant to the IOM.
    Typically, government shelters lacked the resources needed to 
provide the specialized services that trafficking victims often 
require. NGO shelters that specialized in assisting victims did not 
have full-time staff able to speak other languages at the level 
required for adequate counseling. The MHLW shelters had to rely on 
interpretation services from outside providers. While some victims 
received psychological care in government facilities, the large 
majority did not have adequate access to trained psychological 
counselors with native language ability. In cooperation with the IOM, 
the government began a program to train interpreters in appropriate 
counseling skills. However, due to the lack of such counseling, the 
isolation of victims from fellow nationals and other trafficking 
victims, and the lack of alternatives--particularly any option to work 
or generate income while in the country--foreign women staying at 
government shelters elected to repatriate as quickly as possible. 
Although the government reserved funds to subsidize victims' stays in 
private shelters, the majority of victims were referred to public 
shelters. While the government claimed that victims were eligible for 
special stay status as a legal alternative to repatriation in cases 
where victims would face hardship or retribution, there were very few 
cases of a victim staying in country for more than a few months, and 
these usually were victims in private shelters or who had found NGO 
support.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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.
    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 $425) per vacant 
position per month. Public employment of persons with disabilities 
exceeded the minimum, but according to MHLW statistics the private 
sector lagged despite increases over previous years. In a 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 as a result, 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.
    According to NGOs and physicians, persons with mental illnesses 
also faced stigmatization and both educational and occupational 
barriers. Mental health professionals said 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.--Burakumin (descendants of 
feudal era ``outcasts'' ) and ethnic minorities experienced varying 
degrees of societal discrimination. The approximately three million 
burakumin, although not subject to governmental discrimination, 
frequently were victims of entrenched societal discrimination, 
including restricted access to housing, education, and employment 
opportunities. Discrimination persisted extensively, mostly outside the 
major metropolitan areas.
    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, and employment 
opportunities. 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, although MOJ statistics showed that the rate 
of ``foreigner'' -committed crimes, excepting crimes such as illegal 
entry and overstay, was lower than the crime rate for citizens. Long-
term foreign residents, including naturalized Japanese citizens, 
continued to report occasional instances of being targeted, 
particularly by the police. Independent observers reported that police 
asked foreigners to give urine samples on several occasions for no 
other reason than that they appeared to be foreign.
    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.
    There were approximately 600,000 ethnic Koreans who were permanent 
residents or citizens. In general their acceptance by society was 
steadily improving. As a result there was a continuing increase in the 
number of ethnic Koreans applying for and being granted citizenship 
(approximately 10,000 a year). 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 as 
being equivalent to a 12-year program could take the entrance exam.
    The courts ruled against the decisions of authorities to reject the 
use of city halls and municipal facilities by North Korean-affiliated 
groups. Isolated acts of threats and violence against Koreans continued 
to be reported, especially after North Korean missile tests.

    Indigenous People.--Although the Ainu enjoyed the same rights as 
all other citizens, when clearly identifiable as Ainu they faced 
discrimination. In June 2008 the Diet unanimously passed a resolution 
recognizing the Ainu as an indigenous people. In August the government 
opened the Ainu Affairs Comprehensive Policy Office, an interagency 
organization in charge of launching, steering, and promoting Ainu 
policies as a successor to the governmental advisory panel on Ainu 
issues. 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 October 2008 advising it to designate both the Ainu and the 
Ryukyumin (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 regardless of whether the ``Ryukyumin/Okinawans'' are 
recognized as an indigenous people, it had made efforts to preserve and 
draw on Okinawan traditions and promote Okinawan culture in line with 
its plan for development and promotion in Okinawa.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--No laws criminalize homosexual 
practices or protect against discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation. However, NGOs that advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual, 
and transgender persons noted that on some occasions such persons 
suffered from bullying, harassment, and violence.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
    Many foreign university professors, especially women, complained of 
discrimination, noting that there were few tenured foreign professors. 
With few exceptions, the majority of universities, including national 
universities, hired foreign academics on short-term contracts without 
the possibility of tenure.

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. Approximately 18.1 percent of the total workforce was 
unionized.
    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.
    In general, unions in the private sector have the right to strike, 
and workers exercised this right in practice. However, workers in 
sectors providing essential services, including electric power 
generation and transmission, transportation and railways, 
telecommunications, medical care and public health, and postal service, 
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, 
public employees and employees involved in providing essential services 
(approximately 5.5 percent of the total workforce of 66.5 million) are 
exempt from this right. 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. Approximately one third 
of workers were part-time or nonregular and difficult to organize for 
collective bargaining purposes. The result was that a significant 
proportion of the workforce did not enjoy the right to collective 
bargaining because they were in prohibited public employee or essential 
service jobs, worked for a form of company not legally considered an 
employer, or were in part-time jobs that made collective bargaining 
difficult.
    There were no reports of antiunion discrimination or other forms of 
employer interference in union functions. The increased use of short-
term contracts, often in violation of the Labor Standards Law, not only 
undermined regular employment but also frustrated organizing efforts. 
According to a 2008 official survey, 34.5 per cent of all employees 
were nonregular workers.
    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. Most trafficking victims were foreign women who 
migrated to the country seeking work but were subjected to debt bondage 
and forced prostitution (see section 6). Workers who entered the 
country illegally or who overstayed their visas also were at risk for 
these practices, including nonpayment or underpayment of wages. Some 
companies forced foreign laborers in the trainee visa program to work 
illegal overtime, refused to pay them allowances, controlled their 
movement and travel documents, and forced them to deposit paychecks 
into company-controlled accounts. The law and MOJ guidelines prohibit 
these practices. In July the government passed an amendment to the 
Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act that grants full labor 
law protection to foreign trainees in the first year of their program 
following an initial three-month internship period. 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.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law bans the exploitation of children in the workplace, and the 
government effectively implemented the law. The MHLW is responsible for 
enforcement. 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages are set on a 
prefectural and industry basis, with the input of tripartite (workers, 
employers, and public interest) advisory councils. Employers covered by 
a minimum wage must post the concerned minimum wages, and compliance 
with minimum wages was considered widespread. Minimum wage rates varied 
according to prefecture, from 618 yen ($5.74) to 739 yen ($6.54) per 
hour. 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 above 40 in a week or eight in a 
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. According to the Ministry of 
Labor, between 2004 and the end of 2008, 1,608 applications were made 
by survivors seeking recognition of a deceased as a ``karoshi'' (death 
from overwork) victim. The ministry officially recognized 1,576 of 
these applications as karoshi victims.
    According to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, companies 
increasingly hired workers on a part-time, contract, or nonregular 
basis. Such workers made up one-third of the labor force and worked for 
lower wages, often with less job security and benefits than career 
workers and sometimes in precarious working conditions. Other groups 
argued that the labor system had been too rigid before regulations 
changed to allow this type of work. One of the ostensible goals of the 
Revised Part-Time Work Law, which came into force in April 2008, was to 
provide equality for part-time workers, the majority of whom are women, 
in terms of wages and training. However, to qualify, the 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.
    Activist groups claimed 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, in the country, 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.
    NGOs and the media reported abuses of the ``foreign trainee'' 
program, a government-sponsored training program facilitated by the 
Japan International Training Cooperation Organization. In some 
companies trainees reportedly were forced to work unpaid overtime and 
received less than the minimum wage or even the legally required 
stipend level for their first ``trainee'' year. 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.'' In 2008 the Justice Ministry 
confirmed that 452 companies and other organizations that accepted 
foreign trainees were involved in illegal practices, of which an 
estimated 60 percent involved violations of labor-related laws, 
including unpaid wages and overtime allowances. However, there are no 
criminal penalties for companies found in violation of laws and 
regulation. Although Labor Standard Inspection Bodies identified more 
than 1,200 violations of labor laws in 2006 alone, there were only two 
convictions for labor trafficking during the past three years. 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 34 trainees died in FY2008. Sixteen of them died of brain 
and heart diseases often caused by long working hours. Experts in 
karoshi said that there was a high possibility that they died from 
overwork.
    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.

                               __________

                                KIRIBATI

    Kiribati is a constitutional multiparty republic with a population 
of approximately 92,500. 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. Civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security 
forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing 
with individual instances of abuse. Violence and discrimination against 
women, child abuse, and commercial sexual exploitation of children 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 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./n

    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./n
    At year's end the prison system held 85 inmates (84 men and one 
woman); approximately 3 percent of male inmates were juveniles (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.

    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 were generally respected in 
practice. Many individuals were released on their own recognizance 
pending trial, and bail was granted routinely for many offenses. The 
law requires arrested individuals be informed of their rights, which 
include the right to legal counsel during questioning and the right not 
to incriminate themselves. Two police officers must be present at all 
times during questioning of detainees, who also are provided the option 
of writing and reviewing statements given to police. 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./n

    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 right to confront witnesses, 
present evidence, and appeal convictions. Defendants facing serious 
criminal charges are entitled to free legal representation. Procedural 
safeguards are based on 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./n
    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./n
    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. Several other organizations, such as the 
Kiribati Protestant Church, also published weekly newspapers./n
    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./n

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on the 
Internet or reports 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. 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 2008./n

    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./n

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were isolated reports of 
societal discrimination against religious groups viewed as outside the 
mainstream; in a few cases, traditional village leaders have prevented 
such groups from proselytizing or holding meetings in their villages. 
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. There was no known Jewish 
community in the country.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.
    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons/n
    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./n
    The occasion 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./n
    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./n

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or 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. 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. 
Elected village councils run local governments in consultation with 
traditional village elders.
    In July the traditional elders' association of Maiana Island 
demanded the island's elected mayor and council vacate office and a new 
council election be held. The council refused and took the matter to 
court; the High Court decided in favor of the council. However, 
subsequently the mayor's house was burned down, and the mayor and 
council members resigned in August.
    There were two women in the 45-member legislature. Several 
permanent secretaries were women./n
    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.
    In March, together with Nauru and Tuvalu, the country signed a 
memorandum of understanding to establish a subregional audit support 
program, a new 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 specific law 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.
    The government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations. There were visits from UN officials, including officials 
from the UN Children's Fund and the UN Development Program, during the 
year. In December a team from the Fiji-based Regional Resource Rights 
Team of the Secretariat of the South Pacific Community visited the 
country to consult with the government and nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs) on legal reform to address violence against 
women./n
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./n

    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.
    A Kiribati Family Health and Safety Study prepared by the 
Secretariat of the Pacific Community estimated 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./n
    Prostitution is not illegal; however, procuring sex and managing 
brothels are illegal. The lack of a law against prostitution hindered 
the ability of the police to restrict these activities.
    The law does not specifically prohibit sex tourism. There were 
reports of foreign fishermen engaging in commercial sexual acts with 
minors. Obscene or indecent behavior is banned.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, which sometimes 
occurred but generally was not regarded as a major problem.
    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 obstetric and postnatal care, was 
available from public health hospitals and centers. Women and men also 
had equal access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections, including HIV./nThe 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. 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./nThe Citizenship Act contains some discriminatory 
provisions. For example, the foreign wife of a male citizen acquires 
Kiribati citizenship automatically through the marriage; however, the 
foreign husband of a female citizen does not. A man who applies for 
Kiribati 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./nChildren
    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 Kiribati 
engaged in commercial sexual exploitation of women, some of whom were 
underage. Research conducted in South Tarawa indicated there were fewer 
than 20 girls under the age of 18 engaged in such prostitution. Some of 
the 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 the legal age of consent 
is 15, hindered police efforts to stem the practice./n
    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 above age 12 but under age 15 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons, 
and there were no reports persons were trafficked to, from, or through 
the country. There were incidences of commercial sexual exploitation of 
underage girls within the country.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip/./n

    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 mental or physical 
disabilities. Accessibility of buildings for persons with disabilities 
has not been mandated, and there were no special accommodations for 
persons with disabilities. The central hospital on Tarawa had a wing 
for persons with mental disabilities, and there was a psychiatrist 
working on Tarawa.
    There was no government agency specifically responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities./n

    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. Societal discrimination and violence based on 
sexual orientation or gender identity were not significant problems.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal discrimination 
and violence against persons with HIV/AIDS were not significant 
problems. According to Ministry of Health statistics, 20 women and 32 
men had AIDS or were HIV positive. A government-run HIV/AIDS taskforce 
coordinated outreach and educational activities concerning HIV/AIDS./n
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.
    More than 80 percent of the adult workforce was occupied in fishing 
or subsistence farming. An estimated 10 percent of wage-earning workers 
were union members. 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./n
    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./n

    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. 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 reports of antiunion discrimination, 
and there were mechanisms to resolve any complaints that might arise./n
    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./n

    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.
    Underage girls were solicited for commercial sex.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The wage-earning workforce 
consisted of approximately 8,000 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 
$1.45 and $1.50) 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 (80 percent of the wage-earning workforce) 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) 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 were not free or fair. There was no civilian control of 
the security forces, and members of the security forces committed 
numerous serious human rights abuses.
    The government's human rights record remained deplorable, and the 
government continued to commit numerous serious abuses. 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 were 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. 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 and 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. An 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, Republic of Korea (ROK 
or South Korea) NGOs and think tanks reported.
    In the past 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 security forces 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.
    Press and South Korean NGOs reported that public executions were on 
the rise, but no statistics were available to document the reported 
trend.
    In February two officials from the Ministry of Electric Industry 
were reportedly executed for ``shutting down the electricity supply'' 
to the Sunjin Steel Mill in Kimchaek, North Hamkyung Province (see 
section 4).
    In June the navy allegedly killed three persons fleeing to South 
Korea on a small boat (see section 2.d.).
    Also in June an NGO reported four inmates and a guard at Yodok 
prison camp were killed following a gas explosion. The incident 
reportedly occurred while five workers were unloading drums of 
gasoline. Two of the prisoners reportedly died in the explosion, and 
guards shot and killed two others. The guard on night duty who survived 
the accident reportedly was sentenced to death.
    An NGO reported that in June four soldiers beat and killed a 
security guard after he refused to give them the potatoes he was 
guarding. Security agents reportedly arrested the soldiers. There was 
no additional information available regarding the soldiers' status at 
year's end.
    It was unknown whether the government prosecuted or otherwise 
disciplined members of the security forces for killings that occurred 
in 2008, including the July 2008 shooting by security forces that 
killed a visiting South Korean tourist who strayed outside the boundary 
of the Mt. Kumgang Tourism Park.
    During the year the brother of Son Jong-nam reported he believed 
that in December 2008 officials executed Son Jong-nam, who was 
sentenced to death in 2006 for maintaining contacts with organizations 
outside the country.

    b. Disappearance.--Reports indicated 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.
    There were no new developments in the 2008 reported disappearance 
of 22 North Koreans who were repatriated after floating into South 
Korean waters.
    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 480 
of its civilians, abducted or detained by DPRK authorities since the 
end of the Korean War, remained in the DPRK. The ROK government 
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 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.
    A 2008 Washington Post article on Shin Dong-hyuk, a defector born 
and confined in a political prison camp in Kaechon in South Pyongan 
Province for 22 years, stated that beatings and torture were common 
within the camp. Shin reported that he was tortured with hot coals 
while being hung from the ceiling after members of his family tried to 
escape from the camp.
    The North Korean Human Rights Database Center's 2009 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 tasks 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. Defectors claimed the camps covered areas as large 
as 200 square miles and contained mass graves, barracks, worksites, and 
other prison facilities. The Washington Post reported in July 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.
    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, 
such as defection, 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. 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.
    The government did not permit inspection of prisons or detention 
camps by human rights monitors.

    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.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The internal security 
apparatus includes the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the State 
Security Department (SSD). Corruption in the security forces was 
endemic. The security forces do not have adequate mechanisms to 
investigate possible security force abuses.
    The country has an estimated 1.1 million active duty military 
personnel, in addition to a reserve force of approximately three 
million. The military conscripts citizens into military service at age 
17, and they serve for four to 10 years.
    The formal public security structure was augmented by a pervasive 
system of informers throughout the society. Surveillance of citizens, 
both physical and electronic, also 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. It maintains law and order; investigates common criminal 
cases; manages the prison system and traffic control; 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.
    In 2008 one South Korean NGO reported that the role of the police 
increased significantly. The increased responsibility reportedly caused 
tension between the police and the military.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--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 People's Safety Agency 
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. It was not until the completion of 
prosecutors' investigation that the court made an official decision on 
the case. The change was made reportedly because of corruption among 
prosecutors.
    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.
    In January the Sooseong Reeducation Center reportedly doubled the 
sentences of inmates near the end of their three- and four-year terms.
    In March a ROK national was apprehended at the Kaesong Industrial 
Complex and detained for four months without being allowed to speak 
with ROK government officials.

    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.''

    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 show 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, most inmates at prison camps were sent there without a trial 
and without knowing the charges against them.
    A paper published during the year reported that only 13 of 102 
defectors who had been imprisoned said they received a trial.

    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 a type of political prison camps known as kwan li so. The 
government considered critics of the regime to be political criminals. 
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.

    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.
    In October a South Korean NGO reported that after soldiers in South 
Pyongan Province found pamphlets with antigovernment messages, 
counterintelligence and security agents conducted an investigation of 
organizations and homes with computers in the region to determine the 
source.
    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 subdivided so 
telephone use remained a privilege.
    During the year a broader range of citizens gained access to an 
internal mobile phone network with an estimated 120,000 users. The 
system was segregated from systems used by foreigners and could not be 
used for international calls. In the border regions with China, an 
unauthorized mobile phone network was reported to exist for use in 
making international calls. Those caught using cell phones illegally 
were arrested and required to pay a fine or face charges of espionage.
    The government divided citizens into strict loyalty-based classes, 
which determined access to employment, higher education, place of 
residence, medical facilities, and certain stores.
    Collective punishment was practiced. Entire families, including 
children, have been imprisoned when one member of the family was 
accused of a crime. For example, a decree on cutting electric power or 
communication lines and conducting illegal drug transactions states 
that a violator's family shall be ``expelled.''
    In September an international NGO reported that a 76-year-old 
former security officer was executed for a crime during the Korean War. 
His two sons, three daughters, and five grandsons were sent to a 
political detention center.

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.
    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, received 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 government condemned the activities 
of a defector-run broadcasting station in South Korea.

    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; selected research institutions, universities, and 
factories; and a few individuals. The Korean Communication Corporation 
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 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 March 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 and academic 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.
    The government continued its attempt to limit foreign influences on 
its citizens. According to an NGO, the government warned children that 
imitating foreign songs and dances would result in detention in a 
discipline center. 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 on 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. One South Korean NGO reported in March that four 
university students in Sinuiju were publicly criticized and expelled 
from school for watching foreign movies. The same NGO reported in April 
that two persons who sold South Korean dramas were put on public trial 
and sent to a reeducation center. The NGO reported a crackdown on 
illegal videos and CDs in South Pyongsung Province in September. 
Residents caught with any suspicious items were arrested, interrogated, 
and either sent to a reeducation center or a city discipline center.
    One NGO reported that inspectors confiscated televisions, VCRs, and 
unregistered computers, holding them until a bribe was paid. Tetris was 
the only foreign computer game allowed in North Korea. However, 
according to an NGO, children of high-ranking officials could obtain 
and play foreign films and games on their computers.

    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.

    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.--The constitution provides for ``freedom of 
religious belief'' ; however, reports indicated that in practice the 
government severely restricted religious freedom unless supervised by 
officially recognized groups linked to the government. The law also 
stipulates that religion ``should not be used for purposes of dragging 
in foreign powers or endangering public security.'' Genuine religious 
freedom did not exist.
    The personality cult of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il continued to 
resemble a state religion that provided a spiritual underpinning for 
the regime. Refusal to accept the leader as the supreme authority was 
regarded as opposition to the national interest and continued to result 
in severe punishment.
    The Korea Institute for National Unification's 2009 White Paper on 
Human Rights in North Korea concluded that the regime used authorized 
religious entities for external propaganda and political purposes and 
strictly barred local citizens from entering places of worship. For 
example, funds and goods that were donated to government-approved 
churches were channeled to the KWP by the government.
    According to defector reports, the government reportedly was 
concerned that faith-based South Korean relief and refugee assistance 
efforts along the border with China had both humanitarian and political 
goals, including overthrow of the regime, and alleged that these groups 
were involved in intelligence gathering. In 2007 Asia News reported 
that the army published and distributed a pamphlet to soldiers warning 
them about the dangers of Christianity and urging vigilance against its 
spread within the armed forces.
    There continued to be reports of underground Christian churches. 
The government repressed and persecuted unauthorized religious groups. 
Defectors reported that persons engaged in religious proselytizing, 
persons with ties to overseas religious groups, and repatriated persons 
who contacted foreigners while outside the country were arrested and 
subjected to harsh punishment. Defectors asserted that citizens who 
received help from foreign churches were considered political criminals 
and received harsher treatment, including imprisonment, prolonged 
detention without charge, torture, and execution. Former North Korean 
security agents who defected to South Korea reported intensified police 
activity aimed at halting religious activity at the border.
    According to the Associated Press, authorities publicly executed a 
woman on June 16 for distributing the Bible and sent her husband and 
three children to a prison camp.
    Religious and human rights groups outside the country continued to 
provide numerous unconfirmed reports that members of underground 
churches were beaten, arrested, detained in prison camps, tortured, or 
killed because of their religious beliefs.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was no information on 
societal violence, harassment, or discrimination against members of 
religious groups.
    There was no known Jewish population, and there were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 attempt to control internal travel. The government did not 
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.
    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. An NGO reported that in the provinces along the 
Chinese border, persons traveling without authorization papers were 
arrested and fined 100,000 won (approximately $700). (Note: the 
government revalued its currency on November 30. Approximations in this 
report are based on the prerevalued rates.)
    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 regime limited 
issuance of exit visas for foreign travel to officials and trusted 
businessmen, artists, athletes, academics, and religious figures. 
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 both sides of 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. According to an NGO, on February 10, a navy patrol 
boat captured a fishing boat that crossed into international waters; 
they arrested the captain and crew for attempting to flee to South 
Korea. Authorities reportedly beat one crewmember to death during a 
preliminary hearing. Six crewmembers were released, but five, including 
the captain, remained in custody.
    Substantial numbers of citizens have crossed the border into China 
over the years, and NGO estimates of those who lived there during the 
year ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. 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 gained asylum 
in third countries during the year.
    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.'' An NGO 
reported that minors over age 14 found crossing the border were tried 
as adults. 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 regime 
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). 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.

    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 (KPA), 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.
    The government justified its dictatorship with nationalism and 
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. 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.''
    Women made up 20 percent of the membership of the SPA as of the 
2003 elections. Women consituted approximately 4.5 percent of the 
membership of the Central Committee of the KWP but held few key KWP 
leadership positions.
    The country is racially and ethnically homogenous. Officially there 
are no minorities, and there was, therefore, no information on minority 
representation in the government.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    It was 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.
    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.
    An international NGO reported numerous examples of bribery at all 
levels of government. For example, applicants paid bribes of up to 
500,000 won (approximately $3,500) to secure a spot at a professional 
medical school. Health examiners accepted bribes to evaluate healthy 
persons as sick so they would be taken off worker attendance sheets.
    A South Korean NGO reported that bribes were necessary to obtain a 
divorce. According to the report, 200,000 won (approximately $1,400) 
was reported to secure a divorce trial within two months; it takes six 
months to one year to get a divorce with a smaller bribe.
    A South Korean NGO reported that party leaders took advantage of 
their positions, using them to make money, and that party leaders were 
exempt from labor mobilization campaigns.
    The same NGO also reported several attempts by the government to 
suppress corruption. It reported that public housing officials in at 
least five cities were dismissed from their jobs and sent to work camps 
for living in new or luxurious homes paid for with government funds. It 
reported that in February authorities publicly executed two senior 
electricity officials in Pyongsung for overcharging for electricity and 
diverting electricity from the military to businesses who were bribing 
them. A public conference was held in Sinuiju to showcase misconduct 
and bribery engaged in by prosecutors. These examples were 
illustrative, not exhaustive, and the approximate number of cases 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 
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 continued to prevent the UN Special 
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, Vitit 
Muntarbhorn, 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 
and forced abortions.
    Violence against women has been reported as a significant problem 
both inside and outside the home.
    According to press reports, prostitution is illegal; there was no 
available information on the prevalence of prostitution in the country. 
During the year South Korean NGOs reported that prostitution was on the 
rise. In August an NGO reported that authorities uncovered a 
prosititution ring in Hyeson, Yangang Province, which included teenage 
prostitutes. There continued to be reports of trafficking in women and 
young girls who had crossed into China.
    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 constitution states that ``women hold equal social status and 
rights with men'' ; however, although women were represented 
proportionally in the labor force, few women reached high levels of the 
party or the government.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents (jus 
sanguinis)and in some cases birth within the country's territory (jus 
soli).
    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.
    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.''
    On April 21, a South Korean NGO reported that authorities sentenced 
middle school students at Osanduk Middle School in Hoeryeong, North 
Hamgyong Province, to work on collective farms for life because the 
students refused to sign KPA enrollment petitions.
    According to NGO reports, there was a large population of street 
children, many of them orphans, who were denied entrance to public 
schools. An NGO provided several reports of homeless children being 
rounded up from detention centers and welfare institutions and sent to 
work on collective farms or at construction sites. However, one report 
indicated that 63 of 80 children sent to work at Mount Baekdu escaped 
to resume their lives on the street.

    Trafficking in Persons.--Article 7 of the 1946 Law on Equality of 
the Sexes forbids trafficking in women and states that licensed or 
unlicensed prostitution shall be forbidden and offenders shall be 
punished. It was unclear whether this law was used to prosecute 
traffickers. The laws reportedly used to prosecute traffickers sought 
to limit crossborder migration and often harmed trafficking victims. 
The government claimed crackdowns on ``trafficking networks'' were a 
result of its desire to control all activity within its borders, 
particularly illegal emigration, rather than to combat trafficking in 
persons. Trafficking in persons and trafficking of women and young 
girls into and within China continued to be widely reported. According 
to some estimates, more than 80 percent of North Koreans living outside 
the country were victims of human trafficking. The government 
reportedly continued to use forced labor as part of an established 
system of political repression.
    Some North Korean women and girls who voluntarily crossed into 
China were picked up by trafficking rings and sold as brides to Chinese 
nationals or placed in forced labor. In other cases, North Korean women 
and girls were lured out of the country by the promise of food, jobs, 
and freedom, only to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or 
exploitive labor arrangements. A network of smugglers facilitated this 
trafficking. Many victims of trafficking, unable to speak Chinese, were 
held as virtual prisoners, and some were forced to work as prostitutes. 
Traffickers sometimes abused or physically scarred the victims to 
prevent them from escaping. Officials facilitated trafficking by 
accepting bribes to allow individuals to cross the border into China.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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. The North Korean 
Federation for the Protection of the Disabled has endorsed this number. 
A foreign NGO reported that the North Korean Federation for the 
Protection of the Disabled 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.
    Social Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on Sexual 
Orienation and Gender Indentity
    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. Factory and farm 
workers were organized into councils, which had an impact on management 
decisions. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, 
North Korean law does not contain penalties for employers who interfere 
in union functions, nor does it protect workers who might attempt to 
engage in union activities from employer retaliation.
    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 117 
South Korean firms were operational at the KIC as of December, and 
approximately 41,900 North Korean workers were employed at KIC as of 
November. 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 $57.88 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 $85 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 to the workers, the wages 
were in fact paid to 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. In 
December 2008 the government restricted border crossings and South 
Koreans' access to the KIC, protesting what it called the ``hostile 
policies'' of the South Korean government. On May 15, North Korea 
threatened to end operations at Kaesong and cancel all KIC-related 
inter-Korean agreements. In June North Korea demanded that wages for 
its workers at Kaesong be increased to $300 per month, with annual 
increases of 10 to 12 percent. These demands were addressed by the 
South Korean government with an increase of 5 percent and an agreement 
to construct a children's nursery. On September 1, North Korea 
restarted regular border crossings. As of September 11, North Korea 
abandoned its demands for significant wage increases in 2009.

    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 a 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 and tending crops, continued to 
be the common fate of political prisoners.
    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, 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 South Korean NGO reported that a decision made by the city party 
in Hoeryung, North Hamgyong Province, to punish absent workers prompted 
factories to send every worker who was illegally absent for 15 to 20 
days during the 150-day battle campaign to the municipal reeducation 
center. The same NGO reported that youth and housewives in North 
Hamgyong Province were forced to participate in the 150-day battle 
without compensation.

    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. According to a South Korean press 
report, the government required high school and college students to 
participate in unpaid ``voluntary work,'' particularly rice-planting 
efforts, during their vacation periods. According to a South Korean 
NGO, in April students were forced to graduate early and join the 
military. An international NGO reported that students at a middle 
school in Soonchan, South Pyongan Province, were forced to work as 
night security guards in the unheated building after new electronic 
devices were stolen from the school.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--No reliable data was 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. While education and medical care 
technically remained free, educational materials and medicines appeared 
available only for purchase in markets. 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 suffered human rights abuses and 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 April 2008 the 
Grand National Party obtained a majority of National Assembly seats in 
a free and fair election. Civilian authorities maintained effective 
control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Women, persons 
with disabilities, and minorities continued to face societal 
discrimination. Rape, domestic violence, and child abuse remained 
serious 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.
    Official figures indicated that hazing was a factor in many of the 
356 suicides by military personnel since 2004.

    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 suspects, and officials 
generally observed this prohibition in practice.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards. The government 
permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights observers, and 
such visits occurred during the year.
    In December 2008 the government passed the Act on Sentence 
Execution and Treatment of Detainees, a new petition system that better 
accommodates detainees who want to formally accuse prison officials of 
abuse. The system provides detainees easier access to petition 
procedures and assists with the petition process, whereas before, 
petitioners had to submit their grievances directly to the Ministry of 
Justice (MOJ) with limited support mechanisms. As of October, 449 such 
petitions were submitted to the MOJ's Human Rights Violations Center. 
Of those petitions, 166 were dismissed, 226 were referred to other 
government offices, 31 were rejected, 23 had no action taken, and 53 
were pending a decision. As of October there were 297 petitions 
alleging human rights violations by detention facility officials. Of 
those cases, 107 were withdrawn, 115 were rejected, and the remaining 
75 were under investigation.
    The MOJ reported the total of number of prisoners as of December 
was 48,228. Of that total, 2,603 were female and 472 were juveniles.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions. However, the National Security Law (NSL) grants the 
authorities powers to detain, arrest, and imprison persons who commit 
acts the government views as intended to endanger the ``security of the 
state.'' Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continued to call for 
reform or abolishment of the law, contending that its provisions did 
not define prohibited activity clearly. The MOJ maintained that the 
courts had established legal precedents for strict interpretation of 
the law that preclude arbitrary application. The number of NSL 
investigations and arrests has dropped significantly in recent years.
    During the year 34 persons were prosecuted for violating the NSL; 
of those, 14 were convicted and 20 were awaiting trial. In 2008, 27 
persons were prosecuted for alleged NSL violations. Of those, seven 
were found guilty--two were serving prison sentences, and five received 
suspended sentences and were on probation. The remaining 20 cases were 
pending at year's end.
    The secondary school teacher indicted in August 2008 for violating 
the NSL by distributing banned material remained free on bail while 
awaiting trial. During the year the MOJ reported dropping the portion 
of the case related to the 1980 Kwangju uprising.
    Four members of an NGO detained and charged in September 2008 with 
illegal contact with Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or 
North Korea) 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 two 
members were given suspended sentences and probation. The NGO members 
appealed the sentences and filed a defamation claim against the 
government.
    A university professor found guilty of violating the NSL in 2007 
and sentenced to two years in jail had his sentence reduced to three 
years of probation. He appealed the conviction; 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 
(KNPA), and the government has effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption.
    On November 24, Amnesty International's secretary general called on 
the government to put in place mechanisms to improve and monitor 
policing. She highlighted the need for better police procedures for 
responding to public protests and arresting/detaining migrant workers.
    Local NGOs continued to assert that while hundreds of civilians 
were convicted of violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act, no riot 
police were prosecuted for allegedly abusing peaceful protesters.

    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 the 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 persons who 
voluntarily submit 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, but human rights lawyers stated that bail 
generally was not granted 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 
generally observed a defendant's right to a lawyer. During both 
detention and arrest periods, 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 being investigated. There were no reports of 
access to legal counsel being denied.

    Amnesty.--According to the MOJ, the government granted a special 
amnesty in August to approximately 1.5 million persons. Nearly all of 
the pardons were related to driver's license restrictions.

    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 government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases. The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The MOJ stated that no persons 
were incarcerated solely because of their political beliefs. The NGO 
Mingahyup claimed that as of August, the government had imprisoned 129 
persons for their political beliefs.
    In April a riot police conscript was sentenced to two years in 
prison for refusing to return to duty. He had ignored orders from his 
superiors to use violence against protesters during the 2008 beef 
protests.
    The country requires military service for all men, although 
mandatory service periods vary: 24 months for the army, 26 months for 
the navy, and 27 months for the air force. The law does not protect 
conscientious objectors, who can receive a maximum three-year prison 
sentence. The MOJ has noted that the law does not distinguish 
conscientious objectors from others who do not report for mandatory 
military service. The MOJ reported that there were 5,136 cases of 
Military Service Act violations, with 750 cases referred for trial and 
2,123 cases settled out of court.
    Watchtower International, a Jehovah's Witness organization that is 
actively engaged in lobbying the government on this issue, reported 
that as of April 1, there were 465 Jehovah's Witnesses and a handful of 
others serving an average of 14 months in prison for conscientious 
objection to military service.
    During the year the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced 
that it would not pursue the introduction of alternative service for 
conscientious objectors. The ministry cited a lack of public support as 
the primary reason for its decision; an MND-sponsored poll found that 
68 percent of the respondents opposed instituting alternative service, 
but an independent poll taken about the same time found that only 39 
percent were opposed. Meanwhile, the Jehovah's Witnesses reported that 
courts increasingly were sympathetic to conscientious objectors. In 
September 2008 a district court asked the Constitutional Court to 
review again the constitutionality of the Conscription Law. The request 
remained pending approval. The court ruled in 2002 and 2004 that the 
law is constitutional.

    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.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. Some human rights 
groups raised concerns about possible government wiretapping abuse. 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 
wiretappings increased from 608 in 2008 to more than 799 as of July.
    The government continued to require some released prisoners to 
report regularly to the police in accordance with the Security 
Surveillance Act.
    The NSL forbids citizens from listening to North Korean radio 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. 
However, under the NSL the government may limit the expression of ideas 
that praise or incite the activities of antistate individuals or 
groups.
    In September Reporters without Borders reported that four producers 
and one writer from the Munwha Broadcasting Corporation's PD Notebook 
program were arrested and charged with spreading false rumors about the 
alleged health risks of eating U.S. beef. The trial was ongoing at 
year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--The government blocked violent, sexually 
explicit, and gambling-oriented Web sites and required site operators 
to rate their site as harmful or not harmful 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.
    The law requires identity verification in order to post messages to 
Web sites with more than 300,000 visitors per day.
    According to 2008 Organization for Economic Cooperation and 
Development data, 95 percent of households had access to the Internet 
through broadband connections. The International Telecommunication 
Union reported that 76 percent of inhabitants used the Internet in 
2008. In addition to Internet access from home, public Internet rooms 
were widely available and inexpensive.
    NGOs from the Korean Network for International Human Rights and the 
Korea Press Consumerism Organization stated there was a significant 
increase in the enforcement of regulations on online speech, including 
criminal punishment for false communication, defamation, and other 
violations for online writers, particularly related to the 2008 
protests against U.S. beef imports.
    In January the blogger ``Minerva'' was arrested on charges of 
adversely affecting foreign exchange markets and ``undermining the 
nation's credibility'' by posting false information on a blog. 
``Minerva'' was acquitted in April. The National Human Rights 
Commission (NHRC) asked the government to review the constitutionality 
of the law used to arrest the blogger.
    The MOJ confirmed that the government convicted 15 online bloggers 
for interfering with local business after encouraging users to boycott 
the country's top newspapers and that more cases were awaiting trial at 
year's end. All postings related to the boycott were deleted.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were generally no 
government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.
    The law bans education workers from engaging in certain political 
activities. Offenders can serve up to one year in jail and be fined a 
maximum of 3.6 million won (approximately $3,000).
    The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology prosecuted 96 
teachers and 14 government employees from Gyeonggi Province for signing 
antigovernment petitions and unionizing. In December the head of 
education for the province was prosecuted for a breach of duty after 
attempting to postpone the punitive measures brought against the 
teachers. During the year one of the officials was convicted; the other 
trials were pending.

    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. The 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 had been 
responsible for violent protests in the past. NGOs reported that police 
continued to use excessive force in responding to protests.
    In January five squatters and one policeman were killed in a 
building fire in the Yongsan commercial zone. Local media and NGOs 
alleged that a police SWAT team used excessive force and neglected to 
take proper safety precautions while trying to remove 40 protesting 
squatters from the building.
    The MOJ confirmed that none of the 24 riot police accused of 
excessive violence during the 2008 beef protests were arrested; 16 
cases remained under investigation.

    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.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There is a small Jewish 
population that consists almost entirely of expatriates. There were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Most citizens could 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.
    In September NGO leaders reported that Dolksun Isa, secretary 
general of the World Uighur Congress, was detained at Incheon airport 
for 42 hours, allegedly at China's request. Although he was later 
released and safely returned home, the government prohibited Isa from 
entering the country and attending an NGO conference in Seoul, as he 
had initially planned. MOJ officials emphasized that Isa was denied 
entry under the immigration law, not for political reasons.
    The law does not include provisions for forced exile of its 
citizens, and the government did not employ it.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol. 
Its law provides for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the 
government has established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. The government routinely did not grant refugee status or 
asylum. 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.
    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.'' During the year the government 
recognized 22 asylum applicants as refugees, dismissed 203 cases, and 
rejected 994 applicants. A complex procedure and long delays in refugee 
status decision making continued to be problems. At year's end 
approximately 523 applications were pending decisions. Asylum seekers 
who were recognized as refugees received basic documentation but 
frequently encountered problems in exercising their rights. Like other 
foreigners, refugees frequently were subjected to various forms of 
informal discrimination.
    In May local NGOs reported that a female Muslim refugee applicant 
requested to be interviewed by a female asylum officer but was told 
that the male officer who interviewed her husband also had to interview 
her. After she and her husband refused due to their religious beliefs, 
she was asked to sign a form stating that she did not want an 
interview, thus relinquishing her right to apply for refugee status.
    Local NGOs reported that asylum seekers often faced challenges 
accessing legal assistance because of language barriers. In addition, 
immigration detention is not subject to judicial review, often leading 
to arbitrary and prolonged detention. For example, at year's end an 
Iranian national whose appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court had 
been in detention for almost four years.
    The government continued its longstanding policy of accepting 
refugees from the DPRK, who are entitled to ROK citizenship. The 
government resettled 2,952 North Korean 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 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. There were 41 
women in the 299-seat National Assembly, with three of 16 National 
Assembly committees chaired by women. Two of 13 Supreme Court justices 
and two of 15 cabinet ministers were women.
    There were no minorities in the National Assembly.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. The Korea 
Independent Commission Against Corruption stated that the overall 
``cleanliness level'' of the government for 2008 was 8.17 out of 10 
points, a slight decrease from 8.89 in 2007. There were reports of 
officials receiving bribes and violating election laws. According to 
the MOJ, 4,067 government officials were prosecuted for abuse of 
authority, bribery, embezzlement or misappropriation, and falsification 
of official documents. The National Assembly reported that out of the 
250 lawmakers facing indictment, 15 lawmakers were prosecuted for 
corruption and 12 were awaiting trial.
    By law public servants above a certain rank must register their 
assets, including how they were accumulated, thereby making their 
holdings public. Among the anticorruption agencies are the Board of 
Audit and Inspection and the Public Servants Ethics Committee. In 
February 2008 the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption, 
Ombudsman of Korea, and Administrative Appeals Commission were 
integrated to form the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.
    The country has a Freedom of Information Act; 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 
often were cooperative and responsive to their views. The government 
also was cooperative with international organizations. For example, UN 
Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang 
visited in September, and UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion 
and Expression Frank La Rue visited in October. In addition Amnesty 
International Secretary General Irene Khan visited in November.
    The NHRC is an independent government body established to protect 
and promote human rights; however, it has no enforcement powers and its 
decisions are not binding. The NHRC investigates complaints, issues 
policy recommendations, and conducts education campaigns. The NHRC 
largely has enjoyed the government's cooperation, received adequate 
resources, and was considered effective.
    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) continued to 
investigate incidents of possible abuse during the anti-Japanese 
independence movement, the Korean War, and during the country's former 
military regimes. As of September the TRC had confirmed 4,387 cases of 
human rights abuses, 50 incidents of mass killings and located 168 mass 
graves during its investigation process. Local NGOs expressed concern 
that the government may not extend the TRC's mandate, which expires in 
April 2010. On November 26, the TRC claimed that ROK security forces 
rounded up and executed at least 4,934 individuals suspected of being 
Communists between June and September 1950, during the opening weeks of 
the Korean War. The TRC recommended that the government offer an 
official apology and enact legislation to provide compensation for the 
alleged killings.

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 generally 
respected these provisions. However, traditional attitudes limited 
opportunities for women, persons with disabilities, and ethnic 
minorities. While courts have jurisdiction to decide discrimination 
claims, many of these cases instead were handled by the NHRC. During 
the year, 1,115 such cases were brought before the commission.

    Women.--Rape remained a serious problem. Although there is no 
specific statute that defines spousal rape as illegal, the courts have 
established a precedent by prosecuting spouses in such cases. The MOJ 
stated that there were 8,746 reports of rape or sexual violence during 
the year. Of these cases, 3,858 were prosecuted during the year. 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.
    Violence against women remained a problem. During the year the MOJ 
registered 12,132 cases of domestic violence, and 1,262 persons were 
prosecuted, while 4,579 were filed as family protection cases and 6,215 
were not charged. According to a Ministry of Gender and Equality (MOGE) 
survey, approximately 40 percent of all married women were victims of 
domestic violence. 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 five 
years in prison and fined up to seven million won (approximately 
$5,985). Offenders also may be placed on probation or ordered to see 
court-designated counselors. The law also requires police to respond 
immediately to reports of domestic violence, and they generally were 
responsive.
    Prostitution is illegal but widespread. The police continued to 
crack down on alleged prostitution-related establishments. The 
government allows for the prosecution of citizens who pay for sex or 
commit acts of child sexual exploitation in other countries. The Act on 
the Prevention of the Sex Trade and Protection of Victims Thereof, 
which entered into effect in September 2008, further stipulates that 
the MOGE complete a report every three years on the status of domestic 
prostitution in addition to the involvement of citizens in sex tourism 
and the sex trade abroad. NGOs continued to express concern that sex 
tourism to China and Southeast Asia was becoming more prevalent.
    The law obligates companies and organizations to take preventive 
measures against sexual harassment, but it continued to be a problem. 
The NHRC received 165 cases of alleged sexual harassment during the 
year. According to the NHRC, remedies included issuance of a 
recommendation for redress, conciliation, mutual settlement, and 
resolution during investigation. The NHRC lacks the authority to impose 
punitive measures, which must be pursued through the court system.
    The law allows couples and individuals to decide freely the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. The Ministry of Gender and 
Equality reported that there was a strong reluctance to have children 
due to the high cost of childrearing and the challenges of balancing 
work-life commitments. Under the Standard Act on Low Birth and Aging 
Society passed in 2005, the government established various polices to 
encourage persons to have children, such as medical subsidies for 
pregnant women, maternity leave for a maximum of one year, and 
profamily workplace programs.
    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 
remarried women to change their children's family name to their new 
husband's name. Women enjoy the same legal rights under the 
constitution as men.
    The Ministry of Labor (MOL) reported that 42 percent of newly 
created jobs in the financial services sector during 2008 were filled 
by women. In a national poll conducted by the MOL from April through 
July, 82 percent of the respondents stated that gender discrimination 
had decreased over recent years. However, 47 percent of those polled 
stated that discrimination in the workplace remained a problem.
    The number of woman in entry-level civil service positions and new 
diplomatic positions continued to increase. However, women continued to 
experience pay discrimination for substantially similar work. The MOGE 
reported that there were a growing number of companies choosing not to 
hire women because the law requires that they receive maternity leave. 
Women returning to work after maternity leave often were assigned to 
low-level, low-paying jobs. Relative to men few women worked in 
managerial positions or earned more than a median income.
    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 
(approximately $4,275).

    Children.--Citizenship is based on parentage (jus sanguinis), not 
place of birth, and persons must demonstrate their family genealogy as 
proof of citizenship. Citizenship is also given in circumstances where 
parentage is unclear if a person is stateless. The government allows 
anyone 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.
    From January through December 2008, a total of 7,219 child abuse 
cases were reported to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family 
Affairs. The MOGE maintained four centers that provided counseling, 
treatment, and legal assistance to child victims of sexual violence.
    The law establishes a minimum sentence of 25 years for the 
brokerage and sale of the sexual services of persons younger than 19. 
It also establishes prison terms for persons convicted of the purchase 
of sexual services of youth under age 19. The Ministry for Health, 
Welfare, and Family Affairs publicizes the names of those who commit 
sex offenses against minors. The law provides for prison terms of up to 
three years or a fine of up to 20 million won (approximately $17,100) 
for owners of entertainment establishments who hire persons under 19. 
The commission's definition of ``entertainment establishment'' includes 
facilities such as restaurants and cafes where children work as 
prostitutes.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 13 years of age. The law 
stipulates that punishment for statutory rape of a minor and the sex 
trafficking of a minor be a maximum of three years in prison and/or a 
2.4 million won fine (approximately $20,000); however, the MOJ reported 
that the punishment for such cases varied.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
in persons; however, there were reports that persons were trafficked 
to, from, through, and within the country. Women from Russia, other 
countries of the former Soviet Union, China, Mongolia, the Philippines, 
and other Southeast Asian countries were trafficked to the country for 
sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. They were recruited 
personally or answered advertisements and were flown to Korea, often 
with entertainer or tourist visas. Some female workers on E-6 
(entertainment) visas, who were recruited as singers, were trafficked 
by their employers/managers and effectively detained by their 
employers.
    An increasing challenge was the number of women from less-developed 
countries recruited for marriage to Korean men through international 
marriage brokers. Some, upon arrival in the country, were subjected to 
sexual exploitation, debt bondage, and involuntary servitude. In some 
instances, once these visa recipients arrived in the country, employers 
illegally held victims' passports.
    Local women were trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation to 
the United States, sometimes through Canada and Mexico, as well as to 
other countries such as Australia and Japan. Labor trafficking 
continued to be a problem, and some employers allegedly withheld the 
passports and wages of foreign workers. Migrants seeking opportunities 
in the country were believed to have become victims of trafficking as 
well. The MOL's Employment Permit System (EPS) was used to reduce the 
role of private labor agencies and recruiters, who may have employed 
exploitative practices. Nevertheless, some migrant workers continued to 
incur large debts to pay exorbitant broker fees for work in the 
country. Migrant workers' residence status was tied to their position 
with their employers, which in some cases exposed them to exploitation 
and abuse. There were reports that human traffickers illegally used ROK 
passports for the purpose of human trafficking. There was no evidence 
that officials were involved in trafficking.
    The law prohibits trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual 
exploitation, including debt bondage, and prescribes up to 10 years' 
imprisonment. Trafficking for forced labor is criminalized and carries 
penalties of up to five years' imprisonment. February 2008 revisions to 
the Passport Act allow for restricted issuance or confiscation of 
passports of persons engaging in illegal activity overseas, including 
sex trafficking. However, some NGOs believed laws against sex 
trafficking were not being enforced effectively. During the year 
authorities reportedly conducted 220 trafficking investigations and 
prosecuted 31 cases, all for sex trafficking. It was unclear, however, 
how many of these actually were trafficking cases, since the laws used 
to prosecute traffickers were also used to prosecute other crimes, and 
the government does not document adequately the number of trafficking 
cases. There were no reported prosecutions or convictions for labor 
trafficking offenses.
    The Marriage Brokerage Management Act, which entered into effect in 
June, regulates both domestic and international marriage brokers and 
prescribes penalties for dishonest brokers, including sentences of up 
to three years' imprisonment or fines. There also are laws to protect 
foreign brides in the country and punish fraudulent marriage brokers, 
but NGOs claimed the laws needed to be strengthened.
    The KNPA and the MOJ were principally responsible for enforcing 
antitrafficking laws. The government worked with the international 
community on investigations related to trafficking.
    The government maintained a network of shelters and programs to 
assist victims of abuse, including trafficking victims. Victims also 
were eligible for medical, legal, vocational, and social support 
services. NGOs with funding from the government provided many of these 
services. NGOs reported that there was only one counseling center and 
two shelters in the country dedicated to foreign victims of sex 
trafficking, although these victims could access services through other 
government-funded centers. The MOJ continued to educate male ``johns'' 
in an attempt to correct distorted views of prostitution. Some NGOs 
criticized the fact that women detained for prostitution occasionally 
were required to attend these rehabilitation seminars along with the 
male clients. During the year 17,956 individuals participated in the 
MOJ education program.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--In April 2008 the Anti-Discrimination 
Against and Remedies for Persons with Disabilities Act (DDA) took 
effect. The DDA adopts a definition of discrimination encompassing 
direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, and denial of due 
conveniences, and it establishes penalties for deliberate 
discrimination of up to three years in prison and 30 million won 
(approximately $25,650). The government, through the Ministry for 
Health, Welfare, and Family Affairs, initiated a five-year plan to 
implement a comprehensive set of policies, took measures to make homes 
barrier free, provided part-time employment, established a task force 
to introduce a long-term medical care system, and opened a national 
rehabilitation research center to increase opportunities and access for 
persons with disabilities. During the year the NHRC received 698 cases 
of alleged discrimination against persons with disabilities in areas 
such as employment, property ownership, and access to educational 
facilities.
    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 do not hire persons with 
disabilities. Nevertheless, the hiring of persons with disabilities 
remained significantly below target levels, although government 
officials contended that the employment rate of disabled persons was 
increasing.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The country is racially 
homogeneous, with no sizable populations of ethnic minorities. 
Naturalization required detailed applications, a waiting period, and a 
series of investigations and examinations. Persons seeking Korean 
citizenship who are unable to satisfy citizenship requirements through 
naturalization, family genealogy, place of birth, or statelessness are 
considered foreign.
    The Korea Women Migrants' Human Rights Center confirmed that the 
government made it easier for foreign wives to obtain citizenship by 
reducing from four to two the number of years required before a foreign 
wife is eligible for citizenship. The Korean Immigration Service 
implemented a written examination for naturalization that reduced the 
overall waiting period during the screening process by approximately 
one year. Immigration statistics showed that the number of 
naturalizations more than doubled from 11,518 cases in 2008 to 24,044 
cases during the year.
    The local media reported an increase during the year in the number 
of racially motivated offenses in the country, which has long prided 
itself on its racial homogeneity, as the number of foreign migrant 
workers and foreign English-language teachers continued to grow. In 
November there were reports of local women being harassed for traveling 
with, dating, or marrying foreign men. There also were reports of 
employment discrimination against African-American teachers, mixed-race 
children, and Korean-Americans.
    Local NGOs and the media also reported that North Korean refugees, 
although supported through government-funded resettlement programming, 
also faced discrimination.

    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 societal 
discrimination persisted. In November 2008 a military court asked the 
Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of rules 
prohibiting sexual activity between male military personnel. At year's 
end the court had not issued a ruling.
    The law does not have specific legislation regarding discrimination 
or violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders 
(LGBTs). The MOJ reported that the equality principles under article 11 
of the constitution apply to LGBTs. The government punished 
perpetrators of violence against LGBTs according to the law. There were 
no cases of discrimination against LGBTs reported during the year.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The NHRC reported there 
were 347 employment discrimination cases filed in 2008. Despite 
cultural respect for the elderly, there were 83 reports of age 
discrimination and 85 cases of sexual harassment in the workplace.
    Some observers claimed that persons with HIV/AIDS suffered from 
severe societal discrimination and social stigma.
    The law ensures equal access to diagnosis and treatment of sexually 
transmitted diseases and infections, including HIV/AIDS, regardless of 
gender. It also protects the confidentiality of persons with HIV/AIDS 
and protects individuals from discrimination. The government supported 
rehabilitation programs and shelters run by private groups and 
subsidized medical expenses from the initial diagnosis. The government 
operated a Web site with HIV/AIDS information and a telephone 
counseling service.
    The NHRC reported that during the year an HIV/AIDS patient was 
refused treatment at a local hospital. That patient was later given 
treatment by a national hospital. The NHRC recommended that the 
government take steps to guarantee the medical rights of HIV/AIDS 
victims to ensure that such incidents are avoided.
    According to a report by an international NGO, the government 
continued to require HIV testing for foreigners applying for an E-1 
(teaching) visa. The report, citing the Korean Center for Disease 
Control and Prevention, also noted that 521 of 647 foreigners diagnosed 
with HIV had been forced to leave the country.

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. The government and labor unions continued to postpone the 
implementation of the 1997 law that authorizes union pluralism.
    The ratio of organized labor in the entire population of wage 
earners in 2008 was approximately 11 percent. The country has two 
national labor federations: the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions 
(KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU). There are an 
estimated 4,886 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 MOL reported that approximately 1.7 million of 
the country's 15.8 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 MOL generally operated without government 
interference.
    By law unions must submit a request for mediation to the Labor 
Relations Commission before a strike; otherwise, the strike is 
considered 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 is also prohibited in cases in 
which a dispute has been referred to binding arbitration. 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 were not allowed to 
strike. In addition, if striking employees resort to violence, unlawful 
occupation of premises, or damaging 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 and/or 
participate in illegal activities can be prosecuted under the criminal 
code on charges of ``obstruction of business.'' Striking workers can be 
removed by police from the premises and, along with union leaders, 
prosecuted and sentenced.
    In March Amnesty International reported that four journalists and 
union activists from YTN, a 24-hour news channel, were arrested for 
``interfering with business'' for organizing a strike over wage 
disputes and government interference with the media. The MOJ reported 
that the journalists were arrested but later released. In December a 
court fined the journalists and unionists approximately six million won 
(approximately $50,000) for the strike.
    Local media and NGOs reported that the police prevented the 
delivery of food, water, and medical treatment to 800 union workers who 
physically occupied a Ssangyong auto plant during a strike against 
layoffs that were being planned by the bankrupt company. The media 
reported that police helicopters dropped liquefied tear gas on the 
workers, conducted surveillance, and allowed the company to play 
extremely loud music on speakers throughout the day and night in an 
attempt to stop the strike. MOJ officials contended that while the 
incident was ``unfortunate,'' the decision to ban food and play loud 
music was made by the company, not the police. MOJ officials also 
underscored that the strike was illegal because it was not related to 
labor conditions and resulted in millions of dollars in property 
damage. According to the MOJ, of the 94 protesters that were charged in 
connection with the strike, 72 were fined and the rest were awaiting 
trial.
    In June KCTU President Lee Suk-haeng was convicted and sentenced to 
two years' imprisonment and three years probation for ``obstruction of 
business'' in connection with his role organizing a general strike in 
July 2008 to protest government plans to resume foreign beef imports. 
At year's end his case was pending in appeals court.
    The law prohibits retribution against workers who conduct a legal 
strike and allows workers to file complaints of unfair labor practices 
against employers.
    The system requiring labor unions in enterprises determined to be 
of essential public interest to submit to government-ordered 
arbitration was abolished legally in 2006. Strikes are prohibited for 
both central and local government officials.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right to collective bargaining and collective action, 
and workers exercised these rights 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. Employers found guilty of unfair practices can be required to 
reinstate workers fired for union activities. According to the ITUC, 
employers in some cases levied ``obstruction of business'' charges 
against union leaders who were seeking to bargain collectively or 
engage in lawful 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 policy-making issues and 
budgetary 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. For example, foreign-invested enterprises 
are exempt from provisions that mandate paid leave and paid 
menstruation leave for women, 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 protects children from exploitation in the workplace and prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and the government effectively enforced 
these laws through regular inspections. Child labor was not considered 
a problem.
    The Labor Standards Law prohibits the employment of persons under 
age 15 without a special employment certificate from the MOL. Because 
education is compulsory through middle school (approximately age 15), 
few special employment certificates were issued for full-time 
employment. To obtain employment, children under age 18 must obtain 
written approval from either parents or guardians. Employers must limit 
minors' overtime hours and are prohibited from employing minors at 
night without special permission from the MOL.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage is reviewed 
annually. During the year the minimum wage was 4,000 won (approximately 
$3.40) per hour. The FKTU and other labor organizations asserted that 
the existing minimum wage did not meet the basic requirements of urban 
workers.
    Persons working in the financial/insurance industry, publicly 
invested companies, state corporations, and companies with more than 20 
employees work a five-day, 40-hour week. Labor laws mandate a 24-hour 
rest period each week and provide for a flexible hours system under 
which employers can require laborers to work up to 48 hours during 
certain weeks without paying overtime (and 52 with approval from the 
relevant labor union) so long as average weekly hours for any given 
two-week period do not exceed 40 hours. If a union agrees to a further 
loosening of the rules, management may ask employees to work up to 56 
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 Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) is 
responsible for implementing industrial accident prevention activities. 
The government sets health and safety standards, but the accident rate 
was high by international standards. During the year there were 1,059 
fatalities from industrial accidents. During the year KOSHA established 
a Process Safety Management System to assist petrochemical factories 
vulnerable to large-scale accidents, conducted safety checks on 
dangerous machinery and equipment, and subsidized working environment 
improvements in small and medium-sized enterprises.
    Contract and other ``nonregular'' workers accounted for a 
substantial portion of the workforce. According to the government, 
there were approximately 5.7 million nonregular workers, comprising 
approximately 35 percent of the total workforce. The MOL reported that 
in general nonregular workers performed work similar to regular workers 
but received approximately 87 percent of the wages of regular workers. 
In addition 53 percent of nonregular workers were ineligible for 
national health and unemployment insurance and other benefits, compared 
with 6 percent 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. However, labor groups alleged that employers used a loophole in 
the law to avoid their obligation to hire part-time workers as regular 
workers after the two-year time limit.
    The MOL reported that the total number of illegal foreign workers 
was estimated to be approximately 9,200.
    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 in certain industries only and have limited job 
mobility but generally enjoy the same rights and privileges as 
citizens, including the right to organize. Foreign workers are limited 
in their freedom to change jobs. Before changing jobs, the employee's 
place of work must close down or the worker must have proof of physical 
abuse by the employer. Unless the MOJ grants an extension on 
humanitarian grounds, workers lose their legal status if they do not 
find a new employer within two months.
    In September the National Assembly passed amendments to the EPS Act 
to strengthen human rights protections for foreign workers. The 
amendments allow more flexibility in the length of contracts, ensure 
that job changes that are not the fault of migrant workers are excluded 
from their three allowable job changes, and increase from two to three 
months the allowable time in between contracts.
    During the year 63,323 foreigners entered the country under the 
EPS. The government implemented a variety of social services and legal 
precedents to address complaints about the working conditions of 
foreigners. In April local authorities implemented a variety of 
programs to ease the difficulties of living and working in the country, 
including free legal advice programs, free translation services, and 
the establishment of several ``human rights protection centers for 
foreigners.'' In July the MOL announced improved health measures that 
allow migrant workers to receive health checkups in their native 
language.
    In December local authorities approved a request from five foreign 
lecturers to form a union in the country. Past attempts by foreign 
migrant workers to unionize had been denied because of their desire to 
include nondocumented workers in their membership. Local human rights 
groups complained that the EPS system does not ensure equal rights to 
migrant workers, alleging that fear of reprisals, limited employment 
alternatives, and cumbersome grievance processes limited their ability 
to exercise their rights and increased their vulnerability to 
exploitation.
    In an October review of the migrant worker situation, Amnesty 
International reported that despite ``considerable progress made in the 
management of migrant labor, first by providing migrant workers regular 
status as trainees and second by protecting them under labor laws as 
workers...migrant workers in South Korea are still subjected to human 
rights violations and exploitative practices.''
    NGOs and local media reported that irregular workers were at a 
greater risk for discrimination because of their status and 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 MOJ reported that, as of October, foreign workers filed 8,074 
complaints related to unpaid wages.
    Foreign workers employed as language teachers continued to complain 
that the institutes for which they worked frequently violated 
employment contracts. However, employers countered that there were a 
large number of foreign teachers who did not fully honor their work 
contracts.

                               __________

                                  LAOS

    The Lao People's Democratic Republic, with a World Bank-estimated 
population of 6.3 million, 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. The LPRP generally 
maintained effective control of the security forces.
    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, especially women and girls for 
prostitution, remained a problem, as did discrimination against ethnic 
minorities. 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 
confirmed reports of politically motivated killings by the government 
or its agents. There were reports that occasional action by military 
units against small insurgent groups in Vientiane and Xieng Khouang 
provinces, including the former Saisomboun Special Zone, resulted in a 
limited but unknown number of deaths and injuries.
    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, especially those suspected of association with the 
insurgency.
    Detainees sometimes 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. 
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 device and against perceived problem prisoners; however, 
there were fewer 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.
    Prisons held both male and female prisoners, but they 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. Rather than send juveniles to prisons, authorities used 
drug treatment facilities as holding centers for juvenile offenders. 
While conditions in treatment facilities were generally better than 
those in prisons, conditions were nevertheless Spartan, and lengths of 
detention were indefinite.
    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.

    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. Many police 
officers used their authority to extract bribes from citizens. Corrupt 
officials reportedly were rarely punished. Police are trained at the 
National Police Academy, but the extent to which the academy's 
curriculum covered corruption was unknown. 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 
develop a national strategy to strengthen law enforcement and deal with 
increased drug trafficking and abuse as well as related crime and 
police corruption. During the year the government approved the National 
Drug Control Master Plan and began implementing its provisions.

    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. There were reports that 
military forces occasionally 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 sometimes 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 sometimes 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. There 
were no reports that police administratively overruled court decisions 
by detaining exonerated individuals.
    There were no known developments in the cases of nine persons, all 
male heads of families from Vientiane Province detained in mid-2007 on 
unknown charges, who had been in custody in Thong Harb Prison.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for the 
independence of the judiciary. 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,'' and 
the November NA session removed three.
    The people's courts have three levels: district and provincial, 
appeals, and supreme. There is also a commercial court, family court, 
military court, and juvenile court. Decisions of the lower courts are 
subject to review by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), but military 
court decisions are not.
    In November the NA reorganized the district court system into zonal 
courts, reducing the number of courts to 39. All were operational at 
year's end.

    Trial Procedures.--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.
    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.
    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. 
Defendants have the right of appeal.
    All of the country's judges were LPRP members. Most had only basic 
legal training, and many provincial and district courts had few or no 
reference materials available for guidance. The NA's Legal Affairs 
Committee occasionally reviewed 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. Sing 
reportedly was very ill, but the government prevented regular access to 
him and ignored numerous 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 10-year sentences for antigovernment 
activities. Authorities allowed families to visit them, but no 
humanitarian organization had regular access to them.
    According to former prisoners, 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. According to credible 
reports, other persons were arrested, tried, and convicted under laws 
relating to national security that prevent public court trials, but 
there was no reliable method to ascertain their total number. In 
November the government reportedly detained nine individuals traveling 
to the capital for a protest.

    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, reported 
``undesirable elements'' to police, and provided security against 
insurgents in remote rural areas. 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. There also were some reports of force used. 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, disease, and death. 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 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. 
Unlike in previous years, 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.
    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 nonbusiness users depended on 
Internet cafes located chiefly in the larger urban areas. Citizen users 
are required to register with the authorities, which may have caused 
some to self-censor their Internet behavior. The International 
Telecommunication Union reported that Internet users numbered 
approximately 2 percent of the country's inhabitants in 2008.

    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. 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, but it 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 repeatedly 
attempted to impose restrictions aimed at limiting the influence of 
Thai culture in Lao music and entertainment, but these restrictions 
were widely ignored and appeared to have 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 October allows the 
registration of nonprofit civil 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. No organization completed the application process 
by year's end.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion and notes that the state ``mobilizes and encourages'' Buddhist 
monks and novices as well as priests of other religions to participate 
in activities ``beneficial to the nation and the people.'' In most 
areas officials generally respected the rights of members of most 
religious groups to worship, albeit within strict government-imposed 
constraints. The constitution prohibits ``all acts of creating division 
of religion or creating division among the people.'' The LPRP and the 
government used this to justify restrictions on religious practice by 
all religious groups, including the Buddhist majority and animists. 
Official pronouncements acknowledged the positive benefits of religion, 
but they also emphasized its potential to divide, distract, or 
destabilize.
    Although the state was secular, the LPRP and the government 
supported Theravada Buddhism, which was followed by more than 40 
percent of the population. The government provided support for and 
oversight of temples and other facilities and promoted Buddhist 
practices, giving Buddhism an elevated status among the country's 
religions.
    The government officially recognizes four religions: Buddhism, 
Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'i Faith. Recognized Christian groups 
included the Catholic Church, the Lao Evangelical Church (LEC), and the 
Seventh-day Adventist Church. The LFNC refused to recognize 
congregations, such as the Methodists, that operated independently.
    Decree 92 on Religious Practice defines rules for religious 
practice and institutionalizes the government as the final arbiter of 
permissible religious activities. The LFNC is responsible for oversight 
of religious practice. The majority of provincial, district, and local 
officials reportedly lacked full understanding of the decree. 
Authorities, particularly at the local level in some provinces, used 
its many conditions to restrict some aspects of religious practice.
    Many minority religious leaders complained that Decree 92, which 
intends among other things to permit activities such as proselytizing 
and printing religious material, was too restrictive in practice. They 
maintained that the requirement to obtain permission, sometimes from 
several offices, for a broad range of activities greatly limited their 
freedom.
    The LFNC often sought to intervene with local governments in cases 
where minority religious practitioners, particularly Christians, had 
been harassed or mistreated. The LFNC reportedly became more proactive 
about solving problems by educating persons to respect the law as well 
as by training local officials to respect religious believers and to 
understand Decree 92 better.
    The government's tolerance of religion, particularly Christianity, 
varied by region. In most areas, members of long-established 
congregations had few problems practicing their faith. Authorities in 
some areas sometimes advised new congregations to join the LEC, despite 
clear differences between the groups' beliefs. However, in others 
authorities allowed congregations not affiliated with the LEC or 
Seventh-day Adventists to continue worship unhindered. Authorities in 
some provinces used threats of arrest to intimidate local religious 
communities.
    Authorities in some areas continued to be suspicious of non-
Buddhist religious communities and displayed intolerance for minority 
religious practices, particularly by Protestant groups, whether or not 
they were officially recognized. Some local authorities, apparently at 
times with encouragement from government or LPRP officials, singled out 
Protestant groups as targets of abuse or pressure to renounce their 
faith.
    In July local officials reportedly banned Christianity in Katin 
village, Salavan Province, and confiscated pigs from Christians.
    In September inhabitants of Bansai village, Savannakhet Province, 
reportedly pressured a Christian man to renounce his faith or leave the 
village. Other Christians in the same area reported difficulty in 
holding worship services, because there was no authorized building for 
worship and the police harassed them for worshipping in houses.
    Also in September in Jinsangmai village, Luang Namtha Province, all 
Christian believers reportedly recanted their faith, including a man 
previously jailed for refusing to do so.
    In November police in Vientiane Municipality told three Christian 
churches to cease holding services until the Southeast Asian Games 
ended in December. Authorities prevented one church from holding 
services, which resumed the following week. At another church, the 
police reportedly forced worshipers to sign either a renunciation of 
their faith or a petition against the games.
    In April authorities released the remaining two Khmu pastors held 
in Oudomsai provincial prison since their arrest in March 2008 while 
attempting to cross into Thailand carrying documents critical of 
religious persecution in Laos.
    Local officials in some areas threatened to withhold government 
identification cards and household registration documents as well as to 
deny educational benefits to those who did not give up their religious 
beliefs. In addition the most common problem faced by Christian 
communities was the inability to obtain permission to build new 
churches, even though group worship in homes was considered illegal by 
local authorities in many areas. Religious organization representatives 
pointed out that the building-permit process at both local and 
provincial levels was used to block new church construction.
    The government strictly prohibited foreigners from proselytizing 
but permitted foreign NGOs with religious affiliations to operate in 
the country. Foreigners who distributed religious material were subject 
to arrest or deportation. Although Decree 92 permits proselytizing by 
religious practitioners, provided they obtain LFNC permission, the 
authorities did not grant such permission, and persons found 
evangelizing risked harassment or arrest.
    The government did not allow the printing of Bibles and required 
special permission to import them for distribution.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--For the most part, the various 
religious communities coexisted amicably. There was no known Jewish 
community in the country, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 did not 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.
    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; however, 
local-level officials sometimes denied permission even to apply.
    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.

    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 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 did not routinely grant refugee or asylum 
status; however, it showed some flexibility in dealing pragmatically 
with individual asylum cases.
    Lao Hmong who had been detained in Thailand began to return to Laos 
during 2007. 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 returnees. The government stated that the 
UNHCR's mandate expired in 2001 and all former refugees had 
successfully reintegrated. In December 2008 and during 2009, foreign 
diplomats, representatives from international organizations (including 
the UNHCR), and the press visited various sites, including Pha Lak, 
where the Lao Hmong returned from Thailand were resettled.
    During the year the government accepted the repatriation of nearly 
all Lao Hmong from Thailand from a group of approximately 5,700 persons 
confined to a camp or held in a detention center by Thai authorities 
and considered by both countries' authorities to be illegal migrants. 
The UNHCR had granted person-of-concern status to the 158 persons held 
in the detention center, however, and there was no internationally 
accepted process used to determine whether any Hmong in the camp could 
establish a well-founded fear of persecution and seek status as an 
international person of concern. Although Lao and Thai authorities 
stated that the returns were voluntary, independent observers were not 
allowed to witness the December 28 repatriation of more than 4,350 
persons, and the government did not allow access to the returnees.
    The government's policy both for Hmong surrendering internally and 
for those being returned from Thailand was to return them to 
communities of origin whenever possible. However, at year's end the 
government held most of the December 28 returnees at a camp in Paaksan, 
Borikhamsay Province, for settlement processing. Among earlier 
returnees, several hundred persons without strong community links were 
relocated in government settlements such as Pha Lak village, Vientiane 
Province, where the government provided land, housing, clean water, and 
electricity plus one year's supply of food. Of the December 28 
returnees, initial indications were that approximately 1,300 persons 
returned to communities of origin and the remaining number went to 
other government settlements.
    At times during the year, the government permitted limited access 
by international organizations and NGOs to provide food and other 
material assistance to former insurgents who had accepted government 
resettlement offers. Independent observers were not allowed access to 
December 28 returnees by year's end, however.

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 April 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. The 55-seat LPRP Central Committee included 
four women, one of whom was also a member of the 11-member Politburo. 
Of 12 ministers in the Prime Minister's Office, two were women. The 
minister of labor and social welfare also was a woman. Three women 
served on the 13-member SPC.
    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. 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.
    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 punished lower-level officials on 
occasion for corruption. In November authorities arrested three mid-
level ministry officials on undisclosed, but reportedly corruption-
related, charges. 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 sufficient funding, equipment, and legal support from 
the government.
    Prior to taking their designated positions, senior officials are 
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 its human rights situation.

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.--The LWU--the LPRP mass organization focused on women's 
issues, with a presence in every village and at every government 
level--reported that rape was rare. 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.
    Spousal abuse is illegal. According to the LWU and anecdotal 
reports from international NGOs, domestic violence against women 
occurred, but such violence did not appear to be widespread. Penalties 
for domestic abuse, including battery, torture, rape, and detaining 
persons against their will, may include both fines and imprisonment. 
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.
    Prostitution is illegal, with penalties ranging from three months 
to one year in prison. However, in practice antiprostitution laws 
generally were not enforced, and in some cases officials reportedly 
were involved in the trade. Trafficking in women and girls for 
prostitution remained a problem.
    Sexual harassment was rarely reported, and the extent was difficult 
to assess. Although sexual harassment is 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 available. Because of the general lack of adequate medical care, 
skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care was not widely 
available. Women and men were given equal access to diagnostic services 
and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
    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 traditional, 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. An 
internationally funded program provided food to schoolchildren's 
families, with girls receiving more food for the families than boys. 
Many women occupied responsible positions in the civil service and 
private business, and in urban areas their incomes were often higher 
than those of men.

    Children.--Children acquire citizenship if both parents are 
citizens, regardless of the birth's location. 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, literacy rates for girls were approximately 
10 percent lower than for boys in general.
    The law prohibits violence against children, and violators were 
subject to stiff punishments. Reports of the physical abuse of children 
were rare.
    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 
(approximately $6 to $24).
    A general increase in tourism in the country and a concomitant 
probable 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 
December the government introduced a hotline for reporting child sex 
tourism.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
as well as abduction and trade in persons, detaining persons against 
their will, procuring persons for commercial sex, and prostitution. 
Men, women, and children, particularly women and girls, were trafficked 
to, from, through, or within the country.
    The prescribed legal penalties for human trafficking, depending on 
the severity of the offense, include sentences ranging from five years 
to 20 years, life imprisonment, or death, and also fines ranging from 
10 million to one billion kip (approximately $1,200 to $120,000) plus 
asset confiscation.
    The country was primarily a country of origin for trafficking in 
persons, including girls ages 13 to 16 for forced labor and 
prostitution, and, to a much lesser extent, a country of transit. The 
primary destination country was Thailand. There was almost no effective 
border control. The Thai Ministry of Labor estimated that at least 
250,000 Lao workers were employed in Thailand, of whom at least 80,000 
were unregistered. An unknown number of these persons were trafficked, 
although a September study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 
reported that two-thirds of the Lao citizens in Thailand identified as 
trafficking victims were trafficked after crossing the border. The 
small number of victims trafficked within the country were primarily 
from the northern provinces, such as Houaphan and Xieng Khouang, and 
were trafficked for sexual exploitation or factory work. According to 
an international NGO study, a very small number of female citizens also 
were trafficked to China to become brides for Chinese men. The UNODC 
estimated that 90 percent of trafficking victims ended up in Thailand: 
the majority were women between ages 15 and 25, and 35 percent became 
victims of sexual exploitation.
    Most trafficking victims were lowland Lao, although traffickers 
also victimized small but increasing numbers of minority women. 
Minority groups were particularly vulnerable, because they did not have 
the cultural familiarity or linguistic proximity to Thai that Lao-
speaking workers could use to protect themselves from exploitative 
situations in Thailand. A much smaller number of trafficked foreign 
citizens, especially Burmese and Vietnamese, transited through the 
country or were trafficked to Laos.
    Many labor recruiters in the country were local persons with cross-
border experience and were known to the trafficking victims. For the 
most part, they had no connection to organized crime, commercial sexual 
exploitation, or the practice of involuntary servitude, and their 
services usually ended once their charges reached Thailand, where the 
victims were exploited by better-organized trafficking groups.
    The SPC reported that 15 persons were convicted for human 
trafficking in 2008. Of these, according to incomplete data from the 
MoPS, authorities sentenced one trafficker to 15 years' imprisonment 
and a fine, while two others received one-year sentences and were 
fined. Law enforcement officers cooperated in joint investigations with 
their Thai counterparts from northeast Thailand and also worked with 
Vietnamese law enforcement on the trafficking routes through the south-
central part of the country.
    Corruption remained a problem, with government officials 
susceptible to involvement or collusion in trafficking. Anecdotal 
evidence suggested that local officials knew of trafficking activities, 
and some may have profited from them. However, no government or law 
enforcement officials were disciplined or punished for involvement in 
trafficking in persons.
    The government continued some limited protection efforts for 
victims of trafficking during the year. Authorities raided a restaurant 
in 2008, rescued nine Vietnamese sex-trafficking victims including one 
minor, and repatriated two of the nine victims. The seven other victims 
did not wish repatriation and were allowed to return to the restaurant, 
although authorities withheld their passports; four of those victims 
later requested repatriation assistance and were repatriated, and in 
March the government repatriated the remaining three victims. No 
traffickers were prosecuted.
    The MLSW and the Immigration Department cooperated with the 
International Organization for Migration, the UN Inter-Agency Project 
on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, and local and 
international NGOs to provide assistance to victims. The MLSW continued 
to operate a small transit center in Vientiane where trafficking 
victims identified in Thailand remained for a short time before being 
transferred to another facility or returned home. Victims not wanting 
to return home were referred to a long-term shelter operated by the LWU 
or to a local NGO. The government provided medical services, 
counseling, vocational training, and employment services for victims in 
its transit shelter in Vientiane and at the LWU shelter. The MLSW had a 
unit devoted to children with special needs, including protection of 
child trafficking victims and prevention of child trafficking. The MLSW 
also maintained two small-scale repatriation assistance centers for 
returned victims of trafficking in Vientiane and Savannakhet, but their 
effectiveness was limited by a small budget, inadequate international 
assistance, and a lack of trained personnel.
    The MLSW, in addition to operating departments in the provinces, 
worked with NGOs to provide additional assistance to trafficking 
victims. It referred cases from immigration authorities and the MLSW 
transit shelter in Vientiane to NGOs for longer-term shelter and 
follow-up on cases where the victims were returned home.
    With support from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the National 
Commission for Mothers and Children continued an active victim support 
program. Through legal aid clinics, the Lao Bar Association, which is 
under the MoJ umbrella, also assisted victims by providing general 
awareness programs on the legal system and legal advice. The LWU and 
the Lao Youth Union offered educational programs designed to inform 
girls and young women about the schemes of recruiters for brothels and 
sweatshops in neighboring countries and elsewhere. These organizations 
were most effective in disseminating information at the grassroots.
    The government itself educated the population on the dangers of 
trafficking, using the media and public appearances by senior leaders. 
The MLSW also worked with UNICEF to set up awareness-raising billboards 
near border checkpoints and larger cities and conducted a campaign on 
trafficking issues in preparation for the December Southeast Asian 
Games.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution provides citizens 
protection against discrimination but does not specify that these 
protections apply to persons with disabilities. 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. There were no reports of discrimination in 
the workplace.
    In August and September, the MLSW conducted workshops with 
international NGOs in Vientiane Municipality and Savannakhet, Xekong, 
and Champasak provinces to increase awareness of the rights of persons 
with disabilities. 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, societal discrimination persisted. Moreover, 
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 ethnic groups in the country, the Hmong are one of the 
largest and most prominent highland minority groups. There were a 
number of Hmong officials in the senior ranks of the government and the 
LPRP, including one Politburo member and five members of the LPRP 
Central Committee. However, societal discrimination persisted against 
the Hmong, and 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. Security forces 
continued operations to isolate and defeat or force the surrender of 
the residual, small, scattered pockets of insurgents and their families 
in remote jungle areas.
    The government continued to offer ``amnesty'' to insurgents who 
surrender but 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 Pha Lak village. Their status 
and welfare remained unknown at year's end. 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.--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.

    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. 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 4,610 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 126,600, 
approximately 4 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 domestic trafficking of girls for forced labor occurred.

    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 
April 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 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.

                               __________

                                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. On April 3, Najib 
Razak was sworn in as prime minister. Civilian authorities generally 
maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Significant 
obstacles prevented opposition parties from competing on equal terms 
with the ruling coalition. Some deaths occurred during police 
apprehensions and while in police custody. The nonprofessional People's 
Volunteer Corps (RELA) reportedly abused refugees, asylum seekers, and 
illegal immigrants. Other problems included police abuse of detainees, 
overcrowded immigration detention centers (IDCs), use of 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 politically motivated charges. The government also 
arrested other opposition leaders, journalists, and Internet bloggers 
apparently for political reasons. The civil courts continued to allow 
the Shari'a (Islamic law) courts to exercise jurisdiction in cases 
involving families that included non-Muslims. Additionally, the 
criminal and Shari'a 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 
serious problem. Longstanding government policies gave preferences to 
ethnic Malays in many areas. Some employers exploited migrant workers 
and ethnic Indian-Malaysians 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 50 
persons while apprehending them, down from 82 such killings in 2008.
    On January 20, Kugan Ananthan, an ethnic Indian in police detention 
since January 15 for car theft, died. The initial postmortem listed 
fluid in the lungs as the cause of death. A second postmortem 
examination conducted by a family-appointed pathologist revealed 
massive injuries consistent with being beaten to death. On January 23, 
the attorney general classified Kugan's death as murder. Initially, 11 
police officers were transferred to desk duty pending an investigation; 
however, on October 1, only police constable Navindran Vivekanandan, 
the sole ethnic Indian among the 11 police officers, was charged for 
the lesser crime of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to extort a 
confession. Navindran pled not guilty and was released on bail. A 
sessions court scheduled the criminal case against Navindran for 
February 13, 2010. Kugan's family members also filed a civil suit 
against the government for his death in custody, and that case was 
pending in the civil courts.
    On July 15, Teoh Beng Hock, a political aide to a Selangor State 
legislative assemblyman, was taken to the Malaysian Anticorruption 
Commission (MACC) as a witness concerning allegations against his 
supervisor. On July 16, Teoh's body was found on the roof of the 
building wing adjacent to the MACC offices. Official postmortem 
examinations ruled that he died on July 16 from internal injuries 
sustained from a fall. Teoh had been questioned for more than eight 
hours. On November 21, Teoh's body was exhumed for a second autopsy. 
The public inquest into the cause of Teoh's death continued at year's 
end.
    On July 16, police arrested R. Gunasegaran, who died in custody at 
the Sentul police station approximately two to three hours after his 
arrest. An initial autopsy found that Gunasegaran died of a drug 
overdose. Several witnesses claimed he was beaten in police custody. At 
his family's request, the high court ordered a second postmortem 
examination and an inquest into his death. The inquest into the cause 
of his death was pending at year's end.
    On November 8, police shot and killed five ethnic Indian youths 
ages 17 to 24. The police described them as members of a criminal gang 
who fired first; however, an outcry, particularly in the ethnic Indian 
community, questioned the police's ``shoot-to-kill'' tactics. The 
police denied using such tactics and defended the officers' right to 
defend themselves. At year's end there had been no known official 
inquiry into the matter.
    On April 9, the high court sentenced police Chief Inspector Azilah 
Hadri and police Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar to death, for the 2006 
murder of Altantuya Shaaribu. Their appeals were pending at year's end. 
In October 2008 the court acquitted political analyst Razak Baginda of 
abetting her murder. Altantuya's father filed a civil suit against the 
government, Razak Baginda, and the two police officials for 100 million 
ringgit (approximately $28.6 million). The civil 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.--No law specifically prohibits torture; however, laws that 
prohibit ``committing grievous hurt'' encompass torture. There were 
some allegations of beatings and mistreatment by RELA and immigration 
officials in IDCs, which continued to be administered by the 
Immigration Department and was supplemented by RELA for part of the 
year.
    On January 15, seven police officers from Brickfields police 
district in Selangor State were charged with committing an act of 
``criminal intimidation'' and ``voluntarily causing hurt to extort 
confession'' against B. Prabakar, who had been arrested in December 
2008 in connection with a robbery. Prabakar alleged that the police 
beat him with a rubber hose, splashed boiling water on him, asked him 
to stand on a chair with a cloth around his neck, and threatened to 
hang him. The case was pending at year's end.
    On December 6, police arrested S. Isai Kumar after a female 
relative lodged a police report against him. He was held for 10 days 
during which he alleged police stripped him nude, photographed him, 
assaulted him, and denied him food and medical attention during a four-
day period at the Seremban police headquarters. He claimed police 
forced him to admit to robbery and criminal intimidation. He was 
released and police told him the report against him was false.
    In May 2008, in response to the April 2008 beating of a Pakistani 
detainee by immigration officials at Lenggeng IDC, a commissioner from 
the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) investigated and found 
``evidence of torture.'' No further investigation was known to have 
been conducted.
    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 July 
2007, was paralyzed and mentally unstable at the time of his release in 
September 2008.
    In August 2008 according to press reports, two police officers from 
Perak State abused a 10-year-old boy while questioning him for theft. 
There was no information available about an investigation into this 
report.
    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' Shari'a laws also prescribe caning; there are no 
exemptions for women under Shari'a. In Shari'a caning, a smaller cane 
is used, and the caning official cannot lift the cane above his 
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. Between July and September, there were four 
instances in which a Shari'a court sentenced persons to be caned.
    On July 20, the Kuantan Shari'a High Court (Pahang State) sentenced 
Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno to a 5,000 ringgit (approximately $1,400) 
fine and six strokes of a cane for consuming alcohol at a hotel in 
Pahang State in July 2008. Kartika was the first Muslim woman to be 
sentenced to caning. Kartika, who pled guilty, did not appeal the 
sentence. By year's end the Shari'a court had not scheduled a date for 
the caning.
    In mid-September the same Shari'a high court judge sentenced a male 
foreign citizen to six strokes of the cane and prison for an alcohol 
offense and also sentenced the Muslim waitress who served Kartika to 
six strokes and a fine.
    In September the Selangor Shari'a High Court sentenced a couple to 
fines and six strokes of the cane each for the offense of ``khalwat'' 
or close physical proximity after the couple were found attempting to 
have unmarried sex.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison overcrowding, 
particularly in facilities near major cities, remained a serious 
problem. In December the Home Ministry reported that the country's 31 
prisons held 32,130 prisoners 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 nongovernmental organizations (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 inadequate food, water, 
medical care, poor sanitation, and prisoner abuse in the IDCs. 
According to the home affairs minister, all detention centers had their 
own standard operating procedures that were in line with international 
quality standards. 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.
    In 2008 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. On October 1, SUHAKAM Commissioner Siva 
Subramaniam reiterated these statistics, noting that this was a rate of 
18 deaths per month since 2003. Most of the deaths were reportedly due 
to communicable diseases that thrive in unsanitary and overcrowded 
detention facilities. Siva recommended that the IDCs observe better 
health standards to prevent the spread of disease.
    The government does not permit prison visits by the International 
Committee of the Red Cross. The authorities generally did not permit 
NGOs and the media to monitor prison conditions. The government 
approved visits by SUHAKAM officials on a case-by-case basis.
    The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) received 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, IDCs 
scheduled UNHCR visits to interview unregistered potential refugees. 
Through these interviews, the UNHCR secured the release of 3,645 
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 
100,000-strong Royal Malaysia Police 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 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.
    Several NGOs conducted local surveys on government corruption and 
identified the police as among the country's most corrupt government 
organizations. During the year a Home Affairs Ministry survey noted 
that 70 percent of respondents had bribed police officers under duress. 
Reported police offenses included accepting bribes and theft. Unlike in 
past years, there were no known accusations of rape against police 
personnel.
    Punishments included suspension, dismissal, and demotion. Police 
officers are subject to trial by the civil courts. Police 
representatives reported that there were disciplinary actions against 
police officers during the year.
    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.
    Security forces failed to prevent or respond to some incidents of 
societal violence. Minority groups complained of perceived police 
unwillingness to take appropriate action on August 28 to disperse a 
group of Muslims protesting the relocation of a Hindu temple to their 
residential area and of the government's immediate closing of a candle 
light vigil held in response by members of the Hindu community (see 
section 2.b.).
    In recent years the Home Ministry relied primarily upon RELA to 
conduct raids and detain suspected illegal migrants. However, during 
the year NGOs and international organizations reported that RELA 
involvement and authority in immigration matters was reduced and that 
by August 1, the government had removed all RELA personnel from the 
IDCs. The government announced that RELA members would begin assisting 
the police in combating crime.
    As of August 31, RELA had 586,644 members. On September 2, RELA 
announced plans to recruit 200,000 more members by year's end. As of 
December 31, RELA had increased its membership to 682,749. Although 
RELA's role in immigration was reduced, the government took steps to 
increase its overall role, specifically in assisting police with 
criminal matters. NGOs remained concerned that inadequate training left 
RELA members ill-equipped to perform their duties.
    Reported abuses by RELA members included beatings, extortion, 
theft, pilfering items from homes, destroying individuals' UNHCR and 
other status documents, and pillaging refugee settlements. However, 
these reports were limited primarily to January through March, and 
unlike in previous years, there were no reports of rape involving RELA 
members. Reported incidents of abuse by RELA decreased over the course 
of the year.
    In September 2008 the high court ordered RELA member Mohamed Tahir 
Osman to pay Maslinda Ishak, detained during a 2003 raid, 100,000 
ringgit ($28,600) damages for taking a photograph of her when she was 
forced to relieve herself in the truck used to transport detainees. On 
August 25, the Court of Appeal ordered the government to pay the fine, 
finding that it was vicariously liable for Tahir's acts. Tahir had 
earlier pled guilty for invasion of privacy and was sentenced to four 
months' imprisonment.
    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 and 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 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. On December 16, Chief 
Justice Tun Zaki Azmi stated there were 900,000 cases pending in the 
lower courts and 91,000 in the higher courts.
    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. However, in one 
case the government detained an ISA detainee for approximately seven 
years. 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.
    On April 3, 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.
    On April 3, the government released 13 ISA detainees, including V. 
Ganabatirau and R. Kengadharan, two of the five detained Hindu Rights 
Action Force (HINDRAF) leaders. On May 13, the government released 
another 13 detainees, including M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar and K. 
Vasantha Kumar, the three remaining HINDRAF detainees. On September 16, 
the government released another five ISA detainees, allegedly from the 
Jemaah Islamiya terrorist organization. At year's end there were nine 
persons in detention under the ISA, including four citizens and five 
foreigners. According to the Home Ministry, six were allegedly involved 
in militant activities, including terror suspects Mas Selamat Kastari 
and Samsuddin Sulaiman, and the remaining three were detained for 
forging documents.
    In July 2008 authorities arrested political opposition leader Anwar 
Ibrahim for alleged consensual sodomy with a former aide. In August 
2008 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.
    On August 11, 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. On September 
16, the trial court dismissed Anwar's petition. Anwar also challenged a 
certificate from the prosecution, needed before the trial can begin, 
which he claimed omitted facts in his favor. On November 6, the Court 
of Appeals rejected Anwar's application to obtain documents and DNA 
samples that he claimed were exculpatory. Despite official affirmations 
that Anwar's arrest and prosecution were not politically motivated, 
senior government officials made repeated public comments prejudicial 
to the case. The case was pending at year's end.
    The government's appeal of the Kuala Lumpur High Court's 2007 
decision to award former ISA detainee Abdul Malek Hussin 2.5 million 
ringgit (approximately $715,000) for his arrest and torture in 1998 
remained pending at year's end.
    Under the Emergency Ordinance, 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 2008 more than 1,000 individuals were detained under 
the Emergency Ordinance and other preventive measures. The authorities 
used the Emergency Ordinance on suspected organized crime figures.
    On January 15, the police in Miri, Sarawak, detained Bunya Sengok, 
Marai Sengok, and his wife Melati Bekeni under the Emergency Ordinance 
for their alleged involvement in a series of robberies. Family members 
asserted that they were arrested in a dispute with a development 
consortium over ancestral land. SUHAKAM condemned the use of the 
ordinance in this case. On March 19, police released Melati Bekeni, but 
Marai Sengok and Bunya Sengok were flown to Johor and ordered detained 
for two years under the ordinance at the Simpang Renggam Detention 
Center.
    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 the year, 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.
    The constitution does not directly vest judicial powers in the 
courts but rather provides that Parliament confers judicial powers. The 
constitution also confers certain judicial powers on the attorney 
general, including the authority to instruct the courts on which cases 
to hear, the power to choose venues, and the right to discontinue 
cases. The attorney general controlled and directed all criminal 
prosecutions and assumed responsibility for sessions court judge and 
magistrate judicial assignments and transfers. The Judicial 
Appointments Commission, created in December 2008, makes appointments 
of judges to the high court, Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court. 
Session and magistrate court judges report to the Attorney General's 
Office. The prime minister's recommendation, done in conjunction with 
the commission, determined senior judge appointments, subject to 
concurrence by the Conference of Rulers, the traditional Malay rulers 
of nine states.
    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 May 2008 a royal commission, which had been formed to 
investigate the 2002 videotape of a purported conversation in which a 
senior lawyer and senior judge 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. On June 16, 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.
    Sessions courts hear minor civil suits and criminal cases. High 
courts have original jurisdiction over all criminal cases involving 
serious crimes. Juvenile courts try offenders below age 18. A special 
court tries cases involving the king and the sultans. The Court of 
Appeal has appellate jurisdiction over high court and sessions court 
decisions. The Federal Court, the country's highest court, reviews 
Court of Appeal decisions.
    Indigenous groups in the states of Sarawak and Sabah have a system 
of customary law to resolve matters such as land disputes between 
tribes. Although rarely used, penghulu (village head) courts may 
adjudicate minor civil matters.
    Shari'a, administered by state authorities through Islamic courts, 
bind all Muslims, most of whom are ethnic Malays. The laws and the 
degree of their enforcement varied from state to state.
    The armed forces have a separate system of courts.

    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.
    Shari'a courts do not give equal weight to the testimony of women. 
Many NGOs complained that women did not receive fair treatment from 
Shari'a courts, especially in matters of divorce and child custody.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The government released P. 
Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan, Ganabatirau, and T. 
Vasantha Kumar, key leaders of HINDRAF, who were arrested and detained 
under the ISA for organizing protests in 2007 against the alleged 
marginalization of ethnic Indians.

    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 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.
    The Federal Islamic Development Department's (JAKIM) guidelines 
authorize JAKIM officials to enter private premises without a warrant 
if they deem swift action necessary to conduct raids on premises where 
it suspects Muslims are engaged in offenses such as gambling, 
consumption of alcohol, and sexual relations outside marriage.
    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.

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 the government, it 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.
    In addition, 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 March 17, opposition DAP parliamentarian Karpal Singh was 
charged under the Sedition Act for comments at a February 6 media 
conference that the sultan of Perak could be sued for his role in the 
removal of a state's chief minister. Singh's comments followed Sultan 
Azlan Shah's decision to dismiss the opposition Perak chief minister 
and appoint the federal ruling party chief minister. According to the 
Sedition Act, any act that provokes hatred, contempt, or disaffection 
against a state ruler is considered sedition, a crime punishable by up 
to three years in prison or a fine of up to 5,000 ringgit 
(approximately $1,400) or both. The case was pending at year's end.
    On March 29, the government suspended two opposition political 
party newspapers, Harakah of the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia 
(PAS) and Suara Keadilan of the Peoples Justice Party. The Home 
Ministry asserted that these newspapers repeatedly published stories 
that were ``wrong, sensational, and sensitive in nature.'' On April 3, 
the day he took office, Prime Minister Najib lifted the sanctions 
against both newspapers.
    In 2007 the sessions court sentenced HINDRAF leader P. Uthayakumar 
under the Sedition Act for publishing a letter addressed to British 
Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The case was still pending at year's end.
    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. Since 2000 the Home 
Ministry banned a total of 397 books whose titles contained words that 
could ``jeopardize public order'' or were obscene. Three out of the 22 
books banned during the year included The Jewel of Medina, The Trouble 
With Islam Today, and Ibrahim and Sarah. Home ministry officials added 
that individuals involved in the printing, importing, publishing, 
selling, and distributing of these banned titles can 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 20,000 ringgit 
(approximately $5,700).
    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. For example, on November 14, the Home Ministry issued 
a warning letter to the Tamil-language daily Tamil Nesan over its 
reporting on the killing of five suspected armed robbers by the police. 
The ministry accused the newspaper of playing up racial sentiments in 
its coverage of the police shooting in which all five suspects--all 
Malaysian Indians--were killed (see section 1.a.). 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 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, and other private groups 
actively covered opposition parties and frequently printed views 
critical of government policies.
    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. 
Opposition party leaders alleged that during the seven by-elections 
held since the March 2008 national election the mainstream media 
provided minimal coverage of their candidates, intensely negative 
reporting about their parties' senior figures, and extensive reporting 
on the ruling party candidates.
    The Internet and television faced no such restrictions, and PAS, 
among others, continued daily Internet television broadcasts.
    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 radios.
    On May 13, the Internet news portal Malaysiakini reported that 
Media Prima, which has control over the country's four free private 
television stations, had video footage of Perak Assembly Speaker V. 
Sivakumar being dragged from the speaker's chair on May 7. However, 
according to Malaysiakini, senior managers of Prima Media directed 
their staff not to broadcast the footage or video of the subsequent 
arrests of nearly 100 individuals, including opposition 
parliamentarians and state representatives. The footage subsequently 
was shown on television and was available on the Internet.
    On July 5, Florence Looi, host and producer of the program Point of 
View, asked her guests to rate the performance of Prime Minister Najib 
Razak during his first 100 days in office. One of her guests, an editor 
with the online news portal Malaysian Insider, rated the performance as 
poor. On July 13, online news portal Merdeka Review reported that the 
program's private television station, NTV7, which is a Media Prima 
station, canceled the show and reassigned Looi to field reporting. NTV7 
also reportedly issued Looi a warning letter accusing her of having 
``breached editorial policy.'' On July 15, the Center for Independent 
Journalism issued a statement expressing concern about Looi's 
reassignment and calling the warning letter unjustified.
    The government generally restricted remarks or publications, 
including books, that it judged might incite racial or religious 
disharmony.

    Internet Freedom.--Although there were no government restrictions 
on access to the Internet, during the year the government blocked 
access to some Web sites and arrested several prominent bloggers for 
comments that were critical of the government. 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 2008, approximately 55.8 percent 
of the country's inhabitants used the Internet.
    Criminal defamation and preventive detention laws generated some 
self-censorship from local Internet content sources such as bloggers, 
Internet news providers, and NGO activists. In September 2008 police 
detained Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a blogger and critic of the ruling 
government, under the ISA for writing seditious articles in his blog, 
which the government claimed posed a threat to national security. He 
was released in November 2008 after the high court ruled that his 
detention was unconstitutional. On April 23, the court issued an arrest 
warrant for Raja Petra after he failed to appear at his criminal 
sedition trial. These charges arose from his April 2008 article ``Let's 
Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell,'' which he posted on Internet 
news portal, Malaysia Today, which alleged that then deputy prime 
minister Najib was involved in the 2006 death of a Mongolian model. On 
May 26, the court issued a second warrant of arrest after Raja Petra's 
failure to turn up for his criminal defamation trial arising from his 
June 2008 sworn his statutory declaration implicating Prime Minister 
Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, in the murder of Altantuya Shaaribu. In 
his blog, Raja Petra wrote that he was in self-imposed exile. On 
November 13, the sessions court granted Raja Petra a discharge not 
amounting to an acquittal in his criminal defamation suit because 
police could not locate him. However, the government retained the right 
to charge him upon his return.
    On March 14, 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 on February 5. 
One blogger pled guilty and was fined 10,000 ringgit (approximately 
$2,850). The remaining five pled not guilty and at year's end their 
trials were 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.
    On September 4, online news portal Malaysia Today reported that the 
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) directed 
Malaysiakini to remove from its Web site two videos showing Muslim 
protestors desecrating a severed cow-head during an August 28 
demonstration (see section 2.b.). On September 10, seven officers from 
the MCMC entered Malaysiakini's offices demanding the original tapes of 
the August 28 protest. The MCMC team copied hard drives, photographed 
the hard drives' serial numbers, and questioned Malaysiakini staff. The 
MCMC stated the investigation was the result of the offensive videos 
posted on Malaysiakini's Web site.
    On October 1, the Ministry of Information, Communication, and 
Culture denied allegations that the MCMC had abused its power in its 
Internet crackdown. The MCMC allegedly had closed down certain Web 
sites in September and used strong-arm tactics against Malaysiakini. 
Denying the allegation, the ministry claimed there was a technical 
disruption, which resulted in the Web sites being temporarily 
inaccessible.

    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.
    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.
    During the year the government censored and banned at least one 
film for profanity, nudity, sex, violence, and certain political and 
religious content. On September 30, the home ministry announced a ban 
on the movie Bruno, because it contained sexually explicit scenes, 
vulgar language, nudity, and belittled Christianity. Although the 
government allowed art-house foreign films at local film festivals, 
sexual content was manually censored at the time of showing by blocking 
the screen until the concerned scene was over.
    The youth wing of the 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.
    On August 26, the Ministry of Information, Communications, and 
Culture initially announced that Muslims were banned from attending a 
Black Eyed Peas' concert in Kuala Lumpur because it was sponsored by 
the Guinness Brewing Company. On September 1, the Ministry reversed the 
decision and allowed Muslims to attend. The band performed, but alcohol 
sales were restricted to fenced-off areas with signs warning that 
Muslims were not permitted to enter.

    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.
    During the year there were several reports that the government used 
tear gas and chemically laced water cannons to breakup rallies.
    On May 5, police arrested Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist and 
activist with Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, under the Sedition 
Act. Wong promoted a demonstration entitled ``1BlackMalaysia,'' a play 
on Prime Minister Najib's ``1Malaysia'' campaign promoting racial and 
religious harmony in Malaysia, to protest the BN's takeover of the 
Perak State government. On May 7, police arrested 69 persons for 
illegal assembly for participating in the demonstration. They were 
released the following day.
    On May 7, in response to the arrests, a group of Wong's supporters 
held a candlelight vigil at the Brickfield's police station where Wong 
had been detained. Authorities arrested 14 members of the group for 
illegal assembly. Police arrested five lawyers from the Bar Council, 
who had gone to the police station to render legal assistance, on the 
same charge. Wong, the five lawyers, and the 14 others were released on 
May 8. The police subsequently dropped all charges.
    On August 1, the NGO Abolish ISA Movement, backed by the opposition 
coalition People's Alliance (PR), organized an anti-ISA rally in Kuala 
Lumpur. According to local media reports, approximately 25,000 
protesters participated. Police used tear gas and chemically laced 
water to disperse the protesters. Police arrested more than 600 
persons, but all were released the following day.
    On August 28, 50 Muslim residents from Selangor protested the 
relocation of a Hindu temple to their residential area by carrying a 
severed cow's head to the front gate of the Selangor State government 
office. The protesters took turns stepping on the cow-head and 
threatened bloodshed in the name of Islam if the government relocated 
the temple to their neighborhood. On September 9, the sessions court 
charged six persons with sedition as well as the charge of wounding the 
Hindu religion because they had desecrated a cow, an animal sacred to 
Hindus. All six pled not guilty and were released on bail. The six were 
then brought to a magistrate's court to face a charge of participating 
in an illegal assembly, under the Police Act. The judge released all 
six on bail. The case was pending at year's end.
    On September 4, Police Inspector General Tan Sri Musa Hassan issued 
a warning against attending a candlelight vigil scheduled for September 
5 in protest of the August 28 demonstration, stating that the assembly 
was illegal and action would be taken against those who took part. On 
September 5, police arrested 16 persons for attempting to join the 
peaceful protest. On September 6, the police released all 16 without 
pressing criminal charges.
    At year's end the cases of the nine persons arrested for 
participating in an assembly marking International Human Rights Day 
2007 and the 17 members of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 
who had been arrested in 2007, were still pending.

    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. In August 2008 the government approved the 
registration of the Socialist Party of Malaysia, which it had blocked 
since 1999. 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 expressed 
difficulty in obtaining government recognition as an NGO; 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. 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 December 2008 Parliament amended the 
act to allow students to be members of organizations outside the 
university.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion; however, the constitution and the government placed some 
restrictions on this right. The constitution defines all ethnic Malays 
as Muslims at birth and stipulates that Islam is the ``religion of the 
Federation.'' The government significantly restricted the practice of 
Islamic beliefs other than Sunni Islam. Article 11 of the constitution 
states, ``Every person has the right to profess and practice his 
religion,'' but it also gives state and federal governments the power 
to ``control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or 
belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.''
    Civil courts continued to cede authority to Shari'a courts on cases 
concerning conversion from Islam and certain areas of family law 
involving disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims. Shari'a courts 
ordered some Muslims attempting to convert to other religions to 
undergo mandatory religious reeducation classes.
    On March 11, K. Patmanathan converted from Hinduism to Islam and 
changed his name to Mohammed Ridzuan Abdullah. On April 12, he 
converted his three children, ages 12, 11, and one, to Islam without 
his Hindu wife's knowledge or consent. A Shari'a court in Perak State 
awarded custody of the children to Patmanathan. Although on April 24 
the high court granted his wife, Indira Ghandi, interim custody of the 
three children pending the court's decision, Patmanathan still had 
custody of their youngest child. On April 22, the cabinet decided that 
when one spouse converts to another faith, the children of the couple 
should be brought up in the common faith at the time of the marriage. 
The cabinet further stated that the proper venue for settling such 
disputes is the civil courts not the Islamic courts. Muslim NGOs and 
PAS condemned the cabinet decision, claiming that it contradicted both 
the federal constitution and Islam. On June 29, the Conference of 
Rulers asked for the views of the respective state religious councils 
on child conversion issues. Because Islam is considered a state matter 
and the sultans are the head of Islam in their respective states, their 
decision effectively negated the cabinet decision. At year's end the 
situation remained unresolved.
    Non-Muslims, who constitute approximately 40 percent of the 
population and include large Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Sikh 
communities, were free to practice their religious beliefs with few 
restrictions. According to the government, it allocated 428 million 
ringgit (approximately $125.9 million) to build Islamic places of 
worship and 8.1 million ringgit ($2.4 million) to build Christian, 
Buddhist, Hindu, and other minority religions' places of worship 
between 2005 and the end of 2008.
    The Registrar of Societies, under the Home Ministry, registers 
religious organizations. Registration enables organizations to receive 
government grants and other benefits. The government did not recognize 
some religious groups such as Al Arqam, which was declared deviant and 
banned in 1994; as such these groups sometimes registered themselves 
under different names as businesses under the Companies Act.
    The government maintained that views held by ``deviant'' groups 
endangered national security. According to the JAKIM Web site, the 
government identified and prohibited to Muslims 56 deviant teachings. 
They included Ahmadiyya, Islamailiah, Shi'a, and Baha'i teachings. The 
government asserted that ``deviationist'' teachings could cause 
divisions among Muslims. Religious authorities, with the consent of a 
Shari'a court, arrested and detained members of groups deemed 
``deviationist'' in order to ``rehabilitate deviants'' and return them 
to the ``true path of Islam.''
    The religious affairs minister stated that members of these groups 
were subject to prosecution, detention under the ISA, or 
rehabilitation. Neither the government nor religious authorities 
provided data on the number of persons subjected to prosecution or 
rehabilitation.
    The government continued to monitor the activities of the Shi'a 
minority, and state religious authorities reserved the right to detain 
Shi'a followers under the ISA as members of a ``deviant sect.''
    The Selangor Islamic Affairs Department continued efforts to stop 
the spread of the banned al-Arqam Islamic group. The Home Ministry 
continued to investigate the group as a ``threat to national 
security.'' Authorities closely monitored the group.
    On September 16, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department arrested 
Abdul Kahar Ahmad, a self-proclaimed prophet, for alleged deviant 
teachings. The Selangor Shari'a High Court issued a detention order 
against Abdul Kahar. On September 24, Abdul Kahar pleaded guilty to 
five charges of deviationist teachings, including blasphemy and 
spreading false belief and he asked those who followed his teachings to 
repent. On October 21, the court sentenced him to 10 years' 
imprisonment, a fine of 16,500 ringgit (approximately $4,710), and six 
strokes of the cane.
    The government generally respected non-Muslims' right of worship; 
however, state governments have authority over the building of non-
Muslim places of worship and the allocation of land for non-Muslim 
cemeteries. State authorities sometimes granted approvals for building 
permits very slowly. Minority religious groups reported that state 
governments sometimes blocked construction using restrictive zoning and 
construction codes.
    In practice Shari'a, as interpreted in the country, does not permit 
Muslims, born into Islam, to convert to another religion. Shari'a 
courts routinely denied requests to convert from Islam.
    The law strictly prohibits non-Muslims from proselytizing Muslims; 
proselytizing of non-Muslims faced no legal obstacles.
    According to the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhists, 
Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Taoists, the government continued to 
restrict visas for foreign clergy under the age of 40 to inhibit 
``militant clergy'' from entering the country. While representatives of 
non-Muslim groups did not sit on the immigration committee that 
approved visa requests for clergy, the committee asked the consultative 
council for its recommendations.
    Religious education is compulsory for Muslim children and follows a 
government-approved curriculum. Muslim civil servants are required to 
attend Islamic religious classes taught by government-approved 
teachers.
    The government generally did not ban distribution in peninsular 
Malaysia of Malay-language translations of the Bible, Christian tapes, 
and other printed materials, but it restricted distribution and 
required ``Not for Muslims,'' be stamped on all Malay-language 
materials. The distribution of Malay-language Christian materials faced 
few restrictions in the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak. During the 
year the government banned books and publications on Islam alleged to 
undermine the faith of Muslims.
    The government generally restricted remarks or publications that 
might incite racial or religious disharmony. This included some 
statements and publications critical of religions, especially Islam. 
The government also restricted the content of sermons at mosques. In 
recent years both the government and the opposition party PAS have 
attempted to use mosques in the states they control to deliver 
politically oriented messages. Several states attempted to ban 
opposition-affiliated imams from speaking at mosques.
    Some religious minorities have complained that the government 
undermined their rights in deference to the status of Islam.
    Maintaining that the use of Allah as the translation for God by 
Christians and in Christian literature could confuse the country's 
Muslims and draw them to Christianity, the government banned the use of 
the word Allah in the Catholic Herald in 2007. Ten of the country's 13 
states issued fatwas (an edict issued by a religious authority) 
prohibiting the use of Allah as a translation for God in non-Islamic 
contexts. During the year customs officials confiscated 15,000 Malay-
language Bibles for use of the word Allah. On December 31, in response 
to a suit by the Catholic Herald, the high court ruled against the 
government's ban on non-Muslims' use of Allah. The government noted 
that it would appeal the decision. Earlier, on December 16, the 
government approved The Herald's publishing permit for 2010.
    According to some women's rights advocates, women were subject to 
discriminatory interpretations of Shari'a and inconsistent application 
of the law from state to state.
    In addition to the existing restrictions on personal attire imposed 
upon Muslim women working in retail outlets and restaurants requiring 
headscarves and allowing only faces and hands to be exposed, the 
Kelantan municipal council forbade Muslim women working in food outlets 
and business premises from wearing high heels and lipstick while at 
work.
    The states' religious police continued to conduct raids on private 
homes, nightclubs, and other locations during the year to search for 
Muslims engaged in offenses such as gambling, consumption of alcohol, 
dressing immodestly, and engaging in sexual relations outside marriage. 
The government provided no statistics regarding the raids.
    On September 13, PAS Youth Deputy Chief Azman Shapawi announced the 
party's plan to ban the sale of alcohol in Muslim majority areas in PR-
held states. The announcement drew criticisms and widespread attention. 
On September 15, PR's leader Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Chief Minister 
Khalid Ibrahim reiterated that the state government was not planning to 
ban the sale of alcohol.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Political rhetoric using 
religion raised tensions among different religious groups but did not 
result in violence. 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.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 10,000 ringgit 
(approximately $2,850), or both, and mandatory caning not to exceed six 
strokes. In June the government stated that it had sentenced 47,914 
migrants to be caned for immigration offences 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.
    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 June 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 Malaysian citizenship, forcing 
him to continue to live in exile in Thailand.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
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. 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 generally did not deport individuals registered 
by the UNHCR and being processed for resettlement to third countries.
    The government continued to deport some refugees and asylum seekers 
but allowed certain refugees and persons of concern to remain, pending 
resettlement to other 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 the 
government provided preferential treatment to those individuals 
carrying a UNHCR card.
    There were an estimated three million foreign nationals in the 
country, of whom one million were illegal and undocumented. Of this 
latter group, approximately 90 percent were from Burma with Chin and 
Rohingya being most numerous, and sizeable groups of Kachin, Karen, and 
Mon. Additionally, 61,000 Filipino Muslims who fled the Moro insurgency 
in the 1970s were reportedly living in the country.
    During the year the UNHCR registered 75,617 persons of concern in 
the country, 17,951 of whom were children and more than 90 percent were 
Burmese. The majority of illegal migrants worked in construction, 
restaurants, plantations, and garment factories, as well as 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 recent years there were many reports from NGOs, international 
organizations, and civil society groups alleging that immigration 
officials were involved in the trafficking of Burmese refugees from 
IDCs to Thailand, where some refugees were sold into slavery (see 
section 6, Trafficking in Persons). NGOs and international 
organizations reported that since April, 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 now allow 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 
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.
    Although most asylum seekers traveled to Kuala Lumpur for 
determinations, the UNHCR conducted mobile registrations in areas with 
high concentrations of refugees because the UNHCR did not maintain a 
presence at the country's border. During the year the UNHCR listed 
10,267 persons as asylum seekers and 65,350 as refugees, approximately 
92 percent of whom were Burmese citizens.
    During the year the UNHCR submitted 10,228 refugees to third 
countries for resettlement consideration. Third countries accepted and 
resettled 7,202 refugees as of December 22. The remaining refugees 
remained at risk of detention and deportation by immigration officials.
    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 (jus 
sanguinis). 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 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 significant 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 March 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 seven of the eight local by-elections since the March 2008 
general election.
    On February 5, 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. The Sultan of 
Perak dismissed the opposition-controlled state government and 
appointed a BN state government. The ousted PR chief minister, Mohammad 
Nizar Jamaluddin, filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of the 
sultan's action. On May 11, the high court ruled in favor of Mohammad 
Nizar, declaring that the sultan could not dismiss the chief minister 
because the chief minister and the executive council were answerable to 
the state assembly and no one else. On May 22, the Court of Appeal 
overturned the high court decision and ruled in favor of the sultan. At 
year's end Nizar's appeal of the Court of Appeal's decision was 
pending.
    On May 7, the Perak state assembly met for the first time since the 
BN political takeover on February 5. Both the BN and PR attempted to 
present their own chief minister and their own assembly speaker. Each 
side attempted to set the agenda and pass motions without the 
participation of the other side. The stalemate ended when plainclothes 
police entered the chambers and dragged away PR Speaker V. Sivakumar. 
After the police removed Sivakumar, the BN took control of the 
assembly. Outside the assembly building, police arrested 64 PR 
supporters, including five members of Parliament (MPs) and five state 
representatives from outside Perak. Most were released the same day. 
The BN maintained control of Perak while these issues were pending in 
the courts.
    In September 2008 police detained MP Teresa Kok, a senior Selangor 
State cabinet minister, and senior member of the opposition Democratic 
Action Party, under the ISA for ``causing tension and conflict among 
races.'' Kok was released after seven days in detention. Subsequently, 
in October 2008 the Malay-language newspaper Utusan published a 
fictional article condoning the assassination of a female Chinese 
politician who supported anti-Malay policies. Kok filed a lawsuit 
against the newspaper in December 2008, claiming the article was a 
veiled smear campaign against her that endangered her life. At year's 
end the lawsuit was pending. On October 1, an anonymous person left a 
death threat against Kok in a comment region on her blog.
    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 March 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 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. All local and 
city officials have been appointed by the central government 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 the end of September, 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 10 of the 32 ministerial posts and 18 of the 40 
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. In December 
2008 the government passed legislation replacing the Anticorruption 
Agency with the MACC, which went into effect in January.
    On November 23, in response to a high court ruling that witnesses 
be questioned only between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., MACC 
Director of Investigations Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull directed 
investigators to ensure they started and stopped their interviews 
during office hours. On December 17, the Court of Appeal ruled that 
interrogations outside office hours were permissible.
    On September 24, Transparency International reported that 70 
percent of citizens believed the government was ineffective in fighting 
corruption.
    On May 28, the government declassified an independent audit on the 
Port Klang Free Zone project that revealed that the construction cost 
had escalated from 1.1 billion ringgit (approximately $314 million) in 
2001 to an estimated 12.5 billion ringgit ($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. On October 7, 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. On December 9, 
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. On 
December 14, a fourth individual, Law Jenn Dong, an engineer, was also 
arrested and charged.
    In November the MACC director general stated the agency arrested 
605 persons during the year, including 282 civil servants.
    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. Documents concerning national security, defense, and 
international relations were often categorized under the act. 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.

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.
    The government cooperated with some international organizations 
during the year. The government 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 September 9, SUHAKAM commemorated its 10th 
anniversary. Forty-two NGOs boycotted the event, claiming frustration 
over SUHAKAM's failure to proactively protect and promote human rights. 
The NGOs also stressed the government's failure to make SUHAKAM 
transparent, independent, and effective. In his opening remarks, 
SUHAKAM Chairman Abu Talib Othman stated that SUHAKAM was an advisory 
body with limited power and explained that the public needed to ``vote 
the right people'' into Parliament in order for the SUHAKAM Act to be 
amended to give it enforcement power.
    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 
that a major unresolved challenge was the slow government response to 
their reports on major topics 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, bumiputras), 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 September 2007 amendment to the Penal Code 
criminalized marital rape. On August 5, 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 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 2,000 
ringgit (approximately $570). 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.
    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 Shari'a experts urged Muslim women to become more aware of the 
provisions of Shari'a that prohibit spousal abuse and provide for 
divorce on grounds of physical cruelty. Provisions in state Shari'a 
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 Shari'a courts. Muslim women were able 
to file complaints in civil courts.
    Prostitution is not a criminal offense, although soliciting is. 
NGOs and international organizations estimated that 50,000 to 150,000 
women were involved in prostitution. From January to October, 7,810 
women from 21 countries were detained for involvement in prostitution. 
Muslims engaged in prostitution face penalties under Shari'a for 
engaging in sexual relations out of wedlock. Authorities routinely 
arrested foreign prostitutes, usually as illegal immigrants or for 
violating the terms of their nonimmigrant visas. Financially benefiting 
from the prostitution activities of others is illegal, and the Attorney 
General's Office prosecuted offenders.
    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. On December 15, the Human 
Resources Ministry announced that there had been 276 reported cases of 
sexual harassment since 1999, of which 271 had been resolved.
    Couples and individuals generally 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. The great majority of births were attended by skilled 
medical personnel, and women generally had access to postpartum care. 
Women and men generally had equal access to diagnostic and treatment 
services for sexually transmitted infections.
    Women's rights advocates asserted that women faced discriminatory 
treatment in Shari'a courts due to prejudicial interpretations of 
Islamic family law.
    On August 24, 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.).
    In October 2008 the National Fatwa Council issued a fatwa 
prohibiting girls from acting and dressing like boys. This ``tomboy'' 
fatwa claimed such activity was a violation of the tenets of Islam and 
encouraged homosexual conduct. Sisters In Islam noted that this fatwa 
was only directed at women and was an example of the sexism and 
discrimination against women in the country.
    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 Shari'a 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.
    Women experienced some economic discrimination in access to 
employment. On December 28, 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. The 
percentage of women at the decision-making level in government was less 
than 20 percent and was lower than that in the private sector. Women 
were routinely asked their marital status during job interviews. In 
September 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 risked 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.
    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 Shari'a, even if 
she is under the age of 18 and her partner is an adult. Shari'a 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 (see below).

    Trafficking in Persons.--The Antitrafficking in Persons Act 2007 
prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons. However, persons were 
trafficked to, from, through, and within the country. The government 
can also use other laws, such as the Child Act, the Immigration Act, 
and the Restricted Residence Act, to arrest and detain traffickers.
    Trafficking in persons was a serious problem. The country was a 
destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit point for men 
and women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced 
labor. Foreign trafficking victims, mostly women and girls from Burma, 
Mongolia, the People's Republic of China (PRC), Indonesia, Cambodia, 
Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam, were trafficked to the country 
for commercial sexual exploitation. Many economic migrants, mostly from 
Nepal, Burma, the PRC, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, 
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, working as domestic servants or 
laborers in the construction, factories, and oil-palm and rubber 
plantations and logging companies, faced exploitative conditions that 
met the definition of involuntary servitude.
    Foreign trafficking victims experienced involuntary confinement, 
confiscation of travel documents, debt bondage, physical abuse, and 
forced drug use. The government had not yet reconciled its 
antitrafficking and passport laws with Memoranda of Understanding 
(MOUS) with nearby countries that allow employers to confiscate foreign 
workers' passports and travel documents, which is a contributing factor 
to trafficking. It remained common practice for employers to confiscate 
passports. Some female sex trafficking victims said that they were 
lured to the country by promises of legitimate employment but were 
forced into prostitution upon their arrival.
    According to the police, the Bar Council, SUHAKAM, and victims, 
many foreigners found to be involved in prostitution may have been 
trafficking victims. Foreign embassies, NGOs, and government 
authorities reported that police and NGOs rescued and repatriated more 
than 880 trafficking victims during the year. The police referred the 
327 women rescued from commercial sexual exploitation to the 
government-operated trafficking shelter; 68 of the women were certified 
as trafficking victims. Although the Antitrafficking Act indicates that 
victims of trafficking should be identified, the government has not yet 
developed or implemented procedures to identify victims of trafficking 
among the migrant worker population. Some foreign governments expressed 
concern about the lack of legal protections in place for foreign 
workers, particularly those subjected to involuntary servitude. Some 
unidentified victims, including children, were routinely processed as 
illegal migrants and held in prisons or illegal migrant detention 
centers prior to deportation. A small number of Malaysian women and 
girls were trafficked for sexual purposes, mostly to Singapore, Macau, 
Hong Kong, and Taiwan, but also to the United Kingdom, Japan, 
Australia, and Canada. According to police and ethnic Chinese community 
leaders, female citizens who were victims of trafficking were usually 
ethnic Chinese, although ethnic Malay and Indian women also were 
exploited as prostitutes.
    Trafficking of Malaysians domestically also remained a problem. 
Women from rural areas, indigenous groups, such as the Orang Asli, and 
ethnic Indians were particularly vulnerable to domestic trafficking for 
sexual and labor exploitation. The Malaysian Trade Union Congress 
(MTUC) estimated a significant number of workers, foreign and domestic, 
worked in conditions equating to involuntary servitude; however, 
reliable data was unavailable to provide credible estimates.
    According to a United Nations Children's Fund report released in 
September, trafficking of children for sexual exploitation, 
pornography, and cheap labor occurred. Contributing factors were the 
large numbers of refugees, migrants, and stateless children who are 
vulnerable to exploitation, and inadequate laws to protect the rights 
of these groups.
    There were credible reports of Malaysian immigration officials' 
involvement in the trafficking of Burmese refugees along the Thai 
border. Immigration officials allegedly received 700 ringgit 
(approximately $200) per person. Several local NGOs estimated 
immigration officials handed over a significant number of Burmese 
refugees transported to the border to traffickers. Traffickers demanded 
ransom, ranging from 1,000 ringgit ($300) for children to 1,900 ringgit 
($560) for adults, in exchange for freedom and transportation back to 
Malaysia. Informed sources estimated 20 percent of the victims were 
unable to pay the ransom and were sold for the purposes of labor or 
sexual exploitation. Some reports indicated traffickers sold small 
children not freed by ransom to child-beggar syndicates in the region.
    Police and NGOs believed that criminal syndicates were behind most 
trafficking of migrant workers. Employment agencies were also believed 
to be heavily involved in trafficking migrant workers.
    Since its passage, the government convicted five individuals under 
the Antitrafficking Act. The first successful prosecution was in 
December 2008 when Indian citizen Punitha Raja pled guilty to sexually 
exploiting her maid into prostitution and was sentenced to eight years 
in prison. The government stated that police and prosecutors were still 
learning how to use the new law, so a number of cases continued to be 
prosecuted under immigration or labor laws.
    The government's multiagency council prepared a five-year action 
plan to combat trafficking. Since February the police arrested 173 
persons under the act and charged 23. At year's end 17 cases were 
pending in court and 36 were under investigation. More than 80 percent 
of the cases involved sex trafficking. On July 20, five immigration 
officials were arrested under the Antitrafficking Law for their 
involvement in the trafficking of Burmese refugees. By year's end 
prosecutors had charged one of the officers.
    Under the Antitrafficking Act, any person convicted of trafficking 
an adult is subject to a maximum imprisonment term of 15 years and a 
possible fine. A person convicted of trafficking a child receives a 
minimum sentence of three years and maximum of 20. Any person profiting 
from the exploitation of a trafficked person may serve a maximum of 15 
years and pay a minimum fine of 50,000 ringgit (approximately $14,706) 
and maximum of 500,000 ringgit ($147,058).
    The government assisted some underage persons exploited as 
prostitutes and rescued some trafficked women and girls. In addition to 
a women's shelter and a children's shelter in Kuala Lumpur, the 
government opened a new women's shelter in Sabah State on July 15. At 
year's end the government had two shelters for female victims and one 
shelter for child victims of trafficking. The government was renovating 
a facility near Kuala Lumpur International Airport with a capacity of 
600 persons to serve as a shelter for male victims. The Antitrafficking 
Act mandates placement of potential victims of trafficking into 
approved shelters to permit enforcement officers to investigate their 
trafficking claims. However, shelter space was inadequate to hold all 
identified victims. Victims in government-run shelters did not have 
access to rehabilitative or counseling services. The law requires 
victims to participate in the prosecution of their traffickers; 
however, in practice very few did. The law requires that, after 
providing evidence in a trafficking investigation, victims be turned 
over to immigration for deportation. Victims typically were deported 
within 90 days, although a significant number remained for six months 
or longer. Police continued to work with NGOs and occasionally referred 
foreign trafficking victims to shelters operated by NGOs. Police 
participated in NGO and foreign-funded antitrafficking seminars.
    The government initiated consultations, seminars, and training 
workshops to disseminate implementation procedures for enforcing the 
country's antitrafficking law. The Home Ministry initiated and launched 
an antitrafficking campaign utilizing radio, television, and print 
media to increase public awareness of trafficking issues.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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.
    In July 2008 Parliament passed the Persons with Disabilities Act. 
The act recognizes the rights of the disabled 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 disabled persons 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 bumiputras, who constituted a 
majority of the population. Such programs limited opportunities for 
nonbumiputras 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 nonbumiputra 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 
bumiputra community. Ethnic Indian citizens, who did not receive such 
privileges, remained among the country's poorest groups. Another goal 
of this policy is for bumiputras 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 bumiputra 
equity at 18.9 percent. The government did not respond to public 
requests to make its methodology available.
    In 2006 the minister of higher education stated that the nation's 
17 public universities employed few nonbumiputra deans. At the 
Universiti Malaya, 19 of 20 deans were bumiputras; in many other 
universities, deans were exclusively bumiputras. They also accounted 
for more than 90 percent of the country's almost 1.15 million civil 
servants at the end of the year. The percentage has steadily increased 
since independence in 1957.
    On April 22, Prime Minister Najib announced that the government had 
lifted the 30 percent bumiputra 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.

    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 141,000, constituted the 
poorest group in the country. Government statistics in 2007 categorized 
approximately 77 percent of Orang Asli households as living below the 
poverty level. In apparent contradiction to the 2007 statistics, in 
September 2008 the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) claimed 
that fewer than 10,000 of the 28,000 Orang Asli households lived below 
the poverty line. 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 377.8 million ringgit 
(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 100 million ringgit ($28.6 million) for development of lands 
inhabited by the Orang Asli and another 20 million ringgit ($5.7 
million) to curb inflationary pressures. JHEOA 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 November 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.
    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. On July 15, 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.
    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.
    On August 20, 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. On September 17, the police tore 
down the blockades and subsequently denied using any force in the 
removal of the blockades.
    On August 20, in a separate incident, police arrested 17 persons 
from the Penan and other indigenous groups for demonstrating against a 
proposed dam, which would require a large-scale relocation of 
indigenous groups.
    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. On September 9, Minister of Women, Family, and Community 
Development Shahrizat Jalil confirmed that Penan girls had been raped 
and molested by timber company workers. On September 10, the minister 
announced that the timber company was identified and police would take 
further action. On October 1, the Penan Support Group, a coalition of 
35 NGOs, released a joint press statement questioning the government's 
sincerity in investigating the alleged rape and sexual abuse of Penan 
girls and women in Sarawak. 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.

    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.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The government's 
response to HIV/AIDS was generally nondiscriminatory, although 
stigmatization of AIDS sufferers was common. In December 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 9 percent of the labor force, a slight 
increase from 8.9 percent in 2008.
    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, according to the 
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the 2007 amendments to 
the IRA made it more difficult for workers to form unions because the 
director general and the minister 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. 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.
    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 not uncommon 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.
    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 stated 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. According to MTUC 
officials, 150,000 electronics workers were unable to organize, and 
only eight in-house unions existed in the electronics industry.
    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 ITUC, 
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 the 
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 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. Employees in the 
public sector do not have the right to collective bargaining.
    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 then may become 
involved actively in conciliation efforts. If conciliation fails to 
achieve settlement, the minister has the power to refer the dispute to 
the industrial court. The IRA prohibits employers from taking 
retribution against a worker for participating in the lawful activities 
of a trade union. However, some trade unions questioned the 
effectiveness of the provisions. The IRA limits worker compensation to 
a maximum of two years from the time the employee is laid off.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--Workers have 
the legal right to organize and bargain collectively, and collective 
bargaining was widespread in those sectors where labor was organized.
    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 Service (CUEPACS), a federation of public employee unions 
registered under the TUA.
    CUEPACS is an umbrella organization that 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.
    Government regulations limited CUEPACS' negotiating power and 
virtually eliminated its right to organize strikes. CUEPACS sought a 
minimum wage for civil servants; however, by year's end the government 
had no plans to institute a 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. Critics alleged that 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.
    Companies in export processing zones must observe labor standards 
identical to those in the rest of the country. Although the electronics 
sector's pioneer status inhibits organizing, many companies had ``in-
house unions'' ; however, these were seen as controlled by management 
and were not allowed 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 1966 
criminalizes possession of someone else's passport ``without legal 
authority,'' the existence of 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 being victims of human trafficking and forced labor. 
Rights groups complained that 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. Following a series of cases of poor treatment, including 
an incident when employers abandoned 2,000 workers at Kuala Lumpur's 
airport, in October 2008 the government imposed a ban on issuing new 
work permits for guest workers from Bangladesh. Indebted to their 
employers due to excessively high recruitment fees and without their 
passports, these 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.
    Some of the estimated 220,000 to 280,000 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. During the year the 
two countries were 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 June 18, 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. If 
convicted, Yuan Tyung could face imprisonment for up to 20 years. She 
was granted bail of 15,000 ringgit (approximately $4,285) on the 
condition she report to the police station once a month as well as 
surrender her passport.
    On September 19, the Indonesian ambassador announced that the 
Embassy would only renew passports of domestic workers if employers 
agree to pay a minimum monthly salary of 500 ringgit ($145).
    On October 26, Mautik Hani, 26, an Indonesian woman working as a 
maid in Selangor died from injuries sustained allegedly at the hands of 
her employer, A. Murugan. On October 20, 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. On November 3, he pled not guilty to the charges. 
The case was pending at year's end.

    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, as the government preferred to allow market 
forces to determine wages. 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 350 ringgit (approximately $100) per month. Proponents 
of the agreement said that productivity incentives and bonuses raised 
the prevailing wage to 700 ringgit ($200). 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.
    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.
    Illegal foreign workers employed by licensed outsourcing companies 
and provided to factories on an as-needed basis have no legal 
protection under the law and limited legal options for recourse in 
cases of abuse.
    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.
    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 581 ringgit 
(approximately $166). 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 100 ringgit (approximately $29) to renew. Renewal is 
subject to the discretion of 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 450 to 600 ringgit 
(approximately $130 to 170) 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.
    An NGO reported that in 2007 a labor-outsourcing company recruited 
foreign workers to work at a foreign-owned electronics plants in the 
country. Each worker paid approximately 5,000 ringgit (approximately 
$1,400) and signed a contract guaranteeing work for 27 months at a 
salary of 800 ringgit ($225) per month. Their passports were allegedly 
confiscated and they were taken to a dormitory near the plant. For 10 
months they worked at the plant, earning approximately 875 ringgit 
($250) per month. In November 2008 work at the plant slowed, and 
several workers were returned to the outsourcing company. The 
outsourcing company then reportedly sent them to work in restaurants, a 
glove factory, a poultry farm, a frozen fruit plant--all in 
contradiction to their contracts. During this time the employers 
allegedly withheld their pay. Some obtained legal counsel and filed a 
civil claim against the outsourcing company. The civil trial was 
pending at year's end.
    Another NGO reported that between 2005 and 2007, a foreign-owned 
microchip manufacturing plant hired 80 foreign workers, through two 
foreign recruiting agencies. These workers were promised a minimum 
salary of 700 ringgit (approximately $200) per month. After three 
months of training, the manufacturing plant allegedly reduced their pay 
to half of the guaranteed minimum. In May 2008 several workers 
complained and demanded to speak to management. The manufacturing plant 
reportedly called the police and threatened to have the workers 
arrested. Those workers who refused to return to work were repatriated 
to their home countries. On July 4, eight workers filed a civil case 
against the company, which was pending at year's end.
    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.

                               __________

                            MARSHALL ISLANDS

    The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a constitutional republic 
with a population of approximately 65,000. In 2007 voters elected the 
parliament (Nitijela) in generally free and fair multiparty elections. 
On October 21, a vote of no confidence in the parliament removed 
Litokwa Tomeing from presidential power. On October 26, the parliament 
elected speaker Jurelang Zedkaia as president. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, prison conditions, government corruption, violence 
against women, child abuse, and lack of worker protections were areas 
of concern.
                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
reports 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.--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.
    One prisoner reportedly died at a temporary holding facility on 
Ebeye Island. An investigation into the death was pending at year's 
end.
    According to a High Court official, the country's only national 
prison on Majuro Atoll held 50 inmates as of December 21. There were no 
specialized prison facilities for female prisoners, including 
juveniles; they generally were held under house arrest, although some 
female offenders were held in a separate police substation. Some male 
juveniles were held together with the general prison population. 
Pretrial detainees were not separated from the general prison 
population.
    There were no requests for prison visits by independent human 
rights observers.
    In November the government completed renovation on half of the 
prison on Majuro Atoll and transferred prisoners with the worst 
criminal records to the newly renovated space. During the first night 
of operation, prisoners destroyed the new facility and 17 prisoners 
escaped. Police located the escapees and returned them to custody. At 
year's end all prisoners were housed in the substandard portion of 
Majuro jail pending renovation of the entire facility, which was 
expected to begin once the parliament allocates funds in early 2010.

    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 were no reports of impunity involving the police 
force during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the 
constitution and law, a warrant issued by a court is required for an 
arrest if there is adequate time to obtain one. The courts have 
interpreted this provision to exempt situations such as a breach of the 
peace or a felony in progress. The law provides detainees with the 
right to a prompt judicial determination regarding the legality of the 
detention, and 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. In March Chief Justice Carl Ingram criticized the 
government for the unlawful detention of Bai Lanej, a defendant who was 
held in a Majuro prison for 13 months without a court hearing. 
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.

    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. They may question witnesses, examine 
government-held evidence, and appeal convictions. The constitution 
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 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 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. For 
most citizens, however, Internet access was limited by small bandwith, 
slow connections, and high prices. Internet access was the most 
expensive in the world, according to visiting International Monetary 
Fund and World Bank representatives.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuse or discrimination against religious groups, including 
anti-Semitic acts. There were few known Jews in the country.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 occasion 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 and 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.

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.
    On October 26, the legislature elected Jurelang Zedkaia as 
president after a no-confidence vote on October 21 removed President 
Litokwa Tomeing from power.
    The most recent elections for the Nitijela were held in November 
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.
    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. 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, Social Security Administration director, banking 
commissioner, and chief public defender.
    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. World 
Bank indicators reflected that corruption was a serious problem. 
Budgetary problems persisted, but independent auditors gave the 
government an unqualified audit for 2008, noting improvements.
    Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Attorney General's Office is responsible for investigating cases of 
alleged corruption. No cases were prosecuted during the year. 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. This frequently 
led to allegations of nepotism in government hiring, especially for 
teachers, where studies found serious differences between teacher pay 
and qualifications. Officials also have used their positions to protect 
family members from prosecution for alleged wrongdoing.
    The individual who was appointed chairman of the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) board in 2008 was removed, an action that 
appeared to resolve the conflict of interest between the chairmanship 
and the business affairs of the country's largest private firm. There 
were no known developments in the attorney general's investigation into 
the circumstances surrounding the firing of an EPA employee after he 
commented on the conflict of interest. In addition the minister of 
justice, who had also been associated with the same firm, resigned from 
the cabinet and rejoined the firm, thus removing conflict-of-interest 
concerns.
    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, and a court filing 
showing the reason the information is required was often necessary.

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).
    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 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 effectively. However, most 
observers believed that few sexual offenses were prosecuted, since 
cultural constraints discouraged victims from reporting such crimes to 
the police. The law establishes penalties of up to 25 years' 
imprisonment for first-degree sexual assault.
    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, 
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. According to a High Court official, no 
rape cases were filed in the country during the year; of the four 
previous sexual assault cases brought before the High Court, two 
resulted in convictions and two, acquittals.
    The courts have promulgated rules designed to protect women filing 
rape charges during court testimony, and women's groups under the NGO 
Women United Together in the Marshall Islands continued to publicize 
women's issues and promote greater awareness of women's rights.
    Prostitution is illegal but reportedly occurred at low levels on 
the Majuro and Kwajalein atolls. No reports of prostitution were filed, 
and no cases were brought before the courts during the year.
    Sexual harassment is not prohibited by law, but it was not 
apparently considered a widespread or serious 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 were given equal access to diagnostic services 
and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
    Women generally enjoyed 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 oldest son or husband 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.

    Children.--The country provided universal birth registration, and 
citizenship was derived both by birth within the country's territory 
and from one's parents.
    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 (the U.S. dollar 
is the national currency), 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 violation 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 few reports or prosecutions.
    The minimum age of consensual sex is 14. The country's statutory 
rape law provides penalties of up to 25 years' imprisonment. There are 
no laws addressing child pornography.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that persons 
were trafficked to, from, through, or within the country.
    The State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be 
found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities. 
There was no apparent discrimination against persons with physical or 
mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or 
the provision of other state services; however, there were no building 
codes and no legislation mandating access for such persons. The 
government provided minimal support for persons with mental 
disabilities.
    Persons who could be medically defined as psychotic were imprisoned 
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. 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 15-21 as 
``Disability Week'' to spread awareness of the rights and concerns of 
persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--In contrast with previous 
years, there were no known reports of the government selectively 
enforcing immigration laws against migrants from the People's Republic 
of China (PRC) and no reports of immigration officials seizing PRC 
passports from their holders at the airport and arresting them.
    Some ethnic Chinese reported being threatened or attacked based on 
their race and receiving regular racial slurs. In July a Chinese ship 
captain was assaulted in Majuro by a gang of local men. No arrests were 
made in connection with the incident. The local press reported that 
attacks on Chinese sailors by youth gangs were common. Other ethnic 
Chinese stated it was common for taxi drivers to refuse to stop for 
Chinese passengers.
    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 known law 
criminalizing homosexual conduct. There were no known lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender organizations or marches in the country. 
There were no reports of official or societal discrimination against 
groups 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 had a limited history and culture of organized labor. In 
January public school teachers formed the country's first labor union. 
The 110-member union did not engage in negotiation or collective 
bargaining during the year, and there were no reports of government 
restrictions on activity.
    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 illegal alien 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.

    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.
    A government labor office makes recommendations to the Nitijela on 
working conditions, such as the minimum wage, legal working hours and 
overtime payments, and occupational health and safety standards, and 
the office periodically convenes board meetings that are open to the 
public. 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 government did not conduct 
any inspections of workplace health and safety conditions during the 
year. The law protects foreign workers in the same manner as citizens.

                               __________

                    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 108,000. The popularly elected unicameral 
legislature selects the president from among its four at-large senators 
(one from each state). There were no formal political parties. The most 
recent elections for Congress, held in March, were considered generally 
free and fair, despite technical problems and some allegations of fraud 
in Chuuk. In May 2007 Congress chose Emanuel Mori as president. 
Individual states enjoyed significant autonomy, and traditional leaders 
retained considerable influence in Pohnpei and Yap. Civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security 
forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. 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 the 
government generally respected these provisions; however, there were 
five complaints by prisoners alleging brutality by corrections officers 
(three in Kosrae State and two in Chuuk State). The authorities 
determined that four of those cases were without foundation. In the 
fifth case a judge in Chuuk ruled that an officer should be fired for 
police brutality. Chuuk's director of public safety demoted the 
officer, but the officer remained on the force.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards.
    At year's end, the country's four states had 76 prisoners held in 
jails with a capacity of 150 prisoners. Pretrial detainees usually were 
held 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.
    The government permits prison visits by human rights observers, but 
none occurred during the year.

    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.--Law enforcement 
agencies in Chuuk remained staffed with friends and relatives of 
powerful individuals. Civilian authorities maintained effective control 
over the national, state, and local police forces, however, and the 
government had effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse. 
There were no reports of impunity involving the police forces 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. All 
defendants have the right to counsel; however, the public defender's 
office was underfunded, and not all defendants received adequate legal 
assistance in practice.

    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 were 
public, although juveniles were 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. There is a 
national public defender system with an office in each state. 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.
    Underfunding of the court system and delays in Chuuk significantly 
impaired its judiciary's ability to function efficiently. Chuuk's 
backlog of approximately 3,000 cases extended to 2005. Chuuk struggled 
to overcome the backlog in the absence of one judge who was on paid 
sick leave during the entire year. The states of Kosrae, Pohnpei, and 
Yap reported no significant case backlogs.
    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 contains an express right to privacy 
that 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 
peaceful 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.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuse or discrimination against any religious groups. There 
were no known Jewish communities in the country and no reports of anti-
Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 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 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 and its 1967 protocol, 
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. 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 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 last general elections 
were held in 2007 and were generally free and fair. In March the 
country held national congressional elections and statewide elections 
in Chuuk, and there were allegations of polling fraud. International 
election monitoring and review concluded that while Chuuk experienced 
some procedural irregularities, 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 another 
woman was sworn in as a justice on the Pohnpei State Supreme Court late 
in the year. No women ran for office in the 2008 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 14-member 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.
    In April a court convicted a former ambassador for ``over-
obligation of government funds'' and sentenced him to three years' 
imprisonment.
    Also in April, Congress expelled a senator convicted in March 2008 
of felonious embezzlement of government funds, because the constitution 
prohibits a felon from serving in Congress.
    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 February 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 their 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 were 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 often 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 
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. Few cases were 
reported or prosecuted, however; such crimes were underreported due to 
social stigma. 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.
    There were no governmental or private facilities to shelter and 
support women in abusive situations. However, in October Pohnpei State 
began a program of domestic violence education that included a hotline. 
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) also began training its officers 
to handle domestic violence situations. The DPS hopes that its program 
will eventually lead to legislation and support programs.
    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.
    Prostitution is illegal and was uncommon, although the police 
alleged that a small number of prostitutes were available to fishermen 
temporarily docked in Pohnpei. National and state law enforcement 
authorities began an investigation into the problem as some local women 
reportedly engaged in prostitution; the investigation continued at 
year's end.
    The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, and anecdotal reports 
suggested that it was pervasive.
    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 through medical facilities. The lack of media prevented 
public information campaigns. Women and men were given equal access to 
diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
    Women have equal rights under the law, including the right to own 
property, and there were no institutional barriers to education or 
employment. Women received equal pay for equal work. 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 an active national women's 
advisory council that lobbied 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 gains citizenship if one or both parents were 
citizens. Individual states maintain birth records.
    Government health care and education programs were inadequate to 
meet the needs of children. The problem was exacerbated in an 
environment in which the traditional extended family unit was losing 
its importance.
    Although a compulsory education law requires all children to begin 
school at age six, not all did so. A shortage of qualified teachers and 
lack of textbooks hampered progress. Children were permitted to leave 
school when they reached the age of 14 or after completing the eighth 
grade.
    Child abuse is against the law, 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, age 15 and below in Pohnpei. The penalties 
vary according to state--Chuuk: five years' imprisonment, $5,000 fine; 
Kosrae: 10 years, $20,000 fine; Yap: 10 years, $10,000 fine; Pohnpei: 
five years, $5000 fine. Only Pohnpei state 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--National and state laws do not 
specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were 
allegations that persons were trafficked from and to the country, 
although no trafficking victims were discovered during the year. A 
court in Guam convicted the owners of a local bar and their Chuukese 
accomplices for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and enticement to 
travel for the purpose of prostitution. The bar owners, indicted in 
2008, admitted that they had recruited at least nine women from Chuuk 
to work as prostitutes from 2005 to 2007. Most local law enforcement 
officials believed that the case was isolated, reflecting economic 
problems in Chuuk, and that trafficking was not endemic in the country.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination in 
public service employment against persons with disabilities. Children 
with physical or mental disabilities, including learning disabilities, 
were provided with special education, including instruction at home if 
necessary; however, such classes were dependent on foreign funding. 
There were no reports of discrimination against persons with 
disabilities in employment, access to health care, or provision of 
other state services; however, persons with disabilities usually did 
not seek employment outside the home.
    Neither laws nor regulations mandate accessibility to public 
buildings or services for persons with disabilities. The national 
Health Services Department is responsible for protecting the rights of 
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.

    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 lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
or transgender organizations, but there were no impediments to their 
operation. There were no reports of violence, official or societal 
discrimination, or workplace discrimination against such 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 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.
    There is no specific right to strike, but no law prohibits strikes.

    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, and there were no reports that 
such practices occurred.

    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. Other minimum wages 
are set by each state's legislature. All states had a minimum hourly 
wage for government workers: $2.00 in Pohnpei, $1.25 in Chuuk, $1.42 in 
Kosrae, and $0.80 in Yap. Only Pohnpei had a minimum wage for private 
sector workers: $1.35 per hour. These minimum wage structures and the 
wages customarily paid to skilled workers were sufficient to provide a 
decent standard of living for a worker and family. The minimum wage was 
enforced through the tax system, and this mechanism was believed to be 
effective.
    There are no laws regulating hours of work (although a 40-hour 
workweek 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 were very poor. Crewmen reported a 
high incidence of injuries, beatings by officers, and nonpayment of 
salary.

                               __________

                                MONGOLIA

    Mongolia, with a population of approximately three million, is a 
multiparty, parliamentary democracy. The most recent presidential 
election, held on May 24, was considered largely free and fair. Former 
prime minister Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj of the opposition Democratic Party 
won the election, defeating incumbent Nambaryn Enkhbayar of the 
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP). The goverment, led by 
Prime Minister Sukhbaatariin Batbold, continued to be dominated by an 
MPRP majority but managed under a unity government with the Democratic 
Party. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of 
the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens; however, the following human rights problems were noted: 
police abuse of prisoners and detainees; impunity; poor conditions in 
detention centers; arbitrary arrest, lengthy detention, and corruption 
within the judicial system; continued refusal by some provincial 
governments to register Christian churches; secrecy laws and a lack of 
transparency in government affairs; 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.--In contrast with 
2008, there were no reports that the government or its agents committed 
arbitrary or unlawful killings.
    In the case of the July 2008 protest resulting in the deaths of 
five persons, 10 police officers suspected of firing upon civilians 
were investigated by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU). Amnesty 
International reported that four senior police officials, including the 
national chief of police, the chief of the Metropolitan Police, and the 
heads of the Units for Patrol and Public Order, were also investigated 
for allegedly giving the order to open fire. The investigation was 
completed on February 15, and the case file was provided to the police 
officials under investigation. Although they were given one month to 
read the file, they did not do so until November. The Prosecutor's 
Office in turn would not consider bringing charges before it received 
the file. On December 2, a Working Group of the Human Rights 
Subcommittee of the State Great Hural (parliament) held the country's 
first public hearings, in which police officers, citizens, and human 
rights attorneys testified regarding the July 2008 events. At year's 
end the Working Group was drafting a report on the findings with 
recommendations to address violations to be reviewed by the Sub-
Committee on Human Rights and the Permanent Committee on Laws.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices; however, police, 
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 SIU of the State Prosecutor General's Office (SPO) 
received 30 complaints from citizens against police officers suspected 
of torture, of which 27 were dismissed and three led to convictions. 
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; none had resulted in arrests or charges by 
year's end. According to an NHRC survey of 569 inmates, 94 percent 
declared that they had not faced torture, discriminatory treatment, or 
abuse. Amnesty International reported that all complaints passed to the 
Prosecutor's Office from the NHRC were dismissed and that the 
Prosecutor's Office refused to provide explanations for their 
dismissal.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in prisons were 
poor but improved significantly during the year. The low quality of 
medical care available to prisoners remained a concern. The Prison 
Department reported that there were 5,200 prisoners, of whom 315 were 
women and 10 were juveniles.
    Conditions at pretrial detention facilities remained poor. Sources 
reported incidents of detainee abuse and forced confessions. 
Additionally, overcrowding and low quality medical care threatened the 
health of detainees. There were approximately 600 detainees in the sole 
facility serving Ulaanbaatar in Gands-khudag, built originally for 500. 
At times cells held eight persons in spaces intended for two or three.
    Many inmates entered prison infected with tuberculosis (TB) or 
contracted it in prison. The government quarantined and treated victims 
at its TB hospital.
    The NHRC monitored conditions at several prisons and the Gands-
khudag detention center. Monitors from the diplomatic and human rights 
community were granted unaccompanied meetings with prisoners during the 
year.
    NGOs reported that prison conditions improved during the year, 
particularly with regard to general cleanliness and ventilation. With 
the construction of 12 new prison facilities since 2006 and the 
refurbishing of old ones, overcrowding in prisons subsided. 
Additionally, university-educated social workers and psychologists 
increasingly were employed full time for consultations with prisoners. 
Prisoners were offered a greater range of vocational, educational, 
outdoor, and religious activities. NGOs provided clothing, food, books, 
English-language instruction, and vocational training in prisons and 
detention centers.

    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 (MOD), the Ministry 
of Justice and Home Affairs (MOJHA), and the General Intelligence 
Agency (GIA). The MOD 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 MOJHA. The GIA is responsible for both internal 
security and foreign intelligence collection and operations. The GIA's 
civilian head reports directly to the prime minister. The SPO 
supervises undercover activities of the police and the intelligence 
agencies.
    Corruption in law enforcement agencies was endemic. The 
government's Independent Agency Against Corruption (IAAC) investigated 
some police officers but did not make public the results of any such 
investigations. There were no major changes to prevent police from 
abusing detainees or punish those who did so. However, the government 
made efforts to improve the training and professionalism of the 
security forces.
    Mechanisms to investigate police abuses remained inadequate as 
investigatory units lacked the resources to pursue all allegations. 
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. The SIU investigates allegations of 
misconduct by law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, and members of 
the judiciary. During the year the SIU received 518 complaints against 
law enforcement officials, opened cases on 171 of these complaints, 
refused to open cases on 240 complaints, and transferred 107 complaints 
to other agencies. At year's end 32 cases were under investigation. The 
SIU investigated a total of 379 subjects--208 police officers, 126 
civilians, 32 investigators, eight intelligence agency officers, two 
judges, and three prosecutors.

    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, but this was used with less frequency than in 
2008. Arrest without a warrant was less common than in previous years.
    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 of 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 were 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 
problems. Bribery could contribute to the dismissal of a case or 
reduction of a recommended sentence. Blackmail and identity fraud were 
also sources of corruption.
    During the year there was one misconduct case opened concerning 
judicial corruption. The judge in question was found guilty but spared 
punishment under the president's July blanket amnesty law. In the two 
cases involving judges pending at the end of 2008, one resulted in an 
acquittal and the other remained in trial.
    The judiciary consists of district and provincial courts as well as 
the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court. District courts 
primarily hear routine criminal and civil cases, while more serious 
cases, such as murder, rape, and grand larceny, are sent to the 
provincial courts. Provincial courts also serve as appeals courts for 
lower court decisions. The 17-member Supreme Court is the court of 
final appeal, hearing appeals from lower courts and cases involving 
alleged misconduct by high-level officials. The Constitutional Court, 
which is separate from criminal courts, has sole jurisdiction over 
constitutional questions.
    The General Council of Courts nominates candidates for vacancies on 
the courts; the president has the power to approve or refuse such 
nominations. The council also is charged with protecting the rights of 
judges and providing for the independence of the judiciary.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair public 
trial by a judge. The law provides that defendants are innocent until 
proven guilty. 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 as well as 
judicial remedies are available for alleged wrongs. Corruption and 
outside influence were problems in the civil judicial system, and 
enforcement of court orders was also a problem. Although by law victims 
of police abuse can sue for damages, in practice few were able to claim 
compensation.

    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. 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 MOJHA 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. The government monitored all 
media for compliance with antiviolence, antipornography, antialcohol, 
and tax laws.
    While there was no direct government censorship, the press 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.
    Observers stated that many newspapers were affiliated with 
political parties, or owned (fully or partly) by individuals affiliated 
with political parties, and that this 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 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 Information and Communication Technology Agency 
(ICTA), there were 45 Internet service providers 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 survey done by ICTA in March, 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.

    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.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.
    All NGOs, including religious groups, were required to register 
with the General Registration Agency (GRA). Local assemblies approve 
applications at the local level, after which the GRA issues the 
registration. Registration and reregistration procedures were 
burdensome for religious groups and could take years. The length and 
documentation requirements of the process reportedly discouraged some 
organizations from applying. Some provincial authorities reportedly 
used the registration process to limit the number of places for 
religious worship; however, this practice was not universal.
    According to NGOs the government's approval of places of worship 
was not a straightforward process. No religious organization was 
prevented from acquiring land on which to build a house of worship, but 
to circumvent bureaucratic problems, in many cases land was first 
acquired by an individual and then transferred to the organization 
following construction of the house of worship. Some places of worship 
avoided being authorized as such because of bureaucratic difficulties 
and instead characterized themselves as a fitness center or a cultural 
center. Twenty-seven places of worship registered for the first time 
during the year--15 Christian, seven Buddhist, and five shamanist.
    In Tov Province, near Ulaanbaatar, authorities continued routinely 
to deny church registrations. One church that was denied registration 
sued provincial authorities in December 2008. The provincial court, 
Ulaanbaatar Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court all ruled in favor of 
the church in February, April, and June, respectively. However, local 
authorities took no steps to register the group.
    The law does not prohibit proselytizing, but it forbids the use of 
incentives, pressure, or ``deceptive methods'' to introduce religion.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Societal attitudes were 
generally tolerant, and there was little overt or egregious 
discrimination based on religion.
    The Jewish population remained very small, and there were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 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 is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and its laws do not 
provide the granting of asylum or refugee status. However, 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.

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 held on the basis of 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 on May 24, the former prime minister and 
candidate of the opposition Democratic Party, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, 
won the election, defeating MPRP incumbent Nambaryn 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. Five 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. Two of the 
15 cabinet ministers were women, 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 no members of minorities 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 police, 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.
    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. Corruption-related 
arrests and convictions were rare but increasing. Despite this, the 
sentences of a number of officials convicted of accepting bribes were 
commuted under a blanket amnesty law passed in July.
    The IAAC, 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 IAAC 
is also 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 IAAC received approximately 1,050 reports 
of improprieties during the year, of which it referred more than 660 
for criminal investigation.
    Government and parliamentary decision making was not transparent, 
and public legislative hearings were rare. Meetings of the standing 
committees of the parliament were not open to the press or the public. 
Nevertheless, in December the Human Rights Subcommittee of the State 
Great Hural held the first public subcommittee hearing since the 
country's democratization. General sessions of the parliament were 
largely open to the public, although not in all cases. The far-reaching 
State Secrets Law inhibited freedom of information and government 
transparency while also 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. In its reports the NHRC 
repeatedly criticized the government for abuses of the power of arrest 
and detention, poor conditions in detention and prison facilities, 
lengthy detentions without trial, and failure to implement laws related 
to human rights. However, at the December 2 hearing, NHRC Chairwoman 
Solongo broadly retracted the criticisms of law enforcement, claiming 
that their conclusions had been incorrect.
    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 223 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 minority 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 some 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 five to 10 years. Such a crime resulting in death, victimizing a 
child under 14 years of age, or committed by a recidivist may result in 
15 to 25 years' imprisonment or application of 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 women's NGOs, often were reluctant to 
intervene in what was viewed as an internal family matter. At year's 
end only 20 cases had been tried under the 2004 law. On December 24, 
the government established 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 
in 2007 that one in three women was subject to some form of domestic 
violence, and one in 10 women was battered. Seven persons were 
convicted of domestic violence and given restraining orders during the 
year. The NCAV stated that it provided temporary shelter to 490 persons 
at its five 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 provided approximately 14 
million tugrik (approximately $9,500) to the NCAV for its five 
shelters, and the Government Stock Fund provided approximately an 
additional 13 million tugrik ($9,000). Dundgovi and Tuv provinces 
provided two million tugrik ($1,400) and 1.5 million tugrik ($1,000) to 
their respective local shelters as well.
    Prostitution is illegal, as is public solicitation for prostitution 
and organizing prostitution. Women's activists claimed that in 
Ulaanbaatar there were hundreds of brothels posing as saunas, massage 
parlors, and hotels. Some were occasionally raided by police. 
Nevertheless, the overall infrequency of raids allowed brothels to 
operate de facto. Some women worked abroad in the sex trade; an unknown 
number of them were trafficked. 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 the 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 to 
have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. However, a 2008 study by the women's rights 
group MONFEMNET found instances in reproductive care facilities of long 
waiting times, a lack of confidentiality, and unprofessional treatment 
by medical personnel. They also uncovered a lack of information on 
reproductive health services and options. 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. Women's activists 
stated that in at least two areas--information technology and mining--
women were paid less than men for the same work.
    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. However, 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 Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor. In the 
parliament there was a Standing Committee on Social Policy, Education, 
and Science that focused on gender matters. There were approximately 
100 women's rights NGOs concerned with problems such as maternal and 
child health, domestic violence, and equal opportunity.

    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 (NCC), 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 of teenage girls kidnapped, 
coerced, and deceived across the country 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 victims of commercial sexual exploitation; 
however, NGOs claimed other police officers worked with procurers and 
brothel keepers.
    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.
    According to the NCC, there were 48 temporary shelters and 
orphanages. There was one government-funded shelter, operated by the 
National Center Against Violence. The police oversaw an Address 
Identification Center in the capital where they temporarily provided 
accommodation to street children. With a capacity of 70, it was often 
overcrowded in the winter. Approximately 1,500 children lived in 
shelters countrywide, while 100 children were estimated to be living on 
the street.

    Trafficking in Persons.--Criminal code article 113, reformed in 
February 2008, specifically prohibits the ``sale or purchase of 
humans'' and provides for imprisonment of up to three years, or in 
egregious cases, up to 15 years. It covers the recruitment, 
transportation, and harboring of trafficking victims. The country 
remained a source of internal and transnational trafficking of men, 
women, and children for forced labor and sexual exploitation.
    According to a local NGO study conducted during the year, women 
between 18 and 25 years of age were most vulnerable to trafficking, 
particularly those with low incomes or unemployed. Most were trafficked 
abroad, where they were victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Most 
trafficking victims were taken to China, which Mongolian citizens can 
visit without visas. However, cases with destinations such as 
Kazakhstan, South Korea, Japan, Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Turkey, and 
Switzerland were alleged or confirmed. Local NGOs cited an increase in 
internal sex trafficking, including cases in which girls ages 13 to 17 
were abducted, largely from the countryside, and forced into 
prostitution.
    The Gender Equality Center operated a trafficking hotline without 
government funding that received 182 calls related to trafficking in 
persons during the year. The decrease from 236 calls in 2008 was 
attributed to a loss of outside funding for a number of months and the 
resultant interruption of services and advertising. The center and 
other NGOs also helped Mongolians who had ended up in debt-bondage 
situations abroad. There also were reports of involuntary servitude by 
women who entered into marriages with foreigners, predominantly South 
Korean men.
    The criminal code provides for three years' imprisonment, fines, or 
forced labor for a person convicted of the sale or purchase of humans. 
The sentence can reach 10 years if the crime is committed against a 
minor or against two or more persons, or if it is for the purpose of 
forced prostitution. If the same crime is committed by an organized 
criminal organization or inflicts ``grave harm,'' it can be punishable 
with a prison term of 10 to 15 years.
    Of the seven trafficking cases pending at the close of 2008, two 
resulted in guilty verdicts, leading to prison sentences ranging from 
seven to 11 years and the disbursal of approximately 4.3 million tugrik 
($3,000) in fines from perpetrators to victims of trafficking. At 
year's end police reported investigating 11 cases of trafficking in 
persons under article 113.
    The government took limited steps to prevent trafficking, identify 
and prosecute offenders, and assist victims. The government continued 
to rely heavily on NGOs and the international community to provide most 
victim services and prevention activity.
    During the year the International Organization for Migration and 
NGOs provided trafficking-related training to immigration officials, 
police investigators, prosecutors, railway police, GIA officials, and 
officials of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Social Welfare and 
Labor, among others. In addition foreign law enforcement experts 
trained local police on techniques for investigating trafficking and 
developing cases.
    During the year 51 trafficking victims located abroad were 
repatriated. According to the Gender Equality Center, 27 of these were 
victims of labor exploitation in Turkey. The center assisted them with 
their reintegration.
    Rather than file trafficking charges under the more severe article 
113 of the criminal code, prosecutors proceeded under article 124, 
Organized Prostitution, which is easier to prove and carries lighter 
sentences. During the year 54 persons reported themselves to law 
enforcement authorities as victims of trafficking, and nine suspects 
were convicted under article 113, according to the Supreme Court 
research center.
    Corruption was a problem, and there were reports of law enforcement 
officials directly involved in or facilitating trafficking crimes, 
including assisting traffickers in identifying potential victims. Some 
high-level government and police officials reportedly were clients of 
minors forced into prostitution, but the government did not investigate 
or take disciplinary action against law enforcement officers alleged to 
be involved in trafficking-related corruption.
    NGO representatives reported that protections for victims and 
witnesses were extremely limited, and most assistance was provided by 
NGOs rather than the government. Social stigma inhibited victims from 
speaking out. The Gender Equality Center operated two shelters for the 
protection of trafficking victims without government support.
    With the assistance of NGOs, customs officials distributed 
information to outward-bound citizens. However, the leaflets were not 
given uniformly. Rather, officials reportedly put them in the passports 
of only those women they judged to be likely prostitutes. NGOs 
expressed dismay at this incomplete and arbitrary means of 
distribution.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The labor law prohibits discrimination 
in employment and education against persons with disabilities. 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 97,000 persons with 
disabilities over the age of 15 in the country, of whom 20 percent were 
employed. The government provided tax benefits to enterprises that 
hired persons with disabilities, whom some firms hired exclusively. The 
law requires workplaces to hire one person with disabilities for every 
25 employees. Persons injured in industrial accidents had 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.
    There is no general law mandating access to buildings for persons 
with disabilities, and no government buildings were accessible to such 
persons. Public transportation was also largely inaccessible to persons 
with impaired mobility.
    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 the country's 42,000 children with 
disabilities, nearly two-thirds 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 such benefits, the amount of financial assistance 
was low, and it did not reach all persons with disabilities. According 
to the MNFDPO, of the country's 97,000 persons with disabilities, 
approximately 42,000 received an allowance from the government's Social 
Welfare Fund, and 46,000 persons received allowances from the Social 
Insurance Fund.
    Persons with disabilities could not fully participate in the 
political process. Little accommodation was made for persons with 
disabilities at polling stations, and there were no such 
representatives in the parliament. According to an MNFDPO survey, 80 
percent of all eligible voters with disabilities voted by guessing, 
since they were not able to obtain adequate information about 
candidates or their parties' platforms. Persons with sight and hearing 
disabilities also had difficulty remaining informed about public 
affairs due to a lack of accessible broadcast media.
    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. There was one 
such business incubator under the MNFDPO, located in Ulaanbaatar.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The constitution states that 
``all persons lawfully residing within Mongolia are equal before the 
law and the courts.'' However, some foreign businesspersons resident in 
the country complained that government tax and licensing authorities 
subjected them to much greater scrutiny than domestic competitors. 
Other foreign entrepreneurs complained privately that they were 
disproportionately targeted for shakedowns by corrupt government 
officials, including police. Furthermore, they were targeted with 
frivolous criminal law suits in the event of business disputes, forcing 
them to leave the country or undergo an onerous process of clearing 
their names.
    A small number of nationalist and xenophobic groups threatened 
Chinese residents' personal safety and businesses, as well as the 
safety of any Mongolian women who associated with Chinese men. During 
the year there were several credible reports of violence against 
Chinese residents, estimated to number more than 12,000. The government 
took steps to protect the rights of Chinese residents.
    Chinese construction workers, when away from their work sites, were 
sometimes subjected to hostility and suspicion from host-country 
citizens.

    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.
    The government impeded the free association of lesbian, gay, 
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups. The State Registration Agency 
refused in multiple instances to register the LGBT Centre, 
alternatively asking for bribes and declaring its name to be 
``immoral,'' but registered the group in December.
    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 gay men 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 at 209,000. Approximately 400,000 workers were self-
employed; of these, 241,000 belonged to a union. 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 reported two strikes during the year, including 
by miners at the Boroo Gold Mine and technicians at the Aero Mongolia 
airline.
    If an employer fails to comply with a recommendation by a majority 
of workers, with union involvement or without, employees may exercise 
their right to strike. 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.

    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. 
Approximately 52 percent of workers were covered by collective 
agreements. The Labor Dispute Settlement Commission resolves disputes 
involving an individual; disputes involving groups are referred to 
intermediaries and arbitrators for reconciliation.
    The law protects the right of workers to participate in trade union 
activities without discrimination, and the government protected this 
right in general. Nevertheless, in the strike against Aero Mongolia, 
the administration and courts did not recognize the rights of mechanics 
to establish a company-level trade union, allowing the company to fire 
those workers seeking to unionize. The case remained in appeal at 
year's end. The government does not allow intervention in collective 
bargaining by third parties.
    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 250 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.

    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. Labor inspectors assigned to regional and local offices 
were responsible for enforcement of these prohibitions as well as 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, scavenging in dumpsites, 
in unauthorized small-scale mining, and herding animals. Widespread 
alcoholism and parental abandonment made it necessary for many children 
to have an income to support themselves. The NCC placed 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 horse races range from two to nearly 20 miles. The state bans 
child jockey racing during the coldest period (October 18 through 
February 13) and enacted regulations regarding headwear. Nonetheless, 
in practice very few child jockeys used helmets.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The legal minimum wage was 
108,000 tugrik per month (approximately $75). 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 Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor 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 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 Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor had an 
insufficient number of labor standards inspectors according to the 
Mongolian Confederation of Trade Unions (MCTU). Inspections were 
conducted both proactively and in response to complaints filed. An MCTU 
representative stated that fines leveled against companies not 
complying with labor standards were insufficient in many cases 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. According to the MCTU, there 
were 53 deaths and 366 injuries during the year, significantly lower 
than the 162 deaths and 491 injuries reported for 2008. 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, a majority of whom were Chinese mining and 
construction workers, generally enjoyed the same protections as 
citizens, despite often working in low-wage jobs and living under 
Spartan conditions. However, the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor 
did not monitor the working or living conditions of North Korean 
laborers, who were employed primarily in the construction and service 
industries.

                               __________

                                 NAURU

    Nauru is a constitutional republic with a population of 
approximately 10,700. The most recent parliamentary elections, held in 
April 2008, were generally free and fair. There were no formal 
political parties. The unicameral parliament elects one of its members 
to be the president, who is both chief of state and head of government. 
Marcus Stephen has served as president since 2007. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of 
addressing individual instances of abuse. 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.--The country's only prison 
was damaged by fire in March 2008. The government undertook repairs, 
which were continuing at year's end. Repairs to the perimeter fence and 
most of the interior of the existing prison buildings were completed, 
including repairs to cells and ablution facilities, and prison 
conditions generally met international standards. The maximum number of 
prisoners that the existing facilities were able to hold was 35, and 
the prison had 35 prisoners accommodated in cells and dormitories. 
Short-term detainees (those held for no more than 24 hours, generally 
for drunk and disorderly behavior), including juveniles, were 
accommodated in shipping containers converted into cells.
    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.

    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.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The relationships among 
religions generally were amicable, although there was a degree of 
societal intolerance toward religions other than established Christian 
denominations. There was no known Jewish community, and there were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--Neither the constitution nor 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.--In April 2008 President 
Marcus Stephen called new parliamentary elections in an effort to break 
a parliamentary deadlock between government and opposition members of 
Parliament (MPs). Following the elections, in which three opposition 
MPs lost their seats, Parliament reelected Stephen as president. 
Multiple candidates stood for all parliamentary seats in each of the 
country's eight constituencies. Political parties could operate without 
restriction or outside interference, but there were no formal parties.
    Independent election observers concluded that the 2008 elections 
were credible, with voters able to exercise their will freely.
    There are no legal impediments to participation in politics by 
women, but in general women traditionally have been less prominent in 
politics than men. Four women stood as candidates in the 2008 
parliamentary elections, but none was elected. The country's permanent 
representative to the UN 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 18-member Parliament or 
the cabinet.

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. There were some 
allegations of government corruption during the year.
    In March, together with Kiribati and Tuvalu, the country signed a 
memorandum of understanding to establish a subregional audit support 
program, a new 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 are no legal provisions providing 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. From November 30 to December 1, the government hosted a 
visit from the Regional Rights Resource Team of the Secretariat of the 
Pacific Community to discuss legal and policy issues dealing with 
women's rights.

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. There were two rape 
convictions during the year. 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 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.
    Prostitution is illegal, and there were no reports of such activity 
during the year.
    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 married women surveyed 
used some form of contraception. The majority of those surveyed who did 
not use contraception gave as the reason that they wanted more 
children; the remainder indicated they did not believe in using 
contraceptives. 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. 
However, in practice societal pressures and the country's 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 country's economic crisis.
    Child abuse statistics were not compiled, but anecdotal evidence 
indicated that abuse occurred. During the year two persons were 
convicted of ``indecent sexual treatment'' of children under age 14.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The constitution and law do not 
specifically prohibit trafficking in persons; however, the constitution 
prohibits forced labor, and the penal code criminalizes ``deprivation 
of liberty.'' There were no reports that persons were trafficked to, 
from, through, or within the country.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip/.

    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 schooling for a small group of students 
with disabilities, holding classes in 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 the country's few private businesses, such as stores 
and restaurants.

    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 under this provision. 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 status.

Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Right of Association.--
    The constitution provides for the right of citizens to form and 
belong to trade unions or other associations. However, the country has 
virtually no labor laws, nor does it have any formal trade unions. 
Historically, the transient nature of the mostly foreign workforce 
hampered efforts to organize trade unions.
    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 
were no legal impediments, collective bargaining did not take place. A 
tiny private sector, mostly family-run stores and restaurants, employed 
approximately 1 percent 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 4.33 
million. Citizens choose their representatives in free and fair 
multiparty elections, most recently held in November 2008. The National 
Party won 58 parliamentary seats and formed a minority coalition 
government; John Key became the new prime minister. Civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security 
forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of 
addressing individual instances of abuse; however, indigenous people 
disproportionately experienced societal 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 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. The government 
permitted monitoring visits by independent human rights observers, and 
such visits occurred during the year.
    On March 1, a prisoner was killed by fellow inmates at Auckland 
Prison. Three men were charged with murder and a fourth was charged as 
an accessory. The case remained pending at year's end. The family 
complained that there was inadequate supervision at the prison.
    At year's end the prison population was 8,196. Of these, 493 were 
female; 553 were between the ages of 15 and 19; and 4,140 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 house prisoners who are under 17 years of age.

    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 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. Family members were 
granted prompt access to detainees. Authorities 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 and used by citizens.

    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.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Relations among religions 
generally were amicable, although there were isolated instances of 
societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or 
practice.
    The Jewish community numbered approximately 7,000 persons. Anti-
Semitic incidents were rare.
    The HRC received 20 complaints regarding a well-publicized case in 
January in which a cafe owner asked two women to leave his 
establishment when he heard them speaking Hebrew. The matter was 
resolved through mediation, and the cafe owner apologized in a press 
release.
    The government-funded HRC actively promoted religious tolerance.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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 is a party to the 1951 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol. 
Its 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 government also provided temporary protection to 
individuals who may not qualify under the definition of the 1951 
convention and the 1967 protocol until their status was determined and 
action taken.
    During the year the country handled two stateless persons cases, 
and both individuals claimed refugee status. The first, a Palestinian, 
was granted asylum. The second case, pertaining to a Kuwaiti, was 
ongoing at year's end.
    Bahareh Moradi, an Iranian citizen, requested refugee status in 
2006 and was denied. She appealed that decision in 2008 and lost. By 
law the Immigration Service cannot divulge details about specific 
refugee cases; however, it reported that this case was resolved. 
Bahareh was no longer in hiding, and she faced no deportation order.

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 November 2008, the National Party won 58 of 122 
parliamentary seats and formed a minority government in coalition with 
the ACT Party (five seats) and the United Future Party (one seat). The 
National-led government also had a cooperation agreement with the Maori 
Party (five seats). 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: the Labour Party (43 seats), the Green Party 
(nine seats), and the Progressive Party (one seat).
    Women participated fully in political life. There were 41 women in 
Parliament and eight 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 were three women in the 25-seat 
parliament of the Associated State of the Cook Islands 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 members of Parliament 
(MPs) by election or appointment to non-Maori conventional seats.
    There were 20 Maori members, five 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.
    In April the case of an MP charged in 2007 with 37 criminal 
violations, including bribery, corruption, and perverting justice, went 
to trial. A court found the MP guilty of 11 charges of bribery and 
corruption and 15 charges of obstruction of justice, and it sentenced 
him to six years in prison.
    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 to be 
provided within 20 working days of a request. Information must be made 
available unless a good reason, such as concern for national security, 
exists for not doing so. The 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. There were no visits by 
UN or other international organization representatives during the year.
    The Ministry of Justice funds the active HRC, which operates as an 
independent agency without government interference. The commission has 
a staff of 60 and has adequate resources to perform its mission. The 
commission issues four reports each year.

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 occurred in 
cases where the parole board believed that the prisoner still posed a 
risk to society. Each case is reviewed annually by a parole board. From 
July 2008 through June, police recorded 2,364 ``sexual attacks,'' which 
resulted in 1,127 prosecutions. During the same period, the police 
recorded seven offenses of spousal rape with four prosecutions and six 
offenses of unlawful sexual connection with a spouse with three 
prosecutions.
    Assault by a male on a female is a nonsexual crime punishable by up 
to two years' imprisonment (a penalty double that for a male-on-male or 
a female-on-male assault, which carries a one-year maximum penalty). In 
the 12-month period ending June 30, 3,788 persons were prosecuted for 
assault by a male on a female. Crisis centers offering support services 
for victims of sexual violence existed throughout the country and 
included centers focusing specifically on Maori and Pacific Islanders.
    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 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) decriminalized prostitution 
and created a certification regime for brothel operators. The act 
prohibits persons under age 18 from working in the sex industry and 
gives prostituted adults the same workplace protections as those given 
to workers in other industries. The law also eliminates the defense (by 
clients, brothel operators, and pimps, for example) of claiming 
ignorance that a person engaged in commercial sexual activity was under 
age 18. The act extends culpability to any person who receives 
financial gain from such activity involving an underage person. The law 
prohibits sex tourism, and citizens who commit child sex offenses 
overseas can be prosecuted in New Zealand courts. The government 
prosecuted sexual offenses committed abroad based upon evidence 
collected, including photographs confiscated from the accused upon 
reentry into the country.
    The 11-member Prostitution Law Review Committee (PLRC) consisted of 
representatives from local government, the police, the public health 
industry, business, academia, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and 
the sex industry. The PLRC was established under the PRA to review the 
act's operation. In May 2008 the PLRC published its review of the PRA, 
in which it recommended continued monitoring and advocacy within the 
sex industry, support for sex workers seeking alternatives to street 
work, and enhancements at national and local government levels 
regarding safety and compliance measures.
    Sexual harassment in violation of the Employment Relations Act or 
the Human Rights Act is unlawful and carries 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. Skilled healthcare is available, and women are 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 Human Rights Commission has an Equal Opportunity Employment 
team that focuses on workplace gender issues. 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 figures, 
women earned 88 percent of the average hourly earnings for men.

    Children.--Children born in the country attain citizenship if at 
least one parent is either a citizen or legal permanent resident of the 
country. Children born outside of the country attain citizenship as 
long as at least one parent was a citizen born in the country.
    Child abuse continued to be of concern to the government. 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. Cases of child abuse 
and neglect increased over previous years, but according to the 
Ministry of Justice it was unclear whether this trend reflected higher 
levels of abuse and neglect, or whether lower community tolerance 
stimulated increased reporting.
    Commercial sexual exploitation of children remained a problem. When 
discovered, law enforcement authorities arrested and prosecuted the 
violators.
    At year's end a New Plymouth brothel owner charged in November 2008 
for employing a 15-year-old girl as a prostitute in 2005 awaited trial. 
An initial trial was abandoned due to the defendant's health, and a new 
one was pending at year's end.
    A Christchurch brothel owner charged with exploiting underage girls 
for prostitution in July 2008 was convicted during the year and 
sentenced to prison for 27 months.
    One other 2007 prosecution in Christchurch relating to underage 
prostitution remained pending at year's end.
    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 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits transnational 
trafficking in persons. The Department of Labor (DoL) reviewed 
allegations of trafficking but did not prosecute any cases due to 
insufficient evidence that the victims were trafficked. No cases of 
transnationally trafficked persons have come to the attention of the 
authorities since reporting began in 2001, although there were 
complaints of exploitation of foreign agricultural workers and 
nonresident women working illegally in prostitution. The government 
realized that an absence of trafficking reports did not guarantee that 
trafficking did not occur. The government launched the National Plan of 
Action for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in June that 
includes training for immigration officials, labor inspectors, and 
police officers in identifying trafficking ``triggers.'' All labor and 
illegal prostitution complaints are thoroughly investigated by the 
appropriate government agency, and no evidence of trafficking was 
identified during the year.
    The antitrafficking law does not address internal trafficking. 
Other laws that criminalize the exploitation of adults and children in 
cases where victims (e.g., minors engaged in commercial sex) have not 
crossed an international border have been used to investigate and 
prosecute internal trafficking cases.
    Although prostitution is not a crime, it is illegal for 
nonresidents to work in commercial sex activities.
    The antitrafficking law stipulates a maximum penalty of 20 years in 
prison and fines of NZ$500,000 (approximately $300,000). Laws against 
slavery and child sexual exploitation carry penalties of up to 14 years 
in prison. Under the PRA it is illegal to use or profit from using a 
person less than 18 years of age in prostitution. Under the criminal 
law, it is also illegal to have sexual contact with a child under 16 
years of age, regardless of whether the accused believed the child to 
be 16 years or older.
    The government established the Interagency Working Group (IWG) as 
part of the national plan of action. The IWG has primary responsibility 
for coordinating government efforts to combat trafficking in persons 
and works closely with NGOs and civil society groups.
    The New Zealand Council for Victim Support Groups stood ready to 
provide wide-ranging assistance programs to victims of internal 
trafficking, including short-term shelter, temporary legal residence, 
witness protection, access to medical services, and safe repatriation. 
The government also worked to address trafficking in children by 
providing funding for NGO outreach programs in Auckland and 
Christchurch that provided accommodations and other support for young 
persons involved in or at risk of involvement in prostitution.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 385 disability-
related complaints which represented 9 percent of the total complaints 
received. Compliance with access laws varied. The government is 
prohibited from discrimination on the basis of physical 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 issues in their antidiscrimination efforts.

    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 
discrimination. The government mandates a Race Relations Commissioner 
who has 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.

    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 unemployment was 10 percent in June, compared with the 
national average of 5 percent. The average hourly earnings for Maori in 
June were NZ$18.76 (approximately $13.13), and median earnings were 
NZ$16.74 ($11.72). These figures compared with the average and median 
earnings for all workers of NZ$22.35 ($15.65) and NZ$18.75 ($13.12), 
respectively. The median age among Maoris was in the low 20s compared 
with a median age in the high 20s for the entire population. Younger 
workers were more likely to be unemployed and typically earned less 
than their older colleagues; however, the government did not model 
Maori incomes to reflect this age difference.
    Maori constituted 51 percent 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 people 
and their traditional values and customs, including cultural and 
environmental issues that affected commercial development. The Ministry 
of Maori Development, in cooperation with several Maori NGOs, sought to 
improve the status of indigenous people.
    A 2004 law regulates ownership of the foreshore (the land between 
high and low tide) and the seabed. The law granted ownership of the 
foreshore and seabed to the state and provides for universal public 
access. It also established a mechanism to accommodate customary 
indigenous rights of land use, including preservation of existing 
fishing rights. This legislation has been the focus of protests by 
Maori groups asserting customary title to the land and by non-Maori 
groups opposing such claims.
    The National Party-led government established a goal to settle all 
Maori historic claims related to the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, the 
country's founding document. At the end of the year, two of the 10 
largest Maori tribes had settled their claims completely, receiving 
NZ$170 million (approximately $119 million) each. The government 
reported significant progress with 20 of the remaining 78 tribes and 
estimated a total cost of between NZ$1.5 billion and NZ$2.0 billion 
($735 million to $1.4 billion). The government opened a Web site 
(www.ots.govt.nz) to increase transparency and enable the public to 
monitor treaty settlement progress.
    The government extended the September 2008 filing deadline in order 
to facilitate a large number of claims. The Ministry of Maori 
Development reported that all claims were registered and assigned to 
the applicable geographic regions for resolution.
    Police arrested 20 persons, some of whom were Maori, in October 
2007 on various weapons charges, including unlawful possession of 
rifles. The arrests reportedly stemmed from an investigation begun in 
2005 after hunters told authorities they had seen a group of men 
training with firearms in a camp in a remote mountain area. Maori MPs 
and others in the Maori community criticized police conduct of the 
raids that led to the arrests as excessive and heavy-handed. 
Authorities dropped charges against one defendant due to lack of 
evidence, and the other 17 cases remained pending at year's end with no 
scheduled trial date. The government did not file any terrorism charges 
against these defendants.
    In August 2007 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial 
Discrimination (CERD) reported on racial discrimination in the country. 
The report criticized the government's foreshore and seabed legislation 
and its handling of Maori land claims. The report also expressed 
concern that the Bill of Rights Act and the Treaty of Waitangi, under 
which many Maori rights are spelled out, do not enjoy protected status 
within the country's parliamentary system. Therefore, according to 
CERD, enactment of legislation contrary to the act and the treaty was 
possible. The report included 16 recommendations for changes relating 
to Maori rights or the rights of other ethnic groups, and CERD 
requested responses to four of those recommendations within one year. 
The government submitted a written response to these four CERD 
recommendations in September 2008 in which it agreed with three of the 
four recommendations. The fourth, which recommended that the country 
provide undocumented children access to public education without 
restriction, was partially rejected. The law states that persons in the 
country illegally cannot have access to public education; however, 
interim measures were in place allowing children whose immigration 
status was under review to attend school.

    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 57 discrimination complaints relating to 
gender or sexual orientation (1.3 percent of all complaints). The 
Ministry of Justice received no reports of societal violence or 
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    A Hungarian tourist was acquitted of murder but convicted of the 
lesser charge of manslaughter for killing a gay man who had solicited 
him at a local bar. The defendant claimed that the victim's sexual 
advances had provoked him to commit the crime. The legislature has 
since repealed the Law of Provocation that the tourist used in his 
defense.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
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 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, non-affiliated labor unions 
also existed. According to DoL statistics published in March, 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 1,466) 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.
    There were 11 legal strikes during the first nine months of the 
year. The Employment Court ruled that one additional strike in 
September at a dairy company was illegal because it was a key service.
    The Employment Court has full and exclusive jurisdiction in matters 
related to strikes or lockouts and may issue an injunction to prevent 
the strike or lockout. The DoL also offers mediation in such cases.
    The government mediated two labor disputes involving Auckland port 
workers and a third involving Wellington transport workers. All three 
cases were decided with minimal interruption in service and resulted in 
pay increases through new collective bargaining agreements.

    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 Employment Relations Act 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.
    A company challenged the Service and Food Workers Union's right to 
send union organizers into its facilities, arguing that the organizers 
worked for a competitor, and trade secrets could be compromised. The 
Employment Court unanimously decided on April 8 in favor of the union 
ruling that, with adequate prior notice, practical means were available 
to protect trade secrets.
    The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) reviewed the case of a 
union delegate who was laid off for what the employer claimed were low 
performance ratings due to his confrontational personality. The 
employee claimed that he lost his job because of his union activities. 
ERA found in favor of the employee, stating that his employer would not 
have dismissed him had he not been a union delegate.

    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.--In April the government 
increased the minimum hourly wage to NZ$12.50 (approximately $8.75). 
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 ($7) 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 was 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.
    A new law went into effect on April 1 granting employees 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.
    On March 1, the government passed legislation allowing 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 new employees 
during this period without cause as long as the decision is not based 
upon illegal discrimination.
    DoL is responsible for enforcement of laws governing work 
conditions. From July 2008 to June, DoL received 11,269 health- or 
safety-related employment complaints and opened 10,694 investigations. 
By the end of June, 6,214 of those investigations were complete. DoL 
received 2,593 miscellaneous employment complaints and completed 2,208 
investigations of these cases by the end of June. Eighty percent of 
matters regarding employment relations were settled before or at 
mediation.
    On July 27, the government announced Recognized Seasonal Employee 
policy changes to payroll deductions to increase transparency and make 
auditing easier. On November 30, the government made it mandatory for 
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.
    On July 20, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision in 
the case of a 60-year-old Air New Zealand pilot who had been downgraded 
from the rank of pilot in command to first officer because a foreign 
government's rules prohibited him from commanding a commercial aircraft 
on routes to the foreign country. The court found that incorrect legal 
precedent was applied; however, it ruled that age was a valid 
occupation qualification. The pilot then withdrew the case.

                               __________

                                 PALAU

    Palau is a constitutional republic with a population of 
approximately 20,000. The president, the vice president, and members of 
the legislature (the Olbiil Era Kelulau) are elected for four-year 
terms. There are no political parties. In generally free and fair 
elections held in November 2008, Johnson Toribiong was elected 
president. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control 
over the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. Problems were reported in a few areas, including government 
corruption, domestic violence, trafficking in persons, and 
discrimination against, and some 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. The few female and juvenile 
prisoners were held in separate cells but were permitted to mingle with 
male inmates during daylight hours.
    There were 87 prisoners, including six women and four juveniles.
    No visits by independent human rights observers were requested or 
made during the year.

    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. 
Costs limited Internet access in homes. 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.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuse or discrimination against religious groups, including 
anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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. Its laws do 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, 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 and provided it to 
approximately 17 persons during the year.
    On February 27, 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.

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.
    On July 3, 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 April the new special prosecutor filed charges against the 
governor of Melekeok for conversion of public funds, misconduct in 
public office, and money laundering. The trial was pending at year's 
end. 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. 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.
    On March 12, a Koror state legislator charged with grand larceny 
and false pretense in 2007 was sentenced to six years imprisonment and 
fined $10,000 for perjury and misconduct in public office. However, the 
jail term was reduced to one year.
    The 2007 cases of a house speaker charged with misuse of travel 
funds and the Kayangel state legislators charged with misuse of 
government funds were settled out of court.
    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 and 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' imprisonment. 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. The Ministry of Health's Office of Victims of Crimes reported 
39 cases in which women and children were victims of crime during the 
current fiscal year (October 2008-September 2009). Alcohol and drug 
abuse contributed to this problem. 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, 
and there were no shelters for victims. The government conducted public 
education efforts to combat abuse against women and children.
    Prostitution is illegal, but it was a problem. There were reports 
of women being trafficked to the country from China and the Philippines 
to work in karaoke bars as hostesses and prostitutes. In July three 
Chinese women were arrested for prostitution and grand larceny, but the 
case was unrelated to trafficking.
    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. 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 sex-related job discrimination. The Bureau of Aging and 
Gender promotes gender workplace equality.
    On April 6, local women's groups 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.
    The government provided a well-funded system of public education 
for children.
    During the year there were 25 reported cases of child abuse. Of 
these, 11 were of sexual abuse, eight of physical abuse, and six of 
neglect. Seven cases of sexual abuse were resolved in court; three 
resulted in convictions. Other cases were pending. There were some 
sexual abuse cases that were not referred to the court because both 
parties were minors. In such cases, minors were provided counseling.
    Children's rights generally were respected, although there were 
isolated reports of child neglect.

    Trafficking in Persons.--An antitrafficking law prohibits such 
practices, with penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of 
up to $50,000 for exploiting or otherwise profiting from a trafficked 
person; up to 25 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 for 
trafficking involving force, fraud, or deception; and up to 50 years' 
imprisonment and a fine of up to $500,000 for trafficking involving a 
child ``by any means for the purpose of exploitation.'' There are also 
laws against slavery, fraud, and prostitution. There were reports of 
women and some men being trafficked to the country from China and the 
Philippines to work in karaoke bars as hostesses and prostitutes, in 
private homes as domestics, and on construction sites.
    The Bureau of Immigration, Division of Labor, and the Office of the 
Attorney General are responsible for combating trafficking; however, 
the government lacked the resources and expertise to address the 
problem in practice. There was no formal assistance available for 
victims, and victims normally were detained, jailed, or deported if 
they committed a crime such as prostitution.
    In July the special prosecutor filed charges against a local 
businessman who brought Chinese women into the country as tourists and 
bribed the chief of the Division of Labor to process the women's 
working permits. The chief of the Division of Labor then paid the 
director of the Bureau of Immigration to change the immigration status 
of the women. Both officials and a staff member of the Division of 
Labor were charged with forgery, conspiracy, falsification of travel 
documents, misconduct in public office, and bribery. The case was still 
pending at the end of the year.
    On February 9, the court overturned a 2007 lower court ruling 
convicting a Taiwanese man for human trafficking. The lower court had 
released the man. The women involved returned to their home countries.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With 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) has 
responsibility for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--The law prohibits noncitizens 
from purchasing land or obtaining citizenship. A majority of citizens 
viewed negatively the rapid increase over the past several years in 
foreign workers, who constituted approximately 48 percent of the work 
force. Foreign workers and their dependents, both documented and 
undocumented, accounted for nearly a third of the population. Foreign 
residents were subjected to discrimination and were targets of petty, 
and sometimes violent, crimes, as well as other random acts against 
person and property. Foreign residents made credible complaints that 
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. 
Cases of workplace discrimination are brought up with the Office of 
Labor.

    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 of foreign 
workers being forced to work long hours or work without days off 
contrary to their employment contracts. 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.

    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.

    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. (Although 
the law prohibits importation of laborers from Bangladesh, this 
prohibition was not strictly enforced.) 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 
mainland 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. While civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there 
were some instances in which elements of the security forces acted 
independently.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, but there were serious problems in some areas. Human rights 
abuses included arbitrary or unlawful killings by police, police abuse 
of detainees, poor prison conditions, police corruption and impunity, 
lengthy pretrial detention, infringement of citizens' privacy rights, 
government corruption, violence and discrimination against women and 
children, discrimination against persons with disabilities, intertribal 
violence, violence against ethnic 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.
    There were no further known developments in the following cases 
involving police actions: the 2008 death of a young man resulting from 
a shootout between police and youths in Kimbe Province; the 2008 police 
killings of three gunmen who tried to rob the Bank South Pacific in 
West New Britain; the March 2007 shooting of three persons in which one 
person died and two were injured; the May 2007 shooting of three 
persons, two of whom died; and the 2007 shooting death of Jeffrey Kui.
    There were numerous press reports during the year of vigilante 
killings and abuses related to alleged involvement in sorcery and 
witchcraft. For example, in January a group of men in Mount Hagen 
reportedly stripped a woman naked, bound her hands and feet, stuffed a 
cloth in her mouth, and burned her alive for allegedly confessing to 
have eaten a man's heart. Amnesty International (AI) reported that in 
February local residents shot and killed a man from Ban village near 
Mount Hagen and threw his body into a fire. They then dragged the man's 
son from his home and burned him alive. When police arrived and 
attempted to investigate the deaths, heavily armed local residents 
prevented them from removing the bodies to a hospital for autopsies. In 
September the National newspaper reported that members of a community 
in Sandaun Province beat to death three men for allegedly performing 
witchcraft on a local resident prior to the resident's death on 
September 1. Police had taken the three men into custody, but community 
members negotiated their release after assuring police that the men 
would not be harmed. However, enraged community members killed the men 
later the same night.

    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 April authorities arrested five police officers in connection 
with the alleged rape of a cleaning woman at a police station in Port 
Moresby; the authorities were investigating the case at year's end.
    There were no further known developments in the June 2008 police 
shooting that resulted in the amputation of the suspect's leg, the 
August 2008 police shooting and wounding of bank robbery suspect 
William Kapris, the 2007 case in which an auxiliary police officer in 
Rabaul allegedly shot and injured a high school student, or the 2007 
alleged police beating of a soldier in Port Moresby.
    On September 22, a National Court judge found seven members of the 
police force in Madang liable for breach of basic human rights of five 
young men in 2004. The prosecution claimed that the police officers 
forced two of the five detainees to have sex with each other. In 
addition the prosecution alleged that the policemen subjected the 
detainees to torture and held them for three weeks without charges. The 
court found the seven policemen, as well as their commissioner and the 
government, liable. At year's end damages were pending assessment.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Despite minor improvements 
to existing cells and increased capacity, prison conditions generally 
remained poor, and the prison system continued to suffer from serious 
underfunding. Of the four prisons that remained closed during most of 
2008, two were reopened, and two--in Tari, Southern Highlands and Daru, 
Western Province--remained closed due to tribal conflicts and health 
concerns, respectively. Neither prisons nor police detention centers 
had medical care facilities. In some police holding cells, detainees 
lacked bedding and sufficient food and water. Overcrowding in prisons 
and police cells remained a serious problem. The Correctional Services 
deputy commissioner for operations confirmed that the country's prisons 
had a holding capacity of 3,600 beds, but the number of inmates at 
year's end was 4,901, approximately half of whom were pretrial 
detainees. There were 226 female and 238 juvenile prisoners. 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. There were no separate facilities 
for juvenile offenders; however, in some prisons juveniles were 
provided with separate sleeping quarters. To hold minors waiting to be 
arraigned prior to bail being posted, there were three juvenile 
reception centers located in Port Moresby, Lae, and Goroka. 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.
    The government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers, and one such visit was made 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.--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 corruption and impunity were 
serious problems. At year's end there were no reports of any action 
taken against officers who in 2007 allegedly assaulted the director of 
police prosecutions in Port Moresby.
    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.
    There is an Ombudsman Commission that 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. Additionally, 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 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. 
Additionally, 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.
    In December 2008 police evicted approximately 400 persons from a 
squatter settlement in Port Moresby by bulldozing and burning down 
their homes in response to the murder of prominent businessman Sir 
George Constantinou, allegedly by residents in the settlement. Police 
stated that they had given the settlers three days' notice to move out. 
The government did not provide any temporary accommodation, 
transportation, or food to the squatters.
    According to reports by local media and AI, police burned down 50 
houses in the Porgera District on April 27, during a police crackdown 
on lawlessness and illegal mining in the area. Police stated that the 
occupants were illegal squatters engaged in illegal mining and other 
criminal activities. A number of landowners in Porgera subsequently 
filed suit against the police, charging that during the operation 
police also destroyed more than 300 homes of legal residents who lived 
near the mining area.

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 2008 the managing director, editors, and subeditors of the daily 
newspaper Post Courier reportedly were referred to the Parliamentary 
Privileges Committee over coverage of a diplomatic scandal involving a 
foreign government. However, the Post Courier confirmed that the 
government did not follow through with such a referral, and the 
journalists were not called before the committee. Journalist Simon 
Eroro, who had received threats related to the case, was still working 
for the Post Courier 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. In 
practice cost factors and lack of infrastructure limited public access 
to the Internet. The International Telecommunication Union reported 
that in 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.

    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 October police denied approval for a march and rally planned by 
the Papua New Guinea Council of Churches and the Salvation Army in 
support of the UN campaign ``Stand Up, Take Action'' against poverty. 
Also in October, police prevented a protest from being held in Madang 
against the building of a marine industrial park in Vidar.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination against religious groups, including 
anti-Semitic acts. There was no known Jewish community in the country.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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.--Although a party to the 1951 Convention 
relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol, the 
government has not enacted enabling legislation and has not established 
a system for providing protection to refugees. 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 under the 1951 
Convention or its 1967 protocol.
    With support from the UNHCR, the government continued to provide 
protection to approximately 2,700 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. During the year approximately 300 West Papuans 
who had been living in Papua New Guinea for many years voluntarily 
returned to West Papua Province in Indonesia under a voluntary 
repatriation program.
    Registered refugees residing in the East Awin refugee settlement 
were granted a residence permit that allowed them to travel freely 
within the country and, on a case-by-case basis, to travel abroad, 
depending on the urgency of the business and a guarantee of financial 
support by sponsoring institutions.

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 year's end 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.
    Election-related violence erupted between supporters of two rival 
candidates in the weeks leading up to the November by-election for the 
Kandep open electorate in Enga Province, reportedly resulting in at 
least two deaths and a number of injuries. Due to the violence, the by-
election polling, originally scheduled for one day, was spread out over 
a week. In November the government reported that a total of 275 
persons, mostly polling and electoral officials, were held against 
their will for nearly three days at two different locations by 
supporters of two of the candidates before being freed by mobile police 
squads.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
influence.
    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. A 2008 proposal for three nominated seats 
for women to increase the number of women in Parliament failed to pass 
during the year.
    There were six minority (non-Melanesian) members of Parliament. 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 former Southern Highlands governor Hami Yawari was 
charged with misappropriating more than 300,000 kina (approximately 
$116,730) belonging to the provincial government. At year's end this 
and other cases involving Yawari were awaiting assignment of trial 
dates before the National Court. In March the Ombudsman Commission 
announced it was freezing funds in the rehabilitation education sector 
infrastructure trust accounts (RESI) pending further investigation 
after it determined that none of the more than 37 million kina 
(approximately $14.4 million) withdrawn from the RESI accounts had been 
spent on improving educational establishments. Investigation of the 
matter continued at year's end. In April the government suspended the 
Police Association president, Robert Ali, and members of his executive 
committee pending investigation of alleged misappropriation of more 
than 500,000 kina (approximately $194,550) of association funds. The 
case remained pending at year's end.
    The Ombudsman Commission was still investigating the May 2008 case 
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 a 
separate 2008 case in which the media claimed that a government 
minister had 100 million kina (approximately $38.9 million) in a 
foreign bank account. At year's end no investigation reports on either 
case had been released.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws as 
stipulated in the leadership code of conduct. The Ombudsman Commission, 
the Leadership Tribunal, and the Public Accounts Committee are key 
organizations responsible for combating government corruption.
    No law provides for public access to government information. The 
government published frequent public notices in national newspapers and 
occasional reports on specific topics 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.
    On the evening of December 11, unknown assailants shot and wounded 
Chief Ombudsman Commissioner Chronex Manek as he returned home from an 
official function. Manek reported that three men armed with guns jumped 
out of a vehicle that had followed him home, surrounded his vehicle, 
and shot him twice through his car window as he rammed his car into 
their vehicle in an attempt to escape. The assailants then fled the 
scene. Manek was treated at a local hospital for a bullet wound in his 
arm and later released. The authorities were investigating the incident 
at year's end.
    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 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 domestic violence and 
gang rape, 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.
    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. 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 90 percent 
of women in prison had been convicted for attacking or killing another 
woman.
    Prostitution is illegal; however, the laws were not enforced, and 
the practice was widespread. 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 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. 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 to 
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.
    Independent observers generally agreed that the government did not 
dedicate significant resources to protecting the rights and welfare of 
children. Religious and secular nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
operated programs to protect and develop youth and children.
    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.
    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 during the year. Incest is a crime and 
reportedly increased in frequency. There were cases of commercial 
sexual exploitation of children between the ages of 14 and 16 in urban 
areas, including minors working in bars and nightclubs. Human Rights 
Watch 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit all forms of 
trafficking in persons. The criminal code does not prohibit the 
trafficking of adults, but prohibits the trafficking of children for 
sexual exploitation or slavery. There were reports of trafficking of 
women and girls within the country for sexual exploitation and domestic 
servitude. Custom requires the family of the groom to pay a ``bride 
price'' to the family of the bride. While marriages were usually 
consensual, women and girls were sometimes sold against their will. 
There also were reports of Asian women being trafficked into the 
country to work in the sex industry. Transactional sex was common and 
often involved the sexual exploitation of children. There were reports 
of men trafficked to mining and logging camps for the purpose of forced 
labor.
    Asian organized crime groups, foreign logging companies, and Papuan 
businessmen were believed to lure the majority of foreign trafficking 
victims to the country with false offers of legitimate jobs.
    The government investigated allegations of corruption among 
officials dealing with passport issuance and immigration. The 
allegations primarily involved the illegal issuance of residence and 
work permits for Chinese or South Asian nationals migrating to the 
country. Although they originally suspected that corrupt officials were 
aiding the transport of trafficking victims into the country, 
authorities did not uncover any evidence that mala fide permits and 
passports were used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there was concern 
that the country may have been used as a route for trafficking in 
persons to Australia through different means.
    The maximum penalty for slavery-related offenses is 20 years' 
imprisonment. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for enforcing the 
law but was ineffective in doing so. There were no prosecutions for 
trafficking in persons during the year. The Ministry of Justice 
conducted an antitrafficking workshop during the year.
    There were no government programs to assist trafficking victims.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities; 
however, there are no antidiscrimination laws. Persons with 
disabilities faced discrimination in education, training, and 
employment. No legislation mandates accessibility to buildings, and 
most buildings were not accessible.
    Through the National Board for the Disabled, the government granted 
funds to a number of NGOs 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. In the last few 
years, the number of deaths resulting from such conflicts continued to 
rise due to the increased availability of modern weapons.
    During the year tribal fighting continued in Western and Eastern 
Highlands Provinces. In March several hundred members of the Watut 
tribe raided Biangai tribe villages in Bulolo District, Morobe 
Province, burning houses, looting properties, and destroying food 
gardens. Government officials established a peace mediation team to 
settle the conflict between the two tribes. An agreement was signed 
between the Morobe provincial government (MPG) and the affected ethnic 
groups to resolve the matter amicably and in accordance with the law. 
The MPG also established a Law and Order Committee responsible for 
coordinating and overseeing all current and future peace mediation 
efforts in the province. At year's end tensions remained between the 
two groups, but there was no further violence.
    In early May three Chinese employees of the predominantly Chinese-
owned Ramu nickel-cobalt mining project were seriously injured in an 
attack by a group of Papua New Guinea workers who reportedly were angry 
about working conditions at the site (see section 7.e.). On May 12, 
violence broke out during a protest march organized in Port Moresby by 
the organization ``NGOs and Civil Society Group'' to press authorities 
to clamp down on the influx of Asians into the country. The protesters 
alleged that Asian immigrants were taking over cottage industries they 
thought should be reserved for citizens. Some protesters and others 
looted shops run by Asians. By May 14, the violence had subsided in the 
capital as many Asian-owned businesses closed as a precaution. However, 
over the following days, violence erupted in the cities of Lae and 
Madang and in several Highlands towns as crowds attacked Asian 
businesses there. According to press reports, thousands of persons were 
involved in the looting before police were able to contain the 
situation. One looter in Lae reportedly was hacked to death and another 
trampled to death. Some injuries were reported, including several 
looters shot by police. The authorities subsequently apologized for the 
violence, and the government announced the appointment of a bipartisan 
parliamentary committee to investigate the violence, assess its causes, 
and review the types of businesses operated by Asians in the country. 
In November, however, three members of Parliament resigned from the 
committee to protest the ousting of its chairman; according to press 
reports, Parliament voted to replace the chairman after he indicated 
the committee would expose involvement of certain politicians in 
questionable activities with Asian individuals. The committee had not 
produced a report by 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), it is 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. 
Unlike in some previous years, there were no known reports that 
companies dismissed HIV-positive employees after learning of their 
condition. 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 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 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, 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 it was not always enforced. The DLIR is 
responsible for enforcement. 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.--The law 
provides for 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.
    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 in the formal economy. Some children were 
obliged to work long hours as domestic servants in private homes (see 
section 7.d.).

    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. Some children under 18 worked in bars 
and nightclubs and were vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation. 
Children also were exploited in the production of pornography. There 
were children selling cigarettes, food, CDs, and DVDs on the street and 
in grocery stores near mine 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.

    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 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 ages 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. 
The few illegal foreign workers lacked full legal protection.
    In May fighting broke out between Chinese and Papua New Guinea 
workers at the predominantly Chinese-owned Ramu nickel-cobalt mining 
project; the local workers reportedly were angry at the project's 
Chinese managers following an industrial accident at the site. In July 
the authorities ordered construction work halted at the project. In 
August the project resumed, reportedly following resolution of a number 
of health and safety issues.

                               __________

                              PHILIPPINES

    The Philippines, with a population of 92 million, is a multiparty 
republic with an elected president and bicameral legislature. In 2007 
approximately 73 percent of registered citizens voted in mid-term 
elections for both houses of congress and provincial and local 
governments. The election generally was free and fair but was marred by 
violence and allegations of vote buying and electoral fraud. Long-
running Communist and separatist insurgencies affected the country. 
Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces; however, there were some instances in which elements 
of the security forces acted independently.
    Arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings by elements of the 
security services and political killings, including killings of 
journalists, by a variety of actors continued to be major problems. 
Concerns about impunity persisted. Members of the security services 
committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and 
detainees, and there were instances of torture. Prisoners awaiting 
trial and those already convicted were often held under primitive 
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 often were subject to harassment by local security forces. 
Problems such as violence against women, abuse of children, child 
prostitution, trafficking in persons, child labor, and ineffective 
enforcement of worker rights were common.
    In addition to killing soldiers and police officers in armed 
encounters, the New People's Army (NPA)--the military wing of the 
Communist Party--and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) killed local government 
officials and other civilians. The terrorist groups NPA and ASG 
reportedly used child soldiers in combat or auxiliary roles. Terrorist 
groups committed bombings causing civilian casualties and conducted 
kidnappings for ransom.
                        
                       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 an increase in fighting between 
government forces and Muslim rebels in central Mindanao (see section 
1.g.). The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), an independent government 
agency, investigated 57 new complaints of politically motivated 
killings that occurred from January through November. 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) investigated allegations 
of summary executions by government security forces. The TFDP was 
unable to investigate all of these allegations, but it counted eight 
cases involving 12 victims of summary executions by government forces 
during the year.
    By year's end the PNP's Task Force Usig, responsible for monitoring 
extrajudicial killings, recorded 156 cases of killings since 2001, nine 
of which occurred during the year. Of these, 95 cases were filed in 
court and prosecutor's offices, 60 cases were under investigation, and 
one case was closed. There was one conviction of a state actor during 
the year. One human rights organization recorded 134 victims of 
extrajudicial killings during the year.
    On May 15, President Gloria Arroyo abolished the Interagency Legal 
Action Group, which some human rights groups alleged was a tool for 
targeting activists. The PNP expanded human rights training and 
community outreach efforts during the year and maintained a network of 
1,841 human rights desk officers at the national, regional, provincial, 
and municipal levels.
    Human rights groups and the CHR noted little progress in 
implementing and enforcing some reforms aimed at decreasing the 
incidence of killings. For example, cooperation and coordination 
between police and prosecutors continued to be a problem. Funding for 
the CHR and the government witness protection programs was considered 
inadequate.
    Killings during the year included the following: On March 4, 
unidentified armed men in Davao City abducted and killed Rebelyn Pitao, 
a schoolteacher and daughter of a high-ranking Communist leader. At 
year's end the CHR investigation into the case continued. On March 9, 
two unidentified men shot and killed antimining activist Eliezar 
Billanes, chair of the South Cotabato People's Alliance for Nationalism 
and Development in Koronadal City, South Cotabato. A CHR investigation 
into the case continued. On April 29, two unidentified assailants shot 
and killed indigenous people's mining activist and farmer group leader 
Ludenio Monzon in Boston, Davao Oriental. The police were investigating 
the case but did not establish a motive for the killing. In October 
2008 Monzon filed a harassment case against the military at the CHR 
regional office. On June 10, three unidentified men shot and killed 
Fermin Lorico, leader of an activist peasant group, in Dumaguete City. 
The group accused the military. At year's end the PNP was 
investigating. On September 6, armed men shot and killed Catholic 
priest Cecilio Lucero in San Jose, Northern Samar. Lucero was chairman 
of the task force on peace and order of the Diocese of Catarman and was 
involved in the investigation of human rights abuses.
    On November 23, a group of up to 100 unidentified armed men killed 
at least 57 individuals, including women, 30 media workers, and several 
relatives of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu in Ampatuan, 
Maguindanao. The victims were en route to file a certificate of 
candidacy for the vice mayor to run in the Maguindanao gubernatorial 
race. The authorities charged political rival Andal Ampatuan, Jr., with 
25 counts of murder on December 1. Eleven other suspects, including the 
patriarch of the powerful Ampatuan clan, former Maguindanao governor 
Andal Ampatuan, Sr., seven Ampatuan relatives, and law enforcement 
personnel were also indicted. Some 1,000 police officers were relieved 
and transferred to other provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim 
Mindanao (ARMM) pending investigation of the case. On December 4, 
President Arroyo declared martial law in parts of the province, and 
more than 4,000 troops were deployed to arrest massacre suspects and 
break up armed groups who threatened public safety. Martial law was 
lifted eight days later, and CHR observers reported no human rights 
abuses by soldiers during the period. Investigations into the case 
continued at year's end, and suspects remained jailed pending 
indictments.
    Investigations of cases from 2007 and 2008 were ongoing.
    On March 26, a regional trial court judge sentenced former police 
superintendent Rafael Cardeno to life imprisonment for masterminding 
the 2001 murder of Young Officers Union spokesperson Baron Cervantes. 
The judge ordered Cardeno to pay Cervantes' family 350,000 pesos 
(approximately $7,350) in civil and moral damages.
    Government forces killed a number of civilians during clashes with 
armed groups (see section 1.g.). Terrorist groups killed and kidnapped 
NGO workers, teachers, and other civilians. In October the ASG 
kidnapped school principal Gabriel Canizares; he was later beheaded 
after his family was not able to pay a ransom of two million pesos 
(approximately $42,000). Communist insurgents, mainly from the NPA, 
continued to kill political figures, military and police officers, and 
civilians, including suspected military and police informers. Extortion 
groups associated with the ASG killed persons in bombings (see section 
1.g.).
    On July 5, a bomb outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate 
Conception in Cotabato City killed six and wounded 30 others as they 
were leaving worship service. On July 7, two more bombs exploded in 
Jolo City, killing two persons and injuring 50.
    On August 24, security forces arrested Dinno-Amor Pareja, the 
leader of the terrorist Raja Solaiman Movement and a principal suspect 
in the 2005 Valentine's Day bombing in Manila and several other 
bombings in Mindanao. On January 23, a Manila court sentenced three 
members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to life terms for 
their parts in bombing attacks in 2000 that killed 22 persons.
    Vigilante groups were suspected of conducting summary killings of 
adult criminals and children involved in petty crime in five major 
cities and in the Metro Manila region. The Coalition Against Summary 
Execution recorded 76 apparent vigilante killings in Davao City from 
January through July. The CHR held public hearings on the killings and 
continued its investigations during the year. The international NGO 
Human Rights Watch report on the Davao killings concluded that members 
of the police and local officials were involved or complicit.
    Vigilante killings also allegedly occurred in Cebu City, Cagayan de 
Oro, Tagum City, and General Santos City. The victims were suspected of 
involvement in criminal activities, and the killings appeared to have 
popular support. Authorities made no arrests in these cases.
    In April UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston issued a follow-up 
report to his 2007 mission, which noted the lack of prosecutions for 
extrajudicial killings and an increase in vigilante killings.

    b. Disappearance.--According to local human rights NGOs, government 
forces were responsible for disappearances. From January through 
November, the CHR investigated nine new cases of enforced 
disappearances, abductions, and kidnappings involving 15 victims, some 
of whom had been detained without a warrant (see section 1.d.). Seven 
cases remained under investigation; two cases were closed when the two 
persons involved appeared and confirmed that no government actors were 
involved in their cases. An additional six persons were accounted for: 
Three were found alive in police custody; unknown captors detained and 
later released two; and the sixth victims died at the hands of his 
abductors (see section 1.g.). Seven persons remained missing. The CHR 
suspected members of the military in three unresolved cases. Suspects 
in the other cases remained unidentified. The NGO Families of Victims 
of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) monitored 12 reported 
disappearance cases involving 20 victims, most of whom were later found 
alive.
    A foreign citizen of Filipino descent claimed that she and two 
others were abducted and tortured by members of the military in Tarlac. 
An investigation was ongoing (see section 1.c.).
    On February 19, the regional trial court in La Trinidad, Benguet, 
approved a petition for a writ of amparo, providing the court's 
protection to the family of indigenous rights activist James Balao, who 
disappeared in 2008. The respondents appealed the case with the Office 
of the Solicitor General, and at year's end the case was pending before 
the Supreme Court.
    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. 
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. On November 10, 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 ($210) to victims of torture 
and their families.
    The CHR and human rights groups reported that 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, or suffocation.
    From January through December, the TFDP documented 40 cases of 
torture involving 67 victims and alleged that security forces were 
responsible. From January to November, the CHR investigated 11 cases of 
alleged torture, with police, military, and other law enforcement 
officers identified as suspects in seven of the cases.
    A foreign citizen of Philippine descent claimed she was abducted 
from La Paz, Tarlac, and held in a military camp in Nueva Ecija from 
May 19 to 25. She claimed she was tortured by her abductors and then 
released after they failed to get an admission that she was a member of 
the NPA. On August 26, the court of appeals granted her amparo and 
habeas data petitions but denied her request to name senior government 
officials as respondents in the case.
    There were reports that prison guards physically abused inmates. 
The CHR and 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 were found to have committed assault or 
abuse. Human rights activists believed suspected ASG and NPA members in 
captivity were particular targets for abuse.
    There were alleged instances of rape perpetrated by officials of 
the PNP, and 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. Provincial jails and prisons were 
overcrowded, lacked basic infrastructure, and provided prisoners with 
an inadequate diet. Jails managed by the Bureau of Jail Management and 
Penology (BJMP) operated at an average of 174 percent of designed 
capacity. Prison administrators allotted a daily subsistence allowance 
of 50 pesos ($1.04) per prisoner. The Bureau of Corrections under the 
Department of Justice administered seven prisons and penal farms for 
prisoners sentenced to more than three years in prison. Lack of potable 
water, poor sanitation, and poor ventilation continued to cause health 
problems. Some prisoners, including women and children, were abused by 
other prisoners and prison personnel. The slow judicial process 
exacerbated overcrowding. A local NGO claimed that, since 2007, at 
least seven elderly prisoners diagnosed with serious illnesses have 
died in prison annually and blamed this problem on the ``deficient'' 
parole system. At year's end the president granted executive clemency 
to 32 elderly persons.
    There were reports of widespread corruption among prison guards 
and, to some extent, at higher levels of authority within the prison 
system.
    According to BJMP regulations, male and female inmates are to be 
held in separate facilities and, in national prisons, overseen by 
guards of the same sex. Anecdotal reports suggested that these 
regulations were not uniformly enforced. In provincial and municipal 
prisons, male guards sometimes supervised female prisoners directly or 
indirectly. Although prison authorities attempted to segregate children 
or place them in youth detention centers, in some instances children 
were held in facilities 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. Out of 1,011 jails 
managed by the BJMP and PNP, 190 had separate cells for minors, while 
334 jails had separate cells for adult females. Lack of adequate food 
for minors in jails and prisons was a concern (see section 6, 
Children).
    At year's end the BJMP and PNP jails held a total 58,786 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, 5,448 were adult women, 316 were minor detainees, and 13 
were convicted minors. During the year the BJMP released 342 minor 
inmates, usually in response to a court order following a petition by 
the public attorney's office or the inmate's private lawyer, or through 
the appeals of NGOs. The Bureau of Corrections' prisons and penal farms 
had 35,934 prisoners, of whom 1,948 were women.
    International monitoring groups, including the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), were allowed free access to jails 
and prisons. However, a local NGO reported difficulty accessing jails 
or detentions centers where children were held.

    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. From January through July, the TFDP 
documented 78 cases of illegal arrest and detention involving 274 
victims. The CHR tracked 48 cases of arbitrary arrest or detention from 
January to June. During the year the NGO FIND counted 16 abduction 
victims who were 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 
Department of Interior and Local Government directs the PNP, which is 
responsible for enforcement of law and order and urban 
counterterrorism; however, governors, mayors, and other local officials 
have considerable influence. The 125,000-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 177 administrative cases filed 
against members of the police force, including administrative officials 
and police officers, for various human rights violations. By year's end 
of the 177 cases filed, 137 were resolved and 40 were undergoing 
summary proceedings. In response to these cases the PNP dismissed 240 
of its personnel. The deputy ombudsman for the military received 71 
cases involving alleged human rights abuses by the military and law 
enforcement officers during the year, 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 at year's 
end.
    The police and military routinely provided human rights training to 
their members, augmented by training from the CHR. The CHR noted that 
senior PNP officials appeared receptive to respecting the human rights 
of detainees, but rank-and-file awareness of the rights of detainees 
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 
during the course of its background investigations. In some instances a 
promotion can be withheld indefinitely when 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.
    The AFP did not aggressively pursue internal investigations into 
alleged serious human rights abuses by some of its members. As of 
August the AFP Human Rights Office monitored no new cases of killings, 
disappearances, or torture during the year.
    Government-armed civilian militias supplemented the AFP and the 
PNP. Some politicians and clan leaders maintained their own private 
armies, particularly in Mindanao.

    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 picked up by security forces without a warrant and detained 
arbitrarily. 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. From January through March, 2,076 
detainees (4 percent of detainees) were able to post bail. The law 
provides that an accused or detained person has the right to a lawyer 
of his choice and that the state must provide one when the accused 
cannot afford one. 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. The BJMP released 39,746 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.
    There were also reports that many children detained in jails were 
arrested without warrants.
    Six labor and human rights activists arrested on criminal charges 
in 2008, including labor attorney Remigio Saladero, were released 
February 5 following an order from a local court. On November 13, the 
Rizal provincial prosecutor dismissed murder charges against Saladero 
and others for lack of probable cause.
    The NPA, as well as some Islamic separatist groups, were 
responsible for a number of arbitrary detentions, including kidnappings 
and hostage-taking.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judicial system suffered from 
corruption and inefficiency. Personal ties and sometimes bribery 
resulted in impunity for some wealthy or influential offenders and 
contributed to widespread skepticism that the judicial process could 
ensure 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. The Supreme Court dismissed or disciplined several judges 
during the year for various crimes and infractions.
    The national court system consists of four levels: local and 
regional trial courts, a national court of appeals divided into 17 
divisions, a 15-member Supreme Court, and an informal local system for 
arbitrating or mediating certain disputes outside the formal court 
system. The Sandiganbayan, the government's anticorruption court, hears 
criminal cases brought against senior officials. A Shari'a (Islamic 
law) court system, with jurisdiction over domestic and contractual 
relations among Muslim citizens, operates in some Mindanao provinces. 
The courts-martial, each composed of at least five active-duty military 
officers, hear cases against military personnel accused of violating 
the Philippine Articles of War. The president, the chief of staff of 
the armed forces, or a military unit commander may appoint the members 
of a court-martial. Military or security tribunals cannot try 
civilians.
    On September 16, Judge Edimer Gumbahali of the Jolo, Sulu, Shari'a 
Circuit Court was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen. There were no 
available witnesses and no case was filed.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides that 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, to present evidence, and to appeal convictions. 
The authorities respected the right of defendants to be represented by 
a lawyer, but poverty often inhibited a defendant's access to effective 
legal representation. Skilled defense lawyers staffed the Public 
Attorney's Office (PAO), but their workload was large and resources 
were scarce. The PAO provided legal representation for all indigent 
litigants at trial; however, during arraignment, courts may at their 
option appoint any lawyer present in the courtroom to provide counsel 
to the accused.
    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, in effect, there 
were no time limits for trials.
    Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. Anecdotal evidence 
suggested that, in practice, trials can take six years or more. 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 
2,182 trial court judgeships (including Shari'a courts), 539 (25 
percent) were vacant. Courts in Mindanao and poorer provinces had 
higher vacancy rates than the national average. Shari'a court positions 
were particularly difficult to fill because of the requirement that 
applicants be members of both the Shari'a Bar and the Integrated Bar. 
All five Shari'a district court judgeships and 39 percent of circuit 
court judgeships remained vacant. Shari'a 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. At year's end, the TFDP reported that there were 
255 political prisoners. The majority of persons listed had not been 
convicted. Some NGOs asserted that 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.
    From January to December, the government released 80 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 alleged wrongs; 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.
    During the year the Supreme Court dismissed four petitions for 
writs of amparo, overturning earlier court approvals of writs in two 
cases. Nine other petitions remained pending. A petition for writ of 
amparo was filed during the year but was dismissed.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law provides that a judge may issue search 
warrants on a finding of probable cause; however, while the government 
generally respected restrictions on search and seizure within private 
homes, searches without warrants occurred. Judges generally declared 
evidence obtained illegally to be inadmissible.
    The government generally respected the privacy of its citizens; 
however, leaders of communist 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 
problems, and the issuance of land titles to squatters was limited.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
The government was engaged in combat with antigovernment forces and 
terrorists who actively sought to destabilize the country. Government 
forces killed a number of civilians during clashes with antigovernment 
forces. Some citizens' groups complained that the AFP, in confronting 
the ASG and the NPA, illegally detained citizens, destroyed houses, 
displaced residents, and shelled villages. Clashes between the AFP and 
forces of the separatist group MILF continued in central Mindanao 
during the first half of the year, resulting in the deaths of civilians 
and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of others. On July 25, 
the government and MILF signed an agreement to end hostilities and 
resume discussions on a comprehensive peace agreement.

    Killings.--Government forces acknowledged the deaths of civilians 
in the course of military operations against the MILF, whose forces 
also killed civilians as well as police officers. A National Disaster 
Coordinating Council July 14 report indicated that 112 civilians were 
confirmed killed in the Mindanao conflict by either rebel MILF or 
government forces from August 2008 to July 2. Unconfirmed numbers of 
AFP soldiers and MILF rebels also were killed in the conflict.
    From January to December, according to military sources, 219 
members of the AFP were killed in action during encounters with rebel 
and terrorist groups: 132 by the NPA, 54 by the ASG, and 33 by the 
MILF. During the same period, AFP operations resulted in 227 insurgents 
killed: 165 NPA, 10 ASG and 52 MILF. The PNP recorded 27 of its 
personnel killed from January through December and claimed nine ASG and 
14 NPA insurgents were killed in PNP operations around the country. The 
AFP also recorded 127 bombings during the year.
    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 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 Jemaah 
Islamiyah were responsible for a series of bombings in Cotabato City, 
Jolo City, and Iligan City that killed civilians. No group claimed 
responsibility for the attacks.
    The government attributed fatal bombings and a beheading in Basilan 
to the ASG. On August 12, 23 soldiers and at least 21 ASG members were 
killed when the military launched a major offensive on a suspected ASG 
training camp on Basilan. The government blamed nearby MILF forces for 
firing on government troops during the counterterrorist operation.
    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 extortion groups also harassed businesses 
and government offices, and burned farms, businesses, and private 
communication facilities to enforce the collection of ``revolutionary 
taxes.''
    During the year the NPA admitted responsibility for the May 23 
killing of Evelyn Pitao-Dadula and her husband, declaring that Pitao-
Dadula was killed for ``political crimes against the people'' by 
decision of the ``People's Court of the Communist Party.'' The NPA 
``apologized'' for killing her husband.

    Abductions.--There were numerous kidnappings recorded in Mindanao 
and the Sulu Archipelago by various armed criminal and terrorist 
groups, including the ASG. Victims often were released in exchange for 
payments or rescued by authorities, while others were killed by their 
captors (see section 1.a.).
    On January 15, members of the ASG kidnapped ICRC workers Andreas 
Notter, Eugenio Vagni, and Mary Jean Lacaba in Jolo, Sulu. Threatening 
to behead the hostages, the ASG repeatedly demanded ransom and a 
military withdrawal from the area. Lacaba was released April 2, and 
Notter escaped on April 18. On July 12, government intermediaries 
successfully negotiated for Vagni's release. At least nine other 
individuals, including six public school teachers, one foreign NGO 
worker, and two local microfinance employees were reportedly abducted 
by ASG members in Basilan and the Zamboanga Peninsula from January to 
March. These victims were either rescued or released during the year.
    Unidentified persons kidnapped Irish priest Michael Sinnott on 
October 11 in Zamboanga del Sur Province; he was released a month 
later.
    On May 15, MILF rebels took over villages in coastal Sultan Kudarat 
and Maguindanao and used 20 residents as human shields to escape 
pursuing government forces. The civilian 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 that it assigned persons 15 to 18 years of age to self-defense 
and noncombatant duties; however, there were reports that the NPA 
continued to use minors in combat. During the year the AFP reportedly 
rescued 15 child soldiers, 12 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.
    A 2007 study commissioned by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) found 
that children as young as 10 years were used as soldiers or recruited 
by the MILF. Most of the children were volunteers often with the 
support of their families, serving in noncombat roles. During the 
December 2008 visit of the special representative of the UN secretary 
general, the MILF agreed to stop the recruitment and use of children in 
its ranks. On July 31, UNICEF and the MILF signed an action plan to 
prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers and to release 
children from all MILF units.
    During the year the Department of Social Welfare and Development 
(DSWD) assisted seven child soldiers 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.

    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.''
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 ethics. They tended to reflect the 
particular political or economic orientations of owners, publishers, or 
patrons, some of whom were close associates of present or past high-
level 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 reported 34 journalists killed from January through 
December. Task Force Usig classified five of these cases as work-
related killings.
    On January 22, two unidentified assailants in Cotabato City shot 
and killed radio commentator Badrodin Abbas, known for hard-hitting 
stories. The case was under investigation at year's end.
    On June 9, a gunman shot and killed Crispin Perez, a local radio 
station commentator and former vice governor of Mindoro Occidental. On 
July 2, the National Bureau of Investigation and Perez's widow filed a 
murder complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against a local 
police officer, who remained under restrictive custody pending the 
result of a preliminary investigation.
    On June 12, two unidentified men shot and killed local tabloid 
reporter Antonio Castillo, known for his criticism of local 
politicians, in Masbate. On July 3, a murder case was filed against one 
known suspect and another unidentified suspect, both at large.
    On June 25, a gunman in Agusan del Sur killed local radio 
broadcaster Jonathan Petalvero. Murder charges were filed July 31 
against a suspect.
    On July 27, a gunman shot and killed radio broadcaster Godofredo 
Linao, Jr. in Barobo town, Surigao del Sur. A murder case was filed 
July 28 against several suspects who remained at large.
    On November 23, an estimated 100 armed men, many of whom have not 
been publicly identified, killed 57 individuals, including 30 reporters 
and media workers, in election-related violence in Ampatuan town, 
Maguindanao (see section 1.a.).
    Task Force Usig considered the cases of Petalvero and Abbas as not 
work related.
    Cases of journalist killings for 2008 and 2007 remained ongoing.
    On April 22, a local court acquitted the lone suspect in the 2007 
killing of Davao-based broadcaster Fernando Lintuan.
    On April 29, a regional trial court convicted Joy Antimara of 
homicide in the 2006 killing of radio commentator Armando Pace and 
sentenced him to 10 to 17 years in prison.
    On May 14, the suspected mastermind in the 2005 killing of local 
newspaper editor Philip Agustin was arrested in Mabalacat, Pampanga.
    On May 16, an important witness to the 2004 killing of Aklan 
broadcaster Herson Hinolan was arrested for defying a subpoena.
    On July 13, the Supreme Court granted a petition to transfer the 
trial for the 2008 murder of broadcaster Dennis Cuesta from General 
Santos City to Makati City. One of the accused was a police inspector 
related to the incumbent mayor of General Santos City.
    On May 6, the Department of Interior and Local Government approved 
the release of 18 million pesos (approximately $377,830) as cash 
rewards for information leading to the arrest of persons wanted by 
authorities for their involvement in media killings.
    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 2008 approximately 6.2 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. Although the law requires 
that groups obtain a permit to hold a rally, the government at times 
followed an unwritten policy of allowing rallies to occur without the 
filing of a request. The police exhibited professionalism and restraint 
in dealing with demonstrators, with few exceptions. An NGO reported 
that protesters were injured by police in February and May during two 
protests in Metro Manila. Other reports noted that some protesters were 
injured during an April 21 protest in Naga City.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The law provides for freedom of religion, 
and the government generally respected this right in practice.
    The government's campaign against terrorist groups led some human 
rights NGOs to accuse the police and military of acting with bias in 
their treatment of Muslims.
    Intermittent government efforts to integrate Muslims into political 
and economic society achieved only limited success. Many Muslims 
claimed that they remained underrepresented in senior civilian and 
military positions and cited the lack of proportional Muslim 
representation in national government institutions. Predominantly 
Muslim provinces in Mindanao lagged far behind the rest of the country 
in most aspects of socioeconomic development. The percentage of the 
population under the poverty level in the ARMM was almost twice as high 
as the national average, with per capita income of 15,760 pesos 
(approximately $330) per year.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Historically, the Christian 
majority has marginalized Muslims. The national culture, with its 
emphasis on familial, tribal, and regional loyalties, contains informal 
barriers whereby access to jobs or resources is provided first to those 
of one's own family or group network. Muslims reported difficulty 
renting rooms or securing retail-sector jobs if they used their real 
names or wore distinctive Muslim dress. As a result, some Muslims used 
Christian pseudonyms and did not wear distinctive dress when applying 
for housing or jobs.
    An estimated 400 to 1,000 mostly foreign nationals of Jewish 
heritage lived in the country. There were no reports of anti-Semitic 
acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf.

    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, and Lebanon. The Philippine Overseas Employment 
Administration (POEA) sought to limit departures for work abroad to 
persons the POEA certified as qualified for the jobs. Millions of 
citizens worked overseas and remitted money home. From January through 
June, such remittances accounted for approximately 10 percent of the 
gross domestic product.
    Forced exile is illegal, and the government did not use it.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Sustained clashes between the 
AFP and the MILF during the first half of the year caused the number of 
IDPs to fluctuate. NGOs alleged that aggressive AFP tactics led to an 
increased number of IDPs in June. Most IDPs were in the central 
Mindanao and largely Muslim areas of Lanao del Norte, Cotabato, and 
Maguindanao. The September 1 humanitarian update produced by the UN 
Coordination Office estimated 66,028 IDP families or 330,140 IDP 
individuals in Mindanao as of August 25.
    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 to do so because of the uncertain security situation and 
lack of food in their villages.
    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 ceasefire 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 Manguindanao 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 Red Cross continued to provide food and essential 
items such as medicine, blankets, water containers, and mosquito nets.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
However, 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; such determinations in practice implemented many 
of the basic provisions of the 1951 convention. The government also 
provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as 
refugees under the 1951 convention or its 1967 protocol. As of August 
there were no reports of the government extending such protections.
    The government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees. On August 27, 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 104 refugees in 2008.

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 largely were free and fair and held on the basis of 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--In 2007 midterm elections 
were held for senators, representatives, provincial governors, and 
local government officials. Voter turnout was high; however, incidents 
of violence and allegations of fraud marred the generally free and fair 
conduct of elections.
    In general political parties could operate without restriction. In 
October the Commission on Elections rejected an attempt by a group that 
plotted an unsuccessful coup in 2003 to register a new political party. 
In November it rejected a petition by Ang Ladlad, an organization 
representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, to 
be registered as a political party for the 2010 elections on the 
grounds that it ``tolerates immorality, which offends religious 
beliefs.'' The group's petition for accreditation was previously denied 
in 2007 on the grounds that it did not have an adequate national 
presence. In December the commission rejected the group's appeal of the 
ruling. The Commission also disqualified Ang Ladlad's president Danton 
Remoto from the list of 2010 senatorial candidates, stating that he had 
inadequate support to conduct a nationwide campaign.
    There were no other restrictions in law or practice on 
participation by women and members of minorities in politics. Many 
women, including the president, held positions of leadership and 
authority. There were four women in the 24-seat Senate and 51 women in 
the 240-seat House of Representatives. There were two women in the 22-
member cabinet, six female associate justices on the 15-member Supreme 
Court, and 17 women among the 80 governors. On August 14, President 
Arroyo signed into a law the ``Magna Carta for Women,'' which requires 
government agencies to hire more women over the next five years.
    Along with many other citizens, Muslims and other indigenous groups 
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.

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. The government convicted 71 officials in 234 
corruption cases from January to November. Convictions included the 
February 14 conviction of a former DOJ prosecutor, the February 18 
conviction of a retired AFP major general, the March 12 conviction of a 
former mayor and former municipal treasurer in Guimaras Province, and 
the April 2 conviction of a former municipal treasurer in Masbate.
    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. Much government information was not available 
electronically and was difficult to retrieve.

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. In 
September it supported a high-level mission from the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) to investigate labor rights complaints.
    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) had human 
rights action centers, which coordinated with CHR regional offices; 
however, the CHR's regional and subregional offices remained 
understaffed and underfunded. The CHR nationwide budget increased 19 
percent over the prior year to 255.28 million pesos (approximately 
$5.36 million). The CHR conducted numerous investigations during the 
year, including into alleged vigilante killings in Davao and other 
cities. The CHR faced some difficulty accessing military 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. At year's end the PNP reported 4,166 rape cases. The Bureau 
of Correction's prisons and penal farms held 246 prisoners convicted of 
rape, 132 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 officials of the PNP and 
anecdotal reports of an increase in rape and sexual abuse charges filed 
against 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. By year's 
end the PNP reported 5,285 cases of wife battering and physical 
injuries. This number likely underreported significantly the level of 
violence against women.
    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 9 percent of PNP officers were women. The PNP has a Women 
and Children's Unit to deal with these matters.
    Prostitution is illegal but was a widespread problem. Many women 
suffered exposure to violence through their recruitment, often through 
deception, into prostitution. Penalties for prostitution are light, but 
persons detained for prostitution were sometimes subjected to 
administrative indignities and extortion. Prostitutes were more likely 
to face charges, typically vagrancy, than their clients, who generally 
were not charged unless found to be committing sexual acts with a 
minor. The DSWD continued to provide temporary shelter and counseling 
to women engaged in both voluntary and involuntary prostitution. By 
year's end the DSWD provided temporary shelter and counseling to 66 
women who were victims of involuntary prostitution. Some local 
officials discouraged the prosecution of those who exploited persons 
through prostitution. There were no convictions under the provision of 
the law criminalizing the act of engaging the services of a prostitute.
    Sex tourism, with clients coming from domestic sources, the United 
States, Europe, Australia, and other East Asian countries, and 
trafficking in persons both domestically and internationally for sexual 
exploitation and forced labor remained serious problems.
    The law prohibits sexual harassment. However, sexual harassment in 
the workplace was widespread and underreported due to victims' fear of 
losing their jobs. Female employees in special economic zones were 
particularly at risk; most were economic migrants who had no 
independent workers' organization to assist with filing complaints. 
Women in the retail industry worked on three- to five-month contracts 
and were often reluctant to report sexual harassment for fear their 
contracts would not be renewed. Some labor unions believed that firms 
took punitive action against female employees who became pregnant.
    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 artificial 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 promoted 
natural family planning and, according to its critics, in effect 
prohibited provision of ``artificial'' family planning services in city 
hospitals and health centers. At year's end the executive order 
remained in effect. However, many individuals had access to some forms 
of contraception, although some objected to using them on religious 
grounds. In urban areas social hygiene clinics served everyone who 
sought consultation and treatment. Women and men were equally diagnosed 
and treated for sexually transmitted infections. 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.
    The law does not provide for divorce, although courts generally 
recognize the legality of divorces obtained in other countries if one 
of the parties is a foreign national. The government recognizes 
religious annulment, but the process can be costly, which precludes 
annulment as an option for many women. Many lower-income couples simply 
separated informally without severing their marital ties. The family 
code provides that in child-custody cases resulting from annulment, 
illegitimacy, or divorce in another country, children under the age of 
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.
    In law, but not always in practice, women have most of the rights 
and protections accorded to men. Although they faced workplace 
discrimination, women continued to occupy senior positions in 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 2.83 million unemployed persons, 
38.5 percent were women and 61.5 percent were men.
    The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, renamed the 
Philippine Commission on Women, composed of 10 government officials and 
11 NGO leaders appointed by the president, acted as an oversight body 
whose goal is to press for effective implementation of programs 
benefiting women.

    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.
    The government devoted considerable resources to the education, 
welfare, and development of children. The Department of Education's 
(DepEd) 12 percent share of the national budget was the largest of any 
cabinet department. Nevertheless, children faced serious problems.
    Elementary and secondary education is free and compulsory through 
age 11, but the quality of education remained poor. During the year 
according to DepEd figures, the estimated annual per pupil expenditure 
for basic education was 7,789 pesos(approximately $163). The public 
school enrollment rate was 76 percent. 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. During the year DSWD offices served 
6,022 victims of child abuse, of whom 67 percent were girls. 
Approximately 46 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 to prosecute accused pedophiles vigorously.
    Child prostitution continued to be a serious problem. Since the 
passage of a law against child labor in 2003, the Department of Labor 
and Employment (DOLE) ordered the closure of 15 establishments for 
allegedly prostituting minors. Trials in these cases were ongoing. 
During the year 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.
    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. 
Reclusion perpetua, a 40-year sentence that has no option for pardon or 
parole until 30 years have been served and carries a lifetime bar to 
holding political office, is the maximum penalty for rape. On November 
17, 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 ($1,049 to $104,953), depending on 
the gravity of the offense. One NGO reported that pornographers forced 
some children to engage in pornographic activity. In March a Cebu woman 
was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined three million pesos 
($62,972) for child pornography involving five minors.
    The NPA and ASG continued to recruit minors both as combatants and 
noncombatants (see section 1.g.).
    UNICEF estimated that there were approximately 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 
40,861 street children nationwide.
    A variety of national executive orders and laws provide for the 
welfare and protection of children. Police stations have child and 
youth-relations officers to ensure that child suspects are treated 
appropriately. However, procedural safeguards were often ignored in 
practice. According to the BJMP, 316 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. There were also reports that many 
children detained in jails appeared to have been arrested without 
warrants.
    NGOs alleged that vigilantes with ties to government authorities 
were responsible for killing street children in Davao and other major 
cities (see section 1.a.). Children were affected by displacement in 
central Mindanao and generally had access to government services (see 
section 2.d.).
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--Trafficking in persons is prohibited under 
the law, which defines several activities related to trafficking in 
persons as illegal and imposes stiff penalties--up to life 
imprisonment--for convicted offenders. Nonetheless, trafficking 
remained a serious problem. The country was a source, transit point, 
and destination for men, women, and children trafficked for the 
purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. A significant number 
of men and women who migrated abroad for work were subjected to 
conditions of involuntary servitude in the Middle East, North America, 
and other parts of Asia. Women were trafficked abroad for commercial 
sexual exploitation, primarily to Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong 
Kong, South Korea, and countries in the Middle East and Western Europe. 
Women and children were also trafficked within the country, primarily 
from rural areas to urban areas for forced labor as domestic workers 
and factory workers and for sexual exploitation. A smaller number of 
women were occasionally trafficked from China, South Korea, Japan, and 
Russia to the country for sexual exploitation. Child sex tourism 
continued to be a serious problem, with sex tourists coming from 
Northeast Asia, Europe, and North America to engage in sexual activity 
with minors.
    Both adults and children were trafficked domestically from poor, 
rural areas in the southern and central parts of the country to major 
urban centers, especially Metro Manila and Cebu, but also increasingly 
to cities in Mindanao. A significant percentage of the victims of 
internal trafficking came from Mindanao who were fleeing the poverty 
and violence in their home areas. Approximately 75 percent of the 
trafficking victims provided with temporary shelter and counseling by 
the NGO Visayan Forum Foundation were from Mindanao. The Visayan region 
was also a source of trafficking victims. Women and girls were far more 
at risk of becoming victims of trafficking than men and boys.
    Traffickers often targeted persons seeking overseas employment. An 
estimated four million Filipinos served as temporary overseas workers, 
approximately 4 percent of the population and 10 percent of the 
workforce. Most trafficking victims were females ages 13 to 30 from 
poor farming families. The traffickers generally were private 
employment recruiters and their partners in organized crime. Many 
recruiters targeted persons from their own hometowns, promising 
respectable and lucrative jobs.
    Although the government pursued trafficking cases under the 
antitrafficking law as well as other related laws, its efforts were 
hampered by slowness of the courts, a high vacancy rate among judges, 
resource constraints within law enforcement agencies, endemic 
corruption, and general inefficiency of the judicial system. NGOs 
reported that an impediment to successful trafficking prosecutions is 
the lack of understanding of trafficking among judges, prosecutors, and 
especially law enforcement officers. On September 29, in a case filed 
and prosecuted by an NGO, a regional trial court in Manila sentenced 
two human traffickers--including a police officer--to life in prison 
and fined them two million pesos (approximately $41,980) for 
trafficking minors in 2005. The convicted police officer was the 
country's first public official convicted for human trafficking. On 
October 29, a trafficker was convicted and sentenced to over 30 years' 
imprisonment for three counts of sexual abuse and violation of the 
antitrafficking law for recruiting minors for commercial sex. On 
November 17, a trafficker pled guilty to acts that promote trafficking, 
a crime under the antitrafficking law, and was sentenced to 15 years' 
imprisonment and fined one million pesos (approximately $20,990). On 
November 23, three traffickers were convicted and sentenced to life 
imprisonment. The court fined each of them two million pesos 
(approximately $41,980) for recruiting a minor in 2006 under a pretext 
of offering a job overseas. On December 22, a trafficker was convicted 
and sentenced to eight to 10 years' imprisonment in a 2006 case 
involving illegal recruitment of a minor for employment in Manila as an 
entertainer. The government did not convict any offenders for labor 
trafficking.
    The DOJ assigned responsibility to 20 prosecutors who, in addition 
to their regular workloads, also handled the preliminary investigation 
and prosecution of trafficking cases at the national level. There were 
95 prosecutors at the regional, provincial, and municipal levels with 
similar responsibilities for trafficking. The principal investigative 
agencies were the National Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of 
Immigration, the Philippine Center for Transnational Crimes, and the 
PNP's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, with the 
participation of other members of the Interagency Council Against 
Trafficking. The government cooperated with international 
investigations of trafficking. The ombudsman created a task force for 
trafficking-related corruption cases. Corruption among law enforcement 
agents remained a particular obstacle to improved antitrafficking 
performance. It was widely believed that some government officials were 
involved in, or at least permitted, trafficking operations within the 
country.
    The PNP investigated 310 cases of trafficking during the year. By 
year's end 36 new cases of trafficking were filed for prosecution, of 
which 15 were pending trial.
    There was anecdotal evidence that some lower-level officials such 
as customs officers, border guards, immigration officials, local 
police, or others received bribes from traffickers or otherwise 
facilitated trafficking. The government continued to provide training 
on the antitrafficking law and to send local officials to NGO-conducted 
antitrafficking training programs. With the government's own resources 
severely limited, it relied on partnerships with foreign government 
agencies, other foreign donors, and internationally funded NGOs for 
assistance with training and public awareness campaigns. The government 
continued to improve the standard operating procedures for trafficking 
task forces at international ports of entry. The Bureau of Immigration 
continued efforts to detect trafficking at exit points and deter 
traffickers. To address labor trafficking, the Bureau of Immigration at 
the Manila and Clark international airports in the first 10 months of 
the year, offloaded 7,880 passengers who were not properly documented 
and believed to be at risk for illegal recruitment and trafficking, a 
nine-fold increase from full-year 2008 data. It also introduced a 
warning message against human trafficking, abuse and exploitation of 
women and children, and drug trafficking in airport immigration 
arrival/departure forms used by thousands of international passengers 
every day.
    The government increased efforts to protect victims of trafficking, 
although it continued to rely on NGOs and international organizations 
to provide services to victims. Victims who were identified were not 
penalized for crimes committed as a direct result of being trafficked. 
The government, in conjunction with NGO partners, assisted victims by 
providing temporary residency status and relief from deportation; 
shelter; and access to legal, medical, and psychological services. By 
year's end the DSWD provided temporary shelter and social services to 
207 women and 221 juvenile trafficking victims. Additional protective 
services included hotlines for reporting cases and the operation of 24-
hour halfway houses in 13 regions of the country to assist victims.
    The government rarely deported or charged victims of trafficking 
with crimes; however, police sometimes charged women in prostitution 
with vagrancy. There were no reliable statistics indicating whether 
these individuals were trafficking victims.
    Victims may file civil suits or seek legal action against 
traffickers but rarely did so. Most victims who chose to do so filed 
charges of illegal recruitment. The government encouraged victims to 
assist in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking and related 
crimes, but the financial and emotional costs of prolonged and delayed 
court proceedings, which may take place in other provinces, often 
deterred victims from doing so. In labor trafficking cases, 
particularly involving overseas foreign workers, lengthy and costly 
trial procedures often encouraged victims to resolve their cases 
through mediation as opposed to criminal trials. The NGO International 
Justice Mission (IJM), employing private investigators and lawyers, 
coordinated with the government in an effort to increase the number of 
prosecutions on behalf of victims of trafficking and commercial sexual 
exploitation. The IJM prosecuted cases in close coordination with DOJ 
prosecutors; it initiated 51 cases, 23 of which were pending at year's 
end.
    Numerous government agencies and officials, as well as NGOs and 
international organizations, continued to support public information 
campaigns against trafficking.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with 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. 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 1,533 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 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 as well as 
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. No members of Congress 
were of indigenous descent.
    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. On August 19, Manobo indigenous 
communities and a local NGO protested the presence of military forces 
in Lianga, Surigao del Sur.
    A National Commission on Indigenous People, staffed by tribal 
members, implemented constitutional provisions to protect indigenous 
people. During the year the commission had a budget of 735.4 million 
pesos (approximately $15.4 million). During the year the commission 
awarded Certificates of Ancestral Land and Ancestral Domain Titles 
covering over 1.11 million 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. The law 
requires a process of informed consultation and written consent by the 
indigenous group to allow mining on tribal lands and assigns indigenous 
groups the responsibility to preserve their domains from 
environmentally inappropriate development. Some NGOs expressed concern 
that the law was not adequately enforced and that the rights of 
indigenous communities, including the right to prior consent, were not 
always protected. An indigenous people's NGO alleged that 39 of 64 
ongoing mining projects nationwide were on ancestral lands. There were 
anecdotal reports of indigenous groups, particularly the Mangyans in 
Mindoro and the Ati tribe in Boracay, being displaced by tourism and 
development. There were also reports of increased sales of ancestral 
lands to nontribal members, reportedly brokered by tribe members.

    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. There were many active LGTB organizations, and some of them 
held public marches or other events during the year to promote equality 
and antidiscrimination legislation. An effort by an LGBT group to 
register as a political party was denied because it ``tolerates 
immorality, which offends religious beliefs'' (see section 3).

    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 
workers, including most public employees, with the exception of the 
military and the police, to form and join trade unions. Trade unions 
are independent of the government. Unions have the right to form or 
join federations or other labor groups.
    At year's end the Bureau of Labor Relations reported 131 registered 
labor federations and 15,848 private sector unions. The 1.98 million 
union members included approximately 5.2 percent of the total workforce 
of 38.2 million. The number of firms using contractual labor, primarily 
large employers, continued to grow. There were 1,676 public sector 
unions, with a total membership of 356,279 or approximately 18 percent 
of the total employed persons in the public sector.
    In 2007 a new labor law lowered the requirements for union 
registration, and in November 2008 the DOLE issued implementing rules 
and regulations for this law.
    The International Trade Union Confederation and other labor rights 
advocacy groups expressed concern over killings and harassment of labor 
leaders and supporters and urged the government to increase efforts in 
investigating these attacks. Through December the Center for Trade 
Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) documented five killings of labor 
leaders, including the killing of Sabina Ariola, who was shot by an 
unidentified assailant en route to a rally on March 23. At year's end 
an investigation was pending. In addition, the CTUHR documented 26 
cases of threats, harassment, and intimidation affecting 605 workers 
and labor advocates, seven cases of physical assault, and four cases of 
violent dispersal of protests.
    Eight cases alleging violations of labor rights were pending with 
the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA). In September the 
government cooperated with a high-level ILO mission to investigate 
labor rights violations in the country.
    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. The DOLE secretary may 
intervene in some labor disputes by assuming jurisdiction and mandating 
a settlement if the secretary decides that the company affected by the 
strike is vital to the national interest. Through December DOLE assumed 
jurisdiction in 12 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 August 30, the court of 
appeals upheld the validity of Nestle Philippines' dismissal of more 
than 500 employees after their January 2002 strike following a deadlock 
in collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The court considered 
the workers' decision to ignore the DOLE's return-to-work order as 
valid grounds for loss of employment.
    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.
    The DOLE reported four strikes involving 1,510 workers from January 
to December.
    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.--The law 
provides for the right to organize and bargain collectively. The labor 
code provides for this right for employees both in the private sector 
and in corporations owned or controlled by the government. A similar 
right is afforded to most government workers. Collective bargaining was 
practiced; however, it was subject to hindrance, and union leaders may 
be subject to reprisal. International labor organizations noted that 
collective bargaining in the public sector was limited. At year's end 
the total number of private- and public-sector workers covered by 
collective bargaining agreements was recorded at 225,167 (approximately 
11.3 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 quasi-judicial 
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.
    Management dismissal or threatened dismissal of union members was 
common. On January 6, approximately 300 workers picketed a Cebu-based 
furniture company that had dismissed several workers and filed a 
request with DOLE for a temporary shutdown in November 2008. A union 
officer claimed that the company used the global financial crisis as 
reason to dismiss several union members. The union filed for a notice 
of strike on January 22, but the case was settled amicably on February 
16. The laid-off workers were given separation benefits.
    In March 2008 the CFA responded to a 2007 complaint by several 
union members at the Technical Education Services and Development 
Authority (TESDA) regarding the members' work-transfer orders and their 
subsequent dismissal from TESDA. The committee requested the government 
to reinstate the workers and provide compensation. Conflicting 
decisions in 2007 from the Civil Service Commission called for the 
reinstatement of the workers but also approved TESDA's decision to 
dismiss them. In December 2008 a court of appeals ruled in favor of 
TESDA management. In January a public-sector union representing workers 
at TESDA filed a motion for reconsideration with the Supreme Court. In 
April the Supreme Court denied the motion. In July the Civil Service 
Commission ruled the dismissed workers should be reinstated. At year's 
end TESDA's appeal of that decision was pending.
    Labor groups alleged that companies in Special Economic Zones 
(SEZs) used frivolous lawsuits as a means of harassing union leaders. 
Labor groups reported that firms used bankruptcy as a reason for 
closing and dismissing workers.
    Labor law applies uniformly throughout the country, including in 
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.

    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, and other areas of 
the informal sector (see sections 6 and 7.d.).

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15, except 
under the direct and sole responsibility of parents or guardians or in 
cases in which employment in cinema, theater, radio, or television is 
essential to the integrity of the production. The law allows employment 
of those between the ages of 15 to 18 for such hours and periods of the 
day as are determined by the DOLE secretary but forbids the employment 
of persons less than 18 years of age in hazardous or dangerous work. 
However, 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--some as bonded laborers. The government estimated 
that there were approximately four million working children, an 
estimated half of whom were exposed to hazardous working environments, 
in industries such as quarrying, mining, deep-sea fishing, pyrotechnic 
production, and agriculture, especially sugar cane plantations.
    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 
made attempts to devote more resources to child labor programs during 
the year, resources remained inadequate.
    The government and NGOs implemented programs to prevent the 
engagement of children in exploitive child labor; they educated 
communities on child labor and provided counseling and other activities 
for children. The DOLE and the DepEd worked with NGOs to assist 
children to return to school, and UNICEF and the ILO continued to work 
with the government on programs for the reduction of child labor. The 
government also 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 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 March, 
the DOLE conducted six rescue operations, removing 65 minors.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage did 
not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. 
Tripartite regional wage boards responsible for setting minimum wages 
did not approve an increase 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 382 pesos ($8.02). The lowest 
minimum wage rates were in the Southern Tagalog Region, where daily 
agricultural wages were 187 pesos ($3.92). 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. 
The regional wage boards of the National Wage and Productivity 
Commission did not release any wage exemption decisions during the 
first half of the year. 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 June Bureau of Working Conditions report, 497 of 1,208 
inspected firms were found to have violated labor or occupational 
safety and health standards. Many firms hired employees for less than 
the minimum apprentice rates, even if there was no approved training in 
their production-line work. The DOLE inspects establishments that 
employ 10 to 199 workers to determine compliance with national labor 
laws. Establishments employing 200 or more persons and unionized 
establishments with collective bargaining agreements are subject to 
self-assessment of compliance with labor standards. The DOLE provided 
training and advisory services to enterprises with less than 10 workers 
to help them comply with national labor laws and core labor standards. 
From January to June, 46 percent (554 out of 1,208) of commercial 
establishments inspected by the DOLE were not in compliance with the 
prevailing minimum wage. The 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. The DOLE conducted only sporadic inspections to 
enforce limits on workweek hours. From January to June, DOLE labor 
inspectors made 1,208 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. The DOLE has responsibility for policy formulation 
and review of these standards, but with too few inspectors nationwide, 
local authorities often must carry out enforcement. The 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 June the DOLE conducted inspections of 1,208 
establishments on occupational safety standards compliance, 912 or 75 
percent of which were able to comply upon 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 the POEA registered and supervised domestic 
recruiters' practices successfully, the authorities sometimes lacked 
sufficient resources to ensure workers' protection overseas. It sought 
cooperation from receiving countries and proposed migrant worker rights 
conventions in international forums. The government also provided 
assistance through its diplomatic missions in countries with 
substantial numbers of migrant workers.
    The labor laws protect foreign workers in the country. Foreign 
workers must obtain work permits and may not engage in certain 
occupations. Typically their work conditions were better than those 
faced by citizens. They are not allowed to join or form unions.

                               __________

                                 SAMOA

    Samoa is a constitutional parliamentary democracy that incorporates 
traditional practices into its governmental system. Its population was 
approximately 188,000. 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 concluded by 2007 and considered generally free and fair. The 
ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) maintained its majority and 
continued to be the only officially recognized party in parliament. 
Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens. Some problems remained, however, including poor prison 
conditions, local limitations on religious freedom, domestic violence, 
sexual 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.
    In September a local nongovernmental organization (NGO) reported 
two separate complaints of police abuse of persons in police custody. 
The first complainant alleged that five police officers assaulted him, 
resulting in the loss of several teeth, after he was arrested for 
throwing stones while intoxicated and damaging nearby homes and road 
signs. The second individual alleged police beat him after stopping his 
vehicle at a roadblock, resulting in a fractured eye socket and broken 
arm. According to the NGO, the complainant's car was detained because 
the passengers were laughing loudly. When the complainant tried to 
explain that they were not laughing at the police, officers dragged him 
from the vehicle and beat him. The Ministry of Police's Professional 
Standards Unit was investigating both cases at year's end.
    Also in September, an associate government minister was accused of 
inciting to kill a member of his village. He allegedly shot at the 
victim when the victim refused to leave after village authorities 
ordered him banished from the village. In December the minister pled 
not guilty; the case was expected to resume in 2010.
    In March a senior police officer was charged with five counts of 
indecent assault and one count of sodomy for allegedly forcing a 
juvenile at the Oloamanu Juvenile Center into an unwanted sexual 
relationship in 2007. In June the officer pled not guilty to all 
charges. The trial was pending at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor, but there were some facility improvements during the year.
    Some prison facilities were nearly a century old. The Tafaigata 
men's prison had 24 cells of various sizes, including eight large 
concrete cells approximately 30 feet by 30 feet in size that each held 
20 to 25 inmates.
    Only basic provisions were made with respect to food, water, and 
sanitation. Cell lighting and ventilation remained poor; lights were 
turned on only from dusk until nine in the evening. Some but not all 
individual cells had toilet facilities. The separate Tafaigata women's 
prison had five cells (approximately 15 feet by nine feet) that held 
four to six inmates per cell. 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. Construction work at the 
Oloamanu Juvenile Center was completed by year's end, and the facility 
held a limited number of juveniles. Physical conditions at the juvenile 
center were generally better than those for adults, but there were 
unconfirmed reports of problems with food, clothing, and the water 
supply.
    Although some renovation work was undertaken during the year, no 
new prison cells were constructed to accommodate an increased prison 
population. Although exact numbers were not available, at year's end 
both the men's and women's prisons had more inmates than they were 
originally designed to hold. At year's end there were approximately 300 
inmates at the Tafaigata men's and women's prisons, the Oloamanu 
Juvenile Center, and Vaiaata Prison combined, most of whom were 
incarcerated in the Tafaigata facilities.
    In May a controversial prisoner weekend parole program was 
suspended following an incident in March in which a prisoner on weekend 
parole hijacked, beat, and stole money from a taxi driver. By year's 
end the program had resumed, but only once a month and excluding those 
sentenced for theft, burglary, and other serious crimes.
    In May, 42 prisoners armed with machetes escaped from the Tafaigata 
prison, hijacked a bus, and tried to drive it to the government 
headquarters building to express their complaints about prison 
conditions, including poor living conditions and food quality. The 
prisoners were captured an hour later when police shot at the bus's 
tires. In August some of the prisoners pled guilty to charges that 
included escaping from police custody and possession of a deadly 
weapon. The trial for those who pled not guilty continued at year's 
end.
    The government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers; however, there were no known requests during the 
year. The government permitted family members and church 
representatives to visit prisons every two weeks.
    During the year the government made some improvements to the men's 
prison facilities. These included erection of makeshift bathroom 
partitions approximately six to nine feet high for greater privacy, 
installation of vinyl flooring over the concrete floors, and painting 
of exterior and interior walls. In addition, the prison chapel and 
community hall were renovated using proceeds from sales of music 
recorded by the prison choir.

    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. Corruption 
and impunity were not significant problems among the police, although 
there were credible reports of minor instances of bribery, such as 
bribes to avoid traffic citations. A lack of resources limited police 
effectiveness.
    In late January a special commission of inquiry recommended to the 
attorney general that criminal charges be brought against the then 
police commissioner and another senior police officer for smuggling 
three firearms on board the police patrol boat in 2008. However, when 
the report was submitted and the officers were called before the 
cabinet, no criminal charges were brought. In February the police 
commissioner was censured and the second officer was demoted. The 
commissioner's contract ended during the year, and he was not 
reappointed.
    In March the trial resumed in the 2007 case of an assistant police 
commissioner accused of indecent assault against two female police 
officers. The trial, which was delayed due to court backlogs and 
maternity leave of one of the female officers in the case, continued at 
year's end.

    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 
system of bail. 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.
    The judiciary consists of the District Court, the Lands and Titles 
Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal, 
the highest court, has appellate jurisdiction only and can review the 
rulings of any other court. It is composed of a panel of retired New 
Zealand judges and sits once a year for several weeks.
    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 dated 
back 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, 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 or no 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. However, in May the Supreme Court found 
opposition member of parliament (MP) Asiata Sale'imoa Vaai guilty of 
contempt of court after a newspaper published a letter he wrote to the 
editor accusing the chief justice of bias in favor of the governing 
party. Although Asiata appealed, the original ruling was upheld; 
however, no prison sentence or fine was imposed on Asiata.
    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.

    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 to 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. In April, however, 
the Censorship Board banned the film Milk due to its homosexual scenes 
(see section 6), and in May banned the film Angels and Demons to 
``avoid any religious discrimination by other denominations and faiths 
against the Catholic Church.'' Other films also reportedly banned by 
the board included The Butcher, Van Wilder, Unborn, and The Cell 2.

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. The constitution acknowledges an ``independent state based on 
Christian principles and Samoan custom and traditions'' ; however, 
there is no official or state denomination. The law grants each person 
the right to change religion or belief and to worship or teach religion 
alone or with others, but in practice the matai often choose the 
religious denomination of their extended family.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no significant 
reports of societal religious discrimination. There was no organized 
Jewish community in the country, and there were no reports of anti-
Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.
    d. Freedom of Movement, 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 have overruled banishment orders. Some banished 
persons were accepted back into the village after performing a 
traditional apology ceremony called ``ifoga.''
    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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
The law provides 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. In June the 
speaker of the house ordered by-elections for the seats of nine 
independent MPs who claimed membership in the Tautua Samoa Party (TSP). 
The speaker asserted, as justification for this action, that the Samoa 
Electoral Act prohibited formation of any new party in parliament if it 
was not registered before the previous general election (in this case, 
in 2006). The TSP sought a legal injunction against the speaker's 
decision, and also filed a lawsuit against the speaker seeking five 
million dollars in damages. In July the chief justice ruled against the 
speaker's interpretation of the act's wording in this regard and in 
favor of the TSP. However, in October parliament passed amendments to 
the Electoral Act providing that MPs must vacate their parliamentary 
seats if they become members of a political party or organization that 
was not registered at the time of the previous general election, or if 
they become members of a party or organization of which they were not 
members when they took their oath of allegiance as MPs. In December the 
TSP suspended indefinitely, but did not formally withdraw, its suit.
    While the constitution gives all citizens above age 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. 
Matai 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. In addition, 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.
    The political rights of citizens who are not of ethnic Samoan 
heritage are addressed by the reservation of two parliamentary seats 
for at-large MPs, known as ``individual voters'' seats. One at-large 
cabinet minister and MP 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.
    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.
    In June an account officer in the Ministry of Police and two 
account officers in the Ministry of Finance pled not guilty to a 2008 
charge of embezzling 350,000 (approximately $142,275) in police funds. 
The case subsequently was adjourned and was expected to resume in 
February 2010. In July a former principal accountant at the Ministry of 
Revenue-Customs was convicted of embezzling more than 4,400 tala 
(approximately $1,800) and ordered to repay the embezzled funds plus 
court fees.
    Under the 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, requesters had to go through an often-
slow bureaucratic process, and consequently information was not always 
obtainable in a timely manner.

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. Representatives of various UN agencies visited the 
country during the year, including visits related to tsunami disaster 
relief efforts.
    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, sex, 
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 had some advantages.

    Women.--The constitution prohibits abuse of women, but common 
societal attitudes tolerated their physical abuse within the home, and 
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 ranged from two years' to life imprisonment, but a life 
sentence has never been imposed. In July a former cabinet minister pled 
not guilty to 22 charges, including attempted rape, indecent assault, 
and unlawful intimidation, brought on the basis of complaints from 
former employees in his household. His trial had not yet begun at 
year's end.
    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 (i.e., 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. A 
senior judge pled not guilty to a charge of assault brought by his wife 
in April; however, the case was dismissed in December when the 
plaintiff failed to appear at a court hearing.
    The Ministry of Police has a 10-person Domestic Violence Unit, 
which received reports of domestic abuse and worked in collaboration 
with NGOs that combated domestic abuse. NGO services for abused women 
included confidential hot lines, in-person counseling, victim support, 
and shelters.
    In June the country hosted a congress of women's ministries of the 
Seventh Day Adventist Church, with particular focus on the problem of 
domestic violence. According to press reports, hundreds of persons 
participated in a ``peace march'' in Apia prior to the conference to 
call for action against abuse of women and children.
    Prostitution is illegal; it existed but was not widespread. The law 
prohibits sexual harassment; it was not widespread but was believed to 
be underreported.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children without 
discrimination, coercion, or violence. The National Health Service, 
private hospitals, and general practitioners, as well as various health 
care centers, provided information and access to contraception and 
essential obstetric and postpartum care. 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 traditional subordinate role of women was changing, albeit 
slowly, particularly in the more conservative parts of society. The 
Ministry of Women, Community, and Social Development oversees and helps 
secure the rights of women. To integrate women into the economic 
mainstream, the government sponsored numerous programs, including 
literacy programs and training programs for those who did not complete 
high school.
    A provision of labor law prohibits employment of women between 
midnight and 6:00 a.m. unless special permission has been 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.
    The government made a strong commitment to the welfare of children 
through the implementation of various youth programs by the Ministry of 
Women, Community, and Social Development in collaboration with the 
Ministries of Education and Health. Education is compulsory through age 
14; however, the government did not enforce this law. Public education 
was not free; students were required to pay some school fees.
    Law and tradition prohibit 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. For example, in March a 
36-year-old father was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for incest 
and carnal knowledge for raping his 15-year-old daughter. In May a 
church minister, earlier acquitted of a rape charge, was found guilty 
of indecent assault and sentenced to one year in prison, and a 44-year-
old man was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment after pleading guilty 
to raping his daughter. However, there remained instances in which 
cultural factors inhibited reporting of child sexual abuse to police. 
In August the family of a 14-year-old victim of a homosexual rape 
reportedly accepted an apology and material compensation in lieu of 
prosecution, due to fear of societal stigma.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 16; 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 matter. The maximum penalty is two years' 
imprisonment.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that persons 
were trafficked to, from, through, or within the country.
    There are laws against kidnapping that could be used to prosecute 
trafficking-related activities. The law provides for a penalty of up to 
10 years in prison for kidnapping any person with the intent to 
transport, imprison, or hold for service. Abducting or receiving a 
child under age 16 is punishable by up to seven years' imprisonment. A 
transnational crimes unit monitors crimes related to trafficking in 
persons.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/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 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. In April the government Censorship Board rejected the 
screening of the film Milk, about the life of gay rights activist 
Harvey Milk, on the basis that the film had ``inappropriate scenes'' 
that contradicted the country's Christian beliefs. In contrast, the 
board allowed the screening of the film Lesbian Vampire Killers with 
the explanation that the film was not necessarily about lesbians, but 
about the legend of female vampires.
    The Samoa Fa'afafine Association, a local transgender organization, 
operated freely, without government interference; the prime minister 
was the patron of the association.

    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 (PSA) functioned as a union for all government 
workers, who comprised 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 have exercised this right.
    Workers in the private sector have the right to strike, but there 
were no private-sector strikes during the year.
    In September bus owners stopped service to protest the government's 
refusal to pay part of the cost of retrofitting their buses following a 
government-ordered change from driving on the right-hand side of the 
road to the left-hand side. The action ended after the government 
offered owners a three-week extension to make the changes and 
assistance in negotiating extensions on loan repayments to commercial 
banks to finance the changes. However, the government rejected the 
Samoa Bus Association's request for direct financial assistance and 
additional time to comply.

    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 PSA 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 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 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 as to 
whether this practice violates the country's labor laws, which cover 
only persons who have a place of employment. Although the practice may 
constitute a violation of the law, local officials mostly tolerated it.

    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, last increased in 2005: two tala (approximately 
$0.80) per hour for the private sector, and 2.40 tala (approximately 
$.98) for the public sector. 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 work week 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 politics. 
The population was approximately five million, with nonresident foreign 
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. Civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces.
    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, 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. Through November 
4,228 convicted persons were sentenced to caning, and 99.8 percent of 
caning sentences were carried out.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards.
    According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, as of 
mid-2008 there was a total prison population of 12,349, of whom 8.4 
percent were women, and as of mid-2007 the juvenile prison population 
was 4.7 percent of the total. The designed capacity of the prison 
system was 13,826.
    The government did not allow human rights monitors to visit 
prisons; however, diplomatic representatives were given consular access 
to citizens of their countries.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law 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 against 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.
    At year's end, 16 detainees were held under the ISA as suspected 
terrorists. All of these detainees were suspected of belonging to the 
terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.
    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 Restriction 
Orders (ROs) limiting their movements. The authorities stated that all 
of the detainees released cooperated in investigations and responded 
positively to rehabilitation.
    At year's end, 45 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.
    The CLA comes up for renewal every five years and was renewed in 
February, with effect from October. 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 617 persons were held in drug 
rehabilitation centers, 494 of whom were admitted between January and 
November. 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 also 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.
    The judicial system has two levels of courts: the Supreme Court, 
which includes the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and the 
subordinate courts. Subordinate court judges and magistrates, as well 
as public prosecutors, are civil servants whose specific assignments 
are determined by the LSC, which can decide on job transfers to any of 
several legal service departments. The subordinate courts handle the 
great majority of civil and criminal cases in the first instance. The 
High Court may hear any civil or criminal case, although it generally 
limited itself to civil matters involving substantial claims and 
criminal matters carrying the death penalty or imprisonment of more 
than 10 years. The Court of Appeal is the highest and final court of 
review for matters decided in the subordinate courts or the High Court. 
Supreme Court justices may remain in office until the mandatory 
retirement age of 65, after which they may continue to serve at the 
government's discretion for brief, renewable terms at full salary. 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.
    In addition the law provides for Islamic courts whose authority is 
limited to Islamic family law, which is applicable only to Muslims.
    A two-tier military court system has jurisdiction over all military 
personnel, civilians in the service of the armed forces, and volunteers 
when they are ordered to report for service. The system handled 
approximately 450 cases each year. The Military Court of Appeal has 
jurisdiction to examine an appeal from a person convicted by a 
subordinate military court. Trials are public, and defendants have the 
right to be present. An accused individual also has the right to 
defense representation.

    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 low 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 income 
inequality, immigration policy, and the role of religion in public 
life.
    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. In an October 26 address to a group of 
foreign lawyers, the minister of law noted that the government does not 
seek to proscribe press criticism but ``demands the right of response, 
to be published in the journal that published the original 
article.[and] if untrue statements are made--that a person is corrupt 
or that he lied--there will be a suit. Let the accuser prove it.''
    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.''
    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 several foreign 
television news channels and many entertainment channels, including 
some with news programs; these were not censored.
    The Media Development Authority (MDA), a statutory board under the 
Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Arts (MICA), continued 
to censor broadcast media, Internet sites, and all other media, 
including movies, video materials, computer games, and music. Banned 
publications consisted primarily of sexually oriented materials but 
also included some religious and political publications. Both 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 $140,000) 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 Far 
Eastern Economic Review (FEER, which has announced that it will cease 
publication for economic reasons) continued to be subject to a 2006 
government ban for failing to comply with the NPPA. Importation or 
possession of FEER for sale or distribution was an offense. Readers 
could access FEER on the Internet. Newspapers printed in Malaysia 
cannot be imported without a special permit.
    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 $70,000) 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. There were no known new defamation suits or threats of defamation 
suits against media organizations during the year. On October 7, the 
High Court upheld a summary judgment against the editor and publisher 
of FEER in the 2006 defamation suit brought by Prime Minister Lee Hsien 
Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in connection with a published 
interview with opposition politician Chee Soon Juan. In November the 
editor and publisher agreed to settle the case by paying the Lees 
S$350,000 ($250,000) in damages and S$45,000 ($32,000) in costs.
    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 March 19, the High Court found a senior editor of the Wall 
Street Journal Asia in contempt of court based on the newspaper's 2008 
publication of three items, including a letter to the editor that 
questioned the independence of courts from the PAP government. The 
court fined the editor S$10,000 (approximately $7,200) and assessed 
another S$10,000 in court costs against her. In 2008 the High Court had 
fined the publisher, Dow Jones, S$25,000 ($18,000) based on the same 
publications.
    In September the Law Society commenced disciplinary proceedings in 
absentia against Gopalan Nair, who is now a foreign citizen, based on 
his 2008 convictions for contempt of court for criticizing certain 
judges in blog postings. Nair had apologized for those statements and 
removed them from his blog, and he was permitted to leave the country 
in November 2008; he subsequently retracted his apology and reposted 
his criticisms on the Internet. Some observers believed that the 
disciplinary proceeding was retaliation for Nair's actions after 
leaving 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. 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 the MDA 
ordered ISPs to block 100 specific Web sites that the government 
considered pornographic, in general the government focused on blocking 
only a small number of sites. The Internet was widely available and 
used. According to International Telecommunication Union statistics for 
2008, approximately 73 percent of the country's inhabitants used the 
Internet.

    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 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. In September the government 
approved the first independent political documentary for exhibition 
since 1998. 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.''
    A list of banned films was available on the MDA Web site. 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 in an act passed on April 13, 
Parliament 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.
    In October a court acquitted five members of the opposition 
Singapore Democratic Party charged with taking part in a 2007 
procession without a valid permit. However, the court based its 
decision on the applicable statute's failure to define the term 
``procession.'' Parliament's April 13 change in the public assembly 
laws introduced a definition of ``procession'' that would apply in 
future cases. The government appealed the October acquittals to the 
High Court.
    In December Chee Soon Juan, Chee Siok Chin, and Gandhi Ambalan were 
convicted of illegal assembly and fined S$1,000 (approximately $700). 
The three refused to pay their fines, and instead each served one week 
in prison.
    The government closely monitored political gatherings regardless of 
the number of persons present. Plain-clothes 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 268 registration 
applications. One application processed was denied, nine were 
withdrawn, and 50 were pending at year's end.
    The government prohibits organized political activities except by 
groups registered as political parties or political organizations. 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 
organizations are subject to strict financial regulations, including a 
ban on receiving foreign donations. Due to laws regulating the 
formation of publicly active organizations, there were few NGOs apart 
from nonpolitical organizations such as religious groups, ethnically 
oriented organizations, and providers of welfare services.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion; however, the government restricted this right in some 
circumstances. The constitution provides that all citizens or persons 
in the country have the right to profess, practice, or propagate their 
religious beliefs so long as such activities do not breach any other 
laws relating to public order, public health, or morality.
    All religious groups were subject to government scrutiny. These 
groups must be registered under the Societies Act. The Maintenance of 
Religious Harmony Act (MRHA) authorizes the minister for home affairs 
to issue, at his discretion, a restraining order against any person in 
a position of authority within a religious group who is causing 
feelings of enmity or hostility between different religious groups, or 
is promoting political causes, carrying out subversive activities, or 
exciting disaffection against the government under the guise of 
practicing religion. The MRHA prohibits judicial review of restraining 
orders issued under its authority. Any restraining order must be 
referred to the Council for Religious Harmony, which recommends to the 
president that the order be confirmed, canceled, or amended. 
Restraining orders lapse after, at most, 90 days unless confirmed by 
the president. The minister must review a confirmed restraining order 
at least once every 12 months and may revoke such an order at any time. 
No restraining order has been issued since the MRHA was enacted in 
1990.
    The Presidential Council for Minority Rights examines all 
legislation to ensure that it does not disadvantage particular racial 
or religious communities. The council also considers and reports on 
matters concerning any racial or religious community that are referred 
to it by Parliament or the government. The government maintains a 
relationship with the Muslim community through the Islamic Religious 
Council (MUIS), which was established under the Administration of 
Muslim Law Act. The MUIS advises the government on the Muslim 
community's concerns, drafts a weekly approved sermon, maintains 
regulatory authority over Muslim religious matters, and oversees a fund 
financed by voluntary payroll deductions and used for mosque building 
and social and educational purposes.
    The Jehovah's Witnesses and Unification Church remained banned 
along with all written materials published by the Jehovah's Witnesses' 
publishing affiliates, the International Bible Students Association, 
and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. A person in possession of 
banned literature can be fined up to S$2,000 (approximately $1,400); 
for holding a meeting, the fine can be as high as S$4,000 ($2,800). 
There were no arrests of Unification Church members reported during the 
year. The government declined to make data available to the public 
concerning arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses during the year.
    There were allegations that Falun Gong practitioners faced 
obstacles in obtaining or renewing work permits, visas, or permanent 
residency status.
    While the government did not prohibit evangelical activities, in 
practice it discouraged activities that could upset intercommunal 
relations, such as unsolicited public proselytizing. In May a court 
convicted a Christian couple of sedition and distribution of 
objectionable publications for disseminating Christian pamphlets 
potentially offensive to Muslims. In sentencing each defendant to eight 
weeks in prison, the court ruled that the right to proselytize is 
constrained by the imperative to respect the religious beliefs of 
others. The couple served five and a half weeks in prison, with the 
remaining time remitted for good behavior. They lost their jobs as a 
result of their criminal convictions.
    In his August 16 National Day speech, Prime Minister Lee noted 
dangers to the country's ``social cohesion'' arising from aggressive 
proselytizing, religious intolerance, and self segregation. He 
prescribed four ``rules'' governing religion in public life: racial and 
religious groups must exercise tolerance and ``rules that apply only to 
one group cannot be made into laws that apply to everyone;'' religion 
must be separate from politics; government must be secular, and public 
policy must be based on ``secular, rational considerations of public 
interest;'' and common space--notably schools and workplaces--must 
accommodate members of all religions. He also noted that members of 
Parliament must not use churches or religious groups to mobilize 
support.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--The size of the Jewish 
community was approximately 800 to 1,000. There were no reports of 
societal religious discrimination or of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 a few respects. 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 45 
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.
    In June a court issued a warrant for the arrest of opposition 
politician Chee Soon Juan for failing to appear at the resumption of a 
hearing on charges arising from a 2006 protest. As a bankrupt, Chee was 
required to seek the permission of the Official Assignee (OA) to leave 
the country; as a criminal defendant, he was required to seek similar 
permission from the trial court. Chee obtained the OA's permission to 
travel to Taiwan to visit his dying father-in-law, but the court 
declined his application. When Chee traveled to Taiwan without court 
permission, the presiding judge issued an arrest warrant and rescinded 
it only upon receiving documentary proof of Chee's father-in-law's 
death.
    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 post a bond equal to S$75,000 (approximately 
$54,000) 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 aged 16 1/2 years and above for travel 
exceeding three months, and to travelers age 13 to 16 1/2 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 imposes three conditions: they must renounce communism, 
sever all links with the CPM, and agree to be interviewed by the 
Internal Security Department about their past activities. Some ex-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 UN 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol. Its 
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.
    During the year the government required some Burmese nationals who 
held permanent residence status in Singapore to leave the country upon 
expiration of their visas. The authorities determined that these 
persons had attempted to hold demonstrations without approval and had 
ignored police warnings. They were not required to return to Burma but 
departed for third countries.

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.--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 26 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 three 
female ministers of state, including, since April, 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 15 percent of the general population and held 
approximately the same percentage 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 14 members of the Supreme Court were ethnic Indian; there were no 
Malays on the court.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    There were no reports of government corruption during the year. In 
the past the government actively prosecuted officials involved in 
corruption. 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.
    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. The government actively participated in the creation of the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations Intergovernmental Commission on 
Human Rights, which was inaugurated in October.

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 16 
persons were prosecuted for rape; there were seven convictions, and 14 
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. Several voluntary welfare organizations provided 
assistance to abused women. During the year there were applications for 
Personal Protection Orders, including a number filed by wives for 
protection against their husbands. The government did not provide data 
concerning such orders.
    Prostitution is not illegal; however, public solicitation, living 
on the earnings of a prostitute, and maintaining a brothel are illegal. 
The authorities periodically carried out crackdowns on solicitation for 
prostitution and arrested and deported foreign prostitutes, 
particularly when their activities took place outside informally 
designated red-light areas. In practice police unofficially tolerated 
and monitored a limited number of brothels; prostitutes in such 
establishments were required to undergo periodic health checks and 
carry a health card.
    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 
($3,500). A 2008 survey by a local NGO found that 54 percent of 
respondents (58.3 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. 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 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 Shari'a (Islamic law) court to oversee such matters. 
The law allows Muslim men to practice polygyny, although requests to 
take additional spouses may be refused by the Registry of Muslim 
Marriages, which solicits the views of an existing wife or wives and 
reviews the financial capability of the husband. During the year there 
were 36 applications for polygynous marriages. As of year's end, nine 
of those applications were approved, and those remaining were either 
rejected, withdrawn, or pending. Polygynous marriages constituted 2.1 
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 54 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. In some occupations women earned more than their 
male counterparts.

    Children.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents, and birth 
registration is essentially universal.
    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.
    Some child prostitution occurred. During the year authorities 
arrested 41 female prostitutes believed to be under the age of 18, and 
one man was prosecuted for and convicted of commercial sex with a minor 
under 18. The age of consent to noncommercial sex is 16 years. Sexual 
intercourse with anyone under 16 is punishable by up to five years in 
prison and a maximum fine of S$10,000 (approximately $7,200). 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits all forms of trafficking 
in persons; however, the country was a destination for women and girls 
trafficked from Southeast Asia and China for prostitution. Some foreign 
domestic workers were subjected to abusive labor conditions that may be 
indicative of labor trafficking, including physical or sexual abuse; 
confiscation of travel documents; confinement; inadequate food, rest, 
or accommodation; deception about wages or conditions of work; and 
improper withholding of pay. Some women from Thailand and the 
Philippines who traveled to the country voluntarily for prostitution or 
other work were deceived or coerced into sexual servitude.
    Three major laws govern trafficking and prostitution: the Women's 
Charter, the Children and Young Persons Act, and the penal code. 
Trafficking in women and children, regardless of whether it is related 
to prostitution, is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, a 
S$10,000 (approximately $7,200) fine, and caning. Traffickers could be 
prosecuted under provisions governing kidnapping, abduction, slavery, 
and forced labor, which carry maximum punishments of 10 years' 
imprisonment and a fine. Convicted traffickers could be found guilty of 
violating more than one law. There was no specific campaign to combat 
or prevent the use of fraud or coercion to recruit foreign women for 
prostitution.
    Between April 2008 and March, the government identified two victims 
of trafficking for sexual exploitation. In one case, involving a victim 
under the age of 18, the trafficker was convicted of commercial sexual 
exploitation of a minor and received a one-year prison term. In the 
other case, involving an adult who returned to her home country before 
making a police report credibly alleging that she was coerced into 
prostitution, the trafficker was convicted of living off the earnings 
of prostitution and fined S$12,000 ($8,500).
    Law enforcement efforts aimed at curbing prostitution may have 
resulted in victims of trafficking being penalized for acts committed 
as a direct result of being trafficked. In 2008 police arrested 
thousands of foreign women (including 54 children) for prostitution, 
who were generally incarcerated and then deported. The number of 
trafficking victims among this group is unknown; however, government 
measures to identify potential trafficking victims appear to have been 
limited.
    In practice successful investigation and prosecution of trafficking 
in persons required that victims remain in or return to the country to 
testify. Victims did not receive government assistance during this 
period or at other times and were dependent on support from their 
respective embassies or from voluntary welfare organizations (VWOs). 
Some VWOs received government funding based on referrals for shelter or 
other services. The government encouraged identified victims to assist 
in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offenders and made 
available to all foreign victims of crime temporary immigration relief 
that allowed them residency pending conclusion of their criminal cases. 
The country does not otherwise provide trafficking victims with a legal 
alternative to removal, including to countries where they may face 
hardship and retribution. Laws prohibiting the harboring, aiding, or 
abetting of illegal immigrants could, as written, subject to 
prosecution NGOs that assist potential trafficking victims; however, 
the authorities did not prosecute any NGOs on that basis.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The government maintained a 
comprehensive code on barrier-free accessibility; this established 
standards for facilities for persons with physical disabilities in all 
new buildings and mandated the progressive upgrading of older 
structures. There was no 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. The government also 
ran vigorous campaigns to raise public awareness of issues confronting 
persons with disabilities and the services available to them. A tax 
deduction of up to S$100,000 (approximately $72,000) 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 public transportation. During the year 
100 percent of public trains and 13.2 percent of buses were wheelchair 
accessible.
    Informal provisions in education permit university matriculation 
for the visually impaired, those hard of hearing, and students with 
other physical disabilities. More than 6,342 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. 
The government provided funds for 29 childcare centers to take in 1,377 
children with special needs.
    The government allows a tax deduction of up to S$3,500 
(approximately $2,500) per individual for families caring for a 
sibling, spouse, or child with a disability. Mental and physical 
disabilities are treated in the same way. Press coverage of the 
activities and achievements of persons with disabilities was extensive, 
and discrimination or abuse of persons with disabilities did not appear 
to be a problem.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Ethnic Malays constituted 
approximately 15 percent of the population. The constitution 
acknowledges them as the indigenous people of the country and charges 
the government to support and 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.--A vigorous debate took place 
in 2007, when an ultimately unsuccessful attempt took place to repeal 
the section of the penal code criminalizing sex between men. After the 
attempt failed, 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.
    The sensitivity of the issue emerged again during the year when 
social conservative activists temporarily seized control of a women's 
rights NGO, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), 
and accused AWARE's former leadership of promoting homosexual conduct 
in the public schools through a sex education program designed under 
AWARE's auspices. The Ministry of Education suspended use of the AWARE 
sex education program pending further review.
    On May 16, a rally in support of ``the freedom of lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender persons in Singapore to love'' took place at 
Speakers Corner. Participants held pink umbrellas aloft and arranged 
themselves to form a large pink dot when seen from nearby high-rise 
buildings. The rally took place without disturbance.

    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 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 
approximately three million workers, 519,000 of whom were represented 
by 69 unions. Almost all of the unions (which represented virtually all 
union members) were affiliated with the National Trade Union Congress 
(NTUC), an umbrella organization with a close relationship with the 
government.
    The NTUC acknowledged that its interests were linked closely with 
those of the ruling PAP, a relationship often described by both as 
symbiotic. The NTUC's secretary general, Lim 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. 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 the water, gas, and electricity sectors. 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. 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 2008, 355 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.
    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 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 2008 the median income among all households 
headed by a citizen or permanent resident was S$59,400 (approximately 
$42,400); among employed households headed by a citizen or permanent 
resident, the median income was S$65,760 ($47,000).
    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. 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, 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. 
Several instances of employers housing their workers in substandard 
housing, or failing to provide any housing, were reported during the 
year.
    Although the great majority of the approximately 180,000 foreign 
domestic workers (mainly from the Philippines and Indonesia) worked 
under clearly outlined contracts and reported no complaints against 
their employers or employment agencies, their low wages, dependence on 
their employers for food and lodging, and relative isolation made some 
of them vulnerable to mistreatment, abuse, and labor conditions that in 
some cases could amount to involuntary servitude. The authorities fined 
or imprisoned employers who abused maids. During the year 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. During the year 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 523,000. Parliamentary 
elections held in 2006 were considered generally free and fair, 
although there were incidents of vote buying. In 2007 Parliament 
elected Derek Sikua 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 to 2003 period 
of 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. Civilian authorities 
generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, but there were problems in some areas. Human rights problems 
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.
    Since its arrival in 2003, RAMSI apprehended and charged more than 
240 persons allegedly responsible for human rights abuses and other 
criminal acts. All these cases had been resolved by year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards. The government permitted 
monitoring visits by independent human rights observers, and such 
visits occurred during the year.
    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 and 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 approximately 1,060 members, including 140 
women. This force was supported by 278 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. The police service 
has an inspection unit to monitor police discipline and performance. 
Police corruption and impunity were not serious problems 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.
    At year's end no trial date had been set in the case of a Honiara 
probationary police officer charged with indecent assault and attempted 
rape in November 2008. He was discharged from the police and remained 
free on bail at year's end.

    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 brought in 
10 lawyers from Australia and the Pacific Islands to eliminate 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 right to access government-held evidence, confront witnesses, and 
appeal convictions. 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 
peaceful 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 2008.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination against religious groups, including 
anti-Semitic acts. The Jewish community was very small.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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.--Although party to the 1951 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. 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 2006 national 
parliamentary elections were regarded as generally free and fair, 
although there was evidence of vote buying. In April 2006 rioting broke 
out in Honiara immediately following the election of Snyder Rini as 
prime minister. Rini resigned, and in May 2006 Parliament elected 
Manasseh Sogavare as prime minister. In 2007 Sogavare's government lost 
a vote of no confidence, and Parliament elected opposition candidate 
Derek Sikua 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. Five women served as permanent 
secretaries in the Sikua government. There was one female judge on the 
High Court.
    There were two minority (non-Melanesian) members of Parliament 
(MPs).

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.
    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, the LCC 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 SB$5,000 (approximately $660) on MPs or senior civil servants. The 
Ombudsman Commission is responsible for investigating public complaints 
of government maladministration.
    During the year MP Peter Shanel's appeal of his 2008 conviction for 
unlawful wounding and possession of an unlawful weapon in a restricted 
area was dismissed by the High Court. He served a nine-month jail 
sentence; after his release, he won back his seat in Parliament and 
remained an MP at year's end.
    At year's end the investigation continued of 16 MPs from the 
National Alliance Party of Solomon Islands (NAPSI) for accepting 
SB$50,000 (approximately $6,625) in loans from Bobo Dettke, a prominent 
Honiara businessman and founder of NAPSI. Some alleged that the money 
was provided by logging companies that wanted to influence key 
ministries. In March the LCC held a hearing on the case; however, due 
to lack of sufficient witnesses and evidence, the LCC commissioners 
referred the matter back to the LCC's Investigation Department for 
further investigation.
    During the year the High Court upheld the government's appeal in 
the cases of a former East Honiara MP and a former cabinet minister 
charged in 2004 and 2005, respectively, with official corruption 
involving the granting of certificates of naturalization to Chinese 
nationals. A court had acquitted both on the basis of insufficient 
evidence, and the government appealed the verdicts. At year's end both 
men were awaiting a retrial.
    In October former prime minister Sir Allan Kemakeza won election to 
Parliament in a by-election in the Savo-Russells constituency. He had 
previously been removed from Parliament due to his 2007 conviction for 
intimidation, larceny, and demanding money with menace in connection 
with a 2002 attack by a group of men on a Honiara law firm that owned 
shares in the country's national bank. Although he was released from 
prison in January after serving six months of a two-year sentence, at 
year's end his appeal of his conviction was still pending, and several 
other candidates, as well as a number of MPs, criticized as 
unconstitutional the government's decision to allow him to run for the 
seat.
    In September the LCC chairman confirmed that, due to a lack of 
staff and resources, there was a backlog of more than 50 cases still 
being investigated, including a number of new cases and 13 cases 
waiting to be heard by the High Court.
    No law provides for public access to government information. In 
practice the government generally was responsive to inquiries from the 
media during the year. In September Prime Minister Sikua announced a 
weekly media conference to keep the public informed of the government's 
decisions and 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. 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 Minister 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, 
respectively. During the year 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, it was limited by a shortage of resources.
    In April the Guadalcanal Truth and Reconciliation Commission 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 to provide a forum for victims and perpetrators to 
speak about the causes and impact of that violence. However, since its 
establishment the commission's work was hindered by funding constraints 
and slow bureaucratic processes.

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. Both 
the assistant police commissioner for crime and intelligence and the 
coordinator for the nongovernmental organization (NGO)-supported Family 
Support Center confirmed that 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. The magistrates' 
courts dealt with physical abuse of women as with any other assault, 
but prosecutions were rare. 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.
    Prostitution is illegal, but the statutes were not enforced. There 
is no law specifically against sex tourism, although such offenses 
could be prosecuted under laws against prostitution. There were no 
cases of sex tourism reported during the year.
    Sexual harassment is not illegal and was a problem.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children. 
Contraception and adequate obstetric and postnatal care were accessible 
at all government hospitals and rural health clinics, and all nurses 
are trained to provide family planning services. Women and men had 
equal access to diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted 
infections.
    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 also addressed women's 
issues.

    Children.--Citizenship is acquired both by birth in the country and 
through one's parents. 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 January 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 found 
that since the implementation of the policy, primary school enrollment 
had increased 6 percent, and secondary school enrollment had increased 
4.8 percent. According to a September article in the Solomon Star 
newspaper, the permanent secretary for education stated that the 
government had allocated SB$68 million (approximately $9 million) for 
implementation of the new policy, including SB$20 million ($2.7 
million) in foreign assistance.
    The law grants children the same general rights and protections as 
adults, and 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.
    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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits trafficking in persons 
for labor or sexual exploitation. There were no confirmed reports that 
persons were trafficked to, from, through, or within the country, but 
there were anecdotal reports that young women were trafficked 
internally, and from China and several Southeast Asian countries, for 
the purpose of sexual exploitation on foreign ships and in logging 
camps.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law or national policy on 
persons with disabilities, and no legislation mandates access to 
buildings for such individuals. In practice very few buildings were 
accessible to persons with disabilities. 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.
    In November some Chinese-owned businesses in Honiara were looted 
after violence broke out following a soccer game between Malaitan and 
Guadalcanalese teams.
    On April 1, the government publicly released the 2008 report of a 
commission of inquiry into the 2006 riots in Honiara, which largely 
targeted Chinese businesses. Contributing causes cited in the report 
included insufficient government delivery of essential services and 
development in Honiara's settlements and inadequate policing. The NGO 
Transparency Solomon Islands and opposition MPs asserted that the 
government had edited the report prior to its public release; the 
government stated it had released the commission's full findings and 
recommendations but acknowledged it had omitted some ``sensitive 
materials.''

    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 were an estimated 
200 cases of HIV/AIDS in the country. There was societal stigma towards 
persons with HIV/AIDS, but there were no specific reports of disownment 
by families as reported in the past. In April the NGO Oxfam 
International funded media training to encourage journalists to report 
accurate information about HIV/AIDS to increase public understanding of 
the disease.

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 chief of trade unions, 
approximately 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 March workers at the Gold Ridge Mining Company, Limited called a 
strike, alleging unsafe work practices and work environment, in 
particular related to handling and disposal of cyanide at the site. The 
company stated that independent tests of cyanide levels did not support 
the workers' claims. Workers also charged that company management had 
engaged in intimidation, racial discrimination, physical assault, and 
unfair dismissals. In April, following a meeting between company and 
union officials, the strike action was cancelled pending TDP review of 
the workers' claims. The TDP subsequently ruled that the strikers' 
claims had no basis.
    In August the Solomon Islands Public Employees Union (SIPEU) staged 
a strike after negotiations with the government over a backlog of 
employee claims broke down. The claims involved such benefits as a 
housing entitlement allowance and cost of living adjustment. 
Conciliators were appointed to settle the dispute, and a report was 
made to the TDP. The TDP dismissed all the claims except for a 12 
percent increase in the cost of living allowance; the government paid 
4.5 percent of this during the year, with the remaining 7 percent 
scheduled to be paid by the first pay period in January 2010.
    Also in August, 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 2008 Solomon Islands Telikom workers went on a two-week strike. 
A deed of settlement was signed by both parties, and the TDP forwarded 
it to the High Court for implementation during 2009.
    The longstanding standoff between the Solomon Islands National 
Union of Workers and the Russell Islands Plantation Estate continued 
during the year, and estate workers remained on strike. At year's end 
the case was still pending with the courts. In March the government 
appointed a commission of inquiry to examine the situation, but the 
commission had not released a report by year's end.

    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. 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, there were some unconfirmed reports of 
internal trafficking in young women for purposes of sexual 
exploitation.

    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 commissioner of labor 
establishes the minimum wage in consultation with the Chamber of 
Commerce, Finance Ministry, Employers Commission, and Trade Workers 
Union. The minimum wage was SB$3.50 (approximately $0.46) per hour for 
all workers except those in the fishing and agricultural sectors, who 
received SB$2.50 (approximately $0.33). 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.

                               __________

                                THAILAND

    Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with a population of more 
than 66 million. The king is revered and exerts strong informal 
influence. In the most recent election for the lower house of the 
parliament, held in December 2007, the People's Power Party, led by 
Samak Sundaravej, won a plurality. After Constitutional Court rulings 
that forced two prime ministers to step down in 2008, a government led 
by Abhisit Vejjajiva was inaugurated in December 2008. In March 2008 
voters elected 76 senators for the upper house of the parliament. The 
election process for both legislative bodies was generally viewed as 
free and fair, but there were widespread allegations of vote buying. 
The continuing internal conflict in the southernmost provinces led the 
government to restrict some rights and delegate certain internal 
security powers to the armed forces. Civilian authorities generally 
maintained effective control of the security forces.
    The government's 
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
 remained unchanged from 
the previous year. 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 numerous dismissals, arrests, prosecutions, and 
convictions of security forces in response to this behavior; however, 
official impunity continued to be a serious problem. Police corruption 
was widespread. A separatist insurgency in the southern part of the 
country resulted in numerous human rights abuses, including killings, 
committed by ethnic Malay Muslim insurgents, Buddhist defense 
volunteers, and government security forces. The government maintained 
some limits on freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly. Human 
rights workers, particularly those focusing on violence in the south, 
reported harassment and intimidation. Trafficking in persons remained a 
problem. Members of hill tribes without proper documentation continued 
to face restrictions on their movement, could not own land, and were 
not protected by labor laws. Government enforcement of labor laws was 
ineffective.
    Political unrest occurred in March and April in Pattaya and 
Bangkok, when opposition street protests led to the cancellation of an 
Asian summit in Pattaya and riots in Bangkok, with two civilians killed 
by antigovernment protesters. The government declared a state of 
emergency in the Pattaya area on April 11 and in Bangkok on April 12, 
and the military restored order in Bangkok on April 13-14.
                        
                       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, security forces occasionally 
used excessive and at times lethal force against criminal suspects and 
committed or were connected to extrajudicial, arbitrary, and unlawful 
killings, including killings by security force personnel acting in a 
private capacity. Government law enforcement bodies and courts took 
action in some cases, including suspected extrajudicial killings by 
police in Kalasin Province.
    According to the Ministry of Interior's (MOI) Investigation and 
Legal Affairs Bureau, between January and November, 733 persons died in 
prison and 24 while in police custody. Authorities attributed most of 
the deaths to natural causes. Police killed 50 suspects during the 
arrest process.
    By year's end no member of Task Force 39 had been charged in 
connection with the death of Imam Yapa Koseng while in army custody in 
March 2008. There were three lawsuits pending in the case: the 
potential criminal proceeding against the military suspects, under 
consideration by the National Counter-Corruption Commission (NCCC) 
since June 2008; the civil lawsuit filed by Yapa's family in March 
against the Ministry of Defense, Royal Thai Army (RTA), and Royal Thai 
Police (RTP) that was put on hold pending the resolution of a 
jurisdictional problem; and a criminal lawsuit filed on August 20 by 
the family against the alleged perpetrators.
    There were no developments in the 2007 death of Nopphon Chaiwichit 
in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. At year's end the Crime Suppression 
Police Division in Bangkok continued its investigation.
    At year's end the case of the 2007 shooting by Preecha Panpayap, a 
MOI security official, in Mae Hong Son Province that killed Karenni 
refugee Aie Oo had not reached the prosecution or trial stage. On 
January 27, authorities forwarded the matter to the provincial police, 
which established an investigatory committee but made no determination. 
The governor of Mae Hong Son brought the case to the Office of the 
Attorney General (OAG) in June 2008. In November the OAG decided that 
it would not prosecute Preecha for deliberate homicide.
    The Department of Special Investigation's (DSI) Special Case Center 
accepted for investigation 10 cases suspected of being related to the 
2003 ``War on Drugs'' campaign for investigation, although the killings 
occurred after 2003. The DSI forwarded eight of the cases to the OAG 
and one to the NCCC, and it continued to investigate one case. The DSI 
issued warrants for six police officers in Kalasin Province in relation 
to the killing of Kiattisak Thitboonkhrong and the subsequent cover-up. 
In August the DSI submitted a brief to the state prosecutor; on 
September 9, the prosecutor filed criminal charges, including a charge 
of abuse of power for the three commissioned officers involved.
    In October several police officers and civilians exhausted their 
appeals in relation to the kidnapping and murder of the wife and son of 
jeweler Santi Sithanakhan during the investigation of the Saudi Arabian 
palace jewel theft in 1994. The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence 
of former police commissioner Chalo Koetthet for masterminding the 
scheme. Similarly, it upheld the life sentences received by one police 
officer and two civilians. As for the remaining defendants, another 
officer and a civilian died in prison, the last two civilians received 
minor sentences, and a final officer was acquitted.
    According to the Thailand Mine Action Center, during the year there 
were 10 injuries due to landmines, occurring in Buriram, Kanchanaburi, 
Sakaew, Sisaket, and Trat provinces. The government continued 
significant public awareness campaigns, including sending landmine 
awareness teams to the affected villages and landmine education teams 
to local schools to inform students about the risk and prevention of 
landmine injury.
    There were at least four violent incidents between Thai border 
rangers and Cambodian illegal loggers during the year. For example, on 
September 11, border rangers shot at a group of Cambodians illegally 
logging on the Thai side of the border in Surin Province. One Cambodian 
was killed and another wounded in the incident. On November 27, border 
rangers allegedly shot and killed one individual among a group of seven 
Cambodian illegal loggers in Kap Cheung District, also in Surin 
Province.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances. There were no confirmed reports that individuals 
disappeared after being questioned by security officials in the 
southern provinces.
    On December 11 in Narathiwat Province, relatives reported that 
Abduloh Abukaree disappeared after failing to return home from a nearby 
tea shop. He was a key witness in a DSI case against high-ranking 
police officials, connected to the disappearance of Somchai 
Neelaphaijit (see below).
    There were no developments in the February 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. However, the DSI 
accepted it as a special case and was investigating it.
    Utsaman Awaenu, a navy draftee stationed in Sattahip, Chonburi 
Province, who disappeared in February 2008, was located in mid-2008 by 
his family with the assistance of the Muslim Attorney Center and the 
Cross Cultural Foundation.
    There were no developments in the 2007 abduction of Anukorn 
Waithanomsak, an assistant to a leader of the United Front for 
Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).
    On March 19, a civil court declared Muslim attorney and human 
rights activist Somchai Neelaphaijit legally missing, five years after 
his disappearance. In January his wife, Angkhana Neelaphaijit, met with 
Prime Minister (PM) Abhisit, who susbsequently pressured the DSI to 
pursue any remaining leads in the case. The DSI conducted several 
searches and declared there was no new evidence. In March the DSI 
stated that Police Major Ngern Thongsuk, convicted in 2007 of coercion 
for his role in forcing Somchai into a car, was living in a neighboring 
country and had not died in a September 2008 mudslide in Kanchanaburi 
Province as previously claimed. On March 11, Deputy PM Suthep 
Thaugsuban stated that those involved in Somchai's abduction would be 
prosecuted; however, at year's end no additional individuals had been 
charged. Somchai's disappearance in 2004 was thought to be connected to 
his legal representation of criminal suspects who allegedly had been 
tortured by high-ranking police officials. At year's end that case was 
before the NCCC, and one of the key witnesses, Abduloh Abukaree, 
disappeared on December 11, before he was able to testify.

    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. Nongovernmental 
organizations (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. At year's end no military personnel had 
been charged or prosecuted; however, there were criminal actions 
against RTP officers.
    RTP Captain Nat Chonnithiwat and seven other police officers in the 
41st Border Patrol Police unit were convicted by two separate Bangkok 
courts on charges of assault, illegal detention, extortion, and 
receiving bribes. Many of the victims were beaten, subjected to 
electric shock, and had plastic bags placed over their heads to force 
them to confess. Others were forced to pay bribes of cash and jewelry 
to have charges reduced against them. At least 61 individuals filed 
complaints against these officers; in July they were sentenced to three 
years in prison, and in December they were sentenced to an additional 
five years.
    The RTP continued its investigation of the January 2008 alleged 
torture of university students Ismael Tae and Amisi Manak by Yala's 
Task Force ll and soldiers from a camp in Pattani. The relatives of the 
victims also filed a civil suit against the RTA, which was pending at 
year's end.
    The case of Rayu Korkor, arrested in March 2008 by members of Task 
Force 39 along with Imam Yapa Koseng and four other men, continued 
under NCCC investigation. Rayu alleged that he witnessed Yapa's death 
at the hands of Task Force 39 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 was pending 
at year's end.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor. Prisons and detention centers were overcrowded. There were 
approximately 200,000 prisoners in prisons and detention facilities 
designed to hold 100,000. 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, although 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 14 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 facilities for juvenile 
offenders were available in all provinces. In rare instances juveniles 
were detained with adults.
    Conditions in immigration detention centers (IDCs) remained poor. 
The Immigration Police Bureau, reporting to the Office of the Prime 
Minister, administered IDCs, which were not subject to many of the 
regulations that governed the regular prison system. There were reports 
that guards physically abused detainees in some IDCs. Overcrowding and 
a lack of basic medical care continued to be serious problems. There 
were also complaints of inadequate and culturally inappropriate food, 
especially by Muslim detainees.
    International observers reported continued overcrowded conditions 
for detainees in Bangkok's Suan Phlu IDC. Observers alleged that 
detainees were abused while in detention. There were reports that 
detainees, including children, were not permitted to exercise at some 
facilities.
    Access to prisons was not restricted, and the government permitted 
visits by independent human rights observers and the International 
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). ICRC representatives were allowed to 
meet prisoners without third parties present and made repeated visits. 
However, at year's end the military had not approved ICRC requests to 
visit military detention facilities in the four southernmost provinces, 
where detainees allegedly were mistreated. Authorities also continued 
to deny the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to 
detainees at the Suvarnabhumi Airport IDC in Bangkok. UNHCR officials 
were able to interview detainees in Suan Phlu IDC, and access for third 
countries to process recognized refugees for resettlement continued.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution specifically 
prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, government forces 
occasionally arrested and detained persons arbitrarily. Martial law, 
which gives the military authority to detain persons without charge for 
a maximum of seven days, remained in force in 31 of the country's 76 
provinces.
    The Lawyers' Council of Thailand (LCT) received 115 complaints 
during the year from residents of the southern provinces about security 
force operations, including improper searches and arrests made by 
citing the emergency decree and presenting warrants afterwards.

    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 February 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. The act includes broad powers for the military. Military and 
civilian personnel make up the ISOC staff; ISOC is intended to function 
as a national security force to suppress unrest. The ISA was invoked in 
July for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional 
Forum in Phuket and repeatedly in the fall for UDD rallies. Human 
rights organizations and academics criticized the government for 
repeatedly utilizing the ISA, with approval of the cabinet, to respond 
to alleged threats to national security by restricting fundamental 
rights. However, invocation of the ISA did not prevent peaceful 
assembly of protesters.
    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, reportedly involved 
with intellectual property rights violations, and convicted on 
extortion charges.
    In certain regions and situations where the military plays a 
security role, soldiers were arrested and charged with drug trafficking 
and arms trafficking. In July the RTA dismissed 38 noncommissioned 
officers for fraud and extortion for demanding money for rank and duty 
promotions.
    There were press reports that former police chief Patcharawat 
Wongsuwan interfered in the investigation of the April attempted 
killing of People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul. 
In July arrest warrants were issued for two soldiers and a police 
officer. In October the NCCC charged Patcharawat with malfeasance for 
his handling of the violent crackdown on the October 2008 political 
protesters, leading PM Abhisit to transfer him. The case was forwarded 
to the OAG but then moved to a joint NCCC-OAG committee in November; at 
year's end it had not been resolved.
    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 National Human Rights Commission 
(NHRC), LCT, NCCC, Court of Justice, Ministry of Justice (MOJ), and 
Office of the Prime Minister also accept complaints of police abuse and 
corruption, as does the Office of the Ombudsman. At year's end there 
were 22 petitions pending with the LCT seeking assistance to pursue 
abuse of power cases against the police.
    When the police department receives a complaint, an internal 
investigation committee first takes up the matter and may temporarily 
suspend the officer during the investigation. Various administrative 
penalties exist, and serious cases can be referred to a criminal court. 
The NHRC received approximately 95 complaints of police abuse between 
October 2008 and the end of the year.
    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.

    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 the 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 common.
    The law provides defendants the right to 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 bail or refused to recommend bail after a request was 
submitted. There were several instances of denial of bail in lese 
majeste cases; both Boonyuen Prasertying and Suwicha Thakhor were 
denied bail for three months between their arrests and guilty pleas. In 
July 2008 police arrested activist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul (also 
known as Da Torpedo) on lese majeste charges following speeches at UDD 
rallies. The court refused her bail on several occasions, and she 
remained in detention for more than a year before she was sentenced on 
August 28.
    Under martial law the military has the authority to detain persons 
without charge for a maximum of seven days.

    Amnesty.--Early in the year, authorities completed the release of 
31,149 prisoners pardoned by the king as part of a royal amnesty 
marking his 80th birthday in 2007.

    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.
    The civilian judicial system has three levels of courts: courts of 
first instance, courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court of Justice. In 
addition there is a Constitutional Court, charged with interpreting the 
constitution, and the Administrative Court, which adjudicates cases 
involving government officials or state agencies. Justices nominated to 
the Supreme Administrative Court are confirmed by the Senate after 
being recruited by a judicial commission consisting of 10 judges and 
three officials appointed by the Senate and the cabinet. Other judges 
are career civil servants whose appointments are not subject to 
parliamentary review.
    A separate military court hears criminal and civil cases pertaining 
to military personnel as well as those brought during periods of 
martial law. Islamic (Shari'a) courts hear only civil cases concerning 
family and inheritance matters between Muslim parties in Yala, Pattani, 
Narathiwat, and Satun provinces.

    Trial Procedures.--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. NGOs criticized the closure of the trial of 
political activist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul in June, which resulted 
in an 18-year sentence. Her attorneys appealed the constitutionality of 
the trial closure; in December the Constitutional Court declined to 
accept the petition, reasoning that her conviction could be overturned 
by either the appeals court or the Supreme Court.
    The law provides for the presumption of innocence. In ordinary 
criminal courts, defendants enjoy a broad range of legal rights, 
including access to a lawyer of their choosing. A government program 
sought to provide free legal advice to the poor, but indigent 
defendants were not automatically provided with counsel at public 
expense. The MOJ and the OAG remained committed to providing legal aid 
in both civil and criminal cases but did not allocate sufficient 
resources. The LCT budget was reduced by more than 25 percent in the 
year. The legal aid provided was often done on a pro bono, ad hoc 
basis, and it was of a 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 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 the three southern border 
provinces, expressly exclude 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, martial law gives military forces the authority to conduct 
searches without a warrant, and this authority was used on some 
occasions. In addition, the emergency decree covering the southern 
provinces also allows authorities to make searches and arrests without 
warrants. The LCT received multiple complaints from persons in the 
south 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.
    In contrast with 2008, there were no reports that police conducted 
warrantless searches in the northern provinces or that members of 
indigenous hill tribes were subjected to forced evictions and 
relocations.
    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 delegated certain internal security powers to the armed 
forces. The decree also provides security forces broad immunity from 
prosecution. The 2006 martial law, which also remained in effect in the 
provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala, gives a wide range of power 
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 a series of 
attacks by suspected insurgents, tension between the local ethnic Malay 
Muslim and ethnic Thai Buddhist communities continued to grow, 
alongside a distrust of security officials.
    On March 12, suspected insurgents shot prominent human rights 
activist Laila Paaitae Daoh in Krongpenang, Yala. Laila, who died from 
her injuries the next day, was the fourth family member to be killed 
for advocating a peaceful solution to the southern problem. Laila's 
husband and second son were killed in 2006, and her eldest son was shot 
and killed in 2004.
    On June 8, gunmen opened fire inside the Al Furqon mosque in 
Narathiwat, killing 10 and injuring 12. Police issued an arrest warrant 
for a former paramilitary member, Sutthirak Kongsuwan, who was related 
to a Buddhist villager killed the day before in the neighboring 
district. Police later issued a second warrant for the alleged getaway 
driver. Insurgents killed a pregnant Buddhist schoolteacher in the same 
district earlier that week.
    On June 12, gunmen shot two Buddhist monks in Yala while they 
collected morning alms, killing one and seriously wounding the other.
    In February the OAG decided not to pursue criminal charges against 
any officials involved in the 2004 Krue Se massacre, ending the inquest 
started in 2007.
    On May 29, the Songkhla Provincial Court announced its verdict on 
the inquest into the deaths of 78 ethnic Malay Muslim detainees at Tak 
Bai in 2004. The court determined that officers were performing their 
duty and were not responsible based on the immunity granted them 
through provisions in the emergency decree.
    According to statistics from the MOI's National Emergency 
Coordinating Center, during the year separatist violence resulted in 
the deaths of 510 individuals and the injury of 995 more in 935 
incidents. The center also reported that at least 389 civilians were 
killed and 614 injured, 78 government officials were killed and 379 
injured, and 43 insurgents were killed and one injured. As in previous 
years, the separatists frequently targeted government and religious 
representatives, including teachers, monks, and 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 the MOI and security forces. Human 
rights organizations expressed concerns about vigilantism against 
ethnic Malay Muslims by these defense volunteers and other civilians, 
suggesting they may have been involved in the June 8 mosque attack.
    Police continued investigating the February 2007 attacks in 
Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, and Songkhla that killed nine persons and 
injured approximately 70. Arrest warrants were issued for 13 suspects 
for the Narathiwat attacks; of those, two were arrested and were on 
trial at year's end. Two suspects were arrested and prosecuted for the 
attacks in Yala and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Authorities 
issued 15 arrest warrants for the March 2007 ambush of a van in Yala 
that killed eight Buddhist passengers. Five of the 15 suspects were 
killed during clashes with authorities at other locations, and four 
were arrested.
    No arrests were made for the March 2007 attacks on ethnic Malay 
Muslims in which three were killed and 20 injured in Yala. There were 
no developments in the investigation of the April 2007 killings of four 
ethnic Malay Muslim youths in Yala, allegedly by village defense 
volunteers.
    Police identified five suspects in the May 2007 killing of seven 
soldiers in Narathiwat, but the public prosecutor dismissed the cases. 
No other suspects were arrested in the incident. A police investigation 
continued in the May 2007 explosions in Hat Yai City in Songkhla; eight 
arrest warrants were issued, but no arrests were made. Police arrested 
three suspects in the May 2007 bombing of Saba Yoi District market in 
Songkhla; at year's end the three were being tried.
    There were no developments in the investigation of the September 
2007 killing of Imam Wae-asae Madeng in Narathiwat and the October 2007 
killing of Imam Asae Dengsa, also in Narathiwat. There was no progress 
in the investigation of the November 2007 incident in which suspected 
insurgents reportedly killed a Muslim man for cooperating with security 
officials.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--Civil society groups 
accused the army of torturing some suspected militants at detention 
facilities.
    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.
    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 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 had been arrested during the year under the emergency decree, 
with 12 killed during arrest or related skirmishes. It was unclear 
whether any persons were detained under the auspices of 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.
    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 trainings were 
subject to interrogations and collection of biological data 
(fingerprints, DNA samples, and photographs).
    The Ministry of Education (MOE) reported that since 2004 insurgents 
had burned more than 283 schools in the south, and burned 35 of them 
more than once. During the year insurgents burned 14 schools in Yala, 
Pattani, and Narathiwat and at least two that 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 MOE, 152 teachers, students, and education staff had been killed 
and 261 others injured due to separatist violence since 2004. During 
the year 22 students were injured and one was killed; 18 school 
personnel were injured, and 13 were killed.
    Separatist violence included attacks on medical facilities. 
According to the Ministry of Public Health (MPH), 73 public health 
volunteers had been killed, 49 health volunteers injured, and 24 
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 were fleeing 
violence-affected areas to other provinces in the country.

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 pressure was exerted on broadcast 
media to cooperate on disseminating constructive and ``balanced'' news, 
particularly during the civil unrest in April. 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 
and statements from fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.
    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.
    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 issuing an emergency decree, the government can restrict print 
and broadcast media. 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.'' Under an 
emergency decree, the government is authorized to censor news 
considered a threat to national security. These powers were employed 
during the period of political unrest in April.
    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 14 speech, PM Abhisit announced the establishment of 
a panel to scrutinize the enforcement of the lese majeste provisions 
because of concerns they had been used as a political tool.
    On August 28, a court sentenced political activist Daranee 
Charnchoengsilpakul to 18 years in prison on three counts of lese 
majeste. The charges stemmed from statements she made in public during 
a series of antigovernment rallies in Bangkok in June and July 2008. At 
year's end her case was before the appeals court.
    The April 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.
    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.'' Jakrapob Penkair, a 
political activist, also faced lese majeste charges in connection with 
the 2007 FCCT panel discussion. Jakrapob fled the country in April 
after calling for armed rebellion. On June 30, charges were filed by a 
private citizen against the 13-member FCCT board based on claims that 
the FCCT had violated lese majeste laws by selling video copies of the 
2007 panel discussion with Jakrapob.
    On January 19, a court sentenced foreign author Harry Nicolaides to 
three years in prison on lese majeste charges for a passage in his 2005 
novel Verisimilitude that allegedly defamed the crown prince. 
Nicolaides received a royal pardon from King Bhumibol on February 18 
and left the country on February 21.
    The November 2008 lese majeste case against social critic Sulak 
Sivaraksa remained pending. He was free on bail and awaiting further 
official action.
    There was no government ownership or control of print media. 
Political figures, prominent families, and large media conglomerates 
held ownership of 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 military and police also 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 (MCOT), 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. 
The act empowers the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to 
enforce the law, pending the establishment of the National Broadcasting 
and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), the body tasked with 
reallocating all broadcast frequencies and regulating broadcast media. 
Despite assurances from the government that appointing the NBTC would 
be done quickly, no progress was made on the appointment of the 
regulatory body by the end of the year.
    Under past legislation, radio stations had to renew their licenses 
every year. The 2008 act increases radio license terms to seven years. 
Radio signals were broadcast via government transmitters. Stations were 
required by law to broadcast 30-minute, government-produced newscasts 
twice daily. New regulations governing community radio operations took 
effect in July. Community radio operators were granted a 30-day period 
to register for temporary 300-day trial operating licenses with the 
NTC. According to the government, more than 4,500 community radio 
operators registered between July 24 and August 24. The government 
warned community radio operators who failed to register with the NTC by 
the August 24 deadline that they would be considered illegal if they 
continued to operate and could be charged with unlicensed use of 
transmitters and radio frequencies. There were no reports of government 
action against unlicensed operators.
    There were reports that journalists were subject to harassment, 
intimidation, and violence due to their reporting, particularly during 
the period of political unrest in April. 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 on April 12-14.
    On April 13, groups of UDD protesters attempted to disrupt 
broadcasting at local branches of state-run National Broadcasting of 
Thailand and Radio Thailand in three provinces, accusing the stations 
of biased reporting on the crackdown against fellow UDD members in 
Bangkok.
    The case of Samraeng Khamsanit, a reporter whose car was set on 
fire in January 2008, as well as the shooting cases of Matichon 
reporters Surayud Yongchaiyudh and Atiwat Chainurat in May and August 
2008, respectively, remained under investigation at the end of the 
year. All three 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.
    On April 13, acting under authority of the April 12 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 a number of broadcast devices. D-Station resumed broadcasting in 
May.
    ISOC provincial branches reportedly called on community radio 
operators not to use their networks to incite unrest and warned 
operators that they would be shut down if they did not comply. 
Ostensibly acting under authority of the April 12 emergency decree, at 
least three community radio stations in the north and northeast 
reportedly were ordered closed temporarily following claims that they 
were using the airwaves to incite chaos.
    The community radio station belonging to the Duang Prathip 
Foundation remained closed after the May 2008 warrantless raid on its 
office. The radio staff member who was arrested and prosecuted was 
fined approximately 1,500 baht ($45).
    Radio talk-show host Chom Phetpradab took his program off the air 
on the state-run MCOT a day after he was heavily criticized by the 
government for broadcasting an interview with former PM Thaksin on 
September 6. Chom was said to have made the decision after Prime 
Minister's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtaey called for an 
investigation into statements about the Privy Council that Thaksin made 
during the interview.
    Defamation is a criminal offense, punishable by a fine of up to 
200,000 baht (approximately $6,000) and two years' imprisonment. 
Criminal courts made several rulings on defamation and libel cases 
against media figures, political activists, and politicians.
    On March 25, a criminal court handed down several rulings on 
defamation lawsuits filed in 2006 by Thaksin while he was prime 
minister regarding allegations made at a seminar. The court found 
Pramote Nakonthap and Manager Media columnist Khunthong Roseriwanit 
guilty of criminal defamation for printing and distributing an article 
on the seminar. They were sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 
100,000 baht ($3,000). The court separately acquitted Manager Group 
owner Sondhi Limthongkul and Asia Satellite TV (ASTV) commentator 
Chirmsak Pinthong, who had also participated in the seminar, reasoning 
that they had acted in good faith.
    On March 31, a criminal court sentenced political activist 
Chanaphat na Nakhon to three months in prison, later reduced to two 
months, for remarks made in 2007 defaming former foreign minister 
Noppadon Pattama.
    On September 10, a criminal court found Sondhi Limthongkul guilty 
of defamation for statements made against a former deputy prime 
minister during a weekly show presented on ASTV in 2007. Sondhi was 
sentenced to two years in prison without probation. He was released on 
bail the same day and stated he would appeal the conviction.
    The defamation cases of two popular television talk-show hosts 
remained under appeal at the end of the year.
    There were no reports that the government used libel laws to 
suppress criticism of political or other leaders.
    The government continued to prohibit the import and sale of The 
King Never Smiles, written by Paul Handley and published overseas, and 
A Quarter-Century on Democracy's Thorny Path, written by Sulak 
Sivaraksa. Sale of Giles Ungpkorn's book A Coup for the Rich also 
continued to be prohibited.
    On five separate occasions, the local distributor of The Economist 
opted not to deliver the weekly magazine to subscribers. The January 
24, January 31, April 18, July 4, and September 19 editions were not 
made available, allegedly due to concerns over references about the 
monarchy.

    Internet Freedom.--Individuals and groups generally could engage in 
the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail; 
however, there were some limitations. There were some government 
restrictions on access to the Internet and reports that the government 
monitored Internet chat rooms. Internet access was available and used 
by citizens in urban and rural areas, with an estimated penetration of 
24 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 
gives the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (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 (approximately 
$3,000) 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 ($9,000) fine can be 
imposed if an offense results in the death of an individual. It also 
obliges Internet service providers (ISPs) 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. Media 
activists criticized the law, stating that the offenses were defined 
too broadly and some penalties were too harsh.
    There was an increase in Internet censorship, and the CCA was used 
to stifle freedom of expression. The government closely monitored and 
blocked numerous Web sites that expressed pro-Thaksin or republican 
views and those that were critical of the monarchy, particularly during 
the period of political unrest in April and during the weeks leading up 
to the king's birthday in December; however, most were accessible again 
by the end of the year. The government allowed relative freedom of 
expression on political Web sites and discussion boards, except where 
matters of the monarchy and national security were concerned. Many 
political Web boards and discussion forums chose to self-censor and 
closely monitored discussions to avoid being blocked.
    On January 5, the MICT announced that it had blocked more than 
2,300 sites for posting content deemed offensive to the monarchy. By 
September it announced that it had blocked almost 9,000: 6,218 for 
``national security'' concerns, 2,307 because of pornography, and 430 
related to gambling. The MICT also announced that it had allocated 80 
million baht (approximately $2.4 million) to support increased Web site 
monitoring. According to press reports, on January 29, Justice Minister 
Piripan Salirathavibhaga declared to the parliament that the ministry 
had established various panels to monitor and censor Web sites posting 
antimonarchy content. The MICT also set up a hotline for tips and 
complaints from the public about offending Web sites.
    On January 26, a young woman was arrested under provisions in the 
CCA after posting second-hand comments deemed offensive to the monarchy 
on her personal blog site and Prachathai.com, a popular online news Web 
site. On March 6, Prachathai.com executive director Chiranuch 
Premchaiporn was arrested and charged with violating article 15 of the 
CCA for allowing comments to be posted that were considered offensive 
to the monarchy. At year's end both individuals were free on bail and 
awaiting a decision from the attorney general on whether their cases 
would be prosecuted.
    On April 3, Suwicha Thakhor was sentenced to 10 years in prison 
under lese majeste provisions of the CCA. He was arrested in January 
after police traced photographs considered offensive to the monarchy 
posted to the Internet from his home computer. Media reports indicated 
that he originally was sentenced to 20 years in prison but that the 
sentence was reduced to 10 years after he pled guilty.
    Acting under authority of the April 12 emergency decree, the MICT 
advised ISPs to block more than 60 pro-Thaksin Web sites that it 
alleged had posted content that could incite chaos. The order was 
rescinded on April 24 following the lifting of the emergency decree, 
and all Web sites reportedly were accessible shortly thereafter.
    On November 1, police arrested two persons, Thiranan Vipuchanan and 
Katha Pajajiriyapong, for allegedly violating the CCA by spreading 
false information on the Internet about the king's medical condition, 
thus endangering national security. Two additional individuals, Somchet 
Ittiworakul and Thassaporn Rattawongsa, were arrested on November 3 and 
November 18, respectively, on charges of disseminating inaccurate 
information that threatened national security for posting comments 
about the king's health on various Web sites. All four were released on 
bail and at year's end were 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. According to the Ministry of Culture, 
17 films were banned from release during the year, including the films 
Frontiere, Halloween, and Funny Games. The ministry reportedly banned 
the controversial documentary This Area Under Quarantine from screening 
at the World Film Festival in Bangkok for explicit sexual content and 
nudity. Theater owners and broadcasters frequently censored films 
themselves before submitting them to the board. As part of the act, a 
new seven-tiered rating system was introduced in August. Movie theaters 
also had to apply for operation licenses by September or face up to one 
million baht (approximately $30,000) in fines. There were no reports 
that fines were levied or any other restrictions acted upon by the end 
of 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 for the 
southern provinces allows the government to limit freedom of assembly, 
but this provision was not used during the year.
    The provinces of Surat Thani, Phuket, and Phang Nga have provisions 
that prohibited migrant workers--specifically those from Cambodia, 
Burma, and Laos--from forming gatherings, among other restrictions, 
while Samut Sakhon Province prohibited 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. The demonstrations drew thousands of participants and 
peaked with the protests in Bangkok and Pattaya in March and April. The 
protests began in late March with a virtual siege of Government House 
and turned violent on April 7, when protesters attacked PM Abhisit's 
motorcade in Pattaya. On April 11, after protesters broke into the 
meeting site for a meeting of Asian leaders, the government canceled 
the summit, and foreign leaders were evacuated by helicopter. The 
government declared a state of emergency in Pattaya on April 11 and in 
the Bangkok area on April 12.
    On April 12, UDD protesters stormed the MOI in Bangkok, where PM 
Abhisit was in meetings, and attacked his motorcade again as he tried 
to leave the compound. Street fighting involving the protesters, 
security forces, and other groups began on April 13, and at least 135 
persons were injured, according to the MPH, including four soldiers 
wounded by gunshot, and other injuries related to tear gas inhalation, 
bone fractures, and shrapnel wounds. Two local residents were killed 
when attacked by UDD demonstrators. On April 14, hundreds of soldiers 
surrounded the UDD stronghold at Government House, and the protest 
leaders called an end to the protests and asked their members to 
disperse.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice; however, it restricted the activities of some groups. The 
constitution specifically provides for freedom of religion, provided 
that the religion is not contrary to a person's ``civic duties, public 
order, or good morals.''
    The constitution requires that the monarch be a Buddhist, but it 
does not designate a state religion. Some Buddhist organizations called 
for the designation of Buddhism as the state religion, but the effort 
failed. The constitution requires the government ``to patronize and 
protect Buddhism and other religions.'' The government subsidized 
activities of the three largest religious communities--Buddhist, 
Muslim, and Christian.
    Under the Religious Organizations Act, a new religion can be 
registered if a national census shows that it has at least 5,000 
adherents, represents a recognizably unique theology, and is not 
politically active. A religious organization must also be accepted into 
one of the five officially recognized ecclesiastical groups: Buddhist, 
Muslim, Christian (which includes Catholicism and four Protestant 
subgroups), Brahmin-Hindu, and Sikh. Since 1984 the government has not 
recognized any new religious groups. Government registration confers 
some benefits, including access to state subsidies, tax-exempt status, 
and preferential allocation of resident visas for organization 
officials. Unregistered religious organizations did not receive these 
benefits but operated freely in practice.
    The 1962 Sangha Act specifically prohibits the defamation or insult 
of Buddhism and the sangha (Buddhist clergy). The penal code prohibits 
the insult or disturbance of religious places or services of all 
recognized religions in the country. Followers of the Santi Asoke sect 
of Buddhism were unable legally to refer to themselves as Buddhists 
because of theological disagreements with the Sangha Council, but they 
were able to practice their faith without restriction.
    Religious instruction is required in public schools at both the 
primary and secondary education levels. The MOE has formulated a course 
that contains information about all recognized religions in the 
country.
    In the past pondok (traditional Islamic) schools were not required 
to register with the government and had no government oversight or 
funding. Following the outbreak of violence in the southern provinces 
in 2004, registration with the government was made mandatory. By year's 
end the government had registered 401 pondok schools in Songkhla, Yala, 
Pattani, and Narathiwat provinces and eight pondok schools in other 
provinces. Observers estimated that as many as 1,000 pondok schools 
operated in the south.
    Government officials reportedly continued to monitor Falun Gong 
members. The Falun Gong complained that officials attempted to limit 
their activism due to fear of damaging bilateral relations with the 
People's Republic of China. On April 9, three mainland Chinese members 
of Falun Gong were arrested on immigration-related charges after a raid 
on their home in Pattaya, one day prior to the ASEAN summit there. The 
detainees were transferred to Bangkok's IDC on April 26. At year's end 
two of the three remained in the IDC, and the third was resettled to a 
third country. There was at least one other mainland Chinese Falun Gong 
member, arrested in 2008, who continued to be detained.
    The police monitored a Falun Gong peaceful demonstration in July 
and their booths at two local medical festivals during the summer but 
did not interfere with their activities.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Violence committed by 
suspected separatist militants in Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla, and 
Yala affected the ability of some ethnic Thai Buddhists in this 
predominantly ethnic Malay Muslim region to undertake the full range of 
their traditional religious practices. Buddhist monks and temples were 
targeted. A number of monks reported that they were unable to travel 
freely through southern communities. Monks also claimed that, due to 
fear of being targeted by militants, laypersons sometimes declined to 
assist them in their daily activities. After the June 12 shooting of 
two Buddhist monks in Yala Province, the Supreme Sangha Council ordered 
the monks in the deep south to stop morning alms collection due to 
safety concerns, and the approximately 1,000 monks in the area were 
provided with subsistence expenses in the interim.
    As a result of a series of attacks, tension between the local 
ethnic Malay Muslim and ethnic Thai Buddhist communities in the south 
continued to grow. However, there were no outbreaks of communal 
violence between the Buddhist and Muslim communities. Many Muslims in 
the south complained of societal discrimination both by Buddhist 
citizens and the central government. Muslims also complained that Thai-
language newspapers presented a negative image of Muslims and their 
communities, associating them with terrorists.
    Insurgent groups in the south spread propaganda against Buddhists 
in the form of threatening pamphlets and flyers. There were allegations 
that some religious school teachers in the south preached hatred for 
Buddhists as well as for Muslims who cooperated with the government and 
security forces.
    Muslims, who represent between 5 and 10 percent of the population 
nationwide and constitute the majority in four of the five southernmost 
provinces, experienced some economic discrimination, according to local 
NGOs. The government attempted to address the problem by maintaining 
longstanding policies designed to integrate Muslim communities into 
society through developmental efforts and expanded educational 
opportunities. However, these efforts were often resisted amid charges 
of forced assimilation.
    The Jewish community is small, and there were no reports of anti-
Semitic incidents.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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, and emigration. 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, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and 
other persons of concern, although with many restrictions.
    Members of hill tribe minorities who were not citizens were issued 
identity cards that reflected restrictions on 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 generally were not granted freedom of movement in the 
country, although permission to move frequently was granted for 
humanitarian purposes. If caught outside one of the official camps, a 
refugee is subject to fines, detention, and deportation.
    Other long-time noncitizen residents, including many 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 granting 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.
    IDCs in several provinces and Bangkok were designated to hold 
asylum seekers resident outside the official refugee camps, who are 
considered illegal migrants by law. Conditions in many IDCs were poor, 
with mental and physical health problems among the asylum seekers, 
often stemming from overcrowding and poor ventilation. 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, although the government allowed expansion of a pilot 
program permitting a small group of refugees to work outside as part of 
a vocational training program.
    The government continued to offer illegal migrants the opportunity 
to register and work legally, although only in certain sectors of the 
economy. On May 26, the government approved a plan to open a new round 
of registration for unregistered migrant laborers. The registration 
process covers illegal migrants from Laos, Cambodia, and Burma who 
arrived after 2004 and are employed in five sectors: fishing, 
fisheries-related work, construction, farming and livestock, and 
domestic work. Work permit registration must be renewed each year. 
Unregistered migrants in these economic sectors must apply for 
identification cards (that will act as work permits) and complete a 
citizenship verification process. At the end of the year, the 
government announced plans to extend for two years the original 
February 2010 deadline for citizenship verification. Migrants from Laos 
and Cambodia may complete their citizenship verification at locations 
throughout Thailand. Burmese migrants must travel to processing centers 
along both sides of the Thai-Burmese border due to Burmese government 
insistence that registration take place within Burma. Civil society 
observers have criticized this procedure due to perceived increased 
vulnerability to exploitation of the migrant workers.
    On September 16, three major workers' rights and labor 
organizations submitted a complaint to the UN special rapporteur on the 
human rights of migrants, requesting an investigation into the new 
nationality verification process for Burmese migrants due to concerns 
about the safety of the Burmese migrant communities. On October 5, the 
same organizations sent a complaint letter (with recommendations) to 
the prime minister, leading the government to modify aspects of the 
program.
    According to information compiled by the International Organization 
for Migration, 1,325,057 work permits were either issued or extended 
(renewed) from January to November, 1,077,981 of which were for persons 
from Burma. In November the cabinet announced that migrant children of 
registered migrants are entitled to register for residential permits if 
their parents have residential permits as well.
    Provincial Admissions Boards (PABs), the government's screening 
process for Burmese seeking asylum in one of the country's nine 
official refugee camps, were reactivated on a pilot basis in four camps 
following a four-year hiatus. The government planned to expand the 
screening process to all nine camps. While the government generally 
cooperated with humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees in 
official camps, cooperation with the UNHCR on protection for certain 
groups remained uneven, as authorities detained large numbers of Hmong, 
North Korean, and Burmese Rohingya asylum seekers and refugees. The 
UNHCR was formally forbidden to conduct refugee status determinations 
or provide its protection mandate to these groups, as well as to 
Burmese outside the official camps. The UNHCR continued to have 
informal access to asylum seekers in the main IDC in Bangkok to conduct 
status interviews, and several resettlement countries were allowed to 
conduct processing activities there as well. NGOs were able to provide 
health and nutritional support. The government permitted UNHCR 
monitoring at the facility, where many new arrivals were held.
    The government continued to allow the UNHCR to monitor the 
conditions of the approximately 140,000 Burmese refugees living in nine 
camps along the Burmese border but prohibited the UNHCR from 
maintaining a permanent presence in the border camps. NGOs provided 
basic needs assistance in the camps. Authorities permitted the UNHCR to 
provide identification cards to registered refugees living in the 
camps.
    The government continued to facilitate third-country resettlement 
of camp refugees, and at year's end 16,685 Burmese were resettled from 
the camps. The government was willing to assist in safe, voluntary 
returns of refugees to their homes.
    The government allowed NGOs to provide food, education, health 
care, housing, and other services to Burmese who may have had valid 
refugee claims but who resided outside the camps. Government officials 
periodically arrested Burmese outside designated camps as illegal 
aliens. Those arrested generally were taken to the border and released 
without being turned over to Burmese authorities. Many returned to 
Thailand shortly thereafter.
    The government convened a special ``fast track'' PAB screening 
process for certain persons affected by the 2007 crackdown on 
prodemocracy protesters in Burma. The special PAB approved 98 persons 
for refugee status and allowed their third-country resettlement.
    Many Burmese asylum seekers encountered by army border units 
continued to be returned to Burma before they could reach the 
established refugee camps. However, thousands of other asylum seekers 
were able to enter the country and gain entry into the refugee camps 
during the year. Several thousand ethnic Karen who fled fighting in 
Burma in June were permitted to remain on the Thai side of the border, 
although they did not enter the camps. The government worked with NGOs 
and the UNHCR to provide humanitarian assistance. International 
organizations reported that on July 2, 19 newly arrived Karen refugees 
who entered a refugee camp on or about June 20 were deported to an area 
of Burma outside central government control.
    According to the UNHCR, there were approximately 50,000 
unregistered Burmese asylum seekers in the nine camps. During the year, 
the newly reactivated PABs registered approximately 5,000 of them.
    On December 28, the government forcibly returned 4,351 Hmong to 
Laos, some possibly with valid refugee claims, from an army-run camp in 
Huay Nam Khao, Phetchabun Province. The government did not grant the 
UNHCR permission to interview Huay Nam Khao detainees to determine 
their refugee status. During the year approximately 1,200 additional 
Hmong were returned to Laos in six separate movements. Many appeared to 
return voluntarily, although there was no independent third-party 
monitoring of the returns. In addition to these, at least 15 detainees 
were arrested for violation of camp rules and given the choice of jail 
or return to Laos; all opted for the latter. Transgressions included 
protesting, selling lottery tickets, and using cell phones. An internal 
government screening system reportedly existed to identify detainees 
who might face harm if returned to Laos; however, the government gave 
few details. An NGO provided food, water, sanitation, and basic health 
care in the camp.
    On December 28, the government also forcibly deported to Laos 158 
UNHCR-recognized Hmong refugees, including 87 children. Immediately 
prior to deportation, the resettlement countries were allowed access to 
the group for the first time to begin processing. The group had been 
detained in small cells in the Nong Khai IDC since 2006. Several 
countries sought to consider the group detained at Nong Khai for 
refugee resettlement, but authorities did not permit resettlement 
processing to be completed.
    From late 2008 until January, local civil defense officials, 
apparently acting without sanction from the central government, enacted 
a ``pushback'' policy aimed at Rohingya migrants transiting the 
country. Several hundred Rohingya traveling by boat were intercepted, 
detained briefly, and towed back out to sea where they were released 
with limited supplies of food and water. Deaths were later reported 
among the groups. The pushback policy was soon rescinded after 
international attention. A subsequent group of 78 migrants were placed 
in indefinite detention in January. The UNHCR was granted access to 
them only on one brief occasion to attempt to determine their origin; 
the group appeared to include both Rohingya and Bangladeshis. The 
government did not permit refugee status determinations. In July two 
young men among the Rohingya asylum seekers died of illness while in 
custody. In August the 76 men and boys were moved from the Ranong IDC 
to the Suan Phlu IDC in Bangkok.
    The government allowed ethnic Karenni Paduang refugees to depart 
the country for resettlement abroad.

    Stateless Persons.--A significant but indeterminate number of 
stateless persons resided in the country, many of whom are known as 
highlanders or members of hill tribes, and were 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 of 
those categories.
    The 2005 National Strategy on Redressing the Problem of Personal 
Status and Rights referenced 360,000 migrant members of hill tribes 
granted temporary residence due to significant duration of time in 
country, 60,000 stateless children in educational institutions, and 
17,606 undocumented highlanders eligible for citizenship upon proof 
they are indigenous to Thailand, as well as an unspecified number of 
additional stateless individuals. According to this data, the number of 
stateless individuals was approximately 437,000.
    Citizenship is not automatically conferred by birth occurring 
within the country. By law citizenship is either based on birth to one 
or more Thai parents, marriage to a Thai male, or naturalization. It 
can also be acquired by means of special government-designated criteria 
implemented by the MOI. Finally, it can be granted as a result of the 
2008 Nationality law (see also Children in section 6). There were 
significant obstacles to establishing citizenship, including 
insufficient documentary evidence for stateless hill tribe people to 
prove their eligibility, incomplete and contradictory census data, 
language barriers, and a complex appeals process. The labyrinth of 
citizenship-related laws and regulations and the existence of 
substantial gray areas within and among them often led to their uneven 
application as well as extortion by corrupt local officials.
    Academics also reported that local officials effectively prevented 
highlanders from exercising their rights as citizens by removing their 
names from household registration lists. This prevented citizens from 
obtaining certain jobs, accessing health care, conducting financial 
transactions, and registering their children.
    The 2008 Nationality Act provides citizenship eligibility to 
certain categories of previously ineligible highlanders, streamlining 
citizenship registration and easing evidentiary requirements. An NGO 
estimated that 100,000 persons could benefit from the legislation.
    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 in order 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 Act 
allows these individuals to reclaim their eligibility provided they 
relinquish migrant worker status and take certain steps, such as 
surrendering work permits.
    Implementation of the Civil Registration Act was not uniform, often 
depending on local authorities' knowledge, ability, and willingness to 
follow the law. While many stateless persons, including refugees, were 
issued official birth certificates, others were unable to obtain the 
documentation to which they are entitled.
    The 2005 cabinet-approved 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 were 
still under development.
    Stateless highland women encountered more barriers to citizenship 
than 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 (approximately $90 to $1,470), 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, obtaining official recognition of 
educational qualifications, and accessing government services, such as 
health care. The law also prohibits stateless persons from 
participating in certain occupations reserved for citizens, most 
notably farming, although 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. The UN Educational, Social, and Scientific 
Organization (UNESCO) 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.
    Although a 2005 cabinet resolution declared that every child in the 
country, regardless of legal status, was entitled to free primary 
education (nine years of schooling, to age 15 or completion of middle 
school), in practice the government did not always respect this right. 
Human rights organizations reported that local officials often excluded 
undocumented children from primary school. According to UNESCO's 2006 
Highland Peoples Survey of 12,000 hill tribe households in the north, 
highlanders lacking citizenship were 73 percent less likely to enter 
primary school than those with citizenship, and 98 percent less likely 
to progress to higher education. Moreover, human rights organizations 
reported that stateless students who completed primary school often did 
not receive an official graduation certificate, which hindered their 
access to higher education and restricted their employment options. In 
August the MOE reported that of the estimated 260,000 stateless 
children in the country, only 60,000 were enrolled in the public 
education system. Those remaining were either not in school or studied 
at unofficial learning centers.
    Any stateless person wishing to travel outside the country requires 
an exit permit. During the year the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued 
exit permits to stateless persons to study abroad. Other long-time 
noncitizen residents, including many 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.
    Mong Thongdee, a 12-year-old boy born to ethnic Shan Burmese 
migrant workers, initially faced difficulties obtaining travel 
documents to participate in an international paper airplane competition 
in Japan, representing Thailand as its national champion. After 
significant media attention, PM Abhisit intervened, and in September 
Mong traveled to Japan to compete in the tournament.
    Naruay Taterng, the 14-year-old daughter of hill tribe highlanders, 
won 100,000 baht (approximately $3,000) and a trip to China as third 
prize in a contest to name a new baby panda at the Chiang Mai zoo. As a 
stateless person, she originally was prohibited from traveling to 
Bangkok to claim the cash prize and to China for the trip. Although her 
parents, who come from a remote village in the far north, are eligible 
for citizenship, they were unable to register her at birth with the 
local district office. As a result, she did not have a national 
identification card and could not demonstrate citizenship to obtain 
travel documents. Eventually she was allowed to travel to Bangkok on 
September 10 to claim her prize. She received her Thai citizenship 
shortly after returning from Bangkok in September. Her parents had been 
pursuing citizenship for her for some time, and the media attention led 
to her case being expedited.

Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Following the 2007 general election, the country reverted to a 
bicameral system, composed of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate. 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 members of the Senate by members of the judiciary and 
other regulatory bodies.

    Elections and Political Participation.--A national election for the 
House of Representatives held in 2007 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 eight by-elections in 33 districts of 26 provinces 
were held. The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) reported 62 
complaints of election fraud related to campaign promises or vote 
buying. There were no injuries or killings during the by-elections, but 
during a Puea Thai party campaign event in Sakhon Nakhon on April 20, a 
bomb exploded near the site where party politicians were making 
speeches. No suspect was identified or arrested.
    In the parliament all 150 allotted slots for senators were filled. 
Of the 480 allotted slots for the House of Representatives, seven were 
not filled, mostly due to the party dissolutions in December 2008, as 
well as a death, a resignation, and a disqualification. However, in 
September the ECT disqualified 16 representatives for unconstitutional 
stock holdings that created conflicts of interest. They remained in 
office pending final rulings from the Constitutional Court. This 
followed the disqualification of 17 senators and 13 representatives for 
similar offenses in June. Of the latter group, only one senator and one 
representative left office at that time and were replaced; the 
remaining 28 remained in office. The Supreme Court's Election Division 
dismissed the ECT disqualification for election irregularity of another 
senator in April, and the Constitutional Court dismissed another ECT 
disqualification for unconstitutional representation in March. Both 
senators were reinstated.
    Political parties could operate without restriction or outside 
interference, although violations of election laws by three members of 
political parties' executive boards prompted the Constitutional Court 
in December 2008 to dissolve three of the eight parties holding seats 
in the legislature, including two of the three largest. The sanction of 
party dissolution is provided for by the constitution, which also 
provides that all executive board members of parties dissolved by the 
court lose their political rights for a five-year period. A total of 
106 executive board members lost their political rights in connection 
with the parties' dissolution. During the year the ECT dissolved 29 
parties for inability to maintain compliance with the election law, and 
one party requested to be dissolved.
    There were 87 women in the 630-seat bicameral parliament. Female 
senators chaired five of the 22 standing committees, and none in the 
lower house. Women held four cabinet positions. The constitution 
encourages political parties to consider a ``close proximity of equal 
numbers'' of both genders. Women had the right to vote and run for 
positions, but many NGOs noted that 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 six 
Christian members of the parliament.

Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, 
although government implementation of the law was weak, and officials 
sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    The case arising from the March 2008 prosecution of former PM 
Thaksin in connection with embezzling proceeds from a government 
lottery was decided in September. Thaksin and 43 other defendants were 
acquitted and two former ministers, and one former official received 
two year suspended sentences (later reduced to one year of probation.) 
Thaksin's absence led the Supreme Court of Justice's Criminal Division 
for Persons Holding Political Positions (SCCDP) to suspend the case on 
the Asset Examination Committee (AEC) charges against him over the 
Export-Import Bank of Thailand's loan to Burma of four billion baht 
($120 million) and to issue a warrant for his arrest. The SCCDP was 
examining the 76 billion baht ($2.28 billion) asset confiscation case 
against Thaksin, and the first hearing took place in July. Thaksin's 
wife, her brother, and her secretary, sentenced in July 2008 to prison 
terms ranging from two to three years for tax evasion, were free on 
bail, awaiting the result of their appeal.
    In May the NCCC found two former senior Anti-Money Laundering 
Office (AMLO) administrators guilty of abuse of power while they held 
their positions in 2001-02, and the OAG was considering the case. They 
illegally ordered financial status examinations of approximately 200 
reporters, NGO employees, and opposition politicians who were critical 
of Thaksin.
    In May the minister of finance fired Finance Permanent Secretary 
Suppharat Khawatkun after the NCCC found him guilty of malfeasance for 
his illegal appointments of four deputy directors general in the 
Revenue Department in 2000.
    The OAG determined that the investigation arising from the 2007 
arrest of RTP Colonel Chanchai Netiratthakan in connection with the 
alleged bribery of two Constitutional Court judges did not yield 
sufficient evidence for prosecution. The case was returned to the RTP 
for affirmation in January and closed in May.
    In June the Civil Servants' Pension Fund Board of the Ministry of 
Finance fired its secretary general, Wisit Tantisunthorn, for 
malfeasance after the ministry and Office of Anti-Corruption in State 
Agencies found him guilty of insider trading.
    On September 21, the SCCDP acquitted 44 cabinet ministers and high-
ranking government officials from the Thaksin administration, including 
then deputy prime minister for economic affairs Somkhit Chatusiphitak, 
accused of corruption in a 2003 rubber sapling scandal case.
    During the year the NCCC and OAG continued to investigate 
allegations of corruption committed by the Thaksin government. The 
findings by the AEC 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. During the year 2,779 cases were 
received, of which 1,964 were completed; 206 of those cases required 
further action, including disciplinary actions, impeachments, and 
referrals to the courts, the OAG, or a joint NCCC-OAG committee.
    At year's end the OAG was considering the AEC indictments of seven 
prominent former government ministers and high-ranking officials on 
charges of malfeasance related to the 2007 purchase of fire trucks.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws. Aside 
from the NCCC, AEC, and OAG, other entities playing a role in combating 
corruption included the AMLO, Supreme Court, Ombudsman's Office, 
Administrative Court, and MOJ.
    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 such 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 344 petitions received and 134 appeals during the 
year. Requests for public information may be denied for reasons of 
national security and public safety.

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, faced periodic 
harassment. Human rights workers focusing on the 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. On March 24, after considerable delay, the government 
renewed registration of the Bangkok office of the International 
Commission of Jurists for the period from April 2008 to April 2010.
    On February 8, a combined military and police unit raided the 
Pattani office of the Working Group on Justice for Peace, a local NGO 
run by Angkhana Neelaphaijit, the wife of disappeared human rights 
attorney Somchai Neelaphaijit. Security personnel searched computer 
files and photographed documents and staff. The commanding officer 
cited martial law to justify the warrantless search. On March 30, four 
soldiers returned to question staff and gather information about the 
organizations' employees and programs and to request data.
    In April and July, two environmentalists and community leaders in 
Petchaburi Province were shot, presumably in connection with their 
activism related to protection of community forests. Both were 
seriously injured, and the suspect arrested for the July shooting of 
Kittinarong Koetrot was under trial at year's end. Police had not 
identified any suspects in the April shooting of Phongthep Hongthong.
    In September the RTP visited the offices of at least 12 exile 
Burmese groups on several ``immigration raids.'' The groups targeted 
included those of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma and the 
Burmese Women's Union. Ten women from the union were detained but later 
released, and as a result of these raids many offices remained closed 
for several weeks. It remained a concern for several groups.
    During the year the Muslim Attorney Center reported that local 
authorities harassed its staff and the family members of its attorneys, 
specifically through warrantless searches of their homes, allegedly 
seeking southern militant suspects.
    On June 25, new NHRC commissioners assumed office, after a February 
Administrative Court ruling dismissed the previous panel. The prior 
panel members had remained in office almost two years after their term 
expired. Numerous NGOs and human rights groups criticized the 
selections and the selection process, pointing out that one of the new 
commissioners was named in a 2007 NHRC investigation regarding his 
responsibility for environmental damage. There was complaint to the 
NHRC in August against his appointment that demanded his impeachment. 
The NHRC ruled in October that this was the jurisdiction of the 
parliament and the petition should be directed there. There was at 
least one active NHRC subcommittee, the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights subcommission, which addressed matters such as the 
situation of the Lao Hmong refugees. In September the NHRC called on 
the government to avoid invoking the ISA during the scheduled UDD 
protests. The NHRC received 716 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. The Senate committee was more 
active and submitted reports to the general session, the cabinet, and 
the prime minister, including one that contained recommendations 
regarding RTP actions related to the October 2008 demonstrations by 
People's Alliance for Democracy followers. 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.

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. Between January and November, the police stated 
that 4,273 rape cases had been reported and that there were 12 
additional cases in which the victim was killed. Suspects were arrested 
in 2,366 of the former category of cases and in eight of the cases that 
resulted in the victim's death. The MPH reported that an estimated 
10,206 women and children were sexually abused between October 2008 and 
December, including 1,938 women more than 18 years old and 8,268 
children.
    NGOs believed that rape was a serious problem in the country. 
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 in three other provinces. There were 143 
female police officers for sexual abuse cases nationwide.
    The law specifies a range of penalties for rape or forcible sexual 
assault, depending on the age of the victim, degree 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 increased penalties 
for recidivism. 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 (approximately $900) to 150,000 baht ($4,500).
    Domestic violence against women was a significant problem. The 
Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence Act imposes a fine of up to 
6,000 baht ($180) 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 the 
media's reporting on domestic violence cases in the judicial system.
    Some domestic violence crimes were prosecuted under provisions for 
assault or violence against a person. 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 
crisis centers reported that they had received 23,499 reports of 
domestic violence between October 2008 and September.
    During the year the Ministry of Social Development and Human 
Security (MSDHS) expanded a community-based system to protect women 
from domestic violence to four additional communities in the central, 
north, northeastern, and southern regions, after the original program 
in Bangkok. Representatives from each community received training in 
increasing awareness of women's rights and abuse prevention.
    Prostitution is illegal, although it was practiced openly 
throughout the country. Local officials with commercial interests in 
prostitution often protected the practice. Trafficking in women and 
children for prostitution was a serious problem, despite strong 
government efforts to combat it. The illegal nature of the work and the 
high incidence of part-time prostitution made precise numbers difficult 
to assess, and estimates varied widely. A government survey during the 
year found that there were 73,917 adult prostitutes in registered 
entertainment establishments. However, some NGOs believed there were 
approximately 300,000 prostitutes.
    There were reports that women were forced into prostitution in 
border areas, but the number of such cases was difficult to determine. 
NGOs and government agencies provided shelter, rehabilitation, and 
reintegration programs for children and women involved in the sex 
industry.
    Sex tourism was a problem. According to the MSDHS, there were no 
laws that specifically addressed sex tourism. Rather, the criminal 
code, laws on prostitution, and laws combating trafficking in persons 
contain provisions designed 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 (approximately $600) 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 ($900). 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. The Civil Service 
Commission's sexual harassment and bullying hotline was shifted to the 
supervision of the Bureau of Disciplinary Standards during the year. 
During the time of transition and regulation drafting, they did not 
accept complaints. Most of the prior complaints were dismissed, as the 
petitions were unsigned, and the remainder were forwarded to the 
relevant agencies for internal investigations.
    In September a female naval lieutenant, with the assistance of 
former senator Rabiabrat Pongpanich, filed petitions regarding her 
sexual harassment by a senior army general with various parliamentary 
entities, the prime minister, the NHRC, and the MSDHS. The general was 
her superior at the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters. Rabiabrat 
used the opportunity to appeal for more effective and punitive 
antisexual harassment legislation. Headquarters officials set up a six-
member committee to investigate the case.
    Couples and individuals could decide 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. However, some NGOs 
claimed that Muslims and teenagers did not have adequate access to such 
services. In addition, the number of female Muslim doctors was 
insufficient, and therefore there was not enough encouragement to use 
public hospitals for childbirth.
    Military academies (except for the nursing academy) did not accept 
female students, although a significant number of instructors at the 
military academies were women. In the military reorganization in 
September, 13 female colonels were promoted to major general across all 
branches of the military and within the Ministry of Defense. The Police 
Cadet Academy for commissioned officers accepted female cadets during 
the March application period for the first time, and 70 of 280 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 21 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.--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.).
    Citizenship is not automatically conferred by birth occurring 
within the country. By law citizenship is based either on birth to one 
or more Thai parents, marriage to a Thai male, or naturalization. It 
can also be acquired by means of special government-designated criteria 
implemented by the MOI. Finally, it can be granted as a result of the 
2008 Nationality law (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. During the year 
the government extended compulsory education from eight to 12 years and 
increased free education from 12 to 15 years. The government subsidized 
tuition fees, uniforms, textbooks, and additional charges from school 
but did not provide food and transportation.
    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 jobs 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 (approximately $1,190) 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 ($1,190).
    During the year a 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 female minor sexual abuse victims 
were better cared physically and psychologically than male victims. 
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, primarily for adolescent 
girls, including trafficking in children for commercial sexual 
exploitation. Pedophilia continued, both by citizens and by foreign sex 
tourists. In 2007 the government, university researchers, and NGOs 
estimated that there were as many as 60,000 prostitutes under age 18. 
The Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act makes child 
prostitution illegal and provides for criminal punishment for those who 
use prostitutes under age 18. Section 8 of the act provides that a 
customer who has sexual intercourse with a sex worker under the age of 
15 shall be subject to two to six years' imprisonment and a fine of up 
to 120,000 baht ($3,750); if the sex worker is between the ages of 15 
and 18, the prison term is one to three years, and the fine can 
increase 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. Section 287 of the penal code prohibits the production, 
distribution, and import/export of child pornography. The penalty is 
imprisonment of not more than three years and/or a fine of not more 
than 6,000 baht ($180).
    A 2005 study widely cited by NGOs and state agencies estimated that 
there were approximately 20,000 street children in major urban centers. 
However, the government and NGOs could provide shelter to only 5,000 
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. From October 2008 to September, 29 state shelters took in 160 
children, 24 of whom were girls, both national and foreign. Ultimately 
the government either sent citizen street children to school, to 
occupational training centers, or back to their families with social 
worker supervision. Street children from other countries were 
repatriated.
    Street children were often left out of national reports on child 
labor matters, and national statistics on street children often 
included only citizens.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The comprehensive antitrafficking law that 
came into force in June 2008 extends the definition of trafficking in 
persons to include trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation 
and the trafficking of male victims. The law provides stringent 
penalties for crimes involving human trafficking. It also makes 
trafficking a predicate crime for prosecution under the Anti-Money 
Laundering Act, allowing for additional penalties and asset 
confiscation. The government continued efforts to fully implement the 
2008 law, including drafting related government regulations and 
conducting broad training efforts.
    The country was a source, transit, and destination for victims of 
human trafficking. There were reports that persons were trafficked to, 
from, through, and within the country for a variety of purposes, 
including fishing-related industries, factories, agriculture, 
construction, domestic work, and begging. Trafficked women and children 
(particularly girls) were often victims of sexual exploitation. 
Credible studies and evidence suggested that the trafficking of men for 
labor exploitation, especially migrant workers, was also prevalent. 
Foreign trafficking victims within the country included persons from 
Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The trafficking of men, women, and 
children into such fields as commercial fisheries and seafood 
processing in Samut Sakhon Province was widely alleged, and such 
trafficking was documented in the field of garland making. Some 
portion, believed by the UN, NGOs, and the government to be a minority, 
of the estimated 200,000 to 300,000 sex industry workers in the country 
were either underage or in involuntary servitude or debt bondage.
    Within the country, women from the impoverished northeast and north 
were trafficked for sexual exploitation. However, internal trafficking 
of women was suspected to be on the decline, due in part to prevention 
programs. In 2008 the government assisted Thai citizens who had been 
trafficked abroad to Bahrain, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, South 
Africa, and Hong Kong. The country's embassies had a continuing mandate 
to assist Thai victims of trafficking abroad.
    According to credible reports, there also were Burmese citizens 
trafficked from Malaysia across Thailand's southern border, and 
Cambodian trafficking victims were identified among deportees from 
Thailand. Victims of trafficking were often lured into or through the 
country with promises of restaurant, spa, or household work and then 
were pressured or physically forced into prostitution.
    The lack of citizenship status for some hill tribe women and 
children was a significant risk factor for becoming victims of 
trafficking. Although members of this group were not a large percentage 
of trafficking victims, they continued to be found in 
disproportionately large numbers in situations entailing severe forms 
of trafficking.
    Trafficking within the country and from neighboring countries into 
the country tended to be carried out by loosely organized small groups 
that often had close ties in the source communities. Burmese, Laotian, 
Cambodian, and Thai individuals were involved in labor trafficking 
along the border. Informal chains of acquaintance often were used to 
recruit victims. In some cases the traffickers themselves were former 
victims, particularly where the sex industry was the destination.
    Some women in prostitution worked in debt bondage. Because foreign 
victims frequently were unable to speak the language, they were 
particularly vulnerable to physical abuse and exploitation. Reports of 
labor trafficking also were received from Burmese and Cambodian migrant 
workers, who were ostensibly offered jobs in the food processing 
industry but were later induced or forcibly transported to work on 
fishing vessels, on some occasions for years at a time.
    A May 17 immigration police raid on a small garland-making factory 
located in a home in Samut Sakhon rescued 19 Laotian girls and young 
women, ages 12-20, whom the police considered victims of human 
trafficking. The immigration police arrested the two factory owners on 
charges of human trafficking, child labor, and receiving and sheltering 
illegal immigrants. The victims were being cared for in a government 
shelter. The charges were dropped after the employers agreed to pay the 
workers. In September the victims returned to Laos.
    In August the DSI, in cooperation with Vietnamese antitrafficking 
police, rescued eight Vietnamese women from forced prostitution in the 
province of Yala. The women had been told that they were going to work 
in restaurants in Singapore; instead, they were brought to Thailand and 
forced to work as prostitutes. The DSI arrested one alleged trafficker. 
At year's end the eight women were in protective custody and were 
cooperating with the investigation.
    In November a criminal court convicted and sentenced the two 
defendants for the trafficking of workers in the Anoma Samut Sakhon 
shrimp processing factory raided in March 2008. According to the 
prosecutor, one defendant, who pled guilty to some of the charges, was 
sentenced to five years in prison and a one million baht (approximately 
$30,000) fine, and the second defendant, who denied all charges, 
received a sentence of eight years in prison and a two million baht 
($60,000) fine.
    There were continued allegations that local officials protected 
brothels and other facilities from raids. There was no evidence that 
high-level officials benefited from or protected the practice. The 
government did not report investigations or prosecutions of officials 
for trafficking-related corruption.
    According to the law, penalties against traffickers vary according 
to the age of the victim and the types of trafficker. If the offender 
is an individual, the law prescribes imprisonment of four to 10 years 
and a fine of 80,000 to 200,000 baht ($2,400 to $6,000) for trafficking 
offenses committed against victims more than 18 years old. For offenses 
against children between 15 and 18, the punishment is six to 12 years' 
imprisonment and a fine of 120,000 to 240,000 baht ($3,600 to $7,200). 
For offenses against children under 15, the penalty ranges from eight 
to 15 years' imprisonment and a fine of 160,000 to 300,000 baht ($4,800 
to $9,000). If the offender is a corporation, the law prescribes a fine 
of 200,000 to one million baht ($6,000 to $30,000), and the responsible 
authority in the convicted corporation may be sentenced to six to 12 
years' imprisonment and a fine of 120,000 to 240,000 baht ($3,600 to 
$7,200). The law also prescribes penalties for those who obstruct the 
process of an investigation and prosecution.
    The 2008 trafficking law established an antitrafficking-in-persons 
committee chaired by the prime minister, with relevant officials from 
the MSDHS acting as the committee's secretariat and assisting in the 
coordination of the government's antitrafficking efforts. The RTP's 
Children, Juveniles, and Women Division (CWD) is specifically charged 
with investigating human trafficking crimes, although cases are also 
handled by other police units. In 2008 the Transnational Crime 
Coordination Center was set up in the RTP to be a specialized unit 
responsible for collecting and analyzing information, strategic 
planning, and coordinating work on 11 types of transnational crimes 
(including trafficking). The DSI also investigates special cases, 
including complex transnational case. The MSDHS is charged with 
providing assistance and shelter to trafficking victims. The government 
reported that the CWD alone investigated 54 traffickers in 2008, 
associated with cases involving 82 victims. Thirty-four of these 
victims were involved in forced child labor, while 48 were involved in 
trafficking-related prostitution.
    Trafficking victims cannot be charged with the crimes associated 
with their case, such as immigration violations if trafficked over the 
border or prostitution if forced. They also receive assistance in 
government shelters. Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) among 
government agencies, between provincial governments in the country, and 
between the government and domestic NGOs provided some detailed police 
procedures to assist with the problem of trafficked persons being 
detained by the authorities. The MOUs stated that the training of 
police officers would include instructions to treat such persons as 
trafficking victims rather than as illegal immigrant workers. Instead 
of being deported, they would become the responsibility of the MSDHS. 
The government continued broad training efforts with regard to the 
trafficking law, victim identification, and the MOUs. However, 
implementation of aspects of the law and MOUs was at times erratic, 
with reports of trafficking victims identified among deportees to 
Cambodia.
    In general the government cooperated with governments of other 
countries in the investigation of transnational crimes, including 
trafficking. On April 24, the country signed a bilateral 
antitrafficking MOU with Burma, similar to existing MOUs with Cambodia, 
Laos, and Vietnam. Receiving countries generally initiated trafficking 
case investigations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted 443 Thai 
victims of trafficking to return from abroad from October 2007 to 
September 2008, compared with 403 during the same period one year 
prior.
    The law permits the extradition of Thai citizens under the terms of 
extradition treaties or reciprocal arrangements with requesting 
countries. The OAG reported that no citizens were extradited for 
trafficking-related offenses during the year. However, in 2008 the 
government extradited or deported foreign nationals to Japan, 
Australia, Germany, Bahrain, China, the United Kingdom, and the United 
States for the purpose of prosecuting trafficking-related crimes.
    Several NGOs, both local and international, and government agencies 
worked with trafficking victims. As mandated in interagency MOUs, 
police, prosecutors, and social workers increasingly cooperated with 
NGO officials in a ``multidisciplinary team'' approach to trafficking. 
Such cooperation included coordination on raids of suspected facilities 
as well as the provision of assistance to trafficking victims. The 
government worked with the International Labor Organization's (ILO) 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor to implement 
projects to reduce the incidence of trafficking of children for labor 
and sexual exploitation. The government worked to make accessible a new 
fund to assist antitrafficking activities that was established under 
the 2008 law.
    Victims of trafficking, including non-Thai citizens awaiting 
repatriation, generally were brought to government-run shelters, 
including at least one new shelter specifically established for male 
victims of trafficking. Foreign victims generally were not eligible for 
work permits, which would enable them to work outside the shelter, 
although the government continued to develop a mechanism for them to do 
so in compliance with the antitrafficking law. In practice local 
officials on occasion allowed them to work. The government facilitated 
paid work to be conducted within shelters for some victims. NGOS 
reported complaints by some foreign victims in shelters who believed 
that the government did not handle their repatriation in a timely 
fashion. In 2008 eight government shelters (for women and children) 
received 622 female and child victims of trafficking, including 520 
foreign trafficking victims in Thailand, 58 Thai trafficking victims in 
Thailand, and 44 Thai trafficking victims abroad. The government 
provided food, medical care, legal assistance, job training, and 
psychological counseling, although precise data on the level of this 
assistance was not available.
    Trafficking victims received some legal assistance from NGOs and 
Department of Welfare officials, and they generally were informed of 
the option of pursuing legal action against the trafficking 
perpetrators. Some victims participated in investigation and 
prosecution efforts, although many opted not to do so due to distrust 
of government officials and lengthy legal processes. There were reports 
that some foreign victims attempted to not be identified as victims of 
trafficking to avoid lengthy residency in government shelters, 
preferring deportation in order to be able search for new employment.
    The government continued efforts to raise awareness about 
trafficking in persons and continued cooperative arrangements with NGOs 
and local industries, especially the hotel industry, to encourage 
youths (particularly girls) to find employment outside the sex industry 
and other exploitative work. Vocational training programs aimed at high 
risk and vulnerable populations also received funding. Although the 
vocational training was not intended explicitly for trafficking 
prevention, the practical effect was to increase the range of 
employment choices.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities in 
education and provides for access to health care and other state 
services. The constitution also mandates newly constructed buildings to 
have facilities for persons with disabilities, but these provisions 
were not uniformly enforced. Activists continued to work to amend laws 
that allow employment discrimination against persons with disabilities.
    In September the Central Administrative Court dismissed a petition 
filed against the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Bangkok 
Transit System (BTS), claiming that the BTS stations did not provide 
accessible facilities as required by the Disabled Rehabilitation Act of 
1991. The court ruling specified that the BTS had installed elevators 
at five stations and was conducting a survey at 18 more.
    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.
    There were two community-based rehabilitation programs in each of 
the 76 provinces. A pilot program for providing special living spaces 
for disabled places expanded from Khon Kaen to the four other 
provinces: Chaing Rai, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Pathom, and Trang. There 
was also a Disabled People Model Fair in July.
    The government maintained 43 special schools for students with 
disabilities. The MOE reported that there were 76 centers nationwide 
offering special education programs for preschool-age children, one in 
each province. There were approximately 10,000 schools nationwide that 
conducted a joint normal-disabled studies program. There also were nine 
government-operated and 23 NGO-operated training centers for persons 
with disabilities, including both full-time and part-time/seasonal 
centers. There were also 10 state shelters specifically for persons 
with disabilities. 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.
    Many persons with disabilities who found employment were subjected 
to wage discrimination. According to NGOs, 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 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 40-50 percent. 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 were not protected by 
labor laws, including minimum wage requirements. 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 was supportive of 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. NGOs dealing with lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) matters were generally able to operate 
freely. They were able to register with the government, although there 
were some restrictions with the language that can be used in 
registering their group names. They reported that police treated LGBT 
victims of crime as any other except in the case of sexual crimes, when 
there was a tendency to downplay sexual abuse or not take harassment 
seriously.
    An effort to organize a gay pride parade in Chiang Mai in February 
failed due to a lack of government support combined with social 
hostility. Provincial authorities, except for the MPH, withheld 
permission to conduct the event. UDD members protested against the 
event and condemned the organizers, while police did not provide 
adequate protection, creating a hostile situation.
    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. According to military sources, the armed forces did not 
draft gay or transgendered persons because of the assumed detrimental 
impact 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.
    In December the rectors of the Rajabhat Institutes, which operated 
state-run universities throughout the country, rejected a request 
forwarded by the Cross-Dresser Network of Thailand to allow transsexual 
students to wear female outfits at their commencement ceremonies.

    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 6,630 businesses pledged not to require HIV/AIDS tests for 
employees or discharge infected employees and vowed to hold regular 
awareness campaigns, with 989 joining during the year. In December it 
was announced on World AIDS Day that the government had adopted condom 
use as an item on the national agenda and would distribute 30 million 
to all citizens, including sex workers.
    The NHRC was investigating a complaint filed in September 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. At year's end 
the case was under consideration.

Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. The Right of Association.--The law allows all private sector 
workers to form and join trade unions of their choosing without prior 
authorization; however, enforcement of the law was inconsistent. In 
many instances the Labor Relations Act (LRA) and Labor Protection Act 
(LPA) were not effective in protecting workers who participated in 
union activities. The law allows unions to conduct their activities 
without government interference. The law also permits workers to 
strike, and this right was exercised in practice.
    The labor law does not allow civil servants, including public 
school teachers, soldiers, and police, to form or register a union, 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. However, the law restricts 
affiliations between state enterprise unions and private sector unions. 
Unofficial contacts at the union level between public and private 
sector workers continued, and the government did not interfere with 
these relationships. Unions in state-owned enterprises generally 
operated independently of the government and other organizations.
    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 who 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 labor laws were 
routinely violated and few inspections were carried out to verify 
compliance with the law.
    The labor force consisted of 39.3 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 2008, there were 44 state enterprise unions 
with 175,000 members and 1,229 private labor unions with 341,520 
members. The number of private labor unions decreased, but the number 
of members in private unions increased by more than 10,000.
    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 
reinstated employees in some cases where dismissal resulted from union 
activity and was illegal. However, because the reinstatement process 
was lengthy and costly for the employee, most cases were settled out of 
court through severance payments to the employee, and there were no 
punitive sanctions for employers.
    At year's end labor union leader Jitra Kotchadet, who lost her case 
against garment maker Triumph International for dismissing her without 
cause in 2008, was awaiting the result of her appeal in the Supreme 
Court.
    In June Triumph announced plans to lay off nearly 2,000 workers at 
one of its subsidiary companies, blaming the global economic situation 
and a drop in demand. Union leaders argued that this was an attempt to 
purge the firm of active union members, many of whom had protested 
Jitra's dismissal in 2008. Following an August demonstration outside 
the seat of the government, the media reported that arrest warrants 
were issued for three protest leaders, including Jitra, for illegal 
assembly, resisting police orders, instigating unrest, and obstructing 
traffic. In mid-October laid-off employees moved their protest to the 
Ministry of Labor (MOL) building, where they remained through the end 
of the year. In December the Samut Prakan Labor Court dismissed the 
laid-off workers' case demanding additional severance pay. According to 
press reports, the court reasoned that the workers had received 
severance pay in accordance with the LPA and their firings resulted 
from Triumph's financial loss; therefore, a 1999 agreement to pay 
higher severance pay if layoffs were due to operational restructuring 
did not apply. The workers planned to appeal the decision.
    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 in the ILO criteria and include sectors such as 
telecommunications, electricity, water supply, and public 
transportation as essential services. 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 unionists. During the 
year there were strikes against international automotive companies, 
generally after negotiations over compensation had reached an impasse. 
In at least one instance while negotiations were still underway, 
management threatened a lockout, alleging that workers were damaging 
vehicles on the production line.
    SELRA prohibits lockouts by state enterprises and strikes by state 
enterprise workers. However, on several occasions a large number of 
state enterprise workers took sick leave or vacation, leading to the 
closing of business operations. No legal action was taken against those 
workers.
    In June more than 200 members of the State Railway Workers' Union 
of Thailand failed to report to work, leading to an interruption in 
rail services, to protest a proposed reorganization of the State 
Railway of Thailand, which the union viewed as an attempt to privatize 
the railway. In October union members interrupted for several days rail 
services in the southernmost provinces. Pointing to a fatal train 
derailment that was widely blamed on union operator error, a union 
spokesperson cited concerns about passenger safety as the reason for 
the temporary stop in service.
    During 2008 there were 56 labor disputes, 48 of which occurred 
outside Bangkok. There were reports of four lockouts by employers and 
11 strikes by employees.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--The law 
provides for the right of citizen private-sector workers to organize 
and bargain collectively; however, labor union leaders stated that the 
government's efforts to protect this right were weak. 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 served as a prohibition against permanent union 
staff, thus limiting the ability of unions to organize in depth and be 
politically active. The LRA allows only two government-licensed outside 
advisors to a union, and labor activists alleged that local-level MOL 
offices blocked the registration of labor advisors deemed too activist. 
Union leaders and outside observers complained that this 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. The law does not protect workers from employer 
reprisal for union activities prior to the registration of the union, 
and employers could exploit this loophole to defeat efforts at union 
organization. Employers used loopholes in the LRA to fire union leaders 
prior to government certification of unions. During the year there were 
several reported cases of workers being dismissed from their jobs for 
engaging in union activities. In some cases the court ordered workers 
reinstated if grounds for their dismissal were proven inaccurate.
    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. The law authorizes the MOL to refer any 
private sector labor dispute for voluntary arbitration by a government-
appointed group other than the Labor Relations Committee. Although the 
legal authority seldom was used, the ILO viewed this provision as 
acceptable only in defined essential services.
    Redress of grievances for state enterprise workers 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 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 collecting wages from a separate company, the 
contracting business is the overall employer. It remained unclear how 
benefits and welfare are defined under the act. Plaintiffs filed 
lawsuits in an attempt to seek clarification of their obligations under 
the new law, but these cases were unresolved at year's end.
    There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in 
export processing zones. However, union leaders alleged that employers' 
associations were organized to cooperate in discouraging union 
organization in the zones. In special industrial estates, union 
organization was common at major international firms.

    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. The 2008 Antitrafficking in Persons Act 
criminally prohibits all forms of human trafficking, including forced 
labor; however, the government lacked the capacity to enforce these 
provisions effectively in the large informal sector.
    Employers routinely kept possession of migrant workers' 
registration and travel documents, which restricted their travel 
outside of the work premises. Employers claimed this was done to ensure 
repayment of loans given to workers to pay for the documents. 
Nevertheless, there continued to be reports of sweatshops or abusive 
treatment in livestock farms, seagoing trawlers, animal feed factories, 
garment factories, and shrimp processing factories in which employers 
prevented workers, primarily foreign migrants, from leaving the 
premises. There were no estimates of the prevalence of such illegal 
actions, but the large number of migrants from Burma, Cambodia, and 
Laos created opportunities for abuse.
    In January 2008 the police rescued three Laotian girls and arrested 
three Thais on charges of abuse and child slavery. The girls worked as 
domestic employees in Samut Prakarn for two years before being rescued. 
They were regularly beaten or burned when the employers were 
dissatisfied with their work. In June 2008 one offender was sentenced 
to a year in prison and 12,500 baht ($375), and another was sentenced 
to six months in prison and a 7,500 baht fine ($225). In August 2008 
the third perpetrator was sentenced to five months in prison, a 7,350 
baht fine ($220), and community service.
    Police arrested four individuals in the 2007 death of a Karen 
migrant worker who attempted to flee a factory in Supanburi Province, 
where he allegedly had been subjected to forced labor and severe 
physical abuse by his employer. Factory owner Sarawut Ayuken was 
charged with murder and with providing work and shelter to illegal 
migrant workers. On August 10, he was sentenced to death by the 
criminal court, and on November 6, he submitted his appeal. The court 
dismissed the cases against two other defendants, who were Cambodian, 
and the government appealed. The defendants remained in prison awaiting 
the decision of the appeals court.
    On October 11, law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, 
working in cooperation with NGO representatives, rescued 18 Burmese who 
were forced to work in fishing boats in Chonburi Province and arrested 
three individuals. Two were charged with human trafficking. Two were 
also charged with attempting to bribe law enforcement officers.
    Problems encountered by Thai citizens working overseas highlighted 
the problem of exploitative labor supply agencies that charged heavy 
and illegal recruitment fees often equal to a worker's first- and 
second-year earnings. In many cases recruited workers did not receive 
the terms they were promised and incurred significant debt. Local banks 
contributed to this practice by offering exorbitant loans to allow 
workers to pay recruitment fees, which ranged from 300,000 to one 
million baht (approximately $9,000 to $30,000) for workers traveling 
abroad. The Department of Employment issued regulations mandating the 
maximum charges for recruitment fees to ensure that the fees are not 
excessive. However, effective enforcement of the rules was difficult.

    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 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 the employers provide a safe work 
environment. Employers may not require children under 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 ($6,000), or both. The LPA does not cover 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 and in 
garment- and fishing-related industries. However, the extension of 
compulsory education to 12 years and the granting of government 
assistance for tuition fees, uniforms, and textbooks was expected to 
reduce the number of child workers. 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.
    Official MOL statistics showed that approximately 2,065 children 
between 15 and 17 years old were working legitimately. However, the 
number of all child laborers, legal and illegal, was likely much larger 
when taking into consideration child laborers under 15 and unregistered 
migrant children. NGOs reported that 2 to 4 percent of children between 
the ages of six and 14 worked illegally in urban areas; such children 
were at risk of becoming victims of other abuses of labor laws.
    Most underage workers in urban areas worked in the service sector, 
primarily in gasoline stations, small-scale industry, and restaurants. 
Street begging and the selling of flowers also remained prevalent. 
Child labor was less evident in larger, export-oriented factories. NGOs 
also reported greater child labor in garment factories along the 
Burmese border, in Mae Sot Province. However, there was no 
comprehensive survey of child labor throughout the country, since NGOs 
often did not have access to shophouse factories. NGOs reported child 
domestic workers were predominantly migrants from Burma, Cambodia, and 
Laos. Most were in the country illegally, increasing their 
vulnerability to exploitation.
    Observers believed that while the prevalence decreased, children 
(usually foreign) were exploited in street selling, begging, domestic 
work, agriculture work, and prostitution in urban areas, sometimes in a 
system of debt bondage. There were reports of street children who were 
bought, rented, or forcibly ``borrowed'' from their parents or 
guardians to beg alongside women in the street.
    The MOL is the primary agency charged with enforcing child labor 
laws and policies. Labor inspectors were usually reactive, rather than 
proactive, and normally responded only to specific public complaints, 
reports of absences by teachers, or reports in newspapers. In line with 
prevailing cultural norms, their inclination 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.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage ranged from 150 
baht to 203 baht per day ($4.50 to $6.09), depending on the cost of 
living in various provinces. This wage was not adequate to provide a 
decent standard of living for a worker and nuclear family. The minimum 
wage is set by provincial tripartite wage committees.
    The government sets wages for state enterprise employees under 
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 designing 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 less than half the minimum wage.
    The LPA mandates a uniform workweek of 48 hours, 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.
    During 2008 there were 176,502 reported incidents of diseases and 
injuries from industrial accidents. This included 127,059 minor 
disabilities (resulting in no more than three days of missed work) and 
3,742 disabilities resulting in more than three days of missed work 
(including permanent disabilities and deaths). However, the rate of 
incidents occurring in the larger 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 large informal sector, health and safety 
protections were substandard.
    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. Despite the act's prohibition 
against dismissing pregnant workers regardless of their nationalities, 
there were reports that employers intentionally laid off workers who 
became pregnant, using the economic downturn as an excuse.
    The MOL promulgates health and safety regulations regarding 
conditions of work and is responsible for their enforcement; however, 
the inspection department enforced these standards ineffectively, due 
to a lack of human and financial resources. There is no law affording 
job protection to employees who remove themselves from dangerous work 
situations. According to the MOL's Department of Labor Protection and 
Welfare, mining, consumer goods production, and the construction 
industry violated the most laws regarding workers' safety.
    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.
    Migrant workers, especially from Burma, remained particularly 
vulnerable to poor working conditions. Reports indicated that they were 
routinely paid well below the minimum wage, worked long hours and/or in 
unhealthy conditions, and because of their generally illegal status 
were at risk of arrest and deportation. In addition, improper wage 
deductions for registration, health care, sick days, and employee 
errors were widespread.
    Migrant workers also faced discrimination by a Social Security 
Office (SSO) policy that denies disabled but registered migrants access 
to the Workmen's Compensation Fund (WCF). Irregular migrant workers 
that complete a new amnesty and related nationality verification 
process are to have access to WCF and SSO funds (see section 2.d.).
    At year's end two cases involving the constitutionality of the SSO 
policy as well as the case of Nang Noom Mai Seng were pending in the 
Supreme Court. Nang Noom, a Shan registered migrant worker, was 
permanently disabled in a 2006 construction accident. She filed a 
personal compensation claim against the WCF in 2007. In 2008 she filed 
a joint claim with two other Shan migrant workers, requesting 
revocation of the same SSO policy. The Administrative Court ruled in 
November 2008 that administrative courts have no jurisdiction to rule 
on labor cases. The three workers then petitioned the Central Labor 
Court to revoke the SSO policy in December 2008. In May the Central 
Labor Court accepted jurisdiction in the case and decided that labor 
courts can exercise administrative powers in labor cases. A hearing was 
held in Chiang Mai; the court refrained from issuing a decision because 
Nang Noom's first case was pending with the Supreme Court. In October 
Nang Noom and the other claimants appealed the case to the Supreme 
Court, arguing that the two cases were separate matters and that the 
other two plaintiffs were entitled to a decision.
    In June the State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation 
submitted a complaint to the ILO alleging that the government was 
breaching ILO convention 19 by denying Burmese migrant workers access 
to the WCF following accidents at work. The ILO Committee of Experts 
considered the complaint at the end of November; the result was 
expected to be released in March 2010.
    In 2007 two Shan workers from Burma were involved in a work 
accident. One worker survived the accident, and his claim to the WCF 
was accepted. A second worker, Hsai Htun, an unregistered migrant, died 
four days after the accident. The SSO determined that he was not 
entitled to access to the WCF because he was an unregistered migrant. 
Nevertheless, the SSO issued an order for his employer to pay 
compensation. His family concurrently submitted the case to a labor 
court in June 2008. In September, after extensive negotiations, the 
employers agreed to pay 250,000 baht (approximately $7,500) in 
compensation. At year's end Hsai Htun's 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 some reports that security 
officials harassed NGO personnel who were trying to assist illegal 
migrant workers.

                               __________

                              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). 
While the government generally maintained control over these forces, 
there were 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 May 7, a group of F-FDTL members allegedly beat 
two men on a beach in Dili, one of whom was subsequently found dead. At 
year's end the case was under investigation by the Prosecutor General's 
Office.
    On December 28, a PNTL officer shot and killed a 25-year-old man in 
Dili. A second man suffered injuries in the same incident. The PNTL 
suspended the officer and referred the case to the Prosecutor General's 
Office. At year's end the investigation continued.
    On February 27, the government brought charges, including attempted 
homicide and conspiracy, against a group of 28 individuals for their 
alleged roles in the February 2008 nonfatal shooting of President 
Ramos-Horta, during which the leader of the attackers, Major Alfredo 
Reinado, was shot and killed. The trial began on July 13 and continued 
at year's end.
    The prosecutor general declined to pursue charges against an F-FDTL 
member who shot and killed a civilian in April 2008 in Bobonaro 
District. The civilian reportedly threatened the F-FDTL member with a 
machete.
    In October 2008 the Baucau District Court sentenced PNTL 
intelligence officer Luis da Silva to six years' imprisonment for the 
killing of a member of then candidate Xanana Gusmao's security detail 
at a political rally in Viqueque in 2007.
    In November the prosecutor general cited insufficient evidence and 
closed the inquiry into the 2007 case of a PNTL unit firing into a 
crowd in Viqueque, killing two.
    Four trials and 15 investigations continued against individuals 
accused of illegal actions during the 2006 political crisis, which, 
according to a UN Special Commission of Inquiry estimate, caused 38 
deaths, 69 injuries, and the displacement of approximately 150,000 
persons. In December the prosecutor general, citing lack of evidence of 
unlawfulness or culpability, dismissed weapons distribution charges 
against F-FDTL Commander Major General Taur Matan Ruak, former defense 
minister Roque Rodriques, Brigadier General Lere Anan Timur, Colonel 
Falur Rate Laek, and Colonel Manuel Soares Mau Buti.

    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 (Provedor) for Human 
Rights and Justice received numerous complaints of 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.
    On June 7, 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 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.
    On September 26 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 on December 22.
    On November 21, an off-duty policeman allegedly shot and seriously 
injured Mateus Pereira in Vila Verde, Dili. The secretary of state for 
security said the case was under investigation.
    On August 8, a crowd in Suai severely beat Indonesian citizen 
Martenus Bere until the police intervened and took him into custody. 
Bere commanded one of the pro-Indonesian militias during the 1999 
popular consultation that led to Timor-Leste's independence, and the UN 
Serious Crimes Unit indicted him for crimes against humanity in 2003. 
He crossed into Timor-Leste to attend his father's funeral and was 
recognized by local citizens (see section 5).
    The Ombudsman's Office investigated 40 cases of mistreatment 
committed by PNTL or F-FDTL personnel during the state of siege that 
lasted from February to May 2008, after the shooting of President 
Ramos-Horta. On June 29, the Office of the Ombudsman presented its 
findings to parliament. At year's end the report had not been made 
public. UNMIT received allegations of 58 incidents of mistreatment by 
F-FDTL and PNTL members during the state of siege. Some cases were 
investigated by authorities and forwarded to the Prosecutor General's 
Office, but no indictments were filed.
    On January 26, the Bacau District Court sentenced the former Bacau 
PNTL subdistrict commander Fransiso Ersio Ximenes to one year's 
imprisonment for using coercion to obtain information from a suspect in 
January 2008. Ximenes admitted that he beat the victim with a baton 
during questioning. His sentence was suspended for two years, and at 
year's end he remained on active duty in Bacau.
    At year's end there were no developments in the January 2008 arrest 
of three PNTL officers in Suai for allegedly having participated in 
gang-related violence that resulted in 15 persons injured and 20 houses 
burned, or the May 2008 beating of four residents of Dili's Quintal 
Boot neighborhood by PNTL Task Force members.
    On June 30, two police officers accused of the November 2008 
assault of a woman in Ossu Subdistrict, Viqueque District, were 
sentenced to two and six months' suspended imprisonment. The two 
remained on active duty.
    On February 10, the Court of Appeal upheld a four-year prison 
sentence for a PNTL officer found guilty of attempted manslaughter for 
the shooting and injuring of a civilian in Covalima in 2007.
    At year's end there were no developments in the following 2007 
incidents: the case in which an armed group wearing F-FDTL uniforms 
attacked and burned the homes of six families in Dili, the case in 
which six to 10 F-FDTL uniformed persons attacked several homes near 
the national hospital, and the case in which F-FDTL members detained 
and allegedly beat approximately 10 persons for disorderly conduct.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards, although there were no separate 
facilities for women and youth offenders. There were two prisons run by 
the civilian authorities, 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.
    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.
    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 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.

    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.
    UNMIT continued efforts to reform, restructure, and rebuild the 
PNTL 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 
approximately 2,900 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 due to the UNPOL training, 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.
    Some police officers did not pass the vetting process and were on 
suspension pending further investigation. UNMIT conducted human rights 
training sessions for senior PNTL personnel, and the PNTL received 
training from bilateral partners.
    Efforts were made to strengthen internal PNTL accountability 
mechanisms. A Professional Standards and Discipline Office (PSDO) was 
established as early as 2004. Between November 2008 and June, the 
number of pending cases in the PSDO decreased from 373 to 42. The PSDO 
reportedly found almost half the cases it investigated to be 
``substantiated'' and forwarded its findings to the appropriate 
authorities; however, it was unclear what actions, if any, these 
authorities took. 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 does not provide for guaranteed participation from the 
civilian sector in police oversight.
    On February 26, 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. Of the 13 districts, handovers 
occurred in Lautem (May), Oecussi (June), Manatuto (July), and Viqueque 
(December).
    More than 750 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 also 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 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 had never seen 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; however, the 30-day review deadline 
was missed in a large number of cases involving less serious crimes, 
and a majority of the prison population consisted of pretrial 
detainees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The 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 does not speak Portuguese, the language in which the 
laws were written and the courts operate. Access to justice was notably 
constrained.
    The court system consisted of a Court of Appeal and four district 
courts (Dili, Bacau, Suai, and Oecussi). The constitution calls for a 
Supreme Court and high administrative, tax, and audit courts as well as 
other administrative courts of first instance. It also allows for 
military courts and maritime and arbitration courts. At year's end none 
of these courts had been established. Until a Supreme Court is 
established, the Court of Appeal remains the country's highest 
tribunal. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for administration of 
the courts and prisons and also provides defense representation. The 
prosecutor general--independent of the Ministry of Justice--is 
responsible for initiating indictments and prosecutions.
    Progress in establishing justice sector institutions and recruiting 
and training qualified judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys was 
slow. By year's end, 14 judges, 14 prosecutors, and 11 public defenders 
of Timorese nationality were assigned to the country's judicial 
institutions. However, the system remained heavily dependent on 
international judges, prosecutors, and public defenders.
    Judges, prosecutors, and public defenders assigned to other 
districts outside Dili often did not reside in these areas. Their 
intermittent presence continued to severely hamper 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 sensitive cases 
related to the 2006 crisis. At year's end there was a nationwide 
backlog of approximately 5,200 cases. 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; however, this 
principle was inconsistently applied. Defendants have the right to be 
present at trials and to consult with 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 on June 7. 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.
    On July 6, 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.
    Many Dili residents arrived as internal migrants and occupied empty 
houses or built houses on empty lots. The majority of properties in 
Dili are deemed state property, and 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:
    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 the government without reprisal. The criminal 
code, which came into force on June 7, decriminalizes defamation. A 
defamation case brought by the minister of justice against a journalist 
was dropped on June 15.
    There were three daily newspapers, three weeklies, and several 
newspapers that appeared sporadically. All frequently criticized the 
government and other political entities editorially.
    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 televison or 
radio.
    On September 2, members of the media complained that the PNTL 
interfered with their ability to cover the arrest of three individuals 
at a political event on August 31.
    In December a journalist with Tempo Semanal was subpoenaed as a 
witness in the trial of the 28 suspects in the February 2008 attack on 
President Ramos-Horta; the journalist had conducted a telephone 
interview with an alleged leader of the attackers after the events (see 
section 1.a.). The journalist invoked his rights to protect his 
sources, and the judge permitted him to leave without providing 
testimony.

    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, approximately 0.2 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. However, on August 31, the PNTL 
detained three individuals at a political event for not having a proper 
permit and for demonstrating too close to government-owned port 
facilities. The detainees were released within 72 hours, and there were 
no reports of mistreatment.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--Outside the capital, non-
Catholic religious groups were at times regarded with suspicion. There 
were reports that Catholics who converted to other religions were 
subjected to harassment and abuse by community members, and there were 
instances of Protestant churches being harassed during the year.
    There was no indigenous Jewish population, and there were no 
reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.
    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 the government 
formally closed the last of the IDP camps set up after the 2006 
political crisis displaced an estimated 150,000 individuals. 
Approximately 3,000 persons remained in transitional shelters pending 
final resettlement. The Ministry of Social Solidarity administered 
reintegration assistance in coordination with local and international 
NGOs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
The laws provide 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. 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.--On October 9, voters chose 
village leaders in local elections held in 442 Sucos (villages) 
throughout the country.
    The president and parliament were elected 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 Office of 
the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice is the institution charged 
with leading national anticorruption activities and has the authority 
to refer cases for prosecution.
    The Ombudsman's Office was investigating several high-profile 
corruption cases at year's end, including accusations against the prime 
minister, involving government contracts awarded to a company 
affiliated with his daughter, and the minister of justice.
    The country does not have financial disclosure laws. 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.

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.
    The UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste, originally established 
pursuant to a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution with its mandate 
extended by the UNSC of February 26, 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, anticorruption, and good governance, and the ombudsman 
has the power to investigate and monitor human rights abuses, 
corruption, and governance standards and make recommendations to the 
relevant authorities. The Ombudsman's Office was located in Dili and 
had limited ability to conduct outreach or other activities in the 
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. On December 14, 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.
    On August 30, the government released indicted war criminal 
Martenus Bere from detention without charge, trial, or proper court 
authorization. Bere, an Indonesian citizen, was the leader of the 
Lauksaur militia at the time of the 1999 popular consultation that put 
Timor-Leste on the path to formal independence from Indonesia. In 2003 
the UN Special Crimes Unit indicted him for his role in the 1999 Suai 
church massacre, in which at least 30 civilians, including three 
priests, were killed as the church where they had taken refuge was 
attacked with grenades and burned. The crimes against humanity charges 
against Bere included murder, extermination, enforced disappearance, 
torture, inhumane acts, and rape. Article 160 of the constitution makes 
illegal ``acts committed between the 25th of April 1974 and the 31st of 
December 1999 that can be considered crimes against humanity.'' The 
PNTL had detained Bere in Suai on August 8 after he entered the country 
from Indonesian West Timor.

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 June 7 
penal code appears broad enough to make spousal rape a crime, although 
that definition had not been tested in the courts.
    Key legislation that would address legal gaps or establish clear 
guidelines to handle gender-based violent crimes had not been adopted 
by year's end.
    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.
    The new penal code makes ``sexual exploitation of a third party'' 
criminal but does not criminalize prostitution.
    There was no law prohibiting sexual harassment, and sexual 
harassment was reportedly widespread, particularly within some 
government ministries and the police.
    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. Maternal mortality was estimated at 660 deaths per 100,000 
births, and less than one-quarter of deliveries took place with a 
skilled birth attendant. 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 secretary of state for gender issues 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 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.

    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 had been adopted 
establishing the minimum level of education to be provided, nor had 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 lower 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 may 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 June penal code describes a vulnerable victim for 
purposes of rape as a ``victim age 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 age 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 age 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.
    Following the closing of IDP camps during the year (see section 
2.d.), only a small number of children remained in transitional 
settlements pending permanent resettlement of their families.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The Immigration and Asylum Act prohibits 
trafficking of adults and children for prostitution or for forced 
labor; however, there were reports that persons were trafficked to and 
within the country.
    A local NGO estimated that more than 100 foreign prostitutes in the 
capital might be victims of trafficking, either forced into the 
commercial sex industry or subjected to exploitative conditions they 
had not agreed to. Several establishments in the capital were known 
commercial sex operations and were suspected of involvement in 
trafficking.
    Although most trafficking victims in the country were in the sex 
industry, two men were rescued in the country's waters after being 
subjected to forced labor aboard a foreign fishing vessel.
    The June penal code criminalizes ``human trafficking,'' 
``enslavement,'' and the ``sale of persons.''
    In July police conducted raids on two bars/brothels, freeing eight 
women identified as possible trafficking victims. However, credible 
reports indicated that some police and immigration officials colluded 
with such establishments or with those who trafficked foreign women 
into the country to work in them.
    The government cooperated with various international organizations 
and local NGOs to assist trafficking victims. The government also 
provided documentation and exit assistance to three trafficked persons 
returning voluntarily to their home countries. The government granted 
temporary residence, on humanitarian grounds, to two trafficked persons 
who did not wish to return to their countries of origin.
    The government facilitated a seminar for police, military, civil 
servants, NGOs, and government officials to increase understanding of 
international antitrafficking conventions and to combat widespread 
ignorance about the trafficking issue. High-level officials served as 
keynote speakers at the workshops, and antitrafficking and gender-based 
violence posters containing emergency contacts for victims were 
distributed throughout the districts to assist potential victims.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Although the constitution protects the 
rights of persons with disabilities, the government had not enacted 
legislation or otherwise mandated accessibility to buildings for 
persons with disabilities, nor does the law prohibit discrimination 
against persons with disabilities. There were no reports of 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, 
education, or the provision of other state services; however, 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 is responsible for protecting the rights 
of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.--Some tensions between persons 
from the eastern districts (Lorosae) and persons from the western 
districts (Loromonu) continued, although this was greatly diminished 
from levels witnessed during the 2006 political crisis.
    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 ELTJB 
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.
    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 Immigration and Asylum Act prohibits foreigners from 
participating in the administration of trade unions.

    b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.--While 
collective bargaining is permitted, workers generally had little 
experience negotiating contracts, promoting worker rights, or engaging 
in collective bargaining and negotiations.
    There are no formal export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Government 
regulations prohibit forced or compulsory labor, and there were no 
reports that such practices occurred.

    d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code 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 labor code does not 
stipulate a minimum wage. The labor code provides for a standard 
workweek of 40 hours, standard benefits such as overtime and leave, and 
minimum standards of worker health and safety. 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 102,000. Political life is dominated by King Siaosi 
(George) Tupou V, the nobility, and a few prominent commoners. The most 
recent election for ``people's representative'' seats in Parliament, 
held in April 2008, was deemed generally free and fair. There were 
several nascent political parties. A state of emergency declared 
following a 2006 riot in the capital of Nuku'alofa remained in effect 
but limited in scope to Nuku'alofa. Civilian authorities generally 
maintained effective control of the security forces.
    Citizens lacked the ability to change their government. The 
government at times restricted media coverage of certain political 
topics. Government corruption was a problem, and discrimination against 
women continued.
                        
                       RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        From:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
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, and the 
government permitted visits by family members and church 
representatives. The Tonga Red Cross (TRC) monitored prison conditions 
through quarterly visits to the main prison. The government permitted 
monitoring visits by international human rights observers, but there 
were no such visits during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed 
these prohibitions.

    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 470 persons. Incidents of bribe taking and other forms of 
corruption in the police force reportedly occurred. Reports of 
corruption and other public complaints 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 a 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. Judges hold office ``during good behavior'' and 
otherwise cannot be dismissed during their terms.
    The court system consists of the Privy Council, the Court of 
Appeal, the Supreme Court, the police magistrate's court, and the Land 
Court. The king's Privy Council presides over cases relating to 
disputes regarding titles of nobility and estate boundaries and hears 
appeals from the Land Court.
    The TDS and the police force both have tribunals, which cannot try 
civilians.

    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.
    On March 25, a Supreme Court jury found member of Parliament (MP) 
Sione Teisina Fuko and four other defendants not guilty of sedition 
charges relating to statements they made prior to the 2006 riot. The 
chief justice had dismissed the charges against a sixth man in the case 
the previous week, citing insufficient evidence.
    In July the Court of Appeal heard the appeal of MPs 'Akilisi 
Pohiva, 'Isileli Pulu, Clive Edwards, and 'Ulititi Uata, and former MP 
Lepolo Taunisila, who were charged in 2007 with sedition in relation to 
speeches they made at political rallies just prior to the 2006 riot. On 
September 9, the court ordered that all indictments against four of the 
five politicians be dismissed. The court stated that the prosecution 
had not established that the four appellants had conspired to encourage 
violence. The court upheld one individual charge against Edwards of 
``speaking seditious words'' ; that case was awaiting trial at year's 
end.
    Government-controlled media outlets were criticized for exercising 
self-censorship. Since the political campaigns of 2008, the Tonga 
Broadcasting Commission (TBC)'s board has directed that all programming 
be reviewed by TBC board-appointed censors prior to broadcast. During 
parliamentary debates in September, MP Clive Edwards told the House 
that a prerecorded radio program in which he participated still had not 
been broadcast a week later. MP 'Akilisi Pohiva also claimed that parts 
of a speech he made were edited when it was rebroadcast by the TBC.
    Media access to parliamentary debates also was restricted. In June 
2008 the speaker of Parliament announced that he would allow only one 
reporter, from the TBC, into Parliament during debates, and only for 
one hour. The print media must wait for the official minutes, usually 
published several days after Parliament closes.
    While there was little editorializing in the government-owned 
media, opposition opinion in the form of letters to the editor, along 
with government statements and letters, appeared regularly. From time 
to time, the national media carried comments, 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 
peaceful 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 8 percent of the country's inhabitants used 
the Internet in 2008.

    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.
    Trials continued during the year for persons charged with offenses 
relating to the 2006 riot. As of March (the latest statistics 
available), of the 303 persons indicted, 107 were convicted, 18 were 
acquitted, 26 had the charges against them withdrawn, 31 were awaiting 
trial, three were remitted back to the magistrate's court, and 118 were 
placed in the adult diversion program, whereby they admitted to the 
offense and were directed to perform community service for a specified 
period and maintain good behavior.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. However, the dominant Christian religion shows its influence 
in a constitutional provision that Sunday is to be ``kept holy'' and 
that no business can be conducted ``except according to law.'' Although 
an exception was made for bakeries, hotels, resorts, and restaurants 
that are part of the tourism industry, the Sunday prohibition was 
otherwise enforced strictly for all businesses, regardless of the 
business owner's religion.
    TBC guidelines require that religious programming on Radio Tonga be 
confined ``within the limits of the mainstream Christian tradition.'' 
Although the TBC allowed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 
Saints and the Baha'i Faith to broadcast their programs on TV Tonga and 
Radio Tonga, it prohibited discussion of their founders and the basic 
tenets of their faiths. The government-owned but privately operated 
newspaper occasionally carried news articles about Baha'i activities or 
events, as well as those of other faiths.
    There was an unconfirmed report that in May two New Zealand-based 
Falun Gong practitioners visiting Tonga were questioned by officials 
about their activities while in the country.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination against religious groups, including 
anti-Semitic acts. There was no known resident Jewish community.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 authorize the police and 
military to restrict free movement in and around a ``proclaimed area'' 
of Nuku'alofa, but these restrictions were rarely enforced.
    The occasion 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 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. 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
    Citizens do not have the ability to change their leaders or system 
of government. The king and 33 hereditary nobles dominated government. 
The king appoints the prime minister. He also appoints and presides 
over the Privy Council (called the cabinet when the king or regent is 
not presiding), which makes major policy decisions. The council is 
composed of as many as 14 ministers and two regional governors; it 
includes nobles and commoners, all serving at the king's pleasure.
    The unicameral Parliament consists of the cabinet members, nine 
nobles elected by their peers, and nine representatives elected by the 
general population. The king appoints the speaker from among the 
representatives of the nobles. Cabinet members and nobles often voted 
as a bloc.
    In 2007 a tripartite committee of cabinet, nobles', and people's 
representatives issued a report to Parliament recommending major 
changes to the political system that would result in a sizable majority 
of people's representatives in Parliament. Parliament endorsed the 
committee's report in general but put off implementation of recommended 
reforms until 2010. On January 5, a five-member Constitutional and 
Electoral Reform Commission (CEC) was officially established, with a 
parliamentary mandate to recommend, and draft legislation to implement, 
political and electoral reforms. On November 5, the CEC submitted its 
final report and recommendations to the Privy Council and Parliament. 
By year's end Parliament had debated and endorsed amendments to some of 
the recommendations.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Citizens 21 years or older 
and resident in the country may vote. The April 2008 elections for 
Parliament's nine people's representatives were deemed generally free 
and fair and resulted in a strong showing for prodemocracy candidates.
    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 
proreform political parties have been registered.
    There were no women in the 34-member Parliament. A woman may become 
queen, but the constitution forbids a woman to inherit hereditary noble 
titles or become a chief. There was one female government minister.
    The single minority cabinet minister resigned in August; there were 
no other 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. In November a commission of inquiry into the August 5 sinking of 
the government-owned ferry MV Princess Ashika revealed that cabinet had 
resolved to purchase the MV Princess Ashika before it sought the 
endorsement of the government's procurement committee. 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.
    During the year representatives of regional human rights 
organizations visited the country to conduct training for local 
counterparts and provide assistance in setting up local human rights 
organizations.
    The government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by representatives of the UN and 
other international bodies; there were some such visits during the 
year.

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 but increasing, although there were no reliable statistics. 
Rape cases were investigated by the police and prosecuted under the 
penal code. Police received at least two reports of rape during the 
year, but complete statistics were not available by year's end; women's 
rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that the number of 
complaints they received of sexual violence against women was higher.
    The police Domestic Violence Unit, together with various NGOs, 
including the National Center for Women and Children, the Women and 
Children Crisis Center (a new NGO established in November), 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 329 persons sought assistance from these organizations 
during the year. Of these, 76 percent were women, and 15 percent were 
children under the age of 12 years. Domestic violence was the leading 
complaint for women, while neglect and physical abuse were the leading 
reasons for seeking assistance for children. During the year four women 
were killed in domestic violence incidents. Three of the accused 
perpetrators were tried and convicted by year's end; two received life 
sentences, and the third was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment.
    The law does not address domestic violence specifically, but 
domestic violence can be prosecuted under laws against physical 
assault. During the year the Police Domestic Violence Unit initiated 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 because many women were reluctant to press 
charges against their spouses due to cultural constraints. The police 
received 459 reports of domestic violence 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.
    Prostitution is not illegal, but activities such as soliciting in a 
public place, procuring, operating a brothel, and trading in women are 
criminal offenses. There were reports of women and underage girls 
engaging in commercial sexual activities.
    Sexual harassment is not a crime, but physical sexual assault could 
be prosecuted as indecent assault. Sexual harassment of women sometimes 
occurred, based on complaints received by the police's Domestic 
Violence Unit.
    Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and 
responsively the number, spacing, and timing of their children. Free 
information about and access to contraception were provided by public 
hospitals and health centers and by a regional NGO's clinic. However, 
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 also provided free obstetric and postpartum care. 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.
    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 also operated safehouses 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.
    There were some reports of child abuse during the year, including 
eight reports of child battery. The perpetrators in two cases were 
convicted and fined in the magistrate's court. One person was charged 
with manslaughter in the death of a four-year-old child; the case was 
pending 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--While the law does not specifically 
address trafficking in persons, violators could be prosecuted under 
antislavery statutes. There were no confirmed reports that persons were 
trafficked to, from, within, or through the country. There were 
anecdotal reports that some nationals of the People's Republic of China 
working legally and illegally in the country may have been coerced into 
prostitution or other forced labor. There were reports that members of 
foreign fishing crews solicited underage girls for commercial sex.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no mandated provisions for 
services for persons with disabilities. The TRC operated a school for 
children with disabilities and conducted occasional home visits. There 
were no complaints of discrimination in employment, education, and 
provision of other government services.
    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 were no programs to 
ensure access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and in 
practice most buildings were not accessible. 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 were also moving 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 2008 the PSA filed suit against the government claiming 
unlawful dismissal of the PSA's secretary general from her job at the 
Agriculture Department in 2007. She was fired after she signed letters 
to the government on behalf of the PSA asserting breaches by the 
government of a memorandum of understanding between the government and 
civil servants who had gone on strike in 2005. The case was still 
pending at year's end.
    Labor laws apply in all sectors of the economy, including the two 
small export processing zones.

    c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred among citizens. There were anecdotal reports that 
some foreign workers may have been coerced into prostitution or other 
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 during the year, 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. The government seldom addressed 
industrial safety standards, including the right of workers to remove 
themselves from dangerous work situations.

                               __________

                                 TUVALU

    Tuvalu is a parliamentary democracy with a population of 
approximately 10,000. In 2006 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 Apisai 
Ielemia as prime minister. Civilian authorities generally maintained 
effective control of the security forces.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, and the law and judiciary generally provide effective means 
of addressing individual instances of abuse. However, there were a few 
areas of concern. Traditional customs and social patterns led to and 
perpetuated religious and social discrimination, including 
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 constitution prohibits such practices, and there were 
no reports that government officials employed them.
    Local hereditary elders exercise discretionary traditional 
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 permits monitoring visits by international human rights 
observers, but there were no such visits during the year.

    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 meeting. 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 only infrequently 
traveled to the outer islands. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
urged the government to provide sufficient personnel and financial 
resources to the Office of the People's Lawyer to enable it to meet the 
needs of the public effectively on both Funafuti and 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. Since 2008 the number of backlogged 
cases awaiting trial both on the main island of 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. In previous years the government occasionally 
limited these rights in practice, but there were no reports of such 
government limitations during the year.
    Citizens are free to criticize the government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and there were no reports that the government sought 
to impede such criticism.
    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 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. 
However, the relative lack of telecommunications infrastructure, 
especially beyond the capital island of Funafuti, and relatively high 
costs restricted public access to and use of 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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. The constitution also states that the laws are to be based on 
Christian principles. Despite official tolerance, religious homogeneity 
(more than 90 percent of citizens are members of the Church of Tuvalu, 
a Congregationalist denomination) and traditional structures of 
communal life posed practical barriers to the introduction and spread 
of other religious beliefs.
    In September the Court of Appeal met to review the Tuvalu Brethren 
Church's 2006 appeal of the High Court's 2005 ruling permitting local 
traditional authorities to restrict the constitutional right to 
religious freedom in defense of traditional mores. In its decision the 
court set aside the High Court ruling and declared unconstitutional a 
2003 resolution of the Nanumanga Island council banning the Brethren 
Church.
    The constitution provides that no person attending a place of 
education shall be required to receive religious instruction or 
participate in other religious activities without his or her consent. 
Officials of Jehovah's Witnesses confirmed that during the year the 
government granted students at Motufoua Secondary School who were 
members of Jehovah's Witnesses exemption from religious instruction at 
school. The church had previously reported cases in which school 
officials required such students to attend religious instruction 
despite their requests to be excused.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There was a degree of societal 
intolerance toward religions other than established Christian 
denominations, particularly on the outer islands. There was no known 
Jewish community, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 occasion 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 is a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. 
Its 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 2006 general elections 
were generally free and fair. An eight-member majority of the newly 
elected Parliament selected Apisai Ielemia as 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 the 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 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. During the year the government continued to ban most overseas 
travel by officials unless funded from abroad.
    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 
and lacked serious parliamentary support. Public officials were not 
subject to financial disclosure laws.
    In March, together with Nauru and Kiribati, the country signed a 
memorandum of understanding to establish a subregional audit support 
program, a new 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, but there were no such visits during the year.

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 gender discrimination.

    Women.--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.
    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 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, it is five 
years' imprisonment. 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.
    Prostitution is illegal and was not a problem. The law does not 
specifically prohibit sexual harassment but prohibits indecent 
behavior, which includes lewd touching. Sexual harassment was not a 
significant problem.
    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. 
Government hospitals also offered the same services and provided free 
prenatal, obstetric, and postnatal care. 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 is punishable by up to life imprisonment. 
Sexual relations with a girl above age 12 but under age 15 is 
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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not prohibit all forms of 
trafficking in persons, but there were no reports that persons were 
trafficked to, from, through, or within the country. The law 
specifically prohibits procurement of persons within and across borders 
for purposes of prostitution.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not prohibit 
discrimination on the basis of physical 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 multistory government building had 
elevators, they were not operational, and there were no elevators in 
other multistory buildings.
    There was no government agency with specific 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 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 population lacked permanent 
employment and was engaged in subsistence activity.
    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. The government effectively enforced these prohibitions. 
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 A$130 
(approximately $116). 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, very few persons worked in the formal 
economy, which was primarily on the main island, and the government did 
not have occasion to enforce the law during the year.
    The law provides for rudimentary health and safety standards. It 
requires employers to provide an adequate potable water supply, basic 
sanitary facilities, and medical care. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
and Labor is responsible for the enforcement of these regulations, but 
in practice it provided minimal enforcement. Workers can remove 
themselves from work situations that endanger health or safety without 
jeopardy to their jobs; the law also protects legal foreign workers.

                               __________

                                VANUATU

    Vanuatu is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with a population 
of approximately 235,000. The head of government, Prime Minister Edward 
Natapei, governed with a seven-party coalition. The most recent 
elections, held in September 2008, were considered generally free and 
fair. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of 
the security forces; however, police officials on occasion acted 
peremptorily or at the direction of senior politicians.
    The government generally respected the human rights of its 
citizens, but there were problems in some areas. These included 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; however, 
in March police officers reportedly beat 21-year-old escaped prisoner 
John Bule after recapturing him. Bule later died at Vila Central 
Hospital, where he had been brought by police after sustaining multiple 
injuries. At year's end no one had been charged in the case, and a 
coroner's inquest was continuing.
    Court hearings reportedly were carried out during the year 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, with one outstanding case awaiting trial at year's end. No 
further information was available.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution prohibits such practices, and there were 
no reports that government officials employed torture; 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. In December 
2008 inmates set fire to the main Port Vila prison, allegedly due to 
their frustration over the poor conditions there, and approximately 70 
prisoners escaped. Security at all facilities was poor, and there were 
frequent prisoner escapes.
    At year's end the prison system held a total of 190 inmates, 
including 158 convicted prisoners and 32 pretrial detainees. There were 
four female prisoners and five 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.
    Following the December 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 
prisoners' allegations. The commission prepared a report, but it had 
not been publicly released as of year's end.
    In April 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 1, details of their injuries and 
illnesses, and information on prison escapees. According to the public 
prosecutor, only one case was received from the police by year's end 
and was under investigation. At year's end no report had been released.
    The government permitted prison monitoring visits by independent 
human rights observers. During the year the prisons in Port Vila were 
visited by representatives from the UN High Commissioner for Human 
Rights and by members of the country's judiciary.
    There were some improvements reported in prison conditions during 
the year. In September the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Impunity 
Watch reported that the country had implemented separation of juveniles 
from adult prisoners in its correctional facilities. Previously some 
juveniles had been held with adults. According to the director of 
correctional services, prison food was improved to include protein 
three times per week, which was not the case previously.
    Following the December 2008 fire, a major refurbishment was 
undertaken of the Port Vila prison facilities during the year, with 
foreign assistance. New infrastructure in the form of a temporary 
``high risk'' unit was constructed to create more appropriate 
accommodations for inmates who had committed violent offenses and 
inmates with a previous record of escapes. Health- care services were 
procured from the Red Cross to supplement services available through 
the public health system, and a Red Cross nurse was assigned to deliver 
health care services to inmates. Specialist cook positions were created 
to assist in ensuring appropriate food preparation, and a joinery 
workshop was established to add to the range of activities available to 
inmates. 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 
accomplished by year's end.

    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 Vanuatu Mobile Force, 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. During the 
year foreign assistance continued to be provided 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.
    Corruption and impunity were not major problems; however, there 
were instances of corruption and instances in which police acted 
without proper authorization at the behest of politicians. In October 
2008 four police officers suspended in 2007 for their implication in a 
fraud case returned to full duty pending the return to the country of 
an Indo-Fijian who was the prime suspect. During the year the police 
commissioner confirmed that one of the officers had committed suicide 
in relation to the case, and the other officers continued on duty as 
the prime suspect had not returned to the country, and there was 
insufficient evidence against the accused officers.

    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.
    Magistrates' courts deal with most routine legal matters. Island 
courts are present at the local level, with limited jurisdiction in 
civil and criminal matters. The Supreme Court, an intermediate-level 
court, has unlimited jurisdiction over criminal and civil matters and 
considers appeals from the magistrates' courts. The Appeals Court is 
the highest appellate court. Judges cannot be removed without cause.

    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 reluctant to enforce domestic 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.
    On January 17, four correctional service officers assaulted Marc 
Neil-Jones, publisher of the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper, in his 
office. The Post had published articles reporting prisoners' 
allegations of poor treatment. At year's end one of the four officers 
was charged in the assault, and the case was pending a court hearing. 
In February freelance Post reporter Esther Tinning was assaulted by 
Collen Litch, a young man about whom she had written a feature story, 
as she took her children to school. Although the story was positive, 
Litch allegedly stated that he did not like a newspaper story being 
written about him. Litch was convicted of assault; he received a 
suspended sentence and a fine. The Post reported that Tinning, who was 
pregnant at the time, had a miscarriage as a result of the assault.

    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, cost and lack of infrastructure limited public access to the 
Internet. The International Telecommunication Union reported that 
approximately 7 percent of the country's inhabitants used the Internet 
in 2008.

    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.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
religion, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. The government provided some financial assistance for the 
construction of churches affiliated with member denominations of the 
Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC), provided grants to church-operated 
schools, and paid teachers' salaries at church-operated schools in 
existence since the country's independence. These benefits were not 
available to non-Christian religious organizations.
    Government schools scheduled weekly religious education classes 
conducted by representatives of VCC churches. Students whose parents 
did not wish them to attend the classes were excused. Non-Christian 
religions were not permitted to give religious instruction in public 
schools.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were no reports of 
societal abuses or discrimination against religious groups, although 
some churches and individuals objected to missionary activities of 
nontraditional religious groups. The country's Jewish community was 
limited to a few foreign nationals, and there were no reports of anti-
Semitic acts.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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).
    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 its 1967 Protocol. 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, during the year 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 
principal immigration officer, at year's end there were three Sri 
Lankans and one Indonesian from West Papua in Port Vila awaiting 
resettlement in a third country by the UNHCR office in Canberra, 
Australia.

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 and were considered 
generally free and fair. Allegations of bribery and electoral fraud 
were raised against Foreign Minister Bakoa Kaltongga, two other 
politicians, and a former ambassador to the UN. The allegations against 
them were that some voters were turned away from polling booths because 
their names were not on the roll. 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 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. There were no 
women in the cabinet. In March Viran Molisa was appointed solicitor 
general, the first woman to hold that position, the second-ranking 
position (under the attorney general) in the Office of the State Law.
    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.
    A report by the Office of the Ombudsman released in 2008 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 were 
allegedly implicated in the case. Although the case was referred to the 
Public Prosecutor's Office for further action, during the year that 
office sent it back to the police for further investigation, citing 
lack of sufficient evidence to prosecute.
    Public officials are subject to a leadership code of conduct, which 
includes financial 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 governmental response to requests for information from the 
media was inconsistent. In June the Prime Minister's Office released a 
memorandum to all government ministers instructing them to engage 
proactively with the media on issues where their areas of 
responsibilities were brought into question, in order to avoid negative 
media reporting.

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 government cooperated with international governmental 
organizations and permitted visits by UN representatives and other 
organizations. There were a number of reports issued by or with the 
support of UN agencies during the year.
    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.
    In April a new NGO, the Advocacy of Legal Advice Center, was 
established with the stated goal of working to hold officials more 
accountable, including following up on public complaints about 
officials and building a database of cases.

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. In 2008 Parliament passed the 
Family Protection Act, which covers domestic violence, women's rights, 
children's rights, and family rights. Violators could face prison terms 
of up to five years or pay a fine of up to 100,000 vatu (approximately 
$1,040) or both. By year's end a national task force for implementation 
of the law had been appointed and a framework for implementation 
approved, but the law had not yet been implemented.
    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. 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, and the department's 2009 
budget provided for increases in staffing and other resources to 
improve its capacity to carry out its responsibilities. 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 victim later 
wishes to withdraw her complaint, she must go to court to request it be 
dropped.
    Churches and NGOs operated facilities for abused women. NGOs such 
as the National Council of Women and the Vanuatu Women's Center also 
played an important role in educating the public about domestic 
violence but did not have sufficient funding to implement their 
programs fully.
    Prostitution is illegal and was not regarded as widespread. 
However, in 2008 and again during the year, the Vanuatu Daily Post 
reported that prostitution was increasing; poverty appeared to be the 
main cause.
    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. 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. 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 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.
    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. In practice women also 
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 both through birth in the country 
and through one's parents.
    The government stressed the importance of children's rights and 
welfare, but there were significant problems in education. Although 
there is a free and universal education policy, all children paid 
school fees, which served as a barrier to education.
    School attendance is not compulsory. Less than 35 percent of all 
children advanced beyond elementary school due to a shortage of schools 
and teachers beyond grade six. Boys tended to receive more education 
than 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 January police 
charged Efate MP Joshua Kalsakau with indecent assault and unlawful 
sexual intercourse with a minor; the offense allegedly took place at a 
resort on New Year's Eve in 2008. Kalsakau was released on bail pending 
trial. However, before the trial date, the victim withdrew her 
complaint and refused to testify, and the charges were dismissed due to 
lack of evidence.
    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.
    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 penalty is five years' 
imprisonment or if the child is under age 14, seven years' 
imprisonment.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that persons 
were trafficked to, from, through, or within the country.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no law specifically 
prohibiting discrimination against persons with physical 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 for them. 
Their protection and care were left to the traditional extended family 
and NGOs. 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.

    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.
    In March some workers at the sole electric utility, UNELCO, went on 
strike to protest the termination of another staff member, Gremson 
Valua, who was also their spokesperson and a member of the Vanuatu 
Workers Union. The one-day sit-in strike prompted a court hearing the 
same day; the court ruled the strike illegal and ordered the workers to 
return to work. Staff resumed work, and Valua was not reinstated. 
UNELCO did not give a reason for his termination but, according to the 
Department of Labor, paid out all the entitlements due him under the 
Employment Act. The union continued to maintain that Valua was 
terminated because he was a union member.

    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, other than workers' allegation of 
discrimination by the UNELCO electric utility against a union member.
    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. The Department of Labor 
effectively enforced these laws.

    e. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In 2008 the Department of Labor 
increased the minimum wage to 26,000 vatu (approximately $270) per 
month. The department reviews the minimum wage in consultation with 
employers and unions, as and when directed by the minister for labor. 
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 three 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 87 million, is an authoritarian state ruled by the 
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The most recent National Assembly 
elections, held in 2007, were neither free nor fair, since all 
candidates were vetted by the CPV's Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), an 
umbrella group that monitored the country's mass organizations. 
Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the 
security forces.
    The government's human rights record remained a problem. Citizens 
could not change their government, and political opposition movements 
were prohibited. During the year the government increased its 
suppression of dissent, arresting several political activists and 
convicting others arrested in 2008. Several editors and reporters from 
prominent newspapers were fired for reporting on official corruption 
and outside blogging on political topics, and bloggers were detained 
and arrested for criticizing the government. Police commonly mistreated 
suspects during arrest or detention. Prison conditions were often 
austere. Although professionalism in the police force improved, 
corruption remained a significant problem, and members of the police 
sometimes acted with impunity. Individuals were arbitrarily detained 
for political activities and denied the right to fair and expeditious 
trials. The government continued to limit citizens' privacy rights and 
tightened controls over the press and freedom of speech, assembly, 
movement, and association. The government maintained its prohibition of 
independent human rights organizations. Violence and discrimination 
against women as well as trafficking in persons continued to be 
significant problems, despite laws and government efforts to combat 
such practice. 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. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of 
deaths in custody.
    There were no developments in the case of Y Ben Hdok, a Montagnard 
from Dak Lak who died while in detention in May 2008.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    There were no developments in the case of Thich Tri Khai, a monk 
from the unregistered Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, whom police 
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 the provinces of Dak Lak, Dien Bien, 
Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Nghe An, Son La, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, and 
Tra Vinh. Some incidents were related to unrecognized Protestant 
churches that were seeking to hold services in these provinces. Land-
rights protesters in Ho Chi Minh City and several Mekong Delta 
provinces also reported harassment from local authorities. Most 
incidents between ethnic minorities and local authorities involved 
land, money, or domestic disputes.
    In contrast with 2008, there were no reports that the government 
committed activists involuntarily to mental hospitals as a tactic to 
quell dissent.
    The Open Society Institute reported that more than 50,000 drug 
users were being held in forced detoxification drug treatment camps.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions could be 
austere but generally did not threaten the lives of prisoners. 
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 
May visit to Nam Ha Prison in Ha Nam Province. Prisoners sometimes were 
moved to 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 better benefits by paying 
bribes to prison officials.
    Prisoners had access to basic health care, with additional medical 
services available at district or provincial hospitals. However, in 
many cases officials obstructed family members from providing 
medication to prisoners. Family members of one activist who experienced 
eye problems while in a prison in Thanh Hoa Province and family members 
of another activist who had a stroke while in prison in Ha Nam Province 
both claimed that medical treatment was inadequate, resulting in 
greater long-term health complications.
    Prison authorities returned Father Nguyen Van Ly's Bible to him and 
allowed him to read party-sanctioned newspapers and watch television. 
However, he was in poor health after suffering two strokes in prison in 
July and November. After the second and more severe stroke, he was 
moved to a hospital administered by the Ministry of Public Security 
(MPS) near Hanoi. Following treatment, he was returned to the prison 
facility in Ha Nam, where he remained at year's end.
    The total number of prisoners and detainees was not publicly 
available. Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted 
prisoners. By regulation and practice, 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 availability of space in 
detention facilities. By regulation men and women were held separately. 
Political prisoners were typically sent to specially designated prisons 
that also held other convicts, and in most cases most political 
prisoners were kept separate from nonpolitical prisoners. Some high-
profile political prisoners were kept in complete isolation from all 
other prisoners.
    Authorities allowed foreign diplomats and a foreign delegation to 
make limited prison visits and meet with prisoners in various prisons.

    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 MPS; however, in some remote areas, the 
military is the primary government agency and provides 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 has generally become less 
intrusive, 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 forces 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. The police were generally effective at maintaining political 
stability and public order, but police capabilities, especially 
investigative, were generally very low. Police training and resources 
were inadequate.
    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. 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 (the 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) to more than two 
years for national security cases. However, at times investigations 
could be 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 the 
police to investigate further. Investigators sometimes used physical 
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 often delayed defense lawyers' access to 
clients until an investigation had ended and the suspect had been 
formally charged with a crime. 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 frequently did not allow 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. At year's end some persons arrested 
for more than a year had not been seen by family members or a lawyer, 
nor had they been formally charged with crimes.
    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.'' 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.
    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. During the year authorities arrested several 
individuals for violating article 88, which prohibits the 
``distribution of propaganda against the state.'' Those charged with 
violating article 88 typically received sentences of up to five years 
in prison. While several activists received reduced prison sentences 
after they appealed, others had their original sentences reaffirmed 
during appeals.
    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 
during the year.
    As in 2008, 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 advance of the Tet holiday and in honor of National 
Day, the central government amnestied approximately 20,000 prisoners, 
the overwhelming majority of whom had ordinary criminal convictions.
    The Tet amnesty included well-known journalist Nguyen Viet Chien, 
People's Democratic Party activist Tran Thi Le Hang, and land rights 
protester Dang Tien Thong, as well as four Khmer Krom Buddhist monks 
(Kim Moeun, Danh Tol, Thach Thuong, and Ly Hoang) convicted for their 
involvement in land protests in 2007. The National Day amnesty included 
Nguyen Huu Hai and Nguyen Hong Son, both affiliated with an 
unrecognized branch of Cao Daiism. Cambodian police arrested Hai and 
Son in 2004 for protesting the Vietnamese delegation at an Association 
of Southeast Asian Nations Inter-Parliamentary Organization meeting in 
Phnom Penh. They were expelled to Vietnam later in 2004 and convicted 
of ``fleeing abroad to oppose the government'' and ``propagating 
documents against the Vietnamese Government to incite demonstrations 
and riots.''
    More than 100 Montagnards from the Central Highlands convicted for 
violating national security laws in 2001 and 2004 were reportedly 
released during the year, including 11 during the September National 
Day amnesty.

    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. 
In July and August, national television showed videotaped police 
confessions of several political activists arrested earlier in the 
year, including attorney Le Cong Dinh. The confessions were shown 
before their trials and in some cases before they were formally 
charged.
    The judiciary consists of the Supreme People's Court (SPC); 
provincial and district people's courts; military tribunals; 
administrative, economic, and labor courts; and other tribunals 
established by law. Each district has a people's court, which serves as 
the court of first instance for most domestic, civil, and criminal 
cases. Each province also has a people's court, which serves as the 
appellate forum for district court cases. The SPC, which reports to the 
National Assembly, is the highest court of appeal and review. 
Administrative courts adjudicate complaints by citizens about official 
abuse and corruption. There are also special committees to help resolve 
local disputes.
    Military tribunals, although funded by the Ministry of Defense, 
operate under the same rules as other courts. The head of the military 
tribunal system is the deputy head of the SPC. Military tribunal judges 
and assessors are military personnel chosen jointly by the SPC and the 
ministry but supervised by the SPC. The law gives military courts 
jurisdiction over all criminal cases involving military entities, 
including military-owned enterprises. The military has the option of 
using the administrative, economic, or labor courts for civil cases.
    Courts of first instance at district and provincial levels include 
judges and lay assessors, but provincial appeals courts and the SPC are 
composed of judges only. People's councils appoint lay assessors from a 
pool of candidates suggested by the VFF. Lay assessors are required to 
have ``high moral standards,'' but legal training is not required, and 
their role is largely symbolic.
    There was a shortage of trained lawyers and judges. Low judicial 
salaries hindered efforts to develop a trained judiciary. The few 
judges who had formal legal training often had studied abroad only 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 Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF), a national professional 
association representing practicing attorneys, was formed pursuant to a 
prime ministerial decision in January 2008 to implement the 2005 Law on 
Lawyers. The VBF falls under the VFF and closely coordinated with the 
Ministry of Justice and the Vietnam Lawyers Association. The VBF acted 
as an umbrella association overseeing the functions of local bar 
associations, and it began 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. 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 of involvement of a juvenile offender or of possible sentences 
of life imprisonment or capital punishment. The defendant or the 
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. Convicted persons have the right to appeal. District and 
provincial courts did not publish their proceedings. The SPC 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 and arrest, such as attorneys Le Cong Dinh and Le Tran Luat. 
MPS spokesmen partially attributed Dinh's arrest to his defense of 
political dissidents in court.
    The public prosecutor brings charges against an accused person and 
serves as prosecutor during trials. Earlier reforms to the criminal 
procedures code were intended to move courtroom procedures towards an 
``adversarial'' system, in which prosecutors and defense lawyers 
advocate for their respective sides. Implementation differed from one 
province to another.
    In March government officials allowed several foreign diplomats to 
attend the joint appellate trial of eight Thai Ha defendants (see 
Political Prisoners and Detainees).

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no precise estimates 
of the number of political prisoners. The government held at least 60 
political detainees at year's end, although some international 
observers claimed the number ranged into the hundreds. The government 
claimed it held no political prisoners, only lawbreakers.
    On January 15, Mennonite pastor Nguyen Thi Hong was sentenced to 
three years in prison for ``abusing trust to appropriate property'' 
related to unpaid debts owed by her deceased husband, even though the 
debt had been paid and the plaintiff's family withdrew their complaint.
    In May two foreigners were arrested and later deported for their 
alleged connections with the Viet Tan Party, and in July another 
foreigner was arrested and later deported for his alleged connections 
with the Democratic Party of Vietnam (DPV).
    In June prominent attorney Le Cong Dinh was arrested for posting 
editorials on the BBC in Vietnamese and elsewhere that were critical of 
the government and for defending prominent human rights defenders, such 
as Le Thi Cong Nhan, Nguyen Van Dai, and blogger Dieu Cay. Later the 
government claimed that Dinh and Tran Huynh Duy Thuc were involved in a 
complex plot with overseas elements to overthrow the government. Dinh 
and Thuc were originally accused of ``propagandizing against the 
state'' under article 88, but on December 22, state-run media reported 
that they would be tried under article 79, a national security 
provision reserved for ``organizers, instigators, and active 
participants'' of antistate activities that typically carries more 
severe penalties, ranging from 12 to 20 years in prison to the death 
sentence. An associate of Thuc, Le Thang Long, also faced charges under 
article 79. Other associates, including Tran Thi Thu and Le Thi Thu 
Thu, were reportedly detained in June, but according to media reports 
they would not face trial.
    On December 28, Tran Anh Kim, a former army colonel turned 
dissident blogger who worked as the North Vietnam representative for 
the banned political movement Bloc 8406 and was a DPV leader, was 
sentenced under article 79 to five years and six months in prison, 
followed by three years' probation. Kim and Nguyen Tien Trung, a DPV 
leader and cofounder of the Viet Youth for Democracy, were arrested in 
July for violating article 88; their charges also were elevated to the 
more serious article 79. In August state-run media broadcast 
``confessions'' from Dinh, Thuc, Trung, and Kim claiming that they had 
jointly conspired to overthrow the government. They were awaiting trial 
at year's end.
    Phung Quang Quyen, a member of the For the People Party (FPP) and 
the DPV, was released from prison in January but rearrested in 
September for the third time for violating his administrative probation 
by covertly traveling to Cambodia to meet with FPP leadership. Three 
other individuals affiliated with the DPV were also arrested: Truong 
Van Kim, Duong Au, and Truong Thi Tam. They were charged with violating 
article 91 of the penal code (fleeing to a foreign country to oppose 
the government) and were awaiting trial at year's end.
    Le Thi Kim Thu, a land-rights activist arrested in August 2008 and 
later convicted and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment under article 
88 in November 2008, was released three months early in November for 
good behavior.
    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).
    In January People's Democratic Party member Huyen Nguyen Dao was 
released after completing his full sentence.
    In February Trinh Quoc Thao, a member of the Group of Vietnamese 
Patriots, was released after completing his two-year sentence for 
``propagandizing against the government.''
    In April land rights activist and Bloc 8406 member Ho Thi Bich 
Khuong was released after completing her full sentence.
    There were reports that during the year more than 100 Montagnards 
from the Central Highlands convicted of violating national security 
laws relating to protests in the Central Highlands in 2001 and 2004 
were released.
    In September Bloc 8406 and Bach Dang Giang member Nguyen Ngoc Quang 
was released after having served his three-year prison term for 
distributing prodemocracy articles and documents on the Internet.
    In September land rights activists Luong Van Sinh and Luu Quoc Quan 
were released from prison after having served their full sentences for 
demonstrating without a permit and propagandizing against the 
government.
    At the end of November, Tran Cong Minh, a member of the People's 
Action Party, was released from prison after completing his 13-year 
sentence. Minh was arrested in 1996 when he and 18 others attempted to 
cross from Cambodia to Thailand to meet with leaders of the People's 
Action Party. Minh was transferred to Vietnam and put on trial in 1999.
    Nguyen Khac Toan's administrative probation ended in January and 
Pham Hong Son's in August.
    There were no developments reported in the case of the April 2008 
detention and arrest of individuals suspected of organizing 
demonstrations by ethnic minority groups protesting local land use 
policies in the Central Highlands.
    In February Nguyen Thi Cam Hong, a land rights protester from Long 
An Province arrested in 2008, was convicted and sentenced to 18 months' 
imprisonment for violating article 88.
    In March eight participants arrested in the prayer vigils in Thai 
Ha parish lost an appeal contesting their December 2008 convictions of 
disturbing public order and destroying public property.
    In four separate trials on October 6-9, nine dissidents affiliated 
with Bloc 8406 and detained in August-September 2008, were sentenced to 
jail terms ranging from two to six years for violating article 88. 
Seven of the nine had displayed banners in Hanoi, Haiphong, and Hai 
Duong that criticized the Communist Party and advocated multiparty 
democracy. The remaining two were convicted for their blogging, which 
the prosecution claimed slandered the government and the CPV. All but 
one was represented by counsel, but most family members were barred 
from attending the trials. Vu Van Hung and Tran Duc Thach were tried 
separately in Hanoi and sentenced to three years in prison with an 
additional three years of administrative probation. Pham Van Troi, also 
tried in Hanoi, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment and an 
additional four years of administrative probation. The remaining six 
dissidents were tried jointly in Haiphong. Nguyen Xuan Nghia received a 
six-year sentence plus three years of administrative probation. Nguyen 
Van Tuc was sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years' 
administrative probation. Nguyen Van Tinh and former party member 
Nguyen Manh Son were both sentenced to three years and six months in 
prison followed by three years' administrative probation. College 
student Ngo Quynh was given a three-year prison sentence followed by 
three years' administrative probation. Nguyen Kim Nhan was sentenced to 
two years' imprisonment and two years' administrative probation. 
Several foreign diplomats and media were permitted to attend three of 
the four trials. At year's end Pham Thanh Nghien, affiliated with the 
nine that were convicted, remained in detention without being charged.
    Dissident author Tran Khai Thanh Thuy remained in detention in 
Hanoi pending trial on assault charges stemming from an October 8 
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 herself charged with assault. Earlier on the same day, authorities 
stopped Thuy from travelling to Haiphong to attend the trial of the six 
Bloc 8406 activists. Police forcibly took Thuy back to Hanoi and 
ordered her to stay home indefinitely. On the previous day, October 7, 
police harassed Thuy after she joined the family of Vu Van Hung outside 
the site of his trial. In 2007 Thuy was jailed for nine months but was 
released in January 2008 after she was convicted of ``disturbing the 
public order'' and sentenced to time served.
    Several high-profile dissidents remained in prison, including 
Catholic priest Nguyen Van Ly and human rights attorneys Nguyen Van Dai 
and Le Thi Cong Nhan.
    Several of approximately 30 activists arrested in 2006-07 remained 
under investigation and under administrative detention without being 
formally charged.
    Several political dissidents affiliated with outlawed political 
organizations, including Bloc 8406, the People's Democratic Party, 
People's Action Party, Free Vietnam Organization, DPV, the United 
Workers and Farmers Organization (UWFO), and others, remained in prison 
or under house arrest in various locations.
    International nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) estimated that 
several hundred ethnic minority demonstrators associated with the 2004 
Central Highlands protests remained in prison.

    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.

    Property Restitution.--In August 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 July and August, Catholic parishioners in Quang Binh Province 
conducted several large-scale prayer vigils as a result of a property 
dispute with provincial authorities regarding the ruins of the Tam Toa 
Church in the city of Dong Hoi.
    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 to develop large-scale state-owned 
coffee and rubber plantations. During the year authorities forcibly 
relocated 20,000 households due to the construction of a large 
hydropower project in Son La Province. Many of those resettled said 
that their loss was much greater than the state's compensation. Several 
residents attributed the cause of the earlier demonstrations in the 
Central Highlands to ethnic minority frustration and discontent over 
policies regarding state land use.

    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 generally 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.

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 were regularly 
and 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. One political activist reported that 
her home was defiled by animal excrement and motor oil to intimidate 
her from speaking out against the government.
    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 occasionally 
intervened directly to dictate or censor a story. In January, for 
example, censors removed mention of the battle of Khe San and the word 
``communism'' from the official translation of a foreign leader's 
speech. More often, however, control over media content was ensured 
through pervasive self-censorship, backed by the threat of dismissal 
and possible arrest.
    Despite the continued growth of Internet blogs, the party and the 
government increased efforts to suppress press freedom, continuing a 
``rectification'' campaign begun in March 2008. Reinforcing the 
message, in June Prime Minister Dung stated that ``the press must serve 
as the reliable vanguard for the party, state, and people on the 
political and ideological front.'' During the year several senior media 
editors and reporters were fired for their reporting on corruption and 
criticisms of government policies, and one publication was suspended as 
a result of its reporting on the 30th anniversary of the brief border 
war with China.
    On January 2, three editors of leading newspapers Thanh Nien, Tuoi 
Tre, and Phap Luat were dismissed from their jobs as retribution for 
reporting related to a large-scale corruption scandal involving the 
Ministry of Transportation's Project Management Unit Number 18 (PMU-
18). These actions followed the October 2008 conviction of the two 
reporters who broke the story, Nguyen Viet Chien of Thanh Nien and 
Nguyen Van Hai of Tuoi Tre. Chien was sentenced to two years in prison 
but released during the January Tet amnesty. Hai received a two-year 
noncustodial ``reeducation'' sentence. Shortly after the arrests of 
Chien and Hai, the two newspapers replaced their senior editors. In 
August the government revoked the press cards of seven journalists from 
state-controlled newspapers for ``lack of responsibility'' in 
connection with their reports on the PMU-18 scandal.
    In February the MPS shut down the online news portal 
www.timnhanh.com for disseminating political content critical of the 
CPV and for violating copyright laws. In April the biweekly newspaper 
Du Lich was suspended for three months for publishing an article on the 
30th anniversary of the border war with China. In August two reporters 
with Tuoi Tre newspaper had their press cards revoked for 
``inaccuracies'' in their reporting relating to corruption in 2005. 
Another journalist and blogger was fired in August from the Saigon Tiep 
Thi newspaper for his commentary and criticism of government policies.
    The government continued to place tight restrictions on press 
stories involving disputes with China over contested territory in the 
South China Sea. In September Dao Duy Quat, editor in chief of the CPV 
Web site www.dangcongsan.vn, was fined 30 million VND (approximately 
$1,670) and formally reprimanded by the propaganda office for 
reprinting an article that originally appeared in a Chinese newspaper 
on China's military exercises in the South China Sea. The article 
appeared to endorse China's land claims to the Spratly and Paracel 
Islands.
    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.
    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, although the process was routine; there were no 
reports of any visa renewals being refused. The number of foreign media 
employees allowed was limited, and local employees who worked for 
foreign media also were 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 of 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.
    In February the MIC tightened control over the import of foreign 
publications and operation of foreign publishers. Under new 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. According to the MIC, more than 25 percent 
of the population had access to the Internet, and according to a study 
by Yahoo, in large population centers close to 50 percent had access.
    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 cases, the 
government fined or punished these individuals for the content of their 
blogs.
    The number of persons who used social networking sites such as 
Facebook increased to well over one million, as did the number of 
domestic social networking sites. Early in the year, the media began 
reporting on the emergence of ``microblogs'' (e.g. Facebook's status 
function and Twitter) as the replacement for traditional blogs; 
however, the number of users was very small. In November the government 
ordered ISPs to block Facebook. Although the government denied it had 
ordered the site blocked, employees at ISPs informed the media that 
they had received government orders to block the site. At year's end 
most persons could not access Facebook.
    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 also requires ISPs to provide 
technical assistance and workspace to public security agents to allow 
them to monitor Internet activities.
    The government requires firms such as 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. Similarly, it was not clear to what extent 
major ISPs complied with the many government regulations.
    While citizens enjoyed increasing access to the Internet, the 
government monitored e-mail, searched for sensitive key words, and 
regulated Internet content. They claimed that censorship of the 
Internet was necessary to protect citizens from pornography and other 
``antisocial'' or ``bad elements.'' They also claimed that efforts to 
limit Internet access by school-age users was intended to keep them 
from gaming at the expense of doing their schoolwork.
    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. 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 publish ideas on human rights and political 
pluralism.
    In May Tran Huynh Duy Thuc, the blogger known as Change We Need who 
regularly reported on corruption in the prime minister's family, was 
arrested for running an illegal telephone business. Thuc was awaiting 
trial at year's end.
    In August political bloggers Bui Thanh Hieu (also known as Wind 
Trader) and Me Nam (also known as Momma Mushroom) were arrested in 
connection with their writings and political activism. Hieu was 
released 10 days after his initial arrest, while Nam was detained for 
12 days. She announced on her Web site that she agreed to stop blogging 
as a condition of her release. VietnamNet journalist Pham Doan Trang 
was also detained for 10 days due to her connections with Hieu and Nam. 
Also in August well-known journalist and prolific blogger Huy Duc was 
dismissed from his job with the Saigon Thiep Thi newspaper for his 
politically sensitive blog postings.
    In October the government also closed down the Tia Sang (Ray of 
Light) online magazine registered under the Ministry of Science and 
Technology, reportedly for its previous reporting critical of the 
education system and on bauxite mining in the Central Highlands.
    Prominent blogger and Free Journalist Club head Nguyen Hoang Hai 
(also known as Dieu Cay) remained in prison at year's end. His former 
wife was denied permission several times to meet with him, while his 
son was allowed one short meeting. At year's end he was reportedly 
being held in isolation. In September the UN Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention highlighted his case, as well as the ``illegal arrests'' and 
continued persecution of a number of other Internet bloggers, including 
Truong Minh Duc, Pham Van Troi, Nguyen Xuan Nghia, Vu Hung, Ngo Quynh, 
and Pham Thanh Nghien. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, a writer and journalist 
arrested in January 2008 under article 88 and subsequently released for 
medical treatment, was harassed several times throughout the year.
    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 
(RFA) most of the time. Nevertheless, the local press occasionally 
wrote stories based on RFA broadcasts.
    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. Local librarians 
increasingly were being trained in professional skills and 
international standards that supported wider international library and 
information exchanges and research. Foreign academic professionals 
temporarily working at universities in the country were allowed to 
discuss nonpolitical 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.
    Members of the academic community expressed concern over a prime 
ministerial decree issued in July (Decision 97) that prohibits 
independent scientific and technical organizations from publicly 
criticizing party and state policy as a potentially severe restriction 
on academic freedom. One prominent research institution, the Institute 
for Development Studies, chose to disband, arguing that it could not 
properly function under the restrictions.
    The government controlled art exhibits, music, and other cultural 
activities; however, it generally allowed artists 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.--The 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 as having a political purpose. The government also 
restricted the right of several unregistered religious groups to gather 
in worship (see section 2.c.).
    In July and August, large-scale prayer vigils occurred relating to 
a land dispute regarding the Tam Toa church ruins in Quang Binh 
Province. In July local authorities arrested eight parishioners in 
connection with the demonstrations; all had been released by September. 
A small mob attacked and beat two Catholic priests near the disputed 
site. One of the priests was pushed from a second-story window and was 
hospitalized. The Tam Toa prayer vigils followed similarly large 
demonstrations and prayer vigils that took place in January, April, 
August, and September 2008 at disputed Catholic properties at the 
former papal nuncio's residence and at the Thai Ha parish in Hanoi. 
Smaller 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.
    Officials unevenly implemented the 2007 Ordinance on Grassroots 
Democracy, which allows villagers, with the participation of local VFF 
representatives, to convene meetings to discuss and propose solutions 
to local problems and nominate candidates for local leadership. The 
ordinance also requires commune governments to publicize how they raise 
and spend funds for local economic development.
    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 25 members of the group were in detention at 
year's end.
    Numerous members of several other activist groups, including the 
DPV, the People's Democratic Party of Vietnam, and a related group, the 
UWFO, remained in prison at year's end. In July several DPV leaders, 
including Tran Anh Kim and Nguyen Tien Trung, were arrested for their 
political activities.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--The constitution and government decrees 
provide for freedom of worship, and improvements made in past years in 
overall respect for religious freedom continued during the year. The 
government persisted in placing restrictions on the organized 
activities of religious groups; however, in general restrictions were 
enforced less strictly than in previous years. Overall participation in 
religious activities continued to grow significantly.
    Problems remained in the implementation of the Legal Framework on 
Religion. The problems occurred primarily at the local level, but in 
some instances the central government also delayed enforcement.
    Religious groups encountered the greatest restrictions when they 
engaged in activities that the government perceived as political 
activism or a challenge to its rule. The government continued to 
discourage participation in an unrecognized faction of the Hoa Hao 
Buddhist Church. The government also restricted the activities and 
movement of the leadership of the unrecognized Unified Buddhist Church 
of Vietnam (UBCV) and maintained that it would not recognize the 
organization under its existing leadership. The government remained 
concerned that some ethnic minority groups active in the Central 
Highlands were operating a self-styled ``Dega Church,'' which 
reportedly mixes religious practice with political activism and calls 
for ethnic minority separatism.
    The government maintained a prominent role overseeing recognized 
religions. By law religious groups must be officially recognized or 
registered, and the activities and leadership of individual religious 
congregations must be approved by the appropriate authorities. The law 
mandates that the government act in a timely and transparent fashion, 
but the approval process for registration and recognition of religious 
organizations was sometimes slow and nontransparent. Nevertheless, 
dozens of Protestant congregations were newly registered throughout the 
country during the year, and one religious denomination received 
national registration. However, in the northern region and the 
Northwest Highlands, local authorities had not acted on most 
registration applications submitted since 2006 by more than 1,000 
Protestant congregations among predominantly ethnic minority groups.
    Some local authorities continued to demand that recognized 
religious organizations provide lists of all members of 
subcongregations as a precondition to registration, although this 
requirement is not specifically codified in the Legal Framework on 
Religion. Some registered congregations in the northern region and the 
Northwest Highlands complained that officials used such lists to keep 
unlisted members from participating in services or for harassment by 
local authorities or their agents. Annual activities by congregations 
also must be registered with authorities, and activities not on the 
accepted annual calendar require separate government approval.
    Official oversight of religious groups varied widely between 
localities, often as a result of ignorance of national policy or 
varying local interpretations of the policy's intent. In general, 
central-level efforts to coordinate proper implementation of the 
government's religious framework reduced the frequency and intensity of 
religious freedom violations. Nevertheless, activities of nonrecognized 
and unregistered religious groups remained technically illegal, and 
these groups occasionally experienced harassment. However, several 
large-scale Christmas celebrations were approved even though the 
organizers were largely unregistered Protestant house churches. The 
largest celebration was held in Ho Chi Minh City, where a reported 
40,000 Christians participated, while celebrations in Hanoi, Danang, 
and northern Nam Dinh Province had 14,000, 4,500, and 2,500 
participants, respectively.
    Several ``unregistered'' religious gatherings were broken up or 
obstructed in the Northwest Highlands, amid accusations by religious 
practitioners that local authorities sometimes used ``contract thugs'' 
to harass or beat them. In Dien Bien there were reports that local 
officials encouraged Protestants to recant their faith. In Tra Vinh 
there were reports of repeated harassment and beatings by plainclothes 
``citizen brigades'' at several house churches, including the Full 
Gospel Church. Authorities took no disciplinary action against the 
offenders. However, the level of harassment declined in comparison with 
previous years, and the vast majority of unregistered churches and 
temples were allowed to operate without interference.
    The government actively discouraged contacts between the UBCV and 
its foreign supporters, although such contacts continued. Police 
routinely questioned some persons who were outspoken in their 
antigovernment political views, such as UBCV monks and certain Catholic 
priests. Police continued to monitor the movement of UBCV monks.
    There were few credible allegations of forced renunciations in the 
Central and Northwest Highlands during the year.
    The vast majority of Buddhists practiced their religion under the 
Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) Executive Council, the officially 
sanctioned Buddhist governing council, and generally were able to 
worship freely. Theravada Buddhists, who are also part of VBS and 
commonly members of the Khmer Krom ethnic minority, were also generally 
able to worship freely. The government continued to harass UBCV 
leadership and prevented them from conducting independent charitable 
activities outside their pagodas.
    On June 29, a group of vigilantes attacked the meditation center 
and dormitories of a group of Lang Mai (Plum Village) Buddhists, who 
are followers of internationally renowned Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, 
inside the Bat Nha monastery compound in Lam Dong Province. The attack 
occurred in the presence of uniformed and plainclothes police, who did 
nothing to prevent it. Resident Bat Nha monks, opposed to the Lang Mai 
group's presence in the pagoda, isolated the group and cut off their 
water and electricity from June until the end of September. The 
National Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA) instructed local 
authorities to evict the Lang Mai community from the pagoda, failed to 
prevent the attacks and punish those involved, and appeared to favor 
one side in the dispute. On September 27, a large mob in coordination 
with plainclothes police beat and forcibly evicted approximately 150 
Lang Mai monks from the Bat Nha pagoda. The monks then sought refuge at 
the nearby Phuoc Hue pagoda. On September 28, the remaining 200 Lang 
Mai nuns were also forcibly evicted and joined the monks at Phuoc Hue. 
In November two pagodas in Dong Nai and Lam Dong provinces petitioned 
the central VBS and CRA to allow them to sponsor the Plum Village monks 
and nuns. The CRA rejected these petitions, claiming that the Plum 
Village Community ``failed to obey the law'' and ``caused disunity'' 
among Buddhists, and it ordered the Lam Dong provincial VBS to force 
the monks and nuns to disband and return to their home provinces by 
December 31. Another group of 21 Lang Mai monks and nuns were forcibly 
evicted from a pagoda in Khanh Hoa Province on November 29. One senior 
monk was under house arrest in Khanh Hoa, and another was reported to 
be in hiding. The provincial VBS had not taken action by the end of the 
year, and the Plum Village Community continued to seek refuge at the 
Phuoc Hue pagoda.
    Senior UBCV leaders remained under police surveillance at their 
pagodas and reported limited ability to travel within the country. 
Thich Quang Do and Thich Khong Thanh were able to attend the funeral of 
the UBCV patriarch in July 2008, and other UBCV leaders were allowed to 
attend a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the passing of 
the patriarch without incident.
    Hoa Hao monks and believers following the government-approved Hoa 
Hao Administrative Council were allowed to practice their faith. Monks 
and followers who belonged to dissident groups or declined to recognize 
the authority of the council suffered restrictions.
    The Catholic Church reported that the government continued to ease 
restrictions on assignment of new clergy and did not object to the 
installation of three new bishops during the year. The Church discussed 
establishing additional seminaries with the government and expanded its 
pastoral works program. On February 16-17, the government and the 
Vatican held their first round of discussions in Hanoi under a newly 
created ``Joint Vietnam-Holy See Working Group'' on reestablishing 
diplomatic relations. On December 11, State President Nguyen Minh Triet 
met with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican for a meeting that the 
Vatican characterized as ``a significant stage in the progress of 
bilateral relations with Vietnam.''
    A number of Catholic clergy reported a continued easing of 
government control over activities in certain dioceses outside of 
Hanoi. In many places local government officials allowed the Catholic 
Church to conduct religious education classes (outside regular school 
hours) and charitable activities. The Ho Chi Minh City government 
continued to facilitate certain charitable activities of the Church in 
combating HIV/AIDS; however, educational activities and legal permits 
for some Catholic charities to operate as NGOs remained suspended.
    Local officials informally discouraged some clergy from traveling 
domestically, even within their own provinces, especially when travel 
to ethnic minority areas was involved. The Catholic archbishop of Hanoi 
was restricted in his official travels to ethnic minority areas in the 
north.
    Despite some reports of discrimination against Catholic students, 
authorities denied that the government has a policy of limiting access 
to education based on religious belief.
    Religious organizations were not allowed to operate schools 
independently. Foreign missionaries may not operate openly as religious 
workers in the country, although many undertook humanitarian or 
development activities with government approval and met with registered 
congregations.
    The government generally required religious publishing to be done 
through a government-owned religious publishing house; however, some 
religious groups were able to copy their own materials or import them, 
subject to government approval. The government allowed the printing and 
importation of some religious texts, including in ethnic minority 
languages.

    Societal Abuses and Discrimination.--There were few instances of 
societal violence based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice 
during the year. Members of minority religious groups experienced 
little or no societal discrimination. 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.
    For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International 
Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/.

    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 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.
    Several political dissidents, amnestied with probation or under 
house arrest, were subject to official restrictions on their movements, 
but police allowed them to venture from their homes under surveillance. 
Although their probation ended during the year, authorities prohibited 
dissidents Nguyen Khac Toan and Tran Khai Thanh Thuy from receiving a 
passport and traveling overseas. Attorney Le Quoc Quan and journalist 
Nguyen Vu Binh were allowed to travel within the country but continued 
to face restrictions on their ability to travel overseas. In July 
authorities prevented a member of the Democracy Writers of Dalat from 
leaving the country due to national security provisions.
    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 were 
also 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, but prospective emigrants rarely 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 
abroad 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 
Vietnamese 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 and did not permit them to use 
Vietnamese passports after they acquired other citizenship. 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. 
During the year the government continued to liberalize travel 
restrictions for overseas Vietnamese.
    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 conditions for ethnic minorities in the Central 
Highlands had improved markedly since the 2001 and 2004 crackdowns, 
stating 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 that 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. A further 2,300 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 enjoyed 
the same rights as Vietnamese citizens, including the right to own 
property, comparable access to education, and public medical care. 
Citizenship of children is derived from their parents. In 2007 the 
UNHCR and the government of Vietnam developed a plan calling for a full 
survey and Vietnamese naturalization of these stateless individuals; 
the survey and naturalization continued and were expected to be 
completed before the end of 2010. By year's end 1,800 applications for 
naturalization had been submitted to the Office of the President for 
final approval.
    The government resolved earlier problems of statelessness due to 
involuntary denationalization of its citizens, such as women who 
married foreigners, by implementing new legislation passed in November 
2008 allowing dual citizenship. This group typically consisted of women 
who married Chinese, Korean, or Taiwanese 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. The UNHCR worked with the 
government and the international community to address other aspects of 
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 given the opportunity 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 ensuring 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, and the plan to mine bauxite in the Central Highlands. 
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. Political opposition 
movements and other political parties are illegal. The CPV Politburo 
functioned as the supreme decision-making body in the country, although 
technically it reports to the CPV Central Committee.
    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.
    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 13 
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, refining a 2007 asset declaration decree, and 
continuing to streamline government inspection measures. Cases of 
government officials accused of corruption sometimes 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.
    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.
    In January Vu Chi Thanh, a former vice chairman of Haiphong 
People's Committee, and eight other officials and civil servants from 
Haiphong were prosecuted for having inappropriately allocated hundreds 
of land lots from an ``urban housing project for the poor'' to family 
members and officials from various offices in Haiphong.
    In February police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested the deputy director 
of the municipal transport service, Huynh Ngoc Si, and his associate Le 
Qua on charges of ``abusing power while on official duty'' connected 
with allegations that they had received a bribe of 90 million yen 
(approximately $820,000) from officials of Pacific Consultants 
International (PCI), a foreign consulting firm. On September 24, the 
case against Si and his deputy went to trial. The court case focused on 
the much narrower question of whether Si and Qua accepted 52 million 
VND ($2,900) and 54 million VND ($3,000), respectively, in kickbacks 
from office rent from PCI. On September 25, Si and Qua were convicted 
and sentenced to three and two years' imprisonment, respectively, 
although legal guidelines recommended sentences of at least 15 years.
    In June a foreign government initiated a comprehensive bribery 
investigation related to the supply of polymer bank notes to Vietnam. 
The foreign company that won a contract for supplying polymer notes to 
the State Bank of Vietnam in 2002 was accused of paying more than $12 
million as commission to its Vietnamese partner Luong Ngoc Anh and his 
firm, Company For Technology and Development, which employed Le Duc 
Minh, son of former State Bank of Vietnam governor Le Duc Thuy.
    Also in June former PMU-18 director Bui Tien Dung was charged with 
``intentionally violating state economic regulations causing serious 
consequences,'' and four of Dung's colleagues were charged with 
embezzlement. At year's end eight key corruption cases originating in 
2007 remained unfinished, including the PMU-18 and the Bai Chay bridge 
project scandals. While the 2007 trial and conviction of officials 
involved in the PMU-18 scandal were initially hailed as a positive 
step, the subsequent prosecution and dismissal of journalists and 
editors who reported the story had a chilling effect on investigative 
reporting of official corruption.
    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 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 SPC 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.
    During the year the government invited five UN special rapporteurs/
independent experts, including rapporteurs on education; physical and 
mental health; and the right to food, and the independent experts on 
extreme poverty and the effects of foreign debt on human rights. Three 
other special rapporteurs--on the right to freedom of opinion and 
expression; on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions; and on 
freedom of religion or belief--requested to visit but were denied.
    In October an overseas university and the CPV hosted an 
international conference on ``Realizing the Rights to Health and 
Development for All.'' Several international human rights NGOs attended 
and presented papers, although at least one NGO was prohibited from 
attending. The forum focused on HIV/AIDS and other public health 
threats, maternal and child health, climate change, and economic 
globalization.
    The government was willing to discuss human rights problems 
bilaterally with some foreign governments, and several foreign 
governments continued official talks with the government concerning 
human rights, typically through annual human rights dialogues.
    In March a foreign embassy funded the creation of the Center for 
Human Rights Research in Ho Chi Minh City. The center, similar to one 
in Hanoi, is affiliated with the Ho Chi Minh City national law school 
and focused on supporting human rights training and research at law 
schools.

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 appears to criminalize rape, spousal rape, and in some 
instances sexual harassment; however, there were no known instances of 
prosecution for spousal rape or sexual harassment. Other rape cases 
were 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, although 
there were no firm statistics measuring the extent of the problem. 
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 on the problem of 
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. While 
rural areas often lacked the financial resources to provide crisis 
centers and domestic hotlines, the 2007 law established ``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, 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. A foreign government, in 
coordination with the UN, sponsored production of a film entitled 
Breaking the Silence. The film was shown nationally by the government 
to raise public awareness on domestic violence.
    Prostitution is illegal, but enforcement was uneven. Estimates 
varied widely; the government reported more than 30,000 prostitutes, 
but some NGOs estimated that there were more, including those who 
engaged in prostitution part-time or seasonally. As in past years, some 
women reportedly were coerced into prostitution, often victimized by 
false promises of lucrative employment. Many more felt compelled to 
work as prostitutes because of poverty and a lack of other employment 
opportunities. There were fewer reports that parents coerced daughters 
into prostitution or made extreme financial demands that compelled them 
to engage in prostitution. The Women's Union as well as international 
and domestic NGOs engaged in education and rehabilitation programs to 
combat these abuses.
    The act of sexual harassment and its punishment is clearly defined 
in the law; however, its prevention is not specified in legal 
documents. 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. 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. 
However, 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. However, 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.
    Societal bias in favor of male progeny has led to gender imbalance 
among newborns and children, although with great variability among 
provinces.
    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.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents (jus 
sanguinis), 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 occurred, but there 
was no information on the extent of such abuse.
    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 during the year, 
criminalizes all acts of sale, fraudulent exchange, or control of 
children as well as all acts related to child prostitution and forced 
child labor. These articles carry sentences ranging from three years' 
to life imprisonment and fines from 5 million VND to 50 million VND 
($280 to $2,800). Articles 254, 255, and 256 describe acts related to 
child prostitution, including harboring prostitution (sentences of 
imprisonment ranging from 12 to 20 years), brokering prostitution 
(sentences of imprisonment ranging from seven to 15 years), and buying 
sex with minors (sentences ranging from three to 15 years). 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.
    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 
minimum age of consensual sex is 18. 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.

    Trafficking in Persons.--The law prohibits most forms of 
trafficking in persons; however, labor and the recruiting and harboring 
of trafficking victims is not adequately covered. Trafficking, 
particularly for sexual exploitation but also for forced labor 
overseas, remained a significant problem. Reliable statistics on the 
number of citizens who were victims of sex-related trafficking were not 
available; nevertheless, there was evidence that the number was 
growing. Documentation of known trafficking cases as well as the level 
of case adjudications and prosecutions increased, although government 
statistics also included other crimes, such as the selling of infants. 
The government was generally increasingly open in identifying and 
prosecuting trafficking cases, and public awareness increased. As the 
country's economy continued to grow, international and domestic 
criminal organizations involved in human trafficking sought to take 
advantage of increased exposure to international markets, expanded use 
of the Internet, and a growing gap between rich and poor to exploit 
persons at risk and develop trafficking networks.
    The country remained a significant source for trafficking in 
persons. To a much lesser degree, it was a destination country for men, 
women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation 
or forced labor. Women were trafficked primarily to Cambodia, Malaysia, 
China, Taiwan, and South Korea for sexual exploitation. Women also were 
trafficked to Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, the United 
Kingdom, Eastern Europe, and the United States. There were reports that 
some women going to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and China 
for arranged marriages became victims of trafficking. Women and 
children also were trafficked within the country, usually from rural to 
urban areas. Victims of labor trafficking (primarily men but also women 
and children) were trafficked to work in construction, agriculture, 
fishing, manufacturing, and other commercial enterprises.
    There were continued reports of women from Ho Chi Minh City and the 
Mekong Delta forced into prostitution after marrying abroad, primarily 
in other Asian countries. After their arrival, women were forced into 
conditions similar to indentured servitude; some were forced into 
prostitution.
    Children were trafficked for the purpose of prostitution, both 
within the country and to foreign destinations. An NGO advocate 
estimated that the average age of trafficked girls was between 15 and 
17. Some reports indicated that the ages of girls trafficked to 
Cambodia typically were lower.
    There were documented cases of trafficking in adults for labor. 
These included men trafficked to Malaysia and Thailand to support 
construction industry projects, women who went to work as domestic 
employees in Malaysia and suffered conditions akin to involuntary 
servitude, fishermen taken to work in Taiwan, and men and boys 
trafficked to work in brick factories in China. Deceitful and 
fraudulent overseas labor contracts and recruiting remained problems, 
although the government began to take steps to regulate labor export, 
including conducting inspections, issuing fines, and revoking the 
licenses of at least two companies who were found to be violating labor 
laws. Pursuant to a government circular issued in 2007, the government 
also began to cap some recruitment fees. The government signed 
agreements with governments of labor-demand countries; however, these 
did not appear to have adequate provisions to prevent human trafficking 
and protect victims of trafficking from conditions of forced labor and 
debt bondage. MOLISA reported that some workers of state-owned labor 
companies who went abroad to work suffered conditions akin to 
involuntary servitude or forced labor. Some workers also had their 
travel documents illegally withheld. Methods for resolving disputes 
between workers and their Vietnam-based export labor recruiting 
companies or the employing companies overseas were typically set forth 
in the initial contracts signed between the workers and the export 
labor recruiting companies and typically favored management. By law 
workers are entitled to bring their cases to court if they believe they 
have been unjustly treated by the labor export-recruiting company, 
although in practice few had the resources to do so.
    Poor women and teenage girls, especially those from rural areas, 
were most at risk for being trafficked. Research by the MPS and the UN 
Children's Fund indicated that trafficking victims could come from any 
part of the country but were concentrated in certain northern and 
southern border provinces, especially in the Mekong Delta. Some were 
sold by their families as domestic workers or for sexual exploitation. 
In some cases traffickers paid families several hundred dollars in 
exchange for allowing their daughters to go to Cambodia for an 
``employment offer.'' Many victims faced strong pressure to make 
significant contributions to the family income; others were offered 
lucrative jobs by acquaintances. False advertising, debt bondage, 
confiscation of documents, and threats of deportation were other 
methods commonly used by the traffickers, family members, and 
employers.
    Individual opportunists, informal networks, and some organized 
groups lured poor, often rural, women with promises of jobs or marriage 
and forced them to work as prostitutes. Relatives were often involved 
in trafficking cases. The government stated that in some cases 
organized criminal groups were involved in recruitment, transit, and 
other trafficking-related activities.
    The majority of traffickers were prosecuted under articles 119 and 
120 of the penal code, which provides for prison sentences of two to 20 
years for persons found guilty of trafficking women, and between three 
years and life in prison for persons found guilty of trafficking 
children. These provisions can be used against some forms of 
trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation and also a variety of 
related crimes, including the selling of infants. Labor laws do not 
provide criminal penalties for labor trafficking, and the government 
did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of 
offenders of labor trafficking under other statutes.
    The government continued to increase efforts to prosecute 
traffickers. As in previous cases, in Ho Chi Minh City the courts 
imposed heavy sentences on convicted sex traffickers, including two 
individuals sentenced on July 3 to 10 and 12 years in prison for 
operating a fake marriage brokering service that sent 28 women to 
Malaysia and forced them into prostitution.
    A national steering committee, led by the MPS, coordinated 
government efforts in the identification and prosecution of trafficking 
cases and assisted in prevention and training activities. The Criminal 
Police Department of the MPS, the Ministry of Justice, the Border Guard 
Command, and the Social Evils Department of MOLISA were the main 
government agencies involved in combating trafficking, with significant 
collaboration from the Women's Union. The committee continued to train 
national and local officials to combat trafficking. Police took an 
increasingly active role in investigating cross-border sex trafficking 
cases during the year, including continued development of the dedicated 
antitrafficking force.
    While convictions were up, the 375 cases investigated during the 
year represented a slight decrease compared with 2008. However, since 
2005 the level of investigations and prosecutions has grown, generally 
reflecting an overall increase in the government's capacity to identify 
cases as well as a dramatic improvement in the training of local 
officials.
    The government continued to implement its 2004-10 National Program 
of Action on combating trafficking in women and children as well as its 
export labor law and directives on recruitment and contracting 
transparency. Throughout the year the MPS developed guidelines on 
protecting victims during investigation and prosecution in cooperation 
with the International Organization for Migration.
    Mass organizations and NGOs operated programs to educate at-risk 
persons about the potential for sex trafficking and to reintegrate into 
society women and children who were the victims of sex trafficking. 
During the year programs continued to provide protection and 
reintegration assistance for sex trafficking victims through 
psychosocial support and vocational training as well as to supplement 
regional and national prevention efforts by targeting at-risk 
populations. Official institutions, including MOLISA and the Department 
of the Family, and mass organizations, such as the Women's Union and 
the Youth Union, continued programs aimed at the prevention of sex 
trafficking, public awareness, and victims' protection. Government 
agencies worked with the International Organization for Migration, Asia 
Foundation, Pacific Links Foundation, and other international NGOs to 
provide temporary shelter, medical services, education, credit, 
counseling, and rehabilitation to returned trafficking victims. 
Security agencies with border control responsibility received training 
in investigative techniques to prevent trafficking.
    The government worked with international NGOs to supplement and 
strengthen law enforcement measures and institutions and cooperated 
with foreign governments to prevent trafficking. It also cooperated 
closely with other countries within the frameworks of Interpol, its 
Asian counterpart, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On 
January 7, the government signed a bilateral antitrafficking agreement 
with Thailand, upgrading the previous bilateral memorandum of 
understanding, and on March 9 held a bilateral conference to discuss 
implementation. Between July 15 and September 15, the two countries 
conducted a joint public awareness campaign on preventing and combating 
sex trafficking in the areas along their shared border.
    The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can 
be found at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The protection of persons with 
disabilities is provided for in articles 59 and 67 of the constitution. 
The Law on Disabled Persons prohibits discrimination against or 
maltreatment of persons with disabilities. The law also encourages the 
employment of persons with disabilities.
    The provision of services to such persons, 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.
    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. In April the Ministry of Education and 
Training held a workshop with foreign-based NGOs and a foreign 
government to make recommendations for the Law on Disabled Persons 
regarding the education and training of the disabled.

    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.
    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, 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 telephoning the ethnic minority community abroad were a 
special target of police attention. 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.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--A homosexual community existed 
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. 
Despite Ministry of Culture regulations specifically limiting beauty 
contests to ``female citizens ages 18 or over,'' the number of, and 
participation in, transvestite and transgender beauty contests in Ho 
Chi Minh City increased. Several annual competitions gained notoriety, 
and several transgender and transvestite beauty queens emerged as 
prominent celebrities.

    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/AIDS 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. In a few cases, children of persons 
with HIV/AIDS were barred from schools. Some parents removed their 
children from a school in Ho Chi Minh City after the school allowed 
orphans with HIV/AIDS to attend, as required by law. With the 
assistance of foreign donors, the national government and provincial 
authorities took steps to treat, assist, and accommodate persons with 
HIV/AIDS and decrease societal stigma and discrimination, but these 
measures were not consistently applied. Religious charities were 
sometimes permitted to provide services to persons with 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 2008 its total membership was more 
than 6.3 million, or an estimated 39 percent of the country's 
approximately 16 million wage earners. Of the VGCL members, 36.5 
percent worked in the public sector, 33.1 percent in state-owned 
enterprises, and 30.4 percent in the private sector. The VGCL claimed 
that its membership represented 95 percent of public-sector workers and 
90 percent of workers in state-owned enterprises. Approximately 1.7 
million union members worked in the private sector, including in 
enterprises with foreign investment (more than 700,000 persons). In 
actuality 85 percent of state-owned enterprises, 60 percent of foreign-
invested enterprises, and 30 percent of private enterprises were 
unionized.
    While the law does not allow for independent unions, 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 
emergency situations 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 34 million of the 45.3 million total laborers 
lived in rural areas and engaged in activities such as small-scale 
farming or worked in small companies and the informal private sector.
    Union leaders influenced key decisions, such as amending labor 
legislation; developing social safety nets; and setting health, safety, 
and minimum wage standards. However, 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.
    Strikes are illegal if they do not arise from a collective labor 
dispute or if they concern problems that are outside of labor 
relations. 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 law also grants the 
prime minister the right to suspend a strike considered detrimental to 
the national economy or public safety.
    The vast majority of strikes typically did not follow the 
authorized conciliation and arbitration process and thus were 
considered illegal ``wildcat'' strikes. The number of such strikes 
markedly declined during the year, with only 309 occurring in the year. 
This followed a three-year upsurge, which saw the number of wildcat 
strikes increase from 387 in 2006 to 762 in 2008. Most economists 
attributed the spike in the number of strikes in 2008 to dramatic 
increases in the cost of living, with inflation peaking at 28 percent 
in August 2008, and the relative decline in the number of strikes 
during the year to the return to single-digit inflation and worker 
concern with the slowing economy.
    More than 90 percent of ``wildcat'' strikes occurred in Ho Chi Minh 
City and surrounding provinces. While these strikes were illegal under 
the law, 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. Amendments made to the labor law in July 2008 
divide such disputes into those over rights (compliance with the law) 
and those over interests (demands beyond what the law provides), 
setting out different procedures for both. 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. There was anecdotal 
evidence that the government enforced the laws more actively in the 
zones than outside them. However, there were credible reports that 
employers in the zones tended to ignore worker rights and to use short-
term contracts to avoid the legal requirement to set up a union.

    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. 
They produced food and other goods used directly in prisons or sold on 
local markets, reportedly to purchase items for their personal use.

    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. In 2006 MOLISA reported that approximately 30 percent 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.
    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 during the year, 62 out of 
173 production units they inspected used illegal child labor. Most were 
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 by word of mouth without official 
documentation and 75 percent of these children were from the central 
coast and Mekong Delta provinces.
    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 exploitative situations, 
and fined the employers.
    The government also continued programs to eliminate persistent 
child labor, with a particular focus on needy families and orphans.

    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 1.08 million VND ($60) and 1.2 
million VND ($67) in urban areas and approximately 950,000 VND ($53) in 
rural areas. The official monthly minimum wage for unskilled labor in 
the state sector was approximately 650,000 VND ($36). For employees 
working for national companies, on farms, or in family households, the 
official minimum wage was between 650,000 VND ($36) and 800,000 VND 
($45), based on region of the country. 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.
    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 ensure worker safety. MOLISA, in coordination with local people's 
committees and labor unions, is charged with enforcing the regulations, 
but enforcement was inadequate because of low funding and a shortage of 
trained enforcement personnel. On-the-job injuries due to poor health 
and safety conditions in the workplace were a problem. The greatest 
number of occupational injuries was caused by machinery such as rolling 
mills and presses.
    According to a July 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.


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