[JPRT 113-21, Volume III]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress  }                                           {   S. Prt.
  2d Session    }           JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT           {    113-21
_______________________________________________________________________
 
                    COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
                           PRACTICES FOR 2011

                  VOLUME III--SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA,
                           WESTERN HEMISPHERE

                               ----------                              

                              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

                                     
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                             NOVEMBER 2014

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
  U.S. Senate and Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives  
  respecitvely




113th Congress  }                                            {  S. Prt.
  2d Session    }         JOINT COMMITTEE PRINT              {   113-21
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


                    COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS
                           PRACTICES FOR 2011

         VOLUME III--SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA, WESTERN HEMISPHERE

                               __________

                              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

                                     
                 [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
                                     
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                COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS          

                 ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey, Chairman
BARBARA BOXER, California            BOB CORKER, Tennessee
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        MARCO RUBIO, Florida
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
TOM UDALL, New Mexico                JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut      JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
TIM KAINE, Virginia                  RAND PAUL, Kentucky
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
                   Daniel E. O'Brien, Staff Director
            Lester E. Munson III, Republican Staff Director



                 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS          

                 EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey     ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida         ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 
DANA ROHRABACHER, California             Samoa
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio                   BRAD SHERMAN, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina           GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas             ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
TED POE, Texas                       GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MATT SALMON, Arizona                 THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania             BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina          KAREN BASS, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois             WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
MO BROOKS, Alabama                   DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
TOM COTTON, Arkansas                 ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
PAUL COOK, California                JUAN VARGAS, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina       BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas            JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, 
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania                Massachusetts
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas                AMI BERA, California
RON DESANTIS, Florida                ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
TREY RADEL, Florida                  GRACE MENG, New York
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia                LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina         TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
TED S. YOHO, Florida                 JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
LUKE MESSER, Indiana
     Amy Porter, Chief of Staff      Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
               Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director

                             (ii)          



                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

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

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

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

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

                                Volume I

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

    Benin........................................................    18

    Botswana.....................................................    28

    Burkina Faso.................................................    39

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

    Cameroon.....................................................    66

    Cape Verde...................................................    85

    Central African Republic.....................................    92

    Chad.........................................................   110

    Comoros......................................................   123

    Congo, Democratic Republic of the............................   129

    Congo, Republic of the.......................................   151

    Cote d'Ivoire................................................   163

    Djibouti.....................................................   181

    Equatorial Guinea............................................   193

    Eritrea......................................................   204

    Ethiopia.....................................................   218

    Gabon........................................................   237

    Gambia, The..................................................   246

    Ghana........................................................   259

    Guinea.......................................................   273

    Guinea-Bissau................................................   286

    Kenya........................................................   294

    Lesotho......................................................   318

    Liberia......................................................   328

    Madagascar...................................................   340

    Malawi.......................................................   354

    Mali.........................................................   367

    Mauritania...................................................   377

    Mauritius....................................................   391

    Mozambique...................................................   399

    Namibia......................................................   412

    Niger........................................................   425

    Nigeria......................................................   437

    Rwanda.......................................................   466

    Sao Tome and Principe........................................   486

    Senegal......................................................   491

    Seychelles...................................................   505

    Sierra Leone.................................................   512

    Somalia......................................................   530

    South Africa.................................................   550

    South Sudan..................................................   570

    Sudan........................................................   583

    Swaziland....................................................   604

    Tanzania.....................................................   620

    Togo.........................................................   639

    Uganda.......................................................   650

    Zambia.......................................................   665

    Zimbabwe.....................................................   678


East Asia and the Pacific

    Australia....................................................   705

    Brunei Darussalam............................................   716

    Burma........................................................   724

    Cambodia.....................................................   741

    China (Including Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)................   756

      Tibet......................................................   794

      Hong Kong..................................................   803

      Macau......................................................   816

    Fiji.........................................................   824

    Indonesia....................................................   837

    Japan........................................................   857

    Kiribati.....................................................   869

    Korea, Democratic People's Republic of.......................   874

    Korea, Republic of...........................................   884

    Laos.........................................................   895

    Malaysia.....................................................   906

    Marshall Islands.............................................   934

    Micronesia, Federated States of..............................   940

    Mongolia.....................................................   945

    Nauru........................................................   956

    New Zealand..................................................   961

    Palau........................................................   968

    Papua New Guinea.............................................   973

    Philippines..................................................   982

    Samoa........................................................  1001

    Singapore....................................................  1008

    Solomon Islands..............................................  1022

    Taiwan.......................................................  1029

    Thailand.....................................................  1038

    Timor-Leste..................................................  1064

    Tonga........................................................  1072

    Tuvalu.......................................................  1077

    Vanuatu......................................................  1082

    Vietnam......................................................  1089

                               Volume II

Europe and Eurasia

    Albania......................................................  1113

    Andorra......................................................  1123


    Armenia......................................................  1127

    Austria......................................................  1143

    Azerbaijan...................................................  1151

    Belarus......................................................  1169

    Belgium......................................................  1196

    Bosnia and Herzegovina.......................................  1203

    Bulgaria.....................................................  1219

    Croatia......................................................  1231

    Cyprus.......................................................  1247

      Area Administered by Turkish Cypriots (Turkish Republic of 
      Northern Cyprus)...........................................  1261
    Czech Republic...............................................  1270

    Denmark......................................................  1281

    Estonia......................................................  1288

    Finland......................................................  1296

    France.......................................................  1305

    Georgia......................................................  1319

    Germany......................................................  1345

    Greece.......................................................  1357

    Hungary......................................................  1371

    Iceland......................................................  1391

    Ireland......................................................  1399

    Italy........................................................  1406

    Kosovo.......................................................  1417

    Latvia.......................................................  1432

    Liechtenstein................................................  1442

    Lithuania....................................................  1448

    Luxembourg...................................................  1457

    Macedonia....................................................  1462

    Malta........................................................  1478

    Moldova......................................................  1486

    Monaco.......................................................  1505

    Montenegro...................................................  1509

    Netherlands..................................................  1531

    Norway.......................................................  1541

    Poland.......................................................  1550

    Portugal.....................................................  1563

    Romania......................................................  1569

    Russia.......................................................  1585

    San Marino...................................................  1614

    Serbia.......................................................  1618

    Slovakia.....................................................  1630

    Slovenia.....................................................  1644

    Spain........................................................  1655

    Sweden.......................................................  1665

    Switzerland..................................................  1673

    Turkey.......................................................  1682

    Ukraine......................................................  1704

    United Kingdom...............................................  1724
Near East and North Africa

    Algeria......................................................  1735

    Bahrain......................................................  1749

    Egypt........................................................  1767

    Iran.........................................................  1784

    Iraq.........................................................  1823

    Israel and the Occupied Territories..........................  1845

      The Occupied Territories...................................  1858

    Jordan.......................................................  1884

    Kuwait.......................................................  1898

    Lebanon......................................................  1909

    Libya........................................................  1924

    Morocco......................................................  1940

    Oman.........................................................  1956

    Qatar........................................................  1965

    Saudi Arabia.................................................  1975

    Syria........................................................  1992

    Tunisia......................................................  2008

    United Arab Emirates.........................................  2018

    Western Sahara...............................................  2031

    Yemen........................................................  2037


                               Volume III

South and Central Asia

    Afghanistan..................................................  2057

    Bangladesh...................................................  2079

    Bhutan.......................................................  2100

    India........................................................  2107

    Kazakhstan...................................................  2139

    Kyrgyz Republic..............................................  2157

    Maldives.....................................................  2176

    Nepal........................................................  2188

    Pakistan.....................................................  2204

    Sri Lanka....................................................  2233

    Tajikistan...................................................  2254

    Turkmenistan.................................................  2265

    Uzbekistan...................................................  2277


Western Hemisphere

    Antigua and Barbuda..........................................  2295

    Argentina....................................................  2301

    Bahamas, The.................................................  2314

    Barbados.....................................................  2323

    Belize.......................................................  2330

    Bolivia......................................................  2338

    Brazil.......................................................  2349

    Canada.......................................................  2364

    Chile........................................................  2373

    Colombia.....................................................  2384

    Costa Rica...................................................  2411

    Cuba.........................................................  2421

    Dominica.....................................................  2434

    Dominican Republic...........................................  2440

    Ecuador......................................................  2458

    El Salvador..................................................  2473
Western Hemisphere--Continued

    Grenada......................................................  2487

    Guatemala....................................................  2492

    Guyana.......................................................  2507

    Haiti........................................................  2516

    Honduras.....................................................  2534

    Jamaica......................................................  2546

    Mexico.......................................................  2559

    Nicaragua....................................................  2576

    Panama.......................................................  2592

    Paraguay.....................................................  2605

    Peru.........................................................  2615

    Saint Kitts and Nevis........................................  2631

    Saint Lucia..................................................  2636

    Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.............................  2642

    Suriname.....................................................  2648

    Trinidad and Tobago..........................................  2656

    Uruguay......................................................  2665

    Venezuela....................................................  2672


Appendixes

    Appendix A: Notes on preparation of Report...................  2697

    Appendix B: Reporting on Worker Rights.......................  2705

    Appendix C: Selected International Human Rights Conventions..  2707

    Appendix D: Description of International Human Rights 
      Conventions in Appendix C..................................  2715

    Appendix E: FY 2010 Foreign Assistance Actuals...............  2717

    Appendix F: United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee 
      Country Resolution Votes 2010..............................  2737

    Appendix G: United Nations Universal Declaration of Human 
      Rights.....................................................  2743




                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                       Department of State,
                                     Washington, DC, April 8, 2012.
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 2011, prepared in compliance with sections 
116(d)(1) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as 
amended, and section 505(c) of the Trade Act of 1974, as 
amended.
    We hope this report is helpful. Please let us know if we 
can provide any further information.
            Sincerely,
                                 Michael H. Posner,
                         Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, 
                                           Human Rights, and Labor.
    Enclosure.

                                  (ix)

                                     


                          SECRETARY'S PREFACE

                              ----------                              

    The world changed immeasurably over the course of 2011. 
Across the Middle East, North Africa, and far beyond, citizens 
stood up to demand respect for human dignity, more promising 
economic opportunities, greater political liberties, and a say 
in their own future. Often they faced tremendous odds and 
endured violent responses from their governments. The resulting 
upheavals are still unfolding today in places like Syria, where 
the regime has brutalized its own people. In Burma, after years 
of repression, the government has taken preliminary steps to 
allow reforms to begin. This year's Country Reports on Human 
Rights Practices chronicle these dramatic changes and the 
stories of the people defending human rights in almost 200 
countries around the world.
    Congress mandated these country reports more than three 
decades ago to help guide lawmakers' decisions on foreign 
military and economic aid, but they have evolved into something 
more. Today, governments, intergovernmental organizations, 
scholars, journalists, activists, and others around the world 
rely on these reports as an essential update on human rights 
conditions around the world--where we have seen progress, where 
progress has come too slowly or at great cost, and all too 
often, where it has been rolled back.
    Our reports are founded on the simple truth at the heart of 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights--that all people are 
born free and equal in dignity and rights. Respect for human 
rights is not a western construct or a uniquely American ideal; 
it is the foundation for peace and stability everywhere. 
Universal human rights include the right of citizens to 
assemble peacefully and to seek to reform or change their 
governments, a central theme around the world in 2011. As 
President Obama has said, ``History offers a clear verdict: 
Governments that respect the will of their own people, that 
govern by consent and not coercion, are more prosperous, they 
are more stable, and more successful than governments that do 
not.''
    In my travels around the world as Secretary of State, I 
have met many individuals who put their lives on the line to 
advance the cause of human rights and justice. In ways small 
and large, they hold their governments accountable for 
upholding universal human rights. Their courage and commitment 
to peaceful reform are an inspiration. This report recognizes 
their bravery and should serve as a reminder: The United States 
stands with all those who seek to advance human dignity, and we 
will continue to shine the light of international attention on 
their efforts.
    These reports are part of our broad commitment to promote 
human rights. Every day, officials from the State Department, 
the U.S. Agency for International Development, and many other 
government agencies devote themselves to advancing human rights 
as a priority of U.S. foreign policy. They champion our values 
in every country of the world and stand up for the inherent 
rights and freedoms of all people. I am honored to work 
alongside them, and I thank them for their contributions to 
this report.
    On behalf of all of them, and everyone around the world 
working to protect human rights, I hereby transmit the 
Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
for 2011 to the United States Congress.
                             Hillary Rodham Clinton
                                                 Secretary of State


                      OVERVIEW AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

                              ----------                              


                      WHY THE REPORTS ARE PREPARED

    This report is submitted to the Congress by the Department 
of State in compliance with Sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended. The law 
provides that the Secretary of State shall transmit to the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate by February 25 ``a full and 
complete report regarding the status of internationally 
recognized human rights, within the meaning of subsection (A) 
in countries that receive assistance under this part, and (B) 
in all other foreign countries which are members of the United 
Nations and which are not otherwise the subject of a human 
rights report under this Act.'' We have also included reports 
on several countries that do not fall into the categories 
established by these statutes and thus are not covered by the 
congressional requirement.
    In the early 1970s the United States formalized its 
responsibility to speak out on behalf of international human 
rights standards. In 1976 Congress enacted legislation creating 
a Coordinator of Human Rights in the Department of State, a 
position later upgraded to Assistant Secretary. Legislation 
also requires that U.S. foreign and trade policy take into 
account countries' human rights and worker rights performance 
and that country reports be submitted to the Congress on an 
annual basis.
How the Reports Are Prepared
    The Department of State prepared this report using 
information from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, foreign 
government officials, nongovernmental and international 
organizations, and published reports. U.S. diplomatic missions 
abroad prepared the initial drafts of the individual country 
reports, using 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.
    Once the initial drafts of the individual country reports 
were completed, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor 
(DRL), in cooperation with other Department of State offices, 
worked to corroborate, analyze, and edit the reports, drawing 
on their own sources of information. These sources included 
reports provided by U.S. and other human rights groups, foreign 
government officials, representatives from the United Nations 
and other international and regional organizations and 
institutions, experts from academia, and the media. Bureau 
officers also consulted experts on worker rights, refugee 
issues, military and police topics, women's issues, and legal 
matters, among many others. The guiding principle was that all 
information be reported objectively, thoroughly, and fairly.
    As has proven the case in the past, we anticipate that the 
reports will be used as a resource for shaping policy; 
conducting diplomacy; and making assistance, training, and 
other resource allocations. They will serve also as a basis for 
the U.S. government's cooperation with private groups to 
promote the observance of internationally recognized human 
rights.
    The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cover 
internationally recognized civil, political, and worker rights, 
as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
These rights include freedom from torture or other cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; from prolonged 
detention without charges; from disappearance or clandestine 
detention; and from other flagrant violations of the right to 
life, liberty, and the security of the person.
    Universal human rights seek to incorporate respect for 
human dignity into the processes of government and law. All 
individuals have the right to nationality; the inalienable 
right to change their government by peaceful means; and the 
right 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 gender. 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.
    As was begun with the 2010 reports, DRL has continued to 
use hyperlinks to other key human rights documents produced by 
the Department of State. Specifically, readers are asked to 
follow hyperlinks for complete information on religious freedom 
issues by consulting the International Religious Freedom Report 
and the Trafficking in Persons Report. Additionally, the 
Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor report is linked, as well as the several current 
publications produced by the Department's Consular Affairs 
Bureau on international child abductions, if applicable to the 
country in question.
    Within DRL, the editorial staff of the Country Reports Team 
consists of the following: Editor in Chief Stephen Eisenbraun; 
Office Directors Eric Falls, Randy Fleitman, Francisco 
Gonzalez, Jeffrey Hawkins, John Kincannon, Mark Mittelhauser, 
Susan O'Sullivan, and Brian Walch; Senior Editors Jonathan 
Bemis, Sarah Buckley-Moore, Douglas B. Dearborn, Daniel Dolan, 
Jerome L. Hoganson, Victor Huser, Patricia Meeks Schnell, Marc 
J. Susser, and Julie Turner; Editors Naim Ahmed, Mitch Alva, 
Pauline W. Anderson, Cory Andrews, Mary Angelini, Bob Bailey, 
Chase Ballinger, Harold Bonacquist, Sarah Brooks, Laura Carey, 
Elise Carlson-Rainer, Cornelius Cremin, Frank Crump, Sarah 
D'Ambrisi, Randall Doyle, Mort Dworken, Rob Ehrmann, Ryan 
Fiorsi, Karen Gilbride, Joan Garner, Carrie George, Jeffrey 
Glassman, Jamie Gusack, Maxwell Harrington, Patrick Harvey, 
Lauren Hayes, Caitlin Helfrich, Matthew Hickey, Brandon Hines, 
Alexandra Hoey, Stan Ifshin, Simone Joseph, Mancharee Junk, 
Gina Kassem, Yelda Kazimi, Katharine Kendrick, Orly Keiner, 
Stephen Kopanos, Sheri Labenski, Kevin Martin, Stacey May, Cari 
McCachren, Amelia Mitchell, David Moo, Sarah Morgan, Amal 
Moussaoui Haynes, Sandra Murphy, Daniel L. Nadel, Aislyn 
Namanga, Oyinkansola Oshodi, Doug Padgett, Blake Peterson, 
Brianna Powers, Jessica Rodgers, Peter Sawchyn, Lisa Sherman, 
Wendy Silverman, Magda Socha, Rachel Spring, Jason Starr, 
Leslie Taylor, James C. Todd, Nadia Tongour, David Wagner, 
Micah Watson, Andrew White, Helen Wong and Mareham Youssef; 
Associate Editor Regina Waugh; Technical Assistant Corey 
Martin.


                              INTRODUCTION

                              ----------                              

    On January 14, Tunisian president Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali 
boarded a plane in Tunis with his family and departed for Saudi 
Arabia. Twenty-seven days later, Egyptian President Hosni 
Mubarak resigned. After eight months of brutal attacks on 
Libyans seeking peaceful change, Moammar Qadhafi was 
overthrown. For the first time in history, the Yemeni President 
transferred power through the ballot box. Forces loyal to 
Syrian President Bashar al-Asad have committed heinous and 
widespread human rights abuses against their own people since 
March 2011, and yet the protesters have not been cowed.
    These still unfolding citizen uprisings in the Middle East 
and North Africa have sent aftershocks rumbling around the 
world. Millions of citizens in many other countries have also 
expressed their dissatisfaction with governments that fail to 
deliver results to their people. Whether in grand movements or 
small acts, people in countries around the world are standing 
up and demanding their universal rights, dignity, greater 
economic opportunity, and participation in their countries' 
political future.
    The yearning for change we have witnessed in Tunisia, 
Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria is inspirational, and yet change 
often creates instability before it leads to greater respect 
for democracy and human rights. After decades of repression, 
during which open political participation was not allowed, it 
will take time to create diverse political parties, a robust 
civil society, a climate conducive to freedom of expression, 
and a transparent political culture. Transitions are times of 
uncertainty. They can be chaotic, unstable, and at times 
violent. And even when they succeed, they are rarely linear, 
quick, or easy. The challenge during these transitions is to 
keep societies open to political debate. Protecting human 
rights and fundamental freedoms ensures that negotiations over 
a country's future can take place without fear or intimidation, 
and that anti-democratic forces do not snuff out genuine 
political participation. As Secretary Clinton said, ``All 
political parties, religious and secular alike, have to abide 
by basic ground rules: reject violence; uphold the rule of law; 
respect the freedoms of speech, religion, association, and 
assembly; protect the rights of women and minorities; give up 
power if you are defeated at the polls; and especially in a 
region with deep divisions within and between religions, avoid 
inciting sectarian conflicts that pull societies apart.'' If 
these fundamental rules are violated, she warned, ``The victors 
of revolutions can become their victims.''
    In the turmoil of 2011, thousands of citizens were killed 
across Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria. Many 
others were abused by security forces that used excessive 
force. But the images of demonstrators who had seemingly lost 
all fear, risking their lives to oppose governments they deemed 
illegitimate, inspired people around the world. Even in the 
most isolated places, the desire for greater freedom and 
political and economic opportunity began to flicker.
    The year 2011 brought remarkable changes in Burma, long 
isolated because of the government's poor treatment of its own 
people. In dramatic fashion, the Burmese government took a 
number of bold steps to begin the long and difficult process of 
political reform and reconciliation with those who have 
struggled peacefully for freedom for decades. In last year's 
report, we wrote about the dire situation of hundreds of 
political prisoners who remained in jail in Burma, some of whom 
had been imprisoned for decades for taking part in protests or 
simply for reading ``subversive'' poetry. In October 2011, the 
government released more than 200 of these prisoners. As next 
year's country report will cover, in January 2012 the Burmese 
government released 300 more, including some who had been 
detained for many years, and allowed the National League for 
Democracy to register and field candidates for parliamentary 
elections, including party leader Aung Sun Syu Kyi.
    Burma offers an example of a government moving towards a 
model of greater openness, democracy, and liberty, attributes 
that can lead to greater innovation, prosperity, and inclusion. 
Much remains to be done to implement reforms and especially to 
address the legacy of decades of violence against ethnic 
minorities. But the size of the task ahead does not diminish 
the excitement of these first steps, or the sense of 
possibility they may inspire in other closed societies, such as 
Iran, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Eritrea, or Sudan.
    Several other countries also took important steps in 2011 
toward improving their human rights records, although more work 
remains to be done. In Colombia, the government worked to 
address the climate of impunity with respect to harassment, 
intimidation, and killings of human rights workers, 
journalists, teachers, and trade unionists. Extrajudicial 
killings declined in large measure due to efforts by the 
government to stop such crimes. In Zambia, presidential, 
parliamentary, and local elections held in September were free, 
credible, and orderly. The incumbent president relinquished 
power and accepted the will of the Zambian people. In Tunisia, 
citizens held transparent and credible elections for a 
Constituent Assembly, which in turn elected a former political 
prisoner as the country's interim president. The country is now 
rewriting its constitution.
    Along with such hopeful developments, this report documents 
a range of negative developments in 2011. A number of countries 
became less free as a result of flawed elections; the 
imposition by powerful leaders of less democratic 
constitutional provisions; restrictions on the universal rights 
to freedom of expression, assembly, or association, including 
on the Internet; moves to censor or intimidate the media; or 
attempts to control or curtail the activities of 
nongovernmental groups. In Nicaragua, extensive irregularities 
in the electoral process marked a setback to democracy and 
undermined the ability of Nicaraguans to hold their government 
accountable.
    Other disturbing trends in 2011 include continued 
persecution of religious minorities, including, but not limited 
to, Ahmadis, Bahais, Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and 
others. In many countries there was an uptick in discrimination 
against members of racial and ethnic minorities; people with 
disabilities; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) 
people, all of whom were frequent targets of abuse, 
discrimination, and violence. In some countries medical 
personnel were harassed, intimidated, and arrested. Both 
governments and opposition forces tried to prevent humanitarian 
assistance from reaching civilians in dire circumstances.
    Egypt and Kyrgyzstan held historic elections that were 
deemed to be generally free and fair. Yet the elections in 
these countries, as well as the standoff following the 2010 
presidential election in Cote d'Ivoire, provided a poignant 
reminder that elections are a critical but insufficient element 
in genuine transitions to democracy and the rule of law. 
Committed citizens in each of these countries continued to work 
toward building the habits and institutions of democratic 
governance, including a political culture in which electoral 
losers understand they must cede power, and elected 
representatives wield power fairly.
    Overall human rights conditions remained extremely poor in 
many of the countries that were spotlighted in our 2010 country 
reports, including, but not limited to, Iran, North Korea, 
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Belarus, and China.
    Several broader trends were prominent in 2011. New 
connective technologies spread news of citizen activism, and 
political change, around the world. People continued to find 
innovative ways to use technology to break down the walls of 
fear and isolation that undemocratic governments erected to try 
to keep their populations quiescent. They used these 
technologies to speak out against societal discrimination, 
corruption, and restrictions on civil and political liberties 
that are keeping them from enjoying equal rights, dignity, or 
respect. Yet repressive regimes also used those same 
technologies to spy on their own citizens for the purposes of 
silencing dissent.
    As we consider the implications of connective technologies 
on human rights and democracy, we realize that technology 
itself does not usher in progress on human rights. People do. 
Technology can help people exercise their universal human 
rights, connect with others across borders, and transcend time 
zones and even language barriers. But technology is a platform, 
not a substitute for political organizing, advocacy, or 
persuasion. The Internet does not bring people into the street. 
Grievances do. The Internet did not spark the Arab Spring. 
Injustice did.
    Because the story of how people express themselves, 
associate with one another, and share ideas and opinions is 
increasingly unfolding online, protecting and promoting 
Internet freedom is a core priority of the United States. We 
report on its status in the pages that follow.
    We also report on the status of media freedom, which 
remained poor in many countries and declined in others. The 
year 2011 brought an increase in the number of journalists and 
bloggers silenced to death or jail as they attempted to bring 
news to the public. These reports also chronicle the many ways 
in which some governments attempted to censor the media through 
regulations or laws that are contrary to the universal right to 
freedom of expression and opinion, and through harassment, 
intimidation, or violence. In Ecuador and Venezuela, government 
actions against independent media outlets had a chilling effect 
on media freedom.
    This year's reports highlight the treatment of marginalized 
people, including LGBT people and people with disabilities. Too 
many countries still criminalize consensual same-sex sexual 
activity, and LGBT people face discrimination and violence in 
many more countries. We continue to focus on other vulnerable 
populations, including women and children. Domestic and 
societal violence and discrimination against women continue to 
be serious problems in many countries. Women and children are 
often the first to suffer during conflicts.
    In addition, we continue to monitor challenges to civil 
society organizations promoting respect for human rights and 
democratic transitions in their own countries. In last year's 
Human Rights Reports, we noted a surge in efforts by repressive 
governments to control and stifle independent non-governmental 
organizations (NGOs). Over the last several years, more than 90 
governments have sought to pass laws that hampered the ability 
of NGOs to register, operate freely, or receive foreign 
funding. In a number of countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, 
Malaysia, Algeria, Cambodia, and Russia, governments have 
imposed or threatened greater restrictions on foreign funding 
of these organizations, taken other measures that severely 
hamper their operations, or sought to intimidate them or shut 
them down completely. In many other places, the work of these 
organizations is misunderstood, or actively misrepresented by 
insecure governments that fear independent scrutiny of their 
actions. These trends intensified in 2011, when we saw a sharp 
escalation of official restrictions on the work of human rights 
and democracy advocates.
    As President Obama has said, societies change from within. 
Civil society organizations lead that change by engaging 
citizens in conversations about how people want to be governed. 
These organizations spotlight human rights abuses, fight 
discrimination, and monitor whether authorities are upholding 
the rule of law. They speak out against the exclusion, 
persecution, or hatred of vulnerable minorities, and document 
where their societies fall short. By holding up a mirror to 
society, they ask their governments and their citizens to do 
better and to be better. In all of these ways, civil society 
groups are the lifeblood of free and open societies, and they 
are most vital in countries where democratic traditions and 
institutions are just beginning to take root.
    The events of 2011, as documented in these pages, remind us 
once again that human rights and global security are 
inextricably linked. From Tunis to Tehran, from Cairo to 
California, from Moscow to Rangoon, citizens were ever more 
interconnected and so were the interrelationships between their 
freedoms, economic opportunity, and the security and prosperity 
of their societies.
    Around the world, we see that where human rights are 
consistently abused or threatened, by authorities or by 
criminal, sectarian, or other undemocratic groups that enjoy 
impunity, the result is frequently political strife, economic 
contraction, and destabilization that too often spills across 
borders. In contrast, where human rights are respected, the 
rule of law is enforced, and government actions are 
transparent, societies are more stable and secure. People who 
feel empowered to engage in the political process and who see 
their rights respected are less likely to join extremist groups 
that threaten domestic tranquility and international stability.
    They gradually develop a greater trust of their government 
and feel a greater stake in the success of the system. In this 
way, respect for human rights builds political stability and 
lays the foundations for democratization, economic growth, 
shared prosperity, and enhanced global security.
    This critical connection between human rights and national 
security plays out repeatedly in the pages that follow. It will 
continue to play out in the transitions to democracy occurring 
in the Arab world and beyond. The people who took to the 
streets to demonstrate in Tunis, Cairo, Tripoli, and Sanaa have 
proven that change can come without turning to extremism. In 
2011 we saw too many governments crack down in the name of 
restoring order when their citizens demanded universal human 
rights and a voice in how they were governed. These acts of 
repression triggered more confrontation, more chaos, and 
ultimately greater instability. The events of the year showed 
that the real choice is not between stability and security; it 
is between reform and unrest.
    I want to add a word about the production of these reports. 
Each year, they are prepared by human rights officers at U.S. 
embassies and other posts around the world, working with their 
counterparts in Washington, D.C. Each country team collects, 
analyzes, and synthesizes information from a variety of 
sources, including domestic and international human rights 
organizations, other governments, multilateral organizations, 
and members of civil society. Once the reports are drafted, 
they are rigorously edited, reviewed, and fact-checked to 
ensure accuracy and objectivity.
    This year, we made the human rights reports easier to read 
online. Readers can jump directly to topics of interest with a 
new table of contents, share reports on social media, and 
research topics across countries with the Build a Report tool. 
Our goal is to allow readers to gather information quickly 
across regions on the issues that most interest them.
    We have also attempted to make the reports more accessible 
to a broader spectrum of readers. Over the past 35 years, the 
length of the human rights reports had expanded, even as 
Congress mandated separate annual reports on the status of 
international religious freedom and human trafficking. This 
year, we have developed a streamlined format for each country 
report. As a result, we do not attempt to catalog every 
incidence, however egregious, of a particular type of human 
rights abuse in a country. Rather, we spotlight examples that 
typify and illuminate the types of problems frequently reported 
in 2011 in that country. The mention of fewer cases in a 
particular report should not be interpreted as a lessening of 
concern for the overall human rights situation in any 
particular country. Rather, our goal is to shed light on the 
nature, scope, and severity of the reported human rights 
abuses. For the first time, we have also added an executive 
summary at the top of each report. We hope readers will find 
these changes useful.

                        2011 Country Highlights

                                 AFRICA

    Internal conflicts in the East, particularly in the North 
and South Kivu and Orientale provinces, continued to plague the 
Democratic Republic of Congo. Human rights abuses were 
committed by all parties to the conflict. Reported human rights 
abuses included killings, disappearances, and torture. Rebel 
and militia groups and some army units engaged in the illegal 
exploitation and trade of natural resources in the east. 
Foreign rebel and militia groups and some local militias formed 
coalitions, battled government forces, and attacked civilian 
populations. State security forces arrested, illegally 
detained, raped, tortured, or summarily executed civilians and 
looted villages during military actions against rebels. 
Fighting in the East impeded humanitarian aid in some areas, 
exacerbating an already severe humanitarian crisis that affects 
some 1.7 million displaced persons. Impunity remained a 
significant problem. The deeply flawed election in November was 
accompanied by disappearances and restrictions on freedoms of 
assembly, expression and movement.
    Widespread human rights violations continued in Eritrea, 
where the government is under the control of authoritarian 
President Isaias Afwerki. The government forced men and women 
to participate in the national service program from which there 
were no clear criteria for demobilization, and persons worked 
indefinitely in any location or capacity chosen by the 
government. Security forces tortured and beat army deserters, 
draft evaders, persons attempting to flee the country, and 
members of certain religious groups. Harsh prison and detention 
center conditions, which included unventilated and underground 
cells with extreme temperatures, led to multiple deaths. The 
government controlled all media. It reportedly continued to 
detain more than 30 journalists, providing no information about 
their places of detention.
    In Ethiopia, the government continued to repress civil 
society, including the media. The government arrested more than 
100 opposition figures, activists, journalists, and bloggers, 
charging several of those arrested with terrorist or seditious 
activity. However, observers found the evidence presented at 
trials to be either open to interpretation or indicative of 
acts of a political nature rather than linked to terrorism. The 
Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO law) continued to 
impose severe restrictions on civil society and NGO activities. 
As a result of the law, civil society activities have been 
severely curtailed. The government also restricted access to 
the Internet and blocked the websites of news organizations, 
opposition sites, and blogs.
    In Nigeria, a campaign of attacks by the radical Islamist 
sect known as Boko Haram intensified during the year and 
violence spread to more areas of the country. The group 
committed bombings and drive-by shootings, assassinated 
religious leaders, security personnel and politicians, attacked 
police stations and banks, and conducted suicide bombings. In 
Maiduguri, Borno State, shootings and bombings were a weekly 
and sometimes daily occurrence, with violence also occurring in 
neighboring states. In August, Boko Haram targeted an 
international organization for the first time, bombing the U.N. 
House headquarters in Abuja and killing 24 persons. The 
government deployed the Joint Task Force, which committed 
extrajudicial killings during attempts to apprehend Boko Haram 
members. The April 2011 general elections were Nigeria's most 
successful since its return to multiparty democracy in 1999. 
However, postelection violence erupted in the north and in the 
Middle Belt States, resulting in loss of lives, property 
damage, and restrictions of movement.
    The Government of Sudan continued to conduct aerial 
bombardment of civilian areas. In Darfur, fighting involved 
government forces, government-aligned militias, rebel groups, 
and ethnic groups. These groups killed, injured, and raped 
civilians, and used child soldiers. During the year violence 
broke-out in the disputed border area of Abyei, as well as in 
the Sudanese states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. The 
violence in these areas resulted in widespread civilian 
displacement and human rights abuses. Human rights abuses in 
Sudan went unpunished and impunity remained a serious problem. 
Parties to the conflicts obstructed the work of humanitarian 
organizations and the United Nations. In addition, the 
government also continued to crack down on journalists and 
restrict freedoms of speech, assembly, association, religion, 
and movement, and security forces continued to kill, torture, 
beat, and harass suspected political opponents and others.
    In Zimbabwe, the chronically bad human rights situation did 
not improve. Despite a fledgling Government of National Unity, 
the government remains mostly under the control of President 
Mugabe's political party, Zimbabwe African National Union-
Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which retains authority over the 
military, police and intelligence services. These security 
services continued to arrest, abuse, and torture non-ZANU-PF 
party members and civil society activists with impunity. The 
government infringed on citizens' freedoms of speech, assembly, 
association, and movement. Executive influence and interference 
in the judiciary remained a serious problem, and NGOs reported 
that magistrates were promised farms and homes for providing 
rulings favorable to ZANU-PF. In rural areas ZANU-PF 
sympathizers used threats and intimidation against local 
magistrates to gain favorable rulings.

                         EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC

    Burma took important steps to improve human rights 
conditions in 2011, including the release of hundreds of 
political prisoners and the adoption of a labor law that, when 
implemented, can provide workers the right to organize and 
strike. In November, following the adoption of a revised 
political party registration law, Aung San Suu Kyi's National 
League for Democracy and other opposition parties were allowed 
to re-register as legal political parties. However, significant 
human rights problems persisted, including military harassment 
and abuse of activists promoting human rights and democracy, 
and denial of the rights to freedom of expression, association, 
assembly, religion, and movement. The government detained 
activists indefinitely and without charges and regime-sponsored 
mass-member organizations harassed and abused them. Authorities 
arrested, detained, convicted, and imprisoned citizens for 
expressing political opinions critical of the government. The 
government took initial steps in 2011 toward lifting some of 
the longtime restrictions on the media. If implemented, these 
measures would lay the groundwork for meaningful freedom of 
expression in the country.
    In China, the human rights situation deteriorated, 
particularly the freedoms of expression, assembly, and 
association. The government exercised tight control over 
Internet access and content. Members of civil society, 
including human rights activists, journalists, writers, and 
dissidents, were harassed and detained. Public interest lawyers 
who took cases deemed sensitive by the government faced 
disbarment and the closure of their firms, and in some cases 
were subject to arrest and detention. Activists, dissidents, 
and members of religious minorities were denied the freedoms to 
assemble, practice their religions, or travel. The government 
stepped up efforts to silence political activists and resorted 
to extralegal measures, including enforced disappearance, 
``soft detention,'' and strict house arrest, including house 
arrest of family members, to prevent the public voicing of 
independent opinions. Abuses peaked around high-profile events, 
such as visits of foreign officials, sensitive anniversaries, 
and in response to calls for ``Jasmine revolution,'' protests. 
In Tibet, at least 12 monks and nuns immolated themselves to 
protest political restrictions and lack of religious freedom.
    Vietnam's May elections were neither free nor fair, since 
all candidates were required to pass vetting by the 
authorities. The government severely restricted political 
rights, including the freedoms of expression, assembly, 
movement, and association. It also restricted access to 
Internet content, and monitored bloggers. There were confirmed 
reports of attacks against websites critical of the Vietnamese 
government. Peaceful political activists were arbitrarily 
arrested, detained, and sentenced to prison; those alleged to 
have ties to foreign-based pro-democracy groups were particular 
targets. And 19 people reportedly died in police custody, 
including a man beaten while in detention for a traffic 
violation. At year's end, the government reportedly held more 
than 100 political detainees, although some international 
observers claimed there were more. Independent nongovernmental 
organizations were not permitted, and corruption was a problem 
in the judiciary as well as at various levels in the police. 
Prosecution of officials who committed abuses was inconsistent.

                                 EUROPE

    Conditions in Belarus remained poor following the flawed 
presidential election of December 2010. Security forces beat 
protestors and detainees, and there were credible reports of 
torture. Trials were conducted behind closed doors or in 
absentia with verdicts predetermined. Five of the nine 
candidates who opposed incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the 
presidential election were tried and convicted. Individuals 
were detained for civic activism. For example, during the June-
September ``silent'' demonstrations organized via Internet, 
police detained more than 2,000 people and sentenced many of 
them to large fines or up to 15 days of administrative 
detention. The government targeted for harassment 
representatives of nongovernmental organizations, journalists, 
and political activists following the presidential elections 
and further restricted freedom of association.
    In Russia, domestic and international monitors reported 
significant irregularities and fraud in many regions during the 
December elections to the State Duma, but also highlighted 
unprecedented civic involvement by Russians committed to trying 
to improve the process. There were large demonstrations in 
major cities protesting the conduct of the elections. While 
freedom of expression on the Internet and in some print media 
continued, self-censorship and the government's ownership of 
and pressure on some print and most broadcast media outlets 
limited political discourse. Attacks on and killings of 
journalists and activists continued. Individuals who challenged 
the government or well-connected business interests sometimes 
faced physical attack, harassment, increased scrutiny from 
government regulatory agencies, politically-motivated 
prosecutions, harsh detention conditions, and other forms of 
pressure. In the North Caucasus, the conflict among the 
government and insurgents, Islamist militants, and criminal 
elements led to numerous human rights abuses by security forces 
and insurgents.
    In Ukraine, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and 12 
other senior members of her government were charged with abuse 
of power and misuse of state funds during their tenure. Three 
have been convicted, including Tymoshenko and former interior 
minister Yuriy Lutsenko. Two others remain in custody, and the 
former minister of the economy, Bohdan Danylyshyn, fled the 
country and was granted political asylum in the Czech Republic. 
Many domestic and foreign observers considered the prosecutions 
to be politically motivated.

                               NEAR EAST

    In Bahrain, mass protests began in February calling for 
political reform and expanded civil rights for members the Shia 
majority. The government imposed a state of emergency, or 
``State of National Safety,'' from March 15 to June 1, during 
which time military and civilian security forces committed a 
number of human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary 
detentions, limitations on freedoms of speech and association, 
and lack of due process. Public employees were dismissed from 
their jobs for participating in protests, and individuals were 
prosecuted in both state security courts and civilian courts. 
In July, the king established the Bahrain Independent 
Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which determined that 13 Bahraini 
civilians died at the hands of security forces and an 
additional five as a result of torture. Individuals who 
expressed critical opinions, including through music and social 
media, faced arrest, were subjected to extended detention, or 
prosecution. In its November 23 report, the BICI described a 
``culture of impunity'' created by a lack of accountability of 
security officials during the unrest. Over the course of 2011, 
some political prisoners were released and some dismissed 
employees were reinstated, but other prosecutions of 
journalists, activists, and oppositions figures for their 
alleged anti-government activities continued. After the release 
of the report, the government began to take steps to implement 
the recommendations of the BICI, such as allowing access to 
prisons by the International Committee of the Red Cross, 
establishing a process to address worker reinstatements in 
collaboration with the trade union and employers, and 
restructuring oversight mechanisms in the Ministry of Interior 
and Bahrain National Security Agency.
    In Egypt, massive street demonstrations culminated in the 
February 11 resignation of President Hosni Mubarak and the 
transfer of executive authority to the Supreme Council of the 
Armed Forces. A March 2011 referendum for a new constitution, 
and voting in parliamentary elections conducted from November 
2011 through February 2012, were considered the freest in 
decades. However, human rights abuses were rampant during the 
uprising and continued after Mubarak's resignation. Attacks on 
demonstrators by security forces and clashes among 
demonstrators killed more than 900 people; female protesters 
were subjected to harassment and so-called ``virginity tests,'' 
and journalists and bloggers were detained for criticizing the 
military. Sectarian violence escalated over the course of the 
year, with more than 90 people, primarily Coptic Christians, 
killed in religious clashes. Few perpetrators of abuses were 
held accountable.
    The government of Iran continued to deny its citizens human 
rights, including the freedoms of expression, assembly, 
association, movement, and religion. It sentenced hundreds of 
people to death and carried out hundreds of executions without 
due process. It cracked down on all forms of dissent, arresting 
and detaining activists, opposition leaders, lawyers, 
journalists, artists, and academics. It executed juveniles, 
tortured political prisoners, and detained more journalists 
than nearly any country in the world. It limited the rights of 
citizens to peacefully change their government through free and 
fair elections, and also placed under house arrest for most of 
the year the two leaders of the main opposition movement, 
arbitrarily arrested their supporters, closed their websites 
and newspapers, and harassed their families. The Iranian 
government arrested, tortured, and prosecuted many for dissent, 
including demonstrators who rallied in solidarity with 
protesters in Tunisia and Egypt. It continued to mistreat 
women, LGBT people, and members of ethnic and religious 
minorities. Government officials made anti-Semitic statements, 
and disproportionately targeted members of minority groups, 
including Kurds, Arabs, Azeris, and Baluchis, for arbitrary 
arrest, prolonged detention, and physical abuse. The government 
also isolated its citizens by imposing severe restrictions on 
the Internet.
    Iraq's most significant human rights abuses included 
reports of unlawful killings and violence, torture, impunity, 
disappearances, and widespread corruption. Abuses were 
committed by sectarian and ethnic armed groups and government-
affiliated forces. Both terrorist groups, principally Sunni, 
such as al-Qaida in Iraq, and militant organizations, largely 
Shia, committed attacks against members of other sects or 
ethnic groups, security forces, places of worship, religious 
pilgrims, economic infrastructure, and government officials. 
Through suicide bombings, attacks with improvised explosive 
devices, drive-by shootings, and other acts of violence, the 
groups aimed to weaken the government and deepen sectarian 
divisions.
    In Libya, a revolution ended the Qadhafi regime, which 
perpetrated systematic human rights abuses throughout its four-
decade rule and was also responsible for the majority of 
civilian deaths and abuses during the seven-month conflict in 
2011. Abuses were committed by various actors in 2011, 
including after the conflict, and often with impunity. These 
included disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary 
arrests, abuse and lack of review in detention, and violence 
and widespread discrimination against migrants and members of 
some ethnic minorities. Following Qadhafi's death on October 20 
and the takeover of his last stronghold in Sirte, the 
Transitional National Council declared the country's 
``liberation'' on October 23 and remained an arm of the interim 
government engaged in transition planning. The interim 
Government of Libya expressed support for the protection of 
human rights for all people in Libya, but due to weak 
institutions, limited capacity, and a lack of control over the 
security environment, its ability to enforce the rule of law 
was limited. Continuing violence, organizational dysfunction, 
and corruption led to ongoing human rights abuses, particularly 
in the areas outside government control.
    In Syria, nonviolent antigovernment demonstrations began in 
mid-March and continued throughout 2011. The government of 
President al-Asad used indiscriminate and deadly force to quell 
peaceful protests throughout the country and launched military 
assaults on several of its own cities. Government forces 
deprived cities of electricity, water, and medical services, 
and restricted entry and exit for approximately 20 days while 
using military weaponry on buildings, mosques, and other 
civilian targets. Despite the regime's November 2 agreement to 
an Arab League plan to engage in reforms and cease killing 
civilians, it continued to use deadly force against peaceful 
protesters. At the year's end, activists reported ongoing 
arrests, torture, intimidation, rape, extra-judicial killings 
and the use of military force against civilians. The government 
attempted to stop the flow of information about state violence, 
including by banning smart phones that had been used to 
document state violence against civilians, including children. 
Nonetheless, images of protesters allegedly being beaten, 
arrested, and killed continued to be smuggled out of the 
country and to appear on social media sites such as YouTube and 
Facebook. As next year's Human Rights Reports will cover, the 
situation deteriorated sharply early this year, with the 
government waging massive military operations against cities 
and towns, and laying siege to Homs and other cities. As of 
March, the United Nations estimated that more than 9,000 
civilians had been killed since the beginning of the 
demonstrations. Efforts by the International Committee of the 
Red Cross to provide humanitarian assistance and medical care 
to besieged civilians were frequently thwarted by state forces.
    The Arab Spring began in Tunisia in December 2010, when a 
young vendor named Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in 
front of the headquarters of the provincial government to 
protest the confiscation of his goods by the police and the 
refusal of local officials to hear his complaint. That action, 
and the weeks of protests it sparked, ultimately toppled the 
Ben Ali regime. On October 23, a Constituent Assembly, the body 
that will draft a new constitution and appoint a new interim 
government, was elected. The proceedings were considered free 
and fair and marked the first open, inclusive, and truly 
democratic election in Tunisia's history. Overall, the January 
Revolution created an extraordinary opening for the protection 
of human rights in Tunisia. Under Ben Ali's 23-year 
dictatorship, human rights were systematically ignored. After 
the Revolution, restrictions on freedom of expression, 
assembly, and association diminished significantly. Exiled 
activists returned, political prisoners were released, and 
civil society and human rights activists pursued their work 
without disruption or intimidation by the state.
    South and Central AsiaAfghanistan experienced continuing 
human rights challenges in 2011, including armed insurgent 
groups' killings of persons affiliated with the government and 
indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Corruption was pervasive. 
International organizations documented cases of alleged torture 
and abuse of detainees by the National Directorate for Security 
and Afghan National Police. Violence and discrimination against 
Afghan women and girls remained widespread, and in many cases, 
the police did not respond to such abuses. Women active in 
public life faced threats and violence and were attacked by the 
Taliban and other insurgents. A political dispute continued 
during the year over President Karzai's appointment of a 
special tribunal, not envisioned in the constitution, to 
adjudicate the disputed 2010 election results, until it was 
resolved in accordance with Afghan law in August.
    In October, Kyrgyzstan experienced its first peaceful 
transfer of power in the republic's 20-year history. The 
elections, in which Almazbek Atambayev, the sitting prime 
minister, became president, were deemed generally transparent 
and competitive by independent observers. Ethnic tensions that 
had erupted in clashes in the south of Kyrgyzstan in 2010 
continued in 2011, as did pervasive discrimination against 
ethnic Uzbeks and members of other minority groups. Law 
enforcement officers in the south reportedly committed such 
violations as arbitrary arrest, mistreatment, torture, and 
extortion against all demographic groups, but particularly 
against ethnic Uzbeks. The central government's inability to 
hold human rights violators accountable allowed security forces 
to act arbitrarily, emboldening law enforcement to prey on 
vulnerable citizens. Further, the weakness of central authority 
empowered mobs to disrupt dozens of trials by attacking 
defendants, attorneys, witnesses, and judges.
    Pakistan continued to struggle with extrajudicial killings, 
torture, and forced disappearances committed by security forces 
and by extremist or separatist groups. These affected thousands 
of citizens in nearly all areas of the country. Both militant, 
terrorist, or extremist groups and security forces committed 
human rights abuses. Religious tensions remained high. On 
January 4, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was assassinated by 
his bodyguard because of his opposition to the blasphemy law, 
which was used to clamp down on freedoms of expression and 
religion. On March 2, Federal Minister for Minorities Shabbaz 
Bhatti, the only Christian in the Pakistani Cabinet, was shot 
to death. Bhatti also was an outspoken critic of the blasphemy 
law. The political, sectarian, and ethnic violence that has 
long plagued Karachi worsened during the year due in part to a 
large influx of Sindhi, Baloch, and Pashtun migrants following 
the 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods. Political parties and 
their affiliated gangs vied for political and economic control 
over these new populations. It was estimated that between 925 
and 1,400 persons were killed due to sectarian and political 
violence in Karachi between January and August.
    In Sri Lanka, disappearances and killings pro-government 
paramilitary groups continued, predominantly in Tamil areas. 
There were persistent reports of close, ground-level ties 
between paramilitary groups and government security forces. 
Civil society activists, persons viewed as Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam sympathizers, and journalists were attacked, 
intimidated or harassed by persons allegedly tied to the 
government. Torture and abuse of detainees and poor prison 
conditions remained a problem, and authorities arbitrarily 
arrested and detained citizens. A number of suspects died in 
detention under questionable circumstances. There was official 
impunity for a wide range of such human rights abuses. The 
president used his authority under the 18th Amendment, which 
passed in September 2010, to take greater control of 
appointments to previously independent public institutions that 
oversee compliance by the judiciary and the police, and with 
Sri Lanka's human rights obligations. A disproportionate number 
of victims of human rights abuses were Tamils.
    In Uzbekistan, the centralized executive branch dominated 
political life and exercised nearly complete control over the 
other branches of government. Security forces reportedly 
tortured and abused detainees. Criminal suspects were denied 
due process and fair trial. Religious freedom was restricted, 
and religious minority group members were harassed and 
imprisoned. Other continuing human rights problems included: 
incommunicado and prolonged detention; harsh and sometimes 
life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and 
detention; restrictions on freedoms of speech, assembly, and 
association; governmental restrictions on civil society 
activity; restrictions on freedom of movement; restrictions on 
the media; violence against women; and government-organized 
forced labor in cotton harvesting. Authorities subjected human 
rights activists, journalists, and others who criticized the 
government to harassment, arbitrary arrest, and politically 
motivated prosecution and detention. Government officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    Western HemisphereIn Cuba, the government continued its 
systemic repression of human rights and fundamental freedoms, 
including freedoms of speech, assembly, and association, and 
imposed severe restrictions on the media. The government 
strictly controlled all access to information. Human rights 
advocates were detained arbitrarily with increasing frequency; 
the number of short-term detentions doubled from 2010 to 2011. 
The government continued to organize mobs intended to 
intimidate opposition groups, particularly the Damas de Blanco 
(``Ladies in White''). These acts of repudiation (``actos de 
repudio'') were particularly aggressive in July and August, and 
in October the government belied its claim that the mobs were 
spontaneous by announcing that it would deploy them to prevent 
the Damas de Blanco from marching peacefully. Government 
officials and government-organized mobs detained, harassed, and 
assaulted dozens of peaceful human rights activists, 
journalists, and others to prevent them from marking Human 
Rights Day on December 10. Almost 800 detentions were recorded 
in December, a 30-year high.
    Honduras had an extremely high murder rate, and crime and 
human rights abuses continued at very high levels. As in much 
of Central America, violence was perpetrated by gangs and drug 
trafficking organizations, and was a significant problem. The 
Honduran police force had deep-seated and unaddressed 
corruption problems, and police officers targeted vulnerable 
persons, including LGBT people. Four journalists were murdered. 
On December 7, unknown gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed 
former senior government advisor on security Alfredo 
Landaverde. In the weeks preceding his death, Landaverde 
alleged that the National Police leadership was linked to 
organized crime and called for a clean-up. Police, vigilantes, 
and former members of the security forces carried out arbitrary 
and summary killings. The Honduran government established an 
independent internal affairs office and an outside police 
reform commission to address corruption in the National Police. 
In the Bajo Aguan region, there continued to be reports of 
killings of private security guards, agricultural workers, and 
security forces related to a land dispute.
    In Mexico, the most serious human rights challenges in 2011 
emanated from the country's fight against organized crime, 
which involved frequent clashes between security forces and 
drug cartels, which function as transnational criminal 
organizations (TCOs). Both TCOs and the gangs linked to them 
battled for control of drug trafficking routes and markets. 
TCOs remained the most significant perpetrator of violent 
crimes in Mexico. They engaged in human trafficking and used 
brutal tactics against citizens, including inhumane treatment, 
murder, and widespread intimidation. TCOs had a chilling effect 
on the media, executing bloggers who reported on their 
activities and threatening journalists who criticized them. In 
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, TCOs killed two bloggers in September 
and posted messages on their bodies warning of retaliation 
against anyone commenting about their activities on social 
media. A third Nuevo Laredo blogger was allegedly beaten and 
then killed in November, again in retaliation for posting 
comments on the Internet about local drug cartels. In the 
context of the fight against TCOs, but also at times unrelated 
to it, security forces reportedly engaged in unlawful killings, 
forced disappearances, and instances of physical abuse and 
torture.
    In Venezuela, there was an accelerating concentration of 
power in the executive branch. President Chavez used a December 
2010 law granting him broad authority to decree laws for a 
period of 18 months without consultation or approval by the 
elected National Assembly, to decree restrictions to 
fundamental economic and property rights. The government also 
took actions to impede freedom of expression and criminalize 
dissent. It harassed and intimidated privately owned television 
stations, other media outlets, and journalists throughout the 
year, using threats, fines, property seizures, targeted 
regulations, and criminal investigations and prosecutions. 
Anti-Semitism colored official media attacks on opponents. The 
government used the judiciary to intimidate and prosecute 
political, union, business, and civil society leaders who were 
critical of government policies or actions.


                         SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA

                              ----------                              


                              AFGHANISTAN

                           executive summary
    Afghanistan is an Islamic republic with a strong, directly elected 
presidency, a bicameral legislative branch, and a judicial branch. 
Widespread fraud and irregularities marred the September 2010 
parliamentary elections, with observers concerned that the transparency 
of the electoral process would be undermined by President Hamid 
Karzai's 2010 appointment of a special tribunal, not envisioned in the 
constitution, to adjudicate the disputed election results. In 2009 
citizens voted in their second presidential election. The 
constitutionally mandated Independent Elections Commission (IEC) 
declared Karzai president for a second term, after his challenger 
withdrew from a run-off election. Allegations of fraud also marred 
those elections. Civilian authorities generally maintained control over 
the security forces, although there were instances in which security 
forces acted independently.
    The most significant human rights problems were: a) the continued 
dispute over President Karzai's appointed tribunal, which was not 
settled until August, when the president recognized that the sole 
authority to adjudicate election results lay with the IEC; b) 
widespread violence, including armed insurgent groups' killings of 
persons affiliated with the government and indiscriminate attacks on 
civilians, and credible reports of torture and abuse of detainees by 
security forces; c) pervasive corruption; and d) endemic violence and 
societal discrimination against women and girls, despite considerable 
improvements in women's health and maternal mortality.
    Other human rights problems included extrajudicial killings by 
security forces--for example, the Afghan National Police (ANP) in 
Kandahar was implicated in several cases of torture and extrajudicial 
killings; poor prison conditions; ineffective government investigations 
of abuses and torture by local security forces; arbitrary arrest and 
detention; prolonged pretrial detention; judicial corruption and 
ineffectiveness; violations of privacy rights; restrictions on freedom 
of speech and of the press; some limits on freedom of assembly; 
restrictions on freedom of religion; limits on freedom of movement; 
abuse of children, including sexual abuse; discrimination and abuses 
against ethnic minorities; trafficking in persons; societal 
discrimination based on race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation; 
abuse of worker rights; compulsory and bonded labor; and child labor, 
including forced child labor.
    Widespread official impunity for those who committed human rights 
abuses was a serious problem. The government was either unwilling or 
unable to prosecute abuses by officials consistently and effectively.
    The Taliban and other insurgents continued to kill record numbers 
of civilians, using improvised explosive devices, car bombs, and 
suicide attacks. The Taliban increasingly used children as suicide 
bombers. Antigovernment elements also threatened, robbed, and attacked 
villagers, foreigners, civil servants, and medical and nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) workers.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life--There were credible 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. Police beatings resulted in at least one death in 
custody in Kabul in March, and the United Nations Assistance Mission in 
Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented one death from torture in ANP and 
National Directorate of Security (NDS) custody in Kandahar in April 
(see section 1.c.). Media sources reported that police in Kandahar in 
the 3rd Afghan Border Police (ABP) Zone headquartered in Spin Boldak 
were involved in extrajudicial killings and torture.
    There were numerous reports that the Taliban and other insurgent 
groups committed politically motivated killings. UNAMA reported 495 
targeted killings of civilians by antigovernment elements (AGEs) during 
the year, a slight increase over 2010 (see also section 1.g.).
    The Taliban committed a string of high-profile, targeted killings 
of regional police commanders, provincial police chiefs, and other 
officials. For example, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the June 
beheading of the chair of the Provincial Council of Bamyan and for the 
suicide bomber who killed Kandahar city Mayor Ghulam Haider Hamidi in 
July.
    The Taliban and other insurgents also killed numerous civilians. 
For example, a February 19 attack on a Jalalabad bank left 40 dead, 
both in the attack and through the use of bombs (see section 1.g.). 
Taliban and insurgent attacks escalated in both number and complexity 
during the year. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a highly 
coordinated and prolonged June 28 attack on the Intercontinental Hotel 
in Kabul, in which at least seven persons were killed, and for the 
August 19 attack on the British Council compound in Kabul where 12 more 
people died.
    Improvised explosive devices employed by insurgents were the single 
largest cause of civilian deaths.
    In September a suicide bomber assassinated former President and 
chairman of the High Peace Council (HPC) Burhanuddin Rabbani in his 
home. The Afghan government accused the Taliban and Pakistan's Inter-
Services Intelligence (ISI) of complicity, though both the Taliban and 
the Government of Pakistan denied any involvement. Afghan and Pakistani 
authorities continued to investigate at year's end.
    There were some reports of summary justice by the Taliban resulting 
in extrajudicial executions.

    b. Disappearance--There were reports that insurgent groups and 
criminals were responsible for disappearances and abductions in 
connection with the ongoing insurgency (see section 1.g.). For example, 
in August eight security officials who were kidnapped were found dead 
in Wardak province.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment--The constitution prohibits such practices; however, there 
were widespread reports that government officials, security forces, 
detention center authorities, and police committed abuses. 
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that security forces 
continued to use excessive force, including torturing and beating 
civilians. For example, in March police severely beat an 18-year-old 
who died while in police custody in Kabul's District 11. He had been 
charged with stealing cell phones and about 200,000 afghani ($4,400) 
from his employer.
    In October UNAMA reported systematic torture of detainees at five 
NDS and ANP detention centers and found credible instances of torture 
and mistreatment at several other facilities, although UNAMA found no 
evidence that the torture was either institutionalized or a government 
policy. Extensive media reports linked ANP in Kandahar to reports of 
torture. One such case involved the arrest of two young boys working at 
a restaurant who allegedly brought food to insurgent fighters hiding 
outside the city. The ANP forces reportedly handcuffed the two boys, 
hung them from the ceiling, and beat them with a black metal baton and 
a cable.
    The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) and NGOs reported that 
police raped female detainees. There were reports that security 
officials and those connected to the ANP raped children with impunity 
(see section 6, Children). NGOs reported incidents of sexual abuse and 
exploitation of children by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), 
although cultural taboos against reporting such crimes made it 
difficult to determine the extent of the problem. In May media 
officials reported that the ANSF detained and sexually abused three 
underage male suicide bombers who had crossed the border from Pakistan 
before turning them over to a juvenile detention center.
    There were multiple and credible reports of abuses of power by 
``arbakai'' (untrained local militia) commanders and their followers. 
These included accounts of murder, rape, assault, the forcible levy of 
informal taxes, and the transfer of a girl or woman to another family 
to settle a debt or grievance (``baadh''), after which the victim often 
was raped or beaten. In June a group of arbakai reportedly beat the 
headmaster of a girl's school in Kunduz. Observers claimed the violence 
stemmed from an inter-village rivalry over access to government funds 
and the headmaster's complaint that area farmers were being forced to 
pay tribute to a neighboring village's arbakai.
    In September Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report linking the 
Afghan Local Police (ALP) and armed militia to extensive human rights 
abuses. For example, in June the ALP allegedly detained two boys 
overnight and beat them, and also hammered nails into one boy's feet 
while he was in custody. International training and mentoring of ALP 
has sought to reduce abuse of authority such as in Helmand, for 
instance by revising initial ALP training procedures to promote 
practical application of human rights principles.
    There were reports of torture and other abuses by the Taliban and 
other insurgent groups.

    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor. Most prisons and detention centers, particularly Ministry of the 
Interior (MOI) detention centers, were decrepit, severely overcrowded, 
unsanitary, and fell well short of international standards. The 
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and other 
observers continued to report that inadequate food and water, poor 
sanitation facilities, insufficient blankets, and infectious diseases 
were common in the country's prisons. However, some observers have 
found the food and water to be sufficient throughout the Central Prison 
Directorate (CPD). The CPD has a nationwide program to feed prisoners, 
but on an extremely limited budget. Many prisoners' families supplement 
food and other necessary living items.
    There were reports of abuse of persons in detention. In October 
UNAMA reported that widespread mistreatment and torture of detainees 
occurred in NDS and ANP detention facilities. Security forces used 
suspension; beatings, especially with rubber hoses, electric cables, or 
wires and wooden sticks, most frequently on the soles of the feet; 
electric shock; twisting of detainees' genitals; stress positions; 
removal of toenails; and threats of sexual abuse. UNAMA found evidence 
of systemic torture at five NDS detention facilities in Herat, 
Kandahar, Khost, and Laghman, and the national facility of the NDS 
Counter-Terrorism Department 124 (formerly Department 90) in Kabul. 
UNAMA documented one death in ANP and NDS custody from torture in 
Kandahar in April. NGOs reported cases of prison officials raping 
female inmates.
    NDS and the MOI cooperated with coalition forces and the 
international community to address concerns, improve training, and 
review facilities. The government granted the International Security 
Assistance Forces access to the facilities named in the UNAMA report 
for the purposes of monitoring the treatment of detainees and undertook 
to train detention officials in human rights standards. The NDS in 
December created a new Human Rights Cell charged with investigating 
claims of detainee mistreatment. The NDS also welcomed international 
and NGO input on allegations of detainee abuse in order to effectively 
investigate such claims. The effectiveness of such NDS efforts could 
not be determined by year's end. Government officials in Khost invited 
UNAMA to provide human rights training at prison facilities and 
welcomed international prison monitoring visits.
    There were 34 provincial prisons under MOJ/CPD control and 187 
active MOI detention facilities, including 30 juvenile rehabilitation 
centers. The total number of active detention facilities reportedly 
fluctuated from month to month. Overall, the MOI lacked sufficient 
detention facilities. No official information was available on the 
number of prisoners the NDS held, or the number of facilities the NDS 
operated.
    Authorities generally did not have the infrastructure capacity to 
separate pretrial and posttrial inmates. As of December the CPD 
reported 5,271 male pretrial detainees, 16,244 male prisoners, 121 
female pretrial detainees, and 500 female prisoners. In most instances 
limited infrastructure hindered housing prisoners by their 
classification, but where it was feasible the CPD separated them. Women 
were not imprisoned with men. Authorities generally did not have the 
infrastructure capacity to house juveniles according to the nature of 
the charges against them.
    Under the law children younger than seven may live in prison with 
their mothers who have been convicted of a crime. However, this 
practice was reduced significantly under the direction of the CPD and 
in conjunction with the opening of some children's support centers.
    The law provides prisoners with the right to leave prison for up to 
20 days for visits; however, this right was not respected in most 
prisons.
    There was an informal grievance procedure within the CPD. The MOJ, 
the attorney general, and some governors monitored or assessed prison 
conditions, although investigations and monitoring did not fully meet 
international standards. The MOI, MOJ, MOD, and NDS permitted the 
AIHRC, UNAMA, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), and 
other human rights organizations to visit their detention facilities. 
Security constraints and obstruction by some authorities occasionally 
prevented visits to some places of detention. The United Nations and 
other human rights organizations did not have access to NDS Department 
124 for monitoring of prison conditions. There was no formal prisoner 
complaint system in place. Although varying by prison, commanders 
designated certain inmates to report back to them on security and 
internal situations.
    In government detention facilities, observers reported that 
prisoners were permitted religious observance.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest or detention; however, both remained serious problems. Many 
citizens were detained without enjoying essential procedural 
protections.
    According to NGOs, authorities continued to arbitrarily detain 
citizens without clear legal authority and due process. Local law 
enforcement officials reportedly illegally detained persons on charges 
not provided for in the penal code and used their official status to 
resolve petty disputes.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Three ministries have 
responsibility both in law and in practice for providing security in 
the country. The ANP, under the MOI, has primary responsibility for 
internal order but increasingly was engaged in fighting the insurgency. 
The Afghan National Army (ANA), under the Ministry of Defense, is 
responsible for external security. The NDS has responsibility for 
investigating cases of national security and also functions as an 
intelligence agency. The investigative branch of the NDS has a facility 
in Kabul where it holds prisoners on a pretrial basis until their cases 
are handed over to prosecutors. In some areas insurgents maintained 
considerable power as a result of the government's failure to assert 
control.
    Official impunity and lack of accountability were pervasive, as 
were abuses of power by unofficial, traditional militias. Unofficial 
militias reportedly beat, robbed, and killed rural dwellers with 
impunity. Observers believed that ALP and ANP personnel were largely 
unaware of their responsibilities and defendants' rights under the law. 
According to UNAMA, accountability of NDS and ANP officials for torture 
and abuse was weak, not transparent, and rarely enforced. There was 
limited independent, judicial, or external oversight of the NDS and ANP 
as institutions, and of crimes or misconduct committed by NDS and ANP 
officials, including torture and abuse.
    International support for recruiting and training new ANP personnel 
continued, with the goal of professionalizing the police force, 
including the continuing implementation of the CPD staff prison reform 
and restructuring program. The international community worked with the 
government to develop awareness and police training programs. These 
programs emphasized law enforcement, the constitution, values and 
ethics, professional development, the prevention of domestic violence, 
and fundamental standards of human rights, in addition to core policing 
skills and internal investigation mechanisms to curb security force 
corruption and abuses.
    Nevertheless, human rights problems persisted; observers criticized 
the inadequate preparation and lack of insensitivity of local security 
forces. Human rights institutions expressed deep concerns about the 
limited oversight that existed for security institutions, especially 
the ALP.
    NGOs and human rights activists noted that societal violence, 
especially against women, was widespread; in many cases the police did 
not prevent or respond to the violence. In April a 12-year-old girl in 
Takhar Province allegedly was gang-raped. According to some accounts, 
several of the perpetrators were wearing police (ANP) uniforms. 
Although the AIHRC and other civil society representatives undertook a 
high-profile investigative visit to Takhar, authorities made no 
arrests.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arbitrary 
Arrest.--Arbitrary arrest and detention remained problems.

    Pretrial Detention.--The law provides for access to legal counsel 
and the use of warrants, and limits how long detainees may be held 
without charge. The ICRC, the AIHRC, and other observers reported that 
arbitrary and prolonged detention frequently occurred throughout the 
country. Authorities often did not inform detainees of the charges 
against them. Police have the right to detain a suspect for 72 hours to 
complete a preliminary investigation. If they decide to pursue a case, 
the file is transferred to the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which 
must interrogate the suspect within 48 hours. The investigating 
prosecutor can continue to detain a suspect without formal charges for 
15 days from the time of arrest while continuing the investigation. 
With court approval the investigating prosecutor may detain a suspect 
for an additional 15 days. The prosecutor must file an indictment or 
release the suspect within 30 days of arrest. Investigation may 
continue even if an indictment cannot be completed within the 30 days.
    In practice many detainees did not benefit from any or all of these 
provisions, largely due to a lack of resources. The law provides that 
upon request by defense counsel, the court shall release a detainee 
held over the 30-day period when an indictment is not filed. However, 
many detainees were held beyond 30 days, despite the lack of an 
indictment. Observers reported that prosecutors and police detained 
individuals on average for nine months without charging them, sometimes 
for actions that were not crimes under the law, in part because the 
judicial system was inadequate to process detainees in a timely 
fashion.
    On August 25, President Karzai called on the Minister of Justice, 
the Attorney General, the head of the NDS, and the head of the Supreme 
Court to process cases more expeditiously and not to detain persons 
without cause. He also called for the release of prisoners whose terms 
had been completed but who were still in jail due to a lack of 
financial or other guarantees.
    The seven government entities involved in the criminal justice 
sector--the MOJ, AGO, Supreme Court, MOI, NDS, MOD, and High Office of 
Oversight--continued to implement a standard case management system.
    Arbitrary arrests were reported in most provinces. Incommunicado 
detention remained a problem and prompt access to a lawyer was rare. 
While detainees were allowed access to their families, there were many 
cases in which such access was not prompt. Some detainees were 
subjected to torture and other mistreatment, including being whipped, 
exposed to extreme cold, and deprived of food. UNAMA reported that 
police also detained individuals for moral crimes, breaches of 
contracts, family disputes, and to extract confessions. Observers 
reported that those detained for moral crimes were almost exclusively 
women.
    There was little consistency in the length of time detainees were 
held before trial or arraignment. Postsentence detention also was 
reportedly common.
    According to the MOJ, 81 children were detained on national 
security-related charges in juvenile rehabilitation centers during the 
year; all were male, six younger than age 15. The juvenile code 
presumes that children should not be held to the same standards as 
adults. The code states that the arrest of a child ``should be a matter 
of last resort and should last for the shortest possible period.'' An 
estimated 850 children in juvenile rehabilitation centers across the 
country lacked access to adequate food, health care, and education. 
Detained children typically were denied basic rights and many aspects 
of due process, including the presumption of innocence, the right to be 
informed of charges, access to defense lawyers, and the right not to be 
forced to confess. The law provides for the creation of juvenile 
police, prosecution offices, and courts. Due to limited resources, the 
special juvenile courts functioned only in six areas (Kabul, Herat, 
Balkh, Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Kunduz). In provinces where special 
courts do not exist, children's cases fall under the ordinary courts. 
The law also mandates that children's cases be addressed in private and 
may involve three stages: primary, appeals, and the final stage at the 
Supreme Court.
    Some of the children in the criminal justice system were victims 
rather than perpetrators of crime. Particularly in cases of sexual 
exploitation, perpetrators seldom were imprisoned, as cases seldom were 
prosecuted; some victims were perceived as shameful and in need of 
punishment, having brought shame on their family by reporting the 
abuse. Some children allegedly were imprisoned as a family proxy for 
the actual perpetrator.
    Increasingly, the insurgency used children in suicide bombing 
attempts. In August President Karzai pardoned 20 children who had been 
arrested by the NDS while trying to carry out suicide bombings, stating 
that they had been deceived and oppressed by the country's enemies.
    ``Zina,'' the term for adultery and/or fornication, is a criminal 
act under the penal code. In practice police and legal officials often 
charged women with intent to commit zina to justify their arrest and 
incarceration for social offenses such as running away from home, 
defying family choice of a spouse, fleeing domestic violence or rape, 
or eloping. Police often detained women for zina at the request of 
family members.
    Authorities imprisoned some women for reporting crimes perpetrated 
against them and some as proxies serving as substitutes for their 
husbands or male relatives convicted of crimes. During the year, the 
AIHRC received reports of men being arrested in place of a male 
relative when a suspect could not be located, on the assumption that 
the suspect would turn himself in to free the family member.
    Authorities placed some women in protective custody to prevent 
violent retaliation by family members. Authorities also placed women 
who were victims of domestic violence in protective custody (including 
in a detention center), if there was no shelter facility available, to 
protect them from further abuse. Under the 2009 decree on the 
Elimination of Violence Against Women Act (EVAW), the police have the 
obligation to arrest those who abuse women. However, implementation and 
awareness of the EVAW law was very limited.
    Authorities frequently did not rearrest defendants even after an 
appellate court convicted them in absentia. There was no bond system, 
although a rudimentary personal recognizance system was utilized in 
some areas where international observers monitored cases; authorities 
justified posttrial detention because defendants released pending 
appeal often disappeared.
    Prosecutors did not exercise discretion in making decisions on 
charges.
    International mentors observed that prosecutors filed indictments 
in cases transferred to them by the police, even where there was a 
reasonable belief that no crime actually was committed.

    Amnesty.--The Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) 
provided political amnesty to insurgents who met program eligibility 
criteria, including breaking ties with al-Qaida, renouncing violence, 
agreeing to abide by the constitution including its protections for 
women and minority groups, and formally enrolling in the program. 
Political amnesty is not defined. However, the program document states 
that the APRP ``is not a framework for pardoning all crimes and 
providing blanket amnesty.'' The APRP has not yet defined what offenses 
are eligible for amnesty. Reintegration candidates are informed prior 
to enrollment that entry into the program does not amount to blanket 
immunity from prosecution.
    There were instances in which local government officials, unaware 
of or knowingly ignoring APRP policy, promised amnesty to insurgents 
who had agreed to stop fighting but had not formally entered the APRP, 
such as in the case of a Taliban commander, Maulavi Isfandar, who 
oversaw the execution of Bibi Sanubar, a pregnant widow accused of 
adultery, in Badghis Province. These informally reintegrated persons 
were neither vetted by their community members for inclusion in the 
program nor informed about the APRP's position on amnesty. The 
government estimated that an additional 2,978 insurgents formally 
reintegrated during the year.
    Fourteen persons met the government's conditions for reconciliation 
(renunciation of violence, no links to international terrorist 
organizations, and respect for the constitution, including the rights 
of women and minorities) and were removed from the U.N. Sanctions List 
during 2010. An additional 15 persons met the conditions for 
reconciliation and were removed from the U.N. Sanctions List in 2011.
    The AIHRC and human rights activists continued to express concern 
that war criminals and human rights abusers remain in positions of 
power within the government.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, but in practice the judiciary was underfunded, 
understaffed, ineffective, and subject to political influence and 
pervasive corruption. Bribery, corruption, and pressure from public 
officials, tribal leaders, families of accused persons, and individuals 
associated with the insurgency threatened judicial impartiality. Most 
courts administered justice unevenly, according to a mixture of 
codified law, Sharia (Islamic law), and local custom.
    The formal justice system was relatively strong in the urban 
centers, where the central government was strongest, and weaker in the 
rural areas, where approximately 80 percent of the population lived. 
Nationwide, fully functioning courts, police forces, and prisons were 
rare. The judicial system lacked the capacity to handle the large 
volume of new and amended legislation. A lack of qualified judicial 
personnel hindered the courts. Municipal and provincial authorities, 
including judges, had minimal training and often based their judgments 
on their personal understanding of Sharia, tribal codes of honor, or 
local custom. The majority of judges graduated from madrassahs or had 
Sharia training. Very few judges were graduates of a law school. Lack 
of access to legal codes and statutes hindered judges and prosecutors.
    There were widespread shortages of judges, primarily in insecure 
areas. The Supreme Court reported that there were an estimated 1,651 
judges at the primary, appellate, and supreme court levels, including 
143 female judges at year's end.
    In major cities, courts primarily decided criminal cases, as 
mandated by law. Civil cases often were resolved in the informal 
system. Because the formal legal system was often not present in rural 
areas, local elders and shuras (consultative gatherings, usually of men 
selected by the community) were the primary means of settling both 
criminal matters and civil disputes; they also levied unsanctioned 
punishments. Some estimates suggested that 80 percent of all disputes 
were resolved by shuras. Sometimes the shuras did not respect the 
constitutional rights of--and sometimes violated the rights of--women 
and minorities.
    In areas not under government control, the Taliban enforced a 
parallel judicial system based on strict interpretation of Sharia.

    Trial Procedures.--Trial procedures rarely met internationally 
accepted standards. The administration and implementation of justice 
varied in different areas of the country. By law all citizens are 
entitled to a presumption of innocence and defendants have the right to 
be present at trial and to appeal; however, these rights were not 
always applied. Trials were rarely public. Judges decided all criminal 
trials, since there is no right to a jury trial under the constitution. 
A defendant also has the right to consult with an advocate or counsel 
at public expense when resources allow. This right was applied 
inconsistently, in part due to a severe shortage of defense counsel. 
Defendants frequently were not allowed to confront or question 
witnesses. Citizens often were unaware of their constitutional rights. 
Defendants and attorneys were entitled to examine the physical evidence 
and the documents related to their case before trial; however, 
observers noted that in practice court documents often were not 
available for review before cases went to trial, despite defense 
lawyers' requests. When the accused is held in custody, the primary 
court must hear the trial within two months. The appellate court has 
two months to review the case of an incarcerated person. Either side 
may appeal; an accused defendant who is found innocent usually remains 
detained in the legal system until the case moves through all three 
levels of the judiciary: primary, appeals, and the Supreme Court. The 
decision of the primary court becomes final if an appeal is not filed 
within 20 days. Any second appeal must be filed within 30 days, after 
which the case moves to the Supreme Court, which must decide the case 
of the defendant within five months. If the appellate deadlines are not 
met, the law requires that the accused be released from custody. In 
many cases courts did not meet these deadlines.
    In cases lacking a clearly defined legal statute, or cases in which 
judges, prosecutors, or elders were unaware of the law, judges and 
informal shuras enforced customary law; this practice often resulted in 
outcomes that discriminated against women. This included the practice 
(baadh) of ordering the defendant to provide compensation in the form 
of a young girl to be married to a man whose family the defendant had 
wronged.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports that the 
government held political prisoners or detainees.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens had limited 
access to justice for constitutional and human rights violations, and 
interpretations of religious doctrine often took precedence over human 
rights or constitutional rights. The state judiciary did not play a 
significant or effective role in adjudicating civil matters due to 
corruption and lack of capacity.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits arbitrary interference in matters of 
privacy; however, the government did not respect these prohibitions in 
practice, and there were no legal protections for victims.
    Government officials forcibly entered homes and businesses of 
civilians without judicial authorization.
    Authorities imprisoned men and women as substitutes for male 
relatives who were suspects or convicted criminals in order to induce 
those persons at large to surrender themselves (see section 1.d.).
    The law provides for wiretapping in certain cases, which include 
tracking money laundering and narcotics trafficking.
    The government's willingness to recognize the right to marry varied 
according to nationality, gender, and religion. Although more than 99 
percent of the population was Muslim, the AIHRC reported that on 
several occasions, marriages between Sunnis and Shias were annulled as 
``haram,'' or against Islam. In Bamyan Province, the family of an 
ethnically Sayed female prohibited her from marrying a Hazara man, 
compelling her to flee to a shelter in fear for her life in May. She 
and her case were moved to a shelter in Kabul at year's end, despite 
sustained pressure from the AIHRC, the governor of Bamyan, civil 
society, and the international community on the family and local 
government to allow the couple to marry.
    Insurgents frequently ordered the country's four mobile telephone 
operators to shut down operations in the Southwest, South, and East for 
hours or days at a time. In response the government ordered operators 
to maintain continuous services; insurgents responded by routinely 
destroying mobile telephone towers.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
Continuing internal conflict resulted in civilian deaths, abductions, 
prisoner abuse, property damage, and the displacement of residents. The 
security situation remained a problem during the year due to insurgent 
attacks. According to a 2011 report by UNAMA, civilians continued to 
bear the brunt of intensified armed conflict as civilian deaths 
increased by 8 percent during the year compared with 2010.
    The large number of attacks by AGEs limited the capability of the 
central government to protect human rights in many districts, 
especially in the South. The growth in civilian casualties was due 
primarily to the armed opposition's indiscriminate use of land mine-
like pressure plate improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

    Killings.--Government and progovernment forces were responsible for 
civilian casualties. The UNAMA 2011 Annual Report on the Protection of 
Citizens in Armed Conflict stated that progovernment forces (PGFs) were 
responsible for 14 percent of total civilian deaths, a decrease of 4 
percent compared with 2010.
    Airstrikes remained responsible for the largest percentage of 
civilian deaths caused by PGFs. The UNAMA report stated that civilian 
deaths caused by aerial attacks increased 9 percent compared with 2010.
    UNAMA noted that AGEs remained responsible for the largest 
proportion of civilian casualties, which rose 14 percent compared with 
2010. Of the 2,332 conflict-related deaths in the first half of the 
year, 77 percent were attributable to AGEs. Responsibility for the 
remainder could not be determined.
    During the year, antigovernment elements continued to attack 
progovernment religious leaders. In March authorities arrested a man 
and detained four accomplices in connection with the February 12 murder 
of a prominent mullah. A Taliban sympathizer detonated a bomb in his 
turban at the July 14 mosque funeral of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the 
president's half-brother, killing a Muslim cleric and four mourners.
    In August insurgents in the northeastern province of Kunar stoned, 
hanged, and shot two ANA soldiers returning from leave.
    The Taliban and antigovernment elements continued to engage in 
indiscriminate use of force, attacking and killing villagers, 
foreigners, and NGO workers. The Taliban and other insurgents killed 
numerous civilians, both in attacks and with car bombs and suicide 
bombs. IED attacks killed more civilians than any other tactic during 
the year, causing 967 deaths. Suicide attacks and IEDs together 
accounted for 32 percent of all civilian deaths during the year.
    Insurgents targeted national and government officials, foreigners, 
and local NGO employees. There were accounts of insurgent violence 
against the civilian population. According to the United Nations 
Country Task Force Monitoring and Reporting on Grave Child Rights 
Violations, there were 13 attacks on girls' schools since April.
    A February suicide attack in northern Kunduz Province killed at 
least 26 persons and wounded more than 30 others inside a population 
registration office where people had come to receive their national 
identity cards. Armed persons entered a local branch of Kabul Bank in 
Nangarhar Province on February 19. In the ensuing firefight and suicide 
bombing, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, 18 persons were 
killed and 70 others were wounded.
    June saw an all-time high in the number of security incidents in a 
single month, according to UNAMA, and the highest-ever number of IED 
attacks recorded in a one-month period. On June 9, Taliban-linked 
insurgents killed nine persons in an attack on a wedding party at the 
Nangarhar compound of a district governor. Two civilians were killed 
and two wounded in a suicide attack on the governor's compound in 
Parwan on June 21. Another suicide attack on the Kapisa governor's 
office killed eight persons and wounded four in mid-June.

    Abductions.--The MOI's Anti-Crime Police reported over 100 
abductions through year's end, as the Taliban targeted construction and 
mining projects, teachers, and citizens perceived to be cooperating 
with the international community (see section 1.b.). The actual number 
of cases may have been much higher.

    Physical Abuse, Punishment, and Torture.--Land mines and unexploded 
ordnance continued to cause deaths and injuries, restricted areas 
available for farming, and impeded the return of refugees. The Mine 
Action Coordination Center for Afghanistan (MACCA) reported at year's 
end that land mines and unexploded ordnance killed or injured an 
average of 31 persons each month. In addition to these casualties from 
traditional antitank and antipersonnel mines, there were 18,692 
civilian casualties from IEDs during the year, with the overwhelming 
majority of those resulting from pressure-plate devices (according to 
the Afghan National Counter-IED Strategy 2012). At year's end, land 
mines and unexploded ordnance imperiled 1,930 communities, which 
represent less than 2 percent of total communities. The majority of 
remaining mine hazard areas include a relatively low number of 
arbitrarily-placed mines dispersed over a large area, but nonetheless 
still deny full use of the land to communities. The MOE and Afghan NGOs 
conducted educational programs and mine awareness campaigns throughout 
the country.

    Child Soldiers.--Officially the government, with international 
assistance, vetted all recruits into the armed forces and police, 
rejecting applicants under the age of 18. However, there were reports 
that children were recruited and used for military purposes by the 
ANSF, the ANP, and progovernment militias, and sometimes were sexually 
abused.
    Anecdotal evidence suggested that insurgent recruitment of underage 
soldiers continued to rise. There were also numerous credible reports 
that the Taliban and other insurgent forces recruited children younger 
than age 18, in some cases as suicide bombers and human shields, and in 
other cases to assist with their work. The media, NGOs, and U.N. 
agencies reported that the Taliban tricked children, promised them 
money, or forced them to become suicide bombers. President Karzai 
ordered the release of 20 such incarcerated children on August 25.
    Also see the Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons 
Report at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/.

    Other Conflict-related Abuses.--The security environment had a 
negative effect on the ability of humanitarian organizations to operate 
freely in many parts of the country. Insurgents deliberately targeted 
government employees and aid workers.
    Gunmen stormed a U.N. compound in Mazar-e-Sharif on April 1, 
killing three U.N. staff and four Nepalese guards.
    Suspected Taliban members fired on NGO vehicles and attacked NGO 
offices, guest houses, and hotels frequented by NGO employees. Violence 
and instability hampered development, relief, and reconstruction 
efforts. NGOs reported that insurgents, powerful local individuals, and 
militia leaders demanded bribes to allow groups to bring relief 
supplies into the country and distribute them.
    In an attack that some observers thought may have missed its mark, 
25 persons, including children, pregnant women, medical workers, and an 
entire family of seven, were killed on June 25 in Logar Province, when 
a truck bomb exploded at the entrance to a maternity hospital, 
destroying the facility, which drew patients from isolated villages for 
prenatal and obstetrics care. No insurgent group claimed responsibility 
for the attack, which may have been intended for the district 
governor's office and police station next door.
    The Taliban continued to distribute threatening messages in 
attempts to curtail government and development activities. Insurgents 
used civilians, including children as young as age three, as human 
shields, either by forcing them into the line of fire or by basing 
operations in civilian settings.
    In the South and East, Taliban and other antigovernment elements 
frequently forced local residents to provide food and shelter to their 
fighters. The Taliban also continued to attack schools, radio stations, 
and government offices.
    An organized attack October 31 on the U.N. High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) offices in Kandahar that involved suicide bombers and 
gunmen resulted in the deaths of three UNHCR employees and the wounding 
of two other staff members.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the 
press; however, the government restricted these rights.

    Freedom of Speech.--Authorities used pressure, regulations, and 
threats to silence critics. Freedom of speech was even more constrained 
at the provincial level, where warlords owned many of the broadcasting 
stations and print media.

    Freedom of the Press.--Some independent journalists and writers 
published magazines and newsletters, although circulation largely was 
confined to Kabul. Newspapers tended to reflect more openly on domestic 
developments in comparison to broadcasters. Satirical programming was 
widespread; every private television station had at least one comedy-
satire program that openly criticized government officials.
    Despite the obstacles they faced, media sources and observers 
asserted that the country's independent media continued to expand and 
became increasingly sophisticated. Independent media were active and 
reflected differing political views. An NGO offered safe houses for 
threatened journalists. Many Afghan journalists stated they had more 
freedom than their regional neighbors. Numerous international and local 
organizations provided regular training and mentoring for journalists; 
some programs ended with job offers for talented participants.

    Violence and Harassment.--Threats, violence, and intimidation were 
used regularly to silence opposition journalists, particularly those 
who spoke out about impunity, war crimes, government officials, and 
powerful local figures.
    An Afghan media development and vocational education agency 
reported that incidents of violence against journalists increased 
overall during the year; through December there were 80 incidents, 
compared with 60 in 2010.
    A December Media Watch report entitled ``Afghan Media in 2011'' 
indicated there was a 38 percent rise in violence against media workers 
in 2011 compared with 2010. The report records three media worker 
deaths, six injuries, two detentions, 33 assaults, 15 cases of verbal 
abuse, and 21 incidents of threats for a total of 80 cases. Media Watch 
reports that State authorities were responsible for the majority of 
incidents, with government officials responsible for 49 incidents.
    Journalists were vulnerable to physical harm and reported numerous 
instances of pressure from multiple sources to influence reporting, 
including national and provincial governments. Violence against 
journalists continued, and a combination of government repression, 
armed groups, and manipulation by foreign groups and individuals 
prevented the media from operating freely.
    Journalists operated in a dangerous environment; even if not 
targeted, some were victims of indiscriminate attacks. For example, on 
July 28 in Uruzgan, Ahmad Omid Khpalwak, a 25-year-old reporter with 
the BBC Pashto-Dari radio service and Pajhwok Afghan News, was filing 
his morning report in a building and was killed by a spray of more than 
20 bullets. Farhad Taqaddosi, a cameraman for Iran's Press TV, died of 
injuries he sustained in the Taliban's September 13 attack on prominent 
international buildings. Jafar Wafa, a reporter for the Laghman-based 
Radio Kalagosh, was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Laghman 
province on December 12.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Some media observers contended 
that individuals either could not criticize the government or practiced 
self-censorship due to fear of reprisal. Journalists self-censored 
reporting on corruption or legal violations due to fear of violent 
retribution by provincial police officials and powerful families. 
Journalists stated that the government not only failed to protect them, 
but that officials sometimes actively worked against them through other 
media sources, through intimidation, or by pressuring others to 
withdraw advertising revenue.

    Publishing Restrictions.--The Ministry of Information and Culture 
(MOIC) has the authority to regulate the press and media; however, the 
Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs, and the country's council of 
religious scholars (the ``Ulama''), both also attempted to regulate or 
constrict the media. Although complaints and alleged violations of 
media regulations are to flow through the Media Complaints Commission 
into the MOIC, the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs reported in 
May that it would establish a Vice and Virtue Department to control 
``un-Islamic'' and ``immoral'' media programs. The Ulama criticized a 
newspaper that reported on the radicalization of young women in 
religious madrassahs, stating ``the newspaper should be put under 
pressure'' for its criticism of Islam.
    Parliamentarians voiced concern about the foreign cultural invasion 
of the country and stated that the MOIC should do more to stop the 
proliferation of immoral television programs. Members of the Ulama 
lobbied the president's office to cease broadcasting what it considered 
immoral television programs, such as the soap opera ``Forbidden Love,'' 
which was broadcast on private Tolo TV. Tolo TV eventually took the 
program off the air to avoid having to close down the television 
station.
    Following what the Ulama and the MOIC saw as a trend in negative 
programming, both threatened to revoke the activity licenses of any 
media groups that failed to comply with the law. The law prohibits 
dissemination of material contrary to the principles of Islam or other 
religions and sects; works considered defamatory, insulting, offensive, 
or libelous; materials contrary to the constitution and penal code; 
disclosure of the identity and pictures of victims of violence and rape 
in a manner that damages their social dignity; and works and material 
that harm the psychological security and moral well-being of 
individuals, especially children and adolescents. The mass media policy 
had not been implemented by year's end.
    The law contains provisions establishing a media oversight 
structure, headed by a High Media Council (HMC). The HMC had two 
representatives of the media selected by the MOIC who were not 
generally accepted by the wider journalism community. The provisions in 
the Mass Media Law allowing journalists open access to information also 
have not been implemented.
    Although censorship of book publishing was relatively limited, 
prominent journalist and author, Razaq Mamoon, who wrote a book 
critical of Iran, was the victim of an acid attack by unidentified men.
    The number of female journalists remained low and female reporters 
found it difficult to practice their profession, although some women 
oversaw radio stations across the country and some radio stations were 
devoted to women's issues. Kabul University's Jawida Ahmadi, a lecturer 
and deputy dean of the journalism faculty, launched the Saboot News 
Agency which offers capacity building courses in journalism, 
leadership, and management for female journalists, and also produces 
news reports about various parts of the country in Dari, Pashto, and 
English. However, a number of factors reduce the motivation of women to 
be part of the media industry, including poor security, low capacity, 
lack of access to the training that was a prerequisite of the modern 
media industry, and a lack of safe working conditions. Salam Watandar 
held a female broadcasters gathering in December with 12 women from 
Balkh, Kunduz, Baghlan, Jalalabad, Kandahar, and Herat provinces. They 
highlighted the need for qualified female journalists and proposed 
specialized programming with material provided by six radio stations 
led by women.

    Nongovernmental Impact.--Factional authorities reportedly 
controlled media in some parts of the country. In addition, according 
to many media sources, private Iranian, Pakistani, and Gulf state 
citizens actively influenced the media, shaping it through both 
ownership and threats. There were allegations that Iran intimidated 
reporters in the western provinces to increase antigovernment reporting 
and decrease anti-Iranian articles.
    Journalists faced threats not only from state actors, but also from 
the Taliban and other insurgents. Some reporters stated that they no 
longer criticized the insurgency in their reporting because they feared 
the return of the Taliban.
    Violence and intimidation of journalists, reporters, and media 
outlets at the hands of insurgent forces and the Taliban remained a 
concern and continued to restrict journalists' operating space. In June 
the Taliban torched three mobile telephone towers in central Logar 
province after warning mobile telephone companies to cut their services 
between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am. The Taliban also destroyed two mobile 
telephone towers in Helmand province.
    The Taliban manipulated the media, especially print journalism, 
both directly and indirectly, by threatening to harm some journalists 
physically and by directly feeding news to others. Journalists reported 
receiving threats if they published stories favorable to the 
government.
    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that local and 
foreign reporting teams continued to face a risk of kidnapping.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including e-mail 
messages.
    The CPJ reported that government regulators were not fully able to 
enforce their rules. Government requests for Internet bans were made to 
private Internet service providers; filtering equipment was not 
reported as widely used. The Taliban also used the Internet and sites 
like Twitter to spread its messages, despite purported government 
controls. Lack of public infrastructure limited public access to the 
Internet.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government restricted 
academic freedom by restricting curriculum it deemed un-Islamic. 
Academic research and curriculum were subject to prior approval of 
``concerned ministries and institutions,'' such as the Ministry of Hajj 
and Religious Affairs. The government funded rehabilitation and 
preservation of several historical sites and monuments, including both 
Islamic and Buddhist-period sites. Through foreign government and World 
Bank funds some emergency recovery and preservation efforts were 
underway at an extensive Buddhist site near Kabul. The recovery of that 
cultural heritage was occurring in advance of the copper mining 
(tendered to a Chinese firm) that was expected to eventually destroy 
the archaeological remains collocated with the world's second largest 
copper deposit. Music has made a strong return since the departure of 
the Taliban.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the government 
generally respected these rights.

    Freedom of Assembly.--A lack of physical security, as well as 
interference from local authorities and security forces, inhibited 
freedom of assembly in some areas of the country.
    There were numerous generally peaceful protests during the year 
related to a variety of causes, including the parliamentary impasse and 
the special tribunal, the rights of persons with physical disabilities, 
and concerns over public land use. Citizens also frequently protested 
against civilian casualties allegedly caused by progovernment forces. 
In August citizens in Zabul province took to the streets to protest 
night raids and at least three protesters were killed by police. The 
Zabul police chief claimed that the police opened fire due to 
insurgents present in the crowd who killed an officer.

    Freedom of Association.--The 2009 law on political parties obliges 
parties to register with the MOJ and requires them to pursue objectives 
consistent with Islam. The law raised the hurdles for registration of 
parties; for example, parties are required to have at least 10,000 
members registered. Antigovernment violence affected the ability of 
provincial council candidates and political parties to conduct 
activities in many areas of the country.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
International Religious Freedom Report at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/
irf/rpt/.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation; however, the government sometimes limited citizens' 
movement for security reasons.
    The government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 
and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and 
assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning 
refugees, and other persons of concern but was limited by lack of 
infrastructure and capacity.

    In-Country Movement.--Taxi, truck, and bus drivers reported that 
security forces operated illegal checkpoints and extorted money and 
goods from travelers.
    The greatest restriction to movement in some parts of the country 
was the lack of security. In many areas insurgent violence, banditry, 
land mines, and IEDs made travel extremely dangerous, especially at 
night.
    Armed insurgents also operated illegal checkpoints and extorted 
money and goods. The Taliban imposed nightly curfews on the local 
populace in regions where it exercised authority, mostly in the 
southeast.
    Social custom limited women's freedom of movement without male 
consent or a male chaperone.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The country continued to 
experience high levels of internal population movements, triggered by 
military operations, natural disasters, and irregular labor conditions. 
Large numbers of refugees returned but were unable to reside safely in 
their previous homes because of poor service infrastructure in rural 
areas, and the volatile security situation in some parts of the 
country.
    At year's end, an estimated 447,547 persons were displaced, 
according to the UNHCR. Of these, 116,741 persons were displaced prior 
to December 31, 2002 (referred to as IDPs in protracted displacement). 
Between January and December, 185,631 persons were displaced due to 
conflict. The main areas in which displacement originated were Badghis, 
Farah, Ghor, and Herat in the West and Faryab in the North. The 
displaced populations largely remained in their regions of origin. The 
key provinces that received IDPs, in order of the numbers displaced, 
were Herat, Kandahar, Nangarhar, and Helmand.
    Local governments provided access to land for basic accommodation, 
while international organizations and the Afghan Red Crescent Society 
provided shelter, food, and other life-saving aid. However, access to 
land and rights for returnees and IDPs were hampered by a weak 
judiciary. Some IDPs in protracted displacement established self-
sufficient settlements in the Herat, Kandahar, Helmand, and Jalalabad 
areas.
    Unverified populations, including IDPs and refugees who returned, 
were also known to reside alongside urban slum dwellers in unauthorized 
informal settlements in the larger urban areas of Kabul, Jalalabad, 
Mazar-e-Sharif, and Herat. These settlements were prone to serious 
deficiencies in several areas, including health, education, security of 
tenure, and absence of registration of child births and identity cards.
    Restricted access due to poor security limited the UNHCR's efforts 
to assess the numbers of displaced persons and made it difficult to 
provide assistance.
    According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, while the 
government created a National IDP Task Force, it lacks a comprehensive 
IDP policy and has opposed local integration or resettlement as a 
durable solution for IDPs unable to return home.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--Laws do not provide for 
granting asylum or refugee status, and the government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. In 
accordance with an agreement among Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the 
UNHCR, repatriation must be voluntary.
    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's capacity to absorb returned refugees remained low. 
Economic difficulties and security concerns discouraged numerous 
refugees from returning to the country; half as many returned compared 
with the previous year. Many refugees needed humanitarian assistance 
upon arrival. According to the AIHRC and the UNHCR, single women among 
refugee returnees and deportees were referred to safe houses until 
their families guaranteed their safety. The UNHCR referred 24 women to 
safe houses as of September.
    Throughout the year, 67,943 refugees were repatriated voluntarily 
with UNHCR assistance, mainly from Pakistan and Iran, a decrease of 40 
percent from 2010. Approximately 2.8 million Afghan refugees lived in 
Pakistan and Iran during the year.
    Iran continued to deport undocumented economic migrants back to 
Afghanistan. During the year Iran deported 211,023 undocumented 
Afghans, a 26 percent decrease compared with 2010 (when 286,662 Afghans 
were expelled from Iran), through the border points at Islam Qala, 
Herat province, and Zaranj, Nimroz province.
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 in 
the September 2010 parliamentary elections based on universal suffrage. 
The elections were marred by serious, widespread fraud and corruption. 
The parliamentary elections were disputed for nearly a year after 
President Karzai established a special elections tribunal to 
investigate the election results. On August 10, President Karzai issued 
a decree acknowledging that the IEC was the sole authority to resolve 
the parliamentary impasse.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--The 
September 2010 parliamentary elections were held amid significant 
security and logistical challenges. The elections themselves generally 
followed the constitutional process, although widespread fraud and 
corruption, particularly at the subnational level, hampered the 
election. International observers and civil society groups documented 
instances of ballot stuffing, ghost polling stations, and some 
interference by staff of electoral bodies; fraud was especially notable 
in areas with high levels of insecurity, limited observer and candidate 
agent coverage, and insufficient female electoral staff. While security 
preparations improved relative to the 2009 presidential election, 
security was still inadequate in many locations, and numerous 
irregularities occurred, including pervasive intimidation of voters, 
polling staff, and candidates, especially women.
    Due to newly implemented antifraud procedures, the IEC proactively 
threw out 1.3 million of the estimated total 5.6 million votes cast, 
based on evidence of fraud or other procedural irregularities. The IEC 
cited evidence of fraud at more than 2,500 polling stations and 
invalidated approximately 23 percent of the ballots cast. The Electoral 
Complaints Commission (ECC) disqualified more than 300 polling stations 
and invalidated the votes for 24 preliminarily elected candidates due 
to evidence of fraud or noncompliance with IEC rules and regulations. 
Limited transparency on the part of both commissions during the tally 
and adjudication processes fueled the perception that political bias 
might have affected the invalidation process. The IEC certified the 
official election results on December 1, 2010.
    In response to protests about the election results in December 
2010, President Karzai appointed a special tribunal to investigate and 
recommend changes to the election results. The IEC, parliamentarians, 
and NGOs challenged the legality and constitutionality of the special 
tribunal, calling repeatedly for its dissolution. The parliamentarians 
viewed the special tribunal as an attempt by the executive to weaken 
parliament and interfere with its composition. Despite the special 
tribunal's ongoing review, parliament was inaugurated on January 26. 
The special tribunal remained in place and the political impasse over 
the disputed races and the disposition of seats continued until June, 
virtually halting legislative action. In June the special tribunal 
recommended replacing 62 sitting members of parliament (MPs). On August 
10, the president issued a decree that returned the review of the 
disputed cases from the special tribunal to the IEC for a final 
decision. On August 21, the IEC, which legally assumed the powers of 
the ECC, overturned nine of the ECC's disqualifications, and issued 
certificates to nine new MPs. After an internal boycott and heavy 
resistance to the IEC's decision, parliament had its first quorum after 
months in October and began voting on long-pending legislation.
    In 2009 citizens voted in their second contested presidential 
election. The IEC declared Karzai president for a second term, after 
his challenger, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from a run-off 
election. The elections were similarly marred by serious allegations of 
widespread fraud.

    Political Parties.--Negative associations with warlords and the 
communists have led many citizens to view political parties with 
suspicion. The 2009 Party Law replaced the initial law of 2003, which 
granted parties the right to exist as formal institutions for the first 
time in the country's history. The new law required parties to have 
membership papers of 10,000 members (from a minimum of 22 provinces). 
The law was passed in September 2009 and allowed very little time for 
parties to complete the registration process in advance of the 2010 
parliamentary elections. The National Democratic Institute (NDI) 
reported that a number of parties complained about the process, citing 
fraud in the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for registration 
of political parties, and the unequal treatment of parties by the 
registration department. As of November 2010, the MOJ had accredited 33 
political parties under the law. By April 38 parties were registered, 
according to NDI. However, only five parties were accredited in time 
for the September 2010 elections, and very few parliamentary candidates 
were shown to be affiliated with a party during the campaign. Political 
parties were not always able to conduct activities throughout the 
country, particularly in regions where antigovernment violence affected 
overall security. A total of 21 political parties had representation in 
the lower house.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The Pashtun ethnic group 
had more seats than any other ethnic group in both houses but did not 
have more than 50 percent of the seats. The Pashtuns lost seats in the 
September 2010 lower house elections. There was no evidence that there 
were societal groups that were specifically excluded. Traditional 
societal practices that limit women's participation in politics and 
activities outside the home community likely influenced the central 
government's composition.
    For the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the national Assembly, 396 
of the 2,510 candidates for the election were women, representing a 
significant increase in female candidate participation compared with 
the 2005 parliamentary elections. There were sufficient members to fill 
the two seats reserved for women in each province (68 of 249 total 
seats).
    Women active in public life continued to face disproportionate 
levels of threats and violence and were the targets of attacks by the 
Taliban and other insurgent groups. Most female MPs reportedly 
experienced some kind of threat or intimidation; many believed that the 
state could not or would not protect them.
    There were reports that the female members of the High Peace 
Council established in September 2010 were marginalized by their male 
counterparts and that they were not permitted to take part in initial 
contacts with representatives from the Taliban or other insurgent 
groups.
    There were no laws preventing minorities from participating in 
political life; however, different ethnic groups complained that they 
did not have equal access to local government jobs in provinces where 
they were in the minority.
    The constitution provides for seats for women and minorities in 
both houses of parliament. The constitution provides for at least 68 
female delegates in the lower house of the national assembly, while 10 
seats are provided for the Kuchi ethnic minority. According to the 
constitution, the president should appoint one-third of the members, 
including two members with physical disabilities and two Kuchis. Fifty 
percent of the president's appointees to the upper house must be women.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The 
minimal progress made in initiating and prosecuting high-level 
corruption cases was largely due to international assistance in 
creating special anticorruption law enforcement investigatory, 
prosecutorial, and judicial entities.
    Corruption was endemic throughout society, and flows of money from 
the military, international donors, and the drug trade exacerbated the 
problem. The International Crisis Group released a study in July that 
concluded that corruption and poor governance had enabled the Taliban 
to extend its reach deeply into the east central part of the country 
(the five provinces surrounding Kabul).
    Prisoners and local NGOs reported that corruption was widespread 
across the justice system, particularly in relation to the prosecution 
of criminal cases and ``buying'' release from prison. There were also 
reports of money paid to reduce prison sentences, halt an 
investigation, or have charges dismissed outright.
    New information emerged about the scale of malfeasance at Kabul 
Bank, which had been the country's largest private financial 
institution prior to its collapse in a huge bank fraud scandal that 
began unfolding in August 2010. Reportedly, nearly 50 billion afghanis 
($1 billion) were misappropriated and a vast number of bribes amounting 
to several millions of dollars were paid to politicians and ministers. 
Nearly all of the illicit funds were received by politically well-
connected shareholders of the bank. By year's end, only 10 percent or 
$66 million in bank assets had been recovered and no formal criminal 
charges had been brought against anyone who took money from the bank. 
Instead the government sought to place significant blame for Kabul 
Bank's collapse on foreign entities, regulators, and low-level 
functionaries and employees of Kabul Bank and the Central Bank, 
including persons from the Afghan Financial Intelligence Unit 
(FinTRACA). In June the central bank governor left his post and fled 
the country, citing death threats, as well as criticism and heavy 
political pressure from the AGO, along with political interference in 
his efforts to recover funds.
    There were reports that the AGO was unwilling or unable to pursue 
corrupt officials and that high-level officials who were arrested on 
corruption-related charges were released subsequent to pressure from 
President Karzai or his agents. In addition there was anecdotal 
evidence that accusations of corruption on the part of others were used 
by corrupt officials to damage their opponents' reputations or to 
deflect attention from their own misdeeds.
    On March 28, former minister of transportation (2006-2008) 
Enayatullah Qasimi was detained in Kabul and questioned on charges of 
misusing public funds involving Ariana Airlines, which allegedly cost 
the government more than 433 million afghanis ($9 million). He was 
released two days later. It was unclear whether this was a genuine 
attempt by the government to crack down on high-level corruption.
    In April Deputy Attorney General Rahmatulla Nazari spoke publicly 
about the challenges inherent in arresting high-ranking officials. 
After testifying in parliament, Nazari said that although at least 20 
corruption cases on his docket involved senior government officials, it 
was impossible to arrest them because many were warlords with armed 
militias.
    Provincial police benefited financially from corruption at police 
checkpoints and from the narcotics industry. It was generally assumed 
that ANP officers pay higher-ups or officials in the MOI for their 
positions and to secure promotions. Corruption cases were rarely if 
ever pursued by the justice system, especially if they involved police. 
In Nimroz province, which borders Iran and Pakistan, the media reported 
that the governor of Delaram District was arrested and accused of drug 
trafficking. According to the Afghan Criminal Justice Task Force 
(CJTF), he and his two sons, both ANP officers, used police vehicles in 
the conduct of their illegal activities. No formal charges were filed 
by year's end.
    In addition to the impunity enjoyed by many officials, low salaries 
exacerbated government corruption. The international community worked 
with the national and provincial governance structures to address the 
problem of low salaries. Salaries for the police, investigators, and 
judges increased significantly in 2010; however, the pay for 
prosecutors remained very low. The process of grade reform for 
prosecutors had not occurred by year's end. In mid-December, however, 
the council of ministers approved a substantial increase in pay for 
prosecutors.
    Credible sources reported that local police in many parts of the 
country extorted a ``tax'' and inflicted violence at police 
checkpoints. Truck drivers along the Kabul-Kandahar-Herat highway told 
Afghan television that they had to pay bribes to both the ANP and 
bandits to allow their trucks to pass.
    Police also reportedly extorted bribes from civilians in exchange 
for release from prison or to avoid arrest. Lack of formal education 
and low literacy rates among the ANSF and the judiciary hampered the 
consistent delivery of justice.
    The government made efforts to combat corruption in the security 
apparatus. Before the September 2010 elections, the MOI trained and 
deployed provincial inspectors general (IGs) who remained on duty after 
the elections. Merit-based promotion boards continued, with at least 
three candidates competing for each job; the process of instituting pay 
reform and electronic funds transfer for police salaries also 
continued. The MOI continued to obtain training for its IG office.
    Leadership of the High Office of Oversight (HOO), established to 
oversee and to develop the Afghan government's ability to mitigate 
corruption in line with commitments made at the London and Kabul 
conferences, changed in January, and most of its programs slowed during 
the transition. The registration and publication of asset declarations 
by senior government officials appeared to move forward under heavy 
international pressure, but it remained to be seen whether the HOO 
would undertake the required substantive verification of those assets, 
a key tool to identify possible wrongdoing. Overall, the HOO was 
ineffective in carrying out its anticorruption mandate.
    The government continued to make electronic direct deposits of 
police and military salaries and expanded a pilot project to pay police 
via mobile telephone in areas without banks, making pay a more 
transparent and accountable process and theoretically less subject to 
corruption. In April 10 soldiers at a base in Mazar-e-Sharif were found 
guilty of diverting the salaries of deserters into their own accounts, 
stealing a total of approximately one million afghanis ($22,000). The 
three ringleaders were sentenced to two to three years' imprisonment 
and fines equal to twice the amounts they stole. However, the culpable 
financial officer served only three months in jail and as of year's 
end, was confined to base at half salary.
    Observers alleged that governors with reported involvement in the 
drug trade or past records of human rights violations received 
executive appointments and served with relative impunity. Persons from 
Logar province demonstrated in Kabul in April, asking for the removal 
of the Logar governor for corruption and seizure of government land. 
The governor denied the allegations.
    The constitution provides citizens the right to access government 
information, except when access might violate the rights of others; 
however, access to information from official sources continued to be 
limited. Lack of government capacity, particularly at the local level, 
continued to restrict access to information. Civil society and media 
representatives sought passage of a law on freedom of access to 
information, and worked with government officials to draft such laws. 
Journalists and other stakeholders made recommendations to the 
ministerial working group with the goal of reconciling a unified draft 
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 
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views.
    The lack of security and instability in parts of the country 
severely reduced NGO activities. Insurgent groups and the Taliban 
directly targeted NGOs during the year (see section 1.g.).

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The constitutionally mandated 
AIHRC continued to address human rights problems and generally operated 
without government funding. In December President Karzai decided not to 
renew the terms of three commissioners whose terms expired on December 
16. The decision was widely regarded as a government effort to exercise 
greater control over independent institutions. Tolo News linked the 
decision to the expected publication of the AIHRC's long-anticipated 
conflict mapping report covering serious crimes and abuses committed by 
armed factions from 1978 to 2001.
    President Karzai signed the Action Plan for Peace, Justice, and 
Reconciliation in 2006. While the government has taken some action in 
support of ``transitional'' justice as defined in that plan, including 
the June 28 release of a national strategy for general reform of the 
justice sector, the focus of its reconciliation efforts has changed 
over time and has yet to be implemented in practice.
    Three parliamentary committees deal with human rights in the Wolesi 
Jirga: the Gender, Civil Society, and Human Rights Committee; the 
Counternarcotics, Intoxicating Items, and Ethical Abuse Committee; and 
the Judicial, Administrative Reform, and Anticorruption Committee. In 
the Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of parliament, the Committee for 
Gender and Civil Society addresses human rights concerns.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination between citizens and 
provides for the equal rights of men and women; however, local customs 
and practices that discriminated against women prevailed in much of the 
country. The constitution does not explicitly address equal rights 
based on race, disability, language, or social status. There were 
reports of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, and 
gender.

    Women.--Although the situation of women marginally improved during 
the year, international gender experts considered Afghanistan a very 
dangerous country for women. Gains in women's rights and advances in 
terms of socio-economic indicators remained tenuous at best. Pursuant 
to the constitution, the 2009 Shia Personal Status Law governs family 
and marital issues for the 20 percent of the population who are Shia. 
Although the law officially recognizes the Shia minority, the law 
adversely affects gender equality and was controversial both 
domestically and internationally due to its failure to promote gender 
equality. Articles in the law of particular concern include those on 
minimum age of marriage, polygyny, right of inheritance, right of self-
determination, freedom of movement, sexual obligations, and 
guardianship.

    Rape and Domestic Violence.--The EVAW law, which also came into 
force in 2009, criminalizes violence against women, including rape, 
battery, or beating; humiliation; intimidation; and the refusal of 
food. The law specifically punishes rape with life imprisonment, and if 
the act results in the death of the victim, the law provides for the 
death sentence for the perpetrator. The law punishes the ``violation of 
chastity of a woman.that does not result in adultery (such as 
touching)'' with imprisonment of up to seven years. Under the law rape 
does not include spousal rape. However, there was limited political 
will to implement the law, and it was neither widely understood nor 
successfully enforced. There were reports that women who sought 
assistance under the EVAW in a case of rape were subjected to virginity 
tests. Sharia also impeded successful prosecution of rape cases.
    During the year authorities prosecuted 38 cases under the EVAW law. 
More than 500 cases were referred to the Violence Against Women (VAW) 
unit in Kabul during the year, indicating increased awareness of 
women's rights; the Kabul VAW unit obtained 26 convictions. Women came 
from 21 provinces to report cases to the Kabul VAW unit, including from 
as far away as Nimroz and Zabul. The newly opened Herat VAW unit 
initiated 59 cases during the year. The Balkh VAW unit, which opened in 
June, sent 21 cases out of 66 referrals to the primary court for 
prosecution. Government entities, including the Ministry of Women's 
Affairs and law enforcement officials, referred 16 percent of all 
cases.
    Prosecutors in some remote provinces were unaware of the EVAW, and 
others were subject to community pressure to release defendants due to 
familial loyalties, threat of harm, or bribes. Men accused of rape 
often claimed the victim agreed to consensual sex, leading to an 
adultery charge against the victim. The MOI's Anti-Crime Police 
reported 57 cases of rape between March 2011 and February 2012 and 
another 63 cases of violence against women; the actual number of cases 
was probably much higher. The MOI reported 77 arrests in connection 
with those rape cases. Statistics on convictions were unavailable by 
year's end. Rapes were difficult to document due to social stigma. Male 
victims seldom came forward. Peer sexual abuse was allegedly common. 
Female victims faced stringent societal reprisal, from being deemed 
unfit for marriage to being imprisoned.
    On December 1, Gulnaz, a 20-year-old rape victim, was pardoned 
following international outcry and lobbying by human rights groups 
after serving two and a half years of a 12-year sentence for the crime 
of ``adultery by force.'' Judicial authorities initially gave her the 
option to marry her attacker or stay in jail for her full 12-year 
sentence. Following the intervention of President Karzai, the 
conditions were dropped, and she and her eight-month-old baby were 
released on December 13.
    The penal code criminalizes assault, and courts entered judgments 
against domestic abusers under this provision. According to NGO 
reports, hundreds of thousands of women continued to suffer abuse at 
the hands of their husbands, fathers, brothers, armed individuals, 
parallel legal systems, and institutions of state such as police and 
justice systems. A U.N. women's commission report released in January 
found that 87 percent of women were victims of domestic violence. 
Killing, assault, and sexual violence against women commonly involved 
family members as suspects.
    Police response to domestic violence was limited, in part due to 
low reporting, sympathetic attitudes towards perpetrators, and limited 
protection for victims. There were reports of government officials' 
complicity in violations of the EVAW law. For example in rape cases in 
Baghlan, the victims were imprisoned and the perpetrators were freed. 
The ANP in Burkah district allegedly raped a girl and assaulted her 
parents in Bat Tob village on November 26. Some police and judicial 
officials were not aware or convinced that rape was a serious criminal 
offense and investigating a rape case was rarely a priority. 
Authorities infrequently prosecuted abusers, and if cases came to 
court, the accused often were exonerated or punished lightly. NGOs 
confirmed that domestic violence occurred in many homes but went 
largely unreported due to societal acceptance of the practice.
    According to the AIHRC, between March and November there were 3,147 
cases of violence against women reported, of which 1075 were cases of 
physical violence, and 269 sexual abuse cases. Most women did not seek 
legal assistance for domestic or sexual abuse because they did not know 
their rights or because they feared prosecution themselves or return to 
their family or the perpetrator. Women sometimes turned to shelters for 
assistance and sometimes practiced self-immolation. Provincial 
authorities in Herat, one of the few provinces with a burn unit, 
reported 84 incidents of self-immolation during the year. The AIHRC 
reported 63 female suicides and 70 cases of self-immolation, some of 
which may have been honor killings disguised as suicides, through 
November.
    NGOs that ran women's shelters in Kabul reported an increase in 
referrals from police, possibly reflecting improved ANP training and 
awareness. Women's access to shelters also increased due to 
international efforts to open three new shelters and expansion to more 
remote provinces. However, space at the 19 formal and informal shelters 
across the country was limited. Women in need of shelter who could not 
find a place often ended up in prison, either due to a lack of shelter 
alternatives, for their own protection, or based on local 
interpretation of ``running away'' as a morals crime.
    Forty percent of females in shelters were girls younger than 18, 
most often escaping forced marriages and domestic abuse. In January, 
following a three-year investigation of claims that women's shelters 
were akin to brothels, the government announced a plan to bring all 
shelters under the MOWA's direction. Human rights NGOs worked with the 
MOWA to change the regulations and stop the proposed nationalization of 
shelters. The final shelter regulation approved by the Council of 
Ministers, but awaiting the president's approval, was modified to have 
the MOWA regulate all shelters, but NGOs retained their ability to run 
them.
    Because ``unaccompanied'' women were not accepted in society, women 
who could not be reunified with their family had nowhere to go. The 
difficulty of finding durable solutions for women compelled to stay in 
shelters was compounded by societal attitudes toward shelters, linked 
to the belief that ``running away from home'' was a serious violation 
of social mores. Government officials argued that control of the 
shelters would facilitate long-term solutions and allow for eventual 
reintegration of women into society. To that end, there were reports 
that the MOWA and other government entities helped arrange at least six 
marriages for women who could not return to their families.
    Policewomen trained to help victims of domestic violence were 
hindered by instructions to wait for victims to reach out. There were 
355 female response unit (FRU) investigators nationwide working out of 
146 FRU offices, which were staffed primarily by female police officers 
who addressed violence and crimes against women, children, and 
families. Women serving in civilian and ANP positions in the MOI 
offered mediation and resources to prevent future domestic violence.
    Extended family violence was reportedly widespread and difficult to 
prosecute. In July a prosecutor in Uruzgan province released on bail 
the father-in-law of Bibi Aisha, the 16-year-old girl from Uruzgan 
province whose husband and in-laws cut off her nose and ears in 
September 2009 because she had run away after years of domestic 
violence. The accused had served 11 months in jail without movement on 
the prosecution of the case. At year's end, a request to transfer 
jurisdiction to Kandahar was pending, but further pursuit of the 
alleged perpetrators appeared unlikely.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--The EVAW law criminalizes forced or 
underage marriage and baadh (the giving of a female relative to another 
family to settle a debt or dispute). An estimated 70 percent of 
marriages were forced, and despite laws banning the practice, a 
majority of brides were younger than the legal marriage age of 16 (or 
15 with a guardian's and a court's approval). In December a 15-year-old 
woman in Baghlan province was rescued by police after being locked in a 
basement bathroom, having her finger nails pulled out, and being forced 
into prostitution by her 30-year-old husband and in-laws. The husband 
escaped arrest, but her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were in jail at 
year's end. A survey of married women ages 20 to 24 found that 39 
percent had been married before the age of 18. Very few marriages were 
registered, leaving forced marriages outside legal control. There were 
reports that women who sought assistance under the EVAW in a case of 
forced marriage or rape were subjected to virginity tests.
    Of the 3,147 cases of violence against women reported between March 
and November by the AIHRC, 545 cases were classified as traditional and 
cultural violence, or those customary practices that violated women's 
rights, such as child and forced marriages, the practice of exchanging 
women to settle disputes, forced isolation, and honor killings.
    Local officials occasionally imprisoned women at the request of 
family members for opposing the family's choice of a marriage partner 
or being charged with adultery or bigamy. Local officials imprisoned 
women in place of a family member who had committed a crime but could 
not be located. Some women remained in detention facilities because 
they had run away from home to escape domestic violence or the prospect 
of forced marriage.
    The AIHRC documented 27 ``honor killings'' through September; 
however, the unreported number was believed to be much higher and 
thought to include reported cases of suicide and self-immolation that 
actually covered honor killings. Under the penal code, a man convicted 
of honor killing after finding his wife committing adultery cannot be 
sentenced to more than two years' imprisonment. In November a spurned 
suitor and group of armed men doused three sisters with acid. The 
investigation was still pending and no one was arrested by year's end.
    The wide range of violence against women also included trafficking 
and abduction.

    Sexual Harassment.--There is no law specifically prohibiting sexual 
harassment. Women who walked outside alone or went to work often 
experienced abuse or ``eve-teasing,'' including groping, or were 
followed on the streets in urban areas. Women who took on public roles 
that challenged gender stereotypes (such as female lawmakers, NGO 
leaders, and news broadcasters) received ``night letters'' most often 
sent by conservative elements, political powerbrokers, or insurgents to 
intimidate them and their families. NGOs reported increasing violence 
against women working in the public and nonprofit sectors, including 
killings.

    Reproductive Rights.--Women generally exercised little decision-
making authority regarding marriage, timing of pregnancies, birthing 
practices, and child education.
    Couples were free from government discrimination, coercion, and 
violence to decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children, 
but family and community pressures to reproduce, the high prevalence of 
child and early marriages, and lack of accurate biological knowledge 
limited their ability to do so. Women could expect to bear on average 
5.1 children in their lifetimes. Oral contraceptives, intrauterine 
devices, injectables, and condoms were available commercially and were 
provided at no cost in public and private health facilities and by 
community health workers. There was a 20 percent usage rate of most 
modern forms of contraception. Men and women were diagnosed and treated 
equally for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, when health 
care was available.
    The U.N. estimated maternal mortality at 372 deaths for every 
100,000 live births in 2010, down from 1,400 in 2002. Although the 
situation improved, early marriage and pregnancy still puts girls at 
greater risk for premature labor, complications during delivery, and 
death in childbirth. Post-partum hemorrhage and obstructed labor were 
key causes of maternal mortality.

    Discrimination.--Women who reported cases of abuse or who sought 
legal redress for other matters reported pervasive discrimination 
within the judicial system. Local practices were discriminatory toward 
women, and in parts of the country where courts were not functional or 
knowledge of the law was minimal, elders relied on an interpretation of 
Sharia and tribal customs, which generally were discriminatory toward 
women. Most women reported limited access to justice in tribal shuras, 
where all presiding elders were men; women in some villages were not 
allowed any access for dispute resolution. Women's advocacy groups 
reported that in some cases the government intervened informally with 
local courts to encourage them to interpret laws in ways favorable to 
women. However, many cases in remote districts were still resolved 
according to the local police officer's or prosecutor's discretion or 
interpretation of the law. When legal authorities were aware of the 
EVAW law and its implementation, women were able to get appropriate 
assistance.
    Police, prosecutors, and judges discriminated against women in 
criminal and civil legal proceedings stemming from violence and forced 
marriages, but there were increasing numbers of female attorneys who 
successfully represented female clients.
    Societal discrimination against women continued. Cultural 
prohibitions on free travel and leaving the home unaccompanied 
prevented many women from working outside the home and reduced their 
access to education, health care, police protection, and other social 
services. Women faced discrimination in access to and terms of 
employment and occupation. Some educated urban women found substantive 
work, but many were relegated to menial tasks. There were approximately 
1,100 female police officers in a police force of more than 130,000. 
The government planned to increase the total number to 2,800; however, 
there was little evidence of efforts to recruit additional female 
police officers.
    The MOWA and NGOs continued to promote women's rights and freedoms. 
The Independent Administrative Reform & Civil Service Commission Gender 
Directorate worked on an action plan for increasing the percentage of 
women in the civil service to 30 percent (up from an estimated 26 
percent) by 2013. The MOWA, the primary government agency responsible 
for addressing gender policy and the needs of women, had provincial 
offices, but the ministry and provincial line directorates suffered 
from a lack of capacity and resources, despite efforts of the 
international community to improve its capacity in line with national 
priority programs. The provincial offices assisted hundreds of women by 
providing legal and family counseling and referring women they could 
not directly assist to relevant organizations.
    The country has achieved substantial improvements in health over 
the past decade, and public health statistics released in November 
indicated a steep drop in maternal mortality. The overall health 
situation of women and children remained poor, however, particularly 
among nomadic and rural populations and those in insecure areas. 
Similar to males, female life expectancy was 64 years of age. Rural 
women continued to suffer disproportionately from insufficient numbers 
of skilled health personnel, particularly female health workers.
    Women and children were disproportionately the victims of 
preventable deaths due to communicable diseases compared to men. 
Although free health services were provided in public facilities, many 
households could not afford certain costs related to medicines or 
transportation to health care facilities, and many women were not 
permitted to travel to health facilities on their own.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is transmitted by a 
citizen father to his child. Birth in the country or to a citizen 
mother alone is not sufficient.

    Education.--Education is mandatory up to the secondary level (six 
years for primary school and three years for lower secondary), and the 
law provides for free education up to and including the college level.
    Boys made up nearly two-thirds of the school population. In most 
regions boys and girls attended primary classes together but were 
separated for intermediate and secondary-level education. The rate of 
secondary school for boys was 10 times the rate for girls. NGOs 
estimated that 2.5 million girls (only 42 per cent of all school-age 
girls) were enrolled in school. Girls' enrollment dropped significantly 
after the primary level, and only an estimated 12 per cent of all women 
and girls age 15 or older were literate, according to NGOs.
    The status of girls and women in education remained a matter of 
grave concern. Key obstacles to girls' education included poverty, 
early and forced marriage, insecurity, lack of family support, lack of 
female teachers, and the long distance to school, according to a report 
released in February by a consortium of NGOs based on interviews 
conducted in 17 provinces in 2010. Only 30 percent of teachers were 
female, and most of those taught in urban areas, compounding the plight 
of schoolgirls in conservative rural areas where men did not teach 
girls. Poor quality of education, the absence of schools that only 
served girls, harassment, and lack of community support for girls' 
access to education were also cited in the study. Violent attacks 
against schoolchildren, particularly girls, also hindered access to 
education.
    Violence impeded access to education in increasing sections of the 
country. The Taliban and other extremists threatened and attacked 
school officials, teachers, and students, and burned both boys' and 
girls' schools. The MOE reported that between March and October, 20 
schools were attacked using explosives or arson, and insurgent attacks 
killed 126 students. For example, on May 24, the head of a girls' 
school in Logar province was shot near his home after receiving death 
threats from the Taliban warning him to stop teaching girls.
    NGOs and aid agencies reported that insecurity, conservative 
attitudes, and poverty denied education to millions of school-age 
children, mainly in the southern and southeastern provinces. An 
estimated 60 percent of households in Helmand province reportedly did 
not send their children to school during summer 2011. Security 
concerns, particularly in Helmand, inhibited parents from sending their 
children on long walks to schools separated by distances dictated by 
the Ministry of Education. Abduction and molestation were both threats. 
The lack of community-based, close-at-hand schools was only one aspect 
of lower than optimum school attendance.
    In some parts of the country, especially rural areas, schools were 
closed due to societal bias or security issues. In some areas 
individuals opened schools inside their homes or recruited local 
mullahs as teachers. The media reported hundreds of schools re-opened 
and attacks on schools declined in areas where local education leaders 
negotiated with the Taliban. A Kabul-based think tank reported at 
year's end that the government had struck deals over the years by which 
insurgents would end attacks on state schools in exchange for a more 
conservative religious curriculum and discretion in hiring Taliban-
approved teachers, an allegation which the MOE denied.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse was endemic throughout the country and on 
the increase according to the AIHRC, based on cultural beliefs about 
child-rearing. Such abuse included general neglect, physical abuse, 
sexual abuse, abandonment, and confined forced labor to pay off family 
debts. There were reports that police beat and sexually abused detained 
children. During the year drought and food shortages forced many 
families to send their children on to the streets to beg for food and 
money. NGOs reported a predominantly punitive and retributive approach 
to juvenile justice throughout the country. Although it was against the 
law, corporal punishment in schools, rehabilitation centers, and other 
public institutions remained common.
    Sexual abuse of children remained pervasive. NGOs noted that most 
child victims were abused by extended family members. During the year 
the MOI recorded an estimated 100 cases of child rape in Kabul alone. 
Reports from 13 other provinces totaled 470 cases of child rape. Final 
reports from all the provinces were not available by year's end, but 
the unreported numbers were believed to be much higher. On May 10, two 
defendants in Kunar province were sentenced to 15 years in prison for 
the kidnapping and rape of a 13-year-old boy. Most child sexual abusers 
were not arrested, however, and there were reports that security 
officials and those connected to the ANP raped children with impunity. 
Media outlets continued to report that harems of young boys were 
cloistered for ``bacha baazi,'' a practice in which young boys are sold 
to powerful local figures and businessmen and trained to dance in 
female clothes for male audiences and then used and traded for sex; 
however, credible statistics were difficult to acquire as the subject 
was a source of shame.

    Child Marriage.--The legal age for marriage was 16 years for girls 
and 18 years for boys. International and local observers estimated that 
approximately 60 percent of girls were married younger than the age of 
16. Under the EVAW, those who arrange forced or underage marriages may 
be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than two years; but there has 
been very limited, if any, implementation of this law. The Law on 
Marriage states that marriage of a minor may be conducted by a 
guardian.
    By law the marriage contract requires verification that the bride 
is 16 years of age; however, less than 10 percent of the population had 
birth certificates. The custom of bride money motivated poor families 
to pledge daughters as young as six or seven years old, with the 
understanding that the actual marriage would be delayed until the child 
reached puberty. However, reports indicated that this delay was rarely 
observed and that young girls were sexually violated not only by the 
groom but also by older men in the family, particularly if the groom 
was also a child. There were reports that young girls who were married 
between the ages of nine and 11 attempted self-immolation.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Although pornography is a crime, 
child pornography is not specifically prohibited by law. Exploiting a 
child for sex purposes, as is done with bacha baazi, also is not 
specified as a crime under the law.

    Displaced Children.--The Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, 
Martyrs, and Disabled's (MoLSAMD) estimated that the number of street 
children in Kabul dropped during the year from previous NGO estimates 
of 37,000 street children in urban areas, but no new survey had been 
undertaken by the National Census Directorate at year's end. Street 
children had little or no access to government services, although 
several NGOs provided access to basic needs, such as shelter and food. 
Overall, experts stated up to 40 percent of children worked to help 
their impoverished families.
    Living conditions for children in orphanages were poor. The MoLSAMD 
oversaw 84 Child Protection Action Network (CPAN) centers and 70 
residential orphanages, which were designed to provide vocational 
training to children from destitute families. Of these, 30 were 
privately funded orphanages and 40 were government-funded centers (but 
operated by NGOs by agreement with the ministry). NGOs reported that up 
to 80 percent of four-to 18-year-old children in the orphanages were 
not orphans but were children whose families could not provide food, 
shelter, or schooling. Children in orphanages reported mental, 
physical, and sexual abuse; were sometimes trafficked; and did not 
always have access to running water, winter heating, indoor plumbing, 
health services, recreational facilities, or education.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip/.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits any kind of 
discrimination against citizens and requires the state to assist 
persons with disabilities and to protect their rights, including the 
rights to health care and financial protection. The constitution also 
requires the state to adopt measures to reintegrate and ensure the 
active participation in society of persons with disabilities. The 
MoLSAMD drafted and the cabinet approved a five-year National Action 
Plan on March 16, which directs ministries to provide vocational 
training, establish empowerment centers, distribute food, build 
handicapped ramps in some government offices, conduct public awareness 
programs about the disabled, and take other steps to assist Afghans 
with disabilities.
    The government and NGOs estimated that there were up to 900,000 
mobility-impaired persons, of whom approximately 40,000 were limb 
amputees. The MoLSAMD stated that it provided financial support to 
79,202 individuals with disabilities. The MoLSAMD accorded special 
treatment to families of those killed in war.
    In the Meshrano Jirga, two of the presidentially appointed seats 
were reserved for persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Ethnic tensions between Pashtun 
and non-Pashtun groups resulted in conflict and occasional killings. 
The NGO Minority Rights Group's Peoples under Threat index identified 
Afghanistan as a country where communities were most at risk of mass 
killing, especially because of targeting of persons based on ethnicity 
and religion.
    Societal discrimination against Shia Hazaras continued along class, 
race, and religious lines in the form of extortion of money through 
illegal taxation, forced recruitment and forced labor, physical abuse, 
and detention. Ethnic Hazaras reported occasionally being asked to pay 
bribes at border crossings where Pashtuns were allowed to pass freely; 
in Ghazni province in April, nomads reportedly attacked and burned 27 
Hazara villages. Sikhs and Hindus reportedly continued to face 
discrimination, including unequal access to government jobs and 
harassment in their schools, as well as verbal and physical abuse in 
public places. The UNHCR reported that Hindus, Sikhs, and Shia 
Muslims--particularly those from the Hazara ethnic group--faced 
official obstacles and discrimination by the Sunni Muslim majority.
    Ismailis (a minority Shia Muslim group whose members follow the Aga 
Khan) generally were not targeted or seriously discriminated against, 
according to NGOs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law criminalizes 
homosexual activity, but authorities only sporadically enforced the 
prohibition. Organizations devoted to the protection or exercise of 
freedom of sexual orientation remained underground. There were reports 
of discrimination or violence based on sexual orientation, including 
police harassment of transvestites. Social taboos remained strong.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no known 
instances of discrimination or violence against persons with HIV/AIDS, 
but there was reportedly high social stigma against persons with AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The 2007 labor law allows workers to join and form unions under the 
2002 Social Organizations Law, and the government allowed several 
unions to operate without interference. However, the law provides no 
definition of a union or its relationship with employers and members. 
The country lacked a tradition of genuine labor-management bargaining. 
The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination or provide for 
reinstatement of workers fired for union activity.
    Although articles 145 and 146 of the labor law identify the Labor 
High Council established in the MoLSAMD as the highest labor tribunal 
and the MoLSAMD's Monitoring and Guidance Authority as the body 
investigating labor disputes, no implementing regulation to establish 
the council has been drafted.
    Implementation of labor laws remained a problem due to lack of 
implementing regulations, funding, personnel, political will, and 
central enforcement authority.
    In practice, the government allowed several unions to operate 
without interference. Freedom of association and the right to 
collective bargaining were respected. However, workers were generally 
not aware of their rights.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor; however, penal 
sanctions involving compulsory labor exist as a punishment for persons 
expressing political views or ideology against the state. The law does 
not stipulate penalties for forced labor. Government enforcement of the 
law was ineffective. Afghanistan's Law Countering Abduction and Human 
Trafficking (2008) prescribes penalties of ``maximum term'' 
imprisonment for labor trafficking, which in practice is between eight 
and 15 years.
    Compulsory labor was used in practice. Men, women, and children 
were forced into poppy cultivation, domestic work, drug trafficking, 
and sexual exploitation. Reports document the practice of bonded labor, 
whereby customs allow for families to force men, women, and children to 
work as a means to pay for debt or to settle grievances. The debt can 
continue from generation to generation, whereby children are forced to 
work to pay off their parents' debt. In addition forced child labor 
existed in sectors such as agriculture, brick kiln work, carpet 
weaving, domestic service, and organized begging.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor law sets the minimum age for employment at 18 years but permits 
14-year-olds to work as apprentices, allows children 15 years and older 
to do ``light work,'' and permits children ages 16 to 18 to work up to 
35 hours per week. Children younger than age 13 are prohibited from 
work under any circumstances. The labor law prohibits the employment of 
children in work likely to threaten their health or cause disability; 
however, there was no defined list of hazardous jobs.
    The government lacked a specific policy on implementing the law's 
provisions on child labor, and the Ministry of Labor's inspection 
function was weak. Generally poor institutional capacity was a serious 
impediment to effective enforcement of the labor law. In addition fewer 
than 10 percent of children in the country had formal birth 
registrations, further limiting authorities' already weak capacity to 
enforce laws on the minimum age of employment.
    Child labor remained a pervasive problem in practice. According to 
UNICEF estimates, at least 30 percent of primary school-age children 
undertook some form of work, and there were more than one million child 
laborers younger than the age of 14. There were approximately 1.2 
million children engaged in full- or part-time work. A 2010 study by 
the AIHRC found that an even larger portion of the country's 15 million 
children--up to 40 percent--were likely to be engaged in some sort of 
paid work.
    Child laborers worked as domestic servants, street vendors, 
peddlers, and shopkeepers, as well as in carpet weaving, brick making, 
and poppy harvesting. Children were also heavily employed in 
agriculture, mining (especially family-owned gem mines), and organized 
begging rings. Some sectors of child labor exposed children to land 
mines. Children faced numerous health and safety risks at work.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage for government 
workers was 5,000 afghanis ($108) per month. No minimum wage was set 
for the private sector; however, the labor law states the minimum wage 
of the private sector may not be less than the minimum wage of the 
government sector. The labor law makes no mention of informal sector 
day workers, leaving them completely unprotected.
    The law defines the standard workweek for both public-sector and 
private-sector employees as 40 hours: eight hours per day with one hour 
for lunch and noon prayers. Reduced standard workweeks were stipulated 
for youth, pregnant women, nursing mothers, miners, and others in other 
occupations that present health risks. The law provides workers the 
right to receive wages, annual vacation time in addition to national 
holidays, compensation for injuries suffered in the line of work, 
overtime pay, health insurance for the employee and immediate family 
members, per diem for official trips, daily transportation, food 
allowances, night shift differentials, retirement rights, and 
compensation for funeral expenses in case of death while performing 
official duties. There were no officially adopted occupational health 
and safety standards and no regulations for occupational health and 
safety.
    Employment was at will, and the MoLSAMD did not enforce the 
existing legal protections for workers, including in the informal 
sector. Citizens generally were not aware of the full extent of their 
labor rights under the law. Workers did not have the right to remove 
themselves from situations that endangered their health or safety 
without jeopardizing their employment, as all employment could be 
terminated without cause.
    Labor violations against migrant workers were common in practice.

                               __________

                               BANGLADESH

                           executive summary
    Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy. Prime Minister Sheikh 
Hasina Wazed led the Awami League (AL) alliance, a 14-party coalition 
with an overwhelming majority of parliamentary seats. International and 
domestic observers considered the 2008 elections to be free and fair, 
with isolated irregularities and sporadic violence. There were 
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently 
of civilian control.
    The most significant human rights problems were killings and 
torture by security forces; societal violence and discrimination 
against women, despite recent progress in their economic and social 
status; and the government's discrimination against and failure to 
protect indigenous persons from societal violence.
    Other human rights problems included abuses by security forces, 
which were responsible for disappearances, custodial deaths, and 
arbitrary arrest and detention. Prison conditions at times were life 
threatening, and lengthy pretrial detention continued to be a problem. 
An increasingly politicized judiciary exacerbated problems in an 
already overwhelmed judicial system and constrained access to justice 
for members of opposition parties. Authorities infringed on citizens' 
privacy rights. There were instances in which the government limited 
freedom of speech and press, self-censorship continued, and security 
forces harassed journalists. The government curbed freedom of assembly, 
and politically motivated violence remained a problem. Widespread 
official corruption remained a serious problem. Violence against 
children remained a serious problem, as did trafficking in persons. 
Discrimination against persons with disabilities was a problem. 
Societal violence against religious and ethnic minorities persisted, 
although many government and civil society leaders stated that these 
acts often had political or economic motivations and could not be 
attributed only to religious belief or affiliation. Discrimination 
against persons based on their sexual orientation remained a problem. 
Limits on worker rights, child labor, and unsafe working conditions 
also remained problems.
    Impunity continued to be a serious problem in several areas. Most 
members of the security forces acted with impunity, the Rapid Action 
Battalion (RAB) in particular. The government did not take 
comprehensive measures to investigate cases of security force killings. 
Widespread official corruption and related impunity continued. 
Punishment of officials who committed abuses was predominantly limited 
to officials perceived to be opponents of the AL-led government.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Members of the 
security forces committed numerous extrajudicial killings. Police, 
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) forces (the former Bangladesh Rifles), 
and the RAB at times used unwarranted lethal force.
    Allegations about the RAB's arbitrary actions were numerous. For 
example, according to Odhikar, a domestic human rights organization, 
members of the RAB shot and killed Mohammad Shafiqul Islam, a local 
politician from Comilla, on April 4 in Narayanganj District near Dhaka 
City. The RAB picked up Shafiqul, who was named in several criminal 
cases filed by a political rival, in the Demra neighborhood in Dhaka 
City and took him to a village. According to company commander Arman 
Uddin Chowdhury, Shafiqul was killed in a shootout between the RAB and 
a group of ``robbers.'' The RAB did not state whether or not he was a 
participant in the shootout, but the official statement included 
references to the previous criminal cases filed against him. A 
coroner's inquest determined that Shafiqul was shot five times. Human 
rights organizations called for a formal, transparent investigation 
into the death, but there was no investigation by year's end.
    The government did not release statistics for total killings by all 
security personnel. The government did not take comprehensive measures 
to investigate cases. According to the media and local human rights 
organizations, no case resulted in criminal punishment, and in the few 
instances in which the government brought charges, those found guilty 
generally received administrative punishment. Most members of the 
security forces acted with impunity. Since 2004, when the minister for 
law, justice, and parliamentary affairs stated that crossfire deaths 
under the custody of the RAB or the police could not be considered 
custodial deaths, the government has not disclosed any prosecution of a 
RAB officer for a killing.
    According to media reports, local and international human rights 
organizations, and the government, the RAB killed 43 persons during the 
year, compared with 68 the previous year. Combined security units 
containing RAB members killed eight persons during the year. The 
deaths, some under unusual circumstances, occurred during raids, 
arrests, and other law enforcement operations, or, in some cases, while 
the accused was in custody. The government often described these deaths 
as ``crossfire killings,'' ``gunfights,'' or ``encounter killings,'' 
terms it used to characterize exchanges of gunfire between the RAB or 
police and criminal gangs.
    For example, according to press and human rights organization 
reports, the RAB shot and killed five men in the Uttara neighborhood of 
Dhaka City on August 12. According to the RAB, officers fired on the 
vehicle containing Mohammad Hasan, Mostofa Hossain, Suruj Miah, Sabuj, 
and Mohammad Maruf after the victims initiated the gunfire; however, a 
report by the Daily Star cited eyewitnesses disputing the claim, saying 
that the victims were shot from a short distance and did not fire any 
shots. Non-RAB law enforcement officials were responsible for 33 
deaths, 15 of which were attributed to crossfire incidents.
    According to the human rights organization Ain O-Shalish Kendra 
(ASK), 216 deaths occurred in custody during the year, including 116 
deaths in prison. Many of the deaths were allegedly the result of 
torture (also see section 1.c.).
    According to the Daily Star, Mohammad Mobarak Ali died in police 
custody in Chittagong on April 30. Mobarak, a rickshaw puller, was 
detained on drug-related charges, and his body showed signs of beating 
after his initial period in custody. After his death the police report 
stated that he died of ``drug dependency withdrawal syndrome''; 
however, according to the Daily Star report, Mobarak was not a drug 
user.
    The case concerning the May 2010 death in custody of Mohammad Manik 
continued. Manik allegedly was tortured to death by Subinspector Yunus 
Miah.
    There were no developments concerning the May 2010 death of Abul 
Kalam Azad. Azad's family claimed that the RAB tortured him to death.
    According to Odhikar, an inquiry committee formed to investigate 
the death of Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, allegedly shot by police 
Subinspector Anisur Rahman during interrogation in June 2010, 
determined that Mizanur died from bullets fired by ``muggers.''
    There were a significant number of reports of killings involving 
political party supporters targeting other political party supporters, 
although there was no evidence of support from party leadership.
    Politically motivated violence decreased from the previous year; 
however, the trend was an increase in such violence since the AL 
government assumed office, with opposition party supporters claiming 
attacks and harassment by ruling party supporters. Motivations for the 
violence often were unclear. According to Odhikar, 135 deaths were 
suspected of being politically motivated, compared with 220 the 
previous year. There were also 340 incidents of internal violence in 
the AL and 104 within the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Twenty-
two persons were killed and 3,770 persons injured in AL internal 
conflict, and three persons were killed and 1,234 persons injured in 
internal BNP violence. Incidents of nonlethal politically motivated 
violence also occurred (see section 1.c.).
    Violence along the border with India remained a problem, but 
following a series of intergovernmental meetings, the number of 
incidents decreased by approximately 58 percent compared with the 
previous year. There were reports that the BGB engaged in shootings 
along the border.
    According to human rights organizations, the Indian Border Security 
Force killed 31 Bangladeshis during the year, compared with 98 the 
previous year. For example, according to Odhikar, on January 7, Indian 
forces shot and killed 15-year-old Felani Khatun as she attempted to 
cross the border fence. Felani's body hung from the fence for five 
hours before Indian authorities transferred her to their Bangladeshi 
counterparts.

    b. Disappearance.--Disappearances and kidnappings, many allegedly 
by the security services, increased during the year, but precise 
figures were unavailable. At least some of the kidnappings were 
politically motivated, although many were often for money or as a 
result of localized rivalries. According to Odhikar, there were 30 
disappearances with alleged ties to security personnel, compared with 
nine in 2010. According to the RAB, the organization was accused of 
disappearances that were the responsibility of private citizens who 
impersonated its forces.
    For example, according to Odhikar, on February 15, the RAB detained 
Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, an imam and salesman in the North Shahjahanpur 
neighborhood of Dhaka City. Eyewitnesses and a police report filed by 
the victim's son-in-law stated that RAB officers, some in civilian 
dress and others in RAB uniforms, detained Rafiqul and forced him into 
a covered pickup truck. The RAB denied arresting him. Rafiqul's 
whereabouts remained unknown at year's end.
    The whereabouts of Mohammad Chowdhury Alam, a BNP city councilor in 
Dhaka allegedly detained by the RAB in June 2010, remained unknown as 
of year's end.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution prohibits torture and cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading punishment, security forces, including the RAB 
and police, frequently employed torture and severe physical and 
psychological abuse during arrests and interrogations. Security forces 
used threats, beatings, and electric shock. According to Odhikar, 
security forces tortured at least 46 persons. The government rarely 
charged, convicted, or punished those responsible, and a climate of 
impunity allowed such abuses by the RAB and police to continue.
    The criminal procedure code contains provisions allowing a 
magistrate to place a suspect in interrogative custody, known as 
remand, during which the suspect could be questioned without his or her 
lawyer present. During the year the government made efforts to limit 
the amount of time allowed for remand; however, these efforts were 
largely ignored by local magistrates. Most abuses occurred during 
periods of remand.
    For example, according to press and human rights reports, Momtaz 
Uddin Ahmed, a Supreme Court lawyer affiliated with the opposition BNP, 
died on August 26, 15 days after he was detained and interrogated by 
the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Ahmed's family alleged that he was 
tortured, causing him to suffer a heart attack. Ahmed's wife filed a 
case against the home minister seeking restitution. The police denied 
torturing Ahmed, and the results of a Home Ministry investigation into 
the matter were inconclusive as of year's end.
    A Home Ministry-formed investigation committee concluded an inquest 
into the alleged torture and killing of Mohammad Mohiuddin Arif by the 
RAB in January 2010. The National Human Rights Commission filed an 
application to have the death investigated. The Home Ministry had not 
published the report as of year's end.
    Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury remained incarcerated awaiting war 
crimes charges related to the country's 1971 war of independence. 
Chowdhury's family alleged that he was tortured during his initial 
interrogation, but police denied the charges. Chowdhury was later moved 
into protective custody and allowed medical treatment, but serious 
concerns regarding his health persisted.
    According to Odhikar, there were at least four recorded incidents 
of rape and sexual abuse by police officers and armed forces personnel.
    There were also incidents of nonlethal politically motivated 
violence. For example, according to press and human rights organization 
reports, police officers brutally beat Zainul Abdin Farroque, an 
opposition BNP member of parliament (MP) and the party's chief whip, 
while he was leading a procession near parliament during the BNP's July 
6 nationwide strike. Farroque sustained serious cranial trauma and 
subsequently left the country to seek medical treatment. According to 
Amar Desh, a BNP-leaning daily newspaper, the two police officers 
involved were both former Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders from 
Kishoreganj District in Dhaka Division. The police later filed a case 
accusing Farroque of obstructing the officers in the performance of 
their duty. The case was pending year's end.
    Individual members of student wings from all major parties were 
responsible for numerous acts of on-campus violence. In 2010 auxiliary 
student wings were formally severed from the political parties, and 
according to media and human rights sources, many incidents of violence 
were related to criminal activities or personal as opposed to political 
vendettas. Despite the formal separation, some politicians representing 
all major parties mobilized members of student wings for movements and 
demonstrations.
    For example, according to Odhikar, on August 14, in Sunamganj 
District in Sylhet Division, activists from the BCL, the ruling AL's 
auxiliary student wing, attacked a meeting of the Committee for the 
Protection of Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Port, an 
organization that opposed the government's energy policies. The BCL 
activists stormed the meeting and violently dispersed those in 
attendance, injuring seven persons.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison system conditions 
remained life threatening at times due to overcrowding, inadequate 
facilities, and lack of proper sanitation. Human rights observers 
stated that these conditions contributed to custodial deaths.
    According to Odhikar, 105 persons died in prison and 140 persons 
died in the custody of police and other security forces during the 
year, compared with 46 prison deaths and 109 custodial deaths in 2010.
    According to the government, the existing prison population at 
year's end was 69,850, or more than 237 percent of the official prison 
capacity of 29,450. Of the entire prison population, approximately one-
third of the detainees had been convicted. The rest were either 
awaiting trial or detained for investigation. Due to the severe backlog 
of cases, individuals awaiting trial often spent more time in jail than 
if they had been convicted and served a maximum sentence. In most cases 
prisoners slept in shifts because of the overcrowding and did not have 
adequate bathroom facilities. Conditions in prisons varied widely often 
within the same prison complex as some prisoners were subject to high 
temperatures, poor ventilation, and overcrowding while others were 
placed in ``divisional'' custody, which featured better conditions, 
such as increased family visitation and access to household staff. 
Political and personal connections often influenced the conditions in 
which a prisoner would be placed. All prisoners have the right to 
medical care and water access. Human rights organizations and the media 
stated that many prisoners did not enjoy these rights, and available 
water was often nonpotable.
    The law requires that juveniles be detained separately from adults, 
but in practice many juveniles were incarcerated with adults. More than 
300 children were imprisoned (some with their mothers), despite laws 
and court decisions prohibiting the imprisonment of minors. In some 
places the figure was much higher, mainly because there was no proper 
means of recording age in the criminal justice system. According to 
statistics from the 2008 International Centre for Prison Studies 
report, minors made up 0.4 percent of the prison population.
    Although the law prohibits women in ``safe custody'' (usually 
victims of rape, trafficking, and domestic violence) from being housed 
with criminals, in practice officials did not always provide separate 
facilities in these situations. According to Odhikar there were 2,402 
women incarcerated in prisons.
    Prisoners were permitted religious observance. Prisoners were 
allowed to submit uncensored complaints to authorities, and the 
authorities occasionally investigated these complaints.
    In general the government did not permit prison visits by 
independent human rights monitors, including the International 
Committee of the Red Cross. Government-appointed committees composed of 
prominent private citizens in each prison locality monitored prisons 
monthly but did not publicly release their findings. District judges 
occasionally visited prisons but rarely disclosed their findings to the 
public.
    There were few efforts to improve the prison system during the 
year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the law permits authorities to 
arrest and detain persons suspected of criminal activity without an 
order from a magistrate or a warrant.
    Legal experts and human rights activists criticized the use of 
mobile courts during opposition party-imposed nationwide strikes. 
Mobile courts headed by magistrates were employed to prosecute persons 
who illegally tried to support the strikes by rendering verdicts on the 
spot, which often included prison terms.
    For example, according to Odhikar, a mobile court interdicted 
Khandaker Ashaduzzaman during a nationwide strike on July 5 and accused 
him of arson. According to numerous eyewitnesses, Ashaduzzaman was not 
in the vicinity of the arson incident; however, the mobile court 
summarily sentenced him to six months' imprisonment. Ashaduzzaman 
accused the police of torture and remained in prison at year's end.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Police are organized 
nationally under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) and have a mandate 
to maintain internal security and law and order. The army is 
responsible for external security but also has some domestic security 
responsibilities, such as in the Chittagong Hills Tracts. Police 
generally were ineffective and reluctant to investigate persons 
affiliated with the ruling party. Impunity was widespread among the 
security forces. Although mechanisms exist to investigate abuses by 
security forces, in practice these were not implemented. The government 
took some steps to improve police professionalism, discipline, 
training, and responsiveness and reduce corruption. For instance, the 
RAB sought technical assistance towards the creation of an internal 
affairs unit.
    In Natore District's Barigram subdistrict, the case concerning the 
October 2010 murder of subdistrict chairman Sanaullah Noor Babu in an 
attack on a BNP rally by the BCL stalled, as all 27 accused were 
granted bail. Video of the incident was dispersed on the Internet 
showing a local AL leader beating Babu to death. Local authorities told 
the media that the case would move forward but did not offer a 
timeline. The local Awami League MP later addressed a rally of AL 
activists, telling them they had ``nothing to worry about'' over the 
incident.
    In August 2010 the AL-led government withdrew charges previously 
filed against AL activists for firing on a BNP rally in Dhaka's 
Malibagh neighborhood in 2001, terming the charges politically 
motivated. Witness and media reports placed the 23 prominent AL 
activists accused, include an AL MP, at the forefront of a group that 
fired on the BNP rally, killing four persons and wounding four others. 
Newspapers published photographs from the incident that showed many of 
the accused brandishing firearms. The four murder cases stalled in the 
absence of accused parties.
    Tangail District's Ahmadi community experienced three waves of 
coordinated attacks in June, August, and October 2010. In each incident 
the attackers entered Ahmdi villages, targeting male members of the 
sect for beatings and vandalized homes and religious institutions. The 
attacks left more than 20 persons injured. The community reported the 
attacks to the police, but no arrests were made.
    Plaintiffs rarely accused police in criminal cases due to lengthy 
trial procedures and fears of retribution. Reluctance to bring charges 
against police perpetuated a climate of impunity.
    Security forces frequently failed to prevent societal violence (see 
section 2.d.).

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides for arrest on suspicion of criminal activity without an order 
from a magistrate or a warrant, and the government regularly used such 
provisions. The government or a district magistrate may order a person 
detained for 30 days to prevent the commission of an act that could 
threaten national security; however, authorities held detainees for 
longer periods. The magistrate must inform the detainee of the grounds 
of detention, and an advisory board is required to examine the 
detainee's case after four months. Detainees had the right to appeal.
    ASK and media outlets estimated that authorities made more than 
2,000 routine arrests daily. The majority of those arrested were 
released within one or two days, often on payment of a bribe.
    On September 19, the AL government carried out a mass arrest of 
Jamaat-e-Islami activists after the organization's student front 
clashed violently with police.
    There was a functioning bail system in the regular courts. For 
example, the courts granted bail to almost all of the officials and 
former officials accused of corruption under the caretaker government; 
however, the system sometimes moved slower in cases that carried 
political implications. Additionally the attorney general ordered that 
his office have the final decision on bail cases for violations of the 
code of criminal procedure.
    Most criminal detainees charged with crimes were granted access to 
attorneys. The government rarely provided detainees with state-funded 
defense attorneys, and there were few legal aid programs for detainees. 
Government-funded legal aid programs received little funding, and there 
were no efforts to expand those programs during the year. The 
government generally permitted lawyers to meet with their clients only 
after formal charges were filed in the courts, which in some cases 
occurred several weeks or months after the initial arrest.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--Arbitrary arrests were common, and the 
government held persons in detention without specific charges, often to 
collect information about other suspects.

    Pretrial Detention.--Arbitrary and lengthy pretrial detention 
continued to be a problem due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, limited 
resources, lax enforcement of pretrial rules, and corruption. There 
were an estimated two million pending civil and criminal cases. A 2008 
estimate from the International Center for Prison Studies found that 
nearly 70 percent of prison inmates were in pretrial detention.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, but in practice a longstanding temporary 
provision of the constitution placed the executive in charge of the 
lower courts, judicial appointments, and compensation for judicial 
officials. Legislation from 2007 officially separating the judiciary 
from the executive remained in effect throughout the year.
    Despite ostensible separation of the judiciary from the executive, 
the political authority made judicial appointments to the higher courts 
and allegedly influenced many judicial decisions on politically 
sensitive cases, including decisions regarding bail and detention for 
political opponents of the government. On October 20, 10 additional 
judges appointed by the AL-led government were sworn into the High 
Court Division of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court Bar Association 
declined to participate in the customary felicitation of the judges, 
citing the panel's alleged political makeup.
    Throughout the year President Zillur Rahman granted clemency in 
cases filed under previous governments that the government deemed 
politically motivated. The majority of clemencies were granted to 
persons affiliated with the AL, and many clemencies drew widespread 
criticisms from civil society.
    Human Rights Watch reported that defense counsel for Jamaat-e-
Islami leaders accused of war crimes suffered intimidation from law 
enforcement and government officials.
    Corruption and a substantial backlog of cases hindered the court 
system, and trials were typically marked by extended continuances that 
effectively prevented many defendants from obtaining fair trials due to 
witness tampering, victim intimidation, and missing evidence. Human 
rights observers stated that magistrates, attorneys, and court 
officials demanded bribes from defendants in many cases filed during 
the year.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides accused persons with the right 
to be represented by counsel, review accusatory material, call or 
question witnesses, and appeal verdicts. Cases are decided by judges 
rather than juries, and trials are public. In practice a public 
defender is rarely provided to defendants. Defendants are presumed 
innocent and have the right to appeal, be present, and see the 
government's evidence.
    According to the National Human Rights Commission, 90 percent of 
those eventually brought to trial were not convicted.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year the government, 
through an interministerial committee, continued to identify and 
withdraw allegedly ``politically motivated'' cases initiated under the 
caretaker government. The majority of the cases recommended for 
withdrawal were against AL members. While political affiliation was 
often a factor in the arrest and prosecution of members of the 
opposition parties, no persons were prosecuted solely for political 
reasons.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Administrative and 
judicial remedies are available for alleged wrongs. The government did 
not interfere with civil judicial procedures. Corruption and outside 
influence were problems in the civil judicial system. Alternative 
dispute resolution for civil cases allows citizens to present their 
cases for mediation. According to government sources, wider use of 
mediation in civil cases quickened the administration of justice, but 
there was no assessment of its fairness or impartiality. Individuals 
and organizations have the right to seek civil remedies for human 
rights violations; however, the civil court system was slow and 
cumbersome, deterring many from filing cases.

    Property Restitution.--The government continued to take no action 
to compensate individuals, primarily Hindus, who lost their land under 
the 1974 Vested Property Act, despite the change to the law in 2001 
requiring the return of the land (see section 2.d.).

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law allows intelligence and law enforcement 
agencies to monitor private communications with the permission of the 
chief executive of the MOHA.
    According to media reports, the government established a national 
monitoring center consisting of representatives from law enforcement 
and intelligence agencies to monitor and coordinate telephone taps in 
2008. Media and human rights groups complained that the government 
continued to employ the practice of illegal telephone tapping. Police 
rarely obtained warrants as required, and officers who violated these 
procedures were not punished. Human rights organizations indicated that 
the special branch of police, National Security Intelligence, and the 
Directorate General Forces Intelligence employed informers to conduct 
surveillance and report on citizens perceived as critical of the 
government. The government also routinely conducted surveillance on 
opposition politicians. Human rights organizations and news outlets 
reported that police often entered private homes without obtaining the 
proper authorization.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, but 
the government frequently failed to respect these rights in practice.

    Freedom of Speech.--The 15th constitutional amendment, which 
parliament passed in July, contained language equating criticism of the 
constitution with sedition. Under the penal code, the punishment for 
sedition ranges from three years' to life imprisonment, and during the 
year sedition cases were filed against opposition leaders who made such 
critical remarks.

    Freedom of the Press.--There were hundreds of daily and weekly 
independent publications. Newspapers critical of the government 
experienced negative government pressure. In addition to one official 
government-owned news service, there were two private news services. In 
2010 Reporters Without Borders noted a slight decline in the country's 
already limited level of press freedom. In Freedom House's 2010 press 
freedom report, the country's press was described as only partly free.
    The government owned one radio station and one television station. 
The law mandates that the public television station, BTV, remain the 
country's only terrestrial (nonsatellite) broadcast channel. An 
estimated 60 percent of the population did not have access to private 
satellite channels, and surveys indicated that almost 80 percent of 
citizens received their information from television. BTV broadcasts 
parliamentary sessions and government programming but rarely broadcasts 
opposition views. Cable operators generally functioned without 
government interference. The government required all private stations 
to broadcast, without charge, selected government news programs and 
speeches by the prime minister.
    Since coming to power in 2009, the AL-led government has shut two 
television channels, Channel 1 and Jamuna-TV. Both remained off the air 
at year's end.
    The government issued new licenses to operate television channels 
to political supporters and denied new licenses to political opponents. 
This conformed to past practice and was not unique to the AL.

    Violence and Harassment.--Attacks on journalists continued to be a 
problem. There was an increase in individuals affiliated with the 
government or ruling party harassing, arresting, or assaulting 
journalists. According to Odhikar and media watchdog groups, at least 
one journalist was killed, 139 were injured, one was arrested, 43 were 
assaulted, 53 were threatened, and 23 had cases filed against them 
during the year. Student groups also attacked journalists. The 
government did not provide adequate protection to journalists.
    Journalists perceived to be critical of the government and those 
aligned with the opposition alleged harassment from unspecified wings 
of the security forces and members of the ruling party. For example, on 
May 20, the prime minister's security adviser, Tarique Ahmed Siddique, 
held a press conference to announce that the government possessed 
evidence that a prominent editor of a national daily newspaper was 
closely tied to Islamic militancy and that, if it wanted to, the 
government could arrest the editor. Siddique did not name the editor 
and no arrests were made.
    On July 31, authorities arrested Ekramul Haq, the editor of the 
online news portal SheershaNews, on an extortion charge, which was 
widely perceived as fabricated, in retaliation for Haq's reports on 
corruption within various government ministries. Authorities revoked 
the press credentials of SheershaNews journalists, making it impossible 
to cover official events and forcing the news agency to shut down 
indefinitely. Haq was released on bail, but the cases remained pending 
at year's end.
    On September 12, members of the RAB in Dhaka assaulted a broadcast 
engineer for the channel BanglaVision. The officers also damaged 
broadcasting equipment. The reason for the assault was unclear; 
however, RAB officials later apologized to BanglaVision and reassigned 
the officers responsible.
    According to press and human rights organization reports, on June 
3, a group of activists tied to local AL leader Ali Hossain in Kushtia 
District of Khulna Division attacked and injured Tauhidi Hasan, the 
local correspondent for Prothom Alo; Sheikh Belal Hossain, the local 
correspondent for RTV; Jahirul Islam, the local correspondent for 
Ekushey TV; and Ahmed Sajeeb, a cameraman for Ekushey TV. Following the 
attack, Hasan was admitted to the hospital. The journalists were 
investigating irregularities and discrepancies in local government 
tenders.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--According to some journalists 
and human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), journalists 
engaged in self-censorship due to fear of retribution from the 
government. Although public criticism of the government was common, the 
media--particularly print media--depended on government advertisements 
for a significant percentage of their revenue. As a result the media 
had a strong incentive for self-censorship.
    The government did not subject foreign publications and films to 
stringent reviews and censorship. A government-managed film censor 
board reviewed local and foreign films and had the authority to censor 
or ban films on the grounds of state security, law and order, religious 
sentiment, obscenity, foreign relations, defamation, or plagiarism, but 
this was less strict than in the past. In practice video rental 
libraries and DVD shops stocked a wide variety of films, and government 
efforts to enforce censorship on rentals were sporadic and ineffective.
    According to a published Agence France-Presse report, the 
Bangladesh Film Censor Board issued a July ruling banning Hridoy Bhanga 
Dhew (Heart Breaking Wave), citing content that mocked ruling party 
officials. Members of the censor board identified a coat, often 
identified with independence leader and AL founder Sheikh Mujibur 
Rahman, which was worn by the film's villain, as the offending content. 
The film was eventually released.
    The government only rarely exercised censorship in cases of 
immodest or obscene photographs, perceived misrepresentation or 
defamation of Islam, or objectionable comments regarding national 
leaders.

    Internet Freedom.--Although individuals and groups generally could 
engage in the expression of views via the Internet, local human rights 
organizations reported continued government monitoring of Internet 
communications. The government blocked some Facebook pages, including 
pages depicting the Prophet Muhammed and pages critical of both the 
prime minister and opposition leader. Opposition leaders alleged that 
security forces attempted to collect their personally identifiable 
information; however, these allegations were not independently 
verified.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government did little to 
limit academic freedom or cultural events; however, media groups 
reported that authorities discouraged research on sensitive religious 
and political topics. Additionally, a significant number of Dhaka 
University teachers, some with overt BNP affiliations, have been 
dismissed or put on extended leave since the AL-led government assumed 
office in 2009; however, it was unclear whether the concerned teachers 
were targeted because of their political affiliations.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the government 
generally respected these rights in practice; however, at times the 
government limited freedom of assembly.

    Freedom of Assembly.--The government generally permitted rallies to 
take place but on occasion used the criminal procedure code to prevent 
opposition political groups from holding meetings and demonstrations. 
The code authorizes the administration to ban assembly of more than 
four persons; according to ASK, the administration used this provision 
at least 133 times during the year. At times police or ruling party 
activists used force to disperse demonstrations.
    A ban on student protests in certain areas of Dhaka, issued by the 
Dhaka Metropolitan Police in 2010 citing traffic concerns, remained in 
effect throughout 2011. It was only selectively enforced. Police 
occasionally used excessive force during political rallies.
    The Islamist Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, reported that its ability to 
secure permits for rallies or processions was severely hampered 
throughout the year.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for the right of every 
citizen to form associations, subject to ``reasonable restrictions'' in 
the interest of morality or public order, and the government generally 
respected this right. Individuals were free to join private groups. 
Trade unions were able to conduct their normal activities, but the law 
made it nearly impossible to form new trade unions in many sectors, 
such as the ready-made garment industry.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice, except in the cases of some opposition political figures.

    Foreign Travel.--With the 1971 war crimes trials underway, the 
government implemented an international travel ban on war crimes 
suspects, most of whom were opposition party leaders. These suspects 
were not stripped of their passports, but immigration officials at the 
airport in Dhaka occasionally prevented politicians belonging to the 
opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami from leaving the country. For 
example, in early June senior BNP leader Giasuddin Quader Chowdhury was 
taken from a plane despite a court order allowing him to travel. 
Chowdhury's appeals to the government that he be allowed to travel for 
medical purposes were unresolved as of year's end. Some politicians 
successfully challenged the unannounced restrictions on their travel 
abroad and managed to depart and return to the country.
    The country's passports were invalid for travel to Israel.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--According to the 
International Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) Web site, armed 
conflict broke out in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in 1973 as the 
government opposed the demands of the indigenous Jumma community for 
greater autonomy. During the conflict throughout the 1970s and 1980s, 
the government relocated landless Bengalis from the plains, ensuring 
that the Jumma became a minority in the CHT. During this period clashes 
with army-backed settlers displaced tens of thousands of Jumma within 
the country.
    The number of IDPs in the region was disputed. In 2000 a government 
task force estimated the number to be 500,000 but included 
nonindigenous persons in its estimate. During the same year, Amnesty 
International reported that there were approximately 60,000 indigenous 
IDPs. In 2008 the government pledged assistance and reparation to those 
who lost their land during the conflict and set up a commission and 
task force for rehabilitation of returnee Jumma IDPs and the 
elimination of military camps. According to the IDMC, however, as of 
2009 there were still approximately 300 military camps in the region, 
and the work of the land commission and task force was hindered by lack 
of funding and human resources.
    The IDMC also reported that there was ``possibly a much larger 
number'' of members of religious minorities across the country who may 
have been ``forcibly displaced'' as a result of discriminatory 
legislation. The Hindu community in particular lost much of its land 
under the 1974 Vested Property Act, which authorized government 
confiscation of property from individuals it deemed ``enemies of the 
state.'' According to the IDMC, almost 750,000 Hindu families were 
dispossessed of agricultural land. There was no systematic reporting on 
the treatment of these widely scattered IDPs.
    On November 28, the parliament passed the Vested Properties Return 
(Amendment) Bill mandating the preparation of district level lists 
detailing land displacement in order to facilitate the return of land. 
The original Vested Properties Return Bill was passed in 2001 but 
remained unimplemented in the interim. Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira 
stated that the bill was amended in order to restart the effort to 
return the land.
    IDPs in the CHT had limited physical security. The IDMC reported 
that the army still held authority over the general CHT administration, 
through an administrative order, and there were many reported cases of 
IDPs being subjected to arbitrary arrest, unlawful detentions, torture, 
rape, killing, and religious persecution (see section 6). According to 
the IDMC, several reports indicated that these violations of the rights 
of indigenous persons by settlers, sometimes with the involvement of 
security forces, were ``systematic.''
    There was no government action to punish the perpetrators of the 
February 2010 arson attacks on more than 200 homes of indigenous IDPs 
in Baghaihat, in which two persons were killed and dozens injured.
    IDPs in the CHT also lack access to courts and legal aid. According 
to the IDMC, the CHT commission, composed of experts from inside and 
outside Bangladesh who seek to promote respect for human rights, 
democracy, participatory development, and land rights in the CHT, found 
that the lack of information and available lawyers to assist the 
indigenous persons there hindered their access to justice.
    A 2011 study commissioned by the CHT commission entitled Alienation 
of the Lands of Indigenous Peoples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts 
documented the incremental methods used to internally displace the 
indigenous communities. According to the study, indigenous land was 
expropriated using false title manipulation, intimidation, force, 
fraud, and manipulation of government eminent domain claims.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--In the absence of any 
national legislation, the law does not provide a legal framework for 
the granting of asylum or refugee status. The government has no formal 
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 freedoms 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 U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
refugees; however, delays in granting approvals by the government's NGO 
Affairs Bureau led to extended delays in allowing NGOs to operate in 
the country and implement assistance programs.
    The government estimated that 200,000 to 500,000 undocumented 
Rohingya resided in the country, with most living among the local 
population in the surrounding area of Teknaf and Cox's Bazar, including 
approximately 20,000 at an unofficial site adjacent to the official 
Kutupalong refugee camp. International NGOs generally were unable to 
work officially with unregistered refugees or with the impoverished 
host community because the NGO Affairs Bureau refused to grant 
permission for such projects. There were no repatriations of Rohingya 
during the year, and the UNHCR's resettlement program, suspended in 
2010 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pending a review of its refugee 
policy, was not resumed. No refugee policy was issued by year's end, 
and resettlement remained suspended.
    Working with the UNHCR, the government provided temporary 
protection to approximately 29,000 registered Rohingya refugees at two 
official refugee camps and to individual asylum seekers that the UNHCR 
interviewed and recognized as refugees on a case-by-case basis. 
According to the UNHCR, there were some discrepancies between the 
government's official list of registered refugees and the UNHCR's list. 
The UNHCR worked to resolve these discrepancies with the government by 
conducting a harmonization exercise beginning in 2010. This joint 
exercise was exhaustive and involved face-to-face interviews of an 
estimated 6,915 persons who resided in the camps and who in most cases 
were extended family of official refugees. While the UNHCR and the 
Ministry of Food and Disaster Management reached a broad agreement on 
the recognition of more than 2,800 cases, the formal activation of 
these cases remained blocked elsewhere in government.

    Nonrefoulement.--The government continued to deny asylum to 
Rohingya arriving from Burma whom it categorized as illegal economic 
migrants. While there were credible reports of Rohingya turned back at 
the border, the border was very porous. As a result attempts to stem 
the tide of migration proved unsuccessful. The actual scale of cross-
border movement remained unclear. The government claimed that a 
sizeable influx was created by ``pull factors'' in Bangladesh, but 
these claims were not adequately substantiated. The UNHCR, which 
maintained a field presence in both countries and attempted to monitor 
these trends, acknowledged that there was considerable daily cross-
border movement for trade and smuggling; however, the UNHCR did not 
find evidence to confirm a significant scale of influx or flight to 
Bangladesh. According to the UNHCR, some of the individuals who were 
turned back likely were entitled to refugee status. Some unregistered 
persons in the UNHCR camps returned to the country illegally after 
their official repatriation to Burma in the mid-1990s. On a number of 
occasions, local police detained unregistered persons outside the camps 
and imprisoned them under the Foreigners Act. The release of 
incarcerated, unregistered Rohingya was often prevented by the Burmese 
government's unwillingness to identify the concerned Rohingya as 
Burmese, preventing their repatriation and leaving them effectively 
stateless.

    Refugee Abuse.--According to the UNHCR, there were cases of abuse 
against refugees, including rape, assault, domestic abuse, deprivation 
of food, arbitrary detention, and documentation problems. Working with 
the UNHCR, the government continued to improve some aspects of the 
official refugee camps following findings in recent years that 
sanitation, nutrition, and shelter conditions had fallen below minimum 
international standards. The government permitted the UNHCR to replace 
shelters and latrines and permitted more NGOs to work in the camps on 
skills training, education, and health for residents.

    Access to Basic Services.--In spite of some improvements in 
services and infrastructure in the official camps, some basic standards 
were not met and conditions in the camps remained overcrowded, with 
densities on a par with the country's urban slums.
    Refugees had limited freedom of movement beyond the camps and were 
expected to obtain permission for all movements outside the camps. In 
the camps possession of cell phones was prohibited, and operation of 
small-scale shops and tea stalls was subject to control by the camp 
authorities. In practice there was variable enforcement by the local 
camp authorities, who often showed some flexibility and restraint, but 
on other occasions imposed harsher measures. In spite of these 
constraints, some refugees worked illegally as manual laborers or 
rickshaw pullers in the unregulated economy, and small numbers of 
students studied with the assistance of private tutors and participated 
in countrywide school exams through the high school level.
    As in previous years, the government continued to ignore UNHCR 
requests to allow Rohingya refugees who were unable to return to Burma 
to work locally, obtain medical care, or attend school outside the 
camps. The government began to allow the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) 
to operate schools through grade five in the camps. In practice, 
however, the provision of basic services from the UNHCR and NGOs meant 
that registered refugees often received better medical care than 
citizens in surrounding villages.

    Stateless Persons.--Between 200,000 and 500,000 Rohingya were de 
facto stateless, although many integrated into local communities 
without significant issue.
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.
    On June 30, the AL-led parliament passed the 15th amendment to the 
constitution over an opposition boycott, abolishing the provision 
mandating that elections be held under a neutral, caretaker government. 
The caretaker government system was established before the 1996 
parliamentary general elections in response to the electoral system's 
perceived vulnerability to political manipulation. The amendment 
followed a May supreme court ruling that declared the caretaker system 
unconstitutional.
    Under the 15th amendment, the 2013 parliamentary general elections 
and all subsequent elections are to be supervised by an independent 
electoral commission operating under the political government in power, 
which in 2013 would still be the current AL-led government. Many 
independent observers criticized the change because they believed that 
the electoral system's vulnerabilities to political manipulation that 
had necessitated the creation of the caretaker system had not been 
addressed and would resurface, leaving the electoral system vulnerable 
to political manipulation. This issue became a matter of enormous 
partisan concern and attention during the year.
    The parliament had 350 members, 300 of whom were directly elected. 
Selection for these seats was based on each political party's 
proportional representation within the 300-member group of directly 
elected legislators. An additional 50 seats are reserved for women, who 
are selected by political parties. Party leaders appointed candidates 
for elections, and there were allegations that wealthy candidates could 
purchase nominations from party leaders with campaign contributions or 
personal gifts.
    Opposition parties continued to boycott parliament throughout the 
year but returned on certain days to fulfill the procedures necessary 
to retain their seats. They demanded fair treatment by the speaker and 
the ruling party legislators as preconditions for their return to the 
house. The parliament formed all 48 standing committees in the first 
session with participation from opposition parties. The opposition MPs 
continued to participate in standing committee meetings despite their 
absence from parliament.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--Sheikh 
Hasina, leader of the AL, became prime minister in 2009, following the 
parliamentary elections of 2008, which international and local 
observers deemed free and fair. The 14-party AL alliance held 229 of 
the 300 available seats. Hasina's cabinet included representatives from 
the other parties in her coalition. Hasina replaced Fakhruddin Ahmed, 
chief adviser to the caretaker government, as the head of government. 
BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia became leader of 
the opposition.
    January 27 by-elections for two seats in the eastern districts of 
Brahmanbaria and Habiganj were marked by sporadic violence and 
allegations of ballot manipulation.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--According to the law, women 
are eligible to contest any seat among the 345 MPs, but 45 additional 
seats were reserved for women. In June the 15th amendment raised this 
number to 50 out of 350 MPs.
    There was no provision to provide parliamentary seats for 
minorities.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The Anti-
Corruption Commission (ACC) is the government agency charged with 
fighting corruption. On February 23, the government appointed a former 
bureaucrat and a retired judge, both publicly identified with the 
ruling AL, as commissioners of the ACC. According to a 2010 report by 
the World Bank, the government tried to undercut the authority of the 
ACC and severely hampered the prosecution of corruption throughout the 
country. The reports stated that the government had filed far fewer 
corruption cases than the caretaker government and that a government 
commission had recommended that the ACC drop thousands of corruption 
cases, mostly involving AL members. Members of civil society stated 
that the government was not serious about fighting corruption and that 
the ACC was used for politically motivated persecutions. Transparency 
International Bangladesh asserted that political interference in the 
ACC's operations had rendered it a ``toothless tiger.''
    For example, on August 8, the ACC filed a case against the leader 
of the opposition in parliament and former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, 
and three others, alleging that they abused power to set up a 
charitable trust named after late president Ziaur Rahman. The 
opposition BNP termed the case ``baseless and politically motivated.''
    On June 23, a Dhaka court sentenced Arafat Rahman Koko, the younger 
son of opposition leader Khaleda Zia, to six years' rigorous 
imprisonment in a money-laundering case filed by the ACC in 2009. A 
separate money-laundering case was also filed against Khaleda Zia's 
other son, Tarique Rahman. Both were living outside the country on bail 
at year's end, but as a result of his conviction, Rahman Koko 
effectively became a fugitive.
    A review committee headed by the state minister for law, justice, 
and parliamentary affairs recommended the withdrawal of politically 
motivated cases that the government and ACC filed prior to 2009. The 
committee recommended the withdrawal of approximately 1,817 cases, 
filed mostly against AL leaders, including all the cases filed against 
Sheikh Hasina. Other cases recommended for withdrawal included one case 
against BNP leader Khaleda Zia's son, Tarique Rahman, one against BNP 
leader and former law minister Moudud Ahmed, and one against Jatiya 
Party secretary general Ruhul Amin Howlader. Ahmed refused the 
government's offer to withdraw all cases against him and demanded the 
withdrawal of all politically motivated cases against BNP leaders, 
including Khaleda Zia and her sons.
    At a news conference on September 13, ACC Director General Farrukh 
Ahmed announced that the ACC had launched action against all 448 
persons who were exempted by the caretaker government's Truth and 
Accountability Commission (TAC) for confessing their involvement in 
corruption and surrendering their ill-gotten wealth. The ACC decision 
to launch action against those who received TAC amnesty followed a high 
court order declaring the TAC illegal and its decisions void.
    The government took some steps to address widespread police 
corruption. The inspector general of police continued to implement a 
new strategy, partially funded by international donors, for training 
police, addressing corruption, and creating a more responsive police 
force. No assessment of its impact on corruption within the police 
force was available.
    The judiciary was subject to political pressure from the 
government, and cases involving opposition leaders often proceeded in 
an irregular fashion. In several cases the appellate division 
overturned decisions granting bail to high-level corruption suspects 
who were leaders of opposition parties.
    Corruption remained a serious problem within the judiciary. 
Corruption was a factor in lengthy delays of trials, which were subject 
to witness tampering and intimidation of victims. Several reports by 
human rights groups and corruption watchdog groups indicated growing 
public dissatisfaction with the perceived politicization of the 
judiciary.
    In August a Daily Star investigative report revealed that former 
chief justice ABM Khairul Haque received a payment of 1,037,000 taka 
($13,127) from the prime minister's Relief and Welfare Trust. According 
to the report, Haque and several other judges from the high court 
division received the money shortly before a series of rulings that 
nullified several constitutional amendments, including a provision 
protecting the electoral system from politicization, thereby setting up 
the passage of the 15th amendment by the AL-led parliament. The 
Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs confirmed the 
amounts transferred, and Haque stated that the payment was used to 
purchase medical treatment for his wife.
    The law provides for public access to government information, but 
in practice it has not been fully effective. The Information Commission 
conducted an awareness campaign on the public's right to information. 
The commission fined a medical doctor at a government hospital 1,000 
taka ($13) in September for not furnishing information to an applicant 
within the time stipulated in the 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 independently and without government restriction, 
investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. 
Although human rights groups often were sharply critical of the 
government, they also practiced some self-censorship. Government 
officials were generally not cooperative or responsive to their views.
    The government required all NGOs, including religious 
organizations, to register with the Ministry of Social Welfare. Local 
and international NGOs, including Odhikar, Doctors Without Borders, 
Action Against Hunger, Handicap International, and the Bangladesh 
Center for Workers' Solidarity (BCWS), reported numerous credible 
instances in which the government sought to impede their work, either 
by canceling projects or subjecting them to restrictive operating 
requirements, which often resulted in a temporary or permanent 
cessation of their work.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The government announced some 
financial allocations for the country's seven-member Human Rights 
Commission; however, the organization was not fully functional by 
year's end, despite submitting an annual report in March that requested 
a wide scope of changes to the organization's mandate, including 
constitutional recognition.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Laws specifically prohibit certain forms of discrimination against 
women, provide special procedures for persons accused of violence 
against women and children, call for harsh penalties, provide 
compensation to victims, and require action against investigating 
officers for negligence or willful failure of duty; however, 
enforcement of these laws was weak. Women, children, minority groups, 
and persons with disabilities were often confronted with social and 
economic disadvantages.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law prohibits rape and 
physical spousal abuse but makes no specific provision for spousal 
rape. According to Odhikar, there were 711 reported incidents of rape 
against women and girls during the year, including 450 against girls. 
According to human rights monitors, the actual number of rape cases was 
higher because many rape victims did not report the incidents due to 
social stigma. Prosecution of rapists was not consistent. Of the 711 
rape victims, 119 were victims of gang rape; 54 were killed after their 
rape. According to ASK, there were only 599 rape cases including 83 
attempted rape cases filed with the police during the year.
    According to Odhikar, on June 2, a group of men gang-raped a 
teenage girl in the Tongi subdistrict of Dhaka Division. They were led 
by her landlord's son, Moinuddin. After raping the girl, the assailants 
doused her body in kerosene and lit it on fire. The girl died several 
days later and no arrests were made.
    Local human rights groups reported that rapes and rape attempts 
against indigenous females increased sharply during the year.
    For example, according to The Daily Star, law enforcement 
authorities arrested nine persons, including a Catholic priest, on 
February 23 in the Godagari subdistrict in Rajshahi Division for their 
involvement in a village arbitration following the gang rape of a local 
woman. Eight villagers allegedly raped a 14-year-old indigenous girl 
and, following the arbitration, harassed her until she committed 
suicide. The illegal village arbitration had sent the victim to live in 
a convent near her home and ordered the attackers to pay a sum of money 
to the victim's family to avoid being reported to the police. The case 
continued at year's end.
    In October 2010 the parliament passed the Domestic Violence 
(Protection and Prevention) Bill, which criminalized domestic violence. 
Women's rights groups criticized the government for its inaction on 
domestic violence, which was widespread, although data quantifying it 
was difficult to obtain. A 2000 study by the U.N. Population Fund 
indicated that at least 50 percent of women had experienced domestic 
violence at least once in their lives. The Bangladesh National Women 
Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) filed 384 cases related to violence 
against women during the year and received more than 4,247 reports of 
violence against women. Most efforts to combat domestic violence were 
funded by NGOs with little assistance from the government.
    For example, according to press reports, in December Rafiqul Islam 
tied and gagged his wife Hawa Akther Jui, then cut off all the fingers 
on one hand, allegedly because she had begun attending college. Islam 
was arrested, and the case continued at year's end.
    According to numerous press and human rights reports, in early June 
Syed Hasan Sumon brutally beat his wife in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, 
biting off part of her nose and causing her to lose her sight in one 
eye. Sumon alleged that his wife was committing adultery. The courts, 
however, rejected Sumon's justification of the assault, and the police 
charged him with domestic violence. Sumon died of unknown causes in 
police custody while awaiting trial.
    Some of the reported violence against women was related to disputes 
over dowries. For example, according to the Daily Star, Ainat Ali and 
several of his relatives in the Thakurgaon Sadar subdistrict of Rangpur 
Division, brutally beat and poisoned his wife on September 10 during a 
dowry-related dispute. The attackers allegedly beat the victim 
regularly over a two-year period in an attempt to elicit a larger dowry 
from her family. After the victim's death, the alleged attackers 
attempted to pass the incident off as a suicide. The victim's family 
filed a murder case with local police, and the case continued at year's 
end.
    There was an increase in the number of dowry-related killings 
during the year. ASK reported 502 cases of dowry-related violence, 
including physical torture, acid attacks, and killings, compared with 
395 the previous year. There were no adequate support groups for 
victims of domestic violence.
    NGOs such as the BNWLA operated facilities to provide shelter to 
destitute persons and distressed women and children. Courts sent most 
of them to shelter homes. In a few cases, they were sent to prison as a 
transit destination for short periods.
    On May 12, the Supreme Court's appellate division overruled a 2001 
high court ruling banning fatwas (religious edicts); however, in its 
ruling the court declared that fatwas could be used only to settle 
religious matters and could not be invoked to justify meting out 
punishment, nor could they supersede existing secular law. Islamic 
tradition dictated that only those muftis (religious scholars) with 
expertise in Islamic law were authorized to declare a fatwa. Despite 
these restrictions, village religious leaders sometimes made such a 
declaration in an individual case and called the declaration a fatwa. 
Such declarations could result in extrajudicial punishments, often 
against women, for perceived moral transgressions.
    Incidents of vigilantism against women--sometimes led by religious 
leaders by means of fatwas--occurred. According to ASK, 59 incidents of 
vigilante violence against women occurred during the year, and only 20 
incidents resulted in police action. The punishments included whipping, 
beating, and other forms of physical violence.
    For example, according to several newspapers and human rights 
groups, a 15-year-old girl in Shariatpur District of Dhaka Division 
died after being whipped at least 50 times in fatwa-based village 
arbitration. She was found guilty of adultery after she was raped by a 
relative. The local doctor's initial autopsy determined that she died 
of natural causes; however, after the issue gained national attention, 
the High Court ordered the victim's body exhumed, and her real cause of 
death was determined. The High Court ordered the arrests of the village 
arbiters and revoked the local doctor's medical license. The case 
continued at year's end.
    Acid attacks remained a serious problem. Assailants threw acid in 
the faces of victims--usually women--and left them disfigured and often 
blind. Acid attacks often related to allegations of spousal infidelity. 
During the year, according to Odhikar, 101 persons were attacked with 
acid. Of these victims, 57 of the victims were women, 25 were men, and 
19 were children. The government made efforts to punish offenders and 
reduce availability of acid to the general public.
    For example, according to Odhikar, Liton Sardar of Satkhira 
District in Khulna Division threw acid in his wife's face after she 
filed a case accusing him of bigamy. The victim was hospitalized with 
severe burns, and the case continued at year's end.
    On September 8, a court in Habiganj District in Sylhet Division 
sentenced four men to life imprisonment for a 2006 incident of acid 
violence. Abdul Quaiyum, Haris Miah, Auli Miah, and Alkas Uddin were 
also fined 50,000 taka ($633) for the incident, in which they broke 
into the home of an 18-year-old woman and flung acid in her face after 
she rejected their advances. Only Haris Miah was tried in court, as the 
other three individuals had absconded and were fugitives.
    The law provides for speedier prosecutions of acid-throwing cases 
in special tribunals and generally does not allow bail. The Women and 
Child Repression Control Act seeks to control the availability of acid 
and reduce acid-related violence directed toward women, but lack of 
awareness of the law and poor enforcement limited the law's effect. 
According to the Acid Survivors Foundation, the special tribunals were 
not entirely effective; prosecutors were able to obtain a conviction in 
an estimated 10 to 12 percent of attacks each year. In January the 
Commerce Ministry moved to restrict acid sales, limiting buyers to 
those registered with relevant trade organizations; however, the 
restrictions were not universally enforced, and acid attacks continued 
throughout the year.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment in schools, workplaces, and 
other public spaces remained a problem during the year. A 2009 study 
published by the Journal of Interpersonal Violence found that out of 
5,106 unmarried adolescent girls in rural areas surveyed in 2004, 35 
percent had experienced harassment; 34 percent, unwanted sexual 
attention; and 14 percent, sexual intimidation.

    Reproductive Rights.--Reproductive health information was freely 
available, but income and education often served as barriers to access. 
Pharmacies carried a wide range of family planning options; however, 
traditional family roles often hindered free access.
    According to the 2010 Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Health Care 
Survey, the maternal mortality ratio declined by 40 percent over the 
preceding nine years, from 322 to 194 deaths per 100,000 live births. 
Approximately half of the maternal deaths were due to postpartum 
hemorrhage and eclampsia, with 7 percent attributed to obstructed 
labor. One in three maternal deaths was due to indirect obstetric 
causes. Only 27 percent of births were delivered through a skilled 
birth attendant (23 percent of the deliveries occurred at a health 
facility and 4 percent occurred at home with a trained health 
provider). Although three in four births occurred at home, the total of 
women delivering at a health facility increased from 9 percent to 23 
percent. Fifty-six percent of women received at least one prenatal 
check from a medically trained health provider; only 24 percent 
received the recommended four checkups. Fewer than one in four women 
received postnatal care from a trained health provider within two days 
of delivery.

    Discrimination.--Women remained in a subordinate position in 
society, and the government did not act effectively to protect their 
basic rights. On March 7, the cabinet approved the National Women's 
Development Policy, which contains language encouraging the promotion 
of women's education and participation in governance issues. The new 
policy, which does not have the full force of law, also contains 
language stating that women could have an equal share in property, 
businesses, and inheritance. Under traditional Islamic inheritance 
laws, daughters inherit only half that of sons, and in the absence of 
sons, they may inherit only what remains after settling all debts and 
other obligations. Under Hindu inheritance laws, a widow's rights to 
her deceased husband's property are limited to her lifetime and revert 
to the male heirs upon her death. The provision detailing the right to 
equal inheritance triggered a series of protests and a nationwide 
strike led by conservative Islamic groups. Several government leaders 
stated that the policy would not supersede existing religion-based 
inheritance laws, and as of year's end there was no change to the law.
    Employment opportunities greatly increased for women in the last 
decade, largely due to the growth of the export garment industry. Women 
constituted approximately 80 percent of garment factory workers. There 
were some disparities in pay in the overall economy between men and 
women, but in the garment sector wages were generally comparable.

    Children.--The government, with the assistance of local and foreign 
NGOs, worked to improve children's rights and welfare, enabling the 
country to make significant progress in improving children's health, 
nutrition, and education. Despite some progress, a 2009 Household Food 
Security and Nutrition Assessment jointly conducted by the government, 
the World Food Program, and UNICEF found that 48.6 percent of all 
children remained chronically malnourished.**
    Birth Registration: The law does not grant citizenship 
automatically by birth within the country. Individuals become citizens 
if their fathers or grandfathers were born in the territories that are 
now part of the country. If a person qualifies for citizenship through 
ancestry, the father or grandfather must have been a permanent resident 
of these territories on or after March 25, 1971. Birth registrations 
were held by approximately 10 percent of the population.

    Education.--Primary education was free and compulsory, but the 
implementation of compulsory education fell short, in part because 
parents kept children out of school to work for money or help with 
household chores. Government incentives to families that sent children 
to school contributed significantly to the rise in primary school 
enrollments in recent years. Despite these efforts and contrary to 
established policies, public schools imposed fees that were burdensome 
for poor families and created a disincentive to attend school.

    Child Abuse.--Child abandonment, abuse, kidnapping, and trafficking 
continued to be serious and widespread problems. Despite advances, 
including a monitoring agency in the Ministry of Home Affairs, 
trafficking of children continued to be a problem. Child labor remained 
a problem in certain industries, mostly in the informal sector. It 
frequently resulted in the abuse of children, mainly through 
mistreatment by employers during domestic service. According to a 2006 
study by the Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies, attacks on children 
constituted more than 50 percent of the deaths, injuries, and sexual 
assaults reported among domestic workers during the year.

    Child Marriage.--Although the legal age of marriage is 18 for women 
and 21 for men, underage marriage was a widespread problem. Reliable 
statistics concerning underage marriage were difficult to find because 
marriage registrations were sporadic and birth registrations rare. The 
U.N.'s State of the World's Children 2011 report stated the rate of 
child marriage in the country was 66 percent, affecting 53 percent of 
girls in urban areas and 70 percent in rural areas. In an effort to 
reduce child marriages, the government offered stipends for girls' 
school expenses if parents promised to delay their daughters' marriages 
until at least the age of 18.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The penalty for sexual 
exploitation of children is 10 years' to life imprisonment depending on 
mitigating circumstances. The minimum age of consensual sex is 16 years 
as defined by the Women and Children's Repression Prevention Act 
(2003); however, the penal code sets the age at 14. The discrepancy has 
not been challenged in court. Child pornography is prohibited using the 
penal code's statute against selling or distributing obscene material, 
and the penalty is three months in prison coupled with a fine; however, 
in December the government publicly acknowledged the gaps in its 
pornography statutes and promulgated an antipornography bill that would 
set the penalty for possession or distribution of child pornography at 
10 years' imprisonment coupled with a fine. In 2009 the International 
Labor Organization (ILO) and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 
completed a baseline survey on commercial sexual exploitation of 
children. According to the survey, among 18,902 child victims of sexual 
exploitation, 83 percent were girls, 9 percent transgender children, 
and 8 percent boys. Forty percent of the girls and 53 percent of the 
boys were below the age of 16.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For information see the Department of State's report on 
compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/
congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no Jewish community in the country, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts, but some newspapers 
occasionally printed anti-Semitic articles and commentary.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the State Department's Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for equal treatment 
and freedom from discrimination for persons with disabilities; however, 
in practice persons with disabilities faced social and economic 
discrimination. The law focuses on prevention of disability, treatment, 
education, rehabilitation and employment, transport accessibility, and 
advocacy.
    The 2001 Disabled Welfare Act and its 2008 regulations represent 
the country's comprehensive disability legislation; however, the law's 
impact is limited due to vague obligations, a weak implementation 
mechanism, and a sweeping indemnity clause. Most provisions create 
positive obligations, which are difficult to enforce. For example, the 
obligation on the government to provide persons with disabilities free 
education until the age of 18 has not been translated into tangible 
results. The law indemnifies all government employees from prosecution, 
limiting enforcement.
    The law excludes children with ``mental deficiency'' from 
compulsory public education. The law provides inadequate safeguards 
against involuntary institutionalization and minimal oversight of 
guardians and caregivers. For example, at least 40 prisoners with 
psychosocial disabilities remained in the standard prison system, where 
some of them have been for nearly two decades.
    The law bars persons with disabilities from applying for civil or 
judicial service positions. Public interest litigation initiated in 
April 2010 challenged both regulations, but persons with disabilities 
were routinely denied the opportunity to sit for examinations and were 
denied appropriate reasonable accommodations.
    The law contains extensive accessibility requirements for new 
buildings. In practice, however, plans for new buildings were approved 
for construction without close compliance with these specifications.
    Persons with disabilities were legally afforded the same access to 
information rights as those without disabilities, but family dynamics 
often influenced whether or not these rights were used.
    The law identifies persons with disabilities as a priority group 
for government-sponsored legal services. The Ministry of Social 
Welfare, Department of Social Services, and National Foundation for the 
Development of the Disabled are the government agencies responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Government 
facilities for treating persons with mental disabilities were 
inadequate. Several private initiatives existed for medical and 
vocational rehabilitation, as well as for employment of persons with 
disabilities. Several NGOs, including Handicap International, had 
programs focusing on helping and raising awareness about persons with 
disabilities.

    Indigenous People.--The indigenous community experienced widespread 
discrimination and abuses, despite government quotas for indigenous 
participation in the civil service and higher education. The government 
also failed to protect indigenous persons from societal violence.
    According to Odhikar, during the year clashes between ethnic-
Bengali settlers and the indigenous community resulted in 40 persons 
killed, 94 injured, 17 abducted, 18 raped, and the destruction of 40 
indigenous homes.
    For example, on April 17, according to NGO and press reports, a 
series of violent clashes between Bengali settlers and the indigenous 
community in the Ramgarh subdistrict of the Chittagong Hill Tracts left 
at least four persons dead and numerous injured. The clashes were 
triggered by a land dispute and resulted in the burning of at least 
four indigenous villages, with arson attacks targeting food storage 
houses and Buddhist temples. A local political organization, Parbattya 
Chattagram Jono Sanghati Samity, released a statement claiming that the 
Bengali settlers involved in the arson attacks acted with the 
assistance of security forces, a claim the government refuted. At least 
one indigenous man was taken into police custody and was reported 
missing following the attacks.
    There were no new developments in the case of the February 2010 
skirmishes between Bengali settlers and the indigenous community in 
Baghaihat in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. During the incidents parties 
set fire to several homes and attacked the residents with sticks and 
firearms, resulting in the deaths of two indigenous persons.
    During the year the government released several statements 
announcing that the country's indigenous population was not 
``indigenous'' and henceforth would be known as ``small ethnic 
minorities'' instead. The 15th amendment to the constitution codified 
this new category. Indigenous leaders disputed the new nomenclature, 
citing their long history in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the plains 
land of Bengal. Indigenous leaders also objected to the term ``small 
ethnic minorities'' because its Bangla translation, upojati, is a 
pejorative term connoting ``tribal.''
    The 1997 Peace Accord provided for the removal of all temporary 
camps, leaving six permanent cantonments. Since its signing the 
government had withdrawn 212 camps, leaving approximately 235 camps. 
During the year indigenous leaders continued to protest the army's 
presence and called publicly called for its removal.
    Indigenous populations had marginal ability to influence decisions 
concerning the use of their lands. The government reconstituted the CHT 
Land Commission in 2009, which announced its decision to conduct a land 
survey; however, indigenous rights groups criticized this decision 
since they believed Bengali settlers would be able to obtain false 
documents detailing ownership of traditionally indigenous lands. The 
land commission did not function effectively in addressing critical 
land disputes after the signing of the peace accord. Indigenous leaders 
also remained disappointed with the lack of assistance to those who 
left the area during the insurgency.
    Indigenous communities in other areas continued to report loss of 
land to Bengali Muslims. The government did not cancel work on national 
park projects on land traditionally owned by indigenous communities in 
the Moulvibazar and Modhupur forest areas, but it did not undertake any 
new activities. In addition, indigenous communities, local human rights 
organizations, and churches in the area continued to claim that the 
government had yet to withdraw thousands of false charges the Forestry 
Department filed against indigenous residents.
    The National Committee for Implementation of the CHT Peace Accord 
was reconstituted in late December 2010 but suspended the activities of 
the land commission pending further review. The government ceded some 
key functions, such as primary education, to local authorities, but it 
did not cede responsibility for other key functions, such as land use 
and natural resources, as the accord specified. Law and order problems 
and alleged human rights violations continued, as did dissatisfaction 
with the implementation of the peace accord.
    The government allows limited cell phone and Internet coverage in 
the three Hill Tract districts. The government cited security concerns 
as the reason for limiting coverage, but human rights groups and local 
officials claimed lack of coverage was also aimed at stunting the 
development of the region.
    Indigenous groups reported that monitoring by civilian and military 
intelligence agencies increased significantly during the year.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Consensual same-sex sexual 
activity is illegal, but in practice the law was rarely enforced. There 
were several informal support networks for gay men, but organizations 
to assist lesbians were rare. Informal organizations reported that they 
were unable to organize, do outreach, petition for changes to the law, 
or set up permanent establishments because of the possibility of police 
raids. One gay rights organization stated that gay men and lesbians 
also often faced extreme family pressure to marry opposite-sex 
partners.
    Attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons 
occurred on occasion, but those offenses were difficult to document 
because victims desired confidentiality. Strong social stigma based on 
sexual orientation was common and prevented open discussion about the 
subject. The Bandhu Social Welfare Society, a local NGO, reported 109 
cases of assault against LGBT persons during the year, as opposed to 
128 in 2010.
    Although overt acts of discrimination against LGBT individuals were 
fairly rare--partly because few individuals openly identified their 
sexual orientation--there was significant societal discrimination. 
Openly gay individuals, particularly those from less affluent 
backgrounds, found that their families and local communities ostracized 
them. Some sought refuge in the traditional transgender or ``hijra'' 
community.
    On May 24, The New Age newspaper announced that the Passport Office 
would allow those who identify as neither male nor female to identify 
as ``other'' on their passports.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Vigilante killings 
occurred during the year, and reports suggested that the problem 
increased compared with 2010. Odhikar reported at least 161 killings, 
but local human rights organizations acknowledged that the number of 
reported cases probably represented only a fraction of the actual 
incidents.
    According to press reports, on July 18, a mob in the Amin Bazar 
area of Savar District in Dhaka Division beat to death six men 
suspected of robbery in the presence of law enforcement officials. A 
judicial probe into the incident resulted in the termination of eight 
police officers, but there were no arrests as of year's end.
    According to a report by BanglaNews24, members of the BCL, the AL's 
auxiliary student wing, held a vigilante court in the Suhrawardy Udyan 
area of Dhaka. The BCL flogged several indigent citizens for a litany 
of perceived crimes. Dhaka Metropolitan Police stated that they would 
investigate the matter, but there were no arrests as of year's end.
    There were no reported cases of violence or discrimination against 
HIV/AIDS patients. NGOs believed that this was partly a function of the 
refusal of victims to self-identify and an absence of research, given 
the relatively low rate of HIV/AIDS in the country.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides for the right to join unions and, with government 
approval, the right to form a union, although numerous restrictions on 
union registration remained. For example, the law requires more than 30 
percent of an enterprise's total workforce to be members before 
approval can be granted, and the union can be dissolved if membership 
falls below 30 percent; no more than three trade unions can be 
registered in any establishment; and managerial staff, firefighting 
staff, security guards, and other employees designated by employers as 
``confidential'' may not join unions.
    Civil service and security force employees were legally prohibited 
from forming unions. In 2006 new categories of workers, including 
teachers and NGO workers, were permitted to form unions; however, due 
to the broad limitations on union organizing during the 2007-09 state 
of emergency, these regulations were not formally instituted.
    The 2006 Bangladesh Labor Act (BLA) consolidated laws from 25 
separate acts into one comprehensive law. The director of labor is 
responsible for the registration and dissolution of unions. The 
registrar of trade unions may deregister unions with the approval of 
the labor court, and during the year some unions were deregistered, 
primarily for labor law violations. The law affords unions the right of 
appeal in the case of dissolution or denial of registration.
    The law recognizes the right to strike; however, many restrictions 
on this right remained. For example, 75 percent of union membership 
must consent to a strike before it can proceed. The government can shut 
down any strikes lasting more than 30 days and refer the matter to 
labor courts for adjudication. In addition strikes are banned for the 
first three years of commercial production or if the factory was built 
with foreign investment or owned by a foreign investor. The law 
protects the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively 
without interference, but this right was not always effectively 
enforced. The BLA includes provisions protecting unions from employer 
interference in organizing activities; however, employers often sought 
to curtail this right, particularly in the ready-made garment industry.
    Under the law legally registered unions are entitled to bargain 
collectively with employers; however, this was rarely implemented in 
practice. The BLA simplified and clarified the procedure for selecting 
a collective bargaining agent and specified time limits for steps in 
the process. Labor organizations reported that in some companies, 
workers feared reprisals and did not exercise their collective 
bargaining rights.
    The law establishes mechanisms for conciliation, arbitration, and 
labor court dispute resolution. Workers who are in or belong to a 
collective bargaining union have the right to strike in the event of a 
failure to reach a settlement. Civil servants and security forces do 
not have the recourse of established mechanisms for conciliation, 
arbitration, and labor court resolution; however, they may avail 
themselves of the government service regulation and file cases in a 
specified court, such as the Administrative Tribunal. In practice few 
strikes followed the legal requirements, which are cumbersome; strikes 
or walk-outs often occurred due to the spontaneous decisions of 
workers.
    In 2010 the parliament passed the EPZ Workers' Welfare Society/
Association and Industrial Relations Act, which, among other things, 
specifies association rights in the export processing zones (EPZs). 
According to the act, Workers Representation and Welfare Committees 
formed under the previous law expire four years after their 
constitution. In place of these committees, workers were to form 
Workers Welfare Societies/Associations (WWS/A), although the act did 
not set a date for the elections of the leadership of the new WWS/As. 
Under the act the WWS/As have many of the same basic powers as workers' 
associations, including the right to engage in collective bargaining. 
The act also provided that until a separate labor tribunal was 
established for the EPZs, the existing Labor Court would function as 
the EPZ Labor Tribunal. EPZ workers can file complaints to enforce 
broader legal rights in the EPZs.
    The WWS/As are prohibited from establishing any connection to 
outside political parties or NGOs. Under the previous law, no provision 
barring affiliation with NGOs had existed. It was unclear if the 2010 
act would allow several existing labor and health organization programs 
to continue to operate in the EPZs. Additionally the act prohibited 
strikes in the EPZs until October 31, 2013.
    A 2009 amendment to the labor law affected the Chittagong and 
Mongla ports. Under the amendment each port can only have one trade 
union, which had to be organized within six months of the day of 
enactment of the amendment. All existing trade union bodies were to be 
dissolved. Only workers who had completed one year's service could be 
registered as members of these trade unions. The amendment also reduced 
the penalty for persons who violate the law. Labor activists protested 
the amendment, alleging that it had been intended to favor the 
employers, although there was no strict enforcement of the law.
    The total labor force was approximately 50 million, of whom 
approximately 1.9 million belonged to unions, many of which were 
affiliated with political parties. There were approximately 4,500 
garment factories employing three million workers; more than 80 percent 
were women. No reliable labor statistics were available for the large 
informal sector in which the majority (nearly 80 percent) of citizens 
worked.
    Protests by garment factory workers were widespread, and demands 
for increased wages generally were met with riot police. The government 
arrested union leaders and filed cases against some of them for 
destruction of property, blocking roads, or for labor unrest, stemming 
from the June and December minimum wage-related protests. These cases 
remained unresolved as of year's end.
    Labor organizers reported acts of intimidation and abuse, as well 
as increased scrutiny by security forces and the National Security 
Intelligence Agency. Sporadic, occasionally intense, labor unrest 
occurred throughout the country, particularly in the ready-made garment 
sector. Labor organizers reported frequent acts of intimidation and 
abuse, arbitrary lockouts, firing of employees, and increased scrutiny 
by security forces. Authorities sometimes arrested labor organizers for 
destruction of property and other charges, in what some NGOs considered 
repression of labor rights activists.
    In July the NGO Affairs Bureau sent a letter to the BCWS, 
stipulating that the center's foreign donation approval, which lapsed 
in 2010, would be approved only if the BCWS removed two of its leaders 
from the organization's registration. In 2010 BCWS leaders were 
arrested for alleged involvement in the violent unrest following the 
ready-made garment minimum wage announcement. They were released on 
bail after approximately four weeks in jail amid credible allegations 
of mistreatment, and their trial was pending at year's end. The NGO 
Affairs Bureau cited these cases in its correspondence, but the BCWS 
chose to contest the issue as the two concerned leaders had not been 
convicted on any charges and maintained the arrests were in retaliation 
for legitimate labor advocacy. In July the Ministry of Social Welfare 
also informed the group that they would be deregistered, based on 
technical lapses. Leaders for the group continue to appeal the step by 
the ministry, which would effectively bar activity of any kind by the 
organization.
    Unions were highly politicized but were independent of the 
government and were strongest in state-owned enterprises, including 
jute mills, textile mills, chemical industries, and the government-run 
Port of Chittagong.
    Implementation of the collective bargaining law's provisions was 
uneven, and many private sector employers discouraged union activity. 
In Khulna's frozen shrimp and fish sector, workers associated with 
several newly formed unions were terminated from several factories in 
an apparently coordinated manner in 2010, including entire executive 
committees. Labor rights NGOs assisting the new unions alleged that 
terminated union members continued to be unable to find work in the 
sector and that most of the unions had been effectively dismantled by 
the 2010 firings. NGOs and workers claimed employers used the promise 
of reinstatement to gain control of the unions. Government officials in 
Khulna did not conduct a credible investigation of the terminations or 
allegations of interference.
    The director of labor is charged with ruling on union-organizing 
discrimination complaints, except in EPZs. However, the ministry itself 
is alleged to reject legitimate union applications without cause, and 
union activists allege that lists of union supporters are shared with 
enterprises by the ministry, leading to antiunion firings. The labor 
court can order the reinstatement of workers fired for union 
activities; however, due to a large backlog of unresolved cases, no 
workers received reinstatement orders during the year. The majority of 
workers in such cases, however, sought financial compensation rather 
than reinstatement. Increasingly, due to the long wait for legal 
process, labor disputes were settled informally prior to scheduled 
hearing dates in the labor court.
    Despite the ban on strikes in the EPZs, worker unrest in the 
Chittagong EPZ in mid-December shut the EPZ for several days. Some 
labor groups welcomed the reauthorization of the industrial relations 
act in 2010, citing the absence of labor law in the EPZs during the 
lapse. Others protested its measures and pushed for full rights for 
unions in the EPZs.
    Many workers associations in the EPZ factories were not formally 
registered because employees attempting to organize associations faced 
difficulties from some factory owners. Some factory managers strongly 
discouraged workers from meeting with outside labor organizations and 
sometimes terminated workers who did.
    Federations of workers associations within the EPZs were permitted, 
but federations with enterprises in other EPZs or with enterprises 
outside EPZs were banned. The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones 
Authority failed to provide effective measures to allow the formation 
of these federations.
    EPZ officials narrowly interpreted the regulations and applicable 
laws of the 2010 industrial relations act and claimed they were exempt 
from the broader labor law. Labor groups challenged this claim. Workers 
filed legal cases against EPZ factories that did not follow the BLA, 
but they remained unresolved at year's end.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The penal code 
prohibits forced or bonded labor; however, the prescribed penalty of 
imprisonment for up to one year or a fine was not sufficiently 
stringent to deter the offense, and the government did not enforce the 
prohibitions effectively. The BLA created inspection mechanisms to 
strengthen laws against forced labor, but these laws were not enforced.
    Some Bangladeshi men who were recruited for work overseas with 
fraudulent employment offers were subsequently exploited under 
conditions of forced labor or debt bondage abroad.
    Although relatively uncommon in urban areas, bonded labor remained 
common in rural areas and in domestic service. Children and adults were 
forced into domestic servitude and bonded labor, including restricted 
movement, nonpayment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse. 
Faced with extreme poverty and unemployment, rural workers, including 
entire families, were engaged in bonded labor, often facing physical 
abuse and sometimes death. On December 23, the government promulgated 
an ordinance enacting the comprehensive antitrafficking law, codifying 
forced labor as trafficking. The new law is also intended to provide 
victims of forced labor with access to shelter and other protection 
services afforded to trafficking victims.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--By 
law every child must attend school through grade five or the age of 10 
years, but there is no effective legal mechanism to enforce this 
provision, and child labor was widespread. The BLA regulates child 
employment depending on the type of work and the child's age. The law 
specifies penalties for child labor violations, typically nominal fines 
of less than 5,000 taka ($63).
    The ILO estimated that seven million child workers existed and that 
1.3 million worked in hazardous sectors.
    During the year Services and Solutions International, a Dhaka-based 
research institution, found that children frequently worked in the 
informal sector in areas such as the road transport industry, in 
rickshaw pulling, automotive repair, and minibus assistance; in machine 
shops, salt and match factories, and tanneries; and in the 
manufacturing of bricks, cigarettes, dried fish, footwear, steel 
furniture, glass, textiles, garments, and soap. Children were engaged 
in the following hazardous activities: printing, fabrication, stone 
breaking, ship breaking, dyeing operations, blacksmith assistance, and 
construction. Children also worked in the service industry in hotels 
and restaurants. According to a 2003 government survey of urban areas, 
street children, mostly boys, engaged in various forms of work, such as 
begging, working as porters, shining shoes, collecting paper, and 
selling flowers. Boys and girls, often those living on the streets, 
were exploited in illicit activities, including smuggling and trading 
arms and drugs.
    Children routinely performed domestic work. The government 
occasionally brought criminal charges against employers who abused 
domestic servants.
    The Ministry of Labor's enforcement mechanisms were insufficient 
for the large, urban informal sector, and there was little enforcement 
of child labor legislation outside the export garment and shrimp 
processing sectors. Agriculture and other informal sectors that had no 
government oversight employed large numbers of children.
    There was a child labor unit in the Ministry of Labor and 
Employment to coordinate planning and execution of all child-related 
labor interventions.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--For the five-year period 2007-
12, the National Minimum Wage Board (NMWB) established the minimum 
monthly wage at 1,500 taka ($19) for all economic sectors not covered 
by industry-specific wages. The NMWB may convene at any time, but it 
must meet every five years in a tripartite forum to set wage structures 
and benefits industry by industry. In the garment industry, the 
Ministry of Labor raised the minimum wage in June 2010 from 1,662 taka 
($21) per month to 3,000 taka ($38) per month; however, wages were 
sometimes higher than the minimum wage. Wages in the EPZs were 
typically higher than general national wage levels. None of the set 
minimum wages provided a sufficient standard of living for urban 
dwellers. It was common practice for garment factories to force workers 
to work overtime, delay their pay for months, and deny full leave 
benefits. According to the Welfare Monitoring Survey published by the 
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the poverty rate was 31.9 percent.
    By law a standard workday is eight hours, but workers may work 10 
hours a day in certain instances. Overtime is permitted, but the 
employer must pay double the basic wage and interim wages for the 
overtime work. A standard workweek is 48 hours but can be extended up 
to 60 hours, subject to the payment of overtime allowances. By law the 
average workweek should not exceed 56 hours. Workers must have one hour 
of rest if they work for more than six hours a day, a half-hour of rest 
for more than five hours a day, and one hour's rest at intervals for 
more than eight hours' work in a day. Factory workers receive one day 
off every week. Shop workers receive one-and-one-half days off per 
week.
    In practice these legal limits were routinely violated and 
enforcement of the provisions was weak. In the ready-made garment 
sector, employers often required workers to work 12 hours a day or more 
to meet export deadlines, but they did not always properly compensate 
workers for their time.
    The BLA established occupational health and safety standards. 
Workers groups stated that legally established standards were 
sufficient, but they were rarely implemented. Workers may resort to 
legal action for enforcement of the law's provisions, but few cases 
were pursued legally. Enforcement by the Labor Ministry's industrial 
inspectors was weak, due to the low number of labor inspectors. 
Inspections were unannounced, but in many cases labor groups alleged 
that factory owners in collusion with inspectors received advance 
warning. There were 95 inspectors serving nationwide, of which 
approximately 50 inspectors worked in the factories division. The 
ministry had not filled 59 vacant positions. Many workers alleged that 
there was systemic and endemic corruption and inefficiency among 
inspectors.
    Safety conditions at many workplaces were extremely poor. Because 
of high unemployment rates and inadequate enforcement of laws, workers 
who demanded redress of dangerous working conditions or who refused to 
work under hazardous conditions risked losing their jobs.
    For example, on March 10, a fire in a garment dying factory in the 
capital's Shyampur Industrial Area killed eight workers. According to 
press reports, locked doors blocked some avenues of escape and 
prevented the expeditious containment of the conflagration.

                               __________

                                 BHUTAN

                           executive summary
    Bhutan is a democratic, constitutional monarchy whose king, Jigme 
Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, is the head of state, with executive power 
vested in the cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Jigme Thinley. The 
country held its first general election for the National Assembly in 
2008, and an EU election-monitoring team declared that it met 
international standards and was free and fair. During the year local 
nonpartisan elections were held, with Danish election observers 
reporting no significant irregularities. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Principal human rights problems included the regulation of 
religion, limitations on activities that the government viewed as 
undermining national identity and stability, and continued government 
delays in implementing a process to identify and repatriate refugees in 
Nepal with legitimate Bhutanese citizenship claims. One nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) reported some cases of human trafficking.
    There were no reports of impunity for government security forces.
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, abductions, or kidnappings.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution prohibits such practices, but during 
prison visits the National Assembly's Human Rights Committee (NAHRC) 
said they witnessed police officials handcuffing prisoners to a pole 
before beating them.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--In July the Royal Bhutan 
Police (RBP) reported 1,001 prisoners in seven prisons in the country, 
including 32 women and 48 children. According to the police, although 
there are no separate prisons designated for women and children, women 
are held separately at detention centers and children at rehabilitation 
or juvenile centers. During prison visits the NAHRC observed cramped 
prison cells and a lack of adequate toilets, recreational facilities, 
or proper ventilation, lighting, electric fans, blankets, and 
mattresses. The committee recommended improving infrastructure and 
facilities; building separate prisons for men, women, and juvenile 
delinquents; reducing overcrowding; establishing informal education 
centers; and setting up health clinics.
    Authorities generally allowed prisoners to observe religious 
practices, although there were unconfirmed reports that since July one 
official in Chamgang Central Jail no longer allowed Christian prisoners 
to conduct group prayers. According to police officials, prisoners had 
access to potable water and informal education and were able to elect 
their block representatives.
    The government continued to permit the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC) prison visits for persons detained in relation to 
crimes against the security of the state. In January 2010 the ICRC 
visited approximately 80 detainees (mostly Nepali speaking) and 
conducted prison visits at Chamgang Central Jail. However, since that 
time the ICRC has not conducted prison visits, and at year's end it 
continued to await clarification from the government on the types of 
detainees it is allowed to access. NGOs reported that prison conditions 
were satisfactory overall, and one senior police official stated that 
prisoners have access to televisions. The government did not grant 
other international human rights groups prison access.
    Visitors were allowed reasonable access to prisoners and detainees. 
According to the ICRC, during the year the government allowed 38 
families from the refugee camps in Nepal access to their relatives in 
Chamgang Central Jail near Thimphu. One NGO stated that the government 
treated visitors fairly, assisting with transportation to and from 
Thimphu to the jail and providing them special accommodation.

    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 RBP, which reports 
to the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, is responsible for 
internal security. The Royal Bhutan Army is responsible for defending 
against external threats but also has responsibility for some internal 
security functions, including counterinsurgency operations, guarding 
forests, and providing security for prominent persons. The army and 
police have procedures in place for conducting internal investigations 
of alleged officer misconduct. Official courts of inquiry adjudicate 
the allegations. The king or a senior official makes the final 
determination of the outcome of a case. There were no reports that 
impunity was a problem.
    Under the Royal Bhutan Police Act of 2009, a Police Service Board, 
made up of senior police personnel and a Ministry of Home and Cultural 
Affairs representative, investigates cases of abuse. Police officers 
can face criminal prosecution for human rights violations. The RBP has 
institutional reviews, human rights training, and accountability 
procedures for its personnel. The Civil and criminal procedure code 
(CCPC) also provides an avenue to check on any abuse of power in 
criminal investigations by an investigating officer of the RBP.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the law, 
police may not arrest a person without a warrant or probable cause, and 
in practice, police generally respected the law. According to the law, 
authorities must issue an immediate statement of charges and engage in 
reasonable efforts to inform the family of the accused. The law 
requires authorities to bring an arrested person before a court within 
24 hours, exclusive of travel time from the place of arrest. Bail is 
available depending on the severity of charges and the suspect's 
criminal record, flight risk, and potential threat to the public. The 
law provides for prompt access to a lawyer provided by the state.

    Amnesty.--In February the king granted amnesty to one prisoner, 
Nandalal Tamang, due to health conditions.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. The Judiciary Services Act establishes the 
formal separation of the judiciary from the executive, setting 
professional standards for judges and other judicial service personnel. 
In practice the judiciary generally enforced the right to a fair trial. 
The National Judicial Commission (NJC) oversees the judiciary.
    The Supreme Court oversees the interpretation and application of 
the constitution and serves as the highest appellate authority. The NJC 
nominates, and the king confirms, judges to the High Court and 20 
district court justices. The king may remove, suspend, or censure 
judges only at the request of the NJC.

    Trial Procedures.--The law stipulates that defendants must receive 
fair and speedy trials, and the government generally respected this 
right in practice. A preliminary hearing must be convened within 10 
days of registration of a criminal matter with the appropriate court. 
Before registering any plea, courts must determine whether an accused 
is mentally sound and understands the consequences of entering a plea. 
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, and cases must be proved 
beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain convictions. The government has 
prescribed a standing rule for all courts to clear all cases within a 
year. There is no trial by jury, as the country has an inquisitorial 
judicial system.
    Punishments include imprisonment, probation, fines, or a 
requirement for restitution of loss. Defendants have the right to 
appeal to the High Court and may make a final appeal to the king, who 
traditionally delegates the decision to the Royal Advisory Council. 
During prison visits, the NAHRC found cases where the appeal process 
was not respected. Trials are generally conducted publicly. The law 
grants defendants and their attorneys access to state evidence. Only 
the court can determine if there is a need to question witnesses, after 
which the prosecutor and defendants are allowed to conduct cross-
examinations.
    Courts try criminal and civil cases under the legal code. State-
appointed prosecutors for the attorney general are responsible for 
filing charges and prosecuting cases for offenses against the state. In 
other cases relevant organizations or government departments file 
charges and conduct prosecutions.
    Although most litigants represented themselves before the court, 
the law provides for the right to representation in criminal cases, 
including provision of counsel for defendants who cannot afford 
representation. The law states that defendants may choose legal 
representation from a list of licensed advocates, and the government 
promoted the use of judiciary Web sites for legal information as a 
means of offering self-help to defendants. There were no reports that 
any groups were denied the right to trial.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--NGOs claimed there were at 
least 76 political prisoners in Chamgang Central Jail in Thimphu, and 
possibly more. Police records show 75 political prisoners who have been 
charged for crimes against the security of the state. Since January 
2010 the government has released 11 political prisoners, including one 
amnesty granted by the king.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The CCPC governs the 
resolution of criminal trials and civil litigation and states that a 
suit may be initiated by a litigant or a member of the litigant's 
family. The CCPC provides for compensation to people detained or 
subjected to unlawful detention but later acquitted. Often, local or 
community leaders assist in resolving minor disputes.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution states that persons ``shall not be 
subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her 
privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on 
the person's honor and reputation,'' and the government generally 
respected these prohibitions.
    The law requires citizens to adhere to a national dress code in 
government buildings during daylight hours, but the government allowed 
individuals to wear casual dress in public.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press.

    Freedom of Speech.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech 
including for members of the press, and the government generally 
respected these rights in practice.

    Freedom of the Press.--According to Freedom House's annual report, 
the media law adopted in 2006 helped to establish two independent radio 
stations but did not provide specific protections for journalists or 
guarantee freedom of information. Since 2008 the government has pushed 
for freedom of the press, including establishing a monthly ``meet the 
press'' between the prime minister and the press.
    In a media development assessment launched by the government in 
August, media sources suggested that while there is commitment at the 
highest levels to provide the media with information, some media 
professionals continued to find it difficult to get access to 
information from bureaucrats and public officials, especially on issues 
of corruption and violations of the law.

    Internet Freedom.--Individuals and groups generally were permitted 
to engage in peaceful expression of views via the Internet. Government 
officials stated that the government did not block access, restrict 
content, or censor Web sites.

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

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--While the constitution provides for the right to assemble 
peacefully, the government restricted this right. Government officials 
said they discouraged public protests or assemblies, as they disturb 
the peace and can lead to public instability. All protesters must 
obtain government approval before staging public demonstrations. There 
were reports that the government did not allow public assembly by 
Christian groups. NGOs reported that no demonstrations occurred during 
the year.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, and the government permitted the registration of some 
political parties and organizations, but only those ``not harmful to 
the peace and unity of the country.'' The government regarded political 
parties organized by Nepali-speaking refugees in refugee camps in Nepal 
as illegal, terrorist, and antinational in nature. The ICRC was the 
only international human rights monitoring group officially operating 
in the country. There were reports that most of the NGOs in Bhutan 
operated under the umbrella of the royal family. The 2007 Civil Society 
Organization Act requires all new NGOs to register with the government.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, but the government limited freedom of movement and 
repatriation in practice.

    Exile.--The law does not address forced exile, but the government 
forced approximately 90,000 Nepali-speaking persons to leave the 
country in the early 1990s, following a series of steps taken during 
the 1970s and 1980s to deprive the Nepali-speaking population of its 
citizenship. This population of 90,000 lived in refugee camps in 
southeastern Nepal and grew to approximately 108,000 over the years 
with children born in the camps. There were no reported cases of forced 
exile during the year. There continued to be government delays in 
implementing a process to identify and repatriate refugees in Nepal 
with legitimate claims to Bhutanese citizenship.
    At year's end, of the 90,000 Bhutanese refugees, 54,995 remained in 
Nepal in refugee camps administered by the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), compared with 72,242 in 2010. In 
2007 the government of Nepal announced resettlement of the refugees. As 
of December 31, 58,529 Bhutanese refugees had been resettled in foreign 
countries, of which 49,085 were resettled in the United States.
    The government continued to criticize the UNHCR for its failure to 
screen individuals who entered camps in Nepal in the early 1990s to 
determine whether they were genuine citizens of the country. The 
government maintained that individuals who entered the camps before the 
establishment of screening and registration mechanisms were not 
citizens and were using the camps as a base for terrorist activities 
against the state.

    Citizenship.--The law provides for revocation of the citizenship of 
any naturalized citizen who ``has shown by act or speech to be disloyal 
in any manner whatsoever to the king, country, and people.'' The law 
permits reapplication for citizenship after a two-year probationary 
period. The government reissues citizenship upon successful completion 
of the probation period and a finding that the person in question is 
not responsible for any act against the government.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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 Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) reported that from the 
1960s Bhutan had sheltered approximately 3,000 Tibetan refugees who 
were initially located in seven settlements in Bhutan. The Bhutan 
government reported that the Tibetans were integrated and that 
approximately 1,500 had applied for and received Bhutanese citizenship. 
The CTA is not allowed to have any official presence in Bhutan and 
could not provide social and economic assistance to Tibetans in Bhutan. 
The government stated that the Tibetan refugees are permitted the same 
access to government-provided health care and education as Bhutanese 
citizens. Tibetans were discouraged from voting in the CTA elections, 
with government officials telling Tibetans that it would make them 
ineligible for future Bhutanese citizenship. Many Tibetan refugees had 
accepted Bhutanese citizenship, and many continued to seek citizenship. 
Tibetan refugees were permitted to travel to India freely, but there 
were unconfirmed reports that some could not obtain security clearances 
for government jobs, enroll in higher education, or obtain licenses to 
run private businesses. There were also reports that the government did 
not provide travel documents to enable some Tibetan refugees to travel 
beyond India. Tibetans have access to free health care and education in 
the same fashion as local citizens.

    Stateless Persons.--Implementation of a nationwide government 
census in 1985 resulted in the denationalization of many Nepali-
speaking individuals within the country because land-ownership 
documents dated before 1958 were required to retain citizenship. The 
census was repeated in 1988-89 in the southern districts, and those who 
lost citizenship in 1985 were at that time permitted to reapply for 
citizenship provided they met certain conditions. The government then 
labeled as illegal immigrants those who could not meet the new, more 
stringent citizenship requirements. Beginning in 1990, under the 1985 
citizenship law, the government expelled large numbers of Nepali-
speaking individuals, many of whom resided in refugee camps in Nepal. 
According to NGOs, stateless persons remain resident in Bhutan, mainly 
in the south, but the number is unknown. Stateless persons cannot 
obtain No Objection Certificates and Security Clearance certificates, 
which limited access to employment, business ownership, and school 
attendance at higher-level institutions.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    In 2008 the country completed a successful transition from an 
absolute hereditary monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with a 
bicameral elected parliament, marking the final step in the transition 
to a parliamentary democracy. The law provides limited rights for 
changing the government, and it provides for a separation of powers.

    Elections and Political Participation.--The constitution provides 
the right for citizens peacefully to change their government, and 
citizens exercised this right in practice.

    Recent Elections.--From January through July, the government held 
nonpartisan local elections at the district and subdistrict levels, 
with 1,128 candidates elected. A woman was elected to head one of 205 
subdistricts in the country. A new round of local elections took place 
in December to fill one-quarter of the unfilled local positions (371 
out of 1,499), and 304 candidates were elected.
    In 2008 voters elected the country's first National Assembly, the 
lower house of the parliament. The ruling Druk Phensum Tshogpa (DPT) 
party won 45 of 47 seats. Human Rights Watch reported that the 
government excluded 13 percent of the Nepali-speaking population from 
voting because they were considered ``nonnationals'' in the 2005 
census. International monitors reported that the elections were 
generally free and fair with no reports of irregularities during the 
election process.

    Political Parties.--The constitution states that political parties 
shall promote national unity and shall not resort to regionalism, 
ethnicity, and religion to incite voters for electoral gain. Political 
parties are required to be broad based with cross-national membership 
and are not permitted to receive money or any assistance from foreign 
sources. During the year political parties experienced debt challenges, 
as they could not sustain their operations solely on membership dues. 
The government provides funding only for general elections.
    In 2007 the government began allowing political parties to register 
under the terms of a draft constitution. Three parties registered with 
the Election Commission, which disqualified the Bhutan People's United 
Party (BPUP) for ``failing to prove its credibility'' as a national 
political party. The Election Commission indicated that BPUP candidates 
did not meet the commission's education requirements. The Election Act 
specifies that candidates for parliament must have earned at least a 
bachelor's degree to run for office. The government took no action in 
response to the party's appeal of the decision.
    The Druk National Congress, established in 1994 by Bhutanese 
refugees in exile, continued to claim that the government denied 
independent parties the ability to operate effectively. The government 
regarded political parties organized by Nepali-speaking individuals 
living in exile in refugee camps as illegal, terrorist, and 
antinational in nature. These parties, which sought repatriation of 
refugees and democratic reforms, were unable to conduct activities 
inside the country.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Women comprised 31.6 
percent of civil servants. Ten members of parliament were women, 
including six in the National Council and four in the National 
Assembly. There was one woman on the High Court, and one female judge 
at the district court. Female parliamentarians increased from 9 percent 
in 2005 to 14 percent during the year.
    The Election Commission reported there were 20 Nepali-speaking 
minorities in parliament, 15 in the National Assembly and five in the 
National Council. One Hindu and one Christian also served in the 
National Council.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. In July 
the government passed the Anti-Corruption Act, which is based on the 
U.N. Convention against Corruption, expands the Anti-Corruption 
Commission's (ACC) mandate to cover the private sector, and enhances 
the ACC's investigatory powers and functions. The government took an 
active role in addressing the issue through the public accounts 
committee in the National Assembly and the Royal Audit Authority, which 
monitored the use of government funds. The government's ACC is 
authorized to investigate cases of official corruption and allows 
citizens to post information on its Web site regarding corrupt 
practices. The ACC reportedly had a backlog of 350 complaints.
    No law provides for public access to government information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    According to international NGOs, local civil society organizations 
practiced self-censorship to avoid conflict with the government, and 
the majority of them focused on social issues, including women's rights 
or environmental issues. The government regarded human rights groups 
established by the exiled Nepali-speaking minority as political 
organizations and did not permit them to operate.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The ICRC was the only 
international human rights monitoring group officially operating in the 
country. It did not conduct prison visits during the year.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Civil Society Act of Bhutan 
2007 established the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Authority. The 
government mandated the CSO Authority to oversee the accountability and 
transparency of civil society operations, and various civil society 
organizations functioned locally and informally.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, 
sex, disability, language, religion, politics, or social status.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law contains a clear 
definition of criminal sexual assault and specifies penalties. In cases 
of rape involving minors, sentences range from five to 17 years in 
prison. In extreme cases, a rapist may be imprisoned for life. NGOs 
reported that many women did not report rape because of cultural taboos 
or because they were unaware of their rights. Spousal rape is illegal.
    Three police stations across the country house Women and Child 
Protection Units to address crimes involving women and children. The 
law prohibits domestic violence. Penalties against offenders of 
domestic violence range from a jail sentence of a minimum of one month 
to a maximum of three years. Offenders are also fined a daily minimum 
national wage of 90 days. According to the Committee on the Elimination 
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the government commissioned a 
report on violence against women, set up mobile police stations, 
trained police on gender issues, and allowed civil society groups to 
undertake further efforts, including the opening of a crisis and 
rehabilitation center. The CEDAW committee expressed concern over 
reports of violence against women by their spouses or other family 
members and at work. According to the 2010 National Statistics Bureau, 
68 percent of women surveyed justified domestic violence as permissible 
if they forgot to cook or were not taking good care of their children.

    Sexual Harassment.--The Labor Employment Act has specific 
provisions to address sexual harassment in the workplace. CEDAW 
expressed concern about the large number of reported sexual harassment 
cases in the workplace.

    Reproductive Rights.--The country has no legal restrictions 
regarding the number, spacing, or timing of children, and there were no 
reports of coercion regarding reproduction. According to World Health 
Organization estimates, the maternal mortality ratio in 2008 was 200 
deaths per 100,000 live births. The 2011 National Statistics Bureau 
report showed that 64.5 percent of births occurring between 2008 and 
2010 were assisted by skilled personnel. The National Statistics Bureau 
reported that contraceptive use by women was 65.6 percent among married 
women or women in civil unions, 30.2 percent amongst women ages 15-19, 
and 56.5 percent of women ages 20-24.
    The law covers questions related to family issues, including 
divorce, child custody, and inheritance. The minimum age of marriage 
for women is 18. Polygamy is allowed provided the first wife gives her 
permission. Polyandry is permitted but is rare. Marriages were arranged 
by the marriage partners themselves or by their parents. The law 
requires registration of all marriages with the government.

    Discrimination.--NGOs reported that women faced little overt 
discrimination and had equal access to health care, education, and 
public services, including for HIV/AIDS treatment and services. Women 
were accorded respect in the traditions of most ethnic groups and 
participated relatively freely in the social and economic life of the 
country. Inheritance law provides for equal inheritance for sons and 
daughters, but traditional inheritance practices, which varied among 
ethnic groups, may be observed if the heirs choose to forgo legal 
challenges. Traditional inheritance laws for the majority of Buddhists 
stipulate that daughters inherit family land. Tradition dictates that 
the most capable member of the family runs the household, which often 
resulted in the mother or eldest daughter holding this position. Within 
the household, men and women were relatively equal. Employers generally 
paid women in unskilled jobs slightly less than men in the same 
positions. According to the government's 2009 Labor Force Survey 
Report, 46 percent of the country's workforce was female. Dowries were 
not customary in the country.
    The law mandates that the government take appropriate measures to 
eliminate all forms of discrimination and exploitation of women, 
including trafficking, abuse, violence, harassment, and intimidation, 
at work and at home, and generally the law was enforced. CEDAW 
expressed concerns that the constitution does not adequately define 
discrimination to include both direct and indirect forms and noted that 
the government failed to adopt implementation legislation for its 
international treaty obligations related to women's rights or to 
provide adequate resources to the National Commission on Women and 
Children (NCWC) to allow it to operate effectively.
    The National Women's Association, a local NGO, tried to improve 
women's living standards and socioeconomic status, and the NGO Respect, 
Educate, Nurture, and Empower Women promoted and advocated for women's 
rights and political participation. The NCWC actively defended the 
rights of women and children during the year, although CEDAW questioned 
the limited resources of the NCWC and its potential lack of 
independence from government influence. One of the women's NGOs 
reported concerns for the increased number of young girls, some of whom 
were possibly underage, working in bars and discotheques.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Under the constitution, only 
children whose parents are both citizens become citizens at birth. 
According to the Bhutanese Refugee Support Group, existing citizenship 
laws contained inadequate provisions for a child to acquire nationality 
at birth, and persons who are designated as ``nonnationals'' are 
rendered essentially stateless (see section 2.d.). Births in remote 
areas are less likely to be registered. NGOs asserted that births of 
children to nonregistered Nepali-speaking individuals may not be 
registered.

    Education.--The government provides 11 years of universal, free 
education to children. One of the Ministry of Education's objectives is 
to achieve 100 percent enrollment in primary education. The Education 
Ministry found that 4 to 6 percent of school-age children were not in 
school during the year. Education is not compulsory.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse was rare. Corporal punishment is banned 
in schools, and there were no reported incidents in schools and 
monasteries.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The country does not have a Jewish population, and 
there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's annual 
Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not specifically protect 
the rights of citizens with disabilities, but it does direct the 
government to try to provide security in the ``event of sickness and 
disability.'' There was no evidence of official discrimination against 
persons with disabilities in matters of employment, education, access 
to health care, or the provision of other state services. The law 
stipulates that new buildings must be constructed to allow access for 
persons with disabilities, but the government did not enforce the law 
consistently. Under the Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation 
Program, the government seeks to provide medical and vocational 
rehabilitation for persons with all types of disabilities, promote 
integration of children with disabilities into schools, and foster 
community awareness and social integration. The approximately 22,000 
persons with physical disabilities living in the country (3.4 percent 
of the population according to 2005 estimates) lacked necessary 
infrastructure. There is no government agency specifically responsible 
for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
    There were three special education institutes for students with 
disabilities, including the National Institute for the Disabled in 
Khaling, which educates visually impaired children, and an education 
resource unit for the hearing impaired in Paro. There were also special 
education facilities in Thimphu designed to meet the needs of children 
who have physical and mental disabilities. Although there were no 
government-sponsored social welfare services available for persons with 
disabilities, the National Pension and Provident Fund granted benefits 
to persons with disabilities. A new NGO, the Disabled Persons' 
Association of Bhutan, was formed in September to change public 
perception of disability and assist persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Organizations representing exiled 
Nepali-speaking Bhutanese claimed that Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were 
subjected to discrimination and prejudice in employment, but the 
government stated they were proportionally represented in civil service 
and government jobs.
    English and Dzongkha languages are the mediums of instruction 
taught in all schools. The Committee on the Rights of the Child 
expressed concern about the rights of minority children, specifically 
the Nepali-speaking minority, to take part in their culture, practice 
their religion, or use their language.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Although there are no laws 
that explicitly prohibit same-sex sexual activity, laws against 
``sodomy or any other sexual conduct that is against the order of 
nature'' exist. Under the penal code, a person can be imprisoned for as 
long as one year for engaging in such acts. One government official 
noted that prosecution under this law is rare, as criminal intent must 
be proven by the prosecution. There were no reported cases of such 
charges.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
received free medical and counseling services, and the government 
maintained programs meant to prevent discrimination, which nevertheless 
existed.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers to form workers' associations but does not allow 
for the formation of unions or for strikes. The law allows employees to 
form an association in one workplace if at least 12 employees join the 
association. According to a development agency, there is no national 
trade union in the country.
    The law authorizes a workers' association to negotiate a collective 
bargaining agreement with employers. The 2007 Labor and Employment Act 
grants workers the right to pursue litigation.
    The Human Rights Organization of Bhutan stated that there was a 
drivers' association and a tour guides' association.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The government 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there were no confirmed 
reports that forced or compulsory labor occurred.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
According to the law, the minimum age of employment is 18. However, the 
law allows for employment of children between the ages of 13 and 17 in 
environments that will not be harmful to their health or safety. 
Children younger than 18 often performed agricultural and construction 
work, completed chores on family farms, or worked in shops and 
restaurants after school and during holidays. Girls were employed 
primarily as domestic workers, where they were vulnerable to abuse and 
exploitation. UNICEF estimated that 19 percent of children between ages 
five and 14 were child laborers. Labor inspectors operating under the 
Ministry of Labor and Human Resources enforce child labor laws.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law addresses issues such as 
minimum wage, sexual harassment, workers' associations, acceptable 
forms of child labor, and labor inspection regulations. According to 
civil society, the national minimum wage rate was Nu 3,000 ($67) per 
month, and the labor minister stated that half the country's workers 
earned more than the minimum wage. The workday is defined as eight 
hours with a one-hour lunch break, and employers must grant regular 
days of rest. Work in excess of this must be paid at 1.5 times the 
normal rate.
    All citizens are entitled to free medical care. The government 
transported persons who could not receive adequate care in the country 
to other countries (usually India) for treatment. Workers are eligible 
for compensation in the case of partial or total disability, and in the 
event of death, their families were entitled to compensation. Labor 
regulations grant workers the right to leave work situations that 
endanger their health and safety.

                               __________

                                 INDIA

                           executive summary
    India is a multiparty, federal, parliamentary democracy with a 
bicameral parliament. The president, elected by an electoral college, 
is the chief of state, and the prime minister is the head of the 
government. Under the constitution the 28 states and seven union 
territories have a high degree of autonomy and have primary 
responsibility for issues of law and order. President Pratibha Patil 
was elected in 2007 to a five-year term, and Manmohan Singh became 
prime minister for a second term following the Congress Party-led 
coalition's victory in the 2009 general elections, which were 
considered free and fair, despite scattered instances of violence. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The most significant human rights problems were police and security 
force abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and rape; 
widespread corruption at all levels of government; and separatist, 
insurgent, and societal violence.
    Other human rights problems included disappearances, poor prison 
conditions that were frequently life threatening, arbitrary arrest and 
detention, and lengthy pretrial detention. The judiciary was 
overburdened, and court backlogs led to lengthy delays or the denial of 
justice. Authorities continued to infringe on citizens' privacy rights. 
The law in some states restricted religious conversion, and there were 
reports of arrests, but no reports of convictions under these laws. 
There were some limits on freedom of movement. Rape, domestic violence, 
dowry-related deaths, honor killings, sexual harassment, and 
discrimination against women remained serious problems. Child abuse, 
child marriage, and child prostitution were problems. Trafficking in 
persons and caste-based discrimination and violence continued, as did 
discrimination against indigenous persons. Discrimination against 
persons with HIV and discrimination and violence based on gender 
identity continued. Forced labor and bonded labor were widespread. 
Child labor, including forced and bonded child labor, also was a 
serious problem.
    Widespread impunity at all levels of government remained a serious 
problem. Investigations into individual cases and legal punishment for 
perpetrators occurred, but in many cases a lack of accountability due 
to weak law enforcement, a lack of trained police, and an overburdened 
court system created an atmosphere of impunity.
    Separatist insurgents and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, the 
Northeastern States, and the Naxalite belt committed numerous serious 
abuses, including killing armed forces personnel, police, government 
officials, and civilians. Insurgents were responsible for numerous 
cases of beheading, kidnapping, torture, rape, and extortion. However, 
the number of incidents declined considerably in the Northeast States 
and Jammu and Kashmir compared with the previous year.
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 and its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings, including extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals and 
insurgents, especially in areas of conflict, such as Jammu and Kashmir, 
the Northeastern States, and the Naxalite belt (see section 1.g.). 
According to the Institute for Conflict Management, during the year 
there were 1,074 fatalities in the country--including members of the 
security forces, individuals classified by the government as 
terrorists, and civilians. This represented a decrease from 1,902 
fatalities in 2010. The Ministry of Home Affairs 2010-11 report noted a 
downward trend in incidents of violence in Kashmir and all northeast 
states.
    On July 2, the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission 
submitted an interim report, entitled The Enquiry Report of Unmarked 
Graves in North Kashmir, to the state government. This report was 
leaked to the press in August but was not made public. According to the 
media, the report documented 2,156 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 
different sites in districts that had been at the heart of the 
insurgency in the 1990s.
    The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) remained in effect in 
Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and parts of Tripura, and a version of the 
law was in effect in Jammu and Kashmir. Under the AFSPA the government 
can declare any state or union territory a ``disturbed area,'' a 
declaration that allows security forces to fire on any person to 
``maintain law and order'' and to arrest any person ``against whom 
reasonable suspicion exists'' without informing the detainee of the 
grounds for arrest. The law also gives security forces immunity from 
prosecution for acts committed under the AFSPA. There were no records 
available of acts committed under the AFSPA.
    On September 3, the Jammu and Kashmir government claimed that only 
the central government had the authority to revoke the AFSPA. The 
state's minister for law and parliamentary affairs declared that the 
state government could only ``recommend'' the law's repeal.
    Most encounter killings, in which security forces and police 
extrajudicially killed alleged criminals or insurgents, occurred in 
areas in conflict, but the practice reportedly occurred elsewhere in 
the country as well. For example, on August 8, Special Police Officer 
(SPO) Abdul Majid and territorial army soldier Noor Hussain took a 
mentally disabled civilian to Surankot forest in Jammu and Kashmir and 
then launched an operation with the police and the 25 Rashtriya Rifles 
unit to eliminate a ``dreaded terrorist'' in the area. When the bullet-
riddled body was found, the SPO said that he wanted to be a constable 
and the soldier requested a cash reward of 200,000 rupees ($3,790). 
Both were arrested and charged with murder for the fake encounter. The 
identity of the victim was not reported.
    Despite the published recommendations of the National Human Rights 
Commission (NHRC) that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) 
investigate all police encounter deaths, many states did not follow 
these guidelines and continued to conduct internal reviews only at the 
discretion of senior officers.
    Custodial deaths, in which prisoners were killed or died in police 
custody, also remained a serious problem, and authorities often delayed 
or failed to pursue prosecutions against members of the police or 
security forces. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reported to 
parliament that there were 186 cases of custodial death due to police 
torture as of July 31. The MHA 2010-11 annual report stated there were 
1,321 cases of custodial death reported to the NHRC by state 
governments from April to December 2010.
    NHRC guidelines direct state governments to report to it within 48 
hours all cases of deaths in police actions; however, state governments 
did not consistently comply with the guidelines. The armed forces were 
not required to report custodial deaths to the NHRC, and the commission 
did not have the power to investigate the armed forces.
    On August 9, the Ministry of Home Affairs reported 147 police 
custodial deaths in 2010-11. Maharashtra had the highest number of 
deaths at 31, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 15. The National Crime 
Records Bureau (NCRB) reported 1,436 deaths in judicial custody in 
2010, of which 92 were due to unnatural causes such as suicide or 
murder by other inmates. On March 31, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister 
Omar Abdullah informed the state legislative council that there had 
been 341 alleged deaths in police custody in the state since 1990.
    The Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police killed 
Nazim Rashid of Sopor, Kashmir, while he was in custody. Rashid died on 
July 30, while being held in connection with an investigation into the 
killing of a laborer. Chief Minister Abdullah described the killing as 
a ``gross human rights violation'' and promised ``swift and exemplary 
action'' against the three policemen involved. The state government 
suspended the three, charged them with murder, and ordered a 
magisterial inquiry into the killing. News of the death triggered 
protests and a heavy deployment of police, and the Central Reserve 
Police Force (CRPF) was ordered to prevent further violence. In 
addition the local government temporarily placed Opposition People's 
Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti and hard-line separatist 
leader Syed Ali Geelani under house arrest to prevent them from 
visiting the town and possibly inflaming tensions.
    There were reports of security forces firing upon demonstrators. In 
Assam civilian protesters against an eviction drive in the Guwahati 
hills were killed in several incidents of police firing, including four 
on June 22, eight on July 10, and four on October 10. West Bengal 
reported 104 incidents of security forces firing on demonstrators 
during the year, killing six civilians. On August 9 in Pune, 
Maharashtra, police fired into a crowd of protesting farmers blocking 
the Mumbai-Pune arterial roads, killing three. Police initially claimed 
that the demonstrators turned violent; however, a video of the incident 
broadcast on television clearly showed some police constables 
themselves throwing stones at a car and other police aiming their guns 
at unarmed demonstrators. The Maharashtra government suspended two 
police officers for the shooting and six police constables for damaging 
the car. The government ordered the judicial magistrate to probe the 
incident; the probe was not completed by year's end.
    The government made some movement in holding police and security 
officials accountable for killings committed during the Delhi anti-Sikh 
violence of 1984. On July 19, the Supreme Court refused the petition of 
senior Congress Party leader Sajjan Kumar, who had challenged the 
initiation of criminal proceedings against him, allowing the trial to 
proceed.
    The Border Security Force (BSF) was responsible for deaths along 
the Indo-Bangladesh border. The BSF usually explained these killings by 
claiming that those killed were evading arrest or that security force 
members had to fire in self-defense. In March the BSF signed an 
agreement with the Bangladesh Border Guards (BBG) to use nonlethal 
weapons, and in May, the government issued such weapons (e.g., pump-
action guns) to the BSF. On July 30, Home Minister P. Chidambaram 
announced at a conference held in Bangladesh that the BSF had been 
ordered not to shoot anyone crossing the Indo-Bangladesh border and 
that the BSF would only fire in self defense. There were reports that 
the BBG engaged in shootings along the border as well.
    According to the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Odhikar, during 
the year the BSF killed 31 Bangladeshi nationals, injured 61, and 
abducted 23, marking a decrease in fatalities and injuries from the 
previous year. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that the BSF killed 
74, injured 72, and kidnapped 43 Bangladeshis in 2010.
    For example, on January 7, the BSF killed a 15-year-old Bangladeshi 
girl, Felani Khatun. Newspapers published pictures of her body dangling 
from the barbed wire fence along the border. Felani and her father were 
reportedly on their way home from New Delhi, attempting to cross the 
fence using makeshift ladders.
    There were developments in the July 2010 killing of Amit Jethwa, a 
Right to Information (RTI) Act activist. The Gujarat High Court ordered 
further investigation to determine the alleged involvement of Dinu 
Solanki, a Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament from Junagadh. 
On November 29, the court gave a two-month extension to submit its 
final report on the murder investigation; the report must be submitted 
by January 29, 2012. The victim's father demanded a probe by the 
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
    Nongovernmental forces committed numerous killings, especially in 
areas of conflict, such as Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern States, 
and the Naxalite belt (see section 1.g.).
    According to the South Asian Terrorism Portal, terrorist attacks 
resulted in 1,042 deaths during the year.

    b. Disappearance.--There were reports that police throughout the 
country failed to file required arrest reports for detained persons, 
resulting in hundreds of unresolved and unreported disappearances. 
Police and government officials typically denied these claims. The 
central government reported that state government screening committees 
that determined which detainees were eligible for release provided 
information about detainees to their families, but credible sources 
stated that families often needed to bribe prison guards to confirm the 
detention of their relatives.
    Disappearances attributed to government forces occurred in areas of 
conflict during the year (see section 1.g.).
    In May the ruling Communist Party in West Bengal was defeated after 
34 years in power. Since June police discovered 17 skeletal remains in 
the district of West Midnapore, and DNA tests confirmed several were 
workers from the former opposition party, Trinamool Congress, missing 
since 2002. A senior minister who was in power when the disappearances 
occurred was jailed for his alleged involvement in some of the 
killings.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture, but many NGOs alleged that such 
practices were common, especially in areas of conflict (see section 
1.g.). For example, on March 24, newspapers reported that the CBI took 
four Kerala policemen into custody in connection with the custodial 
death of Sampath, allegedly due to torture. Sampath, who died in March 
2010, was accused of orchestrating the murder of the wife of a leading 
Kerala businessman. Authorities suspended 14 other police officers 
shortly after the death. On May 25, Sampath's brother filed a court 
plea alleging that the police department was sabotaging the 
investigation.
    In December 2010 parliament passed the Prevention of Torture Bill 
2010; however, NGOs remained concerned about the law's requirement that 
complaints regarding torture be made within six months and that 
previous sanctions by appropriate government bodies must be sought 
before a court is empowered to consider a complaint. There is no 
independent agency to receive torture complaints or conduct prompt 
investigations outside of the already overburdened legal system.
    The law generally does not permit authorities to admit into 
evidence confessions that have been coerced, but NGOs and citizens 
alleged that authorities used torture to coerce confessions, which in 
some instances were submitted as evidentiary support for death 
sentences. Authorities allegedly also used torture to extort money or 
as summary punishment.
    There were some reports that police raped women, including while in 
police custody, but in nearly all reported cases authorities took 
action against those who committed the abuse. For example, on June 10, 
three police officers in a police station in Uttar Pradesh sexually 
assaulted and killed a 14-year-old girl named Sonam. Within hours of 
the crime, authorities suspended 11 police officers, including the 
officer in charge of the police station, and later arrested two of 
them, one of whom was charged with murder and the other with 
destruction of evidence. The investigation continued at year's end.
    On September 29, a court found 17 police and forest officials 
guilty of raping 18 lower-caste women during a 1992 raid on Vachathi 
village in Tamil Nadu state. They were sentenced to two to 10 years in 
prison.
    NGOs claimed that the NHRC underestimated the number of rapes that 
police committed. Due to the lack of oversight and accountability, some 
rape victims, especially if the perpetrator was a police officer or 
other official, were unlikely to come forward and report the crime due 
to the victims' feelings of shame and fears of retribution. Many of the 
reported rapes by security forces occurred in relation to internal 
conflicts and insurgencies (see section 1.g.).
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
frequently life-threatening and did not meet international standards. 
Prisons were severely overcrowded, and food, medical care, sanitation, 
and environmental conditions were often inadequate. Potable water was 
only sometimes available.
    According to the NCRB Prison Statistics India 2010 report, the jail 
population was 368, 998, and there were 1,393 prisons in the country 
with an authorized capacity of 320,450 persons. Persons awaiting trial 
accounted for two-thirds of the prison population. There were 15,037 
female prisoners, approximately 4 percent of the total prison 
population, while juveniles were less than 1 percent. Men and women 
were held separately. The law requires juveniles to be detained in 
rehabilitative facilities, although at times they were detained in 
prison, especially in rural areas. Large numbers of pretrial detainees 
were held with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners were permitted reasonable access to visitors, although 
some family members stated that they were denied access to relatives 
held in detention, particularly in areas of conflict, including Jammu 
and Kashmir. Prisoners have the right to engage in religious 
observances, and in most cases that right was respected in practice. 
The government allowed some NGOs to provide assistance to prisoners, 
within specific guidelines.
    Investigations of prisoner complaints were within the purview of 
the NHRC, which received and investigated prisoner complaints of human 
right violations throughout the year, but some activists indicated that 
many complaints were not filed due to fear of retribution from prison 
guards or officials. Most investigation findings and NHRC 
recommendations were published on the NHRC Web site; however, there 
were allegations by NGOs that investigations and recommendations 
dealing with controversial issues were not disclosed. State and 
national human rights commissions can receive complaints on behalf of 
prisoners but have only recommendatory power.
    Most state governments permitted prison monitoring by independent 
groups, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and 
the NHRC, but the states of Manipur and Nagaland required visitors to 
obtain special permits. In many states the NHRC made surprise visits to 
state prisons but not to military detention centers. The NHRC lacks 
jurisdiction over the armed forces and their detention centers.
    In 2010 the ICRC visited 784 detainees and interviewed 577 
individually during 37 visits to 24 detention centers. The ICRC did not 
ask to visit interrogation or transit centers in the northeastern 
states of Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland. NGOs' observations of prison 
conditions often remained confidential due to agreements with the 
government.
    The NHRC had a special rapporteur to ensure that state prison 
authorities performed medical checkups on all inmates. The rapporteur 
visited prisons on a regular basis throughout the year. The National 
Commission of Women continued visiting jails during the year to assess 
the living conditions of women.
    The MHA acknowledged in its 2009-10 annual report that prisons were 
overcrowded and required repairs and renovations, including 
improvements in sanitation and water supply. During the year the 
central government began implementing a plan to modernize the prisons. 
According to the MHA 2009-10 annual report, the plan had been 
implemented in 27 states and resulted in the construction of 99 new 
jails and 1,365 additional barracks in existing prisons. The 
government's Modernization of Prisons scheme has allotted 1,800 crore 
(approximately $390 million) to construct new jails, reduce 
overcrowding, and improve water and sanitation in prisons, but most 
states were not able to meet the targets.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but both occurred during the year. Police also 
used special security laws to delay judicial review of arrests. 
Pretrial detention was arbitrarily lengthy and sometimes exceeded the 
sentence given.
    A February 2011 HRW report, Anti-Nationals: Arbitrary Detention and 
Torture of Terrorism Suspects in India, stated that police responded to 
incidents of terrorism with arbitrary detention, torture, and 
mistreatment of suspects in an effort to obtain confessions, and in 
several cases confessions appeared to be drafted by the police 
themselves. Police held numerous suspects for days or weeks without 
registering their arrests; many suspects alleged that they were denied 
proper food and water. The report stated that the country's 
counterterrorism units were undertrained, underfunded, and understaffed 
and cited the failure of domestic mechanisms of accountability as a key 
factor contributing to the abuse of terrorism suspects.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Although the central 
government provides guidance and support, the 28 states and seven union 
territories have primary responsibility for maintaining law and order. 
The MHA controls most paramilitary forces, the internal intelligence 
bureaus, and the nationwide police service, and it provides training 
for senior police officers of the state-organized police forces. 
According to HRW, cases of arbitrary arrest, torture, and forced 
confessions by security forces were common. Several laws, including 
part of the criminal procedure code and the AFSPA, were used to provide 
legal protection for members of security forces who violated human 
rights.
    The effectiveness of law enforcement and security forces varied 
widely throughout the country. Officers at all levels acted with 
impunity, and officials rarely held them accountable for illegal 
actions. Military courts investigated cases of abuse by security 
officials; cases against law enforcement officers are tried in public 
courts. When a court found an officer guilty of a crime, the punishment 
often was a transfer. The central and state governments took actions to 
reform the security forces.
    According to the MHA's most recent annual report (2010-11), 
citizens in Jammu and Kashmir filed 211 reports of human rights 
violations against army and central paramilitary personnel. Authorities 
investigated 208 cases, found 161 false, and judged 47 genuine. The 
military imposed penalties in the cases that were found to be genuine. 
The MHA also reported 65,827 cases were registered with the NHRC. A 
total of 62,551 cases were resolved, including cases brought forward 
from previous years, and 5,673 cases were transferred to state human 
rights commissions for resolution. Interim relief payments were made in 
269 cases.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arbitrary 
Arrest: The code of criminal procedure prohibits arbitrary arrest or 
detention, but police continued to arbitrarily arrest citizens. In 
practice police picked up individuals for custodial interrogation 
without identifying themselves properly or providing arrest warrants.

    Pretrial Detention.--Those detained on criminal charges must be 
informed promptly of the charges against them and of their rights to 
legal counsel. Under the code a magistrate may authorize the precharge 
detention of an accused person for a period of no more than 90 days. 
Under the regular criminal procedure, the accused must be released on 
bail after 90 days. The code also allows police to summon individuals 
for questioning, but it does not provide authority for police to 
involuntarily detain individuals for questioning before placing them 
under arrest. There were incidents in which authorities manipulated the 
law to detain suspects beyond the legal limit for police custody.
    There were cases in which police denied suspects the right to meet 
with their legal counsel, as well as cases in which police unlawfully 
monitored suspects' conversations and denied their right to 
confidentiality. The constitution mandates free legal aid to the poor 
and weaker sections of society; however, need is not assessed 
systematically. By law authorities must allow family members access to 
detainees. In practice authorities granted access only occasionally. 
Arraignment of detainees must occur within 24 hours, unless the suspect 
is held under a preventive detention law.
    The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) gives authorities the 
ability to detain persons without charge in cases where insurgency or 
terrorism is suspected. Under the law police can detain an individual 
without charge for up to 30 days. The law also permits authorities to 
hold a detainee in judicial custody without charge for up to 180 days 
(including the 30 days in police custody). The UAPA also denies bail 
for foreigners and makes it easier for courts to deny bail in the case 
of detained citizens. It presumes the accused to be guilty if the 
prosecution can produce certain incriminating evidence against the 
accused, such as the possession of arms or explosives or the presence 
of fingerprints at the crime scene, regardless of whether criminal 
intent exists.
    State governments also held persons without bail for extended 
periods before filing formal charges under the UAPA. Alleged Naxalite 
sympathizer Arun Ferreira was arrested under UAPA in 2007, acquitted in 
2009 on one of the cases, released on September 27, but immediately 
rearrested on other charges.
    In 2004 the government repealed the Prevention of Terrorism Act 
(POTA), which created special courts, allowed the identity of witnesses 
to be withheld, and allowed admission into evidence of custodial 
confessions. By law, however, persons arrested under a prior law 
continue to be prosecuted under that law even after its repeal. There 
were conflicting reports during the year of how many persons remained 
detained under POTA.
    In 1995 the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act 
was allowed to lapse. Despite its lapse, on March 15, the MHA informed 
parliament that under the law, 148 persons were convicted; 103 were 
given life imprisonment, one received the death sentence, five were 
released after serving 14 years in prison and for good conduct, and 
seven applications for release were pending. The remainder, convicted 
under the TADA, remained in jail.
    At the end of 2010, 85 Muslims detained in the 2002 Godhra train-
burning case remained in jail in Gujarat under POTA, despite a 2005 
POTA review committee ruling that POTA did not apply to them, a 2008 
ruling by the Supreme Court granting their release, and a Gujarat high 
court ruling in 2009 that POTA charges did not apply to the accused and 
that they should be granted bail. Of the original 134 persons accused, 
104 were charged formally. Of the 104, five died of natural causes, and 
14 were released on bail. The trial in Gujarat concluded in 2010, but 
the judgment was not immediately released pending the Supreme Court's 
authorization to the special court to announce the verdict.
    On February 22, the special court in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, convicted 
31 persons for the burning of the train. On March 1, 11 persons 
received the death penalty and 20 were sentenced to life imprisonment. 
Those convicted appealed the ruling in the Gujarat High Court, and the 
Gujarat government filed a petition demanding the death penalty for all 
31 persons. The Gujarat High Court did not pronounce judgment on the 
petitions by the convicts or the Gujarat government by year's end.
    The National Security Act (NSA) allows police to detain persons 
considered security risks anywhere in the country, except Jammu and 
Kashmir, without charge or trial for as long as one year. The law 
stipulates that family members and lawyers can visit NSA detainees and 
that authorities must inform a detainee of the grounds for detention 
within five days (10 to 15 days in exceptional circumstances). In 
practice these rights sometimes were not enforced.
    The Public Safety Act, which applies only in Jammu and Kashmir, 
permits state authorities to detain persons without charge or judicial 
review for as long as two years. During this time family members do not 
have access to detainees. Detainees are allowed access to a lawyer 
during interrogation. In practice police in Jammu and Kashmir routinely 
employed arbitrary detention and denied detainees, particularly the 
destitute, access to lawyers and medical attention.
    In 2005 the Chhattisgarh state government enacted the Special 
Public Security Act (SPSA), which permits detention for as long as 
three years for loosely defined unlawful activities. Human rights 
groups voiced concerns that the law criminalizes any support given to 
Naxalites (Maoists), even support provided under duress.
    On April 18, Binayak Sen was released from Raipur Central Jail 
three days after the Supreme Court granted him bail, striking down 
charges of sedition. Sen, a human rights activist and physician with 
the People's Union of Civil Liberties, was arrested in 2007 for alleged 
links with the Maoists and in December 2010 was sentenced to life 
imprisonment under the SPSA on the charge of sedition.
    In many states police made ``preventive arrests'' in the name of 
curbing public unrest. For example, in Delhi, on August 16, police 
preventively arrested social activist Anna Hazare, along with key aides 
Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, and Manish Sisodia, ahead of Hazare's 
proposed fast against corruption. Hazare was released 12 hours later 
but refused to leave Tihar Jail until the government agreed to allow 
him to carry out his fast at the location of his choice.
    Arbitrarily lengthy detention was a major problem as a result of 
overburdened court systems and lack of sufficient safeguards and 
oversight of the law. On August 7, Man Singh was released after 32 
years of waiting for retrial, when the Supreme Court rejected the Uttar 
Pradesh government's plea for a fresh trial. Singh was arrested in 1979 
for allegedly possessing half a bottle of illicit liquor and was 
convicted and sentenced to one year's imprisonment, which he appealed.
    The government continued efforts to reduce lengthy detention and 
alleviate prison overcrowding by using ``fast-track'' courts, which 
specify a trial date or timeline, provide directions for case 
management, and encourage use of bail. Critics contended that poor 
detainees were unable to make bail and would remain in detention. As of 
March 3, there were 1,281 functional fast-track courts across the 
country, which resolved at least 306,228 cases during 2010.
    On August 28, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Abdullah granted a 
general amnesty to more than 1, 200 persons arrested for throwing 
stones during 2010 protests.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice, although citizens reported that judicial 
corruption was widespread.
    The legal system was seriously overburdened and lacked modern case 
management systems, often delaying or denying justice. On August 1, the 
Ministry of Law and Justice announced that there were 4,217,903 cases 
pending in the country's high courts, and 27,953,070 cases pending in 
subordinate courts, as of September 2010. As of April 1, nearly one-
third of the sanctioned judges' positions in the country's 21 high 
courts were vacant. At the end of June, there were 57,179 cases pending 
in the Supreme Court. In 2010 one official estimated that the courts 
would require more than 320 years to clear the case backlog.
    Many citizens reported that they offered bribes to move cases 
through the court system. In 2010 the minister of law Veerappa Moily 
reported that the average time for a case to work its way through the 
court was 15 years. On July 2, Moily announced the launch of the 
Mission Mode Programme, a nationwide program to reduce the number of 
pending cases by 40 percent between July 1 and December 31.
    There were allegations of bias in cases stemming from the 2002 
Gujarat violence (see section 6, Other Societal Violence or 
Discrimination).

    Trial Procedures.--The criminal procedure code provides for public 
trials, except in proceedings that involve official secrets, trials in 
which someone might make statements prejudicial to the safety of the 
state, or under provisions of special security legislation. Defendants 
enjoy the presumption of innocence and can choose their counsel. The 
state provides free legal counsel to indigent defendants, but in 
practice access to competent counsel often was limited, especially for 
the poor, and the overburdened justice system usually resulted in major 
delays in court cases.
    The law allows defendants access to relevant government evidence in 
most civil and criminal cases; the government reserved the right to 
withhold information and did so in cases it considered sensitive. While 
defendants have the legal right to question witnesses against them, in 
practice underprivileged defendants sometimes did not enjoy this right. 
Courts must announce sentences publicly, and there are effective 
channels for appeal at most levels of the judicial system.
    Courts in Jammu and Kashmir often were reluctant to hear cases 
involving insurgent and terrorist crimes and failed to act 
expeditiously, if at all, on habeas corpus cases. According to a study 
by the South Asia Forum for Human Rights and the Centre for Law and 
Development, thousands of habeas corpus cases were pending in the 
courts throughout the Kashmir valley.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were reports of political 
prisoners and detainees in the country. NGOs reported that the Jammu 
and Kashmir government held political prisoners and also temporarily 
detained hundreds of persons characterized as terrorists, insurgents, 
and separatists. On August 24, the Jammu and Kashmir government 
announced the release of 12 political detainees.
    During the year the newly elected state government in West Bengal 
announced the names of 267 prisoners it proposed to grant general 
amnesty; of these, 83 persons, including some charged under the UAPA 
for their links with Maoists, were accorded the status of political 
prisoner. On July 21, Kolkata Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced 
the release of 52 political prisoners, including two Maoist leaders and 
several members of the Gorkha Liberation Organization. As of the end of 
September, only six persons had been released.
    Kartam Joga, an indigenous political activist, arrested in 
September 2010, remained imprisoned in Chhattisgarh on charges of 
collaborating with Maoists in ambushing and killing 76 CRPF personnel 
on April 6; murdering Budhram Sodi, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya 
Janata Party, in May; and killing the father of a special police 
officer attached to the CRPF in August 2010. Civil society activists 
claimed that Joga was arrested only because he was one of the 
petitioners who challenged the state-sponsored militia Salwa Judum 
operations sponsored by the Chhattisgarh government against Maoists, 
which the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional. At year's end 
Joga remained in prison.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Individuals or NGOs can 
file public interest litigation (PIL) petitions in any high court or 
directly in the Supreme Court to seek judicial redress of public 
injury. These injuries could have been a result of a breach of public 
duty by a government agent or as a result of a violation of a provision 
of the constitution. NGOs credited PIL petitions for making government 
officials accountable to civil society organizations in cases involving 
allegations of corruption and partiality.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits arbitrary interference, and the 
government generally respected these laws in practice; however, at 
times authorities infringed upon the right to privacy. Police are 
required to obtain warrants to conduct searches and seizures, except in 
cases in which such actions would cause undue delay. Police must 
justify warrantless searches in writing to the nearest magistrate with 
jurisdiction over the offense. In Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and 
Manipur, authorities have special powers to search and arrest without a 
warrant, and in terrorism cases under the UAPA, police are provided 
greater discretion to conduct search and seizure operations.
    The Information Technology Act allows police under certain 
circumstances to search premises and arrest individuals without a 
warrant. The act specifies a one-year sentence for persons who fail to 
provide information to the government on request and a five-year 
sentence for transmitting ``lascivious'' material.
    The Telegraph Act authorizes the surveillance of communications, 
including monitoring telephone conversations and intercepting personal 
mail in cases of public emergency or ``in the interest of the public 
safety or tranquility.'' The central government and state governments 
used these surveillance techniques during the year.
    Although the Telegraph Act gives police the power to intercept 
telephone conversations, that evidence is generally inadmissible in 
court. The UAPA allows use of evidence obtained from intercepted 
communications in terrorist cases.
    Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry devices, was 
warned in 2010 by the Department of Telecommunications and the 
country's security agencies that unlimited government access to 
BlackBerry e-mails, text messages, and other communications in real 
time was required and that failure to comply would result in a 
government ban of BlackBerry services. In January RIM announced that it 
had provided the government with access to basic BlackBerry Messenger 
and BlackBerry Internet Service e-mail.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
During the year the country's armed forces, individual states' security 
forces, and paramilitary forces continued to engage in armed conflict 
with insurgent groups in Jammu and Kashmir, several northeastern 
states, and the Naxalite belt in the central and eastern parts of the 
country. There was considerably less violence in Jammu and Kashmir than 
in previous years. Although army and central and state paramilitary 
forces remained deployed in some states of the northeast and in West 
Bengal's Naxalite belt, by year's end most of the northeast insurgent 
groups were involved in peace negotiations with the central government.
    All parties to the conflicts used excessive force on occasion, 
killing and injuring conflict participants and civilians. The central 
and state governments and the armed forces investigated complaints and 
punished human rights violations committed by their own forces, and 
they arrested and tried insurgents under terrorism-related legislation. 
Investigations and prosecutions into human rights violations, however, 
were slow and few in number. For example, NGOs in Manipur alleged that 
prosecutions were slow and followed the letter of the law rather than 
its spirit.
    On July 2, the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission 
submitted an interim report, entitled The Enquiry Report of Unmarked 
Graves in North Kashmir, to the state government. This report was 
leaked to the press in August and was not made public. According to the 
media, the report documented 2,156 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 
different sites in districts that had been at the heart of the 
insurgency in the 1990s. The report marked the first time that a state 
body confirmed allegations previously made by other human rights 
organizations against the security forces that some of the bodies in 
the graves were of civilians and not insurgents.
    In Naxalite (Maoist) affected districts, there were reports of 
excessive use of force by security agencies. For example, in the 
Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, Koya Commandos, an armed wing of 
`tribals''--an indigenous group operating with the state government's 
approval as SPOs--and CRPF personnel attacked three villages between 
March 11 and March 16 in search of Maoists. Civil society activists 
reported that three tribal members were killed and three women were 
sexually assaulted. The security forces also burned approximately 300 
tribal homes. Initially the Chhattisgarh government refused to order a 
probe into the incident and transferred a top government official in 
Dantewada who tried to send relief material to the villagers. Human 
rights activist Swami Agnivesh and journalists who attempted to visit 
the villages were attacked by SPOs. After severe criticism in the media 
and a protest by human rights activists, the government responded by 
transferring a police officer involved in the attack on Agnivesh and 
ordered a judicial probe. On July 5, unsatisfied by the judicial probe 
and affidavits filed by the Chhattisgarh government, the Supreme Court 
ordered the CBI to probe the incident. The CBI did not complete the 
probe by year's end.
    There was no evidence that insurgent forces made attempts to 
prevent or punish human rights violations by their members.
    There were no reports of deliberate attacks on government 
hospitals, primary health centers, workers, ambulances, or patients, 
nor were there restrictions on accessing medical facilities in the 
Naxal areas of Chattisgarh and Maharashtra. However, there were 
recorded attacks and explosions at schools, roads and railways tracks. 
There were no attacks on medical services or Below Poverty Line ration 
shops.

    Killings.--According to the SATP database, total terrorism/
insurgency related fatalities continued to decrease from the previous 
year. For example, as of December 18, 234 persons (78 civilians, 35 
security personnel, and 121 insurgents) were killed in the northeast, 
compared with 323 deaths in 2010. There were reports that government 
security forces committed extrajudicial killings of persons in custody, 
including staging encounter killings to cover up the deaths of captured 
militants. Human rights groups claimed that police refused to turn over 
bodies in cases of suspected staged encounters. In 2002 the Supreme 
Court ordered the central government and local authorities to conduct 
regular checks on police stations to monitor custodial violence, but 
government officials often failed to comply with the order. The armed 
forces are not required to report custodial deaths to the NHRC.
    On February 6, the army apologized to the citizens of Jammu and 
Kashmir for the fake encounter death of Manzoor Ahmad Magray. The army 
ordered a probe of its own, while Kashmir police registered a case 
against soldiers of the 4th Parachute Regiment. A magisterial inquiry 
also was ordered.
    The Institute for Conflict Management reported that as of September 
25, there were 153 fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir, including 98 
alleged terrorists, 23 members of the security forces, and 32 
civilians.
    The SATP database reported that during the year 480 persons--
including 182 militants, 99 security force personnel, and 199 
civilians--were killed as a result of Naxalite (Maoist) violence, a 
decrease from 2010, when 212 militants, 250 security force personnel, 
and 528 civilians were killed.
    Insurgents in the three conflict zones also committed killings 
during the year. In Chhattisgarh Maoists continued to attack security 
forces and civilians, killing 13 CRPF personnel in Dantewada District 
on June 10 and 12. On August 19, Maoists killed 11 policemen and one 
civilian in Bijapur District. In Assam there were six incidents during 
the year of bomb explosions, although no deaths were reported. One 
explosion, in Kamrup (Rural) District, engineered by the Adivasi 
People's Army, injured 100 persons.
    On January 7, in Netai Village, part of West Bengal's Maoist-
dominated West Midnapore District, nine persons died when armed 
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) workers fired at 2,000 
villagers gathering around the house of a CPI-M party leader. This was 
the bloodiest incident in West Bengal since March 2007, when police 
killed 14 villagers in Nandigram. The CBI investigated and charged 
several local and district CPI-M leaders. In response to allegations of 
Maoist involvement in the incident, the Maoist-backed People's 
Committee Against Police Atrocities spokesman argued that the villagers 
organized themselves to destroy the ``harmad'' (armed goons) camps, 
something the administration failed to do.
    On July 29, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Lashkar-e-Taiba 
(LeT) terrorist captured alive from the 2008 terrorist attacks in 
Mumbai, appealed his death penalty sentence in the Supreme Court. On 
February 21, the Mumbai High Court upheld the death penalty sentence 
given by the Mumbai fast-track court in May 2010. The Supreme Court did 
not pronounce a verdict on Kasab's appeal by year's end.
    On November 24, joint central and state police forces killed senior 
Maoist leader Koteswhar Rao, popularly called ``Kishenji,'' in a 
firefight. Maoist sympathizers and some human rights activists called 
for an investigation, alleging police shot Rao in cold blood and staged 
the ``encounter.'' On November 28, the NHRC announced it would 
investigate the killing.

    Abductions.--Human rights groups maintained that military, 
paramilitary, and insurgent forces abducted numerous persons in Jammu 
and Kashmir, the Northeastern States of Manipur and Jharkhand, and the 
Naxalite belt. Human rights activists feared that some of the 
unacknowledged prisoners were tortured and/or killed during detention.
    Estimates of the number of missing persons varied. Human rights 
organizations stated there were 8,000 to 10,000 persons missing but in 
custody in Jammu and Kashmir.
    During the year there were no verifiable, documented disappearance 
cases involving security forces or police.
    On August 6, the NHRC closed the case of Leimakhujam Kokulo Singh, 
who was arrested in August 2010 by personnel from the 12 Maratha Light 
Infantry. Kukulo was arrested, charged under the Unlawful Activities 
(Prevention) Act, and remained in jail for more than five months until 
he was released on bail in February.
    Naxalites abducted individuals during the year. For example, on 
February 16, a group of 50 Naxals in Orissa kidnapped Indian 
Administrative Services officer RV Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra 
Majhi. They were released on February 24, after the Orissa government 
accepted the Naxalites' demands.

    Abductions.--There were reports that government security forces 
tortured, raped, and mistreated insurgents and alleged terrorists in 
custody and injured demonstrators. All parties to the conflicts injured 
civilians on occasion.
    In August Prashant Rahi was released on bail after more than 3 and 
one-half years in Uttarakhand jails. Rahi, an engineering student at 
Banaras Hindu University, was accused of being a Naxal (Maoist). He 
alleged that he was stripped and beaten and had spent most of his time 
in solitary confinement while imprisoned.
    There was no report of significant violence against out-of-state 
migrants by the regional political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena 
(MNS). Investigations into the violent incidents perpetrated by MNS 
members in February 2009 and 2008 continued, and MNS activists remained 
out on bail.

    Child Soldiers.--There were no credible reports that any government 
security forces used child soldiers during the year; however, insurgent 
groups reportedly used child soldiers. For example, there were media 
reports of teenage Maoist rebels involved in a July 20 attack on 
Congress Party politician Nandkumar Patel in Raipur District, 
Chhattisgarh. On September 5, the Hindustan Times, a national 
newspaper, reported that teachers in government schools in Chhattisgarh 
complained that Maoists were pressuring them to ``inspire'' students 
with Maoist ideology so that they could be recruited into the 
children's division of Maoist rebels. The U.N. 2011 Children and Armed 
Conflict report noted the absence of reliable data, but the Indian 
National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, in a March 2010 
policy document, noted the recruitment and use of children by both 
Naxalites and Salwa Judum.

    Other Conflict-related Abuses.--The conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir, 
the Northeastern States, and the Naxalite belt have displaced an 
estimated 621,000 persons; most remained without permanent homes during 
the year.
    In the Kashmir Valley region, from 1990 onwards, Islamist militants 
threatened, abducted, and killed Pandits and demanded that they leave. 
Tens of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits fled to Jammu, Delhi, and other 
areas in the country because of conflict between the army and Muslim 
insurgents. According to the MHA's 2010-11 annual report, there were 
58,697 Kashmiri Pandit migrant families, of which 38,119 resided in 
Jammu, 19,338 in Delhi, and 1,240 in other states and territories. The 
governments of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Capital Territory of 
Delhi, and other states and territories provided aid to resident 
Kashmiri Pandit displaced families. The MHA annual report stated that 
4,621 applications from Kashmiri migrants were received by the Jammu 
and Kashmir state government, and the state government created 3,000 
posts for unemployed Kashmiri migrant youth.
    In the northeast violence between communal groups in the states of 
Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram displaced an unknown number of persons 
during the year, and more than 227,000 internally displaced persons 
(IDPs) remained from previous incidents of communal violence dating 
back to 1993. According to official Tripura State records, there were 
36,000 Bru (Reangs) IDPs from Mizoram (media reports put the figure at 
41,000). Phased repatriation of Brus began in November 2010 and after 
nine phases, 4,655 persons (890 families) had returned to Mizoram as of 
April. The Mizoram government administered a central government-funded 
program in which each repatriated family received 95,000 rupees 
($1,800) for house construction, farming assistance, and free rations 
for a period of 12 months.
    In central and eastern India, armed conflicts between Naxalite 
(Maoist) insurgents and government security forces over land and 
mineral resources in tribal forest areas continued, affecting182 of the 
country's 626 districts in 20 of its 28 states. Most of the conflict 
areas overlap with the Dandakaranya forest, which covers parts of West 
Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and 
Maharashtra. The forest also has large deposits of mineral resources, 
such as bauxite, iron ore, and uranium, and is home to millions of 
tribal persons. The Ministry of Rural Development in 2009 estimated 
that up to 400,000 persons had been displaced since the conflict began. 
During the year ``Operation Green Hunt,'' the government's initiative 
against Naxalites in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal, 
continued. Human rights advocates argued that the operation sought not 
only to suppress the Naxalites but also to force these tribal persons 
off their land, allowing for commercial development.
    IDP camps that opened in Chhattisgarh for displaced tribal persons 
caught in fighting between Naxalites and the Salwa Judum in 2006 
continued to operate. On July 5, the Supreme Court pronounced the 
state-sponsored militia Salwa Judum ``illegal and unconstitutional'' 
and directed the government of Chhattisgarh to disband the operation. 
In addition the court asked Chhattisgarh to immediately cease and 
desist from using as SPOs tribal persons who had been chosen from Salwa 
Judum camps against Naxalites in the state, and to recall all firearms 
issued to SPOs. The Chhattisgarh government was ordered to stop issuing 
funds in support of SPO recruitment. Following the July 5 judgment, the 
Chhattisgarh government claimed to have disbanded the Salwa Judum. By 
September approximately 50,000 tribal persons displaced by the Salwa 
Judum had returned to their villages. Approximately 15,000 tribal 
persons remained in 15 Salwa Judum camps.
    Some sources alleged that both Naxalites and Salwa Judum activists 
armed displaced children, but there was a lack of reliable data. Police 
acknowledged that some displaced minors may have been armed 
unintentionally as special police officers but stated that police 
dismissed minors upon learning their ages. NGOs alleged that hundreds 
of Chhattisgarh IDPs settled in forest reserve areas in Andhra Pradesh 
were denied basic assistance, including food, water, shelter, medical 
facilities, and sanitation. Little was known about the population or 
living conditions in the area.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and expression, 
but it does not explicitly mention freedom of the press. The government 
generally respected these rights in practice.

    Freedom of Speech.--Individuals generally could criticize the 
government publicly or privately without reprisal.
    During the year law enforcement authorities continued investigating 
writer and activist Arundhati Roy and four others for sedition 
regarding public comments they made about the status of Jammu and 
Kashmir. Authorities directed police to file a status report by October 
29. At year's end Roy was still facing possible arrest.

    Freedom of the Press.--The independent media were active and 
expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. Independent 
newspapers and magazines were regularly published and television 
channels broadcast investigative reports, including allegations of 
government wrongdoing. The media generally promoted human rights and 
criticized perceived government violations. AM radio broadcasting 
remained a government monopoly. Private FM radio station ownership was 
legal, but licenses authorized only entertainment and educational 
content. With the exception of radio, foreign media generally operated 
freely. Widely distributed private satellite television provided 
competition for Doordarshan, the government-owned television network. 
There were allegations that the government network manipulated the 
news. Some privately owned satellite channels promoted the platforms of 
political parties that their owners supported.
    On August 2, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting told 
parliament that 25 foreign channels, mostly from Pakistan, were banned 
for causing ``a security threat.'' On August 9, the ministry informed 
parliament that 732 televisions channels were permitted and that 368 
proposals for new channels were under review.

    Violence and Harassment.--There were reports that journalists 
experienced violence and harassment as a result of their reporting 
during the year; however, on August 3, the MHA informed parliament that 
the central government did not maintain a record of media personnel 
attacked in the country.
    On June 27, Uttar Pradesh police detained Shalabh Mani Tripathi, 
Uttar Pradesh bureau chief of IBN7, a Hindi news channel, with his 
assistant and allegedly beat him. The reporter claimed that he was 
attacked for reporting on the alleged murder of the chief medical 
officer of Uttar Pradesh, AK Shukla, who was found dead in the Lucknow 
Jail hospital. Tripathi alleged that the police accused his news 
channel of showing wrong and sensational news. Authorities registered a 
complaint and suspended the police officers.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--During the year state 
governments banned some books from being imported or sold in the state 
because they contained material that government censors deemed 
inflammatory and apt to provoke communal or religious tensions. For 
example, in March the Gujarat government banned the book Great Soul: 
Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India before the book was 
published in the country.
    The Press Council, an independent statutory body of journalists, 
publishers, academics, and politicians with a government-appointed 
chairman nominated by the chief justice, investigated what it 
considered irresponsible journalism and set a code of conduct for 
publishers. The code included injunctions against publishing stories 
that might incite caste or communal violence. The council publicly 
criticized those it believed broke the code.

    Internet Freedom.--There were some government restrictions on 
access to the Internet and reports that the government occasionally 
monitored users of digital media, such as chat rooms and person-to-
person communications. A 2008 amendment to the Information Technology 
Act reinforced the government's power to block Internet sites and 
content, and it criminalized the sending of messages the government 
deemed inflammatory or offensive. Both central and state governments 
have the power to issue directions for the interception, monitoring, or 
decryption of computer information. The Information Technology Ministry 
is responsible for enforcing the rules and regulations.
    Freedom House alleged that even though there was not substantial 
political censorship, authorities arrested bloggers and online users 
for posting comments that might spark communal violence. Google 
reported receiving 68 content removal requests from Indian courts, 
executive offices, and law enforcement agencies in the last six months 
of 2010, covering 358 items. The requests included removal of results 
from Web searches, social networking sites, and YouTube videos. Google 
categorized 255 of the items requested to be removed as government 
criticism.
    In a series of meetings beginning September 5, Telecommunications 
Minister Kapil Sibal requested social media companies to find a 
technical solution to prescreen user content prior to posting on the 
Internet, appearing to circumvent legal justification for removal of 
content. When the request reached the media on December 5, pressure 
from activists, social groups, and the public forced Sibal to modify 
his comments. On December 15, Sibal met with Internet and social media 
companies and explained the government wanted Internet platforms to 
create a set of guidelines to protect the sentiments of the people. A 
spokesman for the Congress party stated that the party did not support 
Internet censorship. On December 21, a lower-level criminal court in 
Delhi ordered 22 primarily social media Web sites to remove material 
deemed antireligious and antisocial, following a complaint by Mufti 
Aijaz Qasmi, a religious leader from Delhi. The Web sites were told to 
comply by February 6, 2012, or face contempt of court charges.
    In April the government enacted new regulations on Internet 
content, titled Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 
2011. These regulations prohibit many types of content, including 
``harmful'' and ``insulting'' content. Furthermore, third parties such 
as search engines can be held liable for the prohibited content. The 
Information Technology (Guidelines for Cyber Cafe) Rules, 2011, include 
requirements that cybercafes install surveillance cameras and provide 
the government with records of their users' browsing activity.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government continued to 
apply restrictions to the travel and activities of a few visiting 
experts and scholars. Academic guidelines issued by the Ministry of 
Human Resources Development (MHRD) in 2003 required all central 
universities to obtain MHRD permission before organizing ``all forms of 
foreign collaborations and other international academic exchange 
activities,'' including seminars, conferences, workshops, guest 
lectures, and research. Although the restrictions remained in force, in 
most cases the MHRD permitted international academic exchanges to take 
place after bureaucratic delays.
    State governments in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh 
banned the Bollywood film Aarakshan, a sociopolitical drama based on 
the policy of caste-based reservations in government jobs and 
educational institutions. The film Dam 999 was banned the day before 
its scheduled release by the Tamil Nadu government, after political 
leaders complained the film was based on the Mullaperiyar Dam dispute 
between Tamil Nadu and Kerala and could disturb the relations between 
the two states. On December 17, the government extended the ban for an 
additional six months, citing fears to public safety if the film were 
screened.

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

    Freedom of Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly. 
Authorities normally required permits and notification before parades 
or demonstrations, and local governments generally respected the right 
to protest peacefully, except in Jammu and Kashmir, where the local 
government sometimes denied permits to separatist parties for public 
gatherings, and security forces occasionally detained and assaulted 
separatists engaged in peaceful protest (see section 1.g.). During 
periods of civil tension, authorities used the criminal procedure code 
to ban public assemblies or impose a curfew.
    There were restrictions on the organization of international 
conferences. NGOs must secure approval from the MHA before organizing 
international conferences; permission typically was granted, but the 
process was lengthy. Human rights groups contended that this practice 
provided the government with political control over the work of NGOs 
and restricted their freedom of assembly and association.
    On August 9, the MHA informed parliament that 42 NGOs were banned 
from receiving foreign contributions due to complaints of corruption or 
irregularities in the use of funds received under the revised Foreign 
Contributions (Regulation) Act (FCRA). The government also placed 36 
NGOs in the prior permission category, which includes associations 
already registered with the central government; these NGOs will remain 
registered for the next five years. The accounts of 10 NGOs were frozen 
as their use of funds was investigated. Many NGOs had concerns that the 
ban on funding for organizations of a ``political nature'' made the 
FCRA vulnerable to abuse and corruption by government officials. The 
FCRA prohibits political organizations or associations/companies 
engaged in the production and broadcast of audio or audio visual news 
or current affairs programs from accepting foreign contributions.
    In New Delhi on June 5, yoga guru Baba Ramdev was arrested by the 
central government after violating government conditions for a large 
fast and protest rally he led in New Delhi against corruption and money 
hidden abroad. There were reports that police used force to evict 
protesters and clear the area. The NHRC requested a report on the 
midnight crackdown. A response from the government was pending at 
year's end.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for the freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice; however, there were restrictions on the organization of 
conferences funded with foreign funds, which must be approved by both 
MHA and the concerned ministry.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to some but not 
all IDPs, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless 
persons, and other persons of concern.

    In-country Movement.--In 2010 the government lifted the requirement 
for nationals and foreigners, except persons from Pakistan and China, 
to apply for a special permit to travel to Manipur, Mizoram, or 
Nagaland; however, it continued to require special permits to travel to 
Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
    Security forces often searched and questioned vehicle occupants at 
checkpoints, mostly in troubled areas in the Kashmir valley, before 
public events in New Delhi or after major terrorist attacks. The 
government maintained a 330-mile security fence along the Line of 
Control in Jammu and Kashmir, causing difficulties for residents 
because the fence cuts through some villages and agricultural lands.

    Foreign Travel.--The government legally may deny a passport to any 
applicant who it believes may engage in activities outside the country 
``prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.''
    Citizens from Jammu and Kashmir continued to face extended delays, 
often as long as two years, before the Ministry of External Affairs 
would issue or renew their passports. The government subjected 
applicants born in Jammu and Kashmir--including children born to 
military officers during their deployment in the state--to additional 
scrutiny, requests for bribes, and police clearances before issuing 
them passports.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--There were several groups of 
IDPs in various locations in the country, including those displaced by 
internal armed conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir, the Naxalite belt, and 
the Northeastern States (see section 1.g.), as well as in Gujarat. In 
September 2010 the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) estimated that 
regional conflicts had displaced at least 650,000 persons, and the 
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, operated by the NRC and the 
U.N. put the total number of IDPs at approximately 500,000. It was 
difficult to estimate the exact number of those displaced by conflict 
or violence because there was no central government agency responsible 
for monitoring the numbers of those displaced or returning, and 
humanitarian and human rights agencies had limited access to camps and 
affected regions. While those who resided in IDP camps were registered, 
an unknown number stayed outside of the camps.
    The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reported in 2010 that 
``many of India's IDPs had insufficient access to basic necessities of 
life such as food, clean water, shelter, and health care'' and that 
tribal IDPs in camps in Chhattisgarh ``faced the risk of attacks by 
government forces and government-allied militia on the one hand and 
Naxalite insurgents on the other.''
    The violence in Gujarat in 2002 displaced more than 250,000 
persons, many of them Muslims, from Gujarati villages and cities. 
According to the NRC, 19,000 displaced persons remained in camps as of 
September 2010, living in 86 relief colonies that lacked adequate 
infrastructure.
    The government has no national policy or legislation to address 
internal displacement resulting from armed conflict or from ethnic or 
communal violence, and the responsibility for protecting and assisting 
IDPs often was delegated to the state governments and district 
authorities. The lack of a central policy allowed states to remain 
unaccountable for internal displacement and claim that they were unable 
to protect and/or assist IDPs. When state- or district-level 
authorities provided assistance, it was often ad-hoc and varied. The 
government provided some assistance to IDPs and allowed them access to 
NGO and human rights organizations, but neither access nor assistance 
was standard for all IDPs or all situations. As in previous years, 
there were no reports that the government attacked or forcibly 
resettled IDPs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is not a party to the 1951 
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol, and 
there is no law or clear policy for refugees. The Foreigners Act 
(1946), the current law consulted by authorities with regard to 
refugees and asylum seekers, does not contain the term ``refugee''; the 
word ``foreigner'' is used, placing refugees, migrants, and tourists in 
the same category. Under this act physical presence in the country 
without valid travel or residential documents is a criminal offense, 
rendering refugees without appropriate documentation eligible to be 
deported; nevertheless, there were no reports that the government 
deported refugees during the year. 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.

    Access to Asylum.--Although the government lacks a legal framework 
for addressing refugees, it used an ad hoc approach and occasionally 
granted asylum and refugee status on humanitarian grounds in accordance 
with international law. However, this approach resulted in varying 
standards of protection for different refugee groups. The government 
recognizes refugees from Tibet and Sri Lanka and honors UNHCR decisions 
on refugee status determination for individuals from other countries. 
According to the UNHCR, in January there were 184,821 refugees in the 
country, including 68,606 Sri Lankan refugees in 114 refugee camps, 
109,015 Tibetan refugees, and more than 14,000 urban refugees from 
other countries living in New Delhi. Of the 12,800 asylum seekers and 
18,800 refugees registered with the UNHCR in New Delhi, the majority 
were from Burma and Afghanistan.
    The UNHCR had no formal status in the country, but the government 
permitted its staff access to refugees in urban centers and allowed it 
to maintain a local office in Tamil Nadu; however, the UNHCR was not 
permitted direct access to Sri Lankan refugee camps, Tibetan 
settlements, or asylum seekers in Mizoram. Authorities permitted asylum 
seekers from Mizoram to travel to New Delhi to meet UNHCR officials. In 
contrast, the government generally permitted NGOs, international 
humanitarian organizations, and foreign governments access to Sri 
Lankan refugee camps and Tibetan settlements, but it also generally 
denied them access to asylum-seeker populations in Mizoram.
    The central government and the state of Tamil Nadu jointly provided 
monthly cash payments and food subsidies to the Sri Lankan Tamil 
refugees in Tamil Nadu's 114 camps. According to NGOs, conditions in 
the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps in Tamil Nadu were generally 
acceptable, although much of the housing, as well as water and 
sanitation facilities, were of poor quality.

    Refugee Abuse.--The government of Tamil Nadu estimated that there 
were approximately 30,000 Sri Lankan refugees living outside of the 
camps throughout the state. According to the Catholic Relief Services 
and others, the problems of gender-based violence, including domestic 
violence, sexual abuse, and early marriage, existed within this group 
but at a far lower level than previous years, and the incidence of 
child marriage was nearly zero, after intervention programs run at the 
camps.
    One NGO also reported a number of cases of abuse of refugees and 
arbitrary detention. The organization noted that many urban refugees 
worked in the informal sector or in highly visible occupations, such as 
street vendors, where they were subject to police extortion, 
nonpayment, and exploitation.
    The UNHCR provided refugee status and assistance to approximately 
3,000 to 4,000 Burmese living in Delhi, primarily Chins, but did not 
have access to the larger population of ethnic Chins living in the 
northeastern states. The UNHCR estimated there were 5,600 refugees and 
4,000 asylum seekers from Burma registered, and tens of thousands more 
who were not registered in Delhi.

    Access to Basic Services.--NGOs estimated that there were between 
80,000 and 100,000 Burmese Chin asylum seekers in Mizoram. Chin 
refugees generally reported fair access to housing, education, and 
health services. However, because most Chin refugees lacked legal 
status and were unable to work legally, they had inadequate income to 
meet their basic needs and remained vulnerable to abuse, 
discrimination, and harassment.
    While the government respected the UNHCR's mandate of protection 
for UNHCR-recognized groups in New Delhi and provided residential 
permits to many of the UNHCR-recognized urban refugees, the government 
did not recognize these populations in New Delhi and other cities as 
``refugees,'' leaving them ineligible for certain rights and services 
and vulnerable to harassment and gender-based violence. They did not 
have the legal right to work and thus often worked for low wages in the 
informal market. Many refugees did not have sufficient access to 
education or basic services, although they received medical care in 
free clinics. There were reports that refugees without residency 
permits or other official documents were unable to access police or 
courts.

    Stateless Persons.--According to the Citizenship Act of 1955, 
citizenship is derived from one's parents; birth within the country 
does not guarantee citizenship. Any person born in the country on or 
after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987, obtained citizenship 
by birth. A person born in the country on or after July 1, 1987, 
obtained citizenship if either parent was a citizen at the time of the 
child's birth. Those born in the country on or after December 3, 2004, 
were considered citizens only if at least one parent was a citizen and 
the other was not an illegal migrant at the time of the child's birth. 
Persons born outside the country on or after December 10, 1992, were 
considered citizens if either parent was a citizen at the time of 
birth; however, those born outside the country since December 3, 2004, 
were not considered citizens unless their birth was registered at an 
Indian consulate within one year of the date of birth. Only in certain 
circumstances and with the permission of the central government was it 
possible to register after one year. Citizenship also can be obtained 
through registration under specific categories and via naturalization 
after residing in the country for 12 years.
    On January 20, Indian-born Namgyal Dolkar became the first Tibetan 
to get Indian citizenship after a Delhi High Court ruled in her favor. 
Dolkar was born in Himachal Pradesh in 1986 but was denied an Indian 
passport because her parents were Tibetans.
    According to the UNHCR and NGOs, the country has a large population 
of stateless persons, but there were no accurate estimates of the 
number. Stateless populations include Chakmas and Hajongs, who migrated 
to India from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and groups affected by 
the 1947 partition of the Indian Subcontinent into India and Pakistan.
    According to the UNHCR, 28,500 of the estimated 100,000 Tamil 
refugees living in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu had applied for Sri 
Lankan citizenship documents, but none had been issued by year's end.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--The 
country held a five-phase national election in April and May 2009 that 
included 714 million eligible voters. National and local security 
forces helped to ensure a relatively smooth election, although 65 
persons were killed in voting-related violence. The Congress-led United 
Progress Alliance government (a coalition of parties), headed by Prime 
Minister Manmohan Singh, continued in power for a second term.
    The country held state assembly elections in four states (Bihar, 
Kerala, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu) and one Union Territory (Puducherry) 
from April to May in which 140 million eligible voters participated. 
The elections were largely peaceful and free of major violence.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The law requires one-third 
of the seats in local bodies (panchayats and municipal councils) to be 
reserved for women. In addition, the country has no cultural or 
traditional practices that prevented women from participating in 
political life on the same basis as men, and women held many high-level 
political offices. Women participated in politics throughout the 
country at all levels.
    The constitution stipulates that to protect historically 
marginalized groups and to ensure representation in the lower house of 
parliament, each state must reserve seats for scheduled castes and 
scheduled tribes in proportion to their population in the state. Only 
candidates belonging to these groups can contest elections in reserved 
constituencies. In the 2009 elections, 84 seats for candidates from 
scheduled castes and 47 seats from scheduled tribes were reserved, 
representing 24 percent of the total seats in the lower house.
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 continued at a significant level. On December 14, parliament 
was informed the CBI had registered and was investigating 517 cases of 
alleged corruption between January and October. The Central Vigilance 
Commission reported 39,123 officers were fined between 2008 and 2010 
for being involved in corrupt practices. A 2010 Transparency 
International report noted that 54 percent of the population admitted 
to bribing authorities, with lower-income earners reporting paying more 
bribes. Bribes typically were paid to speed up procedures, such as 
police protection, school admission, water supply, or government 
assistance. Half of the bribes were paid for the benefit of registering 
for government assistance. The report also stated that the population 
considered political parties to be the most corrupt institution in the 
country. Civil society organizations drew public attention to 
corruption throughout the year, including through new Web sites such as 
www.ipaidabribe.com, which featured individual stories of corruption.
    Social activist Anna Hazare led protests and fasted against 
corruption in August, fighting for the introduction of a bill in 
parliament. His anticorruption movement had less traction in the east 
and Northeastern States compared with the north and the western parts 
of the country. Hazare ended his fast on August 28 after parliament 
agreed to draft new antigraft legislation.
    On the occasion of the country's ratification of the U.N. 
Convention Against Corruption in May, Prime Minister Singh noted his 
``government's commitment to fight corruption and to undertake 
vigorously administrative and legal reforms to enable our law-
enforcement agencies to recover the illicit assets stolen by corrupt 
practices.''
    Both the Election Commission and the Supreme Court upheld mandatory 
disclosure of criminal and financial records for election candidates. 
Election campaigns for parliament and state legislatures often were 
funded with unreported money, and the government typically failed to 
control the practice. During the year the Election Commission of India 
(ECI) worked with NGOs and print and television media in Tamil Nadu in 
an attempt control the practice and prevent political parties from 
using undocumented cash to influence voters. After West Bengal's six-
phase elections, there was consensus among political parties, the 
media, and observers that the efforts of the ECI led to an election 
process that was fair and largely free of prejudice and intimidation. 
The ECI also enforced a more accurate description of the candidates' 
assets and liabilities.
    The law mandates asset declarations for all Indian Administrative 
Services officers. On March 2, the Bihar government announced that 
70,000 officials who had not declared their assets would be liable to 
lose one month's salary as a penalty. As a result nearly 85 percent of 
the officials submitted their records.
    The government designated chief vigilance officers to address 
public complaints and grievances in the banking, insurance, and other 
sectors that were serviced by private, public, and corporate bodies. In 
addition several states established Lokpal or Lokayukta offices, which 
serve as ombudsmen with the authority to investigate allegations of 
corruption and poor administration.
    The Central Vigilance Commission operated a toll-free hotline so 
citizens across the country could lodge complaints against corrupt 
government officials, as well as a Web portal, VIGEYE, which served as 
a platform to share information between the public government agencies 
and the vigilance commission. Registered users could upload video or 
audio of acts of corruption. On March 10, the Ministry of Personnel, 
Public Grievances, and Pensions informed parliament that 30 CBI 
officials had been prosecuted on charges of corruption from 2008 to 
January 2010. On August 10, the ministry stated there were 151 requests 
for information involving 62 cases of prosecution of public servants 
pending as of June.
    During the year A. Raja, the former telecommunications minister, 
and Kanimozhi, a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament), 
remained imprisoned pending trial in a scandal over an allegedly rigged 
sale of the ``2G'' mobile phone spectrum in January 2008. The two were 
accused of taking bribes and causing a theoretical loss to the national 
treasury of up to 1.9 trillion rupees ($36 billion). Another former 
telecommunications minister, Dayanidhi Maran, stepped down from his 
cabinet post in July in the face of an investigation by the central 
government into charges that he manipulated mobile phone licenses in a 
separate, earlier incident.
    On September 26, newspapers reported that Road Transport Office 
(RTO) staffers killed Anant Lal Gupta, a truck driver in Uttar Pradesh, 
after he refused to pay a bribe during a vehicle-checking safety drive. 
The RTO constables allegedly demanded 1,000 rupees ($19), but the 
victim was willing to pay only 500 rupees ($9.50). A First Incident 
Report (FIR) was filed. The accused were suspended and subsequently 
absconded. At year's end, the police had not traced them.
    In September parliament initiated impeachment proceedings against 
justice Soumitra Sen of the Kolkata High Court, who resigned before the 
lower house was to vote. After his resignation, parliament dropped the 
impeachment charges. Impeachment proceedings resulted from an inquiry 
that declared him guilty of financial misconduct. Sen had mixed funds 
entrusted to him in his capacity as a court-appointed receiver with his 
own funds, failed to prepare and file accounts as required, and repaid 
the money with interest only after he was directed to do so by a judge 
of the Kolkata High Court
    In July Karnataka's then chief minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, was 
forced to resign following his indictment in an illegal mining 
investigation by Karnataka's Lokayukta. A number of corruption charges 
were pending against Yeddyurappa, who also was implicated in several 
land allocation scandals during his tenure as chief minister. 
Established in 1984 to improve the standards of public administration 
by investigating corruption, Karnataka's Lokayukta is generally 
considered one of the strongest in the country.
    Critics claimed that many government-run programs to alleviate 
poverty and provide employment suffered from poor implementation and 
corruption. For example, on June 14, newspapers reported on a Mahatma 
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) dam-building 
scam in Dantewada. The NREGA program provided for 100 days of work for 
rural households. The newspaper reported that 122 persons, several of 
whom were dead, were listed as working in the program; the executive 
engineer of the project disappeared shortly after the investigation 
began. Senior officials estimated that nearly 40 to 50 percent of 
government expenditures in Dantewada were lost to corruption.
    On April 25, authorities arrested Suresh Kalmadi, the former chief 
of the organizing committee of the Commonwealth Games, on charges of 
cheating, conspiracy, and corruption in connection with the awarding of 
several contracts, after the CBI questioned him for a fourth time. The 
Commonwealth Games were plagued by allegations of financial 
mismanagement, work safety violations, construction accidents, and 
massive delays. At year's end the CBI probe continued, and Kalmadi 
remained in Tihar Central Jail.
    On March 3, unidentified men beat to death Niyamat Ansari, who was 
working for the implementation of the NREGA, in Lathehar District, 
Jharkhand. Ansari exposed a case of embezzlement of NREGA funds on 
February 20 and lodged a FIR against the block development officer. On 
August 4, the Ministry of Rural Development informed parliament that as 
of July 7, 2,250 complaints regarding corruption in the NREGA had been 
filed.
    On January 29, the CBI registered a criminal case against 14 
persons, including former chief minister Ashok Chavan, in connection 
with the Adarsh housing scam in Maharashtra. The scam, which became 
public in November 2010, involved Congress Party politicians, 
bureaucrats, and military officers who allegedly purchased apartments 
reserved for veterans and war widows. The CBI's failure to file 
appropriate paperwork resulted in bail being granted to four persons. 
On August 2, the Mumbai High Court chided the CBI for the slow pace of 
its investigation. By year's end the CBI had questioned more than 100 
persons, including former Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar 
Shinde.
    The law provides for public access to information. Although the 
government was often slow in response to requests, local community 
members as well as noncitizens could access the Right to Information 
(RTI) online portal to get information on personal documentation, city 
plans, and other public records. RTI information can be requested only 
by citizens. The government charged a fee of 10 rupees ($0.20) at the 
time of the request. If a request is denied, one can appeal to the 
Central Information Commission and then to the high court. There were 
concerns that public authorities remained unable to implement the RTI 
Act adequately, hindering the supply of information, and that rural 
inhabitants were not always aware of their rights under the act. Many 
states, including Jammu and Kashmir, also have right-to-information 
laws. In 2010-11 the Central Information Commission reported receiving 
28,875 complaints and appeals in regard to information obtained under 
the RTI. Of these, 24,071were resolved.
    On March 1, the MHA sent an advisory to all state governments and 
union territories, informing them to take measures to ensure the safety 
of RTI activists. On March 10, the Ministry of Personnel, Public 
Grievances, and Pensions informed parliament that seven RTI activists 
allegedly had been killed since 2009. This did not include the August 
16 shooting death of Shehla Masood, an active RTI campaigner on 
wildlife and bureaucracy in Bhopal.
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; however, in a few 
circumstances groups faced restrictions. Government officials were 
somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. The country hosts 
more than three million NGOs that advocate for social justice, 
sustainable development, and human rights. The government generally met 
with domestic NGOs, responded to their inquiries, and took action in 
response to their reports or recommendations. The NHRC worked 
cooperatively with numerous NGOs, and NGOs were represented on several 
NHRC committees. However, while human rights monitors in Jammu and 
Kashmir were able to document human rights violations, security forces, 
counterinsurgents, and police at times restrained or harassed them.
    Some international human rights NGOs faced difficulties obtaining 
visas for their representatives, and occasional official harassment and 
restrictions limited the public distribution of materials.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government permitted 
representatives of the U.N. and other international humanitarian 
organizations, such as the ICRC, access to the Northeastern States and 
Naxalite-controlled areas. On January 20, the U.N. special rapporteur 
on human rights visited Kolkata, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, and Odisha 
(formerly Orissa) to assess the human rights situation in each area. 
This was the first official U.N. visit to Jammu and Kashmir in 20 
years.
    The ICRC continued to work with the Indian Red Cross in Nagaland, 
Chhattisgarh, and Assam, where teams provided household items, water, 
and sanitation facilities for persons displaced by ethnic violence.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The NHRC is an independent and 
impartial investigatory and advisory body. It has a mandate to address 
public servants' violations of human rights or negligence in the 
prevention of violations, intervene in judicial proceedings involving 
allegations of human rights violations, and review any factors 
(including acts of terrorism) that infringe on human rights. The NHRC 
has the ability to summon and enforce witness attendance, produce 
documentation, and requisition public records. The NHRC also recommends 
appropriate remedies for alleged wrongs by offering compensation to the 
families of individuals killed or harmed extrajudicially by government 
personnel; however, it cannot force the implementation of its 
recommendations. The NHRC is not empowered to address allegations 
leveled against military and paramilitary personnel.
    On April 26, the NHRC announced it had settled 88,788 cases during 
2010-11, of which 574 cases received monetary relief. In 2009-10 the 
commission handled 86,050 cases, of which 398 cases received monetary 
relief.
    The government-appointed NHRC generally acted independently, but 
some human rights groups claimed that institutional and legal 
weaknesses hampered it. The president appoints members after 
recommendations from parliament. While the NHRC has the authority to 
initiate investigations, inquire into complaints, or request that a 
state government submit a report--a request that state governments 
often ignored--it does not have the statutory power to enforce 
requests, initiate proceedings for prosecution, or grant interim 
compensation, nor could it inquire independently into human rights 
violations by the armed forces. Human rights NGOs criticized the NHRC's 
financial dependence on the government and its failure to investigate 
abuses more than one year old. They claimed that the NHRC did not 
register all complaints, dismissed cases on frivolous grounds, failed 
to investigate cases thoroughly, and did not adequately protect 
complainants.
    Twenty states also have human rights commissions, which hold 
independent investigations but work under the NHRC. In six states the 
position of chairperson was vacant. Human rights groups alleged that 
state human rights commissions were limited by local politics and less 
likely to offer fair judgments than the NHRC. For example, the Jammu 
and Kashmir commission did not have the authority to investigate 
alleged human rights violations committed by members of paramilitary 
security forces.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, 
disability, language, religion, place of birth, or social status, and 
the government worked with varying degrees of success to enforce these 
provisions.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape. Punishment ranged from prison terms as long as 
one year, a fine of 19,800 rupees ($375), or both. Official statistics 
pointed to rape as the fastest growing crime, even when compared to 
murder, robbery, and kidnapping. The NCRB stated that a woman is raped 
in the country every 30 minutes. The NCRB reported 22,172 cases of rape 
across the country in 2010. Law enforcement and legal avenues for rape 
victims were inadequate, overburdened, and unable to address the issue 
effectively.
    Women in conflict situations, such as in Jammu and Kashmir, and 
vulnerable women, including lower-caste or tribal women, were often 
victims of rape. For example, human rights activists in Chhattisgarh 
alleged that on July 6, police in the Maoist-affected Surguja district 
raped and killed Meena Khalkho, a 16-year-old member of the Uraon 
tribe. The police claimed that Khalkho was a Maoist killed in an 
encounter near her village, a claim questioned by her family and 
several other villagers. A postmortem report revealed sexual assault, 
and Khalkho's family alleged that police raped and killed her. The 
police tried to dismiss the allegation of rape by labeling Khalkho as a 
``slut and habitual sexual offender.'' After severe media criticism and 
protests by villagers, the Chhattisgarh government ordered two parallel 
probes by a judicial magistrate and the state's CID. The probes by the 
judicial magistrate and the CID continued at year's end.
    On November 26, a 30-year-old call center employee walking home 
from work allegedly was abducted from the Dhaula Kuan area of Delhi, 
gang-raped in a moving car, and dumped in a different part of the city. 
The victim was able to identify two persons, Shamshad and Osman, who 
were put in judicial custody. At year's end five persons had been 
arrested. The victim's name was not released to the media.
    The law provides for protection from all forms of abuse against 
women in the home, including physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, or 
economic abuse, as well as threat of abuse; however, domestic abuse 
remained a serious problem. Lack of law enforcement safeguards and 
pervasive corruption limited the effectiveness of the law. The law 
recognizes the right of a woman to reside in a shared household with 
her spouse or partner while the dispute continues, although a woman can 
be provided with alternative accommodations at the partner's expense. 
The law also provides women with the right to police assistance, legal 
aid, shelter, and access to medical care.
    While the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has issued 
guidelines for the establishment of these social services, in practice 
lack of funding, personnel, and proper training resulted in limited 
services, primarily available in metropolitan areas.
    Domestic violence continued to be a problem, and the National 
Family Health Survey revealed that more than 50 percent of women 
reported experiencing some form of violence in their home. The NCRB 
reported that in 2010 there were 94,041 cases reported of ``cruelty by 
husband and relatives.'' The MWCD reported that there were 6,483 
protection officers appointed across the country.
    On August 2, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed parliament that 
according to the NHRC, 23,608 complaints of crimes against women were 
received between April 2007 and March 1, 2011. Of these, 23,254 cases 
had been resolved and 354 cases were pending for consideration. Delhi 
accounted for 15.4 percent of total crimes with 3,701 cases.
    Crimes against women were common. The NCRB estimated that there 
were 213,585 crimes against women during 2010, compared with 203,804 in 
2009, and noted that underreporting of such crimes was likely. These 
crimes included kidnapping and abduction, molestation, sexual 
harassment, physical and mental abuse, and trafficking. The NCRB 
estimated the conviction rate for crimes against women was 28 percent. 
Delhi recorded the highest incidence of crime against women with 3,886 
cases, followed by Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh with 1,570.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--The law forbids the provision or 
acceptance of a dowry, but families continued to offer and accept 
dowries, and dowry disputes remained a serious problem. The law also 
bans harassment in the form of dowry demands and empowers magistrates 
to issue protection orders. Deaths associated with the nonpayment of 
dowries rose in the past several years. According to the NCRB, in 2010 
there were 8,391 reported dowry deaths. Delhi had the highest incidence 
of dowry deaths with 112, followed by 92 deaths in Kanpur, Uttar 
Pradesh. However, since many cases were not reported and not properly 
monitored, statistics were not complete. On August 4, the MWCD told 
parliament that 5,650 cases of dowry were reported in 2009. The NCRB 
reported 2,917 criminal cases related to dowries, with a conviction 
rate of 21 percent.
    Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, and several other states had a chief 
dowry prevention officer, although it was unclear whether these 
officers were effective. In 2010 Madhya Pradesh required all state 
government employees to produce sworn affidavits that no dowry was 
exchanged, however, at year's end no updates were available on the 
implementation of this provision. In November 2010 the Supreme Court 
made it mandatory for all trial courts across the country to add the 
charge of murder against persons accused in dowry death cases.
    So-called honor killings continued to be a problem, especially in 
Punjab and Haryana, where as many as 10 percent of all killings were 
honor killings. In some cases the killings were the result of 
extrajudicial decisions made by traditional community elders such as 
``khap panchayats,'' unelected village assemblies that have no legal 
authority. In an April decision, the Supreme Court of India declared 
the decree or encouragement by khap panchayats to commit honor killings 
illegal. Statistics for honor killings were difficult to verify, since 
many such killings were unreported or were passed off as suicide or 
natural deaths by the family members involved. NGOs estimated that at 
least 900 such murders occurred every year in Haryana, Punjab, and 
Uttar Pradesh alone. On April 20, the Supreme Court directed all states 
to root out honor killings, warning them to punish officials who fail 
to act against offenders; on May 11, the court expressed its support 
for the death penalty in honor-killing convictions. The most common 
justification for the killings offered by those accused or by their 
relatives was that the victim married against her family's wishes.
    On May 13, relatives of newlywed bride Gurleen Kaur killed Kaur and 
her mother-in-law and injured the groom, reportedly because the couple 
married against the wishes of the bride's family. Police registered 
cases against eight persons by year's end. The incident happened 
despite the fact that after the marriage the couple was under the 
protection of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
    On September 8, a Delhi court sentenced five people to death, 
holding them guilty of murder and fining each 20,000 rupees ($380) in a 
2008 honor killing case. The bride's brothers and close family members 
killed the groom's brother because the bride and groom were from 
different religious groups.
    Other forms of societal violence targeting women continued to 
occur. On May 20, 11 persons invaded a house in Raipur District, 
Chhattisgarh, and assaulted a woman, blinding her with scissors, for 
witchcraft. Her husband also was blinded when he came to her aid. 
Authorities arrested 10 suspects. Chhattisgarh passed a Witchcraft 
(Prevention) Act in 2005 to prevent violence against women accused of 
being ``witches,'' but the law had minimal impact in tribal areas.

    Sexual Harassment.--On August 12, the MWCD reported to parliament 
that 15,700 complaints of harassment and offenses against women had 
been registered with the National Commission for Women (NWC) during 
2010.
    There are no legislative enactments or statutory policies against 
sexual harassment and abuse at workplaces; all charges of sexual 
harassment used the guidelines set forth in a 1997 judgment. The 
guidelines are treated as law declared by the Supreme Court and 
enforceable. The law does not provide for penalties; it outlines what 
conduct is considered harassment and makes it incumbent on the employer 
to include a prohibition of sexual harassment in employees' rules of 
conduct and discipline. All state departments and institutions with 
more than 50 employees are required to have committees to deal with 
matters of sexual harassment.
    According to the NCRB, 11,009 cases of sexual harassment were 
reported in 2009, the latest year for which figures were released. The 
NWC reported 15,566 complaints of sexual harassment during the same 
time period; however, the NWC does not have enforcement authority. 
According to a joint survey released on February 13 by the U.N. 
Development Fund for Women and the NGO Jagori, approximately 66 percent 
of women in Delhi had been sexually harassed between two and five times 
in 2010. The survey reported that more than 40 percent of incidents of 
harassment and molestation occurred in broad daylight, and nearly 45 
percent of women believed that ``the police will do nothing'' if 
approached. A November 2010 survey of female employees in the 
information technology and outsourcing industry found that 88 percent 
of them had faced some form of sexual harassment at work. In two-thirds 
of the incidents, the perpetrator was a superior.

    Sex Tourism.--A 2009 nationwide study commissioned by the MWCD and 
completed by the NGO Gram Niyojan Kendra studied 68 tourist 
destinations. It found that sex tourism occurred at sightseeing 
attractions in major cities and also that pilgrimage centers were a 
growing hub of sex tourism. The report stated that domestic tourists 
were ``overwhelmingly involved'' in sex with commercial sex workers and 
pointed to the lack of legislation at the state level or effective 
measures to control sex offenders from revisiting sites. In response to 
the study, the Union Minister for Tourism released a code of conduct 
for ``safe and honorable tourism'' in July 2010. In 2011 the Ministry 
of Tourism released new guidelines for the selection and granting of 
licenses to regional tour guides.

    Reproductive Rights.--The government permits health clinics and 
local health NGOs to operate freely in disseminating information about 
family planning. There are no restrictions on the right to access 
contraceptives. Laws favoring families that have no more than two 
children remained in place in seven states, but authorities seldom 
enforced them. The laws provide reservations for government jobs and 
subsidies to those who have no more than two children and reduced 
subsidies and access to health care for those who have more than two. 
National health officials noted that the central government did not 
have authority to regulate state decisions on population issues.
    According to the 2011 U.N. Population Fund State of World 
Population Report, the maternal mortality ratio was 230 deaths per 
100,000 live births in 2008. The major factors influencing the high 
maternal mortality rate were lack of adequate nutrition, medical care, 
and sanitary facilities. The World Bank estimated that 75 percent of 
women received some prenatal care during the year, and the World Health 
Organization (WHO) estimated 47 percent of births were attended by 
skilled help, 75 percent of women made at least one prenatal visit, and 
50 percent made at least four prenatal visits.
    The government and NGOs started numerous initiatives to improve 
women and children's health, including providing financial incentives 
for women willing to give birth in a hospital, improving midwife 
training, and increasing prenatal care via text messages, which provide 
information on vaccinations, exercise, diet, medication, and how to 
deal with emergencies that arrive during pregnancy.
    The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), which formulates and 
implements programs for the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS, 
reported that women accounted for about one million of the estimated 
2.5 million citizens with HIV/AIDS. Infection rates for women were 
highest in urban communities, and care was least available in rural 
areas. Traditional gender norms, such as early marriage, limited access 
to information and education, and poor access to health services 
continued to leave women especially vulnerable to infection. NACO 
actively worked with NGOs to train women's HIV/AIDS self-help groups.

    Discrimination.--The law prohibits discrimination in the workplace; 
in practice employers paid women less than men for the same job, 
discriminated against women in employment and credit applications, and 
promoted women less frequently than men.
    In August 2010 the Supreme Court ordered the country's armed forces 
to grant permanent commissions to women in noncombat roles. Previously 
women in the armed forces were granted short-term commissions and then 
forced to retire after a specified time. On June 16, the air force 
announced a decision to grant permanent commissions to 22 female 
officers. Two women still were serving, while 20 had retired after 
serving for 14 years as short-service commission officers. In April 
newspapers reported that the army had given permanent commissions to 18 
female officers in its Education Corps.
    Many tribal land systems, notably in Bihar, denied tribal women the 
right to own land. Sharia (Islamic law) determines land inheritance for 
Muslim women, allotting them less than men. Other laws relating to the 
ownership of assets and land accorded women little control over land 
use, retention, or sale. Several exceptions existed, such as in Kerala, 
Ladakh, Meghalaya, and Himachal Pradesh, where women traditionally 
controlled family property and enjoyed full inheritance rights.
    According to the 2011 national census, the national average male-
female sex ratio at birth was 109.4 to 100. The Pre-Natal Diagnostic 
Technical Act prohibits prenatal sex selection, but the law was rarely 
enforced. Numerous NGOs throughout the country and some states have 
attempted to increase awareness about the problem of prenatal sex 
selection, promote girl children, and prevent female infanticide and 
abandonment.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--The law establishes state 
governments' procedures for birth registration. According to UNICEF 
approximately 58 percent of national births were registered each year, 
and the registration rate varied substantially across the states. 
Children lacking citizenship or registration may not be able to access 
public services, enroll in school, or obtain identification documents 
later in life (see also section 2.d., Stateless Persons).

    Education.--The constitution provides free education for children 
from six to 14 years of age, but the government did not enforce this 
provision. On January 8, the Annual Survey of Education Report, 
released by the NGO Pratham, revealed that 96.5 percent of children 
between ages 6 and 14 were enrolled in schools in 2010, and 94.1 
percent of eligible girls were enrolled. The survey noted that the 
quality of education remained a matter of concern.
    On April 15, a report by the MHRD stated that 124,022 children 
between six and 14 years of age were out of school in Delhi, one year 
after the Right to Free and Compulsory Education was passed. The act 
makes education a fundamental right for children and enables every 
child between the ages of six and 14 years to demand free elementary 
education. However, there were numerous reports of schools refusing 
admission or denying entry to underprivileged students. Across the 
country more than eight million children between six and 14 years of 
age remained out of school. On August 5, the MHRD informed parliament 
that more than 20 percent of children dropped out of school between 
grades one and six in 2008-09.
    In its 2011 State of The World's Children report, UNICEF stated 
that school attendance among girls dropped from 86 per cent at the 
primary school level to 59 percent at the secondary school level. The 
reasons for this included family pressure, lack of secondary schools in 
rural areas, and poor quality of school facilities, including a lack of 
dedicated sanitation facilities for girls. In Delhi drinking water 
facilities were present at 100 percent of schools, but there were 
reports of children being asked to carry water from home because the 
water was contaminated and the supply irregular.

    Child Abuse.--The law provides for protection against various forms 
of child abuse, but child abuse remained common, including in school 
and institutional settings, and the government failed to adequately 
educate the public against child abuse or enforce the law. Although 
corporal punishment is banned, teachers often used it. According to the 
MHA Annual Report 2010-11, there were 24,201 cases of crime reported 
against children in 2009, an increase from 22,500 cases in 2008.
    In 2010 city police in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, conducted a training 
program for police personnel to deal with child abuse cases and 
complaints. Subsequently, police formed nine child abuse investigation 
teams to investigate complaints of child abuse exclusively.
    A 2007 study by the MWCD stated that approximately 69 percent of 
children reported having been physically abused, 65 percent of 
schoolchildren reported receiving corporal punishment at school, 53 
percent of children reported sexual abuse, 48 percent of children 
reported emotional abuse, and 71 percent of female children reported 
neglect.
    On February 1, a civil court upheld the order of the metropolitan 
court reframing the charges against the principal and three teachers of 
Kolkata's La Martiniere School for the suicide abetment of eighth-grade 
student Rouvanjit Rawla, who hanged himself in 2009 after he was caned. 
At the end of 2010, the four were free on bail but faced charges of 
voluntarily causing hurt, punishment without grave provocation, and 
negligence of duty. At year's end there was no update on when the case 
would be heard in court.
    During the year corporal punishment in city schools continued 
despite a judicial ban issued during the year. A FIR was pending in the 
2009 death of student Shanno Khan, who died after her teacher at the 
Municipal Corporation of Delhi Girls Primary School in New Delhi forced 
her to stand in the sun for more than one hour for failing to properly 
recite the alphabet. The municipal commissioner ordered an inquiry and 
temporarily suspended the principal and teacher. The postmortem report 
attributed Shanno's death to a bout of epilepsy; her parents alleged 
she was a victim or corporal punishment. At year's end the Delhi High 
Court had not ruled on the case against her former teacher.
    The government sponsored a toll-free 24-hour helpline for children 
in distress in 72 cities. A network of NGOs staffed the ``Childline 
1098 Service'' number, accessible by either a child or an adult to 
request immediate assistance, including medical care, shelter, 
restoration, rescue, sponsorship, and counseling.

    Child Marriage.--The law sets the legal age of marriage for women 
at 18 and men at 21. The law prohibits child marriage in any form and 
empowers courts to annul such marriages. It also sets penalties for 
persons who perform, arrange, or participate in such marriages. 
However, in practice the law was not enforced. The law does not 
characterize a marriage between a girl below age 18 and a boy below age 
21 as ``illegal'' but recognizes such unions as void and voidable, 
providing grounds for such unions to be challenged in court.
    UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2011 report stated that 43 
percent of women were married before age 18. In comparison, men got 
married at a median age of 23.4 years. In February 2010 the Health and 
Family Welfare Ministry reported that the national average age of 
marriage for women was 20.6 years in 2008, up from 18.3 years in 2001. 
According to the UNICEF report, women married as children contributed 
to the country's high infant and maternal mortality, as early 
motherhood resulted in the death of 6,000 adolescent mothers each year.
    The law establishes a full-time child marriage prohibition officer 
in every state to prevent and police child marriage. These individuals 
have the power to intervene when a child marriage is taking place, 
document violations of the law, and remove children from dangerous 
situations in order to deliver them to local child protection 
authorities.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--There is no national law addressing 
the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) and cutting. According 
to human rights groups, between 70 and 90 percent of Bohra Muslims 
practiced various forms of FGM. The states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, 
Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan have a Bohra population estimated at one 
million. Late in the year, several Bohra women began an online and 
media campaign against FGM among the Bohra community.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law prohibits child 
pornography and states that the legal age of consent is 18. By law it 
is illegal to procure a minor by any means and induce a minor into 
prostitution or any form of ``illicit sexual intercourse,'' or to sell 
or buy a minor for the purposes of prostitution. Violators are subject 
to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine. Nevertheless, according to UNICEF 
approximately 1.2 million children were prostituted and enslaved 
throughout the country, and the country was a destination for child sex 
tourism. To prevent child sex tourism, the Ministry of Tourism adopted 
the code of conduct for safe tourism. The guide was posted later on the 
ministry's Web site and informed readers that human trafficking and 
sexual relationships with children are illegal.

    Child Soldiers.--No information was available on how many persons 
under the age of 18 were serving in the armed forces. There were 
allegations that government-supported anti-Naxalite village defense 
forces recruited children. Armed groups, including Naxalites and groups 
in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast States, were reported to be 
using children (see section 1.g.).

    Displaced Children.--Displaced children, including refugees, IDPs, 
and street children, faced limits on access to government services (see 
also section 2.d.) and were often unable to obtain medical care, 
education, proper nutrition, or shelter. Such children were often 
physically and sexually abused and forced to work in hazardous jobs, 
such as rag picking (sorting garbage for recyclables). A 2011 study by 
Save the Children found 50,923 children below age 18 on Delhi's 
streets. Twenty percent of them were rag pickers, 15.2 percent were 
street vendors, 15 percent were beggars, 12 percent worked in roadside 
or repair shops, 6.2 percent worked at roadside restaurants or hotels, 
and 1.2 percent worked in manufacturing.

    Institutionalized Children.--Weak enforcement of laws and lack of 
safeguards encouraged an atmosphere of impunity in group homes and 
orphanages. NGOs alleged that many such homes for children operated 
without government oversight or approval. The 2007 MWCD study stated 
that approximately 56 percent of institutionalized children reported 
being physically abused by staff. In some states, such as Uttar Pradesh 
and Assam, more than 80 percent of such children reported physical 
abuse. The reported incidence of abuse was also higher among children 
housed in special homes due to ``conflict with the law'' than among 
children institutionalized for other reasons.
    In January, in response to an RTI petition filed by the child-
rights NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan, the Women and Child Development 
Department of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi 
stated that 1,807 children had run away from 26 shelter homes run by 
NGOs and the Delhi government during 2006-10. According to the 
government's reply, this number accounted for nearly 20 percent of all 
children housed at the centers during the four-year period; as many of 
97 percent of the runaways had not been found. The RTI reply also 
stated that 29 children had died in the homes from illnesses during the 
four-year period.
    On July 30, a report by Child Rights and You (CRY), a child rights 
organization, stated that 1,238 children, from infants to those age 18, 
were reported missing between January and April. Police records for the 
same time period documented only 408 missing children. At a public 
hearing organized by CRY, parents alleged that police were refusing to 
file missing person reports.
    On August 25, the MWCD informed parliament that there were 1,199 
shelter homes supported by the central government across the country, 
benefiting 76,035 children. The MWCD stated that 22 states had not 
established state commissions for protection of child rights, as 
mandated under the 2005 Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For information see the Department of State's report at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html, as well as country-specific information at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Jewish groups and the 1,500-person Jewish 
population cited no reports of anti-Semitic acts during the year.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution does not explicitly 
mention disability as a prohibited ground for discrimination. The 
Persons with Disabilities Act (PDA) provides equal rights for persons 
with the following disabilities: blindness, low vision, leprosy-cured 
(those cured of leprosy but who still lack sensation in extremities or 
suffer from deformity), hearing impairment, locomotor disability, 
mental retardation, and mental illness. The law is weakened by a clause 
that links implementation of programs to the ``economic capacity and 
development'' of the government.
    On August 8, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) 
informed parliament that the government had identified an additional 
199 districts across the country as future locations for District 
Disability Rehabilitation Centers (DRC). The DRCs are to provide 
comprehensive rehabilitation services to the rural disabled, such as 
early detection and medical intervention/surgical correction; fitting 
of artificial aids and prosthetics; therapeutic services; educational 
services; vocational training; and community awareness. There were 
approximately 200 government-run centers across the country that 
provided comprehensive, integrated rehabilitation services to persons 
with disabilities.
    During the year the central government relaunched the National 
Portal of India Web site to be accessible to all users, regardless of 
the device used, technology involved, or ability of the viewer. 
External Web sites were maintained by the respective departments, which 
were responsible for making the sites accessible to persons with 
disabilities. In 2010 the MSJE was the first government Web site to 
fulfill the accessibility norms for persons with disabilities.
    Discrimination against persons with physical and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, and access to health care was 
more pervasive in rural areas. Despite legislation that all public 
buildings and transport be accessible to the disabled, there was 
limited accessibility. One notable exception is the Delhi metro system, 
which was designed to be accessible to those with physical 
disabilities. Mumbai installed new pedestrian crossing at busy 
intersections that did not have audible signals for visually impaired 
users. A national newspaper reported the signals were silenced after 
local residents complained they were too noisy.
    On July 22, the Delhi government announced that it would provide 
free public bus passes to mentally disabled persons along with escorts.
    The MHFW estimated that 6 to 7 percent of the population suffered 
from a mental or psychosocial disability and that 25 percent of the 
mentally ill were homeless. Disabled rights activists estimated that 
the country had 40 to 90 million persons with disabilities.
    Most of those with mental disabilities were dependent on public 
health-care facilities and fewer than half of those who required 
treatment or community support services received such assistance. There 
was a severe shortage of trained staff; a WHO report released in 
September 2010 estimated that the country had less than one 
psychiatrist for every 300,000 persons, and most psychiatrists worked 
in urban areas. In rural areas the ratio shrank to less than one 
psychiatrist per one million persons. Continued lack of awareness about 
mental disability led many patients, particularly in rural areas, to 
seek assistance from traditional healers before seeking regular medical 
treatment.
    The PDA requires that 3 percent of public sector jobs be reserved 
for persons with physical, hearing, or visual disabilities. The 
government continued to allocate funds to programs and NGO partners to 
increase the number of jobs filled. Private sector employment of 
persons with disabilities remained low, despite PDA benefits to private 
companies, where persons with disabilities constituted more than 5 
percent of the workforce. The state government of Tamil Nadu passed an 
order in 2010 reserving 3 percent of all positions in state public 
services and educational institutions for physically disabled persons 
and in all positions where reservations were applied for Scheduled 
Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Backwards Classes.
    The law also stipulates that 3 percent of all educational places be 
reserved for persons with disabilities, but the MSJE stated that 
students with disabilities made up only an estimated 1 percent of all 
students. Some schools continued to segregate children with 
disabilities or deny their enrollment due to lack of infrastructure, 
equipment, and trained staff. UNICEF estimated that between 6 and 10 
percent of all children in the country were born with disabilities. On 
August 10, the MHRD informed parliament that 183 students with 
disabilities were enrolled in central education institutions in 2010-
11.
    The MSJE continued to offer scholarships to persons with 
disabilities to pursue higher education. University enrollment of 
students with disabilities remained low for several reasons, including 
inaccessible infrastructure, limited availability of resource 
materials, nonimplementation of the 3 percent reserved job requirement, 
and harassment. For example, on June 22, a Delhi University student had 
to be carried up to the first floor for a bachelor of business study 
interview because the building did not have a ramp or elevator for 
physically disabled persons, nor did the department hold the interview 
on the ground floor.
    On March 16, the MHRD informed parliament that there was no 
proposal to establish schools for disabled children in every district 
of the country. The MHRD noted that the objective of the central 
government-sponsored schemes ``Inclusive Education for the Disabled at 
the Secondary State'' and the ``Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan'' (SSA-Education 
for All) provided for disabled children in all government and 
government-aided schools. In February 2010 Delhi's SSA began training 
teachers to provide home tutoring for children with disabilities.
    On June 6, newspapers reported that the Delhi government had not 
yet recruited permanent teachers for children with disabilities despite 
a 2009 directive from the Delhi High Court requiring that at least two 
special teachers be employed at each school on a permanent basis. The 
Delhi government claimed to have hired 300 specially trained teachers, 
but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi stated that such posts had not 
yet been created and that no teachers had been employed.
    On June 26, the central government approved two new scholarship 
schemes for students with disabilities in Jammu and Kashmir. The 
schemes are to provide 1,500 scholarships for physically disabled 
persons to facilitate their higher education.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The national census does not 
recognize racial or ethnic groups; population is categorized by 
language spoken. Society has traditionally been divided into castes or 
clans. Caste is a complex Hindu social hierarchy traditionally based on 
ritual purity and occupation. While caste was outlawed in 1949, the 
registration of castes and tribes remains for the purpose of 
affirmative action programs. Article 15 of the constitution prohibits 
discrimination on the basis of caste, and the government continued to 
implement various programs to empower members of the low castes. The 
law gives the president authority to identify historically 
disadvantaged castes and tribes (who are outside of the caste system) 
for special quotas and benefits; these are the Scheduled Castes and 
Scheduled Tribes. Discrimination based on caste remained prevalent, 
particularly in rural areas.
    The term Dalit, derived from the Sanskrit for ``oppressed'' or 
``crushed,'' refers to members of what are traditionally regarded as 
the lowest Hindu castes, which are the Scheduled Castes (SC). Many SC 
members continued to face impediments to social advancement. According 
to the 2001 census, SC members constituted 16 percent (168.6 million 
persons) of the population. The MHA 2010-11 annual report noted 33,594 
cases of registered crimes against SC members in 2009, compared with 
33,615 cases in 2008. On March 1, the MHA informed parliament that 
4,410 Dalits were hurt in various incidents and 1,683 persons were 
convicted of crimes against Dalits, according to NCRB records.
    Although the law protects Dalits, in practice they faced violence 
and significant discrimination in access to services such as health 
care and education, attending temples, and marriage. Reports from the 
U.N.'s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination described 
systematic abuse of Dalits, including extrajudicial killings and sexual 
violence against Dalit women. For example, on February 7, a 16-year-old 
Dalit girl was mutilated when she resisted a rape attempt in Bindaki, 
Uttar Pradesh. The attackers cut off her nose, ear, and part of her 
hand and inflicted deep wounds on her legs and back. Authorities 
arrested the three accused youths and put them in prison. At year's end 
the case had not gone to trial.
    Many Dalits were malnourished. Most bonded laborers were Dalits. 
Dalits who asserted their rights often were attacked, especially in 
rural areas. As agricultural laborers for higher-caste landowners, 
Dalits often worked without remuneration. Crimes committed by upper-
caste Hindus against Dalits often went unpunished, either because the 
authorities failed to prosecute or because victims did not report the 
crimes due to fear of retaliation.
    On January 14, Purushottam Dwivedi, a member of the Uttar Pradesh 
state assembly from the Bahujan Samaj Party, was imprisoned for raping 
a minor Dalit girl in December 2010 at his home in Banda District. The 
girl escaped when Dwivedi allegedly attempted rape for the third time, 
and she was subsequently arrested on theft charges. On January 20, 
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati ordered the suspension of four 
police officers and a jailer for their laxity and complicity in the 
case. On September 21, the CBI registered a case against Dwivedi and 
four others for the alleged rape. At year's end the case had not gone 
to trial.
    NGOs reported that students were denied admission to certain 
schools because of their caste or were required to present caste 
certification prior to receiving admission. According to the executive 
director for the South India Cell for Human Rights Education and 
Monitoring, caste discrimination continued in Karnataka, particularly 
in rural areas. Dalits in rural Karnataka frequently were denied access 
to temples, clean water sources, and passage through village streets.
    The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) continued 
to highlight continuing caste-based discrimination in the state. 
According to the TNUEF, many Dalits were not permitted to walk on 
public pathways, wear footwear, access water from public taps in upper 
caste neighborhoods, participate in some temple festivals, bathe in 
public pools, or use some cremation grounds. For example, Dalits in 
Perali village, Perambalur District, reported that they could not ride 
bicycles on streets where upper caste families reside. There were also 
separate temples on upper caste and Dalit streets so that the two 
communities could worship separately.
    On June 17, the NHRC asked the Tamil Nadu government to submit a 
report on the alleged beating of a Dalit boy who took water from a 
public tap in Karikkilipalayam village, Coimbatore District. The NHRC 
also asked the government to report on specific steps taken to prevent 
future acts of discrimination against Dalits.
    During the year there were reports that school officials barred 
Dalit children from morning prayers, asked Dalit children to sit at the 
back of the class, or forced Dalit children to clean school toilets 
while denying them access to the same facilities. There were also 
reports that teachers refused to correct the homework of Dalit 
children, refused to provide midday meals to Dalit children, and asked 
Dalit children to sit separately from children of upper caste families.
    The federal and state governments continued to implement various 
programs for scheduled caste members, ostensibly to provide better 
quality housing, reserved seats in schools, government jobs, and access 
to subsidized foods, but critics claimed that many programs suffered 
from poor implementation and corruption.
    In April 2010 members of the dominant Jat community burned 10 Dalit 
homes in Mirchpur, Haryana, killing 70-year-old Tara Chand and his 
disabled daughter Suman and injuring more than a dozen other 
individuals. On September 24, newspapers reported that of the 97 
persons accused, 82 of them were acquitted by a Delhi court. Fifteen 
persons were convicted but none were found guilty of murder; three were 
convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, with a maximum 
10-year jail term. After the verdict was announced, calm prevailed, 
with both sides agreeing that the arrest of 97 persons was unjustified.
    The issue of manual scavenging continued, and the National Advisory 
Council set March 2012 as the new deadline for abolishing the practice, 
despite the practice having been outlawed under the Employment of 
Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prevention) Act of 
1993. On September 21, Chennai's National Commission for Scavenger's 
Welfare reported that men were being forced to get into sewage pits 
without safety measures despite orders against the practice, and 
requested state intervention. Violators may face up to one year's 
imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 rupees ($38), but the law was not 
enforced. In June six persons died in the Kolar Gold Fields, near 
Bangalore, as a result of illnesses contracted from manual scavenging.

    Indigenous People.--The constitution provides for the social, 
economic, and political rights of disadvantaged groups of indigenous 
people, and the law provides special status for indigenous people, but 
authorities often denied them their rights. According to the Ministry 
of Tribal Affairs 2010-11 annual report, there were more than 700 
Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the country, and the 2001 census revealed the 
population of scheduled tribes as 84.3 million, approximately 8 percent 
of the total population. In April a pilot survey to identify households 
below the poverty line found that Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SC/STs) 
constituted half of the total of poor, deprived households.
    In most of the Northeastern States, where indigenous groups 
constituted the majority of the states' population, the laws provide 
for tribal rights, although some local authorities attempted to violate 
these provisions. The laws prohibit any nontribal person, including 
citizens from other states, from crossing a government-established 
inner boundary without a valid permit. No rubber, wax, ivory, or other 
forest products may be removed from protected areas without prior 
authorization. Tribal authorities must approve the sale of land to 
nontribal persons.
    According to the MHA Annual Report 2010-11, there were 5,425 
criminal cases reported against members of Scheduled Tribes in 2009, a 
slight decrease from the 5,582 cases reported in 2008. Tribal women 
employed as domestic workers often were neither properly paid nor 
protected from sexual exploitation. Land encroachment on tribal lands 
continued in almost every state, despite limited efforts by the states 
to combat it, as businesses and private parties continued to exert 
political influence and pressure on local governments. Those displaced 
by the encroachments typically were not provided with appropriate 
relief and rehabilitation packages.
    Numerous tribal movements demanded the protection of tribal land 
and property rights. The government created tribal-majority states in 
2000 from the Jharkhand area of Bihar and the Chhattisgarh region of 
Madhya Pradesh, and authorities provided local autonomy to some tribes 
in the northeast. Local activists claimed that the rights of tribal and 
rural groups under the Forest Act continued to be manipulated. Weak 
enforcement of the act often circumvented the free and informed consent 
of tribal and rural groups prior to development.
    On January 6, after several rounds of talks, the Rajasthan Gujjars 
called off their protests for reservations for government jobs after 
being assured a 5 percent quota in state government posts.
    On April 13, the Odisha government dismissed the resolutions of 
villagers claiming land rights over property the government planned to 
give to the Posco Steel Plant. The Odisha government sent an 
``assurance'' letter to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) 
stating that the land was free of any claims. On May 3, the MoEF 
granted final approval for diversion of the land. Previous environment 
ministry committees had concluded that the lands in question were 
forest land and that the Odisha government had failed to allow the 
villagers the opportunity to claim rights as required by the Forest 
Rights Act.
    On June 18, the High Court of Odisha upheld the government's August 
2010 decision to reject the Vedanta firm's expansion plans because the 
project violated environmental laws. The MoEF had rejected the Vedanta 
firm's mining project in Odisha's Niyamgiri hills, home of the Dongria 
Kondh tribe, citing breach of environmental law and concerns over the 
rights of local tribes.
    Civil rights organizations working with indigenous persons in 
Kodagu District, Karnataka, alleged that more than 1,600 families had 
been evicted since 1972 in state efforts to promote tourism. As of 
September 732 families were identified by the state government for 
compensation and received housing sites, 356 families moved to other 
locations, and 512 families were waiting to return to homes in Kodagu 
District.
    There were no developments in the trial of Anil Dubey, a former 
leader of the Hindu chauvinist political party Shiv Sena, who in 
February 2010 allegedly raped and set on fire a 19-year-old tribal 
teacher in Barwani, Madhya Pradesh. The victim suffered serious burns 
and was hospitalized; Dubey was arrested and charged under the 
Scheduled Castes and Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--In 2009 the Delhi High Court 
overturned a portion of section 377 of the penal code, which prohibited 
same-sex sexual activity. Section 3.7 still applies to cases involving 
minors or coercive sex. While a few groups and individuals challenged 
the ruling in the Supreme Court, within a few days of the announcement 
the government decided not to oppose the verdict. The Supreme Court did 
not render a judgment on the appeal by year's end. The law was still 
used sporadically to target, harass, and punish lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
and transgender (LGBT) persons.
    Although LGBT groups were active throughout the country, sponsoring 
events and activities including rallies, gay pride marches, film 
series, and speeches, they faced discrimination and violence in many 
areas of society, particularly in rural areas. Activists reported that 
transgender persons who were HIV-positive often had difficulty 
obtaining medical treatment. Activists also reported that some 
employers fired LGBT persons who were open about their sexual 
orientation or gender identity. LGBT persons also faced physical 
attacks, rape, and blackmail. Some police committed crimes against LGBT 
persons and used the threat of arrest to coerce victims not to report 
the incidents. Several states, with the aid of NGOs, offered police 
education and sensitivity trainings.
    On July 4, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad stated during an AIDS 
conference in New Delhi that men having sex with men is a ``disease'' 
and ``unnatural.''
    The benefits accorded to transgender persons vary across the 
country. Tamil Nadu established a transgender welfare board in 2008 and 
provided separate identity and ration cards to transgender persons. In 
November 2010 the state of Karnataka announced that transgender persons 
would be included in the ``Backward Classes'' list, making them 
eligible for pensions, ration cards, and housing assistance under a 
reservation scheme. The National Legal Services Authority included 
transgender persons in the definition of marginalized groups, enabling 
access to free legal aid.
    On July 12, newspapers reported that military police charged with 
protecting the South Central Railway arrested 212 transgender persons 
during 564 coordinated campaigns in Hyderabad during the month of June 
``to eradicate the alleged menace of eunuch.'' Authorities reportedly 
filed charges against 201 of those arrested. Trials were pending for 26 
persons; 11 were sentenced to imprisonment, and approximately 35,000 
rupees ($665) in fines were collected.
    There were a few positive developments for transgender persons 
during the year. For example, on March 3, newspapers reported that 
voters in Tamil Nadu had been able to enroll under the ``others'' 
category in the voter list. In the Chennai District, 292 transgender 
persons were enrolled as ``others,'' as were 209 persons in Tiruvallur 
District. On April 5, the names of 30 transgender voters in 
Kancheepuram District were included as ``other'' in the supplementary 
voter list. On August 8, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment 
informed parliament that the ECI had directed the chief electoral 
officers in all states to modify electoral rolls to include the option 
of ``other'' under sex for eunuchs and transgender persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--According to the 2010-
11 annual report of NACO, the government agency responsible for 
monitoring HIV/AIDS, there were approximately 2.3 million persons with 
HIV/AIDS in the country, and according to the International Labor 
Organization (ILO), as many as 70 percent faced discrimination. HRW 
reported that many doctors refused to treat HIV-positive children and 
that some schools expelled or segregated children because they or their 
parents were HIV-positive. Many orphanages and other residential 
institutions rejected HIV-positive children or denied them housing. 
Incidents of discrimination were more frequent in rural areas.
    The government continued its efforts to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS 
by working with NGOs to deploy targeted interventions, improve 
communication and condom promotion, and provide sexually transmitted 
infection care and referrals for HIV testing and antiretroviral 
treatment (ART) to high risk groups and bridge populations. A new 
migrant strategy was launched to provide HIV prevention services to 
migrants in 108 source districts and 47 transit districts, as well as 
targeted intervention projects working in destination districts.
    Social activists working with HIV-affected individuals claimed that 
they still were being denied basic rights to education, employment, and 
nutrition. For example, on June 3, three sisters living in Khadsaliya 
village, Gujarat, committed suicide by drinking pesticide. Their mother 
had died of AIDS in 2008. The sisters felt stigmatized because they 
were HIV-positive and allegedly were treated as untouchables when they 
ventured outside their home.
    The Tamil Nadu State Aids Control Society (TANSACS) continued its 
work to prevent the spread of HIV by providing funding for NGOs, 
medical service, and prevention measures. In Tamil Nadu government-run 
clinics provided free ART drugs. According to TANSACS and the Health 
and Family department of Tamil Nadu, there were 43 state-run ART 
centers. The Tamil Nadu government also supported 30 community care 
centers providing treatment, care, and support to people with HIV/AIDS. 
A state government order assisted women with HIV to obtain bank loans 
through self-help groups. Six women were trained in starting small 
businesses by the Central Leather Research Institute in Chennai. The 
state government provided free bus passes to HIV-positive individuals 
so that they could access treatment.
    Societal violence based on religion continued to be a concern. 
According to the MHA's most recent annual report, 111 persons died in 
altercations between religious communities in 2010.
    Civil society activists continued to express concern about the 
Gujarat government's failure to arrest those responsible for communal 
violence in 2002 that resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 
persons, the majority of whom were Muslim. The Gujarat government 
appointed the Nanavati-Mehta Commission to investigate the violence in 
2002. In June the Gujarat government gave the commission another 
extension, asking it to submit its report by December 31, 2011. On 
December 21, the commission received its 17th extension; the new 
deadline was March 31, 2012, for submission of its final report. The 
Supreme Court appointed a Special Investigative Team (SIT) in 2008. In 
May 2010 the SIT submitted to the Supreme Court its final report on the 
complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, which blamed Gujarat Chief Minister 
Narendra Modi and 60 others for complicity in the communal violence. 
The court did not release the contents of the report to the public. On 
March 15, the Supreme Court asked the SIT to conduct a further probe 
and requested that the civil society activist and senior counsel, Raju 
Ramachandran, conduct an independent probe into the SIT findings. The 
SIT submitted its report to the Supreme Court on April 25, and on July 
25, the SIT also submitted to the Supreme Court two status reports on 
the nine other cases of Gujarat communal violence from 2002. The SIT 
told the Supreme Court that trials in seven cases were nearing 
completion and that the statements of witnesses were being recorded in 
the other two cases. Ramachandran submitted his report on July 25. On 
September 12, the Supreme Court referred Zakia Jafri's complaint to the 
Gujarat state courts. The Supreme Court directed the trial court to 
consider the SIT report and Ramachandran's report and decide if a 
criminal complaint could be filed against Modi and 60 others.
    Other forms of societal violence occurred. For example, in October 
the body of seven-year-old Lalita Tati was found in Chhattisgarh after 
she was reported missing. Police stated that she was ritually 
sacrificed by two farmers and her liver offered to the gods to improve 
their harvest. The two men were arrested. There were confirmed reports 
of human sacrifice from other rural areas in the country. The 
sacrifices by witchdoctors and indigenous rural dwellers are believed 
to appease the gods, spirits, and deities.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers to form and join unions of their choice; 
however, in some states registration of a trade union is subject to 
prior permission from the state government. The right to form unions 
and the right to collective bargaining are provided for by law. 
However, there is no legal obligation on employers to recognize a union 
or engage in collective bargaining. The law protects the right to 
strike, but in export processing zones (EPZs) a 45-day notice is 
required due to the EPZs' designation as ``public utilities.'' In 
addition employee-only restrictions on entry to the EPZs limited union 
organizers' access. Public employees have limited organizing rights and 
may not strike. The law allows the government to ban strikes in 
government-owned enterprises and requires arbitration in specified 
essential industries; interpretations vary from state to state. State 
and local authorities occasionally used their power to declare strikes 
illegal and to force adjudication. The law prohibits retribution by 
employers against employees involved in legal strike actions. The law 
prohibits antiunion discrimination and provides for the reinstatement 
of employees fired for union activity. There were no recorded instances 
of sanctions on or retribution against employees during the reporting 
period.
    Enforcement of labor laws varies from state to state and from 
sector to sector. Most of the country's union members were in the 
formal sector; trade unions represented a small number of agricultural 
and informal sector workers. An estimated 80 percent of unionized 
workers were members of unions affiliated with one of five major trade 
union federations. Four of the five major trade union federations are 
associated with major political parties. All the unions, however, are 
independent of the government. Unaffiliated unions generally were not 
able to secure the protections and rights the law provides. In practice 
legal protections of worker rights, including freedom of association, 
were effective only in the organized industrial sector, in which 
authorities generally prosecuted and punished persons responsible for 
intimidation or suppression of legitimate trade union activities. When 
parties cannot agree on equitable wages, the government may establish a 
board composed of union, management, and government representatives to 
make a determination. Specialized labor courts adjudicate labor 
disputes, but there were long delays and a backlog of unresolved cases. 
EPZ workers often were employed on temporary contracts. Workers stated 
that they feared that complaints about substandard working conditions 
would result in their dismissal. Since employers are not legally 
obligated to recognize a union, some employers established and 
recognized company unions or ``worker committees'' rather than allowing 
representative unions, the threshold for which is a simple majority of 
the regular workers. Furthermore, some companies refused to recognize 
new unions; for example, a General Motors factory in Gujarat refused to 
recognize a new union, the Gujarat Kamgar Mandal, claiming that it was 
not a representative union.
    In September 2010, after weeks of negotiations, a group of Foxconn 
India employees went on strike at a facility in Chennai, demanding wage 
increases and union recognition. The Tamil Nadu Labor Department 
declared the strike illegal because no prior notice was given to 
Foxconn management. Foxconn was located in an EPZ, and the law requires 
that unions in EPZs must provide a strike notice. In October 2010 
numerous employees occupying the facility were arrested but were 
granted bail almost immediately. At year's end Foxconn had not 
recognized the union. In October workers at the Manesar, Haryana, 
factory of the Maruti-Suzuki company went on a strike demanding, among 
other things, the formation of a new union. Following protracted 
negotiations between the workers and the management, the strike was 
called off and no new union was formed.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or bonded labor. Enforcement and compensation for victims were 
the responsibility of state and local governments and varied in 
effectiveness. Inadequate resources and societal tolerance of forced 
labor were important factors. When inspectors referred violations for 
prosecution, long court backlogs and inadequate prosecution sometimes 
resulted in acquittals. Prison sentences for employers of forced 
laborers could be as long as three years, but successful prosecutions 
were rare.
    The Ministry of Labor continued to partner with the NHRC and NGOs 
to investigate allegations of bonded labor. During the year the 
ministry expanded the convergence program to prevent bondage to the 
states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Established with the ILO in late 
2009 in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, and Orissa, 
the initiative integrated existing government programs to target 
workers vulnerable to bonded labor, starting with the brick kiln and 
construction sectors.
    On March 31, the Ministry of Labor reported that 289,327 bonded 
laborers had been identified and released and 269,365 laborers had been 
rehabilitated since a 1976 law abolishing bonded labor went into 
effect.
    On March 8, newspapers reported that the state government of Orissa 
abolished the traditional practice of semibonded labor called the 
``bartan'' after pressure from social activists and intervention from 
the NHRC. Under the practice upper caste families extracted work from 
barbers and washermen for as little as 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of 
paddy rice a year.
    Kerala police reported registering 399 human trafficking cases 
between March and September and rescuing 637 victims. The majority were 
bonded laborers working in hotels and restaurants, brick kilns, and the 
construction industry. Kerala police arrested 244 individuals allegedly 
involved in human trafficking during the initiative. At year's end the 
cases were under investigation.
    Forced labor practices remained widespread. Estimates of the number 
of bonded laborers in the country varied widely; several NGOs placed 
the number in the millions. Most bonded labor occurred in agriculture. 
According to NGOs, nonagricultural sectors that had a high incidence of 
bonded labor were stone quarries, brick kilns, rice mills, 
construction, and beedi (hand-rolled cigarettes) production.
    Members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes lived and worked under 
traditional arrangements of servitude in many areas of the country. In 
Arunachal Pradesh the Nishi tribe traditionally subjugated Sulungs or 
Puroiks as customary slaves.
    Ministry of Labor statistics showed a large decrease in the number 
of bonded labor cases brought before the courts, although the extent to 
which this reflected a decrease in bonded labor was unclear. The 
Ministry of Labor cited fewer bonded laborers being identified and 
rescued as evidence and attributed the decline to various government 
programs aimed at tackling poverty and other social problems (see 
section 7.c. below).
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
There is no overall minimum age for child labor. The law permits child 
labor with some restrictions. Children may work only for six hours a 
day, between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., with one day's rest weekly. The 
government defines hazardous occupations and processes and prohibits 
work by children under age 14 in factories, mines, domestic service, 
carpet weaving, roadside eateries, and other areas. On April 18, the 
Supreme Court banned the employment of children in the circus industry 
and directed state governments to devise comprehensive plans to remove 
and rehabilitate children working in the circus industry.
    The law establishes a penalty for employers of children in 
hazardous industries of 20,000 rupees ($380) per child employed. The 
fines go into a welfare fund for formerly employed children. The law 
does not apply to family farms or family businesses, both large sectors 
of the economy. Observers believed a law that came into force in April 
2010 could help reduce child labor and trafficking in the long term by 
increasing school enrollment among otherwise vulnerable children.
    State governments enforce labor laws and employ labor inspectors, 
while the Ministry of Labor provides oversight and coordination; 
however, enforcement was inadequate. For example, in August Kolkata's 
Telegraph newspaper reported that West Bengal had not convicted any 
persons for violating the Child Labor Act in 2007-08, compared with the 
national total of 904 convictions in the same time period.
    In 2008-9 the Ministry of Labor reported 12,244 labor prosecutions 
and 566 convictions nationwide. Employers in cottage industries often 
claimed that child laborers were assisting their families, an exemption 
under the law. Labor inspectors also generally did not investigate 
family businesses, including farms, as these are not covered under the 
labor law. The Ministry of Labor reportedly conducted 2,860 inspections 
for domestic child labor (i.e., in a home) during 2008-10. It noted 
2,277 violations and pursued two prosecutions, but there were no 
convictions.
    During India Action Week in September, the NGO Bachpan Bachao 
Andolan, in conjunction with state governments and local police, 
removed 86 child laborers in Delhi alone. The children were working in 
scrap, leather, beedi, and purse factories. All of the children were 
entitled to rehabilitation packages of 20,000 rupees ($420) and 
priority access to government housing and education. Of the 20,000 
rupees, some is given to the removed child's parents/guardians as 
immediate relief. The remaining money is put into a bank account to be 
used for the welfare of the child when the child turns 18 years of age. 
The rehabilitation package also includes education and mid-day meals 
for the child.
    The Ministry of Labor reported more than 32,000 children were 
removed from the workforce between January and August. According to the 
ministry, from April 1988 until March 31, 2011, states provided 
assistance to 705,000 former child laborers under the ministry's 
National Child Labor Program.
    The Ministry of Labor continued to raise awareness about child 
labor and coordinated its efforts with states through advertisements in 
leading newspapers, radio and television campaigns, and in some states 
through the use of street theater. In July 2010 the Ministry of Labor 
launched a five-year, 308.25 million rupee ($5.8 million) child labor 
prevention program, with an emphasis on children vulnerable to 
trafficking, in areas of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, 
and Bihar. Some states were in the process of implementing action plans 
to eliminate child labor from hazardous industries.
    The incidence of child labor remained widespread. The government 
estimated the number of child laborers at 1.2 million; UNICEF recently 
estimated the number of child workers at 29 million. Some NGOs 
estimated that there were between 50 and 115 million child workers. 
Among factors contributing to the prevalence of child labor were social 
tolerance of the practice, weak state and federal government 
enforcement of existing laws, and poverty. The absence of a minimum age 
for employment increased the risk of children falling victim to the 
worst forms of child labor.
    The majority of child labor occurred in agriculture and the 
informal economy. The following industries also reportedly used child 
labor: leather goods, carpets, embroidered textiles, brassware, 
fireworks, footwear, hand-blown glass bangles, handmade locks, hand-
dipped matches, hand-quarried stones, hand-spun silk thread, hand-
loomed silk cloth, handmade bricks, roadside restaurants, roadside auto 
repair shops, illegal mining, rice milling, sorting trash for items to 
resell or recycle, and beedi production. A number of these industries 
exposed children to hazardous work conditions.
    Forced child labor, including bonded labor, also remained a serious 
problem. Children were engaged in forced or indentured labor as factory 
workers, domestic servants, and beggars, as well as in quarrying, brick 
kilns, rice mills, silk thread production, and textile embroidery.
    According to the Carpet Export Promotion Council, the incidence of 
bonded child labor declined in formal sector carpet production due to a 
combination of changing market preferences and campaigns to end child 
labor by the government and NGOs. The Textiles Ministry, working 
closely with the textile industry's association, the Apparel Export 
Promotion Council of India, instituted a common compliance code known 
as Project DISHA for apparel manufacturers that emphasizes ethical 
standards, capacity building to meet international ethical sourcing 
requirements, and assessments/remediation for factories.
    According to a 2009 UNICEF report, private companies in Andhra 
Pradesh reportedly employed 200,000 children in the hybrid seed 
industry. Most were girls between the ages of seven and 14; the 
children were predominantly Dalits and members of economically 
disadvantaged castes and tribal groups forced to work in debt bondage. 
They were abused routinely, exposed to dangerous pesticides, and denied 
access to education.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--State government laws set 
minimum wages, hours of work, and safety and health standards. Federal 
law is applicable to all industries and sets safety and health 
standards, but enforcement is by state governments. In 2010 the federal 
government set the floor minimum wage at 100 rupees per day 
(approximately $2) for its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural 
Employment Guarantee program. Minimum wages varied according to the 
state and to the sector of industry. State governments set a separate 
minimum wage for agricultural workers. The law mandates a maximum 
eight-hour workday and 48-hour workweek, as well as safe working 
conditions, which include adequate provisions for restrooms, canteens, 
medical facilities, and ventilation. The law mandates a minimum rest 
period of 30 minutes after every four hours of work and premium pay for 
overtime. It does not mandate paid holidays and prohibits compulsory 
overtime. The law does not give workers the right to leave workplaces 
that endanger health and safety without jeopardizing their continued 
employment.
    Enforcement of all labor laws is done by respective state 
governments. State labor inspectors typically are required to enforce a 
minimum of at least 10 labor-related laws. Penalties are not sufficient 
to deter violations, and the number of inspectors was insufficient to 
enforce the diverse array of labor laws.
    Laws on wages, hours, and occupational health and safety do not 
apply to the informal sector, which employed nearly 93 percent of the 
workforce. Violations of wage, overtime, and occupational safety and 
health standards were common in the informal sector. State governments 
did not effectively enforce minimum wage laws for agricultural workers.
    Enforcement of safety and health standards was poor, especially in 
the informal sector but also in some formal sector industries. Workers 
in small, low technology factories were often exposed to hazardous 
working conditions. The country's undocumented foreign workers did not 
receive basic occupational health and safety protections.
    There were no new specific government actions to prevent 
violations, improve wages, or improve working conditions during the 
year.
    In a study conducted in 2009 and late 2010, the National Referral 
Centre for Lead Poisoning Prevention in India found dangerous levels of 
lead in blood samples collected from a cross-company study of workers 
in the country's battery industry. The government had not established 
biological exposure indices for lead or other hazardous chemicals for 
the workplace.
    Industrial accidents occurred frequently. According to government 
statistics, there were 1,454 workplace fatalities reported from across 
the country in 2010. In April a fire in a Delhi shoe factory killed 10 
workers. In September three people were killed and more than 15 injured 
in a fire at a cloth factory in Thane, Maharashtra. Chemical industries 
had the highest number of accidents. Safety conditions were in general 
better in the EPZs than in the manufacturing sector outside the EPZs.
    Coal mines located in Jaintia District, Meghalaya, had poor working 
conditions. The privately owned mines employed mostly young adults who 
were not provided any protective gear. The mines had no safety systems 
or hardware, were unregulated, and did not fall under the ambit of the 
safety regulations.
    Members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, including children, often 
worked as rag pickers, recycling trash under hazardous and generally 
substandard conditions. Workers from these groups also cleaned sewers 
and drains of human excrement without proper equipment and under 
extremely unsanitary conditions.

                               __________

                               KAZAKHSTAN

                           executive summary
    The Republic of Kazakhstan has a parliamentary system dominated by 
President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the ruling Nur Otan Party. The 
constitution concentrates power in the presidency. The president 
controls the legislature and the judiciary as well as the regional and 
local government. Changes or amendments to the constitution require 
presidential consent. The April 3 presidential election, in which 
President Nazarbayev received 95 percent of the vote, fell short of 
international standards. The 2007 national elections for the Mazhilis 
(lower house of parliament), in which Nur Otan won every seat in the 
chamber with 88 percent of the vote, also were flawed. Some security 
forces reported to civilian authorities; intelligence services reported 
to an army general who was appointed as head of the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs.
    The most significant human rights problems were severe limits on 
citizens' rights to change their government; restrictions on freedom of 
speech, press, assembly, and association; and lack of an independent 
judiciary and due process, especially in dealing with pervasive 
corruption and law enforcement and judicial abuse. On December 16 and 
17, public violence in Mangistau Oblast fueled by a long-running strike 
and other social grievances left at least 17 people dead and over 100 
injured.
    Other reported abuses included: arbitrary or unlawful deprivation 
of life; military hazing that led to deaths; detainee and prisoner 
torture and other abuse; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; 
arbitrary arrest and detention; infringements on citizens' privacy 
rights; restrictions on freedom of religion; prohibitive political 
party registration requirements; restrictions on the activities of 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); violence and discrimination 
against women; abuse of children; trafficking in persons; 
discrimination against persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities; 
societal discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender 
persons, and persons with HIV/AIDS; forced labor; and child labor.
    The government took modest steps to prosecute officials who 
committed abuses, especially in high-profile corruption cases; however, 
corruption was widespread and impunity existed, particularly for people 
with connections to government or law enforcement officials.
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.
    On December 16 and 17, law enforcement officers shot into crowds of 
rioters in Zhanaozen and the nearby village of Shetpe, leaving at least 
17 people dead and over 100 injured. According to data from the 
Zhanaozen hospital, over 85 percent of patients had bullet wounds. 
Unconfirmed videos posted online by opposition-affiliated groups 
depicted law enforcement officials shooting into the crowds. Rioters 
began by disrupting an Independence Day celebration in the main square 
and set fire to the local government headquarters, local businesses, 
banks, and stores, which experienced heavy looting. A government-led 
investigation resulted in the arrests of four law enforcement 
officials, including three with supervisory responsibilities, for 
excessive use of force. The report also revealed formal corruption 
accusations against two previous Zhanaozen mayors, a KazMunayGaz 
subsidiary director, and a Munay Ecology Ltd. director. According to 
the report, authorities arrested 55 civilians for participation in the 
riots or looting.
    On May 8, Dmitry Rakishev died in a Stepnogorsk pretrial detention 
facility after authorities arrested him for theft on April 29. Although 
authorities claimed that Rakishev died of pneumonia or tuberculosis 
aggravated by broken ribs incurred by falling from his bed, human 
rights activists asserted that detention center staff abused him and 
caused his death. On October 19, police opened a criminal investigation 
in connection with Rakishev's death. On December 20, the investigation 
was completed, and the case was forwarded to the courts. The former 
Director of the Stepnogorsk pretrial detention facility D. Abetov was 
charged for failure to take action.
    Military hazing led to deaths, suicides, and serious injuries. For 
example, on June 8, military hazing, including abuse and extortion of 
money by older soldiers for over three months, led conscript Madi 
Aytakhynov to commit suicide. The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) 
arrested two suspects in an ongoing investigation.
    The government reported 15 incidents of nonlethal military hazing 
during the year. The government did not publish statistics on the 
number of deaths linked to hazing during the year. The number of 
suicides in the army decreased significantly from the previous year. 
Authorities reported two suicides. There were 17 in 2010.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture; nevertheless, the police and 
prison officials regularly beat and abused detainees, often to obtain 
confessions. For example, on March 6, police beat Saran student Mikhail 
Lutoshkin to obtain a confession in connection with the theft of a cell 
phone. A city court convicted the head of the Saran Criminal Police, 
Vadim Koriaka, and officer Ruslan Aukenov, of torture and sentenced 
them to three-and-a-half and two-and-a-half years in prison, 
respectively.
    Human rights activists asserted that the legal definition of 
torture was too vague and did not meet U.N. standards and that the 
penalties for the crime were too lenient. The PGO, the Presidential 
Human Rights Commission, and the human rights ombudsman acknowledged 
that some law enforcement officers used torture and other illegal 
methods of investigation. Human rights and international legal 
observers noted investigative and prosecutorial practices that 
overemphasized a defendant's confession of guilt over collecting other 
types of evidence in building a criminal case against a defendant. 
Courts generally ignored allegations by defendants that officials had 
obtained confessions by torture or duress.
    At an October 2010 event hosted by the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and several NGOs, Manfred Nowak, the 
U.N. special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or 
degrading treatment or punishment, stated that according to his 
assessment, torture in Kazakhstan was not widespread, although a 
culture of impunity allowed police to use extreme methods, such as 
heavy beating and asphyxiation, to obtain confessions. Nowak stated 
that police rarely investigated complaints of torture.
    The human rights ombudsman reviewed prisoner and detainee 
complaints. The ombudsman can either issue a recommendation directly to 
the relevant agency or release a public statement, although it legally 
cannot force compliance with its recommendations. The Coalition of NGOs 
against Torture received 156 complaints during the year. Local NGOs 
reported that the government acknowledged publicly that torture was a 
problem.
    The government charged 97 military service members with crimes 
related to military hazing and abuse of power during the year, compared 
with 162 in 2010.
    The government investigated some allegations of conscript hazing 
and prosecuted soldiers who engaged in this abuse, forwarding 12 hazing 
cases to the courts, resulting in 10 convictions. The Ministry of 
Defense continued unannounced inspections and required systematic 
reports from senior officers about hazing in their units.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and life threatening. Facilities did not meet international 
health standards. Scarcity of medical care continued to be a problem. 
Prisoners had access to potable water. NGOs reported that approximately 
half of the inmate population needed professional treatment, especially 
for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. Abuse 
occurred in police cells, pretrial detention facilities, and prisons. 
Observers cited severe overcrowding, poor treatment of inmates and 
detainees, and the lack of professional training programs for 
administrators.
    According to observers, prisoners and detainees generally had 
reasonable access to visitors. At an October 2010 event, Special 
Rapporteur Nowak stated that, in his six years in office, Kazakhstan 
was the only country that had attempted to conceal the actual situation 
in its prisons. Human rights activists reported complaints that prison 
administrators interfered with prisoners' religious observance. The 
Coalition of NGOs against Torture reported an increase in the 
submission of all complaints from prisoners.
    International NGOs expressed concern that the August 1 transfer of 
the penitentiary system from the Ministry of Justice back to the 
Ministry of the Interior could compromise the fair treatment of 
prisoners, and experts expressed concern that it could aggravate 
existing poor prison conditions.
    During the year, the government reported 45 deaths in pretrial 
detention centers and police cells, compared with 31 in 2010, and Penal 
Reform International reported 299 deaths in prisons. The government 
reported 14 suicides in pretrial detention facilities and police cells, 
a decrease from 40 in 2010. Penal Reform International reported 49 
suicides in prisons, up from 36 in 2010. According to the latest 
government statistics, there were approximately 52,000 prisoners and 
detainees in pretrial facilities. The government took steps to decrease 
the total number of prisoners. January 1 amendments to the criminal 
code lowered penalties for some categories of crimes, resulting in the 
release of 8,390 prisoners. An amnesty bill signed into law on December 
29 planned the release of 2,142 prisoners, reduction of sentences for 
534, and amnesty for 13,511 parolees. Although alternatives existed for 
sentencing non-violent offenders, officials and NGOs noted that they 
remained underutilized.
    Incidents of inmates' self-mutilation as a protest against harsh 
prison conditions and abuse increased considerably, with 229 cases 
involving 386 inmates reported during the year; 47 were group 
mutilations.
    On August 26, 35 prisoners in prison UZD 158/2 rioted after police 
suppressed a self-mutilation protest against abuse. In response to 
public pressure, prison administrators later admitted that officers 
previously applied force against 28 prisoners during a search for 
illegal paraphernalia. Authorities did not launch an investigation.
    Civil society activists worked with the councils for public 
oversight of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs, as well as the human rights ombudsman's Countertorture Working 
Group, to monitor the situation in prisons and detention facilities. 
Many observers criticized the councils for lacking independence and 
clearly defined authority or power.
    The government addressed systemic patterns that encouraged prisoner 
abuse by increasing access for regional penitentiary oversight 
commissions, training programs for prison officials, and police 
seminars. By year's end, authorities had prosecuted 132 law enforcement 
officials for abuses, compared with 48 in 2010. Authorities 
investigated six law enforcement officers on torture charges, and 
courts convicted four.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but problems remained.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
Internal Affairs supervises the national police force, which has 
primary responsibility for internal security, including investigation 
and prevention of crimes and administrative offenses and maintenance of 
public order and security. The Agency for Combating Economic and 
Corruption Crimes (Financial Police) has administrative and criminal 
investigative powers. The Committee for National Security (KNB) plays a 
role in border security, internal security, antiterrorism efforts, and 
the investigation and interdiction of illegal or unregistered groups, 
such as extremist groups, military groups, political parties, religious 
groups, and trade unions. The KNB, Syrbar (a separate foreign 
intelligence service), and the Financial Police report directly to the 
president. The April 12 appointment of General Kalmukhanbet Kasymov 
ended a tradition of civilian interior ministers.
    During the year the government accepted 4,150 complaints on the 
Minister of Internal Affairs' blog, 329 of which related to police 
corruption and abuse. A separate Ministry of Internal Affairs blog 
designed to register complaints against law enforcement officials 
received 390 complaints. The majority of ministers, including the prime 
minister, maintained similar personal blogs.
    The prosecutor general chaired a council for coordination of law 
enforcement operations. Staff included heads of other law enforcement 
agencies. Among its many duties, the council reviewed complaints 
against law enforcement.
    The Ministry of Internal Affairs cooperated with NGOs to provide 
human rights training programs for local police. The government 
cooperated with international organizations to provide limited law 
enforcement training courses aimed at decreasing abuse by emphasizing 
investigative skill development.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Although the 
judiciary has the authority to sanction arrests, independent observers 
reported that judges usually sanctioned prosecutors' requests. Arrest 
data for 2010 and 2011 is unavailable. Prosecutors continued to have 
the power to authorize investigative actions, such as search and 
seizure.
    Persons detained, arrested, or accused of committing a crime have 
the right to the assistance of a defense lawyer from the moment of 
detention, arrest, or accusation. The law does not require police to 
inform detainees that they have the right to an attorney, and in 
practice police did not do so. Human rights observers alleged that law 
enforcement officials dissuaded detainees from seeing an attorney, 
gathered evidence through preliminary questioning before a detainee's 
attorney arrived, and, in some cases, used corrupt defense attorneys to 
gather evidence. The law states that the government must provide an 
attorney for an indigent suspect or defendant when the suspect is a 
minor, has physical or mental disabilities, or faces serious criminal 
charges. In practice public defenders often lacked the necessary 
experience and training to assist defendants. Defendants are barred 
from freely choosing their defense counsel if the cases against them 
involve state secrets. The law only allows lawyers who have special 
clearance to work on such cases.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--Prosecutors reported continuing problems with 
arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens. According to the 
government, police did not detain any individuals illegally in police 
cells or pretrial detention facilities; however, unverified media 
reports recorded 18 incidents of illegal detention by police during the 
year, and the Prosecutor General's Office reported the release of 1,063 
individuals illegally detained and held in police offices, 490 of whom 
were minors and 93 of whom were women.
    The government occasionally arrested and detained government 
opponents and critics, sometimes for minor infractions such as 
unsanctioned assembly, which incurred either fines or 10 days of 
administrative arrest. There were no allegations of prolonged detention 
for political offenses.

    Pretrial Detention.--The law allows police to hold a detainee for 
72 hours before bringing charges. Human rights observers criticized 
this period as too lengthy and said that authorities often used this 
detention to exert pressure and extract confessions. A bail system 
exists but was not used widely, and many individuals remained in 
pretrial detention until their trial. By law prisoners are granted 
prompt access to family members; however, prisoners sometimes are sent 
to facilities located far from their homes and relatives, and thus 
access is restricted for those who cannot afford to travel.

    Amnesty.--An amnesty bill signed into law on December 29 planned 
the release of 2,142 prisoners, reduction of sentences for 534, and 
amnesty for 13,511 parolees.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law does not provide for an 
independent judiciary. The executive branch limited judicial 
independence. Prosecutors enjoyed a quasi-judicial role and had the 
authority to suspend court decisions.
    Corruption was evident at every stage of the judicial process. 
Although judges were among the most highly paid government employees, 
lawyers and human rights monitors alleged that judges, prosecutors, and 
other officials solicited bribes in exchange for favorable rulings in 
the majority of criminal cases. On April 15, the Senate dismissed six 
of the country's 44 Supreme Court judges, and subsequently replaced the 
chief justice. In July, the Ministry of Justice fired 35 judges and 
recommended to the president that an additional 52 also be fired. The 
ministry promised to monitor an additional 103 judges closely for signs 
of corruption.
    Military courts have jurisdiction over civilian criminal defendants 
allegedly connected to military personnel undergoing a criminal trial. 
Military courts use the same criminal code as civilian courts.

    Trial Procedures.--All defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence 
and are protected from self-incrimination. Trials are public except in 
instances that could compromise state secrets or when necessary to 
protect the private life or personal family concerns of a citizen. 
Nevertheless, there were several reported cases of journalists and 
observers denied access to open court hearings. Only defendants charged 
with capital crimes are entitled to trial by jury.
    Courts conducted jury trials for aggravated murder cases. Observers 
noted that the juror selection process was inconsistent and that 
judges, who deliberated with the jurors, tended to dominate the 
process. The government reported that there were 355 jury trials during 
the year, in which 461 defendants were convicted and 30 were acquitted.
    Defendants in criminal cases have the right to counsel and to a 
government-provided attorney if they cannot afford counsel. Under the 
criminal procedure code a defendant must be represented by an attorney 
when the defendant is a minor, has mental or physical disabilities, 
does not speak the language of the court, or faces 10 or more years of 
imprisonment. In practice defense attorneys reportedly participated in 
only half of all criminal cases, in part because the government did not 
provide sufficient funds to pay them. The law also provides defendants 
the right to be present at their trials, to be heard in court, to 
confront witnesses against them, and to call witnesses for the defense. 
They have the right to appeal a decision to a higher court. According 
to observers, defense attorneys played a narrow role in trials, which 
were dominated by prosecutors.
    Domestic and international human rights organizations reported 
numerous problems in the judicial system, including lack of access to 
court proceedings, lack of access to government-held evidence, frequent 
procedural violations, poor explanation of rights to defendants, denial 
of defense counsel motions, and failure of judges to investigate 
allegations that authorities extracted confessions through torture or 
duress. Activists called for the use of juries for a wider range of 
trials. Lack of due process was a problem, particularly in a handful of 
politically motivated trials involving protests by opposition activists 
and in cases in which improper political or financial influence was 
alleged.
    On January 18, a prison commission denied human rights activist 
Yevgeniy Zhovtis's petition for early release following an 
administrative reprimand for watching a the World Cup final match after 
``lights out.'' On August 2, the commission denied Zhovtis's second 
application for early release due to his February 10 administrative 
reprimand after a dispute with fellow prisoners over his ability to eat 
food brought in from outside the prison. Local human rights activists 
and international NGOs insisted that the parole denials were 
politically motivated and based on arbitrary administrative reprimands. 
In September 2009 a court had sentenced Zhovtis to four years in prison 
for vehicular manslaughter, stemming from a July 2009 accident in which 
Zhovtis struck and killed a pedestrian with his car. Local and 
international observers strongly criticized the trial for numerous 
procedural violations. Higher courts rejected two subsequent appeals. 
Some observers alleged that the sentence imposed on Zhovtis, a critic 
of the government, was harsh and politically motivated.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Local and international human 
rights NGOs have asserted that the prison sentence imposed on Yevgeniy 
Zhovtis amounted to a politically motivated attempt to silence a vocal 
critic at a sensitive time. Although Zhovtis was monitored closely in 
prison, he was allowed to publish articles and release statements. 
Prison administrators approved two of his requests to leave the penal 
colony temporarily but did not grant him permission to work permanently 
outside the colony. Authorities allowed NGOs and diplomats frequent 
access to Zhovtis. The general prisoner amnesty signed on December 29 
planned Zhovtis's release for early 2012.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Economic and 
administrative court judges handle civil cases under a court structure 
that largely mirrors the criminal court structure. The law and 
constitution provide for the resolution of civil disputes in court. In 
practice, observers viewed civil courts as corrupt and unreliable. 
Observers noted that litigants experienced difficulty in having 
judgments enforced, particularly if they did not agree to pay a 
percentage to the court administrator.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit privacy violations; 
however, the government at times infringed on these rights.
    The law provides prosecutors with extensive authority to limit 
citizens' constitutional rights. The KNB, the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs, the Financial Police, and other agencies, with the concurrence 
of the PGO, may infringe on the secrecy of private communications and 
financial records, as well as on the inviolability of the home. Courts 
may hear an appeal of a prosecutor's decision but cannot issue an 
immediate injunction to cease an infringement. In June 2009 parliament 
amended the criminal procedure code to expand the range of cases in 
which police could wiretap and record communications without a warrant 
by allowing wiretapping in cases of medium gravity, as well as in 
urgent and grave ones, which was previously the standard.
    Government opponents and their family members continued to report 
that the government occasionally monitored their movements and 
telephone calls.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution and the law provide for freedom of speech and 
of the press; however, the government used a variety of means, 
including laws, harassment, licensing regulations, Internet 
restrictions, and criminal and administrative charges to control the 
media and limit freedom of expression. Judicial actions against 
journalists and media outlets, including civil and criminal libel suits 
filed by government officials, contributed to the suspension of media 
outlets and self-censorship.

    Freedom of Speech.--The government limited individuals' ability to 
criticize the country's leadership, and regional leaders attempted to 
limit local media outlets' criticism of them. The law prohibits 
insulting the president, the president's family, and other senior 
officials.

    Freedom of the Press.--According to official statistics, the 
government owned 15 percent of the 3,018 media outlets. Many privately 
owned newspapers and television stations received government subsidies. 
Companies allegedly controlled by members of the president's family or 
loyal associates owned the majority of those broadcast media outlets 
that the government did not control outright. Media observers believed 
that most of the seven nationwide television broadcasters were owned 
wholly or partly by the government. Regional governments owned several 
frequencies, and the Ministry of Communications and Information 
distributed them to independent broadcasters via a tender system.
    All media were required to register with the Ministry of 
Communications and Information, although Web sites were exempt from 
this requirement. The most recent government frequency tenders in 2009 
and 2008 led to charges of corruption and inequity in the licensing 
process.
    The law limits the rebroadcast of foreign-produced programming to 
20 percent of a station's total airtime. This provision burdened 
smaller, less developed regional television stations that lacked 
resources to develop programs, although the government did not sanction 
any media outlet under this provision.

    Violence and Harassment.--Harassment of, and violence against, 
journalists decreased. During the year press advocacy NGO Adil Soz 
recorded 14 attacks on newspaper offices and journalists, compared with 
20 in 2010. According to the NGO, reporters were prevented from 
performing their professional duties in 43 instances, compared with 46 
the previous year, and journalists were denied or given significantly 
restricted access to public information 307 times, compared with 368 in 
2010. Journalists working in opposition media and those covering 
corruption reported harassment and intimidation by government officials 
and private actors.
    On March 30, unknown assailants beat Svoboda Slova newspaper 
journalist Igor Larra on his way home from work, allegedly for his 
reporting on striking oil workers in Zhanaozen. Police did not 
apprehend any suspects.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The law enables the government 
to restrict media content under amendments that prohibit undermining 
state security or advocating class, social, race, national, or 
religious superiority, or cruelty and violence. Owners, editors, 
distributors, and journalists may be held civilly and criminally 
responsible for content unless it came from an official source. The 
government used this provision to limit media freedom.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--The law on state secrets makes it a 
criminal offense to release information regarding the health, finances, 
or private life of the president, as well as economic information, such 
as mineral reserves and government debts to foreign creditors. To avoid 
possible legal problems, media outlets often practiced self-censorship 
regarding information on the president or his family.
    Private parties could initiate criminal libel suits without 
independent action by the government, and an individual filing such a 
suit would be able to file a civil suit as well based upon the same 
allegations. Officials used the law's restrictive libel and defamation 
provisions to constrain media outlets from publishing unflattering 
information. Both the criminal and civil codes contain articles 
establishing broad liability for libel, with no statute of limitation 
or maximum amount of compensation. The requirement that owners, 
editors, distributors, publishing houses, and journalists prove the 
veracity of published information, regardless of its source, promoted 
self-censorship at each level.
    NGOs and monitors reported that libel cases against journalists and 
media outlets remained a problem. During the year Adil Soz cited 27 
criminal and civil lawsuits filed against media outlets and 
journalists, compared with 85 in 2010. During the year five journalists 
were serving prison sentences.

    Publishing Restrictions.--The law prohibits publication of any 
statement that promotes or glorifies ``extremism,'' a term that 
international legal experts said the government had not clearly 
defined. The government subjected media outlets willing to criticize 
the president directly to intimidation, such as law enforcement actions 
or civil suits. Although these actions had a chilling effect on media 
outlets, criticism of government policies continued. Incidents of local 
government pressure on the media continued. Journalists in western 
Kazakhstan reported frequent telephone calls and threats by security 
services and local government administrations to amend or rescind 
articles related to the April 3 presidential elections or national 
security matters.

    Internet Freedom.--Observers reported that the government monitored 
e-mail and Internet activity, blocked or slowed access to opposition 
Web sites, and planted progovernment propaganda in Internet chat rooms. 
The state regulated the country's three Internet service providers, 
including the state-owned Kaztelecom. Nevertheless, Web sites expressed 
a wide variety of views, including viewpoints critical of the 
government.
    The Ministry of Communications and Information controlled the 
registration of ``.kz'' Internet domains. Authorities may suspend or 
revoke registration for failure to locate servers in the country. 
Observers criticized the registration process as unduly restrictive and 
vulnerable to abuse.
    Adil Soz reported cases of the government's blocking or restricting 
access to Web sites and the government's intermittent blocking of the 
Web site LiveJournal throughout the year, although the site remained 
accessible through other servers. Bloggers reported anecdotally that 
their sites periodically were blocked.
    On August 19, a court ruling blocked the use of over 20 foreign Web 
sites, including the liveinternet.ru and livejournal.com Web sites, 
that ``promoted terrorism and religious extremism,'' and could ``incite 
people to commit terrorist acts and make bombs,'' according to a court 
official. Internet freedom advocates asserted that the blockages 
occurred without providing the domain owners an opportunity to 
investigate and remove content promoting violence. In a September 15 
statement, the Ministry of Communications and Information claimed to 
have notified the blocked sites before and after the court ruling and 
promised to restore access once site administrators removed 
inappropriate content.
    Throughout the year the Committee to Protect Journalists reported 
that the Web site of opposition newspaper Respublika remained 
inaccessible by users of Kaztelecom, the government-owned Internet 
service provider. Users were able to access the newspaper online by use 
of alternative Web addresses.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government generally did 
not restrict academic freedom, although academics, like other citizens, 
were prohibited from infringing on the dignity and honor of the 
president and his family.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for limited freedom of assembly. There were 
significant restrictions on this right in practice, and police used 
force to disrupt peaceful demonstrations. For example, on May 1, Almaty 
police disrupted an unsanctioned Socialist Movement rally and struck 
activist Aynur Kurmanov in the head, forcing him to spend a week in the 
hospital. Authorities briefly detained and fined a number of activists. 
According to Kurmanov, authorities rejected all of the organization's 
more than 100 requests to protest during the year.
    The law defines national security threats to include unsanctioned 
gatherings, public meetings, marches, demonstrations, illegal 
picketing, and strikes that upset social and political stability.
    Under the laws governing public assembly, organizations must apply 
to local authorities for a permit to hold a demonstration or public 
meeting at least 10 days in advance. Opposition figures and human 
rights monitors complained that complicated and vague procedures and 
the 10-day notification period made it difficult for groups to organize 
public meetings and demonstrations, and noted that local authorities 
turned down many applications for demonstrations. Authorities often 
detained briefly and fined organizers of unsanctioned gatherings, 
including political party gatherings. For example, unregistered Alga 
party representatives reported that authorities interfered with 
protests to boycott the April 3 presidential election. The Kazakhstan 
International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law recorded 102 
peaceful demonstrations during the year, 93 percent of which were 
unsanctioned. Authorities disrupted eight demonstrations. The 
government designated locations for sanctioned protests in less 
populous city outskirts.
    Kazakhstan's National Human Rights Action Plan 2009-12 noted that 
the country's legal norms on public gatherings at times contradicted 
international standards, but the government has not introduced changes 
foreseen in the plan. The Presidential Human Rights Commission 
Secretary explained on March 28 that the government stopped drafting a 
new law on peaceful assembly because of violent protests abroad.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for limited freedom of 
association. There were significant restrictions on this right in 
practice. Any public organization set up by citizens, including 
religious groups, must be registered with the Ministry of Justice, as 
well as with ministry branches in every region in which the 
organization conducts activities. The law requires public or religious 
associations to define their specific activities, and an association 
that acts outside the scope of its charter may be warned, fined, 
suspended, or ultimately prohibited. Participation in unregistered 
public organizations may result in administrative or criminal 
liability, such as fines, dissolution, probation, or imprisonment.
    The prohibition on unregistered organizations often provided a 
pretext for authorities to interfere with the activities of 
organizations. Membership organizations other than religious groups, 
which are covered under separate legislation, must have 10 members in 
order to register at the local level and must have branches in more 
than half of the country's regions for national registration. The 
government considered political parties and labor unions to be 
membership organizations but had additional specific registration 
requirements for them. The law requires 40,000 signatures for 
registration. If authorities challenge the applications by alleging 
irregular signatures, the registration process can continue so long as 
the total number of eligible signatures remains above the minimum. The 
law prohibits parties established on an ethnic, gender, or religious 
basis. The law prohibits members of the armed forces, employees of 
national security and law enforcement organizations, and judges from 
participating in trade unions or political parties.
    On February 28, an appeals court upheld the rejection of a lawsuit 
filed by the Azat/National Social Democratic Party (Azat/NSDP) against 
the Ministry of Justice. Although both parties retain their separate 
registration, the ministry had refused to reregister Azat/NSDP as a 
joint party in June 2010 due to discrepancies between the Russian and 
Kazakh language versions of the party charter.
    NGOs reported that the NGO registration process was 
straightforward, although corruption in the process was common. NGOs 
involved in human rights advocacy and political activities faced 
greater administrative delays and obstacles, although there were no 
reports that the government denied registration or closed 
organizations.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of state's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and despite some regulatory restrictions, the government 
generally respected these rights in practice. The government cooperated 
with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations to provide 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other 
persons of concern.

    In-country Movement.--The government required citizens and 
foreigners who remained in the country for more than five days to 
register with migration police. Foreigners who entered the country had 
to register at certain border posts. Registration in most of the 
country generally was routine; nonetheless, some foreign citizens 
reported that local authorities occasionally requested bribes before 
completing registration. Migration police routinely checked the 
registration of foreigners, including labor migrants, and reportedly 
requested bribes. Some foreigners experienced problems travelling to 
regions outside their registration area. June 22 amendments to the law 
on migration eased registration requirements for ethnic Kazakh 
returnees (oralmans). An August 24 agreement on the legal status of 
migrant workers granted an exemption for families of migrant workers 
from registration for a 30-day period after the worker started 
employment. The new migration law granted the government the authority 
to deport those who violate the regulations, while the previous law 
restricted deportation to certain cases.
    During the first nine months of the year, the Ministry of Internal 
Affairs deported 12,644 foreigners for alleged gross violations of the 
visitor rules; the majority of the foreigners were citizens of 
countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Individuals 
facing deportation can request asylum if they fear persecution in their 
home country. The government required persons who were suspects in 
criminal investigations to sign statements that they would not leave 
their place of residence and detained individuals routinely for 
identity checks without suspicion of a criminal offense.

    Foreign Travel.--Although the government did not require exit visas 
for the temporary travel of citizens, there were certain instances in 
which the government could deny exit from the country, including for 
travelers subject to pending criminal or civil legal proceedings, 
unfulfilled prison sentences, or compulsory military duty. Travelers 
who presented false documentation during the exit process could be 
denied exit, and authorities controlled travel by active-duty military 
personnel. The law on national security requires that persons who had 
access to state secrets obtain permission from their employing 
government agency for temporary exit from the country.

    Emigration and Repatriation.--The law provides for the right to 
emigrate and the right to repatriate, and the government generally 
respected these rights in practice. An exception is the law on national 
security, which prohibits persons who had access to state secrets from 
taking up permanent residence abroad for five years after leaving 
government service. The government required a permanent exit visa for 
emigration; obtaining this visa required criminal checks, credit 
checks, and letters from parents and any dependents expressing no 
objection to exit visa issuance.
    Authorities required foreigners to obtain prior permission to 
travel to certain border areas with China and cities in close proximity 
to military installations. The government continued to declare 
particular areas closed to foreigners due to their proximity to 
military bases and the space launch center at Baikonur. In practice, 
foreigners could visit these areas with prior permission from the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs.

    Protection of Refugees.--The government cooperated with the UNHCR 
and other organizations to provide some protection and assistance to 
refugees from 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.

    Access to Asylum.--The country's laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status and the government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. The law does not prohibit forced 
exile if authorized by an appropriate government agency or through a 
court ruling. The UNHCR legally can appeal to the government and 
interfere on behalf of an individual if facing deportation. The law on 
refugees, which a number of regulations and by-laws implement, 
regulates the granting of asylum and refugee status.

    Access to Basic Services.--The law on refugees outlines refugee 
status determination (RSD) procedures and access to state services, 
including the right to be registered and issued documents. The 
Committee on Migration under the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Protection conducts RSD procedures. Observers stated that committee 
representatives suffered from lack of expertise, which the UNHCR 
attributed to rushed implementation of the law. While the law 
stipulates that refugees have the right to education and social 
services, administrative regulations and prohibitive costs for services 
often precluded this right in practice. Authorities have formed an 
interministerial working group with the UNHCR to address these 
problems.
    The government generally registered asylum seekers and determined 
their status in consultation with the UNHCR. In some cases, the 
government allowed asylum seekers and refugees to stay in the country 
while the UNHCR found third countries that would accept them. Although 
the government performed refugee status determinations and registered 
refugees present in the country, it did not accept any refugees for 
resettlement from third countries nor did it facilitate local 
integration (including naturalization.) of refugees on its territory.

    Temporary Protection.--The government also provided temporary 
protection to individuals, including some Afghans, who might not 
qualify as refugees and provided it to approximately five persons 
during the year.
    During the year the UNHCR reported generally cordial relations with 
the government in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The government 
usually allowed the UNHCR access to detained foreigners to ensure 
proper treatment and fair determination of status. The government was 
generally tolerant in its treatment of local refugee populations, 
except for a few citizens from former Soviet republics. The government 
often did not allow refugees without passports or those who had entered 
the country illegally to register.
    The Committee on Migration in the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Protection reviewed refugee claims with the UNHCR and a local NGO, 
Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights participating as 
observers. Consistent with the Minsk Convention on Migration within the 
CIS, the government did not recognize Chechens as refugees. Chechens 
were eligible for temporary legal resident status for up to 180 days, 
as are any other CIS citizens. This temporary registration was 
renewable, but local migration officials have discretion over the 
renewal process. In some cases they solicited bribes, exploiting the 
vulnerability of Chechens due to their inability to return safely to 
Chechnya. The government has an agreement with China not to tolerate 
the presence of ethnic separatists from one country on the territory of 
the other. Human rights monitors remained concerned about the effect of 
this agreement on Uighurs from China living in the country, especially 
following the April 2010 transfer of RSD for Uighurs from the UNHCR to 
the government. The government did not forcibly return any UNHCR 
mandate refugees.

    Stateless Persons.--According to government statistics, 7,966 
documented stateless persons resided in the country. The UNHCR 
estimated that the number of stateless persons was between 60,000 and 
100,000. This group largely consisted of holders of Soviet passports 
who failed to renew their documents after independence, ethnic Kazakh 
repatriates, and labor migrants. Although provided with the same rights 
as individuals with resident permits, stateless persons reported 
difficulty finding legal employment and had limited access to education 
and health care. The UNHCR continued to work with government and 
parliament officials to obtain reliable data on stateless persons and 
improve the country's citizenship legislation.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide for a democratic government with 
universal suffrage for those older than 18 years of age; in practice, 
the government severely limited the right of citizens to change their 
government.
    Although the 2007 constitutional amendments increased legislative 
authority in some spheres, the constitution continues to concentrate 
power in the presidency. The president appoints and dismisses most 
high-level government officials, including the prime minister, the 
cabinet, the prosecutor general, the KNB chief, supreme court and 
lower-level judges, regional governors, and the chairman and two 
members of the Central Election Commission (CEC), which oversees 
presidential and parliamentary elections. The Mazhilis must confirm the 
president's choice of prime minister, and the senate must confirm the 
president's choice of prosecutor general, chief of the KNB, supreme 
court judges, and the head of the national bank. The parliament has 
never failed to confirm a presidential nomination. Modifying or 
amending the constitution effectively requires the president's consent. 
The 2007 constitutional amendments exempt President Nazarbayev from the 
two-term presidential term limit, and an amendment passed during the 
year gives him protection from prosecution.
    Two June 2010 leader-of-the-nation laws establish President 
Nazarbayev as chair of the Kazakhstan People's Assembly, grant him 
lifetime membership on the Constitutional and Security Councils, allow 
him ``to address the people of Kazakhstan at any time,'' and stipulate 
that all ``initiatives on the country's development'' must be 
coordinated through him.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 
December 2010, in accordance with the law, a group of government 
supporters initiated a petition process to replace two scheduled 
presidential elections with a 2011 referendum to extend President 
Nazarbayev's term until 2020. The referendum movement collected over 5 
million signatures--well above the required 200,000--although there 
were credible reports that many were obtained by coercion. The 
referendum bid ultimately failed and was replaced by an early 
presidential election.
    In the April 3 election, President Nazarbayev won 95 percent of the 
vote with a turnout of almost 90 percent. Following the 2011 
cancellation of a referendum to extend Nazarbayev's term until 2020, 
parliament hastily amended the constitution and election legislation to 
allow for the early presidential election, which had been scheduled 
previously for December 2012. Despite efforts by the authorities to 
improve the election-related legislation, the legal framework remained 
inconsistent with the government's commitments to the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as other 
international standards, including excessive restrictions on 
candidates' eligibility--particularly the Kazakh-language fluency 
requirement--as well as freedoms of assembly and expression. The lack 
of vibrant political discourse or opposition candidates resulted in a 
non-competitive environment and reflected systemic restrictions on 
political freedom.
    The OSCE election assessment cited efforts to improve the quality 
of the voter lists and a high degree of professionalism demonstrated by 
members of the CEC. International observers rated the voting process 
positively in 90 percent of polling stations but negatively in 10 
percent. OSCE observers cited irregularities in the counting procedure 
in 20 percent of precincts. According to the election law, the CEC is 
not required to publish detailed election results, which further 
diminished transparency. The OSCE and some international observation 
missions noted systemic problems and serious irregularities, including 
numerous instances of seemingly identical signatures on voter lists; 
cases of ballot box stuffing; and proxy, multiple, and family voting, 
primarily caused by continued deficiencies in poll worker and voter 
education. Domestic observers reported significantly inflated turnout 
numbers, exceeding observed turnout by as much as 21 percent.
    In indirect elections on August 19, local representative bodies 
(Maslikhats) elected 16 Nur Otan party members to the senate. The CEC 
reported no complaints or irregularities. Maslikhats elect 32 of 47 
senate deputies, and the president appoints 15 members, with the 
requirement that the appointments facilitate representation of 
different ethnic and cultural groups.
    The 2007 elections for the Mazhilis were flawed, and President 
Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party, which dominates local and national 
government bodies, received 88 percent of the vote, winning every seat 
in the chamber. No other party received the 7 percent of the vote then 
required to obtain Mazhilis seats. The 2009 amendments to the law on 
elections require that the party with the second-highest vote count 
automatically receive seats in the Mazhilis, even if it fails to reach 
the 7 percent threshold.

    Political Parties.--Political parties must register members' 
personal information, including date and place of birth, address, and 
place of employment. This requirement discouraged many citizens from 
joining political parties. There were credible allegations that 
authorities pressured persons entering government service to join the 
Nur Otan party.
    At year's end, there were nine registered political parties, 
including the opposition parties Ak Zhol, Rukhaniyat, Auyl, and the 
National Social Democratic Party. On October 4, a Kazakhstani court 
issued a six-month ban on the Communist Party of Kazakhstan because it 
formed an illegal alliance with the unregistered Alga opposition party.
    In order to register, a political party must hold a founding 
congress with minimum attendance of 1,000 delegates from two-thirds of 
the oblasts and the cities of Astana and Almaty. Parties must obtain at 
least 700 signatures from each oblast and the cities of Astana and 
Almaty, registration from the CEC, and registration from each oblast-
level election commission.
    The law prohibits parties established on an ethnic, gender, or 
religious basis.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Traditional attitudes 
sometimes hindered women from holding high office or playing active 
roles in political life, although there were no legal restrictions on 
the participation of women and minorities in politics.
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 was widespread in the executive branch, various law 
enforcement agencies, local government administrations, the education 
system, and the judiciary. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the 
Financial Police, the KNB, and the Disciplinary State Service 
Commission are responsible for combating corruption. Opposition leaders 
and human rights NGOs accused the government of rampant corruption.
    On August 5, a court sentenced former health minister Zhaksylyk 
Doskaliyev to seven years in a maximum security prison for bribery and 
ordered the confiscation of his property. He planned to appeal the 
verdict.
    Lower- and middle-ranking officials and minor political figures 
were penalized on corruption charges. The government reported that 
during the first 11 months of the year, 1,799 corruption crimes were 
disclosed, and 24 government officials were convicted. The government 
issued disciplinary penalties for 758 employees for corruption. In 
response to 2,011 cases of corruption, the Ministry for Internal 
Affairs dismissed 78 police officers for corruption and convicted 18. 
On July 19, Supreme Court Chairman Musabek Alimbekov told the media 
that 24 judges had been fired for incompetence since the beginning of 
the year. Two judges were convicted for corruption. Authorities 
dismissed 61 law enforcement officers for corruption during the year.
    On March 24, the government launched a program aimed at combating 
corruption by improving citizens' awareness of recourses against 
corruption and increasing confidence in state institutions by 2015.
    The law mandates that the government, public associations, 
officials, and media outlets provide citizens with information that 
affects their rights and interests; in practice citizens' requests for 
information were not fulfilled in a timely manner. NGOs reported 
problems with access to information from state agencies and cited red 
tape, poor content on official Web sites, and long lines in state 
agencies. Government and public employees, including parliamentarians 
and their spouses, are subject to financial disclosure requirements.
    Although parliament published several draft laws, some 
parliamentary debates, and occasionally its voting record, many 
parliamentary activities remained outside public view. Accredited 
journalists and representatives of public associations could observe 
some parliamentary sessions via video link from a separate room. 
Transcripts of parliamentary sessions were not available to the public. 
During the year parliament closed public and media access to discussion 
of controversial legislation.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups 
generally operated effectively, with relative freedom to investigate 
and publish their findings on human rights cases. However, some 
government restrictions on domestic and international human rights NGO 
activities remained. International human rights groups reported that 
the government continued to monitor the activities of NGOs that worked 
on sensitive issues and noted government harassment, including police 
visits and surveillance, of NGO offices and personnel.
    The Almaty Helsinki Commission, the Republican Network of 
Independent Monitors, the Charter for Human Rights, Penal Reform 
International (PRI), and Adil Soz were among the most active local 
human rights NGOs and occasionally faced difficulties in registering 
and acquiring office space and technical facilities. They also reported 
that the government audited their records and imposed various legal 
constraints. Multiple NGO activists reported heightened government 
monitoring prior to the April 3 presidential election and in advance of 
the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 15, 2012. In some 
instances government representatives misrepresented themselves to 
attend and monitor NGO events, although NGOs reported no pressure or 
interference. The government continued to participate in--and host NGOs 
in--roundtables and events on democracy and human rights.
    NGOs affiliated with, or suspected of being affiliated with the 
opposition, reported harassment. For example, on September13, a 
stranger threw a bucket of printer ink at two NGO activists affiliated 
with the opposition People's Front, and two other unknown attackers 
pushed one activist to the ground before fleeing. Police opened an 
investigation on September 15.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--In general, the government 
did not prevent international NGOs and multilateral institutions 
dealing with human rights from visiting the country and meeting with 
local human rights groups and government officials. The government 
cooperated with the OSCE and its field mission. The U.N. the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the Red Crescent 
Society also operated freely in the country.
    National security laws prohibit foreigners, international 
organizations, NGOs, and other nonprofit organizations from engaging in 
political activities. The law stipulates that a noncommercial 
organization must provide information to tax authorities on its 
founders, activities, and foreign sources of funding, as well as 
income, property, expenses, and employee records. International 
organizations are prohibited from funding unregistered entities.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Presidential Commission on 
Human Rights is a consultative and advisory body that includes members 
from the public appointed by the president. The commission reviews and 
investigates complaints, issues recommendations, monitors fulfillment 
of international human rights conventions, and publishes annual human 
rights reports in close cooperation with several international 
organizations, such as the UNHCR, OSCE, IOM, and UNICEF. During the 
year the commission received 1,624 written and oral complaints, 35 
percent of which addressed religious issues and 23 percent the 
ineffectiveness of the judicial system. The commission does not have 
legal authority to remedy human rights violations or implement its 
recommendations.
    The presidentially appointed human rights ombudsman investigated 
complaints by citizens of violations of their rights by state agencies, 
although the ombudsman was not authorized to investigate complaints 
concerning the president, heads of government agencies, the parliament, 
the cabinet, the Constitutional Council, the PGO, the CEC, or the 
courts. The ombudsman's office has the authority to appeal to the 
president, cabinet, or parliament to resolve citizens' complaints; 
cooperate with international human rights organizations and NGOs; meet 
with government officials concerning human rights violations; visit 
certain facilities, such as military units and prisons; and publicize 
the results of investigations in the media. The ombudsman's office also 
published an annual human rights report. During the year the 
ombudsman's office occasionally briefed the media and issued reports 
discussing complaints it had investigated. The country has still not 
passed a separate law on the human rights ombudsman despite scheduling 
its consideration for the end of 2011 under the National Human Rights 
Action Plan. National and international NGOs and some parliamentarians 
regularly criticized the ombudsman's weakness.
    Domestic human rights observers noted that although government 
human rights investigators did laudable work, particularly with less 
controversial social problems and issues involving lower-level elements 
of the bureaucracy, the ombudsman's office and the human rights 
commission were limited in their ability to stop human rights abuses or 
to punish perpetrators. The ombudsman's office participated in an OSCE-
sponsored program to strengthen the institution and facilitate the 
exchange of international best practices. Observers noted that the 
commission and the ombudsman avoided addressing underlying structural 
problems that led to 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; however, the government did not effectively 
enforce the law. Violence against women, trafficking in persons, and 
discrimination against non-Kazakhs in government, persons with 
disabilities, and those involved with homosexual activity were 
problems.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape. The 
punishment for rape, including spousal rape, ranges from three to 15 
years' imprisonment. Out of 1,023 officially reported rape cases during 
the first nine months of the year, authorities charged 481 persons with 
criminal rape and convicted 335. Under the law a prosecutor cannot 
initiate a rape case absent aggravating circumstances, such as gang 
rape, unless the victim files a complaint. Once a complaint is filed 
the criminal investigation cannot be dismissed if the rape victim 
recants or refuses to cooperate further with the investigation. This 
provision was intended to protect victims from coercion. There were 
anecdotal reports of police and judicial reluctance to act on rape and 
spousal rape cases.
    Violence against women, including domestic violence, was a problem. 
Legislation on domestic violence defines ``domestic violence'' and 
``victim;'' identifies various types of violence, such as physical, 
psychological, sexual, and economic; and outlines the responsibilities 
of the local and national governments and NGOs in providing support to 
domestic violence victims. The law also outlines mechanisms for 
issuance of restraining orders and provides for the 24-hour 
administrative detention of abusers. The criminal procedure code sets 
the maximum sentence for spousal assault and battery at 10 years in 
prison, which is the same as for any beating.
    NGOs maintain that the domestic violence law does not have an 
effective mechanism for implementation. According to NGOs domestic 
violence remained a serious problem. The Feminist League reported that 
the number of domestic violence crimes resulting in death or serious 
health repercussions remained similar to that of 2010, while the number 
of lighter battery incidents decreased, especially in rural areas. 
Although official statistics were scarce, activists estimated that one 
in four families experienced domestic violence. During the year the 
government registered 78,503 crimes against women, and Union of Crisis 
Centers, an NGO, recorded 23,073 complaints of domestic violence. 
Authorities reported 684 criminal cases of domestic violence.
    Police intervened in family disputes only when they believed the 
abuse was life threatening. According to NGO estimates, police 
investigated approximately 10 percent of such cases. NGOs conducted 
training for police officers on how to handle victims of domestic 
violence.
    NGOs reported that women often withdrew their complaints because of 
economic insecurity. When victims pressed charges for domestic violence 
or spousal rape, police occasionally tried to persuade them not to 
pursue a case. When domestic violence cases came to trial, the charge 
was most often light battery, for which judges sentenced domestic 
abusers to incarceration at a minimum-security labor colony and 120 to 
180 hours of work. Sentences for more serious cases of battery, 
including spousal battery, range from three months to three years of 
imprisonment; the maximum sentence for aggravated battery is 10 years' 
imprisonment.
    Although the government stated that 25 crisis centers assist women 
and two centers assist men, NGOs reported that the number of active 
centers was much smaller, likely ranging from 3 to 14. All the crisis 
centers received funding through government and international grants to 
NGOs. A number of smaller NGOs provided assistance to victims, and six 
of the crisis centers also provided shelter for victims of violence.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment remained a problem. The law 
prohibits some forms of sexual harassment, but legal and gender experts 
regarded the legislation as inadequate. There were reports of incidents 
of harassment, but in no instance was the law used to protect the 
victim, nor were there reports of any cases prosecuted.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and have the 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, or violence. Modern 
contraceptive methods were widely available. Women and men received 
equal treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Skilled personnel 
attended 100 percent of births, and 100 percent of women received at 
least one postnatal care visit, according to the Population Reference 
Bureau. According to the Ministry of Health, the maternal mortality 
ratio was 16.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2011.

    Discrimination.--The constitution and law provide for equal rights 
and freedoms for men and women. In 2009 the president signed a new 
gender equality law that defines the terms ``gender,'' ``gender 
equality,'' ``sexual discrimination,'' and ``equal opportunity'' and 
prohibits discrimination based on gender. Yet NGOs stated that no 
government body assumed responsibility for implementing the legislation 
and that the definition of gender discrimination does not comply with 
international standards. More women than men are self-employed or 
under-employed relative to their education level. According to 
observers, women in rural areas faced greater discrimination than women 
in urban areas and suffered from a greater incidence of domestic 
violence, limited education and employment opportunities, limited 
access to information, and discrimination in their land and property 
rights. According to the World Bank Women Business and the Law report, 
women in Kazakhstan still face gender inequality obtaining work in the 
same industries as men and there are no laws protecting women from 
sexual harassment in the workplace. There are no small claims courts or 
fast track procedures for small claims, which puts women-owned 
businesses at a greater disadvantage.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived both by 
birth within the country's territory and from one's parents. The 
government has a duty to register all births immediately.

    Education.--Education is mandatory through 16 years of age or 
secondary school; elementary schooling generally begins at age six. 
Primary and secondary education is free and universal. The law provides 
for access to public education for refugee and illegal migrant 
children. In some cases these children were denied access to schools, 
or their parents did not enroll them due to fear of discovery and 
deportation.

    Child Abuse.--There were increasing reports of child abuse compared 
with the previous year, although there was no societal pattern. NGOs 
estimated that more than half of all children younger than 14 
experienced at least one incident of physical or psychological abuse by 
adults. Abuse was more common in rural areas. According to publicly 
available statistics, courts permanently terminated the custody rights 
of approximately 300 abusive parents, relocated 400 abused children to 
orphanages, fined 800 parents for abuse, and convicted nine parents 
under criminal abuse charges. Minors who are 16 or older have the right 
to file petitions related to their interests directly with a court.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The minimum age for consensual 
sex is not specified in any article of the criminal code, but an 
article provides for 5 to 10 years in prison as punishment for 
individuals who force underage (less than 18) boys or girls to have 
sexual intercourse.
    In 2010 the country introduced a criminal statute on the production 
and distribution of child pornography, and expanded administrative 
penalties to cover the sale of pornographic materials to minors. The 
country retains administrative penalties for child pornography.

    Displaced Children.--According to the Ministry of Education, more 
than 10,000 children were identified as ``street children'' during the 
year. According to media reports, police placed homeless children in 
institutions run by the Ministry of Education for delinquent and street 
children. There they received medical and psychological assistance 
before they were released or sent to orphanages. During the year 
authorities placed 939 street children in temporary detention and sent 
719 back to their families, 55 to boarding schools, and 25 to permanent 
boarding schools for delinquent children.

    Institutionalized Children.--NGOs reported a high number of 
incidents of violence against children in orphanages, boarding schools, 
and detention facilities for delinquent children, and there were 
increased media reports on abuses in orphanages and other institutions. 
NGOs stated that half of children in orphanages or closed institutions 
suffered from abuse by teachers or other children. According to media 
reports, incidents of illegal placement of children in special 
correction facilities (prisons for underage criminals) and in 
facilities for the mentally ill occurred.
    On August 9, a North Kazakhstan district court began to hear a case 
against Asanov Orphanage Director Bibigul Mukeyeva for failing to 
prevent incidents of sexual abuse committed by teenage orphans against 
six- and seven-year-old fellow orphans. Authorities also issued 
reprimands to several department of education officials for failing to 
act. Eight underage abusers were exempted from criminal liability and 
victims' parents pardoned two others.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is a not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--Approximately 30,000 to 40,000 Jews lived in the 
country. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts apart from the 
distribution of anti-Semitic literature by Hizb ut-Tahrir. Leaders of 
the Jewish community reported no incidents of anti-Semitism by the 
government or in society.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--According to the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Protection, there were 506,000 persons with disabilities (3 
percent of the total population) in the country, although analysts 
argued that the real number was higher. The law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, and access to health 
care, and in the provision of other state services or other areas, but 
significant discrimination exists in the areas of employment, 
education, and access to government services.
    The law protects access to information for persons with 
disabilities. The government produced periodicals, scientific journals, 
reference literature, and fictional works that were recorded either on 
disk or in Braille. The law requires one national television channel to 
broadcast news programs with sign-language translation. NGOs believed 
that implementation of the laws on disability was lacking, and the Nur 
Otan party's Institute of Parliamentary Development has concluded that 
access for disabled persons to information and communications was 
insufficient.
    The law requires companies to set aside 3 percent of their jobs for 
persons with disabilities. International and local observers noted some 
improvement regarding the rights of persons with disabilities. 
Nevertheless, there were reports that persons with disabilities faced 
difficulty integrating into society and finding employment. According 
to NGOs, 3 percent of persons with disabilities were employed, and 90 
percent of employers who declined to hire persons with disabilities did 
so because of an applicant's disability. The law mandates access to 
buildings for persons with disabilities. Vice Minister of Labor and 
Social Protection Assel Nusupova identified the two biggest problems 
facing persons with disabilities as poor infrastructure and lack of 
access to education. Persons with disabilities had difficulty accessing 
public transportation. The government did not make a concerted effort 
to address these problems.
    Citizens with mental disabilities could be committed to state-run 
institutions without their consent or judicial review. In practice the 
government committed persons at a young age with the permission of 
their families. Institutions were poorly managed and inadequately 
funded.
    There are no regulations regarding the rights of patients in mental 
hospitals; human rights observers believed this led to mass abuse of 
patients' rights. NGOs reported that patients often were drugged and 
isolated for minor infractions, and experienced poor conditions and a 
complete lack of privacy. In response to NGO reports, prosecutors 
disclosed 7,000 violations of mental patients' rights ranging from 
illegal institutionalization, to restricting access to information and 
unlawful extension of patients' stays. Prosecutors punished 45 
officials as a result of the investigation. NGOs reported that 
orphanages for children with physical and mental disabilities were 
overcrowded and unsanitary, with insufficient staff to care adequately 
for children's needs.
    The government did not restrict the right of persons with 
disabilities to vote and arranged home voting for individuals who could 
not travel to polling places as a result of their disability.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection was the primary 
government agency responsible for protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities; the Ministries of Health and Education also assisted in 
their protection. Statistics on disability issues are unavailable.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The government continued to 
discriminate in favor of ethnic Kazakhs in senior government 
employment. Minorities experienced ethnic prejudice and hostility; 
encountered incidents of insult, humiliation, or other offenses; and 
were discriminated against in employment or job retention.
    Ethnic Kazakh migrants (oralmans) who returned to the country from 
abroad experienced domestic discrimination including problems with 
housing, employment, and access to social services.
    Kazakh is the official state language, although organizations and 
bodies of local self-administration officially may use Russian on an 
equal basis with Kazakh. The language law was intended to strengthen 
the use of Kazakh without infringing on the rights of citizens to use 
other languages. By law the ability to speak Kazakh is not required for 
entry into the civil service, but most government agencies officially 
have switched to conducting business in Kazakh. Non-Kazakh speakers 
have protested that this is language discrimination. The Election Law 
requires presidential candidates to be fluent in Kazakh.
    Among other forms of discrimination, critics have noted a scarcity 
of representatives of non-Kazakh ethnicities in the government and a 
reduction in the number of Russian-language schools.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Although there were no 
official statistics on discrimination or violence based on sexual 
orientation or gender identity, there were reports of such 
discrimination. Representatives of international organizations reported 
that negative social attitudes towards marginalized groups, including 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, impeded these 
groups' willingness to come forward and consequently hindered their 
access to HIV/AIDS programs.
    LGBT individuals, particularly gay men, were among the most 
oppressed groups, although the country does not outlaw consensual same-
sex sexual activity. According to a 2009 Soros Foundation study, 64.1 
percent of LGBT respondents said they did not face open discrimination 
in the workplace, although LGBT individuals often concealed their 
sexual orientation to avoid such discrimination. LGBT individuals whose 
sexual orientation became known publicly risked physical and verbal 
abuse, possible loss of work, and unwanted attention from police and 
authorities. A local NGO working on LGBT issues noted that new 
regulations have made gender reassignment more cumbersome but cited a 
slight improvement in public awareness of LGBT rights. Several LGBT 
organizations operating in the country reported that government-run HIV 
clinics occasionally breached confidentiality and reported patients' 
sexual orientation to their families and employers. Attempts to report 
violence against LGBT persons to law enforcement officers occasionally 
were met with resistance and hostility.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with HIV and AIDS. Observers reported 
that cultural stigmas against drug users and other at-risk groups 
continued to affect general access to information, services, treatment, 
and care.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides for the right to organize and form unions. On 
September 1, officials reported that 53,217 collective agreements were 
signed as a result of a prounion collective bargaining campaign 
initiated following a widely publicized 2008 mining accident in 
Satpayev. The campaign, designed to empower workers, has increased the 
number of agreements by 15 percent since 2008. As of September 1, 28.8 
percent of all enterprises and 90 percent of all unionized enterprises 
had collective bargaining agreements. Independent union organizers 
described this campaign as a significant change in policy.
    The law protects the rights of unions to conduct their activities 
without interference, and unions were free to recruit new members, 
conduct meetings, and bargain collectively with employers. The law 
permits collective bargaining and collective agreements; unions and 
associations engaged in collective bargaining in practice. The 
government continued its efforts to encourage collective bargaining. 
Labor unions reported 53,217 collective bargaining agreements. 
Activists stressed that political pressure was driving the rapid 
conclusion of agreements. The labor law provides that an individual 
contract between an employer and each employee sets the employee's wage 
and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the employee and the 
employer.
    The law provides for the right to strike but exercising this right 
is subject to numerous legal limitations. The government limited 
conditions under which those working for one of a list of industries 
and enterprises providing essential services, such as railway, civil 
aviation, military, law enforcement, fire services, health, and other 
services that provide for major life needs where strikes were permitted 
only under limited conditions, could strike. In general, workers may 
strike only if a labor dispute has not been resolved through existing 
compulsory arbitration procedures. Striking workers must give 15-day 
advance notice to employers. The law neither sanctions nor prohibits 
the firing of employees for participation in an illegal strike.
    Foreign workers have the right to join unions; however, the law 
prohibits the operation of foreign unions and prohibits the financing 
of unions by foreign legal entities and citizens, foreign states, and 
international organizations. Workers are protected by law against 
antiunion discrimination,
    Organizers reported that the government continued to restrict the 
right to organize, and most workers were not able to join or form trade 
unions of their choice. The government exercised considerable influence 
on organized labor and favored state-affiliated unions over independent 
unions. To obtain legal status, a trade union must apply for 
registration with the Ministry of Justice. The registration procedure 
is broadly similar to that of other membership organizations.
    The largest trade union association, the Federation of Trade 
Unions, the successor to formerly state-sponsored Soviet-era labor 
organizations, remained affiliated with the government. The federation 
united 26 industrial national unions and 13 regional unions. The 
industrial unions represented workers in a wide range of industries, 
including oil and gas, construction, textiles, education, and public 
health. Each union elects its own leader and has a representative on 
the General Council, which elects the 14-member Executive Committee. 
The committee runs the federation's day-to-day operations and deals 
with issues of social and economic protection, labor protection, 
organization, and international cooperation.
    Union demands that are unacceptable to management may be presented 
to a tripartite commission composed of government, employer 
association, and labor union representatives. The government was 
supposed to be the neutral broker on the commissions, but there were 
cases in which it favored the interests of labor unions or employers. 
The tripartite commission is responsible for developing and signing 
annual agreements governing most aspects of labor relations. Through 
this mechanism, labor unions raised the minimal wage for several 
industries, including mining and metallurgy, and forced employers to 
pay back salaries in a number of industrial areas during the year. 
Employers occasionally used individual contracts to weaken collective 
bargaining power.
    In practice there were reports of employers providing arbitrary 
justifications for firing employees who had attempted to organize 
strikes and there were multiple violations of the law protecting 
workers from antiunion discrimination. The violations ranged from 
threats of being fired, which would lead to the loss of social 
benefits, to physical intimidation and assault. Activists and trade 
union leaders in a variety of sectors have fallen victim to these 
firings, harassment campaigns, and physical attacks.
    In May workers initiated three separate labor strikes at oil and 
gas companies in the Mangistau region. The workers, the majority of 
whom were drivers, at Karazhanbasmunay (KBM), OzenMunayGaz (OMG), and 
Yersay Caspian Contractors (Yersay) demanded an increase in salaries, a 
revised collective bargaining agreement, and fewer restrictions on the 
activities of independent labor unions. Following the resolution of the 
Yersay strike, the KBM and OMG strikes continued, with a dwindling 
number of participants estimated at 1,000. The OMG and KBM fired 
approximately 400 people on the legal justification that an employee 
can be fired if absent from work without permission for 20 days. 
Following a December 16 to 17 incident in which authorities shot into 
crowds of rioters related to the ongoing strike and other social 
grievances, the government established temporary municipal employment 
for all fired workers at their former wages. Authorities claimed to 
have arranged permanent employment with over 20 private companies.
    During the strikes police detained three strike leaders, including 
Natalya Sokolova, a Russian citizen and former director of human 
resources at KBM. On August 8, a court convicted Sokolova of inciting 
social discord and sentenced her to six years in prison. The OSCE 
characterized the punishment as harsh and cited credible reports of due 
process violations, including reports that the presiding judge refused 
to admit into evidence a video recording in support of Sokolova's 
defense and denied her motions to summon witnesses.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, except at the sentence of the 
court or in conditions of a state of emergency or martial law; however, 
there were reports that such practices occurred. There were reports 
that some employers abused migrant workers by confiscating their 
passports or using debt bondage, violence, or threats of violence to 
compel them to work. Reports vary on the exact number of migrants 
annually to Kazakhstan. Estimates range from 300,000 to one million, 
with the majority of migrant workers coming from Kyrgyzstan, 
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Migrant workers were primarily employed in 
agriculture and construction. The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Protection was responsible for handling issues related to migrant 
labor.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace. The minimum 
age for employment is 16. With parental permission, children who are 
between 14 and 16 years of age can perform light work that does not 
interfere with their health or education. The law also restricts the 
length of the workday for employees younger than 18. The government 
conducted labor inspections to enforce the minimum age for employment, 
but enforcement was uneven.
    The government concluded an agreement with national employer 
associations that committed them to eradicate the use of forced labor 
and the worst forms of child labor and to develop alternative 
employment opportunities for children and their families. The Ministry 
of Education's 2007-11 Children of Kazakhstan program continued to 
address child labor problems. Nevertheless NGOs contended that the 
government's efforts were insufficient to address fully the use of 
child labor.
    The government did not maintain statistics on child labor. NGOs and 
activists reported that child labor occurred in agriculture, especially 
during harvest season. Children were involved in growing cotton and 
tobacco. However, efforts by Philip Morris Kazakhstan, the sole 
purchaser of Kazakhstani tobacco, to eradicate child labor in its 
supply chain significantly reduced the numbers of migrant children in 
the tobacco fields and led to increased awareness among farmers and 
local officials. Concurrently the government improved enforcement of 
existing legislation to prevent child participation in the cotton 
harvest.
    Past NGO studies have found that more than 70 percent of the 
children employed in this work were from migrant families, primarily 
Uzbek and Kyrgyz. Labor conditions frequently presented a physical 
health risk, and some children suffered from inadequate rest and 
nutrition. Many child workers lacked proper clothing to protect them 
from harmful chemicals used in agriculture and harsh weather 
conditions. In urban areas, the country's increasingly formalized labor 
market led to a decrease in many forms of child labor, although there 
were still reports of children begging, unloading freight, delivering 
goods in markets, washing cars, and working at gas stations.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is responsible for 
enforcement of child labor laws and for administrative offenses 
punishable by fines. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible 
for investigating criminal offenses. During the year, the government 
reported no crimes related to illegal child labor. The government 
cooperated with trade unions, employers, and NGOs to raise awareness 
and promote interagency cooperation in eliminating child labor.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national monthly minimum 
wage was 15,999 tenge (approximately $109). It was common for working-
class families to have more than one wage earner. Most workers earned 
above the minimum wage in urban areas. As of 2009, 8.2 percent of the 
population lived below the poverty line. According to the government, 
the poverty line is 40 percent of the subsistence level income and is 
currently 6,259.6 tenge ($42.30).
    The law stipulates that the normal workweek should not exceed 40 
hours and limits heavy manual labor or hazardous work to no more than 
36 hours a week. The law limits overtime to two hours a day or one hour 
a day for heavy manual labor, and requires overtime to be paid at least 
a 50-percent premium. Overtime is prohibited for work in hazardous 
conditions. The law provides that labor agreements may stipulate the 
length of working time, holidays, and paid annual leave for each 
worker.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection enforced minimum wages, 
work hours restrictions, and overtime. Ministry inspectors conducted 
random inspections of employers. Labor advocates reported that some 
employers regularly violated these laws.
    The law provides for the right to safe and hygienic working 
conditions, but working and safety conditions in the industrial, 
agricultural, and construction sectors were often substandard. Workers 
in factories usually lacked protective clothing and worked in 
conditions of poor visibility and ventilation.
    There were reports that management ignored regulations concerning 
occupational health and safety. In the first 11 months of the year, the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Protection reported 15,979 inspections and 
21,698 violations of occupational health and safety standards and 
rules. In addition to inspections by the ministry, unions conducted 
inspections of unionized enterprises and reported their findings to 
authorities for investigation. The law requires employers to suspend 
work that could endanger the life or health of workers and to warn 
workers about any harmful or dangerous work conditions or the 
possibility of any occupational disease. The law specifically grants 
workers the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger 
their health or safety without losing their jobs. In practice some 
workers, particularly in the construction industry, were not free to 
exercise this right without jeopardizing their employment.
    During the year the government reported 2,179 workplace injuries, 
compared with 1,918 in 2010. The government reported 365 workplace 
deaths during the year, compared with 319 deaths in 2010. According to 
officials at the Federation of Trade Unions, many of the deaths were 
due to antiquated equipment, Soviet-era infrastructure, and disregard 
for safety regulations in the mining and metallurgy sectors. The 
Federation of Trade Unions' 19,000 inspectors identified 124,000 labor 
law violations in 2010, and referred 43 to the Ministry of Labor and 29 
to court. According to the Federation, industries had 2,151 injuries 
and 132 workplace deaths in 2010.

                               __________

                            KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

                           executive summary
    The Kyrgyz Republic has a parliamentary form of government that 
limits presidential power and enhances the role of parliament and the 
prime minister. The October 2010 parliamentary elections, considered 
relatively free and fair, led to a three-party coalition that took 
power in December 2010. In the 2011 presidential election held on 
October 30, Almazbek Atambayev, the then prime minister, received more 
than 60 percent of the vote. Independent observers considered the 
election generally transparent and competitive, despite some 
irregularities. This was the country's first peaceful transfer of power 
in its 20-year history. Following Atambayev's inauguration on December 
1, parliament formed a new governing coalition that included four of 
the five parties that held seats. While security forces officially 
reported to civilian authorities, in some regions, particularly in the 
south, there were instances in which elements of the security forces 
acted independently of civilian control.
    The most important human rights problems were a continuation of the 
June 2010 ethnic tension that erupted in violent clashes in the South, 
and an absence of due process and accountability in judicial and law 
enforcement proceedings, as represented by the pervasive oppression of 
ethnic Uzbeks and others by members of law enforcement. Members of law 
enforcement continued to commit human rights violations, such as 
arbitrary arrest, mistreatment, torture, and extortion, against all 
demographic groups, but particularly against ethnic Uzbeks, who 
constituted more than 70 percent of June 2010 casualties but comprised 
80 percent of those charged with crimes related to that violence. The 
central government's inability to hold human rights violators 
accountable allowed security forces to act arbitrarily and emboldened 
law enforcement to prey on vulnerable citizens. Furthermore, the 
weakness of central authority empowered mobs to disrupt trials by 
attacking defendants, attorneys, witnesses, and judges.
    The following additional human rights problems existed: arbitrary 
killings by law enforcement officials; poor prison conditions; lack of 
judicial impartiality; harassment of nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs), activists, and journalists; pressure on independent media; 
authorities' failure to protect refugees adequately; pervasive 
corruption; discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, 
ethnic and religious minorities, and other persons based on sexual 
orientation or gender identity; child abuse; trafficking in persons; 
and child labor.
    Impunity was a major problem, as the government did not take steps 
to restrain the security forces from exploiting the citizenry.
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 purposely committed arbitrary 
or unlawful killings.
    During the year, however, at least five individuals reportedly died 
as a result of their detention by law enforcement agencies.
    On August 9, Osmonjon Kholmurzayev, an ethnic Uzbek citizen of 
Russia, died of internal bleeding and other injuries following his 
detention by Bazar Korgon police (Jalalabad oblast). He was taken into 
custody on August 7 on suspicion of being involved with the June 2010 
violence. Kholmurzayev was released after his family reportedly paid 
police KGS 30,000 ($650). Several human rights NGOs subsequently 
reported, and his family testified in court, that the police had 
demanded $6,000 (specified in U.S. dollars) for his release. Following 
his release on August 8, Kholmurzayev collapsed, and he died in the 
hospital the following day. Authorities arrested four Bazar Korgon 
police officers, charging them with abuse of power, torture, extortion, 
and manslaughter. Two of the officers were released to house arrest 
while on trial. The family's attorney asked that the judge be replaced 
for this decision, and in December a regional court in Bishkek granted 
the request. The trial continued at year's end.
    On July 30, Feruzbek Fiziyev, a customs officer died after an 
alleged encounter with members of the State Committee for National 
Security (GKNB). The GKNB officially claimed that Fiziyev jumped from a 
building while trying to avoid arrest following a raid on illegal arms 
dealers. Human rights NGOs, including Kylym Shamy and Golos Svobody, 
disputed this account, contending that Fiziyev died from injuries 
related to torture. They claimed GKNB officers detained him and two 
acquaintances on July 29. The acquaintances, who were released and 
reportedly fled the country, claimed that GKNB officers tortured them. 
An independent autopsy of Fiziyev showed injuries consistent with 
torture, including broken ribs, multiple contusions, and marks 
suggestive of electric shock.
    In October 2010 Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry announced the arrest 
of two persons in connection with the death of Gennady Pavlyuk, an 
ethnic Russian citizen of Kyrgyzstan, in December 2009. A prominent 
opposition journalist and critic of the Bakiev government, Pavlyuk died 
in the hospital after allegedly being thrown from a building in Almaty 
with his hands and feet bound. On October 11, Kazakhstan's criminal 
court convicted Aldayar Ismankulov, a former officer of the Kyrgyz 
GKNB's Organized Crime Unit, and two citizens of Kazakhstan of the 
killing. The court sentenced Ismankulov to 17 years, and his 
codefendants to 10 and 11 years' imprisonment, respectively.

    b. Disappearance.--During the year human rights organizations 
reported numerous disappearances and instances of abductions, often by 
law enforcement agencies. Many of these cases appeared to have been 
related to the continuing ethnic violence in the south. The Kyrgyzstan 
Inquiry Commission (KIC) report published in May corroborated reports 
of arrested and detained ethnic Uzbeks denied the opportunity to 
contact their families or attorneys during June 2010 events. During the 
year local and international observers continued to report numerous 
instances in which law enforcement held detainees incommunicado for 
long periods. Ethnic Uzbeks in the south reportedly were subject to 
arrest and detention during the June 2010 violence for crimes, such as 
``participating in mass disturbances, inciting ethnic hatred, and 
murder,'' according to multiple NGOs monitoring the situation. The NGOs 
alleged that police did not immediately record arrests or communicate 
them to family members.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or 
degrading treatment or punishment. In April the then newly appointed 
prosecutor general, Aida Salyanova, issued a decree prohibiting torture 
and ordered the prompt investigation of all torture allegations. 
Nonetheless, numerous defense attorneys and multiple human rights 
monitoring organizations, including Golos Svobody, Citizens Against 
Corruption (CAC), and Human Rights Watch (HRW), continued to report 
many incidents of torture by the police and other law enforcement 
agencies throughout the year. There were persistent reports of officers 
beating detainees and prisoners (particularly Uzbeks in the South) to 
extort bribes in exchange for release or to extract criminal 
confessions The only police officers known to have been criminally 
prosecuted during the year were those involved in the Kholmurzaev case 
(see section 1.a.).
    In contrast to widespread reports of abuse in detention, most 
detainees did not file torture claims while in pretrial detention 
because of a fear of retribution from detention facility personnel. As 
a result allegations of torture frequently went uninvestigated. In 
those cases where an allegation of misconduct was filed, investigators 
took two weeks or longer to review torture claims, at which point 
physical evidence of torture on the bodies of the detained was no 
longer visible. Consequently, defense attorneys presented most 
allegations of torture only during trial proceedings. At that point the 
claims were more difficult to prove and the courts typically rejected 
them. Based on credible NGO reports, ethnic Uzbeks in the southern 
portion of the country comprised the majority of victims of torture, 
abuse, and mistreatment by law enforcement.
    President Otunbayeva noted at the September meeting of the Ministry 
of Internal Affairs (MVD) and GKNB Public Oversight Boards that the 
number of torture incidents by law enforcement against 
``representatives of one nationality'' increased after the June 2010 
violence. She stated that ``torture in Kyrgyzstan is a part of culture 
and everyday life.'' The Anti-Torture Coalition registered 244 cases of 
torture from August 2009 to 2011.
    The Prosecutor General's Office reported that 87.3 percent of 
torture cases occurred in temporary detention facilities. The victims 
included 21 women and 12 juveniles. At least five cases of suspected 
torture led to death. In the first 11 months of the year, the 
Prosecutor General's Office filed 43 criminal cases involving torture, 
of which 20 were sent to the courts for consideration. At year's end, 
none of the filed cases had resulted in conviction.
    The NGO Committee of Soldiers' Mothers reported eight registered 
cases of military hazing involving physical abuse during the year. 
Military authorities and the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers provided 
medical and psychological treatment to the victims. The eight reported 
cases represented an increase in military hazing, compared with one 
case in 2010.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and sometimes life threatening due to food and medicine 
shortages, substandard health care, lack of heat and other necessities, 
and mistreatment. Pretrial and temporary detention facilities were 
particularly overcrowded, and conditions and mistreatment generally 
were worse there than in prisons. Unlike in previous years, morbidity 
and mortality rates increased. Morbidity rates increased from 5.07 
percent to 5.89 percent, and mortality from 0.9 percent to 1.08 
percent. Only mortality resulting from tuberculosis (TB) decreased. 
Approximately 477 prisoners had TB, of which 87 had multi-drug-
resistant strains. In the first 10 months of the year, 73 prisoners 
died, 14 of them from TB.
    According to the government, the prison population fell by 
approximately 2,600 to 8,093 (including 345 women). This was 
substantially less than the total prison capacity of 14,000 reported by 
the government. The decline in the prison population may have been 
related to a general amnesty during the year. Regardless, international 
organizations alleged that the actual capacity was markedly less than 
reported and that prison overcrowding constituted a significant 
problem.
    Authorities generally held juveniles separately from adults but 
occasionally grouped them together in overcrowded temporary detention 
centers. CAC reported that at a pretrial detention center in Toktogul, 
five prisoners were housed in a single cell containing only four beds. 
One of the detainees was a previously convicted criminal, and two were 
under the age of 18. On occasion convicted prisoners remained in 
pretrial detention centers while their cases were under appeal.
    On September 1, Mamataziz Bizrukov died, reportedly from a denial 
of medical treatment following abuse. Bizrukov, a 63-year-old ethnic 
Uzbek accused of murder and robbery during the June 2010 violence, died 
while in custody at a pretrial detention center in Osh. Officials 
reported the cause of his death as a heart attack. Although he was 
diagnosed with prostatitis on July 29, medical staff at the detention 
center did not allow him to receive outside treatment for which his 
family had offered to pay. Prior to his death, Bizrukov had complained 
that he had been unable to urinate for five days. Nonetheless, 
authorities did not send him to the center's hospital and did not 
remove him from his cell. The Osh office of the ombudsman and multiple 
human rights groups confirmed these reports. Human rights NGOs also 
asserted that prison and law enforcement personnel beat Bizrukov on 
multiple occasions while in custody.
    Convicted prisoners had reasonable access to visitors, and 
prisoners were permitted religious observance. Those held in pretrial 
detention were not always afforded access to visitors. Prisoners have 
the right to file complaints with prison officials or with higher 
authorities. However, CAC reported that complaints were not well 
documented and were not always passed along by prison staff. Many 
observers believed that official prisoner complaints of mistreatment 
constituted only a fraction of the cases that actually occurred.
    The government continued to permit international and domestic human 
rights observers, including from the Office of Democratic Institutions 
and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (OSCE), the NGO Penal Reform International, and Golos Svobody to 
visit prisoners in prisons as well as detainees in temporary detention 
centers. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also 
conducted visits. Monitoring groups generally received unfettered 
access.
    The ombudsman for human rights is empowered to request alternatives 
to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, improvements to pretrial 
detention, and proper release at the end of sentences. The ombudsman 
frequently made such requests in practice. The ombudsman reported that 
it made 2,098 written appeals related to gross violations or requests, 
and authorities granted 13.1 percent of these requests.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--While the law prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, arbitrary arrests appeared to have 
greatly increased following the June 2010 interethnic violence. The 
number of those arrested and of those sentenced to life imprisonment 
also increased during the year. CAC reported that 38 people received 
life sentences. The number of individuals serving life sentences in 
prison reached 242 during the year, compared with 204 persons in 2010 
and 190 in 2009. Police arrests for the lack of proper identification 
documents were common. Police frequently used false charges to arrest 
persons and then solicited bribes in exchange for release. Persons 
unable to pay were often subject to abuse by police. NGOs and 
monitoring organizations, including Golos Svobody, CAC, HRW, the U.N. 
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the OSCE all 
recorded multiple complaints of arbitrary arrest during the year. 
Although various estimates placed the number of arbitrary arrests in 
the thousands, there was no official count. Most observers asserted it 
was impossible to know the number of cases because the majority went 
unreported.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--General and local 
crimes fall under the authority of the MVD, while state-level crimes 
fall under the authority of the GKNB. The Prosecutor General's Office 
prosecutes both types of crimes. In 2009 then President Bakiyev signed 
into law measures that empower the military to intervene in domestic 
political conflicts and gave the Presidential Security Service law 
enforcement powers, including authorization to conduct interrogations, 
intercept communications, and carry out surveillance and other covert 
activity. Although these laws remain on the books, there were no 
reports that the military or Presidential Security Service exercised 
these powers.
    The problem of police impunity was highlighted in the aftermath of 
the June 2010 interethnic violence. International observers noted 
widespread arbitrary arrests, detainee abuse, and extortion, 
particularly in the south. However, few MVD officials were dismissed or 
prosecuted for corruption, abuse of authority, extortion, or police 
brutality. The ministry's internal investigations unit reported 1,430 
citizen complaints of police misconduct and 395 issued conclusions on 
subsequent investigations. As a result the ministry reported that 39 
officers were dismissed and 578 were subjected to various disciplinary 
actions. The Prosecutor General's Office reported investigating 87 law 
enforcement employees for various crimes but did not provide 
information on the outcomes of those investigations.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--In January 
parliament passed amendments to the criminal procedure code eliminating 
the authority of prosecutors to issue search and seizure warrants. 
Courts have that authority instead. Prosecutors have the burden of 
proof in persuading the judge that a defendant should be detained 
pending trial, yet detention remained common, particularly with ethnic 
Uzbek defendants accused of June 2010 crimes. In 2008 parliament 
approved amendments to the code that reduced the period that 
authorities can hold a detainee before charging him from 72 to 48 
hours. The limit was generally enforced. The law requires investigators 
to notify a detainee's family within 12 hours of detention, but this 
requirement often was not observed in practice. The courts have 
discretion to hold suspects in pretrial detention up to one year, after 
which the courts are legally required to release the suspect.
    All persons arrested or charged with crimes have the right to 
defense counsel at public expense. Human rights observers alleged that 
some defense attorneys appointed by the state were complicit with 
prosecutors and did not adequately defend their clients. By law the 
accused has the right to consult with defense counsel immediately upon 
arrest, but in many cases the first meeting did not happen until trial. 
Human rights groups noted that authorities usually denied attorneys to 
arrested minors, often holding them without parental notification and 
questioning them without parents or attorneys present, despite laws 
forbidding these practices. Authorities often intimidated minors into 
signing confessions.
    The law authorizes house arrest for certain categories of suspects. 
There were also reports that law enforcement officials selectively 
enforced the law by incarcerating persons suspected of minor crimes 
while not pursuing those suspected of more serious crimes. There was a 
functioning bail system.
    On October 20, President Otunbayeva signed an amendment to the law 
on detention conditions requiring lawyers to obtain permission from the 
prosecutor, investigator, or judge prior to visiting a defendant. Human 
rights defenders, including Golos Svobody and CAC, along with prominent 
defense attorneys challenged the provision, claiming it violates due 
process by making it more difficult for attorneys to consult with their 
clients in a timely manner.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary. Lawyers and citizens commonly believed that 
judges were open to bribes and/or susceptible to outside pressure. 
Multiple sources, including NGOs, attorneys, government officials, and 
private citizens asserted that judges paid bribes in order to attain 
their positions. These perceptions were reinforced by press reports of 
at least nine criminal investigations of judges for allegedly taking 
bribes during the year. A survey measuring how events and media reports 
shape public perception, conducted by the Citizen's Council to Control 
Court System, found that a majority of those interviewed believed that 
``judges do not behave properly'' and that ``judges accept bribes in 
exchange for their decisions.'' On September 23, GKNB officers detained 
an Oktyabrskiy district court judge for receiving a $1,000 bribe in 
exchange for stopping a criminal case. The investigation division of 
the GKNB opened a criminal investigation.
    Cases originate in local courts and can be appealed to municipal or 
regional courts, and finally to the Supreme Court. The military has its 
own courts. Military courts can try civilians if a codefendant is a 
member of the military. Military court cases can be appealed to a 
military appellate court and ultimately to the Supreme Court. Economic 
and financial disputes are settled through a separate arbitration 
court. The Constitutional Court, which was dissolved by the 2010 
constitutional referendum, was limited to constitutional questions and 
could not intervene with other courts except on the issue of 
constitutionality. Although the Constitutional Court was supposed to be 
reconstituted, difficulties with the judge selection process prevented 
it. At year's end the country had no Constitutional Court.
    Following the June 14 adoption of a law on the selection of judges, 
the Judges' Selection Council was supposed to have appointed a new 
constitutional chamber, Supreme Court, and eventually all 436 judges. 
The selection council was comprised of 24 members. The ruling 
coalition, the parliamentary minority, and the judiciary establishment 
each appointed eight selectors. The council, however, and the process 
itself were largely unsuccessful in appointing new judges as mandated. 
Civil society and some members of parliament were highly critical of 
the council for its lack of transparency and conflicts of interest. The 
president rejected many of the candidates for the council after 
determining they were unqualified for their posts. Other candidates did 
not make it through the final parliamentary approval process. In 
October the president suspended the activities of the council 
indefinitely due to conflicts of interest and more than 700 complaints 
about the process itself. Only two of 11 open positions in the 
Constitutional Chamber and none of the judgeships on the Supreme Court 
had been filled. In October parliament passed amendments to the law on 
the Judges' Selection Council in an attempt to eliminate conflicts of 
interest. At year's end more than 90 percent of the judges sitting at 
the time of the 2010 revolution remained in place.
    Traditional elders' courts handle property and family law matters 
and low-level crime. Elders' courts are under the supervision of the 
Prosecutor's Office but do not receive close oversight because of their 
locations in remote regions. Their decisions can be appealed to the 
corresponding regional court. Military courts and elders' courts follow 
the same rules and procedures as general courts.
    As reported in 2010, trials of Ethnic Uzbeks arrested for 
instigating or carrying out violence against ethnic Kyrgyz during the 
June violence were not conducted in accordance with Kyrgyz legal 
requirements or international standards of fairness. HRW (in its June 
2011 report), Amnesty International, and numerous other NGOs described 
pervasive violations of the right to a fair trial, including coerced 
confessions, use of torture, denial of access to counsel, threats and 
acts of violence against defendants and defense attorneys within and 
outside of the courtroom, intimidation of trial judges by victims' 
relatives and friends, and convictions in the absence of condemning 
evidence or despite exculpatory evidence.
    On December 20, following a long and frequently delayed appeals 
process, the Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction and life 
sentence of ethnic Uzbek human rights activist Azimjon Askarov. The 
court also upheld the convictions of his seven codefendants. In 
September 2010 a Jalalabad court sentenced Askarov to life imprisonment 
for the alleged killing of a police officer and for inciting ethnic 
hatred during the June 2010 ethnic violence. Four other codefendants 
received life sentences, two received 20-year sentences, and one 
received a nine-year sentence. In November 2010 an appeals court upheld 
the sentences. Askarov asserted that he was tortured while in custody, 
and international and local observers reported that trial sessions were 
marked by widespread threats, abuse, and assaults on defendants and 
their attorneys. The lower courts and the Supreme Court refused to hear 
witnesses that could corroborate Askarov's assertion that he was not at 
the site of the murder when it occurred. Other witnesses on his behalf 
declined to testify due to death threats. At the end of 2010 
authorities moved Askarov to a prison hospital in Bishkek, where he 
remained. On February 8, the Supreme Court considered a supervisory 
appeal of Askarov's sentence to life imprisonment but postponed the 
hearing following an investigative motion filed by Askarov's attorney. 
The court ordered the MVD to investigate torture allegations. In the 
December 20 hearing, the judges accepted the MVD's letter concluding 
that no violations or torture occurred while the defendants were in 
custody. No representative of the MVD appeared or testified in support 
of their findings.

    Trial Procedures.--State prosecutors bring cases before courts, and 
judges direct criminal proceedings. Criminal cases are conducted by a 
single judge; appellate cases are handled by three-judge panels. There 
are no jury trials. Judges have full authority to render verdicts and 
determine sentences. The law does not guarantee defense attorneys 
access to government evidence in advance of the trial. If a court 
renders a case indeterminable, it is returned to the investigative 
bodies for further investigation, and suspects may remain under 
detention. At year's end the government had not implemented a 2007 law 
allowing jury trials in the cities of Bishkek and Osh. The law provides 
for transparency of court proceedings. Trials are generally open to the 
public, unless state secrets or the privacy of defendants is involved, 
and verdicts are announced publicly even in closed proceedings.
    The law provides for defendants' rights, including the presumption 
of innocence. In practice, however, these rights appeared to have been 
regularly violated. Customs and practices of the judicial system 
continued to contradict the principle of presumption of innocence, and 
pretrial investigations focused almost exclusively on the collection of 
sufficient evidence to prove guilt. In a majority of trials, defendants 
are required to sit in barred cells within the courtroom, although 
sometimes it is necessary for their own protection. The law provides 
for unlimited visits between an attorney and a client during trial. 
However, official permission for such visits is required but not always 
granted. Indigent defendants were provided attorneys at public expense, 
and defendants could refuse attorney support and defend themselves. HRW 
and other NGOs reported that some state-provided criminal defense 
lawyers were complicit with prosecutors and did not properly defend 
their clients. In some cases NGO observers accused defense attorneys of 
being incompetent. Defendants and their counsel are permitted by law to 
access prosecution evidence, although not in advance of the trial, 
attend all proceedings, question witnesses, and present evidence. In 
practice, however, the legal system frequently did not guarantee these 
rights. Typically witnesses were required to testify in person. Under 
certain circumstances courts allowed testimony via audio or video 
recording. Defendants and prosecutors have the right to appeal the 
court's decision.
    During 2010-11, crowds of spectators regularly disrupted trials of 
ethnic Uzbeks charged with crimes related to the June 2010 violence. 
Family members of victims frequently disrupted trial proceedings and 
often threatened the security and the safety of defendants, attorneys, 
and judges. Authorities typically did nothing to stop these widespread 
incidents.
    On September 16, in Kara Suu District Court, an ethnic Uzbek man on 
trial for a killing and his attorney were attacked by relatives of the 
victim during the trial. The group of mostly women started with verbal 
threats and insults directed at the defendant and his attorney. The 
judge asked the women to desist but did not order them removed from the 
court and did not order police to provide security. While the defense 
attorney was giving remarks, the victim's mother attacked her, pulling 
her hair. The judge told the attacker to sit down but took no other 
action to protect the attorney, who apparently became too nervous to 
continue and left the courtroom. After the judge and prosecutor left 
the courtroom, the victim's relatives threw rocks at the defendant, who 
remained locked in a cage in the courtroom. Police in the courtroom 
reportedly tried to stop the attack but were attacked themselves. 
Authorities did not arrest any of the offenders.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--On December 20, the Supreme 
Court ruled against the appeal of Azimjon Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek 
human rights activist convicted with seven codefendants for the killing 
of a police officer during the June 2010 events. The court had 
suspended the appeal since February 8. Many independent observers 
considered Askarov a political prisoner, and the Ombudsman's Office 
declared that his sentence was ``politically motivated.'' An ombudsman 
investigation shortly after the incident cleared Askarov of suspicion 
and found that he had been tortured while in temporary detention. His 
and his codefendants' trial was considered by international and 
domestic observers to be highly biased and in violation of several 
domestic and international norms. His prosecution and conviction were 
based upon questionable witness accounts. His arrest appeared to be 
score settling by the police with whom he had frequently clashed.
    On October 28, a Jalalabad court convicted Kadyrzhan Batyrov, an 
ethnic Uzbek community leader, and five codefendants--all tried in 
absentia--of circulating separatist propaganda, inciting ethnic hatred, 
and organizing violent clashes. Independent observers judged the short 
trial to be politically motivated, marred by procedural violations, and 
rushed to completion before the October 30 presidential election. 
Batyrov and codefendant Inom Abdurasulov received life sentences, the 
other defendants received lengthy sentences, and all were subjected to 
state seizure of their property.
    In December the trial of 28 individuals accused of complicity in 
the shooting deaths of protesters on April 7 continued in Bishkek. The 
trial, which continued at year's end, involved the prosecution of 
several defendants in absentia, including former president Kurmanbek 
Bakiyev; his brother Janysh, former head of the Presidential Guard 
Service; and former prime minister Daniyar Usenov. Other defendants 
included Oksana Malevanaya, former head of the Presidential 
Secretariat; Murat Sulatinov, former chairman of the GKNB; and several 
special GKNB operations officers. Human rights activists claimed that 
the charges against the defendants were arbitrary and that the 
government denied the legal right of the defendants to see all of the 
evidence against them during the trial. The trial began in November 
2010, when during the first session, audience members surged onto the 
stage, threatening defendants and their attorneys, who subsequently 
refused to participate in the trial unless the government ensured their 
security.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and law 
provide for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters. As 
with criminal matters, citizens believed the civil judicial system was 
subject to influence from the outside, including by the government. 
Local courts address civil, criminal, economic, administrative, and 
other cases. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, although observers and 
activists alleged that the government at times violated these 
prohibitions. The law requires approval from the prosecutor general for 
wiretaps, home searches, mail interception, and similar acts, including 
in cases relating to national security. Some activists and journalists 
confidentially alleged that their privacy was violated through 
wiretapping, eavesdropping, and theft of personal or professional 
information.
    Cell phone operators MegaCom and Beeline confirmed that the 
security services wiretapped citizens. On April 15, parliament adopted 
a law requiring that mobile operators switch off the technical means 
serving security and investigative actions. Ar Namys parliamentarian 
Akylbek Japarov declared that the GKNB was responsible for violating 
the integrity of citizens' personal information with the use of a 
wiretapping system. The decree states that any wiretapping of 
electronic communication should be used exclusively to combat crime. 
Parliamentarian Dastan Bekeshev stated in a September 8 parliamentary 
session, however, that the decree had not been implemented because 
mobile operators had not reported turning off the wiretapping 
technology to the parliamentary committee.
    In July 2009 then President Bakiyev signed into law an amendment to 
the Law on Defense and Armed Forces authorizing the military to 
confiscate private property for the purpose of state security. While 
this law remains on the books, there were no reports of such 
confiscations during the year.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
There were no reports of violent clashes during the year. The 
widespread ethnic violence in June 2010 between ethnic Kyrgyz and 
ethnic Uzbeks in Osh and Jalalabad oblasts resulted in the deaths of 
400 to 500 individuals. In 2010 the government's investigative National 
Commission of Inquiry reported 426 confirmed deaths, of which 276 were 
of ethnic Uzbeks and 105 were of ethnic Kyrgyz. The international KIC 
report estimated at least 470 deaths, of which 75 percent (348) were of 
ethnic Uzbeks and 25 percent (118) were of ethnic Kyrgyz. Security 
forces, mainly composed of ethnic Kyrgyz, did not prevent the violence. 
Multiple reports surfaced that some units surrendered their vehicles, 
weapons, and uniforms to groups attacking ethnic Uzbek neighborhoods 
and may have participated in attacks. None of the investigations 
uncovered solid evidence of security forces' participation in the 
attacks.
    Authorities claimed that they investigated the June 2010 violence 
without regard to ethnicity. However, the vast majority of those 
arrested in connection with the violence, on charges ranging from 
destruction of property to murder, were ethnic Uzbeks. A June 2011 HRW 
report noted that of 124 individuals arrested for murder, 115 were 
ethnic Uzbeks. Many of those arrested were tortured. According to a 
2010 HRW report, prolonged and extensive beatings by fist, club, or 
rifle butt were the primary form of abuse. Victims also reported being 
suffocated with hoods or gas masks and burned with cigarette butts. 
Although government officials in oblasts where such abuses were alleged 
denied the claims, HRW reported finding 65 credible cases of torture.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--Freedom of Speech: The law provides for freedom of speech and 
press. In practice individuals generally could criticize the government 
publicly or privately without reprisal. Following the April 2010 change 
of government, the government took steps toward ensuring those rights 
were respected.

    Freedom of the Press.--After the June 2010 violence, the Committee 
to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that two ethnic-Uzbek Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty journalists in Osh received threats that forced 
them to stop working and leave the region temporarily. They had 
produced eyewitness reports of the ethnic unrest that differed from the 
reports produced by most domestic media outlets.
    There were 40 to 50 regularly printed newspapers and magazines, 12 
to 15 of which were state-owned with varying degrees of independence. 
The independent printing press run by the nongovernmental Media Support 
Center was the leading newspaper publisher in the country. More than 50 
state-owned and private television and radio stations operated in the 
country, with two television stations, both state-owned, broadcasting 
nationwide. Government newspaper, television, and radio outlets 
continued to receive state subsidies.

    Violence and Harassment.--At least eight journalists were attacked 
or threatened during the year. Although authorities opened 
investigations into some of the incidents, none were solved by year's 
end. In certain cases, even though some perpetrators' identities were 
known, the government did not prosecute the suspects. Some threats 
against journalists were anonymous; others were made by known figures 
such as politicians and government officials. Journalists were 
threatened for reporting on sensitive topics such as interethnic 
relations, the June 2010 events, and the rise of nationalism in the 
country. Others were threatened for reporting critically on public 
figures. Many journalists, even those not assaulted or threatened, 
admitted to self-censoring their reporting due to fear of being 
targeted.
    The CPJ and other news outlets reported that on August 10, Shakrukh 
Saipov, an independent, ethnic Uzbek journalist, was abducted from the 
Osh airport, beaten, and left unconscious on a street in the village of 
Aravan, 17 miles from Osh. Saipov, who publishes an independent news 
Web site in Russian, Uzbek, and English, sustained a concussion, 
partial memory loss, several broken teeth, and a broken nose. The 
attackers did not steal any of his valuables. At year's end the police 
reported no progress in investigating the case.
    On May 11, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other outlets 
reported that several assailants attacked and beat Samat Asipov, a 
journalist who covered parliament for Channel 5. Asipov was 
hospitalized for his injuries. The attackers did not steal his 
valuables. Although the police opened an investigation, they identified 
no suspects, and no one was prosecuted for the crime.
    During the year authorities prosecuted Khalil Khudaiberdiyev, owner 
and director of Osh TV, and Dzhavlon Mirzkhodzhayev, owner of Mezon TV 
and several newspapers, along with four other exiled ethnic Uzbek 
citizens of Kyrgyzstan, including Khadyrzhan Batyrov (see section 1.e., 
Political Prisoners and Detainees). Khudaiberdiyev and Mirkhodzayev 
were specifically targeted because their TV stations broadcasted a May 
2010 protest rally in Jalalabad. Although rally organizers denounced 
violence, Khudaiberdiyev, Mirzkhodzhayev, and the others were charged 
with participating in mass disorder, calls for separatism, and illegal 
creation of an armed group, among other charges. The CPJ called the 
charges fabricated. On October 28, both men were convicted and 
sentenced in absentia to prison terms of 14 years (Mirzkhodzhayev) and 
20 years (Khudaiberdiyev), as well as state seizure of property.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--A 2008 law, yet to be fully 
implemented, placed significant restrictions on television and radio 
broadcast companies and established Kyrgyz-language and local content 
requirements. Human rights activists asserted that the law is 
unconstitutional because it conflicts with constitutional rights to 
freedom of speech and access to information.
    Multiple anonymous sources alleged that some news outlets 
instructed their reporters not to report critically on certain 
politicians or government officials. Sources also reported that some 
news outlets received ``requests'' from offices of the government to 
report in a particular way or to ignore news stories.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--Under the new constitution, libel is 
no longer a criminal offense. On July 11, President Otunbayeva signed 
legislation passed by parliament to implement that provision.
    From September 25 until October 30--the period of the presidential 
election campaign--the national cable television provider blocked 
international news channels CNN and BBC. All of the Russian news 
channels were delayed, and later broadcasts removed stories referring 
to Kyrgyzstan. It was reported that the Russian embassy provided the 
technology to delay and edit the Russian broadcasts. These measures 
were taken in accordance with the new law on elections that sought to 
limit foreign media influence in the campaign.

    Publishing Restrictions.--The Ministry of Justice requires all 
media to register and receive ministry approval in order to operate. 
The registration process nominally takes one month but in practice 
often took much longer. It included checks on the background of each 
media outlet's owner and the source of financing, including financing 
by international donor organizations.
    Foreign media generally operated freely. The law prohibits foreign 
ownership of domestic media; however, there was a small degree of 
foreign ownership of media through local partners. Russian-language 
television stations dominated coverage and local ratings. A number of 
Russia-based media outlets operated freely in the country; the 
government treated them as domestic media. Several new broadcast 
licenses were issued in late 2010 and 2011, but the awards process 
remained cumbersome in that two licenses were required, one for content 
and one for broadcast spectrum. The process also lacked transparency.
    All independent Uzbek-language media in the south stopped operating 
after the June 2010 violence, and aside from extremely limited Uzbek 
language content in Kyrgyz language outlets and publications, they did 
not resume during the year. In some cases there were reports that media 
outlets stopped operating because of local government pressure.
    During the year there were no developments in the 2010 case of 
Ulugbek Abdusalamov, editor of the Uzbek-language newspaper Didor, 
charged with ``organizing and participating in mass disorder,'' 
``inciting ethnic hatred,'' and ``separatist activities aimed at 
destroying the territorial integrity of the state.'' According to human 
rights organizations, Abdusalamov had heart problems that may have 
resulted from beatings in prison, and his trial was postponed. At the 
end of 2010, Abdusalamov's attorney reported that his client and his 
family were missing and their whereabouts were unknown.

    Internet Freedom.--Individuals and groups could engage in peaceful 
expression of views via the Internet, including e-mail, online forums, 
and blogs.
    On June 16, parliament adopted a resolution banning the independent 
news website, fergananews.com (formerly fergana.ru) from operating 
within the country. Parliament justified its decision by saying that 
the site, which most observers see as independent and balanced, incited 
ethnic hatred. Activists called the move unconstitutional, and 
President Otunbayeva criticized the decision, recalling that the 
Bakiyev regime had tried to shut down the Web site. The government did 
not enforce the ban.
    From February 22 to 28, the Web site gezitter.org, which translated 
and published Kyrgyz language news stories in Russian, was unavailable 
on all ISPs connected via Kyrgyztelecom. Because gezitter.org was still 
accessible outside of the country and on the few ISPs not affiliated 
with Kyrgyztelecom, it appeared as if the near monopoly provider had 
blocked the site, but expert opinion on the matter remained 
inconclusive. Kyrgyztelecom denied that it had blocked the site. The 
site operated normally after the end of February.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events. Religious higher 
educational institutions must follow strict reporting policies, but 
they reported no restrictions on academic freedom.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for the right of peaceful assembly. 
Organizers and participants of peaceful assemblies have the 
responsibility to notify authorities about planned assemblies, but the 
constitution prohibits authorities from banning or restricting peaceful 
assemblies, even in the absence of prior notification. According to the 
report Monitoring the Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly in the 
Kyrgyz Republic, enforcement of freedom of assembly and existing laws 
does not always comply with the constitution. For example, local 
authorities still have the right to demand an end to public action, and 
in the case of noncompliance, they are empowered to take measures to 
end assemblies. The report contends that these powers are subject to 
abuse by local authorities. The government initiated a draft law ``On 
Peaceful Assemblies'' to close gaps between current laws, practice, and 
the constitution, but as of year's end, it had not passed.
    In the first 10 months of the year, nearly 1,500 demonstrations 
freely took place.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right. NGOs, 
labor unions, political parties, and cultural associations must 
register with the Ministry of Justice. NGOs are required to have at 
least three members, and all other organizations at least 10 members. 
The Ministry of Justice did not refuse to register any domestic NGOs 
during the year and, following the April 2010 change of government, it 
allowed the Norwegian Helsinki Commission to operate in the country. 
The law prohibits foreign-funded political parties and NGOs, including 
their representative offices and branches, from pursuing political 
goals.
    The government continued its ban on five organizations--Hizb ut-
Tahrir (HT), the Islamic Party of Turkestan, the Organization for 
Freeing Eastern Turkestan, the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party, and 
Tablighi Jamaat--that it alleged had ties to international terrorist 
organizations. Arrests and prosecution of persons accused of possessing 
and distributing HT literature continued. Although most arrests of 
alleged HT members in the past occurred in the south and involved 
ethnic Uzbeks, media reports tracked a continuing increase in 
detentions of ethnic Kyrgyz for HT-related activity in the north. The 
majority of those arrested were charged with distribution of literature 
inciting ethnic, racial, or religious hatred. In some cases police may 
have planted HT literature as evidence against those arrested.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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.--In-country Movement.--The law on 
internal migration provides for freedom of movement. The government 
generally respected this right in practice, and citizens generally were 
able to move within the country with relative ease. However, certain 
policies continued to restrict internal migration, resettlement, and 
travel abroad. The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other organizations to 
provide some protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern. The law requires all 
persons to possess an official residence registration to work and live 
in a particular area of the country. Applicants for residence 
registration must file a request with the local police and be able to 
prove they have a place to live in the area. Individuals who do not 
register or who are registered in a town other than where they live can 
be denied access to subsidized health care or schooling.

    Foreign Travel.--The law on migration prohibits travel abroad by 
citizens who have or had access to information classified as state 
secrets.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--According to the UNHCR, the 
June 2010 violence in Osh and Jalalabad oblasts displaced approximately 
300,000 persons internally, as well as 75,000 persons who temporarily 
fled to Uzbekistan and later returned. The UNHCR, which led a 
multiimplementer emergency shelter construction project, announced in 
December 2010 that all those whose homes had been partially or totally 
destroyed in the violence had been provided with temporary shelter. 
However, the UNHCR cautioned that significant numbers remained 
displaced and were living with other families, were in transitional 
shelter on the plots of their destroyed homes, or had left the country. 
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDCM) estimated that 
75,000 persons remained internally displaced at the start of the year. 
The government's State Directorate for Reconstruction and Development 
offered two options to families with damaged homes: a one-time grant 
equivalent to about $1,000, or a loan equivalent to approximately 
$4,200. Most returnees opted for the one-time grant. According to the 
IDCM, internally displaced persons continued to face issues concerning 
physical and food security, arbitrary arrest, the replacement of 
documentation, and limited access to livelihoods, health care, 
education materials, and sanitation.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The laws provide for 
the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government has 
established a system for doing so. During the year the government 
cooperated with the UNHCR and other organizations to provide some 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their 
race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, 
or political opinion. According to the UNHCR, Uighurs remained at risk 
of deportation or extradition, particularly if they were involved with 
political and religious activities in China or if the Chinese 
government requested their return. The government also continued to 
deny Chechen refugees official refugee status, but it granted them 
asylum seeker status, which provided some legal protection. There were 
continued reports of Uzbek refugees hiding in the country due to fear 
of persecution by the Uzbek government.

    Access to Asylum.--As in past years, several local citizens sought 
asylum in foreign countries, claiming they would face repression or 
legal persecution if they returned to the country.

    Employment.--Refugees who lack official status in Kyrgyzstan do not 
have legal permission to work. They are therefore subject to 
exploitation by employers paying substandard wages, not providing 
benefits, and not complying with labor regulations. They cannot file 
grievances with the authorities. These refugees are also ineligible to 
receive state provided social benefits.
    The Ministry of Migration, Employment, and Labor reported 193 
refugees and 225 asylum seekers in the country as of August. Refugees 
were primarily from Afghanistan (182), along with several each from 
Syria, Iran, and China. Among the asylum seekers officially registered 
with the government were 47 from Afghanistan, 152 from Uzbekistan, nine 
from Iran, 13 from Russia, and small numbers from other countries 
including Turkey, China, Syria, and Pakistan.

    Stateless Persons.--A UNHCR-funded survey conducted by local NGOs 
in late 2008 identified nearly 13,000 individuals living in the three 
southern oblasts who lacked any official documentation confirming their 
citizenship. The report listed several categories of stateless persons: 
Uzbek women who married Kyrgyz citizens but never received Kyrgyz 
citizenship (many such women allowed their Uzbek passports to expire, 
and regulations obstructed their efforts to gain Kyrgyz citizenship); 
individuals who continued to hold outdated Union of Soviet Socialist 
Republics passports because they failed to exchange their passports or 
never applied for citizenship; children born to one or both parents who 
are stateless; and children of migrant workers who had renounced their 
Kyrgyz citizenship in the hope of becoming Russian citizens. Stateless 
persons were denied state social benefits and prevented from working in 
formal sector jobs.
    In September 2009 the UNHCR announced a plan of action for dealing 
with the problem of statelessness, including increasing public 
awareness and working with the government to improve the process for 
applying for citizenship. The UNHCR estimated that as a result of the 
plan of action, approximately 10,000 persons had been documented as 
citizens in 2010. As of September, 4,000 stateless persons had received 
Kyrgyz passports. At year's end the UNHCR estimated the total number of 
stateless persons in the country (both de jure and de facto) at 
slightly more than 17,000.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens with the right to change their government 
peacefully. In practice, however, this right had been restricted until 
the violent change of government in April 2010. Following the revolt, a 
provisional government took power and conducted a constitutional 
referendum at the end of June 2010 and parliamentary elections in 
October 2010. The country then held presidential elections on October 
30, 2011.
    Under the new constitution, the powers of the president, 
parliament, and government (headed by a prime minister) are divided. 
The president, who serves a six-year term, can veto legislation and 
appoints the heads of national security bodies. Members of parliament 
are elected to five-year terms on party lists and vote to approve a 
proposed government. Parliament can also vote to express no confidence 
in the government, after which the president may dissolve it. The 
constitution does not provide any officeholder with immunity from 
prosecution after the individual leaves office.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--On 
October 30, the country held a presidential election that was judged to 
be open and transparent, but not without problems and accusations of 
fraud by both local and international observers. Prime Minister 
Almazbek Atambayev defeated 15 other candidates with 62.52 percent of 
the vote. By attaining more than 50 percent of the vote, Atambayev 
prevented a runoff election. He assumed office December 1. The election 
was widely observed with nearly 800 international observers and 
thousands of local observers, representing domestic NGOs, political 
parties, and the candidates themselves. Although not widespread, 
instances of fraud, including ballot stuffing and manipulation of 
polling station and precinct results, were observed and reported, as 
were problems with voter lists. For the first time, the country 
required citizens to register in advance and appear on voter lists in 
order to cast ballots. Although more than 300,000 people reportedly 
changed the location of their voter registration, thousands who went to 
the polls did not find themselves on the final voter list and were not 
allowed to vote. International and local observation missions noted the 
problems, but the general consensus was that they did not change the 
outcome of the election. Atambayev's two closest competitors, who each 
received approximately 15 percent of the vote, alleged widespread fraud 
and challenged the results. Nonetheless, the Central Election 
Commission certified the results on November 12.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were no legal 
restrictions on the participation of women in politics; however, with 
the notable exception of President Roza Otunbayeva, traditional 
attitudes at times hindered women from holding high office or playing 
active roles in political life. There were no female candidates on the 
2011 presidential ballot. Twenty-five women representing five political 
parties occupied seats in parliament due to parliamentary election code 
mandates aimed at ensuring gender diversity. The code requires that 
male and female candidates be no more than three spaces apart on party 
lists and that no more than 70 percent of candidates on a party list be 
of the same gender.
    National minorities, which made up 35 percent of the population, 
were underrepresented in government positions, particularly Russians 
and Uzbeks, the two largest ethnic minority groups. Fourteen of the 120 
parliament members belonged to a national minority. The law requires 
that at least 15 percent of candidates on party lists be ethnic 
minorities.
    The Minister of Social Protection was the only ministerial position 
held by a woman during the year. From April through the end of the 
year, the position of prosecutor general was also held by a woman. No 
one known to be of an ethnic minority held a cabinet-level government 
position. As of October women occupied 19 percent of the 675 government 
positions.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Corruption remained endemic at all levels of society. The law 
provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the 
government did not enforce the law effectively, and officials engaged 
in corrupt practices with impunity.
    The payment of bribes to avoid investigation or prosecution was a 
major problem at all levels of law enforcement. Likewise, law 
enforcement, particularly in the south, frequently employed arbitrary 
arrests, torture, and the threat of criminal prosecution as a means of 
extorting cash payments from citizens (see section 1.d.).
    The law gives persons the right to request information from the 
government, and the government generally complied with such requests; 
however, the process was typically slow, rendering the service less 
useful.
    On October 12, the GKNB launched a Web site to make its work more 
open and accessible to the public.
    On September 23, GKNB officers detained an Oktyabrskiy district 
court judge for receiving a $1,000 bribe in exchange for stopping a 
criminal case. The investigation division of the GKNB opened a criminal 
investigation.
    On September 12, the GKNB's investigation division completed its 
investigation of several MVD officers for illegal weapons and 
ammunitions trade and sent the case to the court. The investigation 
discovered weapons and ammunition missing from the MVD weapons 
storehouse.
    In September the GKNB's press service announced that the committee 
had fired two GKNB officers for trafficking precious metals into the 
republic and six counterintelligence officers for faking reporting 
documents.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Despite recently loosened restrictions on the activities of 
domestic and international organizations that report on human rights in 
the country, law enforcement officials harassed and threatened human 
rights activists who reported on ongoing abuses and those committed 
during and after the June 2010 ethnic violence. Although the central 
government regularly met with local and international organizations to 
discuss their activities and acknowledge their concerns, it failed to 
respond to some international organizations' questions, requests, or 
reports.
    On November 17, Sardar Bagishbekov, director of Golos Svobody and a 
prominent human rights activist, received a threatening telephone call 
from a colonel in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Bagishbekov and 
others had been pursuing the criminal prosecution of the colonel's son, 
also a police officer, for torture and were operating a prison and 
torture monitoring project. The colonel warned Bagishbekov and his 
colleagues to back off the case and their monitoring activities. He 
threatened that after the December 1 departure of President Roza 
Otunbayeva, things would be different for human rights defenders, 
implying that the government would not protect them. Bagishbekov filed 
a complaint with the Prosecutor General's Office, which referred the 
incident back to the ministry, and the colonel was verbally 
reprimanded. The defendant in the torture case was dismissed from the 
police force and was awaiting trial at the end of the year. Three other 
officers also charged in the case remained on the force.
    On September 21, Marsel Abdirasulov, the 19-year-old son of human 
rights activist Aziza Abdirasulova, was removed from his home and 
detained by four members of Bishkek's Sverdlovskiy district Department 
of Internal Affairs. He was detained in connection with an alleged 
assault and robbery. The officers were dressed in street clothes and 
initially did not identify themselves as police officers. Abdirasulov 
denied involvement in the incident and had an alibi. After being 
questioned for several hours, he was released and the charges against 
him were later dropped. On the date of his arrest, his mother and other 
activists had traveled to Osh to monitor detention centers. 
Abdirasulova claimed that her son's arrest was directly related to her 
monitoring and human rights activity.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--In September 2010 President 
Otunbayeva authorized an international independent commission led by 
Kimmo Kiljunen, special representative of the OSCE Parliamentary 
Assembly for Central Asia, to investigate the cause and circumstances 
of the June 2010 interethnic violence. The KIC, which was completely 
independent of the OSCE, received government cooperation, and its 
detailed report was released on May 4. Most independent observers 
judged the report to be balanced and exhaustively researched.
    The KIC faulted the provisional government on a number of grounds, 
including ``failing to recognize or underestimating the deterioration 
in interethnic relations in southern Kyrgyzstan'' and failing to deploy 
security forces with clear rules of engagement for non-lethal use of 
force.
    The government disputed the findings of the May KIC report, calling 
them one-sided. In response to the report, parliament passed a 
resolution on May 26 that banned KIC Chairman Kiljunen from entering 
the country. The resolution accused him of distributing unconfirmed, 
biased information about the events to the international community. The 
resolution also instructed the prosecutor general to prevent the 
circulation of unconfirmed information and prosecute those responsible 
for its circulation.
    The government permitted visits by representatives of the U.N. and 
other organizations, including the OSCE, ICRC, Norwegian Helsinki 
Committee, and International Organization for Migration (IOM). The 
government postponed the scheduled fact-finding mission of the U.N. 
special rapporteur on torture. The visit was originally scheduled for 
May but took place in December.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Office of the Ombudsman acts 
as an independent advocate for human rights on behalf of private 
citizens and NGOs and has authority to recommend cases to court for 
review. The Ombudsman's Office actively advocated for human rights. The 
ombudsman told parliament that his office had received approximately 
10,180 complaints during the year and had addressed all of them. The 
atmosphere of impunity surrounding the security forces and their 
ability to act independently against citizens limited the number and 
type of complaints to the office.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status. Although women were active in government, 
education, civil society, the media, and small business, they 
encountered gender-based discrimination. Rights activists claimed 
authorities failed to apprehend or punish perpetrators of crimes of 
discrimination during the year.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape, including spousal rape, 
is illegal; however, the government failed to enforce the law 
effectively. Activists continued to note a growing number of rape 
cases, although this may have been due to increased reporting of 
attacks. NGOs claimed that rape cases were dramatically underreported 
and were rarely brought to court. No statistics relating to the number 
of cases or convictions during the year were available.
    The law specifically prohibits domestic violence and spousal abuse; 
however, violence against women remained a problem. According to a poll 
conducted in 2008-09 by the Association of Crisis Centers, 83 percent 
of respondents stated there was physical violence against women in the 
home. The U.N. Women's Development Fund also stated that between 40 and 
50 women and girls were hospitalized in the Bishkek city hospital every 
month because of domestic violence. According to the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs, police responded to almost 10,000 cases of family 
conflict annually, and nearly 15 percent of crimes committed during 
family conflicts resulted in death or serious injury. Many crimes 
against women were not reported due to psychological pressure, cultural 
traditions, and apathy among law enforcement officials. Furthermore, 
there were reports of spouses retaliating against women who reported 
abuse. Penalties for domestic violence ranged from fines to 15 years' 
imprisonment, the latter if abuse resulted in death.
    Several local NGOs provided services for victims of domestic 
violence, including legal, medical, and psychological assistance, a 
crisis hotline, shelters, and prevention programs. In 2009, according 
to the Association of Crisis Centers, their 13 member shelters had 
6,620 women as clients. Organizations assisting battered women also 
lobbied to streamline the legal process for obtaining protection 
orders. The government provided offices for the Sezim Shelter for 
victims of domestic abuse and paid its bills. According to the Sezim, 
its hotline received 2,019 telephone calls during the year. Ninety 
percent of calls were made by women, and 507 of them involved domestic 
violence cases. The shelter provided services to 256 individuals, 
including 122 children. It reported that 104 women and 105 children 
were victims of domestic violence.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--Although prohibited by law, the 
traditional practice of kidnapping women and girls for forced marriage 
continued in rural areas. Recent independent studies estimated that 50 
to 75 percent of all marriages in the country involved bride 
kidnapping. While some cases were consensual, reports estimated that up 
to two-thirds of bride kidnappings were nonconsensual. Cultural 
traditions discouraged victims from going to the authorities. 
Reportedly, some victims went to the local police and obtained 
protective orders, but the orders were often poorly enforced.
    In the first half of the year, the press reported that in Issyk Kul 
Province, two 20-year-old women forced into marriage through bride 
kidnapping committed suicide.
    On February 12, a 16-year-old girl in the town of Bashi in Naryn 
oblast was kidnapped for the purpose of forced marriage. The case was 
under investigation, although the girl continued to live with her new 
family as a spouse at year's end. It was reported that the director of 
the school where the girl studied may have been involved in her 
kidnapping.

    Sexual Harassment.--According to an expert at the local NGO Shans, 
sexual harassment was widespread, especially in private sector 
workplaces and among university students, but was rarely reported or 
prosecuted. The law prohibits physical sexual assault but not verbal 
sexual harassment. Penalties for sexual assault range from three to 
eight years' imprisonment.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have 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. National health regulations require that family planning 
counseling and services be readily available through a range of health 
professionals including not only obstetricians and gynecologists but 
also family doctors, paramedics, and nurse-midwives. At the level of 
primary health care, regulations require that women who request 
contraceptives can receive them regardless of ability to pay. The 
country's Essential Drug List (a list of drugs and other medical items 
that all government medical clinics should have in supply and available 
to patients) also includes different types of contraceptives. National 
health protocols require that women be offered postpartum care and 
counseling on methods and services related to family planning. The 
government offered special programs to meet the needs of vulnerable 
target groups, such as adolescents, internally displaced persons, new 
urban migrants, persons in prostitution, and the very poor. No 
information was available relating to gender differences in diagnosis 
or access to treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
    According to statistics provided by the Population Reference 
Bureau, access to contraception and maternal health care was widely 
available, and virtually all births in urban areas and 96 percent of 
births in rural areas were attended by skilled personnel.

    Discrimination.--In 2008 then President Bakiyev signed a law 
providing for equal rights for men and women. According to the 
presidential press service, the ``document establishes state guarantees 
in terms of providing equal rights and opportunities for persons of 
various sexes in political, social, economic, cultural, and other 
fields, and aims to protect men and women against discrimination on the 
basis of sex.'' Women have the same rights as men, including under 
family law, property law, and in the judicial system, although 
discrimination against women persisted in practice. According to an 
expert from the NGO Women's Educational Coalition for Equal Rights, 
Development, and Peace, the property rights of women from Muslim 
families were not protected, and those women were subject to 
discrimination when applying for jobs or entering educational 
institutions. The National Council on the Issues of Family, Women, and 
Gender Development, which reports to the president, is responsible for 
women's issues.
    Average wages for women were substantially less than for men. Women 
made up the majority of pensioners, a group particularly vulnerable to 
deteriorating economic conditions. In rural areas traditional attitudes 
toward women limited them to the roles of wife and mother and curtailed 
educational opportunities. Data from NGOs working on women's issues 
indicated that women were less healthy, more abused, less able to work 
outside the home, and less able than men to determine independently the 
disposition of their earnings. According to the U.N. Development Fund 
for Women and domestic NGOs, women did not face discrimination in 
access to credit or owning businesses.
    The annual government-sponsored media campaign to combat violence 
against women took place during the year. According to NGOs the 
campaign helped to coordinate the efforts of groups combating violence 
against women and give them a greater voice.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--According to the law, every child 
born in the country has the right to receive a birth certificate, local 
registration, and citizenship; however, some children were stateless 
(see section 2.d.). The UNHCR reported that children of migrant parents 
who have moved and/or acquired citizenship of another country--in many 
cases, Russia--had to prove that both of their parents were Kyrgyz 
citizens. These children encountered difficulties obtaining citizenship 
if their parents lacked the necessary documentation.

    Education.--The law provides for compulsory and free education for 
the first nine years of schooling, or until age 14; secondary education 
is free and universal until age 17. However, financial constraints 
prevented the government from providing free basic education for all 
students, and the system of residence registration restricted access to 
social services, including education for certain children, such as 
refugees, migrants, and noncitizens. The law carries penalties for 
parents who do not send their children to school or who obstruct their 
attendance. This law was only sporadically enforced, particularly in 
rural areas. Families who kept children in public schools often had to 
pay burdensome and illegal administrative fees. The government 
continued to fund two programs to provide school supplies and textbooks 
to low-income children and those with mental or physical disabilities. 
Legally, all textbooks should be free of charge, but the government was 
unable to provide them to all students.

    Medical Care.--The government provided health care for children; 
however, refugee, migrant, noncitizen, and internally displaced 
children had problems accessing health care due to the system of 
residence registration.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse, including beatings, child labor, and 
commercial sexual exploitation of boys and girls continued to be a 
problem. In addition gang-related child-on-child violence in schools 
was a growing trend.
    As in previous years, there were numerous reports of child 
abandonment due to parents' lack of resources, and large numbers of 
children lived in institutions, in foster care, or on the streets. 
Approximately 80 percent of street children were internal migrants. 
Street children had difficulty accessing educational and medical 
services. Police detained street children and sent them home (if an 
address was known) or to a rehabilitation center or orphanage. The 
Rehabilitation Center for Street Children in Bishkek, maintained by the 
Ministry of Internal Affairs, continued to lack sufficient food, 
clothes, and medicine and remained in poor condition. In 2007 the 
center provided rehabilitation assistance to approximately 400 children 
and sheltered 70, according to UNICEF. In 2008 IOM, with foreign 
government funding and State Committee for Migration and Employment 
(SCME) assistance, renovated the Rehabilitation Center for Children in 
Osh, staffed it with personnel from an IOM-trained NGO, Ulybka, and 
stocked it with food and supplies. According to Ulybka employees, 698 
children received shelter, rehabilitation, and psychological counseling 
in 2009, 55 of whom were found to have been victims of child labor or 
sexual exploitation. The center was destroyed during the ethnic 
conflict in the south in June 2010, but by August it had been 
reconstructed. In the period from August to November, 290 children 
received assistance in the center.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--Although illegal, the practice of 
bride kidnapping continued (see section 6, Women), and underage 
abductions during the year were likely underreported. Children who are 
16 and 17 may legally marry with the consent of local authorities, but 
marriage before age 16 is prohibited under all circumstances. The 
government did not have a program to address the problem of child 
marriage. Instead local authorities handled reports of its occurrence 
on a case-by-case basis. According to a report by the U.N. Committee on 
Children, between 2003 and 2009 the Prosecutor General's Office 
initiated 27 cases against underage bride kidnapping and forced 
marriage.
    State orphanages and foster homes lacked resources and often were 
unable to provide proper care. Some older children were transferred to 
mental health care facilities even when they did not exhibit mental 
health problems. According to data provided by the Government Social 
Protection Development Agency, more than 20,000 children lived in state 
institutions or foster care.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--No law specifically prohibits espousing or printing 
anti-Semitic rhetoric. On April 26, the prosecutor general announced 
that it would enforce Article 299 of the criminal code and prosecute 
media outlets that publish articles that incite national, racial, 
religious, or interregional strife. However, Kyrgyz-language newspapers 
published articles, commentary, or quotes that were anti-Semitic. Such 
rhetoric typically appeared in smaller, nationalistic fringe 
publications. On August 9, however, two anti-Semitic articles appeared 
in the mainstream newspaper, Fabula. One article about a group 
associated with a prominent foreigner investing in a Kyrgyz aluminum 
business ran the sub-headline, ``Will a Jew Run the Aluminum Mine?'' 
The article also referred to two separate unpopular business deals 
associated with Jewish businessmen. The second article quoted the 
recently unseated chief of Bishkek's traffic police criticizing his 
replacement for ``being disloyal to the Kyrgyz Republic since he is 
Jewish and not ethnic Kyrgyz.'' On April 27, the Kyrgyz-language 
newspaper Aykin Sayasat published an editorial entitled ``Will the Jews 
Leave Us with Nothing?'' The article used a derogatory term for Jews 
(``zhydy'') and accused them of, among other things, planning to 
humiliate the Kyrgyz people and turn the country into a swampland. None 
of the above-mentioned publications were prosecuted for publishing such 
statements.
    Approximately 1,500 Jews lived in the country.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at http://www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities, but in practice such persons faced discrimination in 
employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of 
other state services. The law mandates access to buildings for persons 
with disabilities and requires access to public transportation and 
parking, and it authorizes subsidies to make mass media available to 
persons with hearing or visual disabilities and free plots of land for 
the construction of a home; however, the government generally did not 
ensure that these provisions of the law were implemented. In addition 
persons with disabilities often had difficulty finding employment 
because of negative societal attitudes and high unemployment among the 
general population.
    The lack of resources made it difficult for persons with 
disabilities to receive adequate education. Although children with 
disabilities have the right to an education, Gulbara Nurdavletova of 
the Association of Parents of Children with Disabilities stated that 
most were denied entry into schools. Parents sometimes established 
special educational centers for their children, but they did not 
receive government assistance.
    Serious problems continued within psychiatric hospitals. The 
government did not provide basic needs such as food, water, clothing, 
heating, and health care, and facilities were often overcrowded. 
Inadequate funding played a critical factor. In 2008 a parliamentary 
commission reported violations of patients' rights in a number of 
mental hospitals, mainly due to lack of funding.
    Authorities usually placed children with mental disabilities in 
psychiatric hospitals rather than integrating them with other children. 
Other patients were also committed involuntarily, including children 
without mental disabilities who were too old to remain in orphanages. 
The Youth Human Rights Group monitored the protection of children's 
rights in institutions for children with mental and physical 
disabilities. The group noted gross violations by staff at several 
institutions, including depriving young patients of sufficient 
nourishment and physically abusing them.
    The Office of the Prosecutor General is responsible for protecting 
the rights of psychiatric patients and persons with disabilities. 
According to local NGO lawyers, the members of the Prosecutor's Office 
had no training and little knowledge of the protection of these rights 
and were ineffective in assisting citizens with disabilities. Most 
judges lacked the experience and training to determine whether persons 
should be referred to psychiatric hospitals, and the practice continued 
of institutionalizing individuals against their will.
    The country does not have centralized statistics about those with 
disabilities, but authorities estimated the number between 20,000 and 
30,000.
    Dastan Bekeshev, a blind member of parliament, stated that local 
society discriminated heavily against persons with disabilities. He 
contended that the 2008 law requiring all employers to provide special 
quotas (approximately 5 percent of working positions) for people with 
disabilities had not been implemented.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The interethnic situation between 
ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the south remained tense, 
characterized by arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, and extortion 
of ethnic Uzbeks by members of security services. Since June 2010 
little progress was made in terms of reconciliation. Ethnic Uzbek 
citizens in Osh and Jalalabad reported discrimination in finding jobs, 
particularly with the government. There were multiple reports of 
seizure of ethnic Uzbek businesses and property.
    In September Osh Mayor Melis Myrzakmatov proposed changing the 
teaching language at the city's Uzbek language schools to Kyrgyz. 
Although he claimed the purpose was to benefit students by increasing 
their ability to find jobs in the country and study at higher learning 
institutions, many criticized the proposals as ethnic discrimination. 
At year's end the proposal had not been enacted.
    International observers criticized the government for failing to 
implement a national ethnic plan, a key recommendation of the KIC 
report, and other recommendations for national reconciliation. Two such 
plans were proposed during the year. The Office of the President 
introduced its ``Draft Concept for Ethnic Policy and Consolidation of 
Society in Kyrgyzstan'' in late March. The political party Ata-Jurt 
introduced its ``State Ethnic Policy in the Kyrgyz Republic'' on April 
27. Observers criticized the Ata-Jurt draft. They contended that it 
directly contradicted the constitution and laws and that it violated 
internationally accepted human rights principles because it promoted 
the notion of Kyrgyz ethnicity as the central element of nationhood. 
They further alleged that the plan's purpose was to promote the 
nationalist Ata-Jurt party prior to the impending presidential 
elections. Neither plan had been implemented by the end of the year, 
but the Ata Jurt plan had passed one of the required three readings in 
parliament, which established a working group to develop it further.
    Minorities alleged discrimination in hiring, promotion, and 
housing, but no official reports were registered with local 
authorities.
    The law designates Kyrgyz as the state language and Russian as an 
official language, and it provides for the preservation and equal and 
free development of minority languages. Non-Kyrgyz-speaking citizens 
alleged that a ceiling precluded promotion beyond a certain level in 
government service. They also alleged that unfair language examinations 
disqualified some candidates for office. A government initiative to 
increase official use of Kyrgyz further raised concerns among non-
Kyrgyz ethnic groups about possible discrimination.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--According to HRW and a local 
NGO, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals faced 
severe oppression, and the government failed to protect their rights. 
LGBT persons whose sexual orientation was publicly known risked 
physical and verbal abuse, possible loss of work, and unwanted 
attention from police and authorities. Inmates and officials often 
openly victimized incarcerated gay men. Doctors sometimes refused to 
treat LGBT individuals. Forced marriages to men for lesbians and 
bisexual women also occurred. Labrys Public Foundation noted the 
practice of lesbians and/or their partners being raped by their own 
family members as a punitive measure or as a so-called method of 
``curing'' their homosexuality. The practice was underreported, and its 
extent was therefore difficult to estimate. Closeted gay individuals 
were subject to police extortion and harassment. Labrys asserted that 
the police did not seriously investigate crimes against LGBT 
individuals.
    Labrys reported that on October 6, a transgender female sex worker 
and her gay male friend were allegedly lured to a construction site by 
a security guard who had offered to pay for sex. When they arrived, the 
guard insulted, beat, and stabbed them. He offered to spare their lives 
if they told police that they had tried to rob the site. While the 
police did not believe the robbery story, they verbally insulted the 
transgender woman at the police station before she was taken to the 
hospital. The police opened an attempted murder investigation against 
the security guard, but the case remained pending at year's end.
    In April a gay man who had invited someone he met via a gay dating 
Web site to his home reported that police showed up at his door within 
minutes of the other man's arrival. The police knew that they were 
raiding a same-sex romantic meeting, and the invited man fled. The 
police demanded money, and when the man did not pay, they beat him and 
threatened to kill him if he reported them. He did not report the 
incident to the police and stated that the police monitor gay Web sites 
to identify extortion targets.
    A single NGO supported advocacy campaigns, conducted training, 
organized festivals, and operated a community center and shelter in 
support of LGBT persons. In January the Ministry of Justice initially 
refused to register the organization ``Pathfinder: the Alliance of 
Social Services of Gays and Lesbians.'' However, the ministry later 
allowed the organization to register when it changed its name to simply 
``Pathfinder.''

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--In October 2009, during 
an interparliamentary conference in Bishkek, local human rights 
organizations and government officials formally recognized that persons 
with HIV/AIDS in the country faced societal discrimination.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law permits citizens to form and join trade unions and allows 
unions to conduct their activities without interference. The law grants 
the right to strike, but the conditions required to receive formal 
approval made the procedure difficult and complicated. The law does not 
prohibit retaliation against strikers. The law on government service 
prohibits government employees from striking, but the prohibition does 
not apply to teachers, medical professionals, or members of the armed 
forces. The law recognizes the right of unions to organize and bargain 
collectively.
    According to labor experts, many unions still operated as quasi-
official institutions and took state interests into account, rather 
than representing exclusively the interests of workers. The Federation 
of Trade Unions (FTU), with an unconfirmed membership of 200,000 
workers, or 9 percent of the workforce, remained the only umbrella 
trade union in the country. Unions were not required to belong to the 
FTU, and there were several smaller unaffiliated unions. One of the 
largest of these was the Union of Entrepreneurs and Small Business 
Workers, with a claimed membership of approximately 60,000.
    In practice trade unions exercised the right to organize and 
collectively bargain on behalf of their members. Workers exercised 
their rights to join and form unions. Union leaders generally 
cooperated with the government, and international observers judged that 
unions represented the interests of their members poorly.
    Some unions alleged unfair dismissals of union leaders and 
formation of yellow unions.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports 
that such practices occurred, especially involving foreign laborers in 
agriculture. The government did not fully implement legal prohibitions. 
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports by the NGO Mental 
Health and Society during the year that psychiatric hospital patients 
were forced to work or provide domestic service for doctors and local 
farmers.
    The Ministry of Labor, with IOM support, operated a hotline to 
provide information to potential migrants and to help victims of labor 
trafficking. According to the ministry, 8,322 persons used the hotline 
during the year. In September the ministry and IOM launched a campaign 
to raise awareness of the hotline and other information resources for 
potential labor migrants.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides for the protection of children from economic exploitation 
and from work that poses a danger to their health or development; 
however, child labor remained a widespread problem. The minimum legal 
age for basic employment is 16, except for work considered by the 
government to be ``light,'' such as selling newspapers. In addition, 
children as young as 14 may work with the permission of a parent or 
guardian. The law prohibits the employment of persons under 18 at 
night, underground, or in difficult or dangerous conditions, including 
the metal, oil, and gas industries; mining and prospecting; the food 
industry; entertainment; and machine building. Children who are 14 or 
15 may work up to five hours a day; children who are 16 to 18 may work 
up to seven hours a day. These laws also apply to children with 
disabilities.
    A UNICEF report covering the period of 2003 through 2009 cited NGO 
reports of child labor in coal mining in the village of Sulukta and in 
sifting uranium tailings in the village of Orlovka.
    According to a 2010 speech by the deputy minister of labor, 
employment, and migration, 670,000 children between the ages of five 
and 17 were working, primarily in agriculture on tobacco, rice, and 
cotton plantations, but also in car washes, trading, and other 
activities.
    Internal trafficking of children for the purposes of commercial 
sexual exploitation and forced labor remained a problem. A 2008 study 
funded by the International Labor Organization found an increase in the 
employment of trafficked children to sell and distribute illicit drugs.
    The Prosecutor General's Office and the State Labor Inspectorate 
are responsible for enforcing employers' compliance with the labor 
code. During the year inspectors conducted spot checks of child labor 
law compliance, but these were infrequent and ineffective. The Ministry 
of Internal Affairs conducted raids and recorded 830 cases of illegal 
child labor. Since many children worked for their families or were 
self-employed, it was difficult for the government to determine whether 
work complied with the labor code. During the year the Prosecutor 
General's Office conducted 81 checks and issued prosecutor warnings on 
63 incidents. Although employers found violating the labor code could 
be charged with financial or criminal penalties, punishment was usually 
minimal. The Prosecutor General's Office initiated one administrative 
case and issued disciplinary and administrative reprimands to 17 
individuals.
    The government supported several social programs to prevent the 
engagement of children in exploitative child labor.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The 2011 official national 
minimum monthly wage was KGS 600 ($13). Minimum wage serves as an 
indicator for different types of official government fines, rather than 
an actual minimum wage requirement for employers. Employers generally 
paid somewhat higher wages. The law on minimum wage states that it 
should be raised gradually to meet the cost of living. The government 
does not set an official poverty level, but it estimated the monthly 
minimum cost of living for a family of four to be KGS 17,690 ($383), 
which is above the country's reported average monthly wage. In August 
the National Statistics Committee reported that the average monthly 
salary was KGS 8,185 ($177).
    The standard workweek is 40 hours, usually within a five-day week. 
For state-owned industries, there is a mandated 24-hour rest period in 
the workweek. According to the labor code, overtime work cannot exceed 
four hours per day or 20 hours per week and must be compensated with 
compensatory leave or with premium pay of between 150 and 200 percent 
of the hourly wage. These provisions were mainly enforced at large 
companies and organizations with strong trade unions. Small and 
informal firms had no union representation.
    Safety and health conditions in factories were poor. The law 
establishes occupational health and safety standards, but the 
government generally did not enforce them. The State Labor Inspectorate 
is responsible for protecting workers and carrying out inspections for 
all types of labor problems, but its activities were limited, and 
business compliance was uneven. The FTU and other trade unions are 
empowered to enforce all labor laws. Workers in all industries have the 
right to remove themselves from dangerous workplaces without 
jeopardizing their employment, and workers sometimes exercised this 
right in practice.
    Unregistered foreign workers in the country could not exercise the 
same rights as registered workers because they cannot register 
complaints with the authorities and do not pay into and receive 
benefits from the social fund.
    Government licensing rules place strict requirements on companies 
recruiting Kyrgyz citizens to work abroad, and companies must be 
licensed by the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Migration before 
they can recruit. The government regularly published a list of licensed 
and vetted firms. Recruiters are required to monitor employer 
compliance with employment terms and the working conditions of labor 
migrants while a work contract is in effect. Recruiters are also 
required to provide workers with their employment contract prior to 
their departure. The government also took steps to streamline labor 
migration by adopting a program on the regulation of migration 
processes and collaborating with the governments of Russia, South 
Korea, and Kazakhstan to improve the protection of rights of Kyrgyz 
labor migrants working abroad. The Ministry of Labor had 
representatives in several Russian cities to assist Kyrgyz labor 
migrants, who sometimes encountered discrimination, poor working 
conditions, or violence.

                               __________

                                MALDIVES

                           executive summary
    The Republic of Maldives is a multiparty constitutional democracy. 
In 2008 parliament ratified a new constitution that provided for the 
first multiparty presidential elections. In relatively free and fair 
elections in October 2008, Mohamed Nasheed became the country's first 
directly elected president. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The most significant human rights problems include restrictions on 
religious rights, abuse and unequal treatment of women, and corruption 
of government officials. The constitution requires all citizens to be 
Muslim, and the government's Ministry of Islamic Affairs actively 
polices and enforces compliance with Islamic practices. There were 
reports of religion-related self-censorship in the press and among 
civil society contacts. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) condemned 
the performance of the judiciary and executive branch for their 
inadequate treatment of criminal cases, especially rape. Corruption 
existed within the judiciary, members of parliament, and among 
officials of the executive and state institutions.
    Other human rights problems reported included flogging, arbitrary 
arrests, harassment of journalists, and discrimination against 
expatriate laborers. Migrant laborers were subjected to labor abuses 
and were the primary victims of human trafficking. Many laborers 
migrated illegally into the country, making them particularly 
vulnerable to forced labor and debt bondage.
    The government took steps to prosecute and punish some police and 
military officials who committed abuses, but several judges allegedly 
enjoyed impunity.
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 January 14, Abdulla Basith Zubair died while in police custody. 
Zubair was arrested along with another man on charges of drug 
possession. The police claimed that Zubair died of an overdose, but 
Zubair's friends accused the police of beating him to death, claiming 
that one of Zubair's friends witnessed the incident. The Police 
Integrity Commission (PIC) investigated the case and concluded that the 
police were not responsible for Zubair's death, although the PIC called 
for revised safety procedures when holding suspects. According to 
Zubair's autopsy report, there were no signs of injury on Zubair's body 
and he died of cardiorespiratory arrest.

    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, although there were 
reports of mistreatment of individuals by security forces, including 
beatings by the police, and unconfirmed reports of torture in custody.
    On January 22, a 17-year-old boy told the media that he was 
arbitrarily arrested and beaten by a squad of policemen in Male. 
According to the boy, a policeman approached him earlier that day while 
he was on the telephone, and he declined to respond. The police 
allegedly beat the boy and claimed the boy attempted to attack a 
policeman. The police acknowledged that the boy had submitted a 
complaint that he was tortured and were investigating the matter.
    During the year the PIC reported the incident of a woman who was 
physically and sexually abused inside a police car by four police 
officers, taken around the city for an indeterminate period, made to 
strip her clothes, and thrown out of the car onto the street. The 
police discharged the four officers, but at year's end there were no 
criminal charges. The PIC was investigating the case.
    In July two men arrested in relation to an abortion case in 
Thinadhoo lodged a complaint with the PIC that police tortured them 
while in detention. The case was under investigation.
    The law permits flogging as a form of punishment. According to 2010 
statistics from the Judicial Services Administration, the courts 
sentenced 96 individuals to flogging; more than 80 percent of those 
convicted were women. Three of these sentences were from the juvenile 
court and 52 from atoll courts. Most flogging sentences were given for 
birth out of wedlock and fornication, resulting in a disproportionate 
number of women flogged. At the end of August, 71 cases of birth out of 
wedlock were lodged with the police, of which 61 cases were 
investigated and forwarded to the prosecutor general. While pregnancies 
incriminate women, men can deny the charges and escape punishment 
because of the difficulty of proving fornication or adultery under 
sharia (Islamic law). The higher conviction rate for women allegedly 
was due to gender insensitive judges and the dismissal of forensic 
evidence by the courts. In the absence of an evidence act, judges used 
forensic evidence at their discretion.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally met international standards, and the government permitted 
visits by independent human rights observers. The Department of 
Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) oversees the operation 
of three prison facilities and one remand center: Maafushi Prison, 
Asseryi Prison, Male Prison, and Male Remand. Male Prison and Male 
Remand are located in the capital city, and the other prisons are 
located on separate islands within a one-hour boat ride from the 
capital city. The DPRS incarcerates only convicted prisoners. After the 
ratification of the constitution, pretrial detainees were held 
separately from convicted prisoners. Detention facilities were located 
on Dhoonidhoo Island and Maafushi Island. Women are held separately 
from men in Maafushi Prison and guarded by female prison officers. 
Conditions in the women's area of the prison were similar to those in 
the men's area, although there were fewer female inmates per cell.
    Juveniles awaiting sentencing are held in a juvenile correctional 
facility on Feydhoofinolhu Island until their cases are heard. Most 
convicted juveniles are held under house arrest because there are no 
juvenile pretrial detention centers in the country.
    The DPRS prison system has an estimated capacity of 765 prisoners, 
and the total prison population was 822. Of this population, 787 were 
men and 35 were women. Drug offenders accounted for 66 percent of the 
prison population, of which approximately 70 percent were incarcerated 
for drug use and 1 percent for drug possession.
    The government generally permitted regular prison visits by the 
Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM), the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other international assessment teams. The 
U.N. Development Program (UNDP) published a prison assessment in 
September, for which they interviewed 60 percent of the prison 
population. Major complaints included a lack of structured programs, 
use of torture and inhumane treatment, discrimination towards foreign 
prisoners, politicians providing false hope in return for participation 
in riots and protests, a lack of segregation according to crime or 
discipline, and the availability of drugs inside prison. The UNDP 
report noted that prisons lacked qualified personnel, adequate 
educational facilities, vocational guidance, and drug rehabilitation 
programs. The report noted the need to pass the penal code, criminal 
procedure code, evidence bill, drugs bill, and prison and parole bill 
as a matter of urgency, noting that in the absence of these bills, the 
existing legislative framework would not support the human rights 
guaranteed under the constitution.
    In its 2010 annual report, the ICRC stated that it visited 
detainees at six detention facilities and shared its findings and 
recommendations confidentially with authorities. The ICRC reported that 
the organization would phase out prison visits because there were no 
longer security-related prisoners.
    The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) established by the HRCM 
monitors any death or other allegations related to prisons or prison 
authorities. The HRCM maintains a Web site in which reports on 
occasional jail visits, other human rights investigations, and annual 
reports were available.
    During the year the NPM visited nine police custodial centers: Male 
Police Custodial, three island police stations, Dhoonidhoo Police 
Custodial immigration detention centers in Male and Hulhumale, Male 
Prison, and a Correctional Training Center for Children in 
Feydhoofinolhu. After a visit to Dhoonidhoo Police Custodial in 
February, the NPM observed that conditions had improved from 2010. 
Prisoners had access to potable water. Nonetheless, it reported 
complaints of harsh disciplinary punishment and humiliating security 
checks. It also noted that the sanitary conditions in the cells were 
unsatisfactory. The NPM recommended that police conduct human rights 
training or refresher courses for officers, allow detainees in solitary 
confinement out of the cell for a walk every few days, establish a 
mechanism to expedite investigation and trial, and build a separate 
unit for juvenile detainees. The NPM also visited a home for people 
with special needs, a drug rehabilitation center in Himmafushi, an 
education and training center for children, and the orphanage in 
Villingili.
    The NPM makes a visit plan a year ahead, conducts visits throughout 
the year according to this plan, and publishes an annual report of its 
findings. During the year, however, the NPM decided not to make full 
detention reports available to the public. It now publishes a short 
summary of each visit and sends the full detention report to the 
president, parliament, and other relevant offices.
    In order to reduce overcrowding at Maafushi Prison, the government 
built a new wing for 300 persons, and prisoners were transferred to the 
facility in late 2010. The DPRS implemented a Second Chance Program as 
an alternative sentencing program to decriminalize minor drug offenses 
and focus on rehabilitation. The DPRS reported that it had a database. 
recordkeeping system, and adequate communication between the prisons 
and headquarters and between the DPRS and Maldives Police Service 
(MPS).

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions. The constitution also provides compensation for those 
detained without legal justification. On August 16, the Civil Court 
ordered the police to pay compensation to opposition Member of 
Parliament Abdullah Yameen who was, according to Amnesty International, 
arbitrarily arrested and detained in June 2010. No charges were filed 
against Yameen.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Maldives National 
Defense Force (MNDF) is responsible for external security and also 
handles disaster relief operations and national emergencies. The 
director of the MNDF reports to the minister of defense. The president 
is commander in chief of the MNDF. The MNDF has a program of human 
rights awareness courses for personnel.
    The MPS, which is responsible for internal security, public safety, 
and law and order, is subordinate to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The 
MPS generally functioned effectively to fulfill its responsibilities 
and established internal organs and mechanisms with a human rights 
focus.
    The prosecutor general referred cases to appropriate courts based 
on the results of police investigations. The authorities generally kept 
the details of a case confidential until they were confident that the 
charges were likely to be upheld. Three units--the Special Weapons and 
Tactic Team, Industrial and Personal Security Unit, and Riot Police--
all under the Special Operations and Security Department of the MPS, 
replaced the Star Force, formerly an elite unit of the MPS.
    The PIC, established in 2006 to investigate allegations of police 
corruption and impunity, is the primary mechanism available to 
investigate security force abuses. According to the PIC, there was a 
culture of disrespect for the laws and of police abuse.
    By August 22, the PIC received 101 complaints, of which 46 were 
concluded and two sent to the Prosecutor General's Office. According to 
the PIC, approximately 98 percent of its recommendations made to the 
home ministry over the last two years had not been implemented.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law states 
an arrest cannot be made unless the arresting officer observed the 
offense, had reasonable evidence, or had an arrest warrant issued by a 
court. The constitution provides for an arrestee to be informed of the 
reason for arrest within 24 hours and provides for the right to retain 
a lawyer. The law also requires that an arrestee be informed of the 
right to a lawyer at the time of arrest. Prisoners have the right to a 
ruling on bail within 36 hours; however, bail procedures were not 
implemented consistently. Under the 2008 constitution, a lawyer may be 
appointed by the court in serious criminal cases if the accused cannot 
afford one. According to the attorney general, police normally informed 
the arrestee's family of the arrest within 24 hours, although the law 
does not require that police inform the family of the grounds for the 
arrest. Authorities generally permitted detainees to have counsel 
present during police questioning.
    The law provides for investigative detention. Once a person is 
detained, the arresting officer must present evidence to a court within 
24 hours to justify continued detention. Based on the evidence 
presented, the prosecutor general has the authority to determine 
whether charges will be made. If law enforcement authorities are unable 
to present sufficient evidence within 24 hours, the prisoner is 
eligible for release. Judges have the authority to extend detention 
upon receiving an arresting officer's petition, citing factors such as 
the detainee's previous criminal record, the status of the 
investigation, the type of offense in question, and whether the 
detainee would pose a threat if released.
    The PIC reported receiving complaints of police misusing a gray 
area in the constitution on the rights of detainees between capture and 
formal arrest. Sources reported that police held suspects under the 
investigative detention provision without formal arrest for a few hours 
to a few days. Such a procedure allegedly was used to remove groups 
from the streets and control gang activities. There is no formal record 
of investigative detentions as there would be with an arrest.
    The HRCM operated a complaints department to address prisoner 
complaints and publish its findings online. By August, 390 complaints 
were lodged; 78 complaints were on rights of arrestees and detainees, 
and 16 were for degrading treatment or torture while in detention. The 
investigation department at the HRCM investigated and forwarded these 
cases to the legal and policy department for an opinion, after which 
the commission members issued decisions.
    On July 26, the president announced a Second Chance Program to 
release close to 400 convicts through a mentorship program. People 
charged with pedophilia, drug offenses, and gang violence were not 
eligible for the program. In August, 47 inmates were released after 
completing a series of mentor trainings, life-skills programs, and 
religious classes. The inmates had their sentences suspended for three 
years under a presidential prerogative, but the mandated police support 
and monitoring was inadequate.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--While the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, there were numerous allegations of bribery and 
abuse of power within the judiciary. Government loyalists and 
opposition members alike accused the judiciary of being politically 
biased. A number of judges were known to base their rulings on cash 
rewards, and there were reports that lawyers occasionally built the 
cost of bribes into their fees. Consequently, the public had a general 
distrust of the judiciary.
    In August 2010 the constitutional transitional period for the 
interim Supreme Court ended, and the government made final appointments 
to the Supreme Court. The seven-member court is independent from the 
executive. It hears appeals from the High Court and considers 
constitutional matters brought directly before it. In August 2010 the 
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) reappointed--and confirmed for life--
191 of the 200 existing judges. Many of these judges held only a 
certificate in sharia, not a law degree. Most magistrate judges could 
not interpret common law or sharia because they lacked English or 
Arabic language skills. An estimated quarter of the judges who were 
confirmed for life had criminal records, and two of the judges had been 
previously convicted of sexual assault charges. The media and NGO 
community criticized the JSC for the appointment of unqualified judges, 
stating the move seriously compromised the integrity and effectiveness 
of the justice system.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides that an accused person is 
presumed innocent until proven guilty. There were no jury trials. Most 
trials were public and were conducted by judges and magistrates, some 
of whom were trained in Islamic, civil, or criminal law. Regulations 
rather than laws govern trial procedures. Judges question the concerned 
parties and attempt to establish the facts of a case. Accused persons 
have the right to defend themselves. During a trial the accused may 
call witnesses and has the right to be represented by a lawyer. The 
judiciary generally enforced these rights.
    Both defendants and their attorneys have full access to all 
evidence relating to their case, have opportunities to cross-examine 
any witnesses presented by state, and can present their own witnesses 
and evidence.
    Civil law is subordinate to sharia, which is applied in situations 
not covered by civil law, as well as in family matters such as divorce 
and adultery. Courts adjudicating matrimonial and criminal cases 
generally do not allow legal counsel in court because, according to 
local interpretation of sharia, all answers and submissions should come 
directly from the parties involved. The High Court, however, allows 
legal counsel in all cases, including those in which the right to 
counsel was denied in a lower court. Those convicted have the right to 
appeal. The testimony of women is equal to that of men for finance and 
contract matters.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees. Local NGOs confirmed that no one had 
been arrested solely for his or her political beliefs. As for previous 
political prisoners, NGO observers claimed that they had been released 
after the charges against them were withdrawn or found to be without 
merit.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--A civil court addressed 
noncriminal cases.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits security officials from opening or 
reading wireless messages, letters, telegrams, or monitoring telephone 
conversations, ``except as expressly provided by law.'' In practice the 
government generally respected privacy rights. Security forces may open 
the mail of private citizens and monitor telephone conversations if 
authorized to do so by a court during a criminal investigation. There 
were reports of illegal recording of phone conversations allegedly by 
the MNDF.
    The constitution provides that residential premises and dwellings 
should be inviolable and can be entered without consent of the resident 
only under exigent circumstances or under the authorization of a court.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, 
except on religious matters, and the government generally respected 
these rights in practice. An independent press, the judiciary, and a 
new democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of speech 
and press except for any discussion of religious issues. The law limits 
a citizen's right to freedom of expression in order to protect the 
``basic tenets of Islam'' and prohibits inciting citizens against the 
government.

    Freedom of the Press.--Criticism of the government and debates on 
difficult societal issues were commonplace if they did not raise any 
question of Islamic values. There were a few incidents of journalists 
who were covering political events being threatened or attacked by both 
government and opposition supporters. On May 1, police detained two 
journalists from Haveeru Daily newspaper and a Sun journalist who were 
covering a protest against rising commodity prices in the country. The 
journalists were released within 24 hours, but they claimed that police 
used force and pepper spray even though they were wearing their press 
tags.
    There were reports throughout the year of police questioning 
journalists about the source and authenticity of newspaper articles and 
broadcasts. According to the Maldives Journalists' Association (MJA), a 
number of journalists from Haveeru, SunFM, and DhiFM repeatedly were 
summoned by the police for questioning. In February two journalists 
from Haveeru Daily were summoned for questioning after they published a 
newspaper article about a pornographic video racket that involved well-
known public figures.
    On July 7, the MJA released a press statement calling on police to 
stop summoning journalists for questioning about their sources of 
information. Article 28 of the constitution stipulates that no person 
shall be compelled to disclose the source of information that is 
espoused, disseminated, or published by that person. The MJA noted that 
if a journalist violated the code of conduct, the Maldives Medial 
Council and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission were responsible, as 
per the constitution, for investigating the matter and holding the 
journalist accountable.
    On August 25, the Criminal Court barred journalists from a hearing 
in the corruption case on the deputy speaker of parliament. The 
Criminal Court media officer told reporters that the judge decided to 
hold a closed hearing on the grounds that the media were contributing 
to the public's negative perception of the courts.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--NGO sources stated that in 
general the media practiced self-censorship on issues related to Islam 
due to fears of being labeled ``anti-Islamic'' and subsequently 
harassed.
    There were no legal prohibitions on the import of foreign 
publications except for those containing pornography or material 
otherwise deemed objectionable to Islamic values, such as Bibles and 
idols for worship.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    The Ministry of Islamic Affairs continued to block Web sites 
considered anti-Islamic or pornographic. In November the 
Telecommunications Authority blocked and banned a Maldivian-based blog, 
Hilath.com, at the request of the Islamic Ministry because of its anti-
Islamic content. The blog was known for promoting religious tolerance, 
as well as discussing the blogger's homosexuality.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The law prohibits public 
statements contrary to government policy or the government's 
interpretation of Islam. In response to the law, there were credible 
reports that academics practiced self-censorship. The government 
censored course content and curriculum. Islam is the only religion 
taught in the schools.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides for ``freedom of peaceful assembly 
without prior permission of the State,'' and the government generally 
respected this in practice.
    There were allegations by reporters that the MNDF and police at 
times used force to disperse protesters.
    During a series of protests in May, reporters and opposition 
members claimed that police used force to disperse the crowd. Protests 
turned violent several nights with protesters vandalizing shops, 
damaging police stations, and throwing petrol bombs. Several protesters 
and police officers were injured. According to the police, gang leaders 
were actively involved in the protests. The HRCM issued a press release 
advising people not to misuse the right to protest and or obstruct the 
media. The commission also called on the police not to use methods that 
may harm protesters and civilians when dispersing crowds. The MNDF 
presence was minimal throughout the protest period.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association, but the government imposed some limits on this freedom in 
practice. The government registered clubs and other private 
associations only if they did not contravene Islamic or civil law.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice. Employers often housed foreign workers at their worksites.
    The law allows for banishment to a remote atoll as a punishment, 
but the provision was seldom practiced. In August, however, the 
Criminal Court found independent Member of Parliament Ismail Abdul 
Hameed guilty of corruption and sentenced him to 18 months' banishment.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--During his July visit, the 
U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced 
persons found that 1,600 IDPs remained from the 2004 tsunami and 
continued to live in very difficult conditions in temporary shelters. 
The special rapporteur stressed that legislation and policy should 
address internal displacement, including that resulting from climate 
change, coastal erosion, salination, rising sea levels, and more 
frequent storms and flooding.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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.

    Nonrefoulement.--The government states it would 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. There is no set policy or law for handling refugee 
matters.
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.--Recent Elections.--In 
relatively free and fair elections in October 2008, Mohamed Nasheed, a 
former political prisoner, became the country's first directly elected 
president. In May 2009 the country held its first multiparty 
parliamentary elections. Although there were sporadic confrontations 
and reports of electoral irregularities, including allegations of 
bribery and intimidation, election observer groups, such as 
Transparency Maldives and the Commonwealth, reported the elections to 
be generally free and fair. There were no credible reports of 
malfeasance in the February local elections.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were five women in 
the 77-member parliament. While 213 women competed in the local council 
elections, only 57 of the 1,086 councilors elected were women. There 
were three women in the 10-person cabinet. Parliament approved a woman 
as commissioner of the Human Rights Commission, but the female nominee 
for vice commissioner was not approved by parliament because 
parliamentarians expressed concern about having two women leading the 
commission. A report published during the year by the HRCM concluded 
that the representation of women in public life was minimal because of 
lack of family support, limited experience in the political arena, 
inadequate access to funding, and advocacy by radicals against women's 
participation in political and public life.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Although the law provides criminal penalties for official 
corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials regularly engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. An 
independent Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was responsible for 
investigating corruption charges involving senior government officials. 
According to the ACC, a limited definition of corruption in the 2000 
Corruption Act and the lack of a provision to investigate and prosecute 
illicit enrichment limited the commission's work. The ACC reported that 
although the government did not attempt to influence the commission's 
work, it released statements that conflicted with the ACC's rulings on 
certain cases and failed to move any corruption cases identified by the 
ACC to court. Out of more than 1,600 corruption cases reported to the 
ACC since 2009, the commission had been able to investigate only 223 
cases due to a lack of capacity. The ACC forwarded 16 cases to the 
Prosecutor General's Office, but none of these cases were filed in 
court at year's end. An April Transparency International public survey 
of 1,001 Maldivians found 90 percent of those surveyed believed that 
``corruption has increased'' or remained level over the last three 
years, and more than half of the respondents categorized parliament and 
political parties as ``extremely corrupt.''
    NGOs noted that companies belonging to ruling party members or 
parliamentarians won a disproportionate number of bids, despite clear 
evidence that some of these companies lacked the means to complete the 
projects. There were allegations that deaths caused by a dengue 
outbreak during the year could have been prevented if the government 
had appointed health-care professionals, instead of activists from the 
ruling party with no medical background, to manage health-care 
facilities. Judges were notorious for taking bribes. Parliamentary 
members were accused of illicit enrichment, with opposition members 
changing parties and subsequently acquiring lucrative business 
contracts, new cars, and houses. Vote buying in parliament reportedly 
hindered substantive discourse on key legal and public welfare 
legislation.
    Local anticorruption NGO Transparency Maldives reported corruption 
across the judiciary, parliament, and members of the executive. Several 
high-profile parliamentarians, including the deputy speaker of 
parliament, had corruption cases pending in court. During the year one 
member of parliament was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 18 
months' banishment. The ACC was also investigating cases of bribery and 
corruption involving other parliamentarians.
    No laws provide 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 
often were cooperative and responsive to their views.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The HRCM was fully functional, 
with Mariyam Azra as its commissioner. The HRCM reported that although 
there was no state interference in its work, the level of cooperation 
from parliament and government offices was low. Parliament was slow to 
pass pending pieces of key human rights legislation. The judiciary had 
a low level of understanding and acceptance of human rights and hence 
made it difficult for the commission to obtain important information 
from the courts. The HRCM also noted the public's low level of 
understanding of its mandate. For example, some people interpreted the 
HRCM's mandate to defend human rights to mean resolving disputes 
between neighbors.
    In 2009 the HRCM established an NGO Network to support and assist 
human rights NGOs and to secure the cooperation of NGOs. At year's end 
there were 48 NGOs in this network.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law provides for the equality of all citizens, but there is no 
specific provision to prohibit discrimination based on race, gender, 
religion, disability, or social status. Women traditionally were 
disadvantaged, particularly in the application of sharia in matters 
such as divorce, education, inheritance, and testimony in legal 
proceedings.
    In an August 12 report, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of 
Racial Discrimination stated that it was concerned ``about the 
requirement that all citizens be Muslim, which restricted access to 
citizenship and public office.and fundamental rights and freedoms.''

    Women.--In 2008 the government changed the Ministry of Gender and 
Family to the Ministry of Health and Family to pursue a policy of 
gender mainstreaming to provide for gender equality. The empowerment of 
women was presented as a key aspect of all government policy 
initiatives, activities, and planning.

    Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape is not classified as a separate 
offense in the penal code and cannot be prosecuted under any act. Other 
provisions of the law are used to criminalize rape. The Prosecutor 
General's Office uses sexual assault or forced sexual misconduct 
charges depending on the gravity of the offence. A man can be convicted 
of rape in the absence of a confession only if there are two male 
witnesses or four female witnesses willing to testify.
    Media reports of violence against women and rape were common. Most 
rape cases reported in the media during the year were gang rapes and 
involved minors, expatriate workers, or drug users. In one case three 
men raped an expatriate nurse who was working on an outer island. 
Another case involved a 19-year-old male who sexually assaulted a 74-
year-old woman in Addu Atoll. During the year the police received 
reports of 13 cases of rape and sent five cases for prosecution. The 
NGOs believed that most cases remained unreported due to fear of 
reprisals, losing custody of children, lack of economic independence, 
insensitivity of police when dealing with victims, absence of 
regulation in media concerning victim privacy, dealing with the stigma 
attached to being a victim, and low conviction rates. According to the 
HRCM, the delay in passing evidence and witness protection bills and 
the failure to enforce laws contributed to low conviction rates in rape 
and sexual assault cases.
    Under the law spousal rape is not a crime.

    Sexual Harassment.--A 2006 Ministry of Gender and Family study on 
women's health and life experiences noted that one in three women 
between the ages of 15 and 49 reported some form of physical or sexual 
violence at least once in their lives. One in five women between the 
ages of 15 and 49 reported physical or sexual violence by a partner, 
and one in nine reported experiencing severe violence. One in six women 
in Male and one in eight countrywide reported experiencing childhood 
sexual abuse under the age of 15. Of those women between the ages of 15 
and 49 who had ever been pregnant, 6 percent reported having been 
physically or sexually abused during pregnancy. Many respondents 
perceived women to be subordinate to men, and the majority of women 
indicated that women's subordinate position within marital 
relationships was the norm and desirable. Seventy percent of women 
surveyed believed that under certain circumstances, a man was justified 
in beating his wife and the most commonly accepted justifications for 
this were infidelity and disobeying a partner.
    There are Family and Children's Centers (FCSC) on every atoll in 
the country. They are intended to help streamline the process of 
reporting abuse against women and children. The centers had a shortage 
of trained staff and faced legal challenges, such as collecting 
evidence about abuse cases.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of 
children, and to have the information and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. Access to information on 
contraception and skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care 
was widely available. According to the 2009 demographic and health 
survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family, 99 percent of 
women received prenatal care from a skilled provider. According to the 
survey, 95 percent of births in the five years preceding the survey 
were assisted by a skilled health worker. Only 6 percent of women did 
not receive any postnatal care. Women who live in Male had the highest 
rate of care (96 percent) from a gynecologist, doctor, nurse, or 
midwife, versus 90 percent in rural areas. Women and men were given 
equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Although women traditionally play a subordinate 
role in society, they participated in public life. Women constituted 
approximately 40 percent of government employees. The literacy rate for 
women was approximately 98 percent.
    Under Islamic practice husbands may divorce their wives more easily 
than vice versa, absent mutual agreement to divorce. Sharia also 
governs estate inheritance, granting male heirs twice the share of 
female heirs. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, unless the 
men in the family demand a larger share, property is divided equally 
among siblings.
    The World Economic Forum's 2010 Global Gender Gap Report indicated 
that women who worked for wages received approximately 65 percent of 
what men in the same positions received. According to an HRCM report 
published in 2009, despite provisions in the constitution and the 2008 
Employment Act, there were no policies in place that provided equal 
opportunities for women's employment. The absence of childcare 
facilities made it difficult for women to remain employed after they 
had children; it was socially unacceptable for women to stay on resort 
islands for extended periods, which discouraged women from working at 
tourist resorts. The HRCM also received reports that some employers 
discouraged women from marriage or pregnancy, as it could result in 
termination or demotion. A 2011 HRCM report noted that the state had 
fallen short of providing adequate measures to overturn women's 
subordinate role by failing to establish childcare centers and child-
friendly working environments and failing to implement affirmative 
action.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived through 
one's parents. A child born of a citizen father or mother, regardless 
of the child's place of birth, can derive citizenship.

    Education.--Education is not compulsory, but there was universal 
access to free primary education. In many instances parents curtailed 
education for girls after the seventh grade by not allowing them to 
leave their home island to attend secondary school on another island. 
However, in 2010 the Ministry of Education established a secondary 
school on every inhabited island except for five islands that have 
fewer than 70 students. For these students there is a daily ferry 
service to a secondary school in a nearby island and a ``schooling away 
from home'' allowance for those in need. These new schools improved 
girls' access to schooling beyond primary education.

    Child Abuse.--The law sought to protect children from physical and 
psychological abuse, including at the hands of teachers or parents. The 
Ministry of Health and Family has the authority to enforce the law and 
receives strong popular support. The ministry reported child abuse, 
including sexual abuse. The Child Sex Abuse Act codifies child sex 
offenses and stipulates sentences of up to 25 years in prison for those 
convicted. However, under Article 14 of the act, if a person is legally 
married to a minor under sharia, none of the offenses specified in the 
legislation would be considered a crime. There were reports that 
although the courts had the power to detain perpetrators, most were 
released pending sentencing and were allowed to return to the 
communities of their victims.
    In 2009 the FCSC stated that the biggest challenge it faced in 
efforts to protect children's rights was the release of pedophiles into 
the communities of their victims. By the end of the year, the police 
received 344 cases of child abuse, of which 79 percent were sexual 
abuse cases. In addition the Department of Gender and Family Protection 
Services (DGFPS) received 1,138 cases of child abuse from Male and the 
atolls. A quarter of the cases were for sexual abuse, 17 percent of the 
cases were of parental neglect, and 10 percent of the cases related to 
physical abuse. The DGFPS also received one case of prostitution of a 
child under 16. According to the DGFPS, it did not have the resources 
to remove children from abusive environments, and there was minimal 
support from the island community when trying to place abused children 
in safer environments. There are no laws or regulations dealing with 
cases of neglect.
    The DGFPS stated that reports of sexual abuse were increasing, and 
underage marriage and pregnancy were major concerns. During the year 
four cases of underage pregnancy were reported to the DGFPS. The 
increase in the cases of sexual abuse reported appeared to be due to 
increased public awareness. However, the DGFPS noted that people 
hesitated to report abuse if it was happening within the family.

    Child Marriage.--The law allows girls and boys under the legal age 
of 18 to marry if they have reached puberty and have parental consent, 
and if the court finds no substantial reason to object to the union. In 
2010 almost 50 underage marriages were registered at the court. The 
marriage registrar reported that most underage girls applying to marry 
are between the ages of 15 and 17 and do so to escape poor living 
conditions.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For information see the Department of State's report on 
compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/
congressreport/congressreport--4308.html as well as country-specific 
information at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--
3781.html

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no known Jewish citizens or residents. 
In December the Ministry of Islamic Affairs requested that parliament 
endorse a resolution forbidding the government to allow the Israeli 
flag carrier El Al to begin operations to Maldives, citing concerns the 
flights posed a threat to national security and noting that fostering 
relations with Jews was discouraged in Islam. Anti-Semitic statements 
occasionally were found in political pamphlets.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution provides for the 
rights and freedom from discrimination of persons with disabilities, 
and a Special Needs Act was put in place in July 2010. The purpose of 
the act is to protect the rights of persons with disabilities and to 
provide financial assistance. Additionally, the president created the 
Council to Protect the Rights of People with Disabilities. As mandated 
in the act, anyone with disabilities is entitled to Rf 2,000 ($156) 
every month. The Ministry of Health and Family maintains a list of 
persons with disabilities. By December the ministry had received 5,336 
applications, of which 3,865 were deemed eligible, and 3,566 were 
receiving the allowance.
    Government programs provided services for persons with 
disabilities, including special educational programs for persons with 
sensory disabilities. Inadequate facilities made it difficult for 
persons with disabilities to participate in the workforce.
    There were multiple NGOs working to increase awareness and improve 
support for persons with disabilities, including Hand in Hand, the 
Association of Disability and Development, Handicap International, and 
the Care Society.
    In April 2010 the HRCM, in conjunction with the UNDP, released a 
report on the rights of persons with disabilities. The report found 
that most schools took children only with very limited to moderate 
disabilities and not those with more severe disabilities. There was 
virtually no access to or transition to secondary-level education for 
children with disabilities. Additionally there was no mental health 
care available in Male; there were only two psychiatrists working in 
the country, who dealt mostly with drug rehabilitation. There also was 
a lack of quality residential care. There were more than 31 persons 
with disabilities waiting for a place at the Home for People with 
Special Needs as of March.
    The government established disability awareness and empowerment 
campaigns on some of the more populous islands. The government 
integrated students with physical disabilities into mainstream 
educational programs. Families usually cared for persons with 
disabilities. When family care was unavailable, persons with 
disabilities lived in the Ministry of Health and Family's Institute for 
Needy People, which also assisted elderly persons. When requested the 
government provided free medication for all persons with mental 
disabilities on the islands, but follow-up care was infrequent. The 
government also provided assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, 
crutches, spectacles, hearing aids, and special seats for children with 
cerebral palsy.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits homosexual 
conduct, and it was considered socially unacceptable. The punishment 
for men includes banishment for nine months to one year or 10 to 30 
lashes. For women the punishment is house arrest for nine months to one 
year. There were no organizations concerned with lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) issues in the country. There were no 
reports of officials complicit in abuses against the LGBT community. 
Due to societal intolerance of homosexual conduct, there are few openly 
homosexual individuals in the country. Thus there was no information on 
official or societal discrimination based on sexual orientation in 
employment, housing, access to education, or health care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--According to a 2009 
Demographic and Health survey, most women surveyed were willing to care 
for a relative with AIDS at home (86 percent), buy fresh vegetables 
from a shopkeeper with AIDS (79 percent), allow a female teacher with 
AIDS to continue teaching (61 percent), or allow a male teacher with 
AIDS to continue teaching (59 percent). Three of four women said that 
they would be open about having an HIV-positive family member. Only 37 
percent of women expressed accepting attitudes on all four indicators
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The 2008 constitution recognizes the right to freedom of association 
and states that all rights and freedoms in the statute apply to 
``everyone'' in the country, including migrant workers. The 2008 
Employment Act does not address the formation of trade unions, and the 
law does not specify protection against antiunion discrimination. The 
police and armed forces are entirely exempt from the Employment Act. 
Certain provisions in the act, such as overtime and public holiday pay, 
do not apply to emergency workers, air and sea crews, executive staff 
of any company, and workers who are on call. In August the government 
published a strike regulation under the Employment Act. The regulation 
requires employees to negotiate with the employer first, and if this is 
unsuccessful, then the employees must file advance notice prior to a 
strike. The employees in the following services are prohibited from 
striking: hospitals and health centers, electricity companies, water 
providers, telecommunications providers, police and the army, prison 
guards, and air traffic controllers.
    Some workers' organizations were established under the Associations 
Act, specifically in the tourism, education, health, and shipping (sea 
farers) sectors, although these function more as associations and have 
limited roles as labor advocates. The Teachers Association of the 
Maldives and the Tourism Employees Association of the Maldives (TEAM) 
are the lead associations taking on typical union roles. In practice 
only since 2008 did informal collective bargaining involving employee 
associations, primarily in the tourism sector, exist.
    During the year TEAM helped a number of workers file cases with the 
Employment Tribunal. Some cases were adjudicated in favor of the 
workers, although the decisions had not been enforced by year's end. 
According to a 2011 report by the HRCM, TEAM's involvement in strikes 
in the tourism sector resulted in workers being fired and blacklisted 
in the sector. TEAM reported that some victims of blacklisting found it 
difficult to obtain employment in the tourism industry.
    Workers exercised their right to stop work and strike frequently 
during the year, particularly in the construction and tourism sectors. 
TEAM organized work stoppages to protest against wage discrimination 
against locals who were paid low salaries, unfair working conditions, 
and long working hours. Police sometimes employed force to suppress 
strikes. In March staff at the Conrad Hotel held a strike over service 
charges, and the police ended the strike. According to labor sources, 
the new strike regulation passed in August makes it nearly impossible 
for employees to strike.
    The Employment Tribunal was established in 2009 to examine and 
adjudicate legal matters arising between employers and employees and 
other employment issues. In 2010 parliament passed an Employment 
Tribunal Regulation, which details procedures for revising and 
adjudicating employment matters under the Employment Tribunal Act. The 
Employment Tribunal process is cumbersome and complicated. The cases 
are heard in the Dhivehi language, which few expatriate workers 
understand. There were reports that when expatriate workers filed 
cases, their work visas were cancelled. Most of the 111 claims filed 
during the year with the Employment Tribunal dealt with unfair 
dismissal. Thirty-one complaints were for wage claims, and the rest 
were claims for breach of employment or training contracts, 
discrimination, and resigning without notice.
    TEAM claimed that resort workers were systematically denied 
recognition by employers, employers refused to negotiate collectively, 
and employers threatened workers.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Although the 
constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor, there were reports 
that forced labor occurred. Under the law foreign workers arriving in 
the country must have a work permit issued by the Immigration 
Department. This is obtained through an employer or agent, who must 
first request a foreign worker quota stating the number of employees 
needed from the Ministry of Human Resources, Youth, and Sports. These 
quotas were easy to obtain, and there was little enforcement.
    The expatriate worker population was estimated at more than 
100,000, which is 25 percent of the population. The Maldives 
Immigration Controller estimated there were an additional 44,000 
illegal foreign workers, mostly from Bangladesh and other South Asian 
countries. These workers were predominantly employed in the 
construction and tourism sectors, where some experienced forced labor 
and even debt bondage. Most victims of forced labor reportedly were 
coerced to work through one or more of the following practices: holding 
of passports by employers, fraudulent offers of employment, not being 
paid the promised salary, and not being paid at all. The HRCM also 
reported that some domestic workers, especially migrant female domestic 
workers, were in some cases trapped in forced domestic servitude, in 
which employers used threats, intimidation, and in some cases sexual 
violence to prevent them from leaving.
    The government started a program in 2010 to register illegal 
Bangladeshi workers and regularize their employment. As of May, 17,000 
such workers were registered. In May Maldives and Bangladesh signed a 
memorandum of understanding on placement of Bangladeshi workers in the 
country. The Human Resources Ministry and the Maldives Police Service 
conducted operations in 2010 to find and deport illegal workers in the 
atolls.
    The Ministry of Human Resources blacklists companies who violated 
the provisions of the Employment Act, precluding violators from 
bringing in new workers until violations were rectified. At year's end 
there were 337 companies who had not resolved their violations and were 
blacklisted. The law allows for a fine of not more than Rf 5,000 ($390) 
for forced labor and other violations of the Employment Act. The 
government took steps to improve working conditions of migrant workers 
by trying to raise awareness on this issue. On December 7, the Human 
Rights Commission organized a Human Rights Day fair.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
Employment Act sets age 16 as the minimum age for employment, with an 
exception for children who voluntarily participate in family 
businesses. The Employment Act also prohibits employment of children in 
``any work that may have a detrimental effect on health, education, 
safety, or conduct.'' Child labor, however, was a problem in the 
fishing sector, small commercial activities, and family enterprises. 
There were also reports that adolescent children who were sent from 
islands with inadequate education facilities to Male or other areas for 
educational purposes sometimes worked as domestics in exchange for food 
and lodging. There were reports some of these children did not go to 
school and were sexually abused by members of the host families. 
According to government officials, this practice was declining as 
access to secondary education improved in remote parts of the country.
    The Ministry of Health and Family; Ministry of Human Resources, 
Youth, and Sports; and Family and Child Protection Unit of Maldives 
Police Service received complaints of child labor, conducted inquiries, 
and initiated legal action. According to the Labor Relations Authority, 
none of the more than 1,000 claim/complaint forms that it received 
during the year related to child labor or employment of minors. 
Additionally no cases of child labor were found during its regular 
labor inspections during the year, nor were any cases of child labor 
reported to the DGFPS.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda/htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The 2008 Employment Act 
establishes maximum hours of work, overtime, annual and sick leave, 
maternity leave, and guidelines for work-place safety. Under the 
Employment Act, workers have the right to refuse work that is 
dangerous. It was unclear whether workers exercised this right in 
practice. The Employment Act mandates the implementation of a safe work 
place; procurement of secure tools and machinery; ensuring the 
continued safety of the equipment, provision of protective equipment to 
eliminate health hazards, and training of employees in the use of 
protective gear; and the provision of appropriate medical care. All 
employers are obliged to provide health insurance for foreign workers. 
Regulatory requirements in certain industries, such as construction and 
transport, require employers to provide a safe working environment and 
ensure the observance of safety measures. According to a 2009 HRCM 
report, there were no national standards for safety measures, and as a 
result such measures were at the discretion of employers. Some 
employers that produce for export adopted health and safety standards. 
Employers in other sectors, most notably the tourism and construction 
industries, reportedly had not taken similar measures. The Employment 
Act grants workers the right to compensation if fired without cause. 
The act specifically bans discrimination based on race or color, but it 
notes that ``any preference given to Maldivians by an employer in 
granting employment shall not be deemed discrimination.''
    The Labor Relations Authority (LRA) and Employment Tribunal are 
charged with implementing the Employment Law. The LRA had 18 inspectors 
and investigators to conduct workplace inspections. It conducted 
investigations and provided dispute resolution mechanisms to address 
complaints from workers. During the year authorities completed an 
estimated 197 inspections. The most common problems were expatriates 
doing work other than that allowed in their work permits, illegal 
expatriate workers, and unpaid wages. Although the LRA can issue fines, 
typically it gave employers between one to three months to correct the 
problems. In several cases, after three months the employers continued 
to employ illegal expatriate workers, and the LRA had trouble enforcing 
its authority.
    The Employment Act provides a mechanism to establish a minimum wage 
in the private sector. The minimum wage in the government sector was 
approximately Rf 3,100 ($242) per month. There is no single, nationally 
accepted poverty line in the Maldives, but a 2007 Asia Development Bank 
Study defined a ``low'' poverty line of Rf 300 ($23.40) per person per 
month and a high poverty line of Rf 450 ($35.10) per person per month. 
Because of the tight labor market, private sector employers generally 
offered competitive pay and conditions to attract skilled workers. The 
government approved a new pension plan covering local employees in 
private companies, which require contributions from both the employer 
and the employee. In August the Maldives Pension Administration Office 
reported that all tourist resorts had joined the pension fund.
    The Employment Act provides for a 48-hour per week limit on work 
with a compulsory 24-hour break if employees work six days 
consecutively. Overtime is possible.
    Wages in the private sector were commonly set by contract between 
employers and employees and were based on rates for similar work in the 
public sector.
    The LRA investigated an estimated 1,000 labor-related complaints 
from January to June, most from the construction industry. The majority 
of complaints were about nonpayment of wages and employers not 
providing food and accommodation. A quarter of the complaints related 
to work-permit issues, such as employers wanting to cancel work permits 
of workers who had run away and employees wanting to change sponsors. 
The LRA resolved approximately 53 percent of the cases, and 45 percent 
of cases were in progress; 2 percent of cases remained pending because 
the LRA was unable to contact the employer or the employee.
    Migrant workers were particularly vulnerable to exploitation and, 
upon arrival in the country, often found unacceptable work conditions 
and were forced to accept work at whatever wage was offered for debt 
repayment to the employment agency. The HRCM found many instances of 
nonpayment of wages to migrant workers and inadequate housing. 
Bangladesh migrant workers were exposed to dangerous working 
conditions, especially in the construction industry, and suffered from 
the effects of working in hazardous environments without proper 
ventilation.
    The status of migrant workers employed in the categories of senior 
management, professionals, and skilled workers was generally better.

                               __________

                                 NEPAL

                           executive summary
    Nepal is a federal democratic republic. The political system is 
based on the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063 (2007), with a prime 
minister as the chief executive and a 601-member Constituent Assembly, 
which is responsible for drafting a new constitution. The Constituent 
Assembly extended the deadline for the completion of a new constitution 
several times, most recently to May 27, 2012. Baburam Bhattarai of the 
Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist was elected prime minister by 
parliament on August 28; he is the fourth prime minister since the 2008 
Constituent Assembly election. Domestic and international observers 
generally characterized the 2008 election results as credible, although 
there were reports of political violence, intimidation, and voting 
irregularities. Security forces reported to civilian authorities, but 
there were frequent instances in which elements of the security forces 
acted independently of civilian control.
    The most significant human rights problems were abuses committed by 
the security forces (including members of the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, 
and Armed Police Force), which were responsible for extrajudicial 
killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention; the government's 
failure to effectively enforce the law, which undermined the freedoms 
of speech and press; and continuing violence and lawbreaking by illegal 
armed groups.
    Other human rights problems included extremely poor prison 
conditions, with conditions at detention centers even worse. Officials 
sometimes used antiterrorism legislation to justify excessive use of 
force. Corruption existed at all levels of government and the police, 
and the courts remained vulnerable to political pressure, bribery, and 
intimidation. The government sometimes restricted freedom of assembly. 
The government limited freedoms for refugees, particularly for the 
Tibetan community. Discrimination against women was a problem, and 
citizenship laws that discriminate based on gender contributed to 
statelessness. Domestic violence against women remained a serious 
problem, and dowry-related deaths occurred. Violence against children 
was widespread, although rarely prosecuted, and commercial sexual 
exploitation of children remained a serious problem. Discrimination 
against persons with disabilities, some ethnic groups, and persons with 
HIV/AIDS was a problem. Violence associated with caste-based 
discrimination occurred. There were some restrictions on worker rights, 
and forced and bonded labor and child labor remained significant 
problems.
    Impunity for human rights violators continued to be a serious 
problem. The government took limited steps to prosecute or punish 
officials who committed abuses, whether in the security forces or 
elsewhere in the government. Investigations into individual abuses and 
legal punishment for perpetrators sometimes occurred, but for many 
abuses, including serious abuses that occurred during the armed 
insurgency, a lack of accountability created an atmosphere of impunity. 
Authorities failed to implement court-ordered arrests of military 
personnel, Maoists, and other politically connected individuals accused 
or convicted of human rights violations.
    Numerous armed groups, largely in the Tarai region, attacked 
civilians, government officials, members of particular ethnic groups, 
each other, and Maoist militias. Some members of the Maoist-affiliated 
Young Communist League (YCL) were responsible for extortion and 
intimidation, although the number of incidents declined during the 
year. Members of other small, ethnically based armed groups were 
responsible for killings, abductions, extortion, and intimidation. 
Armed groups were responsible for numerous disappearances (mainly in 
the Tarai region). Armed groups, criminals, and political parties used 
threats of violence to intimidate journalists throughout the country.
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. The Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), a local 
human rights organization, reported that police killed at least eight 
persons, and soldiers killed one. On January 13, police arrested and 
beat Shambhu Paswan of Janakpur District to death at the Bhairahawa 
police station, on the border with India. While police officials 
claimed that Paswan died while undergoing treatment, the hospital to 
which he was sent declared Paswan dead upon arrival. Although the 
police administration promised to file a report criminal complaint 
against two officers involved in the beating, no action had been taken 
against them by year's end.
    In March 2010 members of the Nepal Army (NA) killed two Dalit 
(``untouchable'' lower-caste) women, Devisara BK and Amrita BK, and a 
12-year-old girl, Chandrakala BK, inside Bardiya National Park in 
Surkhet District. Although the NA alleged that the three were armed and 
involved in poaching and were killed during a firefight, a National 
Human Rights Commission (NHRC) investigation concluded that they were 
shot in the back from a distance. The NHRC recommended action against 
those involved in the incident, including 15 army personnel of the 
Jwala Dal Batallion led by Captain Subodh Kunwar. The NHRC also 
recommended compensation to the families of 300,000 rupees ($3,525) for 
each of those killed and free education for the children of the 
deceased women. Following an internal investigation in 2010, the army 
claimed that its personnel were performing their duty in good faith, 
and the military court took no action against those involved in the 
incident. The government provided 25,000 rupees ($295) to the next of 
kin to perform last rites for the deceased.
    On May 31, the district court of Chitwan sentenced Gobinda Bahadur 
Batala, or ``Jibit,'' to three years in jail for the 2008 murder of 
businessman Ram Hari Shrestha. Because Batala, a member of the Unified 
Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, had been in judicial custody for three 
years, he was released without serving additional time. Batala was 
later taken into custody on the charge of kidnapping Shrestha. On June 
21, the Supreme Court ordered police to release Batala, stating that he 
could not be tried separately on the charge of abduction because he had 
already served three years in the Chitwan jail on the charge of being 
an accomplice in the murder. At year's end, police were still seeking 
another suspect in the Shrestha case, Kali Bahadur Kham, a senior 
Maoist leader.
    No one had been held responsible in the 2004 killing of 15-year-old 
Maina Sunuwar, one of the high-profile cases identified by human rights 
groups. The Kavre District Court reported that the NA had partially 
cooperated with the court's order to hand over documents related to the 
case, although the NA did not suspend or hand over one of the accused, 
Major Niranjan Basnet. An internal military investigation found Basnet 
innocent. According to statements given during the NA investigation, 
Basnet was present during Sunuwar's detention and interrogation, which 
included ``water pouring'' and ``electric shock.'' On February 17, Devi 
Sunuwar, Maina's mother, sent an open letter addressed to the chief of 
army staff urging him to play a pioneering role in ending impunity by 
handing over those responsible for the killings, including Major 
Basnet. As of year's end, the chief of staff had taken no steps in 
response to the letter. The other three persons accused in the case, 
all retired from the army, remained at large.
    There was continuing violence in the Tarai region. Some armed 
groups, many ethnically based, clashed with each other and with the 
local population. Police were unable to fully provide law and order, 
although the security situation in most parts of the Tarai improved 
during the year. Members of the Maoists, Maoist-affiliated groups, and 
other ethnically based splinter groups in the Tarai, committed acts of 
violence, extortion, and intimidation throughout the year.
    According to INSEC, as of midyear armed groups operating in the 
Tarai region killed 11 persons and unidentified groups killed 89 
others. On February 24, members of an armed group shot and killed 
Madhav Thapa, a civil servant working at the Bara District Land 
Revenues Office, while he was watching television at home. The Akhil 
Tarai Mukti Morcha, led by Jai Krishna Goit, claimed responsibility for 
the killing, alleging that Thapa was a corrupt official. Persons close 
to Thapa denied those allegations. As of year's end there were no 
further updates. INSEC reported two killings by the Maoist party and 
its YCL affiliate. According to INSEC, a total of 89 persons were 
killed and 59 abducted by unidentified groups in 2011, compared with 
117 persons killed and 83 abducted in 2010.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports that government forces 
were responsible for disappearances during the year.
    The fate of most of those who disappeared during the 10-year Maoist 
insurgency (1996-2006) remained unknown. On August 30, the NHRC 
released a public report that stated there were 789 unresolved cases of 
disappearances, 619 of which were believed to involve the state. As of 
year's end, the government had not prosecuted any government officials 
for involvement in disappearances, nor had it released any information 
about the whereabouts of the 619 persons the NHRC identified as having 
disappeared with state involvement. The August NHRC report stated that 
Maoists were believed to be involved in 170 unresolved disappearances 
during the conflict. As of year's end, the government had not 
prosecuted any Maoists for involvement in disappearances.
    In 2010 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 
published a list of 1,369 names of missing persons on its Web site. At 
the end of this year, the list contained 1,383 names. In 2009 the ICRC 
and the Nepal Red Cross Society listed 1,348 missing persons; in 2008, 
1,227; and in 2007, 812.
    The government did not respond to the 2008 Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on the Bardiya District, 
where at least 170 persons disappeared between 2001 and 2004, nor did 
it respond to a 2006 OHCHR report on 49 persons who disappeared after 
being arrested and detained at the Maharajgunj barracks in Kathmandu in 
2003 on suspicion of being linked to the Maoists. Human rights 
organizations repeatedly called on the government to investigate the 
human rights violations at the Maharajgunj barracks, including the 
responsibility of those within the chain of command. One of the senior 
military officers implicated in the incident, Major General Toran 
Bahadur Singh, retired from the army in June.
    According to INSEC there were 144 abductions during the year. Most 
abductions were for ransom and occurred in the Tarai region, where 
armed groups operated with relative impunity.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the Interim Constitution of 2007 requires that 
torture be criminalized, the law does not have clear guidelines for 
punishing offenders, and no one was prosecuted for torture, including 
police who tortured and otherwise abused citizens. The Torture 
Compensation Act provides for compensation for victims of torture; the 
victim must file a complaint and pursue the case through the courts. 
Two cases were filed during the year in addition to 30 cases filed 
since 2009. Of these, the court withdrew three cases due to out-of-
court settlements, dismissed six cases due to the victim's failure to 
appear before the court within the time permitted, found that there was 
not sufficient evidence to prove torture in two cases, and provided 
compensation in seven cases. The remaining cases were pending.
    During the year Advocacy Forum (AF), a human rights nongovernmental 
organization (NGO), reported that, of the 4,187 detainees interviewed 
between January and December, 689 reported torture by state actors. The 
government generally failed to conduct thorough and independent 
investigations of reports of security force brutality and did not take 
significant disciplinary action against those involved. Some detainees 
were afraid to bring cases against the police due to fear of reprisal. 
The number of cases represented a slight increase compared with 2010.
    Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Center, a leading local child 
rights NGO, recorded 69 cases of children under the age of 18, 66 of 
whom were boys, who were detained and suffered some kind of physical or 
mental abuse during interrogation. Children reported being hit by 
bamboo sticks, kicked or hit with fists, spit on, and having their hair 
pulled. Most of the children who were arrested involved cases of 
robbery. In 30 percent of cases, the age of the child detained was 
incorrectly recorded as 16 years and above, presumably to make them 
eligible for detention. Likewise, street children in Kathmandu were 
frequently arrested on suspicion of committing a crime when incidents 
were reported to police in areas where the children resided. They were 
frequently detained overnight, made to clean dirty toilets at the 
detention centers, and often mistreated by area residents when accused 
of committing a crime.
    According to reports, on July 21, Nijamiddin Sekh (alias Bablu) was 
arrested by police in Nepalgunj, Banke District, and taken to a police 
station for questioning. According to Sekh, he was blindfolded, 
handcuffed, and subsequently pushed from a high place, later awakening 
in a hospital bed with a broken backbone. A doctor's examination 
revealed additional signs of mistreatment, including blue and red marks 
on his feet, scratches, and bruises on his lower lip and body. As of 
year's end, police had not charged Sekh with a crime, and the police 
officers involved in the arrest and torture had not been charged.
    AF attributed 42 cases of torture to nonstate actors during the 
period between January and June, including 25 cases to Maoists, one to 
the Maoist-affiliated YCL, and one to the All Nepal National Free 
Students Union. The government failed to conduct thorough 
investigations of reports of nonstate actor brutality.
    Campaigners against land mines stated that improvised explosive 
devices (IEDs) remained scattered and unmarked throughout the country. 
According to INSEC, land mines and IEDs laid by Maoists and the NA 
during the conflict caused 22 incidents and resulted in the death of 10 
persons and injury to 23 during the year. UNICEF reported 16 casualties 
from IED explosions as of June 14, when Nepal was formally declared a 
minefield-free country. The army placed 12,070 land mines at 53 
locations and planted 1,078 IEDs during the conflict.
    The Maoists placed no land mines but used thousands of IEDs. The 
U.N. Mine Action Team reported that more than 52,000 Maoist IEDs were 
destroyed after Maoist combatants were cantoned in 2007.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
extremely poor and did not meet international standards, while 
conditions at detention centers were worse. The government generally 
allowed visits by independent human rights observers.
    According to the Department of Prison Management, as of July 15, 
12,364 prisoners--10,699 men, 829 women, 79 dependent children of 
imprisoned parents, and 757 foreign nationals--remained in custody. 
Although there generally were separate facilities for men and women, in 
some overcrowded prisons, men and women were held in the same prison 
but in segregated cells. In October 2011 a reliable news report noted 
that the Kavre District jail held 131 inmates, while its capacity was 
estimated at 65. According to AF, sanitation provisions were inadequate 
and medical care was poor for prisoners with serious conditions. 
Prisoners generally had access to well water or filtered water, 
although some had access only to unfiltered and dirty water.
    Due to a lack of adequate juvenile detention facilities, children 
occasionally were incarcerated with adults or were allowed to remain in 
jails with their incarcerated parents.
    There is only one functional government-run juvenile reform home, 
Sano Thimi in Bhaktapur. According to the Department of Jail 
Management, pretrial juvenile detainees were sent there and were not 
kept with convicted prisoners. Adult pretrial detainees were kept with 
convicted prisoners due to inadequate pretrial detention space.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. There were also procedures for 
prisoners to submit complaints, although authorities were quicker to 
respond to allegations when NGOs or international organizations were 
aware of the complaints. There were no prison ombudsmen to handle 
prisoner complaints.
    The government generally permitted the NHRC, ICRC, and OHCHR to 
make unannounced visits to prisons and detainees in army and police 
custody, although it was reported that access by international 
observers to prison detainees was restricted in the first half of the 
year. Although the NHRC is authorized to request government action, the 
government often denied NHRC requests. There were no alternatives to 
sentencing for nonviolent offenders.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but security forces arbitrarily arrested persons 
during the year. Police routinely abused their 48-hour detention 
authority by holding persons unlawfully (i.e., without proper access to 
counsel, food, and medicine, or in adequate facilities), often at the 
behest of the chief district officer (CDO) or assistant CDO. It was not 
unusual for CDOs to direct police to arrest individuals for minor, 
petty infractions (e.g., unpaid taxes), and many of those orders (which 
were frequently verbal) were undocumented and appeared politically 
motivated.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Nepal Police (NP) 
is responsible for enforcing law and order across the country, and the 
Armed Police Force (APF) provides back-up support. Police did not 
respond to most incidents of violence, particularly events involving 
Maoists and armed groups in the Tarai region. There were multiple 
incidents in which police detained persons for illegal acts, but 
political leaders sometimes pressured the NP to release detainees.
    The NP, APF, and NA have human rights cells, although they tend to 
limit their activities to training and capacity building rather than 
investigating cases. Corruption and impunity remained serious problems. 
The NP were generally unarmed and have the role of preventing and 
investigating nonterrorist criminal behavior.
    At the district level, the NP often operated without significant 
guidance from superiors, allowing considerable discretion in the 
enforcement of laws. There continued to be many reports of police abuse 
and bribery. The NP, APF, and NA have mechanisms for investigating 
abuses by security forces; however, the investigations are internal and 
not fully transparent. The National Human Rights Commission and 
security forces' internal offices provided human rights training and 
training to reform the security forces.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arbitrary 
Arrest: The law stipulates that, except in cases involving suspected 
security and narcotics violations, authorities must obtain a warrant 
for arrest and arraign or release a suspect within 24 hours of arrest. 
There were instances in which detainees were kept in illegal detention 
for several days after their arrest.
    If the court upholds a detention, the law authorizes police to hold 
the suspect for up to 25 days to complete an investigation, with a 
possible extension of seven days, although security personnel 
occasionally held prisoners for longer periods. In some cases the 
Supreme Court ordered the release of detainees held longer than 24 
hours without a court appearance. Some foreigners, including refugees, 
reported difficulty obtaining bail. The interim constitution provides 
for access to a state-appointed lawyer or one of the detainee's choice, 
even if charges have not been filed. Few detainees could afford their 
own lawyer.
    Detainees have the legal right to receive visits by family members. 
In practice family access to prisoners varied from prison to prison. 
There is a system of bail, but bonds were too expensive for most 
citizens.

    Pretrial Detention.--Pretrial detention often exceeded the period 
to which persons subsequently were sentenced after a trial and 
conviction. Time served is credited to a prisoner's sentence.
    Under the Public Security Act, security forces may detain persons 
who allegedly threaten domestic security and tranquility, amicable 
relations with other countries, or relations between citizens of 
different classes or religions. The government may detain persons in 
preventive detention for as long as 12 months without charging them 
with a crime, as long as the detention complies with the act's 
requirements. The court does not have any substantive legal role in 
preventive detentions under the act.
    Other laws, including the Public Offenses Act, permit detention 
without charge for as long as 25 days. This act covers crimes such as 
disturbing the peace, vandalism, rioting, and fighting. Human rights 
monitors expressed concern that the act vests too much discretionary 
power in the CDO. Police frequently arrested citizens under the act and 
detained them for short periods without charge.
    According to AF, in some cases detainees were brought before 
judicial authorities well after the legally mandated 24-hour limit, 
allegedly to allow injuries from police mistreatment to heal.
    NGOs expressed concern about police use of private houses to hold 
detainees after arrest.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, but courts remained vulnerable to political 
pressure, bribery, and intimidation. Authorities did not consistently 
respect court orders. The Supreme Court has the right to review the 
constitutionality of legislation passed by the Constituent Assembly. 
Appellate and district courts showed independence and impartiality in 
many cases, although they remained susceptible to political pressures.

    Trial Procedures.--Although the law provides for the right to 
counsel, equal protection under the law, protection from double 
jeopardy, protection from retroactive application of the law, and 
public trials, these rights were not applied equally except in a few 
security and customs cases. Defendants enjoy the presumption of 
innocence except in some cases, such as human trafficking and drug 
trafficking, where the burden of proof is on the defendant. Judges 
decide cases; there is no jury system. The law provides detainees the 
right to legal representation and a court-appointed lawyer, a 
government lawyer, or access to private attorneys. However, the 
government provided legal counsel only upon request. Persons who are 
unaware of their rights may be deprived of legal representation. 
Defense lawyers may cross-examine accusers. By law defense lawyers are 
entitled to have access to government-held evidence, but it was very 
difficult to obtain. All lower court decisions, including acquittals, 
are subject to appeal. The Supreme Court is the court of last resort.
    Military courts adjudicate cases concerning military personnel 
under the military code, which provides military personnel the same 
basic rights as civilians. Military personnel are immune from 
prosecution in civilian courts, except in cases of homicide or rape 
involving a civilian. The NA asserted that military personnel are 
immune from prosecution in civilian courts for conflict-era violations, 
an interpretation of law not shared by the human rights community and 
inconsistent with Supreme Court decisions. Military courts cannot try 
civilians for crimes, even if the crimes involve the military services; 
civilian courts handle these cases.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Individuals or 
organizations could seek remedies for human rights violations in 
national courts. There is no regional court mechanism for human rights 
in South Asia. However, individuals can seek justice from international 
organizations such as the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) if all 
domestic legal options are exhausted. One such example was the case of 
torture survivor Yubraj Giri of Banke district. With legal assistance 
from AF, Giri submitted his case to the UNHRC in 2008. In a decision 
adopted on April 12, the UNHRC held the government responsible for 
breaching treaty obligations under the International Covenant for Civil 
and Political Rights. The council requested the government to ensure 
thorough and diligent investigation into the torture and mistreatment 
suffered by Giri, punish those responsible, and provide the victim and 
his family with adequate compensation.

    Property Restitution.--The Maoists and their affiliate 
organizations returned some previously seized property as the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement requires but kept other illegally seized 
lands and properties. Organizations closely affiliated with Maoists 
also seized additional properties.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law allows police to conduct searches and seizures 
without a warrant if there is probable cause that a crime has been 
committed, in which case a search may be conducted as long as two or 
more persons of ``good character'' are present. If a police officer has 
reasonable cause to believe that a suspect may possess material 
evidence, the officer must submit a written request to another office 
to conduct a search, and there must be another official present who is 
at least at the rank of assistant subinspector.
    Security personnel frequently conducted vehicle and body searches 
at roadblocks in many areas.
    The law prohibits arbitrary interference with privacy, family, 
home, and correspondence, and the government generally respected these 
prohibitions in practice.
    There were no reports of the government forcing civilians to 
resettle. Some persons who had resettled to escape Maoist extortion, 
recruitment, or retaliation could not return home.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
government generally respected these rights in practice. However, in 
some cases the government failed to effectively enforce the law.

    Freedom of Speech.--Generally citizens felt they could voice their 
opinions freely. However, the government limited freedom of expression 
for the Tibetan community. For example, 30 Regional Tibetan Youth Club 
members gathered at a community hall in the Boudhanath neighborhood of 
Kathmandu for a 24-hour hunger strike on April 18-19 to protest against 
the Kirti monastery crackdown in eastern Tibet. Police ordered 
individuals, including women, wearing ``free Tibet'' T-shirts to remove 
them (including taking off one in public) and put on shirts without 
political slogans, but they were permitted to continue the protest and 
hunger strike.

    Freedom of the Press.--The independent media were active and 
expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. However, 
impunity for past attacks on members of the press may lead to self-
censorship, according to the Federation for Nepali Journalists (FNJ), 
an organization that promotes journalists' rights. Radio remained the 
primary source of information for 90 percent of the population.

    Violence and Harassment.--There were several instances of police 
interfering with the press covering political stories. For example, on 
June 19, the Home Ministry instructed security personnel to prevent 
journalists from entering Singha Durbar, the central administrative 
office of the government in Kathmandu, during a politically sensitive 
meeting. After intense pressure from the media, journalists were 
allowed to enter Singha Durbar late the following day.
    On June 5, Nagarik reporter Khilanath Dhakal was attacked in 
Biratnagar after writing a story about Youth Action Nepal (YAN), the 
youth wing of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist 
political party. YAN leaders allegedly masterminded the attack, which 
left Dhakal seriously injured. YAN central leader Mahesh Basnet openly 
challenged the police to arrest YAN regional leader Parshu Ram Basnet, 
who was widely assumed to have ordered the attack; Mahesh Basnet also 
threatened to shut down Nagarik and throw its editor in chief in jail 
for writing negative stories about YAN. The incident and Mahesh 
Basnet's subsequent statements received extensive media coverage. At 
year's end Parshu Ram Basnet was charged but had not been arrested and 
remained at large.
    Criminal gangs and armed groups affiliated with political parties 
deliberately targeted journalists throughout the country. According to 
the FNJ, there were 24 threats and 23 attacks targeting journalists, 
resulting in one death during the year. Reporters in remote areas 
outside Kathmandu, in particular, were susceptible to threats and 
violence in response to stories they wrote. Rarely were the persons 
accused in these cases brought to trial. According to the FNJ, the 
government did not take sufficient measures to preserve the safety and 
independence of the media, and individuals who attacked or killed 
journalists were rarely prosecuted.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The interim constitution 
protects media licenses from revocation based on the content of what is 
printed or broadcast. Although government-owned stations have legal 
cover to operate independently from direct government control, indirect 
political influence sometimes led to self-censorship. In July Nepal TV 
deleted a question about the Maoists from an interview with a foreign 
diplomat conducted by an independent production company. According to 
Nepal TV, an employee felt the question would be insulting to the 
Maoist leadership. After questions were raised about the incident, the 
interview was rebroadcast in its entirety.
    The Maoists also influenced media outlets through their powerful 
trade unions. In the Tarai and the eastern hills, armed groups coerced 
journalists, resulting in self-censorship and fear for personal safety. 
Armed groups and political parties burned copies of newspapers they 
found objectionable.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no reports that the government 
monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms, and individuals and groups 
could engage in the expression of views via the Internet, including by 
e-mail. In contrast with 2010, there were no reports of government 
restrictions on access to the Internet. The Home Ministry's efforts in 
2010 to block Internet sites considered obscene were met with mixed 
reactions from the public and raised concerns about freedom of 
expression among some members of the press and free speech advocates, 
as some nonobscene content was reportedly blocked as well. However, the 
government reversed its decision and did not impose similar 
restrictions on Internet freedom in 2011.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were some government 
restrictions on cultural events. The assembly of Tibetans often led to 
strict restrictions that limited cultural freedoms, including a 
Himalayan opera show in October.
    The media continued to report instances of abduction, extortion, 
and intimidation of school officials by armed groups, and the 
government did not take adequate measures to stop this practice.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides 
for freedom of assembly and association; however, the government 
sometimes restricted freedom of assembly.

    Freedom of Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, and 
it was generally respected for citizens and legal residents of the 
country, despite some restrictions. The law authorizes CDOs to impose 
curfews if there is a possibility that demonstrations or riots may 
disturb the peace.
    The government limited freedom of assembly for the Tibetan 
community. For example, on March 10, police arrested four individuals 
who were observing Tibetan Uprising Day at Sampeheling Monastery in 
Boudhanath. Later that day seven Tibetans demonstrating outside the 
Chinese embassy in Kathmandu were arrested and detained for more than a 
week. Police beat several of them while in custody, according to the 
Human Rights Organization of Nepal.
    Security personnel attempted to prevent Buddhists, including 
Tibetans, from attending the Dalai Lama's birthday celebration on July 
6. For Tibetan Democracy Day on September 2, authorities denied 
permission to hold a religious event at a monastery in Boudhanath. 
However, a religious celebration to observe Nobel Peace Prize day on 
December 10 took place peacefully in Boudhanath and Jawalakhel 
settlements, with a minimal presence of Nepali authorities and no 
arrests.

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, except for most refugees, whose freedom of movement 
within the country is legally limited. Constraints on refugee movements 
were enforced unevenly and more often against the Tibetan than the 
Bhutanese refugee population. The government did not always cooperate 
with the Office of the U.N. 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 
established procedures for handling newly arrived Tibetans entering the 
country without documents were generally implemented through 
coordination between police, immigration officials, the UNHCR, and the 
Tibetan Reception Center, in a timely, standardized fashion overall. 
However, concerns regarding the implementation of these procedures 
arose after a group of 23 new Tibetan arrivals was detained in 
September following intervention by Chinese authorities, who requested 
their return. After a delay, the 23 were released to the UNHCR and were 
in India at year's end.
    Numerous political groups restricted freedom of movement, including 
forcing transportation strikes, known locally as ``bandhs,'' to bring 
attention to political issues. Ethnic groups in the Tarai region called 
most bandhs.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--Although the government and 
Maoists agreed to support the voluntary return in safety and dignity of 
IDPs to their homes following the 10-year civil war, in practice the 
agreement was not implemented. Several U.N. agencies, including the 
UNHCR, OHCHR, and U.N. Development Program, continued working with the 
government to develop an IDP policy consistent with international 
principles. Civil society and international organizations estimated 
that there were as many as 70,000 IDPs. The Ministry of Peace and 
Reconstruction estimated that 78,689 persons were displaced from 1996 
to 2006.
    The government allowed several international organizations, such as 
the Norwegian Refugee Council, ICRC, Caritas, International Relief and 
Development, and Action Aid Nepal to initiate programs to assist IDPs. 
Middle- and lower-caste IDPs faced severe problems obtaining adequate 
shelter and food. According to U.N. agencies and international NGOs, 
the main obstacles preventing most IDPs from returning to their homes 
continued to be fear of Maoist reprisal, local Maoist commanders' 
noncompliance, and conflict with those occupying the houses and lands 
of the IDPs. According to the Nepal IDP Working Group, most IDPs were 
unwilling to return home, not only due to security but also economic 
concerns, primarily involving property, housing, and employment 
opportunities.
    Children of persons who were killed or displaced during the 
conflict were often unable to access government benefits because they 
were not able to register with local authorities due to fear of 
retribution by Maoists or inability to confirm the death of a family 
member who disappeared during the conflict. According to Caritas, the 
government made little effort to aid or monitor the movement of IDPs.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The 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. While 
the government has in place ad hoc administrative directives that 
provide some protection for Bhutanese and Tibetan refugees, 
implementation of the directives was sometimes unpredictable.
    The government officially restricted freedom of movement and work 
for the approximately 55,000 Bhutanese refugees residing in refugee 
camps in the eastern part of the country, but those restrictions were 
largely unenforced for this population. In 2007 the government agreed 
to permit third-country resettlement for Bhutanese refugees. Since 
resettlement began, roughly 58,500 Bhutanese refugees have been 
resettled to third countries, of which 49,100 were resettled in the 
United States.
    Tibetans who arrived in the country after 1989 are not recognized 
as refugees. Consequently, most Tibetans who arrived since then 
transited to India, although an estimated 15,000-20,000 Tibetans 
remained in Nepal. After China heightened security along its border and 
increased restrictions on internal freedom of movement in 2008, the 
number of Tibetans who transited the country dropped significantly. 
UNHCR-facilitated exit permits for recent arrivals from Tibet 
transiting Nepal to India have become more regularized, with only minor 
administrative delays.
    There continued to be reports of harassment by Chinese officials 
within Nepal's borders.
    There were instances in which local police assisted and protected 
Tibetans found in the border region.

    Refugee Abuse.--There were numerous reports that police and other 
local officials harassed Tibetans engaged in daily activities. Police 
reportedly conducted random checks of identity documents of Tibetans, 
including monks. These identity checks sometimes included threats of 
deportation or detention, followed by requests for bribes.
    On June 22, authorities arrested 12 Tibetans taking part in a 
candlelight vigil in support of a monk who committed suicide to protest 
Chinese oppression of Tibetans' freedom in China. Security forces 
detained and questioned leaders of the Tibetan community, forcing other 
leaders into temporary hiding. In addition, more than 50 Tibetans were 
detained on November 1 during a three-day event organized by the 
Regional Tibetan Youth Club to show solidarity with monks who had 
committed self-immolation in China. The following day an additional 18 
Tibetans were detained following an attempted self-immolation during 
the protest. All detainees were released later the same day.

    Access to Basic Services.--Many of the Tibetans who lived in the 
country did not have legal resident status. Many who arrived after 1990 
and their Nepal-born children were without legal status and had no 
documentation. Even those with acknowledged refugee status had no legal 
rights beyond the ability to remain in the country, and the Nepal-born 
children of Tibetans with legal status often lacked documentation. 
Tibetan refugees had no entitlement to higher education, business 
ownership or licenses, bank accounts, or to conduct legal transactions, 
including documentation of births, marriages, and deaths, although 
bribery often made these possible. While Nepal-based Tibetans with 
registration cards were eligible to apply for travel documents to leave 
the country, the legal process was arduous, expensive, opaque, and 
poorly publicized.
    In March police and government officials denied permission for 
Tibetans in Nepal to participate in the prime ministerial elections of 
the Central Tibetan Administration. While police halted voting in 
Kathmandu, settlements in Pokhara recorded approximately 700 votes.
    The country hosted approximately 300 refugees from other countries, 
including Somalia, Burma, and Pakistan. The government continued to 
deny these groups recognition as refugees and required prohibitive 
fines ($5 for each day out of status) for permission to exit the 
country. However, the government waived fines in a few instances with 
compelling humanitarian concerns. The government allowed the UNHCR to 
provide some education, health, and livelihood services to refugees, 
but they lacked legal access to education and the right to work.

    Stateless Persons.--In 1995 the government-established Dhanapati 
Commission estimated that 3.4 million individuals in the country lacked 
citizenship documentation. Although the government acknowledged that 
these individuals were Nepalis, they did not hold the citizenship 
certificate (issued to citizens at the age of 16 if born to a Nepali 
parent) needed to obtain many rights of citizenship (see section 6, 
Women and Children). Although the 2006 Citizenship Act allowed more 
than 2.6 million persons to receive certificates, a UNHCR-led survey in 
November estimated that approximately three to five million persons 
still had not received citizenship documentation due to isolation, 
poverty, and discriminatory practices at the local level.
    Citizenship laws that discriminate based on gender contributed to 
statelessness. Citizenship is transmitted to children if either the 
mother or father is a citizen. In practice local officials generally 
refused to issue citizenship documents to children on the basis of 
their mother's citizenship certificate alone. On February 27, the 
Supreme Court confirmed that citizenship can be passed by the mother, 
even if the father is unknown or not available due to separation from 
the family. After that time, a number of citizenship certificates were 
issued, but some local officials did not follow the court ruling. The 
issue of citizenship rights was under review in the Constituent 
Assembly.
    Stateless persons did not experience violence; however, they 
experienced discrimination in employment, education, housing, health 
services, marriage, birth registration, access to courts and judicial 
procedures, and land or property ownership.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully, and citizens generally exercised this right in practice.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 2008 
citizens elected members to the Constituent Assembly, which was to 
serve as both a legislature and a constitution-drafting body. Domestic 
and international observers found the election results credible, 
although there were reports of political violence, intimidation, and 
voting irregularities.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There are no specific laws 
that restrict women, indigenous people, or minorities from voting or 
participating in government or in political parties, but tradition 
limited the roles of women and some castes and ethnicities in the 
political process. Members of certain castes traditionally held more 
power than others. There were 194 women in the 594-seat Constituent 
Assembly. In the 44-member cabinet, seven members were from ethnic 
minority communities, five were women, and four were Dalits. Most of 
the larger political parties had associated youth wings, trade unions, 
and social organizations.
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 
Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA), 
mandated to investigate official acts of corruption, claimed an 80 
percent success rate concerning corruption cases it filed, but some 
cases involving politicians were not filed or were defeated in court. 
Most civil society organizations believed the CIAA was not an effective 
commission. Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws. 
However, according to the National Vigilance Center, 77 Constituent 
Assembly members and an estimated 35,000 civil servants had not 
submitted their annual financial statements as required by law. Those 
who do not may face a fine of up to 5,000 rupees ($60).
    There were numerous reports of corrupt actions by ministers and 
Constituent Assembly members. On March 16, the Supreme Court convicted 
former minister and Nepali Congress leader Chiranjibi Wagle of 
corruption and sentenced him to 18 months' imprisonment and a fine of 
20.3 million rupees ($238,400). The Supreme Court concluded that Wagle 
amassed property through abuse of power when he was in public office 
and transferred the properties to the names of family members, 
including his son Devendra. This was the first time since 1990 that the 
Supreme Court convicted a senior politician on corruption charges.
    On April 25, authorities arrested Constituent Assembly members 
Gayatri Sah of the Nepali Janata Dahal party and B.P. Yadav of the 
Madhesi Janadhikar Forum over allegations of misuse of diplomatic 
passports. Crime Investigation Branch investigations revealed that the 
lawmakers acted with passport racketeers, who obtained diplomatic 
passports, citizenship certificates, and identity cards to alter and 
use them to send prospective clients to Australia. On May 18, Sah and 
Yadav were detained at the central jail. They were each released on 
bail of 1.5 million rupees ($17,620), and the case was still pending at 
year's end. Both were suspended from the Constituent Assembly.
    Maoists and Maoist-affiliated organizations continued to commit 
abuses during the year, but less than in previous years. Maoists 
regularly extorted money from businesses, workers, private citizens, 
and NGOs.
    On April 10, a Maoist trade union faction led by Salik Ram 
Jammakattel sent letters to entrepreneurs seeking ``physical, moral, 
and financial'' assistance for an International Worker's Day 
celebration. The union sent letters to more than 3,000 businesses 
across the nation, demanding 100,000 rupees ($1,175) from each. The 
newly-formed Maoist Peoples' Volunteers Bureau also attempted to extort 
businessmen, government offices, and contractors, which they labeled 
``political donations.''
    Corruption and impunity remained problems within the NP. According 
to international observers, there was a severe shortage of senior-level 
NP officers. At the district level, this shortage resulted in untrained 
constables making policies and decisions outside of their authority and 
without supervision, creating opportunities for bribery, corruption, 
misinterpretation, and abuse of authority.
    On June 7, the CIAA charged 36 incumbent and retired police 
officials and two suppliers with embezzling 288 million rupees ($3.4 
million) while purchasing armored personnel carriers for the NP 
peacekeeping mission deployed in Darfur. Ramesh Chand Thakuri, former 
head of the NP, and 24 other police officials were automatically 
suspended upon the filing of the case on June 7.
    In 2007 the interim parliament passed the Right to Information Law, 
which mandates that public organizations provide citizens with 
information as quickly as possible and respond within 15 days. In 
practice the government generally met this requirement. If authorities 
deny individuals access to information, officials must provide a valid 
explanation. The law provides that information may be withheld on five 
grounds: to facilitate the investigation and filing of criminal 
charges, to protect the economic and commercial interests of the 
country, to preserve banking and commercial secrecy, to prevent 
disruption of communal harmony, or to prevent disruption of personal 
life or 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.
    Many independent domestic human rights NGOs operated in the 
country. The government met with and was generally responsive to human 
rights NGOs, as demonstrated by the government's cooperation with human 
rights organizations during Nepal's first Universal Periodic Review 
before the UNHRC. The Nepal Law Society also monitored human rights 
abuses, and a number of other NGOs focused on specific areas, such as 
torture, child labor, women's rights, and ethnic minorities.
    The Maoist party had publicly castigated some lawyers and human 
rights defenders for their possible role in the June 2010 denial of a 
visa for a foreign training program for Agni Sapkota, a Maoist leader 
alleged to be responsible for human rights abuses during the 
insurgency. Members of the Maoist party threatened specific human 
rights activists. On May 7, Sapkota was appointed minister for 
information and communications, which led human rights defenders and 
civil society groups to file a public interest case with the Supreme 
Court demanding his removal because he was under investigation for his 
conduct during the insurgency. Maoist-affiliated groups accused human 
rights organizations of a politically motivated attack on Sapkota. 
While the Supreme Court considered the public interest case, on July 
25, the government withdrew the nominations of several Maoist 
ministers, among them Sapkota's, for unrelated reasons.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--As set out in the 2006 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the OHCHR continued its work with the 
government to formulate and implement policies and programs for the 
promotion and protection of human rights. The government requested an 
extension of the OHCHR's mandate through December. The government 
required the OHCHR to close all its regional offices in 2010, and the 
regular mandate renewal negotiations made it difficult for the OHCHR to 
operate. The government did not approve OHCHR's request for a mandate 
extension, which expired on December 8 and would require OHCHR to close 
its operations in the country by mid-2012.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The NHRC investigates past and 
current allegations of abuses. Resource constraints and insufficient 
manpower restricted the number of investigations. The NHRC stated that 
the government had helped promote impunity by not fully implementing 
its recommendations. Of 450 recommendations the NHRC made during the 
previous 11 years, the government implemented 126 fully and 246 
partially, according to NHRC.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, caste, gender, 
disability, language, or social status. However, the government did not 
effectively enforce these prohibitions. The Caste Discrimination and 
Untouchability Act, passed in May, criminalizes discrimination based on 
caste. As of year's end, its effectiveness was unclear. A rigid caste 
system continued to operate throughout the country in many areas of 
religious, professional, and daily life. Societal discrimination 
against lower castes, women, and persons with disabilities remained 
common, especially in rural areas.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Violence against women 
remained a problem. Under the civil code, sentences for rape vary 
between five and 12 years, depending on the female victim's age. The 
law also mandates five years' additional imprisonment in the case of 
gang rape or rape of pregnant women or women with disabilities. The 
victim's compensation depends on the degree of mental and physical 
torture. Under the law the definition of rape includes marital rape, 
and the husband can be jailed for three to six months. Most incidents 
of rape went unreported, although in those rape cases that were 
reported, police and the courts were responsive. During fiscal year 
2010-11, 481 cases of rape and 151 cases of attempted rape were filed 
with police, compared with 376 cases of rape and 101 cases of attempted 
rape in the previous fiscal year, according to the Women's Police Cell, 
a special unit of the NP that investigates crimes against women.
    Domestic violence against women remained a serious problem. While 
few cases were reported, there was much anecdotal evidence that 
physical and verbal abuse was common. Violence against women was one of 
the major factors responsible for the poor health of women, livelihood 
insecurity, and inadequate social mobilization. According to Amnesty 
International, in the first half of the year, more than 300 domestic 
violence cases were reported to police in the Kathmandu valley alone; 
many more went unreported. The domestic violence law imposes a fine of 
3,000 to 25,000 rupees ($35 to $295), six months' imprisonment, or 
both, on violators. Repeat offenders receive double punishment. Any 
person holding a position of public responsibility is subject to 10 
percent greater punishment than is a person who does not hold such a 
position. Anyone who does not follow a court order is subject to a fine 
of 2,000 to 15,000 rupees ($23 to $175), four months' imprisonment, or 
both.
    Although the government passed the Domestic Violence (Crime and 
Punishment) Act in 2009, many security officials and citizens were 
unaware of the law. The government's effort to establish the needed 
structures to successfully implement the act were uncoordinated and 
incomplete. The majority of domestic violence cases were settled 
through mediation rather than legal prosecution.
    Educational programs offered by NGOs for police, politicians, and 
the general public aimed to promote greater awareness of domestic 
violence. Police claimed to have women's cells in each of the country's 
75 districts, but they had minimal resources and untrained personnel to 
deal with victims of domestic violence and trafficking. Police 
directives instruct officers to treat domestic violence as a criminal 
offense, but the directives were difficult to enforce because of 
entrenched discriminatory attitudes.
    Although the law prohibits polygamy, it persisted. Polygamists are 
subject to a two-month prison term and a fine, but the second marriage 
is not invalidated. Violence surrounding polygamy remained a problem.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--The dowry tradition was strong in 
the Tarai districts bordering India, and there were sporadic incidents 
of bride killing over dowry disputes. More often husbands or in-laws 
seeking additional dowry physically abused wives or forced women to 
leave so the men could remarry.
    For example, on March 26, Bibha Devi Mandal's husband, mother-in-
law, and brothers-in-law, beat her to death for not bringing enough 
dowry. At year's end police were investigating her death following her 
parents' complaint.
    Traditional beliefs about witchcraft negatively affected elderly 
rural women and widows with low economic status, especially those who 
belonged to the lower caste of Dalits. Shamans or other local authority 
figures publicly beat and otherwise physically abused alleged witches 
as part of exorcism ceremonies. The media and NGOs reported numerous 
cases of such violence during the year. There was no government 
mechanism to prevent such abuses or to provide compensation to those 
abused, but civil society organizations raised public awareness of the 
problem. Women accused of witchcraft were severely traumatized and 
suffered physical and mental abuse, including such acts being fed human 
excreta, being hit with hot spoons in different parts of the body, 
being forced to touch red-hot irons or breathe in chili smoke, or being 
perforated in their private organs.
    During the year there were reports of cases of women being beaten 
after having been accused of witchcraft. For example, 41-year-old Gauri 
Devi Saha of Bara was severely beaten and forced to eat human waste by 
her neighbors, who accused her of having practiced witchcraft on May 5.
    On November 23, Samkhu Devi Urawa of Bhokhra-3, Sunsari was 
attacked by her brother-in-law, Dukhan Lal Urawa, who accused her of 
witchcraft and being responsible for the death of his mother, Laliya 
Devi Urawa, and brother Dhurpa Urawa, who died two years earlier. The 
perpetrator was taken into custody, and a legal case continued at 
year's end.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law contains a provision against sexual 
harassment, with a maximum penalty of a one-year prison sentence and 
fine of 10,000 rupees ($117). Government enforcement was weak. Sexual 
harassment was a problem, but lack of awareness as to what constitutes 
sexual harassment led victims not to report most incidents.

    Sex Tourism.--Thousands of women were forced into commercial sexual 
exploitation in other countries and increasingly within the country, 
according to organizations that provided services to sex workers and 
victims of human trafficking. According to the National Human Rights 
Commission Office of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking, 
approximately one-fourth to one-third of all sex entertainment workers 
were children under the age of 18. The Human Trafficking and 
Transportation (Control) Act, 2007 and the Domestic Violence (Crime and 
Punishment) Act 2009 provide for criminal penalties for exploitation, 
including human trafficking.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals generally may decide 
freely the number, spacing, and timing of their children and were not 
subject to discrimination, coercion, or violence regarding these 
choices. Contraception was available to both men and women. According 
to the 2011 Nepal Demographic Health Survey, 43.2 percent of married 
women used a modern contraceptive method while 56.8 percent of married 
women had an unmet need for family planning. Forty-eight percent of 
mothers received prenatal care from a doctor, nurse, or midwife. The 
country made progress in reducing its maternal mortality rate from 850 
per 100,000 live births in 1990 to an estimated 229 per 100,000 live 
births in 2010. Despite these improvements, the rate of deliveries 
attended by skilled birth attendants was relatively low (36 percent) 
according to the health survey. According to the survey, women did not 
have access to life-saving interventions during pregnancy, delivery, 
and the postnatal period and were dying as a result, especially in 
remote areas. Men and women generally were diagnosed and treated 
equally for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Although the law provides protections for women, 
including equal pay for equal work, the government did not implement 
those provisions, including in many state industries.
    Women faced systemic discrimination, particularly in rural areas, 
where religious and cultural traditions, lack of education, and 
ignorance of the law remained severe impediments to the exercise of 
basic rights, such as the right to vote or to hold property in one's 
own name.
    Citizenship is automatically conferred through either Nepali parent 
(see section 6, children). In practice, however, government officials 
often refused to grant citizenship documents based on the mother's 
citizenship if a father's identity was unknown or if he was a foreign 
national.
    Despite the 2006 Gender Equality Act, discriminatory provisions 
remain in the law. According to INSEC, 62 laws have provisions that 
discriminate against women. For example, the law on property rights 
favors men in land tenancy and the division of family property. The law 
encourages bigamy by allowing men to remarry without divorcing if the 
first wife becomes incapacitated or infertile.
    The Foreign Employment Act no longer requires a woman to get 
permission from the government and her guardian before seeking work 
through a foreign employment agency.
    According to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of 
Discrimination against Women, there were limitations to women's access 
to fixed property and credit.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--According to the 2006 Nepal 
Citizenship Act, citizenship is derived from one of the parents with 
Nepali nationality. Despite the Supreme Court's 2009 decision that the 
right to choose whether to seek citizenship through one's father or 
mother rests with the applicant, many were denied citizenship due to 
lack of access to local authorities or lack of awareness of the law by 
applicants or government officials. This led to problems attaining 
citizenship and difficulty in school admissions. Children living 
without parents, such as street children whose parents' whereabouts 
were not known, faced many hurdles, although children in institutional 
care can obtain citizenship through the guardianship of their 
respective institutions. Children found within the borders of the 
country without parental identity were considered citizens on the basis 
of lineage until the parents of the child were identified (see section 
2.d., Stateless Persons.).

    Education.--Although the law provides for the welfare and education 
of children, its implementation was uneven. Education is not 
compulsory. Government policy provided free primary education for all 
children between the ages of six and 12, although most students have 
some costs for examinations and must buy uniforms. The government 
reported that 91.9 percent of school-age children were attending public 
schools but that girls were the majority of those deprived of basic 
education.

    Medical Care.--The government provided basic health care free to 
children and adults, although prevalent parental discrimination against 
girls often resulted in impoverished parents giving priority to their 
boys when seeking medical services.

    Child Abuse.--Violence against children was widespread, although 
rarely prosecuted. The government established some mechanisms to 
respond to child abuse and violence against children, such as the 
Central Child Welfare Board, which has chapters in all 75 districts.
    The law forbids discrimination based on gender. However, in 
practice there was considerable discrimination against girls.

    Child Marriage.--The law prohibits marriage for girls before the 
age of 18; however, families in many areas sometimes forced their young 
children to marry. UNICEF reported that 51 percent of Nepalese married 
as children. The country's 2011 Demographic and Health Survey found 
that, among Nepalese women age 25 to 49, 55 percent were married by the 
time they reached 18, and 74 percent were married by age 20. In some 
areas in the East, many young girls were married off to escape large 
dowry payments, which increase with the age of the girl. Social, 
economic, and religious values promoted the practice of child 
marriages. The law sets penalties for violations according to the age 
of the girls involved in child marriage. The penalty includes both a 
prison sentence and a fine, with the fees collected in the case of 
underage marriage to be turned over to the girl involved. According to 
the civil code, the government must take action whenever a case of 
child marriage is filed with authorities. There were no government 
programs to prevent child marriage.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Commercial sexual exploitation of 
children remained a serious problem. There were reports of boys and 
girls living on the streets who survived through prostitution and of 
underage girls employed in dance bars, massage parlors, and cabin 
restaurants. The minimum age for consensual sex is 16, and the 
penalties for rape vary according to age of the victim and the 
relationship. Conviction for rape can result in six to 10 years' 
imprisonment if the victim is under 14 years of age, or three to five 
years' imprisonment if she is 14 or older. Conviction for attempted 
rape may be punished with half of the penalty provided for rape.
    Child pornography is against the law. However, ambiguous 
interpretation of the law made it difficult to prosecute pornographers. 
Children's rights advocates considered the penalty for such offenses--a 
fine of up to 10,000 rupees ($117), imprisonment for up to one year, or 
both--inadequate as a deterrent.

    Displaced Children.--Internal displacement due to the decade-long 
Maoist conflict continued; estimates of the number displaced ranged 
widely. As IDPs, children experienced poor social reintegration, 
inadequate food, shelter, health care, and limited access to education. 
Security forces often abused and arrested street children to ``clean 
up'' the streets.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The interim constitution does not 
address the rights of persons with disabilities. Government efforts to 
enforce laws and regulations to improve rights and benefits for persons 
with disabilities were not effective. The law mandates access to 
buildings, transportation, employment, education, and other state 
services, but these provisions generally were not enforced. The 
government did not effectively enforce laws regarding persons with 
disabilities.
    According to Handicap International, persons with physical and 
mental disabilities faced discrimination in employment, education, 
access to health care, and the provision of other state services. The 
Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Welfare is responsible for the 
protection of persons with disabilities, the Ministry of Education 
provides scholarships for children with disabilities, and the Ministry 
of Local Development is responsible for allocating 5 percent of the 
budget of local development agencies for disability programs. Some NGOs 
working with persons with disabilities received funding from the 
government. However, most persons with physical or mental disabilities 
relied almost exclusively on family members for assistance.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The law provides that each 
community shall have the right ``to preserve and promote its language, 
script, and culture'' and to operate schools at the primary level in 
its native language. In practice the government generally upheld these 
provisions.
    There were more than 75 ethnic groups which spoke 50 different 
languages. Discrimination against lower castes and some ethnic groups 
was especially common in the Tarai region and in rural areas in the 
West, even though the government outlawed the public shunning of Dalits 
and made an effort to protect the rights of disadvantaged castes. 
Better education and higher levels of prosperity, especially in the 
Kathmandu valley, were slowly reducing caste distinctions and 
increasing opportunities for lower socioeconomic groups. Better 
educated, urban-oriented castes continued to dominate politics and 
senior administrative and military positions and control a 
disproportionate share of natural resources.
    Caste-based discrimination is illegal. However, Dalits occasionally 
were barred from entering temples and sharing water sources. Progress 
in reducing discrimination was more successful in urban areas.
    Resistance to intercaste marriage remained high and in some cases 
resulted in forced expulsion from the community. While Dalits who 
participated in wedding activities traditionally reserved for non-
Dalits, such as riding a horse, were sometimes assaulted, the courts 
showed a willingness to prosecute such cases of discrimination.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The country has no laws that 
specifically criminalize homosexuality. However, government 
authorities, especially police, sometimes harassed and abused 
homosexual persons. According to the Blue Diamond Society, a local NGO, 
harassment of such persons by both government and citizens was common. 
NGOs working on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex 
(LGBTI) issues reported that police harassment of sexual minorities 
occurred in rural areas of the country, especially in the Tarai region.
    In 2007 the Supreme Court directed the government to enact laws to 
protect LGBTI persons' fundamental rights, enable third-gender 
citizenship, and amend all laws that were sexually discriminatory. Many 
mainstream political parties included pro-LGBTI legislation in their 
party manifestos, and LGBTI activists continued to press for 
protections for sexual minorities in the new constitution.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no official 
discrimination against those who provided HIV prevention services or 
against high-risk groups likely to spread HIV/AIDS, although there was 
societal discrimination against these groups. Discrimination against 
women infected with HIV/AIDS was greater than for men, even though men 
who traveled to other countries for work were at higher risk of 
contracting the disease and spreading it to their wives.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law grants Nepali workers the freedom to form and join unions of 
their choice, except subversive, seditious, or similar organizations, 
as deemed by the government. Freedom of association extends to workers 
in both the formal and informal sector but not to foreign nationals. 
Noncitizens cannot be elected as trade union officials and do not have 
the right to form unions. Nepali workers have the rights to strike, 
except for employees in 16 essential services, and bargain 
collectively. The law also provides for the protection of unions and 
their officials from lawsuits arising from actions taken in the 
discharge of union duties, including collective bargaining, and 
prohibits antiunion discrimination. The law provides for reinstatement 
of workers fired for union activity.
    The law stipulates that unions must represent at least 25 percent 
of workers to be considered representative. However, the minimum 
requirement does not prohibit the formation of ersatz union groups, 
which call strikes and enter into direct negotiation with the 
government. Workers in the informal sector are also allowed to form 
unions, but according to the Department of Labor many workers were not 
aware of these rights.
    The law does not allow dismissal or transfer of employees for 
attempting to form a union. If workers are dismissed for engaging in 
union activities, they can file a case with the Department of Labor, 
which has semi-judicial and mediation authority, or the Labor Court to 
be reinstated. Most cases are settled through mediation. By law 
employers can fire workers only under limited conditions and only after 
three counts of misconduct. The law stipulates that participation in a 
strike that does not meet legal requirements is considered misconduct.
    Workers in 16 essential services are prohibited from striking. 
These sectors include public transportation, banking, security, and 
health care, among others. The law's definition of essential services 
does not conform to international standards. Members of the armed 
forces, police, and government officials at the under secretary level 
or higher are also prohibited from taking part in union activities. In 
the private sector, employees in managerial positions are not permitted 
to join unions. However, the definition of what constitutes a 
managerial position was vague.
    To conduct a legal strike, 51 percent of a union's membership must 
vote in favor of a strike in a secret ballot, and unions are required 
to give 30 days' notice before striking. If the union is unregistered, 
does not have majority support, or calls a strike prior to issuing a 30 
days' notice, the strike is considered illegal.
    Enforcement of the above laws was uneven in practice. Although the 
government restricted strikes in essential services, workers in 
hospitals, hotels, banking, restaurants, and the transportation sector 
called numerous strikes during the year. Freedom of association and the 
right to collective bargaining generally were respected in practice. 
Unions were often linked to political parties and did not operate 
independently from them. Although the law has minimum threshold 
requirements, some unions represent less than the 25 percent of the 
workforce required to be considered representative.
    Labor leaders faced challenges in reaching collective bargaining 
agreements due to political infighting among trade unions.
    During the year the three major unions called a nationwide strike 
to press for an increase in the minimum wage to 6,100 rupees per month 
($72). After extensive negotiations between the three major unions and 
two apex business federations, both sides agreed to the wage increases. 
However, the agreement was later undercut by another small and 
unregistered union group affiliated with Madhesi (Tarai-based) 
political parties. After pressure from the business community, the 
government agreed to enter discussions with the unregistered union 
group, which successfully pressed for a minimum wage of 6,200 rupees 
($73) per month for its members. Later the government overturned the 
agreement reached between the three major trade unions and two apex 
business federations.
    Violence in labor disputes usually involved labor unions that 
threatened government officials, employers, or other union members if 
they did not agree to the union's demands. Several cases were 
documented in which members of the Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Trade 
Union Federation (ANTUF) attacked other unions. ANTUF members also 
forced companies to dismiss workers who belonged to other unions or 
forced workers to join its union or risk losing their jobs. In the 
Surya Nepal Garment factory, union members affiliated with the Maoist 
party forcibly locked management staff, including one pregnant staff 
member, in the factory for 36 hours without food and water to demand 
payment during a strike. The management staff members were later 
released after intervention by the CDO. Cases of violence against union 
members also were reported, although they were rarer.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. However, there continued to be 
reports of debt bondage.
    In 2002 the government formally outlawed the Kamaiya system, a form 
of bonded labor. Government enforcement of the law was uneven, and 
social reintegration remained difficult. In 2010 the government 
rehabilitated an additional 6,870 Kamaiyas, bringing the total number 
of rehabilitated persons to 22,402 in a total Kamaiya population of 
27,570. The Haliya system, another form of bonded labor primarily for 
individuals engaged to cultivate farmland, was outlawed in 2008, but 
OHCHR-Nepal reported that some freed Haliyas had not been issued 
identity cards, making it difficult for them to access public services.
    There were reports that forced labor and bonded labor persisted, 
especially in agriculture, domestic services, factories, food services, 
textile embroidery, production of pornography, begging, circus 
entertainment, and brick kiln work. Victims of bonded and forced labor 
were generally women and children.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law establishes a minimum age of 16 for employment in industry and 14 
for employment in agriculture and mandates acceptable working 
conditions for children. Employers must maintain records of all 
laborers between the ages of 14 and 16. The law prohibits employment of 
children in factories, mines, or 60 other categories of hazardous work 
and limits children between the ages of 16 and 18 to a 36-hour workweek 
(six hours a day between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and six days a week). The 
law also establishes specific penalties for those who unlawfully employ 
children, but regulations to enforce the law had not been fully 
implemented. For example, children could be found working in 
construction sites in the capital, often without any protective gear.
    The Ministry of Labor, which is responsible for enforcing child 
labor laws and practices, had a poor enforcement record, and a 
significant amount of child labor occurred in the formal and informal 
sectors. Resources devoted to enforcement were limited. According to 
the Ministry of Labor, recent inspections did not find children 
working. However, child labor in the informal sector occurred in 
agriculture, domestic service, portering, recycling, transportation, 
and rock breaking. In the informal sector children worked long hours, 
carried heavy loads, were at risk of sexual exploitation, and at times 
suffered from ear, eye, or skin disorders or musculoskeletal problems. 
Forced child labor was reported in the brick, carpet, embroidered 
textile, and stone industries. Children working in textiles and 
embroidery faced hazards, as they were confined to small, poorly 
ventilated rooms where they worked with sharp needles.
    According to the Nepal Labor Force Survey 2008, the most recent 
survey available, the labor force participation rate was 13.4 percent 
for children ages five to nine and 52.7 percent for children ages 10 to 
14. Of those, 1.6 million children worked full time.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage for unskilled 
laborers was 6,200 rupees per month (approximately $73). The minimum 
wage exceeded the poverty line of $1.25 per day but was barely 
sufficient to meet subsistence needs. Minimum wage laws apply to both 
the formal (which accounts for about 10 percent of the total workforce) 
and informal sector, but implementation was stronger in the formal 
sector.
    The law stipulates a 48-hour workweek, with one day off per week 
and one-half hour of rest per five hours worked. The law limits 
overtime to no more than four hours in a day and 20 hours per week, 
with a 50 percent overtime premium per hour. Excessive compulsory 
overtime is prohibited. Employees are also entitled to paid public 
holiday leave, sick leave, annual leave, maternity leave, bereavement 
leave, and other special leave. The government sets occupational health 
and safety standards and establishes other benefits, such as a 
provident fund, housing facilities, day-care arrangements for 
establishments with more than 50 women workers, and maternity benefits.
    In practice the Ministry of Labor reported that most factories in 
the formal sector were in compliance with laws on minimum wage and 
hours of work, but implementation varied in the informal sector, 
including in agriculture and domestic servitude. The ministry had 12 
factory inspectors for the entire country, who also acted as labor and 
occupational health and safety inspectors. Reportedly there were vacant 
inspector positions at the ministry.
    Implementation of occupational health and safety standards was 
minimal, and the Ministry of Labor considered it the most neglected 
area of labor law enforcement. For example, the law requires 
establishments to provide protective eye equipment where cement, iron, 
and glass are used, but workers at many construction sites operated 
without equipment such as head gear or shoes. Such violations were 
found across sectors, including in construction, mining, 
transportation, agriculture, and factory work.
    The government had not created the necessary regulatory or 
administrative structures to enforce occupational safety and health 
provisions. The Ministry of Labor did not have a specific office 
dedicated to occupational safety and health, nor did it have inspectors 
specifically trained in this area. Penalties were insufficient to deter 
violations. Workers often felt they could not remove themselves from 
dangerous work situations without fear of losing their jobs. Although 
the law authorizes factory inspectors to order employers to rectify 
unsafe conditions, enforcement of safety standards remained minimal and 
monitoring was weak. Accurate data on workplace fatalities and 
accidents were not collected on a regular basis.
    The government regulated labor contracting, or ``manpower,'' 
agencies that recruited workers for overseas jobs and penalized 
fraudulent recruitment practices. However, according to several NGOs, 
government officials were often complicit in falsifying travel 
documents and overlooking recruiting violations by labor contractors. 
The myriad of unregistered labor ``brokers'' and middlemen--who were 
often trusted members of the community--complicated effective 
monitoring of recruitment practices. The government began a number of 
initiatives to raise awareness and make the recruitment process more 
transparent. Workers were also encouraged to register and pay a fee to 
the Foreign Employment Promotion Board, which tracked migrant workers 
and provided some compensation if workers' rights were violated. The 
government required all contracts to be translated into Nepali and 
instituted provisions whereby all workers have to attend a predeparture 
orientation program. During the orientation workers are made aware of 
their rights and legal recourse should their rights be violated. 
However, the effectiveness of such initiatives remained questionable as 
workers who went overseas often skipped the mandatory training, and 
many companies were found to issue predeparture orientation 
certificates for a small fee rather than deliver the training.

                               __________

                                PAKISTAN

                           executive summary
    Pakistan is a federal republic. With the election of current 
president and head of state, Asif Ali Zardari, democratic rule was 
restored in 2008 after years of military government. Syed Yousuf Raza 
Gilani of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) served as prime minister 
and head of government. The PPP and its federal coalition partners 
controlled the executive and legislative branches of the national 
government and three of the four provincial assemblies. The military 
and intelligence services nominally reported to civilian authorities 
but essentially operated without effective civilian oversight. 
Generally, the police force reported to civilian authority, although 
there were instances in which it acted independently.
    The most serious human rights problems were extrajudicial killings, 
torture, and disappearances committed by security forces, as well as by 
militant, terrorist, and extremist groups, which affected thousands of 
citizens in nearly all areas of the country. Two prominent political 
figures, Punjab governor Salman Taseer and federal minister for 
minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, were assassinated due to their support for 
revisions of the blasphemy law and for Aasia Bibi, a Christian who had 
been sentenced to death under the law.
    Other human rights problems included poor prison conditions, 
instances of arbitrary detention, lengthy pretrial detention, a weak 
criminal justice system, insufficient training for prosecutors and 
criminal investigators, a lack of judicial independence in the lower 
courts, and infringements on citizens' privacy rights. Harassment of 
journalists, some censorship, and self-censorship continued. There were 
some restrictions on freedom of assembly and some limits on freedom of 
movement. The number of religious freedom violations and discrimination 
against religious minorities increased, including some violations 
sanctioned by law. Corruption was widespread within the government and 
the police forces, and the government made few attempts to combat the 
problem. Rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, ``honor'' crimes, 
abuse, and discrimination against women remained serious problems. 
Child abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children persisted. 
Widespread human trafficking--including forced and bonded labor--was a 
serious problem. Societal discrimination against national, ethnic, and 
racial minorities continued, as did discrimination based on caste, 
sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV status. Lack of respect 
for worker rights continued.
    Lack of government accountability remained a pervasive problem. 
Abuses often went unpunished, fostering a culture of impunity.
    Violence, abuse, and social and religious intolerance by militant 
organizations, and other nongovernmental actors contributed to a 
culture of lawlessness in some parts of the country, particularly 
Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP, formerly known as the North 
West Frontier Province), and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas 
(FATA).
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were many 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    Security forces reportedly committed extrajudicial killings in 
connection with conflicts in Balochistan, FATA, and KP (see section 
1.g.). A May 24 report by the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) stated 
that from October 2010 to May government agencies abducted and killed 
more than 120 persons. Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that between 
January and July security forces abducted and killed at least 150 
persons and abandoned their bodies across Balochistan, in acts widely 
referred to as ``kill and dump'' operations. ``The surge in unlawful 
killings of suspected militants and opposition figures in Balochistan 
has taken the brutality in the province to an unprecedented level,'' 
HRW concluded, and it urged the government to investigate all those 
responsible, especially in the military and Frontier Corps (FC), and 
hold them accountable. A parliamentary committee was formed to look 
into killings in Balochistan. The committee had not concluded its 
findings and recommendations by year's end.
    Some deaths of individuals accused of crimes allegedly resulted 
from extreme physical abuse while in official custody. As of December 
the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Society for Human Rights and 
Prisoners' Aid (SHARP) reported 61 civilian deaths after encounters 
with police and 89 deaths in jails, a decrease from the previous year. 
The police stated these deaths occurred when suspects attempted to 
escape, resisted arrest, or committed suicide. Human rights observers, 
family members, and the media reported that security forces staged many 
of the deaths. Lengthy trial delays and failures to discipline and 
consistently prosecute those responsible for killings contributed to a 
culture of impunity.
    On May 17, security officials shot and killed five unarmed Chechen 
and Tajik nationals at the Kharotabad check post in Quetta, 
Balochistan, after accusing them of being terrorists. Chief Minister of 
Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani ordered a judicial inquiry into the 
incident. On June 28, the inquiry commission presented its report to 
the provincial government, which declared police and FC officials at 
the check post responsible for the incident and recommended action 
against them. No action had been taken against these officials by 
year's end. On December 29, following a beating earlier in the year, 
unknown assailants in Quetta killed surgeon Dr. Baqir Shah, who 
conducted the autopsy on the five foreigners and was a key witness in 
the case.
    On June 26, the newspaper Dawn reported that the Sindh Rangers shot 
and killed Sarfaraz Shah after he was ``caught red-handed'' while 
stealing cash and valuables from visitors at the Benazir Shaheed Park. 
Footage broadcast on news channels and YouTube showed that the unarmed 
youngster was shot from very close range by one of six soldiers 
gathered around him as Sarfaraz pled for mercy. On August 12, a court 
sentenced one of the soldiers to death and gave five others life 
sentences. Authorities also removed the provincial chiefs of police and 
rangers in Karachi. However, the director general in charge at the time 
of the abuse was reinstated and promoted to lieutenant general on 
October 4.
    There were no developments in a 2009 extrajudicial killing case in 
which an Internet video showed men in military uniforms executing six 
young men in the Swat Valley. In October 2010 Chief of Army Staff 
General Afshaq Kayani ordered the establishment of a board of inquiry 
to determine the identities of the uniformed personnel seen in the 
video. The military had not publicly announced the conclusions of its 
investigation by year's end, and no one had been held accountable.
    In April 2010 a three-member U.N. commission presented its report 
on the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The 
report stated that the former government led by Pervez Musharraf did 
not protect Bhutto and that intelligence agencies hindered the 
subsequent investigation. On November 5, an antiterrorism court 
indicted two police officers, including the former Rawalpindi chief of 
police, and five members of the Pakistani Taliban, for criminal 
conspiracy and murder.
    Politically motivated killings also continued. In Balochistan, 
nationalist, political, and intellectual leaders remained targets of 
attacks during the year. For example, on January 18, the Daily Times 
reported that the bullet-riddled bodies of three Baloch political 
activists were found in Ormara, Makran, and Khuzdar. They were 
identified as Balochistan National Movement member Naseer Kamalan, a 
poet and political activist, who allegedly was abducted by the FC in 
November 2010; Ahmed Dad, an activist of the Baloch Republican Party; 
and Nisar Ahmed Mengal, the younger brother of the late Rasool Bakhsh 
Mengal, the central joint secretary of the Balochistan National Party-
Mengal (BNP-M). Other attacks on Baloch political activists included 
the March 14 killing of BNP-M leader Agha Mahmood Ahmedzai in Kalat; 
the June 2 killing of National Party leader Nasim Jangian in Turbat; 
the June 23 killing of Mir Rustam Khan Marri, former leader of the BNP-
M in Jaffarabad District; the July 21 killing of BNP-M leader Jumma 
Khan Raisani in Khuzdar; and the September 27 killing of BNP-M leader 
Abdul Salam in Khuzdar.
    The South Asia Terrorism Portal reported that journalists, 
teachers, students, and human rights defenders also were being targeted 
in Balochistan. In total, at least 542 civilians were believed to be 
victims of extrajudicial killings during the year.
    There were significant reports of politically motivated killings by 
political factions or unknown assailants in the city of Karachi, Sindh. 
According to a report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 
(HRCP), 1,138 persons were killed in political violence in Karachi 
during the first six months of the year, 490 of which were targeted 
killings. On August 28, the National Assembly formed a 17-member all-
party committee headed by Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed 
Ahmed Shah to probe the killings and violence in Karachi and 
Balochistan and submit its report in two months. No report had been 
submitted by year's end; however, the Supreme Court heard a case on its 
own motion regarding Karachi violence from August 26 to October 6. On 
October 6, the Supreme Court issued its decree against Sindh provincial 
authorities for failing to address a breakdown of law and order in 
Karachi.
    The elected civilian government, especially the coalition partner 
Awami National Party (ANP) in KP, remained the target of attacks. On 
May 28, at Matta tehsil in Swat, KP, unidentified militants killed ANP 
President Muzaffar Ali Khan when they attacked his guesthouse with hand 
grenades and automatic weapons.
    During the year two high profile government officials were 
assassinated for publicly criticizing blasphemy laws and for calling 
for reform of those laws. On January 4, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer 
was killed by his bodyguard. On October 1, the Rawalpindi Anti-
Terrorism Court sentenced Taseer's killer, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, to 
death. Qadri filed an appeal of the sentence on October 6. The appeal 
was pending in the Islamabad High Court at year's end.
    On March 2, Shahbaz Bhatti, the federal minister for minorities, 
was shot and killed in Islamabad. According to press reports, at least 
two unidentified attackers were involved. The gunmen left pamphlets, 
reportedly from al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), accusing 
Bhatti of blasphemy. The assailants fled the scene and were not 
captured. The investigation continued at year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--During the year kidnappings and forced 
disappearances continued, with reports of disappearances in nearly all 
areas of the country. Some police and security forces held prisoners 
incommunicado and refused to disclose their location. Human rights 
organizations reported that many Sindhi and Baloch nationalists were 
among the missing, and there were reports of disappearances during the 
year in connection with the conflicts in FATA and KP (see section 
1.g.).
    Nationalist political parties in Sindh Province reported 
disappearances and claimed that some of their members were in the 
custody of the intelligence agencies. Hindu communities in interior 
Sindh also reported an increase in kidnapping for ransom; many families 
fled to India as a result. According to an HRCP report, 18 families 
left within one week in October.
    Amnesty International reported that Muzaffar Bhutto, general 
secretary of the nationalist party Jeay Sindh Muttaheda Mahaz, was 
abducted on February 25 in Hyderabad, Sindh. Police and intelligence 
agencies allegedly picked up Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) leader 
Sikander Aakash Mallah and his aide, Noor Mohammad Khaskheli, from 
Hyderabad, Sindh, in 2009. They were released in March in Sadiqabad, 
Punjab. At a press conference in Karachi on April 4, Mallah accused 
intelligence agencies of abducting him and alleged that they were 
planning to abduct more nationalist leaders to torture or kill them.
    The Supreme Court continued its hearings on missing person's cases. 
On July 12, the Supreme Court observed that from January to July the 
number of missing persons in the judicial system increased to 228. The 
duration of the three-member judicial commission of inquiry on enforced 
disappearance, formed by the federal government in March 2010, was 
extended as the Supreme Court referred new cases to it. In September 
Justice Javed Iqbal was appointed head of the inquiry commission. The 
commission's mandate included preparing a comprehensive list of missing 
persons, suggesting ways to trace the missing persons, and finding 
those responsible for their disappearance. As of December the 
commission was examining 418 cases.
    Disappearances from Balochistan remained a problem, with Baloch 
political groups demanding political and human rights. On April 6, 
Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik informed the Senate that 203 
persons were missing in Balochistan. The mutilated dead bodies of 355 
missing persons were found from June 2010 to December 2011. According 
to the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), more than 785 persons 
had disappeared since January; the bodies of 35 of them were found. The 
VBMP estimated that more than 14,000 persons had disappeared in 
Balochistan since 2001.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution prohibits torture and other cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment, but there were reports that security 
forces, including the intelligence services, tortured and abused 
individuals in custody. The law has no specific section about torture; 
it sanctions only ``hurt'' and does not mention punishing perpetrators 
of torture.
    According to a June 24 statement by the Asian Human Rights 
Commission (AHRC), the absence of both proper complaint centers and a 
particular section in the criminal code to define and prohibit torture 
contributed to the spread of such practices. The AHRC stated that there 
had been no serious effort by the government to make torture a crime in 
the country, and the state provided impunity to the perpetrators, who 
were mostly either policemen or members of the armed forces.
    The NGO SHARP reported that, as of December 15, police tortured 
persons in more than 8,000 cases, compared with findings of 4,069 cases 
in 2010. Human rights organizations reported that methods of torture 
included beating with batons and whips, burning with cigarettes, 
whipping the soles of feet, prolonged isolation, electric shock, denial 
of food or sleep, hanging upside down, and forced spreading of the legs 
with bar fetters. Torture occasionally resulted in death or serious 
injury. Observers noted the underreporting of torture throughout the 
country.
    On September 9, the newspaper the Nation reported that a prisoner 
died after police torture in Chiniot, Punjab. The district police 
suspended five policemen, including the station house officer. One 
month later the police in Chiniot again were accused of torture when 
police reportedly tortured women who were protesting the death of a 
member of their family at the hands of the police.
    There were reports that police raped women. On April 14, Dawn 
reported that four policemen gang-raped a Christian health technician 
in her residential quarters in a hospital in Washak, Quetta. Two 
policemen were arrested, while two escaped. At year's end there were no 
further developments in the case.
    There were accusations that security forces raped women during 
interrogations. The government rarely took action against those 
responsible. There also were reports that police sexually abused street 
children (see section 6, Children).
    The practice of cutting off a woman's nose or ears, especially in 
connection with ``honor'' crimes, was reported often, but government 
officials did little to combat the practice (also see section 6, 
Women). Parallel local council meetings (jirgas) consisted of 
assemblies of tribal elders who make decision by consensus; their 
decisions are recognized as legal by their communities. These jirgas 
announced inhumane punishments, such as honor killings, for those 
accused of violating tribal customs.
    There were no reported developments in the following cases from 
2010: the five police officers arrested for torturing robbery suspects 
in Chiniot, Punjab, in March; the alleged rape by police officers of a 
13-year-old-girl at the Wah Cantonment Police Station in May; and the 
alleged police torture of a female prisoner at the Sialkot central jail 
in May.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
often extremely poor and failed to meet international standards. Police 
sometimes tortured and mistreated those in custody and at times 
committed extrajudicial killings. Overcrowding was common, except for 
the cells of wealthy or influential prisoners. Prisons and detention 
centers were managed largely by the provincial governments. Human 
rights groups that surveyed prison conditions found sexual abuse, 
torture, and prolonged detention prevalent. Prisons could not be 
described as correctional institutions, because the conditions in many 
of the prisons were so inhuman that criminals often left more hardened 
than before their incarcerations.
    Inadequate food and medical care in prisons led to chronic health 
problems and malnutrition for those unable to supplement their diets 
with help from family or friends. In many facilities provisions for 
sanitation, ventilation, lighting, and access to potable water were 
inadequate.
    Most prison facilities were of antiquated construction, without the 
capacity to control indoor temperatures. A system existed for basic and 
emergency medical care, but it did not always function effectively. 
Prisoners sometimes also had to pay bribes, and bureaucratic procedures 
slowed access to medical care. Foreign prisoners often remained in 
prison long after completion of their sentences because they were 
unable to pay for deportation to their home countries.
    There were several reports of prison riots during the year. 
Grievances that provoked the riots included overcrowding, deprivation 
of legal rights, slow disposition of cases, behavior of the jail 
administration, and lack of facilities. On March 16, the Daily Times 
reported that at least seven prisoners were killed and 30 persons 
(including police) were injured when prisoners in Hyderabad Central 
Jail fought with jail administration officials. Protesting prisoners 
climbed onto the rooftops of their barracks and complained about the 
blockage of water, gas, and electricity.
    Minority prisoners generally were afforded poorer facilities than 
Muslims and often suffered violence at the hands of fellow inmates. 
Christian and Ahmadi communities claimed that their members were more 
likely to be abused in prison. The Center for Legal Aid and Assistance 
reported that conditions were often worse for those prisoners accused 
of violating the blasphemy laws.
    According to an August 2010 report in Dawn, all 32 jails in Punjab 
Province faced acute overcrowding. Official figures indicated that 
these jails operated at 40 percent over capacity during the year. As of 
April 2, 53,208 prisoners were in Punjab's 32 prisons, which had an 
authorized capacity of 21,527 inmates. According to Punjabi prisons 
department officials, overcrowding not only caused security, 
accommodation, and health problems for inmates but also adversely 
affected the general administration of jails.
    In KP province there were 8,582 prisoners, with an official 
capacity of approximately 8,340, according to the KP inspector general 
of prisons. During a Senate committee meeting on May 17, Senator Azam 
Khan Swati said that there seemed to be no effort by the government to 
release detainees who had completed their sentences years ago. The 
National Judicial Policy Making Committee noted that, after the 
implementation of the 2009 national judicial policy aimed at speeding 
up the process of court hearings and deciding cases, in Sindh the 
number of jail inmates was reduced from 20,000 to 13,464.
    Police often did not segregate detainees from convicted criminals. 
Prisoners with mental illness usually lacked adequate care and were not 
separated from the general prison population.
    Prison officials often kept juvenile offenders in the same 
facilities as adults but in separate barracks. Nevertheless, at some 
point during their imprisonment, children were mixed with the general 
prison population. Often children were subject to abuse, rape, and 
violence from other prisoners and prison staff.
    According to the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the 
Child (SPARC), the bulk of juvenile prisoners were kept in Punjab's 29 
prisons. At the end of May there were 725 child prisoners in Punjab; 
103 were convicted, and 622 were in the trial process. By July there 
were 1,056 juvenile prisoners in the trial process and 161 convicted 
juveniles in the country's four provinces. SPARC stated that juvenile 
prisoners were among the worst off in the country. The jail conditions 
in which they were held were extremely poor. Many spent longer periods 
behind bars because they were unable to pay bail. Rather than being 
rehabilitated, the majority of child prisoners became hardened 
criminals by spending long periods in the company of adult prisoners.
    Juveniles accused of terrorism or narcotics offenses were not 
protected under the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance. SPARC reported 
that children as young as age 12 were arrested under the Antiterrorism 
Act for terrorism. Children convicted under the act could be sentenced 
to death, although no case existed of a child being executed under the 
act.
    Women were held in separate spaces from men in some, but not all, 
prisons. There were many reports of violence against women and rape in 
the prisons.
    The 18th amendment to the constitution mandated that religious-
minority prisoners be given places to worship inside jails. It was not 
clear whether this law was implemented.
    There is an ombudsman for detainees, with a central office in 
Islamabad and one in each province. Although a complaint system existed 
for prisoners to submit grievances, it did not function effectively. 
Inspectors general of prisons visited prisons and detention facilities 
to monitor conditions, but visits were not regular. According to 
government officials, this system was based on complaints filed by 
individuals reporting misbehavior of civil servants.
    According to SHARP, by law prison authorities must permit prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhuman conditions. After submitting a complaint, an inmate must remain 
in the same prison with the same prison authorities. Therefore, 
although there were many problems and an available channel for 
complaints, prisoners often remained silent to avoid confrontation with 
the jail authorities.
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported great 
difficulty in accessing detention sites, in particular those holding 
security-related detainees. In July 2010 the ICRC suspended prison 
visits in Punjab because it could no longer have regular access to 
detainees in that region.
    Despite ongoing dialogue with the government, authorities did not 
authorize ICRC visits to any detention sites in the provinces most 
affected by violence--KP, FATA, and Balochistan. However, the 
governments of Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Pakistan-administered 
Kashmir permitted the ICRC to conduct independent monitoring in civil 
prisons. ICRC delegates made confidential reports on their findings, 
offered recommendations to authorities, and, where relevant, initiated 
water-sanitation improvement projects.
    Authorities at the local, provincial, and national levels permitted 
some human rights groups and journalists to monitor prison conditions 
for juveniles and female inmates.
    According to SHARP the government did little to improve conditions 
in detention facilities and failed to monitor existing conditions. As a 
result the situation appeared to deteriorate.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibited arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but authorities did not always comply. This 
problem was compounded by widespread corruption.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--Police have primary 
internal security responsibilities for most of the country. By law 
control of local police falls under the Ministry of Interior. The 
Rangers are a paramilitary organization under the authority of the 
Ministry of Interior, with branches in Sindh and Punjab. The armed 
forces are responsible for external security. At times during the year 
they also were assigned domestic security responsibilities.
    The Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) provide the framework for law 
and order in FATA. The FCR has long been criticized for several harsh 
and inhuman provisions, some of which were mitigated when President 
Zardari amended the FCR on August 12. Major changes in the FCR related 
to banning the collective responsibility of a tribe, restricting the 
arbitrary nature of the powers of political agents or district 
coordination officers, and granting citizens the right to challenge the 
decisions of political agents in courts.
    The FCR is implemented through a political agent who reports to the 
president through the KP governor. In lieu of police, multiple law 
enforcement entities operated in FATA. These included the paramilitary 
Frontier Scouts, which report to the Ministry of Interior in peacetime 
and the army in times of conflict; the Frontier Constabulary, which 
patrols the area between FATA and KP; levies, which operate in FATA and 
report to the political agent; khassadars (hereditary tribal police), 
which help the political agent maintain order; and lashkars (tribal 
militias), which are convened by tribal leaders to deal with temporary 
law and order disturbances.
    Police effectiveness varied greatly by district, ranging from 
reasonably good to ineffective. Some members of the police committed 
human rights abuses or were responsive to political interests.
    Frequent failure to punish abuses contributed to a climate of 
impunity. Police and prison officials frequently used the threat of 
abuse to extort money from prisoners and their families. The inspectors 
general, district police officers, district nazims (chief elected 
officials of local governments), provincial interior or chief 
ministers, federal interior minister, prime minister, or courts can 
order internal investigations into abuses and order administrative 
sanctions. Executive branch and police officials can recommend, and the 
courts can order, criminal prosecution. These mechanisms sometimes were 
used.
    The court system remained the only means available to investigate 
abuses by security forces.
    Police often failed to protect members of religious minorities, 
including Christians, Ahmadis, and Shia Muslims, from attacks.
    There were improvements in police professionalism during the year. 
As in previous years, the Punjab provincial government conducted 
regular training and retraining in technical skills and protection of 
human rights for police at all levels.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A First 
Information Report (FIR) is the legal basis for any arrest. Police 
ability to initiate an FIR is limited, but for certain crimes the 
police may initiate an FIR. Often a different party must file the FIR, 
depending on the type of crime, not whether there is reasonable proof 
of a crime. An FIR allows police to detain a suspect for 24 hours, 
after which a magistrate can order detention for an additional 14 days 
if police show that the detention is material to their investigation. 
In practice some authorities did not observe these limits on detention. 
There were reports that authorities filed FIRs without supporting 
evidence to harass or intimidate detainees or did not file them when 
adequate evidence was provided unless the complainant paid a bribe.
    Individuals frequently had to pay bribes to visit a prisoner. 
Foreign diplomats could meet with prisoners when they appeared in court 
and could usually meet with citizens of their countries in prison, 
although government officials sometimes delayed access.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--There were reports that some police detained 
individuals arbitrarily without charge or on false charges to extort 
bribes for their release. There were reports that some police also 
detained relatives of wanted individuals to compel suspects to 
surrender (also see section 1.f.).

    Pretrial Detention.--Police routinely did not seek a magistrate's 
approval for investigative detention and often held detainees without 
charge until a court challenged the detention. When requested, 
magistrates approved investigative detention without requiring further 
justification. In cases of insufficient evidence, police and 
magistrates sometimes colluded to issue new FIRs, thereby extending 
detention beyond the 14-day period.
    The district coordination officer may recommend preventive 
detention for as long as 90 days to the provincial home department and, 
with the approval of the Home Department, can extend it for an 
additional 90 days. The law stipulates that detainees must be brought 
to trial within 30 days of their arrest.
    The law defines bailable and nonbailable offenses. On April 18, 
President Zardari signed the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) 
Bill, 2011, which grants statutory bail to prisoners undergoing trial 
and to convicts whose trials and appeals are pending over a prescribed 
time limit. Under the law prisoners undergoing trial are entitled to 
statutory bail if charged with any offense not punishable by death and 
if they have been detained for one year. In the case of an offense 
punishable by death, the accused is eligible for statutory bail if the 
trial has not been concluded in two years.
    Judges sometimes denied bail at the request of police or the 
community, or upon payment of bribes. In some cases trials did not 
start until six months after the FIR, and in some cases individuals 
remained in pretrial detention for periods longer than the maximum 
sentence for the crime with which they were charged. SHARP estimated 
that in 2010 approximately 55 percent of the prison population was 
awaiting trial. This situation remained unchanged due to a lack of 
change in the judicial system. The high number of inmates awaiting 
trial remained a large burden on the country's jails. In some cases 
detainees were informed promptly of charges brought against them.
    NGOs reported that bail sometimes was denied in blasphemy cases 
under the premise that, because defendants faced the death penalty, 
they were likely to flee.
    Special rules apply to cases brought to court by the National 
Accountability Bureau (NAB), which under the law established courts for 
corruption cases. Suspects may be detained for 15 days without charge 
(renewable with judicial concurrence) and, prior to being charged, may 
be deprived of access to counsel. During the year the NAB rarely 
exercised this power. All offenses under the NAB are nonbailable, and 
only the NAB chairman has the power to decide whether to release 
detainees.'
    Antiterrorism courts had the discretion not to grant bail for some 
charges if the court had reasonable grounds to believe the accused was 
guilty.
    Under the FCR in FATA, political agents had legal authority to 
detain individuals preventively, and require ``bonds'' to prevent 
undesired activity. In August the FCR was amended to exempt women over 
age 65 and children below age 16 from collective punishment. Collective 
punishment is applied incrementally, starting with the first immediate 
male family members, followed by the subtribe, and continuing outward. 
Although this reduces its scope, the FCR still assigns collective 
punishment without regard to individual rights. Human rights NGOs 
expressed concern about the concept of collective responsibility, as 
authorities used it as a pretext to detain members of fugitives' 
tribes, demolish their homes, confiscate or destroy their property, or 
lay siege to a fugitive's village pending his surrender or punishment 
by his own tribe in accordance with local tradition.
    Under the amended FCR, indefinite detention is not allowed, and 
appeals can be made before the FCR tribunal. If wrongfully punished, 
prisoners have the right to compensation. Cases must be decided within 
a specified period of time, and arrested persons can be released on 
bail. Prisoners must be brought before the FCR authorities within 24 
hours of detention, curtailing the arbitrary right of political agents 
to arrest and hold persons for up to three years. The accused have the 
right of appeal via a two-tiered system, which starts with an appellate 
authority composed of a commissioner and an additional judicial 
commissioner.
    Under the FCR in FATA and the Provincially Administered Tribal 
Areas (PATA), security forces may restrict the activities of terrorism 
suspects, seize their assets for up to 48 hours, and detain them for as 
long as one year without charges. Human rights and international 
organizations reported that an unknown number of individuals allegedly 
affiliated with terrorist organizations were held indefinitely in 
preventive detention, tortured, and abused. In many cases these 
prisoners were held incommunicado and were not allowed prompt access to 
a lawyer of their choice; family members often were not allowed prompt 
access to detainees.
    The Actions in Aid of Civil Power Regulation 2011, which came into 
force on June 23, grants wide powers to the military. The regulation 
allegedly responded to the need for a permanent federal statute to 
regulate the armed forces when called upon in aid of civil power in 
order to give them legal authority to handle detainees under civilian 
supervision. Retroactive to 2008, the regulation empowers the KP 
governor in the FATA, and the KP government in the PATA, to direct the 
armed forces to intern suspected terrorists. Critics said that the 
regulation violated the country's constitution because, among other 
things, it empowers the armed forces to occupy property, makes 
statements or depositions by military officers sufficient to convict an 
accused, and makes all evidence collected, received, or prepared by the 
interning authority both admissible and dispositive of guilt. Others 
noted that the regulation establishes a legal framework where none 
previously existed, prohibits the abuse or misuse of force by the 
military, and allows for more transparent treatment of detainees by 
requiring registration upon apprehension and providing a legal process 
for transfer of detainees from military to civilian authorities for 
prosecution. It also creates an appeals process for detainees and their 
relatives and, importantly, limits the powers of the armed forces in 
administering the regulation. Reports in November and December 
indicated that transfers of detainees had begun.

    Amnesty.--On November 25, the Supreme Court dismissed the 
government's review petition against its ruling declaring the National 
Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) illegal. The petition was heard by a 17-
judge full court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. In 
2007 then president Musharraf promulgated the NRO to provide an amnesty 
mechanism for public officeholders who were accused but not convicted 
of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, murder, and terrorism 
between January 1, 1986, and October 2, 1999. The Supreme Court struck 
down the NRO in 2009.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, but in practice the judiciary often was subject 
to external influences, such as fear of reprisal in terrorism cases. In 
nonpolitical cases the media and the public generally considered the 
high courts and the Supreme Court credible.
    There were extensive case backlogs in the lower and superior 
courts, as well as other problems that undermined the right to 
effective remedy and the right to a fair and public hearing. Delays in 
justice in civil and criminal cases arose due to antiquated procedural 
rules, weak case management systems, costly litigation to keep a case 
moving in the system, and weak legal education. According to Chief 
Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, at the start of the new judicial year on 
September 12, 19,323 cases were pending before the Supreme Court. A 
total of 1.4 million cases were pending in the entire judicial system.
    The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the high courts does not 
extend to several areas that operate under separate judicial systems. 
For example, Azad Kashmir has its own elected president, prime 
minister, legislature, and court system independent of the country's 
judiciary. Gilgit-Baltistan also has a separate judicial system.
    Many lower courts remained corrupt, inefficient, and subject to 
pressure from prominent wealthy, religious, and political figures. The 
politicized nature of judicial promotions increased the government's 
control over the court system. Unfilled judgeships and inefficient 
court procedures continued to result in severe backlogs at both the 
trial and appellate levels.
    Informal justice systems lacking the legal protections of 
institutionalized justice systems continued, especially in rural areas, 
and often resulted in human rights violations. Feudal landlords and 
other community leaders in Sindh and Punjab, and tribal leaders in 
Pashtun and Baloch areas, continued to hold local council meetings 
(known as panchayats or jirgas), at times in defiance of the 
established legal system. Such councils settled feuds and imposed 
tribal penalties on perceived wrongdoers, including fines, 
imprisonment, or even the death penalty. Women often were sentenced to 
violent punishments or death for ``honor''-related crimes (see section 
6). In Pashtun areas, primarily located in FATA, such councils were 
held under the outlines of the FCR. Assistant political agents, 
overseen by political agents and supported by tribal elders of their 
choosing, are legally responsible for justice in FATA and conduct 
hearings according to Islamic law and tribal custom. Under the 
pashtunwali code of conduct, a man, his family, and his tribe are 
obligated to take revenge for wrongs, real or perceived, to redeem 
their honor. Frequently disputes arose over women and land. They often 
resulted in violence.
    The traditional settling of family feuds in tribal areas, 
particularly those involving killing, could result in giving daughters 
of the accused in marriage to the bereaved. Many tribal councils 
instituted harsh punishments, such as the death penalty, ``honor 
killings,'' or watta-satta marriages (exchange of brides between clans 
or tribes). The Sindh Minister for Human Rights, Nadia Gabol, called 
for a ban on jirgas in July 2010; however, there was no progress on 
this matter.
    The AHRC reported that since 2002 more than 4,000 individuals, two-
thirds of them women, have died by order of jirga courts in the 
country. Although the superior courts declared these rulings illegal, 
the AHRC reported that some of those involved in implementing jirgas 
were members of parliament.

    Trial Procedures.--The civil, criminal, and family court systems 
provide for public trial, presumption of innocence, cross-examination 
by an attorney, and appeal of sentences. There are no trials by jury. 
Although defendants have the right to be present and consult with an 
attorney, courts appointed attorneys for indigents only in capital 
cases. Defendants bear the cost of legal representation in lower 
courts, but a lawyer can be provided at public expense in appellate 
courts. Defendants can confront or question witnesses brought by the 
prosecution and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. 
Defendants and attorneys have legal access to government-held evidence 
relevant to their cases. Due to the limited number of judges, a heavy 
backlog of cases, lengthy court procedures, frequent adjournment, and 
political pressure, cases routinely lasted for years, and defendants 
had to make frequent court appearances.
    SPARC stated that juvenile prisoners were subject to a slow process 
due to a lack of special juvenile courts or judges, and it concluded 
that a fair and just juvenile justice system did not exist in the 
country.
    The Anti-Terrorism Act allows the government to use special 
streamlined courts to try persons charged with violent crimes, 
terrorist activities, acts or speech designed to foment religious 
hatred, and crimes against the state. After arrest, suspects must be 
brought before the antiterrorism courts within seven working days, but 
the courts are free to extend the period. Human rights activists 
criticized the expedited parallel system, charging it was more 
vulnerable to political manipulation.
    Cases under the Hudood Ordinance (a law enacted in 1979 by the 
military ruler Zia-ul-Haq to implement Islamic law by enforcing 
punishments mentioned in the Qur'an and Sunnah for extramarital sex, 
false accusation of extramarital sex, theft, and drinking of alcohol) 
are appealed first to the Federal Shariat Court. The Supreme Court has 
ruled that in cases in which a provincial high court decides in error 
to hear an appeal in a Hudood case, the shariat courts lack authority 
to review the provincial high court's decision. The Shariat Appellate 
Bench of the Supreme Court is the final court of appeal for shariat 
court cases. The Supreme Court may bypass the Shariat Appellate Bench 
and assume jurisdiction in such appellate cases. The shariat courts may 
overturn legislation they judge inconsistent with Islamic tenets, but 
such cases are appealed to the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme 
Court and ultimately may be heard by the full bench of the Supreme 
Court.
    Courts routinely failed to protect the rights of religious 
minorities. Judges sometimes were pressured to take action against 
perceived offenses to Sunni orthodoxy. For example, the judge who 
upheld a sentence against Governor Taseer's murderer was threatened, 
had his offices ransacked, and ultimately fled to Saudi Arabia.
    Laws prohibiting blasphemy continued to be used discriminatorily 
against Muslims, Christians, Ahmadis, and members of other religious 
groups. Lower courts often did not require adequate evidence in 
blasphemy cases, and some accused and convicted persons spent years in 
jail before higher courts eventually overturned their convictions or 
ordered them freed.
    In 2009 Muslim villagers accused a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, of 
blasphemy after a dispute at work. Police arrested Bibi, and she was 
denied bail under the blasphemy laws. In November 2010 a court 
sentenced Bibi to death for her crime, the first woman sentenced to 
death for blasphemy. The verdict in the case touched off a massive 
debate within the country about the blasphemy laws, with religious 
extremists calling for her execution and more moderate voices calling 
for her pardon or an appeal of the guilty verdict. At year's end Bibi 
was waiting for her appeal to be heard at the Lahore High Court (also 
see the Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report at 
www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/rpt.)

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Some Sindhi and Baloch 
nationalist groups claimed their members were marked for arrest and 
detained based on their political affiliation or beliefs. Under the 
2009 Aghaz-e-Huqooqe Balochistan package (which was intended to address 
the province's political, social, and economic problems), the 
government announced a general amnesty for all Baloch political 
prisoners, leaders, and activists in exile, as well as those allegedly 
involved in ``antistate'' activities, dropping all cases against Baloch 
leaders. Despite the amnesty some Baloch groups claimed that the 
illegal detention of nationalist leaders by state agencies continued.
    According to the JSQM, during the year authorities arrested between 
30 and 40 Sindhi nationalists from several parties who remained missing 
at year's end. Some nationalist parties in Sindh, including the JSQM, 
claimed that their members remained in the custody of government 
agencies.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Persons may petition the 
courts to seek redress for various human rights violations, and courts 
often took such actions. Individuals may seek redress in civil courts 
against government officials, including on grounds of denial of human 
rights in civil courts. Observers reported that civil courts seldom, if 
ever, issued official judgments in such cases, and most cases were 
settled out of court. Although there were no official procedures for 
administrative redress, informal reparations were common.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law requires court-issued search warrants for 
property but not for persons. Police sometimes ignored this requirement 
and at times stole items during searches. Police seldom were punished 
for illegal entry. Sometimes police detained family members to induce a 
suspect to surrender (see section 1.d.). In cases pursued under the 
Anti-terrorism Act, security forces were allowed to search and seize 
property related to the case without a warrant.
    Several domestic intelligence services monitored politicians, 
political activists, suspected terrorists, and the media. These 
services included the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), the 
police Special Branch, and Military Intelligence. Credible reports 
indicated that authorities routinely used wiretaps and intercepted and 
opened mail without the requisite court approval. NGOs suspected that 
authorities monitored mobile phones and electronic correspondence.
    Although the government generally did not interfere with the right 
to marry, local officials on occasion assisted influential families in 
preventing marriages to which the families were opposed. The government 
also failed to prosecute cases in which families punished members 
(generally women) for marrying or seeking a divorce against the wishes 
of other family members.
    NGOs alleged that intelligence personnel often harassed family 
members of Baloch nationalists. Collective punishment, which involved 
detention of relatives or members of the same tribe, took place in FATA 
under the FCR (see section 1.d.).

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
During the year militant and terrorist activity continued in different 
areas of KP and FATA, and there were numerous suicide and bomb attacks 
in all four provinces and FATA. Militants and terrorist groups, 
including the TTP, a militant umbrella group, targeted civilians, 
journalists, schools, community leaders, security forces, and law 
enforcement agents, killing hundreds and injuring thousands with bombs, 
suicide attacks, and other forms of violence. Militant and terrorist 
groups often attacked religious minorities. A low-level insurgency 
continued in Balochistan.
    The government implemented some measures to protect the population. 
The government also took actions to weaken terrorist ties around the 
country and prevent recruitment by militant organizations. For example, 
law enforcement agencies reported the seizure of large caches of 
weapons in urban areas such as Islamabad and Karachi. Police arrested 
Karachi gang members and TTP commanders who provided logistical support 
to militants in the tribal areas. Police arrested would-be suicide 
bombers in major cities of the country, confiscating weapons, suicide 
vests, and attack planning materials. The government continued to 
operate a center in Swat to rehabilitate and educate former child 
soldiers.
    Poor security, intimidation by security forces and militants, and 
the control the government and security forces exercised over access by 
nonresidents to FATA continued to make it difficult for human rights 
organizations and journalists to report on military abuses in the 
region.
    Political, sectarian, and ethnic violence in Karachi worsened 
during the year. The tenuous balance between political parties and the 
ethnic and sectarian groups they represent was broken by significantly 
altered demographics in the city. The 2005 earthquake that devastated 
the North and the 2010 floods that affected seven million Sindhis 
resulted in a large influx of citizens from different ethnic groups to 
Karachi. Although there was no precise total of new city residents, the 
growth of illegal settlements, both within the city and along its 
outskirts, suggested a tremendous rise in Sindhi, Baloch, and Pashtun 
migrants. Political parties and their affiliated gangs vied for 
political and economic control of these new populations by 
independently assessing their ``allegiances.'' The parties engaged in a 
turf war over ``bata'' (extortion) collection privileges and 
``ownership'' over katchi abadis (illegal/makeshift settlements). The 
flashpoints of violence in Karachi were Lyari, Orangi, Katti Pahari, 
Qsba Colony, Pak Colony, and Shah Faisal Colony. HRCP estimated that 
between 925 and 1,400 persons died in sectarian and political violence 
between January and August.

    Killings.--During the year there were reports of civilian 
casualties and extrajudicial killings committed by government security 
forces during operations against militants. On April 9, Interior 
Minister Rehman Malik informed the Senate that in the preceding two 
years, in 2,488 acts of terrorism, as many as 3,169 persons were killed 
and 9,479 others injured. Between January and December, 2,489 civilians 
and 735 security personnel were killed as a result of terrorist attacks 
across the country.
    Militant and terrorist bombings in all four provinces and in FATA 
resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. According to 
the South Asia Terrorism Portal, during the year terrorist and 
extremist attacks and operations to combat terrorism and extremism 
resulted in 6,142 deaths, of which nearly 2,580 were civilians, more 
than 765 were security forces, and more than 2,797 were terrorists or 
insurgents. There were also reports of attacks on civilians in 
Balochistan by groups prohibited by the government.
    On September 7, at least 28 persons, including an FC colonel and 
the wife of the FC deputy inspector general (DIG), were killed in two 
suicide attacks outside the official residence of the DIG in Quetta, 
Balochistan. The DIG, Brigadier Farrukh Shahzad, and 16 FC personnel 
were among 82 persons injured in the attacks.
    On March 10, the Daily Times reported that a suicide bomber blew 
himself up at funeral prayers in Peshawar, killing 37 persons and 
injuring more than 50. The target was a group of more than 200 members 
of an anti-Taliban militia who had gathered to offer the funeral 
prayers for the wife of a known anti-Taliban militiaman.

    Abductions.--During the year there were reports of civilians 
kidnapped or taken hostage by militant groups in FATA, KP, Punjab, and 
Balochistan. On September 3, the TTP claimed responsibility for 
kidnapping 27 young men in Bajaur Agency and keeping them captive in 
Afghanistan's Kunar Province. The TTP demanded the release of scores of 
prisoners and an end to tribal elders' support of offensives against 
them.
    On March 30, unidentified armed men kidnapped lawyer Farzand Ali 
from the Surab area. According to the Daily Times, the lawyer, a 
resident of Usta Muhammad, Jaffarabad, was going to Karachi from Quetta 
in his car when unidentified armed men stopped his vehicle, pulled him 
out at gunpoint, and kidnapped him.
    In August two high-level kidnappings were reported in Lahore, 
Punjab. On August 14, American national Warren Weinstein, age 70, was 
taken from his home in Lahore. On August 26, armed gunmen took Shabhaz 
Taseer, son of slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, from his car in 
Lahore. On December 1, al-Qaida claimed responsibility for Weinstein's 
abduction.

    Child Soldiers.--Nonstate militant groups kidnapped boys and girls 
and used fraudulent promises to coerce parents into giving away 
children as young as age 12 to spy, fight, or die as suicide bombers. 
The militants sometimes offered parents money, often sexually and 
physically abused the children, and used psychological coercion to 
convince the children that the acts they committed were justified. On 
June 20, security forces took into custody a nine-year-old would-be 
suicide bomber at Darra Islam check post in Lower Dir and were informed 
by the girl that militants from Peshawar kidnapped her for the purpose 
of carrying out a suicide attack.

    Other Conflict-related Abuses.--A September 26 report by the HRCP 
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter for the year 2009-10 stated that the second 
most serious impact of militant attacks in tribal areas was on health 
facilities for women. The report stated that almost 80 hospitals were 
attacked by the militants and military operations against them, and it 
noted that of 13 sanctioned posts for gynecologists in tribal areas, 10 
were vacant and female health staff were reluctant to perform duty in 
the region due to growing militancy.
    On September 21, militants attacked an ambulance that was carrying 
persons injured in an attack on Shias in Quetta, killing three more 
persons.
    On June 14, armed men took over a major private hospital, Liaquat 
National Hospital, in Karachi. They fired shots inside the health 
facility, ransacked its offices, and forced the administration to 
suspend several services, including the emergency unit.
    On July 6, security forces started demolishing a private hospital 
in Miranshah, FATA, used by the TTP and other militants, one day after 
a nearby bomb attack killed three troops and wounded 15.
    Militants bombed government buildings and attacked and killed 
female teachers. The TTP particularly targeted girls' schools to 
demonstrate its opposition to girls' education; however, the TTP also 
destroyed boys' schools. Military operations created hardships for the 
local civilian population when militants closed key access roads and 
tunnels and attacked communications and energy networks, disrupting 
commerce and food and water distribution.
    In KP elected civilian government officials and their families, 
especially those representing the ANP, were major targets of attacks.
    As a result of militant activity and military operations in KP and 
FATA that began in 2008 and continued throughout the year, large 
population displacements occurred. Although an estimated 1.9 million 
conflict-affected persons returned home during the past two years, 
there were still more than one million internally displaced persons 
(IDPs) living with host communities, in rented accommodations, or in 
camps at the beginning of the year. The government and U.N. agencies 
such as the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 
and UNICEF collaborated to provide assistance and protection to those 
affected by the conflict and to assist in their return home (see 
section 2.d.).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press. However, 
threats, harassment, violence, and killings led journalists and editors 
to practice self-censorship.

    Freedom of Speech.--The government impeded criticism by monitoring 
political activity. Citizens could criticize the government publicly or 
privately; however, they were restricted when criticizing the military. 
Blasphemy laws restricted individuals' right to free speech concerning 
matters of religion and religious doctrine. According to the 
constitution, every citizen has the right to free speech, subject to 
``any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the interest of the 
glory of Islam'' or the integrity, security, or defense of the country.

    Freedom of the Press.--The independent media was active and 
expressed a wide variety of views; journalists often criticized the 
government. Previously unreported events, such as persecution of 
minorities, were covered; however, journalists were restricted when 
criticizing or questioning the role of the military. Section 99 of the 
penal code allows the government to restrict information that might be 
prejudicial to the national interest. An increase in threats and 
violence against journalists who reported on sensitive issues such as 
security force abuses was observed during the year. The government also 
impeded criticism by monitoring political activity and controlling the 
media.
    There were numerous independent English, Urdu, and regional 
language daily and weekly newspapers and magazines. To publish within 
Azad Kashmir, owners of newspapers and periodicals had to obtain 
permission from the Kashmir Council and the Ministry of Kashmir 
Affairs. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting controlled and 
managed the country's primary wire service, the Associated Press of 
Pakistan, the official carrier of government and international news to 
the local media. The military had its own media-monitoring wing within 
Inter Services Public Relations, the military's public relations 
department. The government-owned and -controlled Pakistan Television 
(PTV) and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation operated radio stations 
throughout the country. The law does not extend to FATA or PATA, and 
independent radio stations were allowed to broadcast in FATA with the 
permission of the FATA Secretariat.
    There were instances in which the government shut down private 
television channels and blocked certain media outlets from 
broadcasting. The broadcasters asserted that the language of broadcast 
laws was vague, leading to instances of abuse and arbitrary broadcast 
restrictions by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority 
(PEMRA). The NGO Intermedia reported that PTV did not operate under the 
purview of the law and benefitted from a monopoly on broadcast license 
fees. According to Freedom House, authorities used the PEMRA rules to 
silence the broadcast media either by suspending licenses or 
threatening to do so.
    Private cable and satellite channels broadcast domestic news and 
were critical of the government, despite some self-censorship. Private 
radio stations existed in major cities, but their licenses prohibited 
news programming. Some channels evaded this restriction by discussing 
news in talk shows. International radio broadcasts, including the BBC 
and the Voice of America, were normally available, but sometimes PEMRA 
shut them down for periods of time, and starting November 29, BBC 
broadcasts were blocked.

    Violence and Harassment.--During the year security forces, 
political parties, militants, and other groups subjected media outlets 
and journalists and their families to violence and harassment. 
Journalists were abducted. Media outlets that did not practice self-
censorship were often the targets of retribution.
    According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, seven 
journalists were killed between January and December for reporting on 
sensitive topics. Reporters Without Borders reported nine journalists 
were killed and two imprisoned. During the year a number of journalists 
were also reportedly subjected to physical attack, harassment, 
intimidation, kidnapping, or other forms of pressure.
    On May 29, journalist Saleem Shahzad was abducted in Islamabad. His 
tortured body was discovered on May 31. He reportedly received threats 
from the ISI about his article in Asia Times Online linking the navy 
with al-Qaida. A judicial inquiry into his death continued at year's 
end; nonprofit organizations and other observers suspected government 
involvement in his killing.
    On June 19, the Guardian reported that Waqar Kinai, its 
correspondent in Islamabad, was beaten badly by uniformed men who said 
that they wished to ``make an example'' of him after he published an 
account of abduction and torture by suspected government intelligence 
agents.

    Censorship or Content Restriction.--The few small, privately owned 
wire services and media organizations generally practiced self-
censorship, especially in news reports involving the military. Private 
cable and satellite channels also practiced self-censorship at times. 
The government continued to restrict and censor some published 
material, while blasphemy and anti-Ahmadi laws restricted publication 
on certain topics. Foreign books needed to pass government censors 
before being reprinted, but there were no reports of book bans during 
the year. Books and magazines could be imported freely but were subject 
to censorship for objectionable sexual or religious content. Obscene 
literature, a category the government defined broadly, was subject to 
seizure.
    On November 14, the government ordered all cell phone operators to 
filter and block text messages passing through their systems that 
contained certain vulgar English and transliterated Urdu words. Cell 
phone operators were given seven days to comply with this ruling, but 
on the eve of the deadline, the largest telecoms operators in the 
country announced that the government agreed to delay implementation 
until all parties involved could reach a mutual agreement regarding the 
enforcement of the ruling. The order was not implemented by year's end.
    In September a jirga of the Basikhel tribe, which forms half of the 
total population of Torghar District, KP, imposed a ban on the use of 
cell phones with cameras in its territory. In so doing it followed the 
example of the Madakhel tribe, which imposed a similar ban after a man 
was killed in June for taking a picture of a local woman.

    Publishing Restrictions.--Foreign magazines and newspapers were 
available. There were few restrictions on international media, with the 
important exception of a complete blockade of Indian television news 
channels.

    Nongovernmental Impact.--Militants and criminal elements killed, 
kidnapped, beat, and intimidated journalists and their families, 
leading many to practice self-censorship. Conditions for reporters 
covering the conflict in FATA, KP, and Balochistan remained difficult, 
with a number of correspondents detained, threatened, expelled, or 
otherwise prevented from covering events there by militant or local 
tribal groups. In a number of instances, militants attacked 
journalists' homes in retaliation for their reporting.

    Internet Freedom.--Individuals and groups could express their views 
freely via the Internet and by e-mail. However, there were reports of 
some restrictions on Internet access and reports that the government 
monitored Internet use, some e-mail, and Internet chat rooms. According 
to a Freedom House report, the government justified politically 
motivated restrictions on Internet freedom as necessary for security 
purposes. There were also reports that the government attempted to 
control some Web sites, including extremist and proindependence Baloch 
Web sites. The provincial government in Balochistan blocked access to a 
Baloch human rights blog run by journalists.
    The law creates a number of offenses involving the misuse of 
electronic media and systems and the use of such data in other crimes. 
It also stipulates that cyberterrorism resulting in a death is 
punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment.
    On September 19, the Lahore High Court ordered the Ministry of 
Information Technology to block access to all Web sites ``spreading 
religious hatred.'' The ruling came out of a case seeking a permanent 
ban on Facebook for hosting a competition of what were considered 
blasphemous caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. Facebook remained 
accessible at year's end.
    While Google, YouTube, and Skype were accessible at year's end, on 
September 18, the local and international press reported that the 
interior minister announced that the government reserved the right to 
ban such Web sites and programs if they refused to assist the Federal 
Investigative Agency (FIA) in investigating crimes and terrorism.
    The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) is responsible for 
the establishment, operation, and maintenance of telecommunications and 
possesses complete control over all content broadcast over 
telecommunications channels. In July the PTA ordered Internet service 
providers (ISPs) to report if customers were using virtual private 
networks (VPNs) and voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) to browse the 
Web or communicate. The PTA insisted that the ban on VPN access was 
intended to shut down illegal call centers and enable authorities to 
monitor potentially criminal behavior. At year's end VPNs and VOIP were 
both accessible.
    Restrictions on Internet traffic were enforced during the year. 
Citing blasphemy laws, the PTA banned Internet users from accessing 
popular social networks, such as Facebook, after a user launched a 
contest to draw a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. The ban was enforced 
only sporadically. The restrictions also made it impossible for persons 
to access the Web site for Rolling Stone magazine after it published an 
article on the high proportion of the country's national budget 
apportioned to its military. The story quoted a column written in the 
New York Times that questioned military spending when more resources 
needed to be directed to fight militants and insurgent groups. Since it 
was not possible to block specific URLs on Web sites, the whole domain 
was offline to readers beginning in July. In November the press 
reported that the PTA also asked ISPs to block access to more than 
1,000 pornographic Web sites; the PTA was compiling a list of an 
additional 170,000 sites to ban.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government generally did 
not restrict academic freedom. However, members of student 
organizations, typically with ties to political parties, fostered an 
atmosphere of violence and intolerance that limited the academic 
freedom of fellow students. On some university campuses in Karachi, 
armed groups of students, most commonly associated with the All 
Pakistan Mutahidda Students Organization (affiliated with the Muttahida 
Qaumi Movement) and the Islami Jamiat Talaba (affiliated with Jamaat-e-
Islam), clashed with and intimidated other students, instructors, and 
administrators over issues such as language, syllabus content, 
examination policies, grades, doctrines, and dress. These groups 
frequently influenced the hiring of staff, admissions to universities, 
and sometimes the use of institutional funds. They generally achieved 
such influence through a combination of protest rallies, control of 
campus media, and threats of mass violence. In response university 
authorities prohibited political activity on many campuses, but the ban 
had limited effect.
    There was minor government interference with art exhibitions or 
other musical or cultural activities. The Ministry of Culture operated 
the Central Board of Film Censors, which previewed and censored sexual 
content in foreign and domestic films before exhibition in the country. 
In August a police station house officer reportedly beat a gallery 
owner and abused patrons because of their preferences in dress and art.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides 
for freedom of assembly and freedom of association, subject to 
restrictions.

    Freedom of Assembly.--Although the constitution provides for the 
freedom of assembly, in practice the government placed selective 
restrictions on it. By law district authorities can prevent gatherings 
of more than four persons without police authorization. The law permits 
the government to ban all kinds of rallies and processions, except 
funeral processions, for reasons of security.
    Authorities generally prohibited Ahmadis from holding conferences 
or gatherings.
    There were several successful protests, strikes, and demonstrations 
throughout Sindh, both peaceful and violent. Law enforcement agencies 
did not have the capacity to intervene and prevent these gatherings. 
Karachi Electric Supply Company employees protested for nearly three 
months between May and July for the reinstatement of 4,500 employees 
the company dismissed in one day.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution provides for freedom of 
association subject to restrictions imposed by law. According to the 
now-dissolved Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education, there 
were more than 100,000 NGOs working in the country; however, due to the 
fragmented legal and regulatory framework, the exact number of NGOs was 
not known.
    During the year threats to civil society continued, with ``softer 
targets'' such as schools more frequently becoming a focus of attacks. 
On September 13, militants attacked a school bus in the suburbs of 
Peshawar, killing four children and the bus driver. On January 25, two 
workers of the NGO Balochistan Rural Support Program were shot and 
killed in the Ghanja Dori area of Mastung District in Balochistan.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country and for uninhibited foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation, but the government limited these rights 
in practice.
    The government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, and 
other persons of concern.

    In-Country Movement.--The government's restrictions on access to 
certain areas of FATA, KP, and Balochistan, often for security 
concerns, hindered the ability of humanitarian assistance providers to 
deliver aid to vulnerable populations.

    Foreign Travel.--The law prohibits travel to Israel, and the 
country's passports include a statement that they are ``valid for all 
countries except Israel.'' Government employees and students must 
obtain ``no objection certificates'' from the government before 
traveling abroad. This requirement rarely was enforced for students.
    Persons on the Exit Control List (ECL) were prohibited from foreign 
travel. Although the ECL was intended to prevent those with pending 
criminal cases from traveling abroad, no judicial action was required 
for the Ministry of Interior to add a name to the ECL. The ECL 
sometimes was used to harass human rights activists or leaders of 
nationalist parties. Those on the list had the right to appeal to the 
courts for removal of their names.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The government does not have 
laws to protect IDPs but implemented policies to assist them, meeting 
the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Registration of 
women continued to be a problem. In more conservative regions of the 
country, particularly rural areas, authorities did not uphold or 
enforce a woman's right to be registered.
    At the end of 2010 approximately 1.2 million persons, mostly 
originating from FATA, remained displaced in KP. During the year the 
number of IDPs fluctuated due to militant activity, military 
operations, and ongoing IDP returns to KP and FATA. As of November more 
than 853,000 persons remained displaced in the northwest.
    The majority of conflict-affected IDPs resided with host families, 
in rented accommodations, or, to a lesser extent, in camps. The 
government continued to consolidate and close IDP camps during the 
year. Of the three remaining, Jalozai camp in Nowshera District of KP 
hosted the largest in-camp conflict-affected IDP population, with 
32,499 residents as of December, mostly from Bajaur Agency.
    Military operations in Mohmand Agency early in the year and in 
Kurram Agency in the summer contributed to the total number of conflict 
IDPs in the country. In Mohmand the combined number of IDPs registered 
in the two camps (Danish Kohl and Nahqi) established to host families 
displaced by the conflict exceeded 35,000 at its peak. As of December 
both camps were closed with the remaining displaced (624 families with 
3,758 individuals) moved to Jalozai camp in Nowshera District. More 
than 13,000 displaced families were registered as displaced in Kurram, 
with 3,000 families housed in the New Durrani camp and the remainder 
with host families or in government buildings.
    The government continued to facilitate voluntary returns to 
multiple agencies with support from the international humanitarian 
community. As of December the government reported that nearly 23,000 
families returned to Orakzai, 68,000 families returned to Bajaur, 
41,600 families returned to Mohmand, and 6,500families returned to 
South Waziristan.
    The government required humanitarian organizations assisting 
civilians displaced by military operations to request nonobjection 
certificates (NOCs) to access Mohmand and Kurram agencies in FATA. The 
requirement to obtain NOCs delayed by approximately one to two weeks 
the delivery of U.N. assistance to Mohmand and Kurram beneficiaries. 
The government established IDP camps inside the agencies where the 
military operations took place, despite the access and security 
concerns raised by humanitarian agencies. Humanitarian agencies 
providing assistance in the camps were exposed to the danger of 
travelling to and within FATA. There were no security incidents in the 
camps by year's end. U.N. agencies had access to the camps, and there 
were no reports of involuntary returns.
    The government coordinated with the UNHCR the voluntary and safe 
return of IDPs. For IDPs who were not ready to return, the government 
coordinated support with the UNHCR and other international 
organizations. The World Food Program distributed food rations to IDPs 
displaced by conflict.
    Heavy rainfall during the monsoon season affected more than five 
million persons, destroyed crops, and severely damaged thousands of 
homes in Sindh Province. An estimated 1.8 million persons were 
displaced to some 6,000 informal settlements during the height of the 
disaster. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority-Sindh led the 
relief efforts, with assistance from the National Disaster Management 
Authority, the Pakistani Red Crescent, and the armed forces. In 
contrast to the 2010 floods, the government initially believed that the 
Sindh monsoon floods, which started in early August, were within its 
capabilities. However, by September the government acknowledged that 
the disaster exceeded its capabilities and requested international 
assistance. On September 17, the U.N. and the government jointly 
released a Rapid Response Plan, requesting $357 million to address 
flood-related relief needs until March 2012. The government and the 
international humanitarian community, including the U.N. continued to 
discuss the development of a 12-month Early Recovery Framework. 
According to the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority, as of 
December, 91 percent of displaced persons had returned to their areas 
of origin.

    Protection of Refugees.--The country is a party to neither the 1951 
U.N. Convention relating to the Status of Refugees nor its 1967 
Protocol.

    Access to Asylum.--No legislation provides for asylum or refugee 
status. The country lacks a legal and regulatory framework for the 
management of refugees and migration. Although there is no legislation 
excluding asylum seekers and refugees from the provisions of the law 
regarding illegal entry and stay or conferring legal status, the 
government in most cases provided protection against the expulsion or 
involuntary return of registered refugees to countries where their 
lives or freedom would be threatened. The country cooperated with the 
UNHCR in protecting, assisting, and voluntarily repatriating Afghan 
refugees.
    Since 1979 the government provided temporary protection to millions 
of refugees from Afghanistan. According to the UNHCR, at year's end an 
estimated 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees remained in the 
country, while another 52,096 voluntarily repatriated to Afghanistan 
between March 1 and December 31. The government and the UNHCR agreed to 
continue voluntary repatriation throughout the year (voluntary 
repatriation season usually ends in November and restarts in March) and 
remained in discussions about opening two additional Voluntary 
Repatriation Centers in KP, for a total of four in the country. There 
were no credible estimates of how many Afghans were undocumented or 
unregistered, but estimates put the number at more than one million. 
The law states that anyone born in the country is a citizen. However, 
the courts' interpretation of this law was that the principle of birth 
in the country could not be read in isolation and independently of the 
other sections of the act concerning citizenship by descent in the case 
of the children of Afghan refugees. The courts decided that given the 
``temporary'' nature of Afghans' presence in the country, the law would 
not be applied to the Afghan population, and Afghan children therefore 
were not granted Pakistani citizenship. Under the Secure Card for 
Afghan Citizens project, the National Database and Registration 
Authority (NADRA) issued birth certificates to 776, 683 Afghan children 
below the age of 18, identifying them as Afghan citizens.
    The government cooperated with the UNHCR to conduct a Population 
Profiling Verification and Response (PPVR) exercise and an Afghan 
Citizens' Contribution to Economy study for Afghans in the country. The 
PPVR, completed in December, was intended to provide the government and 
the UNHCR detailed information about the socioeconomic conditions and 
needs of Afghans in the country. In March 2010 the cabinet approved the 
Management and Repatriation Strategy for Afghans in Pakistan 2010-12, 
which along with voluntary repatriation contemplated the possibility of 
legal alternative stay solutions for refugees, including such measures 
as the following: issuing 150,000 work permits to registered Afghans 
for students, businessmen or investors, and skilled laborers; granting 
permanent residency to Afghan refugees' female-headed households; 
issuing business permits to refugees who have invested more than 5 
million rupees ($55,500); and encouraging Afghan students to continue 
or complete their studies in Pakistan. In March 2010 Prime Minister 
Gilani extended Proof of Registration (PoR, the official documents held 
by registered refugees that allow them to legally remain in Pakistan) 
status through December 2012. The government implemented some of the 
measures that the 2010-12 strategy contemplated, such as conducting a 
population profile, but had not implemented residency measures or 
issued work permits for Afghan refugees. The Ministry of States and 
Frontier Regions approved a pilot project for issuance of 1,000 visas 
to Afghan refugees during the year under four categories, (students, 
businessmen, skilled/unskilled workers, and female-headed households). 
However, at year's end the rights attached to these visas were under 
negotiation.
    The government generally abstained from forcibly returning Afghans 
with PoR cards, although from January to early September it deported 17 
PoR cardholders. Refugees' PoR was due to expire in December 2012. 
There also were credible allegations that the government deported 
between 50 and 60 unregistered Afghans per week.
    According to the UNHCR, fewer than half of registered Afghan 
refugees lived in 83 refugee villages in KP (71), Balochistan (11), and 
Punjab (one). Nearly 60 percent of registered Afghans lived in urban 
areas. More than half of this population came from five provinces in 
Afghanistan: Nangarhar, Kabul, Kunduz, Logar, and Paktya.

    Refugee Abuse.--Refugees faced societal discrimination and abuse 
from local communities, who resented economic competition and blamed 
refugees for high crime rates and terrorism. Single women, female-led 
households, and children working on the streets were particularly 
vulnerable to abuse and trafficking.
    Police in many cases demanded bribes from refugees. There were 
credible reports that members of the intelligence services also 
harassed refugees. There were also many reports of extortion of 
refugees who participated in the UNHCR's voluntary repatriation 
process, since such refugees were known to receive repatriation grants 
($150 in cash assistance per family member upon return to Afghanistan).

    Employment.--Refugees were not allowed to work legally, but many 
worked as day laborers or in informal markets. Refugees often were 
exploited in the informal labor market. Refugee women and children were 
particularly vulnerable, accepting underpaid and undesirable positions 
in workplaces.
    The government did not authorize the former residents of Azakhel, 
an Afghan refugee village in KP destroyed by the 2010 floods, to return 
to their destroyed village to rebuild it. The village stands on 
valuable land that land speculators sought to seize for development 
following the floods. By mid-July nearly 23,000 Afghans still were 
displaced from Azakhel, living in tents near the village or staying 
with relatives or in rented rooms. The UNHCR was assisting these 
families until the government authorized them to return to the village. 
The refugees did not regard alternative camp sites offered to them as 
viable for earning livelihoods.

    Access to Basic Services.--Afghan refugees could avail themselves 
of the services of the police and courts, but some, particularly the 
poor, were afraid to do so. Any refugee registered with both the UNHCR 
and the government-run Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees is, in 
theory, able to obtain admission to public education facilities after 
filing the proper paperwork. In practice most registered Afghans 
attended private Afghan schools or schools sponsored by the 
international community. There were no reports of refugees being denied 
access to health facilities on the basis on nationality.
    In many instances local governments or even individuals determined 
which rights and services Afghan refugees could use. For example, the 
governor of the State Bank decided that Afghans could not have bank 
accounts, but NADRA regularly verified for banks the identity of 
refugees who wished to open accounts.
    Although there is no legislation specifically permitting Afghans to 
obtain a driver's license, Afghans drove a large percentage of the 
trucks in KP. Although there were a number of Afghan schools funded by 
foreign assistance, Afghan children usually had no problem attending 
the country's primary schools. For older students, particularly in 
cities, access was harder. Even Afghans who grew up in the country 
needed a student visa to attend the country's universities, but they 
qualified for student visas on the basis of their PoR cards.

    Durable Solutions.--For the mainstreaming of refugee programs in 
the development and annual programs of U.N. agencies, the UNHCR signed 
memoranda of understanding with UNESCO, the World Health Organization, 
UNICEF, and the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 
Women to strengthen partnerships in finding durable solutions for 
Afghan refugees. Under the Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) 
initiative, a joint initiative among the government, U.N. and 
implementing partners under the framework of U.N. reforms in Pakistan, 
more than 575 projects had been completed since the RAHA initiative's 
launch in 2009, mainly in the provinces of Balochistan and KP, which 
were both home to high concentrations of Afghan refugees.
    The government did not accept refugees for resettlement from other 
countries or facilitate local integration. While the government did not 
have a system to confer refugee status or asylum, it generally 
abstained from forcibly returning other foreigners with asylum 
certificates or refugee cards granted by the UNHCR, which had the 
responsibility of determining refugee status in the absence of 
government procedures.

    Stateless Persons.--Statelessness continued to be an issue during 
the year. There is no national legislation on statelessness. 
International and national agencies estimated there were possibly 
thousands of stateless persons deriving from the breakup of India and 
Pakistan, and of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides the majority of citizens with the right to change 
their government peacefully, and the country held national and 
provincial elections in 2008 that brought opposition parties to power. 
Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, and FATA have different political 
systems, and of these only FATA had representation in the national 
parliament.
    Residents of FATA are represented in the national parliament but do 
not have a voice in federal decision making over the tribal areas, an 
authority that belongs to the president. Tribal residents do not have 
the right to change their local government, because unelected civilian 
bureaucrats nominally ran the tribal agencies. The elected councils in 
FATA, set up in 2007 to provide local representation within the tribal 
areas, have not been given an active role in governing the tribal 
areas. In August President Zardari signed the Extension of the 
Political Parties Order 2002 to the Tribal Areas. Through this decree 
the government allows political parties to operate freely in FATA.
    Azad Kashmir has an interim constitution, an elected unicameral 
assembly, a prime minister, and a president who is elected by the 
assembly. Both the president and legislators serve five-year terms. Of 
the 49 assembly seats, 41 are filled through direct elections, and 
eight are reserved seats (five for women and one each for 
representatives of overseas Kashmiris, technocrats, and religious 
leaders). However, the federal government exercised considerable 
control over the structures of government and electoral politics. Its 
approval is required to pass legislation, and the federal minister for 
Kashmir affairs exercised significant influence over daily 
administration and the budget. The Kashmir Council, composed of federal 
officials and Kashmiri assembly members and chaired by the federal 
prime minister, also holds some executive, legislative, and judicial 
powers. The military retains a guiding role on issues of politics and 
governance. Those who do not support Azad Kashmir's accession to 
Pakistan were barred from the political process, government employment, 
and educational institutions. They also were subject to surveillance, 
harassment, and sometimes imprisonment by security services.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 2008 
the country held national parliamentary elections that brought former 
opposition parties into a coalition government led by the PPP under the 
leadership of Prime Minister Gilani. The elections were postponed 
multiple times, the last time due to the assassination of PPP leader 
Benazir Bhutto in 2007. In the 2008 indirect presidential election, 
Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower, became president, succeeding Pervez 
Musharraf, who had resigned. The broad coalition government was 
dissolved in 2009, leaving the PPP to govern with a smaller majority in 
league with several partners.
    For the 2008 elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) 
reportedly accredited approximately 25,000 domestic observers, the 
majority of whom were from the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN). 
The EU and Democracy International also observed. In 2008, for the 
first time in the country's history, the ECP released the certified 
results of the elections broken down by polling station, a step toward 
greater transparency. The government permitted all existing political 
parties to contest the elections; although several boycotted, the 
largest parties participated. International and domestic observers 
found the 2008 parliamentary election competitive and noted that the 
results appeared to reflect the will of the voters, despite significant 
flaws in the process.
    Security services and feudal landlords intimidated voters and 
political parties throughout the country, according to FAFEN. In 
particular, observers noted that some police pressured candidates and 
political party workers by threatening to register cases against them. 
Police often reportedly did not allow rallies for opposition parties 
and pressured individuals to vote for certain parties. FAFEN documented 
cases in which intelligence services pressured candidates to withdraw.
    The International Foundation for Electoral Systems noted that 
formal adjudication of challenges of disputed election results was weak 
and that the high courts did not meet statutorily prescribed deadlines 
for adjudication in the majority of cases.

    Political Parties.--There were no undue restrictions on political 
parties. In most areas there was no interference with the rights to 
organize, run for election, seek votes, or publicize views. In 
Balochistan there were reports that both security agencies and 
separatist groups harassed local political parties such as the 
Balochistan National Party and the Balochistan Student Organization.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--No laws prevent women from 
voting; however, cultural and traditional barriers in tribal and rural 
areas impeded some women. There are 60 seats in the National Assembly 
reserved for women. The reserved seats were apportioned on the basis of 
total votes secured by the candidates of each political party 
contesting elections to the general seats. Of the 758 seats in 
provincial assemblies, 128 were reserved for women. One-third of the 
seats in local councils were reserved for women. In some districts 
social and religious conservatives prevented women from becoming 
candidates. Women also participated actively as political party members 
but were not always successful in securing leadership positions within 
parties, with the exception of in the women's wing.
    In the December by-election in Kohistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwha, a 
jirga was held in which tribal leaders decided to bar women from 
voting, calling female political participation ``against Islam'' and 
``against tribal tradition.'' According to FAFEN, only three of 18,000 
female registered voters cast a ballot in the by-election. Based on 
these results, FAFEN asked the ECP to void the results ``due to 
significant electoral irregularities,'' but no decision on the matter 
was made by year's end.
    The government required voters to indicate their religion when 
registering to vote. In order to register to vote, the government 
required Ahmadis to declare themselves as non-Muslims. Ahmadis consider 
themselves Muslims, and as a result, the community was unable to vote.
    The constitution reserves four seats in the Senate for religious 
minorities--one for each of the four provinces. These seats are filled 
through indirect elections held in the provincial assemblies. Ten 
National Assembly seats are reserved for members of religious 
minorities. The seats are apportioned to parties based on the 
percentage of seats each won in the assembly. Under the law minorities 
held 23 reserved seats in the provincial assemblies: eight in Punjab, 
nine in Sindh, three in KP, and three in Balochistan.
    Women and minorities are also allowed to contest for unreserved 
seats.
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 with impunity. 
Corruption was pervasive in politics and government, and various 
politicians and public office holders faced allegations of corruption, 
including bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and 
embezzlement.
    On March 15, the FIA arrested former religious affairs minister 
Hamid Saeed Kazmi in a case relating to his alleged corruption in 
arranging residential accommodations for Pakistani hajj pilgrims in 
Saudi Arabia in 2010. The case was pending in the Supreme Court at 
year's end.
    The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) serves as the highest-
level anticorruption organization, with a mandate to eliminate 
corruption through awareness, prevention, and enforcement. During the 
year the NAB was ineffective, largely because it did not have a 
chairman or prosecutor general and was poorly funded. Government 
officials forced the former NAB chairman to resign in June 2010 but did 
not appoint a new NAB chairman until October. The new anticorruption 
leader spent the remaining part of the year working to fill vacant 
positions and seeking appropriate funding levels needed to carry out 
adequately the NAB's mandate.
    The Competition Commission of Pakistan is an independent, quasi-
regulatory, quasi-judicial body that worked to ensure competition 
between companies to enhance economic efficiency and protect consumers 
from anticompetitive behavior. The organization sought to prohibit 
corrupt activities, such as collusive practices, abuse of market 
dominance, deceptive marketing, and illegitimate mergers and 
acquisitions. Despite dynamic leadership, active community engagement, 
and lower-level court decisions against businesses engaged in 
anticompetitive activities, the commission was hindered by insufficient 
government funding and the slow progress of its cases in the judicial 
court of appeals.
    The 2007 National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), promulgated under 
former president Pervez Musharraf, provided an amnesty mechanism for 
public officials who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money 
laundering, murder, and terrorism between January 1, 1986, and October 
12, 1999. In December 2009 the Supreme Court declared the NRO null and 
void and reopened all 8,000 cases against those who had received 
amnesty, including the president, ministers, and parliamentarians. In 
January 2010 the Zardari government filed a review petition challenging 
the Supreme Court's 2009 decision and requesting its review. On 
November 25, the Supreme Court dismissed the government's review 
petition, upholding its earlier decision finding the NRO null and void.
    Corruption within the lower levels of the police was common. A July 
2010 survey by Transparency International noted that the major cause of 
corruption was lack of accountability, followed by low salaries. Some 
police charged fees to register genuine complaints and accepted money 
for registering false complaints. Bribes to avoid charges were 
commonplace. Critics charged that appointments of station house 
officers were politicized.
    Widespread allegations of corruption plagued the government's 
rental power plant projects (RPP), which were a priority in 2008-09 to 
address the country's acute energy shortage. Citizens and 
parliamentarians accused government officials of providing financial 
kickbacks and awarding extravagantly priced rental power plants to 
their close acquaintances. In December 2010 and January 2011, the 
Supreme Court found two power companies guilty of receiving more than 
970 million rupees ($10.8 million) in advance payments to provide 
electricity but failing to commence commercial operations by the agreed 
date. The court ordered both companies to return the funds advanced, 
and the government abandoned the RPP power project as a policy 
priority.
    Anecdotal reports persisted about corruption in the district and 
sessions courts, including reports of small-scale facilitation payments 
requested by court staff. Lower-court judges lacked the requisite 
independence and sometimes were pressured by superior court judges as 
to how to decide a case. Lower courts remained corrupt, inefficient, 
and subject to pressure from prominent wealthy, religious, and 
political figures. Government involvement in judicial appointments 
increased the government's control over the court system.
    The law allows any citizen access to public records held by a 
public body of the federal government, including ministries, 
departments, boards, councils, courts, and tribunals. It does not apply 
to government-owned corporations or provincial governments. The bodies 
must respond to requests for access within 21 days. Certain records are 
restricted from public access, including classified documents, those 
that would be harmful to a law enforcement case or an individual, or 
those that would cause grave and significant damage to the economy or 
the interests of the nation. NGOs criticized the ordinance for having 
too many exempt categories and for not encouraging proactive 
disclosure.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    Domestic and international human rights groups operated without 
government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on 
human rights cases. Other groups that reported on issues implicating 
the government, military, or intelligence services faced restrictions 
on their operations. Very few NGOs had access to KP, FATA, and some 
areas in Balochistan. While government officials were sometimes 
cooperative, they were only somewhat responsive to these groups' views. 
The PPP-led government delayed or blocked issuance of visas to 
international staff members of organizations whose work challenged the 
image of the government. There were also reports that security agencies 
blocked the issuance of visas for international staff members due to 
concerns about their activities and links to foreign governments.
    Security threats were a problem for NGO workers due to the 
instability in FATA and KP, and organizations that promoted women's 
rights faced particular challenges.
    The government sometimes sought international organization and NGO 
technical cooperation, especially from international NGOs, in the 
fields of humanitarian relief, development, environment, election 
operations, and human trafficking. Human rights groups reported that 
they generally had access to police stations and prisons. The 
government permitted international nongovernmental human rights 
observers to visit the country.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Senate and National Assembly 
Standing Committees on Law, Justice, Minorities, and Human Rights held 
hearings on a range of problems, including honor crimes, police abuse 
of the blasphemy law, and the Hudood Ordinance. The committees served 
as useful fora in which to raise public awareness of such problems, but 
their final decisions generally adhered to government policy. The 
committees did not do more than conduct broad oversight. The 
Parliamentarians' Commission for Human Rights, an interparty caucus of 
parliamentarians, lobbied for reform in several areas.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides for equality for all citizens and broadly 
prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, caste, residence, or 
place of birth; however, in practice there was significant 
discrimination based on each of these factors. Two new laws were passed 
to protect women: one to enhance the penalties for acid attacks, the 
other to criminalize practices intended to prevent women from marrying, 
being given to settle disputes, or inheriting property.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape is a criminal offense, 
with punishment that ranges from a minimum of 10 to 25 years in prison 
and a fine to the death penalty. The penalty for gang rape is either 
death or life imprisonment, but in practice sentences were often less 
severe. Although rape was frequent, prosecutions were rare. Spousal 
rape is not a crime under the current penal code.
    Under the law the crime of rape falls under the jurisdiction of 
criminal rather than Islamic courts. The NGO Aurat Foundation estimated 
that 88 percent of women in prison were convicted of adultery, many of 
them after reporting rape. Under the law in cases of rape police are 
not allowed to arrest or hold a woman overnight at a police station 
without a civil court judge's consent. The law requires a complaint to 
be made directly to a sessions court. After recording the victim's 
statement, the sessions court judge officially lodges a complaint, 
after which police can then make any arrests. While this procedure was 
meant to eliminate problems relating to social norms that make it 
difficult for women to go to the police, NGOs reported that it created 
other barriers for rape victims who did not have money to travel to the 
courts or access to the courts. Rape continued to be a severely 
underreported crime.
    In December 2010 the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) declared several 
clauses of the law un-Islamic and unconstitutional. The verdict sought 
to reinstate certain provisions of the 1979 Hudood Ordinance and expand 
the FSC's jurisdiction in cases of adultery and false accusations of 
adultery. The FSC directed its judgment to the federal government, as 
well as the provincial and Islamabad high courts for implementation. 
The federal government appealed the FSC's decision to the Supreme Court 
in May. The Supreme Court had not set a hearing date by year's end.
    There were no reliable national, provincial, or local statistics on 
rape due to underreporting and the lack of any centralized law 
enforcement data collection system. However, based on media reports, 
the Aurat Foundation estimated that nationally 396 women were raped 
between January and June.
    Prosecutions of reported rapes were rare. Police and NGOs reported 
that false rape charges sometimes were filed in different types of 
disputes, reducing the ability of police to assess real cases and 
proceed with prosecution. NGOs reported that police at times were 
implicated in rape cases. NGOs also alleged that police sometimes 
abused or threatened victims, demanding that they drop charges, 
especially when police received bribes from suspected perpetrators. 
Some police demanded bribes from some victims before registering rape 
charges, and investigations were sometimes superficial. While the use 
of postrape medical testing increased during the year, medical 
personnel in many areas did not have sufficient training or equipment, 
which further complicated prosecutions. Extra judicial resolutions to 
rape accusations were common, with a victim often forced to marry her 
attacker.
    In September the family members of Kainat Soomro, a 2007 gang rape 
victim, were attacked in Karachi. In June 2010 Sabir Soomro, the 
brother of Kainat Soomro was found dead near Khuzdar, Balochistan. The 
family alleged that the perpetrators had been pressuring the family to 
withdraw the case. All four accused men previously had been acquitted 
and released. At the end of June 2010, President Zardari ordered a new 
inquiry; there was no new information on the inquiry at year's end.
    On April 21, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by 
Justice Shakirullah Jan, upheld the original verdict of the Lahore High 
Court in the Mukhtar Mai gang-rape case. Initially 14 defendants were 
charged with either rape or collusion to commit rape; eight of the 
defendants were acquitted in the original trial. Of the six convicted 
of rape by the trial court, five were acquitted on appeal, and the 
sixth had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. In May 
Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan filed a review petition. The petition sought a 
review of the three-member bench decision by a large bench. This 
petition remained pending at year's end.
    Rape by police officials also was a problem (see section 1.c.).
    No specific law prohibits domestic violence, which was a widespread 
and serious problem. Husbands reportedly beat and occasionally killed 
their wives. Other forms of domestic violence included torture, 
physical disfigurement, and shaving the eyebrows and hair off women's 
heads. In-laws abused and harassed the wives of their sons. Dowry and 
family-related disputes often resulted in death or disfigurement by 
burning or acid.
    According to the Aurat Foundation, the media reported 8,539 cases 
of violence against women, a decrease from 2010. The foundation's data 
showed there were reports of 1,575 women killed, 2,089 abducted, 610 
victims of domestic violence, 110 sexually assaulted, 44 victims of 
acid attacks, 29 victims of burning, 827 raped, and 758 as having 
committed suicide. The foundation noted that their analysis attributed 
the reduction in reporting to a declining law and order situation in 
Sindh and Balochistan as well as flooding in July.
    According to a 2008 HRCP report, 80 percent of wives in rural 
Punjab feared violence from their husbands, and nearly 50 percent of 
wives in developed urban areas admitted that their husbands beat them.
    Women who tried to report abuse faced serious challenges. Police 
and judges were sometimes reluctant to take action in domestic violence 
cases, viewing them as family problems. Instead of filing charges, 
police typically responded by encouraging the parties to reconcile. 
Abused women usually were returned to their abusive family members. 
Women were reluctant to pursue charges because of the stigma attached 
to divorce and their economic and psychological dependence on 
relatives. Relatives were hesitant to report abuse due to fear of 
dishonoring the family.
    To address societal norms that frowned on victims who reported 
gender-based violence and abuse, the government established women's 
police stations, staffed by female officers, to offer women a safe 
haven where they could safely report complaints and file charges. Men 
are also able to utilize these police stations. The 12 women's police 
stations in the country were located in Karachi (3), Larkana (1), 
Hyderabad (1), Sukkur (1), Lahore (1), Faisalabad (1), Rawalpindi (1), 
Peshawar (1), Abbottabad (1), Quetta (1), and the Islamabad Capital 
Territory (ICT) in Islamabad City. Women's police stations continued to 
struggle with understaffing and limited equipment. Training for female 
police officers and changing cultural assumptions of male police 
officers also remained challenges. Due to restrictions on women's 
mobility and social pressures related to women's public presence, 
utilization of women's police centers was limited, but NGOs and 
officials reported that use was growing and that more centers were 
needed.
    The government operated the Crisis Center for Women in Distress, 
which referred abused women to NGOs for assistance. A total of 26 
government-funded Shaheed Benazir Bhutto centers for women across the 
country provided women with temporary shelter, legal aid, medical 
treatment, and psychosocial counseling. These centers served women who 
were victims of exploitation and violence. Victims later were referred 
to ``darul aman'' (approximately 200 centers for women and child 
victims established with funds from the Provincial Women Development 
Department). These centers provided shelter, access to medical 
treatment, limited legal representation, and some vocational training. 
Many government centers were full beyond capacity and lacked sufficient 
staff and resources. In some cases women were abused at the government-
run shelters, found their movements severely restricted, or were 
pressured to return to their abusers.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--Women were victims of various types 
of societal violence and abuse, including honor killings; facial, 
bodily, and genital mutilation; forced marriages; imposed isolation; 
and being used to settle disputes. Women often were treated as chattel, 
and perpetrators were often husbands and other male family members.
    Hundreds of women reportedly were victims of honor killings. Many 
cases went unreported and unpunished. The Aurat Foundation reported 382 
honor killings between January and June and estimated that less than 2 
percent of all honor killings were reported. The practice of ``karo-
kari'' continued across the country. (Karo-kari is a form of 
premeditated honor killing that occurs if a tribal court or jirga 
determines that adultery or some other ``crime of honor'' occurred. 
Karo-kari means ``black male'' (karo) and ``black female'' (kari), 
metaphoric terms for someone who has dishonored the family or is an 
adulterer or adulteress.) Once a woman is labeled as a kari, male 
family members have the self-authorized justification to kill her and 
any co-accused karo to restore family honor. In many cases the karo is 
not killed or is able to flee.
    Human rights groups criticized the law banning karo-kari because it 
allows the victim or the victim's heirs to negotiate physical or 
monetary restitution with the perpetrator in exchange for dropping 
charges.
    Police in Sindh established karo-kari cells with a toll-free 
telephone number in the districts of Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, and 
Nausharo Feroze for persons to report karo-kari incidents. Because 
honor crimes generally occurred within families, many went unreported. 
However, police and NGOs reported that increased media coverage enabled 
law enforcement to take some action against a limited number of 
perpetrators.
    The practice of cutting off a woman's nose or ears, especially in 
relation to honor crimes, was reported (also see section 1.c.). For 
example, on June 20, Muhammad Riaz cut off his 22-year-old wife's nose 
before turning himself over to police in Haripur, KP. He accused his 
wife of having an affair.
    Many young girls and women were victims of forced marriages 
arranged by their families. Although forced marriage is a criminal 
offense and many cases were filed, prosecution remained a problem. 
There were reports of citizens abroad bringing their daughters back to 
the country, taking away their legal documents, and forcing them into 
marriage against their will.
    The practice of buying and selling brides also continued in rural 
areas, although prohibited by law. Many tribes, communities, or 
families continued the practice of sequestering women from all contact 
with men other than their relatives. Despite prohibitions on handing 
over women as compensation for crimes or as a resolution of a dispute 
(also known as ``vani'' or ``swara''), the practice continued in Punjab 
and KP. In rural Sindh landowning families continued the practice of 
``marriage to the Qur'an,'' forcing a female family member to stay 
unmarried to avoid division of property. Property of women married to 
the Qur'an remained under the legal control of their fathers or eldest 
brothers, and such women were prohibited from contact with any man 
older than age 14. These women were expected to stay in the home and 
not to contact anyone outside their families.
    In response to these issues, on December 12, the Senate unanimously 
passed the Prevention of Anti-Women Practice Amendment 2008. The law 
criminalizes and punishes giving a female in marriage as consideration 
to settle a civil or criminal dispute; depriving a woman of her rights 
to properly inherit movable or immovable property by deceitful or 
illegal means; coercing or in any manner compelling a woman to enter 
into marriage; and compelling, arranging, or facilitating the marriage 
of a woman with the Qur'an, including forcing her oath on the Qur'an to 
remain unmarried or not to claim her share of an inheritance. During 
the same session the Senate also unanimously passed the Acid Control 
and Acid Crime Practice Bill 2010, which makes maiming or killing via 
corrosive substance a crime and imposes stiff penalties against 
perpetrators. These laws are not applicable to FATA and PATA unless the 
president issues a notification in this regard.
    A third bill, passed on December 13, promises economic and other 
support to women in prison who are unable to defend themselves legally 
or post bail for lack of familial support and funds.
    NGOs and women's activists stressed that while these laws were 
positive steps, implementation remained a serious challenge.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment was a widespread problem. 
Press reports indicated that harassment was especially high among 
domestic workers and nurses. In a survey conducted by the Daily Times 
in August 2010, female government and private sector employees 
complained about the abusive behavior of their male colleagues and 
senior officials. They said some officers sought ``undue favors'' by 
blocking salaries, benefits, promotions, transfers, and postings.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide the number, spacing, and timing of children but often lacked the 
information and means to do so. Young girls and women were especially 
vulnerable to problems related to sexual and reproductive health and 
reproductive rights. They often lacked information and means to access 
care. Spousal opposition also contributed to the challenges women faced 
in obtaining contraception or delaying pregnancy. Access by women, 
particularly in rural areas, to health and reproductive rights 
education remained difficult due to social constraints. For these same 
reasons data collection was also difficult.
    Only 39 percent of births took place in the presence of a skilled 
birth attendant; within the poorest 20 percent of the population, this 
figure dropped to 16 percent. According to the 2006-2007 Demographic 
and Health Survey, 35 percent of women received no prenatal care. 
According to UNICEF's data, 61 percent of woman received antenatal care 
at least once during their pregnancy or delivery, with only 28 percent 
receiving it four times or more.
    According to UNICEF's 2009 State of the World's Children Report, 
the country had a maternal mortality rate of 276 deaths per 100,000 
live births; the high rate was attributed to lack of information and 
services. Women in rural areas were at twice the risk of dying of 
birth-related causes than women in urban areas (maternal mortality 
rates of 319 and 175 deaths per 100,000 live births, respectively). The 
rate increased to 785 deaths per 100,000 live births in Balochistan 
Province. Few women in rural areas had access to skilled attendants 
during childbirth, including essential obstetrics and postpartum care. 
According to UNICEF the situation for mothers and children in the 
country was complicated by deteriorating security, which caused 
displacement and affected access to medical services, especially in KP 
and FATA.
    According to a 2007 U.N. Population Fund estimate, only 17 percent 
of the country's women between the ages of 15 and 24 knew that a person 
could reduce HIV risk through condom use. Women were less likely than 
men to be diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, 
due to the social stigma attached to visiting a doctor, among other 
factors. According to the UNAIDS 2009 report, the country had an 
estimated 98,000 HIV cases, of which approximately 28,000 were women 
age 15 or older; the National Aids Control Program (NACP) estimated 
that only 5 percent of cases were actually recorded. Although HIV 
prevalence among women was less than 1 percent, some groups of women, 
including professional prostitutes, women, and girls forced into 
prostitution, and wives of migrant workers were highly vulnerable.

    Discrimination.--Women also faced legal and economic 
discrimination. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, 
but in practice authorities did not enforce this provision. Women faced 
discrimination in family law, property law, and the judicial system. 
Family law provides protection for women in cases of divorce, including 
requirements for maintenance, and lays out clear guidelines for custody 
of minor children and their maintenance. However, many women were 
unaware of these legal protections or unable to obtain legal counsel to 
enforce them. Divorced women were often left with no means of support, 
as their families ostracized them. Women are legally free to marry 
without family consent, but women who did so often were ostracized or 
faced becoming the victims of honor crimes.
    The inheritance law also clearly discriminates against women; 
however, the 2008 Anti-Women Practices Act, passed in December, made it 
illegal to deny women's inheritance of property by deceitful means. 
Female children are entitled to one-half the inheritance of male 
children. Wives inherit one-eighth of their husband's estate. In 
practice women often received far less than their legal entitlement.
    Women also faced significant discrimination in employment and 
frequently were paid less than men for similar work. In many rural 
areas of the country, strong societal pressure prevented women from 
working outside the home. Some tribes continued the traditional 
practice of sequestering women from all contact with men other than 
relatives.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth in 
the country; however, for children born abroad after 2000, citizenship 
can be derived by descent, if either the mother or the father is a 
citizen and the child is registered with the proper authorities (see 
section 2.d., Protection of Refugees, for an exception regarding Afghan 
refugees).
    Reporting of births is voluntary, and records are not kept 
uniformly, particularly in rural areas where children are born at home. 
In lieu of a birth certificate, individuals often used school records 
attested to by the headmaster or principal of the school, or 
matriculation certificates, both of which identify the father and the 
date of birth. NADRA issues identity documents, including birth 
certificates, and uses mobile teams to register children in rural 
areas. The number of unregistered births was not available. While the 
government reported that more than 75 percent of the population was 
registered, actual figures may be lower. Public services, such as 
education and health care, were available to children without a birth 
certificate.

    Education.--The constitution mandates that the government provide 
free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of five 
and 16. In practice government schools often charged parents for the 
cost of books, uniforms, and other materials. Parents of lower economic 
means sometimes chose to send children to madrassahs, where they 
received free room and board, or to NGO-operated schools.
    According to government estimates (2009-10), 57.7 percent of the 
population over age 10 was literate and 45.3 percent of women were 
literate, reflecting more limited educational access for girls. Many 
NGOs believed that the actual percentages were much lower, particularly 
in rural and tribal areas. More than 40 percent of girls never enroll 
in school.
    The biggest barrier to girls' education was the lack of access. 
Public schools, particularly beyond the primary grades, were not 
available in many rural areas, and those that existed were often too 
far away for a girl to travel unaccompanied. In addition, despite 
cultural beliefs that boys and girls should be educated separately 
after primary school, the government often failed to take measures to 
provide separate restroom facilities or separate classrooms, and there 
were more government schools for boys than for girls. The attendance 
rates for girls in primary, secondary, and postsecondary schools were 
lower than for boys across the board.

    Medical Care.--Although boys and girls had equal access to 
government facilities, families were more likely to seek medical 
assistance for boys.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse was widespread. Young girls and boys used 
as domestic servants were abused, beaten, and made to work long hours 
by employers, who in some cases were relatives. According to an August 
26 article in Dawn, more than 170,000 children lived on the streets. Up 
to 90 percent were abused sexually on the first night that they slept 
outside, and 60 percent accused police of sexually abusing them.
    The penal code defines statutory rape as sexual intercourse with a 
female younger than age 16. The punishment for rape is death or 10 to 
25 years' imprisonment and a fine. Gang rape is punishable by death or 
life imprisonment.
    There were no known limits on child IDPs' access to government 
services, although some civil society organizations demanded 
improvement in these services.

    Child Marriage.--Despite legal prohibitions, child marriages 
occurred. The act sets the legal age of marriage at 18 for men and 16 
for women and prescribes punishment and fines, ranging from 
imprisonment up to a month, 1,000 rupees ($11), or both. In practice 
the penalties were too low to have any deterrent effect.
    A World Population Foundation survey in 2009 found that 49 percent 
of women between the ages of 20 and 24 were married before the age of 
18. In 2008 the Family Planning Association of Pakistan estimated that 
child marriages made up 32 percent of marriages in the country. In 
rural areas poor parents sometimes sold their daughters into marriage, 
in some cases to settle debts or disputes.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Child pornography is illegal 
under obscenity laws. Children were sold into prostitution (see section 
7.c.). Socioeconomic vulnerabilities led to the sexual exploitation of 
children, as well as the trafficking of children for sexual 
exploitation. Many children working in exploitative begging situations 
at bus terminals and on the side of the road were abused sexually and 
physically.
    Karachi and interior Sindh saw an increase in cases of sexual abuse 
of children in madrassahs. A tribal council in Jacobabad charged a 
local Deobandi cleric with confining and sexually abusing a young girl 
for a period of one year at the madrassah he operated. On December 13, 
Sindh police raided a Deobandi madrassah on the outskirts of Karachi 
and discovered 68 captive boys, many of whom reported sexual abuse by 
the custodians of the madrassah.

    Infanticide.--According to the Edhi Foundation, only 480 dead 
infants were recovered during the year, a decrease from 1,210 dead 
infants found during 2010. An Edhi Foundation official stated that they 
believed the decrease resulted from increased police. The death toll 
was greater among girls; nine of 10 dead infants that the charity found 
were girls. Edhi reported that up to 200 infants were left in its 400 
cradles nationwide each year and that it handled thousands of requests 
for adoption by childless couples. By law anyone found to have 
abandoned an infant can be jailed for seven years, while anyone guilty 
of secretly burying a child can be imprisoned for two years. Murder is 
punishable by life imprisonment, but the crime of infanticide was 
rarely prosecuted.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For information see the Department of State's report on 
compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--
3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no known Jewish communities in the 
country. Anti-Semitic sentiments were widespread in the vernacular 
press. In one case the magazine Nazaria-e-Pakistan published an article 
containing claims that ``Judaism and Brahmanism are names for racism'' 
and referring to ``the international Jewish drama of 9/11.''

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law provides for equality of the 
rights of persons with disabilities, but the provisions were not always 
implemented in practice. After dissolution of the Ministry of Social 
Welfare and Special Education in April, its affiliated departments, 
including the Directorate General for Special Education, National 
Council for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (NCRD), and National 
Trust for the Disabled, were handed over to the Capital Administration 
and Development Division. The special education and social welfare 
offices were devolved to the provinces and are responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
    In the provinces social welfare departments worked for the welfare 
and education of persons with disabilities. In Sindh the minister for 
bonded labor and special education is mandated to address the 
educational needs of persons with disabilities. At the higher-education 
level, special departments provided special education at Allama Iqbal 
Open University, the University of the Punjab, and Karachi University. 
According to the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, most children with 
disabilities did not attend school; at the primary level specifically 
the percentages for those out of school were 50 percent for girls and 
28 percent for boys.
    The government declared the federal capital and provincial capitals 
as disabled-friendly cities and granted permission to persons with 
disabilities to take central superior service exams. It also 
established 127 special education centers in main cities. Employment 
quotas at the federal and provincial levels require public and private 
organizations to reserve at least 2 percent of jobs for qualified 
persons with disabilities. In practice this right was protected only 
partially due to a lack of adequate enforcement mechanisms. Families 
cared for most individuals with physical and mental disabilities. In 
some cases criminals forced persons with disabilities into begging and 
took most of the proceeds they received.
    Organizations that refused to hire persons with disabilities could 
choose to pay a fine to a disability assistance fund. This obligation 
rarely was enforced. The NCRD provided job placement and loan 
facilities as well as subsistence funding. There were no restrictions 
on the rights of persons with disabilities to vote or participate in 
civil affairs. However, voting was difficult for persons with 
disabilities because of severe difficulties in obtaining transportation 
and access to polling stations.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Systematic discrimination 
against national, ethnic, and racial minorities was widely acknowledged 
privately, but insufficient data existed for accurate reporting on 
these forms of discrimination.
    Consensual same-sex sexual conduct is a criminal offense; in 
practice, the government rarely prosecuted cases. Gay men and lesbians 
rarely revealed their sexual orientation. No laws protect against 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. 
Systematic discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender persons was widely acknowledged privately, but insufficient 
data existed for accurate reporting on these forms of discrimination.
    Society generally shunned transgender, eunuchs, and hermaphrodites, 
referred to as ``hijras,'' who often lived together in slum communities 
and survived by begging and dancing at carnivals and weddings. Some 
also were involved in prostitution. Hijras often were denied places in 
schools or admission to hospitals, and landlords often refused to rent 
or sell property to them. Hijras' families often denied them their fair 
share of inherited property.
    On November 14, the Supreme Court ordered the national Election 
Commission to reach out to the hijra community and register them to 
vote in advance of the March 2012 Senate elections.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Societal attitudes 
toward HIV-positive individuals were changing, but social 
discrimination continued. Cases of discrimination often went unreported 
due to the stigma faced by HIV/AIDS patients. In addition to operating 
treatment centers, the NACP held rallies and public campaigns and spoke 
in mosques about birth control and AIDS awareness. The Ministry of 
Health established 13 HIV treatment and care centers nationwide, which 
provided comprehensive HIV care services.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The constitution states that ``every citizen shall have the right to 
form associations or unions, subject to any reasonable restriction 
imposed by law.'' The 18th amendment to the constitution devolved 
matters pertaining to labor legislation and policies to the four 
provinces. It stipulated that in the interim period, laws would remain 
in force ``until altered, repealed, or amended by the competent 
authority,'' that is, the provincial governments. Under the 18th 
amendment, devolution was completed on June 30.
    The International Labor Organization (ILO) noted that the passage 
of provincial Industrial Relations Acts (IRAs) governing labor 
relations took place without tripartite consultation and without 
resolution of identified weaknesses and ambiguity in the former federal 
legislation, including the inability of agricultural workers to form 
worker associations. At the provincial levels, collective bargaining 
rights continued to exclude banking and financial sector workers, 
forestry workers, hospital workers, self-employed farmers, and persons 
employed in an administrative capacity or managerial capacity whose 
wages exceeded 8,000 rupees ($89) per month.
    Despite passage of the four provincial-level IRAs, there was no 
federal-level law covering nationwide or transprovincial unions between 
April 2010 and July 2011, meaning that such organizations had no 
authority to exist and no mandate. This legal gap included unions at 
nationwide entities such as Pakistan International Airlines and the 
Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).
    In addition labor unions and activists noted that without any 
federal-level legislation or federal-level entity responsible for 
labor, the continued existence of the National Industrial Relations 
Commission (NIRC) stood in question, and there was no government 
representative to respond to or negotiate with international labor 
bodies such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World 
Trade Organization, or the U.N. on international commitments signed by 
the government. As a result the president issued the Industrial 
Relations Ordinance in July, which was extended in November until March 
7, 2012, with no possibility of further extension. The National 
Assembly did not pass a federal bill to cover the ICT and 
transprovincial unions by year's end. Labor organizations noted that if 
no federal-level legislation was passed before the ordinance expires in 
March 2012, the NIRC would cease to exist. Additionally, without 
federal-level legislation there would be no labor law in the ICT, no 
entity capable of bilateral or multilevel labor-related negotiations, 
no single clearinghouse to ensure compliance with international norms, 
and no legal umbrella for transprovincial unions (and all unions 
registered in the ICT). By year's end there was no settled mechanism 
for resolving interprovincial inequities or disputes, or nationwide 
labor questions involving large corporations or groups of workers.
    In addition to these concerns, labor unions and worker 
organizations noted several deficiencies in the provincial IRAs, 
including Sindh's adoption of the federal legislation without 
modification of the language to reflect that it was now a provincial 
law, and Punjab's IRA, which prohibits labor organization in companies 
with fewer than 50 workers. Worker organizations also noted that 
capacity and funding for labor relations implementation at the 
provincial level was limited and that there was controversy over the 
federal government's decision to maintain control of the Workers 
Welfare Fund and Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution.
    Laws in place at the time of devolution not ``altered, repealed, or 
amended by the competent authority'' remained in effect. One such law 
prohibits state administrators, government and state enterprises, and 
workers in export processing zones (EPZs) from collective bargaining 
and striking, as well as strikes by public sector workers and workers 
in nonessential services. While still in effect, labor groups reported 
that the law was not applied during the year. The provincial industrial 
relations acts also address and limit strikes and lockouts. For 
example, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Industrial Relations Act specifies that 
where any ``strike or lockout lasts for more than 30 days, the 
government may, by order in writing, prohibit the strike or lockout'' 
and must then refer the dispute to a labor court.
    Other federal-level laws also define illegal strikes, picketing, 
and other types of protests as ``civil commotion,'' which carries a 
penalty of up to life imprisonment; deems any gathering of four or more 
persons subject to police authorization, a provision that authorities 
may use against trade union gatherings. Devolution did not alter the 
federal government's authority on criminal matters.
    Labor groups, international organizations, and NGOs continued to 
express concern about the devolution of the laws, noting that certain 
labor issues, including minimum wages, worker rights, national labor 
standards, and observance of international labor conventions, should 
remain within the purview of the federal government. Observers also 
continued to raise concerns about the provinces' varying capacity and 
commitment to adopt and enforce adequate labor laws. In 2010 labor 
unions filed two petitions challenging the full devolution of labor 
issues to the provinces; the petitions remained pending at year's end.
    Labor leaders also stressed the need for legislation to cover the 
rights of workers in the informal and agricultural sectors.
    Enforcement of labor laws remained weak, in large part due to lack 
of resources and political will. Although some unions were affiliated 
with political parties, most functioned independently of government and 
political party influence. Labor leaders anecdotally raised concerns 
about the use of ``yellow unions'' by employers to prevent effective 
unionization.
    There were no reported incidents of the government dissolving a 
union without due process.
    Unions were able to organize large-scale strikes. Widespread 
protests in October by the Pakistan Electric Power Corporation (PEPCO) 
and WAPDA labor unions against PEPCO's dissolution resulted in 
President Zardari intervening and delaying the dissolution and power-
sector reform process. In July doctors in Islamabad went on strike for 
nearly two months to protest pay and contract benefits, health-service 
structures, and the failure to convert contractors to direct hires. 
Indefinite intermittent strikes by medical workers, including doctors 
and paramedical, clerical, nursing, and janitorial staff, continued at 
year's end.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, cancels all existing bonded 
labor debts, forbids lawsuits for the recovery of such debts, and 
establishes the district vigilance committee system to implement the 
act. The ILO noted that federal and provincial acts prohibit employees 
from leaving their employment without the consent of the employer, or 
from striking, as doing so subjects them to penalties of imprisonment 
that may involve compulsory labor.
    The federal law largely was unenforced by the government due to 
technical flaws, federal and local government structural changes, and a 
lack of budget implementation. As a result, when law enforcement 
officers registered bonded labor offenses, they did so under other 
sections of the penal code, including kidnapping and illegal 
confinement.
    The use of forced and bonded labor continued to be widespread and 
was common in many industries across the country. NGOs reported that 
more than one million persons were in bondage, primarily in Sindh and 
Punjab. A large proportion of bonded laborers were low-caste Hindus as 
well as Christians and Muslims with lower socioeconomic backgrounds. 
Bonded labor was most common in agriculture and the brick, glass, 
carpet, and fishing industries. Bonded laborers often were unable to 
determine when their debts were fully paid, in part because contracts 
were rare and employers were able to take advantage of bonded laborers' 
illiteracy to alter debt amounts or the price laborers paid for seed 
and fertilizer. In some cases landowners restricted laborers' movements 
with armed guards or sold laborers to other employers for the price of 
the laborers' debt.
    Boys and girls also were bought, sold, rented, or kidnapped to work 
in organized, illegal begging rings, domestic servitude, and 
agriculture as bonded laborers. Illegal labor agents charged high fees 
to parents with false promises of decent work for their children, who 
later were exploited and subjected to forced labor in domestic 
servitude, unskilled labor, small shops, and other sectors. NGOs and 
police reported markets where girls and women were bought and sold for 
labor.
    Some bonded laborers returned to their former status after they 
were free, due to a lack of alternative employment options. Ties 
between landowners, industry owners, and influential politicians 
hampered effective elimination of the problem. For example, some local 
police were unable to pursue landowners or brick-kiln owners 
effectively because they believed that their efforts to carry out 
investigations according to the law would not be supported by higher-
ranking police officers who would be pressured by politicians or the 
owners themselves.
    The KP, Punjab, and Sindh ministries of labor continued to register 
brick kilns and workers to regulate the industry better and ensure that 
workers had access to labor courts and other services. The Punjab 
Department of Labor also continued a project to combat bonded labor in 
brick kilns, through which it helped brick-kiln workers obtain national 
identity cards and interest-free loans, and also opened schools at 
brick kiln sites.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
constitution expressly prohibits the employment of children below the 
age of 14 in any factory, mine, or other hazardous site. However, there 
is no minimum age for work in nonhazardous sectors.
    The law limits a child's workday to seven hours, including a one-
hour break after three hours of labor, and sets permissible times of 
day for work and time off. Children are not allowed to work overtime or 
at night, and a child should have one day off per week. In addition the 
law requires employers to keep a register of children working for them 
for labor inspectors to verify. These prohibitions and regulations do 
not apply to family businesses or government schools.
    The law protects all children younger than age 18 from exploitation 
and defines exploitative entertainment as all activities related to 
human sports or sexual practices and other abusive practices. Parents 
who exploit their children are also liable under the law. The law makes 
bonded labor by children punishable by up to five years in prison and 
50,000 rupees ($556) in fines. The law prohibits the employment of 
children younger than 14 in factories, mines, railways, rag-picking, 
port areas, fireworks, and other hazardous occupations, and it 
regulates their work conditions. The government considers four 
occupations and 34 processes illegal for children, including street 
vending, surgical instrument manufacturing, deep-sea fishing, leather 
manufacturing, brick making, production of soccer balls, and carpet 
weaving. Despite this, there were reports of children working in all of 
these areas.
    The Ministry of Labor, Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanis had a 
small group of specialized labor inspectors empowered to inspect all 
facilities under the child labor law. In reality enforcement efforts 
were not adequate to meet the scale of the problem. Inspectors had 
little training and insufficient resources and were susceptible to 
corruption. Devolution also compounded these problems. Authorities 
allowed NGOs to perform inspections without interference, and SPARC 
noted that government officials usually cooperated with their visits.
    Authorities often did not impose penalties on violators; when they 
did, the penalties were not a significant deterrent. Although 
authorities obtained hundreds of convictions for violations of child 
labor laws, the fines were generally considered too low to deter 
violations.
    Due to weak government enforcement of child labor laws, child labor 
remained pervasive. NGOs and government sources noted that the 2010 and 
2011 floods proved devastating for children, with the destruction of 
schools and dire financial situations compelling families to put 
children to work. According to the HRCP and SPARC, there were 10 
million to 11.5 million child laborers, many of them in agriculture and 
domestic work.
    Approximately 70 percent of nonagricultural child labor took place 
in small workshops, complicating efforts to enforce child labor laws, 
since by law inspectors may not inspect facilities employing fewer than 
10 persons.
    Children were forced to work in the brick-kiln, glass bangle, and 
carpet-weaving industries, as well as agriculture, as part of 
fulfilling their families' debt obligation to feudal landowners or 
brick-kiln owners. UNICEF estimated the number of children working in 
brick kilns at 250,000. In a March 2009 report, the National Coalition 
against Child Labor stated that there were 1.7 million persons in 
bonded labor in the agricultural sector, including children.
    Poor rural families sometimes sold their children into domestic 
servitude or other types of work, or paid agents to arrange for such 
work, often believing that their children would work under decent 
conditions. Some children sent to work for relatives or acquaintances 
in exchange for education or other opportunities ended up in 
exploitative conditions or forced labor.
    Children also were kidnapped and/or sold into organized begging 
rings, domestic servitude, and child prostitution.
    See the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The federally set minimum wage 
for unskilled workers is 7,000 rupees ($78) per month, increased in 
2010 from the previous wage of 6,000 ($67) per month. Provincial 
governments' minimum wage boards set skilled and semiskilled sector 
minimum wages. The sectors specified and minimum wages vary by 
province. The government's 2011 Economic Survey considered the poverty 
line to be 3,389 rupees ($37.68) per month. Significant sectors of the 
workforce, including those in the informal sector, domestic servants, 
and agricultural workers, were not covered by minimum wage laws.
    The law provides for a maximum workweek of 48 hours (54 hours for 
seasonal factories) with rest periods during the workday and paid 
annual holidays. Additional benefits required under the labor code 
include official government holidays, overtime pay, annual and sick 
leave, health care, education for workers' children, social security, 
old age benefits, and a workers' welfare fund.
    These regulations do not apply to agricultural workers, workers in 
factories with fewer than 10 employees, domestic workers, or 
contractors. In addition such workers do not have the right to access 
``worker courts'' to seek redress of grievances and were otherwise 
extremely vulnerable to exploitation. The inapplicability of many labor 
laws and the lack of enforcement by the government gave employers in 
many sectors relative impunity with regard to working conditions, 
treatment, work hours, and pay.
    Provincial governments have primary responsibility for enforcing 
national labor regulations. Enforcement was ineffective due to limited 
resources, corruption, and inadequate regulatory structures. In both 
Sindh and Punjab, provincial policies against surprise inspections 
severely limited effective enforcement. Balochistan and KP continued to 
allow surprise inspections. Many workers remained unaware of their 
rights, especially in the informal sectors. Given the serious 
restrictions on labor inspections and the impact of limited resources 
and corruption, inspections and concomitant penalties were insufficient 
to deter violations of labor laws.
    Health and safety standards were poor in all sectors. There was a 
serious lack of adherence to mine safety and health protocols. For 
example, many mines had only one opening for entry, egress, and 
ventilation. Workers could not remove themselves from dangerous working 
conditions without risking loss of employment. Informal sector 
employees faced multiple precarious situations, particularly in less 
visible, informal sectors such as domestic work. There were no official 
statistics on workplace fatalities and accidents during the year.

                               __________

                               SRI LANKA

                           executive summary
    Sri Lanka is a constitutional, multiparty republic. President 
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was reelected to a second six-year term in 
January 2010, and the parliament, which was elected in April 2010, 
share constitutional power. The government is dominated by the 
president's family; two of the president's brothers hold key executive 
branch posts as defense secretary and minister of economic development, 
while a third brother is the speaker of parliament. A large number of 
other relatives, including the president's son, also serve in important 
political or diplomatic positions. Independent observers generally 
characterized the presidential and parliamentary elections as 
problematic. Both elections were fraught with violations of the 
election law by all major parties and were influenced by the governing 
coalition's massive use of state resources. There were instances in 
which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    The major human rights problems were unlawful killings by security 
forces and government-allied paramilitary groups, often in 
predominantly Tamil areas, which led many to regard them as politically 
motivated, and attacks on and harassment of civil society activists, 
persons viewed as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sympathizers, 
and journalists by persons allegedly tied to the government, which 
created an environment of fear and self-censorship.
    Other serious human rights problems included disappearances, as 
well as a lack of accountability for thousands who disappeared in 
previous years. Security forces tortured and abused detainees, poor 
prison conditions remained a problem, and authorities arbitrarily 
arrested and detained citizens. A number of suspects detained by police 
or other security forces died under questionable circumstances. Lengthy 
pretrial detention was a problem. Denial of fair public trial remained 
a problem, and the judiciary was subject to executive influence. The 
government infringed on citizens' privacy rights. There were some 
restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, and 
movement. Infringement on freedom of movement was less frequent than in 
2010. While citizens were generally able to travel almost anywhere in 
the island, police and military checkpoints were still widespread in 
the north and east, and numerous high security zones and other areas 
remained off-limits to citizens. Authorities harassed journalists 
critical of the government and self-censorship was widespread. The 
president used his authority under the September 2010 18th Amendment to 
take greater control of appointments to previously independent public 
institutions that oversee the judiciary, the police, and human rights. 
The president now holds the authority to name all members to the 
Constitutional Council and its subsidiary councils, with only the 
requirement to ``seek advice,'' but not approval, of parliament. Doubts 
remained about the fairness of both the 2010 presidential and 
parliamentary elections due to election law violations and government 
influence. Lack of government transparency was a serious problem. 
Violence and discrimination against women were problems, as were abuse 
of children and trafficking in persons. Discrimination against persons 
with disabilities and against the ethnic Tamil minority continued, and 
a disproportionate number of victims of human rights violations were 
Tamils. Discrimination against persons based on their sexual 
orientation and against persons with HIV/AIDS were problems. Limits on 
workers' rights and child labor remained problems.
    The government prosecuted a very small number of officials 
implicated in human rights abuses but had yet to hold anyone 
accountable for alleged violations of international humanitarian law 
and international human rights law that occurred during the conflict. 
Official impunity for a wide range of human rights abuses, particularly 
in cases of police torture, corruption, and attacks on media 
institutions, was a problem.
    During the year unknown actors suspected of association with 
progovernment paramilitary groups committed killings, assaults, and 
intimidation of civilians. There were persistent reports of close, 
ground-level ties between paramilitary groups and government security 
forces.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were a number 
of reports that the government, its agents, or its paramilitary allies 
committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, but reliable statistics on 
such killings were difficult to obtain because past complainants were 
killed and some families feared reprisals if they filed complaints.
    Among these arbitrary or unlawful killings, there were increased 
reports of suspects detained by police or other security forces who 
died under questionable circumstances. For example, on July 3, Neluwa 
Priyantha died in the custody of members of the Special Task Force 
(STF) while he was showing them a house where he hid weapons.
    There were several instances in which police were held accountable 
for unlawful killings. On September 29, trishaw driver G.A. Gayan 
Rasanga was arrested in Dompe on theft charges and reportedly tortured 
to death by the police. A Criminal Investigations Department (CID) 
investigation into the incident resulted in the arrest of five police 
officers. The police were prosecuted, and the case continued in a 
magistrate's court at year's end.
    According to official accounts, security forces took some suspects 
to the scenes of their alleged crimes and then shot and killed them 
while they allegedly were trying to escape. On October 3, Lalith 
Susantha, a suspect in the killing of a police officer, allegedly 
drowned in the Bolgoda Lake while showing the police where the murder 
weapon was hidden.
    The overall number of extrajudicial killings decreased from the 
previous year. Nevertheless, during the year, and particularly in the 
beginning of the year, unknown actors suspected of association with 
progovernment paramilitary groups committed killings and assaulted 
civilians. These included the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, 
associated with former LTTE eastern commander and now Deputy Minister 
of Resettlement Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, alias ``Karuna,'' as well 
as Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias ``Pillaiyan,'' in the east, and 
the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), led by Minister of Social 
Services and Social Welfare Douglas Devananda, in Jaffna. These and 
other progovernment paramilitary gangs and parties also were active in 
Mannar and Vavuniya. All of these groups endeavored to operate 
political organizations, some with more success than others, and there 
were persistent reports of close, ground-level ties between 
paramilitary groups and government security forces. Whereas these 
groups served more of a military function during the war, often working 
in coordination with security forces, during the year they increasingly 
took on the characteristics of criminal gangs as they sought to 
solidify their territory and revenue sources in the postwar 
environment.
    While some killings were criminal acts, others appeared to be 
politically motivated, targeting persons believed to be LTTE 
sympathizers. For example, on June 26, Jaffna residents found former 
LTTE combatant Balachchandran Satkunarasa hanged from a soccer goal 
post.
    On December 29, an army soldier manning a checkpoint post in 
Poonakari reportedly shot and killed a traveler after he refused to 
hand over his motorbike to the soldier. The soldier was killed in a 
confrontation with fellow soldiers following the incident.
    Britain's Channel 4 broadcast a report in 2009 on events at the end 
of the war, followed by a more extensive documentary made available 
worldwide on the Internet June 14 entitled ``Sri Lanka's Killing 
Fields,'' which purported to show graphic evidence of army forces 
committing human rights violations, including footage of extrajudicial 
executions. The government claimed that its investigations showed that 
the video was a fake, and that those filmed were actually LTTE members 
wearing uniforms to impersonate army soldiers while carrying out the 
executions. The U.N. special investigator into extrajudicial killings 
in Sri Lanka, Christof Heyns, told the U.N. Human Rights Council on May 
30 that forensic and technical experts concluded that the video was 
authentic and that the events reflected in the video occurred as 
depicted. The report of the domestic Lessons Learned and Reconciliation 
Commission (LLRC), publicly released December 16, questioned the 
findings of the UN-commissioned experts and recommended that the 
government ``institute an independent investigation into this issue 
[the video]. and take action in accordance with the laws of the land.''
    On May 12, former army intelligence officer Kandegedara Priyawansa 
told a magistrate that a Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) officer 
in charge instructed Priyawansa to claim that a top army official was 
involved in the 2009 killing of the former chief editor of the Sunday 
Leader newspaper, Lasantha Wickrematunga, by four assailants. The main 
suspect in Wickrematunga's killing, Pitchai Jesudasan, reportedly died 
of a heart attack in Colombo on October 15. The suspect was in jail for 
more than two years and was apprehended for allegedly possessing 
Wickrematunga's subscriber identity module (SIM) card. Human rights 
observers expressed skepticism about the significance of any role 
Jesudasan had in Wickrematunga's death.

    b. Disappearance.--Enforced and involuntary disappearances 
continued to be a problem, although the number of such disappearances 
appeared to decline from previous years. Many disappearances appeared 
to be politically motivated, but during the year there also were 
increasing reports of disappearances connected with extortion and other 
criminal activity, sometimes involving government actors.
    Local residents blamed abductions in the Jaffna Peninsula on 
security forces or members of the EPDP. Some disappearances appeared to 
be politically motivated, targeting civil society activists and persons 
believed to be LTTE sympathizers. On December 9, Lalith Kumar Weeraraj 
and Kugan Muruganandan, two activists from the dissident section of the 
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) opposition party, disappeared in Jaffna 
after leaving their residence. Muruganandan's motorbike was later found 
by the police. Weeraraj had been active in raising human rights 
concerns faced by the Tamil people, such as disappearance and detention 
issues. He had been threatened, assaulted, and detained by security 
forces on previous occasions. On December 15, cabinet spokesperson 
Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the media that the two activists had 
not disappeared but that ``they are here'' without specifying a 
location. The activists remained missing at year's end.
    There were reports of abductions and beatings of released former 
combatants. For example, Jaffna University student and ex-LTTE 
combatant Vetharaniyam Lathees was abducted on November 27 following a 
candlelight vigil in commemoration of LTTE ``Martyrs' Day'' and 
released the following day. As of year's end, he had not disclosed who 
abducted or released him.
    In July a police official told the media that a report compiled by 
the police department found that 1,700 persons were abducted in 2009-
10, including 926 abducted in 2009 and 774 abducted in 2010. According 
to police, most of the abductions appeared motivated by extortion. 
Police took legal action in 275 cases, while 202 suspects were yet to 
be identified. In its annual report released January 26, the U.N. 
Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances noted 5,653 
outstanding cases from Sri Lanka as of the end of 2010.
    The LLRC stated in its December report to the president that it was 
``alarmed by a large number of representations made alleging 
abductions, enforced or involuntary disappearances, and arbitrary 
detention'' and stated that the government is therefore ``duty bound to 
direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to 
ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and 
perpetrators brought to justice.''
    There was no significant progress made with regard to the thousands 
of disappearances from past years. There was an instance where an 
investigation into a disappearance clarified the fate of the missing 
person: on July 28, police found the body of the managing trustee of 
the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Community Trust Fund (CTF), 
Pattani Razeek, who had disappeared in February 2010. Police arrested a 
former CTF employee Shahabdeen Nowshaadh on July 8 and another suspect, 
Ismail Mohamed Musdeen, on July 13. Nowshaadh was released on bail, and 
Musdeen remained in Mahara Remand Prison at year's end. The case was 
scheduled to be heard in court in February 2012.
    There was no significant progress in the case of Prageeth 
Ekneligoda, a journalist and cartoonist for Lanka-e-news, who 
disappeared in January 2010, just before the presidential election. On 
August 22, a court of appeal directed the Homagama Magistrate to 
inquire into Ekneligoda's disappearance and present its findings in 
January 2012. On November 11, Mohan Pieris, the senior legal advisor to 
the cabinet and former attorney general, claimed in a question-and-
answer session following a presentation to the U.N. Committee against 
Torture (CAT) that Ekneligoda was alive, had secretly left Sri Lanka, 
and was living abroad. A November 15 news Web site report alleged, 
however, that United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) member of 
parliament (MP) Duminda Silva's assistant, Dematagoda Chaminda, told 
CID officers that he and his associates dumped Ekneligoda's body in the 
sea at the direction of Silva, under orders from Defense Secretary 
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Chaminda had been arrested in connection with the 
October 8 killing of a former MP, Bharata Lakshman Premachandra (see 
section 3).
    On July 11, the Ministry of Defense published the results of a 
UNICEF report on the work of the Family Tracing Unit. The unit received 
nearly 2,500 tracing requests since its establishment in 2009, of which 
676 concerned children. Approximately 10 percent of these children 
later were matched with children's names found in hospital and other 
records. According to UNICEF data, 64 percent of the children had been 
recruited by the LTTE prior to their disappearance. In July the 
government authorized UNICEF to establish additional family tracing 
units in the north of the country. UNICEF still had a caseload of 1,373 
missing children recruited by the LTTE during the cease-fire period.
    Aside from the Razeek case, the government did not publish the 
results of any investigations into past disappearances, nor did it 
publish information on any indictments or convictions of anyone 
involved in cases related to disappearances.
    There was no progress in solving the 2009 disappearance of Stephen 
Sunthararaj, project manager at the Center for Human Rights and 
Development. Sunthararaj was held by police without charges beginning 
in February of that year and was abducted by four persons in a white 
van wearing army uniforms shortly after he was released on a court 
order.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law makes torture a punishable offense and mandates a 
sentence of not less than seven years' imprisonment. However, there 
were credible reports that security forces tortured and abused 
citizens.
    The CAT considered the combined third and fourth periodic reports 
of Sri Lanka on November 8 and 9 and adopted its concluding 
observations on November 22 and 23. The committee expressed serious 
concern ``about the continued and consistent allegations of widespread 
use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of 
suspects in police custody.'' Other concerns included the lack of 
information on the implementation of the Convention against Torture; 
failure to uphold judicial and procedural safeguards of detainees; 
reports of secret detention centers; enforced disappearances; the 
replacement of the Emergency Regulations with problematic Prevention of 
Terrorism Act (PTA) regulations; intimidation and harassment of human 
rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and others; overcrowding and 
poor conditions in prisons; impunity for acts of torture; and a lack of 
witness protection.
    The Freedom from Torture (FFT) submission to the CAT for its 
examination of Sri Lanka concluded based on evidence in medico-legal 
reports that ``torture perpetrated by state actors within both the 
military and police has continued in Sri Lanka after the conflict ended 
in May 2009 and is still occurring in 2011.'' It also found that those 
at particular risk of torture include Tamils who had an actual or 
perceived association with the LTTE.
    No accurate publicly released statistics on reported torture cases 
were available. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) compiled 1,500 
cases of police torture between 1998 and 2011 and issued a report in 
June summarizing 323 of the most serious cases. As of October the AHRC 
had received 102 reports of police torture.
    Former TID detainees at Boosa Prison in Galle confirmed reports of 
torture methods used there. These included beatings, often with cricket 
bats, iron bars, or rubber hoses filled with sand; electric shock; 
suspending individuals by the wrists or feet in contorted positions; 
abrading knees across rough cement; burning with metal objects and 
cigarettes; genital abuse; blows to the ears; asphyxiation with plastic 
bags containing chili pepper mixed with gasoline; and near-drowning. 
Detainees reported broken bones and other serious injuries as a result 
of mistreatment.
    In the east and the north, military intelligence and other security 
personnel, sometimes working with armed paramilitaries, were 
responsible for the documented and undocumented detention of civilians 
suspected of LTTE connections. Detention reportedly was followed by 
interrogation that frequently included torture. There were reports that 
detainees were released with a warning not to reveal information about 
their arrest or detention, under the threat of rearrest or death.
    Human rights groups alleged that some security forces believed 
torture to be allowed under specific circumstances. Several former LTTE 
combatants released from rehabilitation centers reported torture or 
mistreatment, including sexual harassment, by government officials 
while in rehabilitation centers. Responding to questions on reports of 
torture and abuse, a police spokesman told the media in June that 
police training suffered during the war. The police endorsed 
incorporating a full human rights curriculum and lesson plan developed 
by U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights into the 
police training curriculum during the year.
    Members of the security forces beat and otherwise abused criminal 
suspects and others. For example, Devarathnam Yogendra alleged that 
police officers abducted, beat, and threatened him January 15, 
following a complaint he made in a bribery case against a Hatton Police 
Station inspector.
    While the government has categorically denied the existence of 
unacknowledged detention facilities, there were credible allegations 
from national and international NGOs of undisclosed government 
facilities where suspected LTTE sympathizers were taken, tortured, and 
sometimes killed. The CAT examined such allegations and noted in its 
findings that it was ``seriously concerned about reports received from 
nongovernmental sources regarding secret detention centers run by the 
Sri Lankan military intelligence and paramilitary groups where enforced 
disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings have allegedly been 
perpetrated.''
    In recent years human rights organizations reported that, while not 
actively arresting and prosecuting lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender (LGBT) persons, police harassed and extorted money or 
sexual favors from those persons and assaulted gays and lesbians in 
Colombo and other areas. This led to underreporting of crimes against 
members of the LGBT community.
    There were reports that individual cases of gender-based violence 
perpetrated by members of the security forces occurred in areas with 
heavy security force presence, but others stated that military 
officials were responsive to reports of such incidents and showed a 
willingness to prosecute the offenders. The government did not release 
any details about prosecutions or punishments for such offenses, and 
some observers suggested that there was reluctance by victims to report 
such incidents in northern and eastern areas where security forces were 
prevalent. Statistics on numbers of such cases also were unavailable 
because few victims reported such incidents.
    There have been a number of credible reports of sexual violence 
against women where the alleged perpetrators were armed forces 
personnel, police officers, army deserters, or members of militant 
groups. A number of women did not lodge official complaints out of fear 
of retaliation. In its November 7 ``Out of the Silence: New Evidence of 
Ongoing Torture in Sri Lanka'' report, the FFT reviewed 35 medico-legal 
reports of detainees and found evidence of rape, sexual assault, and 
violence to sexual organs. The reports states: ``Of the 27 male cases 
in the sample overall, 15 experienced sexual violence (55 percent) and 
of the eight female cases in the sample, six experienced sexual 
violence (75 percent). All but one of the episodes of physical violence 
to sexual organs (all male) and sexual assault (both male and female) 
are reported to have taken place during torture and interrogation 
sessions for both men and women. While all instances of rape (both male 
and female) are reported to have been perpetrated in cells by guards or 
by officers usually at night, sometimes repeatedly and sometimes by 
more than one individual.''
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
poor and did not meet international standards due to overcrowding and 
the lack of sanitary facilities. In many cases prisoners reportedly 
slept on concrete floors and often lacked natural light or sufficient 
ventilation. According to prison officials and civil society sources, 
prisons designed for approximately 11,000 inmates held an estimated 
32,000 prisoners. More than 13,000 of these prisoners either were 
awaiting or undergoing trial. There were approximately 1,400 female 
prisoners. In some cases juveniles were not held separately from 
adults. Pretrial detainees often were not held separately from those 
convicted. Petty criminals and sexual offenders often were incarcerated 
with perpetrators of more serious crimes. Female prisoners were held 
separately from male prisoners and in generally poor conditions. For 
example, in Welikada Prison 650 female prisoners occupied a ward built 
for 150, with 75 female inmates sharing two bathrooms. Authorities 
acknowledged poor prison conditions but noted a lack of space and 
resources as determining factors. The government planned to relocate 
and expand several prison facilities and was working with the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to modernize its prison 
system.
    Aside from those held in informal detention facilities, prisoners 
and detainees were allowed access to family members. Prisoners and 
detainees were permitted religious observance. There were no ombudsmen 
to handle prisoner complaints. There were alternatives to incarceration 
for nonviolent offenders, including community service and community-
based corrections alternatives. Community-based corrections included 
elements of rehabilitation and counseling in addition to community 
service work.
    Magistrates were mandated to visit prisons once a month to monitor 
conditions and hold private interviews with prisoners. In practice this 
regularly did not happen as the backlog of cases in courts made it 
difficult for magistrates to make prison visits. The government 
permitted independent human rights observers and the ICRC to visit 
regular and remand prisons. The government did not provide access to 
any detention facilities operated by military intelligence, stating 
that none existed. The ICRC was not allowed to visit suspected illegal 
detention facilities operated by paramilitary groups.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention; however, in practice such incidents frequently 
occurred. There were frequent reports throughout the year of victims 
randomly selected by police to be arrested and detained on 
unsubstantiated charges. For example, on October 17, Chulani 
Thilakaratne was allegedly assaulted and arbitrarily arrested by two 
drunken plainclothes officers. His wife and several relatives came to 
the police station that evening and complained to the officer-in-
charge, who released Thilakaratne to them.
    Under the arrest and detention standards imposed by the Emergency 
Regulations and the PTA, the law does not clearly define what 
constitutes an arbitrary arrest. Although parliament allowed the 
Emergency Regulations to lapse August 31, many of the Emergency 
Regulations' powers could be found in the PTA. The PTA has similar 
sweeping powers of search, arrest, and detention. It allows for 
detainees to be held for up to 18 months and indefinitely pending 
trial. Many detainees thus continued to be held arbitrarily for 
prolonged periods without charge, including in irregular places of 
detention. On August 30, the day before the Emergency Regulations 
lapsed, the president issued new regulations under the PTA 
incorporating into it aspects of the Emergency Regulations that the PTA 
did not already include. Among the regulations were measures 
proscribing the LTTE as a terrorist organization and keeping 
surrendered persons under rehabilitation.
    Human rights groups estimated that approximately 5,000 to 6,000 
LTTE suspects were in regular detention centers. An unknown additional 
number of unidentified detainees, estimated by some organizations to be 
as high as 3,000, were thought to be held in police stations, the CID, 
the TID, army or paramilitary camps, or other informal detention 
facilities on suspicion of involvement in terrorism-related activities. 
Many of these detainees were detained incommunicado without charge or 
trial.
    Of the approximately 11,600 LTTE combatants who surrendered at the 
end of the war, reports indicated that 10,200 had been rehabilitated 
and released and approximately 700 remained in rehabilitation centers. 
Authorities considered 700 ``hardcore'' former combatants to be 
potentially criminally liable and transferred them to the criminal 
justice system. Reintegration of former combatants released from 
rehabilitation remained challenging due to intensive surveillance by 
the military, social stigma (some people were afraid to associate 
themselves with ex-combatants who regularly had to report to the army), 
employment difficulties, and psychological trauma. Several released ex-
combatants reported torture or mistreatment, including sexual 
harassment, by government officials while in rehabilitation centers.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The inspector general 
of police (IGP) is responsible for the nearly 90,000-member Sri Lanka 
Police Service (SLPS). The SLPS conducts civilian police functions, 
such as enforcing criminal and traffic laws, enhancing public safety, 
and maintaining order. The IGP reports to the secretary of the Ministry 
of Defense (in a separate chain of command from that of the armed 
forces and other military units). The nearly 6,000-member paramilitary 
STF is within the structure of the SLPS, although joint operations with 
military units in the past led to questions among observers about who 
actually was directing the STF. Throughout the year the president 
repeatedly used the Public Security Ordinance to call out the armed 
forces, maintaining the military's prominent role in police functions. 
There was no independent authority to investigate complaints.
    Few police officers serving in Tamil-majority areas were Tamil, and 
most did not speak Tamil or English, although the government began 
hiring and training ethnic Tamils in an effort to improve this 
situation. In January 320 Tamil men and 16 Tamil women were inducted 
into the police. In December government officials stated that there 
were more than 600 Tamils in the police force. The LLRC report 
acknowledged the recruiting of Tamil-speaking police officers, but 
noted with regret that its 2010 interim recommendation - that public 
offices have interpreters to facilitate communication until long term 
programs are put in place - had not been implemented. In its final 
report, the LLRC stated that government officers should possess 
language skills to serve in any part of the country and recommended 
that police stations have bi-lingual officers on duty on a 24-hour 
basis.
    Widespread impunity persisted, particularly for cases of police 
torture, corruption, human rights abuses, and attacks on media 
institutions. For example, the government consistently failed to solve 
attacks on journalists, such as the 2009 killing of Sunday Leader 
editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, the January 2010 abduction of Prageeth 
Ekneligoda (see section 1.b.), and the July 29 attack on Uthayan news 
editor Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan (see section 2.a.). The failure of 
police to apprehend the assailants in such cases highlighted the high 
level of impunity in an environment in which law enforcement possessed 
widespread powers of detention and surveillance but failed to solve 
cases of attacks on those critical of the government. Evidence of 
serious violations of international humanitarian law and international 
human rights law in the final stages of the war continued to mount, but 
the government refused to acknowledge credible allegations that members 
of the armed forces were involved in such incidents.
    The government did not conduct any further inquiries into the high-
profile cases investigated by the 2006 Presidential Commission of 
Inquiry (COI), including the 2006 killing of 17 local staff of the 
French NGO Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Mutur. The COI was disbanded 
in 2009 without issuing a public report, and with reports that the 
commission had blamed ACF for allowing its workers to be in an unsafe 
location, at the same time exonerating all government security forces 
from any possible involvement in the killing of the aid workers.
    A separate commission set up under retired Supreme Court justice 
Mahanama Tillekeratne to investigate abductions, disappearances, 
killings, and unidentified bodies was to submit a final report to the 
president early in 2010. Although the commission gave an interim report 
to President Rajapaksa in February 2010, and the commission's mandate 
ended in March 2010, there was no indication that a final report was 
given to the president.
    The government prosecuted a small number of security force 
personnel who allegedly committed human rights abuses, but it generally 
did not seek to identify the great majority of those responsible for 
such abuses or bring them to justice. Case law generally failed to 
uphold the doctrine of command responsibility for human rights abuses.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the law 
authorities are required to inform an arrested person of the reason for 
arrest and bring that person before a magistrate within 24 hours, but 
in practice several days and sometimes weeks or months elapsed before 
detained persons appeared before a magistrate. A magistrate could 
authorize bail or continued pretrial detention for up to three months 
or longer. There were restrictions on bail for security detainees, as 
judges needed approval from the Attorney General's Office to authorize 
bail for persons detained under the PTA. In practice judges normally 
did not grant bail in PTA-related cases. Police do not need an arrest 
warrant for certain offenses, such as murder, theft, robbery, and rape. 
In the case of murder, the magistrate is required to remand the 
suspect, and only the High Court can grant bail. In all cases suspects 
have the right to legal representation; however, there is no legal 
provision specifically protecting the right of a suspect to demand 
legal representation during interrogations in police stations and 
detention centers. There were credible reports that detainees often did 
not have a lawyer present at the time of interrogation. Counsel is 
provided for indigent defendants in criminal cases before the High 
Court and courts of appeal, but not in other cases.
    Police could detain a person for a period of not more than one year 
under detention orders issued by a deputy inspector general of police 
or by the defense secretary. The defense secretary extended some 
detentions beyond one year under the PTA.
    An unidentified inmate at Anuradhapura Prison told the media that 
he witnessed prison guards shooting at prisoners protesting prison 
conditions January 24. The guards killed one person and injured 24 
others, according to hospital authorities.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--NGOs and individuals complained that the armed 
forces and their paramilitary allies detained suspected LTTE 
sympathizers and did not surrender them to the police, blurring the 
line between arrests and abductions.
    Credible reports alleged that security forces and paramilitaries 
sometimes tortured and killed those arrested rather than follow legal 
safeguards, although this appeared to diminish after the end of the 
war.

    Pretrial Detention.--The judicial process moved slowly, and more 
than half of those in prison either were awaiting or undergoing trial. 
More than 1,000 prisoners awaiting trial had spent over two years in 
remand. Trial delays often were caused by lengthy legal procedures, 
large numbers of detainees, judicial inefficiency, and corruption. 
Legal advocacy groups asserted that it was common for the length of 
detention to equal or exceed the sentence for the alleged crime. On 
July 9, a group of prisoners detained for years without trial in 
Vavuniya Prison began a hunger strike, demanding that their cases be 
brought before a court.
    Those under administrative detention did not enjoy the same rights 
as those awaiting trials. For example, lawyers were required to apply 
for permission from the TID to meet clients detained at the Boosa 
Detention Centre and were not able to meet detainees without police 
presence. Pretrial detainees did not have the right to legal counsel 
during questioning by the police.
    Persons convicted and undergoing appeal did not receive credit 
towards their original sentence for time served in prison while the 
appeal continued. Appeals often took several years to resolve.

    Amnesty.--The president granted amnesty to a number of prisoners 
throughout the year, sometimes for national holidays or other 
occasions. For example, on February 4, the president granted amnesty to 
1,669 inmates convicted of minor offenses.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Following the September 2010 
passage of the 18th amendment, executive influence over the judiciary 
significantly increased. The 18th Amendment repealed the 17th Amendment 
and eliminated the Constitutional Council, a multiparty body created to 
name members of independent judicial, police, human rights, and other 
commissions. In place of the Constitutional Council, the 18th Amendment 
established the Parliamentary Council, which submits nonbinding advice 
on appointments to the president, who has sole authority to make direct 
appointments to the commissions. The president also directly appoints 
judges to the Supreme Court, High Court, and courts of appeal.
    There were trials during the year where the outcomes appeared 
predetermined. For example, on November 18, a Colombo High Court found 
former army commander and opposition presidential candidate Sarath 
Fonseka guilty of spreading the ``white flag'' rumor, which ``could 
arouse communal feelings,'' under the now lapsed Emergency Regulations 
and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment. There was widespread 
recognition that the trial was politically motivated (see Political 
Prisoners and Detainees section below for more information on the 
Fonseka case).
    There was no procedure in place to address the legal status of 
former LTTE combatants held in rehabilitation centers. Lawyers who 
defended human rights cases sometimes were under physical and verbal 
threats.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are presumed innocent. In criminal 
cases juries try defendants in public. Defendants are informed of the 
charges and evidence against them, and they have the right to counsel 
and the right to appeal. There are no formal procedures for ensuring 
how quickly arrested persons may contact family or a lawyer; in 
practice they are allowed to make calls on their mobile phones to such 
persons. The government provides counsel for indigent persons tried on 
criminal charges in the High Court and the courts of appeal but not in 
cases before lower courts. Private legal aid organizations assisted 
some defendants. Juries were not used in cases brought under the PTA, 
but defendants in such cases had the right to appeal. Defendants had 
the right to confront witnesses against them, present witnesses and 
evidence, and access government-held evidence, such as police evidence.
    Confessions obtained by coercive means, including torture, are 
inadmissible in criminal courts, except in PTA cases. Defendants bear 
the burden of proof, however, to show that their confessions were 
obtained by coercion.
    The law requires court proceedings and other legislation to be 
available in English, Sinhala, and Tamil. In practice most courts 
outside of Jaffna and the northern parts of the country conducted 
business in English or Sinhala. A shortage of court-appointed 
interpreters restricted the ability of Tamil-speaking defendants to 
receive a fair hearing in many locations, but trials and hearings in 
the north were in Tamil and English. Few legal textbooks existed in 
Tamil.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--During the year the government 
detained and imprisoned a number of persons for political reasons. The 
government permitted access to such persons on a regular basis by 
international humanitarian organizations.
    Most prominent among political prisoners was the main opposition 
candidate in the 2010 presidential election, former army commander 
Sarath Fonseka. The military detained Fonseka in February 2010, and he 
remained in detention. The accusations made against Fonseka after he 
initially was detained were vague, with suggestions by government 
officials that he had been plotting a coup. After more than a month, 
formal charges were brought under two courts-martial on corruption in 
military procurement and violating military regulations by engaging in 
politics as a serving military officer. Fonseka later was charged in 
civil court under the PTA for allegedly fomenting civil unrest by 
making statements in 2009 to the press about Defense Secretary 
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's alleged order that surrendering LTTE cadres be 
shot (the ``white flag'' incident). Fonseka denied making these claims.
    In August 2010 the two courts-martial found Fonseka guilty of the 
corruption charges and of engaging in politics while in the military 
and sentenced him to 30 months in prison. He also was stripped of his 
rank and pension and his parliamentary seat; in addition, all 
references to Fonseka on military plaques, etc., were ordered expunged. 
On November 18, the Colombo High Court found Fonseka guilty of 
spreading the ``white flag'' rumor and sentenced him to three years' 
imprisonment, to be served after the completion of the courts martial 
sentence. Fonseka's appeal against the courts martial sentence was 
dismissed by the Court of Appeal December 16. The court found that 
Fonseka failed to prove his charges that the members of the second 
court martial were biased.
    A number of human rights organizations accused Fonseka of being 
involved in a wide range of human rights abuses during the war, 
including extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and indiscriminate 
firing on civilians in the war zone. Nevertheless, many independent 
observers concluded that Fonseka was detained, prosecuted, and 
sentenced for political reasons, because of the initial lack of clarity 
in the allegations against him, the fact that no formal charges were 
brought against him for more than a month after his detention, the 
selective way in which laws ultimately were applied (some progovernment 
military officers spoke publicly in favor of the president during the 
campaign and were not charged or punished similarly), and the 
disproportionate nature of the sentences in the courts martial, which 
appeared to be designed to humiliate Fonseka.
    Authorities arrested 22 other individuals involved with Fonseka's 
campaign, most in connection with the allegations of a coup attempt. By 
November 2010, however, all 22 were released from detention with no 
charges pending, leaving only Fonseka in prison.
    There were other cases in which persons were detained for what 
appeared to be simply their opposition to the government and its top 
leaders. For example, on May 26, military police arrested seven JVP 
members for putting up posters critical of the government.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens were allowed to 
file fundamental rights cases to seek redress of human rights 
violations. The judiciary exhibited some independence and impartiality 
in adjudicating these types of cases, and plaintiffs were awarded 
damages in a number of instances. Observers cited bureaucratic 
inefficiencies in this system, leading to delays in the resolution of 
many cases. Where damages were awarded, there were relatively few 
problems in enforcing the court orders.

    Property Restitution.--The military seized significant amounts of 
land during the war to create security buffer zones around military 
bases and other high-value targets, which the government called high 
security zones (HSZs). The declaration of HSZs displaced large numbers 
of persons, particularly in the Jaffna Peninsula, who did not receive 
restitution for their lands. A degree of progress was made in reducing 
the size of the HSZs during the year, with some lands being 
demilitarized. Many of those affected by the HSZs continued to 
complain, however, that the pace of these returns was too slow and that 
the government was holding back on the return of lands it might see as 
economically valuable. The government cited the need to conduct careful 
demining prior to the handover of these lands, but questions persisted 
about whether land cleared of mines was always returned immediately to 
its original owners. Although there was no legal framework for HSZs 
following the lapse of Emergency Regulations on August 31, they still 
existed and remained off-limits to civilians.
    Residents of an area of Sampur Special Economic Zone, which partly 
overlapped with an HSZ, were denied access to 2,795 acres of land 
demarcated for a coal power project. On October 21, Economic 
Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa declared in parliament that 
residents would be allowed to resettle into the area once land 
acquisition for the project was complete. He added that the government 
would pay compensation for the lands to be acquired, although residents 
had not received compensation at year's end.
    On November 9, parliament passed the ``Revival of Underperforming 
Enterprises and Underutilized Assets'' bill, which empowered the 
government to take over the assets of 37 firms. The bill had been 
printed and presented to parliament one day earlier, on November 8, 
providing little time for debate in parliament or in public on the 
bill. Although most of the companies targeted were defunct, several 
were operating, including the profitable Sevenagala Sugar Industries 
owned by Daya Gamage, a prominent member of the opposition United 
National Party. In presenting the budget to parliament in November, 
President Rajapaksa identified 91,420 acres of tea plantation land the 
government was considering taking over under the Underutilized Assets 
law.
    The LLRC report acknowledged that some HSZs had been reduced, but 
it noted that a large number of persons continued to be displaced. The 
LLRC recommended that all families who had lost lands and/or houses due 
to formal HSZs, or to other informal ad hoc security related needs, be 
given alternate land and/or compensation paid according to applicable 
laws.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law provides for the right to privacy; however, 
the government infringed on these rights, particularly when conducting 
cordon and search operations in Tamil neighborhoods. Security forces 
conducted searches of property and engaged in wiretapping and 
surveillance of private citizens with little judicial oversight. 
Seizure of private lands by various actors remained a problem across 
the country.
    Land ownership disputes between private individuals in former war 
zones also escalated during the year, as many former residents began 
returning to areas they had left many years before. Multiple 
displacements occurred in the northern and eastern areas over the many 
years of war, and land often changed hands several times. Documentation 
of land claims was difficult for a number of reasons. Many persons who 
had been displaced multiple times were not able to preserve original 
land deeds as they moved and some official government land records were 
damaged or destroyed during intense fighting between government and 
LTTE troops. On July 29, the Ministry of Land and Land Development 
issued a circular establishing a process to collect and adjudicate land 
claims in the north and east. NGO observers questioned the 
effectiveness of the framework proposed due to its lack of substantive 
criteria for how cases should be adjudicated, its complex claim form, 
and its reliance on decision-making bodies composed of government and 
military officials with no training and, at best, a limited background 
in land adjudication. The Court of Appeal suspended implementation of 
the circular November 9 for reconsideration, and it was scheduled to 
hear the case again in January 2012.
    There were reports of government-aided resettlement of Sinhala 
families from the south into traditionally Tamil areas. For example, 
the military helped move 165 Sinhala families into the village of 
Kokkachchaankulam in Vavuniya, and these families were issued land 
permits. There also were reports that the government had taken measures 
to resettle Sinhala families on Tamil lands in Batticaloa District, 
including 170 families in Kevuilyamadu and 230 families in Kachchakkodi 
Chuvaamimalai. Tamil members of parliament raised concerns about such 
resettlements in parliament, alleging a process of ``Sinhalization'' 
had begun in the north and east.
    On December 7, the government withdrew an amendment to the Town and 
Country Planning Ordinance that would have broadened the power of 
authorities to acquire private lands, including within municipal and 
urban areas, for economic, social, historical, environmental, and 
religious purposes. The amendment's stated goal was to promote and 
regulate integrated planning and development for infrastructure. The 
government withdrew the bill following a Supreme Court determination 
that the legislation could not be enacted without the approval of 
provincial councils.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech, including for members 
of the press, but the government did not respect these rights in 
practice. Government officials criticized, pressured, harassed, and 
arrested members of the media, and most journalists practiced self-
censorship.
    The LLRC report stated that it was ``deeply disturbed by persistent 
reports concerning attacks on journalists and media institutions and 
killing of journalists and the fact that these incidents remained to be 
conclusively investigated and perpetrators brought to justice.[a]ny 
failure to investigate and prosecute offenders would undermine the 
process of reconciliation and the [r]ule of [l]aw.'' The LLRC 
recommended steps be taken to prevent harassment and attacks on media 
personnel and institutions and priority be given to investigate and 
prosecute those responsible for such incidents.

    Freedom of Speech.--The constitution protects the right to free 
speech. However, it is subject to a host of restrictions including 
public morality and national security. The government attempted to 
impede criticism through the year, including through harassment, 
intimidation, violence, and imprisonment. The government monitored 
political meetings, particularly in the north and east. There also were 
credible reports that civilian and military officials questioned local 
residents and groups who met with foreign diplomats regarding the 
content of their meetings.

    Freedom of the Press.--The government owned one of the country's 
largest newspaper chains, two major television stations, and a radio 
station. However, private owners operated a variety of independent 
newspapers, journals, and radio and television stations. The government 
imposed no political restrictions on the establishment of new media 
enterprises. However, the government restricted the construction of 
transmission towers in the north. It built a new tower in the Vanni but 
blocked private stations from building towers.

    Violence and Harassment.--National and international media freedom 
organizations and journalists' associations expressed concern over 
restrictions on media freedom and were sharply critical of the 
government's role in harassing and intimidating journalists.
    Senior government officials repeatedly accused critical journalists 
of treason and often pressured editors and publishers to print stories 
that portrayed the government in a positive light. This pressure 
reportedly was exerted sometimes directly through threats and 
intimidation. For example, international media reported that President 
Rajapaksa personally telephoned the chairman of The Sunday Leader, Lal 
Wickrematunge, on July 19, about an article reporting that China had 
given money to the president and his son to be used ``at their 
discretion.'' Approximately 100 posters with the words ``Do not lie!'' 
and ``The gods will punish you'' appeared on the walls of the 
newspaper's headquarters.
    Although no journalist was reported killed or abducted during the 
year, frequent threats, harassment, and attacks on media personnel 
continued. Statements by government and military officials contributed 
to an environment in which journalists who published articles critical 
of the government felt under threat.
    At an event in Katunayake on November 20, Public Relations and 
Public Affairs Minister Mervyn Silva stated that there were ``lowly so-
called journalists who insult important persons'' and that they should 
book coffins for themselves.
    In a September 1 telephone conversation, UPFA southern provincial 
council member Aruna Gunaratne threatened to kill Daily Mirror Matara 
correspondent Krishan Jeewaka Jayaruk if he published a story about 
Gunaratne. Jayaruk recorded the conversation and filed a complaint 
regarding the death threat with the Matara police.
    On July 29, unidentified men attacked news editor Gnanasundaram 
Kuhanathan of the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper with iron rods. On 
August 15, police arrested two suspects, including one described as a 
``major underworld figure,'' although some expressed doubts about the 
suspects. The case was filed in the Jaffna Magistrate's Court, and at 
year's end the Attorney General's Office was considering filing charges 
against the suspects. Uthayan came under attack repeatedly in past 
years, and several of its journalists were killed.
    On January 31, unknown perpetrators firebombed the premises of pro-
opposition news Web site Lanka-e-news. While numerous observers 
implicated government agents in the attack, state media suggested that 
the staff of Lanka-e-news was responsible. Authorities arrested Lanka-
e-news editor Bennet Rupasinghe and journalist Shantha Wijesooriya and 
subsequently released them in the following months, and a magistrate's 
court suspended Lanka-e-news operations from April 28 to May 12 because 
of a contempt case pending against Wijesooriya.
    There was no progress in the investigation of the July 2010 arson 
attack on the Siyatha television premises.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Police, under the authority of 
the Ministry of Defense, reportedly maintained a special unit to 
monitor and control all references in the media to members of the 
Rajapaksa family. Official pressure reportedly was exerted sometimes 
through orders to government and private firms to cease advertising in 
critical newspapers. While media could operate freely, independent and 
opposition media practiced self-censorship. Media freedom suffered from 
severe government pressure throughout the island, and most journalists 
practiced self-censorship, particularly on the issues of accountability 
and criticism of government officials.
    A popular Sinhala language political satire, And Company,which 
portrayed the government as a company, received threats early in the 
year. The producer and main actor were threatened by a group in a white 
van and subsequently removed the character Chinthana (representing 
President Rajapaksa) from the program.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--In 2009 the government officially 
reactivated the Press Council Act of 1973. This act, which includes 
power to impose punitive measures including fines and lengthy prison 
terms, proscribes the publishing of articles that discuss internal 
communications of the government, decisions of the cabinet, matters 
relating to the military that could affect national security, and 
details of economic policy that could lead to artificial shortages or 
speculative price increases.

    Nongovernmental Impact.--Progovernment paramilitary groups/gangs 
inhibited freedom of expression, particularly in the north. Members of 
the EPDP allegedly were involved in harassment and attacks on 
journalists, including the July 29 attack on Uthayan's Kuhanathan.

    Internet Freedom.--The government restricted access to the 
Internet, including Web sites it deemed pornographic as well as Web 
sites it deemed critical of the government. There were suspicions that 
the government was behind the blocking of Internet access to several 
Tamil news Web sites, including the pro-LTTE TamilNet. On October 18, 
major Sri Lankan telecom companies Sri Lanka Telecoms and Mobitel 
blocked access to lankaenews.com, a sensationalist news Web site 
critical of the government. On June 20, the government temporarily 
blocked citizen journalism site groundviews.org; groundviews' Sinhala 
partner site, vikalpa.org; Transparency International Sri Lanka's Web 
site; and news aggregator infolanka.com. Some observers believed the 
one-day shutdown to be a warning to the sites. On November 5, the 
Ministry of Mass Media and Information announced that it requires all 
Web sites carrying Sri Lankan news to register. It based its action on 
``complaints'' about material published by certain Web sites that were 
``injurious to the image of the country, the head of the state, 
ministers, senior public officials, and other important persons.'' The 
ministry began blocking sites carrying news critical of the government. 
Of the five sites blocked, four remained blocked at year's end.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were allegations that 
university officials, in many cases from the ranks of academia, 
prevented professors from criticizing government officials. Some 
academics noted that the environment of intimidation led to self-
censorship. There also were concerns of military encroachment into 
universities. For example, on September 22, a group of academics issued 
a statement protesting a decision by the Higher Education Ministry to 
hand over the security of universities to Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd, a 
government-owned commercial security venture established under the 
Ministry of Defense and under the direct supervision of the defense 
secretary. Observers also expressed concerns regarding a mandatory 
week-long leadership training program held in army camps around the 
country for students who qualified to enter universities. The training 
program began May 23 and was conducted by the military under the 
supervision of university authorities. On June 3, the Supreme Court 
rejected without trial five petitions that requested the annulment of 
the leadership training program.
    On October 16, in Jaffna an unidentified group assaulted Jaffna 
University Students' Association leader Subramaniyam Thavapalasingham 
with iron rods. The attackers reportedly asked him whether he wanted a 
separate state. Another student, Rajavarothayan Kavirajan, who had 
protested against the assault of Thavapalasingham, was allegedly 
attacked by a military intelligence unit in Kilinochchi October 24. He 
was seriously injured and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the 
Jaffna Teaching Hospital. At year's end the investigation into the 
attack had identified no suspects.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law provides for freedom of assembly, but the government 
did not respect this right in practice, and some restrictions existed. 
The government required that army representatives be present at public 
assemblies in the north. There were a number of cases in which security 
forces restricted participation in demonstrations. On December 10, 
police detained a group of 42 human rights defenders and political 
activists from the south in Jaffna and prevented them from attending a 
protest to mark International Human Rights Day. Police reportedly 
responded with excessive force to violent protests in Dambulla and 
Bandarawela following a December 12 government regulation to make 
plastic crates compulsory when transporting vegetables and fruits.
    On August 22, police arrested 102 protesters demonstrating against 
a series of attacks on women by ``grease devils,'' elusive figures who 
reportedly greased themselves to avoid capture and, for several months 
during the year, assaulted and robbed victims, predominantly in the 
north and east. Police assaulted many of those arrested following an 
attack on an army detachment in which two military vehicles were 
damaged. Army officials dropped the charges against those arrested. On 
September 27, the Supreme Court supported a fundamental rights case 
filed by petitioners who were arrested during these reprisals. The 
hearing date was scheduled for February 2012.
    There were informal barriers to assembly on a number of occasions. 
For example, on June 23, a large military contingent obstructed a 
demonstration in Kilinochchi in support of missing persons.
    In the weeks leading up to the July 23 local council elections, the 
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) filed four complaints with the election 
commissioner against security personnel who threatened candidates and 
detained persons to prevent them from attending election meetings. On 
June 16, approximately 50 army personnel assaulted TNA MPs and their 
supporters at the first local government election campaign meeting held 
by the TNA near Jaffna. While the military commander in Jaffna 
initially expressed regret over the incident, an official inquiry 
claimed that the incident was the result of a clash between the army 
and the ministerial security division personnel protecting the TNA MPs. 
The government did not take further action on the case by year's end.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, but the government did not always respect this right in 
practice. Some restrictions existed, such as those under the Emergency 
Regulations before their lapse. The government often used informants to 
target individuals for arrests and interrogation based on their 
association.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law grants every citizen 
``freedom of movement and of choosing his residence'' and ``freedom to 
return to the country.'' In practice, however, the government 
restricted this right on multiple occasions.
    The government generally cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations; however, it restricted access to the north by NGOs and 
some international organizations, requiring them to obtain 
authorization for projects and access from the Presidential Task Force. 
While the U.N. and its organizations were given fairly effective 
access, other international NGOs had difficulty operating projects they 
saw as needed. There were reports in November that the military was 
asking for project reports from humanitarian agencies in Kilinochchi 
and Batticaloa, despite an earlier agreement that the agencies would 
interface only with the civilian administration.

    In-country Movement.--The government restricted in-country movement 
through widespread police and military checkpoints in the north and 
east, which made it difficult for many to travel even short distances, 
particularly at night. The number of such checkpoints in Jaffna, 
however, appeared to decline during the year. The number of temporary 
checkpoints, as well as formal, stationary checkpoints, in Colombo also 
appeared to decline from the previous year.
    On July 13, the government lifted the requirement for foreign 
passport holders to obtain Ministry of Defense clearance for travel to 
the north. The government continued security checks on movements in all 
directions north of a key junction near Medawachiya, although there 
were fewer than during and immediately after the war.
    Limited access continued near military bases and the HSZs where 
civilians could not enter. The HSZs extended in an approximately 2.5-
mile radius from the fences of most military camps and restricted 
access to those trying to earn their livelihood, unfairly affecting 
Tamil agricultural lands, particularly in the Northern Province.

    Exile.--The government did not expel citizens from one part of the 
country to another, nor did it forcibly exile any citizens abroad, but 
it allowed citizens to leave the country under self-exile unless they 
were accused of breaking the law. More than a dozen journalists, having 
received physical threats, were in self-exile due to safety fears.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The country had a significant 
population of IDPs. Almost all IDPs were ethnically Tamil, although 
approximately 80,000 of the total displaced population were Tamil-
speaking Muslims displaced by the LTTE in 1990. The government made 
steady progress by year's end in resettling all but approximately 7,000 
of the 288,000 IDPs who were displaced in the last year of the 
conflict. Many in this group of IDPs were from areas in the Mullaitivu 
District, which remained heavily mined due to intense conflict during 
the final stages of the war and were unlikely to be opened to returnees 
for years.
    In addition to this group of newer IDPs, there were an estimated 
157,000 displaced Tamils displaced prior to the last major offensive by 
the military in 2008. It was unclear at year's end how or when they 
might return to their places of origin, or whether some would prefer to 
settle permanently at their current location after being displaced for 
many years. Some returns of pre-2008 IDPs occurred throughout the year.
    Among the long-term displaced were approximately 73,000 Muslims 
evicted from Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, and Vavuniya in 
1990 by the LTTE, many of whom spent nearly 20 years in IDP camps in 
and around Puttalam. Many of these IDPs wanted to stay in Puttalam, 
where they had spent much of their lives and which was more developed 
and nearer to Colombo than their families' districts of origin. A 
significant number of Muslim IDPs who had returned to Mannar reportedly 
had gone back to Puttalam after a short period.
    While all IDPs had full freedom of movement, some who were able to 
return to their home districts were nevertheless unable to move back 
onto their own property due to uncleared land mines, restrictions that 
designated their home areas as HSZs, lack of documents to verify land 
ownership, and other war-related destruction. Living conditions for 
these persons were often difficult.
    On November 24, approximately 230 IDPs were moved from Menik Farm, 
where the remaining 7,000 persons displaced in the last year of the war 
were camped, to a newly constructed transit camp in Kompavil, nearer to 
their original homes. The resettlement was part of a plan announced by 
the government August 3 to close Menik Farm and relocate IDPs living 
there to Kompavil. It remained unclear at year's end whether IDPs 
resettled in Kompavil would be allowed to return to their areas of 
origin after demining was completed or whether they would permanently 
be relocated to Kompavil. Observers and international donors expressed 
concern that the resettlement disregarded protocols regarding internal 
displacement. Specifically, the plan might force IDPs to move, and the 
government did not inform IDPs of their options or give them a choice 
of destination.
    Coordination between the army, local government agents, and 
humanitarian agencies on resettling IDPs improved compared to the prior 
two years. Improvements largely stemmed from decreased numbers coming 
out of IDP camps and improved cooperation on the ground between the 
army, UNHCR, and Government Agent Office functionaries charged with 
registration of IDPs returning to their areas of origin.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The country's laws do 
not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the 
government does not have 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.

    Stateless Persons.--According to the UNHCR, the country does not 
have habitual residents who are legally or de facto stateless. 
Citizenship is obtained by birth within the territory of the country 
and from a child's parents if born to citizen parents overseas.
    The 2003 Grant of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin Act 
recognized the nationality of previously stateless persons, 
particularly hill-country Tamils. The government passed laws in 2009 to 
grant citizenship to hill-country Tamils living among other Sri Lankan 
ethnic Tamils in refugee camps in India's Tamil Nadu, but progress on 
finding and registering these persons and granting them citizenship was 
slow. By December 2010 approximately 20,000 hill-country Tamils in the 
country lacked identity cards and citizenship documents, compared with 
30,000 at the beginning of 2009 and 70,000 in 2008. Those lacking 
identity cards were at higher risk of arbitrary arrest and detention, 
but there were no reports of such incidents during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through 
periodic elections held on the basis of universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--The 
president, who was reelected in January 2010 for a second six-year 
term, holds executive power, while the 225-member parliament, elected 
in April 2010, exercises legislative power. The government is dominated 
by the president's family; two of the president's brothers hold key 
executive branch posts, as defense secretary and minister of economic 
development, while a third brother is the speaker of parliament. A 
large number of other relatives, including the president's son, also 
serve in important political or diplomatic positions. Independent 
observers generally characterized the 2010 presidential and 
parliamentary elections as problematic. Both elections were fraught 
with violations of the election law by all major parties and were 
influenced by the governing coalition's massive use of state resources. 
Elections had not been held for the Northern Provincial Council since 
the Northern Province was separated from the Eastern Province in 
January 2007, and the Northern Province remained centrally governed at 
the end of the year. The president stated that the elections would be 
held in 2012.
    The government held staggered local council elections during the 
year, which independent observers characterized as fraught with 
election law violations by all major parties and during which the 
governing coalition used state resources to sway the voters.

    Political Parties.--Political parties largely were free to operate, 
organize, stand for elections, seek votes, and name candidates as they 
wished. Trusted ruling party stalwarts allegedly received favoritism 
for high-ranking government and business positions (see section 4).
    On October 8, during local council elections, a convoy of ruling 
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MP Duminda Silva clashed with a convoy 
of Baratha Lakshman Premachandra, a former SLFP MP and presidential 
adviser on trade union affairs. Four persons, including Premachandra, 
were killed by gunfire, while Silva was seriously injured and 
hospitalized. Several suspects were arrested in relation to the 
incident, including two who fled to India. The CID, which investigated 
the case, refused to list Silva, a protege of Defense Secretary 
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, as a suspect in the murder case. On November 1, 
Silva left for Singapore for medical treatment without any hindrance 
from the law enforcement authorities or a court order authorizing his 
transfer. On November 16, a Colombo magistrate's court ordered the CID 
to arrest Silva and produce him in court. He remained abroad at the end 
of the year.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were no laws that 
prevented women or minorities from participating in political life on 
the same basis as men or nonminority citizens. Some cultural and social 
barriers to women participation included the gun culture in politics 
and financial constraints. There was no provision for, or allocation 
of, a set number or percentage of political party positions for women 
or 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 in all three branches of the government frequently engaged in 
corrupt practices with impunity.
    The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption 
was recommissioned in May following the expiration of the terms of the 
commissioners in March 2010. The commission does not have powers to 
initiate corruption investigations and must await a formal complaint 
before investigating reports of corruption, which members of the public 
were reluctant to put forward because of a lack of whistleblower 
protections. The commission has yielded only five prosecutions (three 
acquittals and two convictions). No high-ranking official or politician 
has ever been prosecuted for corruption or abuse of power while serving 
in office.
    Corruption and general mismanagement were common in many state 
institutions and state-owned companies. Nepotism and cronyism continued 
to be a concern, and trusted ruling-party stalwarts allegedly received 
favoritism for high-ranking government and business positions. 
Corruption watchdogs claimed that corruption reached the highest levels 
of government. For example, a July 17 news article alleged that China 
gave the president $9 million as a grant in March to use ``at his 
discretion.'' According to the article, China also made a substantial 
payment in June 2010 to the president's son, Namal Rajapaksa.
    Senior officials served as corporate officers of several quasi-
public corporations, including Lanka Logistics and Technologies, which 
the government established in 2007 and designated as the sole 
procurement agency for all military equipment. Critics alleged that 
large kickbacks were paid during the awarding of certain defense 
contracts.
    Although MPs are asked to complete financial disclosure reports 
upon their election, there was no follow-up to ensure compliance, and 
little or no reporting ultimately was done.
    There is no law providing for public access to government 
information. An opposition-proposed Right to Information bill was 
defeated June 21 by the government majority in parliament. The 
government and its supporters explained defeat of the bill as defense 
of national security, but many opposition politicians and commentators 
argued the government did not want to expose corruption.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups 
continued to investigate and publish their findings on human rights 
cases, despite government restrictions and physical threats to their 
work. The government often criticized local NGOs critical of government 
actions, failed to respond to requests for assistance, and put pressure 
on those that sought such assistance. The NGO Secretariat was moved 
from the Social Services Ministry to the Ministry of Defense in June 
2010 and remained under the Ministry of Defense at the end of the year. 
Several NGOs noted a lack of clarity in Ministry of Defense procedures 
and enforcement of regulations.
    The government remained apprehensive of NGO activities in certain 
areas of advocacy. It particularly scrutinized organizations critical 
of the government on issues such as governance, transparency, and human 
rights.
    NGOs that proposed undertaking projects in northern and eastern 
areas to address such matters as psychosocial counseling, good 
governance training for local citizens, and legal aid often had 
difficulty obtaining government work permits. Government officials 
sometimes made generic criticisms of local NGOs that accepted funding 
from international sources.
    International personnel of NGOs often had trouble getting visa 
renewals to continue working in the country. For example, the Non-
Violent Peace Force, an NGO with international and domestic staff, 
which provided protection to civil society activists and others under 
threat, was forced to close down operations December 31 after the 
government systematically refused visas to the international staff.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government continued to 
refuse the request by the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights for an expanded mission and an independent presence in the 
country.
    In June 2010 U.N. Secretary General (SYG) Ban Ki-moon appointed a 
three-member panel of experts to advise him on ``the implementation of 
the commitment on human rights accountability'' made in the joint 
statement issued by President Rajapaksa and the SYG during the latter's 
visit in May 2009. According to the U.N. the panel was to look into the 
``modalities, applicable international standards, and comparative 
experience with regard to accountability processes,'' taking into 
account the nature and scope of any alleged violations. The panel was 
to complete its work in four months, but the SYG extended the mandate 
until March 3. Although the panel of experts intended to visit the 
country and meet with the LLRC and other officials with accountability 
roles, the U.N. and the government were unable to come to agreement on 
the modalities of the visit.
    The report, which the panel of experts provided to the SYG on April 
12, and through him to the government, stated that there were credible 
allegations of serious human rights violations by the government, 
including large-scale shelling of ``No Fire Zones,'' systematic 
shelling of hospitals and other civilian targets, and summary 
execution, rape, and torture of those in the conflict zone. The report 
also highlighted a number of credible allegations against the LTTE, 
including using civilians as a strategic buffer, forced labor 
(including children), and summary executions of civilians attempting to 
flee the conflict zone. Including victims on both sides, the report 
estimated that there could have been as many as 40,000 civilian deaths. 
The report also describes the government's LLRC as ``a potentially 
useful opportunity to begin a national dialogue on Sri Lanka's 
conflict'' but as ``deeply flawed'' and not meeting international 
standards for an effective accountability mechanism. The LLRC Report 
had not been published during the course of the panel's work.
    The panel of experts' report recommended, among other steps, that 
the government immediately begin genuine investigations into alleged 
violations of international law committed by both sides in the 
conflict, and that the government issue a public, formal acknowledgment 
of its role in and responsibility for extensive civilian casualties 
during the final stages of the war. The report also recommended that 
the SYG immediately establish an independent mechanism to monitor and 
assess the extent to which the government was carrying out an effective 
domestic accountability process, as well as independently to 
investigate credible allegations, and to collect and safeguard 
information relevant to accountability for the final stages of the war.
    On April 25, the U.N. made public the panel of experts' report and 
urged the government to respond constructively to its recommendations, 
which included the establishment of an international investigation 
mechanism. The government had opposed strongly an international 
investigatory commission and did not respond formally to the report; 
officials strongly criticized the report's findings.
    The ICRC closed its Jaffna offices in February and its Vavuniya 
offices in March at the request of the government. The government 
denied the ICRC access to former LTTE combatants held in rehabilitation 
centers (see section 1.d.), and the ICRC was unable to fulfill its 
protection mandate. It was nonetheless able to conduct a number of its 
functions, including prison visits and other monitoring from Colombo.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Human Rights Commission of Sri 
Lanka (HRCSL) held its first session as constituted under the 18th 
Amendment on February 22. It has jurisdiction to inquire into human 
rights violations. If an allegation were established, the HRCSL could 
make a recommendation for financial compensation to the victim and/or 
refer the case for disciplinary action or to the attorney general for 
prosecution. If an HRCSL order were not followed, a summons could be 
sent to both parties for explanation. If the parties continued in 
noncompliance, the HRCSL could report the case to the Supreme Court as 
a matter of contempt, a punishable offense. The Investigation and 
Inquiry division of the HRCSL recorded 3,116 complaints by the end of 
September, 664 of which did not fall within the mandate of the 
commission.
    By statute the HRCSL has wide powers and resources and may not be 
called as a witness in any court of law or be sued for matters relating 
to its official duties. However, in practice the HRCSL rarely used its 
powers, and there were reports of a large backlog of cases with 
virtually no action by the commission during the year. In its 
concluding recommendations, the CAT noted its concerns ``about the 
difficulties the HRCSL has had in carrying out its function owing in 
part to the lack of cooperation from other State party institutions, 
limited human and financial resources, which has reduced its ability to 
investigate specific incidents and make recommendations for redress, 
and failure to publish the reports of its investigations.'' Rather than 
taking an investigative approach to determining the facts and details 
of human rights cases, the HRCSL took a more tribunal-like approach, 
weighing only the evidence brought to it in deciding whether to pursue 
a case. Observers expressed concerns with the HRCSL's lack of 
independence and transparency, particularly with the passage of the 
18th Amendment, which granted greater power to the president to oversee 
HRCSL appointments. In 2007 the International Coordinating Committee of 
National Human Rights Institutions downgraded the HRCSL to observer 
status, citing government interference in its work. The committee 
upheld its decision in a 2009 review, asserting that the HRCSL was not 
in compliance with the Paris Principles relating to National Human 
Rights Institutions.
    In May 2010 the government established the LLRC, a presidential 
commission mandated to inquire into the breakdown of the cease-fire 
with the LTTE and report on lessons learned. An eight-member panel of 
commissioners, including one Tamil and one Muslim, was appointed to 
collect information and take testimony and present a report to the 
president. International observers criticized the country's lack of 
witness protection, the limited scope of the LLRC--which did not have 
an explicit mandate to investigate alleged war crimes--and the alleged 
bias of its chairman, C.R. de Silva, who they believed was responsible 
in part for the failure of a previous commission of inquiry. The U.N. 
panel of experts' report described the LLRC as ``a potentially useful 
opportunity'' to begin a national dialogue on the country's conflict 
but added that it was ``deeply flawed'' and did not meet international 
standards for an effective accountability mechanism. Following two six-
month mandate extensions, the LLRC handed its report to the president 
November 20.
    On December 16, the LLRC report was tabled in parliament and posted 
on a government Web site. The government did not make the report 
available in Sinhala or Tamil in its entirety. The report made 
observations and recommendations for government action on issues 
related to the breakdown of the ceasefire agreement, security forces 
operations during the final stages of the war, international 
humanitarian law, human rights, land, restitution, and reconciliation. 
It acknowledged important grievances that contributed to the war, and 
many international and civil society groups found the report made 
important recommendations for government action to address serious 
political, cultural, social, and human rights concerns in the country. 
Some such recommendations included calling on the government to: phase 
out security forces from civilian affairs and activities; delink the 
police department from institution dealing with the armed forces; 
investigate and hold accountable those responsible for abductions, 
disappearances, and attacks on journalists; implement recommendations 
of past domestic commissions of inquiry; disarm and prosecute illegally 
armed groups; provide better access to detainees; ensure the right of 
information; implement the official trilingual policy; depoliticize the 
process to collect and adjudicate land claims; devolve power to local 
government institutions; and enact legislation to criminalize enforced 
or involuntary disappearances.
    Many international and national observers stated that the LLRC did 
not adequately address accountability for alleged war crimes committed 
by the government and the LTTE during the final months of the conflict. 
The LLRC report acknowledged that hospitals were shelled and that there 
were considerable civilian casualties during the final stage of the 
conflict and recommended investigations into ``possible implications of 
the security forces'' in specific instances of civilian death or 
injury. Prominent international NGOs, however, stated that the LLRC 
report exonerated the government of any wrongdoing. They noted that the 
report found no systematic government wrongdoing on issues such as the 
``white flag'' incident of the alleged killing of surrendering LTTE 
fighters, extensive shelling of No Fire Zones, systematic shelling of 
hospitals, and the withholding of humanitarian supplies from civilians 
entrapped by the LTTE. The report also limited its analysis of the 
Channel 4's ``Sri Lanka's Killing Fields,'' which contains video 
footage of purported Sri Lankan soldiers executing bound prisoners and 
making lewd comments while mishandling partially clothed female bodies, 
to a technical discussion of the video's authenticity (see section 
1.a.).
    The cabinet approved the National Action Plan for the Protection 
and Promotion of Human Rights (NAPHR) on December 14. The five-year 
plan was developed per the government's May 2008 pledge under the 
Universal Periodic Review to draft a human rights action plan. The 
NAPHR presents recommendations in eight areas: civil and political 
rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; prevention of torture; 
rights of women; labor rights; rights of migrant workers; rights of 
children; and rights of IDPs. It also provides timelines and assigns 
stakeholder ministries to implement the recommendations. The plan 
presents a number of specific and practical recommendations, including 
legislation ensuring the right to information, punitive measures 
against officers found by the HRCSL to be guilty of torture, and a 
substantive criminal offense on disappearances. Civil society activists 
criticized its recommendations and timelines as unrealistic for not 
taking into account financial or resource constraints and said many of 
their contributions were excluded from the final version of the plan.
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 respected 
these rights in practice; however, there were instances where gender 
and ethnic-based discrimination occurred.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law prohibits rape and 
domestic violence, but it was not enforced effectively. Sexual assault, 
rape, and spousal abuse were pervasive societal problems. The law 
specifically addresses sexual abuse and exploitation, and it contains 
provisions in rape cases for an equitable burden of proof and stringent 
punishments. Marital rape is considered an offense only in cases of 
spouses legally separated. Domestic violence was thought to be 
widespread, although discussion of the problem was not common.
    While in theory the law could address some of the problems of 
sexual assault, many women's organizations believed that greater 
sensitization of police and the judiciary was necessary to see progress 
in combating these crimes. The Bureau for the Prevention of Abuse of 
Women & Children (BPWC) within the police conducted awareness programs 
in schools and at the grassroots level, prompting women to file 
complaints. The police also established women's bureaus in police 
stations throughout the year. The BPWC held awareness programs for 
males in state and private organizations and awareness programs 
targeted at passenger transport personnel.
    According to the police, 1,636 incidents of rape were reported 
during the first 11 months of the year, but reported incidences were 
unreliable indicators of the degree of this problem, as most victims 
were unwilling to file reports. Police officials reported an increase 
in statutory rape cases compared with previous years, and girls between 
the ages of 13-16 were particularly vulnerable. There were rape cases 
where victims dropped charges due to pressures on them or their 
families. For example, the Colombo High Court discharged UPFA MP 
Duminda Silva from rape charges March 24 after the victim's attorney 
told the court that the victim was suffering from depression because of 
the incident and did not want to take part in further legal 
proceedings.
    Services to assist victims of rape and domestic violence, such as 
crisis centers, legal aid, and counseling, were generally scarce due to 
a lack of funding.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment is a criminal offense 
carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Some observers 
acknowledged sexual harassment to be widespread. As with domestic 
violence, discussion of the problem was not common.
    Human rights groups in northern districts alleged that widows of 
men who were killed as a result of the conflict often became victims of 
prostitution because of their economic vulnerability.

    Sex Tourism.--During the year the National Child Protection 
Authority (NCPA) issued a warning of an increase in child sexual 
exploitation due to the rapid growth of tourist arrivals. The 
government's tourist police and NCPA conducted island-wide awareness 
programs focusing on children, travel guides, and the coastal community 
close to tourist destinations. There were limited reports of child sex 
tourism in isolated areas during the year.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals were free to decide 
the number, spacing, and timing of their children. An estimated 40 
percent of the population used modern contraceptives, and skilled 
attendance during childbirth was estimated at approximately 97 percent 
of births. According to 2008 U.N. estimates, the maternal mortality 
rate in the country was 39 deaths per 100,000 live births. Women 
appeared to be equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted 
infections.

    Discrimination.--The law provides for equal employment opportunity 
in the public sector. In practice women had no legal protection against 
discrimination in the private sector, where they sometimes were paid 
less than men for equal work and experienced difficulty in rising to 
supervisory positions. Although women constituted approximately half of 
the formal workforce, according to the Asian Development Bank, the 
quality of employment available to women was less than that available 
to men. The demand for female labor was mainly for casual and low-paid, 
low-skill jobs.
    Women had equal rights under civil and criminal law. However, 
adjudication according to the customary law of each ethnic or religious 
group of questions related to family law, including divorce, child 
custody, and inheritance, resulted in de facto discrimination. The 
government drafted a National Action Plan for Women designed to address 
women's rights that was under review at the end of the year and was 
expected to be approved in 2012.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is obtained by birth 
within the territory of the country and from a child's parents if born 
to citizen parents overseas. Births were registered immediately, and 
failure to register resulted in denial of some public services, such as 
education.

    Child Abuse.--Under the law the definition of child abuse includes 
all acts of sexual violence against, trafficking in, and cruelty to 
children. The law also prohibits the use of children in exploitative 
labor or illegal activities, or in any way contrary to compulsory 
education regulations. It also defines child abuse to include the 
involvement of children in war. The BPWC conducted investigations into 
crimes against children and women. The penalties for sexual assault of 
children range from five to 20 years' imprisonment and an unspecified 
fine.
    NGOs attributed the problem of exploitation of children to the lack 
of enforcement, rather than inadequate legislation. The NCPA received 
more than 7,000 reports of child abuse in the first 10 months of the 
year. Most of the complaints were reported on the NCPA's national 
telephone hotline to report child abuse and included children being 
sexually abused or molested by their parents, guardians, or people 
known to the victims.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The government advocated greater 
international cooperation to bring those guilty of sexual exploitation 
of children to justice. Although the government did not keep records of 
particular types of violations, the law prohibits sexual violations 
against children, defined as persons less than age 18, particularly in 
regard to child pornography, child prostitution, and the trafficking of 
children. Penalties for violations related to pornography and 
prostitution range from two to five years' imprisonment.
    The NCPA estimated in 2009 that approximately 1,000 children were 
subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, although some NGOs 
believed the actual number was higher. There was little solid data to 
elucidate these reports, and the problem of child sexual tourism was 
much less prevalent than approximately 10 years ago, although there 
were regular reports of underage girls involved in prostitution. The 
Department of Probation and Child Care Services provided protection to 
child victims of abuse and sexual exploitation and worked with local 
NGOs that provided shelter. The NCPA ran an undercover operation in the 
southern coastal region to identify sexual tourism perpetrators and 
victims. As a preventive measure, the NCPA also implemented an 
awareness program conducted at all schools.

    Displaced Children.--Children in the IDP camps and resettled areas 
were exposed to the same difficult conditions as adult IDPs and 
returnees in these areas. Many school facilities were in poor condition 
and lacked basic supplies. Medical care in these areas was limited, but 
improvements continued throughout the year.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law forbids discrimination against 
any person with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental 
disabilities; however, in practice discrimination occurred in 
employment, education, and provision of state services. On April 27, 
the Supreme Court reinforced a 2009 directive that steps be taken to 
provide easy access for persons with disabilities to public buildings, 
but there was little progress by year's end. There were regulations on 
accessibility, but in practice accommodation for access to buildings 
for persons with disabilities was rare. On May 11, the government 
appointed a consultant on accessibility in health sector buildings to 
implement these regulations more effectively.
    The government took steps to support participation by persons with 
disabilities in civic affairs. For example, on July 10, the Election 
Department announced a provision for a disabled person to be 
accompanied by another when voting in elections.
    Persons with disabilities faced difficulties due to negative 
attitudes and societal discrimination. In some rural areas the belief 
of many residents that physical and mental disabilities were contagious 
led to long-term isolation of such persons, who in some cases rarely or 
never left their homes.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Both local and Indian-origin 
Tamils maintained that they suffered long-standing, systematic 
discrimination in university education, government employment, and 
other matters controlled by the government. On February 22, TNA 
parliamentarians filed a fundamental rights violation petition 
complaining of purported forced registration of residents in the 
predominantly Tamil Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts. On March 3, the 
Supreme Court terminated the proceedings after the attorney general 
informed the court that the army would stop the registrations. 
Nevertheless, reports continued throughout the year of army 
registrations in the north. Tamils throughout the country, but 
especially in the north and east, reported frequent harassment of young 
and middle-age Tamil men by security forces and paramilitary groups.

    Indigenous People.--The country's indigenous people, known as 
Veddas, by some estimates numbered fewer than 1,000. Some preferred to 
maintain their traditional way of life and were nominally protected by 
the law. There were no legal restrictions on their participation in 
political or economic life. However, the lack of legal documents was a 
problem for many. Vedda communities complained that they were pushed 
off their lands by the creation of protected forest areas, which 
deprived them of traditional livelihoods. Government officials 
announced plans in August to build approximately 500 houses for Veddas 
according to the specifications of their community to protect their 
identity and culture, and construction was in progress at year's end.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law criminalizes 
homosexual activity, but it was not enforced. Some NGOs working on LGBT 
problems did not register with the government. The CID visited a gay-
rights organization called Companions of a Journey October 10 and 12 
and reportedly searched its offices, questioned the staff present, and 
took some information of clients. Police reportedly assaulted, 
harassed, and extorted money or sexual favors from LGBT persons (see 
section 1.c.).
    There were LGBT organizations, and several events were held 
throughout the year, including an LGBT pride festival week in July. In 
addition to pressure, harassment, and assaults by police, there 
remained significant societal pressure against members and 
organizations of the LGBT community. There were no legal safeguards to 
prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. 
There were reports that persons undergoing gender reassignment 
procedures had difficulty in amending government documents to reflect 
those changes.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no official 
discrimination against those who provided HIV prevention services or 
against high-risk groups likely to spread HIV/AIDS, although there were 
reports of societal discrimination against these groups.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers to form and join unions of their choice without 
previous authorization, with the exception of members of the armed 
forces, police officers, judicial officers, and prison officers, who 
may not unionize. The law provides for the right to conduct legal 
strikes for workers in nonessential services and for the right to 
collective bargaining, except for workers in public service unions. 
Seven workers may form a union, adopt a charter, elect leaders, and 
publicize their views; however, a union must represent 40 percent of 
workers at a given enterprise before the employer legally is obligated 
to bargain with it. By law public sector unions are not allowed to form 
federations or represent workers from more than one branch or 
department of government, although the law generally was not enforced.
    The law provides all workers, other than police, armed forces, 
prison service, and those in essential services, with the right to 
strike. The president has broad discretion to declare sectors 
``essential,'' which may include ``any service which is of public 
utility or is essential for national security or for the preservation 
of public order or to the life of the community and includes any 
Department of the Government or branch thereof.'' The International 
Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) stated that in the past the government 
misused its power to declare an industry ``of public utility'' to make 
strikes illegal. No sectors or services were declared essential 
services during the year. The law prohibits retribution against 
strikers in nonessential sectors.
    All collective bargaining agreements must be registered with the 
Ministry of Labor. Collective agreements generally lasted for three 
years.
    Antiunion discrimination was prohibited by law and violations could 
results in a fine of 20,000 rupees ($176). On September 6, parliament 
passed a regulation to increase the fine to 100,000 rupees ($878). 
Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination are required by law 
to reinstate workers fired for union activities but could transfer them 
to different locations. Domestic workers in third-party homes and 
informal sector workers were not covered by the country's labor laws. 
While the law allows unions to conduct their activities without 
interference, in practice the government enforced the law unevenly. The 
Labor Ministry worked to improve the process for union registration 
during the year, although administrative delays continued.
    Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining were 
often, but not always, respected in practice. Numerous unions were 
active in the country, although it was difficult for some to organize 
in private factories. Unions represented workers in large private 
firms, but workers in small-scale agriculture and small businesses 
usually did not belong to unions. The Employers' Federation of Ceylon, 
the apex employers association in Sri Lanka, assisted its member 
companies in negotiating with unions and signing collective bargaining 
agreements. Approximately one quarter of the more than 525 members of 
the Employers' Federation of Ceylon were unionized. Some of them 
(including a number of foreign-owned firms) were bound by collective 
agreements or had signed memorandums of understanding with trade 
unions. Most public sector employees belonged to unions. In practice 
the right of association was impeded by the management of individual 
factories.
    Union activists and officials remained subject to harassment, 
intimidation, and other retaliatory practices. There were reports that 
employers arbitrarily transferred union members, and there were 
numerous reports of unfair dismissals of union members.
    While some unions in the public sector were politically 
independent, most large unions were affiliated with political parties 
and played a prominent role in the political process. The Labor 
Ministry was authorized to cancel a union's registration if the union 
failed to submit an annual report for three years.
    Only the Labor Ministry has standing to pursue an unfair labor 
practice case, including for antiunion discrimination. Since 1999 the 
ministry has filed three cases against companies for unfair labor 
practices under the Industrial Disputes Act. The courts dismissed one 
case due to insufficient evidence, one case was unsuccessful, and the 
last continued at year's end. Citing routine government inaction on 
alleged violations of labor rights, some unions continued to press for 
standing to sue, while others did not want that ability, citing the 
cost of filing cases. Workers brought some labor violations to court 
under various other labor laws, such as the Wages Board or Employees 
Provident Fund Acts. Several employers were under investigation under 
these statutes.
    Unions alleged that employers often indefinitely delayed 
recognition of unions for collective bargaining. The ITUC and the 
International Labor Organization (ILO) reported that employers used 
these delays to postpone or prevent the formation of a union, decrease 
support for unionization, and identify, terminate, and sometimes 
assault or threaten union activists. To address these concerns, the 
ministry issued a circular March 1 that requires labor commissioners to 
hold union certification elections within 30 working days if there is 
no objection and within 45 working days if there is an objection. No 
union elections were held under the new labor circular by year's end.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibited 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor and the government effectively 
enforced such laws. There were reports that in practice children were 
subjected to debt bondage in dry-zone farming areas, on plantations, 
and to a lesser extent in the fireworks and fish-drying industries. 
Debt bondage reportedly occurred in the agriculture, mining, and rope-
making sectors. In many of those cases, parents incurred a debt and 
then sent their children to work in order to repay the loan (see 
section 7.c.). Situations similar to forced labor occurred in the 
employment of children ages 14 to 18 and women working as domestic 
workers in some third-party homes as they worked as live-in workers, 
and there are no specific regulations governing their employment, 
wages, or work hours. Labor ministry inspections do not extend to 
domestic workers.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
minimum age for employment is 14, although the law permits the 
employment of younger children by their parents or guardians in limited 
family agriculture work or technical training. In March the government 
issued regulations prohibiting the employment of persons under the age 
of 18 in 51 types of work considered to be hazardous. The law limits 
the work hours of 14- and 15-year-olds to nine hours per day, and those 
of 16- and 17-year-olds to 10 hours per day. The government published a 
plan in June 2010 for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor 
by 2016. This plan was developed with assistance from workers' 
representatives, the ILO, and UNICEF. The Labor Ministry made some 
progress on the plan during the year. For example, it held a training 
program for labor officials and three programs for law enforcement 
officers. The ministry also held an awareness raising program for 
social partners in five districts.
    The NCPA was the central agency for coordinating and monitoring the 
protection of children, with the specific mandate to enforce laws on 
all forms of child abuse. The Ministry of Labor has the specific 
mandate to enforce laws on child labor and hazardous child labor. The 
Department of Probation and Child Care Services, and the police, which 
operated a specially designated Children's and Women's Bureau to 
enforce child labor laws, are also responsible for the enforcement of 
child labor laws. From January to December, the Labor Ministry carried 
out 237 inspections of child labor situations and found 13 cases of 
child labor violations. Agencies charged with child labor law 
enforcement, including the Labor Ministry, noted lack of adequate 
resources.
    The largest sector for child labor, both legal and illegal, was 
agriculture, where children under 18 were employed both in plantations 
and in nonplantation agriculture during harvest periods. In addition to 
agriculture, the majority of working children worked as street vendors; 
domestic helpers; and in mining, construction, manufacturing, and 
transport. Children engaged in dangerous work in the tile, fishing, 
construction, and mining industries. Children displaced by the war were 
more vulnerable to being employed in hazardous labor.
    Sources indicated that many thousands of children between 14 and 18 
were employed in domestic service in urban households. Child domestic 
workers reportedly were subjected to physical, sexual, and emotional 
abuse, and there were also reports of rural children in debt bondage in 
urban households. Child employment was also common in family 
enterprises such as family farms, crafts, small trade establishments, 
restaurants, and repair shops.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--While there was no national 
minimum wage, 43 wage boards established by the Ministry of Labor's 
Relations and Manpower Office set minimum wages and working conditions 
by sector and industry in consultation with unions and employers. The 
minimum monthly wage in the areas of the private sector covered by wage 
boards was 6,900 rupees ($61) plus an extra allowance of 1,000 rupees 
($9), for a total of 7,900 rupees ($70). The minimum wage in the public 
sector is 18,166 rupees ($160). Workers in sectors not covered by wage 
boards, including informal sector workers, were not covered by any 
minimum wage laws. The official estimate of the poverty income level 
was 3,028 ($26.60) per person per month, although the validity of this 
was questioned by some analysts.
    The law prohibits most full-time workers from regularly working 
more than 45 hours per week (a five-and-a-half-day workweek). In 
addition the law stipulates a rest period of one hour per day. 
Regulations limit the maximum overtime hours to 15 per week. Overtime 
pay is 1.5 times the wage and is paid for work done on either Sundays 
or holidays. The law provides for paid annual holidays and limits 
overtime work.
    The government set occupational health and safety standards. 
However, health and safety regulations did not fully meet international 
standards. Workers have the right to remove themselves from dangerous 
situations, but many were unaware of such rights or feared that they 
would lose their jobs if they did so. The Labor Ministry's efforts to 
enforce occupational safety and health standards were inadequate. There 
was a need to improve occupation health and safety in the rapidly 
growing construction sector, including on infrastructure development 
projects such as port, airport, and road construction projects.
    Labor Ministry inspectors checked whether employers were providing 
complete pay to employees and were contributing to pension funds as 
required by law, but unions questioned whether the inspections were 
effective. The ministry's Labor Inspectorate consisted of 618 officers. 
The punishment for nonpayment of wages and pension contributions is 
negligible, ranging from 100 rupees (88 cents) to 250 rupees ($2.20) 
for the first offense and 500 rupees ($4.40) to 1,000 rupees ($8.80) 
and/or a jail term of 6 months for the third offense. A fine of 50 
rupees (44 cents) per day is charged if the offense continues after 
conviction. The labor inspectors did not monitor wages or working 
conditions for informal sector workers.

                               __________

                               TAJIKISTAN

                           executive summary
    Tajikistan is an authoritarian state that President Emomali Rahmon 
and his supporters, drawn mainly from one region of the country, 
dominated politically. The constitution provides for a multiparty 
political system, but in practice the government obstructed political 
pluralism. The February 2010 parliamentary elections were marked by 
widespread fraud to ensure the continued rule of the ruling People's 
Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT). The PDPT, progovernment 
independents, and government-affiliated political parties dominated 
parliament. The opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) 
and Communist Party of Tajikistan had two seats each in parliament. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The most significant human rights problems included torture and 
abuse of detainees and other persons by security forces, restrictions 
on freedoms of expression and religion (especially regarding the 
prosecution of journalists and repression of faith groups), and 
violence and discrimination against women.
    Other human rights problems included arbitrary arrest; denial of 
the right to a fair trial; harsh and life-threatening prison 
conditions; prohibition of international monitor access to prisons; 
limitations on children's religious education; corruption; and forced 
labor including begging, cotton harvesting, and trafficking in persons.
    Officials in the security services and elsewhere in the government 
acted with impunity. There were no prosecutions of government officials 
for human rights abuses.
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, but at least two individuals died while in 
government custody.
    Safarali Sangov died on March 5, four days after police detained 
him. Sangov's wife told the media that her husband died as a result of 
torture by Ministry of Interior (MVD) staff. She claimed seven police 
officers entered their house and severely beat Sangov before taking him 
away. MVD authorities denied the allegations. Later a court charged two 
officers, Abdurahmon Yaqubov and Qodir Hasanov, with ``negligence.'' At 
year's end their case continued, but the defendants were dismissed from 
their jobs. In a nearly identical case, Bahromiddin Shodiyev died on 
November 2 after allegedly being tortured in police detention. 
According to his mother, Shodiyev regained consciousness in the 
hospital and told her that he had been beaten until he confessed to 
crimes he had not committed. He told her that police taped his mouth 
shut so no one could hear him screaming. In both cases police initially 
claimed that the detainees attempted to commit suicide by jumping out 
of a second-story window.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no new reports of politically 
motivated disappearances. However, during the 95th session of the U.N. 
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) in 
November 2010, the organization examined information on previously 
accepted but unresolved cases of disappearance. The WGEID requested a 
site visit based on the high number and credibility of reports it had 
received. The request was for U.N. special rapporteurs, including on 
torture and on the right to adequate housing. The government did not 
provide a response to this request.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution prohibits the use of torture, but there 
is no specific definition of torture in the law or a provision of 
criminal liability for committing an act of torture. An article in the 
criminal procedure code (CPC) states that evidence acquired through 
torture is inadmissible. Some security officials reportedly continued 
to use beatings or other forms of coercion to extract confessions 
during interrogations. General Prosecutor Sherkhon Salimzoda stated 
during a press conference that only 13 of the 48 complaints filed in 
2010 had evidence of torture. Officials did not grant sufficient access 
to information to allow human rights organizations to investigate 
claims of torture.
    Urunboy Usmonov, a BBC journalist arrested and detained on June 13, 
claimed in a court hearing on August 18 that he was tortured while in 
custody. The judge refused to acknowledge Usmonov's claims of torture 
during the trial. A BBC official on a visit to the country reported 
that Usmonov's treatment was far worse than he alleged in court and 
included beatings, electrical shocks, and cigarette burns. According to 
the BBC official, Usmonov's abridged testimony occurred because he 
feared reprisals against him and his family.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The government did not 
permit international observers access to monitor its prisons. Exact 
conditions in the prisons remained unknown, but detainees and inmates 
described harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, including 
extreme overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Disease and hunger were 
serious problems. U.N. agencies reported that infection rates of 
tuberculosis and HIV in prisons were significant, and the quality of 
medical treatment was poor.
    The government operates eight prisons, including one for females, 
and four pretrial detention facilities.
    The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) continued to deny access to prisons 
or detention facilities to representatives of the international 
community and civil society. There were no known cases of prisoners 
submitting formal complaints regarding conditions. In August the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) resumed negotiations on 
a prison access agreement with the government. Because of the lack of 
access, it was not known whether prisoners had access to potable water, 
whether steps existed to use alternatives to sentencing for nonviolent 
offenders, or whether the conditions of female prisoners were worse 
than for men.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The CPC does not explicitly 
prohibit arbitrary arrests, and in practice arbitrary arrests were 
common. Few citizens were aware of their right to protest an arrest, 
and there were few checks on the power of police and military officers 
to detain individuals. Police often detained men wearing beards, for 
example, and questioned them on suspicion of religious extremism.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The MVD, Drug Control 
Agency (DCA), Agency on State Financial Control and Fight Against 
Corruption (an anticorruption agency), State Committee for National 
Security (GKNB), State Tax Committee, and Customs Service share 
civilian law enforcement responsibilities. The MVD is responsible 
primarily for public order and controls the police force. The DCA, 
anticorruption agency, and State Tax Committee have mandates to 
investigate specific crimes, and they report to the president. The GKNB 
has responsibility for intelligence and controls the Border Service, 
but it also investigates cases linked to alleged extremist political or 
religious activity. The Customs Service reports directly to the 
president. The Prosecutor General's Office oversees the criminal 
investigations that these agencies conduct.
    The agencies' responsibilities overlap significantly, and law 
enforcement organizations defer to the GKNB. Law enforcement agencies 
were not effective in investigating organized criminal gangs because 
the gangs maintained high-level connections with government officials 
and security agencies. Narcotics agencies, for example, regularly were 
ordered to drop investigations of possible ties between high-level 
officials and drug traffickers.
    Official impunity continued to be a serious problem. Victims of 
police abuse may submit a formal complaint in writing to the officer's 
superior or the Office of the Ombudsman. Most victims reportedly chose 
to remain silent rather than risk official retaliation. The Ombudsman's 
Office for Human Rights made efforts to respond to complaints about 
civil rights violations but rarely intervened, citing that the office 
does not have the power to make statements or recommendations regarding 
criminal cases.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--According to 
the CPC, police may detain an individual up to 12 hours before 
authorities must file criminal charges. If charges are not filed after 
12 hours, the individual must be released. In practice police often did 
not inform detainees of the arrest charges. If police file criminal 
charges, they may detain an individual 72 hours before they must 
present their charges to a judge for an indictment hearing. The judge 
is empowered to order detention, house arrest, or bail, pending trial.
    According to the CPC, family members are allowed access to 
prisoners after indictment, but officials occasionally denied attorneys 
and family members access. Authorities held detainees charged in crimes 
related to national security or extremism for extended periods without 
formally charging them.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--The government generally provided a rationale 
for arrests, although some detainees claimed that authorities falsified 
charges or inflated minor problems to make politically motivated 
arrests. Some police and judicial officials regularly accepted bribes 
in exchange for lenient sentencing or release. Law enforcement 
officials must request an extension from a judge to detain an 
individual in pretrial detention after two, six, and 12 months.

    Pretrial Detention.--Defense advocates alleged that prosecutors 
often held suspects for lengthy periods and registered the initial 
arrest only when the suspect was ready to confess. In most cases 
pretrial detention lasted from one to three months but could extend as 
long as 15 months in exceptional circumstances.

    Amnesty.--As part of the 20th anniversary of independence, 
parliament approved a prisoner amnesty bill initiated by the 
presidential administration. Those considered for amnesty reportedly 
were former Islamic fighters, persons who had served more than three-
quarters of their sentence, draft dodgers, all female detainees, male 
minors and male detainees over the age of 55, and detainees diagnosed 
as suffering serious illness. The amnesty law did not affect those 
already serving life terms and those convicted on terrorism charges. 
During the amnesty period of August 20-November 20, more than 4,300 
people were released from prison or predetention facilities, including 
196 women and 153 people under 18 years old. More than 5,000 people 
received reductions in their sentences but remained in detention.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, in practice the executive branch exerted 
pressure on prosecutors and judges. Corruption and inefficiency were 
significant problems.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are legally afforded a presumption of 
innocence, but they did not enjoy it in practice. Nearly all defendants 
were found guilty. During the year there were 54 acquittals in 5,973 
cases, of which 15 were fully acquitted and the remaining 39 received 
partial acquittals and guilt at lesser levels. Trials are presided over 
by a judge, who issues verdicts. There is no system of trial by jury. 
Defendants generally were able to consult with an attorney in a timely 
manner during trials but often were denied the right to an attorney 
during the pretrial and investigatory periods. By law the government 
should provide an attorney at public expense if requested, but the 
government rarely provided free legal aid. A number of local and 
international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) provided free legal 
counsel to defendants.
    Defendants may present witnesses and evidence at trial with the 
consent of the judge. Defendants and attorneys have the right to review 
all government evidence, confront and question witnesses, and present 
evidence and testimony. No groups are barred from testifying, and in 
principle all testimony receives equal consideration. In practice 
courts generally gave prosecutorial testimony more consideration than 
defense testimony. The law extends the rights of defendants in trial 
procedures to all citizens; it also provides for the right to appeal.
    Low wages for judges and prosecutors left them vulnerable to 
bribery, which was a common practice. Government officials subjected 
judges to political influence.
    Although trials are public, civil society members faced 
difficulties in gaining access to high-profile public cases. The case 
against Muhammadyusuf Ismoilov, Asht journalist of the Dushanbe 
independent weekly newspaper Nuri Zindagi, was moved from civil court 
to the Investigation Detention Center, which restricted the access of 
media and human rights NGOs to the trial. A similar situation occurred 
with the court case in Khujand against a BBC journalist. NGOs reported 
that the government generally permitted them to monitor routine trials.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Authorities claimed that there 
were no political prisoners and that they did not make any politically 
motivated arrests. Opposition parties and local observers claimed the 
government selectively prosecuted political opponents. There was no 
reliable estimate of the number of political prisoners.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil cases are heard in 
general civil courts, economic courts, and military courts. Judges may 
order monetary compensation for victims in criminal cases. There were 
no known cases of individuals filing civil cases for alleged violations 
of human rights.

    Property Restitution.--The government on several occasions seized 
private property with little or no justification, public notice, or 
debate. By law the government must offer residents compensation equal 
to the value of their abandoned property, but compensation was often of 
lesser value.
    The Roghun power station relocation, which began in 2009, raised 
concern among those who resided in the future flood area. They 
reportedly received inadequate compensation and faced forceful 
relocation. Many families were relocated, but resettlement was 
suspended until the results become available from two World Bank-
commissioned studies examining the dam's economic feasibility and 
social and environmental impact.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution states that the home is inviolable. 
With certain exceptions, it is illegal to enter the home by force and 
deprive a person of a home. The CPC states that police cannot enter and 
search a private home without the approval of a judge. Searches may be 
carried out with only a prosecutor's authorization in exceptional 
cases, ``where there is an actual risk that the object searched for and 
subject to seizure may be delayed in being discovered, be lost, damaged 
or used for criminal purposes, or a fugitive may escape.'' The law 
states that courts must be notified of such searches within 24 hours. 
In practice police frequently ignored these laws and infringed on 
citizens' right to privacy, including personal searches without a 
warrant.
    According to the CPC, ``when sufficient grounds exist to believe 
that information, documents, or objects that are relevant to the 
criminal case may be contained in letters, telegrams, radiograms, 
packages, parcels, or other mail and telegraph correspondence, they may 
be intercepted'' with a warrant issued by a judge. The law states that 
only a judge may authorize monitoring of telephone or other 
communication. In practice government security offices often monitored 
communication without judicial authorization.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--Freedom of Speech: The law provides for freedom of speech and 
press, but in practice the government restricted these rights. By law a 
person can be imprisoned for as long as five years for insulting the 
president.

    Freedom of the Press.--Independent media were active, despite 
significant pressure by the government on media outlets. Although some 
print media published political commentary and investigatory material 
critical of the government, journalists observed that certain topics 
were considered off limits, including derogatory information about the 
president or his family, or questions about financial impropriety by 
those close to the president. As observed in the previous year, there 
was a dramatic increase in the number of lawsuits against independent 
journalists and media outlets.
    There were four state-run television channels that broadcasted 
throughout the country and five state-run television stations that 
broadcasted regionally. There was one national and several regional 
state-run radio stations. Several independent television and radio 
stations were available in a small portion of the country, but the 
government controlled most broadcasting transmission facilities. The 
government allowed some international media to operate freely and also 
permitted rebroadcasts of Russian television and radio programs.

    Violence and Harassment.--In November 2010 Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov, a 
reporter with Nuri Zindagi, was arrested in Asht District and later 
charged with inciting religious and national hatred, slander, insulting 
honor and dignity of an individual, and extortion. Media analysts 
alleged that the charges were politically motivated. Ismoilov wrote 
several articles documenting corrupt acts committed by Asht District 
officials. He remained in detention until October 14, when he was found 
guilty but released from detention under the amnesty law.
    In July security forces detained BBC journalist Urunboy Usmonov 
following publication of his interviews with alleged members of Hizb-
ut-Tahrir. Police initially charged Usmonov with membership in an 
extremist organization and ultimately with failure to report his 
contact with the group. After international and internal pressure, 
authorities released him, but the case regarding his alleged failure to 
report his contact with the group continued in court. His case ended on 
October 14 when a court found him guilty, but his sentence was 
suspended under the amnesty law.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Journalists regularly 
practiced self-censorship to avoid retribution from officials. 
Opposition politicians had limited access to state-run television. The 
government gave opposition parties minimal broadcast time to express 
their political views, while the president's party had numerous 
opportunities to broadcast its messages.

    Publishing Restrictions.--The government exercised some 
restrictions on the distribution of materials, requiring all newspapers 
and magazines with circulations exceeding 99 recipients to register 
with the Ministry of Culture. The government continued to control all 
major printing presses and the supply of newsprint. Community radio 
stations continued to experience registration and licensing problems 
that prevented them from broadcasting. Independent radio and television 
stations experienced bureaucratic delays to registration. The 
government restricted issuance of licenses to new stations, in part 
through an excessively complex application process. For example, new 
stations must be licensed by the Commission of the National Committee 
on Television and Radio, which directly managed the national television 
and radio stations. The government continued to deny BBC a renewal of 
its license to broadcast on FM radio.

    Internet Freedom.--There were new and continuing government 
restrictions on access to Internet Web sites. On May 20, the government 
restricted access to turajon.com, a Web site created by religious 
leaders Akbar Turajonzoda and his brothers Eshoni Nouriddin and Eshoni 
Mahmoudjon. The Web site was available by proxy servers.
    Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views via 
the Internet, including by e-mail. In August the government formed a 
cybercrimes and communications unit of the Combating Organized Crime 
Department. One of its tasks is to monitor activity in Internet cafes 
and electronic gaming centers.
    There was a rise in social networking via Facebook, Twitter, and 
other social Web sites. Cases of organized public protests via Facebook 
were emerging. On April 8, 30 people gathered at the state energy 
agency Barqi Tojik to protest severe electricity shortages. Citizens 
initiated the protest through Facebook and later posted news and their 
views of the event on the Web site. This was the first known example of 
organized public protest via social networking.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--Throughout the year pressure 
continued against the only private higher education institution, the 
Institute of Innovative Technologies and Communication (IITC), 
following the Ministry of Education's 2010 revocation of its license. 
The government claimed that the IITC ``failed to meet the ministry's 
standards.'' Law enforcement bodies confiscated IITC equipment and 
documentation. IITC protested unsuccessfully to the government. As the 
IITC employed several prominent members of opposition political 
parties, observers alleged that its closure was politically motivated.
    The Ministry of Education maintained a dress code that bans the 
hijab in schools and expelled several students and fired one teacher at 
Tajik National University for wearing it. Women wearing a traditional 
local head covering, a scarf that covers hair but not the neck, were 
allowed to study in schools and universities. According to imams in 
Khujand, many parents kept their daughters from school rather than 
allow them to go without the hijab.
    The Ministry of Education expanded its ban on beards to all 
teachers despite previously allowing teachers over the age of 50 to 
maintain beards less than 1.25 inches in length.
    The Ministry of Education led a campaign promoting public 
discussions of the controversial Law on Parental Responsibility, which 
bans all secondary school students from attending mosques.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution provides the right to freedom of assembly, 
but the government required that individuals obtain permission from the 
government to stage public demonstrations. Individuals considering 
staging peaceful protests reportedly chose not to do so due to fear of 
government reprisal.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution protects freedom of 
association, but in practice the government restricted this right. 
There was an increase in small-scale demonstrations related to economic 
issues, land reform, electricity shortages, and corruption of local 
officials.
    On April 27, 10 women from Kulob who were given new homes after the 
2010 floods protested in front of the presidential administration 
building. They claimed local officials were trying to evict them from 
their new homes. Police and security personnel forced them to disperse 
but promised to pass their appeal to presidential advisors. At year's 
end the case remained unresolved.
    In late December 2010, members of the Atovullo Raqibov family held 
a hunger strike and demonstrated in front of the ombudsman's office to 
demand compensation for Faizobod District officials' partial demolition 
of their home to make way for a road in 2009. After their protest 
Atovullo Raqibov, his wife, and two sisters were charged with 
hooliganism, allegedly for breaking the window of a bulldozer as it 
destroyed their residence. On April 25, IRPT Chairman Kabiri and 
journalists from Asia-Plus met Faizobod officials, who agreed to give 
the displaced family a new plot of land. Kabiri won media praise for 
promising to finance a new home for the family. On April 28, a Faizobod 
court convicted the Raqibovs on the hooliganism charge but released 
them on probation.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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.--In-Country Movement: The law provides 
for freedom of movement, but in practice the government imposed some 
restrictions. Foreigners are prohibited from traveling within a 15-mile 
zone along the borders with China and Afghanistan unless they obtain 
permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Officials did not 
always enforce the restrictions along the western border with 
Afghanistan, although the government continued to require travelers 
(including international workers and diplomats) to obtain special 
permits to visit Gorno-Badakhshan. Diplomats and international aid 
workers could travel to the Afghanistan border without prior 
authorization.

    Exile.--There are no laws that provide for exile, and there were no 
reports of forced exile. Some government opponents remained in self-
imposed exile in Russia. On August 17, a Jehovah's Witnesses member, 
Sherzod Rahimov, was deported to Uzbekistan for participating in 
unregistered religious activities.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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. However, the process for making asylum status determinations 
remained problematic and nontransparent. The government processed 
asylum applications through the National Refugee Status Determination 
Commission and granted applicants documents to regularize their stay 
and to prevent deportation. When denying refugee status, officials 
usually cited lack of evidence of persecution in the refugee's home 
country or ``malpractice'' on the part of refugees applying to renew 
their status--such as violation of the prohibition of living in 
Dushanbe. Unofficially some refugees claimed the authorities could deny 
cases if sufficiently high bribes were not paid.
    The government generally succeeded in registering those with a 
claim to refugee or asylum seeker status, but it also placed 
significant restrictions on claimants. Officials continued to enforce a 
2000 law prohibiting asylum seekers and refugees from residing in urban 
areas. Security officials regularly monitored refugee populations. 
Refugees and asylum seekers believed to be residing in prohibited areas 
were subject to police raids throughout the year.
    According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees 
(UNHCR), the inflow of refugees from Afghanistan continued unabated 
during the year, and the government continued to demonstrate a 
particular concern about the country's population of refugees from that 
country. As in previous years, approximately 98 percent of all refugees 
and asylum seekers were Afghan. During the year the government granted 
many Afghans refugee status, but only for one year, after which they 
had to reapply for status to stay in the country.
    By December the government had 2,559 registered refugees and an 
additional 17 asylum seekers seeking refugee status, of whom 2,504 were 
Afghans. However, the UNHCR believed the government might have 
underestimated these figures. Official government statistics showed 
Afghan, Iranian, and Kyrgyz refugees as well as asylum seekers. Overall 
the government continued to cooperate with the UNHCR, which retained 
its observer status in the Refugee Status Determination Commission.
    Although the law stipulates that refugee status should be granted 
for as long as three years, the transfer of refugee processing to the 
Ministry of the Interior in 2009 resulted in much shorter periods. The 
law officially allows refugees to apply for citizenship after two-and-
one-half years, but very few applicants were granted citizenship in the 
past. Several citizenship cases the UNHCR submitted for direct 
consideration during the year were either refused or remained pending.

    Employment.--Refugees and asylum seekers were generally required to 
secure employment, food, shelter, education, and access to basic 
services themselves, although the UNHCR provided significant 
assistance. By law registered refugees should have equal access to law 
enforcement and the judicial system. An increasing percentage of 
refugees entering the country did not possess professional backgrounds 
or job skills, and many faced discrimination by the local Tajik 
population. The requirement to live outside urban areas created 
additional problems for finding adequate work. The UNHCR provided some 
assistance to female refugees by providing vocational job training in 
skills such as sewing, cooking, and hairdressing. Most male refugees 
worked for small enterprises. Most female refugees did not work and 
remained in the home, in accordance with traditional cultures. Refugees 
and asylum seekers are legally entitled to education and health 
services alongside Tajik citizens. The Ministry of Education allowed 
Afghan parents to send their children to local schools without paying 
fees. UNHCR partners provided books and school uniforms and some 
language classes to these children and assisted with their medical 
expenses.

    Durable Solutions.--In 2008 the government and UNHCR signed an 
agreement regarding local integration of refugees into the general 
population as a more durable solution to the refugee situation. The 
government promised to consider individual refugee cases for 
citizenship, but many of these cases remained pending.
    According to the UNHCR, there were 440 stateless persons and 2,300 
persons whose citizenship status was undetermined, meaning they were 
still using Soviet Union passports.
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 through elections. In practice the government restricted 
this right.
    The president and his supporters continued to dominate the 
government. The president's political party, the PDPT, dominated both 
houses of parliament. PDPT members held most government positions. The 
president had broad authority to appoint and dismiss officials, and he 
exercised that authority throughout the year.

    Elections and Political Participation.--There were eight legally 
registered political parties, including the PDPT. Observers considered 
only three of these parties to be independent of the government. 
Opposition political parties had moderate popular support and faced 
scrutiny by the government. All senior members of President Rahmon's 
government were PDPT members, and most members of the country's 97-seat 
parliament were members of the PDPT, belonged to progovernment parties, 
or were PDPT-affiliated independents.
    In the lower, 63-member chamber of the parliament, there were 12 
female members and one minority group member. In the upper, 33-member 
chamber of parliament, there were five women and one member of a 
minority group. Cultural practices discouraged female participation in 
politics, although the government and political parties made efforts to 
promote their involvement.
    There were no female ministers or ministers from minority groups. 
The deputy prime minister was a woman; several women held deputy 
minister positions.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
the government did not implement the law effectively. Officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption, 
nepotism, and regional hiring bias were pervasive at all levels of 
government.
    Corruption in the Education Ministry was systemic. Prospective 
students were required to pay thousands of dollars in bribes to enter 
the country's most prestigious universities, while even provincial 
colleges required several hundred dollars. Students often paid 
additional bribes to receive good grades on exams.
    Many traffic police retained fines they collected for violations. 
Traffic police posted at regular intervals along roads arbitrarily 
stopped drivers to ask for bribes. The problem was systemic in part due 
to the low official wages paid to traffic police. According to reports 
many traffic police must pay for their jobs, an expense they try to 
recoup by extracting bribes from motorists.
    The MVD and the Prosecutor General's Office are responsible for 
investigating, arresting, and prosecuting corrupt officials. The 
government acknowledged a problem with corruption and took some steps 
to combat it, including putting lower-level officials on trial for 
taking bribes. The government did not charge high-level officials with 
corruption.
    The prosecutor general investigated some cases of corruption by 
government employees, but the bulk of the cases involved mid- or lower-
level officials, and none involved large-scale abuses. Public officials 
were not subject to financial disclosure laws. According to the 
anticorruption agency, the government identified 1,017 cases of 
corruption by government officials and dismissed 60 officials for 
misconduct in the first six months of the year.
    Public budgets, particularly those involving major state-owned 
enterprises, lacked transparency. Although parliament has oversight 
over the state budget, in practice it passed annual budgets almost 
without comment despite large, unexplained, and undefined expenses. In 
May 2010 the government released a report on budget performance for the 
previous year; the report contained numerous details about education, 
health, and other social sector spending. No such report was released 
during the year. A considerable amount of government spending appeared 
to occur off-budget, including major buildings, parks, and other 
special projects such as summer residences for the president.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    As in previous years, domestic and international human rights 
groups usually were able to monitor and report on the general human 
rights situation in the country. NGOs and journalists were careful, 
however, to avoid public criticism of the president or other high-
ranking officials.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government generally 
cooperated with international NGOs. It facilitated visits by high-
ranking officials from the U.N. the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and other international organizations but 
continued to deny the ICRC access to prison facilities, although it 
opened a new dialogue in August.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Office of the Human Rights 
Ombudsman made very little effort to respond to civil complaints during 
the year, and its limited staff and budget further constrained its 
capacity to do so. As opposed to efforts made in the previous year, the 
Ombudsman's Office did not show any initiative to meet with NGOs to 
discuss specific human rights cases and general human rights issues in 
the country. Some meetings that were conducted were of general 
character and did not result in anything specific. The office lacked 
full independence; the ombudsman publicly defended some government 
policies that violated human rights.
    The government's Office for Constitutional Guarantees of Citizens' 
Rights continued to investigate and answer citizens' complaints, but 
staffing inadequacies and uneven cooperation from other government 
institutions hampered the office's effectiveness. The parliamentary 
committee on legislation and human rights examined proposed legislation 
for compliance with human rights obligations, but according to 
observers it did not fulfill its primary responsibility to raise human 
rights concerns in new legislation.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law provides for the rights and freedoms of every person 
regardless of race, gender, disability, language, or social status, but 
in practice there was discrimination against women and persons with 
disabilities. Trafficking in persons remained a problem.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law prohibits rape, which 
is punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment. There is no separate 
statute for spousal rape. The government was unable to provide 
statistics on the number of cases or convictions. Law enforcement 
officials usually advised women not to file charges but registered 
cases on insistence of the victim. Most observers believed the majority 
of cases were unreported because victims wished to avoid being 
stigmatized.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained a 
widespread problem. Between a third and a half of women experienced 
physical, psychological, or sexual abuse by husbands or other family 
members. Women massively underreported violence against them, fearing 
reprisals or because of inadequate response by the police and 
judiciary, resulting in virtual impunity for the perpetrators. Domestic 
violence was widely justified as a ``family matter'' by the authorities 
wishing to promote traditional gender roles. Women and girls were even 
more vulnerable to domestic violence because of early and unregistered 
marriages and an increased early drop-out rate from school.
    There was one police station fully equipped to work with domestic 
violence victims. The station was one of the five nationwide staffed 
with police officers trained, also with OSCE support, to respond to 
family violence cases and address the needs of victims in a gender-
sensitive manner. There was one comprehensive shelter for victims of 
domestic violence in the country, supported by the OSCE and operated by 
an NGO in Khujand. The government and NGOs operated additional crisis 
centers and hotlines for women in rural areas, where women could seek 
guidance on domestic violence problems and legal assistance, but many 
centers lacked funding and resources. Local governments donated the 
premises for three of the shelters. The Committee for Women's Affairs 
(within the government) had limited resources to assist domestic 
violence victims, but local committee representatives referred women to 
the crisis shelters for assistance.
    There is no comprehensive law against domestic violence. The 
government took some steps to conduct public information campaigns and 
collect information on domestic violence, but most cases of domestic 
abuse went unreported. Authorities seldom investigated reported cases, 
and few alleged perpetrators were prosecuted. By law police cannot act 
without a written complaint from the victim, even if there were other 
witnesses, and police often gave only warnings, short-term detentions, 
or fines for committing ``administrative offenses'' in cases of 
domestic violence.
    In some rural areas, officials observed a continued trend of female 
suicide; domestic abuse by in-laws or labor migration may have been 
contributing causes.

    Sexual Harassment.--There was no specific statute banning sexual 
harassment in the workplace. Victims often did not report incidents 
because of fear of social stigma.

    Reproductive Rights.--The government did not interfere with the 
rights of individuals and couples to decide freely and responsibly the 
number, spacing, and timing of their children and to have the 
information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and 
violence. According to the Ministry of Health, 26.7 percent of women 
between ages 15 and 49 used modern forms of contraception and 76 
percent of births were attended by skilled personnel. The ministry also 
reported in November that 80.6 percent of women received postpartum 
care and that the maternal mortality rate was approximately 37 per 
100,000 births.
    Women were increasingly vulnerable to HIV infection because of 
social taboos on discussion of sex education issues and popular 
sentiment against the use of condoms. Women remained a minority of 
those infected with HIV, although their incidence of infection was 
increasing. According to the government's National Center on HIV, under 
the Ministry of Health, 989 new cases (707 men and 282 women) of HIV 
infection were detected during the year. The total number of officially 
registered HIV cases in the country was 3,846 individuals--2,987 men 
and 859 women.

    Discrimination.--Women were underrepresented in decision-making 
processes at all levels of political institutions. Female 
representation in all branches of power was less than 30 percent. The 
country had no female ministers or ambassadors. The 2004 Council of 
Ulemo fatwa (religious edict) prohibiting women from praying in mosques 
remained in effect.
    Amnesty International noted gender segregation in employment, 
``with the vast majority of the working female population (86 percent) 
working in the low-paid sectors, such as agriculture (75 percent), 
public health services, and education. Wages in these branches are 
approximately four to seven times lower than in other spheres (as in 
industry, construction, transportation, and communication). 
Furthermore, a significant number of women of employable age are 
engaged in housekeeping or in the informal sector of the economy.'' The 
law provides that women receive equal pay as men for equal work, but 
cultural barriers continued to restrict the professional opportunities 
available to women. According to the World Bank's Women, Business, and 
the Law report, women and men have equal ownership rights to property, 
although in practice women owned significantly less property than men. 
There was no specific statute prohibiting sexual harassment in the 
workplace. Victims often did not report incidents because of fear of 
social stigma.
    The law protects women's rights in marriage and family matters, but 
some female minors were pressured to marry against their will. NGOs 
estimated that up to 10 percent of men practiced polygamy, although it 
is illegal. Women in polygamous marriages often were married in 
religious ceremonies but not registered with the government. Husbands 
who simply repeated a phrase in front of two witnesses could easily 
divorce unregistered wives. Inheritance laws do not discriminate 
against women, although in practice some inheritances passed 
disproportionately to sons.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived both by 
birth within the country's territory and from one's parents. The 
government is required to register all births. Many parents do not 
register births until a child is ready to enter school, since birth 
registration is required to receive public services.

    Education.--Free and universal public education is compulsory until 
the age of 16 or completion of the ninth grade. UNICEF indicated that 
school attendance was generally good through the primary grades, but 
girls faced disadvantages, especially in rural school systems where 
families elected to keep them home after primary grades to take care of 
siblings or work in agriculture. Underage marriage was widespread in 
some rural areas, and many parents directed their daughters to quit 
school after the ninth grade.

    Child Abuse.--The Committee on Women and Family Affairs and 
regional child rights protection departments are responsible for 
addressing issues of violence against children. Girls who had been 
subject to all kinds of violence could receive support from several 
centers throughout the country. The Women of Science of Tajikistan 
Association, supported by UNICEF and the Dushanbe mayor's office, 
organized a hotline for free legal and psychological consultations for 
girls who were victims of violence.
    The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law on social protection of persons 
with disabilities applies to individuals having either physical or 
mental disabilities. The law prohibits discrimination against persons 
with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and 
provision of other state services, but public and private institutions 
generally did not have the resources to provide legal safeguards. The 
law requires government buildings, schools, hospitals, and 
transportation to be accessible to persons with disabilities, but the 
government did not enforce these provisions. To attend school, children 
must be deemed ``medically fit'' by doctors. Many children with 
disabilities were not able to attend school because doctors considered 
them to be not ``medically fit.''
    The government's Commission on Fulfillment of International Human 
Rights, the Society of Invalids, and local and regional governmental 
structures are charged with protecting the rights of persons with 
disabilities. Although the government maintained group living and 
medical facilities for persons with disabilities, funding was limited 
and facilities were in poor condition.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Generally discrimination was not 
a significant problem. There were reports that some law enforcement 
officials harassed ethnic Afghans and Uzbeks, but such reports were not 
common.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Gay and lesbian relationships 
have been legal in the country since 1998, and the age of consent is 
the same as for heterosexual relationships. Throughout the country 
there was significant societal discrimination against lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, and there was little to no 
public activism on their behalf. There were no known acts of violence 
against members of LGBT communities, and there were no documented cases 
of government discrimination against LGBT persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was societal 
discrimination against individuals with HIV/AIDS. The government 
offered HIV testing free of charge at 140 facilities, and partner 
notification was mandatory and anonymous. The World Health Organization 
noted officials systematically offered HIV testing to prisoners, 
military recruits, street children, refugees, and persons seeking 
visas, residence, or citizenship.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides workers the right to form and join independent unions 
but requires all NGOs, including trade unions, to be registered. By law 
unions are allowed to conduct activities without interference, except 
``in cases specified by law,'' but those cases are not defined. Workers 
have the right to strike. The Law on Meetings does not restrict the 
right to strike but requires that meetings and other mass actions have 
prior official authorization, thus limiting trade unions' ability to 
organize meetings or demonstrations. The law provides for the right to 
organize and bargain collectively. The law does not specifically 
prohibit antiunion discrimination.
    In practice workers joined unions. The government used informal 
means to exercise considerable influence over organized labor, 
including influencing the selection of labor union leaders. The 
umbrella Federation of Trade Unions of Tajikistan did not effectively 
represent worker interests. There were reports that the government 
compelled some citizens to join state-endorsed trade unions and impeded 
formation of independent unions. According to official figures, 1.3 
million persons belonged to unions, approximately 63 percent of the 
active work force. There were no reports of antiunion discrimination 
during the year.
    Citizens were reluctant to strike due to fear of government 
retaliation. Ninety percent of workers were covered by collective 
bargaining contracts. Foreign, specifically Chinese, workers in some 
cases received preferable treatment to Tajik workers in labor disputes.
    Zervashan Gold Company continued to deny that Tajik workers went on 
strike in September to demand wages equivalent to their Chinese 
counterparts, who made 15-20 times more than Tajik workers. The case 
continued at year's end.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, including of children, except in cases 
defined in the law. Since the Soviet era, local officials compelled 
state workers, particularly in the Khatlon and Sughd regions, to pick 
cotton during the annual cotton harvest.
    On September 20, local media reported that companies in the Sughd 
region sent employees to the cotton fields to help with harvesting. 
Residents disputed claims by local authorities that this was voluntary. 
The head of the local administration's industry department received 
instructions to provide cotton pickers from the town of Qairoqqum and 
that ``everyone going is a volunteer.'' Reports from the government and 
independent NGOs suggested that work done in the cotton fields was on a 
volunteer basis in most cases. Media reports of forced labor could not 
be corroborated.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Forced child labor was a dwindling problem, and the government 
aggressively enforced labor laws and worked with the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) to prevent the use of forced child 
labor in the autumn cotton harvest. The highest incidences of child 
labor were in the domestic and agricultural sectors, but over the past 
two years these cases have been isolated. The instances of forced child 
labor in the cotton harvest decreased drastically. The IOM interim 
report for the fall showed almost no cases of forced child labor, and 
most of these cases were prosecuted by local or national government 
authorities.
    The minimum age for children to work is 16, although children may 
work at the age of 15 with local trade union permission. By law 
children younger than 18 may work no more than six hours a day and 36 
hours per week. Children as young as seven years old may participate in 
household labor and agricultural work, which are separately classified 
as family assistance. Many children younger than age 10 worked in 
bazaars or sold goods on the street.
    The Inter-Ministerial Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons 
disseminated a directive to local officials reiterating existing 
prohibitions. The government accredited NGOs working through the IOM to 
monitor the cotton harvest. These NGOs, with the cooperation of the 
government, conducted monitoring visits to cotton fields and schools. 
Government officials accompanying IOM representatives met with local 
officials to reiterate the law's prohibition against forced child 
labor. Site visits by diplomats confirmed monitors' observations that 
government efforts resulted in a significant reduction in the use of 
forced child labor. The government also distributed a second draft 
National Action Plan on Trafficking in Persons, including benchmarks 
and strategies for combating child labor for NGO and diplomatic 
community comment.
    Enforcement of child labor laws is the responsibility of the 
Prosecutor's Office, MOJ, Ministry of Social Welfare, MVD, and 
appropriate local and regional governmental offices. Unions also are 
responsible for reporting any violations in the employment of minors. 
Citizens can bring unresolved cases between unions and employers before 
the prosecutor general for investigation. Few violations were reported, 
because most children worked under the family assistance exception.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The estimated average monthly 
wage was TJS 472 (approximately $100), but in many sectors the average 
wages were far lower. In the agricultural sector, for example, the 
average wage was estimated at TJS 108 ($24.50). The government 
acknowledged the problem of low wages and provided subsidies for 
workers and their families who earned the minimum wage of TJS 80 ($17) 
per month. Some establishments compensated their employees with food 
commodities or enterprise-produced products, which employees either 
sold or bartered in local markets. The government defines the minimum 
standard of living as a basket of goods equal to $24 per month. Thus a 
family of four requires a minimum of $96 a month to stay above the 
poverty line. The government does not have a formal poverty line.
    The law provides for a standard workweek of 40 hours for adults 
older than 18 years old. The law mandates overtime payment, with the 
first two hours paid at one-and-one-half times the normal rate and the 
remainder at double the rate. The regulation was not enforced, and 
government employees were not paid for overtime work. Overtime payment 
was inconsistent in all sectors of the labor force. The Ministry of 
Finance enforces financial aspects of the labor law, and the Agency of 
Financial Control of the presidential administration oversees other 
aspects of the law. There is no legal prohibition on excessive 
compulsory overtime.
    There are laws that establish relatively strict occupational health 
and safety standards. In practice the government did not fully comply 
with these standards, partly because of the degree of corruption and 
the low salaries paid to inspectors. The State Technical Supervision 
Committee under the Council of Ministers is responsible for enforcing 
health and safety standards. The law permits workers to remove 
themselves from hazardous conditions without risking loss of 
employment. This law was not enforced effectively, and in practice few 
workers removed themselves.
    Farmers and agricultural workers, accounting for approximately 50 
percent of the workforce, continued to work under difficult 
circumstances. There was no system to monitor or regulate working 
conditions in the agricultural sector. Wages were low, and many workers 
were paid in kind. Despite some changes, the government's failure to 
introduce and implement comprehensive property and land usage reforms 
continued to limit its ability to protect agricultural workers' rights.

                               __________

                              TURKMENISTAN

                           executive summary
    Although the constitution declares Turkmenistan to be a secular 
democracy and a presidential republic, the country has an authoritarian 
government controlled by the president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and 
his Democratic Party, the country's only political party. Immediately 
after the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006, Berdimuhamedov 
was inaugurated president following presidential elections in February 
2007, which did not meet international standards. December 2008 
parliamentary elections also fell short of international standards. 
Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The three most important human rights problems were arbitrary 
arrest, torture, and disregard for civil liberties including 
restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion, and 
movement.
    Other continuing human rights problems included citizens' inability 
to change their government; denial of due process and fair trial; 
arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; 
discrimination and violence against women; and restrictions on the free 
association of workers.
    Officials in the security services and elsewhere in the government 
acted with impunity. There were no prosecutions of government officials 
for human rights abuses.
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.--According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), 
approximately 10 men, allegedly members of the Ministry of National 
Security (MNB), forcibly entered the home of Bazargeldy and Aydjemal 
Berdyev and detained the couple on April 19. The couple had been 
seeking recompense for torture and confiscation of property since the 
late 1990s. No information was available about their whereabouts since 
their arrest.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--While the constitution and law prohibit such practices, 
security officials trying to extract confessions from detainees 
tortured and beat criminal suspects, prisoners, and individuals 
critical of the government. According to findings in an April report 
submitted to the U.N. Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) by 
Turkmenistan's Independent Lawyers Association (TILA) and the Turkmen 
Initiative for Human Rights, `` . . . among suspects placed in the 
temporary holding facility, every second person was exposed to varying 
types of abusive treatment and torture.'' The report also stated that 
the `` . . . beating and rape of inmates by the (penal) colony staff 
[and] the use of torture and psychological pressure are rampant. Such 
treatment of inmates results in frequent suicide attempts among the 
prison population.''
    Article 16 of the 2009 Law on the Status and Social Protection of a 
Military Serviceman states that the government provides for the health 
and lives of servicemen. Members of the military reported, however, 
that hazing of conscripts occurred and involved violations of human 
dignity and morale including brutality and verbal abuse. In contrast 
with previous years, however, the prevalence of hazing reportedly was 
much lower. Members of the military reported that officers responded to 
cases of abuse, inspected conscripts for signs of abuse, and punished 
abusers in some, but not all, cases. Hazing of conscripts reportedly 
was more prevalent outside of Ashgabat.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
unsanitary, overcrowded, harsh, and life threatening. Some facilities, 
such as the minimum security camp LBK-12, are located in areas that 
result in inmates experiencing extremely harsh climate conditions, with 
excessive heat in the summers and frigid temperatures in the winter.
    There were unconfirmed reports of physical abuse of prisoners by 
prison officials and other prisoners. According to the TILA report, the 
total imprisonment capacity in the colonies and prisons (excluding the 
military penal battalion) was 8,100 inmates. According to this report, 
however, prior to the amnesty act announced in 2009, the inmate 
population totaled 26,720 persons. This figure did not include 
detainees kept in pretrial detention facilities, police-run temporary 
holding facilities, occupational therapy rehabilitation centers, and 
the penal battalion. The detainees in pretrial detention facilities 
were predominantly individuals who had been sentenced but had not been 
transferred to colonies. The six pretrial detention facilities are 
designed for 1,120 persons, but it is estimated that they house three 
to four times that number.
    The TILA report also noted that guards and other prisoners engaged 
in widespread violence against inmates. According to the February TILA 
report, in the LBK-12 facility, ``physical abuse is used against 
inmates by the colony personnel and other individuals with the consent 
and often following the instructions of the colony's administration.'' 
The report also noted that there were several inmate groups organized 
on a ``tribal principle'' and that ``real fights with knives and 
knuckles occur between the groups, which result in a high death toll 
among the prison population.'' Diseases, particularly tuberculosis 
(TB), were widespread. Due to overcrowding, officials reportedly held 
inmates diagnosed with TB and skin diseases with healthy detainees, 
contributing to the spread of disease. There continued to be concerns 
that the government did not adequately test and treat prisoners with TB 
before they were released into the general population, although the 
government claimed that it did so. The government reported that it 
transferred prisoners diagnosed with TB to a special Ministry of 
Interior hospital in Mary Province for treatment and arranged for 
continuing treatment for released prisoners at their residences.
    The nutritional value of prison food was poor, and the majority of 
prisoners suffered from malnutrition. Prisoners depended on relatives 
to supplement inadequate prison food supplies. Some family members and 
inmates stated that prison officials sometimes confiscated these food 
parcels. The availability of potable water could not be confirmed.
    Authorities typically incarcerated men and women in separate 
facilities. The number of facilities for female prisoners and detainees 
was not available, but according to the TILA report there were 2,010 
female prisoners held at the DZK/8 facility in Dashoguz.
    Complete data on the average sentence or numbers of incarcerated 
juveniles were not available. A pretrial detention facility under the 
jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry housed adults and juveniles and 
accommodated approximately 800 persons. This number included 
individuals in pretrial detention, on remand, and those already 
convicted but not yet transferred to penal colonies.
    In March the government revised Article 88 of the criminal code, 
which pertains to the punishment of juveniles. Under the revised code, 
first-time juvenile offenders convicted of minor offenses are subject 
to compulsory reform schooling rather than harsher forms of punishment. 
The government previously placed convicted juveniles in medical-
educational facilities.
    According to relatives, some prisoners were unable to receive 
supplies, and family members often were denied access to the prisoners. 
The government did allow diplomats to access prisoners held on criminal 
charges who were nationals of their countries. The government did not 
report whether prisoners were permitted religious observance and 
reported no systematic monitoring of prison and detention center 
conditions. There were no reports of a prison ombudsman.
    Government officials generally disregarded inquiries from family 
members and diplomats about political prisoners' locations or 
condition. On March 28, however, the government released information 
about the number of family visits, food package, and medical services 
received since 2007 by imprisoned journalists Annagurban Amanklychev 
and Sapardurdy Hajiev. Government officials continued to refuse to 
permit family members and international observers, including the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), access to detainees or 
prisoners. The government and the ICRC have been unable to agree on 
acceptable conditions for regular prison visits. As a result, the ICRC 
did not conduct regular prison visits during the year. In July, 
however, the government allowed ICRC officials to visit an unspecified 
Ministry of Interior facility.
    On May 17 and 18, the UNCAT considered the initial report of the 
government on the fulfillment of its obligations as a signatory of the 
Convention against Torture. In its concluding observations, the UNCAT 
report expressed regret ``that the [government's] report lacks 
statistical and practical information on the implementation of the 
provisions of the convention and that it was submitted 10 years late, 
which prevented the committee from conducting an analysis of the 
implementation of the convention by the state party following its 
ratification in 1999.''

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but both remained serious problems.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
Interior directs the criminal police, who work closely with the 
Ministry of National Security (MNB) on matters of national security. 
The MNB plays a role in personnel changes in other ministries and 
enforces presidential decrees. Both the MNB and criminal police 
operated with impunity. The presidential commission created in 2007 to 
review citizens' complaints of abuse by law enforcement agencies did 
not conduct any known inquiries that resulted in members of the 
security forces being held accountable for abuses.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A warrant is 
not required for arrest when officials catch a suspect in the act of 
committing an offense. The prosecutor general issues an authorization 
for arrest within 72 hours of detention. If, within 10 days of 
detention, investigating authorities do not find proof of guilt, they 
must release the detainee. If officials identify evidence of guilt, the 
investigation can last as long as two months. A provincial or national-
level prosecutor may extend the investigation period to six months. The 
national prosecutor general or deputy prosecutor general may extend the 
investigation period to a maximum of one year. Following the 
investigation, the prosecutor prepares a bill of indictment and the 
case is transferred to the court. These procedures generally were 
respected in practice, and the prosecutor promptly informed detainees 
of the charges against them.
    The criminal procedure code provides for a bail system and surety; 
however, these provisions were not implemented. The law provides that 
detainees are entitled to immediate access to an attorney of their 
choice after a formal accusation, but in practice detainees did not 
have prompt or regular access to legal counsel. Authorities denied some 
detainees visits by family members during the year. Families sometimes 
did not know the whereabouts of detained relatives. Incommunicado 
detention was a problem. The scope of these problems in the criminal 
justice system was unclear. Authorities legally had to issue a formal 
indictment within 10 days of arrest to hold detainees longer. 
Authorities, however, did not adhere to these provisions in practice.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--The law characterizes any opposition to the 
government as treason. Those convicted of treason face life 
imprisonment and are ineligible for amnesty or reduction of sentence. 
There were no known treason convictions during the year. In the past 
the government arrested and filed charges against those expressing 
critical or differing views on economic or criminal charges instead of 
charging its critics with treason.

    Pretrial Detention.--Generally the law permits detention to last no 
longer than two months, but in exceptional cases it can be extended to 
one year if an investigator makes a request to the prosecutor general. 
For minor crimes a much shorter investigation period applies. In 
contrast with previous years, authorities rarely exceeded legal limits 
for pretrial detention. In the past chronic corruption and cumbersome 
bureaucratic processes contributed to lengthy trial delays; however, 
the government's anticorruption efforts and the establishment of the 
Academy of State Service to improve state employees' qualifications 
generally eliminated such delays.
    Although in past years the government detained regime opponents 
under house arrest without due process, no provision in the criminal 
procedure code authorizes such punishment.
    On April 11, officials from the MNB detained Bisengul Begdesenov, a 
leader of the Kazakh community, in his home. According to HRW, MNB 
officials searched his home without a warrant and confiscated 
computers, USB memory cards, and documents. He was tried, found guilty 
of fraud, given a suspended sentence, and released in May.
    According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), in February 
Amangelen Shapudakov, an 80-year-old pensioner and civic activist, 
traveled to Ashgabat to complain to the Interior Ministry about local 
corruption. In an interview with RFE/RL, he stated that police officers 
in the Kopetdag district of Ashgabat beat him, drove him back to his 
home village of Garrygala, and told him that if he returned to Ashgabat 
again, worse would happen to him. According to the RFE/RL report, 
Turkmen authorities detained Shapudakov on March 9 and confined him to 
a psychiatric hospital in Balkanabat. He was released after 43 days in 
confinement.

    Amnesty.--The government pardoned an unannounced number of 
prisoners in May in honor of Victory Day and International Children's 
Protection Day. In August the government pardoned 3,700 prisoners in 
advance of the Night of Omnipotence holiday. President Berdimuhamedov 
granted amnesty to 1,700 prisoners in October in connection with the 
Independence Day holiday. Another 754 prisoners received amnesty in 
December on the occasion of Neutrality Day.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, in practice the judiciary was subordinate to the 
president. There was no legislative review of the president's judicial 
appointments and dismissals, except for the chairman (chief justice) of 
the Supreme Court, whose nomination the parliament nominally reviewed. 
The president had sole authority to dismiss any judge. The judiciary 
was widely reputed to be both corrupt and inefficient.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for due process for defendants, 
including a public trial, access to accusatory material, the right to 
call witnesses to testify on their behalf, a defense attorney or a 
court-appointed lawyer if the defendant cannot afford one, and the 
right to represent oneself in court. In practice authorities often 
denied these rights. Defendants frequently did not enjoy a presumption 
of innocence. There was no jury system. The government permitted the 
public to attend most trials but closed some trials, especially those 
it considered politically sensitive. There were few independent lawyers 
available to represent defendants. The criminal procedure code provides 
that defendants be present at their trials and consult with their 
attorneys in a timely manner. The law sets no restrictions on a 
defendant's access to an attorney. The court at times did not allow 
defendants to confront or question a witness against them and denied 
defendants and their attorneys access to government evidence. In some 
cases courts refused to accept exculpatory evidence provided by defense 
attorneys, even if that evidence might have changed the outcome of the 
trial.
    Even if the courts observed due process, the authority of the 
government prosecutor far exceeded that of the defense attorney, making 
it difficult for the defendant to receive a fair trial. Court 
transcripts frequently were flawed or incomplete, especially when 
defendants' testimony had to be translated from Russian to Turkmen. 
Defendants could appeal a lower court's decision and petition the 
president for clemency. There were credible reports that judges and 
prosecutors often predetermined the outcome of the trial and sentence.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--Opposition groups and some 
international organizations stated the government held political 
prisoners and detainees. The precise number of these individuals--which 
included persons convicted of involvement in the 2002 attack on former 
President Niyazov--remained unknown.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The civil judiciary system 
was neither independent nor impartial, as the president appointed all 
judges. According to the law, evidence gathered during a criminal 
investigation can be used as the basis for a civil action in a process 
called ``civil lawsuit in criminal justice.'' In the past there were 
reports of bribes in the civil court system to ensure a particular 
outcome. In cases in which the state had interests regarding an 
individual citizen, it imposed court orders. The most commonly enforced 
court orders were eviction notices.

    Property Restitution.--The government failed to enforce the law 
consistently with respect to restitution or compensation for 
confiscation of private property. In 2007 President Berdimuhamedov 
announced there would be no housing demolition unless replacement 
housing was available. Nonetheless, during the year the government 
continued to demolish some private homes in and around Ashgabat as part 
of an urban renewal program without adequately compensating the owners. 
In June the government announced the creation of a new interagency 
commission, authorized by the president, to consider complaints from 
residents whose homes were located at the construction sites of new 
buildings in Ashgabat and the provinces. The number and manner of 
resolution of complaints brought before this commission were unknown.
    As in previous years, there were reports that the government gave 
persons as few as 72 hours to vacate their homes and did not provide 
homeowners with alternative accommodations or compensation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and law prohibit such actions, but 
authorities frequently did not respect these prohibitions in practice. 
In some cases authorities forcibly searched the homes of some minority 
religious group members without independent judicial authorization. The 
law does not regulate surveillance by the state security apparatus, 
which regularly monitored the activities of officials, citizens, 
opponents and critics of the government, and foreigners. Security 
officials used physical surveillance, telephone tapping, electronic 
eavesdropping, and informers. The government reportedly intercepted 
surface mail before delivery, and letters and parcels taken to the post 
office had to remain unsealed for government inspection.
    A regulation stating that a noncitizen may marry a citizen only 
after residing in the country for one year restricts the right of 
eligible men and women to marry. There were numerous reports that 
government security officials harassed foreigners married to female 
citizens. There were instances in which the government did not 
recognize marriage licenses issued outside the country.
    Individuals who were harassed, detained, or arrested by 
authorities, as well as their family members, reported that the 
government caused family members to be fired from their jobs or 
expelled from school. Authorities sometimes also detained and 
interrogated family members.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--Freedom of Speech: The constitution and law provide for freedom 
of speech and press, but the government did not respect these rights in 
practice. The government warned critics against speaking with visiting 
journalists or other foreigners about human rights problems.

    Freedom of the Press.--The government financed and controlled 
almost all print media. A new ``private'' weekly newspaper, Rysgal, 
opened during the year. The newspaper's stories, however, were largely 
reprints of state media outlets or reflected the views of the state 
news agency. The government imposed significant restrictions on the 
importation of foreign newspapers except for the private but 
government-sanctioned Turkish newspaper Zaman, which reflected the 
views of the state newspapers.
    The government controlled radio and local television, but satellite 
dishes providing access to foreign television programming were 
widespread throughout the country. Citizens received international 
radio programs through satellite access.

    Violence and Harassment.--In 2010 government agents reportedly 
detained, harassed, and intimidated journalists and their families. 
There were reports that law enforcement officials harassed and detained 
citizen journalists who worked for foreign media outlets. For example, 
journalists working for RFE/RL reported frequent surveillance and 
harassment by government authorities. In October authorities sentenced 
RFE/RL reporter Dovletmurat Yazguliyev, who had reported on the details 
of the explosion of ordnance at an arms depot in the village of Abadan, 
to five years in prison for his alleged role in his sister-in-law's 
suicide attempt. Members of Yazguliev's family reported that police 
pressured them into filing charges against him. The government granted 
amnesty to Yazguliev in late October.
    During the year there were several reports that the government used 
restrictions on travel abroad to punish independent journalists and 
individuals who openly criticized the government. The government also 
restricted the travel of journalists' family members. As in previous 
years, the government required state journalists to obtain permission 
to cover specific events as well as to publish or broadcast the subject 
matter they had covered.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Domestic journalists and 
foreign news correspondents engaged in self-censorship due to fear of 
government reprisal. The government continued to censor newspapers and 
prohibit reporting of opposition political views or of any criticism of 
the president.
    To regulate domestic printing and copying activities, the 
government required all publishing houses and printing and photocopying 
establishments to obtain registration licenses for their equipment. The 
government did not allow the publication of works on topics that were 
out of favor with the government, including some works of fiction.
    The government continued its ban on subscriptions to foreign 
periodicals by nongovernmental entities, although copies of the Russian 
newspaper Argumenti I Fakti and other nonpolitical periodicals appeared 
occasionally in the bazaars. During the year the government 
reinstituted a subscription service to Russian-language outlets for 
government workers, although these publications were not available for 
public use.

    Publishing Restrictions.--There was no independent oversight of 
media accreditation, no defined criteria for allocating press cards, no 
assured provision for receiving accreditation when space was available, 
and no protection against the withdrawal of accreditation for political 
reasons. The government required all foreign correspondents to apply 
for accreditation. It granted visas to journalists from outside the 
country only to cover specific events, such as international 
conferences and summit meetings, where their activities could be 
monitored. At least seven journalists representing foreign media 
organizations were accredited. Turkish news services had eight 
correspondents in the country, at least five of whom reportedly were 
accredited. Despite submitting official applications repeatedly over 
several years, RFE/RL has never received a response from the government 
to accredit correspondents. As many as 11 correspondents representing 
foreign media services operated without accreditation. Visiting foreign 
journalists reported harassment and denial of their freedom of movement 
when they attempted to report outside official channels.

    Internet Freedom.--The government continued to monitor citizens' e-
mail and Internet activity, and reports indicated that the MNB 
controlled the main access gateway, monitored users' browsing, blocked 
access to certain sensitive Web sites, and cut service in certain 
cases. The government detained and harassed several citizen journalists 
who used the Internet to share photographs of the destruction caused by 
the munitions explosions in Abadan in July.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--In March the president 
issued a decree to allow state agencies to recognize diplomas issued by 
foreign universities. However, previous procedures such as mandatory 
testing on the Ruhnama and The History of Turkmenistan, as well as 
specialized exams in Turkmen, remained in place and complicated the 
recognition of foreign diplomas. The government did not announce any 
new procedures to formalize the recognition of foreign diplomas, and 
many graduates of foreign universities reported that they were unable 
to certify their diplomas with authorities at the Ministry of 
Education, making them ineligible for employment at state agencies. 
Some reported that ministry officials demanded bribes to allow for 
certification of their diplomas.
    The government did not tolerate criticism of government policy or 
the president in academic circles and curtailed research into areas it 
considered politically sensitive, such as comparative law, history, 
ethnic relations, and theology.
    Ministry of Education officials and provincial authorities sought 
to prevent students who were not ethnic Turkmen from entering exchange 
programs and Turkmen universities.
    Most secondary school textbooks were revised to remove all text 
devoted to former president Niyazov and his family, although a picture 
of Niyazov continued to appear on the first page of each textbook. Text 
devoted to President Berdimuhamedov's ``New Revival'' ideology replaced 
the previous text on Niyazov and his family. Despite a 2008 Ministry of 
Education report stating that all textbooks had been completely 
revised, only approximately half of them had been revised at year's 
end.
    Although restrictions eased somewhat, the government refused to 
permit the production of some foreign plays and performances in state 
theaters. Only the Russian theater in Ashgabat continued to stage 
foreign plays in Russian, and those plays were invariably apolitical.
    The Ministry of Culture censored and monitored all public 
exhibitions, including music, art, and cultural events.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
but the government restricted this right in practice. Authorities 
neither granted the required permits for public meetings and 
demonstrations during the year nor allowed unregistered organizations, 
particularly those perceived to have political agendas, to hold 
demonstrations. In May police arrested four women for organizing a 
demonstration to protest the demolition of private homes to make way 
for new government buildings, according to the independent Web site, 
Chronicles of Turkmenistan.

    Freedom of Association.--Although the constitution and law provide 
for freedom of association, the government restricted this right in 
practice. The law requires all nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to 
register with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and all foreign assistance 
to be registered with the MOJ and the Ministry of Economics and 
Development and coordinated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
Unregistered NGO activity is punishable by a fine, short-term 
detention, and confiscation of property. Of the 98 registered NGOs, 
international organizations recognized only eight as being independent. 
NGOs reported that the government presented a number of administrative 
obstacles to NGOs that attempted to register. Some applications 
repeatedly were returned on technical grounds. Some organizations 
awaiting registration found alternate ways to carry out activities, 
such as registering as businesses or subsidiaries of other registered 
groups, but others temporarily suspended or limited their activities.
    Sources noted a number of barriers to the formation and functioning 
of civil society in the country. These included government requirements 
that founders of associations be citizens and that associations 
operating nationally have at least 500 members to be registered. Other 
barriers included regulations that permitted the MOJ to send 
representatives to association events and meetings and requirements 
that associations notify the government about their planned activities.
    There were no independent political groups. The only registered 
political party was the ruling Democratic Party, the former Communist 
Party of Turkmenistan. The government officially did not prohibit 
membership in political organizations, but in practice there were no 
reports of persons who claimed membership in political organizations 
other than the Democratic Party.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 do not 
provide for full freedom of movement.

    In-country Movement.--The law requires internal passports and 
residency permits. A border permit requirement remained in effect for 
all foreigners.
    Citizens are not allowed to hold dual citizenship, and this 
requirement was enforced periodically. Officials pressured dual 
citizens departing the country to renounce one of their citizenships 
before officials allowed them to leave. Individuals who indicated dual 
citizenship when applying for new-style international passports were 
denied the passports, whereas persons reporting only Turkmen 
citizenship received them.

    Foreign Travel.--While the government denied maintaining a list of 
persons not permitted to depart the country, it continued to bar 
certain citizens from departing. All citizens and visitors to the 
country are required to undergo a check by the State Migration Service 
prior to departing the country. On April 6, State Migration Service 
airport authorities did not permit a group of doctors to board a plane 
although the group members already had tickets and visas. In addition, 
some university students reported that they were not allowed to leave 
the country. No explanation was provided in these cases. A 2005 
migration law forbids travel by any citizen who has access to state 
secrets, has falsified personal information, has committed a serious 
crime, is under surveillance, might become a trafficking victim, or 
previously has violated the law of the destination country, or whose 
travel contradicts the interests of national security. The education 
law allows the government to impose limitations on obtaining education 
in specific professions and specialties; this law has been applied to 
prevent students from travelling abroad to study.

    Exile.--The law provides for internal exile, requiring an 
individual to reside in a certain area for a fixed term of two to five 
years.

    Protection of Refugees.--In 2009 the government assumed 
responsibility from the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for 
making refugee status determinations. While formally there is a system 
for granting refugee status, in practice it is inactive. The government 
has not developed support services for individuals awaiting a refugee 
status determination. The UNHCR issues refugee certificates to the 
mandate refugees granted refugee status prior to 2009. Those 
certificates are the only official evidence of a refugee's legal 
status. The mandate refugees are required annually to renew the UNHCR 
certificates with the government. There were 59 UNHCR-mandate refugees 
in the country.

    Access to Asylum.--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 country has not granted 
asylum to refugees since 2005.

    Nonrefoulement.--The government asserted that no UNHCR-mandate 
refugees were expelled or forced to return 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, however, the government denied the 
asylum requests of six university students from Afghanistan who claimed 
that the Taliban would threaten their families' lives if they returned 
to Afghanistan. The UNHCR intervened to advise the government against 
returning the students to Afghanistan, all six of whom returned to 
Afghanistan voluntarily. Two of the students then reentered 
Turkmenistan on family reunification visas. The government forcibly 
deported a third student to Afghanistan when he returned to 
Turkmenistan and requested asylum a second time.
    The UNHCR has observer status at government-run refugee status 
determination hearings. Individuals determined not to be refugees by 
the government have recourse to the UNHCR to obtain mandate refugee 
status.

    Access to Basic Services.--Refugees had access to basic services 
such as health care and primary and secondary education, but they were 
not eligible for government employment and did not have the right to 
own property or a company.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived from one's parents. The 
UNHCR estimated there were as many as 15,000 undocumented individuals 
who may be at risk of statelessness. The number of stateless persons 
who are also refugees was not available. The government's requirement 
that applicants for citizenship prove they are not citizens of another 
country impeded efforts to establish the nationality of undocumented 
persons.
    During the year the State Migration Service, jointly with the 
UNHCR, registered approximately 8,000 persons age 18 and above and 
considered at risk of statelessness, thereby bringing the total number 
of individuals registered since 2007 to 20,000. These individuals 
largely were undocumented residents who held Soviet passports when the 
Soviet Union dissolved and who did not have a state affiliation when 
those passports expired in 1999. The government administratively 
processed many of these residents and issued them residency permits. 
Under two presidential decrees, the government granted citizenship to 
1,590 formerly stateless persons in July and another 1,728 in October.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Citizens could not freely choose and change the laws and officials 
that governed them. The constitution declares the country to be a 
secular democracy in the form of a presidential republic. It calls for 
separation of powers among the branches of government but vests a 
disproportionate share of power in the presidency. In practice the 
president's power over the state continued to be absolute.
    According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in 
Europe (OSCE), the election law does not meet OSCE standards.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--District 
people's council elections took place in December 2010. Local council 
(gengesh) elections were held in 2009 under a law that had been revised 
in April to bring electoral procedures into line with the 2008 
constitution and electoral law. The 2008 constitution gave broader 
powers to the Mejlis (parliament), increased the president's powers, 
and abolished the Halk Maslahaty (People's Council) as a political 
body. In May the Mejlis revised the Law on Presidential Elections, 
which reduced the number of requirements for the registration of 
candidates.

    Political Parties.--The Democratic Party is the country's only 
political party. Article 30 of the constitution guarantees the right of 
citizens to set up political parties within the framework of the 
constitution and other laws. In addition, Article 93 guarantees the 
right of political parties to nominate candidates in conformance with 
electoral law. No such electoral law exists, however, which deterred 
the participation of opposition candidates. According to the 
nongovernmental Jamestown Foundation, the government did not permit 
opposition movements outside the country, including the National 
Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan, the Republican Party of 
Turkmenistan, and the Fatherland (Watan) Party, to operate within the 
country.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were 21 women in the 
125-member parliament or Mejlis, including the Mejlis speaker. Women 
served in a few prominent government positions, including deputy 
chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers for Culture, Television 
Broadcasting, and the Press (a vice premier position), minister of 
education, minister of textile industry, director of the State 
Archives, director of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, the 
chairpersons of two of five parliamentary committees, and the 
chairperson of the state publishing service.
    The government gave preference for appointed government positions 
to ethnic Turkmen, but ethnic minorities occupied several senior 
government positions. Members of the country's largest tribe, the 
president's Teke tribe, held the most prominent roles in cultural and 
political life.
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 
reportedly often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption 
existed in the security forces and in all social and economic sectors. 
Factors encouraging corruption included the existence of patronage 
networks, a lack of transparency and accountability, and the fear that 
the government would retaliate against a citizen who chose to highlight 
a corrupt act. According to the World Bank's Worldwide Governance 
Indicators, the country had a severe corruption problem.
    As in the previous year, the president reprimanded a number of 
ministers and government officials, dismissing some from their 
positions. Others were investigated and arrested for alleged 
malfeasance, although a lack of information about their cases made it 
difficult to determine whether their arrests were politically 
motivated.
    In July the courts sentenced four officials from the Central Bank 
to prison for extorting bribes from Turkish businessmen involved in 
construction project. The prison sentences ranged from five to 17 
years. The trial was not open to the public.
    Financial disclosure requirements are neither transparent nor 
consistent with international norms. Government enterprises are not 
required to publicize financial statements, even to foreign partners. 
Financial audits are often conducted by local auditors, not 
internationally recognized firms.
    There is no law that allows for public access to government 
information, and in practice the government did not provide access. 
Authorities denied requests for specific information on the grounds 
that the information was a state secret. Some statistical data were 
considered state secrets. There was no public disclosure of demographic 
data, and officials published manipulated economic and financial data 
to justify state policies and expenditures.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were no domestic human rights NGOs due to the government's 
refusal to register such organizations and restrictions that made 
activity by unregistered organizations illegal. During the year the 
government continued to monitor the activities of nonpolitical social 
and cultural organizations.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--There were no international 
human rights NGOs with a permanent presence in the country, although 
the government permitted international organizations, including the 
OSCE and UNHCR, to have resident missions. Government restrictions on 
freedoms of speech, press, and association severely restricted 
international organizations' ability to investigate, understand, and 
fully evaluate the government's human rights policies and practices.
    Continuing a trend from the previous year, the government appeared 
to have relaxed somewhat its past efforts to control citizens' access 
to international organizations and missions and to discourage citizens 
from cooperating with foreigners. The government allowed unfettered 
access to the OSCE Center. There were no reports that the government 
discouraged citizens from contacting other international organizations.
    During the year the government did not implement any of the 
recommendations made in 2009 by the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom 
of religion or belief.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The government-run Institute for 
Democracy and Human Rights, established in 1996 with a mandate to 
support democratization and monitor the protection of human rights, was 
not an independent body. Its ability to obtain redress for citizens was 
limited. Nonetheless, it played an unofficial ombudsman's role to 
resolve some citizen human rights-related petitions during the year. In 
August the president signed a decree establishing the Interagency 
Commission on Enforcing Turkmenistan's International Obligations on 
Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. Specific information 
about this commission's plans was not available. In 2005 the president 
established the parliamentary Committee on the Protection of Human 
Rights and Liberties to oversee human rights-related legislation. No 
public information about its human rights activities existed.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Although the law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, ethnic minority status, or social status, 
discrimination continued to be a problem, as did violence against 
women.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape, including spousal rape, 
is illegal, with penalties of three to 25 years' imprisonment based on 
the level of violence of the incident and whether the attacker was a 
repeat offender. A cultural bias against reporting or acknowledging 
rape made it difficult to determine the extent of the problem, but some 
sources indicated rape was not uncommon.
    The law prohibits domestic violence, including spousal abuse, but 
the government did not enforce the law effectively. Penalties, for 
example, are based on the extent of the injury, but are not specified 
in the criminal code. According to indicators published by the U.N. 
Development Program in 2009, the country is included in the category of 
countries in which ``there are no or weak laws against domestic 
violence, rape, and marital rape, and these laws are not generally 
enforced.''
    Anecdotal reports indicated domestic violence against women was 
common; most victims of domestic violence kept silent because they were 
unaware of their rights or afraid of increased violence from husbands 
and relatives. There were a few court cases and occasional references 
to domestic violence in the media. One official women's group in 
Ashgabat and several informal groups in other regions assisted victims 
of domestic violence. A local organization continued to operate a 
domestic violence hotline with support from the OSCE Center in 
Ashgabat. The same NGO also provided free legal consultations and 
psychological assistance to victims of domestic violence and organized 
awareness-raising seminars on domestic violence for the general public.

    Harmful Traditional Practices.--There were no reports of ``honor'' 
killings. Authorities did not undertake specific efforts to prevent 
harmful practices such as ``honor'' killings or ``dowry deaths,'' but 
they effectively prosecuted homicides under the criminal code.

    Sexual Harassment.--No law specifically prohibits sexual 
harassment, and reports suggested sexual harassment existed at the 
workplace.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children and have the means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence.
    According to the Population Reference Bureau, approximately 70 
percent of women received prenatal care, skilled personnel attended 99 
percent of births, and 99 percent of women received at least one 
postnatal care visit. Modern contraceptive methods were available to 99 
percent of the public. Statistics on contraceptive use by single women 
were unavailable, but 53 percent of married women used some form of 
modern contraceptives. Due to cultural attitudes, almost one-third of 
married women opposed the use of family-planning methods. A local 
source who worked for an HIV/AIDS project confirmed that women and men 
are diagnosed and treated equally for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Women had equal rights under family law and 
property law and in the judicial system. The Mejlis Committee on Human 
Rights and Liberties was responsible for drafting human rights and 
gender legislation, integrating a new gender program into the education 
curriculum, and publishing regular bulletins on national and 
international gender laws. By law women are equal to men in all 
spheres, including wages, loans, starting businesses, and working in 
government. Nevertheless, in practice, women continued to experience 
discrimination due to cultural biases. Employers allegedly gave 
preference to men to avoid productivity losses due to pregnancy or 
child-care responsibilities. Women were underrepresented in the upper 
levels of government-owned economic enterprises and were concentrated 
in health care, education, and service professions. The government 
restricted women from working in some dangerous and environmentally 
unsafe jobs.
    The government did not acknowledge, address, or report on 
discrimination against women. There is no special government office 
that promotes the legal rights of women, but the Women's Union (a 
government-affiliated ``NGO'') and the National Institute of Democracy 
and Human Rights worked on women's legal rights.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--According to the law, a child's 
citizenship is derived from one's parents. In the event a child is born 
to stateless persons possessing permanent resident status in the 
country, the child is considered a citizen. The government took modest 
steps to address the welfare of children, including increased 
cooperation with UNICEF and other international organizations on 
programs designed to improve children's health.
    UNICEF reported that 96 percent of urban children and 95 percent of 
rural children had their births registered.

    Child Abuse.--There were isolated reports of child abuse. In 2006 
the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child issued recommendations 
that called on the government to focus efforts on issues of family and 
alternative care, juvenile justice, child abuse prevention, health and 
welfare, education, children with disabilities, and special protection 
measures.

    Child Marriage.--According to the most recent data available 
(provided in a 2006 UNICEF report), 9 percent of marriages involved 
minors.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The legal age of consent is 16. 
Production of pornographic materials or objects for the purpose of 
distribution or advertisement and trade in printings, movies or videos, 
depictions, or other objects of a pornographic nature, including those 
of children, is punishable in accordance with Article 164 of the 
criminal code. An Interpol report noted that the criminal code 
``.enacts criminal liability for involvement of minors into 
prostitution.''

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were an estimated 300 Jews, predominantly in 
Ashgabat, but no organized Jewish community. There were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services or other areas. However, in practice 
persons with disabilities encountered discrimination and regularly were 
denied work, education, and access to health care and other state 
services because of strong cultural biases.
    The government provided subsidies and pensions for persons with 
disabilities, although the assistance was inadequate to meet basic 
needs. The government considered persons with disabilities who received 
subsidies as being employed and therefore ineligible to compete for 
jobs in the government, the country's largest employer.
    Some students with disabilities were unable to obtain education 
because there were no qualified teachers, and facilities were not 
accessible for persons with disabilities. Students with disabilities 
did not fit the unofficial university student profile and were not 
admitted to universities. The government placed children with 
disabilities, including those with mental disabilities, in boarding 
schools where they were to be provided with education and employment 
opportunities, if their condition allowed them to work; in practice 
neither was provided. Special schools for those with sensory 
disabilities existed in the larger cities. The government began 
construction of boarding schools with rehabilitation centers for 
persons with disabilities in each province and in Ashgabat.
    Although the law requires new construction projects to include 
facilities that allow access by those with disabilities, compliance was 
inconsistent and older buildings remained inaccessible. A lack of 
consistent accessibility standards resulted in some new buildings with 
inappropriately designed access ramps. The Ministry of Social Welfare 
was responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. 
This ministry provided venues and organizational support for activities 
conducted by NGOs that assist persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The law provides for equal rights 
and freedoms for all citizens. Minority groups, including the Kazakh 
cultural center Elimay Turkmenistan, tried to register as NGOs to have 
legal status to conduct cultural events, but no minority groups 
succeeded in registering during the year.
    The law designates Turkmen as the official language, although it 
also provides for the rights of speakers of minority languages. Russian 
remained prevalent in commerce and everyday life in the capital, even 
as the government continued its campaign to conduct official business 
solely in Turkmen. The government required ministry employees to pass 
tests demonstrating knowledge of professional subjects in Turkmen; 
employees who failed the exam were dismissed. The government dedicated 
resources to provide Turkmen language instruction for non-Turkmen 
speakers only in primary and secondary schools.
    Non-Turkmen speakers noted that some avenues for promotion and job 
advancement were closed to them, and only a handful of non-Turkmen 
occupied high-level jobs in government ministries. In some cases 
applicants for government jobs had to provide information about 
ethnicity going back three generations. The government often targeted 
non-Turkmen first for dismissal when government layoffs occurred.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Consensual same-sex sexual 
conduct between men is illegal and punishable by up to two years in 
prison; the law does not mention women. According to one human rights 
NGO, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder by authorities, and 
gay men were sometimes sent to psychiatric institutions for treatment.
    There were no recorded cases of violence or other human rights 
abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and no 
information was available regarding discrimination against lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in employment, housing, 
statelessness, access to education, or health care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was no reported 
societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. The 
government did not officially recognize any cases of HIV/AIDS in the 
country.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows citizens to join independent unions and provides for 
collective agreements and negotiations between workers and their 
employers that enumerate rights and responsibilities. The law does not 
allow workers to strike or to bargain collectively. The law does not 
prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers against union members 
and organizers. There are no mechanisms for resolving complaints of 
discrimination, nor does the law provide for reinstatement.
    Freedom of association was not respected in practice. All existing 
trade and professional unions were government-controlled and had no 
independent voice in their own activities. The government did not 
permit private citizens to form independent unions. There were no 
reports of labor strikes or attempts to organize union activity.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor. There were no reports of such practices.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
minimum age for employment of children is 16 and in a few heavy 
industries, 18. The law prohibits children between the ages of 16 and 
18 from working more than six hours per day. A 15-year-old may work 
four to six hours per day with parental and trade union permission, 
although such permission rarely was granted. The law prohibits children 
from working overtime or between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. A 
presidential decree bans child labor in all sectors and also specifies 
that children are not permitted to participate in the cotton harvest. 
There are laws and policies to protect children from exploitation in 
the workplace. The MOJ and the Prosecutor General's Office were 
responsible for enforcing child labor laws. The government effectively 
enforced the section of the labor code prohibiting child labor.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum monthly wage for all 
sectors is 400 manat ($140). An official estimate of the poverty-level 
income was not available. The standard legal workweek is 40 hours with 
weekends off. The law states that overtime or holiday pay should be 
double the regular payment. Maximum overtime in a year is 120 hours and 
cannot exceed four hours in two consecutive days. The law prohibits 
pregnant women, women that have children up to three years of age, 
women with disabled children under age 16, and single parents with two 
or more children from working overtime.
    The law provides state employees with a minimum 30 days of paid 
annual leave, 45 calendar days for teachers at all types of educational 
institutions, and 55 days for professors. The law permits newlyweds and 
their parents 10 days of paid leave for the preparation of weddings. 
Workers also receive 10 days of paid leave to carry out funeral rites 
and commemoration ceremonies in the event of a death of a close 
relative. Upon reaching age 62, citizens are entitled to an additional 
three days of paid leave.
    The government did not set comprehensive standards for occupational 
health and safety. There is no state labor inspectorate. There are, 
however, 14 labor inspectors employed by state trade unions who have 
the right to provide improvement notices to government industries. 
According to the law, trade union inspectors cannot levy fines.
    In practice the government required its workers and many private 
sector employees to work 10 hours a day or a sixth day without 
compensation. Reports indicated that many public sector employees 
worked at least a half day on Saturdays. Laws governing overtime and 
holiday pay were not effectively enforced.
    Construction workers and industrial workers in older factories 
often labored in unsafe environments and were not provided proper 
protective equipment. Some agricultural workers were subjected to 
environmental health hazards related to the application of defoliants 
in preparing cotton fields for mechanical harvesting. Workers did not 
have the right to remove themselves from work situations that 
endangered their health or safety without jeopardy to their continued 
employment. Work-related injury statistics were not available.

                               __________

                               UZBEKISTAN

                           executive summary
    Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with a constitution that 
provides for a presidential system with separation of powers among the 
executive, legislative, and judicial branches. In practice President 
Islam Karimov and the centralized executive branch dominated political 
life and exercised nearly complete control over the other branches of 
government. In 2007 the country elected President Karimov to a third 
term in office in polling that, according to the limited observer 
mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
(OSCE), deprived voters of a genuine choice. Parliamentary elections 
took place in December 2009. While OSCE observers reported noticeable 
procedural improvements in comparison to the 2004 parliamentary 
elections, the 2009 elections were not considered free and fair due to 
government restrictions on eligible candidates and government control 
of media and campaign financing. There are four progovernment political 
parties represented in the bicameral parliament. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
    The most significant human rights problems included: instances of 
torture and abuse of detainees by security forces; denial of due 
process and fair trial; and restrictions on religious freedom, 
including harassment and imprisonment of religious minority group 
members.
    Other continuing human rights problems included: incommunicado and 
prolonged detention; harsh and sometimes life-threatening prison 
conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention (although officials released 
four high-profile prisoners detained for apparently political reasons); 
restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; 
governmental restrictions on civil society activity; restrictions on 
freedom of movement; violence against women; and government-organized 
forced labor in cotton harvesting. Authorities subjected human rights 
activists, journalists, and others who criticized the government to 
harassment, arbitrary arrest, and politically motivated prosecution and 
detention.
    Government officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with 
impunity.
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 arbitrary 
or unlawful killings.
    During the year the government did not authorize an independent 
international investigation of the alleged killing of numerous unarmed 
civilians during the violent disturbances in Andijon in 2005. The 
government stated after its 2005 investigation that armed individuals 
initiated violence by firing on government forces. The death toll 
varied between the government's report of 187 and eyewitnesses' reports 
of several hundred individuals. The government has not held anyone 
publicly accountable for the civilian casualties.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances. Unconfirmed reports persisted regarding disappearances 
of persons who were present at the 2005 violent disturbances in 
Andijon.
    In its 2010 annual report, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or 
Involuntary Disappearances noted that there were no new cases 
transmitted to the government, but that there were seven outstanding 
cases from previous years.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices, 
law enforcement and security officers routinely beat and otherwise 
mistreated detainees to obtain confessions or incriminating 
information. Sources reported that torture and abuse were common in 
prisons, pretrial facilities, and local police and security service 
precincts. Reported methods of torture included severe beatings, denial 
of food, sexual abuse, simulated asphyxiation, tying and hanging by the 
hands, and electric shock.
    The government reported that during the first nine months of the 
year prosecutors opened nine criminal cases, which resulted in the 
conviction of 12 law enforcement personnel on charges of torture or 
other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. There was no information 
available about the sanctions or sentences handed down.
    The U.N. Human Rights Committee expressed concerns in a March 2010 
publication that the country's definition of torture in the criminal 
code is not in conformity with the Convention against Torture and Other 
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which the 
country is a party.
    In late October, the parents of Dilshod Shohidov released an open 
letter to government officials alleging that prison authorities at high 
security prison 64/46 in Navoi regularly subjected their son to acts of 
torture and abuse. The letter also alleged that the prison 
administration employed other inmates to beat Shohidov with truncheons 
and that during winter months he was handcuffed and forced to stay in 
his cell naked for several days.
    In August and December, relatives of Azam Farmonov, a member of the 
Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan sentenced to nine years in prison 
for ``swindling'' in 2006, reported that he had been subjected to 
torture and mistreatment during the year. On or about August 15, 
Captain Shavkat Vaisniyozov and guard Habib Abdullaev of 64/71 in 
Jaslik allegedly beat and threatened to suffocate Farmonov after he 
refused to write a statement that he was being treated well. In April 
prison officials reportedly transferred Farmonov and eight other 
prisoners from Jaslik to a pretrial detention facility (UYa 64/9) in 
Nukus for two weeks due to the arrival of a ``commission'' in Jaslik. 
Farmonov allegedly was tortured in Nukus as well. Upon return to 
Jaslik, prison authorities reportedly forced Farmonov to shave with the 
same razor that five inmates with HIV/AIDS had used.
    There was no further information available concerning the 2010 
abuse cases of Sanjar Narmuradov, Kurban Kadyrov, Dilshodbek 
Amanturdiev, or Rustam Usmanov.
    Authorities reportedly meted out harsher than typical treatment to 
individuals suspected of Islamist extremism throughout the year, 
especially to pretrial detainees who were allegedly members of banned 
religious extremist political organizations or to the Nur group, which 
is not officially banned. Local human rights workers reported that 
authorities often offered payment or other inducements to inmates to 
beat other inmates suspected of religious extremism.
    In contrast to past years, there were no reports of politically 
motivated medical abuse. Family members of several inmates whom the 
international community considered political prisoners asserted that 
officials did not grant prisoners' requests for medical evaluation and 
treatment. Among these prisoners were Alisher Karamatov, Norboy 
Holjigitov, Agzam Turgunov, Habibulla Okpulatov, and Dilmurod Sayid.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were in 
some circumstances life-threatening. Reports of overcrowding were 
common, as were reports of severe abuse and shortages of medicine. 
Inmates and their families reported that food and water were of poor 
quality but generally available. There were reports of political 
prisoners being held in cells without proper ventilation, and prisoners 
occasionally were subjected to extreme temperatures. Family members of 
inmates reported incidents of sexual abuse. Family members also 
reported that officials frequently withheld or delayed delivery of food 
and medicine intended for prisoners.
    In August a group of domestic human rights organizations met with 
representatives of the Polish Embassy in their capacity as EU president 
to express concern about the continued use of torture and a rise in 
sexual abuse against female prisoners. Representatives of the Tashkent-
based human rights organization ``Ezgulik'' presented the results of 
eight months of monitoring of the penitentiary system, highlighting 
women's prison 64/7 in the Zangiota district of Tashkent region for 
widespread accounts of sexual abuse.
    Relatives reported the deaths of several prisoners serving 
sentences, most of which were related to religious extremism. In some 
cases, family members reported that the body of the prisoner showed 
signs of beating or other abuse, but authorities pressured the family 
to bury the body before examination by a medical professional. Reported 
cases that fit this pattern included the deaths of Ulugbek Gaforov and 
Abdulfattoh Raimokhunov in January, and Abdumannon Ortiqov in June.
    On September 28, the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights 
Defenders of Uzbekistan (IGIHRDU) reported information received from 
family members that 51-year-old Ravshan Atabaev died in Navoi prison 
64/36 as a result of tuberculosis and torture. Atabaev was sentenced in 
2005 to14 years in prison on a number of charges stemming from 
participation in the May 2005 events in Andijon. The IGIHRDU also 
reported that a law enforcement source indicated that between 20 to 30 
prisoners sentenced in connection with Andijon die yearly in prison. 
This information could not be confirmed independently.
    There was no further information available concerning the 2010 
deaths of Farmon Yiginov and Sunnatillo Zaripov.
    According to family members and some nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs), authorities failed to release prisoners, especially those 
convicted of religious extremism, at the end of their terms. Prison 
authorities often extended inmates' terms by accusing them of 
additional crimes or claiming that the prisoners represented a 
continuing danger to society. Trials for such offenses took place 
within the prisons, and defendants often were not given access to 
lawyers or relatives. Although it is technically possible for inmates 
to appeal such decisions, many inmates did not have the expertise to 
initiate an appeal.
    According to 2009 statistics, the government held approximately 
42,000 inmates at 58 detention facilities. Men, women, and juvenile 
offenders were held in separate facilities. There were reports that in 
some facilities inmates convicted of attempting to overturn the 
constitutional order were held separately, and prison officials did not 
allow inmates convicted under religious extremism charges to interact 
with other inmates. Officials also held former law enforcement officers 
in a separate facility.
    Prison officials generally allowed family members to visit 
prisoners for up to four hours two to four times per month. There were, 
however, reports that relatives of prisoners charged with religious or 
extremism charges were denied visitation rights. Officials also 
permitted visits of one- to three-days duration, two to four times per 
year, depending on the type of prison facility. Family members of 
political prisoners reported that officials frequently delayed or 
severely shortened visits arbitrarily. The government stated that 
prisoners have the right to practice any religion or no religion, but 
prisoners frequently complained to family members that they were not 
able to observe religious rituals that conflicted with prison 
scheduling. Such rituals included engaging in traditional Islamic 
morning prayers. Prisoners also were not allowed access to religious 
materials.
    According to the law, authorities at pretrial detention facilities 
are required to arrange a meeting between a detainee and a 
representative from the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office upon a 
detainee's request. Officials allowed detainees in prison facilities to 
submit confidential complaints to the Ombudsman's Office and to the 
Prosecutor General's Office, and both offices were authorized to 
initiate investigations into complaints. In its 2010 report, the 
Ombudsman's Office reported it received 16 complaints during the year 
from prisoners about illegal actions by penitentiary officials. The 
Ombudsman's Office considered 15 of the complaints and was able to 
intervene successfully in two cases. The Ombudsman's Office is 
empowered to make recommendations on behalf of prisoners, including 
requesting changes to sentences to make them more appropriate to 
nonviolent offenders.
    The Ministry of Interior (MOI) performs regular inspections of all 
prison facilities, and representatives of other state bodies, including 
the parliament, the National Human Rights Center, and the Cabinet of 
Ministers also are allowed to access the prison system upon request.
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) monitors 
facilities under the responsibility of the prison administration, 
assessing the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees, 
although financial and personnel constraints mean that its 
representatives cannot visit all facilities. The ICRC does not have 
access to pretrial detention facilities under the authority of the 
National Security Service (NSS). During the year, the ICRC carried out 
37 humanitarian visits, visiting 27,974 detainees held in 25 places of 
detention. During these visits the ICRC representatives monitored the 
cases of 986 detainees, including 118 women and 53 minors. The ICRC 
also facilitated the exchange of 636 Red Cross messages between 
detainees and their relatives. The ICRC kept its findings confidential 
and shared them only with the government.
    Prison administration officials reported that the World Health 
Organization had an active tuberculosis program in the prisons both to 
treat and stop the spread of tuberculosis, and an HIV/AIDS treatment 
and prevention program has been in place since 2008. Officials reported 
that hepatitis was not present in high numbers, and hepatitis patients 
were treated in existing medical facilities and programs.
    On September 29, the president signed into law provisions 
concerning detention during criminal proceedings. The law specifies the 
rights of detainees, including the right to submit complaints about 
violations or abuses during detention, meet with their relatives and 
lawyers, and to personal security. The law forbids discrimination 
against detainees on the basis of gender, race, nationality, language, 
religion, social origin, beliefs, personal and social status, as well 
as torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. It also 
provides the Ombudsman's Office with unrestricted access to detention 
facilities and to meet confidentially with detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but authorities continued to 
engage in such practices.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The government 
authorizes three different entities to investigate criminal activity: 
The MOI controls the police, who are responsible for law enforcement 
and maintenance of order and investigate general crime. The NSS, headed 
by a chairman who reports directly to the president, deals with a broad 
range of national security and intelligence issues, including 
terrorism, corruption, organized crime, and narcotics. Prosecutors 
investigate violent crimes such as murder, as well as corruption by 
officials and abuse of power. Where jurisdictions overlap, the agencies 
determine among themselves which should take the lead. The MOI's main 
investigations directorate maintained internal procedures to 
investigate abuses and discipline officers accused of human rights 
violations, but in practice the government rarely punished officials 
who committed human rights abuses. A human rights and legal education 
department within the Ministry of Interior investigated some police 
brutality cases. The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, affiliated with 
the parliament, also had the power to investigate cases, although its 
decisions on such investigations had no binding authority.
    The government reported that during the first nine months of the 
year, it opened 334 criminal cases against employees of law enforcement 
bodies. A total of 253 cases were forwarded to the courts and resulted 
in the conviction of 361 law enforcement employees on charges including 
abuse of power, negligence, fraud, bribery, and theft.
    There was no further information available regarding the 
disposition of criminal charges brought against 186 employees of law 
enforcement bodies in 2010 for unstated reasons.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law a judge 
must review any decision to arrest accused individuals or suspects, and 
defendants have the right to legal counsel from the time of arrest, 
although officials do not always grant that right in practice.
    According to judicial reforms made in 2008, detainees have the 
right to request hearings before a judge to determine whether they 
remain incarcerated or are released. The arresting authority is 
required to notify a relative of the detainee about the detention and 
to question the detainee within 24 hours of being taken into custody. 
Suspects have the right to remain silent. Detention without formal 
charges is limited to 72 hours, although a prosecutor can request an 
additional 48 hours, after which time the person must be charged or 
released. Implementation of these reforms has been slow. In practice 
judges granted arrest warrants in most cases, and authorities continued 
to hold suspects after the allowable period of time. The judge 
conducting the arrest hearing was allowed to sit on the panel of judges 
during the individual's trial. There were complaints that authorities 
tortured suspects before notifying either family members or attorneys 
of their arrests.
    Once authorities file charges, suspects can be held in pretrial 
detention for up to three months while investigations proceed. The law 
permits an extension of the investigation period for up to one year at 
the discretion of the appropriate court upon a motion by the 
investigating authority. A prosecutor may release a prisoner on bond 
pending trial, although in practice authorities frequently ignored 
these legal protections. Those arrested and charged with a crime may be 
released without bail until trial on the condition that they provide 
assurance that they will appear at trial and register each day at a 
local police station. State-appointed attorneys are available for those 
who do not hire private counsel.
    In 2009 the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decree requiring that 
all defense attorneys pass a comprehensive relicensing examination. 
Several experienced and knowledgeable defense lawyers who had 
represented human rights activists and independent journalists lost 
their licenses in the process. As a result, several other activists and 
defendants faced difficulties in finding attorneys to represent them. 
Amendments to the criminal procedure code in 2008 abolished provisions 
that allowed unlicensed advocates to represent individuals in criminal 
and civil hearings. However, a court has the discretion to allow such 
an advocate if the advocate belongs to a registered organization.
    There were reports that police arrested persons on false charges of 
extortion, drug possession, or tax evasion as an intimidation tactic to 
prevent them or their family members from exposing corruption or 
interfering in local criminal activities.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--Authorities continued to arrest persons 
arbitrarily on charges of extremist sentiments or activities and 
association with banned religious groups. Local human rights activists 
reported that police and security service officers, acting under 
pressure to break up extremist cells, frequently detained and 
mistreated family members and close associates of suspected members of 
religious extremist groups. Coerced confessions and testimony in such 
cases were commonplace.
    The IGIHRDU reported in early August on the arrests of Kholmurod 
Shokirov, Zaynobiddin Mamatov, Zayniddin Israilov, Botir Navruzov, and 
Yuldash Ergashev reportedly on charges related to religious extremism. 
In the case of Shokirov, the IGIHRDU alleged that police officers Uktam 
Ibragimov and Ulugbek Mamasoliev falsified arrest documents and Buka 
District Criminal Court Judge O.I. Ismoilov approved 10 days' detention 
in a hearing that took place without lawyers or witnesses. Detention 
authorities allegedly threatened and tortured Shokirov while he was in 
custody in the MOI pretrial detention facility in Tashkent Region.

    Pretrial Detention.--In general prosecutors exercised discretion 
over most aspects of criminal procedures, including pretrial detention. 
Detainees had no access to a court to challenge the length or validity 
of pretrial detention. Even when authorities filed no charges, police 
and prosecutors frequently sought to evade restrictions on the duration 
a person could be held without charges by holding persons as witnesses 
rather than as suspects. In September human rights organizations 
reported that the authorities were also classifying some detainees 
whose residences were in fact established as ``homeless'' or ``John 
Does'' since the law provides for detention of up to 30 days while the 
police establish individuals' identities. During the year pretrial 
detention typically ranged from one to three months. The government did 
not provide the number of persons held in pretrial detention centers.

    Amnesty.--On December 5, the Senate approved a prisoner amnesty. 
According to its terms, women, underage offenders, men over age 60, 
foreign citizens, and persons with disabilities or documented serious 
illnesses were eligible. The bill also included first-time offenders 
convicted of participation in banned organizations and the commission 
of crimes against peace or public security who ``have firmly stood on 
the path to recovery.'' Amnesty options included release from prison, 
transfer to a work camp, or termination of a criminal case at the 
pretrial or trial stage.
    Local prison authorities have considerable discretion in 
determining who qualifies for release as they determine whether a 
prisoner is ``following the way of correction'' or ``systematically 
violating'' the terms of incarceration. Officials often cited 
``violation of internal prison rules'' as a reason for denying amnesty 
and for extending sentences. Officials often determined that political 
and religious prisoners were ineligible for amnesty based on these 
provisions. During the year family members reported that two imprisoned 
journalists--Dilmurod Sayid and Salijon Abdurakhmanov--were accused of 
breaking the rules of the institutions where they were incarcerated and 
expressed concern that this would make them ineligible for an amnesty.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution provides 
for an independent judiciary, the judicial branch often took direction 
from the executive branch.
    Under the law the president appoints all judges for renewable five-
year terms. Removal of Supreme Court judges must be confirmed by 
parliament, which in practice generally complied with the president's 
wishes.

    Trial Procedures.--The criminal code specifies a presumption of 
innocence. There are no jury trials. Most trials officially are open to 
the public, although access was sometimes restricted in practice. 
Judges may close trials in exceptional cases, such as those involving 
state secrets or to protect victims and witnesses. Courts often 
demanded that international observers obtain written permission from 
the court chairman or from the Supreme Court before being allowed to 
observe proceedings. Judges granted international observers, including 
foreign diplomats, access to certain hearings. Authorities generally 
announced trials only one or two days before they began.
    Generally, a panel of one professional judge and two lay assessors, 
selected by committees of worker collectives or neighborhood 
committees, presided over trials. The lay judges rarely spoke, and the 
professional judge usually accepted prosecutor recommendations on 
procedural rulings and sentencing.
    Defendants have the right to attend court proceedings, confront 
witnesses, and present evidence. The government generally observed 
these rights, including in high-profile human rights and political 
cases. In the vast majority of criminal cases brought to court, the 
verdict was guilty.
    Defendants have the right to hire an attorney, and the government 
improved access to attorneys after establishing a 24-hour on-call 
system in 2008. The government provides legal counsel without charge 
when necessary. According to reports, state-appointed defense attorneys 
acted routinely in the interest of the government rather than of their 
clients.
    By law a prosecutor must request an arrest order from a court, but 
it was rare for a court to deny such a request. Prosecutors have 
considerable power after obtaining an arrest order; they direct 
investigations, prepare criminal cases, and recommend sentences. The 
prosecutor decides whether a suspect is released on bail or stays in 
pretrial detention after formal charges are filed. Although the 
criminal code specifies a presumption of innocence, in practice a 
prosecutor's recommendations generally prevail. If a judge's sentence 
does not correspond with the prosecutor's recommendation, the 
prosecutor may appeal the sentence to a higher court. Judges often base 
their verdicts solely on confessions and witness testimony, which may 
be extracted through torture, threats to family members, or other means 
of coercion. Legal protections against double jeopardy are not applied 
in practice.
    The law provides a right of appeal to all defendants, but appeals 
rarely resulted in reversals of convictions. In some cases, however, 
appeals resulted in reduced or suspended sentences.
    Defense attorneys may access government-held evidence relevant to 
their clients' cases once the initial investigation is completed and 
the prosecutor files formal charges. There is an exception, however, 
for evidence that contains information that if released could pose a 
threat to state security. As was the case in previous years, courts 
invoked that exception, leading to complaints that its primary purpose 
is to allow prosecutors to avoid sharing evidence with defense 
attorneys. In many cases, prosecution was based solely upon defendants' 
confessions or incriminating testimony from state witnesses, 
particularly in cases involving those accused of religious extremism. 
Lawyers may, and occasionally did, call on judges to reject confessions 
and investigate claims of torture. Judges often did not respond to such 
claims or dismissed them as groundless.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--International and domestic 
human rights organizations estimated that authorities held 10 to 25 
individuals on political grounds, but the government asserted that 
these individuals were convicted for violating the law. Officials 
released four high-profile prisoners--Yusuf Juma, Maxim Popov, Norboy 
Holjigitov, and Jamshid Karimov--during the year. Family members of 
several political prisoners reported abuse in prison and deterioration 
of the prisoners' health.
    According to Ezgulik, in August trials began for approximately 10 
of 28 individuals extradited to Uzbekistan from Kazakhstan in June. The 
individuals, who claimed refugee status in Kazakhstan but were denied, 
were accused of involvement in bombings that took place in Tashkent in 
1999 and in the 2008 attack on Tashkent Imam Anvar Qori Tursunov, as 
well as participation in the banned Jihadisti (Jihodchilar) religious 
group.
    In January the Angren Criminal Court sentenced Matlyuba Kamilova, a 
human rights activist and school principal from Angren, to 11 years in 
prison for drug possession. An appeals court reduced the sentence to 
eight years and at year's end Kamilova was held at the women's prison 
in Zangiota. Friends of Kamilova previously asserted that police 
planted the drugs in her purse in retaliation for her efforts to expose 
police corruption.
    During the year an appeals court confirmed the September 2010 
decision by a Tashkent court to fine human rights activist Anatoly 
Volkov 1.5 million soum ($715) for ``swindling'' money from a 90-year-
old pensioner. Observers believed the charges were in retaliation for 
Volkov's human rights activities. Volkov appealed the decision on 
September 22, but the court did not issue a decision by year's end. 
According to Volkov, the court considered the appeal in his absence, 
and he learned of the decision afterwards. He planned to appeal and 
request a new investigation.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Although the constitution 
provides for it, the judiciary is not independent or impartial in civil 
matters. Citizens may file suit in civil courts, if appropriate, on 
cases of alleged human rights violations. There were isolated reports 
that bribes to judges influenced civil court decisions; for example, in 
late October, police detained Sulaimon Akbarov, a judge with the 
Rishton Interdistrict Civil Affairs Court, and charged him with 
soliciting a bribe of 2.1 million soum ($1,000) to decide a case in 
favor of one of the parties.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--Although the constitution and law forbid such actions, 
authorities did not respect these prohibitions in practice. The law 
requires a search warrant for electronic surveillance, but there is no 
provision for judicial review of such warrants.
    There were reports that police and other security forces entered 
the homes of human rights activists and members of some religious 
groups without a warrant. On numerous occasions, members of Protestant 
churches who held worship services in private homes reported that armed 
security officers raided services and detained and fined church members 
for religious activity deemed illegal under the administrative or 
criminal code. For example, on July 28, the Gulistan Municipal Criminal 
Court convicted nine members of an unregistered Baptist church in 
Gulistan of unregistered religious activity and illegal teaching of 
religion and issued fines ranging from 50,000 to five million soum ($24 
to $2,400).
    Human rights activists and political opposition figures generally 
assumed that security agencies covertly monitored their telephone calls 
and activities.
    The government continued to use an estimated 12,000 neighborhood 
committees (``mahallas'') as a source of information on potential 
extremists. Committees served varied social support functions, but they 
also functioned as a link among local society, government, and law 
enforcement. Mahalla committees in rural areas tended to be more 
influential than those located in cities.
    There were credible reports that police, employers, and mahalla 
committees harassed family members of human rights activists. After 
human rights activist Tatiana Dovlatova participated in a controversial 
Russian TV program about the status of the ethnic Russian minority in 
the country, local authorities stripped her brother of his handicapped 
status and pension, her common-law husband was fired from his job, and 
police arrested her son on drug charges. Dovlatova claimed that these 
events were part of a government campaign targeting her.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--Freedom of Speech.--The constitution and law provide for 
freedom of speech and press, but the government did not respect these 
rights in practice, severely limiting freedom of expression.
    The law restricts criticism of the president, and public insult to 
the president is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. The 
law specifically prohibits publication of articles that incite 
religious confrontation and ethnic discord or that advocate subverting 
or overthrowing the constitutional order.

    Freedom of the Press.--The law holds all foreign and domestic media 
organizations accountable for the accuracy of their reporting, bans 
foreign journalists from working in the country without official 
accreditation, and requires that foreign media outlets be subject to 
mass media laws. The government prohibits the promotion of religious 
extremism, separatism, and fundamentalism, as well as the instigation 
of ethnic and religious hatred. It bars legal entities with more than 
30 percent foreign ownership from establishing media outlets in the 
country.
    Articles in state-controlled newspapers reflected the government's 
viewpoint. The main government newspapers published selected 
international wire stories. The government allowed publication of a few 
private newspapers with limited circulation containing advertising, 
horoscopes, and some substantive local news, including infrequent 
stories critical of government socioeconomic policies.
    The government published news stories on the official Internet 
sites of various ministries. A few purportedly independent Web sites 
consistently reported the government's viewpoint.
    The four state-run channels dominated television broadcasting. 
Numerous privately owned regional television stations and privately 
owned radio stations were influential among local audiences.

    Violence and Harassment.--During the year harassment of journalists 
continued. Police and security services subjected print and broadcast 
journalists to arrest, harassment, intimidation, and violence, as well 
as to bureaucratic restrictions on their activity.
    On August 22, Tashkent International Airport security authorities 
detained independent journalist Elena Bondar for four hours upon her 
return from Bishkek, where she attended journalism courses sponsored by 
the OSCE Academy and Deutsche Welle. Border control and customs 
officers searched Bondar and confiscated CDs, two video-cassettes, and 
a USB-drive for further inspection. Authorities opened administrative 
proceedings against Bondar for failure to declare goods but later 
dropped the charges. In September she came under pressure for failing 
to have a residency permit (propiska) for Tashkent.
    As in past years, the government harassed journalists from state-
run and independent media outlets in retaliation for their contact with 
foreign diplomats, specifically questioning journalists about such 
contact. Some journalists refused to meet with foreign diplomats face-
to-face because doing so in the past resulted in harassment and 
questioning by the NSS.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Journalists and senior 
editorial staff in state media organizations reported that there were 
officials whose responsibilities included censorship. There continued 
to be reports that government officials and employers provided verbal 
directives to journalists to refrain from covering certain events 
sponsored by foreign embassies and in some cases threatened termination 
for non-compliance. There were reports, however, that regional 
television outlets broadcast some moderately critical stories on local 
issues such as water, electricity, and gas shortages, as well as 
corruption and pollution.
    The government continued to refuse Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 
(RFE/RL), Voice of America, and BBC World Service permission to 
broadcast from within the country. It also continued to use 
accreditation rules to deny foreign journalists and media outlets, as 
well as international NGOs, the opportunity to work in the country.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--The criminal and administrative 
codes impose significant fines for libel and defamation. The government 
used charges of libel, slander, and defamation to punish journalists, 
human rights activists, and others who criticized the president or the 
government. On August 5, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision to 
create an ``Expert Commission on Information and Mass Communication'' 
to analyze whether publications adhere to legislative requirements to 
protect privacy, prevent a ``destructive negative information-
psychological impact on citizens' perceptions, and preserve and support 
national cultural traditions and heritage.'' Journalists and human 
rights activists warned that these provisions could be misused to 
silence dissenting views.
    As of year's end, the Supreme Court had yet to rule on the appeal 
submitted in May 2010 by photographer Umida Ahmedova, whom a Tashkent 
court found guilty in February 2010 of defaming the Uzbek people 
through a book of photography and a documentary film; the court 
immediately granted her amnesty from punishment.

    Publishing Restrictions.--Government security services and other 
offices regularly directed publishers to print articles and letters 
under fictitious bylines and gave explicit instructions about the types 
of stories permitted for publication. Often there was little 
distinction between the editorial content of a government or privately 
owned newspaper. Journalists engaged in little independent 
investigative reporting. The number of critical newspaper articles 
remained low and narrow in their scope. Widely read tabloids, however, 
were able to publish some articles that presented mild criticism of 
government policies or which discussed some problems that the 
government considered sensitive, such as trafficking in persons.

    Internet Freedom.--The government generally allowed access to the 
Internet, including social media sites. However, Internet service 
providers, allegedly at the government's request, routinely blocked 
access to Web sites or certain pages of Web sites the government 
considered objectionable. The government blocked several domestic and 
international news Web sites and those operated by opposition political 
parties. Beginning on August 9, more than 60 Internet sites, including 
the Financial Times, the New York Times, Reuters, Reporters without 
Borders, and a number of Russia-based news media, were inaccessible for 
a number of days.
    The media law defines web sites as media outlets, requiring them, 
as is the case with all local and foreign media, to register with the 
authorities and provide the names of their founder, chief editor, and 
staff members. Web sites were not required to submit to the government 
hard copies of publications, as was required of traditional media 
outlets.
    Several active online forums allowed registered users to post 
comments and read discussions on a range of social issues facing the 
country. In order to become a registered user in these forums, 
individuals needed to provide personally identifiable information. It 
is not clear whether the government attempted to collect this 
information. At the beginning of September, the country unveiled a new 
government-sponsored social media site--Muloqot--that requires users 
provide a registered local cell phone number in order to gain full 
access to the site. Civil society activists claimed that the government 
monitored and censored the site by directing the deletion of the 
accounts of users who posted RFE/RL content, which is blocked.
    A decree requires that all Web sites seeking ``.uz'' domain must 
register with the state Agency for Press and Information. The decree 
generally affected only government-owned or government-controlled Web 
sites. Opposition Web sites and those operated by international NGOs or 
media outlets tended to have domain names registered outside the 
country.
    Some human rights activists believed that their e-mail was 
monitored by the government, but there was no corroborating evidence to 
support those claims.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government continued to 
limit academic freedom and cultural events. In August local authorities 
in Tashkent forced the closure of an art exhibition of young artists 
organized by photographer Umida Ahmedova. Authorities occasionally 
required department head approval for university lectures or lecture 
notes, and university professors generally practiced self-censorship. 
Numerous students reported that universities taught mandatory courses 
on books and speeches of the president and that missing any of these 
seminars constituted grounds for expulsion.
    In October, according to news reports citing a unnamed member of 
Uzbekkino, the national film association, members of the NSS warned the 
country's leading writers, painters, musicians, and drama and film 
professionals against using religious themes in their work during a 
meeting held at the State Academic Drama Theater.
    Although a decree prohibits cooperation between higher educational 
institutions and foreign entities without the explicit prior approval 
of the government, foreign institutions often were able to obtain such 
approval by working with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA), 
especially for foreign language projects. Some school and university 
administrations, however, continued to pressure teachers and students 
to refrain from participating in conferences sponsored by diplomatic 
missions.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly, 
but in practice the government often restricted this right. Authorities 
have the right to suspend or prohibit rallies, meetings, and 
demonstrations for security reasons. The government often did not grant 
the required permits for demonstrations. Citizens are subject to large 
fines for facilitating unsanctioned rallies, meetings, or 
demonstrations by providing space or other facilities or materials, as 
well as for violating procedures concerning the organizing of meetings, 
rallies, and demonstrations.
    Authorities dispersed and occasionally detained those involved in 
peaceful protests, and sometimes pressed administrative charges as a 
result of protest actions. Among many examples was police action on 
June 27, when police detained former television journalists Malohat 
Eshonqulova and Saodat Omonova in the front of the presidential 
administration as they demonstrated in an attempt to seek a meeting 
with the president. Police transported Eshonqulova and Omonova to the 
Yakkasaroy District Criminal Court where Judge Shamshutdinova fined 
them each 2.94 million soum ($1,400) for violating the procedures for 
organizing meetings, rallies, and demonstrations. Human rights groups 
reported that the hearing lasted 10 minutes and was held without the 
defendants' lawyer. In protest, Eshonqulova and Omonova undertook a 
hunger strike, which lasted for approximately two weeks.
    On July 15, the Mirzo Ulugbek District Court in Tashkent fined a 
locally employed staff member of the British Embassy an amount equal to 
80 monthly minimum wages (approximately 4.5 million soum or $2,100) for 
conducting an unsanctioned meeting. The charges, which were upheld on 
appeal, stemmed from civil society workshops organized on the premises 
of the British embassy.

    Freedom of Association.--While the law provides for freedom of 
association, the government continued to restrict this right in 
practice. The government sought to control NGO activity and expressed 
concerns about internationally funded NGOs and unregulated Islamic and 
minority religious groups. There are strict legal restrictions on the 
types of groups that may be formed, and the law requires that all 
organizations be registered formally with the government. The law 
allows for a six-month grace period for new organizations to operate 
while awaiting registration from the Ministry of Justice, during which 
time the government officially classifies them as ``initiative 
groups.'' Several NGOs continued to function as initiative groups for 
periods longer than six months.
    NGOs that intend to address sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS or 
refugee issues often faced increased difficulties in obtaining 
registration. The government allowed nonpolitical associations and 
social organizations to register, but complicated rules and a 
cumbersome bureaucracy made the process difficult and allowed 
opportunities for government obstruction. The government compelled most 
local NGOs to join a government-controlled NGO association that allowed 
the government some control over the NGOs' funding and activities. The 
degree to which NGOs were able to operate varied by region because some 
local officials were more tolerant of NGO activities.
    The administrative liability code imposes large fines for 
violations of procedures governing NGO activity, as well as for 
``involving others'' in illegal NGOs. The law does not specify whether 
``illegal NGOs'' are those that the government suspended or closed or 
those that were unregistered. The administrative code also imposes 
penalties against international NGOs for engaging in political 
activities, activities inconsistent with their charters, or activities 
the government did not approve in advance. The government increased 
efforts to enforce the 2004 banking decree that, although ostensibly 
designed to combat money laundering, also complicated efforts by 
registered and unregistered NGOs to receive outside funding. The 
Ministry of Justice requires NGOs to submit detailed reports every six 
months on any grant funding received, events conducted, and planned 
events for the next period.
    The Finance Ministry required humanitarian aid and technical 
assistance recipients to submit information about their bank 
transactions.
    The law criminalizes membership in organizations the government 
broadly deems ``extremist.'' The law also bans the extremist Islamist 
political organization Hizb-ut Tahrir, stating it promotes hate and 
condones acts of terrorism.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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.--In-country Movement.--The 
constitution and law provide for freedom of movement within the country 
and across its borders, although the government limited this right in 
practice. The government at times delayed domestic and foreign travel 
and emigration during the visa application process. Borders 
occasionally were closed around national holidays due to security 
concerns. Permission from local authorities is required to move to 
Tashkent City or Tashkent Region, although authorities rarely granted 
such permission without the payment of bribes.

    Foreign Travel.--Citizens are required to have a domicile 
registration stamp in their passport before traveling domestically or 
leaving the country. The government also requires citizens and foreign 
citizens permanently residing in the country to obtain exit visas for 
foreign travel or emigration, although it generally grants the visas. 
In July the Cabinet of Ministers adopted amendments to exit visa 
procedures that allowed denial to travel on the basis of ``information 
demonstrating the inexpedience of the travel.'' According to civil 
society activists, these provisions were poorly defined and such 
decisions could not be appealed. In addition, ostensibly in an effort 
to combat trafficking in persons, the country introduced regulations 
that required male relatives of women age 18 to 35 to submit a 
statement pledging that the women would not engage in illegal behavior, 
including prostitution, while abroad.
    As in past years, although the law prescribes that a decision 
should be reached within 15 days, there were reports that the 
government delayed exit visas for human rights activists and 
independent journalists to prevent their travel abroad. For example, 
during the year authorities subjected human rights activists Dmitriy 
Tikhonov and Vladimir Khusainov, and independent journalist Abdumalik 
Boboev to such delays, although Tikhonov and Boboev eventually received 
visas after waiting 10 and four months, respectively. In August the 
government refused to issue an exit visa to human rights activist 
Tatiana Dovlatova, citing her January conviction on hooliganism 
charges.
    Citizens generally continued to be able to travel to neighboring 
states. Land travel to Afghanistan remained difficult. Citizens needed 
permission from the NSS to cross the border.
    The government requires hotels to register foreign visitors with 
the government on a daily basis. Foreigners who stay in private homes 
are required to register their location within three days of arrival. 
Government officials closely monitor foreigners in border areas, but 
foreigners generally can move within the country without restriction.

    Emigration and Repatriation.--The law does not provide for dual 
citizenship. In theory, returning citizens must prove to authorities 
that they did not acquire foreign citizenship while abroad or face loss 
of citizenship. In practice citizens who possessed dual citizenship 
generally traveled without impediment.
    The government noted that citizens residing outside the country for 
more than six months could register with the country's consulates, and 
such registration was voluntary. Unlike in some previous years, there 
were no reports that failure to register rendered citizens residing 
abroad and children born abroad stateless.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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.

    Nonrefoulement.--In practice the government provided some 
protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries 
where their lives or freedom would be threatened due to their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion. As during the previous year, there were no reported 
cases of the government forcibly removing Afghan refugees from the 
country.
    During the year, in the absence of a U.N. High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) presence, the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) 
continued to assist with monitoring and resettlement processing of 173 
pending (predominantly Afghan) refugee cases, which predated the 
closure of the UNHCR in 2006. During the year the UNDP completed 
processing 60 cases involving 97 people. Because the UNDP does not 
process new claims or make refugee status determinations, it refers 
potential applicants to the UNHCR offices in neighboring countries.
    Since 2007 the MFA has not considered UNHCR mandate certificates as 
the basis for extended legal residence, and persons carrying such 
certificates must apply for either tourist visas or residence permits 
or face possible deportation. Residence permits were difficult to 
obtain, and there were cases during the year when law enforcement 
bodies revoked residence permits, forcing refugees to leave the 
country. The government considered the UNHCR mandate refugees from 
Afghanistan and Tajikistan to be economic migrants, and officials 
sometimes subjected them to harassment and bribery. Most refugees from 
Tajikistan were ethnic Uzbeks; unlike refugees from Afghanistan, those 
from Tajikistan were able to integrate into the local communities, and 
the local population supported them. Some refugees from Tajikistan were 
officially stateless or faced the possibility of becoming officially 
stateless, as many carried only old Soviet passports rather than Tajik 
or Uzbek passports. Children born to two stateless parents receive the 
country's citizenship only if both parents have a residence permit.
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. In practice the government severely 
restricted freedom of expression and suppressed political opposition. 
President Karimov ruled a highly centralized government through 
sweeping decree powers, primary authority for drafting legislation, and 
control over government appointments, most of the economy, and the 
security forces.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 2008 
President Karimov began a third term as president as a result of 
elections held in 2007 that did not meet international democratic 
standards. The constitution prohibits a president from seeking a third 
term in office, an apparent contradiction the government has never 
addressed publicly. The OSCE's limited election observation mission 
noted that while there were more candidates than in previous elections, 
all candidates publicly endorsed President Karimov's policies and that 
there were procedural problems and irregularities in vote tabulation.

    Political Parties.--The law allows independent political parties, 
but the Ministry of Justice has broad powers to oversee parties and to 
withhold financial and legal support to parties that they judge as 
being opposed to the government.
    The law makes it extremely difficult for genuinely independent 
political parties to organize, nominate candidates, and campaign. To 
register a new party requires 20,000 signatures. The procedures to 
register a candidate are burdensome. The law allows the Ministry of 
Justice to suspend parties for as long as six months without a court 
order. The government also exercised control over established parties 
by controlling their financing and media exposure.
    The law prohibits judges, public prosecutors, NSS officials, those 
in the armed forces, foreign citizens, and stateless persons from 
joining political parties. The law prohibits parties based on religion 
or ethnicity; those that oppose the sovereignty, integrity, security of 
the country, or the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens; 
those that promote war or social, national, or religious hostility; and 
those that seek to overthrow the government.
    The government banned or denied registration to several political 
parties following the 2005 Andijon events. Former party leaders 
remained in exile, and their parties struggled to remain relevant 
without a strong domestic base.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were 33 women in the 
150-member lower chamber of the parliament, including the speaker 
Dilorom Toshmuhammedova, and 15 women in the 100-member senate, along 
with two women in the 28-member cabinet.
    There were 11 members of ethnic minorities in the lower house of 
parliament and 11 members of ethnic minorities in the senate.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials 
frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The government 
reported that during the first nine months of the year the courts 
convicted 460 government officials of corruption-related charges, 371 
of whom were sentenced to prison.
    On October 4, the official newspaper Pravda Vostoka reported that 
during the first six months of the year, the Public Prosecutor's Office 
initiated more than 60 criminal cases against officials accused of 
bribery, misappropriation of property, and forgery in public office. 
These cases resulted, amongst others, in the convictions of R. 
Gulyamov, mayor of Olmaliq; E. Muhammadiev, mayor of Farish District; 
and Rashid Nurmatov, former deputy mayor of Kokand, for economic and 
social issues.
    In late November civil society activists and the mass media 
reported that M. Shukurullaev, a judge with the Jizzakh Region Criminal 
Court, had been arrested for bribery. At year's end, there was no 
additional information available concerning the status of the case.
    Corruption among law enforcement personnel remained a problem. 
Police routinely and arbitrarily detained citizens to extort bribes. 
For example, the Web site uzmetronom.com reported on September 17 that 
the NSS detained Colonel M. Egamberdiev, deputy head of investigations 
for the Mirabad Police Department in Tashkent, as he received a bribe. 
According to the government, 157 law enforcement officials were 
convicted on corruption-related charges during the first nine months of 
the year, representing a substantial increase over previous years.
    The public did not generally have access to government information, 
and the government seldom reported information normally considered in 
the public domain.
    Corruption was a severe problem in the university, law, and traffic 
enforcement systems. There were several reports that bribes to judges 
influenced the outcomes of civil suits. In October there was a series 
of media reports about the prevalence of corruption, primarily by 
customs officials, at the airports.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic human rights groups operated in the country, 
although the government often hampered their activities by creating 
fear of official retaliation. The government frequently harassed, 
arrested, and prosecuted human rights activists. Unlike in past years, 
there were no reports that activists were under house arrest or strict 
control of law enforcement officers around the September 1 Independence 
Day holiday.
    The government officially acknowledged two domestic human rights 
NGOs: Ezgulik and the Independent Human Rights Organization of 
Uzbekistan. Others were unable to register but continued to function at 
both the national and local levels. For example, in May the 
Humanitarian Legal Center in Bukhara submitted its fifth registration 
application in the past two years and was denied without explanation. 
The NGO continued to conduct activities, however, and local authorities 
even participated in round table discussions on certain topics.
    Organizations that attempted to register in previous years and 
remained unregistered included the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, 
the Expert Working Group (EWG), and Mazlum (``Oppressed''). These 
organizations did not exist as legal entities but continued to function 
despite difficulty renting offices and conducting financial 
transactions. They could not open bank accounts, making it virtually 
impossible to receive funds legally. Unregistered groups were 
vulnerable to government prosecution. In rare cases, however, 
government representatives participated with unregistered groups in 
certain events.
    Government officials spoke informally with domestic human rights 
defenders, some of whom noted that they were able to resolve cases of 
human rights abuses through direct engagement with authorities.
    The government required that NGOs coordinate their training 
sessions or seminars with government authorities. NGO managers believed 
this amounted to a requirement for prior official permission from the 
government for all NGO program activities.
    Police and security forces continued to harass domestic human 
rights activists and NGOs during the year. Security forces regularly 
threatened and intimidated human rights activists to prevent their 
activities and dissuade them from meeting with foreign diplomats; 
occasionally police and other government authorities ordered activists 
to cease contact with foreigners.
    There continued to be occasional attacks against human rights 
activists. For example, on October 3, Bahtiyor Elmuradov, director of 
School Number 1 in the Zarbdar district of Jizzakh region, reportedly 
beat Ziyodullo Razokov, chairman of the International Society for Human 
Rights of Uzbekistan branch in Jizzakh region and a teacher at School 
Number 1. The attack allegedly occurred in response to an interview 
that Razokov gave regarding the involvement of his students in the 
cotton harvest. Razokov filed a complaint with the police on October 4, 
and on November 28 the Jizzakh District Criminal Court found Elmuradov 
guilty of inflicting minor injuries and libel and fined him 
approximately 567 thousand soum ($270).
    In June the government closed the local office of Human Rights 
Watch following a Supreme Court decision. The organization, which 
sought to contribute to the country's implementation of its 
international commitments to further develop democracy and civil 
society, had not been able to obtain accreditation for an international 
staff person since 2008.
    On August 15, police in the Pakhtakor District of Jizzakh Region 
detained Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan activist Saida Kurbanova 
for several hours, reportedly in connection with a libel investigation 
stemming from an article she wrote about the difficulties citizens face 
when using state-issued bank cards. Kurbanova alleged that the police, 
including Akmal Johanov, Pakhtakor district deputy police chief, 
threatened and mistreated her, physically dragging her up the stairs at 
one point. The police denied these allegations.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government continued to 
restrict the work of international bodies and severely criticized their 
human rights monitoring activities and policies.
    Although the OSCE has been able to do only limited work on human 
rights issues since 2006, the government approved several proposed OSCE 
projects during the year, including in the ``human dimension,'' the 
human rights component of the OSCE's work.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Human Rights Ombudsman's 
Office stated that its goals included promoting observance and public 
awareness of fundamental human rights, assisting in shaping legislation 
to bring it into accordance with international human rights norms, and 
resolving cases of alleged abuse. The Ombudsman's Office mediates 
disputes between citizens who contact it and makes recommendations to 
modify or uphold decisions of government agencies, but its 
recommendations are not binding. More than 40 percent of the more than 
10,000 complaints received by the ombudsman during 2010 dealt with the 
rights to life, freedom, privacy, human treatment, and respect for 
dignity, as well as the right to a fair trial.
    Throughout the year the Ombudsman's Office hosted meetings and 
conferences with law enforcement, judicial representatives, and limited 
international NGO participation to discuss its mediation work and means 
of facilitating protection of human rights.
    The National Human Rights Center is a government agency responsible 
for educating the population and officials on the principles of human 
rights and democracy and for ensuring that the government complies with 
its international obligations to provide human rights information.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law and constitution prohibit discrimination on the bases of 
race, gender, disability, language, and social status. Nonetheless, 
societal discrimination against women and persons with disabilities 
existed, and child abuse persisted.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law prohibits rape, 
including rape of a ``close relative,'' but the criminal code does not 
specifically prohibit marital rape, and the court did not try any known 
cases. Cultural norms discouraged women and their families from 
speaking openly about rape, and the press rarely reported instances of 
rape.
    The law does not specifically prohibit domestic violence, which 
remained common. While the law punishes physical assault, police often 
discouraged women from making complaints against abusive partners, and 
officials rarely removed abusers from their homes or took them into 
custody. Society considered the physical abuse of women to be a 
personal affair rather than a criminal act. Family members or elders 
usually handled such cases, and they rarely came to court. Local 
authorities emphasized reconciling husband and wife, rather than 
addressing the abuse. Although prohibited by law, polygamy existed.
    As in past years, there were reported cases in which women 
attempted or committed suicide as a result of domestic violence. Those 
active in women's issues suggested that many cases went unreported, and 
there were no reliable statistics on the problem's extent. Observers 
cited conflict with a husband or mother-in-law, who by tradition 
exercises complete control over a wife, as the usual reason for 
suicide. There were no government-run shelters or hotlines for victims 
of domestic abuse, and very few NGOs focused on domestic violence.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not explicitly prohibit sexual 
harassment, but it is illegal for a man to coerce a woman who has a 
business or financial dependency into a sexual relationship. Social 
norms and the lack of legal recourse made it difficult to assess the 
scope of the problem.

    Reproductive Rights.--The government generally allowed couples and 
individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and 
timing of their children, and it granted access to information and the 
means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. There 
were, however, media reports in July in which unnamed Tashkent-based 
gynecologists alleged that the Directorate of Health issued oral 
instructions requiring a ``letter of explanation'' from pregnant women 
who wished to give birth to a third child. The same reports also 
included allegations that as in the past the government pressured 
doctors to sterilize women to control the birth rate. The government's 
official policy is for doctors to encourage all forms of family 
planning including sterilization, which may not be done without the 
informed consent of the patient.
    Contraception generally was available to men and women. In most 
districts, maternity clinics were available and staffed by fully 
trained doctors, who gave a wide range of prenatal and postpartum care. 
There were reports that women in rural areas chose in greater numbers 
than in urban areas to give birth at home without the presence of 
skilled medical attendants.

    Discrimination.--The law prohibits discrimination based on gender, 
and the National Women's Committee exists to promote the legal rights 
of women. Women historically have held leadership positions across all 
sectors of society, although not with the same prevalence as men, and 
cultural and religious practices limited their effectiveness. The 
government provided little data that could be used to determine whether 
women experienced discrimination in access to employment, credit, or 
pay equity for substantially similar work. However, the labor code 
prohibits women from working in as many industries as men. In addition 
opportunities for starting or growing a business are extremely limited.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory or from one's parents. The government 
generally registers all births immediately.

    Medical Care.--While the government provided equal subsidized 
health care for boys and girls, those without an officially registered 
address, such as street children and children of migrant workers, did 
not have access to government health facilities.

    Child Abuse.--Society generally considered child abuse to be an 
internal family matter, with little information available officially.

    Child Marriage.--The law states that the minimum age for marriage 
is 17 for women and 18 for men, but a mayor of a district may lower the 
age by one year in exceptional cases. Child marriage was not prevalent, 
although in some rural areas girls as young as 15 occasionally were 
married in religious ceremonies not officially recognized by the state.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law seeks to protect children 
from ``all forms of exploitation.'' Involving a child in prostitution 
is punishable with a fine of 25 to 50 times the minimum salary and 
prison time of an unspecified length.
    The minimum age of consensual sex is 16 years. The punishment for 
statutory rape is 15 to 20 years' imprisonment. The production, 
demonstration, and distribution of child pornography (younger than age 
21) is punishable by fine or by imprisonment up to three years.

    Institutionalized Children.--In contrast to previous years, there 
were no reports of women being pressured into institutionalizing 
children who were born with birth defects or other illnesses.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html, as well as country-specific information at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Jewish leaders reported high levels of acceptance 
in society. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts or patterns of 
discrimination against Jews. The Jewish community was unable to meet 
the registration requirements necessary to have a centrally registered 
organization, but there were eight registered Jewish congregations 
throughout the country. Observers estimated the Jewish population to be 
approximately 10,000 persons, concentrated mostly in Tashkent, 
Samarkand, and Bukhara. Their numbers continued to decline due to 
emigration, largely for economic reasons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities, but there was some societal 
discrimination against those with disabilities.
    The government continued its efforts to confirm the disability 
levels of citizens who receive government disability benefits. 
Officially, authorities conducted the confirmations to ensure the 
legitimacy of disability payments, but unconfirmed reports suggested 
that some persons with disabilities had their benefits unfairly reduced 
in this process.
    The law allows for fines if public buildings are not accessible for 
the disabled, but disability activists reported that accessibility 
remained inadequate, noting, for example, that many of the high schools 
constructed in recent years have exterior ramps, but no interior 
modifications that would allow wheelchair accessibility.
    The law does not provide effective safeguards against arbitrary or 
involuntary institutionalization. However, there were no reports during 
the year of persons being held at psychiatric hospitals despite showing 
no signs of mental illness.
    The Ministry of Health controlled access to health care for persons 
with disabilities, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection 
facilitated employment of persons with disabilities. There were no 
reports of problems regarding accessibility of information and 
communications. No information was available regarding patterns of 
abuse in educational and mental health facilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The constitution states that all 
citizens are equal, regardless of ethnic background, and provides equal 
protection by the courts to all residents irrespective of national, 
racial, or ethnic origin. The country has significant Tajik (5 percent) 
and Russian (5.5 percent) minorities and smaller Kazakh and Kyrgyz 
minorities. There also was a small Romani population in Tashkent, 
estimated at less than 50,000 individuals. Complaints of societal 
violence or discrimination against members of these groups were rare.
    The constitution also provides for the right of all citizens to 
work and to choose their occupations. Although the law prohibits 
employment discrimination on the bases of ethnicity or national origin, 
ethnic Russians and other minorities occasionally expressed concern 
about limited job opportunities. Officials reportedly reserved senior 
positions in the government bureaucracy and business for ethnic Uzbeks, 
although there were numerous exceptions.
    The law does not require Uzbek language ability to obtain 
citizenship, but language often was a sensitive issue. Uzbek is the 
state language, and the constitution requires that the president speak 
it. The law also provides that Russian is ``the language of interethnic 
communication.''

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Homosexual activity among men 
is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. Although convictions 
under this criminal provision were rare, there were reports in the past 
that police used informants to extract heavy bribes from gay men. The 
law does not criminalize same-sex sexual activity between women.
    Homosexuality is generally a taboo subject in society, and there 
were no known lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) 
organizations. There was also no known perpetrated or condoned violence 
against the LGBT community. There were no known reports of official or 
societal discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity 
in employment, housing, statelessness, or access to education or health 
care, but this circumstance may be attributed to the social taboo 
against discussing homosexual activity rather than to equality in such 
matters.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons living with HIV 
reported social isolation by neighbors, public agency workers, health 
personnel, law enforcement officers, landlords, and employers after 
their HIV status became known. The military summarily expelled recruits 
in the armed services found to be HIV-positive. The government's 
restrictions on local NGOs left only a handful of functioning NGOs to 
assist and protect the rights of persons with HIV/AIDS. At the end of 
October, the criminal court in the Yakkasaroy District of Tashkent 
convicted, but then immediately amnestied, the head of the local Red 
Crescent Society, Mannon Rahimov, of several crimes, including 
operating without a license and publishing AIDS awareness materials 
that contradict traditional values.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides workers the right to form and join unions of their 
choice, declaring unions independent of governmental administrative and 
economic bodies, except where provided for by other laws. 
Discrimination against union members and officers is prohibited, but 
this was irrelevant due to the unions' close relationship with the 
government. The law neither provides for nor prohibits the right to 
strike. The right to organize and bargain collectively, including the 
right of unions to conclude agreements with enterprises, is included in 
the law. Legally, unions have oversight regarding individual and 
collective labor disputes.
    In practice workers generally did not exercise their right to form 
and join unions out of fear that attempts to create alternative unions 
would be quickly repressed. Unions remained centralized and dependent 
on the government. The state-run Board of the Trade Union Federation of 
Uzbekistan incorporates more than 35,800 primary organizations and 14 
regional trade unions, with official reports of 60 percent of employees 
in the country participating. Leaders of the federation are appointed 
by the president's office rather than elected by the union board. All 
regional and industrial trade unions at the local level were state 
managed. There were no independent unions.
    Unions and their leaders were not free to conduct activities 
without interference from the employer or from government-controlled 
institutions. Rights to collective bargaining were not exercised. 
Unions were government-organized institutions with little bargaining 
power aside from some influence on health and work safety issues. The 
Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the Ministry of Finance, in 
consultation with the Council of the Trade Union Federation, set wages 
for government employees. In the small private sector, management 
established wages or negotiated them individually with persons who 
contracted for employment. There was no state institution responsible 
for labor arbitration.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution and 
law prohibit forced or compulsory labor, including by children, except 
as legal punishment for such offenses as robbery, fraud, or tax 
evasion, or as specified by law. However, such practices occurred 
during the cotton harvest, when authorities applied varying amounts of 
pressure on governmental institutions, schools, and businesses to 
organize schoolchildren, university students, teachers, medical 
workers, government personnel, military personnel, and nonworking 
segments of the population to pick cotton. Credible reporting indicated 
that the use of forced mobilization of adult laborers during the cotton 
harvest was higher than in the previous year. Authorities expected 
teachers and school administrators to participate in the harvest either 
as supervisors or by picking cotton themselves, and schoolteachers 
often bore responsibility for ensuring their students met quotas. There 
continued to be reports that students and adults who did not make their 
quotas were subject to ridicule or abuse by local administrators or 
police. The loss of public sector workers during the cotton harvest 
adversely affected communities, as medical procedures often were 
deferred, essential public services delayed, and internationally funded 
development projects put on hold while implementing partners worked the 
fields.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--Laws 
to protect children from exploitation in the workplace provide both 
criminal and administrative sanctions against violators of the child 
labor laws, although these laws were not effectively enforced.
    The national labor code establishes the minimum working age at 16 
years and provides that work must not interfere with the studies of 
those younger than 18 years of age. The law establishes a right to 
part-time light work beginning at age 15, and children with permission 
from their parents may work a maximum of 24 hours per week when school 
is not in session and 12 hours per week when school is in session. The 
law does not allow 14-year-olds to be involved with ``light work,'' 
even if it does not interfere with education or hinder the health or 
development of the child, but this provision was not always observed in 
practice. Children between the ages of 16 and 18 may work 36 hours per 
week while school is out of session and 18 hours per week while school 
is in session. Decrees adopted in 2009 and 2010, respectively, 
stipulate a list of hazardous activities forbidden for children younger 
than 18 and bar employers from using children to work under a list of 
hazardous conditions including underground, underwater, at dangerous 
heights, or with dangerous equipment. Children were employed in 
agriculture, in family businesses, and as street vendors.
    Children worked in the planting and picking of cotton. Many 
thousands of schoolchildren and university students worked in the 
cotton fields during the annual harvest as a result of government 
mobilization. While pressure to use forced child labor in the cotton 
sector continued to be prevalent in some regions of the country, other 
regions attracted a consenting, adult work force. During the fall 
harvest, local administrators in many regions of the country closed 
schools and universities for up to six weeks and transported students 
to work in the cotton fields. Although the majority of students 
appeared to be over the age of 14 years, younger students were 
observed, and there were isolated reports of some students as young as 
10 years working in the fields. Observers reported that older students 
often worked 10-hour days and frequently were housed in tents or 
barracks away from their families. For the third year in a row, the 
majority of classes remained in operation at the younger grade levels.
    Students and adults typically earned between 100 and 150 soum ($.05 
to $.07) per kilo (2.2 pounds) of cotton picked. Younger students were 
expected to pick 20 to 40 kilograms of cotton per day, while older 
students and adults were expected to pick 50 to 70 kilos per day. The 
resulting daily wage was between 2,000 and 6,750 soum ($0.95 to $3.21) 
for younger students and 5,000 to 10,500 soum ($2.38 to $5.00) per day 
for older students. As in past years, there continued to be reports 
that universities reportedly threatened to expel students who did not 
participate in the harvest or required students to sign statements 
indicating ``voluntary'' participation in the harvest.
    Working conditions varied greatly by region. There were scattered 
reports of inadequate food and lodging for the children, and there were 
also reports of students without access to clean drinking water.
    Labor legislation does not explicitly provide jurisdiction for 
inspectors from the labor ministry to focus on child labor enforcement. 
Enforcement of child labor laws is under the jurisdiction of the labor 
ministry, the prosecutor general, the MOI, and MOI general criminal 
investigators. It was unclear whether the MOI conducted inspections in 
the agricultural sector. There were no known prosecutions for child 
labor during the year, although the government asked UNICEF for its 
observations of the harvest in order to investigate local officials who 
mobilized children.
    The government's 2008 National Action Plan called for an end to the 
worst forms of child labor, including forced labor, but none of its 
goals have been reached. The government does not allow independent 
organizations to monitor comprehensively child labor in the cotton 
sector, nor does it provide figures on the use of child labor in the 
country. The government allowed UNICEF to observe the cotton harvest 
and its working conditions and gave it full access to the fields, 
children, schools and teachers.
    On March 25, the government created an interagency working group to 
ensure protection of the rights and legitimate interests of minors 
under the age of 18 and report to the International Labor Organization 
on measures undertaken to protect workers' and children's rights.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum salary between 
August and December was 57,200 soum ($27) per month. On December 1, it 
was raised 10 percent to 62,920 soum ($30). According to official 
statistics, the average monthly salary exceeded 693,550 soum ($330) 
before taxes. This level did not include salaries in the agricultural 
sector. Reliable data and estimations on actual average household 
income were not available. Officials reported the poverty level as 
consumption of less than 2,100 kilocalories per day, but the government 
does not publish any indicators of poverty level. According to the 
latest available data, approximately 20 percent of the population lived 
below the poverty level in 2010.
    The law establishes a standard workweek of 40 hours and requires a 
24-hour rest period. Overtime pay exists in theory, but it rarely was 
paid in practice. According to the labor code, compensation for 
overtime work must be specified in employment contracts or agreed to 
with an employee's trade union and can be implemented in the form of 
additional pay or leave. According to the legislation, overtime 
compensation should not be less than 200 percent of the employee's 
actual hourly wage. Additional leave time should be not less than the 
length of actual overtime work. An employee cannot work more than 120 
hours of overtime per year.
    The Ministry of Labor establishes and enforces occupational health 
and safety standards in consultation with unions. Reports suggested 
that enforcement was not effective. Although regulations provide for 
safeguards, workers in hazardous jobs often lacked protective clothing 
and equipment. Labor inspectors conducted inspections of small- and 
medium-sized businesses once every four years and inspected larger 
enterprises once every three years. The labor ministry or a local 
governor's office can initiate a selective inspection of a business as 
well, and special inspections are conducted in response to accidents or 
complaints.
    In accordance with the Law on Workers' Safety, workers legally may 
remove themselves from hazardous work if an employer has failed to 
provide adequate safety measures for the job. Generally workers did not 
exercise this right, as it was not effectively enforced, and employees 
feared retribution by employers. A 2009 law requires employers to 
insure against civil liability for damage caused to the life or health 
of an employee in connection with a work injury, occupational disease, 
or other injury to health caused by the employee's performance on the 
job. No cases have yet been reported under this law.
    The country has bilateral labor migration agreements with Russia 
and South Korea to increase protections on a range of labor rights for 
the country's labor migrants.

                               __________


                           WESTERN HEMISPHERE

                              ----------                              


                          ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

                           executive summary
    Antigua and Barbuda is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy. In 
parliamentary elections in March 2009, which observers described as 
generally free and fair, the ruling United Progressive Party (UPP) 
defeated the Antigua Labour Party (ALP), and Baldwin Spencer was 
reelected as prime minister. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems involved poor prison 
conditions.
    Other human rights problems included discrimination and violence 
against women; members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) community; and persons with HIV/AIDS. There were reports of the 
mental, physical, and sexual abuse of children.
    The government made strides in prosecuting and punishing those who 
committed human rights abuses, and impunity was not a widespread 
problem
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. Authorities investigate any police-involved 
killings, and the prime minister can call for an independent 
investigation into an incident as needed.
    Authorities held police accountable for their actions, although the 
process can take months or even years to be completed. For instance, in 
2009 a court convicted Constable Kevin Nelson of murder following the 
use of excessive force against Denfield ``Tobi'' Thomas during a 2006 
incident.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution specifically prohibits such practices, 
and the authorities generally respected these prohibitions in practice. 
Nonetheless, there were occasional reports of use of excessive force 
and discrimination against persons on basis of sexual orientation or 
gender identity by the police.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
very poor. Her Majesty's Prison, the country's only prison, was 
overcrowded, had inadequate toilet facilities, and slop pails were used 
in all 98 cells. A fire in April, as well as one in 2010, worsened the 
already poor conditions. Poor ventilation caused cell temperatures to 
remain very high, prisoners did not receive the adequate diet 
prescribed by internal regulations, and the superintendent was unable 
to promote the required standards of hygiene within the prison.
    The prison, designed to hold a maximum of 150 inmates, held 154 
convicted prisoners, 59 remanded prisoners, 83 awaiting trial, two 
awaiting sentencing, and four recaptured escapees at year's end.
    Prison overcrowding was attributed in part to a law that limits the 
ability of magistrates to grant bail to those accused of certain 
offenses. This resulted in an increase in the number of persons held on 
remand or awaiting trial. Remanded prisoners were separated from 
convicted prisoners, except in special cases where those arrested were 
members of a gang, although, this was not the norm. Illegal immigrants 
also were held in the prison, as the government had not yet completed 
construction of a separate holding facility.
    Thirteen female prisoners were held in a separate section and were 
not subject to the same overcrowding problems encountered in the men's 
prison. Ten juvenile prisoners were held in the same building as adult 
prisoners, but occupied separate cells.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors, were 
permitted religious observances, and had reasonable access to complaint 
mechanisms and the ability to request inquiry into conditions.
    The government investigated and monitored prison conditions and 
permitted prison visits by independent human rights observers, although 
no such visits were known to have occurred 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.--Security forces consist 
of a police force, a prison guard service, immigration, airport and 
port security, the small Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force, and the 
Office of National Drug Control and Money Laundering Policy, which 
coordinates law enforcement and prosecutorial action to counter 
narcotics trafficking. The police fall under the minister of national 
security and labor's responsibility. The prime minister can call for an 
independent investigation into an incident as needed.
    The police discipline department, which investigates complaints 
against the police, is headed by the deputy police commissioner and 
decides whether an investigation is conducted. Police typically are 
held accountable for their actions, as evidenced by the court 
conviction of Assistant Superintendent of Police Everton Francis for 
the unlawful shooting of Damien Watson in 2010.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security 
forces, and the government has effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity 
involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
permits police to arrest without a warrant persons suspected of 
committing a crime. Criminal defendants have the right to a prompt 
judicial determination of the legality of their detention. The police 
must bring detainees before a court within 48 hours of arrest or 
detention. Criminal detainees were allowed prompt access to counsel and 
family members. The bail system requires those accused of more serious 
crimes to appeal to the High Court for bail, taking this responsibility 
away from the lower court magistrates.

    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 that criminal 
defendants should receive a fair, open, and public trial, and an 
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials are by 
jury. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence, have timely access 
to counsel, may confront or question witnesses, and have the right to 
appeal. In capital cases only, the government provides legal assistance 
at public expense to persons without the means to retain a private 
attorney. Courts often reached verdicts quickly, with some cases coming 
to conclusion in a matter of days.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--A court of summary 
jurisdiction, which sits without a jury, deals with civil cases 
involving sums of up to EC$1,500 ($550); five magistrate's courts deal 
with summary offenses and civil cases of not more than EC$500 ($185) in 
value. Persons may apply to the High Court for redress of alleged 
violations of their constitutional rights.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the 
press, but the government respected these rights on a somewhat limited 
basis. The opposition party and its leaders frequently asserted that 
the government infringed upon freedom of speech and did not provide 
equal access for the media. Privately owned print media, including 
daily and weekly newspapers, were active and offered a range of 
opinion.

    Freedom of Speech.--There was continued tension between the 
government and ZDK Radio, which is owned by the family of Lester Bird, 
the former prime minister and leader of the opposition ALP. The Senate 
suspended one senator from three meetings for making negative comments 
about the governor general on ZDK radio.

    Freedom of the Press.--The ALP claimed that government-operated ABS 
TV and Radio did not allow fair access to the opposition.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--Politicians in both parties often 
filed libel cases against members of the other party.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or reports that 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.

    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.

    Freedom of Assembly.--In 2010 a court convicted the leader of the 
opposition ALP, along with six other party members, of violating the 
Public Order Act after speaking at a rally without a permit.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM), and other humanitarian organizations in assisting 
refugees and asylum seekers.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees and did not 
grant refugee status or asylum during the year. Before the presence of 
the UNHCR and IOM, the government immediately deported foreigners who 
could not provide legal documentation, but during the year it began 
processing and housing them in a government-built center until their 
refugee status is decided. Those who do not receive refugee status may 
appeal, as they are provided an allotted amount of time before they are 
deported to their country of origin.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides citizens with the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of 
universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In the 
March 2009 elections the ruling UPP won nine of 19 seats in the House 
of Representatives and 50 percent of the popular vote. Members of the 
Organization of American States observer group reported that the 
elections were generally free and fair. After the opposition ALP 
challenged the results of election, the Court of Appeal upheld the 
outcome, despite finding some technical problems in the election 
process.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were two women in the 
House of Representatives and five women appointed to the 17-seat 
Senate. The governor general, the speaker of the House of 
Representatives, and the president of the Senate, all appointed 
positions, were women. There was one woman in the cabinet and one 
member of a minority in parliament.
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. Both 
political parties frequently accused the other of corruption, but 
investigations yielded little or no results.
    The Integrity in Public Life Act requires public officials to 
disclose all income, assets (including those of spouses and children), 
and personal gifts while in public office. The law established an 
Integrity Commission, appointed by the governor general, to receive and 
investigate complaints regarding noncompliance with or contravention of 
any provisions of this law or the Prevention of Corruption Act. The 
commission responded to isolated reports of corruption, administered 
the act, and received the required disclosure reports.
    The Freedom of Information Act gives citizens the statutory right 
to access official documents from public authorities and agencies, and 
it created a commissioner to oversee the process. In practice citizens 
found it difficult to obtain documents, possibly due to government 
funding constraints rather than obstruction.
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.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--There is an ombudsman, an 
independent authority appointed by the prime minister, to deal with 
complaints regarding police and other government officials. However, 
the office lacked the resources to provide effective oversight for the 
entire government and did not produce regular reports.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, 
creed, language, or social status, and the government generally 
respected these prohibitions in practice.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape, including spousal rape, 
is illegal and carries maximum sentences ranging from 10 years' to life 
imprisonment. Anecdotal evidence suggested it was a pervasive problem, 
with 12 rapes and 32 cases of acts defined as unlawful sexual 
intercourse reported during the year. The Directorate of Gender 
Affairs, part of the Ministry of Education, Gender, Sports and Youth 
Affairs, publicized a crisis hotline for victims and witnesses to 
sexual assault and managed a sexual assault center that coordinates 
responses to sexual assault. Police immediately refer reported rapes to 
the newly created Sexual Offenses Unit, and a female police officer 
accompanies the victim for both questioning and medical examinations at 
the sexual assault center. Once the doctor's report is completed, an 
investigation commences. An arrested suspect is placed in a line-up and 
must be identified by the victim, using a one-way mirror. Victims may, 
however, choose to identify their attacker face to face, without using 
a mirror, if they feel it necessary. Authorities prosecuted 10 cases of 
unlawful sexual intercourse during the year. In situations where the 
victim did not know her assailant, the cases rarely came to trial, 
although the number of those coming forward increased since the 
creation of the Sexual Offenses Unit.
    Violence against women, including spousal abuse, continued to be a 
serious problem. The law prohibits and provides penalties for domestic 
violence, but some women were reluctant to testify against their 
abusers due to fear of stigma, retribution, or further violence. The 
government noted an increase in women coming forward in the years since 
enactment of the Domestic Violence Act of 1999. The Directorate of 
Gender Affairs operated a domestic violence program that provided 
training for law enforcement officers, health-care professionals, 
counselors, social workers, immigration officers and army officers. The 
directorate also worked with a nongovernmental organization (NGO) to 
provide safe havens for abused women and children. Services for victims 
of domestic violence included counseling and an advocacy case worker 
who accompanied the victim to the hospital and police station.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment is illegal, but it was rarely 
prosecuted. According to the Labor Department, there was a high 
incidence of sexual harassment incurred by employees in both the 
private and public sectors. However, only four cases were reported 
formally during the year; the small number was believed to result from 
concerns about retaliation.

    Reproductive Rights.--Reproductive rights of women were protected. 
Couples and individuals had the right to decide freely and responsibly 
the number, spacing, and timing of their children and had the 
information to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
There was adequate access to contraception. Most pregnant women had at 
least one antenatal care visit, and most women gave birth in hospitals. 
A 2008 UNICEF report indicated that skilled attendance at birth was 100 
percent and estimated the contraceptive prevalence rate at 53 percent. 
Incidence of maternal mortality was not available. Women were equally 
diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Women in society enjoy the same rights as men 
under the law. However, economic conditions in rural areas tended to 
limit women to home and family, although some women worked as 
domestics, in agriculture, or in the large tourism sector. Despite 
these limitations, women were well represented in the private and 
public sectors. There was no legislation requiring equal pay for equal 
work, but women faced no restrictions involving ownership of property. 
The Directorate of Gender Affairs is charged with promoting the rights 
of women.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is acquired by birth in 
the country, and all children were registered at birth. Children born 
to citizen parents abroad can be registered by either of their parents.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse remained a problem, and the number of 
cases reported increased over 2010. Neglect was the most common form of 
child abuse, followed by physical abuse, although the press reported 
regularly on the rape and sexual abuse of children. Adult men having 
regular sexual relations with young girls was also a problem. According 
to one regional human rights group, the girls were often the daughters 
of single mothers with whom the perpetrators also had regular sexual 
relations. In extreme cases of abuse, the government will remove the 
children from their home and put them in foster care or into a 
government or private children's home.
    The government held public outreach about detection and prevention 
of child abuse and also completed training for foster parents regarding 
detecting the signs of child abuse and how to work with children who 
have been abused. The government's welfare office also provided 
counseling services for both children and parents and often referred 
parents to the National Parent Counseling Center.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Statutory rape is illegal; the 
minimum age for consensual sex is 16. Despite a maximum penalty of 10 
years to life, authorities brought charges against few offenders, and 
those convicted did not serve long jail terms due to lack of witness 
cooperation. Child pornography is illegal and subject to fines of up to 
EC$250,000 ($92,500) and 10 years in prison.

    International Child Abductions.--The government is not a party to 
the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. For 
country-specific information on international parental child abduction, 
see http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution contains 
antidiscrimination provisions, but no specific laws prohibit 
discrimination against, or mandate accessibility for, persons with 
disabilities. There were few reports of discrimination against persons 
with disabilities in employment, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services. However, there were anecdotal cases 
of children, because of disabilities, who were unable to take 
themselves to the restroom and thus being denied entry to school.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Consensual same-sex sexual 
activity for both sexes is illegal under indecency statues, and some 
male same-sex sexual acts are also illegal under anal intercourse laws. 
Indecency statutes carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and 
anal intercourse carries a maximum penalty of 15 years.
    Societal attitudes LGBT persons somewhat impeded operation and free 
association of LGBT organizations, but there were a few organized 
groups. The attorney general told the press that ``there will be no 
change in the law on buggery, at least not if I can help it. Being gay 
is morally wrong, and to be honest personally, I am still homophobic.'' 
However, other government officials asserted that the country was 
mostly tolerant of LGBT persons, noting the law was rarely used except 
when some other crime was also committed. Societal attitudes remained 
conflicted on the issue, and while there were several reports of 
discrimination based on sexual orientation, anecdotal reports suggested 
these were mostly verbal attacks.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Rastafarians complained 
of discrimination, especially in hiring and in schools, but the 
government took no specific action to address such complaints.
    Some LGBT persons claimed that homophobia impaired the willingness 
of HIV-positive persons to obtain treatment, and there were several 
reported incidents of discrimination cited among HIV-positive persons, 
specifically from health-care professionals and the police. Anecdotal 
evidence also suggested that employers had laid off and discriminated 
against employees with HIV/AIDS. There were, however, no reports of 
violence directed toward persons with HIV/AIDS. The Ministry of Health 
supported local NGO efforts to register human rights complaints and 
seek assistance related to cases of discrimination against those with 
HIV/AIDS. The Ministry of Health also trained a number of health-care 
professionals and policemen in antidiscriminatory practices. The 
Ministry of Labor encouraged employers to be more sensitive to 
employees with HIV/AIDS, and the Ministry of Health conducted 
sensitivity training for requesting employers.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows labor organizations to organize and bargain collectively 
without interference. The labor code provides for the right to strike, 
but places several restrictions on this right. The law prohibits 
antiunion discrimination by employers but does not specifically require 
reinstatement of workers illegally fired for union activity.
    Workers who provide essential services (including bus, telephone, 
port, petroleum, health, and safety workers) must give 21 days' notice 
of intent to strike. The International Labor Organization considered 
the list of essential services to be overly broad by international 
standards. Once either party to a dispute requests court mediation, 
strikes are prohibited under penalty of imprisonment. The Industrial 
Relations Court may issue an injunction against a legal strike when the 
national interest is threatened or affected. Labor law prohibits 
retaliation against strikers.
    The government effectively enforced all labor laws. There were no 
reports of antiunion discrimination nor any violations related to 
collective bargaining rights.
    Unions were generally free to conduct their activities without 
government interference. Because of the delays caused by mediation and 
required notice periods, unions often resolved labor disputes before 
calling a strike. In one case where workers conducted a ``sick-out'' 
against a firm being sold, the minister of labor stepped in to help 
facilitate negotiations.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, and the government 
effectively enforced the prohibition. Authorities charged one woman 
with trafficking in persons, which included forced labor.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law stipulates a minimum working age of 16. In addition persons under 
age 18 must have a medical clearance to work and may not work later 
than 10 p.m. The Ministry of Labor, which is required by law to conduct 
periodic inspections of workplaces, effectively enforced this law. The 
Labor Commissioner's Office also had an inspectorate that investigated 
child labor. The government enforced these laws effectively, and child 
labor was not a problem.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was EC$7.50 
($2.78) an hour for all categories of labor. In practice the great 
majority of workers earned substantially more than the minimum wage.
    The law provides that workers are not required to work more than a 
48-hour, six-day workweek, but the standard workweek was 40 hours in 
five days. Laws provide for overtime work in excess of the standard 
workweek, requiring that employees be paid one and one half times the 
employees' basic wage per hour. Excessive or compulsory overtime is not 
specifically prohibited. There is a legal provision for paid annual 
holidays, which requires that no employee shall be obliged to work on a 
public holiday except in emergency situations. Employees receive their 
regular pay on holidays, unless an employee is required to work, in 
which case the employee would be paid an hourly rate of no less than 
150 percent of the basic rate per hour worked.
    The labor code includes provisions regarding occupational safety 
and health, but the government had not developed precise occupational 
health and safety laws or regulations apart from those regarding child 
labor. The Ministry of Labor and the Industrial Court enforced labor 
standards, and there were eight labor inspectors. Labor inspectors 
conducted periodic health and safety checks, and at least one labor 
officer was dedicated to occupational safety and health standards 
enforcement. Standards were enforced in all sectors, including the 
informal sector through the inspectorate unit via field officers. In 
order to improve labor standards, the government revised the labor code 
and also proposed implementation of new ``stand-alone'' health and 
safety regulations.
    While not specifically provided for by law, in practice workers 
could leave a dangerous workplace situation without jeopardy to 
continued employment. Those in construction, mechanics, and agriculture 
were particularly vulnerable to hazardous working conditions.

                               __________

                               ARGENTINA

                           executive summary
    Argentina is a federal constitutional republic. Cristina Fernandez 
de Kirchner was reelected to the presidency in October 2011 in 
multiparty elections that media and various nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs) described as generally free and fair. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities but occasionally acted 
independently of civilian control.
    The principal human rights problems included use of excessive force 
by police, sometimes resulting in deaths; actions that risk impairing 
freedom of the press; and continuing infringements on the rights of 
indigenous people.
    Other human rights problems included poor prison conditions, 
including mistreatment of some prisoners; occasional arbitrary arrest 
and detention; prolonged pretrial detention; continued concerns about 
judicial efficiency and independence; official corruption; domestic 
violence against women; child abuse; sex trafficking and forced labor, 
primarily within the country; and child labor.
    Judicial authorities prosecuted a number of officials who committed 
abuses during the reporting period; however, some officials engaged in 
corruption or other abuses with impunity.
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 of deaths as a result of police using unwarranted or 
excessive force.
    A November report by the NGO Coordinator Against Police Repression 
claimed that security forces using excessive force killed 145 persons 
between mid-November 2009 and mid-November 2010. The Center for Legal 
and Social Studies (CELS) reported a 10-percent increase in deaths as a 
result of police using unwarranted or excessive force in the city of 
Buenos Aires and Buenos Aires Province from June 2009 to June 2010. In 
one instance a federal police officer in Buenos Aires city shot and 
killed Ariel Dominguez, whom the officer allegedly believed had just 
committed a robbery. The officer claimed the gun had discharged when he 
accidentally dropped it, but a Security Ministry official investigation 
disproved this defense. A judicial investigation continued, and the 
officer remained free at year's end.
    On June 2, the First Criminal Court of Bariloche sentenced police 
officer Sergio Colombil to 20 years' imprisonment for the June 2010 
murder of Diego Bonefoi. An investigation into the killings of Nicolas 
Carrasco and Sergio Cardenas, who were killed during a subsequent march 
to protest Bonefoi's death, continued at year's end.
    Local human rights organizations and media reported on a pattern of 
excessive violence by police forces in land evictions carried out 
during the year. In the northern province of Jujuy on July 28, four 
people were shot and killed during a dispute between police and 
protesters demanding property rights. Following the killings, the 
provincial chief of police stepped down, and the provincial government 
opened an investigation to determine whether police officers were 
responsible for the deaths. The investigation continued at year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    In October the Inter-American Court on Human Rights ordered the 
government to ``initiate, direct, and conclude'' the case of Ivan 
Torres, who disappeared in 2003 in the province of Chubut. According to 
press reports, the state had previously acknowledged the involvement of 
police officers and possible irregularities in the case.
    Authorities continued to investigate and prosecute individuals 
implicated in disappearances, killings, and torture committed during 
the 1976-83 military dictatorship, a focus of the government's human 
rights policy. New investigations into the ``systematic plan'' of the 
military dictatorship, including the appropriation of children of 
detainees and the killing of detainees on ``death flights,'' emerged 
during the year. CELS estimated there were 270 ongoing judicial 
investigations and 734 persons charged for crimes against humanity 
committed during the military dictatorship. Of those charged, 398 
remained in pretrial detention. According to the Supreme Court's Office 
for Follow-up on Crimes Against Humanity, during the year the courts 
convicted 67 perpetrators of human rights abuses committed during the 
1976-83 period, and it continued trials that were suspended in 1989-90 
when the government issued a blanket pardon. An additional 118 cases 
were pending at year's end. High-profile cases included:
    On May 18, former intelligence police agent Luis Antonio Falco was 
sentenced to 18 years in prison for appropriating the son of two 
detainees who had disappeared in 1977 after being held in a detention 
center.
    On June 2, a federal judge prosecuted five pilots for conducting a 
``death flight'' in which the pilots allegedly killed several political 
prisoners by throwing them in the sea. Among the alleged victims were 
some of the founding members of the NGO Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. The 
pilots remained in detention while the trials continued at year's end.
    On October 26, a federal court sentenced to life in prison 12 
former military and police officers who were found guilty of the 
kidnapping, torture, and murder of 86 individuals.
    Judicial authorities continued to investigate cases of kidnapping 
and illegal adoption of children born to detained dissidents by members 
of the former military dictatorship. The NGO Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo 
reported that during the year three persons illegally adopted by former 
military officials were identified and made aware of their backgrounds; 
this increased the number of persons so identified to 105 of an 
estimated 500 persons born to detained and missing dissidents during 
the former military dictatorship.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or 
degrading treatment or punishment and provides penalties for torture 
similar to those for homicide. However, CELS, the Office of National 
Public Prosecutor (NPPO), and the Buenos Aires Provincial Memory 
Commission's Committee against Torture (an autonomous office 
established by the provincial government) reported that some police and 
prison guards continued to employ brutality and other acts that 
inflicted severe pain and suffering, particularly during prison 
transfers. While the government investigated such reports, there were 
few convictions.
    In May authorities prosecuted nine policemen for alleged torture 
and abuse of authority in the case of three teenagers suspected of 
theft. The teenagers testified that they had been shocked with an 
electrical device and beaten severely after being detained in a police 
station in Buenos Aires. The trial continued at year's end, while one 
of the defendants accused of torture remained a fugitive.
    According to a June report of the Buenos Aires Provincial Memory 
Commission's Committee Against Torture, practices such as beatings, the 
use of a cattle prod, cold-water showers, and forced isolation within 
Buenos Aires prisons were common. The Memory Commission's Annual Report 
has denounced these treatments during each of the past eight years.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions often 
were poor. Inmates in many facilities suffered from extreme 
overcrowding, poor nutrition, inadequate medical and psychological 
treatment, inadequate sanitation, limited family visits, and frequent 
degrading treatment, according to various reports by human rights 
organizations and research centers. Prisoners receive potable water. 
The number of prisoners in Buenos Aires provincial penitentiaries 
exceeded facility capacity by an estimated 96 percent, according to a 
2010 report by the provincial Council of Defenders.
    Deaths were uncommon in federal prisons; eight prisoners died as a 
result of violence during 2010, including five deaths by hanging, 
according to the NPPO.
    On July 26, the government of Mendoza Province agreed to pay $2.216 
million to the families of 18 victims and nine wounded former prisoners 
who suffered violent treatment in the province's Boulogne Mer Sur 
prison between 2004 and 2007. The agreement between the Mendoza 
government and the plaintiffs was monitored by the Inter-American 
Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and included a plan to establish a 
local prison ombudsman and implement mechanisms to prevent torture.
    However, NGOs and media reports alleged recurring poor prison 
conditions in the province of Mendoza during the year. In February the 
NGO Xumek presented a federal prosecutor several videos depicting 
brutal treatment of prisoners in a federally administered prison in 
Mendoza. The footage, which had been captured by a cell phone camera 
during 2010, showed a group of prison guards beating and kicking a 
handcuffed prisoner, according to press reports. Following a judicial 
order, authorities detained five of the guards involved and dismissed 
three prison supervisors. The national government's Secretariat of 
Human Rights presented itself as a plaintiff in the case, and the 
investigation continued at year's end.
    Women were held separately from men, and the law permits children 
to stay in prison with their mothers until the age of four. According 
to the Federal Penitentiary Service, there were 789 women in federal 
prisons as of December 2010, and 43 children under the age of four 
lived with their mothers. Women constituted 9 percent of the overall 
prison population, which included approximately 30,000 in the Buenos 
Aires provincial prisons and approximately 10,000 in federal prisons. 
CELS estimated that 74 percent of those in Buenos Aires provincial 
prisons were in pretrial detention or awaiting sentencing, and many 
were held with convicted prisoners. In general men's prisons were more 
violent, dangerous, and crowded than women's prisons.
    Overcrowding in juvenile facilities often resulted in minors' being 
held in police station facilities, even though some NGOs and the 
National Prison Ombudsman warned that such activity was against the 
law. On August 4, Minister of Security Nilda Garre announced that 
beginning in December minors would no longer be held in police station 
facilities.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. However, some local NGOs noted that access to a 
public defender was sometimes limited and that prisoners occasionally 
did not submit complaints to authorities for fear of reprisal.
    At year's end the government had not implemented a comprehensive 
mechanism to investigate and monitor prison and detention-center 
conditions. The NPPO, which serves as an ombudsman on behalf of 
prisoners and detainees, was established as an autonomous governmental 
institution in 2004. However, local human rights observers reported 
that the NPPO did not have jurisdiction in all detention facilities and 
lacked necessary authority to carry out its functions.
    The government permitted independent prison visits by local and 
international human rights observers, and such visits took place during 
the year.
    On August 30, the national government passed a law establishing the 
``right to a public education'' for prisoners throughout the country. 
The law requires prison administration authorities to provide access to 
all levels of education and the same teaching methods used in public 
schools to all prisoners, regardless of the status of their cases.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions; however, police reportedly arrested and detained citizens 
arbitrarily on occasion.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The federal police have 
jurisdiction for maintaining law and order in the federal capital and 
for federal crimes in the provinces. Other federal police authorities 
include the airport security police, the gendarmerie, the Coast Guard, 
and the bureau of prisons. All federal police forces fall under the 
authority of the Security Ministry, which was established in December 
2010; they were previously under the jurisdiction of the Justice and 
Human Rights Ministry. Additionally, each province and the city of 
Buenos Aires has its own police force that responds to a provincial (or 
city) security ministry or secretariat. Individual forces varied 
considerably in their effectiveness and respect for human rights.
    The federal security forces have the authority to conduct internal 
investigations into alleged abuses and to fire individuals who have 
allegedly committed a human rights violation. The federal government 
can also file complaints with the federal courts; provincial 
governments may do the same for provincial security forces. Members of 
security forces convicted of a crime were subject to stiff penalties. 
Generally, officers accused of wrongdoing were administratively 
suspended until completion of an investigation. Authorities 
investigated and, in some cases, detained, prosecuted, and convicted 
the officers involved.
    According to a June report by the Buenos Aires Provincial Memory 
Commission, police oppression of youth from vulnerable social sectors 
increased during the year. The report alleged detention without a 
judicial order, fabrication of evidence in legal cases, and recruitment 
of youth to commit crimes. The commission proposed institutional 
reforms aimed at addressing these issues, including the creation of a 
judicial police force that would report to the Supreme Court and 
replace provincial police in criminal cases.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Individuals 
generally were apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient 
evidence and issued by a duly authorized official; police may detain 
suspects for up to 10 hours without an arrest warrant if the 
authorities have a well-founded belief that the suspects have 
committed, or are about to commit, a crime or are unable to determine 
the suspected person's identity. Human rights groups reported that the 
police occasionally arrested persons arbitrarily and detained suspects 
longer than 10 hours.
    The law provides a person in detention with the right to a prompt 
determination of the legality of the detention, which entails 
appearance before a lower criminal court judge, who determines whether 
to proceed with an investigation. There were some delays in this 
process and in informing detainees of the charges against them.
    During the year the province of Buenos Aires ordered the closure of 
nearly 150 detention cells in police stations and established a maximum 
detention period of 48 hours in 67 of the province's police stations.
    The law provides for the right to bail, except in cases involving 
narcotics, violent crimes, and firearms violations.
    Detainees were allowed prompt access to counsel, and public 
defenders were provided for detainees unable to afford counsel, 
although such access sometimes was delayed due to an overburdened 
system.

    Pretrial Detention.--The law provides for investigative detention 
of up to two years for indicted persons awaiting or undergoing trial; 
the period may be extended for one year in limited situations. The slow 
pace of the justice system often resulted in lengthy detentions beyond 
the period stipulated by law. CELS reported that prisoners waited an 
average of three years to be tried, with some cases taking as long as 
six years. A convicted prisoner usually received credit for time 
already served.
    CELS indicated that nearly 74 percent of detainees in Buenos Aires 
Province were either in pretrial detention, awaiting sentencing, or 
awaiting the appeals process. According to several human rights 
organizations, 30 percent of pretrial detainees were eventually 
acquitted.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for the right to 
a fair trial, and the independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. However, judicial scholars continued to report inefficiencies 
and delays in the judicial system. According to some local NGOs, judges 
in federal criminal and electoral courts were sometimes subject to 
political manipulation.
    The judicial system was hampered by delays, procedural logjams, 
changes of judges, inadequate administrative support, and general 
inefficiency. Judges have broad discretion as to whether and how to 
pursue investigations, contributing to a public perception that many 
decisions were arbitrary.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public; defendants enjoy a 
presumption of innocence and have the right to appeal, have legal 
counsel, and call defense witnesses in federal courts and some 
provincial courts that have an accusatory system of criminal justice. 
If needed, a public defender is provided at public expense when 
defendants face serious criminal charges. During the investigative 
stage, defendants can submit questions in writing to the investigating 
judge. A panel of judges decides guilt or innocence. Although 
defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence, 
according to local NGOs, in practice they sometimes experienced 
obstacles or delays in obtaining such evidence. Lengthy delays in 
trials occurred nationwide, with many cases taking five or more years 
to resolve.
    Federal and provincial courts continued the transition to trials 
with oral arguments in criminal cases, replacing the old system of 
written submissions. Although the 1994 constitution provides for trial 
by jury, implementing legislation had not been passed by year's end. In 
Cordoba Province, however, defendants accused of certain serious crimes 
have the right to a trial by jury.
    An unofficially organized juvenile justice system operated in eight 
of 18 districts in Buenos Aires City. It provides minors between the 
ages of 16 and 18 with the same procedural rights as adults and limits 
sentences to 180 days in prison.

    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. Citizens have access to the 
courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages or the protection of rights 
provided by the constitution.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the 
press; with exceptions, the government generally respected these rights 
in practice. The independent newspapers, radio and television outlets, 
and Internet sites were numerous and active, expressing a wide variety 
of views. Private media outlets were independent from the national and 
provincial governments.

    Freedom of the Press.--The Inter American Press Association (IAPA), 
Argentina's Association of Media Companies, and other organizations 
expressed concern about the government's conflictive relationship with 
and indirect censorship of certain media outlets. On October 18, the 
IAPA General Assembly called on the government to ``end the escalation 
of aggression against media critical [of the government].cease 
pressuring the judiciary [on media-related cases].and administrative 
harassment of [the sole domestic newsprint manufacturer] Papel Prensa."
    On December 28, the president signed into law legislation 
regulating the ``production, commercialization, and distribution'' of 
newsprint paper, establishing a uniform price for all paper and 
introducing new production requirements for Papel Prensa. While 
advocates of the law said it ``democratizes'' access to newsprint, the 
IAPA described it a violation of the constitution and international 
treaty obligations, and voiced concerns the law would allow the 
government to increase its share of Papel Prensa and control paper 
supply.

    Violence and Harassment.--On March 28, demonstrators blocked the 
entrance of the printing plants of Clarin and La Nacion, two of the 
country's most widely read newspaper dailies, in violation of a 2010 
civil court ruling. IAPA described the incident as an ``attack against 
freedom of the press'' and regretted the ``inaction of the police in 
violation of court rulings ordering the national government to 
guarantee the circulation of communication media."
    On July 8, the Board of the Central Food Market, an organization 
comanaged by the city and the province of Buenos Aires and the federal 
government, ordered its employees to wear caps reading ``Clarin lies,'' 
in response to an article published in that newspaper. On July 11, a 
poster with the same message was put out in front of the market. On 
July 13, the authorities of the market closed down the two news vendor 
shops in the market on the grounds that ``they failed to abide by the 
market's rules.'' On July 28, a federal court ordered the authorities 
to allow the sale of newspapers in the market.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--During the year the national, 
provincial, and municipal governments did not publish complete 
information on the amount and destination of public funds for 
advertising. IAPA and other press associations warned about the 
government's ``discriminatory use of official advertising to reward and 
punish news media'' and ``the creation of publicly and privately owned 
networks of media and journalists'' to support the government. Local 
NGOs expressed concern about delays in the publication of official 
advertising allocations and a lack of systematic and transparent 
procedures for their publication.
    On March 2, the Supreme Court ordered the Executive Branch to ``set 
a balanced distribution of public advertising among similar media 
outlets,'' as a result of a lawsuit filed by publisher Perfil, in which 
it accused the government of discrimination because of its coverage. 
The court determined that the national government had ``arbitrarily and 
discriminatorily'' refused to advertise in the media outlets of Perfil 
Group and ordered the executive to purchase advertising space in those 
publications, ``respecting a reasonable balance'' among similar 
publishers. On May 11, IAPA also denounced the government's 
``noncompliance with the court order to restore official advertising to 
Editorial Perfil.'' On October 4, Perfil Group filed a request with a 
federal court to order the executive branch to comply with the Supreme 
Court ruling and impose fines on government officials who were 
allegedly responsible for not allocating public advertising to Perfil. 
The executive branch had not officially responded to the order at 
year's end.
    On September 15, a federal court for economic affairs ordered 
newspapers Clarin, La Nacion, Ambito Financiero, El Cronista Comercial, 
Buenos Aires Economico, and Pagina 12 to provide the contact 
information, including personal addresses, of each journalist who had 
reported on the country's inflation statistics since 2006. The official 
inflation statistics had been criticized in some newspapers as 
inaccurate. The court had previously requested information regarding 
advertisements for private economic consultants in the newspapers as 
part of a case filed by the domestic trade secretary accusing those 
consultancies of publishing erroneous information about the national 
government's price measurements.

    Actions to Expand Press Freedom.--The government sought to limit 
what it considered to be monopolistic practices in the media industry 
through article 161 of the 2009 media law, which reduces the number of 
broadcast licenses an individual or company can hold from 24 to 10 and 
bars cable providers from owning open-air television channels. Article 
161 remained suspended during the year, awaiting a Supreme Court ruling 
on an injunction presented by Clarin Group in 2010. The implementation 
of the law would force Clarin Group to sell many of its 200 outlets in 
the country.
    On June 21, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced 
plans to expand the Terrestrial Digital Television System and launched 
the bidding process to grant 220 broadcasting licenses to 110 private 
companies and 110 NGOs, asserting that the initiative would ``improve 
the openness and plurality'' of broadcasting.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no generalized restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail and social 
networks.
    In two separate rulings emitted on August 4, the Federal Criminal 
Court ordered the closure of LeakyMails, a Web site that published 
alleged private e-mails of government officials, businessmen, and 
journalists, on the grounds that it had ``violated the right to 
privacy, published noncommercial correspondence and revealed political 
and military secrets.'' To implement the ruling, the government 
requested Internet service providers block an IP address identified as 
the LeakyMails Web site, a move that reportedly affected thousands of 
Internet users.
    On March 1, a Federal Appeals Court for Commercial and Civil 
Affairs confirmed a lower court's suspension of Planning Ministry 
resolution 100/2010, which barred Clarin Group's Internet service 
provider Fibertel from providing its service to new customers.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and 
other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The laws provide for 
the granting of refugee status, and the government has established a 
system for providing protection to refugees.
    During the first eight months of the year, the National Committee 
for Refugees granted refugee status to 17 of 24 persons who sought 
asylum.

    Temporary Protection.--The government also provided temporary 
protection for humanitarian reasons to approximately 94 persons during 
the first eight months of the year.
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.--Recent Elections.--On 
October 23, voters reelected President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner 
of the Front for Victory Party in polling described by media and 
various NGOs as free and fair. In concurrent legislative elections, 
voters elected one-half of the members of the Chamber of Deputies 
representing all 24 provinces and one-third of those in the Senate 
representing eight provinces. Local observers considered these 
elections generally free and fair.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Decrees provide that one-
third of the candidates on election slates for both houses of congress 
must be women. There were 28 women in the 72-seat Senate and 98 women 
in the 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The president, two of the seven 
Supreme Court justices, and three cabinet ministers were women.
    There were no known ethnic or racial minorities in the national 
legislature. There were no known indigenous, ethnic, or racial 
minorities in the cabinet or on the Supreme Court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, there were press reports alleging that executive, legislative, 
and judicial officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity, 
suggesting a failure to implement the law effectively.
    Weak institutions and an often ineffective and politicized judicial 
system undermined systematic attempts to curb corruption.
    Cases of corruption were reported in some security forces. The most 
frequent abuses included extortion of, and protection for, those 
involved in drug trafficking and prostitution. Internal controls to 
counter police abuses were weak, but improved during the year. Security 
Minister Nilda Garre, who assumed control of the newly created Ministry 
of Security in December 2010, took steps to combat corruption in the 
security forces, notably within the Federal Police Force (PFA). During 
the year she dismissed several PFA officers accused of corruption. In 
one instance, two PFA officers were sentenced to three years in jail 
for soliciting a bribe from a detained suspect in exchange for 
releasing him and dropping the case.
    Allegations of corruption in provincial courts, as well as in 
federal courts located in the provinces, were more frequent than in 
federal courts with jurisdiction over the city and province of Buenos 
Aires, which reflected strong connections between the executive and 
judicial branches at the provincial level.
    On June 3, a federal judge began an investigation of alleged fraud 
and misuse of public funds involving Sergio Schoklender, the financial 
manager of the NGO Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. The NGO had received 
approximately 765 million pesos($186 million) since 2008 through a 
government contract to build low-income housing throughout the country. 
Among other allegations, Schoklender was accused of using a 
construction company to embezzle the public funds and, in a parallel 
case, national authorities were investigated to determine if they were 
complicit in the misuse of the funds. During the investigation, 
Schoklender also alleged government corruption in the allocation of 
funding for public works, claiming that the monies were sometimes used 
to pay for political campaigns and that projects were often awarded 
based on bribes. Schoklender remained free and the investigations 
continued at year's end.
    An investigation of an alleged illegal campaign financing scheme 
continued during the year. On February 8, Judge Norberto Oyarbide 
indicted Hector Capaccioli, President Fernandez de Kirchner's 2007 
chief fundraiser and former supervisor of health services, for his 
involvement in the scheme. The trial remained pending at year's end.
    The investigation of former transportation secretary Ricardo Jaime 
continued during the year, and a federal criminal court confirmed it 
would prosecute Jaime for allegedly receiving illegal gifts and favors 
during his tenure. The case remained pending at year's end.
    On September 14, a federal court acquitted former president Carlos 
Menem and 17 other officials accused of facilitating 6,000 tons of 
illegal weapons sales to Ecuador and Croatia in the 1990s. The 
controversial verdict was the culmination of a 16-year investigation 
and ruled that the arms sales did not constitute contraband on the 
grounds that the sales were transparent and executed through decrees 
legal under the constitution.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws, and the 
Ministry of Justice's Anti-Corruption Office (ACO) is responsible for 
analyzing and investigating federal executive branch officials based on 
their financial disclosure forms. The ACO is also responsible for 
investigating corruption within the federal executive branch or in 
matters involving federal funds, except for funds transferred to the 
provinces. As part of the executive branch, the ACO does not have 
authority to prosecute cases independently, but it can refer cases to 
other agencies or serve as the plaintiff and request a judge to 
initiate a case.
    While the country does not have a law that provides for public 
access to government information, a presidential decree guarantees 
access to public documents and information that fall within the 
jurisdiction of the executive. According to local NGOs, freedom of 
information requests were sometimes rejected arbitrarily.
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 
usually were cooperative and generally responsive to their views.
    During the year the government met with representatives of numerous 
international and nongovernmental human rights groups, including 
representatives from Human Rights Watch, the U.N. Human Rights 
Committee, the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the IACHR to 
discuss human rights. The government was responsive to these 
organizations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, and the government generally enforced these 
prohibitions in practice.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape, including spousal rape, 
is a crime, but evidentiary requirements, either in the form of clear 
physical injury or the testimony of a witness, often presented 
difficulties in prosecuting such crimes. The penalties for rape ranged 
from six months' up to 20 years' imprisonment. There were no reports of 
police or judicial reluctance to act on rape cases; however, women's 
rights advocates claimed that police, hospital, and court attitudes 
toward sexual violence survivors sometimes revictimized the individual.
    The Rape Victims' Association reported more than 2,900 rape cases 
in Buenos Aires City and Buenos Aires Province during the year. The NGO 
estimated that 80 percent of those cases involved victims under the age 
of 18. The NGO noted that these figures did not include rapes reported 
directly to the municipal, provincial, and national governments. Many 
rapes go unreported due to fear of further violence, retribution, and 
social stigma.
    The law prohibits domestic violence, including spousal abuse, 
although it defines violence against women as a misdemeanor, and 
complaints are addressed in civil rather than criminal courts. Family 
court judges have the right to bar a perpetrator from a victim's home 
or workplace. The law, however, prescribes penalties for domestic 
violence only when it involves crimes against sexual integrity, in 
which case the penalty can be as much as 20 years' imprisonment. 
According to local NGOs, lack of police and judicial vigilance often 
led to a lack of protection for victims.
    Domestic violence against women was a problem. In 2009 Amnesty 
International reported that a woman died every three days as a result 
of domestic violence. The civil society organization La Casa del 
Encuentro reported that 282 women died during the year as a result of 
domestic or gender-based violence, an increase of 8 percent from 2010 
figures. Approximately one third of these cases occurred in Buenos 
Aires Province. Of these killings, 56 percent involved a husband, 
boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend; in at least 31 cases, the woman had filed a 
complaint against the aggressor for domestic violence.
    The Supreme Court's Office of Domestic Violence provided around-
the-clock protection and resources to victims of domestic violence. The 
office received approximately 600 cases of domestic violence each 
month, an estimated 60 percent of which involved violence against 
women. Approximately 54 percent of cases involved situations in which 
the victim's life was at risk. The office also carried out risk 
assessments necessary to obtain a restraining order.
    The Ministry of Justice continued to operate mobile units to assist 
victims of sexual and domestic violence in the city of Buenos Aires. A 
free hotline servicing the city and the province of Buenos Aires 
offered consultations and received complaints.
    Public and private institutions offered prevention programs and 
provided support and treatment for abused women. The Buenos Aires 
municipal government operated a small shelter for battered women; 
however, few other shelters existed.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment in the public sector is 
prohibited under laws that impose disciplinary or corrective measures. 
In some jurisdictions, such as Buenos Aires City, sexual harassment may 
lead to the abuser's dismissal, whereas in others, such as Santa Fe 
Province, the maximum penalty is five days in prison.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals generally had the 
right to decide freely the number, spacing, and timing of children, and 
had the information and means to do so free from discrimination, 
coercion, and violence. Access to information on contraception, and 
skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care were widely 
available. The law requires the government to provide free 
contraceptives; however, Human Rights Watch reported in April that 
birth control materials often were unavailable due to the government's 
``failure to purchase and distribute'' them in practice. Women and men 
had equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Although women enjoyed equal rights under the law, 
including property rights, they continued to face economic 
discrimination and held a disproportionately high number of lower-
paying jobs. Women also held significantly fewer executive positions in 
the private sector than men, according to several studies. Studies 
estimated that women earned approximately 40 percent less than men for 
similar or equal work, and only 58 percent participated in the labor 
force, compared with 82 percent of men.
    The Supreme Court's Office of Women trains judges, secretaries, and 
clerks to deal with court cases related to women; it also seeks to 
ensure equal access for women to positions in the court system.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--The country provided universal 
birth registration, and citizenship was derived both by birth within 
the country's territory and from one's parents. Parents have 40 days 
within which to register births, and the state has an additional 20 
days to do so. The Ministry of Interior may issue birth certificates to 
children under age 12 whose births have not been previously registered.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse was not uncommon; for example, the Office 
of Domestic Violence reported that between 30 and 35 percent of the 
cases it received per month involved children.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--According to media sources, 
approximately 5,000 children are recruited every year for pornography 
and sex tourism. The minimum age of consensual sex is 18. There is a 
statutory rape law with penalties ranging from three to 15 years in 
prison, depending on the age of the victim. Additionally, regardless of 
age, if a judge finds evidence of deception, violence, threats, abuse 
of authority, or any other form of intimidation or coercion, the 
minimum sentence increases to 10 years.
    Several cases of child sexual abuse were reported during the year. 
For example, in October the Oral Court of Tigre sentenced a priest to 
nine years' imprisonment for sexually abusing four children between the 
ages of 11 and 14 years.
    The law prohibits the production and distribution of child 
pornography with penalties ranging from six months to four years in 
prison. While the law does not prohibit the possession of child 
pornography by individuals for personal use, it provides penalties 
ranging from four months to two years in prison for possession with the 
intent to distribute child pornography. Additionally, the law provides 
penalties ranging from one month's to three years' imprisonment for 
facilitating access to pornographic shows or materials to minors under 
the age of 14.
    During the year prosecutors and police pursued cases of Internet 
child pornography. In May federal police conducted several raids in 
Buenos Aires as part of an international investigation and arrested 16 
persons accused of trafficking media in an international child 
pornography ring. Police confiscated electronic devices carrying more 
than 10,000 photos of children, primarily ages two to 10, but released 
the offenders following an interrogation by a national judge. An 
investigation into whether the offenders distributed child pornograph 
continued at year's end.
    The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil 
Aspects of International Child Abduction. For information see the 
Department of State's report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/
abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community consisted of approximately 
250,000 members. Sporadic acts of anti-Semitic discrimination and 
vandalism continued. The Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations 
(DAIA) received 274 complaints of anti-Semitism during 2010, 
representing a decrease of 80 percent from 2009. A poll conducted by 
the Anti-Defamation League and the DAIA found ``ingrained, pervasive'' 
anti-Semitic attitudes. Most poll respondents indicated they believed 
Jews had too much power in the business world and were more loyal to 
Israel than to Argentina.
    The most commonly reported anti-Semitic incidents were graffiti, 
verbal slurs, and the desecration of Jewish cemeteries. On two 
occasions Jewish leaders were assaulted verbally and physically outside 
of religious institutions. Both of the attacks took place during or 
around Jewish holidays. In a separate isolated incident, authorities 
dismissed a Buenos Aires metropolitan police officer after they 
discovered the officer's membership in an anti-Semitic youth 
organization. Most complaints were filed in Buenos Aires City, and the 
DAIA claimed that cases in the provinces were likely underreported.
    In June DAIA authorities filed a formal complaint with the Anti-
Semitism Division of the PFA against union leader Luis D'Elia for 
making anti-Semitic statements. In a radio interview, D'Elia commented 
on a court case involving Sergio Schoklender and the Madres of the 
Plaza de Mayo, calling Schoklender and others under investigation 
``countrymen.'' The DAIA alleged that D'Elia's statements were an 
attempt to ``discredit'' Schoklender based on his Jewish background. A 
public prosecutor indicted D'Elia for allegedly violating the Anti-
Discrimination Law, and the case remained open at year's end.
    In May the DAIA won an injunction against Google requiring that its 
search engine stop displaying links to anti-Semitic Web sites. The 
judge ordered Google to remove the links to such sites and halt all 
advertising of them.
    The investigation into the 1994 bombing of the Argentina Israelite 
Mutual Association (AMIA) community center in Buenos Aires that killed 
85 persons continued. With Interpol assistance, the federal prosecutor 
investigating the case continued to seek the arrest of eight Iranians 
for their alleged involvement in the bombing. In July the Iranian 
Foreign Ministry notified the government of its interest in 
``cooperating'' in the investigation. In September President Fernandez 
de Kirchner stated the government ``could not and should not'' reject 
Iran's offer of a dialogue, but the government of Iran did not respond 
publicly to the president's statement by year's end.
    An investigation into an alleged ``cover-up'' in the AMIA case 
involving former president Carlos Menem and former federal judge Juan 
Jose Galeano continued at year's end.
    The government continued to support public dialogue to highlight 
past discrimination and to encourage religious tolerance, including the 
celebration of Freedom of Religion Day.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and laws prohibit 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, access to health 
care, or the provision of other state services. A specific law also 
mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities. While the 
federal government has protective laws, many states have not adopted 
the laws and have no mechanisms to ensure enforcement. An employment 
quota law reserves 4 percent of federal government jobs for persons 
with disabilities, but NGOs and special interest groups claimed the 
quota often was not respected in practice.
    According to the Ministry of Labor's Office for Disabled Persons, 
more than 12,000 persons with disabilities had obtained jobs through 
Ministry of Labor programs in the city of Buenos Aires as of May 27. 
The programs included various benefits for disabled workers, such as 
free job training programs.
    A pattern of inadequate facilities and poor conditions continued in 
some mental institutions. For example, the Jose T. Borda Hospital 
Psychiatric Hospital in Buenos Aires remained in poor condition and 
failed to provide basic necessities to patients, according to local 
human rights organizations and press reports. In July the Ombudsman's 
Office reported that the hospital lacked gas supplies, heating, and 
warm water for three months during the winter.
    The National Advisory Committee for the Integration of People with 
Disabilities, under the National Council for Coordination of Social 
Policies, has formal responsibility for actions to accommodate persons 
with disabilities.
    The government's actions to improve respect for the rights of 
persons with disabilities included a program that Buenos Aires Province 
started in September establishing economic incentives for 
municipalities that hire persons with disabilities to serve as civil 
servants. The program stipulated that municipalities participating in 
the program would receive a subsidy payment from the provincial 
Ministry of Labor.

    Indigenous People.--The constitution recognizes the ethnic and 
cultural identities of indigenous people and states that the congress 
shall protect their right to bilingual education, recognize their 
communities and the communal ownership of their ancestral lands, and 
allow for their participation in the management of their natural 
resources. In practice indigenous people did not fully participate in 
the management of their lands or natural resources, in part because 
responsibility for implementing the law is delegated to the 23 
provinces, only 11 of which have constitutions recognizing indigenous 
rights.
    Although there is no formal process to recognize indigenous tribes 
or determine who is an indigenous person, indigenous communities can 
register with the provincial or federal government as civic 
associations.
    Estimates of the indigenous population ranged from 700,000 to 1.5 
million. Poverty rates were higher than average in areas with large 
indigenous populations. Indigenous people had greater than average 
rates of illiteracy, chronic disease, and unemployment. Indigenous 
women faced further discrimination based on gender and reduced economic 
status. The lack of trained teachers hampered government efforts to 
offer bilingual education opportunities to indigenous people.
    For example indigenous peoples in the provinces of Neuquen and 
Formosa continued to lack adequate participation in decisions affecting 
their ancestral lands; in some cases these decisions endangered the 
health and welfare of indigenous communities. In April the IACHR 
ordered the national government to ``guarantee life and personal 
integrity'' to both the Paichil Antrio people of Neuquen and the Toba 
people of Formosa, who had denounced being harassed and dispossessed 
from their lands by their provincial governments for several years. On 
June 16, the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office issued a report on the 
indigenous rights situation in Formosa, stating that many indigenous 
communities lacked ``basic rights,'' such as access to clean water and 
health services. In July the NGO Observatory of the Human Rights of 
Indigenous Peoples reported that at least 250 indigenous people from 
Neuquen were being prosecuted by the courts for defending their 
ancestral lands.
    Following a violent conflict in Formosa in November 2010, the 
indigenous Toba group called on the national government to mediate a 
solution between the group and provincial authorities. On December 30, 
2010, national authorities signed an agreement with the Toba in which 
they pledged to oversee the return of ancestral land, provide official 
identification documents to the members of the community, and ensure 
minimum sanitary and security conditions. In the months following the 
agreement, the Toba group and human rights observers alleged that the 
provincial government failed to comply with the terms set forth. 
Community members, meanwhile, carried out a hunger strike in downtown 
Buenos Aires in protest. In May the Minister of Interior met with the 
group's leaders and promised to carry out land surveys, ending the 
hunger strike and reportedly quelling some of the concerns of human 
rights groups and community leaders. Although discussions continued, 
there was no known progress on the land surveys.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender organizations operated freely. They worked closely with 
academic institutions, NGOs, and government authorities without 
interference.
    There was no official discrimination based on sexual orientation in 
employment, housing, statelessness, or access to education or health 
care. Overt societal discrimination generally was uncommon.
    Three provinces still have laws that either criminalize transgender 
behavior or single out same-sex sexual activity when referring to 
prostitution; however, the National Institute Against Discrimination, 
Xenophobia, and Racism reported that these laws were rarely enforced.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no known 
reports of societal violence against persons with HIV/AIDs, but there 
were occasional reports of discrimination against persons with the 
disease. For example, a study by the Huesped Foundation reported that 
94 percent of persons living with HIV or AIDS had suffered at least one 
instance of discrimination or stigmatization.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
With some restrictions, the law provides all workers the right to form 
and join ``free and democratic labor unions, recognized by inscription 
in a special register,'' and protects the rights to conduct legal 
strikes and to bargain collectively. Military and law enforcement 
personnel are prohibited from forming and joining unions. The law 
prohibits antiunion discrimination, and provides broad protection to 
workers against dismissal, suspension, and changes in labor conditions. 
The law provides for reinstatement for workers fired for union 
activity.
    The law allows unions to register without prior authorization, and 
registered trade union organizations may engage in certain activities 
to represent their members, including petitioning the government and 
employers, and adopting direct action measures. However, the law grants 
official trade union status to only one union deemed the ``most 
representative'' per industrial sector within a specific geographical 
region. Only unions with such official recognition receive trade union 
immunity for their officials, are permitted to directly deduct union 
dues, and may bargain collectively. In February the ILO raised concerns 
with the government with respect to these provisions of the law.
    The Argentine Workers Central (CTA) and other labor groups not 
affiliated with the General Confederation of Labor continued to contend 
that the legal recognition of only one union per sector conflicted with 
international standards and prevented these unions from obtaining full 
legal standing. Despite a 2009 Supreme Court ruling in favor of the CTA 
and other unions seeking formal legal recognition, which would 
necessitate changes to current legislation and practice, the congress 
had not modified labor legislation, and the executive branch had not 
granted such recognition to the CTA at year's end. In February the ILO 
reiterated the need to amend current legislation and to provide the CTA 
with state recognition.
    Civil servants and workers in essential services may strike only 
after a compulsory 15-day conciliation process, and they are subject to 
the condition that undefined ``minimum services'' be rendered. Once the 
conciliation term expires, civil servants and workers in essential 
services must give five days' notice to the administrative authority 
and the public agency that they intend to strike. If ``minimum 
services'' have not previously been defined in a collective bargaining 
agreement, all parties then negotiate which minimum services will 
continue to be provided and a schedule for their provision. The public 
agency, in turn, must provide two days' notice to users about the 
intended strike.
    The law provides trade unions with official status the right to 
negotiate collective bargaining agreements, including recourse to 
conciliation and arbitration. The most representative union bargains on 
behalf of all workers and collective agreements cover both union 
members and nonmembers in the sector. The law requires the Ministry of 
Labor, Employment, and Social Security to ratify collective bargaining 
agreements.
    The government effectively enforced these laws in practice. Workers 
exercised freedom of association and the right to strike. Worker 
organizations were independent of government and political parties. 
Unions without official trade union status recognition by the 
government (that is, those that were not the ``most representative'') 
in their sector have made membership gains within the workplace.
    There were no known cases of significant delays or appeals in the 
collective bargaining process. During the year rural workers negotiated 
with agricultural business leaders a sector-wide salary increase of 35 
percent; however, the government refused to approve the collective 
agreement, provoking complaints from the rural workers union and 
threats to blockade roads. At year's end the rural workers union filed 
a complaint requesting judicial mediation to resolve the conflict.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, and the government generally 
enforced such laws. However, there were some reports that forced labor 
occurred in practice.
    There were reported cases of labor exploitation, including forced 
labor, of Argentine citizens as well as migrant workers from Bolivia, 
Paraguay, and Peru in sweatshops, fruit and vegetable stores, 
groceries, agriculture, domestic service, and street sale. 
International organizations reported a continuous rise of unaccompanied 
children and teenagers who are victims of labor exploitation.
    The Office of Rescue and Victims' Assistance under the Ministry of 
Justice and Human Rights reported rescuing 638 victims of forced labor 
during the year. In early September a federal court in Buenos Aires 
province rendered the first labor trafficking conviction since the 
passage of the 2008 law. A Bolivian citizen and owner of a sweatshop 
who had recruited three Bolivian women under false promises was 
sentenced to four years in prison.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
minimum age for employment is 16 years old. In rare cases, the 
respective labor authority may authorize a younger child to work as 
part of a family unit. Children between the ages of 16 and 18 years may 
work in a limited number of job categories and for limited hours if 
they have completed compulsory schooling, which normally ends at age 
18. Children under 18 cannot be hired to perform perilous, arduous, or 
unhealthy jobs. In December this prohibition expanded to include rural 
workers as well, and the congress passed a law to amend rural working 
conditions. The law requires employers to provide adequate care for 
workers' children during work hours to discourage child labor.
    Provincial governments and the city government of Buenos Aires are 
responsible for labor law enforcement. Legal penalties for employing 
underage workers ranged from 1,000 to 5,000 pesos ($240 to $1,200) for 
each child employed. Subsequent violations allow the labor authority to 
close the company for up to 10 days, and the company is then prevented 
from becoming a vendor to the government for a year. According to the 
Ministry of Labor, there were more than 96,000 labor inspections during 
the year. However, no information is available regarding the results of 
such inspections.
    The National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor 
(CONAETI) continued to conduct seminars with the 22 provincial 
commissions for the eradication of child labor to train provincial 
authorities responsible for enforcing labor laws and raising awareness 
regarding exploitive child labor. It also continued providing technical 
assistance to NGOs addressing child labor in the tobacco and trash-
picking sectors. CONAETI also trained members of the Network of 
Businesses against Child Labor and encouraged expansion of the 
network's ``Harvest Gardens'' program, which provided several daycare 
centers for children in tobacco-producing zones. In August the first 
``Harvest Garden'' outside the tobacco sector opened in a strawberry-
growing area.
    The government continued its Heads of Household initiative, a cash 
transfer and employment training program, to workers in the informal 
economy. The government incorporated 247 adults into the Heads of 
Household program during the year. Also, as part of the implementation 
of the National Plan for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor, 
CONAETI continued awareness-raising activities such as a national 
campaign against forced child labor; identified and strengthened direct 
action programs to prevent and combat child labor; and conducted 
trainings for health professionals on child labor.
    The government continued implementing the Universal Child Allowance 
program, a cash subsidy granted to families with up to five children 
under 18 years of age when either parent is unemployed, is an 
unregistered worker earning less than the minimum wage, or is a ``self 
employed'' worker that pays a small-business tax. The program is aimed 
at improving child nutrition, increasing school attendance, and 
reducing child labor, as families are required to prove children 
attended school and received vaccinations in order to collect the 
monthly allowance. According to UNICEF, 3.6 million people benefit from 
the allowance.
    Child labor persisted in practice. A 2004 government survey 
revealed that an estimated 450,000 children were working, or 7 percent 
of children between the ages of five and 13 years and 20 percent of 
children over the age of 14. In rural areas children worked in family 
and third-party farms producing such goods as blueberries, cotton, 
garlic, grapes, olives, strawberries, tobacco, tomatoes, and yerba 
mate. Children working in the agriculture sector often handled 
pesticides without proper protection. In urban areas some children 
engaged in domestic service and worked on the street selling goods, 
shining shoes, and recycling trash. According to government sources, 
some children worked in the manufacturing sector producing such goods 
as bricks, matches, fireworks, and garments. Children were also found 
working in the mining, fishing, and construction sectors.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The government increased the 
monthly minimum wage for most workers in September to 2,300 pesos 
($550). This exceeded the amount of 1,386 pesos ($324) a month that the 
National Census and Statistics Institute estimated was needed by a 
family of four to remain above the poverty line.
    Federal labor law sets standards in the areas of health, safety, 
and hours. The maximum workday is eight hours, and the maximum workweek 
is 48 hours. Overtime pay is required for hours worked in excess of 
these limits. The law sets minimums for periods of rest, requiring a 
minimum of 12 hours of rest to start a new workday. Sundays are 
holidays, and those required to work on Sundays are paid double. Paid 
vacations are mandatory for all workers for a minimum of 14 days and a 
maximum of 35 days, depending on the length of their service.
    The law sets premium pay for overtime, adding an extra 50 percent 
of the hourly rate on ordinary days and 100 percent on Saturday 
afternoons, Sundays, and holidays. Employees cannot be forced to work 
overtime unless work stoppage would risk or cause injury, the need for 
overtime is caused by an act of God, or other exceptional reasons 
affecting the national economy or ``unusual and unpredictable 
situations'' affecting businesses occur. Workers have the right to 
remove themselves from dangerous or unhealthy work situations without 
jeopardy to continued employment. However, workers who leave the 
workplace before it has been proven unsafe risk being fired; in such 
cases, the worker has the right to judicial appeal, but the process was 
typically very lengthy.
    The law requires employers to insure their employees against 
accidents at the workplace and when traveling to and from work. The law 
requires that employers either provide insurance through a labor risk 
insurance entity or provide its own insurance to employees to meet 
specified requirements set forth by the national insurance regulator.
    Domestic employees, rural workers, free lance workers, and the 
volunteer firemen corps are excluded from the above provisions 
regarding minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and 
health. The law includes separate minimum wage and hour regulations for 
domestic employees and rural workers.
    Laws governing acceptable conditions of work were not enforced 
universally, particularly for workers in the informal sector. The 
Ministry of Labor had responsibility for enforcing legislation related 
to working conditions. The ministry continued inspections to get 
companies to register their informal workers. During the year the 
government increased labor inspections to detect unregistered or 
compulsory work, mainly in rural areas. The Ministry of Labor reported 
that its 479 labor inspectors undertook more than 96,000 inspections 
during the year. However, information was unavailable regarding 
irregularities encountered by inspectors and fines or penalties 
imposed. According to a 2007 ILO study, 60 percent of employed citizens 
ages 15 to 24 were engaged in informal labor. The Superintendence of 
Labor Risks serves as the enforcement agency to monitor compliance of 
health and safety laws and the activities of the labor risk insurance 
companies.
    In practice, most workers in the formal sector earned significantly 
more than the minimum wage. Generally speaking, the minimum wage served 
to mark the minimum pay an informal worker should get, although formal 
workers' pay was usually higher. Major labor accidents occurred in the 
construction, transport, and agriculture sectors. According to the 
Labor Risk Superintendency, there were 61.6 worker fatalities per 
million workers. Agriculture recorded 184.6 per million workers, 
construction had 196.7 per million, and transport had 157.2 per 
million. During the year the government intensified labor inspections 
in rural areas and identified 797 victims of labor exploitation, 
according to the Office of Rescue under the Ministry of Justice and 
Human Rights. Most cases reflected similar patterns: victims had been 
deprived of their documents, lived in precarious housing without 
electricity or water, lacked restrooms, and experienced pay deductions 
for the cost of clothes and food.

                               __________

                              BAHAMAS, THE

                           executive summary
    The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is a constitutional, parliamentary 
democracy. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's Free National Movement 
(FNM) regained control of the government in May 2007 elections that 
observers found to be generally free and fair. Security forces reported 
to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems were complaints of abuse by 
police and a poorly functioning judicial system, leading to delays in 
trials, lengthy pretrial detention, and witness intimidation.
    Other human rights problems included poor detention conditions; 
corruption; violence and discrimination against women; sexual abuse of 
children; and discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, 
or ethnic descent.
    The government took action against police officers accused of abuse 
of power, and there was not a widespread perception of impunity.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. However, there were occasional reports of fatal 
shootings by police. Police investigated all such incidents and 
referred them to a coroner's court for further evaluation. In addition, 
all deaths in police custody go before the coroner's court.
    Authorities reported three fatalities in police operations during 
the year: one shooting while police were executing a search warrant, 
another during an armed robbery, and the third during a physical 
altercation with officers.
    On February 18, an autopsy report showed that police shot in the 
back and killed Dudley Jyvonne Collie Jr. from a distance in July 2010, 
despite an assertion by police that he was shot in the left shoulder 
and side after pointing a gun at them. After a police investigation, 
the matter was sent to the coroner's court in April. Any action to be 
taken against the police officer will be determined when the coroner's 
inquest is complete. In the meantime, a family member filed a civil 
suit against the police department.
    On January 28, a news article quoted former assistant commissioner 
of police Paul Thompson as agreeing with public opinion that the police 
were ``a bit too trigger happy.'' He suggested they be issued tasers to 
reduce police-related shootings.
    The coroner's court resolved 1,278 cases during the year and faced 
a backlog of 846 cases, including a few pending cases involving police 
shootings.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution prohibits such practices, 
citizens made numerous reports alleging instances of police abuse of 
criminal suspects. Former police officials acknowledged that use of 
excessive force was a problem within the Royal Bahamas Police Force 
(RBPF).
    A newspaper editor and an attorney published an Op-Ed piece 
asserting that they previously represented numerous clients who were 
tortured by the RBPF in order to extract confessions, and that they 
believed the RBPF used torture to obtain confessions on a regular 
basis.
    In January detention center guards fired rubber bullets into an 
angry crowd to regain control after a brawl broke out among detainees.
    In August when authorities arraigned two brothers on murder 
charges, their attorney claimed that while the brothers were in 
custody, police beat them with aluminum bats and put plastic bags over 
their heads in order to extract involuntary statements. In addition 
their attorney said that police withheld food from the brothers.
    Citizens filed 120 assault complaints against 137 police officers 
through October, and the deputy commissioner of police said 66 
investigations had been closed.
    No information was available about the outcome of those 
investigations.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions at Fox Hill 
Prison, the country's only prison, remained harsh and unsanitary for 
many prisoners. Overcrowding was a major problem in the men's maximum-
security block. Originally built in 1953 to hold 450 inmates, it held 
700 of the country's 1,300 prisoners. To address overcrowding in the 
Remand Center at the same site, stemming from processing backlogs 
within the judicial system, approximately 300 detainees awaiting trial 
were housed in the maximum-security block while they awaited trial. The 
remaining prisoners were held in medium- and minimum-security units 
that were at intended capacity.
    Due to overcrowding in the maximum-security block, three or four 
male prisoners were forced to live in cells originally intended for one 
or two prisoners. Others remained in poorly ventilated and poorly lit 
cells that lacked regular running water. In 2010 authorities installed 
composting toilets in an attempt to move away from the unsanitary 
practice of removing human waste by bucket called ``slopping.'' 
However, these toilets were ineffective and were subsequently removed, 
and slopping resumed. Maximum-security inmates were allowed outside for 
exercise four days a week for one hour per day.
    Four reverse osmosis units installed at various prison housing 
units allowed each inmate to extract a minimum of one gallon of potable 
water during exercise time each day, free of charge. In addition, 
bottled water was available for purchase from the inmate commissary.
    Conditions for female prisoners were less severe than for men; 
however, women did not have access to the same work-release programs 
available to male prisoners.
    The prison did not have a separate section for juvenile offenders 
between the ages of 16 and 18 but used a classification system to 
attempt to separate them from the most dangerous adults. Offenders 
younger than 16, along with children made wards of the court by their 
parents, were held at the Simpson Penn Center for Boys and the 
Williamae Pratt Center for Girls. After five boys escaped from the 
Simpson Penn Center in October, the minister of state for social 
development declared that the center was not adequately staffed but 
asserted that the government would hire more staff to remedy the 
situation.
    Generally prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors 
and were permitted religious observance. Organizations providing aid, 
counseling services, and religious instruction had regular access to 
inmates. At their request, prisoners are entitled to an audience with 
the superintendent or a designee to lodge complaints. The 
superintendent was available to hear the complaints of prisoners every 
day of the week except Sundays. The government said that there were 20 
complaints to judicial authorities about situations in the prison, 
mostly related to a desire to be placed in the day-release work 
program, a shortage of recreational equipment, and greater access to 
dental facilities. Officials stated that they investigated all credible 
allegations. Authorities conducted 43 preliminary inquiries and 25 
investigations of staff and inmates. There were three inmate deaths 
during the year.
    The highest occupancy at the Carmichael Road Immigrant Detention 
Center during the year was 455 persons. The center was originally a 
school and was converted into a detention center in the mid-1990s to 
accommodate the increase in number of illegal migrants. When the center 
initially opened, it consisted of four dormitories, each with a 50-bed 
capacity. Two of those dormitories burned down, limiting the current 
facility to two dormitories with the capacity for 100 detainees. The 
dormitories were gender-segregated and secured using locked gates, 
metal fencing, and barbed wire. When the dormitories are at maximum 
capacity, detention center staff utilize the floor of the main hall in 
the medical building to accommodate up to another 50 individuals with 
sleeping space. Any additional detainees sleep outside.
    As of December 8, there were 109 detainees (86 men, 17 women, and 
six children). Authorities held six detainees for more than 18 months 
and four others for more than 12 months. Haitians and Jamaicans were 
the most commonly interdicted migrants. In October authorities 
temporarily transferred 65 detainees to the Fox Hill Prison after a 
Haitian migrant tested positive for cholera. No further cases were 
reported. The center transferred child detainees intercepted without 
their parents to a hostel separate from the detention center. Child 
detainees with a parent were held in the women's dormitory at the 
detention center.
    Authorities reported no complaints from detainees during the year. 
However, detainees did not have access to an ombudsman or other means 
of submitting uncensored complaints, although they did have access to 
public pay telephones. Earlier in the year, as a result of a well 
malfunction, there were unsanitary conditions in the toilet and shower 
facilities, as well as a lack of potable water. Authorities 
subsequently remedied these conditions, and in December drinking water 
was available from a tap in the men's facility. The bathroom sinks in 
the women's facility were not functioning but the toilets and shower 
were in working order. Women drew their drinking water from the shower.
    The government introduced additional bureaucratic procedures for 
some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to gain access to the 
detention center, making it difficult to visit detainees on a regular 
basis. Human rights organizations complained that donations made to the 
detention center did not appear to be utilized for the benefit of 
detainees.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally observed 
these prohibitions, although police occasionally were accused of 
arresting and detaining persons arbitrarily.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Royal Bahamas 
Police Force (RBPF) maintains internal security, and the small Royal 
Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) is responsible for external security, 
security at the Carmichael Road Detention Center, and some minor 
domestic security functions such as guarding foreign embassies and 
ambassadors. The Ministry of National Security oversees the RBPF and 
the RBDF.
    A police officer involved in shooting or killing a suspect is 
automatically placed under investigation. The Police Complaints and 
Corruption Branch (PCCB), which reports directly to the deputy 
commissioner, is responsible for investigating allegations of police 
brutality or other abuse. This unit determines if enough evidence of 
abuse or misconduct exists in a particular case to warrant disciplinary 
action within the police system or, in some cases, criminal prosecution 
by the attorney general. The PCCB had 21 staff members to process 
complaints against police officers.
    In addition to the PCCB, the government established an independent 
body--the Police Complaints Inspectorate Office (PCIO)--on New 
Providence and Grand Bahama islands in 2010 to investigate complaints 
against police. The PCIO, which is composed of five citizens, met eight 
times during the year to consider 60 complaints against officers, most 
of which were assault and unlawful arrest cases. No information was 
available on the outcome of the PCIO proceedings.
    There were 287 complaints against police during the year, compared 
with 385 in 2010. Of these cases, the PCCB recommended 34 to the Police 
Tribunal, informally resolved 16, found five to be unsubstantiated, 
determined that 31 were unfounded, and concluded that 21 had 
insufficient evidence. Complainants withdrew 37 cases; the remainder 
were pending. The Police Tribunal processed 21 of the 34 complaints 
sent to it with the following outcomes: It fined 10 officers, dismissed 
two officers from the force, recommended six officers for dismissal, 
and reprimanded three officers. The complaints included assault, 
unethical behavior, unlawful arrest, stealing, damage, neglect of duty, 
missing property, causing harm, threats of death, threats of harm, and 
harassment.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--In general the 
authorities conducted arrests openly and, when required, obtained 
judicially issued warrants. Serious cases, including suspected 
narcotics or firearms offenses, do not require warrants where probable 
cause exists. The law provides that authorities must charge a suspect 
within 48 hours of arrest. Arrested persons appear before a magistrate 
within 48 hours (or by the next business day for cases arising on 
weekends and holidays) to hear the charges against them. Police can 
apply for a 48-hour extension upon simple request to the court and for 
longer extensions with sufficient showing of need. Some persons on 
remand claimed they were not brought before a magistrate within the 48-
hour time frame. The government generally respected the right to a 
judicial determination of the legality of arrests. The constitution 
provides the right for those arrested or detained to retain an attorney 
at their own expense; volunteer legal aides were sometimes available. 
Minors under age 18 have the right to communicate with a parent or 
guardian.
    There was a functioning bail system. Individuals who could not post 
bail were held on remand until they faced trial. Judges sometimes 
authorized cash bail for foreigners arrested on minor charges; however, 
in practice foreign suspects generally preferred to plead guilty and 
pay a fine rather than pursue their right to defend themselves, in view 
of possible delays in court cases and harsh conditions in prison.
    Attorneys and other prisoner advocates continued to complain of 
excessive pretrial detention due to the failure of the criminal justice 
system to try even the most serious cases in a timely manner. The 
constitution provides that suspects can be held for a ``reasonable 
period of time'' before trial, which new crime legislation passed in 
October defined as two years. Government officials stated that 
approximately 600 of the 1,300 prisoners were awaiting trial. To begin 
to address the overcrowding issue, in October authorities introduced a 
new electronic ankle bracelet surveillance system in which they 
released select suspects awaiting trial with the ankle bracelet in 
place on the understanding that the person would adhere to strict and 
person-specific guidelines defining allowable movement within the 
country. The prison had 150 persons enrolled in the program and the 
capacity to enroll up to 2,000.
    The authorities detained illegal immigrants, primarily Haitians, 
until arrangements could be made for them to leave the country or they 
obtained legal status. The average length of detention varied 
significantly by nationality, willingness of governments to accept 
their nationals back in a timely manner, and availability of funds to 
pay for repatriation. Haitians usually were repatriated within one to 
two weeks, while Cubans were held for much longer periods. Illegal 
immigrants convicted of crimes other than immigration violations were 
held at Fox Hill Prison, where they often remained for weeks or months 
after serving their sentences, pending deportation. Some detainees 
complained that they missed flights for which they had purchased their 
own tickets because they were not released when detention center 
managers told them they would be.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. However, sitting judges are not granted 
tenure, and some law professionals asserted that judges were incapable 
of rendering completely independent decisions due to lack of job 
security.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence until proven guilty and 
are permitted to question witnesses at trial and view government 
evidence. Defendants have a right to appeal. Defendants can elect to 
use a jury in criminal cases; serious offenses such as murder and fraud 
automatically go to a jury.
    Although defendants generally have the right to confront witnesses, 
a law termed the Witness Protection Act passed in October allows, in 
some cases, for witnesses to testify anonymously against accused 
perpetrators. The prime minister advocated for the bill in response to 
more than 19 cases of intimidation or killing of witnesses, saying it 
was necessary because the ``care of victims and witnesses of crime is 
causing `serious damage' to the successful prosecution of criminals."
    As in previous years, a significant backlog of cases waiting to be 
tried by the Supreme Court remained a problem. Delays reportedly lasted 
five years or more. To begin to address the issue, the government added 
a fifth criminal trial justice and court at the Supreme Court level. 
Local legal professionals attributed delays to a variety of 
longstanding systemic problems, such as slow and limited police 
investigations, inefficient prosecution strategies, limited forensic 
capacity, lengthy legal procedures, and staff shortages in the 
Prosecutor's Office.
    Defendants may hire an attorney of their choice, but the government 
provided legal representation only to destitute suspects charged with 
capital crimes, leaving large numbers of defendants without adequate 
legal representation. Lack of representation contributed to excessive 
pretrial detention, as some accused lacked the means to pursue their 
case toward trial.

    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 there is access to a 
court to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human 
rights violation.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
    While the law usually requires a court order for entry into or 
search of a private residence, a police inspector or more senior police 
official may authorize a search without a court order where probable 
cause to suspect a weapons violation or drug possession exists.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice. An 
independent press, an effective--albeit extremely backlogged--
judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to 
ensure freedom of speech and of the press. The independent media were 
active and expressed a wide variety of views without significant 
restriction.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events. However, the Plays 
and Films Control Board rates and censors entertainment.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The government 
did not systematically share its prescreening notes with the UNHCR but 
did seek UNHCR advice on specific cases of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has not 
established a consistent system for providing protection to all 
refugees and asylum seekers. When they occurred, applications for 
political asylum were adjudicated on a case-by-case basis at the 
cabinet level. The authorities received 11 asylum requests, of which 
none were granted during the year but two were still in progress at 
year's end.
    Local and international human rights observers criticized the 
government for failing to screen potential asylum applicants 
adequately. Those requesting asylum screening often lacked access to 
legal counsel. Human rights observers claimed that the government 
detained Cuban migrants for excessive periods. The government asserted 
that trained immigration officials interviewed and adequately screened 
all migrants who claimed asylum.

    Stateless Persons.--The government has not effectively implemented 
laws and policies to provide certain habitual residents the opportunity 
to gain nationality in a timely manner and on a nondiscriminatory 
basis. Children born to non-Bahamian parents or to a Bahamian mother 
and a non-Bahamian father do not automatically acquire citizenship. 
Bahamian-born persons of foreign heritage must apply for citizenship 
during a 12-month window following their 18th birthday, sometimes 
waiting many years for a government response. The narrow window for 
application, difficult documentary requirements, and long waiting times 
created generations of de facto stateless persons. However, the 
government did not consider many of these individuals stateless, 
because they were often eligible for the citizenship of their parents 
and could apply for Bahamian citizenship on their 18th birthday.
    There were no reliable estimates of the number of de facto 
stateless persons. Such persons often faced waiting periods of several 
years for the government to decide on their nationality applications 
and, as a result, lacked proper documentation to secure employment, 
housing, access to health services, and other public facilities during 
this period.
    Individuals born in the country to non-Bahamian parents were 
eligible to apply for certificates of identification that entitled them 
to work authorization, access to grade school-level education, and a 
fee-for-service healthcare insurance program. Human rights advocates 
criticized the health insurance program as having unrealistic payment 
requirements that prohibited widespread access. Individuals born in the 
country to non-Bahamian parents were not required to pay the college 
tuition rate for foreign students while waiting for their request for 
citizenship to be processed.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides citizens with the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 2007 
national elections generally considered free and fair, the FNM won 23 
of 41 seats in the House of Assembly and formed the new government 
under Hubert Ingraham. During the year, a Boundary Commission redrew 
the lines for voting districts in preparation for the next elections in 
2012. Members of the opposition Progressive Liberal Party and 
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) accused the FNM of gerrymandering 
and a biased process. Local civil society members criticized the 
government for lack of transparency in campaign finance, potentially 
exposing politicians to unethical influence by major contributors. 
There is no legislation in place to regulate election finance, which 
means that politicians are not required to declare campaign 
contributions and are not bound to utilize contributions for campaign 
purposes.

    Participation by Women and Minorities.--The House of Assembly had 
five elected female members; there were five appointed female senators, 
including its president, in the 14-seat Senate. There was one woman in 
the cabinet.
    Information on racial background was not collected, but there were 
several members of minorities in prominent positions in parliament and 
the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. However, 
there were some reports of government corruption during the year.
    A preliminary audit report in July of the Education Loan Authority 
(ELA) suggested that large sums of money were used for personal reasons 
by ELA officials and were either misreported or unreported. In June 
RBPF officers demanded a forensic audit of the force's financial 
accounts, claiming abuse and misuse of the accounts for several years. 
Authorities arrested 12 persons, including six employees in the Road 
Traffic Department, for fraudulently registering vehicles in a scam 
that caused B$10 million ($10 million) in losses.
    Because the government estimated that it loses about B$100 million 
($100 million) a year due to corruption in the Department of Customs, 
in June laws were amended so that customs officers found complicit in 
scams could be prosecuted more swiftly.
    Senior public officials, such as senators and members of 
parliament, were subject to financial disclosure under the Public 
Disclosure Act. However, not all of them complied with the requirement. 
In September a DNA candidate called on Prime Minister Ingraham to 
comply with the requirement, since in February 2010 Ingraham said he 
was among the group of politicians who had not complied with the law on 
yearly public disclosures. Antibribery legislation designates the 
attorney general as responsible for combating government corruption.
    Media representatives criticized the lack of laws providing for 
public access to government information. Members of the local press 
also continued to complain that the government failed to provide 
regular, open access to information, including information regarding 
alleged human rights violations. Specifically, press and local human 
rights groups complained that the government was not forthcoming about 
alleged human rights abuses by police and prison and detention center 
guards, citing a lack of transparency in investigations and publication 
of investigative reports.
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 
usually were cooperative and responsive to their views.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--A governmental commissioner with 
ombudsman-like duties enjoyed the government's cooperation and was 
considered effective.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, 
place of origin, political opinion, or creed, and the government 
generally enforced these prohibitions. However, the constitution and 
the law contain provisions that discriminate against women.
    The country consists of 700 islands and cays, 30 of which are 
inhabited. Information in this report reflects the situation in the 
highly populated areas on New Providence and Grand Bahama. Limited 
information was available from the lesser populated out islands.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape is illegal, but the law 
does not protect against spousal rape, except if the couple is 
separating, in the process of divorce, or if there is a restraining 
order in place. The maximum penalty for all rape offenses, including a 
first-time offense, is life imprisonment. Survivors reported 107 rapes 
during the year, for which authorities initiated 40 prosecutions. The 
minister for national security noted that annual rape figures through 
October 11 showed an increase of 38 percent compared with the previous 
year.
    Violence against women continued to be a serious, widespread 
problem. Assailants killed a record number of 16 women during the year, 
compared with 10 in 2010. A local NGO that offers an abuse hotline 
reported receiving a ``tremendous'' increase in calls relating to 
intimate partner violence and domestic abuse. Domestic abuse law 
prohibits domestic violence as a crime separate from assault and 
battery, and the government generally enforced the law. In January 
police announced that complaints of domestic violence could no longer 
be withdrawn without first going before a magistrate to do so. (In the 
past police stopped investigations if a complainant withdrew the 
complaint.) Assistant Commissioner Hulan Hanna stated that police made 
the adjustment to better combat the high levels of domestic abuse in 
the country.
    Women's rights groups cited some reluctance on the part of law 
enforcement authorities to intervene in domestic disputes. The Bahamas 
Crisis Center worked with police by providing them with a counselor 
referral service to utilize when encountering rape victims.
    The government operated a toll-free hotline in New Providence and 
Grand Bahama, run by trained volunteers at the Bahamas Crisis Center, 
to respond to emergency calls 24 hours a day. Government and private 
women's organizations continued public awareness campaigns highlighting 
the problems of abuse and domestic violence. The Ministry of Labor and 
Social Development's Department of Social Services, in partnership with 
a private organization, operated a safe house to assist battered women. 
The ministry's Bureau of Women's Affairs was responsible for promoting 
and protecting women's rights.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits criminal ``quid pro quo'' 
sexual harassment and authorizes penalties of up to B$5,000 ($5,000) 
and a maximum of two years' imprisonment. No information was available 
about the number of reports of workplace sexual harassment during the 
year. Civil rights advocates complained that criminal prohibitions were 
not enforced effectively and that civil remedies, including a 
prohibition on ``hostile environment'' sexual harassment, were needed.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals generally could 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children, and were not subject to discrimination, coercion, or violence 
regarding these choices. Access to family planning was universally 
available to persons age 18 and older and to younger persons with the 
consent of an adult. Authorities removed pregnant teens from government 
educational institutions and placed them in a special school operated 
by the Providing Access to Continued Education Foundation until after 
the birth of their children. The Maternal and Child Health Unit of the 
Ministry of Health provided information pamphlets on maternal and child 
health to clinics. A government Web site provided information for 
maternal and child health-care services provided by various clinics 
throughout the country. Women had access to maternal health services. 
According to U.N. data, skilled personnel attended 99 percent of 
births, and 98 percent of mothers received prenatal and postpartum 
care. Services were available on a nondiscriminatory basis, although 
some illegal immigrants did not receive postpartum care because they 
had no fixed address.

    Discrimination.--The law does not provide women with the same right 
as men to transmit citizenship to their foreign-born spouses. The law 
also makes it easier for men with foreign spouses than for women with 
foreign spouses to confer citizenship on their children. The law does 
not include gender as a basis for protection from discrimination. Women 
were generally free of economic discrimination, and the law provides 
for equal pay for equal work.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Children born to non-Bahamian 
parents or to a Bahamian mother and a non-Bahamian father do not 
automatically acquire citizenship. Otherwise, citizenship is acquired 
by birth in the country. There is universal birth registration; all 
births must be registered within 21 days of delivery. All residents, 
regardless of immigration status, had free access to education and 
social programs.

    Child Abuse.--Both the government and civic organizations conducted 
public education programs aimed at child abuse and appropriate 
parenting behavior; however, child abuse and neglect remained serious 
problems. The RBPF operated a hotline regarding missing or exploited 
children. The Child Protection Act of 2007 included increased penalties 
for child abuse, mandatory reporting to police of all forms of child 
abuse, a provision for fathers of children born out of wedlock to 
pursue custody of the children, and a provision for mothers of children 
born out of wedlock to pursue maintenance for those children up to age 
18.
    The Department of Social Services reported 636 cases of child abuse 
during the year. They included 141 cases of physical abuse, 41 cases of 
neglect, 10 cases of abandonment, and 11 cases of incest. In addition 
the RBDF reported 110 cases of adults having unlawful sexual 
intercourse with children 15 years old and younger. Although the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported no charges of rape or unlawful sex 
against teachers during the year, the press reported two teachers on 
Andros island were under investigation by the Ministry of Education for 
sex with teenage girls. In July authorities charged a police constable 
with raping a 13-year-old girl.
    The law requires all persons having contact with a child they 
believe to have been physically or sexually abused to report their 
suspicions to the police. The law provides penalties for the rape of 
persons between the ages of 14 and 16 of up to 14 years' imprisonment, 
with harsher penalties involving persons under age 14. While a victim's 
consent is insufficient defense against allegations of statutory rape, 
it is sufficient defense if an individual can demonstrate that the 
accused had ``reasonable cause to believe that the victim was above 16 
years of age,'' provided the accused was under age 18.
    Sexual exploitation of children through incestuous relationships 
occurred, and anecdotal reports continued to suggest that this was a 
particular problem in the out islands. Observers generally acknowledged 
that a small number of children were involved in illicit or unlawful 
activities. The ministry may remove children from abusive situations if 
a court deems it necessary. The ministry provided services to abused 
and neglected children through a public-private center for children, 
the public hospital family violence program, and the Bahamas Crisis 
Center.
    The Department of Social Services is responsible for abandoned 
children up to 18 years of age but had very limited resources at its 
disposal. The government found foster homes for some children, and the 
government hospital housed abandoned children with physical 
disabilities when foster homes could not be found.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The minimum age for consensual 
sex is 16 years. The law considers any association or exposure of a 
child to prostitution or a prostitution house as cruelty, neglect, or 
ill treatment of a child. Additionally, the offense of having sex with 
a minor carries a penalty of life imprisonment. Child pornography is 
against the law. A person who produces it is liable to life 
imprisonment; dissemination or possession of it calls for a penalty of 
20 years' imprisonment.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. The 
local Jewish community numbered approximately 200 persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There is no specific law protecting 
persons with physical or mental disabilities from discrimination in 
employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other 
state services. However, provisions in other legislation address the 
rights of persons with disabilities, including a prohibition of 
discrimination on the basis of disability. Although the law mandates 
access for persons with physical disabilities in new public buildings, 
the authorities rarely enforced this requirement, and very few 
buildings and public facilities were accessible to persons with 
disabilities. Advocates for persons with disabilities complained of 
widespread job discrimination and general apathy on the part of private 
employers and political leaders toward the need for training and equal 
opportunity.
    The Disability Division within the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Development reported providing the following services during the year: 
disability allowances to disabled persons; financial assistance to 
procure prosthetics, wheelchairs, hearing aids, and other assistive 
devices; regular prosthetic committee meetings; annual government 
grants to NGOs serving the disabled community; crisis intervention 
counseling; and Braille classes.
    In May the media reported allegations of patient abuse at the 
Sandilands psychiatric facility. Orderlies were accused of violently 
abusing institutionalized patients, and nurses were said to be too 
afraid to speak out.
    A mix of government and private residential and nonresidential 
institutions provided education, training, counseling, and job 
placement services for adults and children with both physical and 
mental disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The country's racial and ethnic 
groups generally coexisted in a climate of peace. However, anti-Haitian 
prejudice and resentment regarding Haitian immigration was widespread. 
According to unofficial estimates, between 10 and 25 percent of the 
population were Haitians or persons of Haitian descent, making them the 
largest ethnic minority. Many persons of Haitian origin lived in 
shantytowns with limited sewage and garbage services, law enforcement, 
or other infrastructure. Haitian children generally were granted access 
to education and social services, but interethnic tensions and 
inequities persisted. The Haitian community was characterized by high 
poverty, high unemployment, poor educational achievement, and poor 
health conditions. Haitians generally had difficulty in securing 
citizenship, residence, or work permits.
    Members of the Haitian community complained of discrimination in 
the job market, specifically that identity and work-permit documents 
were controlled by employers seeking leverage by threat of deportation. 
Some also complained of tactics used by immigration officials in raids 
of Haitian or suspected Haitian communities.
    In February immigration and RBDF officers were accused of using 
excessively aggressive tactics including crowbars and maul hammers to 
damage property and beat Haitian immigrants.
    Haitians also claimed that authorities stole cell phones and money 
from them on a regular basis.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Societal discrimination 
against gay men and lesbians occurred, with some persons reporting job 
and housing discrimination based upon sexual orientation. Although 
same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults is legal, the law 
defines the age of consent for same-sex couples as 18 years, compared 
to 16 years for heterosexual couples. No domestic legislation addresses 
the human rights concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) persons. The 2006 Constitutional Review Commission found that 
sexual orientation did not deserve protection against discrimination.
    In June a father told the press that the rape and murder of his 
daughter, who was a lesbian, may have been a hate crime. The police 
investigated but could not prosecute as a hate crime since no such law 
existed.
    The July murder of photographer Sharvado Simmons remained unsolved, 
but some members of the LGBT community believed he was killed by a 
group of men seeking retribution for a previous incident where Simmons 
solicited and deceived one of the men while dressed ``in drag."

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Stigma and 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS was high, but there were 
no reports of violence against persons with HIV/AIDS. Children with 
HIV/AIDS also faced discrimination, and teachers often were not told 
that a child was HIV-positive for fear of verbal abuse from both 
educators and peers. The government maintained a home for orphaned 
children infected with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law protects the right of workers to form and join independent 
unions, participate in collective bargaining, and conduct legal 
strikes, and it prohibits antiunion discrimination.
    Members of the police force, defense force, fire brigade, and 
prison guards may not organize or join unions, but other public sector 
workers are permitted to join unions. Employers can apply to have union 
recognition revoked if a collective agreement is not reached after 12 
months.
    Employers can be compelled to reinstate workers illegally fired for 
union activity. Under the law labor disputes first are filed with the 
labor ministry and then, if not resolved, are transferred to an 
industrial tribunal. The tribunal's decision is final and can be 
appealed in court only on a strict question of law.
    The government effectively enforced labor laws, including the right 
to form and join independent unions and to strike. Unions and employers 
negotiated wage rates without government interference. The ministry 
reported various forms of labor violations during the year, all of 
which it stated were resolved in a timely manner.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Development reported that worker 
organizations were not affiliated with government or specific political 
parties and that it did not receive any reports of threats of violence 
targeting union leaders by employers. Workers occasionally filed 
disputes with the authorities involving ``union-busting'' charges, and 
the ministry asserted that it consistently upheld the applicable labor 
statues to protect worker rights. There were reports of violations of 
collective bargaining rights from some unions, and in some cases the 
courts ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and compensated them 
accordingly.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, and the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Development asserted that no cases of forced labor were reported 
during the year. However, local NGOs maintained that exploited workers 
often did not report their circumstances to government officials for 
fear of the threat of deportation.
    There were reports that non-Bahamian laborers suffered abuses at 
the hands of their employers, who were responsible for endorsing their 
work permits on an annual basis. Specifically, local sources indicated 
that employers reportedly obtained B$1,000 ($1,000) work permits for 
non-Bahamian employees and then required them to ``work off'' the 
permit fee over the course of their employment or otherwise risk losing 
the permit and their ability to work legally within the country.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children under age 14 for industrial 
work or work during school hours. Children under age 16 may not work at 
night. There was no legal minimum age for employment in other sectors. 
Occupational health and safety restrictions apply to all younger 
workers.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Development is responsible for 
enforcing laws regulating working hours for children, as well as 
occupational health and safety restrictions.
    Some children as young as 12 years old worked part time in service 
jobs in the evenings after school.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was B$4.45 
($4.45) per hour for hourly workers, B$35 ($35) per day for daily 
workers, and B$150 ($150) per week for weekly-paid workers.
    The law provides for a 40-hour workweek, a 24-hour rest period, and 
time-and-a-half payment for hours worked beyond the standard workweek. 
The law stipulates paid annual holidays and does not provide for 
compulsory overtime.
    The government sets health and safety standards. According to the 
Ministry of Labor and Social Development, the law protects all workers, 
including migrant workers and undocumented workers in areas including 
wages, working hours, working conditions, and occupational and safety 
standards.
    The ministry was responsible for enforcing labor laws, including 
the minimum wage, and had a team of inspectors that conducted on-site 
visits to enforce occupational health and safety standards and 
investigate employee concerns and complaints, although inspections 
occurred infrequently. The ministry normally announced inspection 
visits in advance, and employers generally cooperated with inspectors 
to implement safety standards. It was uncertain whether these 
inspections effectively enforced health and safety standards, although 
the ministry actively sought international assistance to improve 
performance. The law does not provide a right for workers to remove 
themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to continued 
employment.
    No workplace fatalities were reported during the year. The only 
major industrial accident reported involved a tornado touching down at 
Freeport Container Port that resulted in three deaths.

                               __________

                                BARBADOS

                           executive summary
    Barbados is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy. In 2008 national 
elections, voters elected Prime Minister David Thompson of the 
Democratic Labour Party (DLP). International observers assessed the 
vote as generally free and fair. Prime Minister Thompson died in office 
in October 2010 and was replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Freundel 
Stuart. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights problem was occasional use of 
excessive force by the police.
    Other human rights problems included societal violence against 
women and children and discrimination against gays and lesbians.
    The government took steps to punish officials who committed abuses, 
and there was not a widespread perception of impunity for security 
force members.
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, but on 
rare occasions, there were police killings in the line of duty. 
Authorities investigated all such killings and referred them to a 
coroner's inquiry when appropriate.
    In July police officers shot and killed Shawn Anderson Sealy, 
sought in connection with an aggravated burglary, after he attacked 
them with a machete and damaged a police vehicle. The coroner's office 
was investigating the case at year's end. In December Curtis Callender 
died at the Oistins Police Station while in police custody for 
questioning. At year's end the attorney general awaited a final autopsy 
report, but an initial finding revealed that the suspect died from an 
aneurysm.
    Frequently there were long delays in completing coroner's 
inquiries, but findings eventually were made public. For instance, in 
July the coroner's court returned an ``open'' verdict in the 2006 
police killing of Richard Gordon, and in August it made a finding of 
``accidental shooting'' in the 2009 death of Hugh Springer, a bystander 
shot and killed by police. That report urged the police to use taser 
guns as a nonlethal means of controlling chaotic public disturbances.
    The coroner's court received the files for the 2009 police killing 
of Denzil Headley and the 2007 police killing of Michael Davis, but 
inquest dates had not been set by year's end.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution prohibits such practices. Most complaints 
against the police alleged unprofessional conduct and beating or 
assault. Police occasionally were accused of beating suspects to obtain 
confessions, and suspects often recanted their confessions during their 
trial. In many cases the only evidence against the accused was a 
confession. Suspects and their family members continued to allege 
coercion by police, but there was no evidence of systematic police 
abuse.
    On February 28, a Jamaican national claimed three officers raped 
her while she was detained at the Central Police Station on drug 
trafficking charges. Authorities arrested two of the accused officers, 
suspended them from the force, and brought charges against them. 
Released on bail, they awaited trial at year's end.
    On March 14, another Jamaican national claimed she was sexually 
assaulted by a female immigration officer at the airport where she was 
detained after flying to the country. She said the alleged assault 
occurred when she was subjected to a cavity search while in custody. 
The parliamentary minister for immigration claimed that the accuser was 
denied entry for good reason and that no mistreatment occurred. 
However, officials from the two governments discussed the incident, and 
the investigation remained open at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards. Dodds Prison, 
built in 2007 in St. Philip, was designed to meet modern international 
standards with a capacity of approximately 1,250 prisoners. According 
to prison officials, in November it held 1,032 prisoners, including 
pretrial detainees. Although prisoners occasionally complained about 
the quality of the food, Dodds had a canteen program permitting family 
members to make deposits into inmate accounts, and inmates could 
purchase popular food, snacks, toiletries, and dry goods. Prisoners may 
submit complaints to the officer in charge. If that officer cannot 
resolve the problem, it is referred to the warden.
    There were 36 female prisoners held in a separate wing. There were 
separate juvenile facilities for boys and girls.
    A Cuban prisoner remained in prison even though he completed his 
15-year sentence for drug trafficking in 2010. The government stated 
this was due to the Cuban government's denial of his repatriation 
request and that he will remain incarcerated until Cuba or a another 
country agrees to accept him. There were no immediate plans to release 
the prisoner into general society.
    Authorities permitted reasonable access to visitors. Prisoners were 
permitted religious observance and could submit complaints to judicial 
authorities. The government allowed prison visits by independent human 
rights monitors.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, and the government generally 
observed these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Royal Barbados 
Police Force (RBPF) is responsible for internal law enforcement. The 
small Barbados Defense Force (BDF) protects national security and may 
be called upon to maintain public order in times of crisis, emergency, 
or other specific need. The RBPF reports to the minister of home 
affairs, and the BDF reports to the minister of defense and security. 
Although the police largely were unarmed, special RBPF foot patrols in 
high-crime areas carried firearms. An armed special rapid-response unit 
continued to operate. The law provides that the police can request BDF 
assistance with special joint patrols.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the RBPF and 
the BDF, 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 are 
authorized to arrest persons suspected of criminal activity; a warrant 
is typically required. The constitution permits detainees to be held 
without charge for up to five days; however, once charged, detainees 
must be brought before a court without unnecessary delay. There is a 
functioning bail system. Criminal detainees received prompt access to 
counsel and were advised of that right immediately after arrest. Access 
to family members generally was permitted.
    Police procedures provide that, except when expressly permitted by 
a senior divisional officer to do otherwise, the police may question 
suspects and other persons only at a police station. An officer must 
visit detainees at least once every three hours to inquire about the 
detainees' condition. After 24 hours the detaining authority must 
submit a written report to the deputy commissioner. The authorities 
must approve and record all movements of detainees between stations.
    There were between 50 and 100 persons in pretrial detention at 
various times during the year. While length of pretrial detention may 
vary from one case to another, there were no reports of extended 
periods of pretrial detention or abuse of the practice.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides that persons charged 
with criminal offenses be given a fair public hearing without 
unnecessary delay by an independent, impartial court and a trial by 
jury. The government generally respected these rights in practice. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner. The government provided free legal aid to the 
indigent in family matters, child support, serious criminal cases such 
as rape or murder, and all cases involving minors. Defendants are 
allowed to confront and question witnesses and present evidence on 
their own behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to 
government-held evidence relevant to their case. Defendants are 
presumed innocent until proven guilty and have the right of appeal.
    The constitution and law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Magistrate's courts have 
both civil and criminal jurisdiction, but the civil judicial system 
experienced heavy backlogs. Citizens can seek redress for human rights 
or other abuses through the civil 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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the 
press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. 
An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning 
democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of 
the press.
    The government restricted the receipt and importation of foreign 
publications deemed to be pornographic.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/rpt/.

    d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of 
Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--The constitution and the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights 
in practice.
    The government was prepared to cooperate with the Office of the 
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons 
of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. 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 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.--Recent Elections.--In 
general elections held in 2008, the DLP, in opposition since 1994, 
defeated the Barbados Labour Party, led by then prime minister Owen 
Arthur. The DLP won 20 of the 30 seats in the parliament's House of 
Assembly, and DLP leader David Thompson became prime minister. 
Following Thompson's death in October 2010, the DLP parliamentary group 
selected Deputy Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to be prime minister. 
The next general election must be held by January 2013.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Two cabinet members were 
female; there were three women in the House of Assembly. There were 
four women and three minorities in the 21-member appointed Senate.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively.
    There is no law that subjects public officials to financial 
disclosure. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee and the auditor 
general conduct investigations of all government public accounts, which 
include ministries, departments, and statutory bodies.
    There is no law providing citizens access to information held by 
the government. While access to information was provided on government 
Web sites, responses to requests for specific government information by 
citizens and other interested parties often were slow.
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 were cooperative and 
responsive to their views.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Ombudsman's Office hears 
complaints against government offices for alleged injuries or 
injustices resulting from administrative conduct. The governor general 
appoints the ombudsman on the recommendation of the prime minister in 
consultation with the leader of the opposition; Parliament must approve 
the appointment. The ombudsman submits annual reports to Parliament, 
which contain both recommendations on changes to laws and descriptions 
of actions taken by the Ombudsman's Office.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution provides for equal treatment regardless of race, 
origin, political opinion, color, creed, or sex, and the government 
effectively enforced these provisions.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, and the maximum penalty is life imprisonment. 
There were legal protections against spousal rape for women holding a 
court-issued divorce decree, separation order, or nonmolestation order. 
Authorities charged 145 persons with sex-related offenses during the 
year, compared with 112 in 2010. Charges were brought in 55 cases of 
rape, compared with 44 in 2010; 11 cases of sex with a minor, compared 
with 19 in 2010; and 53 cases of indecent assault, compared with 42 in 
2010). Many cases were pending in the courts for months or years. Rape 
was underreported for fear of further violence, retribution, and 
societal stigma.
    Violence and abuse against women continued to be significant social 
problems. The law prohibits domestic violence, provides protection to 
all members of the family, including men and children, and applies 
equally to marriages and to common-law relationships. Penalties depend 
on the severity of the charges and range from a fine for first-time 
offenders (unless the injury is serious) up to the death penalty for a 
killing. Victims may request restraining orders, which the courts often 
issued. The courts can sentence an offender to jail for breaching such 
an order. The police have a victim support unit, consisting of civilian 
volunteers, which offered assistance primarily to female victims of 
violent crimes.
    There were public and private counseling services for victims of 
domestic violence, rape, and child abuse. There were programs to 
sensitize clergy who counsel abuse victims, to encourage hairdressers 
to identify domestic violence and direct women to seek expert 
assistance, to offer domestic violence awareness training for high 
school students, and to prevent elder abuse for workers in geriatric 
hospitals. The Business and Professional Women's Club (BPW) operated a 
crisis center staffed by trained counselors and provided legal and 
medical referral services. The government provided some funding for a 
shelter for battered women, operated by nongovernmental organizations 
(NGOs) including the BPW, which accommodated up to 20 women plus their 
young children. The shelter offered the services of trained 
psychological counselors to victims of domestic violence.
    The Bureau of Gender Affairs cited a lack of specific information 
and inadequate mechanisms for collecting and evaluating data on 
incidents of domestic violence as major impediments to tackling gender-
based violence.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not specifically address sexual 
harassment, which was a problem. There were no statistics available on 
the prevalence of sexual harassment cases. Media reports often 
indicated that women were afraid to report sexual harassment because 
they feared retribution in the workplace.

    Reproductive Rights.--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. Skilled 
attendance at delivery and in postpartum care was widely available, as 
was access to information on contraception. Women and men were given 
equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--The Bureau of Gender Affairs in the Ministry of 
Family worked to ensure the rights of women. Women have equal property 
rights, including in a divorce settlement. Women actively participated 
in all aspects of national life and were well represented at all levels 
of the public and private sectors, although some discrimination 
persisted. According to the World Economic Forum's 2010 Global Gender 
Gap Report, women earned 26 percent less than men for comparable work. 
A government poverty eradication fund focused on encouraging 
entrepreneurial activities to increase employment for women and youth.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is obtained by birth in 
the country and/or from one's parents. There was universal birth 
registration.

    Child Abuse.--Violence and abuse against children remained serious 
problems. The Child Care Board has a mandate for the care and 
protection of children, which involved investigating daycare centers 
and cases of child abuse or child labor and providing counseling 
services, residential placement, and foster care. The Welfare 
Department offered counseling on a broad range of family-related 
issues, and the Child Care Board conducted counseling for child abuse 
victims.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The government does not have a 
policy framework to combat sexual exploitation of children. The 
Ministry of Family, Culture, Youth, and Sports acknowledged that child 
prostitution occurred; however, there was no research to document that 
problem. Pornography is illegal, but no information was available 
concerning specific prohibitions dealing with child pornography.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For country-specific information see the Department of 
State's report at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--
3781.html.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no laws that specifically 
prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in 
employment, education, or the provision of other state services, other 
than constitutional provisions asserting equality for all. In practice 
persons with disabilities faced some discrimination. The Ministry of 
Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, and Community Development 
operated a Disabilities Unit to address the concerns of persons with 
disabilities, but parents complained of added fees and transport 
difficulties for children with disabilities at public schools. Although 
persons with disabilities continued to face social stigma preventing 
them from fully participating in society, attitudes were slowly 
evolving. Persons with disabilities generally experienced hiring 
discrimination as well as difficulty in achieving economic 
independence.
    The Barbados Council for the Disabled, the Barbados National 
Organization for the Disabled, and other NGOs indicated that access and 
transportation remained the primary challenges facing persons with 
disabilities. Many public areas lacked the necessary ramps, railings, 
parking, and bathroom adjustments to accommodate such persons, and 
affordable, reliable transportation for them remained elusive. However, 
some measures were made to address transportation concerns through 
private transportation providers and disabled rights NGOs.
    While no legislation mandates provision of accessibility to public 
thoroughfares or public or private buildings, the Town and Country 
Planning Department set provisions for all public buildings to include 
accessibility to persons with disabilities. As a result, most new 
buildings had ramps, reserved parking, and special sanitary facilities 
for such persons. The Barbados Council for the Disabled and other NGOs 
promoted and implemented sensitization and accessibility programs 
designed to help persons with disabilities enjoy the inclusion and 
services that other citizens enjoy.
    The Disabilities Unit continued numerous programs for persons with 
disabilities, including Call-a-Ride and Dial-a-Ride public 
transportation programs, sensitization workshops for public 
transportation operators, inspections of public transportation 
vehicles, sign language education programs, integrated summer camps, 
and accessibility programs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law criminalizes 
consensual same-sex sexual relations, and there are no laws that 
prohibit discrimination against a person on the basis of sexual 
orientation in employment, housing, education, or health care. Although 
statistics were unavailable, anecdotal evidence suggested that societal 
discrimination against gays and lesbians occurred. The issue gained 
national attention when a group of citizens claimed amnesty in Canada 
for fear of not being able to live openly as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender persons. Responding to a call by U.K. Prime Minister 
Cameron for reform of anti-LGBT legislation, Attorney General Adriel 
Brathwaite declared the country's ``position on homosexuality was not 
for sale and that its legislative agenda would be determined at home."

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The government 
continued a large country-wide media campaign to discourage 
discrimination against HIV/AIDS-infected persons and others living with 
them. While there was no systematic discrimination, HIV/AIDS-infected 
persons did not commonly disclose the condition due to lack of social 
acceptance.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers to form and join unions and conduct legal 
strikes but does not specifically recognize the right to bargain 
collectively. The law does not obligate companies to recognize unions 
or to accept collective bargaining, and there is no specific law that 
prohibits antiunion discrimination. Although the courts provide a 
method of redress for employees alleging wrongful dismissal, they 
commonly awarded monetary compensation but rarely ordered 
reinstatement.
    Labor laws cover all groups of workers, including migrants, public 
sector, domestic workers, and those in special trade zones, and the 
government generally enforced the laws effectively.
    In practice workers faced some challenges in exercising freedom of 
association or bargaining collectively; however, their rights were 
generally respected. While both major political parties were originally 
formed from labor unions, worker organizations remained independent 
from government and political parties. In practice workers exercised 
the right to conduct legal strikes. All private sector employees are 
permitted to strike, but the law prohibits essential workers, such as 
police, firefighters, electricity, and water company employees, from 
engaging in strikes.
    Although employers were under no legal obligation to recognize 
unions, most major employers did so when a significant percentage of 
their employees expressed a desire to be represented by a registered 
union. Smaller companies were often not unionized. In the past labor 
unions reported some companies, including some unspecified foreign 
firms, engaged in antiunion discrimination and unions complained to the 
Labor Ministry on a number of occasions about what they deemed 
antiunion activity by employers. However, the ministry did not receive 
any complaints of antiunion activity during the year.
    Some unions noted that employers often refused to negotiate 
collective bargaining agreements with them, even if the union was 
recognized by the company. Negotiated protocols contained provisions 
for increases in basic wages and increases based on productivity. On 
May 5, representatives from labor, government, and the private sector 
signed a sixth such protocol, which will expire in 2013. The Social 
Partnership Agreement provides for monthly meetings of labor, 
management, and government representatives. Chaired by the prime 
minister or the minister responsible for labor affairs, it plays a 
significant role in setting parameters and maintaining harmonious 
workplace relations.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, and the government 
generally enforced such laws.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides for a minimum working age of 16 for certain sectors but 
does not cover sectors such as agriculture. Compulsory primary and 
secondary education policies reinforced minimum age requirements. The 
law prohibits children under the age of 18 from engaging in work likely 
to harm their heath, safety, or morals but does not specifically note 
which occupations fall under this prohibition. The law prohibits the 
employment of children of compulsory school age (through age 16) during 
school hours. The law also prevents young people from night work (after 
6:00 p.m.). These laws were effectively enforced. The Labor Department 
had a small cadre of labor inspectors who conducted spot investigations 
of enterprises and checked records to verify compliance with the law. 
These inspectors may take legal action against an employer who is found 
employing underage workers. Child labor laws were generally observed in 
practice. According to the chief labor inspector, no underage 
employment cases were filed during the past few years.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law provides for, and the 
authorities established, minimum wage rates for household domestics and 
shop assistants. The minimum wage for these employees was BDS$5 ($2.50) 
per hour. The Ministry of Labor recommended companies in all other 
sectors use this as the de facto minimum wage.
    The standard legal workweek is 40 hours in five days, and the law 
provides employees with three weeks of paid holiday for the first four 
years of service and four weeks' holiday after five years of service. 
An employee's length of service is linked to the anniversary of the 
commencement date with current employer. The law requires overtime 
payment of time and one-half for hours worked in excess and prescribes 
that all overtime must be voluntary.
    The 2005 Occupational Safety and Health at Work Act was never 
promulgated into law, as it was passed at the end of the previous 
administration and was still under review at year's end; previous 
occupational health and safety laws still applied. The law requires 
that in certain sectors, firms employing more than 50 workers create a 
safety committee that could challenge the decisions of management 
concerning the occupational safety and health environment. Workers had 
the right to remove themselves from dangerous or hazardous job 
situations without jeopardizing their continued employment.
    The Ministry of Labor did not identify any specific group of 
workers that were subject to hazardous or exploitive working 
conditions. According to the ministry, labor laws apply to all workers 
and are enforced across the board. However, foreign workers in high 
risk sectors such as domestic service, agriculture, or construction may 
not be aware of their rights and protections under the law.
    The Labor Department within the Ministry of Labor is charged with 
enforcing the minimum wage as well as work hours and did so 
effectively. In practice the prevailing wage on the island was higher 
than the legal minimum wage. However, there were occasional press 
reports alleging that migrant workers received less than the minimum 
wage. That department also enforced health and safety standards and in 
most cases followed up to ensure that management corrected problems 
cited. A group of 10 safety and health inspectors helped enforce 
regulations, and nine labor officers handled labor law violations. All 
groups of workers were covered under these laws, although unions 
expressed concern that domestic workers were sometimes forced to work 
in unacceptable conditions.
    Penalties used by the Ministry of Labor include fines, 
imprisonment, or a combination of the two. However, the ministry 
reported that it has historically relied on education, consensus 
building, and moral persuasion rather than penalties to correct labor 
law violations.
    The ministry used routine inspections, accident investigations, and 
union membership surveys to prevent labor violations and ensure that 
wages and working conditions met national standards. The ministry 
delivered presentations to workers to inform them of their labor rights 
and provided education and awareness workshops for employers.
    The Labor Department's Health and Safety Inspection Unit conducted 
several routine annual inspections of government-operated corporations 
and manufacturing plants, with no serious problems noted. However, the 
construction and hospitality sectors were mentioned as problem areas 
due to the frequency and severity of worksite accidents. Three people 
died in the course of their employment during the year, and there were 
no major industrial accidents. Office environments also received 
additional attention from the ministry due to indoor air quality 
concerns. Civic organizations such as the Barbados Employer's 
Confederation worked closely with the government to ensure worker 
safety was protected despite the nonimplementation of the 2005 law. 
Trade union monitors identified safety problems for government health 
and safety inspectors to ensure the enforcement of safety and health 
regulations and effective correction by management.

                               __________

                                 BELIZE

                           executive summary
    Belize is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. In February 
2008 Prime Minister Dean Barrow's United Democratic Party (UDP) won 25 
of the 31 seats in the House of Representatives following generally 
free and fair multiparty elections. There were instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    The most important human rights abuse documented during the year 
was the use of excessive force by security forces.
    Other human rights problems included lengthy pretrial detention, 
domestic violence, discrimination against women, sexual abuse of 
children, trafficking in persons, discrimination based on sexual 
orientation, and child labor.
    In some cases the government took steps to prosecute officials who 
committed abuses, both administratively and through the courts, but 
successful prosecutions generally were limited in number and tended to 
involve less severe infractions.
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. In 
contrast with 2010, there were no reports or allegations that security 
forces 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 torture or other inhuman 
punishment, but there were reports that police used excessive force.
    The government occasionally ignored reports of abuses, withheld 
action until the case had faded from the public's attention, failed to 
take punitive action, or transferred accused officers to other 
districts.
    During the year the Belize Police Department's (BPD) Professional 
Standards Branch received 238 formal complaints of alleged police 
misconduct. During the same period, the BPD held 14 officers on 
interdiction (suspension with half salary) and one on suspension (with 
salary). The 14 officers on interdiction were alleged to have committed 
a combination of criminal and disciplinary charges. The ombudsman 
reported receiving 99 complaints against the police department and its 
personnel, of which 39 percent were categorized as complaints for 
brutality, 18 percent as complaints of harassment, and 17 percent as 
complaints for abuse of power.
    The ombudsman had difficulties receiving information from the BPD 
regarding allegations made against the BPD. The ombudsman often 
encountered resistance from the police when trying to obtain medical 
legal forms describing injuries of those detained. The BPD's response 
rate to letters of inquiry from the ombudsman was approximately 35 
percent, according to the ombudsman. The BPD explained that if 
petitioners did not file their complaints with the BPD Professional 
Standards Branch, the matter would not be investigated.
    On August 29, the BPD's Gang Suppression Unit reportedly used 
excessive force after the funeral of a murder victim who allegedly had 
gang member associates. The media reported that bystanders were injured 
and that police used pepper spray, rubber bullets, and a baseball bat. 
The media reported several other incidents of police using excessive 
force, including incidents involving the suppression unit.
    At year's end the case of a Belize City Police inspector, charged 
with attempted murder and dangerous harm in an April 2010 shooting that 
left a person partially paralyzed, was pending in the Supreme Court. 
The civil suit filed by the victim against the BPD also was pending.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Despite improvements over 
the last several years, prison conditions did not meet all 
international standards. Belize Central Prison, the country's only 
prison, was administered by a local nonprofit organization, but the 
government retained overall oversight and monitoring responsibility for 
management of the prison.
    In October the prison held a total of 1,391 inmates, of whom 38 
were women, 60 juveniles, and 450 on remand. Prison capacity is 
approximately 1,750.
    The regular prison population lived in cells accommodating 
approximately four to six persons. Prisoners on remand lived in a 
facility with approximately three to four persons per cell. Some 
prisoners in the maximum-security section also were held in the remand 
facility, usually with only one inmate per cell. Prison officials used 
isolation in a small, unlit, unventilated punishment cell, called a 
``reflection room,'' to discipline inmates in the youth section. 
Inmates had access to potable water.
    Prison officials held women and men in separate facilities. The 
women's facility was located 200 yards outside the main compound. 
Conditions in the women's area were significantly better than in the 
men's compound. There were no female juveniles housed in the Belize 
Central Prison during the year.
    Male juveniles, both on remand and convicted, were held separately 
in a dormitory at the Wagner Youth Facility within the prison compound. 
Some were convicted of murder, and many were gang members.
    There were no reported cases of abuse or excessive force by prison 
officials. Through October there were approximately 100 incidents of 
inmate-on-inmate violence ranging from minor fights to serious 
assaults.
    Inmates had daily access to visitors, and the government did not 
restrict religious observance. A full-time chaplain coordinated visits 
by ministers from different denominations. The prison had a hall where 
church services took place.
    The Ombudsman Act authorizes inmates to make complaints to the 
Ombudsman's Office through prison authorities; however, inmates and 
their family members tended to submit such complaints directly to the 
ombudsman and did so without censorship. The ombudsman visited the 
prison in October. Prison authorities also permitted independent visits 
from independent human rights observers.
    After assuming prison operations in 2002, the Kolbe Foundation 
began making significant improvements in security as well as conditions 
for inmates. The Kolbe Foundation built rehabilitation and education 
centers, initiated a program to separate members of rival gangs to 
reduce inmate-on-inmate violence, and overhauled training to improve 
security, address proper treatment of inmates, and minimize petty 
corruption. During the year the prison operator continued to increase 
staff training, improved the perimeter fence for better security, 
improved its program to confiscate prohibited items such as mobile 
phones and marijuana, and made progress separating members of rival 
gangs. According to prison officials, the prison experienced a record 
low of two escaped prisoners. Also during the year, prison authorities 
seized 20 pounds of marijuana, 140 cell phones, and 200 handmade 
weapons in the prison.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Although the constitution and 
law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, there were occasional 
charges that the government failed to observe these prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of Defense 
and Immigration supervises the Belize Defense Force (BDF) as well as 
the Immigration Department. The Ministry of Police and Public Security 
supervises the BPD. Although primarily charged with external security, 
the BDF also provides domestic security support to civilian 
authorities. BDF soldiers frequently worked alongside police officers, 
particularly in Belize City. BDF personnel assisting police have 
limited powers of arrest; police take the lead when making arrests. Low 
pay for security officers and corruption remained problems. There were 
no reported cases of impunity for security force members for major 
crimes.
    In August the government reformed the police's Internal Affairs 
Department by adding an Independent Complaints Commission to oversee 
the Professional Standards Branch (PSB) and expanding the complaint 
filing procedure. The commission is comprised of five community 
representatives, none of whom are police officers. The PSB is headed by 
a superintendant of police, supported by seven officers. It is 
responsible for investigating allegations made against the police. 
Previously the public filed complaints directly with the PSB, which has 
an office in Belize City and another in Belmopan; with the change 
complainants could go to the PSB or directly to any local police 
station.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police must 
obtain search or arrest warrants issued by a magistrate, except in 
cases of hot pursuit, when there is probable cause, or when the 
presence of a firearm is suspected. The law requires police to inform a 
detainee in writing of the cause of detention within 48 hours of arrest 
and bring the person before a magistrate to receive official charges 
within a reasonable time (normally 24 hours). In practice the BPD faced 
allegations that its members arbitrarily detained persons, did not take 
detainees to a police station in the required manner, and used 
detention as a means of intimidation. During the year the government 
proposed draft legislation that would allow for preventive detention 
but withdrew it after public opposition.
    In August Glenn Tillett accused the BPD of wrongfully detaining him 
in connection with a robbery allegedly committed by a relative of 
Tillett at a foreign embassy in Belmopan. Tillett reported that police 
took him from his home, detained him for a prolonged period, and denied 
him needed medical attention before releasing him without charge.
    The law requires police to follow the Judges' Rules, a code of 
conduct governing police interaction with arrested persons. Although 
judges sometimes dismissed cases in violation of the Judges' Rules, 
they more commonly deemed confessions obtained through violation of 
these rules to be invalid. Judges usually granted detainees timely 
access to family members and lawyers, although there were occasional 
complaints that inmates were denied access or a telephone call after 
arrest.
    Persons charged with minor offenses are eligible for bail, but 
persons charged with prescribed crimes, such as murder, gang activity, 
and specified drug-trafficking or sexual offenses must apply to the 
Supreme Court for bail.
    Case backlogs in the docket often caused considerable delays and 
postponement of hearings, occasionally resulting in prolonged pretrial 
detention. The time lag between arrests, trials, and convictions ranged 
from eight months to two years.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. Persons have the right to bring legal actions 
for alleged violations of rights protected under the constitution, 
regardless of whether there is also implementing legislation.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for all citizens the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced these 
rights. Decisions and judgments for lesser crimes are generally issued 
by a magistrate after deliberating on the arguments presented by the 
prosecution and defense.
    Legislation passed in August stipulates that nonjury trials are 
mandatory for trials relating to murder, attempt to murder, abetment of 
murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. These cases are to be tried 
before a Supreme Court judge sitting alone. The legislation was passed 
despite public opposition by individuals, legal practitioners, and 
human rights activists. It was scheduled to enter into effect in 2012.
    Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and have the right to 
defense by counsel, a public trial, and appeal. Defendants also have 
the right to be present at their trial unless the court determines that 
the opposing party has a substantiated fear for his/her safety, in 
which case the court can grant interim provisions that both parties be 
addressed individually.
    A Legal Aid and Advice Center, staffed by one attorney, provides 
legal services in civil and minor criminal cases in various courts 
including the magistrate courts, Family Court, and Supreme Court. The 
Supreme Court's registrar has the responsibility of appointing an 
attorney to act on behalf of indigent defendants charged with murder.
    The constitution and law allow defendants to confront and question 
witnesses against them and to present witnesses on their behalf. 
Defendants have the right to produce evidence in their defense and 
examine evidence held by the opposing party or the court.
    Lengthy trial backlogs remained during the year. Judges often were 
slow to issue rulings, sometimes taking a year or longer. The rate of 
acquittals and cases withdrawn by the prosecution due to insufficient 
evidence and/or witnesses continued to be high, particularly for murder 
and gang-related cases, often due to failure of witnesses to testify 
because of fear for life and personal safety. A 2010 law allows written 
statements by witnesses to be admitted into evidence in place of court 
appearances, which led judges to require a high degree of proof prior 
to admitting such statements.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens may seek civil 
remedies for human rights violations. Most civil suits are heard in the 
Supreme Court, but the magistrates' courts have jurisdiction over civil 
cases involving sums of less than BZ$5,000 ($2,500). In addition to 
civil cases, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over cases involving 
human rights issues. The backlog of civil cases in the Supreme Court 
was significant and increased during the year.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and 
government authorities generally respected these prohibitions in 
practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
government generally respected these rights in practice. The 
constitution, however, permits authorities to forbid any citizen from 
questioning the validity of financial disclosure statements submitted 
by public officials. Anyone who questions these statements orally or in 
writing outside a rigidly prescribed procedure is subject to a fine of 
up to BZ$5,000 ($2,500), imprisonment of up to three years, or both. 
There were no reports that this prohibition was invoked during the 
year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were few government restrictions on access 
to the Internet and no credible reports that the government monitored 
e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in 
the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The laws provide for 
the granting of asylum or refugee status, but the government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) Help for Progress, the UNHCR's 
implementing partner in the country, assisted with refugee and asylum 
cases. The Immigration and Nationality Department handles individual 
cases but has not issued refugee permits in almost 15 years.
    The Immigration Department worked with Help for Progress to 
determine eligibility for persons claiming refugee status or asylum. 
Help for Progress reduced its outreach work with immigration officials 
working on the border and its prison visits because of human resource 
constraints and budget cuts. The NGO reported an increase in asylum 
seekers who claimed to be victims of, or threatened by, gangs and 
organized crime, primarily from El Salvador and Guatemala. Help for 
Progress also operated a government-subsidized shelter for asylum 
applicants and refugees. The Immigration Department generally offers 
renewable special residency permits for periods of 60 to 90 days to 
asylum seekers with the possibility of permanent residency and 
citizenship after extensive stays.
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 by secret ballot and 
based on universal suffrage for all citizens age 18 and older.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 
February 2008 the UDP obtained a parliamentary majority in generally 
free and fair elections.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were five women, 
among them the president, in the 12-member appointed Senate, but there 
were no women in the 31-seat elected House of Representatives. Mestizo, 
Creole, Maya, Garifuna, Mennonite, and other minority and immigrant 
groups participated in the National Assembly and at high levels of 
government.
    There were no elected women in the national parliament and no 
female ministers, although there were several deputy ministers (known 
as chief executive officers). In March the National Women's Commission 
launched a collaborative initiative to explore ways to increase the 
participation of women at the highest level of decision making.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
there were no successful prosecutions on that charge. The World Bank's 
worldwide governance indicators reflected that corruption continued to 
be a problem.
    From July through November, the media occasionally reported the 
claim of several NGOs that the Forest Department in the Ministry of 
Natural Resources and Environment was ignoring or facilitating the 
illegal trade of rosewood.
    In November an employee of the San Pedro Magistrate's Court was 
charged with five counts of forgery. At year's end the employee was in 
detention awaiting trial.
    In December the media reported that on November 16, at the Benque 
Viejo border crossing with Guatemala, two foreigners alleged that 
immigration officials extorted 10,000 Mexican pesos (approximately 
$715) from them and sexually harassed one of them. The Ministry of 
Defense and Immigration declared that it had initiated an internal 
investigation.
    On December 22, the media reported a leaked internal memo from 
state-run Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital that alleged corrupt hiring 
and procurement practices.
    In July, in the case involving six immigration officials charged in 
October 2010 with offenses relating to the transit of 33 Chinese 
nationals through the country, a magistrate ruled during a preliminary 
inquiry that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with 
prosecution. The Prosecutor's Office indicated its intention to 
reinstitute charges once the police completed further investigations, 
but at year's end the case remained under investigation and had not 
resulted in new charges.
    At year's end four police officers arrested in November 2010 on 
drug charges remained on interdiction but were free on bail and 
awaiting trial.
    The Prevention of Corruption in Public Life Act requires public 
officials to submit annual financial statements, which are reviewed by 
the Integrity Commission. The commission was not active throughout the 
year.
    The law provides for public access to documents of a ministry or 
prescribed authority upon written request, although it protects a 
number of categories, such as documents from the courts or those 
related to national security, defense, or foreign relations. The 
government must supply to the Office of the Ombudsman a written reason 
for any denial of access, the name of the person making the decision, 
and information on the right to appeal.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A variety of domestic 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.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The ombudsman, although appointed 
by the government, acts as an independent check on governmental abuses. 
The Office of the Ombudsman holds a range of procedural and 
investigative powers, including the right to enter any premise to 
gather documentation and the right to summon persons. However, the 
office operated under staffing and financial constraints. The ombudsman 
reported an inability to complete her required annual report in 2009 
and 2010. Similarly, the Human Rights Commission, an independent, 
volunteer-based government agency, continued to operate but only on an 
ad hoc basis and was constrained by funding and staffing limitations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status, and the government generally 
enforced these prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The criminal code criminalizes 
rape, including spousal rape. The code states that a person convicted 
of rape or marital rape shall be sentenced to imprisonment of eight 
years to life, although in practice sentences were sometimes much 
lighter. Generally, challenges to the wider justice system resulted in 
poor conviction rates for rape offenses. A number of cases resulted in 
acquittals or discontinuance because the accusing party dropped the 
charges or refused to testify at trial (see section 1.e., Trial 
Procedures). In many instances the failure to proceed with a case was 
caused by the victim's fear for personal safety. The BPD reported that 
incidences of rape increased to 27 cases while the number of arrests 
decreased to 14 during the year, compared with 21 cases reported and 16 
arrests in 2010. Underreporting of rape was likely due to perceived 
inefficiencies in the police and judicial systems as well as fear of 
further violence, retribution, and social stigma.
    Domestic violence is frequently prosecuted with charges such as 
``harm,'' ``wounding,'' ``grievous harm,'' rape, and marital rape. 
Police, prosecutors, and judges recognize both physical violence and 
mental injury. Penalties include fines or imprisonment for violations; 
the level of fine or length of sentence depends on the crime. The law 
empowers the Family Court to issue protection orders against accused 
offenders. Persons who may apply for protection orders against domestic 
violence include de facto spouses or persons in visiting relations. 
Protection orders may remain in place for up to three years and may 
include a requirement for child maintenance where applicable.
    The Women's Department continued its program of ``gender 
sensitization,'' as well as its campaign against gender-based and 
domestic violence. The department also continued a batterers' 
intervention and prevention program for men who are abusive to women. 
It received referrals from both the criminal and civil courts.
    In August the Women's Department, Ministry of Health, and Pan 
American Health Organization hosted a national consultation workshop to 
evaluate the system in which service providers identify and refer 
victims and record and report cases of gender-based violence.
    During the year a male police officer from the Domestic Violence 
Unit of the Police Department undertook training in Canada with support 
of the Women's Department.
    Despite these efforts domestic violence against women remained a 
significant problem; information regarding the number of cases during 
the year was not available. Domestic violence likely was most prevalent 
in the Belize District, which includes Belize City. There were two 
women's shelters in the country (with a total of 18 beds) that offered 
short-term housing.
    Although sexual harassment legislation exists, the legal framework 
remained unchanged and, according to the Women's Department, was 
largely ineffective, since the fear of dismissal without compensation 
remained a major deterrence to filing complaints.
    In January an assistant commissioner of police was investigated for 
sexually assaulting a female officer. The officer ranked third in 
command at the Belize Police Department and had served for 26 years. 
The PSB investigated the case before transferring it to the Director of 
Public Prosecution. At year's end the case was concluded as the 
complainant requested no further action.
    In July police began an investigation of a police constable who was 
suspected of ``carnal knowledge'' (statutory rape) of a 13-year-old 
girl who subsequently became pregnant.
    On December 21, the media reported that Supreme Court Justice Denis 
Hanomansingh ruled that a 36-year-old man accused of ``carnal 
knowledge'' of a 14-year-old girl must marry the girl to receive bail.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
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. Programs undertaken by the 
Ministry of Health and the Belize Family Life Association provided 
information and access to family planning and reproductive health 
services; skilled personnel attended 95 percent of births. 
Contraceptive use for married women was estimated to be 34 percent.

    Discrimination.--Despite legal provisions for gender equality, the 
media continued to report that women faced social and economic 
discrimination. The Labour (Amendment) Act, 2011, was enacted during 
the year. The act provides generally for the continuity of employment 
and protection against unfair dismissal, including for sexual 
harassment in the work place or by the employer or another employee. It 
also addresses procedures for the termination of contract and 
establishes a labor complaints tribunal.
    There were no legal impediments to women owning or managing land or 
other real property. Despite participating in all spheres of national 
life, women held relatively few top managerial positions. Although the 
law mandates equal pay for equal work, women earned 45 percent less 
than men did for similar or equal work and experienced a more rapidly 
increasing unemployment rate than men. Fifty percent of women 
participated in the labor force, compared with 83 percent of men.
    The Women's Department under the Ministry of Human Development and 
Social Transformation is responsible for programs to improve the status 
of women. A number of NGOs focused on women's issues also worked 
closely with various government ministries to promote social awareness 
programs relating to gender equality.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory, regardless of the nationality of the 
parents. Citizenship may also be acquired by descent if at least one 
parent is a citizen of the country; however, citizenship by descent is 
not automatic for a child born outside the country. The law requires 
the registration of the birth of children within 42 days of birth. In 
February UNICEF, in coordination with relevant government agencies, 
launched a campaign targeting unregistered children under the age of 18 
with the goal of achieving 100 percent registration.

    Child Abuse.--There was no data available regarding the number of 
cases reported during the year of domestic violence and cases of sexual 
abuse against children under 14. From January through June 2010, there 
were 81 cases of domestic violence against children under age 14 and 18 
cases of sexual abuse against children under age 14. In many cases the 
government was unable to prosecute individuals for such abuse because 
the victims or their families were reluctant to press charges.
    The law allows authorities to remove a child from an abusive home 
environment and requires parents to maintain and support children until 
the age of 18.
    The Family Services Division in the Ministry of Human Development 
and Social Transformation is the government office with the lead 
responsibility for children's issues. The division coordinated programs 
for children who were victims of domestic violence, advocated remedies 
in specific cases before the Family Court, conducted public education 
campaigns, investigated cases of trafficking in children, and worked 
with local and international NGOs and UNICEF to promote children's 
welfare.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The legal age for consensual sex 
is 16. ``Carnal knowledge'' of a female child under the age of 14, with 
or without her consent, is an offense punishable by 12 years' to life 
imprisonment. Unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl who is 14 to 16 is an 
offense punishable by five to 10 years' imprisonment.
    There were reports that children of both sexes were involved in 
prostitution, including sex tourism. Paid sex with a 16- or 17-year-old 
is a crime. The law criminalizes the procurement or attempted 
procurement of unlawful carnal knowledge with a female who is under the 
age of 18 and who is not a common prostitute or of ``known immoral 
character"; an offender is liable to five years' imprisonment.
    The criminal code establishes a penalty of two years' imprisonment 
for persons convicted of publishing or offering for sale any obscene 
book, writing, or representation.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. There 
were fewer than 10 members in the Jewish community.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Although the law does not expressly 
prohibit discrimination against persons with physical and mental 
disabilities, the constitution provides for the protection of all 
citizens from any type of discrimination. The law does not provide for 
accessibility for persons with disabilities.
    Informal government-organized committees for persons with 
disabilities were tasked with public education and enforcing 
protection. Private companies and NGOs provided services to persons 
with disabilities. The Ministry of Education maintained an educational 
unit offering limited special education programs within the regular 
school system. There were two schools and four special education 
centers for children with disabilities.
    The prime minister's wife continued advocacy campaigns on behalf of 
persons with disabilities, partnered with CARE-Belize to promote 
schools that made efforts to create inclusive environments for persons 
with disabilities, and proposed a program for Belize City to support 
children with disabilities. In November construction started on a 
mental health day-care resource center in Belize City to facilitate 
social support and training for income generation of the homeless and 
people with mental health problems as well as provide daily meals, 
medical referrals, and recreation activities for beneficiaries.

    Indigenous People.--Among the country's indigenous population, the 
Mopan and Kekchi historically have been characterized under the general 
term Maya, although self-proclaimed leaders more recently asserted that 
they should be identified as the Masenal (common people). The Maya 
Leaders' Alliance, which comprised the Toledo Maya Cultural Council, 
Kekchi Council of Belize, Toledo Alcaldes Association, and Toledo Maya 
Women's Council, monitored development in the Toledo District with the 
goal of protecting Mayan land and culture.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not protect 
sexual orientation or gender identity. The criminal code states that 
``carnal intercourse'' with any person ``against the order of nature'' 
shall receive a punishment of 10 years' imprisonment. In practice the 
law was interpreted as including only sex between men.
    The extent of discrimination based on sexual orientation was 
difficult to ascertain due to lack of reporting instances of 
discrimination through official channels.
    United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), the country's sole 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy organization, reported 
that continuing harassment and insults by the general public and police 
affected its activities, but its members were reluctant to file 
complaints. There were no gay pride marches organized during the year 
due to UNIBAM membership concerns over the public's possible adverse 
reaction. UNIBAM challenged the law on ``carnal intercourse'' as 
unconstitutional. The case was scheduled to be heard before the Supreme 
Court on December 4 but was postponed to January 2012.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was some societal 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS, and the government worked 
to combat it through the public education efforts of the National AIDS 
Commission under the Ministry of Human Development. NGOs such as the 
Pan American Social Marketing Organization also actively countered 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. The Labour (Amendment) 
Act, 2011, enacted during the year, provides for the protection against 
unfair dismissal, including for HIV status.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law generally protects workers' right to establish and join trade 
unions, conduct legal strikes, and bargain collectively. The law also 
prohibits antiunion discrimination and protects against dissolution or 
suspension of unions by administrative authority. The Ministry of Labor 
recognizes unions and employers associations after they are registered, 
and the law establishes procedures for the registration and status of 
trade unions and employers organizations and for collective bargaining.
    Strikes or other actions are not prohibited in general, even for 
essential services, but the law allows authorities to refer disputes 
involving public and private sector employees who provide ``essential 
services'' to compulsory arbitration, prohibit strikes, and terminate 
actions. The national fire service, postal service, monetary and 
financial services, civil aviation and airport security services, and 
port authority pilots and security services are deemed essential 
services.
    In general the government effectively enforced applicable laws 
without lengthy delays and appeals. Workers can file complaints with 
the ministry's Labor Department or seek redress from the courts, but it 
was generally difficult to prove that a termination was due to union 
activity. The law provides for reinstatement for workers fired for 
union activity, although in practice the courts provided monetary 
compensation as opposed to reinstatement.
    Unions were independent of government and political parties. There 
were no reports of government interference in union activities.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor. The government effectively 
enforced these provisions in general, although there were some reports 
of forced or compulsory labor.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children under age 14. Persons ages 14 
to 18 may be employed only in an occupation that a labor officer has 
determined is ``not injurious to the moral or physical development of 
nonadults.'' Children under age 16 are excluded from work in factories, 
and those under age 18 are excluded from working at night or in certain 
kinds of employment deemed dangerous. The National Child Labor Policy, 
enforced by the Department of Labor and the National Commission for 
Families and Children, contains a list of hazardous occupations for 
young workers.
    The law permits children to work on family farms and in family-run 
businesses. National legislation does not address a situation in which 
child labor is contracted between a parent and the employer. The 
National Child Labor Policy distinguishes between children engaged in 
work that is beneficial to their development and those engaged in the 
worst forms of child labor. The policy identifies children involved in 
the worst forms of child labor as those engaged in hazardous work, 
trafficking and child slavery, commercial sexual activities, and 
illicit activities.
    The Department of Labor has primary responsibility for implementing 
labor policies and enforcing labor laws but had limited resources to 
investigate complaints. Inspectors from the labor and education 
departments are responsible for enforcing these regulations. The 
penalty for employing a child below minimum age is a fine not exceeding 
BZ$20 ($10) or imprisonment not exceeding two months. On a second 
offense, a fine not exceeding BZ$50 ($25) or imprisonment not exceeding 
four months is stipulated. There was no information on whether child 
labor laws were well enforced. There is also a National Child Labor 
Committee under the National Committee for Families and Children that 
advocates for policies and legislation to protect children and 
eliminate child labor.
    In November the government, in collaboration with UNICEF, hosted 
the first State of the Nation Children's Conference. In October the 
government, in collaboration with the prime minister's wife, hosted a 
workshop for persons working in the tourism industry to examine sex 
tourism. The workshop built on the National Symposium on the Commercial 
Sexual Exploitation of Children, which the government held in August.
    Children were engaged in the worst forms of child labor in rural 
areas, and they often worked on family plots and family businesses 
after school, on weekends, and during vacations. There also were 
reports that children of migrant workers helped their parents during 
the harvest period to increase family income. In addition children in 
urban areas worked shining shoes and as street vendors.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was 
BZ$3.10 ($1.55) per hour. A full-time worker receiving the minimum wage 
earned between one and one-half and two times the poverty-limit income, 
depending on the district. The law sets the workweek at no more than 
six days or 45 hours and requires premium payment for overtime work. 
Workers are entitled to two working weeks' paid annual holiday. 
Additionally, there are 13 days designated as public and bank holidays. 
Employees who work on public and bank holidays are entitled to pay at 
time and a half except for Good Friday and Christmas, which are paid at 
twice the normal rate.
    Several different health and safety regulations cover numerous 
industries. The law, which applies to all sectors, prescribes that the 
employer must take ``reasonable care'' for the safety of employees in 
the course of their employment. The law further states that every 
employer who provides or arranges accommodation for workers to reside 
at or in the vicinity of a place of employment shall provide and 
maintain sufficient and hygienic housing accommodations, a sufficient 
supply of wholesome water, and sufficient and proper sanitary 
arrangements. Workers have the legal right to leave a dangerous 
workplace situation without jeopardy to continued employment.
    The Ministry of Labor enforced the minimum wage and health and 
safety regulations to varying degrees. The ministry's Department of 
Labor had 23 labor officers in 10 offices throughout the country. Fines 
vary according to the infraction but generally are not very high. It 
was unclear whether penalties served as a deterrent. During the year 
the department addressed discrimination based on HIV in the workplace 
by publishing a pamphlet, making public service announcements on 
television, and holding a workshop for employers.
    The minimum wage was generally respected in practice. Nevertheless, 
anecdotal evidence from NGOs and employers suggested that undocumented 
Central American workers, particularly young service workers and 
agricultural laborers, were regularly paid below the minimum wage.

                               __________

                                BOLIVIA

                           executive summary
    Bolivia is a constitutional, multiparty republic. In December 2009, 
in a process deemed free and fair by international observers, citizens 
reelected Evo Morales Ayma, leader of the Movement toward Socialism 
(MAS) party, as president. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The principal human rights problems reported were arbitrary or 
unlawful deprivation of life, arbitrary arrest or detention, and denial 
of fair public trial.
    Other human rights problems included harsh prison conditions, 
official corruption, lack of government transparency, violence and 
discrimination against women, and trafficking in persons.
    The government took steps in some cases to prosecute officials who 
committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the 
government.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There was one report 
that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings during the year. On February 11, Sublieutenant Grover Poma 
Guanto died two days after being beaten at the Condores of Bolivia 
School in Sanandita. Sublieutenants Jorge Castro Urena, Rudy Gerardo 
Flores Herrera, Franz Eduardo Garcia, and Roberto Roya Velasquez were 
charged with the killing. Initially the case was heard by military 
courts, but it was transferred to the ordinary justice system for 
trial. The military courts appealed to the constitutional tribunal to 
maintain jurisdiction, but the case had not been heard by year's end.
    In the May 2010 case of Bolivian National Police (BNP) officers who 
allegedly killed two youths and injured 29 in the La Paz departmental 
town of Caranavi, the Prosecutor's Office presented charges against 
five officers: Colonel Roberto Torrez, Colonel Carlos Saravia, 
Commander Julio Cruz, Commander Americo Romero, and Commander Rolando 
Ramos. The lawyer for the victims, Jorge Quiroz, attempted to charge an 
additional eight officers in the case; he complained that, while the 
cases against the protesters were moving swiftly, the charges against 
the police were progressing very slowly and continued under 
investigation. After Quiroz accepted the case, the government charged 
him with defamation after raising other potential charges (pimping and 
drug trafficking) in 2010.
    The May 2010 case involving community members who captured and then 
reportedly tortured and executed four police officers in the town of 
Uncia, Potosi Department, was moved to the city of Potosi for trial. 
Five suspects were accused of the killing, although at year's end only 
three had been arrested. The investigation phase of the case was 
completed.
    In connection with the July 2010 case in which El Alto resident 
David Olorio Apaza was allegedly tortured and killed while in BNP 
custody, police lieutenants Ronald Saravia and Cristian Vargas were 
being held in preventive detention. The case was under investigation at 
year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    In the February 2010 case in which the Armed Forces commander in 
chief denied a civilian investigator access to archived reports of 
approximately 150 persons ``disappeared'' during the 1970s and 1980s, 
the Supreme Court ordered the documents declassified in April 2010. By 
year's end they had not been released.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The constitution and laws prohibit such practices, but 
there was one report that government officials employed them during the 
year.
    On August 5, Jose Cantoral and three other Peruvians were arrested 
on terrorism charges. Cantoral was held in detention for 22 days 
without due process or access to a lawyer while the government 
determined his refugee status. The three others were extradited to 
Peru. According to the country's Permanent Assembly of Human Rights and 
the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Cantoral was subjected to 
psychological and physical torture. On December 6, he was released from 
house arrest while the investigation continued.
    The March 2010 case in which six police officers of the Special 
Tactical Crime Investigation Group in Cochabamba reportedly tortured a 
Colombian citizen was closed without a trial, and the charges dropped 
in January.
    In the April 2010 case of Justo Romero Limon, who alleged he was 
tortured for four hours by persons who he claimed were BNP members, the 
Prosecutor's Office was unable to identify the police officers 
allegedly involved, and at year's end the case remained open.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh. Prisons and detention centers were overcrowded and in poor 
condition. There were 9,130 inmates in facilities designed to hold 
4,700. Pretrial detainees were often held in the same areas as 
convicted criminals. Corruption was a problem among low-ranking and 
poorly paid guards and prison wardens. Prisoners had access to potable 
water, but the standard prison diet was insufficient, and prisoners who 
could afford to do so supplemented rations by buying food. The law 
provides that prisoners have access to medical care, but care was 
inadequate, and it was difficult for prisoners to obtain permission for 
outside medical treatment A prisoner's wealth often determined cell 
size, visiting privileges, day-pass eligibility, and place and length 
of confinement.
    Violence among prisoners remained a problem. According to the 
Therapy and Research Institute, there were many claims of abuse within 
detention centers before arrestees were sent to prisons. According to 
the ombudsman, in some prisons inmates were forced to pay other inmates 
a ``life insurance'' fee of 3,500 to 10,500 bolivianos (approximately 
$500 to $1,500). Until they paid this fee, they were often beaten and 
tortured by other inmates.
    There were separate prisons for women, except for Morros Blancos 
Prison in Tarija, where men and women shared facilities. Sleeping 
quarters were segregated, but the population comingled daily. 
Conditions for female inmates were similar to those for men; however, 
overcrowding at the San Sebastian women's prison in Cochabamba was 
worse than in most prisons for men.
    According to Ministry of Government officials, 1,000 convicted 
juveniles (ages 16 to 21) were not segregated from adult prisoners in 
jails. Adult inmates reportedly abused juvenile prisoners. Four 
convicted female juveniles were serving their sentences in the Center 
for Women's Therapy Counseling, a women's shelter in La Paz, partially 
segregated from the abuse victims. Rehabilitation programs for 
juveniles or other prisoners were scarce. Pretrial detainees were held 
with convicted prisoners.
    Although the law permits children up to the age of six to live with 
an incarcerated parent, children as old as 12 lived with their parents 
in prisons. According to the human rights ombudsman, 1,487 children 
lived with a parent in prison, usually their mother. The number 
sometimes doubled during school vacations.
    Prison detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners to 
submit complaints periodically to a commission of district judges to 
investigate. However, inmates frequently did not submit complaints of 
abuses because they feared retaliation by prison authorities.
    The government generally permitted prison visits by independent 
nongovernmental observers, judges, and media representatives, and such 
visits took place during the year.
    On February 22, a prison for juveniles designed to hold up to 150 
detainees was opened with financing from a foreign nongovernmental 
organization (NGO).

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but in some cases security forces seized and held 
individuals under legally questionable circumstances.
    On September 7, former Central Bank president (1995-2006) Juan 
Antonio Morales was arrested for illicit enrichment based on bonuses 
that he received and provided to bank employees in 1995-97. The 
practice was legal at the time, and bonuses were considered part of 
employees' salaries. The case was widely criticized as politically 
motivated. Morales was released to house arrest, and the case remained 
under investigation at year's end.
    The case of former president of the Chamber of Industry and 
Commerce Eduardo Paz, arrested in 2010 without a warrant for alleged 
connection to terrorism, was closed early in the year and charges were 
dropped.
    Jorge Melgar Quete, leader of the National Revolutionary Movement 
(MNR) party, remained in detention awaiting trial after his 2008 arrest 
for publicly calling for the ``liquidation'' of President Morales. On 
June 23, the court denied Melgar's request for release from preventive 
custody.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The national police 
have primary responsibility in law and in practice for law enforcement 
and maintenance of order within the country, but military forces may be 
called to help in critical situations. The police report to the 
Ministry of Government. The government has mechanisms to investigate 
and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of impunity.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires an arrest warrant, and police must inform the prosecutor of an 
arrest within eight hours. The law requires that a detainee see a judge 
within 24 hours (except under a declared state of siege, in which a 
detainee may be held for 48 hours), at which time the judge must 
determine the appropriateness of continued pretrial detention or 
release on bail. The judge must order the detainee's release if the 
prosecutor fails to show sufficient grounds for arrest. Credible 
reports indicated that in some cases detainees were held for more than 
24 hours without court approval.

    Pretrial Detention.--Judges have the authority to order preventive 
detention for suspects deemed a flight risk. If a suspect is not 
detained, a judge may order significant restrictions on the suspect's 
movements. Detainees generally had prompt access to their families and 
were allowed access to lawyers, but approximately 70 percent could not 
afford legal counsel, and public defenders were scarce and 
overburdened. Suspects were not detained incommunicado.
    Denial of justice due to prolonged detention remained a problem. 
Although the law establishes that neither the investigatory phase nor 
the trial phase of a case can exceed 36 months combined, the NGO 
Construir estimated that in general 75 percent of suspects were held in 
preventive detention longer than the legal limits. If the investigatory 
process is not completed in 18 months, the detainee may request release 
by a judge. However, judicial corruption, a shortage of public 
defenders, inadequate case-tracking mechanisms, and complex criminal 
justice procedures kept some persons detained for more than 18 months 
before trial. According to Construir, more than 80 percent of detainees 
were awaiting sentencing. Courts provided release on bail for some 
detainees.
    Children from 11 to 16 years of age may be detained indefinitely in 
children's centers for known or suspected offenses or for their 
protection on the orders of a social worker. There is no judicial 
review of such orders.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, but the judiciary was widely considered corrupt, 
overburdened, and weakened by vacancies at its highest levels. 
Authorities generally respected court orders, although charges were 
sometimes levied against judges to pressure them to change their 
verdicts.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial. Defendants enjoy the right to presumption of innocence 
and to trial by jury. They also have the right to consult an attorney, 
confront witnesses against them, present witnesses and evidence, access 
government-held evidence, and file an appeal. Defendants who cannot 
afford an attorney have the right to a public defender or private 
attorney at public expense.
    There was at least one abuse during the year. On September 18, the 
detention of former Pando governor Leopoldo Fernandez of the Democratic 
and Social Power (PODEMOS) party on charges of assault and homicide 
exceeded the three year limit on detention without a conviction. By law 
authorities should have released him from prison while awaiting trial, 
but he was kept in prison on new, separate charges of corruption. On 
February 25, Fernandez was transferred from the San Pedro prison to the 
maximum-security Chonchocoro prison without a conviction. He was 
returned to San Pedro prison on September 28. Because the trial was 
moved to a different jurisdiction, his lawyers claimed there was an 
additional human rights violation, since a case must be tried in either 
the region of the supposed violation or the Supreme Court. The trial 
began in June 2010, but as of year's end fewer than 20 of the 500 
witnesses in the case had testified.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees. However, opposition members alleged 
that charges against some elected officials were politically motivated. 
On December 18, the U.N. expressed concern about the growing number of 
judicial cases against political figures, particularly those in the 
opposition.
    On December 19, an arrest warrant was issued for Santa Cruz 
governor Ruben Costas of the Truth and Social Democracy (VERDES) party 
for contempt of court, but the charges were later suspended. On 
December 16, PODEMOS party Beni governor Ernesto Suarez was suspended 
from office due to charges of corruption. On February 17, former Pailon 
mayor Marlene Jaldin Padilla of the MNR party was jailed on money 
laundering and other charges, and on July 20, former Cotoca mayor 
Estanislao Arauz of the regional Citizen Association ``Tiluchi'' party 
was jailed on corruption charges. In November 2010 former Sucre mayor 
Jaime Barron from the Social Integration Pact (PAIS) party was jailed 
for harassing farmers and later placed under house arrest.
    Since 2010 at least 30 elected officials were accused of crimes, an 
action that by law obliges representatives to step down from their 
positions during the investigation. These persons received the same 
protection as other detainees and had the same access to humanitarian 
organizations.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary for civil matters. The law provides for 
criminal remedies for human rights violations. At the conclusion of a 
criminal trial, the complainant can initiate a civil trial to seek 
damages. The ombudsman for human rights can issue administrative 
resolutions on specific human rights cases, which the government may 
enforce.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the government 
generally respected these prohibitions.
    In the case of raids by authorities on the homes of the lawyers for 
the victims of the May 2010 alleged police killings in Caranavi (see 
section 1.a.), the Ministry of Government claimed contempt of court by 
the lawyers. The lawyers declared themselves victims of persecution, 
and an investigation continued at year's end.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press. Although the 
government generally respected these rights, it initiated some 
restrictions on press freedom. There were also some instances of 
violence or harassment.

    Freedom of the Press.--The law provides for freedom of the press. 
Although the government generally respected this right, it maintained 
an antagonistic relationship with the press.
    The July 4 electoral law introduced restrictions on publicizing 
information about candidates in the October 16 judicial elections. The 
regulations prohibited candidates from campaigning and restricted the 
press from reporting unauthorized coverage of, or support for, 
individual candidates. Several main media organizations criticized the 
restrictions, stating they violated ``the constitution that provides 
for freedom of expression, opinion, and information of both journalists 
and ordinary citizens."
    The August 8 Telecommunications Law calls for the redistribution of 
broadcasting licenses and provides the government with 33 percent of 
them. The Bolivian Broadcasting Association complained the law would 
``restrict the liberty of expression'' and stated it could lose 400 
broadcasters to the government when their licenses expire in 2017.

    Violence and Harassment.--There were some reports of violence 
against the press and harassment by the government. On April 15, police 
attacked Red Uno camera operator Israel Gutierrez, Bolivision camera 
operator Carlos Saavedra, and Pagina Siete photographer Henry Ponce 
during a confrontation between police and a workers' union outside La 
Paz. Police broke the cameras of Gutierrez and Saavedra and seized the 
memory cards of Ponce's camera. Civilians attacked two other reporters. 
As of year's end the government had not opened an investigation.
    On July 11, the editor of El Sol de Pando newspaper, Wilson Garcia 
Merida, accused the MAS governor of Pando Department, Luis Flores 
Roberts, of having ordered the seizure of 2,000 copies of an issue of 
the newspaper to prevent the dissemination of a report alleging 
irregularities in the management of the regional authority (see section 
4). On July 28, Ricardo Torres, legal affairs clerk of the state 
government, rejected the charge.
    In September journalist Monica Oblitas reported receiving anonymous 
threatening telephone calls and e mails since April 4, when La Paz 
newspaper La Prensa published her report about medical forensics doctor 
Erika Hinojosa, who allegedly produced false medical documents in 
exchange for money. Oblitas stated that her son had left the country 
due to safety concerns.
    In September, during a confrontation between protesters in Beni, 
residents attacked Samy Schwartz, a photojournalist for several 
newspapers, after he took pictures of the protesters' blockade. Radio 
Fides reporter Cesar Tamayo suffered injuries and had his equipment 
destroyed when blockade participants beat him for reporting on the 
situation. Police were present at the time and did not defend Schwartz 
or the other reporters. Authorities did not investigate the incident 
(see section 2.b.).

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The law provides that a person 
found guilty of insulting, defaming, or slandering public officials for 
carrying out their duties may be detained from one month to two years. 
The sentence is doubled for insults directed against the president, 
vice president, or a minister. Journalists accused of violating the 
constitution or law are referred to the Press Tribunal, an independent 
body authorized to evaluate journalists' practices and apply sanctions.
    On July 18, journalist Richard Romero was detained for distributing 
a documentary that allegedly defamed President Morales. Romero was 
released after 48 hours, but the case remained open.
    The October 2010 Law against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination 
empowers the government to shut news outlets and arrest journalists for 
publishing content it deems racist. No one was arrested under this law 
during the year.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--Some national and local authorities 
occasionally used libel laws to suppress criticism. In March journalist 
Mario Caro of Radio Kollasuyo in Potosi was accused of libel after 
making various accusations of irregularities against authorities in the 
Office of the Secretary of the Environment in Potosi. Investigation of 
the case continued at year's end.
    In September Prosecutor Marcelo Soza accused VERDES party Santa 
Cruz governor Ruben Costas of slander after Costas made comments about 
him in a case. On December 19, a court issued an arrest warrant for 
Costas for failure to appear in court. At year's end Costas had not 
been arrested.
    During the year the September 2010 sentence against former 
president Jorge ``Tuto'' Quiroga of the National Democratic Action 
(AND) party for defamation was commuted, and he did not serve time in 
jail.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e 
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e mail.

    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 peaceful assembly, and 
authorities generally respected this right in practice. Although the 
law requires a permit for most demonstrations, the government rarely 
enforced the law, and most protesters demonstrated without obtaining 
permits, frequently blocking major thoroughfares and highways.
    While most demonstrations were peaceful, occasionally demonstrators 
carried weapons, including clubs, machetes, firearms, and dynamite. 
Security forces (police and on occasion the military) at times 
dispersed protest groups carrying weapons or threatening government and 
private facilities.
    On September 25, police forces in Yucumo, Beni, used tear gas and 
other methods to disband a march by indigenous leaders protesting the 
construction of a highway through their land. Police temporarily 
detained dozens of marchers, and some were injured in the incident. The 
government ombudsman claimed there was no justification for the 
``violent intervention'' by police. The government announced it would 
investigate the intervention and asked international organizations to 
assist. Minister of Government Sacha Lorenti and his deputy, Marcos 
Farfan, were forced to resign, and Police Commander Oscar Munoz was 
arrested over the incident. At year's end the ombudsman found the 
police used unnecessary force and committed other human rights 
violations. Other investigations into the incident continued at year's 
end.

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice. However, the law prohibits travel 24 hours before elections 
and restricts foreign and domestic travel for up to three months as a 
penalty for persons who do not vote.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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 through the National Commission on Refugees.

    Refugee Abuse.--On August 5, Jose Cantoral, a Peruvian, was 
arrested on terrorism charges and held in detention for 22 days without 
due process or access to a lawyer while the government determined his 
refugee status. He was released from house arrest on December 6, 
although the investigation against him continued (see section 1.c.).
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. Many 
citizens of voting age, particularly in rural areas, lacked the 
identity documents necessary to vote. A broad spectrum of political 
parties and citizens' groups functioned openly. Elections for national 
offices and municipal governments are scheduled every five years.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--
Monitoring groups from the Organization of American States, the EU, and 
the Carter center considered the 2009 national presidential and 
legislative elections peaceful, free, and fair.
    The nation's first judicial elections, held on October 16, were 
deemed free and fair by observers from the Organization of American 
States and the Union of South American States. However, electoral laws 
prohibited media access to the candidates prior to the elections (see 
section 2.a.), and opposition leaders claimed the preselection of 
candidates by congress rendered the vote ``legal but not legitimate."

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Half the candidates on 
municipal election ballots must be women, a requirement that increased 
female representation to approximately 30 percent of municipal council 
positions. However, credible NGOs reported that women participating in 
politics sometimes faced challenges to running for municipal offices in 
the form of violence. There were 52 women among the 166 congressional 
deputies and senators and 10 women in the 21-member cabinet. In the 
October 16 judicial elections, the candidates for Supreme Court were 
categorized by gender to encourage equal representation in the court.
    The constitution and electoral law set aside seven special 
indigenous districts to increase indigenous political participation in 
congress.
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 in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of 
government often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    According to the World Bank's 2010 worldwide governance indicators, 
government corruption and lack of transparency remained a serious 
problem. A 2010 Transparency International study showed that 23 percent 
of citizens reported paying at least one bribe within the previous 12 
months.
    In April the government passed a law aimed at reducing corruption 
in the police force. Police corruption was a significant problem, 
partially due to low salaries and lack of training, although no 
reliable statistics existed to quantify its extent.
    During the year Pando Governor Flores Roberts was accused of 
corruption for creating front companies. Former employee Claudia 
Silvana Salas reported the front companies to the police and was 
subsequently arrested after being charged by the Flores Roberts family 
for extortion. At year's end Salas was in detention, and her family 
reported receiving anonymous threats.
    The law requires public officials to report potential personal and 
financial conflicts of interest. Likewise, public officials must 
declare their assets. Cases involving allegations of corruption against 
the president and vice president require congressional approval before 
prosecutors may initiate legal proceedings. The Ministry of 
Anticorruption and Transparency and the Prosecutor's Office are 
responsible for combating corruption.
    No laws provide 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 
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views. However, NGOs 
and the human rights ombudsman complained that government security 
forces and ministries occasionally refused to cooperate with their 
investigations.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The constitution establishes a 
human rights ombudsman with a six-year term. Congress chooses the 
ombudsman by a two-thirds majority vote. The ombudsman is charged with 
overseeing the defense and promotion of human rights, specifically 
defending citizens against government abuses. The ombudsman operated 
without party influence and with adequate resources from the government 
and foreign NGOs. The ombudsman issued annual reports, and the 
government usually accepted his recommendations.
    The lower house of congress includes a permanent commission on 
human rights, which proposes laws and policies to promote human rights. 
Congressional deputies sit on the commission for one-year terms.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution explicitly prohibits discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape was a serious and 
underreported problem. Forcible rape of an adult is punishable by 
sentences ranging from four- to 10-years' imprisonment. Spousal rape is 
not a crime. The Santa Cruz prosecutor's office reported 700 cases of 
rape and trafficking in persons during the year, although none went to 
trial. National statistics were not available.
    Violence against women was also a pervasive and underreported 
problem. According to the NGO Center for the Information and 
Development of Women (CIDEM), 70 percent of women had suffered 
physical, sexual, or psychological abuse during their lifetime. The 
center noted that such abuse was likely underreported. CIDEM also 
reported that 43 women were killed by their partners during the year. 
The Women's Federation of El Alto estimated that only one in seven 
victims reported abuse to the police.
    Family laws prohibiting mental, physical, and sexual violence 
provide for fines or up to four days in jail unless the case involves a 
crime subject to the penal code. However, these laws were enforced 
irregularly. The government took few meaningful or concrete steps to 
combat domestic violence.
    In 2010 police registered 56,143 cases of family violence in which 
the vast majority of victims were women. The police Family Protection 
Brigade is responsible for combating domestic abuse but lacked 
financial and structural support and personnel to pursue all reported 
cases. In November the government and private organizations launched a 
public awareness campaign focused on violence against women.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law considers sexual harassment a civil 
offense. There were no statistics on the incidence of sexual 
harassment, but it generally was acknowledged to be widespread.

    Reproductive Rights.--The government recognizes the basic right of 
couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. Health clinics and local health 
NGOs operated freely in disseminating information on family planning 
under the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Sports. According to 
the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey, the maternal mortality rate was 
estimated to be 310 per 100,000 live births and the reported 
contraceptive prevalence rate among married women was 34.6 percent. 
However, only 24 percent of the women surveyed reported they were using 
modern contraceptive methods.
    The 2008 survey reported that 90 and 71 percent of women received 
prenatal care and services of skilled birth attendants, respectively, 
and that 85 percent of mothers and infants received postnatal care. 
Improvement in these indicators was attributed to the Health Ministry's 
policy of providing conditional cash transfers to women who register at 
a health center and return for their prenatal visits, delivery, and 
postpartum care. Legal services offices devoted to family and women's 
rights operated throughout the country. The Maternal and Infant Health 
Insurance Program provided health services to women of reproductive age 
and to children under age five.

    Discrimination.--Women are entitled to the same legal rights as 
men, but many women were unaware of their rights. Women generally did 
not enjoy a social status equal to that of men. Traditional prejudices 
and social conditions remained obstacles to advancement. The minimum 
wage law treats men and women equally; however, women generally earned 
less than men for equal work. Women sometimes complained that employers 
were reluctant to hire them because of the additional costs (mainly 
maternity leave) in a woman's benefits package. The gender gap in 
hiring appeared widest for positions requiring a higher education. Most 
women in urban areas worked in the informal economy and the services 
and trade sectors, including domestic service and microbusiness, 
whereas in rural areas the majority of economically active women worked 
in agriculture. Young girls often left school early to work at home or 
in the informal economy. According to the armed forces, the percentage 
of women entering the military had increased from 0.4 percent to 3 
percent in the previous six years.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived both through 
birth within the country's territory (unless on diplomatic status) and 
from one's Bolivian parent(s). Birth certificates are registered either 
by a notary's affirmation of the certificate or through testimony of 
two adults regarding a child's parentage. Registered birth certificates 
are necessary to obtain national identification cards.

    Child Abuse.--Sexual crimes against minors are automatically 
considered crimes. The law criminalizes statutory rape, with prison 
terms of 15 to 20 years for the rape of a child under the age of 14. In 
cases involving consensual sex with an adolescent who is 14 to 18 years 
of age, the penalty is two to six years' imprisonment. According to the 
human rights ombudsman, during the year seven of 10 children were 
physically or psychologically abused in their homes or at school. 
Corporal punishment and verbal abuse were common in schools.

    Child Marriage.--According to the Population Reference Bureau, 26 
percent of women of the ages 20 to 24 were married by age 18. There is 
no minimum age of consent.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Commercial sexual exploitation of 
children, including child prostitution, was a problem, particularly in 
the Chapare region and in urban areas, including Santa Cruz, La Paz, El 
Alto, and Cochabamba. Several NGOs had active programs to combat child 
prostitution. According to the human rights ombudsman, many children 
living in the streets were exploited sexually.
    The law criminalizes the commercial sexual exploitation of children 
with penalties between 10 and 15 years in prison. The penalty for child 
pornography involving children under 14 years of age is three to six 
years in prison. The International Organization for Migration estimated 
that there were 2,000 girls involved in prostitution.

    Displaced Children.--According to the human rights ombudsman, 6,000 
children lived in the streets of major cities, and 1,487 lived with 
their parents in prison.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbered approximately 650 
persons. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services. The law requires wheelchair access 
to all public and private buildings, duty-free import of orthopedic 
devices, a 50 percent reduction in public transportation fares for 
persons with disabilities, and expanded teaching of sign language and 
Braille. However, the government did not effectively enforce these 
provisions. In addition societal discrimination kept many persons with 
disabilities at home from an early age, limiting their integration into 
society.
    The National Committee for Persons with Disabilities is responsible 
for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.There were some instances of 
racial discrimination by police. According to the Public Ministry, 
during the year there were 139 registered cases of discrimination or 
racism, mostly in the provision of health and education services (other 
government sectors did not report). Of these cases, 18 percent involved 
verbal abuse, 15 percent were based on indigenous character or culture, 
and 10.8 percent involved sexual discrimination against women. None of 
the allegations resulted in more than administrative punishment.

    Indigenous People.--In the 2001 census, approximately 62 percent of 
the population over the age of 15 identified themselves as indigenous, 
primarily from the Quechua and Aymara groups. The Inter-American 
Commission on Human Rights reported that 70 percent of indigenous 
persons lived in poverty or extreme poverty with little access to 
education or minimal services to support human health, such as clean 
drinking water and sanitation systems. The government carried out some 
programs to increase access to potable water and sanitation in rural 
areas where indigenous people predominated. The governmental Indigenous 
Fund initiated support in 2010 for development projects designed to 
primarily benefit indigenous communities. The fund had a budget of more 
than 900 million bolivianos ($129 million) but allotted only 70 million 
bolivianos ($10 million) for 82 projects in the year.
    Indigenous lands were not fully demarcated, and land reform 
remained a central political issue. Historically, some indigenous 
persons shared lands collectively under the ``ayllu'' system, which was 
not legally recognized during the transition to private property laws. 
Despite laws mandating reallocation and titling of lands, recognition 
and demarcation of indigenous lands were not fully accomplished.
    The law states that indigenous peoples have the right to control 
natural resources in their territories, but indigenous people protested 
outside exploitation of their resources and sometimes complained that 
authorities did not properly consult them. In August and September 
indigenous leaders marched to protest the construction of a highway 
through indigenous lands without prior consultation required by the 
constitution and international conventions (see section 2.b.).
    Indigenous persons were well represented in government and 
politics, but they bore a disproportionate share of poverty and 
unemployment. Government educational and health services remained 
unavailable to many indigenous groups living in remote areas. The 
government continued to try to improve individual and family situations 
through the delivery of cash conditional transfers and retirement 
payments to low-income persons and the elderly. For example, under the 
cash conditional transfer program, pregnant women and children under 
the age of two receive money if they undergo medical checkups.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on sexual orientation, including by police, and 
citizens are allowed to change their name and gender on their official 
identity cards. However, societal discrimination against gay, lesbian, 
bisexual, and transgender persons was common and noted in local media 
editorials.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The human rights 
ombudsman reported that persons with HIV/AIDS faced pervasive 
discrimination. There were few if any registered acts of violence 
against persons with HIV/AIDS. No formal government programs existed to 
combat HIV/AIDS discrimination, although such discrimination is 
illegal.
    The September 2010 case in which community members buried alive 
three brothers in the Cochabamba town of Tapacari was in the trial 
phase at year's end.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides workers freedom of association and the right to strike 
with some exceptions, protects the right to organize and bargain 
collectively, and prohibits antiunion discrimination. The 2009 
constitution allows any working individual to join a union and provides 
for the right to strike, although an older labor code provided 
exceptions to this and was used as the regulatory base. Workers may 
form a union in any private company of 20 or more employees, but the 
law requires that at least 50 percent of the workforce be in favor. The 
law requires prior government authorization to establish a union and 
confirm its elected leadership, permits only one union per enterprise, 
and allows the government to dissolve unions by administrative fiat. 
The law also requires that members of union executive boards be 
Bolivian by birth. According to the older regulatory code still in use, 
public employees are expressly prohibited from forming unions. Unions 
are permitted to affiliate with international organizations.
    The law provides most workers with the right to strike, but it 
requires unions to seek prior government mediation; the law has the 
same requirement for employers before they initiate a lockout. A legal 
strike requires the support of 75 percent of union workers. Workers who 
participate in an unlawful strike may be sentenced to prison terms of 
one to five years. The government may initiate compulsory arbitration 
to end a strike or collective dispute in nonessential sectors. 
Employees of government ministries are prohibited from striking. 
Although excluded from the law, agricultural workers are permitted to 
organize unions and strike. Employees serving in the public service 
sector are prohibited from striking, specifically those in the public 
administrative posts; the water, light, and energy sectors; 
communications and banking; sanitary services; and public food-market 
employment. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and requires 
reinstatement of employees illegally fired for engaging in union 
activity.
    The government effectively enforced applicable laws, but it was 
slow to do so and continued to use a labor code that was superseded by 
the constitution. The National Labor Court handles complaints of 
antiunion discrimination, but rulings took a year or more. The court 
ruled in favor of discharged workers in some cases and required their 
reinstatement. However, union leaders stated that problems often had 
been resolved or were no longer relevant by the time the court ruled.
    In practice freedom of association was limited by government 
regulations and overburdened labor courts. Moreover, the minimum 
requirement of 20 workers proved an onerous restriction, as an 
estimated 72 percent of enterprises had fewer than 20 employees. The 
government had close ties with some umbrella labor organizations, such 
as the Bolivian Workers' Union (Central Obrera Boliviana) and the 
Confederation of Farm Workers. Labor inspectors are allowed to attend 
union meetings and monitor union activities.
    Public sector workers (including teachers, transportation workers, 
and health-care workers) frequently went on strike, despite 
prohibitions against strikes, and were not penalized for such actions. 
These groups were also unionized and actively participated as members 
of the Bolivian Workers' Union without penalty. General and solidarity 
strikes are protected by the constitution but technically illegal based 
on a 1951 Supreme Court decree; the government neither prosecuted nor 
imposed penalties in such cases. Collective bargaining and voluntary 
direct negotiations between employers and workers without government 
participation was limited. Most collective bargaining agreements were 
restricted to addressing wages.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government partially 
enforced these laws. There were isolated cases of mostly indigenous 
persons who incurred debts to their employers and were obligated to 
work until the debt was repaid.
    The government and private sector made significant strides to 
eliminate forced labor in two historically troubled industries, Brazil 
nuts and sugar. The government assigned extra labor inspectors to these 
areas, and the local human rights ombudsman, with cooperation from the 
private sector, created a plan to reduce the risks of forced and child 
labor from reemerging in the industries.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits all paid work by children under the age of 14. The law 
prohibits a range of dangerous, immoral, and unhealthy types of work 
for minors under 18. Labor law permits apprenticeship for 12- to 14-
year-old children with various formal but poorly enforced restrictions 
that were criticized by the International Labor Organization (ILO). 
Children under 14 worked in a variety of industries, including 
historically dangerous sectors such as mining.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing child labor laws 
but in general did not do so effectively, including laws pertaining to 
the minimum age and maximum hours for child workers, school completion 
requirements, and health and safety conditions for children in the 
workplace.
    The Bolivian Institute for International Trade, with support from 
the government, worked with the sugar association to eliminate child 
labor throughout the sugar production chain. The institute created a 
triple seal to certify that companies were free of child labor, forced 
labor, and discrimination. Up to 500 sugar manufacturers participated 
in the program, but none had received the triple seal by year's end.
    Child labor remained a serious problem. According to the ILO, in 
2008 an estimated 848,000 children between the ages of five to 17 
worked at least one hour a week. Approximately 800,000 children were 
under the age of 14 and working in risky labor conditions--354,000 in 
urban areas and 446,000 in rural areas. The human rights ombudsman 
estimated that more than 100,000 children worked eight to 12 hours a 
day.
    Urban children sold goods, shined shoes, and assisted transport 
operators. Rural children often worked with parents from an early age, 
generally in subsistence agriculture. Children generally were not 
employed in factories or formal businesses, but when employed in such 
situations, they often worked the same hours as adults. Children worked 
as domestic servants and also in dangerous occupations such as gold, 
silver, tin, and zinc mining as well as other areas in the informal 
sector.
    There were reports of Bolivian children subjected to forced labor 
in neighboring countries.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--During the year the government 
raised the minimum monthly wage to 815 bolivianos ($117) for the public 
and private sectors. The official estimate of the poverty income level 
in 2005 was 336 bolivianos ($48) per month. Labor laws establish a 
maximum workweek of 48 hours and limit the workday to eight hours for 
men. The laws also set a 40-hour workweek for women, prohibit women 
from working at night, mandate rest periods, and require premium pay 
for work above a standard workweek. The law provides for a minimum of 
15 days' annual leave and grants workers the right to remove themselves 
from dangerous situations without fear of losing their jobs.
    In practice the government did not effectively enforce these laws. 
The Ministry of Labor's Bureau of Occupational Safety has 
responsibility for protection of workers' health and safety, but the 
relevant standards were poorly enforced. There were fewer than 55 
inspectors in the entire country to enforce health, safety, and 
regulatory compliance. Five of these inspectors were dedicated 
specifically to child labor. The law provides for penalties for 
noncompliance, but enforcement was not effective, and the penalties 
were insufficient to deter violations.
    A national tripartite committee of business, labor, and government 
representatives is responsible for monitoring and improving 
occupational safety and health standards and enforcement. The Ministry 
of Labor maintained offices for worker inquiries, complaints, and 
reports of unfair labor practices and unsafe working conditions, but it 
was unclear whether the offices were effective in regulating working 
conditions. While the government did not keep official statistics, 
there were reports that workers died due to unsafe conditions, 
particularly in the mining and construction sectors. There were no 
significant government efforts to improve conditions in these sectors.
    An estimated two-thirds of workers were part of the informal 
economy. There was no significant government effort to formalize or 
enforce labor laws in this portion of the economy.
    Working conditions in cooperative-operated mines remained poor. 
Miners were self-employed and continued to work with no scheduled rest 
for long periods in dangerous, unhealthy conditions.

                               __________

                                 BRAZIL

                           executive summary
    Brazil is a constitutional, multiparty republic. In October 2010 
voters chose Dilma Rousseff as president in elections considered free 
and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The most significant human rights abuses included substandard 
prison conditions; human trafficking, especially sex trafficking of 
children and adolescents; and forced labor.
    Other human rights problems included excessive force, beatings, 
abuse, and torture of detainees and inmates by police and prison 
security forces; prolonged pretrial detention and inordinate delays of 
trials; violence and discrimination against women; violence against 
children, including sexual abuse; violence based on sexual orientation; 
discrimination against indigenous persons and minorities; insufficient 
enforcement of labor laws; and child labor in the informal sector.
    The government continued to prosecute officials who committed 
abuses; however, lengthy appeals in the judiciary for some human rights 
violators remained a problem.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The federal 
government or its agents did not commit politically motivated killings, 
but unlawful killings by state police (military and civil) occurred. In 
some cases police employed indiscriminate force. In a few cases, 
civilians died during large-scale police operations conducted by law 
enforcement officers. Credible reports indicated state police officials 
continued to be involved in revenge killings and the intimidation of 
witnesses who testified against police.
    On February 15, authorities arrested 19 police officers in the 
central state of Goias for belonging to a group that allegedly had 
killed at least 40 persons since 1996. The officers claimed they 
targeted adult male criminals, although women and children were among 
the dead. Among those arrested was the deputy commanding general of the 
state's military police, Colonel Carlos Cezar Macario.
    On August 11, gunmen ambushed and killed Judge Patricia Lourival 
Acioli in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro State. Acioli was known for taking a 
hard line against corrupt police officers. On September 27, authorities 
arrested Lieutenant Colonel Claudio Luiz de Oliveira, Lieutenant Daniel 
Benitez, and six other members of the Rio de Janeiro military police on 
charges of planning and participating in the killing.
    In Rio de Janeiro there were reports that both on- and off-duty 
police employed indiscriminate use of force. These acts often occurred 
in the city's approximately 1,050 favelas (poor neighborhoods or 
shantytowns), where an estimated 1.5 million persons lived.
    According to the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Amnesty 
International, specialized Police Pacification Units (Unidades Policia 
Pacificadora, or UPPs) significantly reduced violence in a dozen 
communities, but the NGO stated that police in Rio de Janeiro continued 
to depend on repressive methods and were responsible for at least 30 
percent of all civilian casualties in UPP operations. The NGO claimed 
Rio police killed 471 persons from January to October in ``acts of 
resistance,'' similar to resisting arrest. The Rio de Janeiro State 
Public Safety Institute, a governmental organization, corroborated this 
number.
    The Sao Paulo State Secretariat for Public Security reported that 
state police (civil and military) killed 354 civilians in the state 
from January to September, compared with 392 in the same period in 
2010.
    At year's end there were no developments in the April 2010 killing 
of at least 23 persons by a group of approximately five military police 
officers on the coast of Sao Paulo State, reportedly in retaliation for 
the killing of a fellow officer.
    Killings and other violence related to environmental activism and 
agrarian conflicts continued. Between May 21 and June 1, five community 
leaders with connections to environmental activism were killed. On May 
24, rubber tapper Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do 
Espirito Santo, were shot and killed near their home in the Amazon 
region of Para State. In addition to being union leaders, both were 
active environmentalists and reported illegal logging to authorities. 
The couple had received several death threats. On September 18, police 
arrested Jose Rodrigues Moreira and Lindon Johnson Silva Rocha in 
connection with the killings. At year's end both were in detention 
awaiting trial.
    According to the Catholic NGO Pastoral Land Commission, 1,855 
environmental activists received death threats between 2000 and 2010, 
and 42 were subsequently killed. Of 1,588 killings linked to land 
conflicts that occurred in remote areas of the Amazon between 1995 and 
October 2011, 91 went to trial, resulting in 21 convictions. On October 
27, the National Council of Justice and the Para State Justice Tribunal 
formed a task force to accelerate judgments of pending cases related to 
land conflict killings.
    On September 6, a four-judge panel of the First Criminal Chamber of 
the Para State Court of Justice upheld the sentence of Reginaldo 
Pereira Galvao, convicted of the 2005 murder of Catholic nun Dorothy 
Mae Stang and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Galvao, who had remained 
free while awaiting the outcome of the appeal, turned himself in and 
began serving his sentence.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution prohibits such treatment and 
provides severe legal penalties for its use, torture and other cruel 
treatment by police and prison guards persisted.
    On August 2, Paraiba state military policeman Gleson Campos Pereira 
was arrested in the state of Pernambuco on charges of torturing four 
persons, two of whom were minors. At year's end there were no new 
developments.
    In March Rio de Janeiro became the first state to establish a 
committee to prevent and combat torture. The committee is composed of 
16 members--eight from the state government and eight from civil 
society. The committee provided an overview of torture to the U.N. 
Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture during the U.N. group's September 
visit. Also in September the subcommittee inspected various prisons and 
detention centers for evidence of torture by police officers.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in many prisons 
were poor and sometimes life threatening, but many states made efforts 
to improve conditions. Abuse by prison guards continued to occur at 
many facilities. The Catholic Church's Penitentiary Commission, linked 
to the country's National Conference of Bishops, reported 25 cases of 
torture in prisons and police stations from January through the end of 
March, compared with 70 in all of 2010. Poor working conditions and low 
pay for prison guards encouraged corruption.
    According to the Ministry of Justice's Penitentiary Information 
Integrated System (InfoPen), 84 deaths occurred inside prisons between 
January and June, of which 11 were of a criminal nature.
    Prisoners had access to potable water, but sanitary conditions were 
often inadequate. Prisoners who committed petty crimes were held with 
murderers. Overcrowding was a problem. According to the National 
Council of Justice (CNJ), in August there were 471,528 prisoners 
incarcerated in a prison system designed for approximately 333,000. 
According to a local NGO and official data, 44 percent of all detainees 
were awaiting trial.
    In August the CNJ reported that the Anibal Bruno prison in Recife 
held 4,900 prisoners in a facility designed for 1,400. On September 9, 
five prisoners were killed in gang-related violence in the Serra Azul 
prison in Sao Paulo State; at the time of the killings, there were 
1,530 prisoners in a facility with a capacity of 730.
    While authorities attempted to hold pretrial detainees separately 
from convicted prisoners, overcrowding often required holding convicted 
criminals in pretrial detention facilities. Abuses continued in 
municipal jails and detention centers throughout the country.
    The state of Rio de Janeiro took steps to address torture and other 
problems in its prison system. In March state authorities ordered all 
police-operated jails to be closed. They also ordered the closure of 
Polinter de Neves, a state prison intake facility, which was the 
subject of an Organization of American States investigation in 2009. 
However, approximately 3,000 inmates remained at the facility due to a 
lack of vacancies elsewhere. In a 2010 inspection of Polinter de Neves, 
80 prisoners were found in a cell designed for 13.
    Espirito Santo State has constructed 25 new prisons during the last 
decade and closed most of its older prisons. Espirito Santo, like Rio 
de Janeiro State, also ordered the closure of its police-run jails. The 
Sao Paulo State Secretariat for Penitentiary Systems reported that 
during the year five new prisons were built in the state and 16 more 
were under construction. In 2010 and 2011, the CNJ conducted reviews of 
more than 295,000 criminal cases, resulting in the release of almost 
22,000 prisoners.
    In December 2010 the International Center for Prison Studies 
estimated the nationwide female prison population at approximately 
34,700 inmates. The situation in the Santana Women's Penitentiary in 
Sao Paulo remained poor, although there were some improvements in 
health care and food quality. The prison has a capacity of 1,200 
prisoners; early in the year it held 2,700 women.
    Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states and the Federal District 
provided separate prison facilities for women; elsewhere, according to 
the Catholic Church's Penitentiary Commission, women occasionally were 
held with men in some facilities.
    Women who give birth in prison or are the mothers of newborns when 
arrested are permitted to keep their babies with them in the facility 
for six months. At the Santana Penitentiary in Sao Paulo, mothers and 
their babies were housed in the hospital center, on the same compound 
as the prison.
    The federal constitution prevents minors from being tried as adults 
and incarcerated in federal, state, or city prisons. Crimes or 
misdemeanors committed by minors are classified as infractions and 
recorded in the National Registry of Adolescents in Conflict with the 
Law. From January through June, 91,321 adolescents were placed on the 
registry for various crimes. The penalties for such acts are classified 
as socio-educational measures. Of those placed on the registry, 29,506 
received such penalties.
    By law juveniles should not be held together in jails with adults, 
but this was not always respected in practice. The CNJ's Justice to 
Youth program, adopted in 20 states, is designed to ensure that 
adolescent criminals are treated differently from adult criminals. 
Multiple sources reported adolescents jailed with adults in poor and 
crowded conditions. Insufficient capacity in juvenile detention centers 
was widespread. In October there were 18,196 adolescents in detention 
centers, a 4.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2010.
    In July a law allowing judges to prescribe alternate sentences, 
including ankle bracelet monitoring and home arrest, to minor offenders 
came into effect. The law was intended to reduce overcrowding.
    The government's National System of Socio-Educational Services 
(SINASE) provides rules standardizing the legal proceedings involving 
minors. SINASE oversaw improvements to juvenile detention centers, such 
as requiring a maximum of three adolescents per room and encouraging 
physical activity.
    In 2006 the Center for the Socio-Educational Care of the Adolescent 
began dismantling large out-of-date detention centers and building 
smaller facilities for easier management of the inmate population. Two 
new centers opened in August, bringing the number of such facilities to 
57. Each new center had space for 56 adolescents. The creation of small 
units reduced the recidivism rate, which dropped from 29 percent in 
2006 to 12.8 percent in 2010, while the number of riots fell to four 
reported during the year.
    Prisoners and detainees had access to visitors. Human rights 
observers reported that some visitors complained of screening 
procedures that at times included invasive and unsanitary physical 
exams. Prisoners were permitted religious observance and could submit 
complaints to judicial authorities. Government policy permits prison 
visits by independent human rights observers, and this policy generally 
was followed. There also were state-level ombudsman offices and the 
federal Secretariat for Human Rights (SDH) to monitor prison and 
detention center conditions.
    Under federal law all convicted prisoners are authorized to work, 
and educational opportunities should be made available. Nevertheless, 
nationwide only 14 percent of prisoners worked and 8 percent took part 
in educational activities, according to InfoPen. To address the lack of 
educational opportunities, the CNJ offered a program called New 
Beginnings to provide educational and work opportunities for inmates.
    In many states educational opportunities are supplied by the 
respective state secretariats of education. According to the Catholic 
Church's Penitentiary Commission, which has constitutional authority to 
visit inmates at their request, only 7.5 percent of prisoners in the 
Sao Paulo prison system had access to educational opportunities. On May 
23, the Sao Paulo state government announced the creation of the 
Virtual School for Educational Programs of Sao Paulo, replacing face-
to-face prisoner-teacher interactions with virtual technologies aimed 
at making classes more accessible to inmates.
    On June 30, President Rousseff modified the Law of Penal Execution, 
mandating that inmates have a day removed from their sentences for 
every 12 hours they attend classes.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention and limits arrests to those caught in the act of 
committing a crime or arrested by order of a judicial authority; 
however, police at times did not respect this prohibition in practice.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Federal Police, 
operating under the Ministry of Justice, is small, primarily 
investigative, and plays a minor role in routine law enforcement. Most 
police forces fall under the control of the states, where they are 
divided into two distinct units: the civil police, performing an 
investigative role, and the military police, charged with maintaining 
law and order.
    In Rio de Janeiro's favelas, so-called militia groups, composed of 
off-duty and former law enforcement officers, often took policing into 
their own hands. Many militia groups intimidated residents and 
conducted illegal activity such as extorting protection money and 
providing pirated utility services. Human rights observers believed 
that such militia groups controlled up to a third of Rio's favelas.
    In February federal police agents and the internal affairs unit of 
the Rio State Secretariat for Public Security conducted a massive sweep 
targeting high-ranking police officials accused of collusion with 
militia groups. The operation led to the arrests of 11 civil police 
officers and 21 military police officers. Rio Civil Police Chief Allan 
Turnowski resigned as a result of the investigation.
    On May 12, a large-scale police operation targeting illegal militia 
groups was carried out by 90 military policemen and 40 civil police 
officers from the state of Pernambuco, resulting in the arrest of 11 
persons for committing murders in Pernambuco and also in Maceio, 
Alagoas State. Former Alagoas police officer Edgelson Ribeiro 
Guimaraes, considered the militia group leader, had previously been 
accused of kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms. The group he 
led was charged with at least four killings between April 2010 and May 
2011. The defendants remained in detention awaiting trial at year's 
end.
    The law mandates that special police courts exercise jurisdiction 
over state military police except those charged with ``willful crimes 
against life,'' primarily homicide. The police often were responsible 
for investigating charges of torture and excessive force carried out by 
fellow officers, although independent investigations increased. Delays 
in the special military police courts allowed many cases to expire due 
to statutes of limitations.
    According to the Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat for Public 
Security, human rights courses were a mandatory component of training 
for entry-level military police officers. UPP officers for the favela 
pacification program received additional human rights training, 
supplementing what regular civil and military police receive. Under the 
pacification program, the Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat for Public 
Security inaugurated five new UPPs during the year, bringing the total 
to 18. In November Rio security forces established control in Rocinha, 
the largest favela in the country. The armed forces continued to patrol 
the favela Complexo do Alemao following their November 2010 entry to 
remove organized crime groups.
    On April 15, the Sao Paulo state government began making available 
to the public extensive data on crimes committed in the state, 
including killings by police. Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin signed 
a resolution permitting citizens to file police reports for some crimes 
online as well as with the military police, whereas in the past victims 
had to file in person.
    On June 2, President Rousseff met with the state governors of 
Amazonas, Para, and Rondonia to discuss measures to confront agrarian 
conflicts that contributed to the killing of environmental activists in 
those states. Minister of Justice Jose Eduardo Cardozo subsequently 
announced Operation Life Protection and the deployment of a task force 
consisting of the armed forces, Federal Police, highway patrol, and 
National Security Force to assist in investigations.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--With the 
exception of arrests of suspects caught in the act of committing a 
crime, arrests must be made with a warrant. Suspects must be advised of 
their rights at the time of arrest or before being taken into custody 
for interrogation. The use of force during an arrest is prohibited 
unless the suspect attempts to escape or resists arrest. According to 
human rights observers, some detainees complained of physical abuse by 
police officers while being taken into custody.
    Authorities generally respected the constitutional right to a 
prompt judicial determination of the legality of detention. Detainees 
were informed promptly of the charges against them. The law permits 
provisional detention for up to five days under specified conditions 
during an investigation, but a judge may extend this period. A judge 
may also order temporary detention for an additional five days for 
processing. Preventive detention for an initial period of 15 days is 
permitted if police suspect that a detainee may leave the area. 
Occasionally detainees were held longer than the provisional period.
    Defendants arrested in the act of committing a crime must be 
charged within 30 days of arrest. Other defendants must be charged 
within 45 days, although this period may be extended. In practice the 
backlog in the courts often resulted in extending the period for 
charging defendants. The Catholic Church's Penitentiary Commission 
reported that one in five pretrial detainees was held beyond the legal 
limit.
    Bail was available for most crimes, and defendants facing charges 
for all but the most serious crimes had the right to a bail hearing. 
Prison authorities generally allowed detainees prompt access to a 
lawyer. Indigent detainees had the right to a lawyer provided by the 
state. Detainees also were allowed prompt access to family members.
    The law does not provide for a maximum period for pretrial 
detention, which is defined on a case-by-case basis. Time in detention 
before trial is subtracted from the sentence.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.
    Although the law requires that trials be held within a set time 
period, the nationwide backlog in state and federal cases frequently 
led courts to dismiss old cases unheard. To reduce backlogs and waiting 
times, the CNJ formed several task forces to review thousands of 
outstanding cases. Between February and November, the judicial task 
force of Region 1, which includes the judiciaries of 14 states in the 
north, northeast, and central-west regions, reduced by 26,688 the 
backlog of approximately 340,000 cases. Between September 2010 and 
September 2011, the task force of Region 3, which consists of the 
states of Sao Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul, reduced by 93,970 the 
backlog of approximately 300,000 cases.

    Trial Procedures.--The right to a fair public trial as provided by 
law was generally respected. However, in some rural regions-especially 
in cases involving land rights activists-the perception existed that 
police, prosecutors, and the judiciary were more likely to be subject 
to external influences, including fear of reprisals. Investigations, 
prosecutions, and trials in these cases often were delayed. After an 
arrest a judge reviews the case, determines whether it should proceed, 
and, if so, assigns the case to a state prosecutor who decides whether 
to issue an indictment. The law recognizes the competence of a jury to 
hear cases involving capital crimes. Judges try those accused of lesser 
crimes. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and have the right 
to confront and question witnesses, access government-held evidence, 
and appeal verdicts.
    While the law provides for the right to counsel, the Ministry of 
Justice stated that many prisoners could not afford an attorney. The 
court must furnish a public defender or private attorney at public 
expense in such cases. The Public Ministry continued to hire public 
defenders, but staffing deficits remained in all states. According to 
the Rio de Janeiro State Office of Public Defense, the state employed 
800 public defenders, up from 700 in 2010, yet this was insufficient.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--While the justice system 
provides for an independent civil judiciary, courts were overburdened 
with backlogs and sometimes subject to corruption, political influence, 
and indirect intimidation. Citizens can bring lawsuits before the 
courts for human rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, but NGOs reported that 
police conducted searches without warrants. Human rights groups, other 
NGOs, and the media reported incidents of police invasions in poor 
neighborhoods. During these operations police stopped and questioned 
persons and searched cars, residences, and business establishments 
without warrants.
    The military continued to patrol the Complexo do Alemao favela in 
Rio de Janeiro while community police officers were being trained to 
assume responsibility. The NGO Rede Contra Violencia claimed that 
military forces in Complexo do Alemao continued to enter and search 
homes without warrants and that community police officers conducted 
warrantless searches of homes in some pacified favelas.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
authorities generally respected these rights in practice. The 
independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views 
with minimal restriction, but nongovernmental criminal elements 
continued to subject journalists to violence because of their 
professional activities.

    Freedom of the Press.--The National Association of Newspapers (ANJ) 
continued to report cases of imprisonment, aggression, censorship, and 
failure to respect freedom of the press. Between January 1 and July 26, 
the ANJ reported 23 cases of censorship, threats, direct violence 
against journalists, and other forms of pressure against news 
organizations and professionals, including three killings, one 
imprisonment, six cases of censorship, and nine instances of verbal 
assault and physical battery.
    According to the International Press Institute, five journalists 
were killed in the country during the year.
    On April 9, a gunman shot and killed radio journalist and 
television personality Luciano Leitao Pedrosa in Vitoria de Santo 
Antao, Pernambuco. Pedrosa hosted the television program Action and 
Citizenship for seven years and was a harsh critic of municipal 
government and local authorities in the Northeast. Police arrested an 
accomplice to the killing on April 13 but made little further progress 
on the case.
    On June 15, three gunmen in Serra do Mel, Rio Grande do Norte 
State, shot and killed journalist and editor Edinaldo Filgueira. 
Authorities arrested eight suspects who reportedly belonged to a gang 
of contract killers. On November 18, the mayor of Serra do Mel, Josivan 
Bibiano, was indicted as the mastermind of the killing.
    The ANJ, Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism, and 
Inter American Press Association regarded the most serious threat to 
press freedom to be the growing number of cases of judicial censorship 
of the media. For example, in March Judge Adrianno Espindola Sandes of 
Jaguarari in Bahia State prohibited the radio station Lideranca FM from 
broadcasting news related to charges that the city's mayor, Antonio 
Ferreira do Nascimento, bought votes. The Judges Association of Bahia 
upheld the decision, stating that continued broadcasting would impede 
an investigation into the case.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e mail.
    Several legal and judicial rulings had the potential to threaten 
freedom of expression on the Internet. A continuing trend was for 
private individuals and official bodies to take legal action against 
Internet service providers and providers of online social media 
platforms, such as Google, Facebook, and Orkut, holding them 
accountable for content posted to or provided by users of the platform. 
Judicial rulings often resulted in the forced removal of content from 
the Internet.
    In March the Rondonia State Court sentenced Google to pay 100 
minimum wages (approximately 54,000 reais, or $29,000) to the municipal 
funds for children and adolescents in the towns of Pimenta Bueno, Sao 
Felipe de Oeste, and Primavera de Rondonia for providing the 
infrastructure supporting two online communities considered offensive. 
Prosecutors declared that two young men were offended by profanity and 
sexual content within the virtual communities. Google, owner of Orkut, 
the Web site in question, stated that it was responsible solely for 
providing the online infrastructure and not the content of the site 
posted on that infrastructure. Google's appeal was pending at year's 
end.
    In July 2010 electoral rules were issued regulating presidential 
campaigns on the Internet. The rules prohibit candidates from buying 
advertising space online and restrict online campaign presences to 
sites run by the candidate. Between July and December 2010, the 
government made 263 content removal requests to Google, of which Google 
partially or completely complied with 76 percent. Observers attributed 
this to the number of electoral court orders requesting the removal of 
content related to political campaigns. There were no elections during 
the year and consequently no such requests.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and 
other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The law provides for 
the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. During the 
year the government granted approximately 4,400 asylum seekers full 
refugee status.
    An estimated 4,000 Haitians immigrants entered the country during 
the year, making their way through Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia via the 
Dominican Republic and Panama in hope of securing employment in one of 
the large infrastructure projects, such as hydroelectric dams. The 
government did not grant refugee status to the immigrants but provided 
humanitarian assistance and issued 1,600 humanitarian visas to the 
immigrants. The visa entitles them to receive health and social 
assistance, the right to work, and the right to remain for up to five 
years.
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. 
Military conscripts may not vote.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In the 
October 2010 national elections, considered free and fair, Workers' 
Party candidate Dilma Rousseff won a four-year term as president.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Women have full political 
rights. The law requires that 30 percent of the candidates registered 
by each political party be women. According to the Electoral Supreme 
Court, there were 3,968 female candidates in the October 2010 
elections, compared with 15,504 male candidates. Thirteen women were 
elected to the 81-member Senate and 44 women to the 513-member Chamber 
of Deputies. Of the 27 governors elected, two were women.
    There were 25 Afro-Brazilians in Congress (three senators and 22 
deputies). There was one Afro-Brazilian in the cabinet and one each on 
the Federal Supreme Court and Superior Court of Justice.
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 frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. 
There were numerous reports of government corruption.
    During the year six executive cabinet-level officials resigned over 
allegations of corruption-Chief of Cabinet Antonio Palocci on June 7, 
Minister of Transportation Alfredo Nascimento on July 6, Minister of 
Agriculture Wagner Rossi on August 17, Minister of Tourism Pedro Novais 
on September 14, Minister of Sports Orlando Silva on October 26, and 
Minister of Labor and Employment Carlos Lupi on December 4. Numerous 
other public officials were arrested, dismissed, or forced to resign, 
and President Rousseff reiterated her commitment to combat corruption.
    In July the Court of Audit (TCU), the congressional auditing and 
investigative arm, reported on government contracts audited from 2006 
to 2010. The report found 80,000 irregularities, including 31,793 
instances of collusion on bidding and 1,470 instances in which 
contracts were signed with companies that were legally prohibited from 
signing government contracts.
    The Ficha Limpa (Clean Record) law bars politicians from seeking 
elected office if they face corruption charges.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws, which 
were enforced and with which the officials generally complied.
    Federal government entities such as the TCU, Federal Controller 
General, Public Ministry, Federal Police, judiciary, Department of 
Revenue and Control of Financial Activities, and Federal Treasury are 
responsible for fighting corruption. The agencies identified public 
spending as a source of financial corruption, but they had limited 
powers to function effectively.
    On August 23, the Brazilian Bar Association launched a Web site to 
track government corruption.
    The law provides for public access to unclassified government 
information upon application to the Commission for Public Ethics, 
although the release of such information was often slow.
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. Federal officials were 
cooperative and responsive to their views. Federal and state officials 
in many cases sought the aid and cooperation of domestic and 
international NGOs in addressing human rights problems; for instance, 
the Ministry of Labor (MTE) partnered with the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) to formulate national strategies for combating 
forced and child labor.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Chamber of Deputies and the 
Senate had human rights commissions that operated without interference 
and participated in several activities nationwide in coordination with 
domestic and international human rights organizations. Most states had 
police ombudsmen, but their accomplishments varied considerably, 
depending on such factors as funding and outside political pressure.
    On November 18, President Rousseff signed a law establishing a 
truth commission to investigate alleged human rights abuses from 1946 
to 1988, including those committed by the military regime (1964-85). 
The law authorizes the commission to hold public hearings, compel 
individuals to testify, request and review classified documents from 
all three branches of government, and publish the results of its 
investigations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits and penalizes discrimination on the basis of 
race, gender, disability, or social status, but discrimination 
continued against women, Afro-Brazilians, gays and lesbians, and 
indigenous persons.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape, including spousal rape, 
is a crime punishable by eight to 10 years in prison. Domestic violence 
remained both widespread and underreported to the authorities, due to 
fear of retribution, further violence, and social stigma. On March 24, 
the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the 2006 
Maria da Penha law to combat domestic violence against women. The law, 
which increases the penalty for domestic violence from one to three 
years in prison and created special courts, may have led to an increase 
in reporting. Since the approval of the law, 300,000 cases of domestic 
violence have been brought to trial, resulting in 100,000 convictions. 
According to research published on March 27, the CNJ estimated there 
were 332,200 cases of violence against women in state-level judicial 
systems. Protective orders were granted in 15 to 30 percent of cases, 
and the conviction rate for cases brought under the law was less than 1 
percent. In early December the CNJ signed an agreement with the 
Secretariat for Women's Policies (SPM) and the Ministry of Justice to 
identify barriers to trying cases of domestic violence in state courts.
    The federal government continued to operate a toll-free nationwide 
hotline for women. In the first six months of the year, the hotline 
registered 293,708 calls reporting domestic violence, 14 percent lower 
than in the same period in 2010. According to hotline data, 60 percent 
of the complaints received between April 2006 and June 2011 concerned 
physical abuse.
    The Police Women's Defense Office in Fortaleza, Ceara, reported 
6,337 cases of domestic violence in Fortaleza between January and July, 
although only 667 investigations were opened. Reports of domestic 
violence have risen nationwide since 2006, when the Maria da Penha law 
was launched.
    There were special courts for domestic and family violence in all 
states except Paraiba, Roraima, Sergipe, and Tocantins. Sao Paulo 
State's Special Court of Domestic and Family Violence against Women 
appointed an additional judge, bringing the total number to two. The 
court processed 9,000 cases during the year, most of them related to 
threats of violence, rape, and coercion; this was 50 percent higher 
than in 2010. In 80 percent of the cases, the defendants were sentenced 
to prison; some were also sent for counseling. During the year the 
state of Sao Paulo created six more special courts of domestic 
violence, for a total of seven.
    Each state secretariat for public security operated police stations 
dedicated exclusively to addressing crimes against women, for a total 
of 359 countrywide. The stations provided psychological counseling, 
temporary shelter, and hospital treatment for victims of domestic 
violence and rape, as well as criminal prosecution assistance by 
investigating incidents and forwarding evidence to courts. There were 
also 187 reference centers and 72 temporary women's shelters.
    The law requires health facilities to contact the police regarding 
cases in which a woman was harmed physically, sexually, or 
psychologically to collect evidence and statements should the victim 
decide to prosecute.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment is a criminal offense, 
punishable by up to two years in prison. The law encompasses sexual 
advances in the workplace or educational institutions and between 
service providers or clients. In the workplace it applies only in 
hierarchical situations where the harasser is of higher rank or 
position than the victim.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have 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 generally were available in urban but not rural areas. 
The Population Reference Bureau recorded contraceptive use among 
married women at 81 percent and noted that 97 percent of births were 
attended by skilled personnel. Impoverished and rural women, however, 
were less likely to have skilled attendants.

    Discrimination.--A cabinet-level office, the Secretariat for 
Women's Policy, oversees a special entity charged with overseeing the 
legal rights of women. Women's labor force participation (75 percent) 
was below that of men (85 percent), and women were more likely to work 
in the informal sector. Although the law prohibits discrimination based 
on gender in employment and wages, there were significant wage 
disparities between men and women. According to the MTE, women often 
were paid less than men in the same functions.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived from birth 
in the country or from a parent. According to 2010 Institute of 
Geography and Statistics (IGBE) census data, there were approximately 
599,000 unregistered children nationwide. The number reflected children 
who did not have birth certificates once they reached 10 years of age, 
and experts believed the number was especially elevated among isolated 
populations in the states of Roraima, Amazonas, and Mato Grosso do Sul. 
Without birth certificates children cannot be vaccinated or enrolled in 
school. If the problem persists into adulthood, an unregistered adult 
cannot obtain a worker's card or receive retirement benefits.
    The CNJ, in partnership with the SDH, aimed to reduce the number of 
such children by registering children born in maternity wards. The CNJ 
also implemented a program to encourage fathers to acknowledge their 
children and take responsibility for them. In 2009 there were almost 
five million children and adolescents who held birth certificates with 
only the mother's name.

    Child Abuse.--Abuse and negligence of children and adolescents were 
problems and included rape, molestation, and impregnation of girls by 
family members. The SDH oversees the National Program to Confront 
Sexual Violence Against Children and Adolescents, which established 
nationwide strategies for combating child sexual abuse and best 
practices for treating victims.
    From January to August, the SDH-operated Dial 100, a hotline that 
receives complaints of sexual abuse against children and adolescents, 
logged 380,619 complaints, compared with 160,933 during all of 2010. Of 
these, 50,866 reports concerned abuse, compared with 30,543 in 2010. 
According to the SDH, the rise was due to increased national awareness 
of what constitutes sexual abuse.
    Between January and March, there were 1,179 reported cases of 
sexual exploitation, 3,133 of sexual abuse, 5,557 of neglect, and 5,841 
of physical or psychological violence. Approximately 56 percent of the 
victims between January and February were girls; the most common 
complaints were negligence and sexual violence.
    The NGO Social Service for Industry (SESI) operated child 
protective service centers in 12 state capitals. The program served 
1,800 adolescents between 16 and 21 who received psychological 
counseling, medical attention, legal advice, and technical schooling.
    According to data released on August 9 by the National Register of 
Sheltered Children (CNCA), there were 33,361 children and adolescents 
living in shelters provided by NGOs, churches, and other religious 
organizations throughout the country.
    The Death Threat Protection Program for Children and Adolescents 
(PPCAAM) brought in 282 children and adolescents and 458 families in 
the first quarter of the year. Sixty percent of those shielded by the 
program had received death threats due to involvement in drug 
trafficking, and 68 percent entered the program accompanied by one or 
more family members. The program offers psychological counseling and 
technical courses to reinsert these youth into stable community 
situations.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law sets a minimum age for 
consensual sex of 14 years, with the penalty for statutory rape ranging 
between eight and 15 years in prison. The country was a destination for 
child sex tourism. While no specific laws address child sex tourism, it 
is punishable under other criminal offenses. According to data from the 
SDH, University of Brasilia, UNICEF, and ILO, more than 100,000 
children were victims of sexual exploitation each year. More than 900 
municipalities, half of which were in the Northeast, served as tourist 
destinations for the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
    In June the National Evangelical Movement for Social Action 
launched the Campaign Against Child Sex Tourism in advance of the 2014 
World Cup. In early July the Para Tourism Company, in conjunction with 
the Sustainable Tourism Program, committed to distributing 7,000 
leaflets in seven municipalities along the Tapajos River in the Amazon 
region.
    On July 12, Minister Iriny Lopes, head of the SPM; Minister Maria 
do Rosario Nunes, head of the SDH; and Federal Police investigators 
announced increased efforts to combat sexual tourism in the Amazon 
region. The measure was spurred by allegations that a foreigner 
operated a charter fishing operation as cover for sexual tourism that 
exploited young indigenous women and girls. An investigation, which 
began in 2008, continued at year's end.
    The law criminalizes child pornography. The penalty for possession 
of child pornography is up to four years in prison and a fine. Those 
who produce, reproduce, or offer for sale child pornography or recruit 
a child to participate in a pornographic production may be imprisoned 
up to eight years and fined.
    Although the country is not a large-scale producer of child 
pornography, such material was spread on social networking Web sites. 
The Public Ministry, Dial 100, and the NGO Safernet, in partnership 
with the Federal Police, registered 19,311 child pornography complaints 
between January 1 and July 1, compared with 30,601 complaints in the 
same period in 2010.
    The Ministry of Tourism continued to promote its code of conduct to 
prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the tourism 
industry. The Federal Highway Police and ILO published data in places 
such as gas stations, bars, restaurants, motels, and nightclubs along 
highways considered areas for sexual exploitation of children and 
adolescents.
    The Rio de Janeiro Municipal Secretariat for Social Assistance had 
14 social assistance centers and 23 shelters (eight public and 15 
private) to assist child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse and 
exploitation. Between January and August, the centers assisted 504 
young victims, compared with 370 in 2010. The secretariat attributed 
the growth to the increased number of centers. Of the 504 cases, 
371were victims of sexual abuse and 103 were victims of sexual 
exploitation.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html as well as country-specific information at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--According to the Jewish Federation, there were 
approximately 125,000 Jewish residents, of whom approximately 65,000 
were in the state of Sao Paulo and 40,000 in Rio de Janeiro State. It 
is illegal to write, edit, publish, or sell books that promote anti-
Semitism or racism. The law enables courts to fine or imprison anyone 
who displays, distributes, or broadcasts anti-Semitic materials and 
mandates a two- to five-year prison term.
    On February 9, Rio de Janeiro civil police indicted three students 
under a federal racial crime law for fomenting Nazism. Further 
investigation led to the seizure in the students' homes of computers 
and magazines alluding to Nazism.
    According to Safernet, there were approximately 300 neo-Nazi cells, 
90 percent of them in the states of Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina, Parana, 
and Rio Grande do Sul. Safernet estimated that each cell consisted of 
approximately 40 individuals. In the city of Sao Paulo, there were 
isolated incidents of anti-Semitism, including physical and verbal 
attacks against Jewish persons, anti-Semitic graffiti, and displays of 
neo-Nazism.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report 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 federal government 
effectively enforced these provisions. While federal and state laws 
provide for access to buildings for persons with disabilities, states 
did not enforce them effectively.
    Federal laws establish the basic rights to accessibility and access 
to information for persons with disabilities. The National Council for 
the Rights of Handicapped Persons and the National Council for the 
Rights of the Elderly, both within the SDH, have primary responsibility 
for promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. According to the 
SDH, specific problems included the short supply of affordable 
orthotics and prosthetics, scarcity of affordable housing with special 
adaptations, need for more accessibility to public transport, and 
shortage of schools with facilities for physically challenged persons.
    Beginning in July all residences built under the second version of 
the Ministry of Cities' public housing program must be constructed to 
meet accessibility standards for persons with disabilities.
    In July the Sao Paulo state governor launched the Fast Track 
Employment Program, which offers public financial assistance for 
vocational training in 330 of 628 state public-sector job vacancies to 
persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The law prohibits racial 
discrimination, specifically the denial of public or private 
facilities, employment, or housing to anyone based on race. The law 
also prohibits, and provides prison terms for, the incitement of racial 
discrimination or prejudice and the dissemination of racially offensive 
symbols and epithets. However, darker-skinned citizens, particularly 
Afro-Brazilians, frequently encountered discrimination.
    The 2010 census reported for the first time that white persons 
constituted less than half the population of 190,755,799. A total of 
91,051,646 claimed to be white, while 99,697,545 identified themselves 
as belonging to other categories.
    Afro-Brazilians continued to be underrepresented in the government, 
professional positions, and middle and upper classes. They experienced 
a higher rate of unemployment and earned average wages below those of 
whites in similar positions. There was also a sizeable racial education 
gap.
    According to 2010 census data, 76.2 percent of the state of Bahia 
was black and 79.4 percent of the capital city, Salvador, was black, 
yet the percentage of blacks serving in state and municipal 
legislatures was small. Both bodies were seeking to institute racial 
quotas to reverse this trend.
    According to the Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat for Social 
Assistance and Human Rights, fewer than 10 of the state's 800 public 
defenders were black and only one of the state's 200 public prosecutors 
was black.
    The Getulio Vargas Foundation survey of income inequality, released 
on May 3, showed a decline in income inequality from 2000 to 2010. The 
report revealed that the income of blacks rose 43 percent over the 
decade, compared with 21 percent for whites. Education was seen as the 
primary factor contributing to income growth (55 percent), while 
government social programs such as Bolsa Familia (15 percent) also 
played a role.
    The July 2010 Racial Equality Statute continued to be 
controversial, due to its provision for nonquota affirmative action 
policies in education and employment.
    According to a 2009 report by the Ministry of Education, 53 of 
2,314 universities maintained affirmative action programs, including 40 
major public universities in the Federal District and the states of Sao 
Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, and Bahia. A total 
of 5,834 self-declared students of color attended state and federal 
universities under the quota system in 2009.
    At year's end the right of communities of descendants of escaped 
slaves (quilombos) to receive title to their land had not been fully 
implemented.

    Indigenous People.--According to data from the National Indigenous 
Foundation (FUNAI), National Health Foundation (FUNASA), and 2010 
census, there were approximately 818,000 indigenous persons, or 0.4 
percent of the total population. Approximately 315,000 lived in urban 
areas, while almost 503,000 lived in 4,774 villages spread over 677 
indigenous lands covering 12 percent of the national territory, 
including at least 448 municipalities in 24 states. Approximately 99 
percent of the indigenous lands are concentrated in the Amazon. The law 
grants the indigenous population broad protection of their cultural 
patrimony and exclusive use of their traditional lands. The law 
provides indigenous persons exclusive beneficial use of the soil, 
waters, and minerals on indigenous lands, but Congress must approve 
each case.
    While the 1988 constitution charges the federal government with 
demarcating indigenous areas within five years, the government had not 
completed the four phases of demarcation (identification, declaration, 
approval, and registration). The Supreme Court's 2009 decision 
upholding demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous reserve 
bordering Venezuela and Guyana set a precedent in favor of demarcation 
of indigenous lands as single contiguous territories. Nonetheless, 
problems remained in enforcing the integrity of the territories.
    The Maraiwatsede reserve in the state of Mato Grosso, home to the 
Xavante indigenous group, was demarcated in 1998, yet illegal, 
nonindigenous settlers continued to reside in the reserve. The 
indigenous community of approximately 3,000 was forced to live on only 
10 percent of the demarcated territory. On June 19, a Mato Grosso 
federal court ordered the expulsion of nonindigenous inhabitants from 
the reserve within 20 days, but on July 1, the eviction order was 
rescinded to allow time for the court to hear from the defense. The 
case remained pending at year's end.
    Delays in the demarcation of indigenous reserves perpetuated 
violence against indigenous peoples. On August 23, men suspected to be 
employees of neighboring farms attacked a group of approximately 125 
families from the Guarani-Kaiowa tribe in their roadside camp near the 
town of Iguatemi, Mato Grosso do Sul. The families had recently 
returned to ancestral lands undergoing demarcation. Tribal leaders 
appealed to the state prosecutor and FUNAI for help, but neither party 
was forthcoming, and there was no police investigation, nor were any 
arrests made. Despite public support from the state government of Mato 
Grosso do Sul, the police, and FUNAI, the camp's remote location made 
such support difficult to implement.
    On November 18, Nisio Gomes, a Guarani-Kaiowa chief, was killed 
near his tribe's camp in the same area of Mato Grosso do Sul. Gunmen 
hired by ranchers intent on driving the Guarani-Kaiowa from the 
contested land were suspected. Activists claimed that local police 
failed to investigate the violence.
    According to a 2009 Ministry of Education report, 53 of 2,314 state 
and federal universities continued to reserve entrance slots for 
indigenous persons. In 2009, 154 indigenous students attended state and 
federal universities under the quota system.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Federal law does not prohibit 
discrimination based on sexual orientation, but several states and 
municipalities such as Sao Paulo have administrative regulations that 
bar discrimination based on sexual orientation and provide for equal 
access to government services.
    During the year the NGO Bahia Gay Group received approximately 255 
reports of killings based on sexual orientation and gender identity, 
compared with 260 in 2010. Gay men were the most affected group, 
followed by transgender persons and lesbians.
    On July 15, in Sao Joao da Boa Vista, Sao Paulo, a father and son 
were beaten by a group of boys who suspected that the two were gay.
    According to the SDH, the Dial 100 hotline received 560 complaints 
of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in 
the first half of the year; 20 percent of the complaints were 
registered in the city of Sao Paulo.
    According to a representative of the Secretariat of Human Rights, 
many transgender persons and transsexuals had difficulty formally 
entering the labor market or study programs, due to the fact that a 
discrepancy between the photograph on an individual's labor card and 
the personal appearance of the individual holding the card can prevent 
the individual from obtaining permission to work. A new labor card can 
be obtained only through a labor court, but most presiding judges 
adhered to a strict biological interpretation of gender or held an 
outright bias against transgender persons and transsexuals. The Sao 
Paulo state government offered a mobile assistance unit to transgender 
persons that helped approximately 300 such persons per month.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reported 
cases of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/
AIDS or other groups not mentioned above.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides for union representation of all workers (except 
members of the military, the uniformed police, and firefighters) but 
limits organizing at the enterprise level and imposes a mandatory union 
tax on workers and employers. The law provides the right to strike to 
all workers except the armed forces, military police, and firefighters. 
The civil police are allowed to conduct strikes, and workers exercised 
this right in practice. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, 
including the dismissal of employees who are candidates for or holders 
of union leadership positions, and requires employers to reinstate 
workers fired for union activity.
    New unions must register with the MTE, which accepts the 
registration unless objections are filed by other unions. The law 
stipulates certain restrictions, such as ``unicidade'' (in essence one 
per city), which limits freedom of association by prohibiting multiple, 
competing unions of the same professional category in a given 
geographical area. Unions that represent workers in the same 
geographical area and professional category may contest registration. 
If the objection is found valid, the MTE does not register the union. 
While a number of competing unions existed, the MTE and courts enforced 
unicidade in decisions regarding the registration of new unions. Most 
elements of the labor movement and the International Trade Union 
Confederation criticized unicidade.
    The law stipulates that a strike may be ruled ``abusive'' by labor 
courts and be punishable if a number of conditions are not met, such as 
maintaining essential services during a strike, notifying employers at 
least 48 hours before the beginning of a walkout, and ending a strike 
after a labor court decision. Employers may not hire substitute workers 
during a legal strike or fire workers for strike-related activity, 
provided that the strike is not ruled abusive.
    The law obliges a union to negotiate on behalf of all registered 
workers in the professional category and geographical area it 
represents, regardless of whether an employee pays voluntary membership 
dues to it. The law permits the government to reject clauses of 
collective bargaining agreements that conflict with government policy. 
Collective bargaining is effectively prohibited in the public sector; 
the constitution allows it, but implementing legislation has not been 
enacted. The law prohibits the dismissal of employees who are 
candidates for or holders of union leadership positions.
    Authorities at times did not effectively enforce laws protecting 
union members from discrimination. Some labor courts charged with 
resolving disputes involving unfair dismissal, working conditions, 
salary disputes, and other grievances were slow. Parties generally 
agreed that cases were decided fairly.
    Freedom of association was generally respected in practice, but 
there were a few notable exceptions. During a week-long strike in 
November, state-run oil company Petrobras was accused of antiunion 
practices, including restricting the access of union officials to 
employees operating on oil platforms off the coast of Santa Catarina 
and Parana and discouraging employees from participating in 
demonstrations. Collective bargaining was widespread in formal sector 
establishments of the private sector. Worker organizations were 
independent of the government and political parties, and there was no 
government interference in union activities.
    In practice employers fired strike organizers for reasons 
ostensibly unrelated to strikes, and legal recourse related to 
retaliatory discharge, although improving, was often a protracted 
process. In April the Ninth Regional Labor Court in Curitiba, Parana, 
fined the state's multimedia information firm Celepar 10,000 reais 
($5,400) for discriminating against a union leader employee who had 
been passed over for promotions and subject to harassment as a result 
of his union activities. Most informal sector workers did not benefit 
from union representation.
    Intimidation and killings of rural union organizers and their 
agents continued. On May 24, gunmen killed union leaders Jose Claudio 
Ribeiro da Silva, president of the National Council of Extractive 
Populations, and his wife, Maria do Espirito Santo, in Nova Ipixuna, 
Para (see section 1.a.).

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
``reducing someone to a condition analogous to slavery,'' and the 
government acted to enforce the law. Violators of forced or compulsory 
labor laws face sentences of up to eight years in prison. The law also 
provides penalties for various crimes related to forced labor, such as 
recruiting or transporting workers or obliging them to incur debt as 
part of a forced labor scheme.
    Forced labor, including by children, occurred in many states, in 
work such as clearing forest to provide cattle pastureland, logging, 
raising livestock, and other agriculture activities. Forced labor often 
involved young men drawn from the impoverished northeastern state--
Maranhao, Piaui, Tocantins, Para, and Ceara--and the central state of 
Goias to work in the northern and central-western regions of the 
country. Cases of forced labor were also reported in sweatshops in the 
city of Sao Paulo; the victims were often men, women, and children from 
neighboring countries, particularly Bolivia and Paraguay. Efforts 
against forced labor were hindered by failure to impose effective 
penalties, the remoteness of the area where the crime typically 
occurred, lack of awareness of rights, and delays in judicial procedure 
that resulted in de facto impunity for those responsible. Accurate, 
nationwide statistics on prosecutions for forced labor cases were not 
available.
    Women and adolescents, the latter typically working with their 
parents, also were involved in forced labor activities, often inside 
the home. The ILO estimated that there were approximately 25,000 forced 
laborers at any given time during the year.
    During the year the MTE freed 2,271 laborers from conditions 
analogous to slavery in 158 unannounced inspections of 320 properties, 
compared with 2,628 laborers in 143 unannounced inspections of 309 
properties in 2010. Additionally, the Federal Police reported that they 
had opened 323 forced labor investigations in 2010. According to the 
Pastoral Land Commission's 2010 report published in February, the 
largest concentration of forced labor remained in the cattle-raising 
industry (52 percent of reported cases and 29 percent of released 
workers). This number included forced laborers involved in 
deforestation activities, frequently associated with ranching.
    The National Commission to Eradicate Forced Labor coordinates 
government efforts to combat forced labor and provides a forum for 
input from civil society. MTE's Mobile Inspection Unit is an important 
instrument in the fight against forced labor. Using teams composed of 
labor inspectors, labor prosecutors from the Federal Labor Prosecutor's 
Office, and Federal Police officers, the unit conducts surprise 
inspections of properties on which slave labor is suspected or 
reported.
    Often working in dangerous conditions, mobile teams levied fines on 
landowners who used forced labor and required employers to provide back 
pay and benefits to workers before returning the workers to their 
municipalities of origin. Workers freed by mobile units are entitled to 
three months' salary at the minimum wage. The MTE paid out 5.3 million 
reais ($2.8 million) in back pay during the year. However, few 
specialized services were provided to these workers, and NGOs noted a 
high revictimization rate. Mato Grosso funded a program to provide 
vocational training and other services to freed slave laborers.
    In November, 10 workers found in a situation of forced labor were 
released from the Fazenda Outeiro Grande farm in Sao Mateus, Maranhao 
State. The inspection was conducted by the Regional Superintendent of 
Labor and Employment of Maranhao in conjunction with the MTE and 
Federal Police. The farm owner sold boots, sickles, soap, and other 
goods to the workers and deducted the inflated prices from their wages. 
The wages paid were less than the minimum wage and thus insufficient to 
pay for the goods, resulting in a situation of debt bondage. The 
laborers slept in a schoolhouse without functioning plumbing. Water for 
drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing clothes was taken from a nearby 
pond that was also used by farm animals. The owner of the farm, 
Antonion Evaldo de Macedo, had previously appeared on MTE's ``dirty 
list'' between 2008 and 2010.
    The MTE publishes a ``dirty list'' to publicly expose names of 
employers (persons or legal entities) caught using slave labor. Created 
in 2004, the list is updated every six months by the MTE's Secretariat 
of Labor Inspections and is available on the MTE Web site. Inclusion on 
the ``dirty list'' has serious financial consequences in that public 
financial institutions, such as the Bank of Brazil, Bank of Amazonia, 
Northeast Bank, and Brazilian Development Bank as well as many private 
banks deny credit and other services to listed individuals and 
companies. The list contained 294 names at year's end, up from 220 at 
the end of 2010.
    Efforts of the federal government are supported by a number of 
state initiatives, and several states have state commissions for the 
eradication of forced labor. On September 27, the Sao Paulo State 
governor created the State Commission for the Eradication of Forced 
Labor (Coetrae). The group is coordinated by the Secretariat of Justice 
and works in tandem with the Nucleus for Trafficking in Persons. 
Coetrae's goal is to evaluate and follow cases, monitor the legal 
situation regarding forced labor, conduct research on trends, and 
oversee the coordination between the secretariat and NGOs.
    On December 8, owner Avelino de Dea and foreman Jose Henrique 
Vanzetto were sentenced to seven years and 10 months, and five years 
and seven months, respectively, for reducing 59 employees to working 
conditions analogous to slavery on a cattle farm in Itupiranga, Para, 
in 2007. On December 16, cattle rancher Rodrigo Baltazar Pereira was 
sentenced to six years and one month in a halfway house for reducing 11 
employees to working conditions analogous to slavery on a farm 
Montividiu, Goias, in 2006. Consolidated information on prosecutions 
and sentences in the area of forced labor were difficult to compile 
given the large number of labor courts and delays in implementing a 
central registry tracking their actions.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
minimum working age is 16 years, and apprenticeships may begin at age 
14. The law bars all minors under age 18 from work that constitutes a 
physical strain or occurs in unhealthy, dangerous, or morally harmful 
conditions. In 2008 domestic service was added to the list of hazardous 
work prohibited for minors under 18. The law requires parental 
permission for minors to work as apprentices. The MTE found that 
between 2005 and 2010, judges allowed 33,000 children under 16 to 
engage in the worst forms of child labor, including construction, 
agriculture, and garbage scavenging.
    The MTE is responsible for inspecting worksites to enforce child 
labor laws. Most inspections of children in the workplace were driven 
by complaints brought by workers, teachers, unions, NGOs, and the 
media. Labor inspectors remained unable to enter private homes and 
farms, where much of the nation's child labor occurred. Fines imposed 
by inspectors in 2010 totaled 7.7 million reais ($4.1 million), but 
NGOs asserted that fines are usually too small to serve as an effective 
deterrent.
    The government implemented innovative programs to prevent child 
labor, including the Program to Eradicate Child Labor (PETI), 
coordinated by the Ministry of Social Development and Combating Hunger 
with state and local authorities. Through PETI families with children 
seven to 15 years of age working in selected hazardous activities 
receive monthly cash stipends to keep their children in school. Also 
through the ministry, the Bolsa Familia program provides a monthly 
stipend to low-income families that keep their children up to age 17 in 
school and meet certain child health requirements. PETI serviced more 
than 850,000 children in 3,500 municipalities. The Bolsa Familia served 
more than 12 million households nationwide. The government also 
continued to cooperate with the ILO in projects to eradicate child 
labor in the states of Bahia and Mato Grosso.
    The National Forum for the Eradication and Prevention of Child 
Labor helped to coordinate government and civil society interventions 
to combat child labor. The forum continued its national campaign, the 
Red Card Against Child Labor, launched in June 2010, to bring attention 
to the plight of child laborers.
    Nevertheless, child labor continued to be a problem. The 2009 IBGE 
National Household Survey (PNAD), reflecting the most recent data 
available, showed that 4.25 million of an estimated 44 million children 
between the ages of five and 17 were engaged in some form of child 
labor. According to 2010 data from the MTE, the majority of those were 
employed in street vending (42 percent), followed by automobile washing 
(10 percent), manufacturing (8 percent), and agriculture (3 percent).
    According to a study released on December 28 conducted by the 
newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo and based on 2010 census data, more than 
one million children between the ages of 10 and 14, or 6 percent of the 
total, worked in 2010. The study noted that the problem was worse in 
the north, where one in 10 children worked, either paid or unpaid. The 
2010 census reported that 132,000 children between the ages 10 and 14 
were the sole providers for their families. Approximately half of child 
laborers received no income, and 90 percent worked in the unregistered 
informal sector. Slightly more than half of child laborers worked in 
rural areas. The study also found that 95 percent of the children who 
worked also attended school.
    According to MTE data, 10,345 children and adolescents were found 
in situations that violated minimum-age laws in 7,024 unannounced 
inspections during the year. A majority, 83 percent, of those found 
were young boys. In 2010, 3,279 inspections found 5,620 children and 
adolescents employed in violation of minimum-age laws.
    Children worked in agriculture, including in the production of 
coffee, sugarcane, cotton, manioc, soybeans, rice, and tobacco. 
Children were also involved in raising livestock.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--In January the minimum wage 
increased to 545 reais ($292) per month. According to 2010 IBGE data 
released on June 2, 56 percent of households had per capita incomes of 
less than the minimum wage. Between 2001 and 2009, the income growth 
rate of the poorest 10 percent of the population was 7 percent per 
year, while that of the richest 10 percent was 1.7 percent, decreasing 
income inequality. Nevertheless, a 2010 IGBE study revealed 8.5 percent 
of the population (16.2 million) was considered ``extremely poor'' or 
earning less than 70 reais per month ($38).
    The law limits the workweek to 44 hours and specifies a weekly rest 
period of 24 consecutive hours, preferably on Sundays. The law also 
provides for paid annual vacation, prohibits excessive compulsory 
overtime, and stipulates that hours worked above the weekly limit must 
be compensated at time-and-a-half pay; these provisions generally were 
enforced in the formal sector.
    The MTE sets occupational, health, and safety standards that are 
consistent with internationally recognized norms, although unsafe 
working conditions were prevalent throughout the country. The law 
requires employers to establish internal committees for accident 
prevention in workplaces. It also protects employees from being fired 
for their committee activities. Individual workers did not have the 
legal right to remove themselves from the workplace when faced with 
hazardous working conditions.
    The MTE's Mobile Inspection Unit was an effective instrument in the 
fight against forced labor. Unit teams conducted surprise inspections 
of properties on which slave labor was suspected. The teams freed 2,271 
persons who had been ``reduced to a condition analogous to slavery'' 
during the year. (By law the concept of slave labor includes not only 
forced and compulsory labor but also extremely arduous labor and labor 
performed in degrading working conditions.) The MTE conducted 158 
unannounced inspections of 320 properties during the year, compared 
with 143 inspections in 2010.
    On August 16, MTE investigators and Federal Police agents 
discovered 15 Bolivians working in two Sao Paulo clothing manufacturing 
shops contracted by the company AHA, a supplier for Spanish clothing 
retailer Zara. The group had been forced to work 16-hour days at 
compensation below the minimum wage. Although Bolivians are legally 
able to work in the country, this fact was kept from the workers by the 
shop owners. The Labor and Employment Secretariat of Sao Paulo, a local 
office under the MTE, led the investigation after a May audit uncovered 
52 workers, most of whom were Bolivian, working under illegal safety 
conditions in more than 30 workshops throughout the state.
    According to the Institute for Applied Economic Research, the 
informal sector shrank by 1.6 percent in the first six months of the 
year, compared with the same period in 2010, to an average of 35.6 
percent, the lowest level since 2003. Most unregistered workers were in 
the agricultural sector. Not all foreign migrant workers, informal 
sector workers, and unregistered workers were subject to hazardous 
working conditions, but these groups were at a higher risk of being 
subjected to such conditions and/or to working conditions analogous to 
slave labor.
    There were no major industrial accidents during the year in which 
workers were injured or killed.

                               __________

                                 CANADA

                           executive summary
    Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a federal parliamentary 
government. In a free and fair multiparty federal election held on May 
2, the Conservative Party, led by Stephen Harper, won a majority of 
seats in the federal Parliament and formed a government. Security 
forces reported to civilian authorities, who maintained effective 
control over the forces.
    The principal human rights problems included violence against women 
and disparities in access to government services between indigenous and 
nonindigenous peoples.
    Other human rights problems included alleged abuse of civil rights 
by law enforcement officials, trafficking in persons, and harassment of 
persons belonging to religious and racial minorities.
    The government took steps to prosecute and punish all government 
officials who committed abuses.
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. Authorities investigate and publicly report all 
fatalities that occur as a result of police action or in police 
custody.
    On February 10, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced 
that it had addressed or was in the process of addressing all 16 
recommendations on taser use issued by the Commission for Public 
Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC). The CPC's recommendations resulted 
from the investigation into the death of Robert Dziekanski in 2007 
after four RCMP officers stunned him with a taser at Vancouver 
International Airport. On May 12, British Columbian authorities filed 
perjury charges against the four officers in connection with their 
testimony before the CPC on their confrontation with Dziekanski. On 
June 2, the British Columbian government passed legislation to 
establish the Independent Investigations Office, a civilian-led agency 
to investigate incidents involving police causing death or serious 
injury. The new office's mandate extends to all police forces operating 
in the province, including the federal RCMP. The creation of the office 
was a key recommendation of the Braidwood Commission, a public inquiry 
into Dziekanski's death and taser-use policies.

    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, but there were isolated 
reports of degrading treatment by law enforcement officials. 
Investigations into allegations of physical assault and inappropriate 
searches of prisoners by the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) in the OPS's 
cellblocks during 2010 remained pending at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
government permitted monitoring in accordance with its standard 
modalities by independent nongovernmental observers.
    In 2009 there were approximately 38,000 inmates and detainees, 
including 1,640 juveniles, and the official prison capacity was 38,600. 
In its 2009-10 report, the Office of the Correctional Investigator 
found that 532 offenders died in federal custody between 1998 and 2008. 
Of these fatalities, 107 were suicides, 36 were homicides, and the 
remainder from a range of known causes, including natural death and 
accident. Women comprised approximately 4 to 6 percent of the total 
number of prisoners. Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to 
visitors, were permitted religious observance, and could submit 
complaints to judicial authorities without censorship. Authorities 
investigated credible allegations of inhumane behavior and documented 
the results of such investigations in a publicly accessible manner. The 
government investigated and monitored prison and detention center 
conditions. There is a prison ombudsman.
    On July 13, an Ontario court sentenced a correctional officer to a 
60-day prison term for an unprovoked assault in 2009 on a prisoner in 
Maplehurst Correctional Centre; the officer was also dismissed from the 
prison service. An investigation found three other officers complicit 
in the assault.

    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.--National, provincial, 
and municipal police forces maintain internal security. Canadian armed 
forces are responsible for external security, but in exceptional cases 
may exercise some domestic security responsibility at the formal 
request of civilian provincial authorities. Civilian authorities 
maintained effective control over the RCMP and provincial and municipal 
police forces, and the government has effective mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports of 
impunity involving the security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Authorities 
generally apprehended persons openly with warrants. A judge may issue a 
warrant after being satisfied that a criminal offense may have been 
committed. A person arrested for a criminal offense has the right to a 
prompt, independent judicial determination of the legality of the 
detention; authorities respected this right in practice. Authorities 
provided detainees with timely information as to the reason for the 
arrest, ensured prompt access to a lawyer of the detainees' choice and, 
if indigent, to one provided by the state, and granted prompt access to 
family members. Bail generally was available. Suspects were not 
detained incommunicado or held under house arrest. Detainees were 
released immediately after being charged, unless a judge deemed 
continued detention necessary to ensure the detainee's attendance in 
court, for the protection or safety of the public, or due to the 
gravity of the offense. Persons subject to continued detention had the 
right to judicial review of their status at regular intervals.
    In December the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General reported 
that 330 persons had appeared before provincial courts on charges 
related to public protests, violence, and vandalism during the 2010 G-
20 summit in Toronto. Courts completed proceedings against 292 of these 
individuals by staying, withdrawing, or dismissing charges, diverting 
charges by requiring individuals to make charitable donations, or 
closing files due to errors in charge sheets. Thirty-two persons pled 
guilty. Separately, the cases of 34 individuals remained before the 
courts at year's end. During the summit, police had arrested 
approximately 1,100 individuals and released more than 800 without 
charge. Civil liberties' groups alleged that police had arrested 
individuals arbitrarily; police and provincial agencies opened five 
separate reviews of police conduct at the summit, all of which 
continued at year's end.
    Noncitizens may be detained and deported on national security 
grounds under immigration security certificates. The government issues 
certificates on the basis of confidential evidence presented to two 
cabinet ministers by intelligence or police agencies and reviewed by a 
federal court judge who determines ``reasonableness'' and upholds or 
revokes the certificate. A judge may order an individual detained 
during the security-certificate determination process if the government 
considers that the individual presents a danger to national security or 
is unlikely to appear at the proceeding for removal, and may impose 
conditions on release into the community, including monitoring. 
Individuals subject to a security certificate may see a summary of 
confidential evidence against them. Authorities provide full disclosure 
to court-appointed, security-cleared lawyers (``special advocates'') 
who can review and challenge the evidence on behalf of these 
individuals, but may not share or discuss the material with them. The 
law establishes strict rules on the disclosure and use of secret 
evidence, prohibits the use of evidence if there are reasonable grounds 
to believe authorities obtained it as a result of torture, and provides 
mechanisms for review and appeal. At year's end three individuals were 
subject to security certificates and lived in the community subject to 
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 for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. The 
judicial system is based on English common law at the federal level as 
well as in most provinces. In Quebec, civil law is derived from the 
Napoleonic Code; however, criminal law is the same nationwide. Trials 
are public, and defendants have a right to have their case heard before 
a judge alone or, for more serious cases, before a judge and jury. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with an attorney 
in a timely manner. The government provides an attorney at public 
expense if needed when defendants face serious criminal charges, and 
defendants can confront or question witnesses against them and present 
witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Defendants and their attorneys 
generally have access to government-held evidence relevant to their 
cases. Defendants also enjoy a presumption of innocence and have a 
right of appeal.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters and access to a court to bring 
a suit seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights violation. 
No mechanism existed for plaintiffs to appeal decisions to an 
international regional court. Remedies can be monetary, declaratory, or 
injunctive. Federal or provincial human rights commissions may also 
hear alleged human rights violations, although these bodies follow 
differing standards and procedures.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech, 
including for members of the press, and the government generally 
respected these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective 
judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to 
ensure freedom of speech and of the press. Individuals could criticize 
the government publicly or privately without reprisal. The independent 
media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without 
restriction.

    Freedom of Speech.--The Supreme Court has ruled that the government 
may limit free speech in the name of goals such as ending 
discrimination, ensuring social harmony, or promoting gender equality. 
It also has ruled that the benefits of limiting hate speech and 
promoting equality are sufficient to outweigh the freedom of speech 
clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the country's 
constitutional bill of rights. Provincial-level film censorship, 
broadcast licensing procedures, broadcasters' voluntary codes curbing 
graphic violence, and laws against hate literature and pornography also 
impose some restrictions on the media.
    Inciting hatred (in certain cases) or genocide is a criminal 
offense, but the Supreme Court has set a high threshold for such cases, 
specifying that these acts must be proven to be willful and public. 
Laws prohibit speech or programming containing any abusive comment that 
would expose individuals or groups to hatred or contempt and empower 
the federal Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and the federal 
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) to enforce the law in areas of 
federal jurisdiction. In addition, each province has its own human 
rights code.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. The CHRC 
investigates complaints about hate messages on Web sites and may 
forward cases to the CHRT for action.

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

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 in 
practice. The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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 offered alternatives to refugee claimants 
whose cases the Immigration and Refugee Board refused. The option for 
judicial review through the federal courts exists. Two other remedies 
of last resort are available through the Department of Citizenship and 
Immigration, including a ``preremoval risk assessment'' as well as an 
appeal to the minister of citizenship and immigration for a waiver 
based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The government 
accepted refugees for resettlement from third countries and facilitated 
local integration (including access to naturalization), particularly of 
refugees in protracted situations. The government also provided 
temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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.--Recent Elections.--On May 
2, the Conservative Party won a majority of seats in the federal 
Parliament and formed a national majority government.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were 76 women and 
seven indigenous individuals in the 308-member federal House of 
Commons; 38 members were born outside the country. There were 36 women 
and six indigenous persons in the 105-seat Senate (whose members are 
appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); 
12 members were born outside the country. Women held 10 seats in the 
39-member cabinet. Four of the nine members of the Supreme Court, 
including the chief justice, were women.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year. The Federal 
Accountability Act provides for transparency and accountability in 
government. The Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner 
reports annually on allegations of corruption. A commissioner of 
lobbying administers a national registry of lobbying of designated 
public office holders.
    A conflict of interest and ethics commissioner administers the 
conflict of interest code for members of the House of Commons, as well 
as the law relating to public office holders. Provincial governments 
provide independent audits of government business and ombudsman 
services. Elected office holders (but not other public officials) are 
subject to financial disclosure laws for personal assets.
    The law permits public access to government information, and in 
practice the government granted access for citizens and noncitizens, 
including foreign media. The law provides for denial of legal requests 
for information on limited and specific grounds given and cited in law, 
and there is a mechanism to appeal denials. The government released 
quarterly information on the public expenditures of senior government 
officials and also published expense information on individual 
ministerial Web sites and on a centralized Web site.
    On May 13, the Supreme Court ruled that the access to information 
law does not provide for public access to all records from the offices 
of the prime minister and other ministerial offices as these offices do 
not qualify as ``government institutions'' under the law. The case 
resolves record requests made by various claimants almost 10 years ago.
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.

    Human Rights Commissions and Legislative Committees.Federal and 
provincial human rights commissions enjoyed government cooperation, 
operated without government or party interference, and had adequate 
resources. Observers considered them effective. Parliamentary human 
rights committees operated in the House of Commons and the Senate. The 
committees acted independently of government, conducted public 
hearings, and issued reports and recommendations to which the 
government provided written, public, and timely responses.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status, and the government 
enforced legal provisions effectively.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, as sexual assault, and the government enforced 
the law effectively. Penalties for sexual assault carry sentences of up 
to 10 years in prison, up to 14 years for sexual assault with a 
restricted or prohibited firearm, and between four years and life for 
aggravated sexual assault with a firearm or committed for the benefit 
of, at the direction of, or in association with, a criminal 
organization. The government's statistical office reported that in 2010 
there were more than 22,000 reported incidents of sexual assault, 
sexual assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, and aggravated 
sexual assault against female and male victims. Government studies 
indicated that victims of sexual assault reported about one in 10 
incidents to police.
    The law prohibits domestic violence. Although the criminal code 
does not define specific domestic violence offenses, an abuser can be 
charged with an applicable offense, such as assault, aggravated 
assault, intimidation, mischief, or sexual assault. Persons convicted 
of assault receive up to five years in prison. Assaults involving 
weapons, threats, or injuries carry terms of up to 10 years; aggravated 
assault or endangerment of life carry prison sentences of up to 14 
years. The government enforced the law effectively. Studies indicated 
that victims of domestic violence and spousal abuse underreported 
incidents.
    In November imams, Muslim organizations, scholars, and Muslim 
community leaders joined a ``Call to Action to Eradicate Domestic 
Violence,'' which declared that ``domestic violence and, in the 
extreme, practices such as killing to `restore family honor' violate 
clear and nonnegotiable Islamic principles.'' On December 9, 
participating imams and Muslim leaders issued a coordinated 
denunciation of violence against women, including honor-based crimes.
    The federal statistical agency reported that there were 
approximately 593 shelters for abused women; the shelters provided 
emergency care, transition housing, counseling, and referrals to legal 
and social service agencies. Shelters admitted more than 64,500 women 
between April 1, 2009, and March 31, 2010, of whom almost three-
quarters had fled abusive situations. Six in 10 of those women had not 
reported their abusive incidents to police. Moreover, only 27 percent 
of those reported incidents resulted in formal charges.
    Police received training in treating domestic violence, and 
agencies provided abuse hotlines. The government's family violence 
initiative involved 12 departments, agencies, and crown corporations, 
including Status of Women Canada, a cabinet ministry. These entities 
worked to eliminate systemic violence against women and advance women's 
human rights. Provincial governments made efforts to address violence 
against women as well, including Ontario's Sexual Violence Action Plan, 
a C$15 million ($14.7 million) effort to prevent sexual violence and 
improve support for survivors of sexual assault.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not contain a specific offense of 
``sexual harassment'' but criminalizes harassment (stalking), 
punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment, and sexual assault, with 
penalties ranging from 10 years for nonaggravated sexual assault to 
life imprisonment for aggravated sexual assault. The government 
generally enforced these prohibitions.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals enjoyed the right to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of 
children without government interference, and to have the information 
and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. 
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 with men to diagnosis and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Women have marriage and property rights, as well 
as rights in the judicial system, equal to those of men. They were well 
represented in the labor force, including business and the professions. 
Women did not experience systemic economic discrimination in access to 
or in the terms of employment, credit, or pay equity for substantially 
similar work, or owning and/or managing businesses, although some 
equality and labor groups reported that women represented less than one 
fifth of senior officers in top executive positions in the private 
sector. The federal statistical agency reported that hourly wages for 
women were, on average, about 17 percent less than for men. Women did 
not experience discrimination in education or housing.
    Status of Women Canada promoted the legal rights of women. 
Employment equity laws and regulations cover federal employees in all 
but the security and defense services. However, Aboriginal women living 
on reserves (where land is held communally) lack matrimonial property 
rights.
    On October 31, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal awarded nurses 
working for the Canada Pension Plan C$2.3 million ($2.25 million) in 
damages for pay equity discrimination dating back to the 1970s. On 
November 17, the Supreme Court awarded female postal workers at Canada 
Post C$150 million ($147 million) to settle a landmark pay-equity 
dispute that originated in 1983.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived both by 
birth within the country's territory and from one's parents. Births are 
registered immediately, and there were no reports of the government's 
denying public services, such as education or health care, to those who 
failed to register.

    Child Abuse.--The federal statistical agency recorded that almost 
55,000 children and youth were victims of police-reported violent crime 
in 2009, including approximately 41,000 assaults and 14,000 sexual 
assaults. Studies indicated that family members or individuals known to 
the victim represented a vast majority of the offenders. Most victims 
were girls, especially in sexual assault cases.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The minimum age of consensual sex 
is 16 years. Persons convicted of living off the proceeds of 
prostitution of a child under age 18 face between two and 14 years' 
imprisonment. Persons who aid; counsel; compel; use, or threaten to 
use, violence, intimidation, or coercion in relation to a child under 
age 18 to engage in prostitution face between five and 14 years' 
imprisonment. Persons who solicit or obtain the sexual services of a 
child under age 18 face between six months' and five years' 
imprisonment.
    The law prohibits accessing, producing, distributing, and 
possessing child pornography. Maximum penalties range from 18 months' 
imprisonment for summary offenses to 10 years' imprisonment for 
indictable offenses.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html as well as country-specific information at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Approximately 1 percent of the population is 
Jewish.
    The B'nai Brith Canada League for Human Rights received 1,306 
reports of anti-Semitic incidents in 2010, a 3.3 percent increase from 
2009. More than half of such reports came from the province of Ontario. 
The reports included 965 cases of harassment, 317 cases of vandalism, 
and 24 cases of violence. There were 32 cases involving attacks on 
synagogues, 139 involving private Jewish homes, and 26 involving 
community centers. Jewish students reported 86 cases of anti-Semitic 
incidents on university campuses, compared with 137 in 2009; another 84 
involved primary and secondary school settings, compared with 73 in 
2009. B'nai Brith also received 564 reports of Web-based hate activity, 
almost a 30 percent increase from 2009.
    On March 25, the government passed a law with support from all 
parties to build a National Holocaust Monument in the national capital. 
The monument will commemorate Holocaust victims, promote tolerance and 
human rights, and educate visitors.
    In early August vandals spray-painted swastikas and anti-Semitic 
messages on several synagogues in Toronto. Political leaders denounced 
the acts. Police investigations did not produce any arrests by year's 
end.

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

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services or in other areas, and the government 
effectively enforced these prohibitions. The government effectively 
implemented laws and programs mandating access to buildings, 
information, and communications for persons with disabilities.
    A class-action lawsuit against the Huronia Regional Centre, a 
former facility operated by the province of Ontario for persons with 
developmental disabilities, which was filed in 2010 by former residents 
alleging systemic abuse and neglect, remained pending at year's end. In 
August a court in Ontario allowed two similar lawsuits against the 
Rideau Regional Centre and the Southwest Regional Centre to proceed.
    Proper facilities existed for the treatment of the mentally ill, 
but mental health advocates asserted that the prison system was not 
sufficiently equipped or staffed to provide the care necessary for 
those in the criminal justice system, resulting in cases of segregation 
and self-harm.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.According to the Federal 
Statistical Agency, 1,473 incidents of hate crimes were reported to 
police in 2009 (an increase of 42 percent from 2008), of which 54 
percent were motivated by race or ethnic bias. Blacks constituted the 
most commonly targeted racial group, accounting for 38 percent of 
racially motivated incidents, followed by South Asians at almost 13 
percent. Racially motivated crimes against Arabs or West Asians 
increased from 37 incidents in 2008 to 75 in 2009. Approximately 40 
percent of the hate crimes reported to police were violent.
    On May 11, after a year-long investigation, the Quebec Human Rights 
Commission released a report finding that ethnic minorities in the 
province, and especially in Montreal, were subject to ``targeted and 
disproportionate scrutiny by police forces.'' The commission 
recommended that the provincial government take remedial measures, 
including the amendment of the Quebec Charter of Rights, Police Act, 
and police code of ethics to prohibit racial profiling. The commission 
also recommended that government departments adopt action plans to 
tackle racial profiling and that police academies implement antiracism 
training.

    Indigenous People.--Indigenous people constituted approximately 4 
percent of the national population and higher percentages in the 
country's three territories: Yukon, 25 percent; Northwest Territories, 
50 percent; and Nunavut, 85 percent. Disputes over land claims, self-
government, treaty rights, taxation, duty-free imports, fishing and 
hunting rights, and alleged police harassment were sources of tension. 
Indigenous people remained underrepresented in the workforce; 
overrepresented on welfare rolls and in prison populations; and more 
susceptible to suicide, poverty, chronic health conditions, and sexual 
violence than other groups.
    The law recognizes and specifically protects indigenous rights, 
including those established by historical land-claims settlements. 
Treaties with indigenous groups form the basis for the government's 
policies in the eastern part of the country, but there were legal 
challenges to the government's interpretation and implementation of 
treaty rights. Indigenous groups in the west that never signed treaties 
continued to claim land and resources, and many continued to seek legal 
resolution of outstanding issues. As a result, the evolution of the 
government's policy toward indigenous rights, particularly land claims, 
depended on negotiation and/or legal challenges. Since 1973 the federal 
government has concluded and implemented 22 comprehensive land claims 
and two stand-alone self-government agreements with indigenous people. 
As of January 2010, the government reported that negotiations for 69 
self-government and comprehensive land claims were active. As of March 
31, 504 specific claims or grievances filed by indigenous people 
regarding the implementation of existing treaties remained unresolved, 
according to government reports. Indigenous groups that cannot settle 
specific claims through negotiation within a three-year period may 
refer the claim to the Specific Claims Tribunal (a judicial panel) for 
a decision or to the courts.
    The law imposes statutory, contractual, and common-law obligations 
to consult with Aboriginal peoples in the development and exploitation 
of natural resources on land covered by treaty or subject to land 
claims. The Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government has the 
constitutional duty to consult and, where appropriate, accommodate 
indigenous peoples when the government contemplates actions that may 
adversely impact potential or established Aboriginal and treaty rights.
    In March an Amnesty International report called on provincial and 
federal governments to address gross disparities between indigenous and 
nonindigenous people in access to adequate child welfare services, 
clean water, education, and housing. On March 8, a federal auditor 
general's report found child welfare services in Nunavut Territory 
inadequate and reported that territorial services failed to protect 
children from placement in unsafe environments.
    On June 9, a federal auditor general's report found that a 
``disproportionate number'' of indigenous people lacked basic social 
services, especially education, housing, child welfare, and safe 
drinking water. On June 28, the Quebec Human Rights Commission reported 
that Inuit children in Nunavik, northern Quebec, were exposed to rates 
of domestic violence 10 times higher than the national average due to 
overtaxed or nonexistent community social services.
    Also on June 9, the government and indigenous leaders partnered to 
launch a Canada First Nation Joint Action Plan to improve education, 
unemployment, and governance for indigenous people living on reserves. 
On June 18, the government extended the protection of the federal Human 
Rights Act to more than 700,000 Aboriginal people who live on reserves 
and who were specifically excluded from the ability to file complaints 
under the act before 2008. The protection came into force upon the 
expiry of a three-year transitional period.
    On August 17, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the provincial 
government had no authority to grant industrial logging leases on land 
in northern Ontario covered by a treaty between the federal government 
and the Grassy Narrows First Nation. The court ruled that the federal 
government had jurisdiction and responsibility to protect Aboriginal 
hunting and trapping treaty rights. The Grassy Narrows First Nation had 
litigated for 11 years to stop clear-cut logging on their traditional 
lands, arguing that clear cutting contaminated the water supply and 
adversely affected their quality of life.
    In October the First Nations community of Attawapiskat, northern 
Ontario, declared a state of emergency over housing and living 
conditions on the reserve. National Aboriginal representatives alleged 
that similar conditions existed in Aboriginal communities across the 
country. The federal government provided emergency housing to residents 
of Attawapiskat and appointed a third-party manager for the community.
    On November 18, the federal and the Newfoundland and Labrador 
provincial governments signed documents with the Labrador Innu relating 
to land claims, self-government, and an impact and benefit agreement 
relating to the Lower Churchill River development.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits 
discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the criminal code 
provides penalties for crimes motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate 
based on personal characteristics, including sexual orientation. 
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations operated 
independently and without restriction. There was no official 
discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and 
occupation, housing, statelessness, or access to education or health 
care.
    There were occasions of violence and abuse against individuals 
based on sexual orientation, but the government generally implemented 
the law criminalizing such behavior effectively.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no known 
reports of societal violence or discrimination against persons with 
HIV/AIDS. Courts generally interpreted prohibitions against 
discrimination on the basis of disability in federal and provincial 
human rights statutes to include discrimination against persons with 
HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers (except armed forces and police) in both the 
public and the private sectors to form and join unions of their choice, 
to conduct legal strikes, and to bargain collectively.
    Workers in the public sector who provide essential services, 
including police and armed forces, do not have the right to strike but 
have mechanisms to ensure due process and protect workers' rights. 
Workers in essential services had recourse to binding arbitration if 
labor negotiations failed. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination 
and provides for reinstatement for workers fired for union activity.
    Provincial governments have and enforce their own labor laws that 
apply to provincially regulated occupations. Agricultural workers in 
Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick do not have the right to organize 
or bargain collectively under provincial law.
    The government effectively enforced applicable laws in a timely 
fashion and respected freedom of association and the right of 
collective bargaining in practice. Worker organizations were 
independent of the government and political parties. Workers exercised 
the right to strike in practice.
    Labor unions complained that federal or provincial governments' 
actions in several cases constituted interference with collective 
bargaining rights. On February 22, the Quebec government adopted back-
to-work legislation to end a two-week strike by Quebec crown 
prosecutors. On June 16, striking Air Canada ticket agents settled 
their dispute with the company after the federal government introduced 
back-to-work legislation in parliament to end the strike. On June 26, 
the federal parliament passed back-to-work legislation to end a legal 
strike by Canada Post workers.
    On September 20, Air Canada and its flight attendants' union 
reached a tentative settlement after the government gave formal notice 
of its intent to introduce and expedite back-to-work legislation to 
avert a pending strike. Flight attendants subsequently rejected the 
pending deal. On October 12, the government referred the stalled 
contract talks to the Canada Industrial Relations Board for review, 
legally suspending an imminent strike. The government cited the 
negative impact of a strike on travelers and the economy as cause for 
its action. On November 7, the board imposed the agreement reached in 
September without alteration.
    In April the Supreme Court upheld an Ontario law prohibiting 
agricultural workers (including foreign migrants) in the province from 
bargaining collectively. The ruling overturned a 2008 decision by the 
Court of Appeal of Ontario that had struck down the law as 
unconstitutional. In 2010 the International Labor Organization had 
noted the law violated the human rights of agricultural workers.
    There were no reports of violations related to collective 
bargaining rights or other antiunion discrimination.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, and the government effectively 
enforced the law. The government investigated and prosecuted several 
cases of forced labor and domestic servitude, informed workers of their 
legal rights, and maintained some measures to hold employers of foreign 
migrant workers accountable. However, there were reports that foreign 
(or noncitizen or foreign-born) adults were subjected to forced labor 
in the agricultural sector, food processing, cleaning services, 
hospitality, and construction industries; domestic servitude; and 
prostitution. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that bonded 
labor and domestic servitude constituted the majority of cases of 
exploitation.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Child labor legislation varies by province, and there are sufficient 
laws to protect children from exploitation in the workplace. Most 
provinces restrict the number of hours of work to two or three hours on 
a school day and eight hours on a nonschool day and prohibit children 
under age 15 or 16 from working without parental consent, after 10 or 
11 p.m., or in any hazardous employment. During official school or 
academic breaks, the federal government employed youths between ages 15 
and 17 for work that is unlikely to endanger their health or safety.
    Child labor laws and policies were enforced effectively, and the 
child labor inspections were carried out by federal and provincial 
labor ministries. Child labor was not a problem in the country.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wage rates ranged from 
C$8.80 to C$11.00 ($8.62 to $10.78). Some provinces exempt 
agricultural, hospitality, and other specific categories of workers 
from minimum-wage rates, and Ontario has a minimum-wage rate for youths 
under age 18 who work less than 28 hours per week when school is in 
session that is lower than the respective minimum for adult workers.
    Standard work hours vary by province, but in each the limit is 40 
or 48 hours per week, with at least 24 hours of rest. The law requires 
payment of a premium for work above the standard workweek. Entitlement 
to paid annual leave varies by province, but the law requires a minimum 
of 10 days paid annual leave per year (or payment of 4 percent of wages 
in lieu) after one year of continuous employment. Some provinces 
mandate an additional week of paid leave to employees who have 
completed a specified length of service. There is no specific 
prohibition on excessive compulsory overtime, which is regulated by 
means of the required rest periods in the labor code that differ by 
industry. Some categories of workers have specific employment rights 
that differ from the standard, including commercial fishermen, oil 
field workers, loggers, home caregivers, professionals, managers, and 
some sales staff.
    Federal law provides safety and health standards for employees 
under federal jurisdiction, while provincial and territorial 
legislation provides for all other employees, including foreign and 
migrant workers. Federal, provincial, and territorial laws protect the 
right of workers with ``reasonable cause'' to refuse dangerous work and 
remove themselves from hazardous work conditions, and authorities 
effectively enforced this right.
    Authorities effectively enforced labor standards. Federal and 
provincial labor departments monitored and enforced these standards and 
conducted inspections proactively through scheduled visits, reactively 
in response to complaints, and at random.
    Enforcement measures included a graduated response, with a 
preference for resolution via voluntary compliance, negotiation, and 
education; prosecution and fines served as a last resort. Some trade 
unions argued that limited resources hampered the government's 
inspection and enforcement efforts.
    In February the province of Ontario named a new interim council for 
health and safety and in August named its first chief prevention 
officer to oversee reforms of provincial policy in line with key 
recommendations of a 2010 expert panel on Ontario's workplace health 
and safety system.
    Some NGOs reported that migrants, new immigrants, young workers, 
and the unskilled were vulnerable to violations of the law on minimum 
wage, overtime pay, unpaid wages, and excessive hours of work, and they 
alleged that restrictions on the type of labor complaints accepted for 
investigation and delays in processing cases discouraged the filing of 
complaints in practice. There were no known developments in the 
investigation into the workplace fatalities of two Jamaican migrant 
agricultural workers in a fruit-processing facility in Ontario in 2010.

                               __________

                                 CHILE

                           executive summary
    Chile is a constitutional multiparty democracy. In January 2010 
voters chose Sebastian Pinera Echenique of the center-right Coalition 
for Change as president in elections that were generally considered 
free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The principal human rights problems reported during the year were 
poor prison conditions; allegations of excessive use of force and 
mistreatment by police forces, including during student protests; and 
disputes between indigenous communities and the government regarding 
land rights, development, and judicial matters.
    Additional human rights concerns in the country included violence 
against women and child abuse.
    The government generally took steps to prosecute officials who 
committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in the 
government.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. However, there were reports of killings by the 
carabineros (national uniformed police).
    On March 19, members of the carabineros in La Ligua allegedly 
detained and beat 19 year-old Luis Santander. Police left Santander 
with a ruptured spleen, and he died in the street. A criminal 
investigation was pending at year's end.
    On August 25, in the Macul neighborhood of Santiago, a member of 
the carabineros allegedly shot and killed 16-year-old Manuel Gutierrez 
at the end of a two-day national strike. Carabineros initially denied 
involvement in the shooting, despite eyewitness accounts. However, a 
criminal investigation determined that a carabineros unit used its 
weapons in the vicinity of the shooting, a fact that unit members had 
attempted to hide and of which they failed to inform their superiors. 
Six members of the unit were discharged, and the carabineros' general 
in charge of the area resigned. On September 3, a military prosecutor 
indicted former sergeant Miguel Millacura for unnecessary use of force 
resulting in Gutierrez's death and placed Millacura in pretrial 
detention. On November 17, a military court released Millacura on 
provisional liberty. The case was pending at year's end.
    On January 26, former Santiago Appellate Court judge and prosecutor 
Beatriz Pedrals presented 726 new legal complaints for dictatorship-era 
executions that had not yet been investigated, including the 1973 death 
of then president Salvador Allende. The cases were assigned to Special 
Investigative Judge Mario Carozza.
    On March 5, the Group of Family Members of the Politically Executed 
presented 403 new cases to Judge Carroza for 566 victims of 
dictatorship-era human rights violations, including the case of U.S. 
citizen Ronnie Moffit, who was killed in Washington, D.C. in 1976.
    In 2009 Judge Alejandro Madrid charged six persons for allegedly 
poisoning former president Eduardo Frei Montalva in 1982. A National 
Intelligence Directorate (DINA) agent, a doctor, and Frei's driver were 
charged with murder. Two other doctors who allegedly falsified the 
autopsy were charged as accessories to the crime, and another doctor 
was charged as an accomplice. The case remained pending at year's end, 
and none of those charged had been detained.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    Judge Jorge Zepeda continued his investigation into the 1985 
disappearance case of U.S. citizen Boris Weisfeiler. In March 2010 
Weisfeiler family members separately resubmitted the case to the 
Advisory Commission on the Classification of Disappearances, Political 
Executions, and Victims of Political Imprisonment and Torture (Valech 
Commission), which reviewed new requests to recognize dictatorship-era 
cases as human rights violations (see section 5). On August 18, the 
commission issued its final report, which did not recognize the 
Weisfeiler disappearance as a human rights violation.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution prohibits such practices, 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) received reports of excessive 
force, abuse, and mistreatment by carabineros, investigative police 
(PDI) members, and prison guards, few of which resulted in convictions.
    In December a military prosecutor indicted six carabineros for 
``applying torments, mental pressure, and illegal detention'' to Juan 
Berrios, whom the officers detained in a police van and threatened to 
``disappear'' at gunpoint in December 2010. The case was pending at 
year's end.
    The prison system (gendarmeria) opened administrative 
investigations into 116 allegations of abuse during the year. Of these 
cases, 15 were closed and 101 were pending at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
generally were poor. Prisons often were overcrowded and antiquated, 
with substandard sanitary conditions and inadequate food and medical 
services in some cases. Prisoners had access to potable water, although 
exposed sewage was a problem in some prisons. The 2011 Diego Portales 
University Law School Annual Report on Human Rights stated that 
violence, including torture, occurred and was justified by prison 
officials as necessary to maintain order. Violence among inmates was 
also common.
    In isolated instances prisoners died due to lack of clear prison 
procedures and insufficient medical resources. Prison officials 
reported that there were 161 deaths during the year, compared with 249 
in 2010. Prisoners with HIV/AIDS and mental disabilities failed to 
receive adequate medical attention in some prisons.
    Government sources indicated there were approximately 52,300 
prisoners in prisons designed to hold 33,200 inmates. Prisoners 
included 4,571 women, who were held in separate sections of the same 
facilities. As of November there were 1,772 minors held in specially 
designated facilities, of which 524 were held provisionally during 
their trial.
    A prosecutor's investigation of the December 2010 fire at San 
Miguel in Santiago (which resulted in deaths of 81 inmates) remained 
pending at year's end.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities permitted prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and to request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities generally investigated these 
allegations and documented the results in a publicly accessible manner. 
During the year the government took steps to improve recordkeeping and 
use alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders, such as 
conditional release for community service.
    The government usually investigated and monitored prison and 
detention center conditions. However, on November 16, four judges in 
Arica were sanctioned for not fulfilling their obligation to make 
weekly prison visits. The government permitted prison visits by 
independent human rights observers, and such visits took place at both 
government and privately operated facilities. Prisoner and human rights 
groups continued to investigate alleged use of abuse or excessive force 
against detainees. There were no prison ombudsmen.
    In October 2010 the Ministry of Justice presented the government 
with 11 proposals for prison reform which began to be implemented in 
2011. These proposals included providing inmates with additional bunks, 
mattresses, and blankets; increasing the time inmates spent outside of 
their cells, as well as their access to religious support; and 
improving food, sanitation, and lighting in prisons.

    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 carabineros and the 
PDI have responsibility in law and in practice for law enforcement and 
maintenance of order within the country. Both forces are overseen by 
the Ministry of the Interior.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the 
carabineros and the PDI, 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.--Only public 
officials expressly authorized by law can arrest or detain citizens and 
generally did so openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence 
brought before an independent judiciary. Authorities must immediately 
inform a prosecutor of an arrest and generally did so in practice.
    The prosecutor must open an investigation, receive a statement from 
the detainee, and ensure that the detainee is held at a local police 
station until the detention control hearing. Detention control hearings 
are held twice daily, allowing for a judicial determination of the 
legality of the detention within 24 hours of arrest. Detainees must be 
informed of their rights, including the right to an attorney and the 
right to remain silent until an attorney is present. Public defenders 
are provided to detainees if they do not select a lawyer of choice. 
Authorities must expedite notification of the detention to family 
members. If authorities do not inform the detainees of their rights 
upon detention, the process can be declared unlawful by the judge 
during the detention control hearing.
    The law allows judges to set bail, grant provisional liberty, or 
order continued detention as necessary to the investigation or for the 
protection of the prisoner or the public.
    The law affords detainees 30 minutes of immediate and subsequent 
daily access to a lawyer (in the presence of a prison guard) and to a 
doctor to verify their physical condition. Regular visits by family 
members are allowed.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and 
have a right of appeal. The law provides for the right to a fair trial, 
and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. National 
and regional prosecutors investigate crimes, formulate charges, and 
prosecute cases. Three-judge panels form the court of first instance: 
the process is oral and adversarial, trials are public, defendants have 
the right to be present and consult with an attorney in a timely 
manner, and judges rule on guilt and dictate sentences. Defendants do 
not enjoy the right to a trial by jury. Court records, rulings, and 
findings were generally accessible to the public.
    The law provides for the right to legal counsel, and public 
defenders' offices across the country provide professional legal 
counsel to anyone seeking such assistance. Defendants can confront or 
question witnesses against them and/or present witnesses and evidence 
on their behalf, although the law provides for protected witnesses in 
certain circumstances. Defendants and their attorneys generally have 
access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases with some 
exceptions. When requested by other human rights organizations or 
family members, the NGO Corporation for the Promotion and Defense of 
the Rights of the People and other lawyers working pro bono assisted 
detainees during interrogation and trial.
    For crimes committed prior to the implementation of the 2005 
judicial reforms, criminal proceedings are inquisitorial rather than 
adversarial. At year's end one inquisitorial criminal court remained 
open and had an extensive wait for trials.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--There were no reports of 
political prisoners or detainees, although some indigenous Mapuche 
convicted of criminal offenses claimed to be political prisoners.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters, which permits individuals to 
seek civil remedies for human rights violations. However, the civil 
justice system retains antiquated and inefficient procedures. The 
average civil trial lasted approximately five years, and civil suits 
could continue for decades. There are administrative and judicial 
remedies available for alleged wrongs.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and 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.
    Military courts may charge and try civilians for defamation of 
military personnel and for sedition, but their rulings can be appealed 
to the Supreme Court.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e mail.
    In June the government revealed that it was monitoring online 
social networks as a way to measure public opinion. In April the 
government hired the firm BrandMetric to conduct the monitoring and 
analyze the data. Representatives from the government and BrandMetric 
stated they were not monitoring individuals, but rather looking for 
themes related to government interests. On August 11, the government 
shut down the monitoring program under intense public opposition.

    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.--Student protests regarding education reform took place 
throughout the year. The government routinely granted permits for 
student marches and demonstrations, occasionally refusing permission 
for certain routes, citing a concern for public safety.
    The police used tear gas and water cannons, and forcibly detained 
some protesters to maintain order and respond to acts of vandalism that 
occurred during many of the protests.
    On November 4, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
(IACHR) issued a statement on the government's handling of the student 
protests, expressing concern over the acts of police violence. The 
IACHR called on the government to take the necessary steps to ensure 
complete respect for the rights of freedom of expression, assembly, and 
protest, and to impose only those restrictions that are strictly 
necessary and proportionate and take into account the state's special 
obligation to guarantee the rights of high-school and university 
students.

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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.
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.--Recent Elections.--In 
January 2010 voters chose Sebastian Pinera Echenique of the center-
right Coalition for Change as president in free and fair run-off 
elections. In December 2009 voters also elected 18 of the 38 senators 
and all members of the Chamber of Deputies in elections generally 
considered free and fair.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were 17 women in the 
120-seat Chamber of Deputies and five women in the 38-seat Senate. 
There were four women in the 22-member cabinet. Indigenous people have 
the legal right to participate freely in the political process, but 
relatively few were active apart from those elected at the municipal 
level.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
isolated reports of government corruption during the year.
    On December 9, Judge Antonella Sciaraffia of Iquique was suspended 
temporarily on charges of illicit association, falsification of 
numerous public instruments, and fraud. The charges came amid 
additional allegations of fraud in contract awards for schools in Arica 
and Iquique for which Sciaraffia was responsible. The case was pending 
at year's end.
    On December 12, former congressional deputy Maximiano Errazuriz was 
found guilty of fraud and sentenced to three years and a day in prison 
for his role in falsely renting an office and receiving an income of 
approximately 30,000,000 pesos ($62,000) between 2004 and 2009. 
Errazuriz was ordered to pay a fine equal to 10 percent of the funds 
and prohibited from holding elected office again.
    In January 2010 a judge convicted Andres Contardo, a former 
consultant for both the Civil Registry and Tata Consultancy Services, 
of disclosing secret civil registry information to Tata. Contardo was 
sentenced to more than four years in prison but was released on parole. 
Thirty-seven others were indicted in connection with the case, some of 
whom were convicted, some of whom were given community service hours in 
return for their cooperation and the return of funds, and some of whom 
were awaiting trial at year's end.
    The law subjects public officials to financial disclosure and 
assigns responsibility to the comptroller for conducting audits of 
government agencies and to the Public Prosecutor's Office for 
initiating criminal investigations of official corruption.
    The constitution requires the government and its agencies to make 
all unclassified information about their activities available to the 
public. In practice the government granted citizens and noncitizens, 
including foreign media, access to all unclassified information. An 
autonomous transparency council provides for the right of access to 
information and ruled on cases in which information is denied. On 
September 13, the government launched a new Web site that provides 
online access to public information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups 
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials 
often were cooperative and responsive to their views.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The autonomous National Institute 
of Human Rights (INDH), established in 2010, operated independently of 
the government, issued public statements, and proposed changes to 
government agencies or policies to ensure the promotion and protection 
of human rights. On December 15, the INDH released its 2011 report, 
which expressed concern over several human rights issues in the 
country, including indigenous rights and the restitution of ancestral 
lands, the use of force by the carabineros during protests, and the 
prosecutor's application of the antiterrorism law. The Senate and 
Chamber of Deputies also have standing human rights committees 
responsible for drafting human rights legislation.
    In February 2010 the Valech Commission began accepting new and 
resubmitted requests to recognize dictatorship-era cases of execution, 
disappearance, and torture as human rights violations. The application 
process was open for six months, and the commission received more than 
32,500 petitions. On August 18, the commission presented its findings 
to President Pinera, and the government officially released the final 
report on August 26. The commission recognized 30 new cases of 
disappearances and executions, and 9,800 new cases of political 
imprisonment and torture.
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 enforced these 
prohibitions. However, such discrimination continued to occur.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape. Penalties for rape range from five to 15 years' 
imprisonment, and the government generally enforced the law when cases 
of rape were reported.
    The law protects the privacy and safety of the victim making the 
charge. Between January and August the Public Prosecutor's Office 
investigated 3,456 cases of rape, and the courts handed down 490 rape 
convictions. Experts, however, believed that most rape cases went 
unreported due to fear of further violence, retribution, and social 
stigma.
    The law criminalizes domestic violence, recognizing both physical 
and psychological violence. However, it remained a serious problem in 
the country. Family courts handle cases of domestic violence and 
penalize offenders with fines up to 556,680 pesos ($1,151). Additional 
sanctions include eviction of the offender from the residence shared 
with the victim, restraining orders, confiscation of firearms, and 
court-ordered counseling. Cases of habitual psychological abuse and 
physical abuse cases in which there are physical injuries are 
prosecuted in the criminal justice system. Penalties are based on the 
gravity of injuries and range from 61 to 540 days' imprisonment.
    The authorities generally enforced the law in cases reported to 
them, and there was no indication of police or judicial reluctance to 
act. However, experts believed that most domestic violence cases went 
unreported; again this was due to fear of further violence, 
retribution, and social stigma. Between January and August, the Public 
Prosecutor's Office initiated investigations into 72,222 cases of 
family violence and convicted 9,405 offenders of domestic violence.
    The government launched a nationwide campaign in November 2010 
(including advertisements on television, billboards, and public 
transportation) designed to raise awareness about domestic violence and 
encourage women to report abuse. SERNAM, the National Women's Service, 
operated 94 assistance centers and 24 women's shelters, and it 
maintained partnerships with NGOs to provide training for police 
officers and judicial and municipal authorities on the legal and 
psychological aspects of domestic violence. The Ministry of Justice and 
the PDI operated several offices specifically dedicated to providing 
counseling and assistance in rape cases. SERNAM also operated a round-
the-clock hotline for victims of violence, including domestic abuse and 
rape. Data was not available to assess the effectiveness of government 
campaigns against domestic and sexual violence.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment is a misdemeanor. Penalties 
are outlined exclusively in the labor code. By law sexual harassment is 
cause for immediate dismissal from the workplace. The law requires 
employers to define internal procedures for investigating sexual 
harassment, and employers may face fines and additional financial 
compensation to victims if internal procedures are not met. The law 
provides protection to victims of sexual harassment by employers and 
coworkers. It also provides severance pay to victims who resign due to 
sexual harassment if they have completed at least one year with the 
employer. Authorities generally enforced the law in cases reported to 
them, and there was no evidence of police or judicial reluctance to 
act. During the year the Labor Directorate received 112 complaints of 
sexual harassment, and 18 offenders were convicted.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals had the right to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of 
children and had the information and means to do so free from 
discrimination, coercion, and violence. Government policy did not 
interfere with access to contraception, skilled attendance during 
childbirth, prenatal care, or essential obstetric and postpartum care. 
However, despite the fact that emergency contraception is legal and 
that the law provides for the free distribution of emergency 
contraception in the public health system, many hospitals and clinics 
continued to refuse to prescribe.
    Social and cultural barriers in terms of reproductive rights 
existed in some cases. The law on surgical sterilizations requires 
voluntary informed consent. However, the Center for Reproductive Rights 
reported that there were some cases in which health-care workers 
pressured or forced HIV-positive women into surgical sterilization.
    Women faced significant obstacles to preventing HIV infection, 
including sociocultural norms, gender-based violence, and lack of 
information. The law prohibits discrimination against people on the 
basis of their HIV status, and in the area of health care the law 
provides that neither public nor private health institutions can deny 
access to health-care services on the basis of a person's serological 
status. However, the Center for Reproductive Rights continued to report 
that HIV-positive women received discriminatory health-care treatment, 
especially in reproductive health services. Problems included delayed 
care, verbal abuse, pressure not to have children, or refusal of 
treatment.

    Discrimination.--Women enjoy most of the same legal rights as men. 
However, discrimination in employment, pay, owning and managing 
businesses, and education occurred. There were no known reports of 
discrimination in credit or housing. Despite the possibility of a 
``community property'' marital arrangement, in which each spouse 
maintains separate control of the assets brought into the marriage, the 
default and most common marital arrangement is ``conjugal society,'' 
which gives a husband the right to administer joint property, including 
his wife's property. As a result, women who were married under the 
conjugal society arrangement were usually required to obtain permission 
from their husbands to apply for housing subsidies and take out loans 
or mortgages, while men had unrestricted access to these and other 
services. Under a 2007 agreement with the IACHR, the government 
committed to modify the law to give women and men equal rights and 
responsibilities in marriage. Implementing legislation remained pending 
at year's end. The commercial code provides that unless a woman is 
married under the separate estate regime, she may not enter into a 
commercial partnership agreement without permission from her husband; a 
man may enter into such an agreement without permission from his wife.
    Despite a 2009 law providing for equal pay for equal work, the 
overall gap in wages was 32 percent in 2010, and the gap among those 
with a university education was 35 percent. Only 47 percent of women 
participated in the labor force in 2010 (compared with 78 percent of 
men), and they were more likely to work in the informal sector. The 
labor code provides specific benefits for pregnant workers and mothers 
of children under two years old, including a prohibition against 
dismissal during pregnancy and throughout the 449 days after the birth 
of a child. SERNAM is in charge of protecting women's legal rights and 
is the only government office that deals specifically with 
discrimination against women.
    On October 17, the Post-Natal Leave Law went into effect, which 
extends maternity leave in the country from three to six months and was 
estimated to benefit 2.5 million women, including noncontracted 
temporary workers. The new law allows for a paternity leave option and 
gives mothers the flexibility to choose half-day or full-time leave 
during the last three months of postnatal leave. Employers who obstruct 
the right to maternity leave are subject to fines of up to 5,000,000 
pesos ($10,338). However, some women's groups claimed that the new law 
does not go far enough in promoting gender equality and noted that the 
required conditions for noncontracted women to take leave put the new 
benefits out of reach for many.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory and from one's parents or grandparents, 
and births are registered immediately.

    Child Abuse.--Violence against children was a significant problem. 
The National Children's Service (SENAME) ran 84 programs for children 
and youth in high risk situations. SENAME also collaborated with 
municipal governments to run 114 local branches of the Office for the 
Protection of Children's Rights throughout the country. SENAME, the 
carabineros, and the PDI cooperated with schools and NGOs to identify 
children in abusive situations. These groups provided counseling and 
other social services to abused children.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The penalties for commercial 
sexual exploitation of children range from three to five years in 
prison. The range increases from five years and a day to 20 years and a 
fine of 31 to 35 UTM ($2,454 to $2,771) in cases where exploitation is 
habitual, or if there was deceit or abuse of authority or trust. The 
UTM is a legally defined currency unit, indexed to inflation, 
equivalent to approximately $79. The criminal code considers 18 the age 
for consensual sex. Sex with a girl between ages 14 and 18 may be 
considered statutory rape, and sex with a child under age 14 is 
considered rape, regardless of consent or the victim's gender. 
Penalties for statutory rape range from five years and a day to 20 
years in prison. Child pornography is a crime. Penalties for producing 
child pornography range from 541 days to five years in prison. Child 
prostitution was a problem. Children engaged in prostitution for 
survival with and without third-party involvement.

    Institutionalized Children.--An August report released by family 
court judges described substandard conditions in some children's 
shelters. The report described a shelter where the children received 
two meals a day, consisting only of bread, and where there had been a 
gas leak for months. The report also described a shelter in which 
children identified as sex offenders were housed with children 
identified as being vulnerable to, or victims of, sexual abuse. 
Additionally there was an account of a girls' shelter without privacy 
or adequate heating.
    In May 2010 PDI detectives arrested nine individuals for alleged 
sexual exploitation of adolescent girls at the Capullo youth home run 
by SENAME in the Bio-Bio region. All four of the resulting lawsuits 
ended in convictions.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were approximately 15,000 members of the 
Jewish community. There were various reports of anti-Semitic incidents 
during the year, such as acts of vandalism, verbal slurs, bomb threats, 
and online harassment. Authorities noted an increase in anti-Semitic 
comments made via social media during the year, including by several 
congressional deputies. Vandalism included desecration of Jewish 
community institutions, such as schools, synagogues, and cemeteries.
    Neo-Nazi and skinhead groups engaged in gang-type criminal 
activities and violence against immigrants, homosexuals, punk rockers, 
and anarchists. Some skinhead groups shared the anti-Semitic rhetoric 
of neo-Nazi groups.
    The interior minister, who is Jewish, was the target of several 
anti-Semitic remarks throughout the year. On August 11, the president 
of the College of Professors accused the minister of using ``Zionist 
methods of apartheid'' and ``having some upbringing in some school of 
Israel.'' After widespread condemnation, the College of Professors 
president apologized for the remarks. On December 21, following the 
interior minister's condemnation of a Communist Party letter of 
condolence to North Korea for the death of Kim Jong Il, a deputy from 
the Communist Party stated via Twitter that the interior minister was 
``a Jew who acted like a Nazi."
    On December 31, a deputy from the Christian Democrats made anti-
Semitic comments on Twitter about an Israeli tourist accused of 
starting a fire in Torres del Paine.
    The National Office of Religious Affairs is part of the executive 
branch and is responsible for promoting religious freedom and 
tolerance.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of other state services, and the government effectively 
enforced these provisions. However, persons with disabilities suffered 
forms of de facto discrimination. Law 20,422, which came into effect in 
February 2010, establishes norms for equal opportunity and social 
inclusion for persons with disabilities. The law provides for universal 
equal access to buildings, information, and communications. However, 
most public buildings did not comply with legal accessibility mandates. 
An improved transportation system in Santiago provided additional, but 
still limited, accessibility for persons with disabilities. Public 
transportation outside of the capital remained problematic.
    The 2010 law also created the National Service for the Disabled 
(SENADIS), which replaced the National Fund for Persons with 
Disabilities. SENADIS operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry 
of Planning and has responsibility for protecting the rights of persons 
with disabilities and creating programs to promote their better 
integration into society.
    A number of communities around Santiago built parks that cater to 
the needs of children with physical, visual, and hearing impairments. 
This effort was part of a larger government initiative to provide 
universal access to public spaces.

    Indigenous People.--Indigenous people (approximately 5 percent of 
the total population) have the right to participate in decisions 
affecting their lands, cultures, and traditions, including the 
exploitation of energy, minerals, timber, or other natural resources on 
indigenous lands. However, the INDH noted in its 2011 annual report 
that government policies and judicial decisions regarding consultation 
with indigenous peoples limited their participation and restricted the 
measures and subjects of discussion. The INDH's 2010 report stated that 
serious institutional deficits persisted regarding indigenous peoples' 
economic, social, and cultural rights; political participation; and 
land and territorial rights. Indigenous people also experienced 
societal discrimination, and there were reported incidents in which 
they were attacked and harassed. Indigenous women faced triple 
discrimination on the basis of their gender, indigenous background, and 
reduced economic status, and they were especially vulnerable to 
violence, poverty, and illness.
    There were isolated instances of violence between the Mapuche and 
landowners, logging companies, and police in the southern part of the 
country. The actions usually took the form of protests regarding 
historic Mapuche concerns about their rights to ancestral lands. 
Instances of rock throwing, land occupations, and burning crops, 
buildings, or vehicles occurred. Mapuche activists and police forces 
stationed in the area to guard private lands sometimes engaged in 
skirmishes.
    There were reports of police abuse against Mapuche individuals and 
communities. On August 24, the Americas director of Human Rights Watch 
stated that ``there is, indeed, strong evidence of police abuse, of 
police brutality during raids, and of excessive and unjustified force, 
which has resulted in the loss of Mapuche lives.'' The military justice 
system is responsible for investigating all cases of alleged police 
abuse.
    The NGO Citizens' Observatory (OC) reported police searches of 
Mapuche homes without a warrant, arrest and release of Mapuche 
individuals without a detention control hearing, and police use of 
intimidation and discriminatory statements against Mapuche individuals, 
including minors. The INDH's 2011 report stated that the rights of 
Mapuche children in these contexts were not always protected.
    The Ethical Commission Against Torture's annual report noted that, 
as of May, 62 Mapuche individuals had been jailed, indicted, or 
convicted for actions that included destruction of property, attacks on 
farms, or confrontations with police. The Equitas Foundation's 
Barometer of Politics and Equality report in April noted that sentences 
for police convicted of crimes against Mapuche were noticeably more 
lenient than those for Mapuche individuals.
    On December 22, the Temuco Appellate Court issued instructions to 
carabineros to use extreme caution in the treatment of minors after 
police detained a 12-year-old Mapuche boy on December 8. On December 
21, the same court issued instructions to carabineros to abstain from 
using tear gas near indigenous homes in response to an appeal made by a 
Mapuche community following carabineros' use of tear gas during 
searches in early November.
    On January 10, the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of 
indigenous peoples sent a communication to the government regarding the 
December 2010 police evictions of Rapa Nui protesters from government 
buildings and public spaces on Easter Island. The special rapporteur 
recommended that the government avoid evictions and maintain a police 
force on the island necessary and proportional to ensure the security 
of its inhabitants. On February 7, the IACHR granted precautionary 
measures for the Rapa Nui, requesting that the government guarantee 
that the actions of its agents in handling protests and evictions would 
not jeopardize the life or physical integrity of members of the Rapa 
Nui. In February President Pinera appointed a special commissioner for 
Easter Island. The Special Commissioner's Office oversees four working 
groups created to address migration, land, development, and the 
island's status as a special territory. On October 31, the IACHR lifted 
its measures.
    The OC denounced the September 2010 prosecution of Karina Riquelme, 
an attorney and member of the Center for Research and Defense SUR, who 
has defended Mapuche protesters. On November 11, Riquelme was convicted 
of illegally exercising the legal profession in 2009 and sentenced to 
21 days with a conditional pardon. The OC denounced the action as an 
attempt to intimidate and discredit Riquelme. An appeal was pending at 
year's end.
    On June 3, the Supreme Court partially annulled the sentences of 
four Mapuche individuals who were convicted in February of attempted 
murder and armed robbery. The four were part of a group of more than 30 
Mapuche awaiting trial who went on a hunger strike in July 2010 to 
protest their prosecution under the antiterrorism law and the military 
justice system. While antiterrorism charges were dropped in 2010, the 
defendants appealed on the grounds that their due process rights had 
been violated because evidence collected and used during their trial 
was done so under special antiterrorism law provisions. The Supreme 
Court upheld sentences for armed robbery but overturned the convictions 
for attempted murder, replacing them with convictions for assault and 
reducing total sentences of 20 to 25 years in prison to between eight 
and 14 years. The four convicted Mapuche held another hunger strike 
during the year, which ended June 9 after the formation of a Commission 
for the Rights of the Mapuche People, which included the INDH director, 
the archbishop of Concepcion, and Mapuche leaders. The commission's 
objective was to listen to the demands of Mapuche communities and 
suggest solutions to authorities.
    On January 19, a group of observers from the International 
Federation of Human Rights issued a declaration regarding the situation 
of three Mapuche youth accused of arson and illicit association under 
the antiterrorism law. Two of the youths were released under partial 
house arrest in January, while the third was released under partial 
house arrest on February 11, after being held in pretrial detention in 
a SENAME juvenile justice facility since April 2010. A fourth was 
arrested in April, charged, and released under partial house arrest. 
All four were awaiting trial at year's end.
    On November 24, the Military Court of Valdivia convicted Special 
Operations police Corporal Miguel Patricio Jara for the use of 
unnecessary force resulting in the 2009 death of Jaime Mendoza. Mendoza 
was killed while occupying private land in Ercilla. Jara was sentenced 
to five years in prison and an appeal was pending at year's end.
    On December 15, the Supreme Court rejected a procedural appeal in 
the case of Matias Catrileo, who was killed by a carabinero in 2008 
while occupying private land. The court's decision upheld the 
conviction of carabineros corporal Walter Ramirez for unnecessary 
violence resulting in Catrileo's death, which had increased Ramirez's 
sentence to three years in prison and prohibited him from serving in 
public office for the duration of his sentence, although it allowed him 
to serve time on parole.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The Movement for Homosexual 
Integration and Liberation (MOVILH) reported 138 cases of 
discrimination due to sexual orientation in 2010, compared with 124 
reported cases in 2009. MOVILH also noted a worsening in the acts of 
violence against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, 
including one killing, five acts of physical or verbal aggression, two 
incidents involving mistreatment by police, and nine incidents of work 
discrimination in 2010.
    Earlier in the year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 
accepted the 2009 IACHR petition to hear the case of Karen Atala, a 
judge who claimed discrimination in the loss of custody of her three 
daughters because she is a lesbian. The case was pending at year's end.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS or 
against other groups not covered above.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
Workers, with the exception of police and military personnel, have the 
right to form and join independent unions of their choice without 
previous authorization. With some limitations, the law also allows 
strikes, protects the right of collective bargaining, and prohibits 
antiunion practices.
    Union leaders are restricted from being members of political 
parties, and the Directorate of Labor has broad powers to monitor union 
accounts and financial transactions. By law public employees are 
prohibited from striking. While employees in the private sector have 
the right to strike, the law places some restrictions on this right. 
For instance, strikes must be approved by an absolute majority of 
workers. In addition, strikes by agricultural workers during the 
harvest season are prohibited. The law also proscribes employees of 100 
private sector companies, largely providers of services such as water 
and electricity, from striking and stipulates compulsory arbitration to 
resolve disputes in these companies. The law does not specifically 
prohibit employers from dismissing striking workers. However, employers 
must show cause and pay severance benefits if they dismiss strikers.
    Collective bargaining is protected by law, with exceptions for some 
public employees; entertainers; and temporary agricultural, 
construction, and port workers. The law guarantees collective 
bargaining rights only at the company level and where the employer 
agrees to negotiate with the collective. Collective bargaining in the 
agricultural sector remained dependent on employers agreeing to 
negotiate, since most of these workers were temporary and not 
automatically eligible for collective bargaining. Intercompany unions 
are permitted to bargain collectively only when the individual 
employers agree to negotiate under such terms.
    The government generally enforced labor laws effectively. Freedom 
of association and the right to collective bargaining were generally 
respected in practice. The government protected the right to strike in 
practice. Despite being prohibited by law, public sector strikes 
sometimes occurred. Worker organizations were independent of the 
government and political parties. According to Freedom House and the 
International Trade Union Confederation, antiunion practices, including 
violence against union leaders, unfair dismissals of union leaders, and 
replacement of striking workers, continued to occur. Both NGOs and 
unions reported companies also used sub- and temporary contracts as a 
form of antiunion discrimination and to increase the size of the 
workforce without collective bargaining rights.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. On April 1, the government 
enacted new legislation that modified the penal code to address 
comprehensively trafficking of persons and human smuggling, including 
forced labor.
    Some action was taken under the modified penal code. In May 
government prosecutors opened a case against former senator and 
businessman Francisco Javier Errazuriz for allegedly subjecting 56 
Paraguayans, including youth, to forced labor. The case remained under 
investigation at year's end.
    Forced labor continued to occur, primarily for domestic servitude. 
Some children were forcibly employed in the drug trade. Foreign 
citizens, including women and children, were subjected to forced labor, 
notably in domestic servitude, mining, and agriculture.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for employment at 18, although it provides 
that children between the ages of 15 and 18 may work with the express 
permission of their parents or guardians as long as they attend school. 
They may perform only light work that does not require hard physical 
labor or constitute a threat to health or child development. When 
attending school, children may not work more than 30 hours a week and 
in no case more than eight hours a day or between the hours of 10 p.m. 
and 7 a.m. Employers must register their work contracts at the local 
Ministry of Labor inspector's office.
    Ministry of Labor inspectors enforced regulations, and while 
compliance in the formal economy was high, most children working were 
employed in the informal economy, outside of the ministry's mandate. 
During the year the Ministry of Labor imposed some form of sanction in 
155 cases involving violations of child labor laws.
    The government devoted considerable resources and oversight to 
child labor policies. With accredited NGOs, SENAME ran 1,024 programs 
throughout the country to protect children in vulnerable situations. 
SENAME, in coordination with labor inspectors, identified and assisted 
children in abusive or dangerous situations. SENAME also implemented 
public education programs to raise awareness and worked with the 
International Labor Organization to operate rehabilitation programs for 
children withdrawn from child labor.
    Multisector government agencies continued to participate in the 
National Advisory Committee to Eradicate Child Labor, which was charged 
with implementing the National Action Plan for the Prevention and 
Progressive Eradication of Child Labor. The committee met regularly 
during the year, and in September it completed a study of child labor 
in critical communities designed to evaluate prevention programs and 
improve future interventions.
    During the year the Worst Forms of Child Labor Task Force, a 
separate entity, maintained a registry of cases and developed a 
multisector protocol for the identification, registration, and care of 
children and adolescents in dangerous agricultural jobs.
    Child labor was a problem in the informal economy and in 
agriculture. During the year SENAME and the Ministry of Labor 
identified 444 cases of children and adolescents involved in the worst 
forms of child labor. In 147 of the cases, children had been exploited 
for commercial sex. The use of children in the production, sale, and 
transport of drugs in the border area with Peru and Bolivia continued 
to be a problem. Children worked in the production of ceramics and 
books and in the repair of shoes and garments. In urban areas it was 
common to find boys carrying loads in agricultural loading docks and 
assisting in construction activities, while girls sold goods on the 
streets and worked as domestic servants. Children in rural areas were 
involved in caring for farm animals, as well as harvesting, collecting, 
and selling crops, such as wheat, potatoes, oats, and quinoa.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--On July 1, the minimum wage 
increased 5.5 percent to 182,000 pesos (approximately $376) a month. As 
of March 1, the minimum wage for domestic servants was raised from 92 
to 100 percent of that for other occupations. The minimum wage for 
workers over age 65 and under 18 was 135,494 pesos ($280). The 2009 
official poverty level, the latest government figure available, was 
64,134 pesos ($133) a month.
    The law sets the legal workweek at six days or 45 hours. The 
maximum workday length is 10 hours (including two hours of overtime 
pay), but some categories of workers, such as caretakers and domestic 
servants, are exempt. The law mandates at least one 24 hour rest period 
during the workweek, except for workers at high altitudes, who may 
exchange a work-free day each week for several consecutive work-free 
days every two weeks. The law establishes fines for employers who 
compel workers to work in excess of 10 hours a day or do not provide 
adequate rest days. Annual leave for full-time workers is 15 work days, 
and workers with more than 10 years of service are eligible for an 
additional day of annual leave for every three years worked. Overtime 
is considered to be any time worked beyond the 45-hour work week. 
Workers receive time and a half pay for any overtime performed.
    The law establishes occupational safety and health standards, which 
are applicable to all sectors. There are special safety and health 
norms for specific sectors, such as mining and diving. The National 
Service for Geology and Mines is further mandated to regulate and 
inspect the mining industry. The law does not regulate the informal 
sector or employees who are subcontracted to a company. The law 
protects employment of workers who remove themselves from dangerous 
situations if labor inspectors from the Labor Directorate and 
occupational safety and health inspectors from the country's Safety 
Association determine that conditions endangering workers' health or 
safety exist.
    The Labor Directorate, under the Ministry of Labor, was responsible 
for enforcing minimum wage and other labor laws and regulations, and it 
did so effectively. The Ministries of Health and Labor administered and 
effectively enforced occupational safety and health standards. 
Insurance mutual funds are private nonprofit institutions that receive 
a commission from the government to provide workers' compensation and 
occupational safety training for the private and public sectors.
    The Labor Directorate employed 457 labor inspectors during the 
year, and it added 72 new inspectors at year's end following the 
October passage of the Post-Natal Leave Law. Both the Labor Directorate 
and NGOs reported the need for more inspectors to ensure compliance 
with labor laws throughout the country, particularly in remote areas. 
NGOs commented that inspectors needed more training and that labor 
tribunals were overburdened and would be more effective if they were 
specialized. For large corporations fines were not considered to have a 
deterrent effect. The Labor Directorate worked preventatively with 
small and medium-sized businesses to assist in their compliance with 
labor laws. The sectors with the most infractions during the year were 
real estate and commerce.
    Minimum wage violations were most common in the real estate and 
commerce sectors. In 2009 approximately 11 percent of the workforce 
received the minimum wage or less in practice.
    The sectors with the most infractions in safety and health 
standards were construction and industrial manufacturing. Between 
January and September, 288 workplace fatalities and 1,625 serious 
accidents were registered. The construction and transport sectors 
suffered the most accidents during the year. In particular, there were 
reports of continued precarious conditions in mining. Immigrant workers 
in the agricultural sector were in danger of being subjected to 
exploitative working conditions.

                               __________

                                COLOMBIA

                           executive summary
    Colombia is a constitutional, multiparty republic. In June 2010 
Juan Manuel Santos was chosen president in elections that were 
considered generally free and fair. The internal armed conflict 
continued between the government and terrorist organizations, 
particularly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the 
National Liberation Army (ELN). Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities. Although significantly fewer than past years, there were 
instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently 
of civilian control.
    The most serious human rights problems were impunity and an 
inefficient judiciary, corruption, and societal discrimination. 
Impunity and an inefficient justice system subject to intimidation 
limited the state's ability to prosecute effectively those accused of 
human rights abuses and to process former paramilitaries. Corruption 
often was exacerbated by drug-trafficking revenue. Societal 
discrimination against indigenous persons and Afro-Colombians 
negatively affected the ability of these groups to exercise their 
rights.
    Other problems included extrajudicial killings, insubordinate 
military collaboration with members of illegal armed groups, forced 
disappearances, overcrowded and insecure prisons, harassment of human 
rights groups and activists, violence against women, trafficking in 
persons, and illegal child labor.
    The government continued efforts to improve respect for human 
rights and prosecute and punish officials, including members of the 
security services, who committed abuses, but some impunity persisted. 
The government took significant steps to increase resources for the 
Prosecutor General's Office.
    Illegal armed groups, including the FARC, ELN, and organized crime 
groups that included some former paramilitary members, committed 
numerous abuses, including the following: political killings; killings 
of members of the public security forces and local officials; 
widespread use of land mines; kidnappings and forced disappearances; 
subornation and intimidation of judges, prosecutors, and witnesses; 
infringement on citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of 
movement; widespread recruitment and use of child soldiers; attacks 
against human rights activists; violence against women, including rape 
and forced abortions; and harassment, intimidation, and killings of 
teachers and trade unionists. Illegal armed groups continued to be 
responsible for most instances of forced displacement in the country.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Political and 
unlawful killings remained a very serious problem, and there were 
several reports that members of the security forces committed 
extrajudicial killings during the internal armed conflict (see section 
1.g.). There were significantly fewer reports of military officials 
presenting fatally wounded civilians as killed in combat than in 2008 
or 2009, when several hundred fatalities were reported.
    However, the Center for Popular Research and Education (CINEP), a 
local human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO), reported 
examples of extrajudicial executions and excessive police violence 
against civilians. CINEP reported that there were at least seven 
unlawful killings committed by state agents during the year. Most 
victims were caught in the cross fire during confrontations between the 
army or police and illegal armed groups. In several cases military 
officials stated they believed an individual was fighting on behalf of 
the FARC, while community members claimed the victim had not been a 
combatant. CINEP and other NGOs considered the organized criminal gangs 
to be a continuation of the paramilitary groups and attributed some 
reports of human rights violations committed by these groups to the 
government. The government acknowledged that some former paramilitary 
members were active in organized criminal gangs but noted that the 
gangs lacked the unified command structure and ideological agenda that 
defined the former United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The 
NGOs also included killings by these groups in their definition of 
``unlawful killings'' (see section 1.g.).
    For example, CINEP alleged that on January 22, members of the 
army's Third Brigade killed Anderson Dagua, a member of the Nasa ethnic 
group, during a firefight with the FARC in Caloto, Cauca. The army 
contended that the military killed only FARC members. The Prosecutor 
General's Office continued to investigate the case at year's end.
    CINEP also reported that on June 10, members of the army's 18th 
Brigade shot and killed Humberto Peroza Wampiare, a local indigenous 
leader of the Hitnu people. The army initially reported Peroza as 
killed in combat with the FARC. On June 18, however, the army issued a 
press release indicating it had begun a disciplinary investigation into 
the case. The Prosecutor General's Office continued to investigate the 
case at year's end.
    At year's end the trial continued of Lieutenant Munoz Linares, 
charged with the rape of a 14-year-old girl and subsequent killing of 
the girl and two other children in Arauca in October 2010.
    Some members of government security forces, including enlisted 
personnel, noncommissioned officers, and senior officials, were accused 
of collaborating with or tolerating the activities of organized 
criminal gangs, which included some former paramilitary members. Such 
collaboration, in violation of orders from the president and military 
high command, may have facilitated unlawful killings or other crimes.
    In conformity with the law, military or civilian authorities 
investigated killings committed by security forces. Investigations of 
past killings proceeded, albeit slowly. As of November 15, the 
Prosecutor General's Office reported it had achieved 158 convictions of 
439 military personnel for extrajudicial executions since 2000. Some 
high-profile cases against military personnel resulted in convictions 
or were reopened in large part due to testimony obtained through the 
Justice and Peace process.
    According to the NGO Landmine Monitor, nongovernmental actors, 
particularly the FARC and ELN, planted new land mines (see section 
1.g.).
    Guerrillas, notably the FARC and ELN, committed unlawful killings. 
Organized criminal groups that included some former members of 
paramilitary groups committed numerous political and unlawful killings, 
primarily in areas under dispute with guerrillas or without a strong 
government presence (see section 1.g.).

    b. Disappearance.--Forced disappearances, many of them politically 
motivated, continued to occur. As of September 30, the National Search 
Commission had documented more than 63,000 disappearances since the 
decades-long internal conflict began, including 16,884 that were 
registered as forced disappearances, with 11,064 found alive and 2,448 
found dead. According to the commission, between January 1 and 
September 30, 10,236 individuals were registered as disappeared, 
including 2,479 registered as forced disappearances. Not all 
disappearances registered in 2011 occurred during the year.
    The Displaced and Disappeared Persons Unit of the Prosecutor 
General's Office, created in December 2010, had 22 prosecutors, 44 
prosecutorial and judicial assistants, and 85 investigators from the 
national judicial police who were responsible for investigating and 
prosecuting more than 18,000 suspected forced disappearances and forced 
displacements. The Prosecutor General's Office charged two members of 
the armed forces in cases of forced disappearance and returned 1,665 
remains to family members during the year.
    Kidnapping, both for ransom and for political reasons, remained a 
serious problem. The FARC and ELN, as well as organized criminal gangs 
and common criminals, continued the practice. The Ministry of Defense 
reported that 298 people were kidnapped during the year (77 by the 
FARC, 31 by the ELN, four by organized criminal gangs, and the rest by 
other illegal groups), compared with 282 in 2010. The Ministry of 
Defense reported that 187 of the kidnappings were for extortion, 
similar to the 188 reported in 2010. Some human rights groups 
questioned the government statistics, arguing that many cases went 
unreported and that several hundred kidnapping victims were held at 
year's end. All illegal groups, including guerrillas, had killed some 
kidnapping victims (see section 1.g.).
    The Unified Action Groups for Personal Liberty (GAULA)--military 
and police entities formed to combat kidnapping and extortion--and 
other elements of the security forces freed more than 133 hostages 
during the year. Fondelibertad, a government entity that compiles 
statistics on kidnapping and extortion, reported that at least 24 
kidnapping victims died in captivity in the first 10 months of 2011, 
compared with six between January and August 2010.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the law prohibits such practices, there were 
reports that the police, military, and prison guards sometimes 
mistreated and tortured detainees. Members of the military and police 
accused of torture generally were tried in civilian rather than 
military courts. CINEP asserted that during the first six months of the 
year, government security forces were involved in 12 incidents of 
torture, compared with 16 in the first six months of 2010. The 
Prosecutor General's Office charged 36 members of the armed forces with 
torture during the year; not all cases occurred during the year.
    CINEP reported that illegal armed groups were responsible for at 
least 15 cases of torture through June, compared with seven in the same 
period of 2010.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--With the exception of new 
facilities, prison conditions were poor, particularly for prisoners 
without significant outside support. The National Prison Institute 
(INPEC) runs the country's 142 national prisons and is responsible for 
inspecting municipal jails. According to INPEC more than 99,000 
prisoners were held in facilities designed to hold fewer than 64,000. 
Approximately 7,400 prisoners were women. According to a November 
report by Point of View Corporation based on data from INPEC, 85 
percent of prisons experienced overcrowding, with approximately 27,000 
inmates living in prisons that held more than double their designed 
capacity. Information comparing conditions in men's versus women's 
prisons was not available, but overcrowding existed in women's prisons 
as well. The Buen Pastor women's prison in Bogota held close to 1,800 
women even though it was designed for 1,100 prisoners. The Inspector 
General's Office reported that some facilities had poor ventilation, 
overtaxed sanitary and medical systems, and inadequate food. The 
Inspector General's Office called on INPEC to take significant steps to 
improve prisoners' access to medical care, noting that such care was 
inadequate under the contract provider. Prisoners in some high-altitude 
facilities complained of inadequate blankets and clothing, while 
prisoners in tropical facilities complained that overcrowding and 
inadequate ventilation caused high temperatures in prison cells. 
Prisoners generally had access to potable water, but in May Congressman 
Ivan Cepeda presented a report documenting water shortages at the 
prison in Valledupar, Cesar.
    Lack of security and an insufficient budget also remained serious 
problems in the prison system. Many of INPEC's prison guards were 
poorly trained, but improved training, increased supervision, and more 
accountability for prison guards alleviated some of the problems caused 
by inadequate security, overcrowding, access to medical care, and other 
concerns.
    INPEC reported that through October there were 13 violent inmate 
deaths related to fighting among inmates. The Prosecutor General's 
Office continued to investigate allegations that some prison guards 
routinely used excessive force and treated inmates brutally.
    The law prohibits holding pretrial detainees with convicted 
prisoners, although this sometimes occurred. Juvenile detainees and 
prisoners were not held with adults, but 160 children younger than 
three years old were permitted to stay with their mothers.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and were allowed to 
continue their religious practices; however, some NGOs complained that 
they were denied access to visit prisoners without adequate 
explanations. Prisoners had access to legal representatives and could 
submit complaints to judicial authorities and request investigations of 
inhumane conditions. While authorities investigated such claims, some 
prisoners complained that the investigations were slow and the results 
not accessible to the public. The government continued a pilot program 
with local universities and other organizations to identify and attend 
to human rights issues within prisons. Prisoners could seek out third 
parties from local NGOs or government entities, such as the Ombudsman's 
Office, to represent them in legal matters and in seeking 
investigations of prison conditions.
    The government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by local and international human rights groups, and such 
monitoring occurred during the year.
    In April the press reported on prisoner conditions at the Tolemaida 
Military Reclusion Center, stating that many of the approximately 300 
military officers and enlisted men detained (most of whom had been 
convicted, some for serious crimes including torture and homicide) were 
living in privileged conditions and that the facility did not comply 
with numerous prison system regulations. To investigate the 
allegations, the Ministry of Defense created a verification commission 
composed of the inspector general of the armed forces, inspector 
general of the army, vice-minister of defense for policy and 
international affairs, and director of INPEC. In its report, released 
in May, the commission admitted that the center had become ``an 
unprecedented administrative mess, with high levels of corruption,'' 
and made recommendations to ensure the facility complied with INPEC 
regulations and prevent a similar situation from taking place in other 
military reclusion centers. The government reported that the director 
of the center was replaced and that all directors of military reclusion 
centers received training on INPEC regulations.
    Despite this attention NGOs and the press reported that high-level 
military officers continued to enjoy privileged detention conditions. 
For example, according to these reports, three such officers, convicted 
and sentenced for serious crimes, were held at a large military base in 
Bogota, where they lived in apartments, enjoyed freedom of movement 
within the base, ate in the officers' dining room, and interacted with 
active-duty officers. The three officers remained in detention at the 
military base at year's end.
    The FARC and ELN continued to deny the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC) access to hostages from police and military.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Although the law prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, there were allegations that authorities 
detained citizens arbitrarily.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Colombian National 
Police (CNP) is responsible for internal law enforcement and is under 
the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. Law enforcement duties are 
shared with the Prosecutor General's Corps of Technical Investigators 
(CTI). In addition to its responsibility to defend the country against 
external threats, the army shares limited responsibility for law 
enforcement and maintenance of order within the country. For example, 
military units sometimes provided logistical support and security for 
criminal investigators to collect evidence in high-conflict or hard-to-
reach areas. The government continued to expand education and training 
for the armed forces in human rights and international humanitarian 
law.
    The Prosecutor General's Office is the main entity responsible for 
investigating human rights abuses by security forces. As of November 
15, a total of 1,746 armed forces personnel had been arrested and were 
awaiting trial for extrajudicial executions, all of which occurred 
before 2011. However, claims of impunity continued to be widespread, 
due in some cases to obstruction of justice, a lack of resources for 
investigations and protection for witnesses and investigators, delaying 
tactics by defense attorneys, the judiciary's failure to exert 
appropriate controls over dockets and case progress, and inadequate 
coordination among government entities that sometimes caused periods of 
incarceration to end, thereby resulting in a defendant's release from 
jail before trial. Many human rights groups criticized the Prosecutor 
General's Office for indicting low-ranking military personnel while 
avoiding investigations of higher-ranking commanders. The Ministry of 
Defense relieved from duty eight officers and 19 noncommissioned 
officers of the armed forces for inefficiency, unethical conduct, 
corruption, and other causes. Since 2000 at least 581 officers and 
1,636 noncommissioned officers and soldiers have been retired from the 
army for these reasons.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police 
apprehended suspects with warrants issued by prosecutors based on 
probable cause, but a warrant is not required to arrest criminals 
caught in the act or fleeing the scene of a crime. Members of the armed 
forces detained members of illegal armed groups captured in combat but 
were not authorized to execute arrest warrants; however, members of the 
CTI, who accompanied military units, could issue such warrants. 
Detained persons must be brought before a judge within 36 hours to 
determine the validity of the detention. Formal charges must then be 
brought within 30 days, and a trial must start within 90 days of the 
initial detention. Bail is available for all crimes, except serious 
ones such as murder, rebellion, or narcotics trafficking. Approximately 
1,800 public defenders contracted by the Office of the Ombudsman 
assisted indigent defendants. Detainees were granted prompt access to 
legal counsel and family as provided for by law. In general these 
rights were respected in practice.
    Prominent human rights NGOs complained that the government 
arbitrarily detained dozens of persons, particularly community leaders, 
labor activists, and human rights defenders. CINEP reported that 
security forces arbitrarily detained 75 persons through December 1.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--The government and prominent local NGOs 
frequently disagreed on what constituted ``arbitrary detention.'' While 
the government characterized detentions based on compliance with legal 
requirements, NGOs applied other criteria in defining ``arbitrary 
detention,'' such as arrests based on tips from informants about 
persons linked to guerrilla activities, detentions by members of the 
security forces without a judicial order, detentions based on 
administrative authority, detentions during military operations or at 
roadblocks, large-scale detentions, and detentions of persons while 
they were ``exercising their fundamental rights."

    Pretrial Detention.--The Superior Judicial Council reported that 
the civilian judicial system suffered from a significant backlog of 
cases, which led to large numbers of pretrial detainees. Implementation 
of the oral accusatory system, enacted throughout the criminal justice 
system in 2008, significantly increased conviction rates on newer cases 
while also lessening the delays and eliminating the secrecy that 
encumbered the old system. However, a large backlog of old-system cases 
remained. The failure of many local military commanders and jail 
supervisors to keep mandatory detention records or follow notification 
procedures made accounting for all detainees difficult.
    Civil society groups complained that some community leaders were 
subjected to extended pretrial detention. For example, on September 26, 
a judge released the former spokesman of the NGO National Movement of 
Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE)-Sucre, Carmelo Agamez, from prison in 
Sincelejo, Sucre. Authorities arrested Agamez in 2008 and charged him 
with conspiracy for alleged ties to paramilitary groups. Agamez was 
released because he had served three-fifths of the maximum sentence he 
would have received had he been found guilty. The trial against him 
continued at year's end.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--While the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, much of the judicial system was overburdened, 
inefficient, and hindered by subornation and intimidation of judges, 
prosecutors, and witnesses. In 2009 the U.N. special rapporteur on the 
independence of judges and lawyers reported that a high level of 
threats and attacks against judicial personnel contributed to a high 
rate of impunity; although the government attempted to address the 
situation, there was little change.
    Judicial authorities were subjected to threats and acts of 
violence. Although the Prosecutor General's Office had a witness 
protection program for witnesses in criminal cases, witnesses who did 
not enter the program remained vulnerable to intimidation, and many 
refused to testify.
    The military justice system may investigate and prosecute active-
duty military and police personnel for crimes ``related to acts of 
military service.'' The military penal code specifically defines 
torture, genocide, massacre, and forced disappearance as crimes 
unrelated to military service. All human rights violations are 
considered unrelated to military service and must be handled by the 
civilian justice system, although due to delays, this did not always 
happen in practice. More than 170 homicide cases were transferred from 
the military to the civilian justice system in the first six months of 
the year. Many cases were transferred as part of a plan in which 
officials from the military justice system and the Prosecutor General's 
Office met regularly to analyze cases in an attempt to reach agreement 
on those to be transferred without being referred to a lengthy, higher-
level review by the Supreme Judicial Council. The military penal code 
specifically excludes civilians from military jurisdiction, and 
civilian courts must try retired military and police personnel, 
although military courts are responsible for service-related acts 
committed prior to their retirement.
    The military penal code denies commanders the power to impose 
military justice discipline on their subordinates and extends legal 
protection to service members who refuse to obey orders to commit human 
rights abuses. The army has discretionary authority to dismiss 
personnel who may be implicated in human rights abuses.
    The Prosecutor General's Office is responsible for investigations 
and prosecutions of criminal offenses. Its Human Rights Unit, which 
includes 13 satellite offices, specializes in investigating human 
rights crimes, and its 102 specialized prosecutors were handling a 
total of 5,731 active cases at the end of June.
    The Inspector General's Office investigates allegations of 
misconduct by public employees, including members of the state security 
forces. The Inspector General's Office referred all cases of human 
rights violations it received to the Prosecutor General Office's Human 
Rights Unit. As of November the Inspector General's Office had opened 
110 disciplinary processes against members of the armed forces for 
human rights offenses and resolved 125 processes, including some from 
previous years.

    Trial Procedures.--Under the new accusatorial criminal procedure 
code, the prosecutor presents an accusation and evidence before an 
impartial judge at an oral, public trial. The defendant is presumed 
innocent and has the right to confront the evidence against him at 
trial and present his own evidence. No juries are involved. Crimes 
committed before implementation of the new code are processed under the 
prior written inquisitorial system in which the prosecutor is an 
investigating magistrate who investigates, determines evidence, and 
makes a finding of guilt or innocence. The ``trial'' consists of the 
presentation of evidence and finding of guilt to a judge for 
ratification or rejection.
    In the military justice system, military judges preside over 
courts-martial without juries. Counsel may represent the accused and 
call witnesses, but the majority of fact-finding takes place during the 
investigative stage. Military trial judges issue rulings within eight 
days of a court-martial hearing. Representatives of the civilian 
Inspector General's Office are required to be present at courts-
martial.
    Criminal procedure within the military justice system includes 
elements of the inquisitorial and accusatorial systems. Defendants are 
considered innocent until proven guilty and have the right to timely 
consultation with counsel. A Constitutional Court ruling forbids 
military attorneys from undertaking defense counsel duties. Defendants 
must retain counsel at their own expense or rely on defenders paid by a 
private fund.
    In November the government advocated deep changes to the military 
justice system, including a constitutional reform that would presume 
jurisdiction for the military courts when alleged crimes are committed 
by military personnel ``in the course of duty.'' Some observers 
expressed concern that these reforms could lead to human rights abuses 
by military personnel being investigated and tried in the military 
justice system, in contravention of a 1997 Constitutional Court 
decision that human rights cases be handled by the civilian judiciary.
    In June the Ministry of Defense announced 15 measures designed to 
reduce impunity for human rights violations committed by members of the 
armed forces. These measures are in addition to the 15 measures adopted 
in 2008 because of investigations carried out in the aftermath of the 
Soacha cases (see section 1.g.).
    In the past year civilian courts convicted military members for 
past human rights violations. For instance, on April 29, the former 
commander of the army's 13th Brigade, retired general Jesus Armando 
Arias Cabrales, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for his role in the 
1985 Palace of Justice case. This was the second-most severe sentence 
in the country's history for an officer of his rank, after retired 
general Jaime Humberto Uscategui's sentence of 40 years (see section 
1.c.), which was under appeal at year's end. Cabrales was held 
responsible for giving orders for the identification and interrogation 
of 11 civilians rescued from the palace who later disappeared. In May 
the Inspector General's Office appealed the conviction on the basis 
that there was no proof that Arias Cabrales had ordered or participated 
directly in the disappearances. Arias Cabrales continued to be held at 
a military base in Bogota while his case was pending appeal.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The government stated that it 
did not hold political prisoners. Members of human rights advocacy 
groups were held on charges of conspiracy, rebellion, or terrorism, 
which the groups described as harassment tactics by the government 
against human rights advocates (see section 5). According to INPEC 
there were 1,920 detainees accused or convicted of rebellion or aiding 
and abetting insurgence. The government provided the ICRC access to 
these prisoners.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens can sue a state 
agent or entity in the Administrative Court of Litigation for damages 
resulting from a human rights violation. Although critics complained of 
delays in the process, the court generally was considered impartial and 
effective.

    Property Restitution.--On June 10, President Santos signed the 
Victims' Assistance, Reparations, and Land Restitution Law (Land and 
Victims' Law), intended to benefit approximately four million citizens 
in the next 10 years with assistance and reparations to victims, 
including victims of the state. The law establishes a new institutional 
framework for reparations. Programs previously administered by the 
Presidential Agency for Social Action (Accion Social) were 
redistributed and assigned to various units within the newly created 
Administrative Department for Social Prosperity (DPS). This new 
department includes administrative units for victims, consolidation, 
historical memory, combating poverty, and protection of children and 
adolescents. The Victims' Administrative Unit has the governmental lead 
on attention to victims and assumed the functions previously under the 
National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation.
    In anticipation of the Land and Victims' Law, in October 2010 the 
government began implementing a land restitution and formalization of a 
``shock plan.'' By year's end the government had restored and titled 
1.7 million acres to more than 30,000 families. Of these, 269,800 acres 
were transferred to indigenous communities, 44,800 to the internally 
displaced, and 16,400 to Afro-Colombian communities. Focus areas of the 
plan included Antioquia, Bolivar, Cesar, Choco, and Magdalena. With the 
Land and Victims' Law, the government established a new goal to deliver 
2.97 million acres to 160,000 families by 2014.
    For many small landowners, formal land titling remained a daunting 
process. Government agencies and human rights groups estimated that 
illegal groups, including guerrillas, have seized between 1.1 and 2.7 
million acres of land from small landowners during the decades-long 
conflict. Paramilitary groups stole the majority of the land, only a 
fraction of which was reclaimed by the government after the 
demobilization of the AUC in 2006.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and while the 
government generally respected these prohibitions in practice, there 
were allegations of exceptions by some intelligence agencies. The law 
requires government authorities to obtain a warrant signed by a senior 
prosecutor to enter a private home without the owner's consent, unless 
the suspect has been caught during hot pursuit, and government 
authorities generally adhered to these regulations.
    Government authorities generally need a judicial order to intercept 
mail or monitor telephone conversations, including in prisons. However, 
government intelligence agencies investigating terrorist organizations 
sometimes monitored telephone conversations without judicial 
authorization, although evidence obtained in such a manner could not be 
used in court.
    Credible allegations of Administrative Department of Security 
(DAS), the now dismantled civilian intelligence agency, surveillance of 
high court magistrates, journalists, human rights organizations and 
activists, opposition leaders, and the vice presidency prompted an 
investigation by the CTI in 2009 that continued at year's end. Press 
reports and court documents indicated DAS surveillance designed to 
prepare prosecutions against victims and disrupt human rights groups' 
activities included physical monitoring of individuals and their 
families, telephone and e-mail intercepts, and collection of personal 
and financial data. NGOs continued to accuse domestic intelligence 
entities of spying on human rights defenders, threatening them, and 
breaking into their homes to steal information. In April unknown 
assailants attempted to break into the apartment of Zoraida Hernandez, 
president of the NGO Sembrar Corporation and spokeswoman for MOVICE. In 
May thieves broke into the home of Danilo Rueda, a human rights lawyer 
with the Interchurch Commission of Justice and Peace, and stole 
information documenting alleged military human rights abuses.
    During the year the Prosecutor General's Office continued to 
investigate numerous DAS employees and achieved several convictions by 
year's end. In July the Prosecutor General's Office asked the Supreme 
Court to impose the maximum sentence, 12 years, on six former senior 
and mid-level DAS employees: Martha Leal, former deputy director of 
operations; Jacqueline Sandoval Salazar, former director of 
counterintelligence; Jorge Armando Rubiano Jimenez, former member of 
the counterintelligence division; Hugo Daney Ortiz, former deputy 
director of operations; Jose Alexander Velasquez, former coordinator of 
the counterintelligence division's verification group; and Enrique 
Alberto Ariza Rivas, former director of intelligence. They were charged 
with aggravated conspiracy, illegal violation of communications, 
improper authorization of transmission equipment, and abuse of 
authority.
    In August three former DAS officials--Gustavo Sierra, Fabio Duarte 
Traslavina, and German Enrique Villalba Chaves--were sentenced to 
prison for their role in illegal wiretapping. They were charged with 
illicit violation of communications, use of illicit transmission 
equipment, abuse of authority, and aggravated conspiracy. Sierra, 
former DAS subdirector for analysis, was sentenced to eight years in 
prison, while Duarte and Villalba received six years and one month for 
their participation in the DAS subunit that carried out the illegal 
operations.
    On September 15, a judge sentenced former DAS director Jorge 
Noguera (2002-05) to 25 years in prison for his ties to paramilitary 
groups and his role in creating the intelligence unit that illegally 
collected information on NGOs, opposition politicians, and journalists. 
Former DAS director Maria del Pilar Hurtado (2007-08) was granted 
political asylum in Panama while the prosecutor general was in the 
process of filing illegal wiretapping charges against her. In May a 
Colombian judge issued a warrant for her arrest, and the Prosecutor 
General's Office requested that Interpol issue a Red Notice (a call for 
the provisional arrest of a wanted person, with a view to extradition) 
for Hurtado's detention. At the time the Panamanian government stated 
it would not extradite Hurtado. In December the government formally 
requested Hurtado's extradition; the request was pending at year's end.
    In July a Bogota superior tribunal judge ordered the preventive 
detention of Bernardo Moreno, former secretary to former president 
Uribe, following a petition by the victims and supported by the 
Prosecutor General's Office that asserted Moreno attempted to interfere 
with the investigation of the presidency's alleged role in the 
wiretapping scandal. On August 18, an investigative commission in the 
House of Representatives conducted a public hearing as part of its 
investigation into former president Uribe's role in the illegal 
wiretapping. At year's end the congressional panel had not announced a 
decision to proceed with a formal probe into Uribe's alleged 
wrongdoing.
    On October 31, President Santos issued a decree that dismantled the 
DAS and called for the final transfer of the majority of the 6,500 DAS 
employees to the Prosecutor General's Office, Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, Ministry of Interior, and CNP by December 31. The National 
Intelligence Directorate, created by executive decree on November 3, is 
responsible for intelligence alone and does not have arrest authority.
    The government continued to use voluntary civilian informants to 
identify terrorists, report terrorist activities, and gather 
information on criminal gangs. Some national and international human 
rights groups criticized this practice as subject to abuse and a threat 
to privacy and other civil liberties.

    g. Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal Conflicts.--
The country's decades-long internal armed conflict involving government 
forces and two terrorist guerrilla groups (FARC and ELN) continued. The 
conflict and narcotics trafficking, which both fueled and prospered 
from the conflict, were the central causes of multiple violations of 
citizens' rights.
    Guerrilla group members continued to demobilize. At the end of 
October, according to the Ministry of Defense, 1,314 members of 
guerrilla groups had demobilized, compared with approximately 2,045 
during the same period in 2010, a 36 percent reduction in 
demobilizations. The Organization of American States (OAS) verified all 
stages of demobilization and reintegration into society of former 
combatants from both guerrilla and paramilitary groups.

    Killings.--Security forces were responsible for alleged unlawful 
killings. CINEP reported that there were five such killings during the 
first six months of the year, compared with 37 in the same period of 
2010. The Prosecutor General's Office reported that as of June it was 
pursuing 1,592 cases involving 2,731 victims of extrajudicial killings 
by the armed forces that had occurred since 1985. A large number of the 
reported cases involved army members. As of November the Prosecutor 
General's Office had obtained convictions of 393 accused members of the 
security forces. In total, 4,124 individuals were implicated in the 
1,633 cases before the Human Rights Unit. At year's end the Prosecutor 
General's Office was investigating 18 colonels, 27 lieutenant colonels, 
58 majors, and 107 captains, in addition to thousands of lower-ranked 
military personnel.
    According to CINEP, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for 
Human Rights (OHCHR), and the Presidential Program for Human Rights, 
the number of extrajudicial killings falsely reported as killed in 
combat fell significantly compared with previous years. The Prosecutor 
General's Human Rights Unit reported it did not open any new cases of 
extrajudicial killings alleged to have occurred during the year. 
However, CINEP documented five cases involving four victims through 
November. For example, CINEP reported that on June 10, soldiers from 
the 18th Brigade shot and killed indigenous leader Humberto Peroza 
Wampiare and alleged he was killed in combat in rural Arauca. Peroza 
was a member of the Hitnu ethnic group and lived in the indigenous 
reserve La Voragine. On June 18, army General Navas issued a statement 
indicating the army was working with the Office of the Inspector 
General to investigate the case and the soldiers involved.
    On June 3, a judge in Cimitarra (Santander) handed down the first 
convictions linked to the 2008 Soacha ``false positives'' cases. The 
judge found eight soldiers guilty of aggravated homicide and forced 
disappearance for the March 2008 killings of Eduardo Garzon Paez and 
Daniel Andres Pesca Olaya. Both were reported as killed in combat in 
Cimitarra by members of the Caldas Battalion of the army's Fifth 
Brigade. All eight military defendants, which included the battalion 
commander, were convicted of two counts of aggravated homicide and 
forced disappearance. Their sentences ranged from 28 to 55 years in 
prison. At year's end there were at least 10 other legal cases 
involving 14 victims associated with the Soacha scandal that were 
pending in courts in Bogota, Cucuta, and Bucaramanga.
    The government continued reforms to improve the human rights 
performance of the security forces. The Ministry of Defense continued 
to implement an agreement with the OHCHR to monitor seven of the 
ministry's 15 measures to improve adherence to human rights. The first 
four measures evaluated included the role of inspector delegates, 
operational legal advisors, inspections teams, and the complaints 
system. During joint UN-Defense Ministry visits to military bases, the 
ministry and the armed forces granted OHCHR staff broad access to files 
and military personnel to determine if the measures were being 
implemented effectively. The ministry also created four offices of 
indigenous affairs in each of the military commands and named 73 
regional officials to liaise with indigenous communities.
    FARC and ELN guerrillas killed members of government security 
forces. For example, on October 10, FARC guerrillas detonated 
explosives and killed seven soldiers in the municipality of Caloto in 
Cauca Department. On November 26, the FARC executed four hostages--army 
Sergeant Jose Libio Martinez (who had been held by the FARC for 14 
years), police Colonel Edgar Yeside Duarte, Lieutenant Elkin Hernandez 
Rivas, and Alvaro Moreno. FARC guerrillas killed the four men with 
gunshots to the back of the head when the military attempted to rescue 
them. A fifth hostage, police Sergeant Luis Alberto Erazo Mayo, 
kidnapped in 1999, escaped.
    The FARC used ruses to kill civilians and government security 
forces. For example, on August 7, suspected FARC guerrillas detonated a 
remote-controlled improvised explosive device hidden in sugar to kill 
community leader Maria Elizabeth Quiroz in Campamento, Antioqua.
    In many areas of the country, the FARC and ELN worked together to 
attack government forces or demobilized paramilitary members; in other 
areas, especially in Arauca, Valle del Cauca, Cauca, and Narino 
departments, they fought each other. Various courts convicted members 
of the FARC secretariat in absentia on charges including aggravated 
homicide.
    The FARC killed persons it suspected of collaborating with 
government authorities or alleged paramilitary groups. The CNP reported 
that through September the FARC had killed at least 225 civilians. For 
example, on May 7, members of the FARC's 30th Front forcibly abducted 
five Afro-Colombian men from the same family in Bajo Naya, Cauca 
Department, and the next day told the victims' family members that the 
men were dead.

    Abductions.--Organized criminal gangs, FARC and ELN guerrillas, and 
common criminals continued to take hostages for ransom. According to 
the Ministry of Defense, of the 298 individuals kidnapped during the 
year; 177 were attributed to common crime. Organized criminal gangs 
were responsible for 13 kidnappings. Forty of the 298 individuals 
kidnapped continued to be held by their captors at year's end.
    The FARC and ELN continued to commit numerous kidnappings, which 
remained a major source of revenue. The FARC also held politicians, 
prominent citizens, and security force members to use as pawns in 
prisoner exchanges. Fondelibertad reported that guerrillas kidnapped 
108 persons (77 by the FARC and 31 by the ELN) during the year.
    On September 29, assailants abducted the 10-year-old daughter of 
the mayor of Fortul, Arauca, as she arrived at school with her mother. 
The abductors released her mother and held the girl for 20 days before 
releasing her in the nearby municipality of Arauquita on October 17. On 
November 20, authorities arrested three members of the FARC and charged 
them with the kidnapping. The investigation continued at year's end.
    FARC members were convicted for kidnappings. For example, on June 
14, a Villavicencio judge sentenced former FARC member Daniel Vega 
Quitora to nine years and four months in prison for kidnapping Meta 
Governor Alan Jara, who was held for more than seven years.
    Foundation Free Country (Fundacion Pais Libre), an NGO that 
monitors kidnapping, continued to criticize Fondelibertad's numbers and 
said that simple kidnappings were not documented comprehensively. As a 
result families of victims who were not officially declared as 
``kidnapped'' were unable to obtain government benefits. The foundation 
counted 229 kidnappings through September, a 10 percent increase over 
its calculations for 2010. It considered 62 percent of kidnappings were 
for ransom.

    Abductions.--According to preliminary reporting from the 
Presidential Program of Integrated Action Against Anti-Personnel Mines, 
land mines, deployed primarily by the FARC and ELN, caused 369 injuries 
and 65 deaths through October, approximately a 30 percent increase in 
injuries and more than double the number of deaths compared with the 
same period in 2010. An estimated 65 percent of landmine victims during 
the year were military personnel. As of October land mines killed or 
injured at least 30 children. The International Campaign to Ban Land 
Mines stated that the FARC continued to be the largest individual user 
of land mines and that the ELN also continued to use land mines. 
Government humanitarian demining brigades cleared more than 390,000 
square yards and destroyed 173 land mines, improvised explosive 
devices, and unexploded munitions through November.

    Child Soldiers.--The recruitment and use of children by illegal 
armed groups was widespread. In 2010 UNICEF estimated the number of 
children participating in illegal armed groups ranged from 10,000 to 
13,000. The Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) reported that it 
was impossible to know how many children were serving as soldiers for 
the FARC. However, in May the ICBF reported that 4,631 children had 
demobilized from illegal armed groups between 1999 and April 2011. On 
August 9, the ICBF director reported to Congress that 328 children had 
demobilized in the first seven months of the year, 85 percent of whom 
were boys. She reported that child recruitment continued to be a 
problem in the departments of Choco, Putumayo, Narino, and Cauca. In 
2010 the U.N. reported that the FARC used children to fight, recruit 
other children to act as spies, gather intelligence, serve as sex 
slaves, and provide logistical support. The penalty for leaders of 
armed groups who use child soldiers is life imprisonment. The 
government agreed to the International Criminal Court's penalty for 
child recruitment when it ratified the Rome Statute in 2002 but delayed 
application of the law to provide an incentive to all illegal groups, 
especially the FARC, to free recruited children. The delay remained in 
effect at year's end.
    International organizations continued to identify recruitment of 
indigenous youth by illegal armed groups as a serious concern. In 
February the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues called on 
illegal armed groups to cease recruiting indigenous youth and urged the 
groups to release any children they had recruited. The FARC continued 
to issue warnings to indigenous communities outlining a policy to 
conduct child recruitment and warning recipients not to challenge it. 
In June the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca denounced the FARC's 
``systematic'' forced recruitment of children, including some as young 
as eight years old.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Other Conflict-related Abuses.--Guerrilla groups and organized 
criminal groups prevented or limited the delivery of food and medicines 
to towns and regions in contested drug-trafficking corridors, straining 
local economies and increasing forced displacement. The FARC attacked 
medical personnel and medical centers. For example, on July 11, the 
FARC used explosives to destroy a medical center in Yarumal, Antioquia. 
The FARC used elaborate ruses to attack security forces. On December 6 
in Florencia, Putumayo, suspected FARC guerrillas planted explosives on 
the body of a person they had killed; when a team of police 
investigators arrived to investigate the corpse, the FARC detonated the 
explosives, injuring four police officers.
    Guerrillas forcibly displaced peasants to clear key drug and 
weapons transit routes in strategic zones and remove individuals who 
collaborated with the government or organized criminal gangs, which 
included paramilitary members who refused to demobilize. Guerrillas 
also imposed de facto blockades of communities in regions where they 
had significant influence. For example, international organizations 
reported many incidents in which illegal armed groups forcibly 
recruited indigenous people or forced them to collaborate, restricted 
their freedom of movement, and blockaded their communities. During the 
year the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which visited the 
country in 2010, continued to receive reports of rape, forced 
recruitment, use of minors as informants, and other abuses in the 
context of conflict.
    Organized criminal groups also continued to displace civilians 
residing along key drug and weapon transit corridors (see section 
2.d.).
    International organizations reported that systemic sexual violence 
against women and girls by some armed actors persisted (see section 6, 
Women). The human rights NGO Sisma Mujer, Amnesty International, and 
others reported that sexual violence remained one of the main tools 
used by armed actors to force displacement. In December the Office of 
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the U.N. 
Development Program reported that 17 percent of forced displacements 
were the result of sexual violence.
    Organized criminal gangs and FARC and ELN guerrillas routinely 
interfered with the right to privacy. These groups forcibly entered 
private homes, monitored private communications, and engaged in forced 
displacement and conscription. The standing orders of the FARC, which 
had large numbers of female combatants, prohibited pregnancies among 
its troops. There were numerous credible reports of compulsory 
abortions to enforce the order.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of 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 and functioning democratic political system combined 
to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.

    Violence and Harassment.--The independent media were active and 
expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. However, 
journalists reported being harassed by political candidates, public 
servants, and some security forces, particularly leading up to the 
October 30 local elections. According to the NGO Foundation for Press 
Freedom (FLIP), as of November 1, of 112 violations of press freedom, 
35 cases were perpetrated by political candidates or public servants. 
FLIP reported that press freedom violations were most common in regions 
most affected by the conflict, including Arauca, Guaviare, Caqueta, and 
North Santander.

    Nongovernmental Impact.--Members of illegal armed groups 
intimidated, threatened, kidnapped, and killed journalists. National 
and international NGOs reported that local media representatives 
regularly practiced self-censorship because of threats of violence. As 
of July, 211 journalists were receiving protection from the Ministry of 
the Interior and Justice's protection program. The ministry also 
supported an alert network organized for journalists by providing a 
small number of radios and an emergency telephone hotline. The Human 
Rights Unit of the Prosecutor General's Office was investigating more 
than 100 individuals involved in 45 active cases of crimes against 
journalists. At year's end the unit had achieved 18 convictions of 26 
perpetrators.
    According to FLIP, during the year one journalist, Luis Eduardo 
Gomez, was killed, compared with two journalists killed in 2010. On 
June 30, unknown assailants killed the independent journalist near his 
home in Arboletes, Antioquia. Authorities continued to investigate 
Gomez's death at year's end.
    On May 26 in Popayan, Cauca, two gunmen attempted to shoot 
journalist Hector Aurelio Rodriguez Castro as he arrived at the radio 
station where he worked. Police, who were already providing Rodriguez 
with protection, quickly intervened and arrested Andres Neil Palacios 
Mena and Luis Alberto Palacios Hurtado. The two were convicted of 
attempted murder in September and sentenced to nine years in prison.
    FLIP reported that 118 journalists received death threats, compared 
with 56 in 2010. Two journalists went into voluntary exile because of 
threats, the same number as in 2010.
    The Prosecutor General's Office made progress investigating the 
abduction and rape in 2000 of investigative journalist Jineth Bedoya. 
In May Bedoya's lawyers presented the case before the Inter-American 
Commission for Human Rights. The Prosecutor General's Office also 
interviewed former paramilitary elements with knowledge of the case. 
The case was pending at year's end.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--On September 12, a judge in 
Fusagasuga convicted Luis Agustin Gonzalez, editor of the regional 
newspaper Democratic Cundinamarca, on charges of libel and slander due 
to an editorial he wrote in 2008 questioning a gubernatorial candidate. 
The Superior Tribunal of Cundinamarca was reviewing an appeal of the 
ruling at year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events. However, 
guerrillas maintained a presence on many university campuses to 
generate political support for their respective causes and undermine 
support for their enemies through both violent and nonviolent means. 
Organized criminal gangs and FARC and ELN guerrillas threatened, 
displaced, and killed educators and their families for political and 
financial reasons, often because teachers represented the only 
government presence in the remote areas where the killings occurred. 
According to the Presidential Program for Human Rights, assailants 
killed 15 educators through October, a decrease of 44 percent from the 
same period in 2010. Threats and harassment caused many educators and 
students to adopt lower profiles and avoid discussing controversial 
topics.

    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. Freedom of association was limited 
in practice by threats and acts of violence committed by illegal armed 
groups against NGOs, indigenous groups, and labor unions (see section 
1.g.).
    Although the government does not prohibit membership in most 
political organizations, membership in organizations that espoused or 
carried out acts of violence, such as the FARC, ELN, and paramilitary 
groups, was illegal.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and while the government generally respected these rights 
in practice, there were exceptions. Military operations and occupation 
of certain rural areas restricted freedom of movement in conflict 
areas.
    The government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.

    In-country Movement.--Organized criminal gangs and FARC and ELN 
guerrillas continued to establish illegal checkpoints on rural highways 
and rivers, but an enhanced government security presence along major 
highways suppressed kidnappings. The government reported only one 
kidnapping at an illegal roadblock, occurring in the municipality of 
Totoro, Cauca, in March (see section 1.b.). In addition, on July 25, 
the mayor of Almaguer, Cauca, was kidnapped while traveling a rural 
road at night. He escaped from his captors--10 unidentified armed men--
two weeks later. International organizations also reported that illegal 
armed groups confined rural communities, hindered return, and prevented 
the free movement of people, especially in areas where narcotics 
cultivation and trafficking persisted.

    Exile.--The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not 
employ it. However, many persons went into self-imposed exile because 
of threats from organized criminal gangs and FARC and ELN guerrillas.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The internal armed conflict, 
especially in remote areas, was the major cause of internal 
displacement. The government, international organizations, and civil 
society identified various factors driving displacement, including 
threats and physical, psychological, and sexual violence by illegal 
armed groups against civilian populations; competition and armed 
confrontation between illegal armed groups for resources and 
territorial control; confrontations between security forces, 
guerrillas, and organized criminal gangs; and forced recruitment of 
children or threats of forced recruitment. Some NGOs complained that 
counternarcotics efforts, illegal mining, and large-scale economic 
projects in rural areas also contributed to displacement. The Land and 
Victims' Law provides for the restitution of land stolen by illegal 
armed groups from IDPs and other victims. The government estimated the 
law would require more than $20 billion and a decade to implement.
    Estimates of the numbers of IDPs varied. Accion Social registered 
143,116 new displacements during the year, a 7 percent increase from 
the same period in 2010.
    DPS statistics showed that new displacements primarily occurred in 
areas where narcotics cultivation and trafficking persisted, especially 
where guerrilla groups and organized criminal gangs were present, such 
as the Bajo Cauca area of the department of Antioquia, as well as in 
the departments of Cauca, Choco, Narino, and Meta. According to the 
DPS, during the year Antioquia registered the highest number of IDPs 
(29,170), followed by Valle del Cauca (22,608), Narino (21,571), Cauca 
(13,647), Cordoba (10,257), Caqueta (8,066), Choco (7,033) and Tolima 
(5,549). The NGO Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES) 
estimated that 259,146 persons were displaced during the year. 
According to CODHES the departments that received the highest number of 
IDPs during the year were Antioquia (64,043), Narino (28,694), Cauca 
(19,549), Valle del Cauca (17,489), and Cordoba (10,561).
    The government has registered an accumulated total of 3.9 million 
persons displaced since 1997 (including those displaced in years before 
the registration system was established), while CODHES estimated that 
more than five million persons had been displaced as a result of the 
conflict since 1985. Accion Social attributed a large part of the 
growth in cumulative IDP registrations in recent years to a 2008 court 
order requiring the government to include displacements from all 
previous years in the national IDP registry. The court order also 
prohibited the government from removing an individual from the IDP 
registry regardless of how many years had passed since displacement. 
Because of the continuing nature of the conflict and cumulative nature 
of government IDP registrations, the country had one of the largest 
populations of registered IDPs in the world.
    The government's national registry included registered IDPs whose 
applications for recognition had been accepted under defined criteria, 
while CODHES estimated new displacements based on information from the 
media, civil society, and fieldwork. CODHES also included as IDPs an 
undetermined number of coca and opium poppy producers who migrated in 
response to governmental drug eradication efforts, as well as those who 
migrated due to poor economic conditions and food insecurity resulting 
from the armed conflict.
    Despite improvements in the government registration system, 
international organizations and NGOs remained concerned about 
underregistration of IDPs. CODHES cited the government's denial of many 
registrations, lack of access to the registration system in some areas, 
and fear of retaliation from illegal armed groups as obstacles to full 
registration. The Monitoring Commission for Public Policy on Forced 
Displacement, a civil society body that evaluates and reports on 
internal displacement, noted important advances in the inclusion of 
IDPs in the national system, but it expressed concern over the rising 
rate of refusals and what it characterized as a 29 percent 
underregistration rate. During the year Accion Social refused 
approximately 28 percent of IDP registrations as ineligible, compared 
with a 31 percent refusal rate in 2010. Accion Social reported that the 
relatively higher refusal rate in recent years was a result of improved 
verification of IDPs. Government policy provides for an appeals process 
in the case of refusals.
    FARC and ELN guerrillas and organized criminal gangs continued to 
use forced displacement to gain control over strategic or economically 
valuable territory, weaken their opponents' base of support, and 
undermine government control and authority. Illegal armed groups also 
used land mines and roadblocks to confine entire villages to protect 
illicit crops and prevent pursuit by state security forces. The FARC, 
ELN, and organized criminal gangs continued to use force, intimidation, 
and disinformation to discourage IDPs from registering with the 
government. Guerrilla agents often forced local leaders and community 
members to demonstrate against illicit crop eradication efforts and 
sometimes forced communities to displace as a form of coerced protest 
against eradication. International organizations and civil society 
expressed concern over the increase in urban displacement caused by 
violence stemming from territorial disputes between criminal gangs, 
some of which had links to larger criminal and narcotics trafficking 
groups.
    According to DPS statistics, during the year the government 
registered 10,550 persons as intraurban IDPs. The Medellin Human Rights 
Ombudsman's Office reported that there were 8,434 intraurban IDPs in 
Medellin through October. The Medellin ombudsman did not use the same 
registration criteria as the DPS. The report cited threats, recruitment 
by illegal armed groups, homicides, violence, and sexual violence as 
the primary causes of intraurban displacement.
    During the year the government registered 4,961 new IDPs who 
identified themselves as indigenous and 34,851 who identified 
themselves as Afro-Colombian. Indigenous persons constituted 3 percent 
of new IDPs registered by the government and Afro-Colombians 23 
percent. The government reported that indigenous people made up 2.5 
percent and Afro-Colombians 9 percent of the total IDP population. The 
ICRC and UNHCR reported that indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups were 
disproportionately affected by displacement in some departments.
    The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) estimated 
the number of displaced indigenous persons to be much higher than 
indicated by government reports, since many indigenous persons did not 
have adequate access to registration locations due to geographic 
remoteness, language barriers, or unfamiliarity with the national 
registration system. In 2010 ONIC Director Javier Sanchez told the 
Inter-American Commission for Human Rights that at least 64 indigenous 
communities risked extinction as a result of the conflict, the primary 
cause for the displacement of indigenous peoples. CODHES estimated that 
the departments with the highest level of displacement of indigenous 
persons included Putumayo, Cordoba, Choco, Cauca, Narino, Caqueta, 
Meta, and Guaviare. The local NGO Association of Internally Displaced 
Afro-Colombians (AFRODES) reported in 2010 that 76 percent of displaced 
who registered did not answer the question about ethnicity; therefore, 
official statistics underrepresented the impact of displacement on 
Afro-Colombian communities. AFRODES estimated that Afro-Colombians made 
up as much as 25 percent of the total displaced population.
    AFRODES stated that threats and violence against Afro-Colombian 
leaders and communities continued to cause high levels of forced 
displacement, especially in the Pacific Coast region. AFRODES and other 
local NGOs also repeatedly expressed concern that large-scale economic 
projects, such as agriculture and mining, contributed to displacement 
in their communities.
    The government, international humanitarian assistance 
organizations, and civil society groups observed that mass 
displacements continued, representing 11 percent of the total 143,116 
persons displaced during the year according to government statistics. 
The National Observatory for Displacement reported 80 mass displacement 
events affecting more than 19,000 persons during the year, 15,782 of 
whom were included in the national registry, compared with 58 mass 
displacement events affecting 8,971 persons in 2010. According to the 
DPS, the departments with the highest numbers of IDPs from mass 
displacements in the year were Antioquia, Narino, Cordoba, Cauca, and 
Choco. CODHES reported 58 mass displacement events during the year, 
affecting approximately 26,900 persons, primarily in the departments of 
Cauca, Narino, Cordoba, and Antioquia.
    The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the 
UNHCR, and other international organizations reported on mass 
displacements in other departments throughout the year. For example, in 
February and early March, approximately 800 Afro-Colombians were forced 
to displace from rural communities near Buenaventura, Valle de Cauca, 
after illegal armed groups perpetrated a series of violent events 
including killings, the forced disappearance of a community leader and 
her husband, and threats. In early August 168 individuals from 62 
families were forced from rural communities in Pradera, Antioquia, 
after the FARC attacked army forces in the area.
    CODHES also reported that at least nine IDP community and land-
rights leaders were killed during the year, bringing the number of such 
leaders killed since 2002 to 54. On June 8, unknown assailants shot and 
killed Afro-Colombian IDP community leader and land tenure advocate Ana 
Fabricia Cordoba on a bus in Medellin. Cordoba had previously reported 
receiving threats related to her advocacy, and the government stated 
that Cordoba had not complied with the police-conducted risk analysis 
required to grant her government protection. On December 17, unknown 
assailants killed Alexa Gomez Polaina, president of Weavers of Life, an 
association that advocates the rights of displaced people. 
Investigation of both cases continued at year's end, as did 
investigations of similar cases in previous years. On December 4, 
President Santos announced that the government would offer financial 
rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those 
who threatened or killed land-rights leaders.
    The government budgeted 1.5 trillion pesos (approximately $776 
million) to assist IDPs during the year. Assistance to registered IDPs 
was delivered through Accion Social, the ICBF, the Ministry of Social 
Protection (MSP), and other governmental ministries and agencies. 
During the year Accion Social budgeted approximately 815 billion pesos 
($421 million) for direct IDP assistance, providing emergency food 
assistance to 600,000 persons, primarily IDPs. Accion Social also 
coordinated the return of approximately 19,965 displaced households 
during the year. International organizations and NGOs acknowledged the 
government's significant progress in improving programs and budgets for 
IDP assistance but maintained that the quality of programs providing 
emergency assistance, housing, income generation, and land restitution 
needed more improvement. CODHES estimated that more than half of 
displaced women were not registered and therefore were not receiving 
any emergency assistance. In 2010 Accion Social, the Prosecutor 
General's Office, and the CNP established a specialized unit to 
investigate and prosecute cases of forced displacement and 
disappearances. The unit included 22 prosecutors from the Prosecutor 
General's Office, 44 prosecutor and judicial assistants, and 85 
investigators from the National Judicial Police. At year's end the 
displacement unit was working to transfer approximately 50,000 pending 
complaints from other units in the Prosecutor General's Office for 
possible investigation.
    Assistance organizations pointed out that emergency response to 
mass displacements was more difficult and costly to mount, because most 
displacements took place in remote locations; however, the speed and 
effectiveness of the response continued to improve. Accion Social and 
other government agencies began response to most mass displacement 
events immediately. International organizations and civil society 
reported that a lack of local capacity to accept registrations in high-
displacement areas often delayed by several weeks or months assistance 
to persons displaced individually or in smaller groups. Intense 
fighting and insecurity in conflict zones, including areas in the 
departments of Antioquia, Cauca, and Narino, sometimes delayed national 
and international aid organizations from accessing newly displaced 
populations. The government took steps with international organizations 
and NGOs to improve the registration system and reduce the wait time, 
including prioritizing the vulnerable cases, holding registration fairs 
in high-displacement areas, and deploying more resources and equipment.
    Despite several government initiatives to enhance IDP access to 
services and awareness of their rights, many IDPs continued to live in 
poverty with unhygienic conditions and limited access to health care, 
education, or employment. In 2004 the Constitutional Court ordered the 
government to reformulate its IDP programs and policies, including 
improving the registration system. Since then the court has issued more 
than 100 follow-up decisions, some addressing specific cross-cutting 
issues such as gender, disabled persons, and ethnic minorities, and 
others analyzing specific policy components such as land and housing.
    In its March 16 report to the Constitutional Court, Accion Social 
cited improvements in institutional and territorial coordination, 
enhanced registration systems, involvement of IDP and community 
authorities and associations, increased IDP policy and program budget, 
and improved monitoring and evaluation of assistance and rights. The 
Monitoring Commission for Public Policy on Forced Displacement 
acknowledged some of the improvements cited in the government response 
but asserted that significant gaps remained.
    On October 13, the Constitutional Court issued another follow-up 
decision that recognized significant progress in health and education 
but identified significant shortcomings, including in the areas of 
displacement prevention, housing, and income generation. The court also 
acknowledged the importance of the new Land and Victims' Law and asked 
the government for a complete report on how IDPs' rights would be 
addressed under the new legal framework and the budget required for 
that purpose.
    Several international organizations and domestic nonprofit groups, 
such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), World Food 
Program, ICRC, and Colombian Red Cross, coordinated with the government 
to provide emergency relief and long-term assistance to displaced 
populations.
    Displaced persons also sought protection across international 
borders as a result of the internal armed conflict. The UNHCR reported 
in its 2010 Global Trends report released in June that Colombia was the 
country of origin for 113,233 refugees and 59,954 asylum seekers, the 
majority in Ecuador, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Panama. In 2010 the 
governments of Colombia and Ecuador formed a bilateral refugee 
commission to discuss the situation of Colombian refugees in Ecuador, 
including plans for voluntary returns. In September Foreign Minister 
Maria Angela Holguin announced that the government would contribute 
$500,000 to UNHCR Ecuador for programs in support of Colombian refugees 
in Ecuador. She also announced a contribution of $200,000 to the IOM to 
support voluntary returns of Colombian refugees from Ecuador.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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 reserved the right to determine eligibility 
for asylum based upon its own assessment of the nature of an 
applicant's claim. According to the government, it had approved 109 
applications of the 890 applications for refugee status since 2003. The 
majority of those who had presented applications abandoned them and 
left before a refugee status determination was completed. As of June 
the government had received 61 applications for refugee status: five 
were approved, 37 were rejected, and the others were pending at year's 
end. According to the government, 101 recognized refugees resided in 
the country. During the year the government received 131 applications 
for refugee status, including from persons from Cuba, Eritrea, 
Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. Of these cases, two persons were approved 
for refugee status, 112 were rejected, and 17 were pending at year's 
end. The government also reported an increase in the smuggling of 
migrants from outside the region, primarily from Asia and East Africa, 
en route to the United States and Canada. The government regularly 
provided access to the asylum process for such persons who requested 
international protection; however, nearly all abandoned their 
applications and continued on the migration route before a refugee 
status determination was completed.
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, generally free and fair elections based on nearly universal 
suffrage. Active-duty members of the armed forces and police may not 
vote or participate in the political process. Civilian public employees 
are eligible to vote, although they may participate in partisan 
politics only during the four months immediately preceding a national 
election.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--On 
October 30, the government held elections for local positions including 
governors, departmental representatives, mayors, and municipal 
councilors. The Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), an independent 
election-monitoring NGO, reported that between February and election 
day, of the approximately 102,000 candidates for local office, 41 were 
killed, 23 were attacked, seven were kidnapped, and 88 were threatened, 
for a total of 159 incidents of ``political violence,'' compared with 
149 during the previous local elections in 2007.
    According to the NGO New Rainbow Foundation, electoral fraud 
remained a serious concern. The NGO reported that parties supported 
candidates with questionable financial ties paid voters to register and 
vote in municipalities in which they were not resident. According to 
New Rainbow Foundation, all parties' rosters included candidates with 
questionable ties. The MOE estimated that 600,000 people registered to 
vote in precincts where they were not legally resident. The government 
took steps to reduce fraud, introducing a new finance tool to ensure 
transparency of campaign funds, disqualifying candidates with pending 
criminal investigations, and canceling the national identification 
cards of voters who could not demonstrate residence or employment in 
the municipality where they registered to vote.
    Following the election, on November 27, two men shot and killed 
Eladio Yascual Imbaquin, the MOE regional coordinator in Putumayo. The 
Prosecutor General's Office continued to investigate the case at year's 
end.
    In June 2010 Juan Manuel Santos won a four-year term as president 
in elections that the OAS electoral observation mission considered 
generally free and fair. The OAS mission also noted that the 2010 
elections involved the lowest levels of violence in 30 years.

    Political Parties.--Political parties could operate without 
restrictions or outside interference. The Liberal and Conservative 
parties previously dominated politics. The 2010 election of President 
Santos and the second-place showing of Antanas Mockus of the newly 
established Green Party reflected a continued widening of the political 
arena. More than a dozen political parties from across the political 
spectrum were represented in Congress.
    Organized criminal gangs and the FARC threatened and killed 
government officials (see section 1.g.). According to the Presidential 
Program for Human Rights, seven municipal council members were killed 
through September, compared with eight in the same period in 2010.
    Some local officials resigned because of threats from the FARC. A 
Ministry of Interior and Justice program provided protection to 199 
mayors, 103 members of departmental congresses, and 2,448 council 
members as of July.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The law requires that women 
be placed in at least 30 percent of appointed government posts and that 
the government report to Congress each year the percentage of women in 
high-level government positions. There were 15 women in the 102-member 
Senate and 19 in the 165-member House of Representatives. There were 
four women in the 16-member cabinet and three on the 23-member Supreme 
Court. In January the country's first female prosecutor general was 
sworn in; however, the validity of her election was challenged on 
several grounds.
    Two indigenous senators and two indigenous members of the House of 
Representatives occupied seats reserved for indigenous persons. There 
were no indigenous persons in the cabinet or on any of the high courts.
    Eleven Afro-Colombians served in Congress. There were eight self-
identified Afro-Colombian members of the House of Representatives--six 
were elected, and two occupied seats reserved for Afro-Colombians. 
Although there were no seats reserved for Afro-Colombians in the 
Senate, there were three Afro-Colombian senators. Two Afro-Colombians 
served as deputy magistrates on the Constitutional Court. There were no 
Afro-Colombian cabinet ministers.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively; however, 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. The 
World Bank's worldwide governance indicators reflected that government 
corruption was a serious problem. Drug trafficking revenues exacerbated 
corruption.
    On April 28, the Prosecutor General's Office, acting on a warrant 
issued by the Supreme Court, arrested and charged a senator for 
contracting irregularities associated with public works in Bogota, 
where the senator's brother served as mayor. In June the Senate voted 
to suspend the senator. In September the Supreme Court denied his 
appeal to be released on bail pending his trial. The former senator's 
trial began in November and continued at year's end.
    On May 3, the Inspector General's Office suspended the mayor of 
Bogota for failing to fulfill his public duty and for contracting 
irregularities. On June 22, the Prosecutor General's Office filed 
charges against the suspended mayor on accusations that included 
failure to execute public contracts legally and embezzlement. On 
September 23, a Bogota judge ordered the former mayor detained pending 
trial on the basis that he could influence the judicial process by 
obstructing justice. The investigations followed the Democratic Pole 
party's own internal investigation, which found the mayor had 
benefitted from contracting processes that were not transparent. In 
October the inspector general suspended him from public office for 12 
months. At year's end he remained in jail while the criminal 
investigation against him continued.
    Investigations into a 2009 corruption scandal involving 
inappropriate use of the Agriculture Ministry's irrigation and drainage 
loan program continued during the year. On July 19, the inspector 
general barred the former agriculture minister from public service for 
a period of 16 years because of irregularities associated with 
contracts issued by the ministry during his tenure as minister. On 
September 16, the prosecutor general formally charged the former 
minister with embezzlement and failure to execute public contracts 
legally. At year's end he remained in jail while the trial continued. 
The Prosecutor General's Office continued to investigate other former 
government officials in connection with the scandal.
    The Justice and Peace Law (JPL) process continued to expose 
corruption and paramilitary ties within the government and security 
forces. The president continued funding for the Supreme Court's 
investigative unit, which examined members of Congress and senior 
government officials. At year's end a total of 94 sitting or former 
congressional representatives and senators had been investigated; 
subsequently, 25 were acquitted and 37 convicted. Fifteen governors 
were investigated, eight of whom were convicted.
    The primary government body to design and enforce policies against 
corruption was the Presidential Program for Modernization, Efficiency, 
Transparency, and Combating Corruption, led by the anticorruption czar. 
The primary government institution that investigates and prosecutes 
corruption is the Prosecutor General's Office, but the Congress plays 
an investigative role in cases in which high government officials are 
involved.
    By law public officials must file annual financial disclosure forms 
with the tax authority. This information is not public. The Senate 
maintained a Web site on which senators could voluntarily post their 
financial information.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the government generally provided this access in practice. While there 
are no prohibitive fees to access government information, there were 
reports that some low-level officials insisted on bribes to expedite 
access to information.
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 
and local human rights groups often differed in their evaluations and 
analyses of the human rights situation. NGOs reported that criticism 
from high-level officials, including former president Uribe, linking 
them to guerrilla groups put them at risk of retaliation by organized 
criminal gangs. While most NGOs noted a more positive, conciliatory 
tone by the Santos government, some also said that the government 
arbitrarily arrested and detained human rights activists, particularly 
in high-conflict areas. NGOs claimed that the Prosecutor General's 
Office had pursued numerous unfounded judicial cases against legitimate 
human rights defenders with the purpose of discrediting their work. The 
government charged that some human rights activists engaged in 
activities that supported terrorism (see section 1.e.).
    President Santos, Vice President Garzon, and other senior 
government officials continued to make public statements in support of 
human rights defenders during the year. The Ministry of Interior's 145 
billion peso ($75 million) protection program provided protection to a 
total of 8,880 people, including 1,531 human rights activists, as of 
July (see section 2.a.).
    According to the NGO We Are Defenders (Somos Defensores), 29 human 
rights activists were killed and 93 threatened during the first half of 
the year. CODHES and We Are Defenders reported a rising trend of 
attacks against women leaders of the IDP population and activists 
seeking land restitution.
    Several NGOs reported receiving threats in the form of e-mails, 
mail, telephone calls, obituaries, objects, or directly from unknown 
individuals. According to the OHCHR, reports of threats continued to 
increase during the year. The government condemned the threats and 
called on the Prosecutor General's Office to investigate them. The 
Prosecutor General's Office investigated 100 cases of threats against 
human rights defenders during the year. None of the investigations had 
resulted in a prosecution at year's end.
    The government continued to meet with representatives of the OHCHR, 
local NGOs, and the diplomatic corps to discuss steps it had taken to 
comply with OHCHR recommendations to improve human rights practices. 
While acknowledging progress on several recommendations, the OHCHR and 
local NGOs reported that the government had not fully implemented all 
of them by year's end.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The ombudsman is independent, 
submits an annual report to the House of Representatives, and has 
responsibility for providing for the promotion and exercise of human 
rights. The Ombudsman's Office was underfunded, which limited its 
ability to monitor violations effectively. Members of the ombudsman's 
regional offices were under constant threat from illegal armed groups 
via pamphlets, e-mails, and violent actions.
    On November 2, President Santos signed a decree creating the 
National System for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. 
The system is coordinated by a commission of 11 senior government 
officials, led by the vice president, and is charged with designing, 
implementing, and evaluating the government's human rights and 
international humanitarian law policies. The Presidential Program for 
Human Rights, which operates under the authority of the vice president, 
coordinates national human rights policy and actions taken by 
government entities to promote or protect human rights. The program 
published the Human Rights Observer magazine, which provided analyses 
of major human rights issues and developments.
    Both the Senate and House of Representatives have human rights 
committees, which serve solely as forums for discussion of human rights 
issues.
    Implementation of the 2005 JPL continued. The Justice and Peace 
Unit in the Prosecutor General's Office is responsible for the required 
investigation and prosecution of demobilized persons, and an 
interagency commission on Justice and Peace coordinates its 
implementation. During the year 4,643 persons were presented as 
eligible for the JPL; 4,140 of these were former paramilitary members, 
including at least 29 commanders, and 503 were former guerrilla 
members. Testimonies of more than 2,433 individuals were taken, in 
which the Prosecutor General's Office identified 52,263 crimes, 
including more than 46,000 homicides. There were 66,773 victims 
involved in the 52,263 identified crimes. At year's end 362,369 victims 
had registered with the Prosecutor General's Office, including 38,604 
who registered by October 31. Between January and October, the 
government exhumed 428 graves involving the remains of 573 persons. 
During the year the government identified 304 remains, 250 of which 
were returned to family members by the end of October. Testimony from 
the voluntary confessions also triggered investigations of politicians, 
military members, major agricultural producers, and government 
officials' ties to paramilitary forces.
    The application of the law continued to face many challenges, 
including thousands of former paramilitary members who remained in 
legal limbo, and there was little land or money confiscated from 
paramilitary leaders. There were 10 convictions of paramilitary leaders 
since the law's implementation in 2005, seven in 2011.
    Since 2009 the government's Program of Administrative Reparations 
paid approximately 700 billion pesos ($362 million) in reparations to 
victims of illegal armed groups. Through May the Victim Protection 
Program under the Ministry of Interior and Justice protected 48 victims 
involved in the Justice and Peace process. As part of institutional 
reforms, the government allowed the mandate of the National Commission 
for Reparation and Reconciliation, including the Historical Memory 
Group, to expire. As provided by a 2010 law, the government was working 
to establish a limited version of a truth commission. The Land and 
Victims' Law provides for the establishment and institutionalization of 
formal archives and a Center of Historic Memory for collecting oral 
testimony and material documentation concerning violations of 
international human rights norms and law.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Although the law specifically prohibits discrimination based on 
race, gender, disability, language, or social status, in practice many 
of these prohibitions were not enforced.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Although prohibited by law, 
rape, including spousal rape, remained a serious problem. The law 
provides for sentences ranging from eight to 30 years' imprisonment for 
violent sexual assault. For acts of spousal sexual violence, the law 
mandates prison sentences of six months to two years and denies 
probation or bail to offenders who disobey restraining orders. There 
was no comprehensive or consolidated database on the incidence of 
sexual violence. However, in January the ``Leave My Body Out of War'' 
campaign published the results of an Oxfam-funded 2010 survey that 
sought to analyze the rate and prevalence of sexual violence against 
women in the country between 2001 and 2009. The survey was based on 
interviews conducted with 2,693 women in 15 of the country's 407 
municipalities identified as ``conflict-affected.'' The study 
extrapolated the survey results to estimate that 489,687 women had been 
victims of sexual violence. Almost 20 percent of these were instances 
of rape; almost half of these women were raped at least twice (33 
percent on three or more occasions). Sexual harassment, regulation of 
social life, forced domestic labor, forced prostitution, forced 
abortion, forced pregnancy, and forced sterilization were all included 
under the definition of sexual violence. The study estimated that 30 
percent of the violence was perpetrated by armed actors. However, a 
March study published by NGO Point of View Corporation and Benetech 
cautioned against citing the results of the study, noting the survey 
sample was drawn from only 15 municipalities and did not include 
nonconflict-affected zones.
    Prosecution rates for rape were low, and the Prosecutor General's 
Office attempted to improve this. In light of low prosecution rates, in 
2008 the Constitutional Court directed the Prosecutor General's Office 
to advance investigations into 183 alleged cases of sexual violence. As 
of September 2010 only four cases had resulted in a conviction, and 140 
remained in the investigative stage. Journalist Jineth Bedoya, who was 
abducted and raped in 2000 when she was entering a prison to conduct an 
interview, lobbied the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to take up 
her case. The Prosecutor General's Office increased efforts to 
investigate the crime; at year's end the investigation continued. The 
National Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Science identified 
18,044 cases of suspected sex crimes through the end of November, 
including rape, but indicated that many cases went unreported. New 
illegal group members, former paramilitary members, and guerrillas, 
raped, sexually abused, and sometimes sexually mutilated women and 
children for fraternizing with the enemy, working as prostitutes, 
having sexual relations outside of marriage, or violating imposed codes 
of conduct or restrictions on dress (see section 1.g.).
    Although prohibited by law, domestic violence, including spousal 
abuse, remained a serious problem. Judicial authorities may remove an 
abuser from the household and require therapy or reeducation. The law 
provides both fines and prison time if the abuser causes grave harm or 
the abuse is recurrent; however, provisions for fines were not applied. 
The National Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Science reported 
more than 38,000 cases of domestic violence against women, but it noted 
that only a small percentage of cases were brought to its attention for 
investigation and follow-up and that true numbers were likely 
significantly higher. The law requires the government to provide 
victims of domestic violence with immediate protection from further 
physical or psychological abuse. The ICBF provided safe houses and 
counseling for victims, but its services could not meet the magnitude 
of the problem. In addition to fulfilling traditional family counseling 
functions, ICBF family ombudsmen handled domestic violence cases. The 
Human Rights Ombudsman's Office conducted regional training workshops 
to promote the application of domestic violence statutes.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law provides measures to discourage and 
punish harassment at the workplace, such as sexual harassment, verbal 
abuse or derision, aggression, and discrimination. Nonetheless, sexual 
harassment remained a pervasive problem. In the Oxfam-funded study, 
approximately 7 percent of those surveyed experienced sexual 
harassment, although the incidence was likely significantly higher.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide the number, spacing, and timing of children and the information 
and means to do so free from discrimination. Women and men had access 
to contraception, skilled attendance during childbirth, prenatal care, 
and obstetric care. Approximately 1 percent of those interviewed in the 
Oxfam study reported having been forced to have an abortion. Illegal 
armed groups forced women to have abortions. For example, female 
combatants who demobilized from the FARC reported that women in the 
FARC were repeatedly forced to have abortions, with most experiencing 
between one and seven abortions.

    Discrimination.--Although women enjoy the same legal rights as men, 
serious discrimination against women persisted. Women faced hiring 
discrimination were affected disproportionately by unemployment and had 
salaries that generally were not commensurate with their education and 
experience. Only 43 percent of women participated in the labor force; 
they were paid on average 40 percent less than men participating in 
similar or equal work.
    The president's adviser for equality of women has primary 
responsibility for combating discrimination against women, although her 
office remained seriously underfunded. In October the government hosted 
the first national strategy conference as part of a campaign to 
highlight women's rights. The campaign sought to reduce violence 
against women, especially displaced women, and establish government 
policies to respond better to women who are victims of violence.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory. Most births are registered immediately 
in the hospital following birth. If a birth is not registered within 
one month, parents can be fined and denied public services.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse was a serious problem. The National 
Institute for Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences reported more than 
6,000 cases of child abuse through June. The ICBF reported 6,328 cases 
of sexual abuse against children through August. The institute also 
estimated that approximately 86 percent of reported sex crimes involved 
sexual abuse of children, most of whom were under age 14 (which is the 
minimum age of consent). In November the vice president and the 
government's senior advisor for equality of women launched a campaign 
to prevent sexual abuse of children. Numerous government and private 
sector entities participated in the campaign.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--By law sexual exploitation of a 
person under 18 years of age carries a penalty of 14 to 25 years in 
prison. Encouraging or forcing a minor into prostitution carries a 
penalty ranging from two to eight years in prison and a fine. The law 
prohibits pornography using children under 18 years of age and 
stipulates a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison and a fine. The 
minimum age of consensual sex is 14. The penalty for sexual activity 
with a child under age 14 ranges from two to 10 years in prison. 
According to the ICBF, through September there were 466 reports of 
minors engaging in independent or forced prostitution and 46 of child 
pornography. The ICBF identified 39 children through September engaged 
in activities involving child sex tourism and assisted 6,328 children 
victimized by sexual violence, including sexual exploitation, with 
psychosocial, medical, and legal support. The law authorizes the 
government to confiscate profits from hotels and other establishments 
where minors are sexually exploited.

    Child Soldiers.--Guerrillas forcibly recruited and used children as 
soldiers, including indigenous children (see section 1.g.). According 
to the U.N. illegal armed groups killed or threatened children with 
death on suspicion of being informants for the military.

    Displaced Children.--According to government registrations, 36 
percent of IDPs during the year were children (see section 2.d.).

    International Child Abduction.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html as well as country-specific information at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community had an estimated 5,000 
members. There were limited, isolated reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services, and the government sought to enforce these prohibitions. No 
law mandates access to public buildings, information, and 
telecommunications for persons with disabilities, limiting the power of 
the government to penalize schools or offices without access, but both 
national and local governments promoted programs aimed at improving 
access for the disabled. The Presidential Program for Human Rights is 
responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.According to the 2005 national 
census, approximately 4.5 million persons, or 10 percent of the 
country's population, described themselves as of African descent. A 
November U.N. report estimated that Afro-Colombians composed 15 to 20 
percent of the population, while human rights groups and Afro-Colombian 
organizations estimated the proportion to be 20 to 25 percent. Afro-
Colombians are entitled to all constitutional rights and protections, 
but they faced significant economic and social discrimination. 
According to the U.N. report, 45.5 percent of the country's population 
lived below the poverty rate, but in Choco, the department with the 
highest percentage of Afro-Colombian residents, 70.5 percent of 
residents lived below the poverty line (41 percent in extreme poverty). 
Choco continued to experience the lowest per capita level of social 
investment and ranked last in terms of infrastructure, education, and 
health. Maternal mortality in Choco was four times higher than the 
national average. It also continued to experience some of the country's 
worst political violence, as organized criminal gangs and FARC and ELN 
guerrillas struggled for control of the department's drug- and weapons-
smuggling corridor (see section 1.g.). The U.N. report further 
explained that illiteracy rates were six times the national average in 
Narino, another department with a high percentage of Afro-Colombians.
    In 2010 the government approved a policy to promote equal 
opportunity for black, Afro-Colombian, Palenquera, and Raizal 
populations. (Palenquera populations along some parts of the Caribbean 
coast, Raizal populations in the San Andres archipelago, and blacks and 
Afro-Colombians are all Afro-descendents who self-identify slightly 
differently based on their unique linguistic and cultural heritages.) 
In November President Santos signed into law an antidiscrimination bill 
that imposes a penalty of one to three years in prison or a fine of 
approximately 5.3 million to 8 million pesos ($2,740 to $4,140). It 
also adds a chapter on discrimination to the penal code that includes 
not only racism but discrimination based on ethnic origin, religion, 
nationality, political ideology, sex, and sexual orientation.

    Indigenous People.--The constitution and laws give special 
recognition to the fundamental rights of indigenous people, who compose 
approximately 3.4 percent of the population, and require that the 
government consult beforehand with indigenous groups regarding 
governmental actions that could affect them.
    The law accords indigenous groups perpetual rights to their 
ancestral lands. Traditional indigenous authorities operated 807 
reservations, accounting for 30 percent of the country's territory, 
with officials selected according to indigenous traditions. However, 
many indigenous communities had no legal title to lands they claimed, 
and illegal armed groups often violently contested indigenous land 
ownership. Through its land restitution and formalization ``shock 
plan,'' as of July the government had restored 269,800 acres of land to 
indigenous communities.
    The law provides for special criminal and civil jurisdictions 
within indigenous territories based on traditional community laws. 
Proceedings in these jurisdictions were subject to manipulation and 
often rendered punishments that were more lenient than those imposed by 
regular civilian courts.
    Some indigenous groups continued to argue that they were not able 
to participate adequately in decisions affecting their lands. 
Indigenous leaders complained of the occasional presence of government 
security forces on indigenous reservations and asked that the 
government consult with indigenous authorities prior to taking military 
action against illegal armed groups operating in or around such areas. 
In March the Constitutional Court ordered the suspension of a major 
road project and several mining projects in Choco Department for 
failure to consult with indigenous groups prior to initiating those 
projects. As part of the judgment, the court asked Interconexion 
Electrica SA (ISA), the country's largest electricity distributor, to 
stop work on a binational power line project intended to interconnect 
Colombia's transmission lines with Panama's. In response, ISA officials 
began to develop plans to initiate consultations with indigenous groups 
in Choco.
    In the March decision, the Constitutional Court recognized 
unconditionally the ``indigenous peoples' right to free, prior, and 
informed consent'' during all phases of a project. According to the 
ruling, consent should be the end goal of any prior consultation 
process and must be obtained in three specific instances: when a 
project displaces communities; when it involves storing or disposing of 
toxic waste in ethnic territories; or when it causes social, cultural, 
or environmental impacts that put the existence of the community at 
risk. It also orders related jurisprudence to be translated into the 
local Embera language and published.
    In May the Constitutional Court struck down strict mining 
regulations passed in 2010 but stated they would remain in effect for 
two years to give Congress time to approve an alternate bill. In its 
ruling the court declared the mining code unconstitutional because 
indigenous communities and Afro-Colombians living in mining areas had 
not been consulted.
    The government stated that for security reasons it could not 
provide advance notice of most military operations and that it 
consulted with indigenous leaders when possible before entering land 
held by the communities. The law permits the presence of government 
security forces on indigenous lands; however, Ministry of Defense 
directives instruct security forces to respect the integrity of 
indigenous communities, particularly during military and police 
operations.
    Despite special legal protections and government assistance 
programs, indigenous people continued to suffer discrimination and 
often lived on the margins of society. The indigenous people were the 
country's poorest population and had the highest age-specific mortality 
rates. Indigenous women tended to face triple discrimination on the 
basis of gender, ethnicity, and reduced economic status.
    The Presidential Program for Human Rights reported that through 
September there were 71 homicides of indigenous people, compared with 
68 for the same period in 2010. According to ONIC, on November 12, 
presumed members of the FARC shot and killed Fabio Domico Domico, vice 
governor of the Embera Katio community in Dabeiba, Antioquia. Domico 
was in charge of developing plans to safeguard his community. ONIC 
reported that the FARC, ELN, and organized criminal groups targeted 
indigenous groups in an effort to seek territory for drug-trafficking 
activities, among other motives. In July indigenous groups reported 
that 73 indigenous persons were injured in a FARC attack in Toribio, 
Cauca, when a bus loaded with explosives was detonated in the town 
center.
    In February the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 
recognized government efforts in fully recognizing the rights of 
indigenous groups but noted that the situation of these groups remained 
``extremely serious, critical, and profoundly worrisome."

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There was no official 
discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, 
statelessness, or access to education or health care. Nevertheless, 
despite government measures to increase the rights and protection of 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons, there were 
reports of abuse and discrimination.
    Colombia Diversa, an NGO focused on violence and discrimination due 
to sexual orientation, reported at least 51 killings as of December 31 
due to prejudice regarding sexual orientation or gender identity. The 
organization reported that on March 17, Gabriela Alejandra Guerrero, a 
transgender activist in Pasto, Narino, and member of the Southern 
Transgender Foundation, was killed, allegedly by a group called the 
Hitler Brotherhood of Pasto. According to a local rights organization, 
the local LGBT community had been receiving threats since 2010.
    Colombia Diversa reported cases of police abuse against persons due 
to their sexual orientation, with the majority of complaints coming 
from transgender individuals. According to LGBT NGOs, these attacks 
frequently occurred, but victims did not pursue cases for fear of 
retaliation. NGOs also reported several cases of threats against human 
rights defenders working on LGBT issues as well as a high level of 
impunity for crimes against members of the LGBT community. Such 
organizations partially attributed impunity levels to failure of the 
Prosecutor General's Office to distinguish and follow crimes against 
the LGBT community effectively.
    A 2010 study by Bogota's Department of Sexual Diversity reported 
that 98 percent of the LGBT community faced discrimination, 
particularly in schools and workplaces. The report showed that 53 
percent of the community had been physically attacked for their sexual 
orientation or gender identity, and in 61 percent of cases the attacker 
was closely related to the victim. Transgender individuals were 
victimized the most (64 percent of that community), followed by 
lesbians (57 percent).
    Members of the transgender community cited barriers to public 
services when health-care providers or members of the police refused to 
accept government-issued identification with transgender individuals' 
names and photos.
    NGOs claimed that discrimination in prisons against persons due to 
their sexual orientation or gender identity remained a problem. In 
addition, there were instances where medical services for transgender 
individuals were denied. On June 15, the Constitutional Court ordered 
INPEC to create a training program for guards and prisoners on LGBT 
rights.
    On November 2, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Ministry of 
the Interior, Ombudsman's Office, and Inspector General's Office must 
collaborate to create a national public policy framework on LGBT 
rights. The decision came in response to a suit by a transgender 
individual alleging he was denied entrance to a concert due to his 
transgender identity. In its decision the court noted that sexual 
behavior ``does not justify unequal treatment."

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no confirmed 
reports of societal violence or discrimination towards persons with 
HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows some workers to form and join unions, conduct legal 
strikes, and bargain collectively, and it prohibits antiunion 
discrimination. The law places some restrictions on forming and joining 
a union, particularly for workers in indirect contracting situations 
(although legal ambiguities also allowed some indirectly contracted 
workers to form unions). Members of the armed forces and police are 
prohibited from forming or joining unions. The labor code provides for 
automatic recognition of unions that obtain 25 signatures from 
potential members and comply with a registration process.
    Members of some public sector unions, armed forces, police, and 
persons performing ``essential public services'' are not permitted to 
strike. The prohibition of strikes typically included a wide range of 
public services not considered ``essential'' as defined by the 
International Labor Organization (ILO). However, during the year the 
government published a summary of doctrine, case law, and jurisprudence 
that narrowed the definition of essential services for use by labor 
inspectors and the judiciary. Some members of the labor community 
criticized this document as continuing to lean toward an overly broad 
definition of essential services.
    Before conducting a strike, unions must follow prescribed legal 
procedures, including entering into a conversation period with the 
employer, presenting a list of demands, and gaining majority approval 
in the union for a strike. By law strikes are limited to periods of 
contract negotiations or collective bargaining and allows employers to 
fire trade unionists who participate in strikes or work stoppages 
determined to be illegal by the courts.
    The law prohibits public-sector collective bargaining agreements. 
Public sector employees can negotiate mutually approved agreements, but 
by definition these are not collective bargaining agreements. The law 
permits associated workers' cooperatives (CTAs) as well as collective 
pacts. Under collective pacts employers may negotiate accords on pay 
and labor conditions with groups of workers in workplaces where no 
union is present or where a union represents less than one-third of 
employees. The ILO continued to raise concerns regarding collective 
pacts, noting that they should be possible only in the absence of trade 
union organizations. Law and regulations prohibit the use of CTAs and 
collective pacts to undermine the right to organize and bargain 
collectively, including by extending better conditions to nonunion 
workers in such pacts. CTAs must register with the government and 
provide compensation at least equivalent to the minimum wage and the 
same health and retirement benefits normally offered to directly hired 
employees.
    During the year the government made legal reforms, including 
narrowing the scope of legal uses of CTAs and prohibiting the misuse of 
CTAs or other labor relationships that negatively affect labor rights. 
Maximum penalties for violation can exceed 5,000 minimum monthly wages, 
or 2.6 billion pesos ($1.3 million). The government also revised the 
criminal code to strengthen penalties for employers who engage in 
antiunion practices by penalizing such conduct with up to five years' 
imprisonment. Prohibited practices include impeding workers' right to 
legally strike, meet, or otherwise associate and extending better 
conditions to members of collective pacts than those in unions.
    The government generally enforced applicable laws, but a lack of 
inspectors trained in the most recent laws, as well as an overburdened 
judicial system, inhibited speedy and consistent application. The 
Ministry of Social Protection was charged with enforcing labor laws for 
most of the year. However, in November the government created a 
separate Ministry of Labor. At year's end the new ministry continued to 
build its technical capacity in several areas, including inspection 
procedures to enforce the new regulations on CTAs and other forms of 
third-party contracting. The government has the authority to fine labor 
rights violators but seldom shut down repeat offenders.
    During the year the government investigated more than 907 CTAs and 
pre-CTAs, and it had sanctioned 176 as of August 31. The total amount 
of the fines levied against CTAs and pre CTAs was approximately 1.62 
billion pesos ($838,000). In 2010 the government sanctioned 125 CTAs 
and imposed fines totaling 514 million pesos ($266,000).
    On April 7, the government committed to a Labor Action Plan to 
protect internationally recognized labor rights, prevent violence 
against labor leaders, and prosecute the perpetrators of such violence. 
In addition, on May 26, the government signed a tripartite accord to 
advance labor rights with the business community, General Labor 
Confederation (CGT), and Colombian Pensioners' Confederation. The 
accord reinforced many of the commitments of the plan. It also included 
a commitment for reparations of unionist victims through the Justice 
and Peace Law and attention to ILO cases covering labor violence and 
impunity.
    As part of its commitments under the action plan, the government 
took several steps to increase the effective enforcement of freedom of 
association and collective bargaining. For instance, by year's end the 
government was completing the hiring and training of 100 new labor 
inspectors, half of whom would specifically cover CTA issues in problem 
sectors. The government also implemented an enforcement plan for 
inspections of temporary service agencies and assigned 100 additional 
full-time judicial police investigators to support prosecutors who 
cover criminal cases involving unionists. The government improved the 
technical capacity of Ministry of Labor personnel by improving 
inspection procedures and methodology and developing a field guide for 
inspectors.
    The Ministry of Social Protection (as of November the Ministry of 
Labor) established a telephone and Internet complaint mechanism to 
report alleged labor violations. However, labor groups expressed 
concern that the two systems did not provide an option to track 
progress on cases.
    The Prosecutor General's Office issued a directive requiring the 
judicial police, the Technical Investigative Body, and prosecutors 
investigating criminal cases to determine during the initial phase of 
an investigation whether a victim was an active or retired union member 
or was actively engaged in union formation and organization. The 
government also broadened the scope of coverage for its protection 
program to include labor activists, persons who are engaged in efforts 
to form a union, and former unionists under threat because of their 
past activities. By year's end these changes were in place, and several 
activists had been approved for protection under the program.
    As of July the Ministry of Interior and Justice provided protection 
to 8,880 at-risk individuals, of whom 1,454 were trade union leaders or 
members (others protected included journalists, human rights advocates, 
and social leaders). The Ministry of Education managed a separate 
protection (transfer) program for educators, the majority of whom were 
unionized. Since 2000 the Prosecutor General's Office obtained 452 
convictions of at least 592 individuals for violent acts against trade 
unionists, including 91 during the year. A special labor subunit set up 
in 2006 was assigned 1,465 cases to investigate and process, the 
majority of which remained under investigation or were in the 
preliminary stages of the prosecutorial process.
    During the year the Prosecutor General's Office reported 
convictions in several high-profile cases. In January four individuals 
were sentenced to 23-36 years in prison as coauthors of the August 2010 
murder of Sintraempaques leader Luis German Restrepo Maldonado. In July 
demobilized AUC member Ricardo Lopez Lora (alias La Marrana or Rober) 
accepted responsibility for the 1997 kidnapping and disappearance of 
Ramon Alberio Beltran Gil. Beltran was a member of the agricultural 
union Sintrainagro, and his killing was ordered by Carlos Castano Gil, 
who, according to the union, believed Beltran was collaborating with 
leftist guerrillas.
    In practice violence, threats, harassment, and other practices 
against trade unionists continued to affect the exercise of the right 
to freedom of association, as violence and discrimination against union 
members discouraged some workers from joining and engaging in union 
activities. Labor unions assessed that high unemployment, a large 
informal economy, antiunion attitudes, and violence against trade union 
leaders contributed to making organizing difficult, limiting workers' 
bargaining power across sectors. Unions were generally independent of 
the government and political parties.
    The Presidential Program for Human Rights reported that 20 trade 
unionists were killed through October, compared with 30 during the same 
period in 2010, while the National Union School (ENS), a labor rights 
NGO and think tank, reported that 29 trade unionists were killed during 
the year, compared with 51 in 2010. ENS and government figures differed 
because of different definitions of trade union membership and 
interpretations of homicide motives.
    For example, on August 22, in Monteria, Cordoba, unknown 
individuals on a motorcycle shot and killed University of Cordoba 
security guard Luis Alfonso Diaz Villa. Diaz Villa was a member and 
activist in the University of Cordoba employees' union Sintraunicol. 
The ENS reported that Diaz Villa had been an active member of the union 
with service on its executive board. Sintraunicol denounced the killing 
in a public statement, tying it to the union's long history of 
victimization by illegal armed groups. At year's end the case was under 
investigation by the special ILO labor violence case unit of the 
Prosecutor General's Office.
    The ENS and other labor groups continued to note that focusing on 
killings alone masked the true nature and scope of the antiunion 
violence. Labor groups noted that in some regions nonlethal violations 
were on the rise. The ENS reported 480 violations for the year; in 
addition to the 29 reported homicides, there were 342 death threats, 10 
nonlethal attacks, three disappearances, 16 arbitrary detentions, 34 
cases of forced displacement, 43 cases of harassment, two cases of 
torture, and one kidnapping.
    Teachers continued to make up the largest percentage of union 
members and were the largest percentage of victims of violence by 
illegal armed groups. The Presidential Program for Human Rights 
reported that 12 of the 20 unionists killed as of October were 
teachers, while ENS reported 14 of 29 unionists killed were teachers. 
The teachers union Colombian Federation of Educators (FECODE) reported 
that 21 unionized educators were killed during the year.
    On June 8, in Dosquebradas, Risaralda, unknown assailants shot and 
killed Jorge Eliecer de los Rios Cardenas, a teacher and member of the 
Risaralda Educators Union. The victim was also an environmentalist and 
member of a local environmental NGO. Before his death he had publicly 
criticized a local mining project by a multinational company in the 
municipality of Quinchia. Two suspects in the case were brought to 
trial on October 24 and acquitted. An appeal was pending at year's end.
    Labor groups recognized that important advances were made by the 
labor subunit of the Prosecutor General's Office but said more needed 
to be done to end impunity for perpetrators of violence against trade 
unionists. They also claimed prosecutors charged with carrying out 
investigations into historic impunity cases failed to look for patterns 
among groups of homicide cases, such as evidence of antiunion biases as 
a motive for violence.
    Workers, including some public employees, exercised the right to 
strike in practice. Unions cited multiple instances in which companies 
fired employees who formed or sought to form new unions. Employers 
continued to use temporary contracts, service agencies, and CTAs to 
limit worker rights and protections and lower costs. Many employers 
used CTAs to engage in illegal subcontracting, and in some cases 
private sector employers forced workers to join CTAs they themselves 
managed. In practice nominal fines assessed by the government did 
little to dissuade violators, although strengthened laws and penalties 
established during the year regarding CTAs and other forms of illegal 
labor intermediation influenced several companies to contract CTA 
workers directly. Despite these new laws, unions continued to voice 
reservations about the strength of the law and decree regarding CTAs as 
well as the government's ability to regulate adequately due to labor 
inspector shortages.
    Employers continued to use collective pacts with workers, sometimes 
to weaken or replace the benefits of a collective bargaining agreement. 
For instance, labor groups noted that when a union presented a 
collective bargaining proposal, employers offered some workers better 
conditions and pay in exchange for their leaving the union and joining 
the pact. This undermined organized labor's ability to bargain 
collectively. The ILO expressed concern about acts of antiunion 
discrimination at the enterprise level and in the public sector.
    Labor confederations and NGOs reported that some business owners in 
several sectors turned CTAs into ``simplified corporations,'' union 
contracts, or temporary service agencies in an attempt to circumvent 
new legal restrictions on cooperatives. Some labor confederations 
indentified the most problematic sectors as ports, textiles, and health 
care. Some companies, including Carrefour, Exito, Fabricato, and some 
sugar refineries, established formal employment relationships by 
directly contracting workers who were previously employed through CTAs. 
However, the majority of companies contracting their workers through 
CTAs and temporary service agencies did not transform their labor 
relationships into direct-hire contracts. The ENS and other labor 
organizations expressed concern that new legislation banning the misuse 
of some forms of third-party contracting would not be effectively 
enforced due to a long-standing permissive culture in the labor 
inspectorate. The labor organizations urged the government to emphasize 
the details of new legislation in training for new inspectors under the 
Labor Action Plan.
    Approximately 75 percent of the workforce in ports was employed 
under flexible nonunion contracts. Some sugar and ethanol refineries 
also utilized CTAs as a means of subcontracting labor to third parties, 
and some sugarcane cutters, predominantly Afro-Colombian and indigenous 
men, were required to belong to a CTA to gain employment. However, this 
phenomenon was changing at year's end, as a number of large sugar 
refineries offered direct contracts to cane cutters in CTAs. Due to 
legal ambiguities and lack of enforcement, some indirectly contracted 
workers formed unions. For instance, sugarcane cutters formed unions to 
enhance collaboration. Although the law does not clearly define if this 
is legally permissible, the unions were respected throughout the 
sugarcane sector.
    CTAs and other subcontracting institutions were also common in the 
palm oil sector. After collective bargaining broke down over salary 
negotiations at one palm oil plantation in the region of Puerto 
Wilches, direct and subcontracted workers at five other plantations 
joined the strike to demand direct employment relationships for palm 
workers they believed to be performing core and permanent labor 
functions and thus illegally subcontracted . The sector-wide strike 
ended when local and national government officials, palm oil company 
executives, CTA owners, and union members reached an agreement to begin 
labor inspections to identify the misuse of CTAs and other 
subcontracting institutions. By year's end the Ministry of Labor was 
reviewing the results of labor inspections conducted in response to the 
strike.
    Workers participated in multiple strikes in the oil region of 
Puerto Gaitan, Meta. Community members joined the protests, demanding 
better infrastructure and benefits. Many of the demonstrations were led 
by a sector-wide energy workers' union, the Petroleum Industry Workers' 
Union, which claimed significant increases in membership by 
subcontracted workers during the year. Another union, which primarily 
represented directly contracted workers, negotiated a separate accord 
with one major oil multinational, sparking conflict between the unions. 
On several occasions protests led to violence, and some unions and NGOs 
alleged that the government sometimes used excessive force to end the 
protests. Allegations by industry representatives, members of the labor 
community, and government representatives on the sources and nature of 
the violence did not coincide. The government established a series of 
roundtables to discuss social and labor issues in Puerto Gaitan, and 
Ministry of Labor officials conducted inspections of CTAs in the 
region. Union groups and NGOs expressed doubts about the government's 
commitment to resolving the conflict.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, but there were some reports 
that such practices occurred.
    Organized criminal gangs and FARC and ELN guerrillas practiced 
forced conscription, sometimes killing deserters or threatening them 
and their families. There were some reports that FARC and ELN 
guerrillas and organized criminal gangs used forced labor, including 
forced child labor, in coca cultivation in areas outside government 
control (see section 1.g.). An international organization estimated 
that 10,000 children participated in illegal armed groups. Forced 
labor, including organized begging, also remained a serious problem.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for employment at 15, and 18 for hazardous 
work. Children ages 15 and 16 may work no more than 30 hours per week, 
and children age 17 may work no more than 40 hours per week. Children 
under the age of 15 may work in arts, sports, or recreational or 
cultural activities for a maximum of 14 hours per week. In all of these 
cases, working children and adolescents must have signed documentation 
filed by their parents and approved by a labor inspector or other local 
authority. Hazardous work includes an extensive list of activities 
within 11 occupational categories and subcategories identified as the 
``worst forms of child labor,'' including agriculture, hunting and 
forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, 
transport and storage, health services, and defense. The government, 
however, approved some agricultural apprenticeship programs for 
children from 14 to 17 through the National Service Learning Agency. 
For 14-year-old children, this program is education-only, and children 
are not permitted to work. Child workers are prohibited from working at 
night or where there is a risk of bodily harm or exposure to excessive 
heat, cold, or noise.
    The law authorizes inspectors to issue fines of up to 100 times the 
minimum monthly wage for labor law violations, including child labor 
violations. A violation deemed to endanger a child's life or threaten 
moral values may be punished by temporary or permanent closure of the 
establishment. Nationwide labor inspectors are responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws. The government provided guidelines to labor 
inspectors to help ensure children younger than age 15 do not work and 
adolescents ages 15 to 17 who have work permits are not engaged in 
dangerous work. In the formal sector (which covered approximately 20 
percent of the child labor force), they did so through periodic 
inspections. However, resources and training remained inadequate for 
effective enforcement.
    Government agencies carried out several activities to eradicate and 
prevent exploitative child labor. With ILO assistance the government 
worked to improve cooperation among national, regional, and municipal 
governments through its national plan to eradicate child labor and 
protect working youth. It also launched a new monitoring system to 
register working children. The government also sought to reduce demand 
for child labor through public awareness and training efforts, often 
working with international and civil society organizations. For 
instance, through February the government participated in a project 
with NGO partners that supported the implementation of the national 
strategy to eradicate the worst forms of child labor and provided 
educational services to more than 10,000 children engaged in mining, 
street vending, commercial sexual exploitation, construction, and 
agriculture.
    A ``virtual'' training program for labor inspectors in various 
departments continued to provide inspectors and other officials with 
details on how to approach situations involving the worst forms of 
child labor. The program also included a course manual developed and 
published by the ILO and made available online. The ILO reported that 
400 public officials received the training during the year.
    As part of its National Strategy for Social Prosperity, the 
government committed to strengthening poverty reduction through a 
national social protection program, the United Network. One of the 
strategy's goals is to prevent children under 15 from working. Within 
the framework of United Network programming, the ICBF established a 
partnership with the IOM to combat child labor in five municipalities 
with high rates of child labor. During the year 648 children and their 
families benefitted from specialized counseling and assistance designed 
to prevent child labor
    The CNP also carried out awareness efforts to reduce child labor. 
Through its flagship ``Open your Eyes'' program, the CNP taught 
children and their parents about potential dangers and illegal 
activities for youth, including child labor. The program incorporated 
training for parents and children as well as activities on an 
interactive bus for children.
    Child labor remained a problem in the informal and illicit sectors. 
According to a National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) 
study conducted in 2009 and published in 2011, of the 11.4 million 
children between the ages of five and 17, approximately one million 
worked. NGOs reported that 37.6 percent of children who worked did not 
receive payment. According to the DANE study, most child laborers were 
engaged in agriculture, commerce, retail, and manufacturing. 
Significant incidences of child labor occurred in the production of 
clay bricks, coal, emeralds, gold, coca, and pornography. Through 
August the ICBF reported 1,102 complaints of labor exploitation and 551 
child victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
    In practice prohibitions against children working in mining and 
construction were largely ignored. Some educational institutions modify 
schedules during harvest seasons so that children may help on the 
family farm. Children worked in artisanal mining of coal, clay, 
emeralds, and gold under dangerous conditions and in many instances 
with the approval or insistence of their parents. The ICBF identified 
and assisted approximately 1,900 children working in illegal mining 
operations during the year. Most children were found working in the 
departments of Bolivar, Cesar, Narino, and Boyaca. Estimates of the 
total number of children who worked in illegal mining operations varied 
from 10,000 to 200,000.
    There were instances of forced child labor in mines, quarries, and 
private homes. According to government officials and international 
organizations, children also worked, sometimes forcibly, in the illegal 
drug trade and other illicit activities. Several thousand children were 
forced to serve as combatants, prostitutes, or coca pickers for the 
FARC, ELN, and organized criminal gangs, which included some former 
members of paramilitary groups (see section 1.g.).
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage was 
approximately 535,600 pesos ($277), a 4 percent increase from 2010. In 
a study on poverty released in 2010, DANE estimated the poverty income 
level at 281,384 pesos ($146) monthly. In December, for the first time 
since 2006, the tripartite commission of employers, workers, and 
government representatives charged with negotiating the minimum wage 
came to an agreement on the 2012 wage, which was to increase by 5.8 
percent to 566,700 pesos ($293).
    The labor code provides for a regular workweek of 48 hours and a 
minimum rest period of eight hours within the week. The law provides 
for paid annual civil and religious holidays for all workers. Employees 
who work at least one full year are entitled to at least 15 days of 
paid vacation. The code stipulates that workers are entitled to receive 
premium compensation for additional hours worked over the regular 
workweek of 48 hours and for work performed on Sundays. Compulsory 
overtime is permitted only in exceptional cases where the work is 
considered essential for the company's functioning.
    The government remained unable to enforce the minimum wage in the 
informal sector, which, according to the Office of the Inspector 
General, constituted approximately 60 percent of the workforce. The 
Ministry of Social Protection enforced labor law, including 
occupational safety and health regulations, in the formal sector 
through periodic inspections by labor inspectors. There were 524 labor 
inspector positions including the additional 100 labor inspectors hired 
under the Labor Action Plan. At year's end the government employed more 
than 470 labor inspectors; some positions were empty as a result of 
attrition and because of the difficulty of identifying candidates to 
work in certain regions.
    The law provides protection for workers' occupational safety and 
health in the formal sector. Informal sector workers, including many 
mining and agricultural workers, were not protected by these laws. The 
law provides workers with the right to leave a hazardous work situation 
without jeopardizing continued employment. A scarcity of government 
inspectors, poor public safety awareness, and inadequate attention by 
unions resulted in a high level of industrial accidents and unhealthy 
working conditions in the formal and informal sectors. A labor NGO 
reported an increase in health and safety problems in illegal mining. 
Nonunion workers, particularly those in the agricultural and port 
sectors, reportedly worked under hazardous conditions because they 
feared losing their jobs in third-party contracting mechanisms or 
informal arrangements if they criticized abuses.
    Security forces and other officials closed more than 325 illegal 
mines and detained more than 1,200 persons as part of a comprehensive 
interagency initiative to combat illegal mining. Security forces 
reported that illegal armed groups including the FARC, ELN, and 
organized criminal groups engaged in illegal mining of gold, coal, 
coltan, nickel, copper, and other minerals in at least 17 of the 
country's 32 departments. Illegal mines were especially common in 
Antioquia, Cordoba, Choco, and Tolima. According to government studies, 
the FARC could be receiving approximately 1.6 billion pesos ($828 
million) per year from these activities.
    According to Ingeominas, the government geological and mining 
oversight institute, there were 127 deaths due to mining accidents 
during the year, compared with 173 in 2010. Reports to the government 
of mining accidents increased 16 percent, but Ingeominas attributed the 
rise to increased reporting due to improvements in awareness of mine 
safety issues.

                               __________

                               COSTA RICA

                           executive summary
    Costa Rica is a constitutional, multiparty republic governed by a 
president and a unicameral legislative assembly that are directly 
elected in multiparty elections every four years. In 2010 voters chose 
Laura Chinchilla Miranda of the National Liberation Party (PLN), the 
country's first female president in elections that were generally 
considered free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    Principal human rights abuses reported during the year included 
poor prison conditions, including overcrowding and cases of prisoner 
abuse, delays in the judicial process, and commercial sexual 
exploitation of minors.
    Other human rights problems reported were domestic violence against 
women and children, trafficking in persons, discrimination based on 
sexual orientation, and child labor.
    The government took steps to prosecute officials who committed 
human rights abuses.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There was one report 
that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings. On May 22, prison authorities found an inmate dead in his 
maximum-security prison cell only days after an attempted prison 
escape. The autopsy report showed that internal injuries from beatings 
were the cause of death. On June 15, the Ministry of Justice suspended 
10 prison guards on the grounds of possible links to the death. On 
August 17, judicial authorities detained 10 prison guards for allegedly 
being involved in the beatings and killing. On August 19, a judge 
decided to hold five of the guards in pretrial detention for three 
months and ordered another guard to comply with other restrictive 
measures. On November 17, a criminal court extended their detention 
until February 2012, while the judicial investigation continued.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution prohibits such practices and the 
government generally respected this prohibition, there were reports 
that some government officials employed them. The government 
investigated, prosecuted, and punished agents responsible for confirmed 
cases of abuse. Two days before an inmate died in a maximum-security 
prison (see section 1.a.), he filed a complaint with the Constitutional 
Chamber of the Supreme Court asking for protection against abuse. On 
May 20, the prisoner reported that guards beat him and other inmates 
after an attempted jailbreak on May 11. The court resolution was 
pending at the time of the prisoner's death on May 22. Prisoners 
involved in the failed escape attempt said that they were subjected to 
physical and psychological abuse at the hands of guards following the 
incident. The death occurred while authorities were investigating the 
alleged collaboration of prison guards with inmates who tried to 
escape.
    From January to June, the Ombudsman's Office recorded 80 complaints 
of police abuse, arbitrary detention, torture, and other inhuman or 
degrading treatment. At the end of June, 35 of these complaints 
remained under investigation, and the others were either resolved or 
dismissed.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Overcrowding, poor 
sanitation, difficulties obtaining medical care, and violence among 
prisoners remained serious problems in some prison facilities. Some 
prisons had inadequate space available for resting while other 
prisoners had to sleep on deteriorated mattresses on the floor. Limited 
access to health services was a major complaint from prisoners. Illegal 
narcotics readily were available in the prisons, and drug abuse was 
common. Security and administrative staffing was insufficient to care 
for the increasing prison population.
    Potable water was available in prison facilities. Both the National 
Mechanism of Prevention of Torture and the Ombudsman's Office reported 
that between August and September prison authorities installed water 
purifiers at La Reforma Prison.
    Prison overcrowding continued to increase. The prison population 
exceeded designed capacity by 27 percent, compared with 22 percent in 
2010. On June 30, the Justice Ministry's Social Adaptation Division 
reported a total population of 23,046 under its supervision, including 
11,534 prisoners in closed-regime centers, 1,122 persons required to 
spend nights and weekends in jail, 9,835 in supervised work programs 
requiring no jail time, and 555 juveniles. The Social Adaptation 
Division also reported that there were 765 women prisoners at year's 
end. Prisoners generally were separated by age, gender, and level of 
security (minimum, medium, and maximum). The Ombudsman's Office 
confirmed that prison conditions were the same for women and men.
    The San Sebastian, San Carlos, Cartago, Liberia, Perez Zeledon, 
Puntarenas, La Reforma, Gerardo Rodriguez, San Rafael, and Buen Pastor 
prisons remained overcrowded as of June 30, with the population in 
pretrial detention experiencing the most overcrowding. In San 
Sebastian, where most prisoners in pretrial detention were held, 998 
prisoners lived in unsanitary conditions in a facility with a designed 
or planned capacity of 632. To mitigate these conditions, authorities 
sent some pretrial detainees to long-term detention facilities 
throughout the country and held them with convicted prisoners.
    Prisoners had reasonable access to visitors and could practice 
their religions. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints to authorities without censorship and request 
investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. In the 
event such complaints were not processed, prisoners could submit them 
to the Ombudsman's Office. The Ombudsman's Office investigated all 
complaints and referred serious cases of abuse to the public 
prosecutor. The Ombudsman's Office, through the National Prevention 
Mechanism against Torture, periodically inspected all detention 
centers.
    The government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by international and local human rights observers, including 
representatives from the Ombudsman's Office. Human rights observers 
could speak to prisoners and prison employees in confidence and without 
the presence of prison staff or other third parties.
    The Ministry of Justice was constructing new units in the San 
Carlos, Puntarenas, Liberia, and Perez Zeledon prisons to increase 
capacity by 1,014 inmates and was implementing the Penitentiary 
Information System (SIAP), a tracking database with up-to-date records 
of prisoners. In 2010 the ministry made improvements to the supervised 
release program by establishing guidelines for sentencing of 
misdemeanors.

    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 no 
military. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the 13 
agencies that have law enforcement components, including the judicial 
branch's Judicial Investigative Organization. The Ministry of Public 
Security is responsible for the uniformed police force, drug control 
police, air wing, and coast guard. The Ministry of Public Works and 
Transportation supervised the traffic police, and the Ministry of 
Justice managed the penitentiary police. The government has mechanisms 
to investigate and punish abuse and corruption. There were no reports 
of impunity involving the security forces.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires issuance of judicial warrants before making arrests, except 
where probable cause is evident to the arresting officer. The law 
entitles a detainee to a judicial determination of the legality of 
detention during arraignment before a judge within 24 hours of arrest. 
The law provides for the right to post bail and prompt access to an 
attorney and family members. Authorities generally observed these 
rights in practice. Indigent persons have access to a public attorney 
at government expense. Those with sufficient personal funds also are 
able to use the services of a public defender. With judicial 
authorization authorities may hold suspects incommunicado for 48 hours 
after arrest or, under special circumstances, for up to 10 days. 
Special circumstances include cases in which pretrial detention was 
previously ordered and there is reason to believe that suspects may 
reach an agreement with accomplices or may obstruct the investigation 
in some way. Suspects are allowed access to attorneys immediately 
before submitting declarations. Authorities promptly inform the 
suspects of any offenses under investigation.

    Pretrial Detention.--A criminal court may hold suspects in pretrial 
detention for up to one year, and the Court of Appeals may extend this 
period to two years in especially complex cases. Every three months the 
law requires court review of cases of suspects in pretrial detention to 
determine the appropriateness of continued detention. By law, if a 
judge declares a case is related to organized crime, special procedural 
rules apply that establish the maximum period of pretrial detention may 
not exceed 24 months (although the Court of Appeals may grant one 
extension not to exceed an additional 12 months); the statute of 
limitations is 10 years from the date of the last crime. The 
Ombudsman's Office reported that authorities used pretrial detention 
often and not as an exceptional measure. According to the Ministry of 
Justice, as of June 30, there were 2,945 persons in pretrial detention, 
constituting approximately 13 percent of the prison population. In some 
cases delays were attributed to pending criminal investigations; in 
other cases the delays were due to court backlogs. According to the 
Statistics Office of the judicial branch, from April 1 to June 30 there 
were 1,221 prisoners pretrial detainees--56 percent had been imprisoned 
for three months or less, 36 percent from three to six months, and 8 
percent from nine months to two years. As of June 30, there were 529 
convicted prisoners in detention awaiting sentencing. In these cases 
delays were most frequently attributed to a pending appeal process or a 
verdict subject to and awaiting confirmation.

    Amnesty.--On August 17, the president pardoned one female inmate.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice. The legal system faced many challenges, 
including significant delays in the adjudication of civil disputes and 
a growing workload. In 2010 approximately 235,000 criminal complaints 
were filed with the judicial branch, of which 4 percent (9,835 cases) 
went to trial with a conviction rate of 61 percent. Many cases filed 
did not have sufficient evidence to go to trial.
    Additionally, there were allegations that judges' decisions were 
influenced by intimidation or that they accepted payment for decisions 
that favored the accused. The Supreme Court investigated and found no 
cases of corruption but some procedural errors. The judicial inspection 
tribunal investigated a judge who placed foreigners awaiting trial on 
charges of drug trafficking under house arrest instead of holding them 
at the maximum-security prison. In July the inspection tribunal found a 
serious error in the judge's decision and referred the case to the 
Supreme Court to determine possible sanctions. On November 14, the 
Supreme Court decided to suspend the judge from the practice of law for 
one month.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right.
    All trials, except those that include juvenile defendants, are 
public. There are no jury trials. A trial is presided over by a single 
judge or by a three-judge panel, depending on the potential penalties 
arising from the charges. Trials that involve victims or witnesses who 
are minors are closed during the portion of the trial when the minor is 
called to testify. Defendants have the right to be present during the 
trial and consult with an attorney in a timely manner. Victims can 
request special arrangements in the courtroom to avoid unwanted contact 
with defendants. Accused persons can select attorneys to represent 
them, and the law provides for access to counsel at state expense for 
indigent persons. The law provides detainees and attorneys access to 
government-held evidence, and during the trial defendants can question 
and present witnesses on their own behalf. Defendants enjoy a 
presumption of innocence and, if convicted, have the right to appeal. 
The law extends these rights to citizens and noncitizens alike. Fast 
track courts, which prosecute cases when suspects are arrested on the 
spot for alleged transgressions, provide the same protections and 
rights as other courts.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--After a one-year extension 
to lift the ban on invitro fertilization, in August the Inter-American 
Commission on Human Rights determined that the country failed to comply 
with its recommendations and referred a case involving the country to 
the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for trial and possible 
sanctions. In the report on the merits, the commission considered that 
the ban was an ``arbitrary interference in the right to private and 
family life and the right to found a family."

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--An independent and 
impartial judiciary presides over lawsuits in civil matters, including 
human rights violations. Administrative and judicial remedies for 
alleged wrongs are available to the public.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such actions, and the 
government generally respected these prohibitions in practice (see 
section 1.e., Regional Human Rights Court Decisions).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice. An 
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic 
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and the press.

    Freedom of the Press.--Journalists and media company owners 
continued to criticize legislation that imposes criminal penalties, 
including lengthy jail sentences instead of fines, for common press 
infractions and argued that such legislation promoted self-censorship.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--On June 27, the advertising 
control office ordered a Catholic radio station to suspend an 
advertisement that used the voice of a child to warn about alleged 
dangers of invitro fertilization.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e mail.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 in 
practice. The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, 
stateless persons, and other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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 2010 immigration law created a separate office within the 
General Directorate of Immigration to deal specifically with refugee 
problems. The law also created a commission, which is responsible for 
the granting of refugee status, and an immigration review tribunal for 
the appeals process. The commission began its work in 2010, but the 
tribunal did not meet until May 16.
    According to a local nongovernmental organization acting as an 
implementing agency of the UNHCR, approximately 56 extraregional asylum 
seekers arrived during the year. Between 15 and 20 decided to remain in 
the country.
    According to the UNHCR, as of September 30, there were 725 requests 
for asylum including 54 requests from extraregional persons. From 
January to September, 181 asylum seekers were recognized. Many asylum 
seekers did not appear at the Immigration Directorate to continue their 
status application process. The government and UNHCR reported that most 
of these individuals simply used the asylum request process as a means 
of obtaining documentation that enabled them to transit the country on 
their journey toward the United States.

    Temporary Protection.--Due to low recognition rates (approximately 
25 percent), the UNHCR had to consider an increasing number of rejected 
asylum seekers as ``persons of concern'' in need of international 
protection. UNHCR officials estimated that there were approximately 400 
to 500 persons of concern annually, whose cases it reviewed to 
determine whether they needed international protection.

    Stateless Persons.--There were occasional problems of statelessness 
in the border areas with Panama and Nicaragua. Members of the Ngobe-
Bugle indigenous group from Panama came to work on Costa Rican 
plantations, and sometimes their children were born on the plantations. 
In these cases the children were not registered as Costa Rican citizens 
at birth because the families did not think it necessary. However, when 
the families returned to Panama, the children were not registered there 
either. A similar problem occurred with Nicaraguan families who 
migrated to work on coffee plantations. The government attempted to 
advise the migrant population to register at birth all children born in 
the country (see section 6). As of December 15, immigration authorities 
reported no new cases of stateless persons during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage. 
The independent Supreme Electoral Tribunal is responsible for the 
integrity of the elections, and the authorities and citizens respected 
election results.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 
national elections held in February 2010, Laura Chinchilla Miranda of 
the PLN won the presidency and became the country's first female 
president in elections that generally were considered free and fair. 
The Organization of American States team that monitored the election 
praised the peaceful and democratic way in which the process unfolded.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Women were represented with 
a degree of visibility in government; indigenous people and people of 
African descent, representing approximately 4 percent of the population 
(2000 census), were not. The electoral code requires that a minimum of 
50 percent of candidates for elective office be female and that women's 
names be placed alternately with men on the ballots by party slate. 
There were seven women among the 22 cabinet ministers. There were 22 
women in the 57-seat Legislative Assembly, including the vice president 
of the assembly and nine legislative committee chairwomen. The deputy 
chief justice of the Supreme Court, president of the High Court of 
Civil Appeals, and president of the Constitutional Chamber were women. 
Indigenous persons did not play a significant role in politics or 
government. There were no indigenous or black members in the 
Legislative Assembly or the cabinet. A black person headed one 
government agency.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws, although there were 
reports of government corruption during the year.
    On April 27, a criminal court sentenced former president Miguel 
Angel Rodriguez to five years in prison as the instigator of aggravated 
corruption and barred him from public office for 12 years. On August 
10, a trial court sentenced a former chief executive officer of an 
autonomous institution to 15 months in prison for using an official 
helicopter for personal purposes and barred him from public office for 
three years.
    On November 15, the Supreme Court decided to open a judicial 
investigation of a substitute justice who was the main suspect accused 
of leaking information about a trial. The substitute justice renounced 
his position after the press revealed the possible leak of information.
    The Prosecutor's Office investigated credible reports of corruption 
in at least 10 municipal governments. The Ministry of Public Security 
suspended more than 1,000 uniformed police officers in 15 months (the 
force has approximately 12,000 officers). Most of the suspensions 
occurred while the officers were being investigated for misuse of 
resources, abuse of authority, and domestic violence. Uniformed police 
officers were arrested and given pretrial detention for involvement in 
drug trafficking or other organized criminal activity in several high-
profile cases. Despite the measures taken to investigate and address 
corruption, there was a widespread public perception that corruption 
remained a problem in the uniformed police force.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws that 
require senior officials to submit sworn declarations of income, 
assets, and liabilities. The public ethics prosecutor, comptroller 
general, attorney general, and ombudsman are responsible for combating 
government corruption.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
the government generally respected this right to access for citizens 
and noncitizens, including foreign media. Government institutions 
published reports that detailed the year's activities. The Ombudsman's 
Office operated a Web page dedicated to enhancing transparency by 
improving citizens' access to public information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups 
generally operated without government restriction, while investigating 
and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government 
officials were cooperative and responsive to their views.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government cooperated 
with visits by representatives of the U.N. and other international 
organizations in connection with the investigation of abuses and 
monitoring of human rights problems. In April the U.N. special 
rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples visited the country to 
discuss the situation of indigenous peoples.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Ombudsman's Office reviews 
government action or inaction that affects citizens' rights and 
interests. The ombudsman is accountable to the Legislative Assembly, 
which appoints him or her to a four-year term and funds office 
operations. The ombudsman participates in the drafting and approval of 
legislation, promotes good administration and transparency, and reports 
annually to the Legislative Assembly with nonbinding recommendations. 
The position carries strong moral and symbolic weight. A special 
committee of the Legislative Assembly studies and reports on problems 
relating to the violation of human rights, and it also reviews bills 
relating to human rights and international humanitarian law.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status, and the government generally 
enforced these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape and 
provides penalties from 10 to 18 years in prison for rape. The length 
of the sentence depends on the victim's age and other factors, such as 
the assailant's use of violence or position of influence over the 
victim. The judiciary effectively enforced the rape law and provided 
due process for both victim and defendant. However, rape was 
underreported due to fear of retribution, further violence, and social 
stigma. According to the National Institute for Women (INAMU), the rape 
law applies to spousal rape, although in practice spousal rape cases 
were much more difficult to prove. Collection of physical evidence in 
all rape cases presented a challenge. There was only one location in 
the country that had rape kits to collect physical evidence to be used 
in prosecutions. The distance women needed to travel to utilize this 
resource was prohibitive for some. According to the judicial branch's 
Statistics Office, there were 1,744 reported rape cases in 2010; 
ultimately, courts tried 329 cases of rape, 21 cases of attempted rape, 
and 49 cases of aggravated rape in 2010, and convicted and sentenced 
172, 12, and 31 defendants, respectively.
    The government continued to identify domestic violence against 
women and children as a serious and growing societal problem. The law 
prohibits domestic violence and provides measures for the protection of 
domestic violence victims. Criminal penalties range from 10 to 100 days 
in prison for aggravated threats and up to 35 years in prison for 
aggravated homicide, including a sentence of 20 to 35 years for persons 
who kill their partners. If a domestic violence offender has no violent 
criminal record and the sentence received is less than three years' 
imprisonment, the law also provides for alternative sanctions, such as 
weekend detentions and assistance, including referrals for social 
services and rehabilitation.
    INAMU assists women and their children who are victims of domestic 
violence in its regional office located in San Jose and in three other 
specialized centers and temporary shelters. INAMU provided protection 
to 150 women between January and June but reported that, as of May 15, 
nine women and girls had died from domestic violence. This represented 
an increase from seven deaths reported from January to May 2010. INAMU 
maintained a domestic abuse hotline connected to the 911 emergency 
system and had provided counseling to 3,406 women as of June. In 2010, 
according to the judicial branch's Statistics Office, authorities 
opened 12,510 cases of domestic violence throughout the country. There 
were 393 cases tried and 196 persons sentenced for crimes of violence 
against women.
    The public prosecutor, police, and ombudsman have offices dedicated 
to domestic violence problems. During the year INAMU held 12 training 
workshops for officials from institutions that are part of the National 
System of Attention and Prevention of Violence against Women. INAMU, 
together with the presidency, joined a U.N. media campaign to end 
violence against women. In November INAMU launched a separate media 
campaign to educate civil society about the equal rights of women.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment in the 
workplace and educational institutions, and the Ministry of Labor and 
Social Security generally enforced this prohibition. The law imposes 
penalties ranging from a letter of reprimand to dismissal, with more 
serious incidents subject to criminal prosecution.

    Reproductive Rights.--Individuals have the right to decide freely 
and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of children, have 
information and access safe methods of contraception from public 
hospitals and medical attention centers, and receive medical care 
during pregnancy and childbirth. In 2010 approximately 91 percent of 
women in rural areas received skilled medical attention; in general, 
according to the U.N. Population Fund, 99 percent of births were 
attended by skilled health personnel.
    The public health-care system plays a major role in how women 
access contraception, including sterilization. Women's lack of access 
to invitro fertilization remained a contested subject (see section 
1.e.). In public as well as private health care, the right to obtain 
and use contraceptives extends to all members of the population. 
Patients who pay into the public health-care system receive 
contraceptives at no additional fee, and 72 percent of women ages 15 to 
49 used a modern method of contraception.

    Discrimination.--Women enjoyed the same legal status and rights as 
men under the law. The law prohibits discrimination against women and 
obligates the government to promote political, economic, social, and 
cultural equality. The government maintained offices for gender 
problems in most ministries and parastatal organizations. The Labor 
Ministry is responsible for investigating allegations of gender 
discrimination. INAMU implemented programs that promoted gender 
equality and publicized the rights of women. In 2010 the National 
Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) reported that women 
represented 43.5 percent of the labor force. The law requires that 
women and men receive equal pay for equal work; in 2010 INEC estimated 
that earnings for women were 91.3 percent of earned income for men.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is obtained from birth 
within the country's territory or from either of one's parents. There 
were occasional problems encountered in the registration at birth of 
children born of migrant parents (see section 2.d.).

    Child Abuse.--Abuse of children was a growing problem. In 2010 the 
judicial branch's Statistics Office reported 607 cases of sexual abuse 
of minors and four cases of attempted abuse, with 322 and two 
perpetrators convicted, respectively. In addition, there were 23 cases 
involving sex with minors, 12 cases of sex with minors with payment 
involved, and six cases of sexual corruption of minors. From January to 
November, the autonomous National Institute for Children (PANI) 
assisted 30,640 children and adolescents, including 2,922 cases of 
physical abuse, 595 cases of intrafamilial sexual abuse, and 406 cases 
of extrafamilial sexual abuse. Traditional attitudes and the 
inclination to treat sexual and psychological abuse as misdemeanors 
occasionally hampered legal proceedings against those who committed 
crimes against children. In May the National Children's Hospital 
launched a campaign to draw attention to the increasing number of child 
abuse cases reported in the country.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The minimum age of consensual sex 
is 18 years. The law criminalizes the commercial sexual exploitation of 
children and provides sentences of up to 18 years in prison. The law 
provides for sentences of two to 10 years in prison for statutory rape 
and three to eight years in prison for child pornography. Sentences are 
lengthier in aggravated circumstances; for example, rape involving 
physical violence or a victim under age 13 is punishable by 10 to 16 
years' imprisonment. The government, security officials, and child 
advocacy organizations acknowledged that commercial sexual exploitation 
of children remained a serious problem. From January to November, PANI 
reported 67 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of minors. The 
government also identified child sex tourism as a serious problem.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish Zionist Center estimated there were 
3,000 Jews in the country. There was a report of anti-Semitic graffiti 
at a bridge intersection on the main highway between San Jose and 
Puntarenas.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities in employment, education, health-care access, 
or other state services. There were no reports of discriminatory 
practices in education or in the provision of other state services. The 
Ombudsman's Office reported that despite institutional efforts to 
improve the situation, there were isolated instances where a lack of 
interagency coordination prevented the implementation of comprehensive 
strategies to protect the fundamental rights of persons with 
disabilities. The Ombudsman's Office reported problems in access to 
employment for persons with disabilities.
    Although the law mandates access to buildings for persons with 
disabilities, the government did not enforce this provision in 
practice, and many buildings remained inaccessible to persons with 
disabilities. During 2010 the Ombudsman's Office received reports of 
lack of access to public transportation, including noncompliance with 
accessibility requirements or malfunctioning of hydraulic wheelchair 
lifts for public transportation vehicles.
    A political party, Accessibility without Exclusion, represented the 
interests of persons with disabilities and held four seats in the 
Legislative Assembly.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The greatest concentration of 
citizens of African descent (74 percent per the 2000 census) was in the 
Atlantic province of Limon, one of the least developed areas of the 
country. In 2010 INEC reported that 24 percent of inhabitants in the 
Atlantic region lived in poverty. The Limon region had one of the 
highest rates of unemployment (8 percent in 2010) and crime (23 percent 
of the country's homicides from January to May). In February the 
Security Ministry declared the province of Limon a priority in its 
efforts to combat drug trafficking and organized crime. The government 
tried to implement the Port-City of Limon Project, a development 
program financed by the World Bank and the government; however, there 
were numerous public complaints that the project had not produced 
results. During the year authorities launched initial procurement 
processes; five of 12 institutions involved in the project began the 
process of contracting services and implementing public works. The 
scheduled date of completion was June 2014.
    There were sporadic reports of discrimination, including labor 
discrimination, usually directed against Nicaraguans. The Immigration 
Office launched an awareness campaign highlighting the positive 
contributions of migrants living in the country.

    Indigenous People.--During 2010 the Ombudsman's Office received 
complaints related to deficient road infrastructure and lack of bridges 
in reserve lands, lack of access to public services and public 
transportation, problems with use and possession of land, and 
difficulties imparting indigenous education. The Ombudsman's Office 
reported that the government excluded indigenous persons from decision-
making processes regarding education, infrastructure, housing, and 
public services. The indigenous communities of Terraba, Curre, and 
Boruca were concerned about the sociocultural and environmental impact 
in their reserves of the development of the Diquis hydroelectric dam 
project. The Ombudsman's Office continued monitoring the project and 
its impact on the indigenous community.
    Government institutions--including the Ministries of Foreign 
Affairs, Labor, and Education; Social Security Agency; Immigration 
Office; and Civil Registry--coordinated actions during the year to 
assist the Ngobe-Bugle population migrating to rural areas to work in 
plantations during the coffee harvest season. The government continued 
efforts to implement objectives emanating from meetings with Panamanian 
counterparts, working on issues such as access to health care and 
education, mutual recognition of individual identification documents, 
and raising awareness about employment and labor law.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There were cases of 
discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation, ranging 
from employment to access to health care. For example, in June an LGBT 
activist announced that he suffered discrimination based on his sexual 
orientation at his new job at a public institution. In July the 
Constitutional Chamber ruled against the owner of a bingo hall for 
discriminating against a gay couple based on the requirement that 
employees not engage in discriminatory behavior. The owner was ordered 
to pay damages to the claimants.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law and a 
presidential decree prohibit discrimination based on HIV/AIDS in health 
care, employment, and education. Nevertheless, some HIV-positive 
individuals reported that they were denied private health insurance 
coverage based on their HIV status. From January to June, the 
Ombudsman's Office reported receiving four complaints of discrimination 
against patients with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers to form and join unions of their choice without 
prior authorization, allows worker organizations to conduct their 
activities without government interference, provides for the right to 
strike, and protects the right of workers to organize and bargain 
collectively. However, restrictions on the minimum number of employees 
(12) needed to form a union may have hampered freedom of association in 
small enterprises. The law permits foreign workers to join unions but 
prohibits them from holding positions of authority within the unions. 
During the year the Constitutional Court overturned an article of the 
labor code stipulating that at least 60 percent of the workers in an 
enterprise had to support a strike. The court did not set a minimum 
number of employees necessary for a strike to be legal, and it noted 
that the Legislative Assembly should establish a percentage not to 
exceed 50 percent. The law restricts the right to strike of workers in 
services designated as essential by the government, but it also 
includes sectors such as oil refineries and ports not considered 
essential under international standards. The law prohibits antiunion 
discrimination and provides for reinstatement of workers fired for 
union activity.
    The law requires employers to initiate the bargaining process with 
a trade union if more than one-third of the total workforce, including 
union and nonunion members, requests collective bargaining, but the law 
also permits direct bargaining agreements with nonunionized workers in 
both unionized and nonunionized businesses. The law also permits the 
formation of ``solidarity associations,'' which were often organized by 
employers. The law prohibits such associations from representing 
workers in collective bargaining negotiations or any other way that 
assumes the functions or inhibits the formation of trade unions. On 
July 22, an amendment to the constitution granting solidarity 
associations legal status under the constitution went into effect. 
Although the amendment did not change the role or requirements for 
solidarity associations, it strengthened their legal standing, as 
constitutional changes require votes by two successive legislatures to 
approve.
    Although public sector employees are permitted to bargain 
collectively, a 2006 Supreme Court decision held that some fringe 
benefits received by certain public employees were disproportionate and 
unreasonable. The court repealed sections of collective bargaining 
agreements between public sector unions and government agencies, thus 
restricting this right in practice. However, according to the Labor 
Ministry, there were substantive changes regarding the right of public 
sector employees to bargain collectively. In 2010 resolutions of the 
Second Chamber of the Supreme Court (Labor Appeals) emphasized the 
validity and the importance of collective bargaining in the public 
sector. In January the Office of the Solicitor General ratified the 
right of public workers to negotiate collective bargaining agreements.
    The government generally enforced these laws in practice. The 
Ministry of Labor received reports of alleged unfair labor practices 
and harassment of union activists in private companies and public 
institutions, and it referred cases to the labor courts. In May the 
ministry issued the protocol of good labor practices in labor 
inspection that includes a procedure for reinstatement of workers fired 
for union activity. Cases of antiunion discrimination often took an 
extremely long time to obtain a final ruling from the court due to 
numerous appeals. The International Trade Union Confederation noted 
that the reinstatement process for workers that were unfairly dismissed 
averaged three years. There was some progress in increasing the overall 
efficiency of judicial proceedings, but it was unclear what direct 
impact this had on labor cases.
    Workers exercised the right to form and join unions and to strike 
without government interference. Unions noted that the government's 
broad definition of essential services denied many workers the right to 
strike.
    In the private sector, ``direct bargaining arrangements'' between 
employers and nonunionized workers occurred more commonly than 
collective bargaining. In May the International Labor Organization 
(ILO) raised concerns that the number of direct bargaining arrangements 
between employers and employees had increased substantially in the past 
decade, while there had been only a slight increase of collective 
bargaining agreements. The ILO reiterated its concerns that such 
agreements disadvantaged workers because they did not result from 
balanced negotiations of two independent, adequately equipped parties.
    Labor unions asserted that in practice, solidarity associations 
conducted negotiations and employers sometimes required membership in a 
solidarity association as a condition for employment. Trade union 
leaders contended that the existence of worker solidarity associations 
in many enterprises displaced unions and discouraged collective 
bargaining. According to the ILO, such associations, to the extent that 
they displaced trade unions, in effect discouraged collective 
bargaining, affected the independence of workers' organizations from 
employers' influence, and infringed on the right to organize and 
bargain collectively.
    There continued to be a pattern of employers firing employees who 
wanted to unionize. There were reports that some employers preferred to 
use ``flexible,'' or short-term, contracts, making it difficult for 
workers to organize and collectively bargain. There also were reports 
that migrant workers in agriculture frequently were hired on short-term 
contracts through intermediaries. These workers faced antiunion 
discrimination and challenges in organizing, and they often were more 
vulnerable to labor exploitation.
    The ILO noted that there were no trade unions operating in the 
country's Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and identified the zones as a 
hostile environment for organizing. Labor unions asserted that efforts 
of workers in EPZs to organize were met with illegal employment 
termination, threats, and intimidation and that EPZ employers 
maintained blacklists of workers identified as activists.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor and distinguishes between 
forced labor, which involves slave-like conditions, and labor 
exploitation, which describes unacceptable but less egregious working 
conditions. The government failed to enforce the law effectively, and 
there were reports that such practices occurred. There were isolated 
reports of men, women, and children subjected to labor exploitation in 
domestic service and street vending as well as in other sectors.
    The judicial investigative police identified six alleged victims of 
labor exploitation in four cases during the year, but they dismissed 
three of the cases for lack of evidence. There was only one case under 
investigation as of December. The government provided training to labor 
inspectors, local government officers, and social health workers. The 
government also organized media awareness campaigns on trafficking for 
civil society; international and nongovernmental organizations 
sponsored these efforts.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
child and adolescence code prohibits labor of all children under age 15 
without any exceptions; it supersedes the minimum working age of 12 
established in the labor code, which had not been amended to reflect 
this change. Adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 may work a 
maximum of six hours daily and 36 hours weekly. The law prohibits night 
work and overtime for minors. The law prohibits those under age 18 from 
engaging in hazardous or unhealthy activities.
    The government generally enforced laws against child labor 
effectively in the formal sector. During 2010 the Labor Ministry's 
Inspections Office detected 94 cases of child labor. In the same year, 
the Labor Ministry identified eight minors below the age of 15 engaged 
in hazardous work. The Office for the Eradication of Child Labor 
(OATIA) assisted 247 working minors and referred them to government 
institutions to be included in social programs. On March 25, the 
government published the comprehensive list of hazardous occupations 
adopted in 2010. The OATIA implemented a project with a local 
government aimed at improving the life and working conditions of 
adolescent workers and eradicating child labor. The OATIA, with 
assistance from ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child 
Labor, continued implementation of a road map to eradicate child labor, 
connected to the national strategic plan to achieve the goals 
established by the ILO's Decent Work Agenda for the Hemisphere (2006-
15).
    Child labor was a problem mainly in the informal economy, 
especially in agricultural, construction, sales, and small food-product 
manufacturing. The worst forms of child labor occurred in agriculture 
on small third-party farms in the formal sector and on family farms in 
the informal sector. The worst forms of child labor also occurred in 
some service sectors, such as construction, fishing, street vending, 
and domestic service.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Monthly minimum wages for the 
private sector ranged from 135,000 colones (approximately $270) for 
household workers to 498,000 colones ($993) for university graduates. 
According to a 2011 INEC survey, the poverty line was 92,122 colones 
($184) in urban areas and 70,970 colones in rural areas ($141). The 
constitution sets workday hours, overtime remuneration, days of rest, 
and annual vacation rights. Workers generally may work a maximum of 
eight hours a day or 48 hours weekly. Overtime work is paid at a rate 
of 50 percent above the stipulated wages or salaries. All workers are 
entitled to one day of rest after six consecutive days of work and 
annual paid vacations. Although there is no statutory prohibition 
against compulsory overtime, the labor code stipulates that the workday 
may not exceed 12 hours.
    The Labor Ministry's Inspection Directorate (DNI) was responsible 
for labor inspection, in collaboration with the social security agency 
and the Insurance Institute. Although resource constraints continued to 
hinder DNI's ability to carry out its inspection mandate, there were 
15,212 inspections conducted during the year. According to the Ministry 
of Labor, inspections occurred in response to complaints, per advanced 
scheduling, and at random in specific regions or activities. The 
ministries generally addressed complaints effectively by sending 
inspection teams to investigate and coordinate with each other on 
follow-up actions. Inspectors cannot establish fines or sanctions for 
employers who do not comply with labor laws; rather inspectors 
investigate and refer noncompliance results to labor courts. The 
process to fine companies and receive back wages or overtime pay may 
take years.
    The Labor Ministry generally enforced minimum wages effectively in 
the San Jose area but was not effective in enforcing the minimum wage 
law in rural areas, particularly where large numbers of migrants were 
employed. The national minimum wage also applied for migrant workers. 
The Labor Ministry publicly recognized that many workers, including in 
the formal sector, received less than the minimum wage. The government 
continued to implement the campaign for minimum wage compliance 
launched in 2010. From August 2010 to July 2011, the Labor Ministry 
conducted 9,135 visits to businesses to ensure employers' compliance 
with minimum wage laws. Seventy-eight percent of businesses which 
failed to comply with paying the minimum wage corrected the problem 
after the inspection. The Labor Ministry continued pursuing 
administrative steps against the employers that failed to make 
corrections.
    While the Labor and Health Ministries shared responsibility for 
drafting and enforcing occupational health and safety standards, they 
did not enforce these standards effectively in the formal or informal 
sectors.
    Unions also reported systematic violations of labor rights and 
provisions concerning working conditions, overtime, and wages in the 
EPZs. Labor unions reported that overtime pay violations, such as 
nonpayment, and mandatory overtime were common in the private sector 
and particularly in EPZ industries. There were reports that 
agricultural workers, particularly migrant laborers in the pineapple 
industry, worked in unsafe conditions, including exposure to chemicals 
without proper training. The national insurance company reported 58,195 
cases of workplace-related illnesses and injuries and 39 workplace 
fatalities during the first six months of the year.

                               __________

                                  CUBA

                           executive summary
    Cuba is a totalitarian state led by Raul Castro, who is the chief 
of state, president of the council of state and council of ministers, 
and commander in chief of the armed forces. At the Sixth Communist 
Party Congress held in April, delegates also elected Castro as party 
first secretary. The constitution recognizes the Communist Party (CP) 
as the only legal party and ``the superior leading force of society and 
of the state.'' The 2008 legislative elections were neither free nor 
fair. A CP candidacy commission preapproved all candidates, and all 614 
members ran unopposed. Security forces reported to a national 
leadership that included members of the military.
    The principal human rights abuses were: abridgement of the right of 
citizens to change their government; government threats, intimidation, 
mobs, harassment, and detentions to prevent citizens from assembling 
peacefully; and a significant increase in the number of short-term 
detentions, which in December rose to the highest monthly number in 30 
years.
    The following additional human rights abuses continued: beatings, 
harsh prison conditions, and selective prosecution and denial of fair 
trial. Authorities interfered with privacy and engaged in pervasive 
monitoring of private communications. The government also placed severe 
limitations on freedom of speech and press, restricted freedom of 
movement, and limited freedom of religion. The government refused to 
recognize independent human rights groups or permit them to function 
legally. In addition, the government continued to place severe 
restrictions on worker rights, including the right to form independent 
unions.
    Most human rights abuses were official acts committed at the 
direction of the government, and consequently the perpetrators enjoyed 
impunity for their actions.
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 abusive treatment of detainees and 
prisoners. However, there were verified reports that members of the 
security forces harassed and sometimes physically assaulted human 
rights and prodemocracy advocates, dissidents, other detainees, and 
prisoners, and they did so with impunity. Some detainees and prisoners 
endured physical abuse, sometimes by other inmates with the 
acquiescence of guards, or long periods in isolation cells.
    There were numerous reports of police assaults on detainees or of 
police standing by, and even orchestrating, government-organized mobs 
to assault peaceful demonstrators.
    Reports of beatings of prisoners were commonplace and included 
beatings by prison officials as well as among prisoners. There were 
some reports of prisoner-on-prisoner sexual assaults, generally due to 
lax security by prison guards, and at least one report of rape by 
prison guards.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
continued to be harsh. Prison cells lacked adequate water, sanitation, 
space, light, ventilation, and temperature control. Although the state 
provided basic feeding and medical care, many prisoners relied on 
family parcels for food and other basic supplies. Potable water was 
frequently unavailable. Prison cells were overcrowded, requiring 
prisoners to sleep on the floor and limiting freedom of movement during 
the day. Prisoners often slept on concrete bunks without a mattress, 
with some reports of more than one person sharing a narrow bunk. Where 
available, mattresses were thin and often infested with vermin. Inmates 
reported the frequent presence of rats, cockroaches, fleas, lice, 
bedbugs, stinging ants, flies, and mosquitoes. Prisoners reported that 
they lacked access to basic and emergency medical care, including 
dental care. Prisoners engaged in hunger strikes throughout the year to 
demand medical treatment.
    Prisoners, family members, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
reported inadequate health care, which led to or aggravated multiple 
maladies. Prisoners also reported outbreaks of dengue, tuberculosis, 
and hepatitis. Prison health workers often reused syringes, despite the 
existence of communicable diseases among inmates.
    There were multiple reports of prison deaths from heart attacks, 
asthma attacks, HIV/AIDS, and other chronic medical conditions, as well 
as from suicide.
    The government did not publish the number of prisoners or 
detainees, nor did it provide information regarding the number or 
location of detention centers, which included not only prisons but also 
work camps and other kinds of detention facilities.
    Estimates from unofficial sources of the prison and detention 
center population size varied widely, from as low as 30,000 to as high 
as 80,000. On December 23, President Castro announced that he would 
commute the sentences of more than 2,900 convicts. The authorities 
released these prisoners into their communities before year's end.
    Men and women were held in separate prisons and police detention 
facilities. Generally, women reported suffering the same poor prison 
conditions as men, including lack of access to basic and emergency 
medical care. Women also reported lack of access to feminine hygiene 
products and adequate prenatal care. The government did not release 
information on the treatment of minors at either youth or adult prisons 
or detention centers. There were reports of inmates as young as 15 in 
maximum-security prisons.
    Political prisoners and the general prison population were kept in 
similar conditions. By refusing to wear standard prison uniforms, 
political prisoners frequently were denied certain privileges such as 
access to prison libraries and standard reductions in the severity of 
their sentence (for example, being transferred from a maximum-security 
to a medium-security prison or work camp). The government sometimes 
placed healthy prisoners in cells with mentally disturbed inmates. 
Political prisoners also reported being threatened or harassed by 
fellow inmates whom they thought were acting on orders of prison 
authorities.
    Prisoners reported that solitary confinement was a common 
punishment for misconduct and that some had been held in isolation for 
months or even years at a time. After his release in March, Jose Daniel 
Ferrer reported that he was kept in solitary confinement for most of 
his almost eight years in jail. In general prisoners in isolation had 
restrictions on family visits.
    Prisoners and pretrial detainees had access to visitors, although 
some political prisoners' relatives reported that prison officials 
arbitrarily canceled scheduled visits.
    Prisoners were permitted limited religious observance. Both the 
Catholic Church and the Cuban Council of Churches reported improved 
access to prisoners during the year, with services offered in prisons 
and detention centers in most if not all provinces. There were isolated 
reports that prison authorities did not inform inmates of their right 
to religious assistance, delayed months before responding to such 
requests, and limited visits to a maximum of two or three times per 
year.
    By law prisoners and detainees may seek redress regarding prison 
conditions and procedural violations, such as continued incarceration 
after their prison sentence has expired. Prisoners reported that in 
practice government officials often refused to allow or accept 
complaints, or failed to respond to the complaints once submitted. 
However, the family of a political prisoner reported that central 
authorities resolved their complaints regarding prison living 
conditions after local authorities failed to do so. In another case, 
central government authorities instructed the local prison to stop 
denying privileges to a political prisoner who refused to wear the 
prison uniform. It was not clear whether the government investigated or 
monitored allegations of inhumane conditions. If investigations 
occurred, the results were not publicly accessible.
    The government did not permit independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by international or national human rights groups and did not 
permit access to detainees by international humanitarian organizations. 
Despite its 2009 offer to permit a visit by the U.N. special rapporteur 
on torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or 
punishment, the government failed to make good on its offer during the 
year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Under the criminal procedure 
code, police have wide discretion to stop and question citizens and 
request their identification, and to carry out arrests and searches. 
The law provides that police officials provide suspects with a signed 
``act of detention,'' noting the basis, date, and location of any 
detention in a police facility, and a registry of personal items seized 
during a police search. In practice police officials routinely failed 
to comply with these requirements during detentions or searches. 
Arbitrary stops and searches were most common in urban areas and at 
government-controlled checkpoints located at the entrances to provinces 
and municipalities.
    Police and security officials frequently utilized short-term 
detentions to prevent those it perceived as government opponents from 
assembling freely. Detentions generally lasted from several hours to 
several days. On October 19, police stopped Baptist pastor Mario Felix 
Lleonart, an outspoken critic of police brutality in Santa Clara, and 
detained him for 10 hours. Short-term detentions for the year increased 
99 percent over short-term detentions in 2010, according to the Cuban 
Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation (CCDHRN). The CCDHRN 
counted 4,123 short-term detentions during the year; in December a 30-
year high of 796 detentions was recorded.
    Long-term imprisonment against peaceful opponents decreased but did 
not cease entirely. In May brothers Marcos Maikel Lima Cruz and Antonio 
Michel Lima Cruz were sentenced to three years and two years of 
incarceration, respectively, for disorderly conduct and desecrating the 
Cuban flag. Their incarceration came after a violent campaign of 
harassment that included the use of mobs against the Lima residence as 
punishment for the family's peaceful political opposition activities.
    In addition, Cuban law allows up to a four year detention of people 
before they commit an actual crime, with a subjective determination of 
``potential dangerousness.'' Mostly used as a tool to control ``anti-
social'' behavior such as substance abuse, it has also been used to 
silence peaceful political opponents. The exact numbers of people 
serving sentences for ``dangerousness'' is unknown, but some estimate 
that it exceeds 3,000 persons.
    The government also restricted free assembly by preventing citizens 
from leaving their homes, under threat of arrest. Generally, 
plainclothes police officers would post themselves in the vicinity of 
the house to ensure that the citizen could not leave until a public 
event or demonstration was over. Authorities placed approximately 40 
citizens under house detention October 15-16 to prevent them from 
attending funeral services in honor of Damas de Blanco founder Laura 
Pollan.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of the 
Interior (MININT) exercises control over the police, internal security 
forces, and prison system. The ministry's National Revolutionary Police 
(PNR) is the primary law enforcement organization and was moderately 
effective in investigating common crimes. Specialized units of the 
MININT's state security branch are responsible for monitoring, 
infiltrating, and suppressing opposition political groups. The PNR 
supports state security agents by carrying out house searches, 
arresting persons of interest to the MININT, and providing 
interrogation facilities.
    Police routinely violated procedural laws with impunity and often 
failed or refused to provide citizens with legally required 
documentation, particularly during arbitrary detentions and searches. 
Members of the security forces acted with impunity in committing 
numerous, serious civil rights and human rights abuses.
    On May 5, police beat activist Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia while 
handcuffed in a public square of Santa Clara. He was treated at a 
hospital and released but died three days later. The government denied 
that he had died from the beating but did not make public the results 
of an investigation into his death.
    Although the law on criminal procedure prohibits the use of 
coercion during investigative interrogations, police and security 
forces routinely relied on aggressive and physically abusive tactics, 
threats, and harassment during questioning. Detainees reported that 
officers threatened them with long-term detention, loss of child 
custody rights, denial of permission to depart the country, and other 
threats, for instance, suggesting that an elderly relative might suffer 
an accident. In September state security officers detained opposition 
members Yelena Garces and her husband Miguel Rafael Cabrera and told 
them that if they continued to engage in dissident activity, the 
government might take custody of their three-year-old child.
    There were no mechanisms readily available to investigate 
government abuses.
    Undercover police and agents from the MININT were often present and 
coordinated activities with mob leaders in acts to disrupt efforts at 
peaceful assembly (see section 2.b.).
    Many state-orchestrated ``acts of repudiation'' were directed 
against the Damas de Blanco. On multiple occasions in July and August, 
acts of repudiation were organized to prevent Damas de Blanco from 
marching after Mass in the province of Santiago de Cuba. On October 21, 
contrary to its claims that the acts of repudiation were spontaneous, 
the government forewarned that it would deploy mobs to prevent the 
Damas de Blanco from marching peacefully on October 24. Mobs and state 
security agents assaulted Damas de Blanco leader Laura Pollan and 
others when they tried to leave her house.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Under the 
criminal procedure code, police have 24 hours after an arrest to 
present a criminal complaint to a police official called an instructor. 
The instructor then has 72 hours to investigate and prepare a report 
for the prosecutor. The prosecutor then has an additional 72 hours to 
recommend to the appropriate court whether to open a criminal 
investigation. Detainees have no right to counsel during this period.
    By law, after the 168-hour detention period, detainees must be 
informed of the basis for the arrest and criminal investigation and 
have access to legal representation. Detainees facing formal charges 
must retain counsel within five days of being charged or the state can 
appoint an attorney on their behalf. Those charged can be released on 
bail, placed in home detention, or held in continued investigative 
detention.
    In practice, however, officials often disregarded many of these 
procedures. Suspects often were detained longer than 168 hours without 
being informed of the nature of the arrest or being afforded legal 
counsel. In a survey of fellow prisoners conducted in 2009 and 2010, a 
noted dissident reported that 64 percent of pretrial detainees where he 
was being held had spent weeks and sometimes months without having seen 
an attorney or being informed of the charges against them.
    Once the accused has an attorney, the defense has five days to 
respond to the prosecution's charges, after which a court date usually 
is set. There were many reports that defendants with public defenders 
met their attorneys for the first time only minutes before their 
trials. Prosecutors can demand summary trials ``in extraordinary 
circumstances'' and in cases involving crimes against state security.
    Bail was available, although typically not granted in cases 
involving those arrested for opposition activities. Time in detention 
before trial counted toward time served if convicted.
    Detainees can be interrogated at any time during detention and have 
no right to request the presence of counsel. Detainees have the right 
to remain silent, but officials do not have a legal obligation to 
inform them specifically of that right.
    By law investigators must complete criminal investigations within 
60 days. Prosecutors may grant investigators two 60-day extensions upon 
request, for a total of 180 days of investigative time. This deadline, 
however, can be waived by the supervising court in ``extraordinary 
circumstances'' and upon special request by the prosecutor. In that 
instance no additional legal requirement exists to complete an 
investigation and file criminal charges. This exception was invoked 
often. Detainees were held for months or years in investigative 
detention, in both political and nonpolitical cases. In nonpolitical 
cases delays were often due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, a lack of 
checks on police, and prosecutorial or judicial excesses.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--While the constitution recognizes 
the independence of the judiciary, the judiciary is directly 
subordinate to the National Assembly, which can remove or appoint 
judges at any time. In practice the judiciary was thoroughly dominated 
by political considerations, and the CP and Council of State exerted 
near-total influence over the courts and their rulings.
    Civilian courts exist at the municipal, provincial, and Supreme 
Court levels. Special tribunals are convened for political 
(``counterrevolutionary'') opponents and other cases deemed sensitive 
to ``state security'' and held behind closed doors. Military tribunals 
may also have jurisdiction over civilians in cases where any of the 
defendants were members of the military, police force, or other law 
enforcement agency.

    Trial Procedures.--Due process rights apply equally to all citizens 
as well as foreigners, but courts often failed to protect or observe 
these rights. The law presumes defendants to be innocent until proven 
guilty, but authorities often ignored this in practice, placing the 
burden on the defendant to prove innocence rather than on the 
prosecution to prove guilt.
    Defendants generally have the right to a public trial, but 
politically motivated trials were often held in secret, citing 
exceptions for crimes involving ``state security'' or ``extraordinary 
circumstances.'' The law does not provide for jury trials. Almost all 
cases concluded in less than one day.
    The law provides the accused with the right to be present during 
trial and requires that defendants be represented by an attorney at 
trial, if necessary at public expense. Defendants' attorneys can cross-
examine state witnesses and present witnesses and evidence on the 
defendants' behalf. The only attorneys licensed to practice in criminal 
courts are attorneys who work for state collective law offices.
    Criteria for admitting evidence was often arbitrary and 
discriminatory. According to numerous reports, prosecutors routinely 
introduced irrelevant or unreliable evidence to prove intent or 
testimony about the revolutionary credentials of a defendant. At the 
March trial of foreign development worker Alan Gross on charges of 
``subverting Cuba's national sovereignty and/or territorial integrity'' 
by installing satellite Internet at Jewish community centers, the court 
admitted as evidence an ``expert'' who testified about Gross's alleged 
criminal intent from his handwriting.
    Defense attorneys have the right to review the investigation files 
of a defendant, but not if the charges involve ``crimes against the 
security of the state.'' In these cases defense attorneys are not 
allowed access until charges have been filed. In practice many 
detainees reported that their attorneys had difficulties accessing 
their files due to bureaucratic and administrative obstacles. Attorneys 
of political detainees reported that they often had greater difficulty 
gaining access to their clients' files.
    The penal code includes the crime of ``potential dangerousness,'' 
defined as the ``special proclivity of a person to commit crimes, 
demonstrated by his conduct in manifest contradiction of socialist 
norms.'' At trial the state must only show that the defendant has 
``proclivity'' for crime, so an actual criminal act need not have 
occurred. Penalties can be up to four years in prison. The authorities 
normally applied this law to prostitutes, alcoholics, young persons who 
refused to report to work centers, and repeat offenders of laws 
restricting change of domicile. The CCDHRN estimated that 3,000 to 
6,000 citizens were held on charges of potential dangerousness.
    The law recognizes the right of appeal in municipal courts but 
limits it in provincial courts to cases involving lengthy prison terms 
or the death penalty.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--The government continued to 
deny holding any political prisoners. It refused access to its jails to 
international humanitarian organizations and the U.N. Although in 2010 
the government invited U.N. special rapporteur for torture and other 
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment to conduct a fact-
finding mission, no visit occurred. Special Rapporteur Manfred Nowak 
stated that the visit did not take place because the government failed 
to respond to his request to schedule the visit.
    The government released dozens of political prisoners during the 
year, most of whom were given the option of release only if they 
accepted exile in Spain.
    Peaceful political prisoners remained in jail, including four who 
were arrested and sentenced during the year. The number of peaceful 
political prisoners decreased significantly in the year, but accurate 
numbers were difficult to determine. Lack of governmental transparency 
and systemic violations of due process rights obfuscated the true 
nature of criminal prosecutions and investigations, allowing government 
authorities to prosecute and sentence human rights activists for common 
crimes or dangerousness. The government uses the designation of ``CR,'' 
for counterrevolutionary, on inmates deemed to be opponents to the 
regime, but it did not release those numbers. The government continued 
to deny access to its jails to independent monitors who could help 
determine the size of the political prisoner population.
    Political prisoners reported being held in isolation for extended 
periods of times, even years. Political prisoners were not given the 
same protections as other prisoners or detainees. In particular they 
were frequently denied early parole or transfers to lower-security 
facilities that were commonly granted to other prisoners. Political 
prisoners also generally were denied access to home visits, prison 
classes, phone calls, and on occasion, family visits. Some political 
prisoners refused to wear a prison uniform. Although prison authorities 
generally punished such refusals, many prisoners reported that 
eventually they were given permission to wear clothing of their own 
choosing.
    Many prisoners were able to communicate information about their 
living conditions through telephone calls to human rights observers and 
reports to family members.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civil courts exist at the 
municipal, provincial, and Supreme Court levels and oversee civil, 
administrative, labor, and economic matters. Civil courts, like all 
courts in the country, lack an independent or impartial judiciary as 
well as effective procedural guarantees. Although it is possible to 
seek judicial remedies through civil courts for violations of 
administrative determinations, lawyers noted that general procedural 
and bureaucratic inefficiencies often delayed or undermined the 
enforcement of both administrative determinations and civil court 
orders. No courts allowed claimants to bring lawsuits seeking remedies 
for human rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution protects citizens' privacy rights in 
their homes and correspondence, and police must have a warrant signed 
by a prosecutor or magistrate before entering or conducting a search. 
In practice, however, the government routinely and systematically 
monitored correspondence and communications between citizens, 
surveilled their movements, and entered homes without legal authority 
and with impunity. Police searched homes and seized personal goods 
without the legally required documentation.
    The MININT employed a system of informants and block committees, 
known as Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, to monitor 
government opponents and report on their activities. Agents from the 
MININT's General Directorate for State Security subjected foreign 
journalists and diplomats to occasional harassment and surveillance, 
including electronic surveillance and surreptitious entry into their 
homes.
    The government routinely used propaganda campaigns in the media 
(all of it state-owned) to slander opponents. During the year the 
government televised a series of propaganda ``documentaries'' to 
besmirch the reputation of the Damas de Blanco, independent bloggers, 
and Freemasons, among others. The programs featured footage of private 
meetings, including in bedrooms and hotel rooms, taken without the 
participants' knowledge and used without their consent.
    The CP is the only legally recognized political party, and the 
government actively suppressed attempts to form other parties. Party 
membership is not required to obtain common government services, such 
as rations, housing, or medical care. However, the government 
encouraged mass political mobilization and favored citizens who 
actively participated, especially when awarding valued public benefits 
like admissions to higher education, fellowships, and jobs.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the 
press only insofar as it ``conforms to the aims of socialist society.'' 
Laws banning criticism of government leaders and distribution of 
antigovernment propaganda carry penalties ranging from three months' to 
15 years' imprisonment.

    Freedom of Speech.--The government had little tolerance for public 
criticism of government officials or programs. Even prominent cultural 
figures faced reprisals for making statements construed to be critical 
of the government. Painter Pedro Pablo Oliva was expelled from the 
Provincial Assembly of his native Pinar del Rio and had his workshop 
temporarily closed after he gave an interview to a foreign publication 
in which he was critical of the government. Public debate of issues 
considered sensitive was limited. During the year state security 
continuously harassed the organizers of an independent forum for 
debates on cultural and social topics and forced them to stop 
discussing issues deemed controversial. The forum organizers reported 
visits by state security, video surveillance installed outside the 
venue, and detention of panelists on the day in which they were 
expected to appear.
    During the year religious groups reported greater latitude to voice 
their opinions during sermons and at religious gatherings than in the 
past, although most members of the clergy exercised self-censorship. 
Religious leaders in some cases criticized the government, its 
policies, and even the country's leadership without reprisals. In 
September the Catholic Church opened a cultural center in Havana that 
hosted debates featuring participants voicing different opinions about 
the country's future; well-known dissidents were allowed to 
participate.

    Freedom of the Press.--The government directly owned all print and 
broadcast media outlets and all sources of information, and it did not 
allow editorial independence. News and information programming was 
nearly uniform across all outlets. The government also controlled 
nearly all publications and press prints, requiring CP approval before 
materials could go to press.
    Online postings, including from bloggers and independent 
journalists, were not censored. Some journalists also published 
newsletters in hard copy. Like other government critics, bloggers and 
independent journalists faced sustained government harassment.
    The Catholic Church published two periodicals that sometimes 
included criticism of official social and economic policies. The 
Catholic Church received permission to broadcast Christmas and Easter 
messages on state-run stations. The government also allowed the 
broadcast of a message on September 8, the feast day of the Virgin of 
Charity, the country's patron saint. The Council of Churches, the 
government-recognized Protestant umbrella organization, was authorized 
to host monthly two hour-long radio broadcasts.

    Violence and Harassment.--The government does not recognize 
independent journalism and subjected some independent journalists to 
detentions, harassment, equipment seizures, and threats of 
imprisonment. At least 25 of the political prisoners that the 
government released in 2010 and the first three months of 2011 had 
worked as independent journalists prior to their imprisonment in 2003. 
During the year the government televised a series of propaganda 
``documentaries,'' one of which was aimed at discrediting independent 
journalists and featured the outing of a well-known independent 
journalist who claimed that he had been working for state security for 
years.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The law prohibits distribution 
of printed materials that are considered ``counterrevolutionary'' or 
critical of the government. Foreign newspapers or magazines were 
generally unavailable. Distribution of material with political content, 
interpreted broadly to include the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights, was not allowed and resulted in harassment and even detention. 
The government continued to jam the transmissions of Radio Marti and 
Television Marti.
    The government sometimes barred independent libraries from 
receiving materials from abroad and seized materials donated by foreign 
governments and individuals. Government officials also confiscated 
cameras from opponents to prevent them from distributing photos and 
videos that it deemed objectionable, such as of those taken during 
arrests and detentions.

    Internet Freedom.--There were significant government restrictions 
on access to the Internet and widespread reports that the government 
monitored e-mail and Internet chat rooms and browsing. The government 
controlled all Internet access, with the exception of extremely limited 
facilities provided by a few diplomatic missions and some black market 
facilities.
    During the year the government announced that it had set up a 
fiber-optic line to Venezuela capable of offering broadband service, 
but government officials cautioned that it would not result in greater 
Internet access for the general population. While the government 
claimed 15.9 percent of the population had access to the Internet, in 
many cases this access was limited to a domestic ``intranet'' that 
offered only e-mail or highly restricted access to the World Wide Web.
    The government granted Internet access only to a chosen few, 
consisting mostly of government officials, established professionals, 
professors, students, journalists, and artists. Others could access 
limited e-mail and Internet services through government-sponsored 
``youth clubs'' or Internet centers approved and regulated by the 
Ministry for Information, Technology, and Communications.
    The government employed as many as 1,000 bloggers to discredit the 
opposition, including the small independent blogger community and the 
Damas de Blanco. In a leaked presentation before the MININT, a 
government official explained that government-run bloggers had specific 
tasks, including one whose main responsibility was to attack everything 
written by independent blogger Yoani Sanchez.
    Authorities reviewed the browsing history of authorized users, 
reviewed and censored e-mail, employed Internet search filters, and 
blocked access to Web sites considered objectionable. However, the 
government unblocked certain well-known sites, including Sanchez's 
site, during the year.
    Numerous human rights groups reported that authorities used mobile 
patrols to search for unauthorized Internet and satellite television 
equipment. When police discovered violators, they confiscated the 
equipment and fined, and sometimes jailed, the owners. While the law 
does not set specific penalties for unauthorized Internet use, it is 
illegal to own a satellite dish that would provide uncensored Internet 
access.
    The use of encryption software and transfer of encrypted files are 
also illegal. Despite the limited access, harassment, and 
infrastructure challenges, a growing number of citizens maintained 
blogs where they often posted opinions critical of the government, with 
help from foreign supporters who often built and kept the blog sites. 
Local access to the majority of these blogs was blocked.
    Foreigners were allowed to buy Internet access cards from the 
national telecommunications provider and to use hotel business centers, 
where Internet access could be purchased only in hard currency. Access 
usually cost between five and 10 convertible pesos (approximately $5 to 
$10) an hour, a rate beyond the means of most citizens. Citizens 
usually were allowed to purchase Internet access at the national 
telecommunications provider and to use hotel business centers, but they 
were occasionally prohibited from purchasing access.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--The government restricted 
academic freedom and controlled the curriculum at all schools and 
universities, emphasizing the importance of reinforcing ``revolutionary 
ideology'' and ``discipline.'' Most academics refrained from meeting 
with foreigners, including diplomats, journalists, and academics, 
without prior government approval. Those permitted to travel abroad 
were aware that their actions, if deemed politically unfavorable, could 
negatively affect them and their relatives back home.
    Outspoken artists and academics often faced harassment and 
criticism orchestrated by the government. Government bloggers denounced 
two-time Grammy winner and former National Assembly member Pablo 
Milanes after he made public statements lamenting government hostility 
towards dissidents in Cuba. Esteban Morales, a senior University of 
Havana professor and television commentator, was expelled from the CP 
for publishing an article addressing the challenges posed by government 
corruption. He successfully appealed and was reinstated in July.
    Public libraries required citizens to complete a registration 
process before access to books or information was granted. Citizens 
could be denied access if they could not demonstrate a need to visit a 
particular library. A letter of permission from an employer or academic 
institution was required for access to censored, sensitive, or rare 
books and materials.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--Although the constitution grants the limited right of 
assembly, the right is subject to the requirement that they may not be 
``exercised against the existence and objectives of the socialist 
state.'' The law requires citizens to request authorization for 
organized meetings of three people or more, and failure to do so 
carries a penalty of up to three months in prison and a fine. In 
practice, however, these gatherings were tolerated. Religious groups 
reported the ability to gather in large numbers without registering or 
facing sanctions. The Catholic Church was permitted to celebrate the 
400th anniversary the Virgin of Charity with a year-long series of 
public processions in honor of the saint.
    Political opponents, however, faced greater obstacles, and police 
often suppressed attempts to assemble, even when these were in private 
dwellings and in small numbers. The government continued to organize 
mobs to assault and disperse those that assembled peacefully. Although 
the government characterized the mobs as spontaneous, participants 
frequently arrived in government-owned vehicles or were recruited by 
local CP leaders from nearby workplaces or schools. Mob participants 
arrived and departed in shifts, chanted revolutionary slogans, sang 
revolutionary songs, and verbally taunted the targets of the protest 
for hours. Often government-orchestrated mobs assaulted the targets or 
damaged their homes or property. Government officials at the scene did 
not arrest those who physically attacked the victims or respond to 
victims' complaints. On more than one occasion, officials took part in 
the beatings.
    The government did not grant permission to antigovernment 
demonstrators or approve public meetings by human rights groups. While 
the government tolerated the Damas de Blanco's Sunday marches after 
Mass in Havana, government-organized mobs broke up marches planned by 
the Damas in other locations .
    Civil society organizations reported continued suppression of the 
right to assemble. On November 24, several prominent Afro-Cuban 
activists were detained to prevent their participation in a three-day 
conference sponsored by the independent Citizen's Committee on Racial 
Integration. On November 25 and 26, state security blocked entry to the 
conference venue, preventing the conference from taking place as 
planned. The government often resorted to forceful action to disperse 
those assembling peacefully. In many cases it employed mobs to assault 
participants at events it sought to disrupt.
    Human rights activists reported frequent government monitoring and 
disruption of cell phone and landline services prior to planned events 
or key anniversaries related to human rights.

    Freedom of Association.--The government routinely denied its 
citizens freedom of association and did not recognize independent 
associations. The constitution proscribes any political organization 
that is not officially recognized. Authorities have never recognized an 
independent human rights organization. However, a number of independent 
organizations and professional associations operated as NGOs without 
legal recognition.
    Recognized churches, the Roman Catholic humanitarian organization 
Caritas, the Freemason movement, and a number of fraternal and 
professional organizations were the only associations legally permitted 
to function outside the formal structure of the state, the CP, and 
government-organized organizations. However, these groups are under the 
supervision of the CP's Office of Religious Affairs, which has the 
authority to deny permits for religious activities and exerts pressure 
on church leaders.
    Authorities continued to ignore applications for legal recognition 
from new groups, including several new religious groups as well as 
women's rights and gay rights organizations, thereby subjecting members 
to potential charges of illegal association. In 2009 an independent 
lawyer's group, Asociacion Juridica Cubana (AJC), filed a writ of 
mandamus demanding action on their application for legal recognition. 
In April the Supreme Court ruled that the AJC had the right to have 
their application for status reviewed and ordered the Ministry of 
Justice to do so. In June the Ministry of Justice issued the AJC a 
certificate stating that there is no equivalent organization in the 
country, the first step in the registration process.
    The government continued to afford preferential treatment for those 
who took an active part in CP activities and mass demonstrations in 
support of the government, especially when awarding valued public 
benefits such as admissions to higher education, fellowships, and job 
opportunities.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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.--There are severe restrictions on 
freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, and migration 
with the right of return.
    The government tightly restricted foreign and domestic travel and 
limited internal migration from rural areas to Havana.

    In-country Movement.--Although the constitution allows all citizens 
to travel anywhere within the country, changes of residence were 
heavily restricted. The local housing commission and provincial 
government authorities must authorize any change of residence. Persons 
living in a location illegally may be fined and sent back to their 
place of residence. While the regulation was in effect nationwide, it 
was applied most frequently in Havana. Thousands of people lived in 
Havana illegally and without access to food rations or local 
identification cards. There were cases where police had threatened to 
prosecute for ``dangerousness'' anyone who returned to Havana after 
having been expelled. In November the government eased internal 
migration restrictions, allowing ``illegally present'' family members 
of registered Havana residents to legalize their status and officially 
change their residence to Havana.
    The law permits authorities to bar an individual from a certain 
area within the country, or to restrict an individual to a certain 
area, for a period from one to 10 years. Under this provision 
authorities may internally exile any person whose presence in a given 
location is considered ``socially dangerous.'' Some dissidents reported 
that they were prevented from leaving their home provinces or detained 
by authorities and returned.

    Foreign Travel.--The government restricted both migration and 
temporary foreign travel by requiring exit permits. In the latter part 
of the year, the government began allowing migrants to sell their 
vehicles and houses before departure rather than surrender them to the 
government.
    The government allowed the majority of persons who qualified for 
immigrant or refugee status in other countries to depart. However, at 
least 200 citizens who had received foreign travel documents were 
denied exit permits during the year. Persons routinely denied exit 
permits included medical personnel, men of military age, former 
military or security personnel, and members of the opposition. The 
government requires university graduates to perform social service work 
for periods of up to five years, during which they are not allowed to 
leave the country. The government denied exit permits for several years 
to relatives of individuals who migrated illegally (for example, 
merchant seamen and sports figures who defected while out of the 
country). The government frequently withheld exit visas from dissidents 
or independent public figures.
    During the year, the government denied exit visas for blogger Yoani 
Sanchez, bringing the total number of denials to at least 18 in the 
last four years.

    Emigration and Repatriation.--Those seeking to migrate legally 
alleged they also faced police interrogation, fines, house searches, 
harassment, and intimidation, including involuntary dismissal from 
employment. Government employees who applied to migrate legally to the 
United States sometimes were fired from their jobs when their plans 
became known.
    Fees for medical exams, exit permissions, passport costs, and 
airport taxes are payable only in hard currency and amounted to 
approximately 630 convertible pesos (approximately $630) for an adult, 
or nearly three years' salary. These fees represented a significant 
hardship, particularly for migrants who had been forced from their jobs 
and had no income.
    The law provides for imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of 
300 to 1,000 pesos (approximately $12 to $42) for unauthorized 
departures, the overwhelming majority by sea. However, most were 
detained for no more than two to three weeks and given a fine, but in 
the case of military or police defectors, the punishment could be more 
severe. Jail terms were also more common for persons attempting to flee 
to the United States through the Guantanamo U.S. Naval Base.
    Under the terms of the 1994 U.S. Cuba Migration Accord, the 
government agreed not to prosecute or retaliate against migrants 
returned from international or U.S. waters, or from the U.S. Naval 
Station at Guantanamo, after attempting to emigrate illegally if they 
had not committed a separate criminal offense. However, in practice 
some would-be migrants experienced harassment and discrimination such 
as fines, expulsion from school, and job loss.
    The government generally refused to accept nationals returned from 
U.S. territory beyond the terms of the Migration Accord.
    The government sometimes applied a law on human smuggling to would-
be migrants charged with organizing or promoting illegal exits. The law 
provides for imprisonment from two to five years for those who 
organize, promote, or incite illegal exit from national territory. The 
CCDHRN estimated that at year's end approximately 300 citizens were in 
prison serving sentences or awaiting trial for smuggling charges.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The constitution 
provides for the granting of asylum to individuals persecuted for their 
ideals or actions involving a number of specified political grounds. 
The government has no formal mechanism to process asylum for foreign 
nationals.

    Temporary Protection.--On the small number of cases of persons 
seeking asylum, the government worked with the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance, pending third-country settlement. 
In addition the government allowed foreign students who feared 
persecution in their home countries to remain in the country after the 
end of their studies, until their claims could be investigated.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    Citizens do not have the right to change their government, and the 
government retaliated against those who sought peaceful political 
change.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--All 614 
candidates for the National Assembly at the 2008 national elections 
were prevetted by government-run bodies and ran unopposed. They in turn 
elected Raul Castro to succeed his brother as chief of state and 
president by unanimous vote.

    Political Parties.--All candidates for office were preapproved by 
government-run commissions, which rejected independent candidacies 
without explanation or the right of appeal. All but seven of the 614 
candidates were CP members.
    In the 2010 municipal elections, scores of candidates were 
summarily refused the opportunity to run. Some independent candidates 
managed to run, although they were all defeated in open, nonsecret 
voting.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There are no official 
restrictions on women or minorities, and the government actively 
promotes participation of both in government. President (and CP First 
Secretary) Castro highlighted that the composition of the newly elected 
Central Committee included 48 women (42 percent) and 36 Afro-Cubans (31 
percent). Following the selection of the National Assembly in 2008, the 
government reported the composition as approximately 63 percent white, 
20 percent black, and 17 percent mixed race.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for corruption, and the 
government was highly sensitive to corruption allegations and often 
conducted anticorruption crackdowns. All government agencies, 
especially the Office of the General Comptroller and the MININT, were 
tasked with combating corruption, including through prosecution of 
government officials. During the year more than a dozen high-level 
officials and prominent business people were tried and convicted of 
corruption charges. There were widespread reports of police corruption. 
Multiple sources reported that when searching homes and vehicles, 
police sometimes took the owner's belongings or sought bribes in place 
of fines or arrests.
    The law provides for three to eight years' imprisonment for 
``illegal enrichment'' by authorities or government employees.
    Government officials were not subject to special financial 
disclosure laws. The law provides for public access to government 
information, but in practice requests for information were routinely 
rejected.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    The government did not recognize domestic human rights groups or 
permit them to function legally. Several human rights organizations 
continued to function outside the law, including the CCDHRN, Christian 
Liberation Movement, Assembly to Promote Civil Society, and Lawton 
Foundation for Human Rights. The government subjected domestic human 
rights advocates to intimidation and harassment.
    There are no officially recognized, independent NGOs that monitor 
human rights. The government refused to recognize or meet with any 
unauthorized NGOs that monitor human rights.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government continued to 
deny human rights organizations, the U.N. and the International 
Committee of the Red Cross access to all prisoners and detainees.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--There were no independent 
government bodies that monitored human rights abuses in the country.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, 
disability, or social status. However, racial discrimination occurred 
frequently.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, and the government enforced the law. The 
government did not release statistics during the year on arrests, 
prosecutions, or convictions for rape, and no reliable information 
regarding it was available.
    The law does not recognize domestic violence as a distinct category 
of violence but prohibits threats and violence, including those 
associated with domestic violence. Penalties for domestic violence are 
covered by the laws against assault and range from fines to prison 
sentences of varying lengths, depending on the severity of the offense.
    To raise awareness about domestic violence, the government 
continued to carry out media campaigns during the year. Two weekly 
television programs discussed women's issues, including domestic 
violence. In addition a few government-organized organizations held 
conferences and worked with local communities to improve services. 
UNICEF reported that the government ran counseling centers for women 
and children in most municipalities, with staff trained in assisting 
victims of abuse.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law provides penalties for sexual 
harassment, with potential sentences of three months' to five years' 
imprisonment. The government did not release any statistics on arrests, 
prosecutions, or convictions for offenses related to sexual harassment.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have 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. The Population Reference Bureau 
reported in 2011 that 73 percent of women ages15 to 49 used a modern 
method of contraception. Women and men had equal access to diagnostic 
services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--The law accords women and men equal rights and 
responsibilities regarding marriage, divorce, raising children, 
maintaining the home, and pursuing a career. The law grants working 
mothers preferential access to goods and services. The law provides for 
equal pay for equal work, and women generally received pay comparable 
to men for similar work.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory, and births were generally registered 
promptly.

    Child Abuse.--There was no societal pattern of child abuse.

    Sexual Exploitation.--While there were reports of underage 
prostitution, there were no reliable statistics available regarding its 
extent. The minimum age of consent for consensual sex is 16. There is 
no statutory rape law, although penalties for rape increase as the age 
of the victim decreases. While the law does not specifically prohibit 
child pornography, it prohibits the production or distribution of any 
kind of obscene graphic material, with possible sanctions ranging from 
three months to one year in prison and a fine.
    The government, in cooperation with the British government and a 
British NGO, ran centers in Havana and Santiago de Cuba for the 
treatment of child sexual abuse victims, including victims of 
trafficking. In April a third center opened in the city of Santa Clara. 
The centers employed modern treatment techniques, including the 
preparation of children to be witnesses in criminal prosecutions.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction. For 
country-specific information see the Department of State's report at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were between 1,000 and 1,500 members of the 
Jewish community. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There was no known law prohibiting 
official discrimination against persons with disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other 
state services. However, a Ministry of Labor and Social Security 
resolution gives persons with disabilities the right to equal 
employment opportunities and equal pay for equal work. There are no 
laws mandating accessibility to buildings, communications facilities, 
or information for persons with disabilities, and in practice 
facilities and services were rarely accessible to persons with 
disabilities.
    The Special Education Division of the Ministry of Education is 
responsible for the education and training of children with 
disabilities. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is in charge of 
the Job Program for the Handicapped.
    In January 2010 at least 26 patients died of hypothermia and 
malnutrition at the government-run Mazorra Psychiatric Hospital in 
Havana when temperatures dropped to near freezing; hospital employees 
had sold the patients' food, medicine, and blankets on the black 
market. On January 31, a court sentenced 14 individuals, including the 
hospital's director, to prison terms of up to15 years for their role in 
the deaths.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The government actively promotes 
racial integration and inclusiveness. Despite these efforts Afro Cubans 
often suffered racial discrimination, including disproportionate stops 
for identity checks and searches, and could be subject to racial 
epithets. Afro Cubans were represented disproportionately in 
neighborhoods with the worst housing conditions and were economically 
disadvantaged.
    The country celebrated the International Year for People of African 
Descent by hosting a series of cultural events highlighting Afro-Cuban 
contributions as well as academic workshops on racism and 
discrimination.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Officially there was no 
discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, 
statelessness, or access to education or health care. However, societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity 
persisted.
    Mariela Castro, President Castro's daughter, headed the national 
Center for Sexual Education and continued to be outspoken in promoting 
the rights of lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual (LGBT) persons. 
Nonetheless, nongovernment rights activists asserted that the 
government had not done enough to stop harassment of LGBT persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were reports that 
some persons with HIV/AIDS suffered job discrimination or were rejected 
by their families. The government operated four prisons exclusively for 
inmates with HIV/AIDS. Some inmates were serving sentences for 
``propagating an epidemic.'' Special diets and medications for HIV 
patients were routinely unavailable.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
Although the law recognizes freedom of association, it heavily 
restricts this right by recognizing only the Workers' Central Union of 
Cuba (CTC) as the paramount trade union confederation. All trade groups 
must belong to the CTC in order to operate legally. The law does not 
provide for the right to strike. The law also does not provide for 
collective bargaining, instead setting up a complicated process for 
reaching collective agreements. The International Labor Organization 
continued to raise concerns regarding restrictions to collective 
bargaining and agreements, including that government authorities and 
CTC officials had the final say on all such agreements.
    The government continued to take active steps to prevent the 
formation of independent trade unions in all sectors. CTC leaders were 
chosen by the CP. The CTC's principal responsibility was to manage 
government relations with the workforce. The CTC does not bargain 
collectively, promote worker rights, or advocate for the right to 
strike. The CTC took a lead role in disseminating information regarding 
the government's planned large-scale layoffs of government workers and 
in defending the government's decision to do so. Its leadership 
defended the layoffs, stating that ``our state cannot and should not 
continue supporting businesses, production entities, and services with 
inflated payrolls; it will no longer be possible to apply a formula of 
protecting and subsidizing salaries on an unlimited basis to workers."
    Several small independent labor organizations operated without 
legal recognition, including the National Independent Workers' 
Confederation of Cuba, the National Independent Laborer Confederation 
of Cuba, and the Joint Council of Workers of Cuba. In April these three 
organizations joined forces to create the Coalition of Independent 
Unions of Cuba. These organizations were subject to police harassment 
and infiltration by government agents and had a limited capacity to 
represent workers effectively or work on their behalf.
    The government can determine that a worker is ``unfit'' to work, 
resulting in job loss and the denial of job opportunities. Persons were 
deemed unfit because of their political beliefs, including their 
refusal to join the official union, and for trying to depart the 
country illegally. Professionals who expressed interest in emigrating 
were also penalized. Of the 75 dissidents jailed in 2003, seven were 
independent labor leaders. All were released over the past two years.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law forbids 
slavery, bondage, and all forms of forced labor. The government 
effectively enforced the law, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred. During the year the government officially abandoned 
mandatory summer work programs for the youth.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
legal minimum working age is 17, although the labor code permits the 
employment of 15 and 16 year old children to obtain training or fill 
labor shortages. The labor code does not permit 15 and 16 year olds to 
work more than seven hours per day or 40 hours per week, or on 
holidays. Children ages 13 to 18 cannot work in specified hazardous 
occupations, such as mining, or at night.
    There were no known government programs to prevent child labor or 
remove children from such labor. Antitruancy programs, however, helped 
ensure that children were in school and not in the labor market. 
Inspections and penalties were adequate to enforce the law, and in 
practice it was rare that children under 17 worked.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage was 
fixed at 225 pesos (approximately $9). The minimum wage requirement 
does not apply to the small nonstate sector. The government 
supplemented the minimum wage with free education, subsidized medical 
care (daily pay is reduced by 40 percent after the third day of a 
hospital stay), housing, and some food. Even with subsidies the 
government acknowledged that the average wage of 448 pesos per month 
(approximately $19) did not provide a reasonable standard of living.
    The standard workweek is 44 hours, with shorter workweeks in 
hazardous occupations, such as mining. The law provides workers with a 
weekly 24-hour rest period, and 24 days of paid annual holidays. These 
standards applied to state workers as well as to the small nonstate 
sector (but not to the self-employed). The law does not provide for 
premium pay for overtime or prohibit obligatory overtime but generally 
caps the number of overtime hours at 12 per week or 160 per year. 
However, the law provides little grounds for a worker to refuse to work 
overtime. Refusal to work overtime could result in a notation in the 
employee's official work history that could imperil subsequent requests 
for vacation time. The Ministry of Labor has the authority to establish 
different overtime caps as needed. Compensation for overtime is paid in 
cash at the regular hourly rate or in additional rest time, 
particularly for workers directly linked to production or services, and 
does not apply to management.
    Laws provided for workplace and environmental safety. The law 
provides that workers who consider their life in danger because of 
hazardous conditions have the right to refuse to work in a position or 
not engage in specific activities until such risks are eliminated. 
Workers remain obligated to work temporarily in whatever other position 
may be assigned at a salary provided for under the law.
    The Ministry of Labor effectively enforced minimum wage and hours 
of work standards through offices at the national, provincial, and 
municipal levels, but the government lacked mechanisms to enforce 
occupational safety and health standards.
    Workers frequently complained that overtime compensation was either 
not paid or not paid in a timely manner. The government continued to 
expand the number of trades that could be plied privately, to 181, and 
for the first time allowed the self-employed to hire labor. Foreign 
companies operated in a limited number of sectors, such as hotels, 
tourism, and mining. Such companies operated on the basis of a joint 
venture policy, in which the government contracted and paid company 
workers in pesos, an amount that was a small fraction of what the 
company remitted to the state for labor costs. Employers are prohibited 
from contracting or paying the workers directly, although many 
reportedly made supplemental payments under the table.
    The independent and illegal Confederation of Independent Workers of 
Cuba reported numerous violations of health and safety laws at 
worksites throughout the country, including inadequate and poorly 
maintained equipment and protective gear. The CTC seldom informed 
workers of their rights and did not respond to or assist workers who 
complained about hazardous workplace conditions.

                               __________

                                DOMINICA

                           executive summary
    Dominica is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy. In 2009 
elections Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit's Dominica Labour Party 
(DLP) prevailed over the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) by a 
margin of 18 seats to three seats. Although outside observers found the 
elections generally free and fair, the opposition continued to boycott 
Parliament over alleged electoral abuses. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems were the overcrowded prison 
and domestic violence against women and children.
    Other human rights problems included adverse conditions experienced 
by indigenous Kalinago (Carib).
    The government took steps to prosecute officials who committed 
abuses, and there were no known cases of impunity.
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 November 24, the chief magistrate dismissed the only pending 
case of criminal prosecution of police officers, stemming from the 2007 
killing of Stan Bruney, upon motion by the defense. The prosecution 
summoned witnesses on numerous occasions and issued warrants to appear, 
but the key witnesses refused to appear to testify at court.

    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.--Although overcrowded, 
prison and detention conditions generally met international standards, 
and the government permitted visits by independent human rights 
observers, although no such visits were known to have occurred during 
the year.
    The prison has an authorized capacity of 200 inmates but held 238 
inmates, including 42 detainees on remand from the court, as of year's 
end. The inmates included six women and 10 juveniles, who were 
separated from the adult male population.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Prison authorities permitted prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints, and the government investigated 
complaints and monitored prison and detention center conditions.

    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 Ministry of 
National Security, Labor, and Immigration oversees the Commonwealth of 
Dominica Police Force, the country's only security force. The police 
have a formal complaint procedure to handle allegations of excessive 
force or abuse by police officers.
    Civilian authorities maintained control over the police, and the 
government had effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. During the year there was one nonfatal shooting by a police 
officer that was under investigation and review by the director of 
public prosecutions (DPP); at year's end the DPP returned the case for 
further investigation in order to obtain a full forensic and medical 
report to document the position of the victim's wounds.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The police 
apprehend persons openly with warrants issued by a judicial authority. 
The law requires that the authorities inform persons of the reasons for 
arrest within 24 hours after arrest and bring the detainee to court 
within 72 hours. This requirement generally was honored in practice. If 
the authorities are unable to bring a detainee to court within the 
requisite period, the detainee may be released and rearrested at a 
later time. There is a functioning system of bail. Criminal detainees 
were provided prompt access to counsel and family members.
    Lengthy detention before trial was a problem due to judicial staff 
shortages. On average prisoners remained in remand status for more than 
three months.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.
    Inadequate prosecutorial and police staffing and resources for 
investigations, together with a lack of magistrates, resulted in severe 
backlogs and other problems in the judicial system.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. 
There are public trials by jury, and defendants have the right to be 
present, to consult with an attorney in a timely manner, and to 
confront or question witnesses. Criminal defendants are presumed 
innocent until proven guilty, are allowed legal counsel, and have the 
right to appeal. Courts provide free legal counsel to juveniles unable 
to obtain their own counsel, regardless of the crime committed, and to 
the indigent, but only in cases involving serious crimes. Defendants 
and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent, 
impartial judiciary in civil matters where one can bring lawsuits 
seeking damages for a human rights violation.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and 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 credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

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

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights 
in practice.
    The only internal restriction on movement applies to the Carib 
Reserve area. Since the land is collectively owned by the community and 
managed by the Carib Council, for a newcomer to live in the territory, 
the council would have to grant permission to use the land.
    Although no known cases occurred, the government was prepared to 
cooperate with the Office of the U.N. 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.
    There were a sizable number of Haitians living in the country who 
applied for residency and citizenship, but not on the basis of refugee 
status.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has not 
established a procedural system for providing protection to refugees. 
While the law provides for asylum or refugee status, 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 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.--Recent Elections.--In 
parliamentary elections held in December 2009, the ruling DLP won 18 
seats in the House of Assembly, defeating the UWP, which won three 
seats. Two of the three opposition members boycotted Parliament to 
pressure the government to call new elections. As a result of the 
boycott, after six months the government declared the two seats vacant 
by operation of law and called by-elections in those two 
constituencies, both won again by the opposition. The newly elected 
opposition members continued to boycott full participation in 
Parliament; they appear for each sitting, sign in, and then walk out.
    The Caribbean Community and the Organization of American States 
sent teams of election observers, who declared the election to be fair 
and transparent. After the election, the opposition filed court 
complaints of election irregularities regarding a number of complaints, 
but the court rejected the claims except for one of ineligibility to 
hold office against two ministers over dual-nationality issues. After a 
full evidentiary trial, the court ruled against the opposition and 
determined the two ministers were eligible under the law.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Voters elected two women to 
the House of Assembly, and these women held two cabinet positions: the 
minister for social services, community development, and gender 
affairs; and the minister for culture, youth, and sports. The appointed 
Speaker of the House of Assembly was a woman, and the ruling DLP 
appointed one woman to serve in the 10-person appointed Senate.
    The parliamentary representative for the constituency that includes 
the Carib Territory was a Carib.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. However, 
there were isolated allegations publicly reported by members of the 
political opposition and related groups of corruption in the 
government, including accusations that some government officials 
engaged in property speculation. The same opposition groups accused 
government ministers of receiving unreported money from foreign 
sources. However, they provided no evidence to the government. Thus no 
charges were filed, and none of these allegations were proven in the 
courts.
    The Integrity in Public Service Act, monitored by a government 
commission, requires government officials to account annually for their 
income and assets and those of their immediate family, as well as any 
gifts they have received. During the year the commission referred seven 
cases to the DPP for noncompliance, which represented a 96 percent 
compliance rate. In 2010 the DPP filed criminal charges against 26 
public officials the commission identified as noncompliant. The 
prosecution dropped eight of the cases for lack of evidence, one 
official won after trial, one official pleaded guilty and was 
reprimanded, and the remaining faced trial at year's end.
    The commission receives complaints from the public as well and 
investigated complaints filed against public officials. One complaint 
against the prime minister concerning a cabinet decision granting 
concessions for importation of building materials was pending before 
the commission at year's end.
    The Financial Intelligence Unit is the chief government agency 
responsible for identifying and combating government corruption. In 
addition the police force and customs service have internal watchdog 
offices. The independent DPP is responsible for prosecuting major 
crimes, including corruption offenses, and routinely files charges of 
theft, false accounting, fraud, theft by deception, and related 
offenses. The DPP worked closely with the Financial Intelligence Unit. 
However, the DPP lacked adequate manpower and resources for 
concentration on complicated money laundering and public corruption 
cases.
    The law does not provide for public access to government 
information, and the government did not provide routine access in 
practice. The government maintained a Web page and a government 
information service, where it posted information such as directories of 
officials and a summary of laws and press releases. The government 
budget and an audit of that budget were both publicly available on the 
Web site.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were no government restrictions on the formation of local 
human rights organizations, although no such groups existed. Several 
advocacy groups, such as the Association of Disabled People, the 
Dominica National Council of Women (DNCW), and a women's and children's 
self-help organization, operated freely and without government 
interference.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--There were no requests for 
investigations of human rights abuses from international or regional 
human rights groups.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--A parliamentary commissioner has 
responsibility to investigate complaints against the government.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law specifically prohibits discrimination based on race, 
gender, place of origin, color, and creed, and the authorities 
generally respected this prohibition in practice.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape but 
not spousal rape. Although the maximum sentence for sexual molestation 
(rape or incest) is 25 years' imprisonment, the normal sentence was 
five to seven years, except in the case of murder. Police were not 
reluctant to arrest or prosecute offenders; whenever possible, female 
police officers handled rape cases. The Bureau of Gender Affairs of the 
Ministry of Social Services, Community Development, and Gender Affairs 
assisted victims of abuse by finding temporary shelter, providing 
counseling to both parties, or recommending police action.
    Sexual violence and domestic violence cases were common, and the 
government recognized it as a problem. Authorities received reports of 
16 rapes, 44 indecent assaults, 44 cases of unlawful sexual 
intercourse, and 75 cases of grievous bodily harm during the year. No 
information was available about prosecutions or convictions. The 
government held workshops and participated in public awareness and 
outreach programs, and updated its domestic violence legislation. 
Victims were sometimes reluctant to speak out due to due to fear of 
retribution, stigma, or further violence, which suggests that the 
problem may be significantly under-reported. Although no specific laws 
criminalize spousal abuse, spouses could bring charges against their 
partners for battery. However, victims were often reluctant to press 
charges due to their reliance on financial assistance of the abuser. 
Shelters were operated in private homes to preserve the privacy of the 
victims, but the location of a shelter was hard to keep secret. There 
was one government-supported shelter. The law allows abused persons to 
appear before a magistrate without an attorney and request a protective 
order. The court also may order the alleged perpetrator to be removed 
from the home to allow the victims, usually women and children, to 
remain in the home while the matter is investigated. However, 
inadequate police resources made enforcement of these restraining 
orders difficult. Police officers continued to receive training in 
dealing with domestic abuse cases.
    The Bureau of Gender Affairs reported that both male and female 
victims sought assistance in dealing with domestic violence. Despite 
the range of programs offered, there were insufficient support systems 
to address the problem effectively. In addition to counseling services 
offered by the DNCW and the bureau, there was a legal aid clinic, and 
the government's legal department offered assistance as well.
    The DNCW provided preventive education about domestic violence and 
maintained a shelter where counseling and mediation services were 
available daily. Funding constraints limited stays at the shelter to 
several days at a time; however, if needed, additional housing was 
provided in private homes for up to three weeks. Because of the 
country's small size, abusive spouses commonly found and visited the 
victims at the shelter, making private homes a safer option in many 
cases. The Catholic Church continued to be active in educating the 
public about domestic violence.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, 
and it continued to be a serious problem.

    Reproductive Rights.--Women were free to choose the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. While statistics on maternal 
mortality are not available, 94 percent of births occured with a 
skilled attendant. Access to contraception and treatment for sexually 
transmitted diseases was widely available.

    Discrimination.--Women enjoy the same legal rights as men. However, 
property ownership continued to be deeded to heads of households, who 
were usually male. The inheritance law provides that intestate 
succession leaves the surviving spouse with only a life estate. 
However, the title registration act was amended to accommodate transfer 
of property between spouses, which boosted married women's property 
ownership. The law establishes pay rates for civil service jobs without 
regard to gender. Although there were some women in managerial or high-
level positions, most women worked as shopkeepers, nurses, or in 
education. The unemployment rate for women was 17.6 percent, compared 
to 11 percent for men.
    The Bureau of Gender Affairs is charged with promoting and ensuring 
the legal rights of women. The bureau provides lobbying, research, 
support, counseling, training, and education services. The bureau 
worked with the DNCW and other organizations to help the government, 
nongovernmental organizations, and police sectors coordinate work on 
women's issues, particularly in data collection and information 
sharing.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth to 
a Dominican parent. Birth certificates were provided to the parents on 
a timely basis.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse continued to be a pervasive problem. The 
law protects children against assault, ill treatment, neglect, harmful 
circumstances, domestic violence, and abandonment by parent or 
guardian. The Welfare Department of the Ministry of Social Services, 
Community Development, and Gender Affairs handled 184 reports of child 
abuse during the year, and the government opened a shelter for abused 
children. The Welfare Department also assisted victims of abuse by 
finding temporary shelter, providing counseling to both parties, or 
recommending police action. That department reported all severe cases 
of abuse to the police. Lack of staff and resources continued to hamper 
enforcement of children's rights laws.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The age of consent for sexual 
relations is 16. The law prohibits commercial sexual exploitation of 
children for purposes of prostitution, and related activity could be 
prosecuted under laws against prostitution or trafficking. The law 
protects all persons from unlawful sexual connection, rape, procurement 
for prostitution, and incest, and also prohibits sexual offenses 
against children under employment, control, or on wages. Additionally, 
the country has designed a series of local and national public policies 
preventing the commercial exploitation of children. There is no 
specific law dealing with child pornography. Incest carries a maximum 
of 25 years if committed by an adult with a person under 14 years of 
age. In cases of sexual intercourse with a person age 14 to 16, a 
maximum prison term of 14 years may be imposed. Prosecutions were often 
thwarted by out of court settlements for money, which the government 
stated it wanted to criminalize through amendments to the law.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For country-specific information see the Department of 
State's report at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--
3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was no organized Jewish community, and there 
were no reports of discrimination or any anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--There were no confirmed reports that 
persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country during the 
year.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law does not specifically prohibit 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, and there is no legal 
requirement mandating access to buildings for such persons. Other than 
lack of access, there was no reported formal discrimination against 
them in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision 
of other state services. However, many employers refused to hire 
persons with disabilities, and unemployment among them was very high.
    The government funded a special school for the hearing impaired and 
partially assisted two other schools for vision impaired and mentally 
challenged children. One of the public schools also had a program for 
autistic children. However, the education of children with disabilities 
remained a serious challenge, as many of the children were in rural 
areas.

    Indigenous People.--There was a Kalinago, or Carib, population 
estimated at about 3,000 persons, most of whom lived in the 3,782-acre 
Carib Territory, an area not clearly delineated by law. There were four 
preschools and two primary schools in the Carib Territory and two 
secondary schools in nearby communities attended by Kalinago children. 
Despite these schools, however, the Carib language has almost 
completely disappeared, and students elsewhere in the country were not 
taught about pre-Columbian history or the role played by Caribs in 
shaping the country's society. The Ministry of Education covered 
tuition for Kalinago students at the Dominica State College and awarded 
scholarships to Kalinago students for study throughout the Caribbean.
    The Carib Act states that any child of a Kalinago is also Kalinago. 
Non-Kalinagos may become Kalinagos if they are invited to live in the 
Carib Territory and do so continuously for 12 years.
    Every five years Kalinagos over the age of 18 who reside in the 
territory may vote for the chief and six members of the Council of 
Advisors. They also are eligible to vote in national elections. In 
national elections, persons who are registered in the district but 
reside outside, either in another part of the country or 
internationally, are still allowed to vote in the Carib Territory. A 
Kalinago headed the Ministry of Carib Affairs.
    The Kalinago people continued to suffer from low levels of 
unofficial and societal discrimination. Kalinago women in particular 
suffered from these types of discrimination. Unemployment in the 
territory generally was higher than in the rest of the country, and 
mean income was below the national mean. There were few jobs in the 
territory, because of the decline of the agricultural sector and the 
inability to obtain bank financing due to the lack of collateral in 
terms of privately owned land. Many Kalinagos who moved to the capital 
city of Roseau did not report any significant discrimination. The vast 
majority of Kalinagos have intermarried, and it was not always easy to 
identify someone as Kalinago.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Consensual same-sex conduct 
between men is illegal. Anecdotal evidence suggested that societal 
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) 
persons was common in the socially conservative society. There were 
very few openly gay men or lesbians. During the year there was 
increased public dialogue on the issue, including increased outreach by 
LGBT persons promoting awareness of the problem.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The government and the 
Dominica Planned Parenthood Association initiated programs designed to 
discourage discrimination against HIV/AIDS-infected persons and those 
living with them.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law protects the right of workers to form and join independent 
unions, provides for the right to strike, and protects the right of 
workers to bargain collectively with employers. The law prohibits 
antiunion discrimination by providing that employers must reinstate 
workers who file a complaint of illegal dismissal, which can cover 
being fired for engaging in union activities or other grounds of 
dismissal.
    In practice the government generally enforced laws governing worker 
rights effectively. Workers exercised the legal right to organize and 
choose their representatives, but less than 30 percent of private 
sector workers were unionized. The informal sector accounts for close 
to 50 percent of total employment, and workers in that sector were not 
unionized. Most agricultural work is performed on small family owned 
farms and such workers were not unionized.
    Restrictions on worker rights include the fact that emergency, 
port, electricity, telecommunications, and prison services, as well as 
the banana, coconut, and citrus fruit cultivation industries, were 
deemed ``essential,'' which deterred workers in these sectors from 
going on strike. Nonetheless, in practice essential workers have gone 
on strike and did not suffer reprisals. The procedure for essential 
workers to strike is cumbersome, involving giving appropriate notice 
and submitting the grievance to the labor commissioner for possible 
mediation. Most such actions were resolved through mediation through 
the Office of the Labor Commissioner.
    Workers exercised the right to collective bargaining, particularly 
in the nonagricultural sectors of the economy, including in government 
service. Government mediation and arbitration were also available; few 
disputes escalated to industrial action. A company, a union 
representative, or an individual can request mediation by the Labor 
Commissioner's Office. In most cases the labor commissioner was able to 
resolve the matter. Employers generally reinstated employees who filed 
a complaint of illegal dismissal.
    Unions and worker organizations were independent of the government 
and political parties but must be registered with the government.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, and the government effectively enforced the 
law effectively. There were no reports that such practices occurred.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--
Although two laws prohibit employment of children, one law defines a 
``child'' as under age 12 and the other as under age 14 for hazardous 
work. Nonetheless, the government set a policy that defines 15 years as 
the minimum age for employment and enforced this standard. Children 
between the ages of 12 and 14 were allowed to work only in certain 
family enterprises such as farming. Safety standards limit the type of 
work, conditions, and hours of work for children over the age of 14. 
The government effectively enforced these standards, and there were no 
abuses reported. Although resources were insufficient to engage in 
inspections on a comprehensive basis, the laws and penalties were 
generally adequate to remove children from illegal child labor.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage law establishes 
a base wage of EC$5.00 (approximately $1.87) per hour for all public 
and private workers. The minimum wage varies according to category of 
worker, with the lowest minimum wage set at EC$4.00 ($1.50), and the 
maximum at EC$5.50 ($2.06) per hour. Most workers (including domestic 
employees) earned more than the legislated minimum wage as prevailing 
wages were much higher than statutory minimum wages. Enforcement is the 
responsibility of the labor commissioner. Labor laws provide that the 
labor commissioner may authorize the employment of a person with 
disabilities at a wage lower than the minimum rate to enable that 
person to be employed gainfully. The labor commissioner has not 
authorized subminimum wages for the last few years.
    The standard legal workweek is 40 hours in five days. The law 
provides overtime pay for work above the standard workweek; moreover, 
excessive overtime is not prohibited. The law stipulates paid holidays.
    The government effectively enforced all labor standards, including 
in the informal sector, which accounted for close to 50 percent of 
total employment, and in which workers were not unionized.
    The Employment Safety Act provides occupational health and safety 
regulations that are consistent with international standards. 
Inspectors from the Environmental Health Department of the Ministry of 
Health conducted health and safety surveys. Six inspectors from the 
Department of Labor in the Ministry of National Security, Immigration, 
and Labor conducted inspections that prescribe specific compliance 
measures, impose fines, and can result in prosecution of offenders. 
They covered all labor rights, and the Ministry of Health had 19 
inspectors who also inspected labor violations. Workers have the right 
to remove themselves from unsafe work environments without jeopardy to 
continued employment, and the authorities effectively enforced this 
right.

                               __________

                           DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

                           executive summary
    The Dominican Republic is a representative constitutional 
democracy. In 2008 voters elected President Leonel Fernandez of the 
Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) for a third term, and in 2010 
elections the PLD and its allies won majorities in both chambers of 
Congress. Impartial outside observers assessed these elections as 
generally free and fair. There were instances in which elements of the 
security forces acted independently of civilian control.
    The most serious human rights problems were lack of respect for the 
rule of law, manifested by extrajudicial killings and beatings and 
other abuse of suspects; violence and discrimination against women, 
including domestic abuse, rape, and femicide; and severe discrimination 
against Haitian migrants and their descendants, including the 
retroactive application of a new immigration policy resulting in de 
facto statelessness for persons who have lived in the country for 
generations.
    Other human rights problems involved widespread corruption, 
arbitrary arrest and detention, fair to harsh prison conditions, 
harassment of certain human rights groups, child prostitution and other 
abuses of children, trafficking in persons, violence and discrimination 
against persons based on sexual orientation, ineffective enforcement of 
labor laws, and child labor.
    Although the government took some steps to prosecute and punish 
police and security officers who committed abuses, there was a 
widespread perception of impunity afforded to senior officers and other 
government officials.
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 numerous reports that security forces were involved in many 
killings that were unlawful, unwarranted, or involved excessive use of 
force.
    Between January and July police killed 154 persons, according to 
the Office of the Prosecutor General and Amnesty International (AI), an 
increase from 125 over the same period in 2010. AI noted that 
government statistics showed that police committed 10 percent of all 
the killings in the country that year. According to the police's Center 
for Statistics and Cartography, 263 civilians died during legal police 
action during the year, nine more than in 2010, while 47 police 
officers lost their lives in the line of duty and 23 died while off-
duty.
    However, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a 
nongovernmental organization (NGO), reported 300 police killings, 
although the methodology used to arrive at this figure was unclear. 
Lack of training, lack of accountability, and inadequate supervision by 
superiors contributed to these police killings. Human rights NGOs 
asserted that, as in previous years, the police continued to employ 
unwarranted deadly force against criminal suspects. The National Police 
regularly justified the use of deadly force by claiming that the deaths 
occurred during an ``exchange of gunfire."
    According to AI, police shot and killed 21-year-old Luis Alfredo 
Dominguez Rodriguez (known as ``Felo'') on January 26 in Nagua. His 
friend Henry Ortiz, who was injured in the same incident, reported that 
four officers in a patrol car stopped them and without saying a word, 
shot him five times. Ortiz said an officer then shot Dominguez after 
one of the officers said they did not want a witness to the killing. 
The police then took both men to a hospital, where Dominguez died a few 
hours later. Ortiz remained hospitalized for 20 days. The police 
officers claimed the incident was an exchange of gunfire, producing as 
evidence an illegal firearm allegedly seized from Ortiz. Authorities 
detained one of the four officers, released two on bail, and dropped 
charges against the fourth. At year's end the Public Ministry reported 
that the first preliminary court hearing to determine if the case 
should go to trial was scheduled for January 2012, but it had been 
postponed several times.
    A court sentenced police officer Manuel de Jesus Martinez German to 
20 years' imprisonment and a fine of 5 million pesos ($131,000) for the 
June 2010 killing of Abraham Ramos Morel and absolved the other officer 
accused of charges related to the death. The trial of five police 
officers (Mayor Jose Estrella Fernandez, Second Lieutenant Carlos 
Alberto Peguero Ortiz, Sergeant Edwin Galvez Fernandez, Sergeant Major 
Richard Urbaez Gomez, and Sergeant Major Miguel Antonio Frias de Jesus) 
charged with murder for the July 2010 killing of Elio Reyes Severino 
was set for March 26, 2012.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    In October the Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, chapter of the Dominican 
Committee of Human Rights (DCHR) stated that the former Chief of the 
National Police Rafael Guillermo Guzman Fermin and General Juan Manuel 
Fructuoso Heredia were responsible for the torture and subsequent 
disappearance of Juan Almonte Herrera in September 2009. As in previous 
years, authorities denied the charges and asserted that Almonte was a 
fugitive from justice, since he was suspected of complicity in the 2009 
kidnapping of Eduardo Baldera Gomez. The DCHR and Almonte's family 
members asserted that the government failed to comply with Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights requests to investigate the 
whereabouts of Almonte and to provide adequate protection for his 
family.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the law prohibits torture, beating, and physical 
abuse of detainees and prisoners, members of the security forces, 
primarily police, continued such practices. The NHRC reported that the 
police continued to be involved in incidents that resulted in maiming 
or severely injuring unarmed civilians. It brought five cases against 
police officials on charges of mistreatment of detainees, but none of 
the accused officers were prosecuted during the year. However, the NGO 
also reported a general improvement in the treatment of detainees 
during the year, noting that the problem of mistreatment seemed to stem 
from a lack of compassion on the part of the officers and a lack of 
awareness or training in the laws and proper methods of treatment. 
Nonetheless, there were also reports of use of excessive force against 
demonstrators and protesters by members of the security forces. Human 
rights organizations stated that uniformed vigilantism persisted on a 
nonlethal level.
    The law provides penalties for torture and physical abuse, 
including sentences from 10 to 15 years in prison. Civilian prosecutors 
sometimes filed charges against police and military officials alleging 
torture, physical abuse, and related crimes. Authorities sent abuse and 
torture cases to civilian criminal courts rather than police tribunals.
    In March the District Attorney's Office called for investigation of 
four police officers on charges of brutally beating Romero Omar Pena 
Baez. Pena accused Corporal Victoriano Castro Lazala, Private Raul 
Antonio Benavides Javier, First Leiutenant Franklin Casimiro Soto 
Ramirez, and Corporal Jonathan Arache Rodriguez, of acts of barbarism 
and torture, voluntary assault and battery, unlawful arrest and 
imprisonment, abuse of authority, and violation of freedom, after they 
pulled him from his vehicle and beat him when he yelled at them for 
hitting his car with a billy club. On March 16, the Police Chief fired 
three of the four officers, saying that they reacted excessively and 
with a lack of tact to hit a man driving his vehicle with his family, 
and that they would be prosecuted.
    Senior police officials treated the prohibition on torture and 
physical abuse seriously, but lack of supervision and training through 
much of the law enforcement and corrections systems undercut efforts to 
contain the problem. Physical abuse of detainees, most commonly 
beatings, as well as the use of different types of torture to obtain 
confessions from detained suspects, continued to be a problem.
    Lawyers from the National District prosecutor's office were 
supposed to monitor the investigative process to ensure that detainees' 
rights were respected in high-volume police stations and in several 
National Drug Control Directorate (DNCD) offices. Assistant prosecutors 
at times reportedly acquiesced in improper police practices rather than 
insisting they be changed to conform to constitutional standards.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--While prison conditions 
ranged from fair to extremely harsh, the government made advances with 
newer ``model prisons'' known as Correctional and Rehabilitation 
Centers (CRCs) where prisoners experienced improved conditions in 
comparison with other facilities. The CRC program had 14 model prisons, 
based on the concept that most detainees will eventually return to 
their communities, and thus the CRCs should serve to prepare them for a 
second opportunity in life. The CRCs, which held 19 percent of all 
prisoners, strove to provide educational, labor, and artistic 
opportunities necessary to rehabilitate detainees in a setting of 
respect and discipline. In contrast to the traditional prisons, the 
model prisons were run entirely by trained civilian guards, were not 
overcrowded, and met the basic nutritional needs of inmates.
    According to the director of prisons, per capita expenditure for 
CRC prisoners was three times more than that spent in conventional 
prisons. However, this improvement for some prisoners came at the 
expense of others in the system, because when a facility was converted 
to a model prison, excess or dangerous inmates were transferred to 
other locations, increasing the strain on the already overcrowded 
prison system.
    According to the Directorate of Prisons, there were 21,610 
prisoners and detainees--of whom 604 were female--held in 41 prisons, 
with an intended capacity of 11,055. Of the 41 prisons, 27 were 
traditional prisons and 14 were model prisons. The new CRCs held 4,208 
of these prisoners. Virtually all prisons, other than the CRCs, 
experienced extreme overcrowding. La Victoria prison, the largest in 
the country, held 5,390 prisoners in a facility designed for 2,000. 
Najayo men's prison, the second largest in the country, was built for 
950 prisoners and held 2,893 prisoners. La Romana appeared to be the 
most overcrowded prison, holding 719 inmates in a prison with an 
intended capacity of 91. Air circulation was a problem, and the danger 
of a fire was high.
    Reports of mistreatment and inmate violence in prisons were common, 
as were reports of harassment, extortion, and inappropriate searches of 
prison visitors. Health and sanitary conditions were poor, and some 
prisons effectively were out of the control of authorities and run by 
criminal gangs of armed inmates. A common sentiment among prison 
wardens at conventional prisons was that while the wardens may control 
the perimeter, inmates often ruled the inside with their own rules and 
system of justice. In general this situation differed from the CRCs, 
where specialized prison guards increased control of prison areas. The 
attorney general, who oversaw the model prisons, reported that the 
incidence of corruption within the CRCs remained minimal.
    Most inmates in conventional prisons begged for or purchased food 
from persons in the vicinity of the prison or obtained it from family 
members. However, the Director of Prisons indicated that a sufficient 
amount of food was provided to the prisons for each inmate, but in most 
prisons it was served earlier than the prisoners were accustomed to 
eating. Prisoners often were not taken to their trials unless they paid 
bribes to the guards, and visitors frequently had to bribe prison 
guards in order to visit prisoners. Similarly, detainees had to pay 
bribes to be allowed to attend vocational training offered at some 
facilities. Prison officials accepted money in exchange for a 
recommendation that a prisoner be furloughed or released for health 
reasons. There were credible allegations that prisoners could obtain 
early release on parole for a bribe.
    Conventional prisons often did not provide adequate medical care to 
inmates. According to the Directorate for the Control of Sexually 
Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS, only three prisons in the system 
provided HIV/AIDS treatment and care services as of June 2010. However, 
according to the director of the CRCs, out of the 14 model prisons, 13 
had inmates with HIV/AIDS and all 13 provided HIV/AIDS treatment and 
care services to those inmates. Inmates in the model prisons who had 
severe cases of HIV/AIDS or terminal illnesses were transferred to 
hospitals temporarily and often benefitted from requests made to change 
penalties to house arrest.
    No information was available about prisoner deaths during the year. 
In 2010 none of the reported prisoner deaths was attributed to guards 
and most were related to various illnesses, including tuberculosis and 
HIV/AIDS.
    Although a warden who reports to the attorney general was 
technically responsible for running each prison, in practice police or 
military officers (generally appointed for a period of only three to 
six months and responsible for providing security) were usually in 
charge of most conventional prisons. In 2010, approximately 80 percent 
of prison guards were military or police officers rather than civilian 
correctional officers, who were employed exclusively at the CRCs.
    There were continued allegations of drug and arms trafficking, 
prostitution, and sexual abuse within prisons. There continued to be 
special sections within prisons where police officers convicted of 
criminal activity, including a few known human rights abusers, were 
held.
    Female inmates generally were separated from male inmates. Half of 
all female inmates were held in prisons only for women, and three of 
the 14 CRCs were female-only. Conditions in the prison wings for women 
generally were better than those for men. Female inmates were allowed 
conjugal visits, and those who gave birth while incarcerated were 
permitted to keep their babies with them for up to a year.
    Juveniles were processed using specialized juvenile courts and 
generally were held in one of seven juvenile facilities, although the 
press reported that some juveniles were being held in regular prisons.
    Although the law states that prisoners must be separated according 
to the severity of the criminal offense, in general authorities did not 
attempt to do so. Pretrial detainees were held together with convicted 
prisoners in most cases, although in the CRCs convicted felons were 
separated from those in preventive custody. The number of prisoners in 
preventive custody was difficult to verify, as many prisoners were 
still considered to be in preventive custody after an initial 
conviction because they were awaiting an appeal. The law states that 
the pretrial waiting period should not exceed three months, but it can 
be extended up to 18 months in certain complex cases.
    There were also insufficient efforts to segregate and provide 
services to mentally ill prisoners, except in the case of the CRCs in 
which the mentally ill were separated and received medical treatment, 
including therapy, for their illnesses.
    Prisoners had access to visitors and were permitted religious 
observance. Prisoners could submit complaints about their treatment 
verbally or in writing, and most often did so through family members, 
lawyers, or human rights defenders. Complaints were referred to the 
prison director and, if necessary, to the Directorate of Prisons. 
Contrary to prior reports, NGOs indicated that representatives from 
district attorney offices rarely visited the prisons.
    The government permitted prison visits by independent human rights 
observers and the media, and such visits took place during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The criminal procedures code 
(CPC) prohibits detention without a warrant unless a suspect is 
apprehended during the commission of a criminal act or in other limited 
circumstances. By law authorities may detain a person without charges 
for up to 48 hours. However, arbitrary arrest and detention continued 
to be problems, and there were numerous reports of individuals held and 
later released with little or no explanation for the detention.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police, 
the National Department of Intelligence (DNI), the DNCD, the Airport 
Security Authority (CESA), the Port Security Authority (CESEP), the 
frontier guards (CESFRONT), and the armed forces (army, air force, and 
navy) form the security forces. The Secretariat of Interior and Police 
is responsible for making policy decisions affecting the police force. 
The military, CESA, CESEP, and CESFRONT are under the minister of the 
armed forces; the DNI and the DNCD, which have personnel both from the 
police and military, report directly to the president.
    Authorities fired police officers or prosecuted them in the 
criminal justice system when found to have acted outside of established 
police procedures. The police statistics center reported that 
authorities dismissed 357 police officers as a result of bad conduct, 
fired 17 for misconduct requiring litigation within the police judicial 
system, dishonorably discharged three others, and dishonorably 
discharged 38 officers whose cases were prosecuted through the civilian 
judicial system.
    The Internal Affairs Unit effectively investigated charges of gross 
misconduct by members of the National Police. These cases involved 
physical or verbal aggression, death threats, improper use of a 
firearm, muggings, and theft. Internal Affairs conducted 1,092 
investigations during the year. Of these, 301 were for excessive use of 
force, 296 for aggression, 251 for death threats, and 244 for police 
corruption. The investigations resulted in 209 dismissals and 725 
sanctions. Prosecution or investigation of high-level officials 
suspected of involvement in illicit activities was not pursued.
    Training for military and DNCD enlisted personnel and officers, as 
well as members of the national police, included instruction on human 
rights. A total of 2,422 police officers underwent human rights 
training during the year. The NHRC provided its annual training on 
human rights to a group of 25-30 police officers. The Director of the 
Graduate School of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Rights 
reported that the school trained 1,310 persons, of whom 1,145 were 
military and 165 were civilian, during the year. The school also has 
postgraduate programs in which military members and civilians from 
Congress, district attorney offices, the Supreme Court, government 
ministries, the National Police, and the Central Electoral Board 
participate.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Similar to its 
predecessor, the 2010 constitution provides that an accused person may 
be detained for up to 48 hours without a warrant before being presented 
to judicial authorities. It also provides for recourse to habeas corpus 
proceedings to request the release of those unlawfully held. The CPC 
establishes a more restrictive 24-hour time limit in which to make 
formal charges, which was generally observed. Any prisoner detained for 
more than 48 hours without being formally charged is entitled to file a 
motion of habeas corpus. The presiding judge at the habeas corpus 
hearing is empowered to order the prisoner's release when the prisoner 
has been detained for more than 48 hours without being formally charged 
or when there is insufficient evidence that the arrestee committed a 
crime that warrants further detention. The judge's decision to release 
a prisoner is subject to appeal by the district attorney.
    The law also permits police authorities to apprehend without an 
arrest warrant an accused person when the person is caught at the 
moment of committing a crime or could be reasonably linked to a crime 
(e.g., escaped from prison or detention facility, hot pursuit).
    Despite the foregoing provisions, at times the police detained 
suspects for investigation or interrogation longer than 48 hours. 
Police often detained all suspects and witnesses in a crime and used 
the investigative process to determine the individuals who were 
innocent and merited release and those whom they should continue to 
hold. Even so, successful habeas corpus hearings reduced these abuses 
significantly.
    Although previously granted only to a few defendants, bail became 
more common under the CPC, which requires judicial review of detentions 
at an earlier point in a criminal case, but the system proved 
inadequate to prevent defendants from going into hiding. In some cases 
observers suspected that the granting of bail and subsequent 
disappearance of the suspect were due to corruption or inefficiencies 
within the judicial system.
    The 2010 constitution gives public defenders constitutional 
recognition, and the law requires provision of counsel to indigent 
defendants. However, most detainees and prisoners unable to afford 
defense services did not have prompt access to a lawyer. The National 
Office of Public Defense provided legal advice and representation to 
indigent persons, but resource constraints resulted in inadequate 
levels of staffing. Nationwide there were 22 public defense offices, 
with 145 public defenders (down from 171 public defenders in 2010 due 
to unfilled vacancies), 21 part-time defense lawyers, and eight 
investigators. The government continued its program to train public 
defenders on relevant changes caused by implementation of the CPC and 
expanded training for prosecutors.
    Police continued the practice of making sporadic sweeps or roundups 
in low-income, high-crime communities, during which they arrested and 
detained individuals without warrants, allegedly to fight delinquency. 
During these sweeps police arrested large numbers of residents and 
seized personal property allegedly used in criminal activity.
    The law prohibits interrogation of juveniles by the police or in 
the presence of police. Prosecutors and judges handled juvenile 
interrogations.

    Pretrial Detention.--Many suspects endured long pretrial detention. 
Under the CPC the judge has authority to order a detainee to remain in 
police custody between three months and one year. According to the 
Directorate of Prisons, average pretrial detention typically was 
between three and six months. Time served in pretrial detention counted 
toward completing a sentence. The Public Ministry continued 
implementing an automated case-tracking system that permitted 
prosecutors to adhere more effectively to pretrial detention 
regulations and thereby reduce the number of occasions when the CPC 
time limits were exceeded. This system covered the 32 district attorney 
offices.
    The failure of prison authorities to produce the accused for court 
hearings caused a significant percentage of trial postponements. 
Inmates often had their court dates postponed because they were not 
taken from prison to court or because their lawyer, codefendants, or 
witnesses did not appear. The government did not provide funding to 
transport all defendants between prison and court. Despite additional 
protections for defendants in the CPC, in some cases authorities 
continued to hold inmates beyond the mandated deadlines even though 
there were no formal charges against them.
    The judiciary opened model judiciary offices in La Vega, Santiago, 
Moca, Bonao, Constanza, San Juan de la Maguana, and Puerto Plata. 
Created to handle urgent matters in need of a judge (such as obtaining 
an arrest or search warrant and conducting arraignments), these 
judicial service offices were part of an effort to increase efficiency 
and reorganize the courts so they operate in conformance with the CPC. 
This reorganization proceeded at a steady pace.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, despite increasing independence in the 
judiciary, instances of political influence in decision making were 
still evident. Interference by public entities, when it occurred, 
tended toward public pronouncements regarding active cases and 
selective prosecution, as opposed to direct intervention in existing 
cases. On occasion, however, it appeared that judges in superior courts 
attempted to influence lower-court decisions. In addition corruption 
continued to be a serious problem (see section 4).
    The 2010 constitution mandated the creation within one year of a 
Constitutional Tribunal composed of 13 judges to review the 
constitutionality of laws and decrees, and on December 21 the National 
Judicial Council (CNM) announced the selection of judges to serve on 
it. The tribunal was a brand new institution, and its members had not 
yet determined how they would operate, structure themselves, or agree 
on procedures. The CNM also will select Supreme Court and 
Constitutional Court justices based on factors such as general 
reputation and time in service, although the politicized composition of 
the council leaves open the possibility for appointments based on 
political loyalties. Lower-court judges were appointed following 
passage of rigorous entrance examinations, completion of a training 
program, and successful completion of an examination. Public defenders 
and public prosecutors were typically well qualified; their particular 
organizations required passage of objective examinations for 
employment.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for a presumption of innocence, 
the right of appeal, and the right to confront or question witnesses. 
The law establishes a citizen's right not to be deprived of liberty 
without trial or legal formalities or for reasons other than those 
provided by law, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to 
a defense in an impartial and public trial. Defendants have the right 
to remain silent. The law also provides for a public defense attorney 
for every person that cannot afford an attorney, but staffing levels 
were inadequate to meet demand. Trials are public, but no juries are 
used. According to the constitution and the law, defendants have the 
right to be present and consult with an attorney in a timely manner.
    There were credible allegations that authorities violated these 
rights in some cases, but there was improved adherence to due process 
as authorities became increasingly familiar with the modifications to 
the CPC. The district attorney's office must notify the defendant and 
attorney about the criminal charges as well as the evidence the 
district attorney's office will present in court. Defendants and 
attorneys have access to government-held evidence, but only after the 
preliminary hearing, when the indictment is approved by the judge.
    Military and police tribunals shared jurisdiction over cases 
involving members of the security forces. While the tribunals have 
jurisdiction over cases involving breaking internal rules and 
regulations, civilian criminal courts handled cases of killings and 
other serious crimes allegedly committed by members of the security 
forces.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--Since 2005 the government 
has refused to comply with a ruling by the Inter-American Court of 
Human Rights that held that the country had the legal obligation to 
recognize the citizenship of Dominican-born children of migrants under 
its existing constitution, as well as under international conventions. 
The government made the court-ordered payments to the two petitioners 
but did not provide them with birth certificates.
    In May 2010 the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights sent the 
case of journalist Narciso Gonzalez, who disappeared in 1994, after 
allegedly criticizing the government, to the Inter-American Court of 
Human Rights, which heard the case on June 28-29. According to 
Gonzalez's wife, the court had not rendered a decision as of December 
29.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There are separate court 
systems for claims under criminal law, commercial and civil law, and 
labor law. Commercial and civil courts reportedly suffered lengthy 
delays in adjudicating cases, although their decisions were generally 
enforced. As in criminal courts, undue political or economic influence 
in civil court decisions remained a problem.
    Citizens had recourse to the remedy of amparo, an action to seek 
redress of any violation of a constitutional right, including 
violations by judicial officials. Although this remedy was rarely used, 
except by those with sophisticated legal counsel, civil society and 
journalists sought amparo in some major cases during the year.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits arbitrary entry into a private 
residence, except when police are in hot pursuit of a suspect or when a 
suspect is caught in the act of committing a crime. The law provides 
that all other entries into a private residence require an arrest 
warrant or search warrant issued by a judge. In practice, however, the 
police conducted illegal searches and seizures, including raids without 
warrants on private residences in many poor Santo Domingo 
neighborhoods.
    Although the government denied using unauthorized wiretapping or 
other surreptitious methods to interfere with the private lives of 
individuals and families, human rights groups and opposition 
politicians alleged that such interference continued.
    Unlike previous years, no reports were received of cases in which 
law enforcement officials punished family members for alleged crimes 
committed by individuals.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
government generally respected these rights in practice.

    Freedom of Speech.--Individuals or groups generally were able to 
criticize the government publicly and privately without reprisal, 
although a national journalists' association reported threats against 
and physical intimidation of journalists.
    A group of journalists protested the government's 2010 closing of 
Television Channel 53 as being politically motivated, and the owner won 
an initial court victory; however, the government appealed, and the 
owner did not pursue the matter.

    Violence and Harassment.--The National Journalists' Union reported 
that civil, police, and military authorities, criminals, and other 
persons assaulted or threatened more than 70 journalists during the 
year.
    On February 16, six months after the closing of the weekly 
newspaper Clave and its sister Internet publication Clave Digital, 
Fausto Rosario Adames launched a new digital newspaper Acento.com with 
the dual mission of reporting the news and encouraging reader 
interaction via social networking software and reader contribution. 
Upon closing the Clave group, Rosario Adames asserted that he had 
received numerous death threats and had been the target of 
assassination attempts, allegedly because of the controversial nature 
of the Clave group's reporting critical of the police as well as 
narcotics trafficking organizations.
    On August 9, a police spokesman announced that the police had 
identified a suspected drug trafficker, Avelino Castro, as the 
instigator of the August 2 killing of Jose Silvestre Herasme, an 
investigative journalist who frequently reported on drug trafficking 
and the complicity of government officials in it. At year's end Castro 
remained at large, although accomplices to the killing had been taken 
into custody.
    Also in August the Superintendent of Insurance, Euclides Gutierrez 
Felix, threatened to sue advertisers on journalist Nuria Piera's 
television program after she alleged that the official had refused to 
pay his electricity bill. The threat prompted an outcry from local 
journalists' organizations. Piera subsequently obtained a court 
injunction ordering Gutierrez to desist from such actions against her 
or any other journalist.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The 2010 constitution provides 
complete protection of the confidentiality of journalists' sources and 
introduced a ``conscience clause'' allowing journalists to refuse 
assignments. Nonetheless, local journalists continued the practice of 
self-censorship, particularly when coverage could adversely affect the 
economic or political interests of media owners.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet. However, organizations that make up the Movement for a 
Civil Registry Free of Discrimination complained that their Internet 
and e-mail servers were hacked and telephone services interrupted in 
the most decisive moments of their denouncement of denationalization 
policies executed by the Central Electoral Board.
    Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views via 
the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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, but outdoor public 
marches and meetings require permits, which the government usually 
granted. On several occasions police officers used force to break up 
demonstrations and killed or injured demonstrators or bystanders.

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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; however, there were some exceptions.

    In-country Movement.--Local and international human rights groups 
reported that potentially hundreds of thousands of persons without 
proper documentation, including Haitian migrants and persons of Haitian 
descent born in the Dominican Republic, faced obstacles in traveling 
both within and outside of the country.
    The Migration Directorate refused to release statistics on the 
number of persons expelled to Haiti during the year. Throughout the 
year government agents continued to violate due process or internal 
human rights guidelines, despite the terms of a bilateral agreement 
with Haiti regarding repatriation of undocumented Haitians and express 
instructions from the Director of Migration to follow the guidelines.
    On October 19, President Fernandez promulgated regulations that 
partially implement the 2004 Migration Law. The new regulations define 
the bureaucratic bodies that handle migration issues, call for the 
registration of all foreigners in the country, mandate the registration 
of babies born to nonresident foreigners in a special registry (the 
pink book), set forth the requirements for obtaining legal residency 
status, lay out a scheme for importing temporary labor (making 
employers responsible for the return of workers they bring in), and 
explicitly reiterate existing policy that subjects all illegal migrants 
to deportation/expulsion.
    The new migration regulations were most noteworthy, however, for 
what they do not address: the provision in the 2004 Migration Law that 
requires the government to develop a National Regularization Plan aimed 
at regularizing the immigration status of illegal migrants who have 
resided in the country for a significant amount of time. Nor do the 
regulations address a possible ``path to citizenship'' for the 
Dominican-born children of illegal migrants, as an earlier draft did.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government 
established a system for providing protection to refugees but has not 
implemented it effectively. An applicant for refugee status must be 
referred by the National Office of Refugees in the Migration 
Directorate to the Technical Subcommittee of the National Commission 
for Refugees, which is chaired by the Foreign Ministry. The 
subcommittee has the responsibility of making a recommendation to the 
commission, consisting of members from the Foreign Ministry, the DNI, 
and the Migration Directorate. The full commission has the 
responsibility for the final decision on the application but met only 
twice during the past 16 years. Despite a commitment from the 
government to officially reactivate the commission, no action was taken 
during the year. At the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) 
ministerial meeting in December, the government again pledged to 
continue the work of the commission and to continue collaborating with 
UNHCR in evaluating asylum claims.
    The UNHCR estimated that there were between 400 and 600 pending 
asylum cases, nearly all made by Haitians. Some of these cases had been 
awaiting decision since 2000, but five cases were approved (three 
Russians, one Haitian, and one Guatemalan) in 2009, and 25 new cases 
were filed during the year. According to NGOs, hundreds of other asylum 
seekers submitted claims that had not been processed, leaving those 
individuals in a state of legal limbo for years. Most of these 
individuals lacked documentation sufficient to obtain permission to 
work legally and to exercise other rights, such as obtaining 
documentation for their children. In addition to the pending asylum 
seekers, UNHCR estimated that there were approximately 100 Haitian 
refugee families recognized by UNHCR who were granted residency and 
refugee documentation by the government. Since 2000, there have been 
allegations that the rights of these refugees have been gradually 
withdrawn as a result of the government's failure to renew refugee 
documentation.

    Nonrefoulement.--Although the government provided some protection 
against the expulsion or return of persons to countries where their 
lives or freedom might be threatened on account of their race, 
religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or 
political opinion, there was still a risk of deportation. Protection 
generally applied to individuals who gained access to the refugee 
process and had been issued proof that they were refugees or had 
applications pending. The documents provided do not bestow significant 
legal rights, such as residency, nor do they prevent disruption of 
educational studies past eighth grade to children of refugees. Due to 
lack of training, these documents may not be recognized by all 
officials who might apprehend such a person.
    Children born to Haitian refugees--even those born to holders of 
migration documents--were routinely denied birth certificates as well 
as education, health, and security documentation.

    Stateless Persons.--The 2010 constitution provides that anyone born 
in the country is a Dominican national, except children born to 
diplomats, children born to parents who are ``in transit,'' or children 
born to parents who are in the country illegally. The exception for 
children of parents illegally in the country was an addition to what 
the previous constitution provided and reflected a 2004 migration law 
and a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that children born to parents who were 
in the country illegally did not qualify as citizens. Thus, even before 
implementation of the new constitution, authorities denied children of 
illegal migrants Dominican nationality. Before 2004, however, migration 
laws granted ``in transit privileges'' to foreigners who entered the 
country ``with the principal intention of proceeding through the 
country to an exterior destination.'' The regulations further specified 
that a ``period of 10 days will normally be considered sufficient to 
allow passage through the Republic."
    Adoption of the 2004 General Law on Migration redefined the phrase 
``in transit.'' Under this law, the constitutional exception that 
denied nationality to Dominican-born children of persons in transit no 
longer applied just to parents that were transiting through the country 
for a period of 10 days or less, but instead considered all 
nonresidents as being in transit. The law broadly defined nonresidents 
to include not only tourists and temporary foreign workers, but also 
persons with expired residency visas and undocumented migrant workers. 
It not only affected the prospective right of Dominicans of Haitian 
descent to Dominican nationality, but also affected Dominicans of 
Haitian descent who already had Dominican nationality. This is because 
the civil registry began retroactively applying the law to Dominican 
citizens, interpreting the in transit exception to the detriment of 
thousands of Dominican families of Haitian origin. Prior to that, 
children of Haitian migrant workers born in the country were issued 
birth certificates and other identity documents. In 2006 government 
policy directives formalized the retroactive application of the 2004 
Migration Law and the denial of identity documents to formerly 
recognized Dominicans of Haitian descent. As a result, the descendants 
of Haitian migrants who worked and settled in the country throughout 
the 20th century--who were born in the country prior to 2010 and 
enjoyed a right to Dominican nationality--faced an increased risk of 
becoming stateless.
    Haitian consulates reported that they were legally authorized to 
register only those births that were declared within two years of a 
child's birth. Parents declaring a birth were required to submit valid 
forms of identification in order to file a claim. These requirements 
could not be met by a significant number of persons of Haitian descent 
in the country, and thus their children remained undocumented. 
Consequently, potentially hundreds of thousands of Dominican-born 
persons of Haitian descent were de facto stateless.
    In 2009 the government informed the U.N. Human Rights Council that 
an estimated 900,000 to 1.2 million undocumented immigrants, mostly of 
Haitian descent, were in the country, although some officials asserted 
that the actual number may be closer to 2 million. The International 
Organization for Migration estimated that following the January 2010 
earthquake in Haiti, there was an influx of approximately 130,000 
additional undocumented migrants, and the Migration Directorate 
estimated that the number was closer to 200,000.
    At the U.N. Universal Periodic Review in 2009, the government 
asserted it was a ``moot point'' whether children born of Haitian 
parents who were legal permanent residents in the country could be 
registered as Dominican nationals because the Haitian government did 
not recognize dual nationality. The Haitian Constitution establishes 
that any person born to Haitian parents is a Haitian citizen and 
prohibits dual citizenship, calling for the automatic revocation of 
Haitian citizenship upon acquiring citizenship from another country--
the exception being children who may retain dual nationality until a 
certain age when they must choose a nationality.
    Dominican-born persons of Haitian descent who lacked citizenship or 
identity documents faced obstacles in traveling both within and outside 
of the country. In addition undocumented persons cannot obtain the 
national identification card (cedula) or a voting card. Persons without 
a cedula had limited access to formal sector jobs, public education 
past the eighth grade, marriage and birth registration, formal economy 
services such as banks and loans, access to courts and judicial 
procedures, and ownership of land or property.
    Government officials continued to take strong measures against 
citizenship for persons of Haitian descent born in the Dominican 
Republic, including refusing to renew or cancelling birth and identity 
documents, many pertaining to persons of Haitian descent. The 
government stated that such cancellations were based on evidence of 
fraudulent documentation, but advocacy groups alleged that the 
revocations targeted persons whose parents were Haitian or whose names 
sounded Haitian and constituted acts of denationalization. Two human 
rights NGOs, MUDHA and SJRM, identified 457 and 1,584 cases, 
respectively, of denationalization in four municipalities and indicated 
that in many of these cases the laws were being implemented 
retroactively.
    On October 28, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) announced that 
birth certificates could be issued to those persons whose documentation 
was under investigation, until the courts reached a decision on 
validity. NGOs reported varying degrees of implementation of this new 
policy, possibly due in part to limited publication. Additionally, NGOs 
indicated that this policy applied only to persons requesting documents 
to be able to attend school and not to those requesting birth 
certificates in order to obtain other national identity documents. 
After a November 2 Supreme Court ruling in which the court refused to 
hear the appeal of Emildo Bueno Oguis, born in the country in 1975, in 
his case against the JCE for refusal to issue him his birth 
certificate, the JCE reverted to its previous policy of non-issuance.
    In 2007 the JCE also created a registration system known as the 
pink book that allowed children born in the country of parents who were 
not legal residents to receive a special birth certificate. Such 
children whose parents had documentation from their home country may be 
registered in the book, after which the parents would be given an 
official report of birth, which does not confer citizenship. Local and 
international NGOs reported that since implementation of the pink book, 
hospitals and civil registries did not register numerous children of 
Haitian migrants and their descendents. An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 
children are born to Haitian migrants and their descendants each year, 
but few of the children registered in the pink book are of Haitian 
descent. NGOs reported that some Haitian parents who were in the 
country legally, and whose children were Dominican nationals under 
Dominican law, were required to register their children's births in the 
foreigner's book.
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 nearly 
universal suffrage. Active-duty police and military personnel may not 
vote or participate in partisan political activity.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In May 
2008 PLD candidate Leonel Fernandez won the presidency in an election 
described as generally free and fair by the Organization of American 
States, other independent observers, and the government electoral 
board. Observers also described the May 2010 congressional and 
municipal elections as generally free and fair.
    The next presidential elections are scheduled for May 2012, and on 
December 21 the National Judicial Council named three new members to 
the five-person Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which has final authority 
to adjudicate questions over election issues.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--By law parties must reserve 
for women 33 percent of positions on their lists of candidates for the 
House of Representatives and city councils. There were four women in 
the 32-member Senate, 37 women in the 183-member House of 
Representatives, two women in the cabinet, and four women on the 17-
seat Supreme Court. The law requires each party's candidates for mayor 
and deputy mayor to be of different genders, and there were 12 female 
mayors and 145 female deputy mayors.
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 
administration officials who engaged in corrupt practices were not 
prosecuted, although some were removed from office and others were 
submitted to the Department for Prosecution of Corruption for 
investigation. The World Bank's worldwide governance indicators 
continued to reflect that government corruption was a serious problem, 
and the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness report also listed 
corruption as the most problematic factor for doing business in the 
country.
    Government officials continued to be reluctant to investigate 
seriously and prepare for trial cases involving senior government 
officials of either the current or former government. The Attorney 
General concluded 25 corruption cases against lower- and mid-level 
officials, either by conviction or acquittal.
    On many occasions police officials attempted to solicit bribes from 
individuals facing arrest or imposition of fines. Local human rights 
observers reported on a few occasions that immigration and police 
authorities rounded up undocumented construction workers and other 
manual laborers of Haitian origin or descent to extort money from them. 
NGOs alleged corruption among the military and migration officials 
stationed at border posts and checkpoints. These allegations were 
substantiated in October when authorities arrested 14 immigration 
inspectors and military personnel on charges of extorting money from 
Haitian migrants. NGOs working along the border indicated that bribes 
had returned to average levels of 3,000 to 5,000 pesos ($79 to $131).
    The Court of Accounts submitted more than 10 audit reports to 
Congress with significant findings of misuse of public funds and lack 
of proper procedures. These reports corresponded to actions taken 
between 2006 and 2009 and implicated both municipal authorities as well 
as members of the central government. Some of the implicated persons 
have been brought before the courts, while other cases were still under 
investigation. The use of nonjudicial sanctions continued. These 
measures included the dismissal or transfer of armed forces members, 
police officers, judges, and other minor government officials engaged 
in bribe-taking and other corrupt behavior. Society's widespread 
attitude of tolerance toward at least some forms of corruption 
complicated the effort to reduce corruption.
    The Commission for Ethics and Combating Corruption continued to 
operate, although with minimal practical results as it lacked well-
defined authorities and decision-making structures.
    The law requires that the president and vice president, members of 
Congress, some agency heads, and other officials such as mayors and 
council members, as well as income tax and customs duty collectors, 
make declarations of their personal and real property within a month of 
being hired, as well as when they ``end their responsibilities.'' The 
new constitution further requires public officials not only to declare 
their property but also to explain its provenance, and government 
officials generally complied with the law. The Department for 
Prosecution of Corruption, an office within the Public Ministry, is in 
charge of reviewing these declarations. There are no criminal penalties 
for breaches of this law, and the power given to administrative 
authorities to withhold wages can only be applied to those agencies 
that depend on the executive branch, not to various other institutions 
with budgetary independence. On the whole, judges were not effective in 
punishing those responsible for corruption.
    The 2010 constitution provides for public access to government 
information. The law places limits on the availability of such 
information only under specified circumstances (such as to protect 
national security). It also provides for penalties of up to two years 
in prison and a five-year ban from positions of public trust for 
government officials who obstruct access to public information. A court 
may review the decision of an agency to deny access to information. 
While often timely, responses were also often incomplete, and the 
government rejected subsequent requests. Moreover, there was little 
consistency in the determination of what was considered public 
information and what was not, due to the lack of a single oversight 
agency, and statistics on the number and outcome of requests were 
difficult to find.
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. While government 
officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their views, 
human rights groups who advocated for the rights of Haitians and 
persons of Haitian descent were an important exception and faced 
occasional government harassment and threats. Furthermore, certain 
groups were relegated to operating without the use of government 
funding, often as a result of their perceived antagonistic nature 
towards the government.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The 2010 constitution establishes 
the position of ombudsman, although the government never implemented a 
2001 law mandating the creation of a human rights ombudsman's office. 
The ombudsman's functions as outlined in the constitution are to 
safeguard the fundamental human rights of persons and to protect 
collective interests established in the constitution and the law.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Although the new constitution prohibits discrimination based on 
race, gender, disability, language, and social status, such 
discrimination existed, and the government seldom acknowledged its 
existence or made efforts to address the problem.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, and provides penalties for rape ranging from 10 
to 15 years in prison (or 10 to 20 years in cases of rape of a 
vulnerable person, a child, or if rape occurred under other egregious 
circumstances) and a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 pesos ($2,620 to 
$5,240). Despite the law, rape was a serious problem. Survivors of rape 
often did not report the crime, due to fear of social stigma, fear of 
retribution, and the perception that the police and the judicial system 
would fail to provide redress. The state may prosecute a suspect for 
rape even if the victim does not file charges, and rape victims may 
press charges against spouses. However, police were reluctant to handle 
rape cases and often encouraged victims to seek assistance from NGOs.
    Despite some government efforts to improve the situation, violence 
against women continued to be pervasive and increased during the year. 
The Santo Domingo District Attorney's statistics office reported 7,112 
cases of violence against women in the National District alone. In 2010 
there were more than 62,000 gender violence complaints reported to 
authorities nationwide. Under the Law against Domestic Violence, the 
state can prosecute rape, incest, sexual aggression, and other forms of 
domestic violence. Penalties for these crimes range from one to 30 
years in prison and fines from 700 to 245,000 pesos (approximately $18 
to $6,420). A local NGO estimated that 20 percent of women between the 
ages of 15 and 49 had been victims of physical abuse at some point in 
their lives.
    Assistant prosecutor for women's affairs Roxanna Reyes said that 
the number of cases of violence against women has exceeded the 
prosecutor general's capacity to deal with the situation and that the 
number of femicides indicated an emergency situation that required 
attention and a resounding response. She stated that more than 1,200 
women lost their lives in gender-based violence during the last five 
years, 80 percent of whom had never filed a complaint with the 
prosecutor general. As of August, 157 women had died as victims of 
violence, of which 86 occurred due to violence in the home. In October 
a women's rights organization, the Center for Legal Services for Women, 
reported 130 women killed as a result of domestic violence since the 
beginning of the year, while media reports stated that there were 226 
women killed during the entire year.
    The Attorney General's Office oversees the specialized Violence 
Prevention and Attention Unit, which has 14 satellite offices in the 32 
provinces in the country. At these offices survivors of violence could 
file criminal complaints, obtain free legal counsel, and receive 
psychological and medical attention. Police were instructed to forward 
all domestic violence and sexual assault cases to these offices. Each 
office had professional psychologists on staff to counsel victims of 
violence and to assess the threat of impending danger associated with a 
complaint. These offices had the authority to issue temporary 
restraining orders immediately after receiving complaints and to serve 
as messengers for the victims, which prevented contact between the 
victim and the abuser.
    The National Directorate for Assistance to Victims coordinated 
efforts of official and nongovernmental institutions offering services 
to survivors of violence. It had three offices in Santo Domingo and two 
others elsewhere. These offices not only accepted criminal complaints 
from survivors of violence throughout the country but also provided 
counseling and protection services and, when necessary, referrals to 
medical or psychological specialists. The Secretariat of Women and 
various NGOs conducted outreach and training programs on domestic 
violence and legal rights.
    The Secretariat of Women operated two shelters for domestic 
violence survivors in undisclosed locations, where abused persons could 
make reports to the police and receive counseling. The shelters 
provided women with short- and mid-term assistance to escape violent 
situations. In addition the Secretariat of Women oversaw 61 legal 
support offices, nine of which were in the National District, to 
provide legal assistance to women with gender-based violence and 
discrimination cases.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment in the workplace is a 
misdemeanor and carries a possible penalty of one year in prison and a 
fine of up to 10,000 pesos ($262); however, union leaders reported that 
the law was not enforced, and sexual harassment remained a problem.

    Sex Tourism.--Sex tourism existed throughout the country, 
particularly in Las Terrenas, Cabarete, Sosua, and Boca Chica. NGOs 
conducted education and awareness programs on the problem for hotel and 
industrial zone workers, male and female prostitutes, and other high-
risk groups.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals had the right to 
decide the number, spacing, and timing of children and generally had 
the information to do so free from discrimination, coercion, and 
violence. When available, contraceptives were provided without charge; 
however, many low-income women used contraceptives inconsistently due 
to both irregular availability of contraceptives from public agencies 
and to social and religious bias against family planning. The 
Population Reference Bureau reported a 60 percent rate of modern 
contraceptive use among married women ages 15-49. Maternal mortality 
remained high (at 100 deaths per 100,000 live births according to 2008 
U.N. data), yet 98 percent of deliveries were attended by skilled 
personnel. Despite the high percentage of hospital deliveries, there 
were groups of women with limited access to qualified care.
    Most maternal and neonatal deaths were due to poor quality of care 
and failure to adhere to standard norms and protocols, resulting in 
mismanagement of both normal and complicated deliveries. Most women had 
access to some postnatal care, although the lack of postnatal care was 
higher among young, uneducated women and those in the lowest economic 
quintiles. In 2010 reports indicated that in poorer provinces such as 
Pedernales, 29 percent of women received no postnatal care. Access to 
diagnostic services and treatment of sexually transmitted infections 
was limited by technical, financial, and management issues, which 
equally affected both men and women. Approximately 15,500 persons 
living with HIV/AIDS--the majority of whom were women--had access to 
antiretroviral treatment.

    Discrimination.--Although the law provides women and men with the 
same legal rights, in practice women did not enjoy social and economic 
status or opportunity equal to that of men. Men held approximately 70 
percent of leadership positions in all sectors. On average women 
received 44 percent less pay than men in jobs of equal content and 
requiring equal skills. Some employers reportedly gave pregnancy tests 
to women before hiring them, as part of a required medical examination. 
Although it is illegal to discriminate based on such tests, NGO leaders 
reported that pregnant women often were not hired and that female 
employees who became pregnant sometimes were fired. There were no 
effective government programs to combat economic discrimination against 
women, and wage equality and estimated earned income fell during the 
year.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is acquired by birth in 
the country, except by children born to diplomats, to those who are in 
transit, or to parents who are illegally in the country (see section 
2.d.). A child not registered at birth is undocumented until a late 
declaration is made, and there were limitations on late declarations. 
The most recent report from 2009 by the NGO Profamilia and the U.N. 
Children's Fund indicated that 13 percent of children under age 15 were 
not registered. Undocumented children, particularly those of Haitian 
descent, faced challenges in accessing primary public education.

    Child Abuse.--Abuse of children, including physical, sexual, and 
psychological abuse, was a serious problem. The Attorney General's 
Office has a special Children and Adolescents Unit, which maintained a 
hotline where persons may call to report cases of child abuse. Few such 
cases reached the courts, due to fear of family embarrassment, lack of 
economic resources, or lack of knowledge regarding available legal 
assistance. The Santo Domingo district attorney's office reported that 
in most abuse cases, the accused was a person close to the child, such 
as a family member or close family friend. The law provides for removal 
of a mistreated child to a protective environment.
    In July following media reports that CESFRONT members sexually 
assaulted an 11-year-old girl in the border town of Jimani, the 
attorney general and the Jimani prosecutor announced a joint 
investigation with the leadership of the border corps. Reports 
indicated that the girl received medical treatment and counseling 
following the revelation; and authorities took three CESFRONT 
personnel, whom the girl identified, into custody and held them for 
trial. There was no indication that the authorities attempted to 
identify or prosecute civilian perpetrators also alleged to be 
involved.
    Local observers believed that instances of child abuse were 
underreported because of the widespread belief that such problems 
should be dealt with inside the family. The law contains provisions 
concerning child abuse, including physical and emotional mistreatment, 
sexual exploitation, and child labor. The law provides penalties of 
between two and five years' incarceration and a fine of three to five 
times the monthly minimum wage for persons found guilty of abuse of a 
minor. The penalty is doubled if the abuse is related to trafficking. 
The government's National Directorate for Assistance to Victims 
coordinated efforts of official entities and NGOs to assist children 
who were victims of violence and abuse.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law defines statutory rape as 
sexual relations with anyone under the age of 18. Penalties for 
statutory rape are 10 to 30 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 to 
200,000 pesos ($2,620 to $5,240) if rape is committed against a child 
or adolescent. The law also contains specific provisions that prohibit 
child pornography and child prostitution, prescribing penalties for 
sexual abuse of children of 20 to 30 years' imprisonment and fines from 
100 to 150 times the minimum wage.
    The government conducted several programs to combat the sexual 
exploitation of minors, including notices in airports and targeted 
programs in popular tourist locations. The Ministry of Labor continued 
a program to combat such exploitation in popular tourist destinations 
such as Boca Chica, Sosua, and Las Terrenas. These programs provided 
psychological support and medical assistance, returned children to 
classrooms, and reunited children with their families and communities 
whenever possible. The programs also provided legal assistance to child 
victims and their families to arrest and convict exploiters.

    International Child Abductions.--The government is a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, approximately 
300-350 persons, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--Although the law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with disabilities, these individuals 
encountered discrimination in employment and in obtaining other 
services. The law provides for physical access for persons with 
disabilities to all new public and private buildings, but the 
authorities did not enforce this provision. The Dominican Association 
for Rehabilitation, which had 23 branches around the country, received 
a large subsidy from the Secretariat of Public Health and from the 
Presidency to provide rehabilitation assistance to persons with 
physical and learning disabilities. The association cited the lack of 
accessible public transportation for persons with disabilities as a 
major impediment. The 2000 disability law states that the government 
should ensure that people with disabilities have access to the labor 
market and cultural, recreational, and religious activities.
    Discrimination against persons with mental illness was common 
across all public and private sectors, and there were few resources 
dedicated to the mentally ill.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.There was significant evidence of 
racial prejudice and discrimination against persons of dark complexion, 
but the government denied that such prejudice or discrimination existed 
and, consequently, did little to address the problem.
    There were also strong prejudices against Haitians, which 
disadvantaged many Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian ancestry, as well 
as other foreigners of dark complexion. Few government officials 
acknowledged the existence of this discrimination; others regularly and 
publicly denied that it existed.
    Local NGOs reported incidents where darker-skinned persons were 
denied access or services in banks, service in restaurants and stores, 
entry into nightclubs, enrollment in private schools, and birth 
registration in hospitals. The government's 2009 U.N. Universal 
Periodic Review presentation asserted that the JCE's identity document 
rulings focused on fraud and that Haitians in the country could receive 
their identity documents in Haiti. The government also claimed there 
were no grounds to state that black Dominicans were being repatriated 
to Haiti and noted that authorities suspended repatriations on Fridays 
to prevent employers from using this as a tool to avoid paying laborers 
for the week's work.
    Haitians continued to immigrate to the country in search of 
economic opportunity and relief, especially following the January 2010 
earthquake. However, the Migration Directorate continued to carry out 
``devoluciones'' or ``returns'' of undocumented Haitians to Haiti. 
Officials claimed that these removals should not be considered 
repatriations or deportations, although the distinction between the two 
was unclear. Some of those removed from the country reported that they 
were denied the opportunity to demonstrate that they were legal 
residents, to make arrangements for their families or property, or to 
express a credible fear of persecution or torture if returned to Haiti. 
NGOs reported that migration officials and security forces sometimes 
confiscated and destroyed expellees' residency documents and passports 
despite standing government orders to respect the human rights of the 
expellees. In some cases expellees with appropriate legal documents 
received permission to return.
    Some Haitian immigrants and others lived in shantytowns or 
sugarcane work camps known as bateyes. As in many poor areas in other 
parts of the country, these were harsh environments with limited or no 
electricity, running water, sanitary facilities, or adequate schooling. 
In many bateyes medical assistance either was rudimentary or not 
readily available, and clean water was rarely available. Many batey 
residents, lacking documentation, felt they had little choice but to 
remain in their communities, where they felt relatively safe from the 
risks of deportation and harassment that existed elsewhere in the 
country.
    Private enterprises in the sugar sector continued to make 
improvements at their facilities, a process that began in 2007, 
including new schools and both new and renovated housing. In the 
Barahona area, the sugar consortium opened the first phase of a new 
housing facility for its seasonal employees. The first phase provided 
secure housing for 280 employees, and a second phase is to double this, 
providing safe housing for 560 employees. The facility is for employees 
only and has a 24-hour medical clinic, a secure cashier from which the 
employees can receive their wages, individual lockers and locks 
assigned to each employee, restroom and shower facilities, a 
multipurpose area for dining and training, and a recreation field.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Treatment of lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals ranged from ambivalent 
tolerance to staunch homophobia. While no law criminalizes same-sex 
consensual activity, members of the LGBT community continued to be 
discriminated against in all areas of society, including health, 
education, and work. No law protects individuals against discrimination 
based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Transgender individuals 
were particularly at risk of being victims of violence.
    NGOs reported widespread social discrimination against persons 
based on sexual orientation. Numerous credible reports indicated 
members of the LGBT community were expelled from public school, 
arrested without reason, fired from work, or denied access to rent or 
own homes.
    LGBT persons faced physical attacks, intimidation, harassment, and 
threats of violence. NGOs reported that these groups were reluctant to 
file charges or complain to authorities due to fear of reprisal or 
humiliation. Several killings during the year were linked to the 
victims' sexual orientation or gender identity.
    During the year authorities often refused to allow LGBT individuals 
to gather in public spaces, in particular the Duarte Park area of the 
colonial zone in Santo Domingo. Government and community leaders 
condemned gatherings of such persons, and police officials harassed 
them when they attempted to gather.
    Since the first gay pride celebration in 2001, authorities rejected 
or delayed all other parade requests by gay and lesbian organizations. 
Activists reported that these organizations substituted small informal 
gatherings in recreational spaces, which did not require any type of 
permission from authorities, for marches and other such gatherings.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--On a number of 
occasions in previous years, citizens attacked and killed alleged 
criminals in vigilante-style reprisals for theft, robbery, or burglary. 
These incidents were attributed to an increase in crime and the 
inability of security forces to stem or combat it. Although no specific 
cases attracted national attention during the year, given the common 
perception that crime continued to rise, it is likely that episodes of 
vigilante violence continued.
    Persons living with HIV/AIDS faced discrimination in the workplace 
and elsewhere. According to the U.N. agency UNAIDS, an estimated 62,000 
people were infected with the disease in 2007. A 2008 study by the 
Network of Persons Living with HIV, Profamilia, and Alianza Solidaria 
revealed that, among the sample of persons with HIV who were 
interviewed, 62 percent reported being the subject of gossip, 30 
percent the victims of verbal aggression, 27 percent the victims of 
verbal threats, and 14 percent the victims of attacks or physical 
threats.
    According to Human Rights Watch and AI, workers in many industries 
faced obligatory HIV testing in the workplace or when seeking medical 
care or medical insurance. Many workers or patients found to have the 
disease were not hired or were fired from their jobs or denied adequate 
health care. Although the law prohibits the use of HIV testing to 
screen employees or for medical services unrelated to the disease, 
there were no known instances where this was enforced, despite reports 
that official complaints had been filed.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides workers with the right to form and join unions of 
their choice, strike, and organize and bargain collectively. However, 
it places several restrictions on these rights. The law prohibits 
members of the military and police from forming and joining unions.
    Although the law requires that unions be registered by the Ministry 
of Labor in order to be legal, it provides for automatic recognition of 
a union if the ministry has not acted on the application within 30 
days. Public sector workers are allowed to form associations registered 
through the Office of Public Administration, not the Ministry of Labor. 
The law requires that 40 percent of civil servant employees agree to 
join the union in a given government entity for it to be formed. The 
law allows unions to conduct their activities without government 
interference.
    Formal requirements for a strike to be considered legal include the 
support of an absolute majority of all company workers whether 
unionized or not, a prior attempt to resolve the conflict through 
mediation, written notification to the Ministry of Labor, and a 10-day 
waiting period following notification before proceeding with the 
strike.
    Government workers and essential public service personnel are not 
allowed to strike. The law defines essential public service personnel 
as those working in communications, water supply, gas and electricity 
supply for domestic and street lighting, and hospital pharmacists.
    While the law requires that collective bargaining be used in firms 
in which a union has gained the support of an absolute majority of the 
workers, it does not allow for collective bargaining unless a trade 
union represents an absolute majority of the workers and prohibits the 
use of negotiations in general terms if the union does not represent an 
absolute majority. The International Labor Organization (ILO) 
considered this requirement to be excessive and an impediment to 
collective bargaining. The ILO noted that the law did not specifically 
address the right to collective bargaining of public servants not 
engaged in the administration of the state.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and forbids employers 
from dismissing an employee for organizing union activities, being a 
member in a union or a committee discussion of a collective agreement, 
or being part of a committee of a union in formation. Persons who join 
unions must have legal documentation, although Haitian and other 
migrant workers are covered by the labor code regardless of legal 
status.
    The labor code applies to foreign workers, those working as 
domestics, and workers in the free trade zone, but restricts their 
rights to certain employee benefits (see section 7.d).
    The government failed to effectively enforce the law in many cases. 
In June 2010 the National Council of United Unions brought a complaint 
against the government before the ILO for obstructing the right to 
unionize and to register unions in several companies. After reviewing 
the case, the ILO requested that the government register several of the 
unions, assuming all procedural requirements were met, and recommended 
that the government amend legislation in order to allow unions of self-
employed workers or of contract workers to be founded and registered.
    Following the filing of the ILO complaint, the ministry approved 
the Workers Union of the Barrick Gold Corporation and other unions 
whose registrations had previously been rejected. Although Barrick 
recognized the union, the matter of collective bargaining remained 
pending at year's end. Similarly, in the Frito Lay case, the company 
had not responded to the union's request to use collective bargaining 
by year's end.
    The process for dealing with disputes through labor courts was 
often long, with cases remaining pending for several years. Although 
the government stated that there have been some improvements in this 
process, unions noted that the process remained long. In smaller 
municipalities the system could be shorter, taking about one year, but 
in the more populated cities, including Santiago and Santo Domingo, the 
process continued to take several years. Public officials continued to 
report that the ministry's nonbinding conciliation process was the most 
effective method for resolving worker-company disputes though other 
sources reported that the conciliation process's effectiveness had 
diminished. Various NGOs reported that companies took advantage of the 
slow and ineffective legal system to appeal cases, which left workers 
without labor rights protection in the interim.
    There were some reports of violence against union members. In 
particular, at IMT, a subcontractor of Barrick, workers were confronted 
with guns, tear gas, sticks, and stones. Dozens of workers were 
reportedly arrested, wounded, and fired, allegedly because they 
attempted to form a union.
    The law forbidding companies from firing union organizers or 
members was enforced inconsistently, and penalties were insufficient to 
deter employers from violating worker rights. Some NGOs continued to 
report that workers who tried to form unions were routinely fired. 
There were reports of harassment and intimidation by employers in an 
effort to prevent union activity, especially in the free trade zones 
(FTZs). In practice formal strikes were not common.
    During the year there were reports of intimidation, threats, and 
blackmail by employers to prevent union activity, as well as reports of 
firing of workers for union activity and blacklisting of trade 
unionists. Workers were often asked to sign documents agreeing not to 
participate in union activities. Companies often created and supported 
``yellow'' or company-backed unions to counter free and democratic 
unions. In addition the use of short-term contracts and subcontracting 
increased--often making union organizing and collective bargaining more 
difficult. Few companies had collective bargaining pacts, partly 
because companies created obstacles to union formation and could afford 
to go through lengthy judicial processes that nascent unions could not 
afford.
    According to the National Council of Labor Unions, unions were 
active in only 20 businesses out of approximately 200 companies in the 
FTZs, and only six unions had established collective bargaining rights. 
Unions in the FTZs reported that their members hesitated to discuss 
union activity at work, even during break time, for fear of losing 
their jobs. Unions accused some FTZ companies of discharging workers 
who attempted to organize unions. The Dominican Federation of Free 
Trade Zone Workers (FEDOTRAZONAS) reported that the management of 
several companies or their subcontractors conducted public antiunion 
campaigns, which included threats to fire union members, and engaged in 
activities to forestall attainment of union membership sufficient to 
establish collective bargaining rights under the labor code.
    Various NGOs continued to report that many Haitian laborers and 
Dominicans of Haitian descent in the agricultural and construction 
industries did not exercise their rights, fearing firing or 
deportation. Enforcement of documentation rules for union members was 
lax, and a few labor unions represented a small number of Haitian 
workers.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor but was not effectively 
enforced. There were reports of forced labor of both children and 
adults within the country, including reports that both adults and 
children were forced to work as domestic servants. There were reports 
of forced labor of adults in the service, construction, and 
agricultural sectors. According to the Solidarity Center's 2010 Survey 
on Household and Agricultural Work there were reports of forced labor, 
including debt bondage, as well as other exploitive labor practices 
such as the use of payment in vouchers.
    Haitian workers' lack of documentation and legal status in the 
country often placed them in a tenuous situation and made them 
vulnerable to forced labor. Although specific data on the issue were 
limited, there continued to be reports that some Haitian nationals may 
have been subjected to forced labor in the service, construction, and 
agricultural sectors.
    There continued to be differing reports regarding whether or not 
forced labor was still used in the production of sugar. NGOs and other 
stakeholders stated that forced labor continued to occur, citing the 
continuation of deceptive recruiting practices, nonpayment or payment 
in vouchers that were difficult to convert into cash, and restrictions 
on some workers' ability to leave plantations--including threatening 
workers with deportation or imprisonment if they left the plantation, 
withholding portions of pay, and/or withholding identity documents. In 
contrast, an NGO that studied the sugar sector presented its 
preliminary findings and noted that it had not found evidence of forced 
labor, although it found that labor rights violations occurred and 
extremely harsh working conditions on the sugar plantations existed. 
Analysis of the data continued at year's end.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits employment of children younger than 14 years of age and 
places restrictions on the employment of children under the age of 16, 
limiting their working hours to six hours per day. For those under age 
18, the law limits night work and prohibited employment in dangerous 
work, such as work involving hazardous substances, heavy or dangerous 
machinery, and heavy loads. Minors are also prohibited from selling 
alcohol, certain work at hotels, handling cadavers, and various tasks 
involved in the production of sugarcane. Fines and legal sanctions may 
be applied to firms employing underage children.
    The Ministry of Labor in coordination with the National Council for 
Children and Adolescents (CONANI) is responsible for enforcing child 
labor laws. While the ministry and CONANI effectively enforced 
regulations in the formal sector, child labor in the informal sector 
was a problem largely beyond regulatory reach.
    The National Steering Committee against Child Labor's plan to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor set objectives, identified 
priorities, and assigned responsibilities to combat exploitive child 
labor. Several government programs focused on preventing child labor in 
coffee, tomato, and rice production; street vending; domestic labor; 
and the sex industry. In the most recent information available (2010), 
the Ministry of Labor reported that such programs helped reduce the 
number of children exposed to the worst forms of child labor from 9.3 
percent in 2004 to 6.4 percent in 2008.
    Child labor remained a serious problem. In 2010 one NGO estimated 
that 364,000 minors between five and 17 years of age worked illegally. 
Child labor took place primarily in the informal economy, small 
businesses, private households, and agriculture. In particular, there 
were reports that children worked in the production of garlic, 
potatoes, coffee, sugarcane, tomatoes, and rice.
    NGOs and the Ministry of Labor also reported that many children 
worked in the service sector in a number of jobs including as domestic 
servants in households and as street vendors, as well as in shoe 
shining and washing car windows. Children often accompanied their 
parents to work in agricultural fields. The commercial sexual 
exploitation of children remained a problem, especially in popular 
tourist destinations and urban areas (see section 6, children).
    Children also worked as domestic servants, and many were victims of 
forced labor. There were credible reports that poor Haitian families 
arranged for Dominican families to ``adopt'' and employ their children. 
In some cases adoptive parents reportedly did not treat the children as 
full family members, expecting them to work in the households or family 
businesses rather than to attend school, which resulted in a kind of 
indentured servitude for children and adolescents.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There were 14 different minimum 
wages, depending on the industry. The minimum wage for workers in free 
trade zones was 6,376 pesos ($1,674). The minimum wage for workers 
outside the zones ranged from 6,035 pesos ($158) to 9,400 pesos ($247). 
The minimum wage for the public sector was 5,117 pesos ($134) per 
month. The daily minimum wage for farm workers covered by minimum wage 
regulations, which included all agricultural products except sugarcane, 
was 175 pesos ($4.60) based on a 10-hour day. Sugarcane workers were 
subject to a special, lower minimum wage for the sugar industry of 110 
pesos ($2.88) per 8-hour workday, an increase from 2009. Although no 
official estimate of the poverty income level was available, one 
estimate put the cost of the cheapest common basket of goods at over 
10,000 pesos ($262) per month. All workers, including migrants, are 
covered by minimum wage provisions.
    The law establishes a standard work period of 44 hours per week and 
stipulates that all workers are entitled to 36 hours of uninterrupted 
rest each week. The law includes paid annual holidays and requires 
premium pay for overtime, although enforcement was ineffective. The law 
prohibits excessive or compulsory overtime. While the law requires that 
employers provide a safe working environment, in practice workers could 
not remove themselves from hazardous working situations without losing 
their jobs, and employers may terminate an employment contract at will. 
The labor code covers domestic workers, but does not provide for them 
the payment of notice, severance, or bonus, and they are only 
guaranteed the payment of two weeks' vacation after one year of 
continuous work and the Christmas bonus. Workers in the free trade 
zones are also covered by the labor code, but are not entitled to the 
payment of bonuses.
    In practice the Ministry of Labor did not always enforce the 
minimum wage. The Dominican Social Security Institute (IDSS) sets 
workplace safety and health conditions. Both the IDSS and the Ministry 
of Labor had a small corps of inspectors charged with enforcing 
standards. In 2010 the Ministry of Labor employed 222 labor inspectors. 
Workers complained that workplace safety and health inspectors were not 
trained, did not respond to their complaints, and more quickly 
responded to requests from employers than workers.
    According to the 2007 National Urban Labor Force study completed by 
the Central Bank, the most recent national estimate available, about 54 
percent of the workforce is in the informal sector, often outside the 
reach of government enforcement efforts.
    Mandatory overtime continued to be a common practice in factories 
and was sometimes enforced through loss of pay or employment for those 
who refused. The FEDOTRAZONAS reported that some companies set up 
``4x4'' work schedules, in which employees work 12-hour shifts for four 
days. With some exceptions, employees working the 4x4 schedules were 
not paid overtime for hours worked in excess of maximum work hours 
allowed under labor laws. The Ministry of Labor took no corrective 
action to address this issue. Some companies also started a practice to 
pay every eight days instead of every seven days, which resulted in a 
loss of wages for workers.
    On sugar plantations cane cutters usually were paid by the weight 
of cane cut rather than the hours worked. Cane cutters continued to 
suspect fraud by weigh station operators, although company officials 
denied it. The amount of cane a worker could cut varied, but most young 
able-bodied workers were able to cut two to three tons of cane in a 
workday, yielding a daily wage of 160-240 pesos (approximately $4.19-
$6.29). Less able-bodied workers, who were often older, were paid only 
for the amount of the cane they actually cut, even if the amount was 
less than the minimum wage. During the six-month off-season, some 
workers in sugar plantations remained in their communities and worked 
part-time jobs clearing land or cleaning sugarcane. Such workers 
generally were not paid the legally mandated minimum wage.
    Conditions for agricultural workers were poor, with many workers 
working long hours and exposed to hazardous working conditions 
including the exposure to pesticides, excessive exposure to the sun, 
and use of sharp and heavy tools. According to the Construction 
Worker's Federation there were 939 reported accidents during the year, 
an increase from 537 reported in 2010. Sugarcane workers often did not 
receive medical services or pensions due to the lack of documentation 
even though deductions were taken from their pay.
    During the year, there were accidents that caused injury and death 
to workers. Although comprehensive data were not available, there were 
some reports of specific injuries of workers due to lack of sufficient 
safety controls, including injuries due to a bale of raw materials 
falling on an employee and machines falling on top of a worker.

                               __________

                                ECUADOR

                           executive summary
    Ecuador is a constitutional multiparty republic with an elected 
president and unicameral legislature. In April 2009 voters reelected 
President Rafael Correa and chose members of the National Assembly in 
elections that were considered generally free and fair. In May voters 
approved amendments to the constitution in a process also considered 
free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The main human rights abuses were use of excessive force by public 
security forces, restrictions on freedom of speech and press, and 
official corruption. President Correa and his administration continued 
verbal and legal attacks against the media and increasingly used legal 
mechanisms such as libel laws to suppress freedom of expression. 
Corruption was endemic, especially in the judicial sector, and 
officials engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    The following human rights problems continued: isolated unlawful 
killings, poor prison conditions, arbitrary arrest and detention, 
corruption and other abuses by security forces, a high number of 
pretrial detainees, and corruption and denial of due process within the 
judicial system. Societal problems continued, including: physical 
aggression against journalists; violence against women; discrimination 
against women, indigenous persons, Afro-Ecuadorians, and persons based 
on their sexual orientation; trafficking in persons and sexual 
exploitation of minors; and child labor.
    The government sometimes took steps to prosecute or punish 
officials in the security services and elsewhere in government who 
committed abuses, although political influence and a dysfunctional 
judiciary resulted in impunity in some cases.
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 continued to be credible reports that security forces, 
particularly police units, used excessive force and committed isolated 
unlawful killings. The Ecumenical Human Rights Commission (CEDHU) 
received 38 complaints of unlawful killings by security forces during 
the year.
    On July 25, Julio Antonio Baquerizo Reyes died after 41 days in a 
coma due to injuries reportedly inflicted by local police. According to 
Baquerizo's family, on June 11, two local police officers, Marcelo 
Capurro and Jhonatan Obando, responded to a domestic dispute and 
severely beat Baquerizo before leaving the scene. The family filed a 
complaint that remained under investigation at year's end.
    There were no developments in the case of the ``social cleansing 
group'' of active-duty police officers that was reported on by the 
government's Unit for the Fight against Organized Crime in 2010.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    A court dismissed charges related to the reported disappearance of 
Georgy Hernan Cedeno Saltos in 2009. The victim's family submitted as 
evidence the video of a routine polygraph test in which a police 
officer confessed to killing Cedeno Saltos. The court ruled that the 
video was obtained through illegal means and dismissed the case for 
lack of evidence (for related torture case see section 1.c.).

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--While the constitution and laws prohibit torture and 
similar forms of intimidation and punishment, some police officers 
reportedly tortured and abused suspects and prisoners, at times with 
impunity. In July 2010 the Ombudsman's Office acknowledged that 
``torture is a practice that has taken root."
    During the year the CEDHU registered 10 cases of alleged torture 
and 305 cases of ``unwarranted physical aggression'' by security 
forces. The CEDHU reported that police beat suspects and used tear gas 
during arrests and that police beat and threatened suspects throughout 
interrogations to force them to confess to crimes.
    On March 2, Marco Luis Sovenis, who had been briefly detained by 
the presidential guard on February 26, filed a complaint accusing the 
president's bodyguards of beating him. Sovenis alleged that the guards 
punched and kicked him.
    On June 6, the government began the trial of 14 police officers in 
the case of three siblings and their stepfather, Georgy Hernan Cedeno 
Saltos, who accused members of the National Police Operations Support 
Group of illegally detaining and torturing them in northern Quito in 
2009. On July 19, the court announced that it found two police officers 
guilty of torture and illegal detention, five others complicit in those 
crimes, and another five participants guilty of a cover-up. The court 
sentenced the police to jail terms ranging between two and 10 months, 
although the minimum sentence for torture is three years. All of the 
accused were released shortly after sentencing with credit for time 
served.
    The law and the constitution recognize indigenous communities' 
right to exercise their own systems of justice based on their 
traditions and customs. However, there were concerns that in some 
instances indigenous punishments, such as floggings or cold baths, 
violated human rights.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in prisons and 
detention centers generally were poor and tended to be worse in the 
tropical coastal areas than in the temperate highlands. In 2010 then 
minister of justice Jose Serrano stated that existing facilities were 
overcrowded by 93 percent.
    Overcrowding continued to be a problem in most prison facilities. 
As of December the National Agency for Social Rehabilitation (DNRS) 
reported that 43 facilities held 16,587 prisoners, compared with 11,800 
the previous year. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted 
prisoners. The government reported that there were 1,372 juvenile 
prisoners but did not report on the number of female prisoners.
    A number of prisons experienced serious outbreaks of disease, and 
medical care was often inadequate. Chronic overcrowding and lack of 
preventive health-care measures permitted disease to spread quickly. 
The health care provided was minimal and sufficient only for 
emergencies. Prisoners reported having to pay bribes to visit the 
medical clinic and said they had no access to dental care. Many 
prisoners reported problems with asthma due to dust and pollution and 
said that they had no access to inhalers. The DNRS reported that 21 
prisoners died during the year, compared with 42 deaths in 2010.
    Prisoners reported widespread extortion by prison guards, 
officials, and other prisoners. Prisoners are expected to pay bribes to 
improve the quality or quantity of food they receive, to have access to 
the prison medical clinic, or to change or improve the location in 
which they are held. Some prisoners reported that the penitentiary did 
not have a record of how long they had been incarcerated or how long 
their sentence was. Most prisoners were not released upon completing 
their sentence, but rather remained incarcerated for an additional 
three to five months due to bureaucratic inefficiencies and corruption. 
There were no improvements in recordkeeping during the year. Most 
prisons continued to rely on paper files and lacked access to computers 
and the Internet. Prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes could have 
their sentences reduced by 50 percent for good behavior and were 
eligible for parole after serving 60 percent of the time of their 
original sentence. There were no changes in alternatives to sentencing 
for nonviolent offenders during the year.
    According to a report by the international nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Prisoners Abroad, resources in the prisons were 
minimal, and prisoners (and their families) were expected to provide 
almost all mattresses, clothing, and medicines. Prisons provided three 
very basic meals a day, but prisoners reported that the quality of food 
could be very poor. Prisoners often supplemented these rations by 
buying their own food. Prisoners had access to potable water.
    While physical conditions were notably better in the Quito women's 
prison than in men's facilities, according to the CEDHU, male guards 
were responsible for guarding female inmates, and female inmates 
reported that male guards requested sexual favors in return for 
assistance. Detention centers provided day-care facilities for children 
younger than three who could not be separated from their mothers.
    Although in most instances the government permitted prison visits 
by independent human rights observers, authorities occasionally did not 
permit observers to visit prisoners. The DNRS stated that all properly 
identified officials and representatives from NGOs were able to visit 
prisoners, yet observers and authorities frequently were unable to find 
prisoners because of poor recordkeeping and corruption of prison 
officials. Prisoners were free to practice a religion, although 
religious representatives were not always permitted to visit prisoners. 
According to a report by Prisoners Abroad, prisoners were allowed all-
day visits three days a week and, in the men's prisons, women could 
stay overnight every other Saturday.
    Prisoners reported that it was nearly impossible to raise 
complaints about their conditions to members of the prison staff. 
Prisoners often feared reprisal and believed that their requests would 
go unanswered. Authorities reportedly did not investigate allegations 
of inhumane conditions. There were no prison ombudsmen. However, 
prisoners had the right to appeal to local and national human rights 
ombudsmen, although the limited resources of these entities hampered 
their effectiveness in practice.
    There were no developments in the government's 2010 pledge of $40 
million (the U.S. dollar is the official currency) to construct new 
prison facilities.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--While the constitution prohibits 
arbitrary arrest and detention, the law and some regulations adopted by 
central or provincial authorities undermine the guarantees offered.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police are 
responsible in law and practice for internal security and law 
enforcement and are under the authority of the Ministry of Interior. 
National Police effectiveness was impaired by corruption, poor hiring 
procedures, and insufficient training, supervision, and resources. In 
January Human Rights Watch reported that ``impunity for police abuses, 
including extrajudicial executions, is widespread.'' A police internal 
affairs office investigates complaints against police officers and can 
refer cases to the courts. Civilian authorities maintained effective 
control over the police and armed forces.
    Because of the critical crime situation, the president delegated 
some internal security duties to the armed forces.
    NGOs provided human rights training for police officers at the 
request of the National Police. More than 10,000 members of the police 
force were trained through monthly courses. The government continued to 
improve the preparedness of police, including increasing funding and 
salaries and purchasing equipment.
    When mob violence took place, police sometimes failed to intervene 
or respond in a timely fashion (see section 6, Societal Violence).
    Following the September 2010 protest by the National Police, the 
Prosecutor General's Office opened several investigations into threats 
to internal security, murder, rebellion, sabotage, and attempts to 
assassinate the president. Approximately 40 police officers were 
sentenced on charges resulting from involvement in the protest, and the 
investigations and trials remained underway at year's end. The National 
Police also carried out internal investigations resulting in 
administrative sanctions for police who disobeyed orders.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires authorities to issue specific written arrest orders prior to 
detention and a judge must charge a suspect with a specific criminal 
offense within 24 hours of arrest. Authorities generally observed this 
time limit, although in some provinces immediate detention was often 
considerably longer. Defendants have the right to be informed of the 
charges against them. If the initial investigation report is 
detrimental, the judge, upon the prosecutor's request, may order 
pretrial detention.
    Detained persons may challenge the legality of their detention 
through a habeas corpus petition submitted to any judge in the locality 
where the detention took place, and there is no time limit within which 
a habeas corpus petition must be filed. The detainee may also request 
bail or other alternatives to pretrial detention. Such alternatives 
(for example, house arrest or probation) are allowed only in the case 
of crimes punishable with prison terms of less than five years.
    Authorities charged with determining the validity of detention 
often allowed frivolous charges to be brought, either because they were 
overworked or because the accuser bribed them. The system frequently 
was used as a means of harassment in civil cases in which one party 
sought to have the other arrested on criminal charges.
    According to the constitution, detainees have the right to an 
attorney or to request a court-appointed defense attorney. The 
autonomous Public Defense Office provided legal services to defendants. 
Civil society groups, lawyers' associations, and universities--some 
contracted by the Public Defense Office--continued to provide support 
for vulnerable groups that did not have access to legal defense.
    Although the law prohibits incommunicado detention, human rights 
organizations continued to report occasional violations. The law 
entitles detainees prompt access to lawyers and family members, but 
there were delays depending on the circumstances and officials' 
willingness to enforce the law. Alleged narcotics traffickers commonly 
waited 24 to 48 hours for these visits. Detainees with sufficient 
resources bribed prison officials to facilitate access. The CEDHU 
reported that Judicial Police facilities holding persons for 
preliminary investigation did not allow visits by family or counsel.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--The Regional Foundation for Human Rights Legal 
Services reported numerous complaints of arbitrary detention. However, 
most victims did not wish to pursue legal cases. Many victims chose not 
to do so due to fear of reprisal, lack of resources, or little hope for 
a fair trial due to judicial and police corruption.

    Pretrial Detention.--The government estimated that 44 percent of 
prisoners had not been sentenced. Trial delays were caused by lengthy 
and complicated judicial procedures; corruption and poor training of 
the police, prosecutors, public defenders, and judges; and general 
judicial inefficiency. Many cases were abandoned because the victims 
did not pursue a sentence, in part because of the cost of retaining 
counsel and of bribing the appropriate judicial authorities.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--While the constitution provides 
for an independent judiciary, in practice the judiciary was susceptible 
to outside pressure and corruption. The media reported on the 
susceptibility of the judiciary to bribes for favorable decisions and 
faster resolution of legal cases. Judges occasionally reached decisions 
based on media influence or political and economic pressures.
    On May 13, Minister of the Interior Jose Serrano threatened to 
bring criminal charges against a judge for corruption and bias. 
Serrano's accusations stemmed from the judge's ruling in favor of Cesar 
Carrion, who was accused of attempting to assassinate the president 
during the police protest of September 2010.
    In some cases the outcome of trials appeared predetermined, and 
there were credible allegations by defendants and the press that 
verdicts delivered by judges were not actually written by them. In the 
libel suit brought by President Correa against the newspaper El 
Universo (see section 2.a.), the presiding judge published a 156-page 
decision 25 hours after the hearing. In similar cases such decisions 
usually take at least two weeks (and often significantly longer) to 
produce. The defendants alleged that the decision was not written by 
the presiding judge, but rather copied onto the judge's computer from 
an external memory device. The defendants filed a complaint against the 
judge that was under investigation by the Guayas attorney general at 
year's end.

    Trial Procedures.--Despite efforts to modernize the court system, 
the judiciary continued to operate slowly and inconsistently. There 
were lengthy delays before most cases came to trial. Judges reportedly 
rendered decisions more quickly or more slowly due to political 
pressure or, in some cases, the payment of bribes. The failures of the 
justice system contributed to cases in which communities took the law 
into their own hands, including mob violence against suspected 
criminals.
    Defendants are presumed innocent until convicted in a trial. There 
are no juries in the justice system. All citizens have the right to a 
public trial, to consult with an attorney or to have one provided, and 
to appeal. Defendants may present evidence, invoke the privilege 
against self-incrimination, and confront and cross-examine witnesses. 
Defendants have the right to access evidence held by the police or 
public prosecutor. However, in practice this right was not consistently 
exercised because of many defendants' lack of knowledge of the right, 
lack of preparation, or lack of legal representation. Authorities 
generally failed to inform defendants of this right.
    The regular court system tried most defendants, although some 
indigenous groups tried members independently for violations of tribal 
law. While the law and the constitution recognize indigenous 
communities' right to exercise their own systems of justice based on 
their traditions and customs, they do not specify how this right is to 
be implemented. This parallel system raised questions of both 
jurisdiction and conformity with the right to a fair trial, as well as 
the possibility of inconsistent results between systems.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Civilian courts and the 
Administrative Conflicts Tribunal, generally considered independent and 
impartial, handle lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, human 
rights violations. However, civilian lawsuits seeking damages for 
alleged wrongs by the state were rarely filed, since such suits were 
time-consuming and difficult to prosecute, with judges taking up to a 
decade to rule on the merits.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and the law prohibit such actions, 
and the government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, but 
the government restricted these rights in practice.

    Freedom of Speech.--President Correa and his government continued 
verbal and legal attacks against the press during the year. The 
president regularly stated that the press was his ``biggest enemy'' and 
increasingly filed libel lawsuits against journalists. He also publicly 
encouraged government officials and private individuals to bring cases 
against the media.
    Generally, individuals could criticize the government publicly or 
privately without reprisal. However, it is illegal to threaten or 
insult the president or executive branch, and violators can be 
reprimanded with six months' to two years' imprisonment or a fine of 
$16 to $77.
    On February 26, the presidential guard briefly detained Marco Luis 
Sovenis after he shouted ``fascist'' at the president. In his weekly 
address on March 5, President Correa stated: ``Like it or not, in this 
country it is a crime to shout `fascist' at the president. We are going 
to bring the relevant criminal charges.'' However, Sovenis was never 
formally charged.

    Freedom of the Press.--The independent media remained active and 
expressed a wide variety of views, including those critical of the 
government. The government owned at least 19 media stations and used 
its extensive publicity to influence public debate. New laws also 
limited the ownership of media companies.

    Violence and Harassment.--The law mandates the broadcast of 
messages and reports by the president and his cabinet free of charge. 
The government regularly required media stations to broadcast 
statements by the president and other leaders, and this reduced the 
stations' paid programming. President Correa frequently used these 
broadcasts and his public appearances to make personal attacks on 
specific journalists, as well as to criticize the media, question its 
competence and professionalism, and accuse it of bias. Journalists and 
local press associations reported that the president's ``systematic'' 
verbal attacks against the media created ``a hostile environment for 
journalists."
    The press freedom NGO Fundamedios reported 156 cases of harassment 
(threats, attacks, or arrests) against journalists or other 
representatives of the press during the year.
    On October 23, journalist Wilson Cabrera Riera was denied 
permission to leave the country due to an outstanding warrant for his 
arrest. Cabrera claimed that the warrant was baseless and had been 
issued in a region of the country that he had never visited. Cabrera 
was attempting to travel to the Inter-American Commission on Human 
Rights (IACHR) to participate in a hearing about press freedom in the 
country.
    On November 9, Cesar Ricaurte, executive director of Fundamedios, 
stated in an interview that he had received death threats following his 
October 25 testimony at the IACHR regarding the situation of press 
freedom in the country.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The relationship between the 
press and the government was poor, and journalists working at private 
media companies reported instances of indirect censorship and stated 
that President Correa's attacks caused them to practice self-
censorship.
    Private media companies reported that the government frequently 
used tax and labor inspections to harass those companies that published 
reports critical of the government. These investigations forced the 
companies to undertake time-consuming and costly legal defense.
    The government was the largest single advertiser in the country and 
used advertising contracts to reward or punish media companies. Media 
companies critical of the government reported receiving no government 
advertising or having large contracts cancelled.
    Journalists claimed that the broadcast frequency renewal process 
became a subjective political evaluation of the station rather than a 
technical review.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--The government increasingly used 
legal mechanisms against media companies, journalists, and private 
individuals, including use of libel laws. Fundamedios reported 26 
lawsuits against journalists or media companies since 2006, six of 
which were filed during the year. Libel is a criminal offense under the 
law with penalties of up to three years in prison, fines, and damages.
    The law includes criminal libel charges, which may be used to 
criminalize opinion. The reach of the law, however, including whether 
it applies to opinion articles and whether media owners are liable for 
statements made by reporters or others using their media platforms, 
remained unclear and was under scrutiny in the El Universo and Hoy 
cases.
    On March 22, President Correa filed criminal libel charges against 
the newspaper El Universo; its directors Carlos, Cesar, and Nicolas 
Perez; and former opinion editor Emilio Palacio for an editorial 
published on February 6. On July 20, a judge found the four defendants 
guilty of libel and sentenced them to three years in jail and a 
combined $30 million damages payment. The newspaper was assessed an 
additional $10 million in damages. In late August Palacio fled the 
country, reportedly because he feared he was in danger. In September 
the Guayas Provincial Court upheld the initial verdict after the 
defendants appealed. The defendants filed a second appeal with the 
National Court of Justice. On December 28, the national court upheld 
Palacio's conviction. A hearing for the separate appeal filed by El 
Universo and its directors was pending at year's end.
    On December 21, the Pichincha Criminal Court sentenced Hoy 
newspaper director Jaime Mantilla Anderson to three months in prison 
and a $25 fine based on a libel lawsuit filed by then Central Bank 
chairman Pedro Delgado Campana. According to press reports, the case 
was filed in 2009 on the claim that several articles published in the 
newspaper harmed Delgado's reputation. Mantilla was sentenced after he 
refused to disclose the names of the journalist or the sources. After 
the ruling Delgado told the press that he would withdraw the charges, 
but at the end of the year he had not formally submitted a request to 
do so. Mantilla appealed the sentence.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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 peaceful assembly. The 
government generally respected this right in practice, although some 
exceptions occurred. Public rallies required prior government permits, 
which were generally granted with some exceptions. The government often 
deployed a large security presence at demonstrations. Security forces 
generally respected the rights of participants, but some exceptions 
occurred.
    The government increasingly filed legal charges or opened 
investigations against protesters who blocked roads or impeded public 
services, charging demonstrators with ``terrorism and sabotage'' or 
similar charges that effectively criminalized protest. NGOs estimated 
that 100 to 200 persons faced criminal charges for their participation 
in protests.
    On August 8, indigenous leaders Carlos Perez, Federico Guzman, and 
Efren Arpi were sentenced to eight days in jail for illegally 
obstructing roads and interrupting public services during an April 2010 
protest.
    On October 25, indigenous leader Marco Guatemal was arrested on 
misdemeanor charges for illegally obstructing roads during an April 
2010 protest. Guatemal was initially charged with terrorism, but the 
charges were later reduced. A judge dismissed the case on November 10 
due to lack of evidence after Guatemal spent 17 days in pretrial 
detention.
    In September 2010 indigenous leaders Pepe Acacho, Fidel Kaniras, 
and Pedro Mashiant Chamik were charged with terrorism and sabotage for 
allegedly inciting an indigenous protest that led to the death of Bosco 
Wisuma in 2009. On February 1, the defendants were detained and 
transferred to a jail in Quito. On February 8, a judge ruled the 
detention ``illegal and arbitrary'' and released the defendants, who 
had been fulfilling the terms of their probation. The defendants 
remained on probation, and the case was pending at year's end.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. The government continued mandatory re-registration of 
domestic organizations based on a 2008 decree. The government 
implemented new regulations for international NGOs that also included 
re-registration.
    The law provides the government discretion to dissolve 
organizations (including civil society, foundations, and churches) on 
multiple grounds, including compromising the interests of the state, 
not posting the names of all of their members on a public Web site, or 
not providing access to information requested by the government. NGOs 
expressed concern that the government could use the collected 
information to selectively prosecute NGOs that supported groups 
critical of the government. NGOs also reported harassment with tax and 
labor inspections.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations, 
such as the International Organization for Migration, in providing 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other 
persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The law provides for 
the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. Applicants 
rejected in the refugee process have a legal right to appeal. After 
appeals are exhausted, they have 30 days to leave the country.
    On January 11, the Directorate for Refugees (DR) of the Foreign 
Ministry added a step in its refugee application process to determine 
the admissibility of a potential refugee's application. The new step 
consists of a brief interview of the potential asylum seeker by a DR 
staff member, after which the DR makes a preliminary determination as 
to whether the applicant is eligible to apply. Only after admissibility 
is determined can an applicant be given official status as an asylum 
seeker.
    The registration process frequently took more than a year, 
particularly in areas outside of Quito. During the application process 
an applicant does not have the right to work, leaving many asylum 
seekers vulnerable to labor exploitation and sex trafficking.

    Nonrefoulement.--The UNHCR reported six confirmed cases of 
refoulement during the year.

    Refugee Abuse.--The government reported that as of November there 
were more than 55,000 recognized refugees in the country, the vast 
majority of whom were Colombian. Refugees were vulnerable to crime, 
social violence, and gender-based violence. Refugees reported 
discrimination in employment and housing. Societal stereotypes cast 
refugees as criminals and prostitutes, and this discrimination affected 
refugees' ability to assimilate into the local population.

    Access to Basic Services.--The law provides recognized refugees and 
asylum seekers the same access to public health services as citizens. 
The presentation of any identity document is sufficient to provide 
access to public educational institutions. However, numerous NGOs 
asserted that some local school authorities prohibited noncitizen 
children from enrolling in school. Various NGOs reported that the Civil 
Registry did not always cooperate in registering refugee children or 
registering children of refugees born in the country, despite legal 
requirements to do so.

    Durable Solutions.--A small number of refugees in the country were 
resettled to third countries during the year. Few refugees were able to 
naturalize as citizens or gain permanent resident status due to the 
expensive and lengthy legal process required.

    Temporary Protection.--The government also provided temporary 
protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees and did so 
for more than 13,000 persons during the year. The government and NGOs 
provided humanitarian aid and additional services, such as legal, 
health, education, and psychological assistance, to Colombians recorded 
as having crossed the border during the year. Most government 
assistance ended if official refugee status was denied.
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.--Recent Elections.--On May 
7, citizens voted in a national referendum on constitutional changes 
including reform of the judiciary and ownership and regulation of 
financial and media institutions, as well as regulatory changes on 
gambling, animal cruelty, and social security. The referendum was 
considered free and fair by a small team of observers from the 
Organization of American States (OAS), but there were delays and 
irregularities in the vote-counting process. Local observers expressed 
concern over violations of campaign spending rules.
    Elections for offices at all levels of government, including the 
presidency and the multiparty National Assembly, were held in 2009. OAS 
and EU observers concluded that the elections were generally free and 
fair, with local irregularities. Domestic observers also observed 
elections throughout the country. Although the international and 
domestic observation teams reported no major fraud, there were some 
reports of missing or marked ballots, counting and vote-calculation 
irregularities, and incidents of violence.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The constitution provides 
for state-promoted, gender-balanced representation in the public 
sector, including in the lists of political parties' candidates for the 
National Assembly and other representative institutions. The law 
mandates that electoral lists be gender-balanced and structured in an 
alternating male-female (or vice versa) pattern, both for primary and 
stand-in candidates.
    There were 42 women in the 124-seat National Assembly, 11 women in 
the 28-member cabinet, and two female secretaries of state with the 
rank of minister. There were seven Afro-Ecuadorians and indigenous 
persons in the National Assembly but no Asian-Ecuadorians. There were 
no Afro-Ecuadorians, Asian-Ecuadorians, or indigenous persons 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 government recognized extensive corruption in the judicial 
branch and began a process to reform the judiciary. Academics and think 
tank analysts said that legal cases were not processed unless the 
police and judicial officials were bribed. There were media reports 
alleging police corruption and extensive corruption in public contracts 
and procurement. In June public officials accused the Ministry of 
Public Health of paying dramatically inflated prices for the purchase 
of mobile hospitals.
    Labor leaders and business owners reported corruption among 
inspectors (see section 7.d.).
    The National Secretariat for Management Transparency is tasked with 
investigating and reporting public complaints of corruption and with 
promoting transparent practices in the public administration. The 
Technical Secretariat for Transparency and the Fight Against Corruption 
is also responsible for investigating cases of corruption.
    On February 1, oil company Chevron filed a Racketeer Influenced and 
Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit in a U.S. court against plaintiffs in 
a multibillion dollar environmental lawsuit then pending against the 
company in Ecuador. The lawsuit alleged that plaintiffs, lawyers, and 
consultants in the environmental case manufactured evidence and 
conspired with judges to obtain a favorable ruling (see section 6, 
Indigenous People).
    On June 9, the First Criminal Court of the National Court of 
Justice annulled proceedings against two attorneys representing Chevron 
and seven former government officials related to allegations of fraud 
in an environmental remediation release agreement between Chevron and 
the government.
    On August 22 and September 20, hearings were held in the case of 
Juan Xavier Aguinaga, former undersecretary of foreign affairs for the 
Ministry of the Coast Region, and several notary publics for alleged 
involvement in the illegal naturalization of Cuban citizens. The case 
remained pending at year's end.
    Government officials are required to declare their financial 
holdings upon taking office and if requested in an investigation, and 
all agencies must disclose salary information annually.
    The constitution states that all persons have the right to access 
information about public or private organizations receiving state 
funds. The law requires all organizations (public and private) that 
receive public funds to respond to written requests for information, 
publish specific information on their Web site, and submit an annual 
report to the Ombudsman's Office that details their compliance with the 
transparency law. As a result government agencies increasingly put 
budget information, functions, organizational information, lists of 
government officers, and official notices on the Internet in addition 
to responding to written requests. However, requests for information 
were not always granted in practice, and the government made 
exceptions, stating that the requested information was not available. 
Judges did not enforce the legislation requiring the government to 
release 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 
cooperated with the groups but often did not act on their 
recommendations.
    The government began a process to standardize requirements for 
international NGOs to register and operate in the country, including 
human rights groups. International NGOs were required to re-register 
with the government under the new regulations. Some NGOs initially 
expressed concern that the process would be used to shut down NGOs 
perceived to oppose the government, but to date no NGO has reported 
politically motivated sanctions based on the new regulation.
    The government used public statements to criticize and attack the 
credibility of specific international and local NGOs, as well as NGO 
findings. Government officials, including the president, publicly 
rejected findings published by the Inter American Press Association 
(IAPA) and the IACHR's special rapporteur on freedom of expression. The 
government also refused to meet with IAPA. On June 25, President Correa 
stated that some NGOs undermine national security.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Ombudsman's Office, which the 
constitution describes as an administratively and financially 
independent body under the Transparency and Social Control branch of 
government, focused on human rights problems. As of December the office 
had 75 lawyers and regularly presented cases to the Prosecutor's 
Office. The public perceived the Ombudsman's Office as independent, but 
the office's effectiveness was limited by a lack of resources and 
personnel.
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 
fully enforce these prohibitions. Women; persons with disabilities; 
indigenous persons; Afro-Ecuadorians; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) persons continued to face discrimination.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Although the law prohibits 
violence against women, including within marriage, abuses were 
widespread. In March 2010 the Ombudsman's Office released a report 
stating that approximately 83,000 women annually suffered some sort of 
violence or abuse. The report also noted that 7,000 women were 
assaulted monthly and that more than 200 women were victims of some 
sort of violence on a daily basis. According to the government's 
campaign to stop violence against women, React Ecuador, Sexism is 
Violence, eight out of 10 women are victims of physical, psychological, 
or sexual violence at some time in their lives.
    The law criminalizes rape and provides penalties of up to 25 years 
in prison. Under family law spousal rape is considered a type of 
violence and may be prosecuted under the criminal code. The penalty for 
rape where death occurred is 12 to 15 years' imprisonment. The Office 
of the Prosecutor received 5,036 reports of sexual crimes between 
January and June. The National Police detained 1,285 individuals 
accused of rape and filed 552 complaints. The Office of the Prosecutor 
convicted 346 persons of rape between January and October. Many 
instances of rape and sexual assault were not reported due to the 
victim's reluctance to confront the perpetrator due to fear of 
retribution or further violence and social stigma.
    The most pervasive violations of women's rights involved domestic 
and sexual violence. Although prohibited by law, both were widespread 
and vastly underreported, again due to for fear of retribution, social 
stigma, and further violence. Although authorities referred many women 
who reported domestic abuse or sexual crimes to the judicial system, 
cultural prejudices, financial dependence or lack of financial 
resources, family pressure, and the victim's fear of testifying at a 
trial contributed to a large number of charges against perpetrators 
being dropped. Between January and June, 2,437 domestic violence 
complaints were filed.
    In April 2010 the government initiated the React Ecuador campaign, 
which sought to eradicate gender violence by improving the justice 
system, protecting victims of violence, and raising awareness of 
violence against women as a human rights violation. A study published 
by the campaign indicated that in 2009 approximately 64 percent of 
deaths of women were due to gender-based violence. The second phase of 
the campaign began in July 2010 and focused on the consequences of 
domestic violence on children and adolescents.
    Governmental joint service centers provided assistance on legal 
issues, social and medical assistance, and police protection free of 
charge to victims of domestic and gender violence. According to family 
law, domestic violence may be punished with a fine for ``damages, pain 
and suffering'' ranging in value from $264 to $3,960, depending on the 
severity of the crime. The law also gives family courts the power to 
remove an abusive spouse from the home if continued cohabitation 
creates a risk to the victim of abuse.

    Sexual Harassment.--Despite the legal prohibition of sexual 
harassment, women's rights organizations described harassment in the 
workplace as common. Between January and June 2010, the national police 
received 325 reports and complaints of sexual harassment.

    Reproductive Rights.--The law acknowledges the basic right of 
couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, 
spacing, and timing of their children. The law protects the sexual and 
reproductive rights of women and calls for free prenatal care, family 
planning services, and cancer screening. According to statistics from 
U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), 99 percent of women had skilled 
attendants present during childbirth in 2009. However, the Ministry of 
Public Health stated that approximately 62 percent of births to self-
identified indigenous mothers took place at home without professional 
attendants in 2010. According to the UNFPA, the country's maternal 
mortality rate was 140 deaths per 100,000 live births. Most deaths 
during pregnancy or childbirth were due to obstetric complications, 
high blood pressure, eclampsia, infections, or other abnormalities 
during labor. Additionally, limited access to maternal health care for 
women residing in rural and remote areas contributed to the high 
maternal mortality rate.
    The Maternal and Child Health Survey reported contraceptive 
prevalence rates of 39 percent among women and 59 percent among married 
women. The Population Reference Bureau reported in 2009 that more than 
36 percent of modern contraceptive method users received these services 
through government-sponsored programs. However, the government's Bureau 
of Standards required special certification on imports of 
contraceptives, which occasionally resulted in shortages and higher 
prices.

    Discrimination.--The constitution affords women an array of 
economic, political, and social rights. The law stipulates that the 
government should formulate and implement policies to achieve gender 
equality, incorporate a gender focus into plans and programs, and 
provide technical assistance to implement the law in the public sector.
    Although women enjoyed the same legal status as men, women often 
did not have equal rights in practice. Societal discrimination against 
women was pervasive, particularly with respect to educational and 
economic opportunities for older women and for those in the lower 
economic strata. Women on average earned 39 percent less than men for 
comparable work. They tended to be employed in the informal sector or 
as domestic workers and thus enjoyed less stability and earned lower 
wages. There were fewer women than men employed in professional work 
and skilled trades. Women's advocates alleged that culture and 
tradition inhibited achievement of full equality for women. Indigenous 
women faced triple discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, 
and reduced economic status.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is acquired through 
birth in the country, birth to an Ecuadorian mother or father abroad, 
or by naturalization. The Social Registry, the Ministry of Social and 
Economic Inclusion, and the Child and Family Institute promoted a 
campaign, Put Your Name Down, that registered approximately 60,000 
children throughout the country in 2010. In 2009, according to the 
Observatory of the Rights of Children and Adolescents, there were 
300,000 unregistered children in the country. UNICEF estimated that 
during the year 15 percent of children under age five in the country 
were unregistered.
    While the law prohibits schools from requesting civil registration 
documents for children to enroll, some schools, mostly public schools, 
continued to require these documents. Other government services, 
including welfare payments and free primary health care, require some 
form of identification.

    Education.--According to the constitution, education is obligatory 
through ninth grade and free through 12th grade. However, costs 
associated with school, such as for uniforms and books, and a lack of 
space in public schools prevented many adolescents from attending 
school. In some provinces public schools denied entry to students due 
to a lack of space.

    Child Abuse.--According to the government, 21 percent of children 
suffered some form of sexual abuse in 2009. Projects sponsored by local 
NGOs reported that children living in the streets, many of whom came 
from poor indigenous families, suffered from exploitative conditions.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law prohibits child 
pornography, with penalties of six to 16 years' imprisonment. The age 
of consent is 14, and the penalty is 16 to 25 years' imprisonment. 
Commercial sexual exploitation of minors remained a problem. While 
adult prostitution was legal, brothel owners did not check ages of 
their employees. As a result, some children worked in prostitution.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. There 
was a small Jewish community, including an estimated 250 families in 
Quito, according to the local synagogue.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution prohibits 
discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, 
and mental disabilities and grants them priority and specialized care 
in the public and private sectors. The interagency National Council on 
Disabilities oversees government policies regarding persons with 
disabilities. Although the law mandates access to buildings and 
promotes equal access to health, education, social security, 
employment, transport, and communications for persons with 
disabilities, the government did not fully enforce it. The law requires 
that 4 percent of employees in all public and private enterprises with 
more than 25 employees be persons with disabilities. In 2010, according 
to government information, only 35 percent of the 1,532 audited 
companies complied with this law.
    An initiative called Ecuador Without Barriers, led by the vice 
president of the country, sought to create jobs for persons with 
disabilities, provided funding to more than 200 municipalities to 
improve access to public buildings, and opened training and 
rehabilitation centers. The initiative also monitored the degree of 
compliance by companies that hire persons with disabilities. In 
addition to this program, the government was building centers for those 
considered intellectually disabled. The caregivers of persons with 
severe disabilities received a government monthly subsidy of $240.
    The law directs the electoral authorities to provide access and 
facilitate voting to persons with disabilities, and international 
observers commended the government's accommodations for persons with 
disabilities in the May 7 national referendum.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Afro-Ecuadorian citizens, who 
account for approximately 7 percent of the population according to the 
2010 census, suffered pervasive discrimination, particularly with 
regard to educational and economic opportunity. The constitution 
declares the state to be plurinational and affirms the principle of 
nondiscrimination by recognizing the rights of indigenous, Afro-
Ecuadorian, and Montubio (a rural, farming population recognized as an 
independent ethnic group) communities. It also mandates affirmative 
action policies to provide for the representation of minorities. A 2009 
executive decree calls for all public sector bodies to ensure that 
``access to labor'' reflects the percentage of the population of 
indigenous persons, Afro-Ecuadorians, and Montubios.
    Afro-Ecuadorian organizations noted that, despite the absence of 
official discrimination, societal discrimination and stereotyping 
continued to affect them and resulted in barriers to employment, 
education, and housing. For instance, Afro-Ecuadorians continued to 
assert that police stopped them for document checks more frequently 
than they stopped other citizens and that employers often would not 
interview persons whose job applications carried Afro-Ecuadorian 
photos.
    The Corporation for the Development of Afro-Ecuadorians noted that 
Afro-Ecuadorians still lacked access to basic education and that the 
school registration rate for Afro-Ecuadorian children was below the 
national average.

    Indigenous People.--According to the 2010 census, 7 percent of the 
population self-identified as indigenous. Indigenous organizations 
estimated that up to 30 percent of the population maintained their 
indigenous cultural identity and lived in indigenous communities. The 
vast majority of indigenous citizens resided in rural areas, including 
the highlands and Amazonian provinces. Indigenous persons continued to 
suffer discrimination at many levels of society and, with few 
exceptions, were at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale.
    The law recognizes the rights of indigenous communities to hold 
property communally. Land in many cases is titled to the indigenous 
community. In other cases indigenous groups managed a reserve that the 
government set aside for biodiversity protection. The government worked 
with indigenous communities to help them gain titles to their lands.
    The constitution grants indigenous persons and communities the 
right to be consulted and participate in decisions about the 
exploitation of nonrenewable resources that are located in their lands 
and that could affect their culture or environment. Indigenous groups 
claimed that newly passed or proposed laws covering mining, water 
resources, and hydrocarbon resources did not take indigenous viewpoints 
sufficiently into account and furthermore intruded upon indigenous 
autonomy over their lands and resources. Although an April 2010 ruling 
by the Constitutional Court requires the National Assembly to consult 
with affected communities on water issues before the legislature can 
vote on the draft laws, there was no mechanism for consultation.
    The constitution allows indigenous persons to participate in the 
benefits that natural resource extraction projects may bring and to 
receive compensation for any damages that result. In the case of 
environmental damage, the law mandates immediate corrective government 
action and full restitution from the responsible company, although some 
indigenous organizations asserted a lack of consultation and remedial 
action.
    Indigenous groups lobbied the government and mounted protests in 
attempts to win a greater share of oil revenues and a greater voice in 
natural resource and development decisions. Some indigenous leaders 
faced criminal charges for participating in social protests (see 
section 2.b.).
    Although indigenous persons have the same civil and political 
rights as other citizens, some of their leaders reported discrimination 
and prosecution, including discrimination in access to higher education 
and employment. The constitution strengthens the rights of indigenous 
persons; it declares the state plurinational, recognizing Kichwa and 
Shuar as ``official languages of intercultural relations,'' and 
specifically recognizes indigenous justice. However, the lack of a 
clearly defined relationship between indigenous justice and the regular 
justice system led to legal conflicts between the government and 
indigenous leaders.
    Widespread environmental damage, in part due to deforestation and 
petroleum production, constituted another serious problem. Settlers, 
including those from other indigenous groups, drug traffickers, and 
loggers, illegally encroached into indigenous territory. Corrupt local 
officials, a lack of political will, and divisions among and within 
indigenous communities undermined indigenous efforts to stop the flow 
of illegally harvested timber. Small-scale mining, often on the part of 
indigenous communities themselves, also contributed to serious 
environmental damage.
    On February 14, the Sucumbios Provincial Court ruled against 
Chevron in a long-standing environmental case brought forward by a 
number of indigenous communities. The court ordered the company to pay 
a $9.5 billion award, which was subsequently raised to more than $18 
billion. Both parties appealed the ruling. The plaintiffs, representing 
30,000 indigenous persons, claimed that their health, welfare, and 
livelihoods were affected by environmental damage caused by Texaco 
(later purchased by Chevron).

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution includes the 
principle of nondiscrimination and establishes choice of sexual 
orientation as a right. Although the law prohibits discrimination based 
on sexual orientation, gay, lesbian, and transgender persons continued 
to suffer discrimination from both public and private bodies. LGBT 
organizations reported that transgender persons suffered more 
discrimination because they were more visible. LGBT groups claimed that 
police and prosecutors did not thoroughly investigate deaths of LGBT 
individuals, including when there was suspicion that the killing was 
because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
    LGBT organizations and credible media sources reported that LGBT 
persons were interned against their will in private treatment centers 
to ``cure'' or ``dehomosexualize'' them, although such treatment is 
illegal. The clinics reportedly used cruel treatments, including rape, 
in an attempt to change LGBT persons' sexual orientation. In August the 
government reported that it closed 30 such centers, but LGBT 
organizations reported that other illegal clinics continued to operate.
    Members of the LGBT community continued to report that their right 
of equal access to formal education was frequently violated. The LGBT 
population involved in the commercial sex trade reported abusive 
situations, extortion, and mistreatment by security forces.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The constitution 
specifically prohibits discrimination directed at persons with HIV/
AIDS. There was no societal violence against persons with HIV/AIDS. 
However, NGOs reported that individuals with HIV/AIDS believed they 
were discriminated against, including on issues such as equal 
employment opportunities and access to appropriate health care.
    Vigilante justice remained a problem. Such violence occurred 
particularly in indigenous communities and poor neighborhoods of major 
cities where there was little police presence. On August 1, a so-called 
community protection group in Azuay Province attacked Jose Belisario 
R., accusing him of stealing cattle. The mob beat Jose and set him on 
fire. After police intervened, an ambulance transported Jose to a 
hospital for treatment.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides most private sector workers with the rights to form 
and join trade unions of their choice, conduct legal strikes, and 
bargain collectively. The constitution terms worker rights 
``irrevocable,'' provides for the right to unionize and strike (except 
in strategic sectors), and commits state support for democratic unions. 
Members of the police, the military, and most public sector employees 
(those who fall under the civil service law) were not free to form 
trade unions. Most public employees maintained membership in a labor 
sector association, but such associations are not allowed to strike or 
bargain collectively. The law requires workers in state enterprises to 
be represented by a single labor union.
    The law requires a minimum of 30 workers for the creation of 
associations, work committees, or assemblies to organize work 
committees and does not allow foreign citizens to serve as trade union 
officers. The International Labor Organization (ILO) considered these 
requirements impediments to the right to organize. The law prohibits 
antiunion discrimination and protects strikers and their leaders from 
retaliation. The law does not require reinstatement of workers fired 
for union activity but requires compensation and fines. The law 
prohibits the dismissal of workers from the moment a union notifies the 
labor inspector of its general assembly until the formation of its 
first executive board, the legal first steps in forming a union.
    All private employers with 30 or more workers belonging to a union 
are required to negotiate collectively when the union so requests. The 
large union federations have traditionally been allied with specific 
political parties, but there is no requirement to do so. The law 
prohibits the use of discriminatory criteria in hiring. The law 
prohibits the use of outsourcing, including subcontracting, third 
party, and hourly contracts, but grants an exemption for outsourcing 
services that are not an integral part of the company's productive 
processes.
    There were few restrictions on the right of private sector workers 
to strike, although a 10-day period is required before a strike can be 
declared. The law allows solidarity strikes or boycotts of three days 
if the Ministry of Labor Relations approves them. In some industries, 
during a legal strike workers may take possession of a factory or 
workplace (thus ending production at the site) and receive police 
protection during the takeover. In other industries, such as 
agriculture and hospitality, where workers are needed for ``permanent 
care,'' the law requires a 20-day waiting period from the day the 
strike is called, and workers cannot take possession of a workplace. 
During this time workers and employers must agree on how many workers 
are needed to ensure a minimum level of service, and at least 20 
percent of the workforce must continue to work in order to provide 
essential services. The law provides that ``the employer may contract 
substitute personnel'' only when striking workers refuse to send the 
number of workers required to provide the minimum necessary services, 
although in practice this law was not enforced.
    The law does not allow the majority of public workers the right to 
strike. The constitution designates health, environmental sanitation, 
education, justice, fire fighting, social security, electrical energy, 
drinking water and sewerage, hydrocarbon production, fuel processing, 
transport and distribution, public transportation, and post and 
telecommunications as strategic sectors in which strikes are 
prohibited. Some of the sectors defined as strategic exceed the ILO 
standard for essential services. The law includes a provision that 
striking workers in these sectors are subject to between two and five 
years' imprisonment. The ILO has repeatedly noted that this law could 
lead to compulsory labor as punishment for participation in peaceful 
strikes, a violation of international labor standards.
    Government efforts to enforce legal protections of worker rights 
were often inadequate and inconsistent, sometimes failing to deter 
employers from retaliating against workers for organizing. The process 
to register a union, which used to take only a few days, now takes 
weeks or longer and is much more complicated, inhibiting union 
registration. Individual workers may take complaints against employers 
to the Labor Inspection Office if they are still employed by the firm 
or to courts charged with protecting labor rights if they are no longer 
employed by the organization. Unions may also take complaints to a 
tripartite (union, employer, government) arbitration board established 
to hear these complaints. Procedures were generally subject to lengthy 
delays and appeals.
    In practice freedom of association and the right to collective 
bargaining were frequently not respected. There were a number of cases 
reported in which workers were fired for union activities. There were 
no reports of physical violence or threats against union leaders or 
members. However, there were many reports of legal harassment, 
including charges of terrorism filed by the government against labor 
leaders for their involvement in strikes or other protest activity.
    Outsourcing was common, with union leaders and government employees 
stating that the government was the most frequent user. Outsourcing was 
used by the government and private companies to avoid hiring workers 
with the rights to organize or to bargain even though outsourcing is 
generally illegal. For instance, banana plantations often outsourced 
harvesting to short-term companies. When workers there attempted to 
organize or bargain collectively, the companies employing them 
dissolved while leaving the original company protected.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government did not 
effectively enforce the law in all cases. Forced labor of children and 
adults persisted, with migrants, refugees, and the indigenous being 
particularly vulnerable, especially women who are members of these 
groups. There were reports that indigenous children and adolescents 
were subjected to forced begging and forced labor as domestic servants, 
and in mining (see section 7.c.). Adult men were victims of forced 
labor in the agricultural industry. In June 2010 the U.N. special 
rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery reported adult forced labor 
in the palm oil industry and among domestic workers.
    The government created a specialized antitrafficking police unit in 
July. There was no data available on the number of victims removed from 
forced labor during the year.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum working age for minors at 15 for all types of 
labor and the maximum hours a minor may work at six hours per day, five 
days per week. The law lists jobs that are not suitable for children 
and prohibits minors from working in hazardous conditions, including in 
agriculture, mines, domestic work, garbage dumps, slaughterhouses, or 
in jobs requiring exposure to toxic or dangerous substances or loud 
noises. The law requires employers to pay minors the same wages 
received by adults for the same type of employment. Penalties for 
violations of the child labor laws include fines of $50 to $300 for 
parents or guardians and fines of $200 to $1,000 for employers hiring 
children younger than 15. An employer's business is subject to closure 
for repeated infractions.
    The Ministries of Labor and of Economic and Social Inclusion and 
the Minors' Tribunal enforce child labor laws, but enforcement, while 
improving, remained inadequate. From January to July, the National 
Directorate of Police for Children and Adolescents received 66 reports 
of child labor.
    In March 2010 the government combined the child labor inspectors 
with the regular labor inspections force. The Ministry of Labor's 
Social Service Directorate monitored child labor in factories, but 
enforcement in most sectors of the economy remained limited. In 
addition, the Ministry of Mines and Energy had an agreement with the 
Ministry of Labor Relations that allowed Ministry of Mines' inspectors 
to enforce child labor laws and impose sanctions for violations found 
in mines.
    In March 2010 the government announced a program, Ecuador without 
Child Labor, aimed at eliminating all forms of illegal child labor; the 
program involved multiyear campaigns specifically targeting child labor 
in garbage dumps, the flower industry, and begging. By December 2010 
the government announced that it had practically eradicated child labor 
in garbage dumps, which the ILO confirmed was largely accurate. The 
program not only removed children from the dumps but also worked with 
families to enroll the children in school and provided assistance to 
families. The program also removed children from the streets and worked 
to increase awareness of child begging. While begging was reduced 
through the program, it was still common.
    Child labor remained a severe problem in the informal sector. 
Children were most likely to be found working on banana plantations or 
as street vendors. Children also worked in the production of broccoli, 
sugarcane, and strawberries and were involved in brick making and 
small-scale gold mining. Forced child labor took the form of 
involuntary domestic work, forced begging, and forced labor in mines. 
Some children were forced to engage in criminal activity, such as drug 
trafficking, and were recruited by Colombian terrorist groups along the 
northern border.
    In urban areas many children under the age of 15 worked in family-
owned businesses in the informal sector, shining shoes, or as street 
peddlers. Other children were employed in messenger services, domestic 
services, and begging. Children as young as five or six often sold 
newspapers or candy on the street to support themselves or augment 
family income.
    The National Institute of Statistics and Census found that in 2009, 
374,000 children were engaged in labor not permitted by law, primarily 
working in rural areas or in the informal sector. In 2010 UNICEF 
estimated the number of child laborers at approximately 340,000.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum monthly wage was 
$264. The official estimate of the poverty level was $72.87 per month. 
The law limits the standard work period to 40 hours a week, eight hours 
a day, with two consecutive days of rest per week. Underground workers, 
such as miners, are limited to six hours a day and may only work one 
additional hour a day with premium pay. Premium pay is 1.5 times the 
basic salary for work done from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Work done from 
12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. receives twice the basic salary, although 
workers whose standard shift is at night receive a premium of 25 
percent instead. Premium pay also applies to work done on weekends and 
holidays. Overtime is limited to no more than four hours a day and a 
total of 12 hours a week. Mandatory overtime is prohibited. Workers are 
entitled to a continuous 15-day annual vacation, including weekends, 
plus one extra day per year after five years of service. Different 
regulations regarding schedule and vacations apply to live-in domestic 
workers.
    The law provides for the health and safety of workers. Health and 
safety standards are outlined in the labor code. Workers do not have 
the right to remove themselves from situations that endanger health or 
safety without jeopardy to their employment. Foreign and migrant 
workers are subject to the same labor standards.
    The Ministry of Labor Relations worked to improve enforcement of 
labor laws, although violations were common. Enforcement is the 
responsibility of the Ministry of Labor Relations and the Social 
Security Department of Hazards. The government had approximately 250 
inspectors, who were in charge of enforcing all labor laws, including 
those for child labor. The Ministry of Labor greatly increased its 
inspections for labor violations during the year, from 10,000 
inspections in 2010 to more than 26,000 in 2011. Enforcement efforts 
were sometimes hampered by the inexperience of newly hired inspectors 
and the lower priority placed on child labor by the inspectors.
    Labor inspections may be conducted by appointment, although this 
was uncommon, or after a worker complaint. If a worker requests an 
inspection and a Ministry of Labor Relations inspector confirms a 
workplace hazard, the inspector then may close down the workplace. 
Labor inspections generally occurred because of complaints, not as a 
preventive measure, and inspectors could not make unannounced visits. 
In some cases violations were remedied, but other cases were subject to 
legal challenges that delayed changes for months. In practice penalties 
were not sufficient to deter violations and were often not enforced.
    Various NGOs claimed that complaints by migrants and refugees were 
rarely investigated. Labor leaders and business owners also claimed 
corruption was common among the inspectors. In 2010 the Ministry of 
Labor Relations began implementing reforms aimed at improving labor 
rights enforcement, including in labor inspections, and it worked to 
increase the number of workers who are protected by contracts, 
receiving minimum wage, and registered for social security benefits. A 
law passed by national referendum in May made it mandatory for 
employers to register their employees with Social Security and 
established criminal penalties for noncompliance. The government ran an 
active campaign to register workers and labor inspectors focused on 
ensuring that workers had contracts and were registered with Social 
Security. The campaign included some house-to-house visits by 
inspectors to interview domestic workers and called employers to 
hearings if inspectors found a discrepancy with the law. While there 
were still many people who needed to be registered, there was a 
dramatic increase in the total number registered since the law's 
passage in May.
    Most workers worked in the large informal sector and in rural areas 
and were not subject to the minimum wage laws or legally mandated 
benefits. There were no specific regulations governing health and 
safety standards in the small-scale agricultural sector. Occupational 
health and safety issues were more prevalent in the large informal 
sector. The labor code singles out the health and safety of miners; 
however, there was no enforcement of safety rules in the small mines 
that made up the vast majority of enterprises in the mining sector. 
Migrants were particularly vulnerable to hazardous and exploitative 
working conditions.
    The government acknowledged that the number of on-the-job injuries 
was seriously underreported. According to the Social Security 
Institute, Ministry of Labor Relations, and Ministry of Health, 
approximately 15,000 on-the-job injuries were reported each year. The 
ILO estimated the true number at approximately 160,000. Safety 
violations were reportedly common in the banana, palm oil, flower, and 
gold-mining industries, particularly involving exposure to toxic 
chemicals. Several intercity bus accidents that resulted in numerous 
fatalities were partially attributed to a lack of enforcement of limits 
for drivers' work hours.
    In 2010 the U.N. special rapporteur on contemporary forms of 
slavery reported severe abuses and little government oversight in the 
palm oil industry, where many workers were Colombian migrants. The 
abuses included excessive work hours, very low or no wages, and 
inhumane living conditions. Additional abuses were found in the banana, 
flower, and small-scale gold-mining industries.

                               __________

                              EL SALVADOR

                           executive summary
    El Salvador is a constitutional multiparty republic. In March 2009 
voters elected Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena of the Farabundo Marti 
National Liberation Front (FMLN) as president for a five-year term in 
generally free and fair elections. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The principal human rights problems were widespread corruption, 
particularly in the judicial system; weaknesses in the judiciary and 
the security forces that led to a high level of impunity; and violence 
and discrimination against women.
    Other human rights problems included isolated unlawful killings by 
security forces; lengthy pretrial detention; harsh, overcrowded, and 
dangerously substandard prison conditions; child abuse and child 
prostitution; trafficking in persons; violence and discrimination 
against sexual minorities; child labor; and inadequate enforcement of 
labor laws.
    Although the government took steps to dismiss some officials who 
committed abuses in the penitentiary system and the police, impunity 
persisted.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--During the year 
there were no verified reports that the government or its agents 
committed politically motivated killings; however, there were reports 
that security forces were involved in unlawful killings. During the 
year the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights (PDDH) received seven 
complaints of alleged unlawful killings. Although the PDDH defines all 
killings by government personnel as ``extrajudicial killings,'' there 
were no verifiable reports of deliberate unlawful killings carried out 
by order of the government or with its complicity. The National 
Civilian Police (PNC) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported 
that during the year eight PNC officers were accused of homicide and 
that PNC officers had killed six persons. The OIG also reported that 
during the year 27 police officers had been arrested under homicide 
charges. The OIG did not specify whether the crimes were committed 
while on duty.
    On January 27, a military patrol killed two Salvadoran men who were 
smuggling wood across the border with Honduras; the men reportedly had 
failed to stop when ordered to do so. On August 11, the San Francisco 
Gotera Sentencing Court (a civilian court) dismissed charges against 
nine soldiers. The Third Appellate Court of San Miguel upheld the 
ruling on appeal.
    On March 8, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) 
filed a complaint before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights 
regarding extrajudicial killings committed by the Atlacatl Battalion in 
El Mozote in 1981 during the 1980-92 civil war. In August the court 
condemned the Salvadoran government for the disappearance of children 
in El Mozote. On December 10, the foreign minister, on behalf of the 
government, accepted responsibility for the massacre at a 30th 
anniversary commemoration at the site of the massacre.
    On August 24, the Supreme Court of Justice stated it would not 
order the arrest of nine former military personnel wanted by Spain in 
relation to the unlawful killing of six Jesuit priests (five of them 
Spanish), their maid, and her daughter in 1989. The Supreme Court 
released the officers because it found the petition had been filed 
improperly.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances. The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Association for 
the Search for Missing Children (Pro-Busqueda) received 12 new 
complaints regarding children who disappeared during the civil war. It 
continued investigating 521 cases and resolved eight other cases by 
year's end. Pro- Busqueda complained that the government did not comply 
with Inter-American Court of Human Rights recommendations regarding the 
investigation and sanctioning of those responsible for the 
disappearance of children during the civil war.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices. On March 11, the 
Legislative Assembly amended the law on crimes against humanity to 
include a specific prohibition on torture.
    However, during the year the PDDH received 53 complaints 
specifically against PNC officers for excessive use of force and 12 
against members of the armed forces. It also received 166 complaints of 
torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and 846 
complaints for violations of human integrity, 575 by PNC officers and 
the rest by armed forces personnel. During the year the OIG reported 75 
complaints of torture by PNC officers. The Office of the Attorney 
General (OAG) reported four allegations that male guards raped women. 
In December 2010 the OIG filed charges against police officers 
suspected of involvement. Unlike the preceding year, the OAG did not 
report any rapes occurring in pretrial detention centers. The Ministry 
of Defense investigated all cases against members of the armed forces. 
On August 11, the San Francisco Gotera Sentencing Court (a civilian 
court) dismissed charges against nine soldiers accused of an 
extrajudicial killing at the Honduran border.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions remained harsh and dangerous. Overcrowding 
constituted a serious threat to prisoners' health and lives. In many 
facilities provisions for sanitation, potable water, ventilation, 
temperature, and lighting were inadequate. In October 2010 the IACHR 
termed prison conditions deplorable, stating that there were 
construction deficiencies that led to safety hazards and a lack of 
sanitation. Also, the lack of potable water contributed to a high 
incidence of disease. On June 18, approximately 2,740 inmates in 
prisons in San Miguel, Ciudad Barrios, La Union, Usulutan, Jucuapa, 
Gotera, and Chalatenango suffered food poisoning. On July 18, the PDDH 
stated that the penitentiary system had ``collapsed.'' On October 5, 
the General Prison Directorate announced that the inmate population had 
increased 47 percent during the preceding five years.
    Prison authorities reported that during the year 48 prisoners died 
due to natural causes, homicide, and suicide and that 22 prisoners died 
in prison riots and fights. For instance, on July 1, the Santa Ana 
Prison director declared a state of emergency after a riot in which 
three prisoners, two of whom were gang members, were killed and seven 
others injured.
    The Prison Directorate reported that as of December 20, there were 
25,294 prisoners, including 2,440 women, held in 21 correctional 
facilities and two secure hospital wards that have a combined capacity 
of 8,090. The prison population included 18,139 convicted prisoners and 
7,155 inmates held in pretrial detention. Due to prison overpopulation, 
from June to November, authorities held approximately 2,325 pretrial 
detainees in small detention centers at police stations that had a 
combined capacity of 600. This temporary measure caused logistical 
problems at some police stations that were not prepared to feed inmates 
for more than 72 hours. The Prison Directorate discontinued the 
practice before year's end. Due to the lack of holding cells, pretrial 
detainees in regular prisons often were held together with violent 
criminals. Men were separated from women within the prisons. There is 
also a separate women's prison in Ilopango, which was generally clean 
and allowed the inmates to have children under age five stay with their 
mothers.
    Gang activities in prisons and juvenile-holding facilities remained 
a serious problem. Detention center facilities held 9,575 inmates who 
were current or former gang members. Gang members were separated from 
the regular prison population when possible, but gangs continued to 
exercise influence within the prisons and judicial system.
    There were 655 inmates in four prisons for juvenile offenders with 
a total capacity of 460 inmates.
    Prisoners reportedly conducted criminal activities from their 
cells, at times with the complicity of prison guards. Smuggling of 
weapons, drugs, and other contraband such as cell phones and cell-phone 
chips was a major problem in the prisons. During the year prison 
authorities sanctioned 76 guards and did not renew the contracts of 121 
others allegedly involved in corrupt activities.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance.
    Prison authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit 
complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to request 
investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. Prison 
authorities investigated such allegations, although investigation 
results were not always documented in a publicly accessible manner. 
Through August neither the PDDH nor the Prison Directorate reported any 
complaints against prison guards. There is no prison ombudsman. The 
government investigated and monitored prison and detention center 
conditions and permitted prison-monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers, NGOs, and the media. Such visits occurred during the 
year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Although the constitution 
prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention, there were complaints that 
the PNC arbitrarily arrested and detained persons. During the year the 
PDDH reported receiving 187 complaints of arbitrary arrest or detention 
and 129 complaints of illegal detentions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The PNC is responsible 
for maintaining public security and the Ministry of Defense for 
maintaining national security. The military is tasked with carrying out 
three public security missions: guarding prisons, securing the 
international border, and patrolling with the PNC. President Funes 
authorized the military to provide support for PNC patrols in rural and 
urban areas and give support to law enforcement agencies. During the 
year military personnel were assigned to assist the PNC and Prison 
Directorate, but they do not have arrest authority. Although the 
government did not indicate a concluding date for the temporary 
assignment of the military to police duties, the decree authorizing the 
deployment was scheduled to expire in May 2012.
    Inadequate training, lack of enforcement of the administrative 
police career law, arbitrary promotions, insufficient government 
funding, lack of a uniform code of evidence, and instances of 
corruption and criminality limited the PNC's effectiveness. The OIG 
reported that during the year authorities charged eight police officers 
with homicide; it also received 964 complaints of alleged police 
misconduct. The OIG referred 679 of these cases to the OAG and 
sanctioned 919 officers in response to complaints filed during the year 
and in prior years. These sanctions included 107officers dismissed for 
misconduct and 664 suspended without pay. The OIG also administratively 
arrested 148 police officers. The OAG investigated 364 cases against 
police officers, resulting in 258 procedures and 10 conviction 
sentences. Three procedures were resolved through mediation.
    On November 16, Director of the National Public Security Academy 
Jaime Martinez stated that he dismissed 20 police officers for 
mistreatment of police cadets. On December 6, a PNC chief in San 
Miguel, Jorge Sanchez Granados, was arrested on fraud charges, 
following the arrest earlier in the month of 11 other police officers 
for various crimes.
    On May 25, the Constitutional Chamber declared unconstitutional the 
Legislative Assembly's special committee that investigated PNC 
Inspector General Zaira Navas.
    The OIG reported that most PNC officers and police academy cadets 
received human rights awareness training during the year, including 
training by the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women 
(ISDEMU), the Human Rights Institute of the University of Central 
America, and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights.
    During the year OIG and other organizations, including the 
Secretariat of Social Inclusion (SIS), provided human rights training 
to approximately 4,700 police officers.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution requires a written warrant for arrest, except in cases 
where an individual is arrested in the act of committing a crime. In 
practice authorities apprehended persons with warrants based on 
evidence and issued by a duly authorized official. The constitution 
grants detainees the right to a prompt judicial determination of the 
legality of their detention, and authorities generally respected this 
right in practice. In general detainees were promptly informed of 
charges against them.
    The law permits release on bail for detainees who are unlikely to 
flee or whose release would not impede the investigation of the case. 
The bail system functioned adequately in most cases. Because it may 
take several years for a case to come to trial, some prisoners were 
incarcerated longer than the maximum legal sentences for their crimes. 
In such circumstances detainees could request a Supreme Court review of 
their continued detention.
    On May 25, the Supreme Court dismissed First Penitentiary 
Surveillance Judge Dora Margarita Gomez because she did not duly 
process an inmate's petition claiming he was incarcerated beyond the 
term of his sentence.
    The courts generally enforced a ruling that interrogation without 
the presence of counsel is coercion and that any evidence obtained in 
such a manner is inadmissible. As a result, PNC authorities generally 
delayed questioning until a public defender or an attorney arrived. 
Family members were allowed prompt access to detainees. Detainees 
generally had prompt access to counsel of their choice or to an 
attorney provided by the state.
    The constitution permits the PNC to hold a person for 72 hours 
before delivering the suspect to court, after which the judge may order 
detention for an additional 72 hours to determine if an investigation 
is warranted. The law allows up to six months for investigation of 
serious crimes before requiring either a trial or dismissal of the 
case. In exceptionally complicated cases, the prosecutor may ask an 
appeals court to extend the deadline for three or six months, depending 
on the seriousness of the crime. Many cases were not completed within 
the legally prescribed time frame.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution provides 
for an independent judiciary, the judiciary suffered from inefficiency, 
corruption, political infighting, and insufficient resources. 
Substantial corruption in the judicial system contributed to a high 
level of impunity, undermining the rule of law and the public's respect 
for the judiciary. The criminal conviction rate was less than 5 
percent. An ineffective public-security strategy, inadequate government 
funding and training of the PNC, and ineffective senior-level 
leadership made it difficult to identify, arrest, and prosecute 
perpetrators of human rights abuses and other crimes, thus diminishing 
public confidence in the justice system. Intimidation and killing of 
police officers, crime victims, and witnesses created a climate of 
fear, complicating investigation of violent crime and other alleged 
human rights abuses
    On June 2, the Legislative Assembly and President Funes approved 
Decree 743, which limited the independence of the Constitutional Court 
by requiring that the court's decisions be unanimous. On July 6, the 
president proposed a series of changes to the Constitutional Procedure 
Law to further limit the independence of the court. The limitations 
responded to a series of politically sensitive decisions made by the 
court in 2010 and 2011 that affected election laws, canceled certain 
political parties, and allowed independent candidates to run for 
office. On July 27, following protests from more than a dozen civil 
society organizations, the Catholic Church, and the IACHR, the 
Legislative Assembly repealed the decree. However, at year's end, the 
justices still faced the possibility of impeachment.
    The Ministry of Justice operated witness and victim protection 
programs. According to the PNC, the programs provided protection to 101 
persons during the year. However, in practice some judges denied 
anonymity to witnesses at trial, and gang intimidation and violence 
against witnesses contributed to a climate of impunity from criminal 
prosecution. On November 26, the OAG declined to appeal a judge's 
decision allowing the identity of a protected witness to be revealed. 
The same day, six relatives of the witness were injured when they were 
attacked with firearms; two died from their injuries.
    On September 14, the PDDH accused the OAG of obstruction of access 
to justice, violation of due process, and failure to protect 
constitutional rights in 24 cases.
    During the year the Supreme Court investigation unit received 219 
complaints against judges, and the court ultimately dismissed two 
judges and suspended six others. The Supreme Court also submitted three 
cases to the OAG for investigation of possible judicial corruption. 
During the year the OAG investigated 50 complaints against prosecutors 
for misconduct. The investigations resulted in the dismissal of eight 
prosecutors and the suspension of 30 others.

    Trial Procedures.--Although juries were used for specific charges, 
including environmental pollution and certain misdemeanors, judges 
decided most cases. By law juries hear only cases that the law does not 
assign to sentencing courts. After the jury's determination of 
innocence or guilt, a tribunal decides the sentence.
    Defendants have the right to be present in court, question 
witnesses, and present witnesses and evidence. Although the 
constitution further provides for the presumption of innocence, 
protection from self-incrimination, the right to legal counsel, freedom 
from coercion, access for defendants and their attorneys to government-
held evidence relevant to their cases, and government-provided legal 
counsel for the indigent, these legal rights and protections were not 
always respected in practice. Although a jury's verdict is final, a 
judge's verdict can be appealed. Trials are public. The law extends 
these rights to all citizens.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--On August 31, the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights reminded the government of its 
responsibility for the disappearances of children during the civil war 
and urged the state to investigate the cases and sanction those 
responsible for the disappearances.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for 
access to the courts, enabling litigants to bring civil lawsuits 
seeking damages for, as well as cessation of, human rights violations. 
Domestic court orders were generally enforced.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice. 
Individuals could criticize the government publicly or privately 
without reprisal, and the government generally did not interfere with 
such criticism. The law permits the executive branch to use the 
emergency broadcasting service to temporarily take over all broadcast 
and cable networks to televise political programming. The president 
occasionally used this law to highlight his accomplishments.

    Violence and Harassment.--On August 13, presidential security staff 
allegedly detained illegally photojournalist Nilton Garcia after he 
took photographs of President Funes exiting a shooting range in 
downtown San Salvador. According to a leading newspaper, security 
officers detained Garcia for several hours, deleted his photographs, 
and released him the same day.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Although international NGOs 
generally commented positively on the status of press freedom in the 
country, newspaper editors and radio directors occasionally discouraged 
journalists from reporting on topics that the owners or publishers 
might not view favorably. Government advertising accounted for a 
significant portion of press advertising income, although exact data on 
such spending was not available publicly.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--On April 15, the IACHR criticized 
the September 2010 Supreme Court ruling declaringd unconstitutional a 
section of Criminal Code Article 191 that provided immunity to 
publishers and owners of media against charges of defamation, slander, 
and libel. Most media saw this ruling as potentially infringing on 
freedom of the press. On September 8, the Legislative Assembly amended 
the criminal code, which had allowed imprisonment for those who commit 
defamation, slander, or libel, and replaced the punishment with fines. 
The assembly also added a provision for civil liability for defamation. 
In addition media publishers and editors are no longer liable for such 
crimes.

    Nongovernmental Impact.--The Salvadoran Journalists' Association 
noted that journalists reporting on narcotics trafficking were subject 
to threats and intimidation, which led to media self-censorship in 
reporting about such trafficking. On April 25, cameraman Alfredo 
Hurtado was killed while riding a bus in San Bartolo, Ilopango. The 
PDDH alleged that the killing was a targeted assassination of a police-
friendly journalist in a gang-dominated area. Relatives of Hurtado said 
that he had received death threats from gangs. Police arrested a gang 
member for homicide on August 31, and the hearing was scheduled for 
February 2012.
    On March 9, a court sentenced 11 gang members to prison for the 
2009 murder of French-Spanish filmmaker Christian Poveda.

    Actions to Expand Press Freedom.--During the year the Salvadoran 
Association of Journalists offered training for media professionals on 
how to handle crises and provided information via social media on 
attacks against journalists.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms or attempted to collect personally 
identifiable information. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The country's laws 
provide for the granting of refugee status or asylum, and the 
government has established a system for providing protection to 
refugees. As of August the government received 11 refugee petitions and 
granted two persons full refugee status.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides the right of citizens 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.--Recent Elections.--In March 
2009 FMLN candidate Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena won the 
presidential election, which the Organization of American States and 
other international observers reported was generally free and fair with 
few irregularities. During the 2009 elections, as in prior elections, 
the main opposition political party, ARENA, and the FMLN accused each 
other of registering voters from other countries under the registration 
law, which allows a person to register with two witnesses who swear to 
his/her identity; however, no parties filed any formal complaints after 
the election.
    In the January 2009 legislative elections, described as free and 
fair by international observers, no party won an outright majority.

    Political Parties.--Political parties could operate without 
restrictions or outside interference. On June 16, the Legislative 
Assembly passed a law to allow Salvadorans for the first time to vote 
for individual candidates instead of voting only for parties. On April 
29, the Constitutional Chamber canceled El Salvador's oldest political 
parties, the National Conciliation Party and the Christian Democratic 
Party. Both parties registered as new political parties with similar 
logos and colors. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) registered nine 
political parties plus five independent candidates to compete in the 
2012 elections. Some independent candidates asserted that the TSE 
improperly denied their registration, and several reported receiving 
threats, which caused some of them to drop their candidacies.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were 16 women in the 
84-member Legislative Assembly, five women on the 15-member Supreme 
Court, and two women in the 13-member cabinet. No persons on the 
Supreme Court or in the legislature or other government entities 
identified themselves as members of an ethnic minority or indigenous 
community, and there were no political party positions or parliamentary 
seats designated for ethnic 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, particularly in the judicial system, engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity. The NGO Transparency International in December 
2010 reported that government corruption was a serious problem, 
reflected by public perceptions of corruption in political parties, the 
police, judicial system, Legislative Assembly, and among public 
employees.
    On July 15, prison authorities dismissed the entire guard force of 
Quezaltepeque Prison for suspected corruption and implemented new 
security measures after the discovery of a tunnel built by the M-18 
gang.
    NGOs, including the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social 
Development (FUSADES), alleged that the Supreme Court did not 
adequately deal with corrupt judges and that perceived corruption and 
weak application of criminal law by judges contributed to a lack of 
confidence in the judiciary. FUSADES maintained a Web site that makes 
judicial proceedings and records available to the public.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Court of Accounts, the Sub-Secretariat for Transparency and 
Anticorruption, the Anticorruption Unit of the OAG, the Supreme Court 
Probity Section, and the Government Ethics Tribunal (TEG) share 
responsibility for combating corruption.
    During the year the Ethics Tribunal received 173 complaints 
involving 347 public officers; it processed 148 cases and submitted 19 
to the OAG.
    On August 22, online newspaper El Faro alleged that three 
Legislative Assembly deputies, including one former vice president, 
owned lands originally set aside for poor rural residents. The OAG 
began an investigation of a former president of the Salvadoran 
Institute of Agrarian Transformation for corruption in connection with 
the case, and the investigation was pending at year's end.
    On November 30, the Appellate Court approved the release from house 
arrest of former minister of health Guillermo Maza, who had been 
arrested for embezzlement on April 5. PNC Deputy Director Rolando 
Garcia Herrera was placed under house arrest on August 23 for the same 
embezzlement case.
    Following a year-long investigation, on October 11, the Fifth Court 
of Instruction issued a warrant for the arrest of former ANDA manager 
Mario Orellana on charges of laundering more than seven million dollars 
(the U.S. dollar is the national currency).
    On May 18, the Legislative Assembly passed a law aimed at 
increasing transparency in public acquisitions.
    As of August the TEG received 122 ethics complaints against public 
servants. Investigations resulted in public reprimands for seven 
government officials and the suspension of four others. To combat 
public sector corruption, the TEG operated ethics commissions within 79 
of the 81 government entities required by law to have them.
    On September 7, President Funes approved implementing regulations 
for the Public Information Access Law, which took effect May 8. The law 
provides for the right of access to government information. The new law 
establishes mechanisms to appeal denials. However, local media and NGOs 
contended that presidential approval of the five commissioners of the 
Public Information Institute potentially compromises their 
independence. President Funes had not approved the commissioners by 
year's end.
    Citizens could access via the Internet some information regarding 
the national budget and certain cases before the Supreme Court. On 
August 24, FUSADES reported $8.2 million in cash transfers from 
different executive branch offices for ``unforeseen expenses.'' The 
transfers did not have Legislative Assembly approval, which the law 
requires.
    The government usually did not give reasons for denying public 
access to 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. Although government 
officials generally were cooperative and responsive to these groups, 
officials at times were reluctant to discuss worker rights issues with 
NGOs and the PDDH. Domestic and international NGOs were required to 
register with the government.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The principal human rights 
investigative and monitoring body is the autonomous PDDH, whose head is 
elected by the Legislative Assembly to a three-year term. The PDDH 
regularly issued reports and press releases on prominent human rights 
cases. The PDDH enjoyed government cooperation and operated without 
government or party interference, had adequate resources, and was 
considered generally effective.
    The PDDH maintained a constructive dialogue with the President's 
Office. The government publicly acknowledged receipt of PDDH reports, 
although in some cases it did not take action on PDDH recommendations, 
which are not legally binding.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    Although the constitution and the legal code provide that all 
persons are equal before the law and prohibit discrimination regardless 
of race, gender, disability, language, or social status, in practice 
the government did not effectively enforce these prohibitions. There 
was discrimination against women; persons with disabilities; lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons; and indigenous people. 
The SIS, headed by First Lady Vanda Pignato, made efforts to overcome 
traditional bias in all these areas.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape. 
While not specifically addressed in the law, spousal rape may be 
considered a crime if the actions meet the criminal code definition of 
rape. The law requires the OAG to prosecute rape cases whether or not 
the victim presses charges, and the law does not permit the victim's 
pardon to nullify the criminal charge. The penalty for rape is six to 
10 years' imprisonment, but the law provides for a maximum sentence of 
20 years for rape of certain classes of victims, including children and 
persons with disabilities.
    Incidents of rape continued to be underreported for a number of 
reasons, including societal and cultural pressures on victims, fear of 
reprisal, ineffective and unsupportive responses by authorities toward 
victims, fear of publicity, and a perception among victims that cases 
were unlikely to be prosecuted. Laws against rape were not effectively 
enforced.
    Rape and other sexual crimes against women were widespread. The OAG 
reported 2,264 cases of rape and four cases of sexual, physical, and 
psychological abuses of women by police officers during the year.
    On March 28, First Lady and Secretary of Social Inclusion Vanda 
Pignato inaugurated the first ``Ciudad Mujer'' service center in 
Lourdes, Department of La Libertad, intended to provide comprehensive 
assistance to victims of gender violence. During the year ISDEMU 
provided health and psychological assistance to 158 women, 389 girls, 
and13 boys who suffered sexual abuse.
    The law prohibits domestic violence and provides for sentences 
ranging from one to three years in prison. The law also permits 
obtaining restraining orders against offenders. Domestic violence was 
considered socially acceptable by a large portion of the population, 
and, as with rape, its incidence was underreported.
    Violence against women, including domestic violence, was a 
widespread and serious problem. Laws against domestic violence were not 
well enforced, and cases were not effectively prosecuted. During the 
year ISDEMU received 3,895 reports of domestic violence and provided 
medical and psychological assistance to 5,134 individuals for physical 
abuses, including sexual aggression, domestic violence, child abuse, 
sexual or labor harassment, commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking 
in persons, and alien smuggling. ISDEMU also reported 3,789 cases of 
``psychological abuse."
    During the year the PNC investigated 1,752 cases of domestic 
violence, which resulted in five convictions, 487 trial procedures, and 
201 cases resolved through mediation. As of November the OAG reported 
594 women had died from violence. In March U.N. Special Rapporteur on 
Violence against Women Rashida Manjoo asserted that the country's 
``generalized state of violence'' subjected women to murder, rape, 
domestic violence, sexual harassment, and commercial sexual 
exploitation.
    ISDEMU coordinated with the judicial and executive branches and 
civil society groups to conduct public awareness campaigns against 
domestic violence and sexual abuse. The PDDH, OAG, Supreme Court, 
Public Defender's Office, and PNC collaborated with NGOs and other 
organizations to combat violence against women through education, 
increased enforcement of the law, and NGO support programs for victims. 
The SIS, through ISDEMU, defined policies, programs, and projects on 
domestic violence and continued to maintain a telephone hotline and a 
shelter for victims of domestic abuse and child victims of commercial 
sexual exploitation. The government's efforts to combat domestic 
violence were minimally effective.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment and 
provides penalties of imprisonment from three to five years if the 
victim is an adult and from four to eight years if the victim is a 
minor. Fines could also be imposed. The government did not enforce 
sexual harassment laws effectively. Since underreporting by victims of 
sexual harassment appeared to be widespread, it was difficult to 
estimate the extent of the problem. ISDEMU reported 101 cases of sexual 
harassment and 560 cases of sexual aggression. The OAG reported 590 
complaints of sexual harassment during the year, of which 254 were 
brought to trial; 12 of these cases were resolved through mediation, 
and 39 resulted in convictions.
    In June the government launched the Office of Citizen Complaints 
and Service to provide assistance to female victims of violence and 
physical abuse. There were no reports by year's end on its activities.
    The law defines sexual harassment as any unwanted physical sexual 
contact and stipulates penalties of three to five years in prison (or 
four to eight years in cases where the victim is under age 15 at the 
time of the offense). Fines are added to the prison term in cases where 
the perpetrator is in a position of authority or trust over the victim.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals had the right to 
decide the number, spacing, and timing of children, and information 
about and access to contraception was available widely. Demographic 
Health Surveys indicated that 72 percent of married women used some 
method of family planning. Prenatal care and skilled attendance at 
delivery were also readily available. The U.N. Population Fund 
estimated that the maternal mortality rate in 2008 was 110 deaths per 
100,000 live births. Poverty, lack of education, and lack of access to 
a formal medical care system are the major factors contributing to a 
high maternal mortality rate. Women and men have equal access to 
diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--The constitution grants women and men the same 
legal rights under family and property law, but women did not receive 
equal treatment in practice. The law establishes sentences of one to 
three years in prison for public officials who deny a person's civil 
rights based on gender, and six months to two years for employers who 
discriminate against women in the workplace. However, employees 
generally did not report such violations due to fear of employer 
reprisals.
    Although pregnancy testing as a condition for employment is 
illegal, some businesses allegedly required female job applicants to 
present pregnancy test results, and some businesses illegally fired 
pregnant workers. During the year the Ministry of Labor received 62 
complaints regarding illegal firing of pregnant workers, and imposed 
seven fines totaling $771.
    Although the law prohibits discrimination based on gender, women 
suffered from cultural, economic, and societal discrimination. Men 
often received priority in job placement and promotions, and women were 
not accorded equal treatment in traditional male-dominated sectors, 
such as agriculture and business. Training for women generally was 
confined to low-wage occupational areas where women already held most 
positions, such as teaching, nursing, apparel assembly, home industry, 
and small business.
    On September 9, the police director created an internal agency 
tasked with increasing gender equality within the PNC. Women 
constituted 9 percent of PNC officers. On September 28, the Legislative 
Assembly created a new committee on ``women and gender equality'' and 
granted official recognition to an autonomous association consisting of 
female deputies.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country and from one's parents. The law requires parents to 
register a child within 15 days of birth or else pay a $2.86 fine. 
While firm statistics were unavailable, many births were not 
registered. Failure to register resulted in a denial of school 
enrollment.

    Education.--Education is free, universal, and compulsory through 
the ninth grade and nominally free through high school. Rural areas 
frequently fell short of providing required education to all eligible 
students, due to a lack of resources and because rural parents often 
withdrew their children from school by the sixth grade to allow them to 
work.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse was a serious and widespread problem. 
Incidents of rape continued to be underreported for a number of 
reasons, including societal and cultural pressures on victims, fear of 
reprisal against victims, ineffective and unsupportive responses by 
authorities toward victims, fear of publicity, and a perception among 
victims that cases were unlikely to be prosecuted. The Salvadoran 
Institute for Children and Adolescents (ISNA), an autonomous government 
entity, defined policies, programs, and projects on child abuse, 
maintained a shelter for child victims of abuse and commercial sexual 
exploitation, and conducted a violence awareness campaign to combat 
child abuse. As of September ISNA reported sheltering 598 abused 
children. During the year the OAG reported 1,254 cases of rape of 
minors.
    Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that the PNC 
targeted minors specifically for harassment or arbitrary detention.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Sexual exploitation of children 
remained a problem, and there were credible reports that girls were 
forced into prostitution. Child sex trafficking is covered under the 
trafficking-in-persons statutes in the penal code, which prescribe 
penalties of four to eight years' imprisonment for trafficking crimes. 
An offense committed against a child is considered as reflecting 
aggravated circumstance, and the penalty increases by one-third. 
However, the government did not effectively enforce these laws.
    The law prohibits paying anyone under the age of 18 for sexual 
services. There were credible reports that girls were forced into 
prostitution. During the year, ISDEMU registered three cases of 
commercial sexual exploitation of children.
    On October 20, a 16-year-old girl reported being forced into 
prostitution for approximately six weeks. The defendants threatened to 
harm the victim's family. Two other girls were found at the same 
brothel.
    On November 21, a judge dismissed charges against nine suspects in 
a trafficking case of a minor who was forced into prostitution.
    The law prohibits participating in, facilitating, or purchasing 
materials containing child pornography and provides for prison 
sentences of up to 16 years.
    The law classifies statutory rape as sexual relations with anyone 
under 18 years of age and provides for penalties between four and 20 
years' imprisonment for those convicted of the crime. During the year 
the ISDEMU reported 402 cases of sexual abuse, and three cases of 
sexual commercial exploitation of minors; and the PNC reported 360 
cases of rape of persons under 18 and 880 cases of sexual abuse.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. The 
Jewish community totaled approximately 150 persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip .

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services. According to the National Council for Comprehensive Attention 
to Persons with Disability (CONAIPD), the government did not allocate 
sufficient resources to enforce these prohibitions effectively, 
particularly in education, employment, and transportation, and did not 
effectively enforce legal requirements for access to buildings, 
information, and communications for persons with disabilities. There 
are almost no access ramps or provisions for the mobility of persons 
with sight and hearing disabilities.
    Only 5 percent of businesses and no government agency fulfilled the 
legal requirement of hiring one person with disabilities for every 25 
hires.
    On March 17, the Legislative Assembly amended the electoral code to 
allow deaf, blind, and mute people to run as municipal and legislative 
candidates.
    Several public and private organizations promoted the rights of 
persons with disabilities, including the Telethon Foundation for 
Disabled Rehabilitation and the Salvadoran National Institute for the 
Disabled (ISRI). The Rehabilitation Foundation, in cooperation with 
ISRI, continued to operate a treatment center for persons with 
disabilities. However, CONAIPD reported that the government provided 
minimal funding for ISRI. The vast majority of persons with 
disabilities received care at home by relatives with little or no 
government support or supervision.
    CONAIPD--composed of representatives of multiple government 
entities--is the government agency responsible for protecting 
disability rights, but it lacks enforcement power.
    There were no reported patterns of abuse in prisons or in 
educational or mental health facilities, although CONAIPD reported 
isolated incidents, including sexual abuse, in those facilities.
    CONAIPD reported that persons were fired after becoming disabled, 
persons with disabilities were not considered for work for which they 
qualified, and some schools would not accept children with disabilities 
due to lack of facilities and resources. There is no formal system for 
filing a complaint with the government.
    During the year the SIS and CONAIPD conducted awareness campaigns, 
provided sensitivity training, promoted employment of persons with 
disabilities, and trained doctors and teachers about rights of persons 
with disabilities.

    Indigenous People.--While the constitution states that native 
languages are part of the national heritage and should be preserved and 
respected, the law does not recognize indigenous communities and 
accords no special rights to indigenous people. Births of indigenous 
persons were reportedly more likely not to be registered officially, 
reducing educational opportunities, since school registration requires 
a birth certificate.
    Although few individuals publicly identified themselves as 
indigenous, members of a few small indigenous communities continued to 
maintain traditional customs without repression or interference by the 
government or nonindigenous groups. Government estimates in 2004, the 
most recent available, indicated that approximately 99 percent of 
indigenous persons lived below the poverty level.
    No laws provide indigenous people rights to share in revenue from 
exploitation of natural resources on indigenous lands. During the year 
the PDDH reported that indigenous and nonindigenous communities 
protested construction of a hydroelectric dam in Nahuizalco. Although 
the indigenous communities asserted that the dam would destroy a 
cemetery and negatively impact several species of mollusks and fish in 
the Sunsunapan River, the Ministry of Environment authorized the dam. 
The government did not demarcate any lands as belonging to indigenous 
communities. Because few possessed title to land, opportunities for 
bank loans and other forms of credit were extremely limited.
    On July 6, Nahuizalco enacted the first municipal law recognizing 
the origin and existence of indigenous persons and their right to 
practice their customs and beliefs and outlawing all forms of 
discrimination.
    There were no government programs dedicated to combating 
discrimination against or communicating with indigenous persons. The 
PDDH reported that indigenous persons faced employment and workplace 
discrimination.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Although the law prohibits 
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, in practice 
discrimination was widespread. There was also significant 
discrimination against transgender persons.
    There was widespread official and societal discrimination based on 
sexual orientation in employment and access to health care and identity 
documents. The NGO Entre Amigos reported that public officials, 
including the police, engaged in violence and discrimination against 
sexual minorities. Persons from the LGBT community stated that the 
agencies in charge of processing identification documents, the PNC and 
OAG, ridiculed them when they applied for identification cards or 
reported cases of violence against LGBT persons. The government 
responded to these abuses primarily through PDDH reports that 
publicized specific cases of violence and discrimination against sexual 
minorities.
    On May 13, the SIS's Office of Sexual Diversity announced an 
awareness campaign and training on LGBT rights. Hundreds of government 
employees attended the training.
    The PDDH reported receiving complaints about the killing of 13 
persons from the LGBT community during the first half of the year, 
compared with two during 2010. On September 18, the Solidarity 
Association to Promote Human Development of Transsexual, Transgender, 
and Transvestite Men and Women stated that as of September, the media 
reported 17 killings; 23 cases of police mistreatment; and injuries to 
13 individuals, three allegedly injured by police. They also reported 
six ``hate crimes'' and four attacks on LGBT persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Although the law 
prohibits discrimination on the basis of HIV/AIDS status, in practice 
discrimination was widespread. Lack of public information and medical 
resources remained a problem in confronting discrimination against 
persons with HIV/AIDS or in assisting persons suffering from HIV/AIDS. 
On May 12, Rolando Cedillos, director of the HIV program in the main 
national hospital, stated that the government did not allocate enough 
resources for HIV patients. In 2010 the Ministry of Health reported 
that 25,530 persons were infected with HIV, of whom 8,000 had AIDS. On 
December 14, the UNDP reported 1,436 new HIV cases and 73 new AIDS 
cases. A 2010 UNDP survey reported that 31 percent of persons infected 
with HIV/AIDS experienced some form of discrimination, including 
credible reports of denial of public services (such as schooling) and 
loss of employment. Persons denied entry into the armed forces charged 
that the military illegally required HIV testing for its soldiers.
    On September 21, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court 
ordered the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS) to provide 
retroviral medicine to an HIV/AIDS patient who had requested it. The 
ISSS had denied the request because the medication was not commercially 
available in the country, a regulatory requirement. The court declared 
that the regulation violated the constitutional right to health.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides for the right of workers to form and join unions, 
provides for the right to strike, protects the right to bargain 
collectively in the private and public sectors, and prohibits antiunion 
discrimination. However, the law places several restrictions on these 
rights. Military personnel, national police, judges, high-level public 
officers, and workers who are in ``positions of trust'' are not 
permitted to form and join unions. The Labor Code does not cover public 
workers, who are regulated by the Civil Service Tribunal Law. During 
the year the Ministry of Labor enforced collective bargaining 
agreements selectively.
    Although unions do not require prior authorization from the 
government, they must meet certain requirements to be legally 
registered, and unions must have a minimum of 35 members. The law 
permits the participation of noncitizens in unions, but requires that 
union leaders be citizens. On July 7, the Supreme Court of Justice 
issued an administrative ruling that limited union representatives' 
labor activities to one day per week. On September 5, the PDDH urged 
the court to reconsider the ruling, alleging that it violated 
International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 151.
    The law does not recognize the right to strike for public and 
municipal employees, or for workers in ``essential services.'' It does 
not specifically designate which services are considered essential. The 
law places several other restrictions on the right to strike, including 
mandating that a strike must be supported by 51 percent of all workers 
in an enterprise to be legal. In addition unions may strike only to 
obtain or modify a collective bargaining agreement or to protect 
professional rights, and must engage in negotiation, mediation, and 
arbitration before striking. The union must notify the Ministry of 
Labor about planned strikes and wait four days from the time the 
ministry notifies the employer before striking. The law prohibits 
workers from appealing a government decision declaring a strike 
illegal.
    The law does not require employers to reinstate illegally dismissed 
workers. The law specifies 18 reasons for which an employer can legally 
suspend workers, and employers can invoke 11 of these reasons without 
prior administrative or judicial authorization.
    The government did not effectively enforce the laws on freedom of 
association and the right to collective bargaining in all cases. During 
the year the Ministry of Labor encouraged the formation of new unions 
and streamlined the union registration process. The ministry 
investigated allegations of violations of freedom of association and 
the right to strike, as well as reports of antiunion discrimination. 
For instance, the OAG reported that during the year, there were two 
investigations for violations of freedom of association and the right 
to strike, and nine cases under investigation for labor discrimination. 
During the year the ministry imposed 1,363 fines on employers for 
illegally firing 4,308 workers. Although not required by law, the 
Ministry of Labor requested some employers to rehire fired workers 
during the year, basing its requests on ILO Administrative Court 
rulings. The ministry did not perform inspections in the informal 
sector. The ministry does not have jurisdiction over public employees, 
who are governed by the Civil Service Tribunal Law.
    Union representatives reported that labor rights were not 
consistently enforced for public workers, subcontracted workers in the 
construction industry, security guards, informal sector workers, and 
migrant workers. Judicial procedures were subject to lengthy delays and 
appeals.
    In practice workers faced challenges in exercising their rights to 
freedom of association and collective bargaining, including allegations 
by some unions of government influence on union activities and 
antiunion discrimination on the part of employers. Unions were 
independent of the government and political parties, although many were 
generally aligned with the National Republican Alliance (ARENA), FMLN, 
or other parties. Some independent unions alleged that the Ministry of 
Labor interfered with their activities by encouraging the formation of 
``parallel unions'' that supported the FMLN.
    The SUTC construction workers union alleged that the Ministry of 
Labor illegally replaced its union leadership with FMLN supporters by 
refusing to recognize the results of its January 2011 elections. The 
ousted SUTC leadership filed a complaint before the Administrative 
Chamber of the Supreme Court against the ministry, which was pending at 
year's end. There were also allegations that the ministry improperly 
revoked the credentials of a leader of the Santa Ana municipal workers 
union (SITRAMSA). In September the credentials of telecommunication 
workers union SITCOM and AVX Workers Union SITRAVX were revoked 
following a court decision that reversed a 2009 court ruling that had 
permitted them to register. Both unions alleged that the court 
decisions were due to judicial corruption.
    There were reports of antiunion discrimination, including threats 
against labor union members, dismissals of workers attempting to 
unionize, and blacklisting. The OAG reported no developments in the 
investigation of the January 2010 murder of SITRAMSA leader Abel 
Victorio Vega. There were reports that SITRAMSA workers continued to 
receive death threats after a 2010 strike that was later declared 
illegal by the Santa Ana Labor Court. There were also reports factory 
owners paid union leaders not to unionize in some assembly plants.
    In practice workers engaged in strikes regardless of whether legal 
requirements were met. In October the Ministry of Health threatened to 
fire health worker union members from Zacamil Hospital (SIMEHZAC) and 
the Ministry of Health (SITRASALUD) who went on strike to protest 
inadequate medical equipment, understaffing, and other problems. The 
unions ended their strike after the dismissal threat.
    On March 3, the Federation of Public Workers of El Salvador 
(FESTRAPRES) alleged that the NEMTEX textile company had illegally 
dismissed workers who were trying to unionize. In September the Workers 
Union of the Confecciones Gama apparel assembly company (STECG) alleged 
that Gama fired workers for engaging in union activities and 
blacklisted them from obtaining work at other companies by providing 
personal information regarding the workers to other employers.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor except in the case of natural 
catastrophe and other instances specified by law. In general the 
government effectively enforced such laws, and the Ministry of Labor 
reported it had received no complaints of forced labor during the year. 
However, there were anecdotal reports that some adults were subjected 
to forced labor in agriculture and in domestic servitude.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
http://www.state.gov/j/tip .

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children under age 14, except that 
children age 12 and older are allowed to engage in light work on coffee 
and sugar plantations and in the fishing industry, so long as it does 
not harm their health or interfere with their education. Children under 
age 16 are prohibited from working more than six hours per day and 34 
hours per week; those under age 18 are prohibited from working at night 
or in occupations considered hazardous. In August the Ministry of Labor 
published a list of the types of work considered hazardous and 
prohibited for children, which includes repairing heavy machinery; 
using chainsaws; mining; handling weapons, including knives and 
machetes, handling munitions and inflammable or radioactive substances; 
fishing and harvesting mollusks; working as stevedores; and working at 
heights above five feet while doing construction, erecting antennas, 
and working on billboards.
    The Ministry of Labor was responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws but did so with limited effectiveness. The ministry attributed its 
limited enforcement to traditional cultural attitudes that support the 
use of child labor. In practice, the ministry's labor inspectors who 
were reportedly trained in child labor focused almost exclusively on 
the formal sector. The ministry reported that when inspectors 
encountered incidents of child labor, the government removed the 
victims and placed them in educational programs. During the year the 
ministry reported that two children had been removed from agricultural 
activities. The ministry reported it verified that these situations did 
not reoccur, and that it continued to monitor the area where this work 
was identified. There was no information on specific investigations or 
prosecutions. The ministry lacked adequate resources to enforce 
effectively child labor laws in the agricultural sector, especially in 
coffee and sugarcane production, or in the large informal sector.
    During the year the Ministry of Labor conducted 12 campaigns to 
raise awareness about child labor. In March the government launched an 
interagency program to advance its Road Map to eliminate child labor in 
its worst forms by 2015 and in its entirety by 2020. The government 
continued to participate in an ILO project to provide educational 
opportunities to children while offering livelihood alternatives for 
their families. The Ministry of Education promoted child labor 
awareness and encouraged school attendance, including by operating 136 
after-school programs during the year. The government also incorporated 
material on combating child labor into its elementary school 
curriculum.
    Child labor remained a serious and widespread problem. The Ministry 
of Labor reported that during the year the government identified 90,905 
minors working in the agriculture sector; 18,559 in manufacturing, 
commerce, and service industries; and 5,550 in domestic service. 
According to the 2010 School Registration Census, the most recent 
available, there were approximately 91,300 child workers, with the 
largest number engaged in agricultural work. The worst forms of child 
labor occurred in coffee and sugarcane cultivation, fishing, mollusk 
shucking, and fireworks production. There were reports of children 
engaged in garbage scavenging. Orphans and children from poor families 
frequently worked for survival as street vendors and general laborers 
in small businesses. Children also worked as domestic servants, and 
faced long work hours and abuse by employers. Children were subjected 
to commercial sexual exploitation (see section 6, Children). Children 
were recruited into illegal gangs to perform illicit activities related 
to the arms and drug trades, including homicide.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no national minimum 
wage; the minimum wage is determined by sector. The minimum monthly 
wage was $224.29 for retail and service employees, $219.40 for 
industrial laborers, and $187.68 for apparel assembly workers. The 
agricultural minimum wage was $104.97 per month, although some 
agricultural workers, including coffee workers, were paid by the amount 
harvested rather than a daily wage. The government reported that the 
poverty income level was $183.41 for urban areas and $145 for rural 
areas.
    The law sets a maximum normal workweek of 44 hours, limited to no 
more than six days, and to no more than eight hours per day, but allows 
overtime if a bonus is paid. The law mandates that full-time employees 
be paid for an eight-hour day of rest in addition to the 44-hour normal 
workweek. The law provides that employers must pay double time for work 
on designated annual holidays, as well as a Christmas bonus based on 
the time of service of the employee, and 15 days of paid annual leave. 
The law prohibits compulsory overtime.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for setting workplace safety 
standards, and the law establishes a tripartite committee to review the 
standards. The law requires all employers to take steps to ensure that 
employees are not placed at risk to their health and safety in the 
workplace. In May 2011 a new workplace safety law took effect, although 
implementing regulations have not yet been put in place. The law 
promotes occupational safety awareness, training, and worker 
participation in occupational health and safety matters. The new law 
also addresses sexual harassment, violence against women, and other 
workplace harassment issues. During the year ISDEMU reported 101 cases 
of sexual harassment and the OAG investigated 590 complaints of sexual 
harassment.
    The law requires that employers provide preventive safety measures, 
including proper equipment and training, to employees, and a violence-
free workplace, in order to reasonably ensure the safety and health of 
workers. Employers who violate the law can be fined, although penalties 
were often not sufficient to deter violations, and some companies 
reportedly found it more cost-effective to pay the fines rather than 
comply with the law.
    The Ministry of Labor reported contradictory information regarding 
whether workers have the right to remove themselves from hazardous 
situations without jeopardy to their continued employment. The ministry 
noted that the government's ratification of ILO Convention 155 provides 
workers with the right to remove themselves; however, the ministry also 
reported that workers can be fired for refusing to undertake hazardous 
work. Employers cannot be compelled to rehire the workers but must 
compensate them, although workers generally were not informed about 
this right.
    The Ministry of Labor is charged with enforcing the law. The 
government reportedly enforced effectively the minimum wage law in the 
formal sector but not in the informal sector, and unions reported that 
the ministry also failed to enforce the minimum wage for subcontracted 
workers hired for public reconstruction contracts. The government 
decreased its inspection force from 210 to 195 during the year. It 
provided updated training to its inspectors for both occupational 
safety and labor standards. During the year, the Ministry of Labor 
reported 15,950 inspections, which resulted in fines for 2,536 
employers. There continued to be allegations of corruption among labor 
inspectors. As of October the ministry had submitted two cases of 
alleged corruption to the OAG.
    The ministry received complaints regarding failure to pay overtime, 
minimum wage violations, unpaid overtime and unpaid salaries, as well 
as cases of employers illegally withholding benefits (including social 
security and pension funds) from workers. During the year, the OAG 
investigated 47 cases of illegally withheld benefits. The Ministry of 
Labor reported conducting 507 inspections as of September, resulting in 
49 companies sanctioned with fines totaling $8,992.73, mostly due to 
nonpayment of back wages. In December the ministry recommended that 
workers from the Royal Textiles Flexiler factory initiate legal 
proceedings against the factory for workers' social security and 
pension payments illegally withheld since November 2010.
    According to the Ministry of Labor, immigrant workers have the same 
rights as Salvadorans, but, in practice, the ministry does not enforce 
these rights. In practice there were reports of overtime and wage 
violations in several sectors. For instance, from November 24 through 
28, the Union of Employees of the Ministry of the Treasury (SITRAMHA) 
organized a work stoppage in the customs, air, and maritime terminals, 
alleging they were required to work between 13 and 16 hours per day 
without overtime pay. Workers sought a collective bargaining agreement, 
which was under arbitration at year's end. The government reported 
that, although apparel assembly plants generally respected the laws on 
overtime, some plants required workers to work extra days in order to 
meet production goals; however, the workers received incentive pay and 
overtime. During the year there were no developments in the Hermosa 
Manufacturing case. Workers in the construction industry were 
reportedly subject to violations of wage, hour, and safety laws. There 
were also reports of occupational safety and health violations in other 
sectors. For instance, on May 25, the former workers of the Record 
Battery Company demanded that the company pay for their treatment for 
lead contamination. As of August, the Social Security Institute had 
provided medical care to 154 workers.
    In some cases, the country's high crime rate negatively impacted 
acceptable conditions of work, as well as workers' psychological and 
physical health. Some workers, such as bus drivers, bill collectors, 
messengers, and teachers in high risk areas reported being subject to 
extortion and death threats.
    During the year, the Ministry of Labor reported 125 workplace 
accidents in 30 companies. The ministry reported that 64 percent 
occurred at aluminum and glass companies, warehouses, furniture 
companies, textile and apparel companies, and public institutions. Men 
(81 percent ) suffered more accidents than women (19 percent). Most of 
the victims were between 18 and 31 years old (63 percent).

                               __________

                                GRENADA

                           executive summary
    Grenada is a parliamentary democracy with a bicameral legislature. 
In generally free and fair elections in July 2008, the National 
Democratic Congress won 11 of 15 seats in Parliament, and Tillman 
Thomas was sworn in as prime minister. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Human rights problems included allegations of corruption, violence 
against women, and instances of child abuse.
    The government took steps to punish security force members or other 
officials who committed abuses, and impunity was not perceived to be a 
problem.
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 political 
killings, but there were occasions where police killings occurred in 
the line of duty. The police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), 
in coordination with the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP), fully 
investigates all such killings. After a DPP review, and in cases not 
involving criminal liability, they are referred to the coroner for an 
inquest.
    In July a prison guard shot and killed a man who was allegedly 
breaching the fence at Her Majesty's Prison; the DPP concluded there 
was no criminal liability. In November the police killed a mentally 
unstable man who attacked an officer with a machete, in which the DPP 
also found no criminal liability. Both cases were referred to the 
coroner for further investigation. At year's end the CID, in 
coordination with the DPP, was investigating the December 26 death of a 
Canadian-Grenadian citizen whom police allegedly beat while in custody.

    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, 
young detainees claimed occasionally to family and friends that police 
mistreated them. At year's end the DPP was considering a CID report of 
an allegation by a complainant of potentially abusive treatment by 
police. Additional allegations of police mistreatment brought to the 
attention of the press did not result in complaints to the authorities.
    Flogging, a legal form of punishment for sex crimes and assault, 
was not uncommon.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions did not meet international standards. Overcrowding 
was a serious problem. In the sole penitentiary, there were 411 
prisoners, of whom four were women, held in space designed for 98 
persons. Potable water supplied by the water utility normally was 
available in prison hallways but not in the cells. During the dry 
season, when the water supply is cut off on occasion, a tank serves as 
a back-up.
    The prison maintained an education program for the inmates, 
employed a counselor to work with the prison population, and 
implemented the first phase of a program to work with young prisoners 
on their reinsertion into society.
    Women were held in a separate section of the prison from men. There 
was no separate facility for juveniles.
    Prisoners and detainees had access thrice weekly to visitors. They 
were permitted to conduct religious observances. Prisoners may raise 
complaints directly with prison authorities, through their lawyers, or 
through the government's Prison Visiting Committee. Prisoners relied on 
the Prison Welfare Officer to make contact with outside institutions.
    The Prison Visiting Committee monitors prison conditions. While 
visits from independent nongovernmental observers would be welcome, 
there were no such requests during the year.

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

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The country does not 
have a military. The Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) is headed by the 
police commissioner and encompasses the Coast Guard, the Special 
Service Unit, the Fire Fighting Unit, and other specialized units. The 
RGPF is supplemented by 254 rural constables. The RGPF generally was 
effective at responding to complaints and maintained a community 
policing program.
    The police report to the minister for national security, who is 
also the prime minister. The police commissioner can discipline 
officers (up to the rank of sergeant) in cases of brutality with 
penalties that include dismissal. Only the Public Service Commission 
can discipline officers with the rank of inspector or above. Civilian 
authorities maintained effective control over the RGPF, and the 
government had effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. In the case of deaths attributed to the RGPF, police 
conduct the investigations, which the DPP and the coroner review. There 
were no reports of impunity involving the security forces during the 
year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution and law permit police to detain persons on suspicion 
without a warrant, but they must bring formal charges within 48 hours, 
and this limit generally was respected. In practice detainees were 
provided access to a lawyer and family members within 24 hours. The law 
provides for a judicial determination of the legality of detention 
within 15 days after arrest on a criminal charge. The police must 
formally arraign or release a detained person within 60 days, and the 
authorities generally followed these procedures. There is a functioning 
system of bail, although persons charged with capital offenses are not 
eligible. Persons charged with treason may be accorded bail only upon 
the recommendation of the governor general.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and law provide 
for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected 
judicial independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution and law provide for the right 
to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right.
    There is a presumption of innocence, and the law protects persons 
against self-incrimination and requires the police to explain a 
person's rights upon arrest. The accused has the right to remain silent 
and to seek the advice of legal counsel. The law allows for a defense 
lawyer to be present during interrogation and to advise the accused how 
to respond or not to respond to questions. The accused has the right to 
confront his accuser and has the right of appeal. There are jury trials 
in the High Court only; trials are open to the public unless the 
charges are sexual in nature or a minor is involved.
    The court appoints attorneys for indigents only in cases of murder 
or other capital crimes. In other criminal cases that reach the 
appellate stage, the court appoints a lawyer to represent the accused 
if the defendant was not represented previously or reappoints earlier 
counsel if the appellant can no longer afford that lawyer's services. 
With the exception of foreign-born drug suspects or persons charged 
with murder, the courts granted most defendants bail while awaiting 
trial.

    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 civil court system 
encompasses a number of seats around the country at which magistrates 
preside over 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 practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of 
the press, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The independent media were active and expressed a wide 
variety of views without restriction.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The government did not 
penalize anyone for publishing items counter to government guidelines, 
but the media practiced occasional self-censorship. In July, local and 
regional media criticized the Media Workers Association of Grenada for 
stifling a story about an editor who was arrested for being verbally 
abusive to a magistrate. Some journalists avoided coverage of 
Wikileaks-sourced material as a result of legal or political 
uncertainties regarding its use.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

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

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 in 
practice.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations 
in the single instance where assistance was requested with regard to 
refugees. In that case, the government awaited a decision by UNHCR 
regarding a country for resettlement.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has no 
formal channels for providing protection to refugees or 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, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--The most 
recent general elections were held in July 2008, when the National 
Democratic Congress won 11 of the 15 seats in the House of 
Representatives, defeating the New National Party, which had governed 
for 13 years. The Organization of American States led a 25-member 
election observer mission, which deemed the elections free and fair.

    Participation by Women and Minorities.--Two women served in the 
House of Representatives. Three of the 13 appointed senators were 
women, including the president of the senate. Three female legislators 
served as ministers of government. In the civil service, women held 15 
of the 19 most senior positions --permanent secretaries.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Although the law provides criminal penalties for official 
corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively. 
Allegations continued to circulate of instances in prior years of 
corrupt practices by government officials.
    Although the government appointed seven persons to a newly 
established Integrity Commission in 2009 and the commission opened an 
office, the commission was not operational by year's end.
    Anticorruption laws require all public servants to report their 
income and assets, but the appropriate regulations had not been 
promulgated by year's end.
    There are no laws mandating transparent reporting of political 
donations or limiting the amount of political donations from outside 
the country.
    Although there is no law providing for public access to government 
information, citizens may request access to any information that is not 
deemed classified. However, statistics on government responsiveness to 
those requests were not available.
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.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The ombudsman has authority to 
investigate complaints from persons who object to government actions 
they deem to be unfair, an abuse of power, illegal, discriminatory, or 
negligent. The ombudsman submitted his first annual report to 
Parliament in June stating that two 2010 cases involving formal 
investigations were resolved positively for the complainants. During 
the year citizens raised more than 81 cases with the ombudsman, and 
there were six pending from 2010.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
place of origin, political opinion, color, creed, or gender, and the 
government generally upheld these prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, and stipulates a sentence of flogging or up to 
15 years' imprisonment for a conviction of any nonconsensual form of 
sex. Authorities referred 64 charges involving rape or related charges 
for prosecution, and the court convicted 53 persons during the year.
    According to women's rights monitors, violence against women 
remained a serious and pervasive problem. In May, the Domestic Violence 
against Women Act entered into force, and the government launched a 
National Protocol on Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women. The law 
prohibits domestic violence and provides for penalties at the 
discretion of the presiding judge based on the severity of the offense. 
Police and judicial authorities usually acted promptly in cases of 
domestic violence. Sentences for assault against a spouse vary 
according to the severity of the incident. A shelter accommodating 
approximately 12 battered and abused women and their children operated 
in the northern part of the country, staffed by medical and 
psychological counseling personnel. Victims and persons seeking to 
report cases of abuse could contact the Ministry of Social Development 
and local ministry offices in three parishes and the island of 
Carriacou. However, domestic violence remained underreported as many 
women were economically dependent on the perpetrators.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment, but there 
are no criminal penalties for it, although the government quantified it 
as a persistent problem. It is the responsibility of the complainant to 
bring a civil suit against an alleged harasser.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children and had access to contraception as well as obstetric and 
postnatal care. According to U.N. Population Fund estimates, 99 percent 
of births were attended by skilled health personnel and 52 percent of 
women aged 15-49 used a modern method of contraception. Women and men 
had equal access to reproductive health care.

    Discrimination.--Women generally enjoyed the same rights as men, 
and there was no evidence of official discrimination in employment or 
education; however, women frequently earned less than men performing 
the same work. Due in part to factors like post-hurricane 
reconstruction, the poor economy, and high levels of unemployment, 
women worked in nontraditional fields such as carpentry and 
construction. Television and radio public service announcements 
continued to combat spousal abuse and raise women's awareness of their 
rights.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived from birth 
in the country or, if abroad, by birth to a Grenadian parent upon 
petition. There is universal birth registration.

    Child Abuse.--During the year government social service agencies 
reported 138 cases of physical abuse, including 96 cases of sexual 
abuse. Two cases of incest went to court. Abused children were placed 
either in a government-run home or in private foster homes. The law 
stipulates penalties ranging from five to 15 years' imprisonment for 
those convicted of child abuse and disallows the victim's alleged 
``consent'' as a defense in cases of incest. The Social Welfare 
Division within the Ministry of Social Development provided 
probationary and rehabilitative services to youth, day-care services, 
and social work programs to families; assistance to families wishing to 
adopt or provide foster care to children; and financial assistance to 
the six children's homes run by private organizations.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--A statutory rape law applies when 
the victim is 16 years and under. Penalties are 15 years' imprisonment 
if the victim is less than 14 and five years' imprisonment if the 
victim is 14 to 16 years of age. No specific laws address child 
pornography; but the law prohibits the importation, sale, and public 
display of pornography. The criminal code prohibits sale and 
trafficking of girls for prostitution, for the production of 
pornography, or for pornographic performances, but it lacks similar 
prohibitions that apply to boys.

    International Child Abduction.--The government is not a party to 
the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. For 
country-specific information see http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of societal abuses or 
discrimination, including anti-Semitic acts. There was no organized 
Jewish community.

    Trafficking in Persons.--There were no reports that persons were 
trafficked to, from, or within the country during the year.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and law do not protect 
job seekers with disabilities from discrimination in employment. 
Although the law does not mandate access to public buildings or 
services, building owners increasingly incorporated disabled access 
into new construction and premises renovation. The government provided 
for special education throughout the school system; however, most 
parents chose to send their children to three special education schools 
operating in the country. Persons with disabilities had full access to 
the health-care system and other public services, faced no 
discrimination in access to information and communication, and suffered 
no restrictions on the right to vote or to participate fully in civic 
affairs. The government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 
continued to provide training and work opportunities for such persons. 
The Ministry of Social Services includes an office responsible for 
looking after persons with disabilities, as well as the Council for the 
Disabled, which reviews disability-related issues.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Approximately 8 percent of the 
citizens are descendants of individuals who came to the country from 
India as indentured servants, many of whom found themselves in slave-
like conditions. Some complained of residual discrimination based on 
their origins, although most have intermarried with persons of European 
or African descent.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law criminalizes 
consensual same-sex sexual activities, providing penalties of up to 10 
years' imprisonment. Police launched an investigation under this law 
into an allegation of nonconsensual sodomy. Society generally was 
intolerant of same-sex sexual conduct, and many churches condemned it. 
Members of sexual minorities generally did not acknowledge openly their 
sexual orientation. The Grenada Caribbean HIV/AIDS Program (GrenCHAP) 
participated on the National AIDS Council and served as an advocate for 
sexual minorities and at-risk populations.
    There were no gay pride events. There were no reports of violence 
linked to sexual orientation. There were no reports that sexual 
orientation affected employment, housing, statelessness, or access to 
education or health care. However, persons who were subjected to rumors 
regarding their sexual orientation complained that their livelihoods 
were affected.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--It was not uncommon for 
persons to be shunned by family members or face discrimination in 
housing and employment when their HIV-positive status became known. 
According to civil society contacts, fear of disclosing their status 
prevented some persons with HIV/AIDS from seeking services provided by 
government or civil society. While the government acted to ameliorate 
concerns by the public about persons with HIV, it moved less quickly to 
finalize policies in draft or to act on recommendations provided by the 
HIV-positive community. The government encouraged citizens to be tested 
and to get treatment. NGOs such as GrenCHAP and Hope Pals provided 
counseling to those affected by HIV/AIDS, made recommendations to the 
government on outreach and policy, and urged local companies to educate 
themselves and their workers about HIV/AIDS in the workplace and not to 
discriminate against employees with the disease.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The constitution and law allow workers to form and join independent 
labor unions, to conduct legal strikes, and to participate in 
collective bargaining. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and 
it requires employers to recognize a union that represents the majority 
of workers in a particular business. The law does not oblige employers 
to recognize a union formed by their employees if the majority of the 
workforce does not belong to the union. Labor law covers all categories 
of employees, including domestic workers and migrants.
    While essential workers have the right to strike, the labor 
minister may refer disputes involving essential services to compulsory 
arbitration. The government's list of essential services is broad and 
includes services not regarded by the International Labor Organization 
as essential.
    The government generally enforced labor laws in practice. While 
employers can be forced to rehire employees if a court finds they were 
discharged illegally, there were no such cases during the year. 
Employers generally recognized and bargained with unions even if a 
majority of the workforce did not belong to it. In December, workers 
called a strike against the brewery, and the employer undertook a 
cooling off period. At year's end the matter remained unresolved.
    While unions were independent of government, some were affiliated 
with political parties. Although security forces have been deployed to 
the site of union-led demonstrations, there were no threats or violence 
against union leaders and their members by the government or employers, 
and no cases of government interference in union activities

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The government 
prohibits forced or compulsory labor, excepting court-ordered labor, 
penal labor, labor while a member of a disciplined force, or in the 
context of a public emergency, and there were no reports that such 
practices occurred.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
statutory minimum age for employment of children is 16 years. 
Employment for minors under 18 is permitted so long as certain 
conditions related to hours, insurance and working conditions set forth 
in the Labor Code are met. It was common practice for children to 
undertake summer jobs or for school-leavers to take on part-time 
employment following secondary school graduation at age 16.
    Inspectors from the Labor Ministry enforced the minimum age 
provision in the formal sector through periodic checks. Enforcement in 
the informal sector was insufficient, particularly for family farms. 
The Labor Ministry inspected family farms for child workers upon 
receipt of child labor allegations.
    The labor code does not specifically prohibit the sale or 
trafficking of children for exploitive labor. Also see the Department 
of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at www.dol.gov/
ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage schedules set 
pay by occupation and, in the case of agricultural workers, by sex. The 
minimum wage for domestic workers, for example, was EC$400 ($148) 
monthly, while that for a security guard was EC $4.00 ($1.48) per hour.
    The law provides for a 40-hour maximum workweek. The law does not 
stipulate rest periods, although no one can be asked to work for longer 
than five hours consecutively without a one-hour meal break. In 
addition, domestic employees may not, by law, be asked to work longer 
than a 10-hour period without at least two hours of breaks for meals 
and rest periods. The law requires a premium for work above the 
standard workweek and prohibits excessive or compulsory overtime. The 
law mandates paid annual vacation--two weeks in the first year and 
three weeks thereafter.
    The government sets health and safety standards. Workers have the 
right to remove themselves from dangerous workplace situations without 
jeopardy to their continued employment.
    Enforcement, including wages, hours, occupational safety, and other 
elements, is the responsibility of the Ministry of Labor's seven labor 
inspectors. Inspectors examined about 75 percent of eligible sites. The 
government effectively enforced minimum wages. No violations of the law 
concerning working hours were brought to the notice of government 
authorities. The government's enforcement of occupational health and 
safety standards was inconsistent. The government informally encouraged 
business to rectify violations without resorting to formal channels for 
compliance, which have never been used. Labor officers worked with 
employers in sectors like energy, agriculture, and construction in 
order to promote appropriate clothing, health checks, and pesticide 
safety.
    During the year the National Insurance Scheme received 501 claims 
of workplace injury. There were no workplace deaths reported.

                               __________

                               GUATEMALA

                           executive summary
    Guatemala is a multiparty constitutional republic. On November 6, 
Otto Perez Molina of the Patriot Party (PP) won the presidential 
election for a four-year term beginning January 2012. International 
observers considered the election generally free and fair. During the 
year security forces reported to civilian authorities, although there 
were instances in which members of the security forces, particularly 
the police, acted independently of civilian control.
    The principal human rights-related problems included widespread 
institutional corruption, particularly in the police and judicial 
sectors; police involvement in serious crimes, including unlawful 
killings, drug trafficking, and extortion; and widespread societal 
violence, including violence against women and numerous killings, many 
related to drug trafficking.
    The country's human rights problems also included harsh and 
dangerous prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; failure of 
the judicial system to ensure full and timely investigations and fair 
trials; failure to protect judicial sector officials, witnesses, and 
civil society representatives from intimidation; threats and 
intimidation against, and killings of, journalists and trade unionists; 
discrimination against women; trafficking in persons; discrimination 
against indigenous communities; discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation and gender identity; and ineffective enforcement of labor 
and child labor laws.
    The government increased its efforts to prosecute and punish 
officials in the security services and elsewhere in the government who 
committed crimes and abuses. However, impunity for crimes committed by 
government officials remained a widespread problem.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Although there were 
no reports that the government committed politically motivated 
killings, members of the police force allegedly committed unlawful 
killings. Corruption, intimidation, and ineffectiveness within the 
police force and other institutions prevented adequate investigation of 
many such killings as well as the arrest and successful prosecution of 
perpetrators.
    The National Civilian Police (PNC) and its Office of Professional 
Responsibility (ORP) reported they investigated 15 accusations of 
killings involving 13 PNC agents, who remained under investigation at 
year's end.
    Between March and June, three indigenous persons were killed during 
the eviction of families from a sugar plantation in Alta Verapaz 
conducted by police, military, and private security forces. 
Responsibility for the killings was unclear and investigations by the 
Public Ministry continued at year's end (see section 6, Indigenous 
People).
    On October 27, PNC officer Alberto Fuentes Gomez was sentenced to 
25 years in prison for the extrajudicial killing of Byron Camacho Gomez 
in September 2010. Two other PNC agents, Benjamin Moises Lopez Baten 
and Lizardo Florencio Joachin Lopez, were sentenced to three years in 
prison as accomplices to the crime.
    At year's end army major Hugo Leonel Zielke Puac; PNC officials 
Ernesto Gutierrez Cos, Jairo Manuel Orozco, Osmandi Lopez Fuentes, and 
Jorge Amilcar Ramirez Cerna; and Korean businessmen Woo Kun Yang and 
Young Gag Lee remained in prison awaiting trial for the January 2010 
killing of Te Paek Soung Kim.
    There were no known developments in a number of additional cases 
pending against PNC officers accused of unlawful killings in 2010.
    During the year the Public Ministry arrested several former army 
officers in connection with their alleged roles in pending cases from 
the country's armed internal conflict (1960-96). Developments in 
historical cases during the year included:
    On June 17, former chief of the defense staff Hector Mario Lopez 
Fuentes was arrested on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, 
and forced disappearance. Prosecutors claimed that Lopez Fuentes gave 
the orders that resulted in 12 massacres and the deaths of 317 people 
between 1982 and 1983 in the Ixil region of the Quiche Department. 
Retired brigadier general Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, the director 
of military intelligence under Lopez Fuentes, was arrested on October 
12 and also charged with these crimes. At year's end both suspects were 
being held in preventive detention awaiting trial. On October 24, 
former defense minister Oscar Humberto Mejia Victores, charged with 
being the intellectual author of a policy of genocide, surrendered to 
authorities in connection with the Lopez Fuentes and Rodriguez Sanchez 
cases. However, government medical experts declared the 80-year-old 
unfit to stand trial due to age-related mental illness. He was being 
held in a military hospital at year's end.
    On August 25, retired lieutenant colonel Carlos Antonio Carias 
Lopez and Sergeants Reyes Collin Gualip, Daniel Martinez Mendez, and 
Manuel Pop Sun were each sentenced to more than 6,000 years in prison 
for crimes against humanity for their participation in the 1982 
massacre of 201 civilians at the village of Dos Erres. A fifth suspect 
in the Dos Erres case, former sergeant Pedro Pimentel Rios, was 
arrested by authorities on July 12. At year's end Pimentel Rios was in 
preventive detention awaiting trial.
    On December 14, a judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to 
try a former military commissioner and four ex-members of the Civilian 
Auto Defense Patrol for their alleged involvement in the massacre of 
256 villagers at Plan de Sanchez, Rabinal, in July 1982. At year's end 
the five suspects--Lucas Tecu, Julian Acoj Morales, Mario Acoj Morales, 
Santos Rosales Garcia, and Eusebio Grave Garcia--remained in preventive 
detention awaiting trial.
    There were no developments in the 1993 killing of Jorge Carpio 
Nicolle; the 1990 ``street children case'' and the ``white van case'' 
of 1987 and 1988; or the killings in 1982 of 177 civilians in Rio 
Negro, Baja Verapaz.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    On February 17, the Supreme Court upheld the 2009 conviction of 150 
years in prison for former military commissioner Felipe Cusanero for 
his participation in the forced disappearance of six indigenous persons 
between 1982 and 1984.
    On April 8, retired army colonel Jorge Humberto Gomez Lopez was 
arrested for his alleged role in connection with the 1984 forced 
disappearance of student leader and trade union activist Fernando 
Garcia. Gomez Lopez had been the commander of the unit responsible for 
Garcia's capture. On June 9, retired army colonel Hector Bol de la Cruz 
also was arrested for his alleged role in the case. Both Bol de la Cruz 
and Gomez Lopez were under house arrest awaiting trial at year's end.
    On July 26, authorities arrested former police commander Pedro 
Garcia Arredondo for the 1981 forced disappearance of student Edgar 
Saenz Calito. Garcia Arredondo remained in preventive detention 
awaiting trial at year's end.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution and the law prohibit such 
practices, government agents did not always respect these provisions. 
There were credible reports of abuse and other mistreatment by PNC 
members, including abusive treatment of minors in police detention (see 
section 6, Children). Complaints typically related to the use of 
excessive force during police operations.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
harsh and dangerous, and there were multiple instances of killings of 
inmates by other inmates. The prison system continued to suffer from a 
severe lack of resources, particularly in the areas of prison security 
and medical services and facilities. Prisoners complained of inadequate 
food and often had to pay for additional sustenance. Prison officials 
reported running shops at three of the national prisons to provide jobs 
to inmates. Some prisoners worked while incarcerated in order to pay 
for their basic needs and support families. Prisons had inadequate 
provisions for sanitation; bathing; ventilation; temperature; lighting; 
basic emergency, dental, and medical care; and access to potable water. 
Illegal drug sales and use were widespread. Prison officials reported 
frequent escape attempts, gang fights, fabrication of homemade weapons, 
and other manifestations of prisoner unrest. Prisoners reportedly used 
cell phones to direct criminal activity both inside and outside of 
prisons, including demanding extortion payments and coordinating 
kidnappings for ransom and killings of bus drivers and assistants (who 
were targets for the frequently violent extortion of bus fares, a 
pervasive problem). The prison guard force of 2,250 was inadequate to 
control prisoners effectively.
    The media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that 
physical and sexual abuse of female and juvenile inmates was a serious 
problem. Female inmates reported unnecessary body searches and verbal 
abuse by prison guards. Children under three years of age could live in 
prison with their mothers, although the penitentiary system provided 
inadequate food for young children and many suffered from illness. 
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights groups noted that 
gay and transgender prisoners often were raped by other prisoners.
    Prison overcrowding continued to be a problem. According to the 
prison system registry, 19 prisons and jails designed to hold 6,974 
persons held 12,835 inmates. There were 951 women and 585 juveniles in 
the national penitentiary system.
    On rare occasions male and female detainees in immigration 
facilities were held together. In Puerto Barrios a prison for men 
designed to hold 300 inmates held 535 men and 42 women. While the women 
had separate living quarters, they did not have the same level of 
access to recreational spaces as the men. Generally, however, 
conditions for male and female prisoners were comparable throughout the 
country.
    Pretrial detainees sometimes were held in the same prison blocks 
with the general prison population. On rare occasions juveniles and 
adults were held together. Prisoners and detainees had reasonable 
access to visitors and were permitted religious observance. Authorities 
permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities without censorship and to request investigation of credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions. While the government nominally 
monitored prison and detention center conditions, authorities did not 
regularly investigate credible allegations of inhumane conditions or 
document the results of such investigations in a publicly accessible 
manner.
    The government permitted prison-monitoring visits by local and 
international human rights groups, the Organization of American States 
(OAS), public defenders, religious groups, and family members.
    The human rights ombudsman does not have authority to serve on 
behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as 
alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, circumstances 
of confinement of juvenile offenders, or procedural improvements to 
ensure prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for the 
charged offense. There were no steps taken during the year to improve 
recordkeeping or to use alternatives to sentencing for nonviolent 
offenders.
    The government's Social Rehabilitation Program assigns a 
multidisciplinary team to each prison with experts in labor, education, 
psychology, social work, and medicine. Each team works with inmates to 
provide them with the necessary skills to reintegrate into their 
communities. Program officials reported that their effectiveness was 
hampered by limited resources.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and the law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but there were credible 
reports of arrests without judicial warrants, illegal detentions, and 
failure to adhere to prescribed time limits in legal proceedings. In 
practice, arresting officers sometimes failed to bring suspects before 
magistrates within the legally mandated six-hour deadline, and 
magistrates sometimes failed to hold a hearing within the legally 
mandated 24-hour period.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The 24,600-member PNC, 
overseen by the Ministry of Government and headed by a director general 
appointed by the ministry, has responsibility in law and practice for 
law enforcement and maintenance of order in the country. Civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control over the PNC, but 
the government lacked effective mechanisms to investigate and punish 
abuse and corruption. There were reports of impunity involving security 
forces during the year. The PNC remained understaffed, inadequately 
trained, and insufficiently funded, all of which substantially impeded 
its effectiveness.
    While no active members of the military served in the police 
command structure, the government continued to employ the military to 
support police units in response to rising crime. Joint police and 
military operations under PNC operational control continued in 
Guatemala City's high-crime neighborhoods and other areas.
    Police impunity for criminal activities remained a serious problem. 
There were credible reports that individual PNC officers and some 
police units or persons disguised as police officers stopped cars and 
buses to demand bribes or steal private property and in some cases 
kidnapped, assaulted, and raped victims. Police and immigration 
officials reportedly extorted and mistreated persons attempting to 
enter the country illegally. The PNC routinely transferred officers 
suspected of wrongdoing rather than investigating and punishing them.
    Police threatened persons engaged in commercial sexual activities 
with false drug charges to extort money or sexual favors and harassed 
LGBT persons with similar threats. Critics accused police of 
indiscriminate and illegal detentions when conducting antigang 
operations in some high-crime neighborhoods. Security officials 
allegedly arrested and imprisoned suspected gang members without 
warrants or on false drug charges. There were reports of police 
involvement in kidnappings for ransom. However, the ORP reported that 
during the year there were no complaints filed for kidnapping by PNC 
personnel.
    The ORP, which is the mechanism for investigating security force 
abuse, conducted internal investigations of misconduct by police 
officers. During the year it reported receiving 1,814 complaints, which 
included 15 complaints of killings, six forced disappearances, 138 
illegal detentions, 68 thefts, 14 rapes, 117 threats, and 323 cases of 
abuse of authority.
    During the year the ORP investigated 1,259 police officers, 95 of 
whom were subsequently dismissed and 537 of whom were exonerated. The 
PNC trained 1,667 cadets in human rights and professional ethics. The 
army required civil affairs officers at each command to plan and 
document human rights training provided to soldiers. At year's end 
7,737 military officers and soldiers had received human rights 
training, according to the Ministry of Defense.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires that a court-issued arrest warrant be presented to a suspect 
prior to arrest unless the suspect is caught in the act of committing a 
crime. Police may not detain a suspect for more than six hours without 
bringing the case before a judge. However, this right was not respected 
in practice. Detainees often were not promptly informed of the charges 
filed against them. After a suspect is arraigned, the prosecutor 
generally has three months to complete the investigation and file the 
case in court or seek a formal extension of the detention period. The 
law prohibits the execution of search warrants between 6 p.m. and 6 
a.m. unless a state of siege has been declared. The law provides for 
access to lawyers and bail for most crimes. The government provides 
legal representation for indigent detainees, and detainees have access 
to family members. A judge has the discretion to determine whether bail 
is necessary or permissible for pretrial detainees, depending on the 
circumstances.
    In high-crime areas of Guatemala City, Mixco, and Villa Nueva, the 
government continued to operate five 24-hour court pilot projects that 
enhanced the government's ability to comply with legal requirements to 
bring suspects before a judge within six hours of initial detention, 
thereby significantly reducing the number of cases dismissed for lack 
of merit or on technical grounds.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--During the year the ORP received 138 accusations 
of illegal detention. There were no reliable data on the number of 
arbitrary detentions, although most accounts indicated that police 
forces routinely ignored writs of habeas corpus in cases of illegal 
detention, particularly during neighborhood antigang operations.

    Pretrial Detention.--Although the law establishes a three-month 
limit for pretrial detention, prisoners often were detained past their 
legal trial or release dates. Authorities did not release some 
prisoners in a timely fashion after completing full sentences due to 
the failure of judges to issue the necessary court order or other 
bureaucratic problems. Trial delays often were due to the Public 
Ministry and courts' lack of resources and staff. The government did 
not keep statistics on the percentage of the prison and detainee 
population in pretrial detention or the average length of time 
detainees were held, including whether this equaled or exceeded 
sentences for alleged crimes.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--While the constitution and the law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judicial system often failed 
to provide fair or timely trials due to inefficiency, corruption, 
insufficient personnel and funds, and intimidation of judges, 
prosecutors, and witnesses. The judiciary was generally independent, 
although there were reports of ineffectiveness and manipulation in 
practice. Many high-profile criminal cases remained pending in the 
courts for long periods, as defense attorneys employed successive 
appeals and motions.
    Judges, prosecutors, plaintiffs, and witnesses continued to report 
threats, intimidation, and surveillance. During the year the special 
prosecutor for crimes against judicial workers received 243 complaints 
of threats or aggression against workers in the judicial branch, 
compared with 154 in 2010.
    The Ministry of Government assigned police officers to the 
International Commission to Combat Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to 
augment security. The CICIG-vetted prosecutor unit, created by the 
Public Ministry, continued to be directly supervised by a senior CICIG 
prosecutor. At year's end CICIG continued its investigation of 27 high-
profile cases, prosecutions, and various other cases involving killings 
of women, bus drivers, and bus assistants; trafficking in persons; and 
attacks against and killings of unionists and human rights defenders.
    There were credible reports of killings of witnesses. At year's end 
33 persons were in the Public Ministry's witness protection program.
    On February 15, Judge Erick Caceres Rodriguez was killed on his way 
to court in San Benito, Peten. Marvin Victor Giovanni Cruz was arrested 
for the killing two days later and sentenced to 25 years in prison on 
October 26.
    On May 24, Assistant Prosecutor Allan Stowlinsky Vidaurre, who had 
prosecuted a case against members of the Zeta narcotics trafficking 
organization, was killed in Coban, Alta Verapaz. On June 16, 
authorities arrested 16 suspects, including PNC agent Victor Omar 
Guillermo, on charges relating to Stowlinsky's kidnapping and killing. 
At year's end the trial continued.
    The Supreme Court continued to seek the suspension of judges and to 
conduct criminal investigations for improprieties or irregularities in 
cases under its jurisdiction. The Judicial Disciplinary Unit 
investigated 1,223 complaints of wrongdoing and held hearings for 846 
complaints during the year, and applied sanctions to several cases, 
ranging from written notice to 30-day suspension.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair public trial, the presumption of innocence, the right to be 
present at trial, and the right to counsel in a timely manner. Juries 
are not used at trials. The government provides at public expense 
attorneys for defendants facing serious criminal charges, including 
indigent persons. Defendants and their attorneys have access to 
government-held evidence relevant to their case. The law provides for 
plea bargaining and the right of appeal. Three-judge panels render 
verdicts. The law provides for oral trials and mandates language 
interpretation for those needing it, in particular the large number of 
indigenous persons who are not fluent in Spanish, although inadequate 
government funding limited effective application of this requirement. 
The Public Ministry utilized 20 interpreters nationwide, including in 
former conflict areas of the country, and the Office of the Public 
Defender employed 47 bilingual public defenders in locations where they 
could also serve as translators.
    The Public Ministry, acting semi-independently of the executive 
branch, may initiate criminal proceedings on its own or in response to 
a complaint. Private parties may participate in the prosecution of 
criminal cases as plaintiffs. Lengthy investigations and frequent 
procedural motions used by both defense and prosecution often led to 
excessively long pretrial detention, frequently delaying trials for 
months or years.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--At year's end the 
government had not responded to an order reissued by the Inter-American 
Court of Human Rights in December 2010 to investigate fully the 1992 
forced disappearance of Efrain Bamaca Velasquez. A Supreme Court 
hearing to consider reopening the case was scheduled for 2012.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Individuals and 
organizations had access to administrative and judicial remedies to 
bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation or other alleged wrongs. While the judiciary was generally 
impartial and independent in civil matters, it suffered from 
inefficiency and institutional weaknesses. There were problems in 
enforcing civil court orders. Some killings resulted from the PNC's 
failure to enforce restraining orders promptly.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and the law prohibit such actions, 
and the government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice.

    Freedom of the Press.--The independent media were active and 
expressed a wide variety of views without overt government restriction.

    Violence and Harassment.--Members of the press claimed that 
increasing levels of impunity and violence in the country threatened 
the practice of free and open journalism. The press also complained of 
threats by organized crime and drug-trafficking organizations, noting 
that these threats increased journalists' sense of vulnerability.
    The Special Prosecutor's Unit for Crimes against Journalists 
received 34 complaints of attacks and other acts of intimidation 
against journalists, compared with 13 during 2010.
    At year's end there were no arrests for the May 19 killing of 
reporter Yensi Roberto Ordonez Galdez in Nueva Concepcion, Escuintla. 
The journalist had allegedly received threats for some of his reporting 
and had also been the victim of extortion.
    At year's end there were no arrests for the April 2010 nearly fatal 
shooting of journalist Luis Felipe Valenzuela.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Some members of the press 
reported receiving pressure by various public officials regarding the 
selection and content of their reporting. Some owners and members of 
the media also accused the government of following a discriminatory 
advertising policy, particularly with respect to leading print and 
broadcast media that expressed news or commentary perceived as critical 
of the president, his administration, the first lady, or public 
officials and programs.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e 
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e mail.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights 
in practice.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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.

    Durable Solutions.--During the year the government received 16 
requests for refugee status and accorded asylum or refugee status to 16 
persons.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides citizens with the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of nearly 
universal suffrage for those 18 years of age and older. Members of the 
armed forces and police are not permitted to vote.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--On 
November 6, Otto Perez Molina of the PP won a four-year term as 
president. The OAS international observation mission characterized the 
elections as generally free and fair. The Office of the Human Rights 
Ombudsman reported 36 killings of political activists or candidates, 
mostly at the municipal level, during the election cycle. There were 
few arrests or convictions for such killings, and the actors behind 
them were generally unknown.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were 20 women in the 
158-seat Congress. A total of 343 women served as judges nationwide, 
including one on the Supreme Court and one on the Constitutional Court. 
In October a woman was elected to serve a one-year term as president of 
the Supreme Court. There were no women in the 13-member cabinet. Six of 
the country's 333 mayors were women.
    Despite a sizable indigenous population, there were no indigenous 
cabinet members or Supreme Court justices. There were 113 indigenous 
mayors and approximately 20 indigenous members of Congress.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption. The 
government did not implement the law effectively, however, and 
officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There 
was substantial corruption within the police and judiciary.
    Government corruption was widely perceived to be a serious problem. 
The Public Ministry continued to prosecute for corruption former vice 
president Reyes Lopez and other senior members of previous governments.
    On January 11, former minister of government Raul Velasquez 
surrendered to authorities for his alleged involvement in a scheme to 
embezzle 52 million quetzales ($6.7 million) in gasoline coupons for 
PNC patrol units. Former secretary of presidential administrative 
affairs Juan Carlos Leal Medina was arrested on May 20 for his alleged 
participation in the case. Both officials remained in preventive 
detention awaiting trial at year's end.
    On May 9, former minister of defense and former minister of 
government Eduardo Arevalo Lacs was acquitted of embezzlement charges.
    At year's end several former government officials were under 
arrest, awaiting trial, or were fugitives from justice on corruption-
related charges involving refurbishing the Fraijanes II Detention 
Center.
    In May 2010 authorities arrested Oscar Humberto Andrade Elizondo, 
Ricardo Gustavo Maldonado Ortega, and Ricardo Alfonso Lancerio Ignacio 
from the Foundation for Development and Technology (Fundtech) on 
suspicion of stealing 17 million quetzales ($2.2 million). In September 
2010 authorities arrested Rodrigo Lainfiesta on fraud and money-
laundering charges, and former Office of the Comptroller General 
auditors Fernando Rodriguez Trejo, Francisco Javier Alvarado, Carlos 
Enrique Lopez Gutierrez, Luis Alvarez Pereira, and Francisco Villatoro 
for involvement in alleged corrupt activities with Fundtech. 
Authorities were also investigating former ministers of government Raul 
Velasquez and Salvador Gandara in relation to the case.
    On August 26, the Constitutional Court upheld the U.S. request to 
extradite former president Alfonso Portillo on charges of conspiracy to 
commit money laundering. On November 15, President Alvaro Colom 
announced that he would uphold the court's decision to extradite. At 
year's end the Public Ministry was awaiting the outcome of its appeal 
of Portillo's May 9 acquittal for embezzlement charges in Guatemala.
    Public officials who earn more than 8,000 quetzales ($1,024) per 
month or who manage public funds are subject to financial disclosure 
laws overseen and enforced by the Controller General's Office. Lack of 
political will and widespread impunity facilitated government 
corruption.
    The law provides for the right of citizens to access public 
information and establishes fines for government agencies that obstruct 
such access. In practice the government granted access to public 
information for citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media, 
although at times it provided access in a slow and incomplete manner. 
There is no formal mechanism to appeal denials of requests. However, 
petitioners often successfully appealed to the Office of the Human 
Rights Ombudsman for assistance relating to a government denial of 
public 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 somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views.
    A number of NGOs, human rights workers, and trade unionists 
reported threats or intimidation by unidentified persons, many of which 
they asserted had links to organized crime and private security 
companies, and complained that the government did little to investigate 
these reports or prevent further incidents.
    The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights opened new 
cases involving anonymous telephone or written threats, physical 
assaults, and surveillance of workplaces, residences, and vehicular 
movements. The majority of such cases remained pending for lengthy 
periods without investigation or languished in the court system.
    The NGO Guatemalan Human Rights Defenders Protection Unit 
(UDEFEGUA) reported 19 killings of human rights defenders during the 
year. UDEFEGUA also reported 402 attacks against human rights defenders 
during the year, a 33 percent increase from 2010. According to 
UDEFEGUA, many of the attacks were related to conflicts over land and 
the exploitation of natural resources.
    At year's end no one had been arrested in connection with the 2010 
killings of Evelinda Ramirez Reyes, president of the NGO Resistance 
Front in the Defense of Natural Resources (FRENA), or FRENA member 
Octavio Roblero.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Human Rights maintained an office in the country; it 
advised and assisted the government and monitored the human rights 
situation. The government cooperated with the office and other 
international organizations, including CICIG.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Office of the Human Rights 
Ombudsman reports to Congress and monitors the human rights set forth 
in the constitution. The ombudsman operated without government or party 
interference, had the government's cooperation, and issued reports and 
recommendations that were made public, including an annual report to 
Congress on the fulfillment of its mandate. The office did not have 
adequate resources. The public generally questioned the ombudman's 
effectiveness.
    The President's Commission on Human Rights (COPREDEH) is charged 
with formulating and promoting the government's human rights policy, 
representing the government before the Inter-American Commission on 
Human Rights (IACHR), and negotiating amicable settlements in cases 
before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. COPREDEH also led 
coordination of police protection for various human rights and labor 
activists during the year. COPREDEH enjoyed the government's 
cooperation and operated without government or party interference. It 
did not have adequate resources but was considered reasonably effective 
and had the trust of the public.
    The Congressional Committee on Human Rights drafts and provides 
advice on legislation regarding human rights matters. By law all 
political parties represented in Congress are required to have a 
representative on the committee. NGOs reported that they considered the 
committee to be an effective public forum for promoting and protecting 
human rights. The committee was not independent of party or government 
influence.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution and the law prohibit discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, or social status. In practice the 
government frequently did not enforce these provisions due to 
inadequate resources, corruption, and a dysfunctional judicial system.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape and aggravated rape, and sets penalties between 
five and 50 years in prison. The law also establishes penalties for 
physical, economic, and psychological violence committed against women 
because of their gender. However, the government did not enforce the 
law effectively.
    Rape and other sexual offenses remained serious problems. According 
to the Public Ministry, 3,922 cases of rape were reported during the 
year. At year's end 10,526 additional cases of sexual abuse and other 
forms of physical violence were reported, according to the judiciary, 
PNC, and Institute of Public Defense.
    Police had minimal training or capacity to investigate sexual 
crimes or assist victims of such crimes. The government maintained the 
PNC's Special Unit for Sex Crimes, Office of Attention to Victims, 
Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Women, and a 
special unit for trafficking in persons and illegal adoptions within 
the Special Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime. Rape victims 
frequently did not report crimes due to lack of confidence in the 
justice system and fear of reprisals.
    Violence against women, including domestic violence, remained a 
serious problem. The law prohibits domestic abuse, provides for the 
issuance of restraining orders against alleged aggressors and police 
protection for victims, and requires the PNC to intervene in violent 
situations in the home. In practice the PNC often failed to respond to 
requests for assistance related to domestic violence. Women's groups 
commented that few officers were trained to deal with domestic violence 
or assist victims.
    The Institute of Public Criminal Defense continued to provide free 
legal, medical, and psychological assistance to victims of domestic 
violence. At year's end the project had attended to 12,956 cases of 
domestic violence.
    The government's Program for Prevention and Eradication of 
Intrafamily Violence, under the Secretariat of Social Work, reportedly 
received on average five calls daily from battered women and children 
via its three emergency hotlines. At year's end the Public Ministry 
reported that it received more than 15,171 complaints of violence 
against women and children, including domestic violence and economic 
violence. Of the 14,448 complaints of sexual crimes, the government 
reported 477 convictions at year's end.
    Justices of the peace issued an unspecified number of restraining 
orders against domestic violence aggressors and ordered police 
protection for victims. Full investigation and prosecution of domestic 
violence and rape cases took an average of one year. Although the law 
affords protection, including shelter, to victims of domestic violence, 
in practice there were insufficient facilities for this purpose.
    The Office of the Ombudsman for Indigenous Women within COPREDEH 
provided social services for victims of domestic or social violence, as 
well as mediation, conflict resolution, and legal services for 
indigenous women. The office also coordinated and promoted action by 
government institutions and NGOs to prevent violence and discrimination 
against indigenous women but lacked human resources and logistical 
capacity to perform its functions on a national level. The office does 
not maintain statistics on the cases it handles.
    Femicide affected both women and girls and continued to be a 
serious concern. In most killings, sexual assault, torture, and 
mutilation were evident. The PNC reported 632 killings of women during 
the year. There were few convictions for such cases, and NGOs noted 
that the severity of sentences was not always appropriate to the crime.
    The Ministry of Government continued to operate eight shelters for 
victims of abuse in departments with the greatest incidence of domestic 
violence. The centers provided legal and psychological support and 
temporary accommodation. The Institute of Public Criminal Defense 
hotline to assist female victims of physical violence received 59,613 
calls during the year.
    A Guatemala City women's shelter for victims of violence continued 
to operate with capacity to house 20 victims and their families for six 
months at a time. There were also two other shelters for women and 
their children, with a capacity to house 40 persons each, in Guatemala 
City and Quetzaltenango. The government and foreign donors provided 
funding for these three shelters. An unknown number of smaller private 
shelters operated in the countryside.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not prohibit sexual harassment, 
and there were no accurate estimates of its incidence. Human rights 
organizations reported, however, that sexual harassment was widespread, 
especially in industries in which the workforce was primarily female, 
such as the textile and apparel sectors. Sexual harassment was also a 
problem in the police force.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of 
children, free from discrimination, coercion, and violence. The 
government provided access to family planning information and sex 
education through the public health system. The U.N. Population Fund 
(UNFPA) reported that 34 percent of women used modern contraceptives.
    Cultural, geographic, and linguistic barriers existed in access to 
reproductive health care, particularly for indigenous women in rural 
areas. Discriminatory attitudes among health-care providers and a lack 
of culturally sensitive maternal health services also deterred many 
indigenous women from accessing these services. The UNFPA estimated 
that the maternal mortality rate was 110 deaths per 100,000 live 
births. The principal causes of maternal mortality included limited 
access to skilled health-care attendants and, in some instances, poor 
prenatal and postnatal care. The National Survey on Infant and Maternal 
Health reported that between 2008 and 2009, among women who received 
prenatal care, 63 percent of rural women used services at home or from 
a traditional midwife, and 76 percent of urban women went to clinics or 
hospitals. The UNFPA estimated that only 41 percent of births during 
the year were attended by skilled personnel. Women and men had equal 
access to diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--While the law establishes the principle of gender 
equality, in practice women faced job discrimination and were less 
likely to hold management positions. Women were employed primarily in 
low-wage jobs in agriculture, retail businesses, the service sector, 
the textile and apparel industries, and the government. Women were more 
likely than men to be employed in the informal sector, where pay and 
benefits generally were lower. Women may legally own, manage, and 
inherit property on an equal basis with men, including in situations 
involving divorce.
    The government's Secretariat for Women's Affairs advises the 
president on interagency coordination of policies affecting women and 
their development. The secretariat's activities included seminars, 
outreach, and providing information on discrimination against women.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory or from one's parents. The Office of the 
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported problems in registering 
births, especially in indigenous communities, due to inadequate 
government registration and documentation systems. Factors such as the 
need to travel to unfamiliar urban areas, interact with nonindigenous 
male government officials, and speak Spanish inhibited some indigenous 
women from registering themselves and their children. Lack of 
registration sometimes restricted children's access to public services.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse remained a serious problem. The Unit of 
Adolescent and Child Victims of the Special Prosecutor's Office for 
Women investigated cases of child abuse but did not report on its 
cases. The judiciary reported a total of 262 cases of child abuse, 204 
of which resulted in convictions. Many children left home after being 
abused.
    The Secretariat of Social Welfare, with oversight for children's 
treatment, training, special education, and welfare programs, provided 
shelter and assistance to children who were victims of abuse but 
sometimes placed children under its care in shelters with juveniles who 
had criminal records. The government operated a girls' shelter in 
Antigua and a boys' shelter in San Jose Pinula. Two other shelters in 
Quetzaltenango and Zacapa served both boys and girls. The government 
devoted insufficient funds to shelters, and authorities often preferred 
to send juveniles to youth shelters operated by NGOs.

    Child Marriage.--The minimum legal age for marriage is 16 for boys 
and 14 for girls with parental consent and 18 without it. There were 
credible reports of forced early marriages in some rural indigenous 
communities. There were no reported government efforts to combat child 
marriage.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Child prostitution and child sex 
tourism remained problems, with credible reports of child sex tourism 
in Antigua, Guatemala City, and the Solola Department. The minimum age 
of consensual sex is 18. The law provides sentences ranging from 13 to 
24 years in prison, depending on the victim's age, for sex with a 
minor. The law also prohibits child pornography and establishes 
penalties of six to 10 years in prison for the production, promotion, 
and selling of child pornography and two to four years' imprisonment 
for possession of it.
    The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office reported 26 ongoing cases of 
child prostitution. The Office of the Attorney General reported no 
convictions in cases of child prostitution during the year.

    Displaced Children.--Criminals often recruited street children, 
many of whom were former victims of domestic abuse, for purposes of 
stealing, transporting contraband, prostitution, and illegal drug 
activities. According to the Public Ministry and PNC, approximately 
3,000 youth were involved in street gangs. The NGO Mutual Support Group 
reported that 55 minors suffered violent deaths nationwide between 
January and October. NGOs dealing with gangs and other youth reported 
concerns that street youth detained by police were subject to abusive 
treatment, including physical assaults.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. The 
Jewish population numbered approximately 2,000 persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution contains no specific 
prohibitions against discrimination based on physical, sensory, 
intellectual, and mental disabilities in employment, education, access 
to health care, or the provision of other state services or other 
areas. The law, however, mandates equal access to public facilities and 
provides some other legal protections. In many cases persons with 
physical and mental disabilities did not enjoy these rights, and the 
government devoted few resources to addressing the problem. The law 
does not mandate that persons with disabilities have access to 
information or communications. The National Council for Persons with 
Disabilities reported that few of the country's persons with 
disabilities attended educational institutions or held jobs. The 
council, composed of representatives of relevant government ministries 
and agencies, is the principal government entity responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. It met regularly to 
discuss initiatives and had a budget of five million quetzales 
($640,000).
    There were minimal educational resources for persons with special 
needs, and the majority of universities did not have accessible 
facilities for persons with disabilities.
    On December 10, a group of 35 persons with disabilities protested 
at the Urban Transport (Transurbano) headquarters in Guatemala City 
over the lack of accessible public transportation in the country. 
Transurbano's spokesperson dismissed the protesters as misinformed.
    The National Hospital for Mental Health, the principal health 
provider for persons with mental illness, lacked basic supplies, 
equipment, hygienic living conditions, and adequate professional 
staffing.

    Indigenous People.--Indigenous persons from 22 ethnic groups 
constituted an estimated 43 percent of the population. The law provides 
for equal rights for indigenous persons and obliges the government to 
recognize, respect, and promote their lifestyles, customs, traditions, 
social organizations, and manner of dress. Indigenous communities were 
not regularly consulted on or able to participate in decisions 
affecting the exploitation of resources in their territories, including 
energy, minerals, timber, or other natural resources.
    Maya indigenous communities reported a lack of infrastructure in 
their communities, including poor roads and limited access to running 
water and electricity. Maya and Garifuna indigenous persons reported 
the need for schools with bilingual education and cultural studies, 
educational scholarships, leadership training in order to increase 
indigenous persons' participation in politics, and the construction of 
universities (not just extension campuses), hospitals, and health 
clinics in their communities.
    Indigenous representatives voiced concerns that a number of 
regional development projects not only lacked consultation with local 
communities but also were used to enrich corrupt local officials and 
political cronies, with few benefits returning to indigenous groups.
    In May 2010 the IACHR issued precautionary measures recommending 
the suspension of operations at the Marlin Mine, a gold mine in San 
Marcos, due to environmental concerns. However, Goldcorp, the Canadian 
firm that owned the mine, continued operations through the year, while 
the government provided additional information to the IACHR in an 
effort to seek a change in the precautionary measures. After reviewing 
information provided by the parties, the IACHR issued new precautionary 
measures on December 14 that, if fulfilled, could allow for the lifting 
of the suspension.
    Although some indigenous persons attained high positions as judges 
and government officials, they generally were underrepresented in 
politics and remained largely outside the country's political, 
economic, social, and cultural mainstream due to limited educational 
opportunities, poverty, lack of awareness of their rights, and 
pervasive discrimination. While the indigenous population increased its 
political participation, some civil society representatives questioned 
whether such participation had resulted in greater influence in the 
national political party structure. Indigenous lands often were not 
effectively demarcated, frequently making problematic the formal 
recognition of titles to land they occupied or claimed. Indigenous 
rights advocates asserted that continuing lack of sensitivity by 
security authorities to indigenous cultural norms and practices 
engendered misunderstandings, and they complained that few indigenous 
police officers worked in their own ethnic or linguistic communities.
    In March a week-long government operation to evict an estimated 500 
indigenous families from a former sugar plantation in the department of 
Alta Verapaz resulted in the death of Antonio Bev Ac, injury of several 
others, and destruction of crops and makeshift houses. On May 21, Oscar 
Reyes was killed in a confrontation with private security guards of the 
Chabil Utzaj Sugar Company that was reportedly related to the eviction. 
On June 4, unknown gunmen killed community leader Maria Margarita Chub 
Che, also apparently in connection with the eviction. At year's end no 
one had been arrested in connection with the three killings.
    Many indigenous persons were illiterate, and approximately 29 
percent did not speak Spanish, according to the 2006 National 
Statistics Institute National Survey of Life Conditions report, the 
latest data available. While the average nonindigenous child from seven 
to 17 years of age had received 4.4 years of schooling, indigenous 
children of the same age range had received an average of 3.7 years, 
according to the same report. More than 50 percent of indigenous women 
over the age of 15 were illiterate, and a disproportionate number of 
indigenous girls did not attend school. According to the Ministry of 
Education, approximately 82,970 preschool- and kindergarten-age 
indigenous children were enrolled in Spanish-indigenous language 
bilingual education programs.
    The Department of Indigenous People in the Ministry of Labor, 
tasked with investigating cases of discrimination and representing 
indigenous rights, counseled indigenous persons on their rights; 
however, limited resources hindered the department's effectiveness.
    Legally mandated court interpreters for criminal proceedings were 
rarely available, placing indigenous persons arrested for crimes at a 
disadvantage due to their sometimes limited comprehension of Spanish. 
There were 118 judges who spoke Mayan languages among the 536 tribunals 
in the country. There were 72 court interpreters, including 52 
bilingual Mayan speakers, and the Supreme Court reported that the 
judicial system had 914 employees who spoke indigenous languages. 
However, in many instances bilingual judicial personnel continued to be 
assigned to areas where their second language was not spoken.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--LGBT rights groups alleged 
that members of the police regularly waited outside clubs and bars 
frequented by LGBT persons to demand that those engaged in commercial 
sexual activities provide protection money or pay police to avoid being 
put in jail. Police often harassed male sex workers, many of whom were 
minors, as well as transgender sex workers. According to LGBT rights 
groups, gay men and transgender persons experienced police abuse 
frequently because of their visibility and the number of places in 
which they were known to socialize.
    A lack of trust in the judicial system and a fear of further 
harassment or social recrimination discouraged victims from filing 
complaints. There was general societal discrimination against LGBT 
persons in access to education and health care, employment, and 
housing. The government undertook minimal efforts to address this 
discrimination; however, cooperation between the LGBT community and the 
government improved modestly over the course of the year through the 
establishment of three government health clinics for LGBT persons.
    On February 24, Victor Jose Cruz, a transgender person, was shot 
and killed in Quetzaltenango. On July 18, the body of a man dressed in 
women's clothing was found in Guatemala City. Police failed to 
investigate both cases, and there were no arrests in connection with 
either by year's end.
    LGBT rights groups reported that when bodies of LGBT persons were 
found, the victim's genitals were often mutilated and insults were 
written on the body or burned on the skin.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law does not 
expressly include HIV/AIDS status among the categories prohibited from 
discrimination, and there was societal discrimination against persons 
with HIV/AIDS.
    According to PNC statistics, vigilante mobs (most often in rural 
indigenous communities) killed 44 persons and injured 21 in lynchings 
and attempted lynchings during the year. Targets were often individuals 
suspected of rape, kidnapping, theft, or extortion. Many observers 
attributed the lynchings to public frustration with the failure of 
police and judicial authorities to provide security and to the 
emergence of local citizen-security groups. In many instances PNC 
agents refused to intervene due to fear for their own safety.
    On October 4, Luis Gilberto Tian disappeared, allegedly at the 
hands of an 80-person vigilante organization in Panajachel, Solola; the 
motive was unclear. On October 31, Juan Manuel Ralon Solorzano and 
Victor Manuel Anleu Mogollon, two of the alleged leaders of the group, 
were arrested on charges of illegal detention and causing serious 
bodily harm. A third suspect wanted on the same charges, Manuel 
Santiago Cululen Cumes, remained at large at year's end.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides all workers, with the exception of security force 
members, the right to form and join trade unions of their choice and 
allows workers to conduct legal strikes and bargain collectively. The 
law places some restrictions on these rights. For instance, legal 
recognition of a new industry-wide union requires that the membership 
constitute a 50 percent-plus-one majority of the workers in an industry 
and restricts union leadership to citizens.
    By law a strike must have the support of 51 percent of a company's 
workforce. The president and cabinet may suspend any strike deemed 
``gravely prejudicial to the country's essential activities and public 
services.'' The government defined ``essential services'' more broadly 
than international standards, thus denying the right to strike to a 
large number of public workers, such as those working in education, 
postal services, transport, and energy production, transportation, and 
distribution. Public employees and workers in sectors deemed essential 
may address grievances by means of mediation and arbitration through 
the Ministry of Labor's General Inspectorate of Labor and also directly 
through the labor courts.
    The law prohibits employer retaliation against strikers engaged in 
legal strikes. However, employers may suspend or fire workers for 
absence without leave if authorities have not recognized a strike as 
legal. The law calls for binding arbitration if no agreement is reached 
after 30 days of negotiation.
    A factory or business owner is not obligated to negotiate a 
collective bargaining agreement unless at least 25 percent of workers 
in that factory or business are union members and request negotiations. 
The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and employer interference in 
union activities and requires employers to reinstate workers dismissed 
illegally for union-organizing activities.
    The government did not systematically enforce legislation on 
freedom of association, collective bargaining, or antiunion 
discrimination. The government did little to investigate, prosecute, 
and punish employers who violated freedom of association and collective 
bargaining laws or to reinstate workers illegally dismissed for 
engaging in union activities. Inspectors repeatedly failed to take 
action, including failing to seek police assistance, to ensure access 
to worksites in response to employers' refusal to permit labor 
inspectors to enter facilities to investigate worker complaints. 
Penalties for labor law violations were inadequate and rarely enforced.
    The Labor Ministry cannot sanction employers for labor law 
violations discovered during inspections but must refer these cases to 
the courts. Only labor courts have the authority to impose sanctions 
for labor law violations, although according to ministry officials, 
courts rarely sanctioned employers for ignoring legally binding court 
orders, and employers frequently refused to honor those decisions 
favorable to workers. Appeals by employers, along with widespread use 
of legal maneuvers such as reincorporation as a different entity, often 
prolonged reinstatement proceedings. The labor courts had a backlog of 
cases regarding the reinstatement of workers. The length of time to 
process such cases was excessive, with cases often taking two to four 
years and some lasting more than 10 years. The delay in processing 
labor law complaints--from submission to final resolution--facilitated 
impunity for employers.
    In September and December 2010 the government took part in formal 
cooperative labor consultations under the Dominican Republic-Central 
America-United States Free Trade Agreement's (CAFTA-DR) Labor Chapter 
to address concerns about systemic weaknesses in enforcement of labor 
laws, first identified in the 2009 official report in response to a 
2008 public submission. The labor consultations failed to resolve the 
issues of concern, resulting in a bilateral meeting of the agreement's 
Free Trade Commission in June under the CAFTA-DR Dispute Settlement 
Chapter. The government's failure to take concrete enforcement action 
to improve measurably compliance with the country's labor laws resulted 
in a request on August 9 for the establishment of an arbitral panel. At 
year's end panel members had not yet been selected.
    The Special Prosecutor's Unit for Crimes against Unionists within 
the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights is charged with 
investigating attacks against union members. The unit's small size 
(four prosecutors) limited its effectiveness. According to Public 
Ministry statistics, the unit achieved no convictions in the 53 cases 
it handled. The International Labor Organization (ILO) noted its 
concern that the failures of the justice system had grown worse with 
respect to violence against trade unionists.
    Union formation restrictions effectively eliminated the possibility 
for workers to exercise their rights to negotiate and engage employers 
formally at an industry level. The International Trade Union 
Confederation's annual report noted numerous and arbitrary obstacles 
for union registration in practice.
    Violence and threats against trade unionists and worker activists 
remained serious problems and, combined with weak and ineffective 
enforcement of labor and employment laws, restricted freedom of 
association and the right to collective bargaining. Several labor 
leaders were killed and others reported receiving death threats and 
being targets of other acts of intimidation. UDEFEGUA indicated in its 
annual report that at least four trade unionists were killed by unknown 
assailants. The ILO continued to stress its deep concern regarding 
violence against trade union leaders and members, and the government's 
lack of political will to combat violence against them or to combat 
impunity.
    Most acts of violence and threats were not well investigated and 
went unprosecuted, often making it difficult to identify motives for 
killings. Local unions urged authorities to investigate the killings of 
unionists and called for increased security for union leaders and 
members. During the year four members of the Banana Workers Union of 
Izabal (SITRABI) were shot and killed in the Izabal Department: Oscar 
Humberto Gonzalez Vasquez on April 10, finance secretary Idar Joel 
Hernandez Godoy on May 26, Henry Anibal Marroquin Orellana on September 
24, and Pablino Yaque Cervantes on October 16. At year's end no one had 
been arrested in connection with the killings.
    At year's end no arrests were made and none were expected in the 
2010 deaths of four union members belonging to the Guatemalan National 
Health Care Workers' Union and the serious wounding of a fifth in a 
series of separate shooting incidents.
    Procedural hurdles, combined with the small number of unionized 
workers and impunity for employers ignoring court orders, limited 
freedom of association and collective bargaining in practice. Many 
employers ignored judicial rulings requiring the employer to negotiate 
with recognized unions.
    Employers routinely resisted union formation attempts, and there 
were credible reports of retaliation by employers against workers who 
tried to exercise their rights, including numerous complaints filed 
with the Ministry of Labor and Public Ministry alleging employer 
retaliation for union activity. Common practices included termination 
and harassment of workers who attempted to form workplace unions, 
creation of illegal company-supported unions to counter legally 
established unions, blacklisting of union organizers, and threats of 
factory closures. Employers threatened not to renew contracts or not to 
offer subcontracted workers permanent employment if the worker joined a 
union or refused to disaffiliate. There continued to be reports that 
management or persons hired by management harassed and made death 
threats against workers who did not accept employer dismissals or 
refused to forfeit their right to reinstatement.
    During the year workers who suffered illegal dismissal won court 
injunctions ordering reinstatement, but in practice employers often 
failed to comply with reinstatement orders. Employers, often with 
impunity, failed to pay the full amount of legally required severance 
payments to workers or to pay court-ordered fines.
    Local unions reported that businesses also continued to use 
fraudulent bankruptcies, ownership substitution, and reincorporation of 
companies to circumvent legal obligations to recognize newly formed or 
established unions. Unions and workers also reported that employers 
subdivided into smaller companies in order to make it more difficult 
for nascent unions to find the 20 supporters required.
    An active Solidarismo (a national solidarity association movement) 
exists. Unions may operate legally in workplaces that have solidarity 
associations, and workers have the right to belong to either or both. 
Although the law stipulates that trade unions have an exclusive right 
to negotiate work conditions on behalf of workers, unions asserted that 
management promoted solidarity associations to discourage the formation 
of trade unions or to compete with existing labor unions.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government failed to 
enforce these laws effectively in some cases, and there were reports 
that men and women were subjected to forced labor in agriculture and 
domestic service. There were also reports of forced child labor 
occurring in practice (see section 7.c.).
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law bars employment of minors under the age of 14 without written 
permission from parents and the Ministry of Labor. The law prohibits 
persons under the age of 18 from work where alcoholic beverages are 
served, in unhealthy or dangerous conditions, and at night or overtime. 
The legal workday for persons younger than 14 is six hours, and for 
persons 14 to 17 years of age, seven hours.
    The Ministry of Labor's Child Worker Protection Unit is charged 
with enforcing restrictions on child labor and educating minors, their 
parents, and employers on the rights of minors in the labor market. 
While penalties in theory are adequate to deter child labor, the 
government did not effectively enforce these laws, a situation 
exacerbated by the weakness of the labor-inspection and labor-court 
systems. In exceptional cases the Labor Inspectorate may authorize 
children under the age of 14 to work, but the Ministry of Labor has 
committed not to provide such authorizations, and the Labor 
Inspectorate reported that it did not make any authorizations during 
the year. The government devoted insufficient resources to prevention 
programs.
    Child labor was a widespread problem. The NGO Conrad Project 
Association of the Cross estimated that the workforce included 
approximately one million children between the ages of five and 17. 
Most child labor occurred in rural indigenous areas. The informal and 
agricultural sectors regularly employed children below 14 years of age, 
usually in small family enterprises, and there were reports during the 
year that child labor existed in the production of broccoli, coffee, 
corn, fireworks, gravel, and sugar. Indigenous children also worked 
frequently in street sales and rubber and timber production and as shoe 
shiners and bricklayer assistants. Some child laborers worked an 
average of 45 hours per week.
    An estimated 39,000 children, primarily indigenous girls, worked as 
domestic servants and were often vulnerable to physical and sexual 
abuse. In the Mexican border area, there were reports of forced child 
labor in municipal dumps and in street begging.
    Also see the Department of Department of Labor's Findings on the 
Worst Forms of Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The law sets national minimum 
wages for agricultural and nonagricultural work and work in garment 
factories. The minimum wage was 63.70 quetzales ($8.16) per day for 
agricultural and nonagricultural work and 59.45 quetzales ($7.61) per 
day for work in garment factories. In December the National Statistics 
Institute estimated that the minimum food budget for a family of five 
was 2,440 quetzales ($312) per month. The basic basket for vital needs, 
including food and housing, was 4,452 quetzales ($570). Labor 
representatives noted that even where both parents worked, the minimum 
wage did not enable a family to meet the basic basket of vital needs.
    The legal workweek is 48 hours with at least one paid 24-hour rest 
period. Daily and weekly maximum hour limits do not apply to domestic 
workers. Workers in the formal sector receive the standard pay for a 
day's work for official annual holidays. Time-and-a-half pay is 
required for overtime work, and the law prohibits excessive compulsory 
overtime.
    The Ministry of Labor conducted inspections to monitor compliance 
with minimum-wage law provisions, but the government allocated 
inadequate resources to enable inspectors to enforce the law, 
especially in the agricultural sector and very large informal sector. 
The Ministry of Labor employed approximately 240 labor inspectors, 
although many of them performed conciliation or administrative duties 
rather than clearly defined inspection duties. The Ministry of Labor 
operated a call center that received calls to request information or 
advice or register complaints about labor law violations. Complaints 
were referred to labor inspectors and labor courts for further action.
    Labor inspectors reported uncovering numerous instances of overtime 
abuses, but effective enforcement was undermined due to inadequate 
fines, labor court inefficiencies, employer refusals to permit labor 
inspectors to enter facilities or provide access to payroll records and 
other documentation, and inspectors' lack of effective follow-up in the 
face of such refusals, including failure to seek police assistance to 
gain access to worksites when needed. Fines were insufficient to deter 
violations. Moreover, labor inspectors were not authorized by law to 
sanction employers but had to send alleged violations to the labor 
courts, where decisions favorable to workers were rarely enforced.
    The government sets occupational health and safety standards, which 
were inadequate and poorly enforced. Authorities often failed to 
investigate fully or assign responsibility for negligence, and 
employers rarely were sanctioned for failing to provide a safe 
workplace. Legislation requiring companies with more than 50 employees 
to provide onsite medical facilities for their workers was not 
enforced.
    Trade union leaders and human rights groups charged that employers 
required workers to work overtime without legally mandated premium pay 
and did so with impunity. Management often manipulated employer-
provided transportation to force employees to work overtime, especially 
in export processing zones located in isolated areas with limited 
transportation alternatives. Noncompliance with minimum wage provisions 
in the agriculture and informal sector was widespread. Advocacy groups 
estimated that more than half of the workers in rural areas who engaged 
in daylong employment did not receive the wages, benefits, and social 
security allocations required by law. According to credible estimates, 
between 65 and 75 percent of the workforce continued to work within the 
informal sector and outside the basic protections afforded by law.
    Local unions continued to highlight and protest violations by 
employers who failed to pay employer and employee contributions to the 
national social security system despite employee contribution 
deductions from workers' paychecks. These violations, particularly 
common in the private sector and export industries, resulted in 
limiting or denying employees' access to the public health system and 
reducing or underpaying workers' pension benefits during their 
retirement years. Although workers have the right to remove themselves 
from dangerous work situations without reprisal, few workers were 
willing to jeopardize their jobs by complaining about such conditions. 
Three construction workers were killed and seven were injured while 
building a church in August.

                               __________

                                 GUYANA

                           executive summary
    The Cooperative Republic of Guyana is a multiparty democracy. On 
November 28, voters elected Donald Ramotar of the People's Progressive 
Party Civic (PPP/C) to be president, replacing Bharrat Jagdeo of the 
same party. However, the PPP/C won only 48.6 percent of the vote, and 
President Ramotar presides over the first minority government in 
parliament since independence in 1966. International and local 
observers considered the elections to be generally free, transparent, 
and peaceful. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights abuses involved complaints of 
mistreatment of suspects and detainees by security forces, unlawful 
killings by police, and poor prison and jail conditions.
    Other human rights problems included lengthy pretrial detention; 
allegations of government corruption, including among police officials; 
sexual and domestic violence against women; and abuse of minors.
    There were no independent and transparent procedures for handling 
allegations of killings and other abuses by security force members. 
Prosecutions when pursued were extremely lengthy, and convictions were 
rare. As a result there was a widespread perception that security force 
members enjoyed impunity.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The government or 
its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings, and the 
Police Complaints Authority (PCA) received no complaints of unlawful 
killings. The Guyana Human Rights Association recorded five fatal 
police shootings.
    On May 2, a police officer shot and killed Angold Cox at his home. 
According to the police, officers responded to a report that Cox 
threatened to kill a tenant at his home, and when approached he 
attacked the officers who claimed they had to resort to the use of 
force. However, relatives and neighbors accused police of using 
excessive force, saying that Cox barricaded himself to avoid arrest and 
only jabbed a piece of wood at a policeman outside his door. A witness 
claimed that she saw a policeman point a gun through a broken door, 
fire it, and then tell the others that he ``got him."
    Trials in the High Court remained pending for the police officer 
charged with the June 2010 murder of 16-year-old student Kelvin Fraser 
and for three Coast Guard personnel charged with the 2009 killing of 
businessman Dweive Kant.

    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. Nonetheless, there were 
reports alleging mistreatment of inmates by prison officials as well as 
allegations of police abuse of suspects and detainees.
    During the year the PCA received 11 complaints of unnecessary use 
of violence. Local media reported several cases of random police 
brutality, arrest, and interrogation prior to investigation. On 
September 9, policemen allegedly pointed a gun at, beat, and then 
arrested taxi driver Claude Bristol for driving away from the police 
following a traffic stop.
    A woman accused the police commissioner of raping her in November 
(see section 6). Also in November authorities placed two men stationed 
at the Cove and John Police Station under arrest while they 
investigated a report that the men were sexually involved with two 
female prisoners (one a juvenile) in custody at the station. The case 
remained pending at year's end.
    Although authorities charged Detective Corporal Ricardo Inniss on 
February 1 with the December 2010 rape of a 21-year-old woman in 
custody at the Turkeyen Police Station, the case was subsequently 
dismissed.
    On January 14, after the witnesses failed to appear, the court 
dismissed the high-profile case against three police officers for 
maliciously wounding three suspects during a murder investigation in 
2009. On June 17, a court awarded one of those suspects, 14-year-old 
Twyon Thomas, 6.5 million Guyanese dollars ($32,178) in damages as a 
result of a civil action filed in February 2010. On July 28, the 
attorney general appealed the award, and the matter remained pending at 
year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and jail conditions 
were poor and deteriorating, particularly in police holding cells. 
Capacity and resource constraints were a problem. The Guyana Prison 
Service (GPS) reported that as of October 31, there were 1,962 
prisoners in five facilities, which had a combined design capacity of 
1,580. A total of 997 prisoners were in Georgetown's Camp Street 
Prison, which was designed to hold 775 inmates. Overcrowding was in 
large part due to a backlog of pretrial detainees, who constituted 
approximately 39 percent of the total prison population.
    Prisoners have access to potable water, and government medical 
officers visit each prison on a monthly basis. In addition a medical 
staff consisting of a medical examiner, registered nurses, and 
assistant nurses provide daily treatment and monitor the sick as 
advised by the medical doctors.
    There were 88 female prisoners, all at the New Amsterdam prison. 
Authorities held some female detainees temporarily at the East La 
Penitence Police Station. The GPS offered rehabilitation programs 
focused on vocational training and education; however, such programs 
did not adequately address the needs of prisoners with substance abuse 
problems.
    Unlike in past years, when all newly hired prison guards received 
limited human rights training from the Guyana Human Rights Association, 
the association was not invited to perform training during the year.
    Although precinct jails were intended to serve only as pretrial 
holding areas, some suspects were detained there as long as two years, 
awaiting judicial action on their cases.
    There was one death in prison, which occurred when three prisoners 
attacked a fourth, who died as a result of a fractured skull. 
Authorities charged the three with murder. Following an inmate-upon-
inmate killing in 2010, the GPS announced measures to keep mentally 
unstable inmates segregated from the general prison population until 
construction of a separate facility to hold them, and authorities held 
35 inmates isolated from the general prison population at the 
Georgetown facility.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Prison chaplains representing the major 
faiths in the country were appointed to all prison facilities. 
Prisoners and detainees are able to submit complaints to judicial 
authorities without censorship and to request investigation of credible 
allegations of inhumane conditions. Prisoners often circumvented 
procedures for submitting complaints by passing letters addressed to 
government officials to family members.
    The government investigated and monitored prison and detention 
center conditions. Prison visiting committees prepared monthly reports 
on the Georgetown, Mazaruni, New Amsterdam, and Timehri prisons. Based 
upon such reports, the GPS identified areas for improvement, especially 
with regard to health care, such as the need for a permanent doctor and 
increased staffing and training.
    Juvenile offenders 16 years of age and older were held with the 
adult prison population. Juvenile offenders ages 15 and younger were 
held in the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), a juvenile correctional center 
that offered primary education, vocational training, and basic medical 
care. Problems at the NOC included lax security and understaffing. 
There were complaints that juvenile runaways, or those out of their 
guardians' care, were placed with juveniles who had committed crimes, 
leading some petty offenders to become involved in more serious 
criminal activity.
    There was no indication that the government declined to permit 
outside groups to monitor prison conditions independently, but there 
were no known requests to make such visits during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions. However, during the year the PCA received a number of 
complaints of unlawful arrest.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Guyana Police Force 
(GPF), which is headed by the commissioner of police and overseen by 
the Ministry of Home Affairs, is responsible for maintaining internal 
security. The duties of the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) include 
defending the country's territorial integrity, assisting civil 
authorities to maintain law and order, and contributing to economic 
development. The GDF, headed by a chief of staff, falls under the 
purview of the Defense Board, which the president chairs.
    Inadequate training, poor equipment, and acute budgetary 
constraints severely limited the GPF's effectiveness. Public confidence 
in, and cooperation with, the police remained low. There were reports 
of corruption in the police force. Police force abuses may be reported 
to the PCA; however, the PCA did not possess an independent 
investigation unit.
    Authorities charged and brought to court 39 GPF members for various 
crimes including robbery, simple larceny, bribery, and indecent 
assault.
    During the year the PCA received 245 written complaints and 339 
oral complaints, 79 of which were sent from the commissioner of police. 
Most cited police neglect of duties, unlawful arrest, and unnecessary 
use of force. The PCA recommended disciplinary action in 30 cases; 
there were no recommendations for criminal charges. At year's end 102 
reports remained outstanding.
    PCA efforts to conduct impartial and transparent assessment of the 
accusations it received were obstructed by staff shortages (six of 
seven full-time positions were filled), as well as the lack of an 
investigative unit. By law the police commissioner must comply with the 
PCA's recommendations on complaints, but the PCA relied on the GPF to 
conduct investigations into complaints against its own officers. Long 
delays in receiving reports from the commissioner also thwarted the 
complaints process. Most cases involving charges against police 
officers were heard by lower magistrate's courts, where specially 
trained police officers served as the prosecutors.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--An arrest 
requires a warrant issued by a court official unless an officer who 
witnesses a crime believes there is good cause to suspect that a crime 
or a breach of the peace has been or will be committed. The law 
requires that a person arrested and held for more than 72 hours be 
brought before a court to be charged; authorities generally observed 
this requirement in practice. Bail was generally available except in 
cases of capital offenses and narcotics trafficking.
    Although the law provides criminal detainees prompt access to a 
lawyer of their choice and to family members, in practice these rights 
sometimes were not fully respected. The state provides legal counsel 
for indigent persons only when such persons are charged with a capital 
offense. However, the Legal Aid Clinic provides legal counsel at a 
reduced fee in certain circumstances, as determined by the clinic. 
Police routinely required permission from the senior investigating 
officer, who was seldom on the premises, before permitting counsel 
access to a client.
    Lengthy pretrial detention, due primarily to judicial inefficiency, 
staff shortages, and cumbersome legal procedures, remained a problem. 
Pretrial detainees constituted 39 percent of the prison and detainee 
population. The average length of pretrial detention ranged from six to 
18 months for those awaiting trial at a magistrate's court or in the 
High Court.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected this 
provision in practice.
    Delays and inefficiencies undermined judicial due process.
    In October the High Court scheduled 206 cases for the Demerara 
criminal assizes, but only six matters were tried, and the prosecution 
decided to drop five cases. Delays were caused by shortages of trained 
court personnel and magistrates, inadequate resources, postponements at 
the request of the defense or prosecution, occasional allegations of 
bribery, poor tracking of cases, and the slowness of police in 
preparing cases for trial. In at least one of the cases heard during 
the session, the accused had been incarcerated since 2007. There were 
226 cases listed to be heard when the next Demerara assizes open in 
January 2012.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public, and defendants enjoy a 
presumption of innocence. Cases in magistrate's courts are tried 
without jury. Cases involving more serious crimes are tried by jury in 
the High Court. Defendants can confront witnesses against them and have 
access to relevant government-held evidence. Defendants have the right 
to appeal. Trial postponements were granted routinely to both the 
defense and the prosecution. The law extends these rights to all 
citizens.
    The law recognizes the right to legal counsel; however, it was 
limited to those who could afford to pay, except in cases involving 
capital crimes. Although there is no public defender system, a 
defendant in a murder case that reaches the High Court receives a 
court-appointed attorney. The Georgetown Legal Aid Clinic, with 
government and private support, provided advice to persons who could 
not afford a lawyer, particularly victims of domestic violence and 
violence against women.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides for an 
independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, and the 
government generally respected this provision in practice. Individuals 
can access the court system to initiate lawsuits seeking damages for, 
or cessation of, some human rights violations. The magistrate's courts 
deal with both criminal and civil matters. Delays, inefficiencies, and 
alleged corruption in the magistrate court system affected the ability 
of citizens to seek timely remedies in civil matters, and there was a 
large backlog of civil cases.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech including for members of 
the press, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice; however, the government's monopoly on radio broadcasting 
continued throughout most of the year. Observers believed the 
government attempted to censor or restrict content and sought 
indirectly to censor the print media by controlling advertising.

    Freedom of Speech.--All radio stations operating on the 
electromagnetic spectrum are government controlled. In 2009 the Court 
of Appeal ruled that the government had an unlawful monopoly on the 
airwaves and that the National Frequency Management Unit was not 
adequately considering radio license applications. The government's 
monopoly on radio broadcasting continued, limiting the expression of 
opposition views, even though the National Assembly passed and then 
president Jagdeo assented to a new broadcasting bill on September 27.
    The new broadcasting law creates a Guyana National Broadcasting 
Authority and a governing board; the president appoints the chairman 
and all members of the board, restricting the independence of the 
authority. The law states that programs that address controversial 
public policy or matters of political or industrial contention ``must 
meet standards of fairness, balance, and accuracy, maintaining a proper 
balance and respect for truth and integrity and always ensuring that 
opposing views are not misrepresented.'' The then President Jagdeo, who 
also held the portfolio of minister of information, asserted that the 
bill's passage would allow him to review the 55 radio applications 
pending. Although the president said he was committed to granting new 
radio licenses, he said it would not be done before the November 
elections. At year's end media reports suggested that licenses had been 
approved for some longstanding applicants, although the process was not 
transparent, and there were further steps needed before new stations 
may begin broadcasting.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--After a Channel 6 telecast on 
May 4 in which former television owner Anthony Vieira gave commentary 
said to be offensive, the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting 
recommended a suspension of the station. On September 30, the then 
President Jagdeo instituted a four-month suspension of Channel 6, but 
following a public outcry, on October 10 he temporarily lifted the 
suspension until after the elections.
    On August 26, the chairman of the Elections Commission announced 
the reopening of the Media Monitoring Unit that ceased operations in 
July 2010, following the government's request that the U.N. Development 
Program cease its support for the unit. That unit appeared to be 
effective in monitoring and reporting on media content in the period 
prior to the elections, highlighting signs of inequitable reporting in 
a number of publications and broadcasts.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--Government officials used libel laws 
to suppress criticism. The hearing into the 10 million Guyanese dollars 
($50,000) libel suit filed by former president Jagdeo in July 2010 
against the Kaieteur News publishers, its editor in chief, and one of 
its columnists commenced on August 19 and remained pending at year's 
end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e 
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e mail.

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

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice. The Amerindian Act requires that the local village councils 
grant permission for travel to Amerindian areas. In practice most 
persons traveled throughout these areas without a permit.
    The government cooperated with the U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has not 
established a system for providing protection to refugees or asylum 
seekers and did not grant status to any person during the year, 
although one person submitted a letter of inquiry about applying for 
asylum. In the absence of national legislation and requisite government 
capacity, the UNHCR assumed the main responsibility for determination 
of refugee status.

    Nonrefoulement.--According to the U.N.'s Universal Periodic Review, 
in some cases the nonrefoulement principle was not fully respected.
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 national elections based on universal 
suffrage. However, local government elections, which the law provides 
should be held every three years, have not been carried out since 1994. 
Elections are also held within Amerindian communities where members 
elect Amerindian leaders known as Toshaos.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--On 
November 28, voters elected PPP/C candidate Donald Ramotar to a five-
year term as president, replacing outgoing PPP/C president Jagdeo. 
However, the PPP/C gained only 48.6 percent of the vote, and President 
Ramotar therefore presides over the first minority government in 
parliament since independence in 1966. International observers, 
including teams from the Organization of American States, Caribbean 
Community, Commonwealth, and Union of South American Nations, generally 
concluded that the elections were substantially free, transparent, and 
peaceful and that they were well administered. Electoral observer 
criticisms centered on the need for greater timeliness in transmission 
of preliminary and final results and for increased women's 
participation in the electoral process. Observers also noted that 
Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) members are political appointees, 
saying this ``compromises the effectiveness and integrity of the 
commission, which needs to be independent and above politics at all 
levels."
    Although all five parties competing in the elections signed a code 
of conduct prepared by the GECOM, hours after the ceremony the 
opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), accused 
the ruling PPP/C of violating the code by distributing leases for land 
to residents of the Essequibo Coast. During the campaign GECOM's Media 
Monitoring Unit highlighted three problem areas in media portrayal of 
political parties, including inequitable reporting by certain outlets, 
publication of two racially divisive articles, and use of unscientific 
polling data. Nonetheless, the unit concluded that there were few major 
infringements of a separate media code of conduct.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The constitution requires 
that one-third of each party list of candidates be women but does not 
require the parties to select women for seats. Parties selected 21 
female representatives for the 65-seat National Assembly, and President 
Ramotar named five women to his 21-member cabinet.
    While supporters of the two major parties (the PPP/C and APNU) were 
drawn largely from the Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese communities, 
respectively, political party leadership was more diverse. The cabinet 
was also ethnically diverse, mirroring the ethnic makeup of the general 
population. Seven cabinet members were Afro-Guyanese, including the 
prime minister and the head of the presidential secretariat. The 
ethnically diverse National Assembly included seven indigenous members; 
there were also two Amerindian cabinet ministers.
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. There 
were reports alleging government corruption and complacency in 
enforcing these laws with respect to officials engaged in corrupt 
practices. The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected 
that government corruption was a serious problem. There was a 
widespread public perception of serious corruption in the government, 
including law enforcement and the judicial system. Low wages among 
police and other public servants contributed to the incidence of 
bribery.
    In August a senior GPF member alleged that many officers had 
connections to drug dealers, and authorities began an investigation. In 
October the GPF crime chief submitted a report to the minister of home 
affairs, who considered it but took no action by year's end.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws and are 
required to submit information about personal assets to the Integrity 
Commission, but compliance was uneven, and the commission had no 
resources for enforcement or investigations.
    On September 27, the president assented to the Access to 
Information Act, intended to promote transparency and accountability in 
the working of the government and public authorities. The new law 
provides for the first time that persons may secure access to 
information under the control of public authorities and for the 
appointment of a commissioner of information. By year's end, however, 
implementing regulations had not been issued nor had a commissioner 
been appointed.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    The few organized domestic human rights groups generally operated 
without government restriction, investigating and publishing their 
findings on human rights cases. These groups at times, however, 
complained that government officials were uncooperative and 
unresponsive to their views; when they did respond, it was generally to 
criticize.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The constitution allows for a 
governmental human rights commission, but it has not been established. 
While the constitution provides for the appointment of an ombudsman who 
may investigate any action taken by any government department or 
authority in relation to the administrative functions of that 
department or authority, the position has been vacant since 2005.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    While the constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, 
gender, disability, language, social status, religion, or national 
origin, the government did not always effectively enforce these 
prohibitions.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, but neither type of rape was frequently 
reported nor successfully prosecuted. Rape was a serious problem and 
pervasive in society. Many survivors did not report rapes because of 
fear of stigma, retribution, or further violence. Police and 
prosecutors were not effective in investigation or prosecuting rape 
cases. During the year authorities charged 97 persons with rape, but 
only one was convicted, due in part to the large court backlog. 
Additionally, authorities charged 31 persons with statutory rape, and 
four were convicted (including persons charged in preceding years). A 
judge has discretion to issue a sentence of any length in a rape 
conviction, depending upon the circumstances and severity of the act 
committed. The norm appeared to be a sentence of five to 10 years' 
imprisonment.
    In a case that drew public attention, a woman alleged that the GPF 
commissioner raped her in November. A women's group held a press 
conference to draw attention to the charges; the commissioner declined 
to comment and took leave in December to allow for an investigation 
into the matter. The government requested investigative assistance from 
Jamaican authorities; an interim report was completed and sent to the 
DPP, with further action pending at year's end.
    Domestic violence and violence against women, including spousal 
abuse, was widespread and crossed racial and socioeconomic lines. The 
law prohibits domestic violence and allows victims to seek prompt 
protection, occupation, or tenancy orders from a magistrate. Penalties 
for violation of protection orders include fines up to 10,000 Guyanese 
dollars ($50) and 12 months' imprisonment; however, this legislation 
frequently was not enforced because of a lack of willingness to press 
charges on behalf of the victims and/or a lack of confidence in 
obtaining a remedy through the courts. Some victims preferred to reach 
a pecuniary settlement out of court. There were reports of police 
accepting bribes and other reports of magistrates applying inadequate 
sentences after conviction. In addition cases heard involving violation 
of a protective order tended to be categorized as assault cases.
    According to a nongovernmental organization (NGO), the GPF 
reorganized police units in order to require inclusion of domestic 
violence units where victims can be counseled in private. The group 
observed that in most cases domestic violence reports were not taken 
confidentially but rather in the open at the front desk at police 
stations and were not treated as a matter of urgency. The organization 
handled 252 cases of abuse and violence, including child, spousal, and 
other domestic abuse, of which 12 were formally filed in a court.
    The Help and Shelter NGO ran a free shelter for victims of domestic 
violence and operated a hotline to counsel victims with the funds it 
received from both private donors and the government. During the year 
Help and Shelter conducted 52 awareness sessions to sensitize 
individuals about domestic violence, reaching 1,304 persons, and 
counseled 479 persons affected by domestic abuse or violence during 
face-to-face counseling sessions and via a hotline.
    Another NGO, Red Thread, promoted the empowerment of women through 
organized protests that led to passage of several laws protecting women 
and children, including laws on domestic violence, sexual offenses, and 
the protection of children. During the election campaign, one of its 
founders called on all parties to make domestic violence a campaign 
issue. Red Thread also promoted provision of services such as literacy 
projects, flood relief, transportation provision, and training in 
personal finance for mothers.

    Sexual Harassment.--The Prevention of Discrimination Act prohibits 
sexual harassment and provides for monetary penalties and award of 
damages to victims, but its application is confined to the workplace. 
For instance, the law does not cover harassment in schools. Any act of 
sexual harassment involving physical assault can also be prosecuted 
under relevant criminal statutes. Reports of sexual harassment were 
common, and there were six cases filed under the Prevention of 
Discrimination Act. Charges of sexual harassment were often settled out 
of court.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals had the right to 
decide freely the number, spacing, and timing of their children and had 
the information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, 
and violence. Access to contraception and skilled attendance at 
delivery and in postpartum care were widely available. UNICEF reported 
that 83 percent of births had a skilled attendant. The U.N. Population 
Fund reported a contraceptive prevalence rate of 43 percent and 
estimated the maternal mortality ratio in 2008 at 270 deaths per 
100,000 live births. Media reports highlighted cases where severe 
bleeding after childbirth and hypertensive disorders resulted in 
maternal deaths, leading to the high maternal mortality ratio. The 
media also highlighted cases where family members' complaints about 
lack of prompt attention were ignored by nurses, leading in some cases 
to sickness or death. Women and men had equal access to diagnostic 
services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including 
HIV/AIDS.

    Discrimination.--Although women enjoyed the same legal status and 
rights as men, gender-related discrimination was widespread and deeply 
ingrained. The law prohibits discrimination based on gender, but there 
was no legal protection against such discrimination in the workplace. 
Only 48 percent of women were in the workforce, compared to 85 percent 
of men. There were also credible reports that women were treated and 
paid unequally and faced disadvantages in promotion. Job vacancy 
notices routinely specified that the employer sought only male or only 
female applicants.
    The Women's Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Labor monitored the 
legal rights of women, but its role was limited to employment-related 
services. The bureau also held seminars on leadership and gender equity 
issues for women throughout the country. The constitution provides for 
a Women and Gender Equality Commission, which met and compiled its 
first periodic review and submitted it to parliament in August. The law 
protects women's property rights in common law marriages. It entitles a 
woman who separates or divorces to one-half of the couple's property if 
she had regular employment during the marriage and one-third of the 
property if she had not been employed. In practice women's property 
rights were generally observed.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory or by birth to a Guyanese citizen 
abroad.

    Child Abuse.--There were frequent reports of physical and sexual 
abuse of children, which was a widespread and serious problem. During 
the year Help and Shelter handled 17 cases of child abuse; only two 
child abuse cases were filed with the courts. Law enforcement officials 
and NGOs believed that the vast majority of child rape and criminal 
child abuse cases were not reported. As with cases of domestic abuse, 
NGOs noted reports that some police officers and magistrates could be 
bribed to make cases of child abuse ``go away.'' The Child Care and 
Protection Agency operated a hotline to take calls regarding suspected 
abuse of children. The agency received more than 3,000 child abuse 
reports, involving a significant number of sexual abuse cases.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The age of sexual consent is 16. 
Under the law anyone who has sexual relations with a girl under 16 can 
be found guilty of a felony and imprisoned for life. There were reports 
of child prostitution, although there were no indications that the 
country was a destination for child sex tourism. There is no specific 
legal prohibition of child pornography. However, the law regulates 
selling, publishing, or exhibiting obscene material, defined as 
anything that could deprive or corrupt those open to immoral 
influences.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community was very small, perhaps fewer 
than 50 members. There were no reports of anti-Semitism.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution mandates the state to 
``take legislative and other measures'' designed to protect 
disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities. The law provides 
for equal protection and for a National Commission on Disabilities to 
advise the government, coordinate actions on issues affecting persons 
with disabilities, and implement and monitor the law. The commission 
focused its attention on sensitizing the public about the law and on 
compliance. The commission conducted workshops, meetings, and panel 
discussions and provided advocacy for persons living with disabilities. 
Lack of appropriate infrastructure to provide access to both public and 
private facilities made it difficult for persons with disabilities to 
be employed outside their homes. The Open Door Center offered 
assistance and training to persons with disabilities throughout the 
year.

    Indigenous People.--According to the 2002 census, the indigenous 
population constituted 9 percent of the population. There were nine 
recognized tribal groups, and 90 percent of indigenous communities were 
located in the remote interior. Indigenous communities' standard of 
living was lower than that of most citizens, and they had limited 
access to education and health care. Little reliable data existed 
regarding the situation of women and girls in indigenous communities, 
although indigenous women tended to face three-fold discrimination and 
vulnerability on the basis of gender, ethnicity, and reduced economic 
status. All indigenous communities had primary schools, and there were 
13 secondary schools with an enrollment of 5,547 in remote regions. The 
secondary schools had dormitories that housed approximately 1,000 to 
1,700 students at government expense. Government programs trained 
health workers, who staffed rudimentary health facilities in most 
communities.
    By law persons wishing to enter indigenous lands must obtain prior 
permission from the local village council, but most visitors traveled 
in these areas without a permit. Rules enacted by the village council 
require approval from the minister of Amerindian affairs before 
entering into force.
    Since passage of the Amerindian Act of 2006, the government 
increased the number of communal land titles for indigenous communities 
from 74 to 97, more than doubling the area from 6.5 percent of the 
national territory so designated to 14 percent. In 2010 134 communities 
had collective land titles. To earn cash some villages contracted with 
loggers, saw millers, and miners to exploit timber and other natural 
resources on their land.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Sodomy is punishable with a 
maximum sentence of life in prison. A local NGO reported that there 
were a few prosecutions, but neither the NGO nor the courts could 
provide numbers. It was reportedly more common for the police to use 
the law to intimidate suspected same-sex male partners. There are no 
laws concerning same-sex sexual activity between women. The health 
minister in a speech to a regional HIV/AIDS conference said that he 
``must be driven by public health reality,'' that ``sex between 
consenting adults in private falls into the category of personal 
freedom,'' and that the law is ``in contradiction of this expression of 
personal freedom."
    Following the 2009 incident in which a judge fined several 
transgender persons 7,500 Guyanese dollars ($37), an NGO and four of 
the individuals filed a motion in the High Court against the law 
criminalizing cross-dressing; the case remained pending at year's end.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Violence and 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS were not widely reported.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The constitution provides for the right of association and allows 
workers to form and join trade unions. The constitution bars military 
and paramilitary members from forming a union or associating with any 
established union.
    The law provides workers with the right to strike. The government 
may declare strikes to be illegal if not approved by the union 
leadership or if they did not meet the requirements specified in 
collective bargaining agreements. Public employees providing essential 
services may strike if they provide a one-month notice to the Ministry 
of Labor and leave a skeleton staff in place, although the 
International Labor Organization noted that not all of the services 
deemed essential by the government were considered essential under 
international definitions. Arbitration is compulsory for public 
employees, and such employees engaging in illegal strikes are subject 
to sanctions or imprisonment.
    Public and private sector employees possessed the right to organize 
and bargain collectively. The Ministry of Labor is required to certify 
all collective bargaining agreements, and there were no reports that it 
refused to certify any agreements. Individual unions directly negotiate 
collective bargaining status.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers. Labor law 
covers all categories of employees.
    Workers generally exercised the right to form and join unions in 
practice, and workers exercised their right to bargain collectively and 
strike. However, some public sector employee unions continued to allege 
antiunion discrimination by the government, asserting that the 
government violated worker rights and did not effectively enforce its 
laws. The unions were concerned that labor rights were being undermined 
as permanent, regular jobs were replaced by contract labor and 
temporary, ``unstable'' work.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Although the law 
prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, in 2010 there was at 
least one case of forced labor reported, involving a maid imprisoned by 
a businessman. Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in 
Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits the employment of children younger than 15 with some 
exceptions. Technical schools may employ children as young as age 14 
provided a competent authority approves and supervises such work. No 
person under 18 may be employed in industrial work at night, with 
exceptions for those aged 16 and 17 whose work requires continuity 
through day and night, including certain gold mining processes and the 
production of iron, steel, glass, paper, and raw sugar. The law permits 
children under 15 to be employed only in enterprises in which members 
of the same family are also employed. The law prohibits children under 
15 from working in factories and stipulates that those under 18 may be 
removed from factory work if authorities determine they are engaged in 
activities that are hazardous to their health or safety.
    The Ministry of Labor collaborated with the Ministry of Education, 
Geology and Mines Commission, Guyana Forestry Commission, National 
Insurance Scheme, and GPF to enforce child labor laws. The Ministry of 
Labor employed 17 labor inspectors who were charged with investigating 
child and exploitive labor activities; however, these were not 
sufficient to enforce existing laws effectively. Despite conducting 
approximately 4,000 worksite inspections, authorities assessed no fines 
or penalties nor did they charge any employers with violations.
    Child labor was most prevalent in family-based businesses, farming, 
bars and restaurants, domestic work, and street vending. Small numbers 
of children also performed hazardous work in the construction, logging, 
farming, fishing, manufacturing, and mining industries. Although the 
labor ministry reported no child labor violations during the year, NGOs 
reported isolated incidents of the worst forms of child labor occurred, 
mainly in gold mining, prostitution, and forced labor activities. 
According to local NGOs, children who worked in gold mines operated 
dangerous mining equipment and were exposed to hazardous chemicals. 
Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage is 35,863 
Guyanese dollars ($178) per month. Public sector employees also receive 
unilateral wage increases.
    The law sets hours of employment, which vary by industry and 
sector. In general, work in excess of a 44-hour workweek requires an 
overtime payment rate. The law prohibits compulsory overtime and 
provides for paid annual holidays.
    The law establishes workplace safety and health standards. The 
Occupational Health and Safety Division of the Ministry of Labor is 
charged with conducting factory inspections and investigating 
complaints of substandard workplace conditions. The Ministry of Labor 
is also responsible for enforcing legislation regarding the minimum 
wage and working hours.
    According to local trade unions and NGOs, enforcement of minimum 
wage legislation was not effective, and unorganized workers, 
particularly women in the informal sector, often were paid less than 
the minimum wage. The ministry reported that standards regarding 
working hours were effectively enforced.
    Local trade unions and NGOs also reported that the Ministry of 
Labor did not adequately enforce occupational safety and health 
legislation and that resources were insufficient. The ministry 
estimated that 4,000 labor inspections were carried out during the 
year, which included occupational safety and health. Ministry follow-up 
of labor of inspection findings varied, and compliance among employers 
was also inconsistent. In some cases workers could not remove 
themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardizing 
continued employment.
    No information was available regarding fatal industrial accidents 
during the year. In 2010 there were 24 fatal industrial accidents, 
largely in the mining and forestry sectors; more than half of those who 
died were 15 to 35 years of age.

                               __________

                                 HAITI

                           executive summary
    Haiti is a constitutional republic with a multiparty political 
system. There were some allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 
second round of presidential and legislative elections on March 20, but 
international observers considered the elections generally free and 
fair. Voters elected President Michel Martelly, who took office on May 
14 but was unable to secure the required parliamentary approval of a 
prime minister until October 4. Thus day-to-day government operations 
and budgetary discretion remained in the hands of the outgoing Preval 
government for six months, during which time there were multiple 
allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and embezzlement of 
public funds. Security forces reported to civilian authorities in 
principle, but there were instances in which elements of the security 
forces and some other government officials acted independently of 
civilian control.
    Since 2004 the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Haiti (MINUSTAH), made up 
of approximately 13,000 military and police officers and civilians, has 
operated in the country with a mandate to assist and advise government 
and security authorities. Following the January 2010 earthquake, 
foreign governments, the international community, and many 
nongovernmental organizations provided assistance in rebuilding the 
country, while MINUSTAH continued to help maintain security. The 
earthquake effectively destroyed much of the government's 
infrastructure, and approximately 550,000 persons remained homeless and 
lived in camps for the internally displaced.
    The most serious human rights problems included abuses by 
government security forces and representatives of the judiciary, 
including extrajudicial killings by police and government officials; 
allegations of sexual exploitation by members of MINUSTAH; and chronic, 
severe corruption in all branches of government.
    Other human rights problems included torture and excessive use of 
force against suspects and prisoners; overcrowding and poor sanitation 
in prisons; prolonged pretrial detention; an inefficient, unreliable, 
and inconsistent judiciary subject to significant outside and personal 
influence; rape, other violence, and societal discrimination against 
women; child abuse; and human trafficking. In addition there were 
multiple incidents of mob violence and vigilante retribution against 
both government security forces and ordinary citizens, including 
setting houses on fire, burning police stations, throwing rocks, 
beheadings, and lynchings.
    Although the government took some steps to prosecute and punish 
some government officials and Haitian National Police (HNP) members who 
committed abuses, there was considerable evidence of impunity for some 
government officials, as well as for high-ranking officers in the HNP. 
The government successfully tried and convicted eight law enforcement 
officials for their role in the 2010 killing of inmates in Les Cayes 
prison.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The government or 
its agents may have committed at least one politically motivated 
killing, and there were widespread allegations of HNP involvement in 
extrajudicial killings, some of which led to the arrest, conviction, 
and sentencing of HNP officers. A December MINUSTAH report detailed 
allegations of eight killings committed by members of the HNP.
    By law authorities are supposed to refer all cases involving 
allegations of criminal misconduct in the HNP to the Office of the 
Inspector General (OIG) in the HNP, but the OIG did not pursue most 
cases.
    On March 5, HNP officers allegedly killed Frantz Emmanuel Louis and 
Sterson Jordanaud Jeune, two of three poster hangers working for the 
Mirlande Manigat presidential campaign. The officers reportedly 
arrested the two men in the Champ de Mars camp near the National 
Palace, took them to the police station, beat them, and then left with 
them in a police vehicle. Their bodies were found at the national 
hospital morgue the next day; they had been shot to death. The Port-au-
Prince police chief placed seven officers from the riot unit in 
detention pending an investigation into the matter. Authorities charged 
five officers, who awaited trial at year's end.
    There were two cases of alleged torture of suspects in police 
custody that led to deaths. Police in the Port-au-Prince neighborhood 
of Martissant arrested and allegedly beat Jeffony Michel on April 1, 
then took him to the emergency room at the National Hospital. Michel 
was found dead in his cell the following morning. At the hospital 
morgue, Michel's cause of death was listed as ``shot to death."
    The police chief of the affluent Petionville neighborhood in Port-
au-Prince and the Port-au-Prince prosecutor oversaw the arrest, 
interrogation, torture, and death of Serge Demosthene on June 15. 
Authorities arrested Petionville Police Chief Vanel LaCroix and seven 
other officers implicated in the affair. According to an OIG report, 
Port-au-Prince prosecutor Harrycidas Auguste and LaCroix both admitted 
being present during the torture and death of Demosthene but blamed 
each other. Authorities fired Auguste and charged him with murder but 
later dropped the charges. LaCroix and the other officers awaited trial 
at year's end, but Auguste was reportedly being considered for 
promotion to investigative judge for financial crimes.
    The government tried 14 police and corrections officers, as well as 
16 escaped prisoners, on charges of murder, arson, escape, and abetting 
escape resulting from a 2010 riot and successful escape at the Les 
Cayes prison. The incident left at least 12 inmates dead, while 22 
escaped, and many others were wounded. At the trial 15 defendants were 
present; the rest were tried in absentia, including the former chief of 
the riot police, Olritch Beaubrun, who remained at large and out of the 
country. On December 15, the trial concluded, and the prosecution 
sought life in prison for the 14 officers and an additional one-year 
sentence for each of the escaped prisoners. After deliberation, the 
judge found eight police officers and one prisoner guilty and imposed 
sentences ranging from three to 13 years of hard labor. The prison 
warden, Sylvester Laraque, was sentenced to seven years' hard labor 
less time already served. The judge convicted Beaubrun and the prisoner 
charged with starting the riot in absentia. Human rights groups and the 
Office of the Citizen Protector (OPC) applauded the government for 
providing some measure of justice but said the sentences should have 
been harsher.

    b. Disappearance.--There was one report of a politically motivated 
disappearance by government agents, when one of three poster hangers 
working for the Mirlande Manigat presidential campaign disappeared. He 
was never found after an alleged altercation with HNP officers in the 
Champ de Mars camp near the National Palace, but the bodies of two 
other poster hangers were found the next day (see section 1.a.).
    Current and former HNP officers were accused of participation in 
kidnappings. In June authorities arrested Emile Augustin, a member of 
the General Security Unit of the National Palace, on more than 20 
charges of kidnapping. Security officials in the Martelly 
administration had transferred Augustin to the palace in April, 
following Martelly's election. Authorities arrested Augustin after 
determining that he was using a victim's car to commute to the National 
Palace.
    MINUSTAH reporting through December, based on police station 
records, showed 159 kidnappings, compared with 121 in all of 2010. It 
was widely acknowledged among the civilian population, MINUSTAH, and 
the HNP that a significant number of kidnappings were never reported to 
the police.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, but there were some 
reports of degrading treatment during the year. There were widespread 
allegations of police mistreatment of suspects during arrest and 
preliminary detention, as well as credible allegations of police 
brutality, several of which resulted in the deaths of suspects in 
police custody. Prisoners were also subject to degrading treatment, in 
large part due to overcrowded and inhumane facilities. Corrections 
officers in general did not mistreat prisoners.
    There were multiple allegations of sexual abuse and sexual 
exploitation against members of MINUSTAH. The case of Johnny Jean, an 
18-year-old Haitian man, attracted attention when a video showed 
Uruguayan peacekeepers pulling his shorts down and abusing him on a 
MINUSTAH base in Port-Salut. The Uruguayan minister of defense issued a 
public apology, promised perpetrators would be punished to the full 
extent of the law, and repatriated four soldiers implicated in the 
affair. The Uruguayan MINUSTAH contingent in Port-Salut was also 
accused of regularly engaging in transactional sex with local Haitians, 
usually trading their food rations for sexual favors.
    As a mandated U.N. peacekeeping mission, MINUSTAH has an official 
``zero tolerance'' policy regarding sexual exploitation by members of 
the mission. It was not clear, however, that the policy had curbed 
behavior. When the media or legal authorities publicized incidents of 
alleged sexual exploitation or abuse by peacekeepers, MINUSTAH 
responded by conducting its own private, internal investigation and 
took action accordingly. MINUSTAH did not provide case-specific 
information, but it publishes the number of allegations and 
substantiations of those allegations yearly. The online database of the 
U.N. Conduct and Discipline Unit showed 14 investigations of MINUSTAH 
sexual exploitation and abuse, of which 12 were categorized as pending 
and one was considered ``substantiated.'' A separate database from the 
Office of Internal Oversight Services showed 13 investigations of 
sexual exploitation and abuse involving minors.
    MINUSTAH's zero tolerance policy was accompanied by a policy not to 
discuss the details or status of any specific investigations with 
outside entities. The U.N. maintained a ``blacklist'' of forbidden 
places for its staff to frequent in Haiti, such as bars or clubs known 
to support prostitution. Despite the administrative ban, U.N. vehicles 
were often seen parked outside and U.N. personnel were often seen 
inside these establishments.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and detention 
centers throughout the country remained overcrowded, poorly maintained, 
and unsanitary. Overcrowding was severe; in some prisons detainees 
slept in shifts due to lack of space. Some prisons had no beds for 
detainees, and some cells had no access to sunlight. Many prison 
facilities lacked basic services such as toilets, medical services, 
potable water, electricity, and medical isolation units for contagious 
patients. Prisoners in Les Cayes frequently defecated into plastic 
bags. Many prisoners and detainees suffered from a lack of basic 
hygiene, malnutrition, poor quality health care, and illness caused by 
lack of access to clean water. Some prisons did not allow prisoners out 
of their cells for exercise.
    The prison system had not recovered from the 2010 earthquake that 
compromised the holding capacity at facilities in Carrefour, Delmas, 
Jacmel, and the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince. Authorities 
had recaptured only 1,600 of the more than 5,000 detainees who escaped 
in the wake of the earthquake, which included all 4,215 persons then 
held at the National Penitentiary.
    According to the Department of Corrections (DAP), there were 7,009 
prisoners jailed as of December 21, but the human rights 
nongovernmental organization (NGO) National Network for the Defense of 
Human Rights (RNDDH) believed there were as many as 7,192. According to 
local standards, available prison facilities were at 300 percent of 
their capacity, but by international standards, the prisons were above 
500 percent of capacity.
    There were also an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 prisoners held in 
makeshift and unofficial detention centers in police stations such as 
Petit-Goave, Mirogoane, Petionville, Gonaives, Port-au-Prince, and 
other locations. Flooding destroyed regular prison facilities in 
Gonaives and Petit-Goave; as a result, the Gonaives police station held 
approximately 250 prisoners and the Petit-Goave police station held 
150. Prisoners held in these facilities were under the direct control 
of the HNP and not the DAP. Local authorities held suspects in 
makeshift facilities, sometimes for days, weeks, or months, without 
registering them with the DAP. On some occasions authorities eventually 
released unregistered suspects on their own recognizance or after they 
allegedly paid bribes to HNP officers.
    In some prisons the incidence of preventable diseases such as HIV/
AIDS, malaria, and drug-resistant tuberculosis remained a serious 
problem. An October 2010 cholera outbreak also affected the prisons, 
and authorities initially restricted access to prisoners from personal 
visitors, as well as medical and health NGOs, in an attempt to quell 
the spread of the disease. The RNDDH reported 275 cases of cholera and 
60 deaths among prisoners from January to March alone. Other common 
diseases in prisons included scabies and beriberi.
    Access to adequate nutrition remained a problem. In October 2010 
the HNP took on contractual and fiscal responsibility for the delivery 
of food to prisons after discovering corruption and embezzlement in the 
DAP. Prison authorities generally provided prisoners with one or two 
meals a day consisting of broth with flour dumplings and potatoes, rice 
and beans, or porridge. None of the regular meals served to prisoners 
provided sufficient calories according to medical standards. As a 
result, prisoners were allowed regular deliveries of food from 
relatives, a commonplace practice that resumed during the year after 
authorities lifted the suspension on outside access imposed after the 
cholera outbreak.
    The HNP also managed other service contracts at prisons, such as 
sewage treatment. Most prisons had insufficient sewage facilities for 
their populations. As such, their facilities require more frequent 
service, but with only one HNP central office to handle all contracts 
for the police, Coast Guard, firefighters, prison workers, and 
prisoners, attention to sewage problems often was lacking. Prisons 
generally used well water as a source for drinking and bathing water. 
Some prison officials used chlorine to sanitize drinking water, but in 
general prisoners did not have access to treated drinking water.
    Corrections officers were severely underresourced and lacked basic 
riot control and self-defense capacity. Most prisons employed a single 
guard in a tower above the facility, armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, a 
close-range weapon not effective in a prison riot or escape attempt.
    Corrections authorities in Port-au-Prince maintained separate 
penitentiaries for adult men and women. Children 16 and older were 
often confined with adults. Minors and adults usually occupied the same 
cells due to lack of available space. When space was available, boys 
were held in a separate cell of the National Penitentiary in Port-au-
Prince. All males under 18 years of age were supposed to be held at the 
juvenile facility at Delmas 33, but the ages of some detainees could 
not be verified. Girls were not held separately from women at the 
Petionville Women's Penitentiary, but convicts were kept in a separate 
cell from pretrial detainees. U.N. prison statistics showed that women 
accounted for approximately 3 percent of convicted prisoners and 5 
percent of pretrial detainees at the end of the year. In areas outside 
the capital, authorities often did not segregate juveniles from adult 
prisoners or convicted prisoners from pretrial detainees due to a lack 
of space, resources, and oversight.
    The law permits religious observances in prison, and inmates could 
request to see a Protestant minister, a Catholic priest, or a Vodou 
(voodoo) leader. However, in practice most inmates gained access to 
religious services only once or twice a year. Few if any organized, 
regular religious services were provided at prisons, but there were 
occasional visits from members of religious NGOs to prisoners. Prison 
authorities were very receptive to NGOs providing services to 
prisoners, particularly at the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince. 
NGOs provided limited medical services, and there was a three-week 
educational program for juveniles in Delmas.
    The OPC was an outspoken advocate for prisoners and better prison 
conditions but rarely pursued individual complaints. The OPC sponsored 
several small clinics around the nation to bring judges to prisons to 
focus on adjudicating pretrial detention cases. These clinics had an 
immediate effect but resulted only in the release of a few dozen 
prisoners.
    The government, with international assistance, sponsored the 
construction of new prison facilities throughout the country. A new 
prison with capacity for 750 inmates was completed in Croix-de-Bouquets 
but was not yet operational at year's end. Renovations were under way 
at the prisons in Cap Haitien, Acahie, Delmas 33 in Port-au-Prince, 
Petit-Goave, and Fort Liberte.
    The DAP permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC), MINUSTAH, the RNDDH, the OPC, and other organizations to 
monitor prison conditions.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the constitution stipulates that a person may 
be arrested only if apprehended during the commission of a crime or on 
the basis of a warrant by a legally competent official such as a 
justice of the peace or magistrate. Authorities must bring the detainee 
before a judge within 48 hours of arrest. Officials frequently did not 
comply with these provisions in practice. Citizens also contributed to 
the disregard of the legal process by bringing alleged suspects by 
force to local police stations.
    On July 24, under the direction of presidential security advisors, 
the HNP arrested 31 persons following an incident at a rally to welcome 
President Martelly in Cap Haitien, during which an unidentified 
individual threw a glass bottle that landed near the president's feet. 
Contrary to internal protocol and the law, authorities transferred all 
31 detainees to the central investigative police headquarters in Port-
au-Prince and held them there without charge for nearly two weeks. 
After intense pressure from human rights groups, authorities 
transferred all the detainees back to Cap Haitien and released them.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The HNP is an 
autonomous civilian institution under the authority of a single 
director general and includes police, corrections, fire, emergency 
response, airport security, port security, presidential security, and 
coast guard functions in separate units. The HNP is a relatively new 
organization, having been formed after the dissolution of the Haitian 
military in 1995. During his campaign President Martelly proposed 
forming a new military, and on December 6, he issued an executive order 
creating the State Commission of Organization of the Military Component 
of the Public Force to restore the country's armed force. The 
commission will have six months to consult widely among the domestic 
and international communities to develop a blueprint for a force to 
serve the public and address the country's major threats, namely the 
porous border and environmental disasters.
    Officially, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, through 
its minister and the secretary of state for public security, provides 
oversight to the HNP. In practice the minister of justice exerted 
personal influence on HNP operations and sometimes asked authorities to 
release suspects, especially during election season. Within the HNP, 
the OIG is supposed to conduct internal investigations into allegations 
of police misconduct and recommend administrative action as well as 
refer cases of criminal police misconduct to the prosecutor. However, 
OIG cases were not effectively transferred or pursued by the 
prosecutor.
    Despite there being more than 100 OIG employees, only one inspector 
was assigned to the investigative bureau. In September he was 
transferred to the Director General's Office and not replaced. The 
inspector general, Fritz Jean, resigned in September after the acting 
justice minister and outgoing prime minister Jean-Max Bellerive 
allegedly pressured him to reintegrate former members of the HNP who 
were serving in President Martelly's security entourage. Inspector 
General Jean had also just completed an investigation into the 
involvement of former Petionville police commissioner Vanel LaCroix and 
former Port-au-Prince prosecutor Harrycidas Auguste in the killing of a 
witness in police custody (see section 1.a.).
    Women make up less than 8 percent of the total police force, 
despite recruiting drives for female officers. The HNP claimed it 
formed a specialized Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) unit, but 
the highest-ranking female officer assigned command the SGBV unit 
explained she had no vehicle, no cell phone, no subordinates, and no 
resources.
    The vetting process of current and new officers in the HNP stalled 
during the year. A joint process between the HNP and U.N. Police 
Officers (UNPOL) has been in place for several years, but they did not 
apply the process uniformly. HNP leadership fired some officers as a 
result of the vetting process, but not all names discovered in the 
vetting process received the same treatment. There is no permanent 
internal HNP administrative body to take action when officers fail to 
meet vetting standards. According to the RNDDH, the number of HNP 
officers identified as not meeting vetting requirements was in the 
hundreds.
    The specific limits of the MINUSTAH mandate kept military and law 
enforcement authorities from conducting unilateral operations. 
Frequently there was poor or no coordination between MINUSTAH and 
Haitian law enforcement. MINUSTAH units were assigned to patrol camps 
for internally displaced persons in particular, but without unilateral 
arrest authority, they were generally unable to intervene during 
instances of violence. MINUSTAH leadership acknowledged that most of 
their troops did not speak French or Creole and had extremely limited 
access to translation services, which further hampered their ability to 
coordinate with their HNP counterparts.
    Reform and professionalization of the HNP continued as 
international programs and foreign governments provided human rights 
and other training and equipment for new recruits and existing 
officers; police station upgrades; security and humanitarian 
improvements to prisons; vehicles, computers, and communications 
equipment; and other technical assistance.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
permits police officers to make arrests when a suspect is caught during 
the commission of a crime, or later with a court-authorized warrant. 
Police frequently apprehended persons without warrants or with warrants 
not issued by a duly authorized official. Authorities frequently 
detained individuals on unspecified charges or pending investigation. 
Persons arrested reported credible instances of extortion, false 
charges, illegal detention, physical violence, and refusal to grant due 
process by agents of law enforcement and the judiciary. The government 
frequently did not observe the constitutional requirement to present 
detainees before a judge within 48 hours, and prolonged pretrial 
detention remained a serious problem. Authorities held many detainees 
in pretrial detention for extended periods--in some cases up to five 
years--without the opportunity to appear before a judge.
    Detainees generally were allowed access to family members and a 
lawyer of their own choosing. Many detainees could not afford the 
services of an attorney. The local bar association in some departments 
formed legal assistance groups to provide pro bono counsel to indigents 
who could not afford an attorney, but there was no nationwide 
government provision of free legal representation.
    Some citizens--convicted criminals returned by foreign countries--
initially alleged corruption, arbitrary arrest, false accusations about 
their activities to local police, and extortion attempts against them 
and their families abroad during the initial detention phase in 
exchange for quicker release from administrative quarantine. These 
accusations declined steeply during the year, although deportees still 
complained about access to medicine and continuing illegal detention of 
a small number considered to be ``security risks'' by the government.

    Pretrial Detention.--Prison population statistics did not include 
the large number of persons held in police stations around the country 
in prolonged pretrial detention (without a hearing or filed charges) 
for longer than the 48-hour maximum detention period. Inadequate 
recordkeeping and data entry at police stations made it difficult to 
confirm the number of persons held in prolonged detention, although 
reliable estimates ranged between 2,000 and 3,000.
    The overwhelming majority of the prison population were in lengthy 
pretrial detention, having never seen a judge or had access to legal 
counsel, much less being given a timeline for their case. As of 
December, of the 7,009 persons in custody, authorities had tried and 
sentenced 2,201, while 4,808 awaited trial. Approximately one-third of 
those awaiting trial had been incarcerated for a year or longer.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, in practice the executive and legislative 
branches exerted significant influence on the judicial branch. Judges 
assigned to politically sensitive cases complained about interference 
from the executive branch. Credible reports of judicial corruption were 
commonplace.
    Pervasive and long-standing problems, primarily stemming from a 
lack of judicial oversight and professionalism, contributed to a large 
backlog of criminal cases. In addition the justice system sustained 
significant losses in the 2010 earthquake, including large portions of 
case files including evidence and testimony for pending cases. Because 
most of the 4,808 pretrial detainees had never been before a judge, 
seen a lawyer, or even had access to documentation regarding the 
charges against them, they were effectively denied the right to trial.
    The code of criminal procedure does not assign clear responsibility 
for criminal investigations and divides authority among police, 
justices of the peace, prosecutors, and investigative magistrates. 
Authorities often failed to question witnesses or complete 
investigations and rarely conducted autopsies. Examining magistrates 
often received incomplete files. The law allows for a two-month delay 
for magistrates to request additional information from investigators. 
By law the delay is not supposed to be invoked more than twice, but 
magistrates often did not follow the law, and investigators often 
dropped cases or did not return them within the two-month limit.
    Corruption and a lack of judicial oversight also severely hampered 
the functioning of the justice system. Many judicial officials charged 
varying ``fees'' to initiate criminal prosecutions based on their 
perceptions of what a service should cost, and those who could not 
afford to pay often did not receive any services from prosecutorial or 
judicial authorities. There were widespread, credible allegations of 
unqualified and unprofessional judges who received appointments as 
political favors. Many judicial officials also held full-time civilian 
jobs, and there was no law to prevent a conflict of interest.

    Trial Procedures.--The judicial apparatus follows a civil law 
system based on the Napoleonic Code, largely unchanged since 1880. In 
practice authorities widely ignored the constitutionally provided right 
to a fair public trial. The constitution also expressly denies police 
and judicial authorities the right to interrogate suspects unless legal 
counsel or a representative of the suspect's choice is present or the 
suspect waives this right. Most accused persons could not afford legal 
counsel for interrogation or trial, and the law does not require that 
the government provide legal representation. However, some defendants 
had access to counsel during trials, and some international groups 
provided legal representation to defendants who could not afford it. 
The government hired defense counsel for a very small number of 
defendants, usually for government employees facing charges related to 
their official duties, such as police officers.
    While the constitution provides defendants with a presumption of 
innocence, the right to be present at trial, the right to confront 
witnesses against them, and the right to present witnesses and evidence 
on their own behalf, judges frequently denied defendants these rights. 
The lack of a witness protection program and widespread impunity 
discouraged some witnesses from testifying at trials. Defendants and 
their attorneys had access to government-held evidence before trial, 
but most evidence in trials was from witness testimony. Defendants had 
the right to appeal.
    There were 403 criminal trials, which resulted in 400 convictions 
and 162 acquittals, during the 2010-11 judicial year. Courts in Port-
au-Prince processed 123 of the acquittals, 101 of them under the 10-
week supervision of prosecutor Sonel Jean Francois, who was fired for 
separate reasons (see section 4).
    The functioning of civil courts (Tribunal de Paix), the lowest 
courts in the judicial system, was inconsistent at best. There were at 
least 194 civil courts, the vast majority of which were in crumbling 
facilities, most of which did not have toilets, desks, or office 
equipment. Several tribunals were located in private homes, while some 
were co-located with other facilities. The RNDDH highlighted two 
examples of significant problems with civil courts in l'Estere and 
Desdunes, which were the sites of repeated riots and violent 
demonstrations by citizens who believed they had no legal, peaceful 
means to communicate the lack of resources provided by the state, such 
as electricity.
    Judges provided hours of operation based on their personal 
availability and often maintained separate, full-time jobs. A police 
officer was rarely present during trials, and frequently there was no 
court reporter. Judges often chose to hear or not hear cases based on 
bribes provided to them. By law a High Council of Judicial Power (CSPJ) 
should oversee judges and the judiciary, but this institution had yet 
to function by year's end. In October President Martelly appointed a 
president of the Supreme Court, a fundamental balancing power in the 
government that had been absent since 2004, and that person will head 
the CSPJ.
    In multiple locales, elected communal administrators called CASECs 
took the place of civil judges and asserted self-appointed powers of 
arrest, detention, and issuance of legal judgments. Some CASECs turned 
their offices into courtrooms.
    In Gros Morne, Artibonite Department, the two judges refused to 
hear any cases during the year because of a personal dispute. In 
Chansolme and Bassin Bleu, Northeast Department, the CASECs acted as 
police and judges, arresting and judging citizens themselves. In 
Jeremie citizens refused to allow the newly appointed judge, who 
previously was the prosecutor there, to hold court, insisting he was 
unqualified. No hearings were held in Jeremie during the summer.
    The civil court in Port-au-Prince falsified court documents to free 
four men accused of armed robbery, kidnapping, and extortion. Judge 
Rodriguez Pierre Louis, court clerk Mode Cazimir Cantave, and 
investigator Emmanuel LaCroix released one of the men the same day. The 
three men repeated the same procedure to clear former Port-au-Prince 
prosecutor Harrycidas Auguste of charges of illegal detention, torture, 
and murder of a witness in police custody (see section 1.a.).

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Victims of alleged human 
rights abuses are legally able to bring their cases before a judge for 
cessation of the violation. Damages can be awarded if the claim is 
brought as a civil suit and the judge convicts the perpetrator. Seeking 
legal remedies for human rights abuses was difficult and rarely 
successful, especially in view of the disarray of the civil court 
system.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
government and elected officials generally respected these rights in 
practice. The independent media were active and expressed a wide 
variety of views without restriction. However, there were a few 
incidents of local government officers and elected officials harassing 
or threatening journalists.

    Freedom of the Press.--Journalists and journalism NGOs criticized 
President Martelly for his derogatory, aggressive, and intimidating 
language towards domestic journalists and of being selective in his 
choice of reporters to whom he gave interviews. The president and 
members of his government were often quoted using vulgar language in 
response to some questioning from reporters. The president accused 
journalists of lacking professional objectivity and working for 
political opponents. However, there were no substantiated claims of any 
action by or from members of President Martelly's administration to 
limit the freedom of the press.

    Violence and Harassment.--On April 26, alleged supporters of the 
INITE party attacked and burned the community radio station Tet Ansanm 
Karis in the border town of Clarice. The attack came during a rash of 
election-related violence after international organizations questioned 
the overturning of legislative election results in favor of the INITE 
party.
    In September some civilian supporters of former president Jean-
Claude ``Baby Doc'' Duvalier physically disrupted an Amnesty 
International press conference regarding the release of a report 
detailing crimes allegedly committed by Duvalier during his 1971-86 
rule. The men grabbed microphones and cameras and eventually forced the 
Amnesty International representatives, as well as Haitian witnesses 
prepared to give testimony against Duvalier, to leave. Two lawyers for 
Duvalier, Reynold Georges and Osner Fevry, took over the stage and held 
their own impromptu press conference, decrying the charges as false and 
defending their client.
    Unknown assailants killed several journalists in past years. In 
particular, the April 2000 killing of Jean Dominique remained unsolved.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--There were no government 
restrictions on freedom of the press or media content, but some 
journalists practiced self-censorship on stories related to drug 
trafficking or allegations of business and political corruption, likely 
due to past patterns of retribution against investigative reporting, 
which risked reporters' livelihood and possibly their physical 
security.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Lack of 
infrastructure limited public access to the Internet.

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

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The law provides 
for freedom of assembly and association. Citizens must apply for a 
permit to hold legal demonstrations.
    A small minority of civil groups applied for and received permits 
to conduct peaceful demonstrations. More frequently, however, student 
and civil action groups held impromptu demonstrations in front of key 
government facilities or major public thoroughfares. These groups often 
erected barricades, sometimes with burning tires and debris, and 
occasionally threw rocks and bottles at passing motorists and at 
government, HNP, and U.N. vehicles. Some student groups and political 
groups openly threw rocks and bottles at HNP and U.N. security staff. 
During election season demonstrators often targeted U.N. vehicles that 
they perceived as affiliated with election problems. Government 
security forces frequently used tear gas to disperse crowds and 
sometimes used batons to subdue or chase away demonstrators. In the 
spring and summer, demonstrators often blocked national highways with 
broken-down trucks and debris to protest a lack of government services 
in the area, particularly a lack of electricity.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice. Persons deported from other countries were sometimes 
subjected to amendments in their Haitian passports by the Immigration 
Office, denoting the infraction for which they were deported.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--The presence of IDP camps in 
the country remained widespread, with a large concentration of the 
estimated 800 camps located in the greater Port-au-Prince metropolitan 
area. The most recent estimates placed the number of IDPs living in 
camps at approximately 550,000, although there were indicators that up 
to 30 percent of shelters were vacant, raising the possibility that the 
actual number of IDPs was much lower. Many former camp residents moved 
in with relatives, found new housing, or moved back into repaired or 
partially damaged homes. The Martelly administration began an IDP 
resettlement program targeting six major IDP camps in Port-au-Prince 
and provided land and financial incentives to move. Several highly 
visible camps on public land in Port-au-Prince were completely emptied 
by the end of the year, through a combination of municipal government 
and NGO programs.
    A substantial portion of the remaining camp population had no 
viable means of earning income or paying for rented housing. The vast 
majority of IDPs also did not own property prior to the earthquake. 
While some of the larger IDP camps had support from NGOs, the U.N. and 
domestic law enforcement, the vast majority were unregulated camps with 
extremely limited access to clean water and sanitation.
    Even in camps with a law enforcement presence, residents reported 
little in the way of effective protection from urban crime. The Jean 
Marie Vincent camp housed approximately 40,000 inhabitants in 1.4 
square miles of land near the airport on the edge of Cite Soleil, a 
notorious slum. MINUSTAH, which formed an IDP unit staffed by 400 UNPOL 
officers working in loose coordination with the HNP, had a 37-person 
unit dedicated to the camp. MINUSTAH and UNPOL members did not have 
arrest authority and typically functioned as a deterrent force, rather 
than enforcing the law or intervening. The agreement with MINUSTAH 
requires an HNP officer to be present for any law enforcement 
operation. In contrast to the 37 UNPOL officers assigned to the camp, 
the HNP assigned just 10 officers who worked in three-person shifts, 
meaning officers never had a scheduled day off.
    Some citizens blamed residents of IDP camps for perceived increases 
in criminal activity in neighborhoods with IDP camps. The students at 
the State University of Haiti protested and publicly blamed residents 
of the Champ de Mars IDP camp, located near their campus, for a spate 
of crimes targeting students.
    Residents of Jean Marie Vincent camp reported a poor relationship 
between UNPOL, HNP, and camp residents. Counselors in the camp 
regularly reported incidents of rape in the camp, but there was little 
or no follow-up from law enforcement authorities. Camp residents also 
reported that most police patrols, both UNPOL and HNP, were around the 
perimeter of the camp and typically did not include patrols after dark. 
Gang recruitment and initiation also remained a major problem in the 
camp because there were up to 6,000 school-age children living in the 
camp with little or no educational, vocational, or employment 
opportunities.
    There were reports of sexual and gender-based violence in the IDP 
camps including rape, domestic violence, and transactional sex, a 
situation further exacerbated by limited access to medical, legal, or 
economic support services.
    Some IDPs who received money, services, or a combination of both as 
incentives to move out of camps did so successfully, although others 
chose to vacate camps after receiving compensation but moved to 
different unregulated camps. The rural terrain known as Canaan, located 
outside the Port-au-Prince suburb of Croix-des-Bouquets, continued to 
grow beyond an estimated 70,000 residents. There was limited NGO, U.N. 
and law enforcement presence in the original planned portion of Canaan, 
called Corail Camp, but those services supported only approximately 
6,500 people. Many IDP camp managers and service providers reported 
that NGO presence was waning during the year, with many groups citing a 
declining level of donations forcing them to cut back on services.
    IDP camp residents reported numerous forced evictions with no legal 
documentation and little or no notice. U.N. representatives and NGOs 
reported that specialized units in the HNP, in particular riot police, 
often accompanied landowners conducting forced evictions and used brute 
force tactics to force residents to leave. Many landowners and local 
authorities viewed the IDPs as illegal squatters seeking to manipulate 
the camps to gain humanitarian assistance.
    The government coordinated marginally or not at all with foreign 
government agencies, international organizations, the U.N. and NGOs to 
provide services in IDP camps. There were accusations that government 
officials or representatives from government offices required rent 
payment from some IDP camp dwellers. The Ministry of Public Works' 
program to identify uninhabitable, repairable, and habitable houses was 
largely ineffective, as the government did not assign resources to 
rebuild or repair houses, and citizens did not trust the government's 
assessment of their residences. The endemic lack of land registry, as 
well as nonstandard land registry, further complicated IDP 
resettlement.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The law provides for 
the granting of refugee status or asylum through the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs in missions or consulates abroad. In practice, however, 
the government did not routinely grant refugee status or asylum.

    Stateless Persons.--The country's dysfunctional civil registry 
system and weak consular capacity throughout the Caribbean made 
obtaining documentation extremely difficult for individuals living 
inside or outside the country, increasing the risk of statelessness for 
Haitians and people of Haitian descent throughout the region. There 
were no reliable estimates, however, on the number of such persons at 
risk of statelessness.
    The two groups at greatest risk of statelessness were undocumented 
Haitian migrants who were unable to access documentation abroad and 
descendents of Haitian migrants abroad who acquired citizenship by 
birth on the territory but were at risk of having it revoked. (The 
constitution prohibits dual citizenship, calling for the automatic 
revocation of Haitian citizenship upon acquiring citizenship from 
another country.) In the case of the neighboring Dominican Republic, 
the retroactive application of new nationality laws allegedly stripped 
persons of Haitian descent of their Dominican nationality, dramatically 
increasing their risk of statelessness.
    The Dominican Republic government deported thousands of these 
people back to Haiti, many of whom were from families living in the 
Dominican Republic for generations, had never been to Haiti, and did 
not speak Creole or French. According to NGOs providing emergency 
relief, the government had no capacity to accept or support these 
deportees. The National Office of Migration under the Ministry of 
Social Affairs has responsibility for deportees but did not provide 
personnel, facilities, or services to deportees. NGOs that provide 
emergency services to deportees along the border had the capacity to 
house only a few hundred people at a time and at most provide them with 
money for transportation to their extended families' residences.
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.--Recent Elections.--There 
were isolated incidents of fraud, flawed voter registration lists, 
ballot stuffing, intimidation, and some violence at the polls during 
the March 20 second round of elections for deputies, senators, and 
president. Despite incidents of civil unrest, the police remained 
largely neutral during the political process. The first round of 
elections in November 2010 was also marred by fraud, flawed voter 
registration lists, ballot stuffing, intimidation, and some violence at 
the polls. Despite a relatively low (22 percent) participation rate, 
international observers and civil society generally considered the 
second round to be free and fair. Voters elected Michel Martelly by a 
wide margin, and he was peacefully inaugurated as president on May 14, 
all the more remarkable since the outgoing and incoming presidents were 
from opposing political parties.

    Political Parties.--There were some restrictions on certain 
political parties. In 2009 the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) 
considered 69 political parties for the 2010 parliamentary elections 
and approved 53. The CEP rejected 16 parties, including former 
president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's party, Fanmi Lavalas, for 
documentation that was inconsistent, lacked notarization, or did not 
conform to legal requirements. Other rejected major parties included 
Union, Popular Solidarity Alliance, Struggling People's Organization, 
and Fusion. The latter two groups allied under a new party banner, 
Alternative, which officially boycotted the elections, although many of 
the party's legislative candidates participated in the elections.
    The constitution requires that, following local and municipal 
elections, local officials must hold a series of indirect elections to 
staff departmental organs of self-government and an interdepartmental 
council to advise the national government and nominate candidates for 
the CEP. The law requires that the three branches of the national 
government select from among these nominees the council's nine members. 
Since these indirect elections have not taken place since the 
constitution was written, the country continued to operate with the 
presidentially appointed CEP.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Electoral legislation 
mandates that political parties nominating at least 30 percent female 
candidates and electing 20 percent of those nominated receive twice as 
much public financing for those same positions in the next election. 
None of the political parties met these criteria in the November or 
March elections. The monetary deposit required of female candidates for 
political office (if sponsored by a recognized party) was one-half that 
required of male candidates. In the 2010 elections, two women ran as 
candidates for president, eight for the Senate, and 45 for deputy 
seats. Of the deputy candidates, two won their seats outright in the 
first round, and seven qualified to run in the second round. Mirlande 
Manigat, one of the female presidential candidates, won approximately 
30 percent of the vote, qualifying her to run in the second round.
    Voters elected five women to the 99-member Chamber of Deputies. The 
sole female member of 30 senators was elected in 2006, and her term 
expired during the year. President Martelly appointed three women into 
ministerial positions (women's affairs, tourism, and health), of which 
there were 16, and four female secretaries of state out of 19. Martelly 
also appointed women to be director general and vice director general 
of the Haitian Popular Bank, one of two state-owned banks.
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 
remained widespread in all branches and at all levels of government. 
The constitution mandates that high-level officials and parliament 
members accused of official corruption be prosecuted before the Senate, 
not within the judicial system. However, the Senate brought no such 
prosecutions.
    In July the RNDDH published a list of names of 22 candidates in the 
2010 parliamentary elections, all of whom received a salary of 100,000 
gourdes (approximately $2,500) a month during their campaigns from the 
Ministry of Interior. All 22 candidates were from different parties but 
ran under the INITE banner, the political party of the Preval 
government. Voters elected 12 of these candidates. After publication of 
the list, the anticorruption committee in Parliament convoked the 
acting minister of interior, Paul Bien-Aime, who publicly testified 
that the payments were for consulting services and asserted that there 
was nothing illegal about hiring consultants during election season. 
Earlier in the year Port-au-Prince prosecutor Sonel Jean Francois 
attempted to pursue the case, but he was fired after Amos DuRosier, 
director of the government's Unit to Fight Against Corruption (ULCC), 
alerted Bien-Aime and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive to the 
investigation. Afterwards, authorities made no arrests nor levied any 
fines. Two anticorruption bodies in the government, the ULCC and the 
Central Unit of Financial Intelligence (UCREF), refused to pursue the 
case, alleging that investigating a sitting minister was outside their 
mandate and up to Parliament to resolve.
    On January 16, former president Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to 
the country. Authorities immediately arraigned Duvalier on charges that 
included corruption, torture, and murder. A substantial number of 
plaintiffs filed cases against Duvalier, supported by local and 
international NGOs and the U.N. The cases were handed over to three 
subsequent Port-au-Prince prosecutors. At year's end the judge assigned 
in the case had yet to decide whether there was sufficient evidence to 
proceed to trial.
    Former president Jean Bertrand Aristide returned to the country on 
March 18. At year's end no charges had been filed against Aristide.
    During the period from President Martelly's election in May to the 
installation of a prime minister in October, there were multiple 
allegations of corruption and embezzlement by members of the outgoing 
Preval government. The RNDDH alleged in September that Prime Minister 
Jean-Max Bellerive had transferred approximately 3.5 million gourdes 
($87,500) in government funds to a man named Marinio Jeune in the city 
of Les Cayes.
    On May 30, authorities arrested Edrick Leandre, head of the 
mandatory car insurance agency. Although the HNP carried out the 
arrest, its impetus reportedly came from the new Martelly 
administration. Both the government's main audit agency and the ULCC 
issued damaging reports against Leandre and his administration of the 
multimillion dollar agency. The head of its employees' union hailed the 
move as a warning to other alleged wrongdoers and lamented that Preval 
had shielded Leandre from legal action.
    There were frequent reports of corruption in the HNP. For instance, 
affluent prisoners at times obtained favorable conditions of detention. 
The HNP investigated some allegations of police malfeasance, leading to 
the arrest or termination of employment of very few officers.
    There were reports of corruption and impunity in the electoral 
process. In October the media reported that an elected deputy in Port-
au-Prince, Arnel Belizaire, was an escaped prisoner convicted of murder 
in 2004. The law provides immunity from prosecution for sitting 
legislators, but attorneys and human rights advocates asserted that 
immunity did not apply to previous convictions. Human rights NGOs 
alleged that Belizaire paid bribes to the CEP to overlook his 
conviction when he declared his candidacy. On October 27, authorities 
arrested Belizaire, and former prosecutor Felix Leger requested that 
the Chamber of Deputies lift his immunity. The chamber did not do so, 
and both chambers of parliament debated the legality of the arrest and 
summoned the minister of justice, Leger, and others. On November 28, 
the Senate heard a report placing responsibility for the arrest on 
Justice Minister Pierre-Louis. Both he and Leger resigned, and the 
Senate took no further action. The Chamber of Deputies was expected to 
take up the issue when it opened its regular session in January 2012.
    The UCREF has responsibility for combating financial crimes. By law 
the president, the prime minister, cabinet ministers, other high-level 
public officials, and members of the HNP must declare assets. By the 
end of the year, only the former president and prime minister had 
complied with the law, according to press reports. Public officials who 
do not fulfill this obligation are subject first to a 50 percent 
reduction in salary, followed by suspension, until they file their 
statements. However, by the end of the year the government sanctioned 
no officials for failure to file the disclosures.
    No law requires 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 
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases. The government 
cooperated with the various human rights observation missions and 
generally acknowledged their views but disagreed on the most 
appropriate approach to addressing human rights issues.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government permitted 
special missions and the continued presence of U.N. bodies and other 
international organizations such as the ICRC.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The constitution provides a seven-
year mandate to the OPC to protect individuals against any form of 
abuse by the government. In principle the OPC offered free legal 
assistance to any citizen who appeared before a court regarding a filed 
complaint, but in practice the organization lacked the funding, 
personnel, and capacity to provide these services to all those who 
sought them. The OPC took an active role in investigating allegations 
of government abuse and worked collaboratively with international 
organizations. In particular the OPC advocated strongly for the rights 
and better conditions of prisoners, especially juvenile prisoners in 
preventive detention. The OPC regularly visited prisons and detention 
facilities. The OPC also worked closely with NGOs and civil society 
groups representing and providing services to victims of gender-based 
violence.
    The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate each had a human rights 
committee; however, neither committee published any reports or 
introduced any legislation during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law does not specifically prohibit discrimination on the 
grounds of race, gender, disability, language, or social status. It 
does provide for equal working conditions regardless of gender, 
beliefs, or marital status. However, no effective governmental 
mechanism administered or enforced these provisions.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law prohibits rape but 
does not recognize spousal rape as a crime. The penalty for rape is a 
minimum of 10 years of forced labor, increasing to a mandatory 15 years 
if the victim was less than 16 years old. In the case of gang rape, the 
maximum penalty is lifelong forced labor. Actual sentences were often 
less rigorous, and prosecution frequently was not pursued due to lack 
of reporting and follow-up on victims' claims. Of the 54 men convicted 
for rape in 2010-11, judges handed down sentences ranging from eight 
months to 15 years; one man--a priest--received life in prison. The 
criminal code excuses a husband who kills his wife or her partner found 
engaging in an act of adultery in his home, but a wife who kills her 
husband under similar circumstances is subject to prosecution.
    In December MINUSTAH reporting from police station registers showed 
470 allegations of rape, a drop of nearly 50 percent from 2010 that 
likely did not reflect a reduction in the incidence of rape, but rather 
a decline in the confidence of victims that their cases would be 
investigated if reported. Some NGOs reported a marked increase in the 
incidence of rape. U.N. reporting showed near daily incidents of 
domestic violence and rape. The HNP SGBV unit had few resources and no 
rape kits.
    Rape and other forms of violence were a particular problem in the 
IDP camps, as they were in urban slums throughout the country. A host 
of factors in IDP camps contributed to the increased vulnerability of 
women and minors: flimsy tent doors, poor lighting, separated families, 
unfamiliar neighbors, the relative anonymity that hundreds of tents 
provide, the lack of effective law enforcement, and limited knowledge 
of and access to health and economic services. Teenage girls often had 
their own tents, perhaps reflecting family efforts to spread out among 
several tents in order to maximize the amount of goods and services 
they received from NGOs. An unfortunate side effect was that many young 
women and girls were placed in vulnerable situations.
    Attorneys from the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), who 
represent rape victims, said that authorities were fairly responsive to 
cases involving the rape of minors, as the law is clear and judicial 
measures already exist to deal with such cases, which are often 
accompanied by outrage from local communities. However, cases in which 
the offender was also a minor or in which the victim was an adult were 
often dropped or not effectively pursued, they said, because there were 
no clear legal or administrative structures to deal with such cases. 
They said authorities often ``provisionally released'' juvenile 
offenders in rape cases back to their parents.
    According to BAI, in 63 of the 73 cases of rape received during the 
year, the victims were minors. BAI attorneys said barriers to reporting 
rape remained high and included stigmatization, fear of reprisal, and 
distrust of the judiciary and legal system. They also said there were 
wide disparities in access to and the quality of medical certificates 
from hospitals treating rape survivors. Multiple credible groups said 
that legal authorities often asked rape victims inappropriate 
questions, such as whether the victim was a virgin before the incident 
and what clothing the victim was wearing at the time of the alleged 
rape, a practice corroborated by the RNDDH. In some cases authorities 
advised victims against pressing charges in order to avoid the public 
humiliation of a trial. Having limited access to protection and 
shelters, survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence faced 
obstacles in pursuing legal justice.
    The law does not classify domestic violence against adults as a 
distinct crime. Women's rights groups and human rights organizations 
reported that domestic violence against women remained commonplace and 
underreported. Police rarely arrested the perpetrators or investigated 
the incidents, and the victims sometimes suffered further harassment 
and reprisals from perpetrators, sometimes prompting secondary 
displacement of victims within IDP camps. Judges often released 
suspects arrested for domestic violence and rape.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not specifically prohibit sexual 
harassment, although the labor code states that men and women have the 
same rights and obligations. Data concerning sexual harassment in the 
workplace were not available, although observers suggested that sexual 
harassment was common. Such incidents went unreported because of high 
unemployment and because citizens had little confidence in the ability 
of the judicial system to protect them.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the legal right 
to decide the number, spacing, and timing of children and have the 
information and means to do so free from discrimination. Despite high 
levels of general knowledge of contraceptive methods, social, cultural, 
and legal barriers often impeded women from acquiring additional 
information on family planning methods and reproductive health care. In 
the largely conservative society, modern contraception is discouraged, 
and most men do not desire it. The most popular form of modern birth 
control was injection, because women did not have to declare it to 
their partners. A 2006 U.N. report showed a 37.5 percent unmet need for 
family planning, a trend that health-care professionals said persisted. 
Young sexually active women found it especially difficult to gain 
access to family planning services. Family planning services were often 
located in public health facilities such as hospitals but did not have 
private or confidential screening areas.
    The U.N. Population Fund reported that only 25 percent of all 
deliveries occurred in health institutions. A 2006 Ministry of Health 
study showed that up to 85 percent of pregnant women reported at least 
one antenatal medical visit and 54 percent reported four or more 
antenatal visits. Most women used ``matrons,'' often experienced but 
untrained local women, to help them give birth at home or in nonmedical 
facilities. Health-care professionals attributed this practice to the 
poor level and inconsistency of maternal services at hospitals and 
clinics. Pregnant women often went for an initial visit and discovered 
overcrowded facilities with untrained staff and insufficient medical 
supplies. While most women in rural provinces chose to deliver at home, 
many women in urban areas with access to professional delivery services 
also chose to deliver at home. A rough estimate based on U.N. World 
Bank, and local health professional estimates of health trends placed 
the maternal mortality rate between 300 and 670 per 100,000 live 
births, although this number could not be confirmed since no nationwide 
survey has been conducted since 2005. A combination of strict laws, 
unmet family planning needs, a high fertility rate, and a high level of 
unwanted pregnancies contributed to the high maternal mortality rate.
    Women and men had equal access to diagnostic services and treatment 
for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.

    Discrimination.--Women did not enjoy the same social and economic 
status as men. In some social strata, tradition limited women's roles. 
The majority of women in rural areas remained in the traditional 
occupations of farming, marketing, and domestic labor. Very poor female 
heads of household in urban areas also often faced limited employment 
opportunities, working in domestic labor and sales. Government and 
private sector employers seldom promoted women to supervisory 
positions.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived through an 
individual's parents; only one parent of either sex is necessary to 
transmit citizenship. Citizenship can also be acquired through a formal 
request to the Ministry of the Interior. The government did not 
register all births immediately and did not keep statistics concerning 
the number of unregistered births each year. One government report 
estimated births of more than 10 percent of Haitians were not 
registered. Birth registry is free until the age of two, after which it 
can be difficult and expensive to get a birth certificate, particularly 
in the provinces. Another deterrent to birth registration is that the 
certificate states that the child is legitimate if born in wedlock, and 
``natural'' if not, which can deter people from registering births to 
avoid stigmatizing the child.
    Birth documents are legally necessary to open a bank account, apply 
for credit, gain admission to a hospital, and vote. Individuals without 
required birth documents were not denied emergency medical services or 
educational opportunities on that basis. Many official documents were 
destroyed in the earthquake. The National Archives saw its requests for 
certified copies of documents more than triple upon reopening after the 
earthquake, and the Office of National Identification faced long lines 
for months as people sought to replace lost or damaged identification 
cards. Both institutions were overwhelmed by the demand but addressed 
the backlog incrementally.

    Education.--Despite constitutional provisions proclaiming free and 
compulsory primary education for all children, neither primary nor 
secondary education was compulsory, free, and universal. There were 
approximately 1.5 million children between the ages of six and 12 in 
the country, only half of whom attended school. On October 3, President 
Martelly announced a plan to give access to free education to 
approximately 772,000 children in public schools throughout the country 
for the 2011-12 school year, through a combination of waiving school 
fees for an estimated 500,000 existing students and providing tuition 
for 250,000 new students. The U.N. Children's Fund and other 
international bodies also contributed millions of dollars to subsidize 
the cost of schooling. Many families who were not able to get their 
children into a public school paid for their children to attend private 
schools, which were generally unaccredited and unregulated.

    Child Abuse.--The law prohibits domestic violence against minors. 
MINUSTAH reporting from police stations registered only 77 incidents of 
domestic violence against minors during the year compared with 300 
incidents from January to October 2010. The lowered rate likely did not 
reflect a decrease in activity, but a decrease in reporting similar to 
that seen in rape cases. Governmental agencies and programs promoted 
children's rights and welfare, but the government lacked sufficient 
resources to support or enforce existing mechanisms adequately.
    Credible sources reported that between 250,000 and 500,000 children 
worked as indentured household servants, or ``restaveks'' (see section 
7.c.). Approximately 65 percent of these children were female, and 
nearly three-quarters of them worked as servants in the homes of 
relatives or family acquaintances.
    Port-au-Prince's population of several thousand street children 
included many who were dismissed from or fled employers' homes or 
abusive families, but also some children who lost parents or caretakers 
in the earthquake. Almost 75 percent of street children were boys, 
according to estimates. NGOs reported that street children were likely 
to be sexually or otherwise abused, received little or no education, 
and were easily exploited by trafficking recruiters. Criminal gangs 
also reportedly enlisted minors to commit illegal acts. The Ministry of 
Social Affairs provided some assistance, such as food and temporary 
shelter, to street children.
    The Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR) is responsible 
for monitoring and accrediting more than 600 residential care centers 
but had limited resources with which to do so. Lack of sanitation, 
overcrowding, insufficient food, an absence of education, and poor 
adult supervision characterized many of these facilities. Allegations 
of sexual abuse by staff were not uncommon. Nearly all children's homes 
in the country were operating at or above capacity, according to the 
IBESR. There was extensive evidence that foreign adoption agencies and 
their clients helped informally fund some residential care centers that 
did not meet government standards for care of children for adoption.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The minimum age for consensual 
sex is 18. Inefficiencies in reporting and investigating allegations of 
rape contributed to uncertainties regarding penalties, if any, for 
statutory rape. Children also worked on the street and in IDP camps in 
prostitution. The U.N. reported that children were the victims in 60 
percent of sexual gender-based violence cases reported in 2010. 
Recruitment of children for sexual exploitation, pornography, and 
illicit activities is illegal, but the U.N. reported that armed gangs 
in Port-au-Prince recruited children as young as 10. The law prohibits 
the corruption of youth under the age of 21 years, including by 
prostitution, with penalties ranging from six months' to three years' 
imprisonment.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction. For 
information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html as well as country-specific information at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The constitution and laws do not 
explicitly prohibit discrimination against persons with physical and 
mental disabilities, and there were no reports of discrimination by the 
government against persons with disabilities in employment, education, 
access to health care, or the provision of other state services. 
However, because of widespread and chronic poverty, a shortage of 
public services, and limited educational opportunities, persons with 
disabilities were severely disadvantaged.
    The Secretariat of State for the Integration of Handicapped Persons 
(SEIPH) is the lead government agency responsible for providing 
assistance to persons with disabilities and ensuring that their 
concerns are taken into account, especially during the reconstruction 
phase. In practice the U.N. provided most of the coordination and NGOs 
provided most of services, with SEIPH acting primarily as an advocate 
within the government. SEIPH estimated there were 800,000 persons with 
disabilities, plus an estimated additional 5,000-10,000 as a result of 
injuries from the 2010 earthquake, including 5,000 new amputees. Only 3 
percent of children with disabilities had access to schools. Handicap 
International provided comprehensive services to a limited number of 
persons including prostheses, psychosocial counseling, and training.
    The conditions in the state hospital for mental illness were well 
below international standards, with patients often living in harsh 
conditions. Patients were frequently restrained in order to keep them 
from wandering, and many of them were kept isolated in small rooms 
without windows and without adequate or regular access to hygiene. 
Staff in the hospitals were insufficient to meet patients' needs and 
were often untrained for providing mental health services. As a group, 
people with mental illness or developmental disabilities were 
consistently marginalized, neglected, and abused in general society. 
For example, family members frequently tied up persons with cognitive 
disabilities or mental illness for long periods of time. There was a 
general stigma against all forms of mental illness. Much of this 
neglect and abuse stems from a lack of understanding of mental health, 
mental illness, and disability. A lack of quality mental health 
services, as well as a lack of advocacy and awareness-raising 
activities in support of this population, exacerbated and perpetuated 
the misunderstanding. There were only approximately 20 psychiatrists in 
the country, most of whose training and credentials were antiquated. 
Under such conditions the majority of the mentally ill did not receive 
adequate mental health services.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--While there were no confirmed 
reports of official discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual 
and transgender (LGBT) community, domestic NGOs reported that LGBT 
persons faced widespread societal discrimination including social 
stigma, targeted physical violence, sexual assault, and employment 
insecurity. NGOs also reported that such persons did not report human 
rights violations due to fear of reprisal.
    LGBT community members faced overt discrimination from law 
enforcement and judicial authorities, particularly in Port-au-Prince. 
An HIV-positive person called ``Papouche'' died in the National 
Penitentiary during the summer after being repeatedly raped and then 
denied medical treatment. Papouche became so desperate to protect 
himself in prison that, before becoming sick from infection, he 
repeatedly asked family members for condoms and lubrication to give to 
his assailants.
    An LGBT advocacy group, Serovie, provided outreach, counseling, 
support, and at times legal intervention on behalf of the LGBT 
community. There were no laws criminalizing consensual same-sex 
conduct, but Serovie's leadership reported that its constituents faced 
daily harassment and frequent targeting by law enforcement authorities 
for violations of ``public scandal'' laws. According to Serovie, gay 
men faced an atmosphere of discrimination and, at times, violent 
rejection from the rest of society. The IBESR provided some limited 
support to the LGBT community and particularly to lesbians.
    In Port-au-Prince, Serovie said police arrested Willio Gourdain and 
Angelot Pierre, two gay men, on August 13 after they were involved in a 
fight. Serovie said Gourdain owned a small clothing store in 
Petionville and was housing several other gay men, a common practice 
that allowed LGBT members to protect themselves more effectively. A 
local resident allegedly attacked Gourdain and his friends with a 
knife, but when police responded, local residents began throwing rocks 
at Gourdain and yelling slurs. After the arrest of the two, Serovie 
said the local judge and arresting police officer immediately contacted 
it to request bribes for their release, starting with 100,000 gourdes 
($2,500) and eventually settling on 30,000 gourdes ($750), which 
Serovie paid out of fear the men would face a similar fate as Papouche 
in prison. On August 19, after being paid, authorities released the 
men, who returned to find the clothing store vandalized and looted.
    LGBT community members in more rural provinces reported a far more 
tolerant and accepting attitude from their communities than was the 
case in urban centers such as Port-au-Prince. For example, in 
Artibonite Department some men were able to live openly as couples. The 
Artibonite is a major center for the Vodou faith and contains three of 
Vodou's holiest sites. The longstanding tradition of acceptance of 
alternative lifestyles broadly speaking allowed some men to dress and 
live openly as women.
    Serovie's targeted services reached an estimated 10,000 gay men 
during the year, suggesting that there was a significant LGBT community 
in need of support. Groups such as Serovie took concrete steps to build 
a support network and continue their efforts to reach a larger cross 
section of the LGBT community.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Vigilante reprisals 
remained a common practice, especially but not exclusively in rural 
areas with severely limited or nonexistent support from law enforcement 
and judicial authorities. From January to September, the RNDDH reported 
28 Vodou priests or Vodou practitioners were killed after being accused 
of creating a powder to spread cholera. Citizens either decapitated or 
burned their victims to death. These accusations began to appear 
shortly after the outbreak of cholera in October 2010 and continued 
during the year.
    Lynching remained a frequent practice with few or no legal 
repercussions, especially in relatively rural areas outside the 
capital. For example, the HNP recorded 113 cases of lynching, up from 
83 in 2010, none of which resulted in an arrest. Citizens often 
retaliated against police officers, particularly after incidents in 
which a police officer used his firearm to shoot a suspect. There was 
also at least one case in which citizens lynched alleged criminals in 
defense of HNP officers, such as when a crowd killed two men who shot 
an HNP officer in Cap Haitien in October after he tried to stop them 
during a robbery.
    Societal discrimination occurred against persons with HIV/AIDS, who 
were often associated with the LGBT community. There is an annual HIV 
awareness parade every December that many mistakenly associate with the 
LGBT community.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows some workers, excluding public sector employees, to form 
and join unions of their choice; provides for the right to strike, with 
restrictions; and allows for collective bargaining. The law requires 
that a union have a minimum of 10 members and register with the 
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor within 60 days of its formation. 
It also requires that any union with more than 20 members obtain prior 
authorization from the government in order to be recognized.
    The law limits legal strikes to four types: striking while 
remaining at post, striking without abandoning the institution, walking 
out and abandoning the institution, and striking in solidarity with 
another strike. Public utility service workers and public sector 
enterprise workers may not strike. The law defines public utility 
service employees as essential workers who ``cannot suspend their 
activities without causing serious harm to public health and 
security.'' A 48-hour notice period is compulsory for all strikes, and 
strikes may not exceed one day.
    The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers, who are 
liable to a monetary fine for each individual violation. The law does 
not require employers to reinstate workers illegally fired for union 
activity, although illegally fired workers have the right to recoup any 
compensation to which they are entitled.
    The law does not cover freelance workers or workers in the informal 
economy, meaning the vast majority of workers nationwide, including 
agricultural workers, civil servants, miners, and domestic workers, 
were not protected by labor code regulations.
    In practice the government made little effort to enforce labor 
laws. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs and 
Labor, the courts are responsible for adjudicating minor conflicts. The 
courts were weak and ineffective, and the government did not enforce 
their judgments. There was one labor court in Port-au-Prince. In the 
provinces plaintiffs had the legal option to use municipal courts for 
labor disputes, but it was not clear that this was effective in 
practice.
    In practice the exercise of freedom of association faced a number 
of challenges. Many trade unions were not independent organizations, 
but rather extensions of political parties. High unemployment rates and 
antiunion sentiment among some factory workers and most employers 
limited the success of union organizing efforts. During the year one 
apparel workers' union was formed. Shortly after its formation, six 
executive members of the union were dismissed. In its October report, 
the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Better Work program 
identified strong circumstantial evidence that the workers were fired 
because of their union affiliation. The three involved employers were 
unable to provide sufficient evidence to the contrary. By year's end 
five of the six union members had been reinstated.
    Employers generally set wages unilaterally. There was one known 
example of collective bargaining in a factory. However, that collective 
bargaining agreement between the union and the employer did not comply 
with the law that workers must be paid 50 percent above the normal wage 
for all overtime hours worked.
    Workers exercised the right to strike in practice. Despite the 
prohibition on public sector strikes, there were several during the 
year, usually related to the government's failure to pay staff. There 
was at least one case during the year in which workers were fired after 
striking at a garment factory. The government ruled that the strike was 
illegal because workers failed to give the required notice.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. However, the government did 
not effectively enforce the law. There were reports that forced or 
compulsory labor occurred in practice, namely instances of forced labor 
among child domestics, or restaveks.
    In a limited number of cases, there was also credible evidence of a 
culture of intimidation and employer control over workers in the 
textile industry, including stationing of security guards at factory 
doors or gates; restrictions on exiting and on freedom of movement 
within the factory; nonpayment or underpayment of wages for overtime, 
including for overtime in excess of the legal limit; and limits on 
access to drinking water.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
minimum age for employment in industrial, agricultural, or commercial 
companies is 15. The minimum age for apprenticeships is 14. The law 
prohibits young persons and children from performing any work that is 
likely to be hazardous, interferes with their education, or is harmful 
to their physical, mental, spiritual, moral, or social health and 
development, including the use of children in criminal activities. The 
law also prohibits minors from working under dangerous or hazardous 
conditions, such as mining, construction, or sanitation services, and 
prohibits night work in industrial enterprises for minors under 18.
    There is no minimum age restriction for work in domestic service, 
and there are no legal penalties for employing children in domestic 
labor unless the nature or condition of domestic service harms their 
health, safety, or morals. The law requires employers to pay domestic 
workers over the age of 15, thereby allowing employers of domestic 
workers to use ``food and shelter'' as a means of unregulated 
compensation for those under 15. Although the law guarantees free and 
compulsory primary education for all children, children are only 
required to attend school for six years, making children ages 12 to 14 
(who are not required to attend school but are also not legally allowed 
to work) particularly vulnerable to child labor, including the worst 
forms of child labor.
    Young people ages 15 to 18 seeking employment must obtain a work 
authorization from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, unless 
they are employed in domestic service. Companies that employ minors 
without work authorization risk punishment with fines of between 3,000 
and 5,000 gourdes ($78 and $125).
    The ministry, through its IBESR, is responsible for enforcing child 
labor laws. The government indicated that understaffing and a shortage 
of basic equipment, such as vehicles, hindered IBESR's ability to 
conduct effective child labor investigations. The government does not 
report statistics on investigations into child labor law violations or 
the penalties imposed. The Martelly government and the new head of 
IBESR showed a renewed sense of urgency regarding orphans, street 
children, and children being trafficked for the purpose of domestic 
service, marshaling police enforcement resources to rescue some 
trafficked children and shutting down several orphanages near the end 
of the year. The head of IBESR placed a full-page ad in the national 
newspaper warning orphanages and children's homes to register with 
IBESR by December 31 or face legal action. However, the lack of 
sufficient social protection programs and signed legislation to 
eliminate the worst forms of child labor continued to serve as a 
barrier to progress.
    The HNP's Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) is responsible 
for investigating crimes against children. The BPM has 35 officers and 
a system to refer exploited and abused children for social services. 
Although the BPM has the authority to respond to allegations of abuse 
and apprehend persons who have been reported to exploit child domestic 
workers, the BPM did not pursue restavek cases for investigation 
because there are no legal penalties against the exploitive forms of 
the practice.
    Fierce adult competition for jobs ensured child labor was not a 
factor in the industrial sector. The ILO Better Work report also noted 
that there were improvements in procedures to prevent child labor in 
garment factories, primarily related to better implementation of age 
verification procedures in factories. However, children under the age 
of 15 commonly worked in the informal sector to supplement family 
income. Activities and sectors in which children worked included 
domestic work, subsistence agriculture, and street trades, such as 
selling goods, washing cars, serving as porters in public markets and 
bus stations, and begging. Children also worked with parents on small 
family farms, although the high unemployment rate among adults kept 
significant numbers of children from employment on commercial farms.
    The worst forms of child labor, particularly in domestic service, 
continued to be problematic and endemic. An estimated 250,000 to 
500,000 children were employed in domestic work as restaveks. A 2009 
survey estimated that 225,000 children worked as restaveks in urban 
areas of the country. The majority of restaveks were girls between the 
ages of six and 14. Exploitation of restaveks typically included 
families forcing them to work excessive hours on physically demanding 
tasks without pay or adequate food, not sending them to school, and 
subjecting them to physical or sexual abuse. Girls were often placed in 
domestic servitude in private urban homes, while boys more frequently 
were exploited for labor on farms. Restaveks who did not run away from 
families usually remained with them until age 14. Many families forced 
restaveks to leave before age 15 in order to avoid paying them wages as 
required by law. Others ignored the law, often with impunity.
    Children working on the streets were exposed to a variety of 
hazards, including severe weather, vehicle accidents, and crime. The 
thousands of individuals displaced or orphaned by the 2010 earthquake 
likely increased the number of both restaveks and street children. 
Estimates of the number of street children nationwide varied greatly 
but generally placed the number at 50,000 or higher. Abandoned and 
runaway restaveks constituted a significant proportion of the large 
population of children living on the street, many of whom were forced 
into prostitution or street crime by criminal gangs, while others 
became street vendors or beggars.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda/htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The daily minimum wage was 150 
gourdes (approximately $3.75) in the textile sector and 200 gourdes 
(approximately $5.00) in the commercial and industrial sectors. Workers 
paid at a piecework rate received a minimum of 200 gourdes per day. For 
all other industrial and commercial work, the daily minimum wage was 
fixed at 200 gourdes for eight hours of work.
    The law sets the standard workday for industrial, commercial, and 
agricultural establishments at eight hours and the workweek at 48 
hours, with 24 hours of rest and paid annual holidays. It also provides 
for the payment of overtime and prohibits excessive compulsory 
overtime. However, the law grants exemptions to health-care, lodging, 
food and beverage, and entertainment establishments; managerial 
positions; and family establishments that employ only family members. 
The Labor Directorate may grant exemptions for other employers not 
specifically exempted by the law. The law is also silent with respect 
to prohibiting overtime for public sector employees. Labor law is very 
vague regarding domestic workers' rights including working hours, 
salary, vacation, and severance. The law establishes minimum health and 
safety regulations.
    Although the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor is charged with 
enforcement, laws on the minimum wage, standard workweek, premium pay 
for overtime, prohibition of excessive compulsory overtime, and 
occupational safety and health were not effectively enforced. Penalties 
were not sufficient to deter violations and were often not applied. The 
ministry's capacity to enforce violations was limited by human resource 
and other constraints. Estimates of the number of labor inspectors 
varied widely. Whatever their actual number, labor inspections were 
considered ineffective for a number of reasons including a lack of 
funding, questionable professionalism, and a lack of effective 
regulatory enforcement.
    The ILO Better Work report noted significant problems in regard to 
overtime as a condition of work. In eight factories the employer did 
not comply with limits on overtime hours worked. In these cases workers 
performed overtime work of more than 80 hours during a three-month 
period, which is the limit stated in the labor code. There were 
findings of factories not requesting authorization for overtime work 
(three factories) or Sunday work (four factories) as the law requires. 
Many factory managers submitted letters addressed to the Ministry of 
Social Affairs and Labor requesting authorization to perform overtime 
and/or to work on Sunday; however, at year's end they were still 
waiting for the ministry's authorization. In these cases the government 
considered the factories to be in compliance because they requested the 
authorization according to the law.
    Most citizens worked in the informal sector and subsistence 
agriculture, for which minimum wage legislation does not apply, and 
where daily wages of 20-30 gourdes ($0.50-0.75) were common. Many women 
worked in domestic service, which was also exempted from minimum wage 
legislation. Due to staff shortages and special events, salaried HNP 
officers sometimes worked 12-hour shifts six days per week and received 
no overtime, although they received standardized bonuses at year's end.
    The industrial and assembly sectors largely observed occupational 
safety and health guidelines. However, in part due to increased third-
party oversight of textile factories, there were increased reports of 
noncompliance regarding minimum wage, daily breaks, health services and 
first aid, and worker protection. In some garment factories, 
supervisors reportedly forced workers employed under a quota system to 
work overtime by such tactics as closing the factory doors until quotas 
were met. There was improvement in several of these areas, but overall 
compliance remained low, and there were industry-wide problems in the 
areas of minimum wage, employment contracts, occupational safety and 
health, and working hours.
    No group collected formal data, but unions alleged job-related 
injuries occurred frequently in the construction and public works 
sectors. Although they have the legal right to do so, in practice 
workers could not remove themselves from dangerous work situations 
without jeopardizing their continued employment.

                               __________

                                HONDURAS

                           executive summary
    Honduras is a constitutional, multiparty republic. Following 
November 2009 elections, which the international community generally 
recognized as free and fair, Porfirio ``Pepe'' Lobo assumed the 
presidency in January 2010 and formed a government of national unity 
including all five registered political parties. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities, but there were instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    Among the most serious human rights problems were corruption within 
the national police force, institutional weakness of the judiciary, and 
discrimination and violence against vulnerable populations.
    Police and government agents committed unlawful killings. 
Vigilantes and former members of the security forces carried out 
arbitrary and summary killings. There continued to be reports of 
killings of agricultural workers, private security guards, and security 
forces related to a land dispute in the Bajo Aguan region. Other human 
rights problems included harsh prison conditions, violence against 
detainees, lengthy pretrial detentions and failure to provide legal due 
process, child prostitution and abuse, trafficking in persons, 
ineffective enforcement of labor laws, and child labor.
    The government took important steps to strengthen respect for human 
rights and promote national reconciliation, as well as to prosecute and 
punish officials who committed abuses. However, corruption and impunity 
were serious problems that impeded the effectiveness of the National 
Police.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were reports 
that members of the security forces committed arbitrary or unlawful 
killings. For example, on October 31, eight police officers were 
charged with the October 22 killing of two National Autonomous 
University of Honduras students, Carlos David Pineda and Rafael 
Alejandro Vargas, and the ensuing cover-up. Police officers allegedly 
followed the students as they were leaving a discotheque and shot at 
the car in which they were traveling, wounding Vargas. Both victims 
were then moved to another location and executed. On November 3, the 
first hearing in the case was held; four of the eight police officers--
Martin Orlando Ortez, Jose Manfredo Funez, Gabriel Donato Mancia, and 
Wilson Roberto Cordova--were arrested and at year's end were in prison 
awaiting trial. A fifth officer, Jose Ruben Pozo, turned himself in on 
December 7 and also was in prison. The final three suspects--Carlos 
Geovanny Galeas, Wilfredo Figueroa, and Santos Arnulfo Padilla--were at 
large after being granted 48 hours of leave on October 28 by the 
director of the Metropolitan Police, Jorge Alberto Barralaga.
    On December 7, unknown gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed 
former senior government adviser for security Alfredo Landaverde. In 
the weeks preceding his death, Landaverde had publicly called for 
cleaning up the National Police and alleged that its leadership was 
linked to organized crime. An investigation into his death continued at 
year's end.
    During the year confrontations over a long-standing land dispute 
between owners of African palm plantations and rural field workers in 
the Aguan Valley, Colon Department, resulted in the deaths of or 
injuries to approximately 55 persons, including field hands, private 
security guards, security force members, one judge, and bystanders. At 
year's end responsibility for all but two of these deaths had not been 
established. Human rights groups alleged that police, soldiers, and 
private security guards used disproportionate force against the 
protesting workers. On August 15, approximately 200 unknown gunmen 
attacked a group of private security guards, killing four and wounding 
11. An investigation into the attack continued at year's end. On August 
20 and 21, two leaders of field worker collectives, Secundino 
Vallecillo and Pedro Salgado, were killed in separate attacks. Two 
suspects were apprehended for the killing of Salgado and his common-law 
wife, Irene Licona.
    The country had an extremely high homicide rate, registering 82 
murders per 100,000 inhabitants during the year. The Department of 
Colon saw an increase of 17 percent in homicides compared with 2010. In 
response to the continuing violence in the Bajo Aguan region, the 
Secretariat of Security deployed a combined force of approximately 500 
military and police to augment security forces in the region. In 
October the secretariat established a Human Rights Observatory as part 
of the security force deployment. In addition, in September the 
government facilitated a land purchase agreement that would allow the 
agricultural collectives to purchase land in the region that would be 
managed by a trust. Despite the agreement, on September 16, a 
government security force came under attack, leaving two security force 
members dead and several more injured.
    As of year's end no date had been set for the trial of the police 
chief of Siguatepeque and seven other police officers accused of 
homicide, torture, and illegal detention in the June 2010 death of 
Mario Orlando Sequeira.
    An arrest warrant was issued in March 2010 for Moises Lopez Benitez 
for the 2009 shooting and subsequent death due to injuries of Angel 
Salgado after he drove through a military roadblock enforcing a curfew 
in Tegucigalpa. At year's end his whereabouts were unknown.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances. However, some disappearances, including of minors, were 
believed to have been criminally motivated abductions, while others 
were attributed to voluntary acts of persons leaving the country for 
employment or to escape death threats. During the year there were 32 
such cases, compared with 71 in 2010.
    On July 25, police detained Jose Santos Varela Vasquez at a 
substation in a market in Tegucigalpa and reportedly took him to three 
different police stations, where officers repeatedly beat him. Police 
records showed that he was released the next day, but his family 
contended that his signature for release was forged. His body was found 
on August 12. The case was under investigation at year's end.
    As of year's end authorities had not presented indictments of four 
suspects identified in the February 2010 kidnapping of Manuel de Jesus 
Murillo and Ricardo Rodriguez, camera operators for Globo TV.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution and law prohibit such practices, 
there were instances in which the police and military employed them, 
including police beatings and other abuse of detainees. In September 
the government created the National Committee and Advisory Council 
against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment in 
compliance with the Optional Protocol of the U.N. Convention against 
Torture to address this problem.
    On January 15, 20 unidentified heavily armed men wearing military 
uniforms broke into a private residence without a warrant and 
reportedly kicked and applied electric shocks to the inhabitants. The 
attackers later handcuffed the victims, took them to a wooded hill, and 
continued to beat them. One of the victims escaped and filed a report 
with the special prosecutor for human rights. An investigation into the 
case continued at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh and at times life threatening. Human rights groups reported that 
prisoners suffered from severe overcrowding, malnutrition, and lack of 
adequate sanitation, although they had access to potable water. Due to 
overcrowding and lack of adequate training of prison staff, prisoners 
were subject to various abuses, including rape by other inmates. There 
were reports that prisoners were tortured or otherwise abused in, or in 
transit to, prisons and other detention facilities.
    The ready access of prisoners to weapons and other contraband, 
impunity for inmate attacks on nonviolent prisoners, inmate escapes, 
and threats by inmates and their associates outside prisons against 
prison officials and their families contributed to an unstable and 
dangerous penitentiary system environment. Human rights organizations 
charged that prison officials used excessive force against prisoners, 
including beatings, as well as isolation and threats.
    During the year 49 inmates reportedly died due to violence. 
Authorities held prisoners from rival gangs in different facilities or 
in different areas of the same prison to reduce intergang violence and 
developed a more efficient classification system to identify 
potentially violent prisoners.
    Persons with mental illnesses, as well as those with tuberculosis 
and other infectious diseases, were held with the general prison 
population. Authorities at the Dr. Marco Aurelio Soto National 
Penitentiary at Tamara reported that, while their facility was the only 
prison in the country with an antiretroviral treatment program, the 
facility did not have necessary materials to test for or diagnose HIV/
AIDS, tuberculosis, or diabetes. For the nearly 3,000 inmates held at 
Tamara, there was only one dentist, and the surgical facility lacked 
anesthesia, surgical gloves, and needles.
    The country had 25 prisons--24 for men or mixed populations and one 
exclusively for women. The total prison population was 11,660, of which 
an estimated 400 were women. Authorities reported that the men's 
section of the Tamara complex, with a designed capacity of 1,500, held 
2,781 male inmates.
    Two juvenile prisons, operated under the supervision of the 
Honduran Institute of the Child and Family, held 164 inmates at year's 
end. Judges tended to place minors in detention centers in the absence 
of other educational or reform programs.
    Female prisoners generally were held in separate facilities under 
conditions similar to those of male prisoners but, unlike their male 
counterparts, did not have conjugal visit privileges. At certain lower-
security prisons, women were held with the general population. Children 
up to the age of two were permitted to stay with their mothers in 
prison. Authorities often held pretrial detainees together with 
convicted prisoners. Minors were sometimes held with adults.
    Authorities generally permitted inmates to have reasonable access 
to visitors and religious services of their choice. Authorities 
permitted inmates to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and request investigation of credible allegations of inhuman 
conditions. The director of prisons held meetings with human rights 
organizations. While the government did not directly monitor prison 
conditions, the National Police and the Secretariat of State of 
Security investigated credible allegations from prisoners or NGOs 
regarding inhumane conditions. Investigations resulted in written 
reports, which were available to the public. The government generally 
permitted prison visits by independent local and international human 
rights observers, including the International Committee of the Red 
Cross.
    According to the National Directorate of Special Preventive 
Service, the national commissioner on human rights, who performs some 
of the functions of an ombudsman, does not serve on behalf of prisoners 
and detainees. Instead, public defenders and judges served on behalf of 
prisoners for such matters as seeking alternatives to incarceration for 
nonviolent offenders to alleviate overcrowding; addressing the status 
and circumstances of confinement of juvenile offenders; or improving 
pretrial detention, bail, and recordkeeping procedures to ensure that 
prisoners do not serve beyond the maximum sentence for the charged 
offense.
    The Secretariat of Security continued a major prison reform program 
that began in 2010 involving the construction of new facilities to 
reduce overcrowding, separate the most dangerous prisoners from 
nonviolent offenders, and promote rehabilitation. In October the 
government opened a new maximum-security prison near Tegucigalpa with a 
capacity of 220 and began transferring prisoners to the facility.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but authorities at times 
failed to enforce these prohibitions effectively (see section 1.b.).

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Secretariat of 
Security oversees police operations, including those of the National 
Police, National Preventive Police, Transit Police, Frontier Police, 
Tourist Police, and Prison Police
    The Directorate of Internal Affairs of the National Police was 
removed from the National Police in November following the alleged 
attempted cover-up of the alleged police killings of Carlos David 
Pineda and Rafael Alejandro Vargas (see section 1.a.). On November 30, 
the National Congress created a new external entity charged with police 
oversight, the Directorate General of Investigation and Evaluation of 
the Police Career, and named Oscar Manuel Arita director of the new 
investigative body.
    Corruption and impunity were serious problems that impeded the 
effectiveness of the security forces. At the end of August, there were 
455 ongoing investigations of police officers in relation to 
administrative and criminal complaints, including conduct not befitting 
an officer, abuse of authority, police brutality, robbery, and 
homicide. Before it was dismantled, the Internal Affairs Directorate 
completed 145 investigations of police accused of abuses and began 
legal proceedings in 43 of those cases, an increase of 26 percent 
compared with 2010.
    During the year the National Police Academy provided 150 hours of 
human rights training to students at the Honduran Police National 
University, 120 hours to the National Police Academy, 60 hours to the 
Officers Candidate School, and 10 hours to the Police Technology 
Institute.
    In January a special victims task force was created to address 
violent crimes against vulnerable communities, including members of the 
press and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. 
By the end of October, the efforts of this unit had led to four arrests 
and two warrants for arrest.
    In September Alba Castaneda, who had close ties to the human rights 
community, was appointed vice minister of security. She subsequently 
initiated continuing education in human rights training provided to the 
National Police.
    In October the Secretariat of Defense began reviewing a proposal 
for a comprehensive human rights initiative aimed at strengthening 
human rights training in the armed forces.
    Gang violence and intimidation, notably on public transport, 
remained serious problems. To combat these problems, the Secretariat of 
Security funded and installed 134 security cameras during the year 
along public transit routes and inside public buses.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
provides that police can arrest a person only with a court order, 
unless the arrest is by order of a prosecutor or is made during the 
commission of a crime, when there is strong suspicion that a person has 
committed a crime and may try to evade criminal prosecution, or when 
the person is caught with evidence related to a crime. The law requires 
police to inform a person of the grounds for arrest and bring a 
detainee before a competent authority within 24 hours. It stipulates 
that the prosecutor has 24 hours to decide if there is probable cause 
for an indictment. A judge then has 24 hours to decide whether to issue 
a temporary detention order that may last up to six days, by which time 
the judge must hold a pretrial hearing to examine probable cause and 
decide whether pretrial detention should continue. The law provides for 
bail for persons charged with some felonies and the right of prisoners 
to have prompt access to family members. Authorities generally 
respected these provisions. Although the law also provides prisoners 
the right of prompt access to a lawyer of their choice, and, if 
indigent, to state-provided counsel, authorities did not always follow 
these requirements.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary 
arrest and detention, but authorities at times failed to observe these 
prohibitions.

    Pretrial Detention.--Lengthy pretrial detention was a serious 
problem. Forty-eight percent of prison inmates had been formally 
sentenced, while 52 percent had either not started or completed their 
trials. The law mandates the release from prison of detainees whose 
case has not come to trial and whose time in detention has exceeded the 
maximum prison sentence for the crime of which they are accused. As a 
result of trial delays, that limit was exceeded for many pretrial 
detainees. Many prisoners remained in prison after being acquitted or 
having completed their sentences due to the failure of officials to 
process their releases. Judicial inefficiency, corruption, and 
insufficient resources contributed to delays.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, the judicial system was poorly 
funded and staffed, inadequately equipped, often ineffective, and 
subject to patronage, corruption, and political influence.
    Low wages and lack of internal controls rendered judicial officials 
susceptible to bribery, and powerful special interests exercised 
influence on the outcomes of court proceedings. To begin addressing 
these problems, in 2010 Congress made permanent the Interinstitutional 
Commission of Penal Justice with the purpose of performing judicial 
oversight. In September the Supreme Court created a division of the 
commission to focus on human rights cases reported since the 2009 coup.
    In October the Supreme Court dismissed charges of abuse of 
authority against the former armed forces chief of staff and five other 
members of the Joint Staff for executing an arrest warrant issued for 
former president Jose Manuel Zelaya and denying him due process by 
exiling him to Costa Rica. The court declared that the defendants' 
actions were justified due to a ``state of necessity'' to avoid 
violence.
    In September the Judicial Career Council delivered a verdict 
regarding the July 2010 petition for reinstatement presented by four 
judges who were members of the anticoup organization Judges for 
Democracy. The council ruled that only one of the judges, Ramon Barrios 
Maldonado, was eligible for reinstatement. The remaining judicial 
officers had a complaint pending with the Inter-American Commission on 
Human Rights (IACHR) at year's end. Domestic and international civil 
society groups alleged that the June 2010 dismissals were in 
retaliation for the anticoup activism by the judges.

    Trial Procedures.--By law an accused person is presumed to be 
innocent. Jury trials are not used, but the accused has the right to 
have an initial hearing by a judge, ask for bail, consult with legal 
counsel in a timely manner, have a lawyer provided by the state if 
necessary, and request an appeal. The law provides for the right to a 
fair public trial for all citizens; permits defendants to confront or 
question witnesses and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf; 
and provides defendants access to government-held evidence relevant to 
their cases. However, these rights were frequently not observed.
    Common challenges to criminal prosecutions included a lack of 
credible evidence presented by the prosecution, lack of witness 
protection, widespread public distrust in the legal system, and 
judicial corruption.

    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 that is available to citizens seeking civil 
remedies for human rights violations. A litigant can bring civil 
charges when the criminal court determines that damages may be sought. 
The government increased the budget of the special prosecutor for human 
rights from 11.7 million lempiras ($617,000) in 2010 to 16 million 
lempiras ($844,000). In addition, the special prosecutor for human 
rights was allotted an additional six prosecutors, bringing to 19 the 
total number of prosecutors dedicated solely to allegations of human 
rights abuses by government actors. Citizens may file complaints with 
the IACHR.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--Although the constitution and law generally prohibit 
such actions, a legal exception allows entry into a private residence 
at any time in an emergency or to prevent the commission of a crime. 
There were credible charges that police occasionally failed to obtain 
the required authorization before entering a private home.
    Garifuna representatives and other ethnic minority rights leaders 
continued to complain that the government failed to redress previous 
actions by private and public security forces that dislodged farmers 
and indigenous groups that claimed ownership of lands based on land 
reform laws or ancestral titles to property (see section 6).
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution and laws provide for freedom of speech and 
press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. 
In May the government repealed a state of siege law that permitted the 
suspension of civil liberties. However, the news media continued to 
suffer from vulnerability to special interests and weak professionalism 
in reporting and analyzing news. A small number of powerful business 
magnates with intersecting commercial, political, and family ties owned 
most of the news media and substantially influenced the political and 
factual content of reporting in their publications.

    Violence and Harassment.--In contrast with 2010, killings of 
journalists decreased, but harassment of journalists increased. Both 
problems remained serious concerns. During the year there were reports 
that unknown actors killed five journalists and one media executive. 
There also were reports of harassment and intimidation of other members 
of the media, their families, and NGOs; some journalists and NGOs 
believed that security forces were involved in these acts.
    On December 22, Leonel Espinoza, the local correspondent for the 
Colombian news channel NTN, was stopped at gunpoint by a National 
Preventive Police unit, forcibly removed from his vehicle, handcuffed, 
and briefly detained. Espinoza believed the motivation for his 
detention was to intimidate him because of his reporting on corruption 
in the National Police. At year's end an investigation continued.
    On May 10, two unidentified men shot and killed Hector Francisco 
Medina near his home in Morazan, Yoro. He had been the subject of 
threats for six months before his death, reportedly related to his 
investigative reporting on alleged corruption in city government and 
regional land disputes. At year's end a police investigation continued. 
Medina's family reported that it continued to receive threats.
    On December 5, unknown gunmen attacked the Tegucigalpa offices of 
the newspaper La Tribuna, injuring a security guard. NGOs and La 
Tribuna officials believed the motive was the newspaper's reporting of 
alleged police involvement in the killings of two university students 
(see section 1.a.). At year's end an investigation continued.
    At year's end the case against police officer Hector Tercero, 
charged with abuse of authority, illegal detention, and harassment in 
connection with the detention of Aguan television Channel 5 director 
Nahum Palacios, remained under appeal, and an investigation continued. 
In March 2010 unknown assailants shot and killed Palacios.
    On October 31, Marcos Joel Alvarez Barahona, tried for the June 
2010 fatal shooting of journalist David Enrique Meza in La Ceiba, was 
absolved of the crime. At year's end an investigation continued.
    Jhonan Joseph Cockborn, arrested in July 2010 for the murder of 
journalist Jorge Alberto Orellana, remained in detention awaiting 
trial. Investigations of the March 2010 deaths of Joseph Antony 
Hernandez and other journalists continued at year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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 in practice. There 
were, however, allegations from NGOs that police used excessive force 
in responding to demonstrations.
    Between March 17 and April 1, there were protests led by teachers' 
unions that involved from several hundred to several thousand 
protesters. The protests were sometimes violent, and police used tear 
gas and water cannons in response to demonstrators, who threw Molotov 
cocktails and rocks. The altercations resulted in 15 cases of alleged 
human rights violations reported to the special prosecutor for human 
rights.

    Freedom of Association.--The constitution and law generally provide 
for freedom of association, and the government generally respected this 
right in practice. The penal code prohibits illicit association and 
prescribes prison terms of two to four years and a fine of 30,000 to 
60,000 lempiras ($1,580 to $3,160) for anyone who convokes or directs 
an illicit meeting or demonstration, defined as those attended by 
persons bearing arms, explosive devices, or dangerous objects with the 
purpose of committing a crime. The penal code prescribes prison terms 
between 20 and 30 years and a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 lempiras 
($5,280 to $15,800) to heads of gangs or other groups that associate to 
commit a crime. Human rights organizations continued to criticize the 
law and its implementation as an undue restriction on the right to 
associate freely. LGBT advocacy groups continued to express concerns 
that the law could be used to criminalize social activities and 
organizations of the LGBT community.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 in 
practice.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 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 
forced exile in practice. However, several NGOs reported that certain 
members went into exile in response to death threats they had received.

    Protection of Refugees.--The laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and law provide citizens the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of nearly 
universal suffrage. The law does not permit active members of the 
clergy and of the military and civilian security forces to vote.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 
January 2010 Porfirio ``Pepe'' Lobo assumed office for a four-year 
presidential term following elections in November 2009 that 
international observers considered to be generally free and fair.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The law states that at 
least 30 percent of candidates from each party for national election 
should be women. Women held 25 of 128 seats in the National Congress, 
and 30 women were alternate members. Six women sat on the 15-member 
executive board of congress, and 12 presided over congressional 
committees. One of three presidential designates in the government with 
equivalent status to that of a vice president was a woman. There were 
three female cabinet members: the secretaries of state for justice and 
human rights, for tourism, and for social development.
    The National Congress had one Misquito community member and one 
Afro-Honduran member. The cabinet-level minister of the Secretariat of 
State for Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Affairs was an Afro-Honduran.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for corruption, but authorities 
did not effectively implement the law. Despite sustained improvement, 
government institutions were subject to corruption and political 
influence, and some officials engaged in corrupt practices with 
impunity.
    There was a widespread public perception that the anticorruption 
institutions had not taken sufficient steps to contain corruption and 
were unwilling or lacked the professional capacity and the resources to 
investigate, arrest, and prosecute those involved in high-level 
corruption.
    On June 27, the Preventive Police took control of security 
operations at Puerto Cortes from the federal government-run National 
Port Company (ENP) as a result of findings by a presidential commission 
investigating charges of corruption, waste, and mismanagement in the 
port's operations. ENP general manager Maynor Pinto and his deputy, 
Mario Coto, were suspended as a result of the investigation and 
replaced with a high-level commission headed by a vice minister. The 
commission presented its findings to the president in November. At 
year's end the report had not been made public, but charges were 
brought against Pinto before the Supreme Court of Justice, and 
authorities were investigating the allegations against Coto.
    On June 15, a judge hearing two of four criminal cases pending 
against Enrique Flores Lanza, former secretary of state in the 
Presidential Office in the administration of former president Jose 
Manuel Zelaya, ordered that Flores Lanza be put under house arrest and 
pay 27 million lempiras ($1.4 million) for bail, reportedly the largest 
bail amount in the country's history. In November Lanza won an appeal 
that suspended the bail requirement and released him from house arrest. 
The charges against Lanza included fraud, falsification of public 
documents, abuse of authority, and use of falsified public documents. 
In one of the other two cases lodged against Flores Lanza, an appeal by 
the prosecution to remove the judge hearing the case was dismissed in 
September.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws. The 
Public Ministry, police investigative services, and Superior Accounting 
Tribunal are the government agencies responsible for combating 
corruption. There is an anticorruption interinstitutional working group 
composed of the Superior Accounting Tribunal, Office of the Solicitor 
General, Public Ministry, Supreme Court, Institute for Access to Public 
Information (IAIP), National Commission of Human Rights, and 
Anticorruption Council.
    The government allowed access to public information for citizens 
and noncitizens, including foreign media, through the IAIP. The 
institute operates a Web site for citizens to request information from 
government agencies and is responsible for ensuring that government 
institutions comply with the government transparency rules and 
practices for permitting access to public information. If a government 
agency denies a request for public information, a party can submit a 
claim to the IAIP, which has the authority to grant a resolution, 
including sanctioning noncompliance with fines. During the year IAIP 
staff travelled nationwide to increase public awareness of the Law on 
Transparency and Access to Public Information. The IAIP received 61 
appeals in 2010 and more than 300 in 2011, most related to a request 
from an NGO for information on how the 128 members of the National 
Congress spent their subsidies during the 2006-10 congressional 
session. The IAIP ruled in favor of the NGO and was working with the 
National Congress to release the information.
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 
operated in the country, investigating and publishing their findings on 
human rights cases. Government officials generally cooperated with 
domestic and international NGOs. For example, on August 30, the 
government requested that the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner on 
Human Rights open an office in the country.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--On July 7, in accordance with the 
Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission 
issued its report on the 2009 coup. The commission consisted of three 
international and two Honduran commissioners and was independent and 
adequately resourced. Commission members travelled to all of the 
country's 18 departments and interviewed 37 of the crisis' main actors 
(with the exception of former president Jose Manuel Zelaya, who 
declined to meet with the commission), 250 alleged victims of human 
rights abuses, and 180 other key participants. It also conducted 125 
town hall-style meetings. The commission issued 84 recommendations, 
including recommendations to improve the constitution, respect for 
human rights, and combat against corruption. In November the government 
established a unit under the Secretariat of Justice and Human Rights to 
oversee implementation of the recommendations.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, but it was not effectively enforced. 
Political, military, and social elites generally enjoyed impunity under 
the legal system. Women and other vulnerable groups continued to suffer 
social and economic discrimination.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes all forms 
of rape, including spousal rape. With the exception of spousal rape, 
which is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, rape is considered a public 
crime. A rapist can be prosecuted even if the victim does not press 
charges. The penalties for rape range from three to nine years' 
imprisonment, and the courts enforced these penalties in practice. Rape 
was reportedly a serious and pervasive societal problem and continued 
to be underreported due to fear of stigma, retribution, and further 
violence. At year's end police reported receiving 216 cases of rape and 
other sexually related crimes against women.
    The law criminalizes domestic violence, the penalty for which is 
imprisonment for between two and four years. The only legal sanctions 
for lesser forms of domestic abuse are community service and 24-hour 
preventive detention if the violator is caught in the act. The law 
provides a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment for disobeying 
a restraining order connected with the crime of intrafamilial violence. 
In many cases victims were reluctant to press charges against abusers, 
and authorities did not enforce the law effectively.
    Violence against women and impunity for perpetrators continued to 
be serious problems. The National Criminal Investigation Division 
reported it was investigating 3,148 complaints of domestic abuse and 
473 killings of women (of more than 6,723 male and female victims of 
homicide). There were three government-operated domestic violence 
shelters in Choluteca, La Ceiba, and Copan. NGOs operated shelters in 
Santa Rosa de Copan, Juticalpa, and Tegucigalpa. The government 
provided insufficient financial and other resources to enable these 
facilities to operate effectively. However, in cooperation with the 
U.N. Development Program, the government opened a consolidated 
reporting center in La Ceiba where women could report a crime, seek 
medical and psychological attention, and receive other services.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment in the 
workplace and provides penalties of one to three years' imprisonment, 
but the government did not effectively enforce the law. Government 
agencies and the National Institute of Women promoted enforcement of 
the law through campaigns to encourage public reporting of sexual 
harassment.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their 
children. Information about access to contraception was widely 
available, and access to contraception was free from discrimination, 
violence, or coercion. Skilled attendance, including essential 
obstetric, prenatal, and postpartum care before and during childbirth, 
and access to maternal health services were available only to those who 
could afford it. According to the U.N. Population Fund, only 67 percent 
of births were attended by trained medical personnel, and in 2008 the 
maternal mortality rate was 110 deaths per 100,000 live births.

    Discrimination.--Although the law accords women and men equal 
rights, including property rights in divorce cases, in practice women 
did not enjoy such rights. Most employed women worked in lower-status 
and lower-paid informal occupations, such as domestic service, without 
legal protections or regulations. Women were represented in small 
numbers in most professions, but cultural attitudes limited their 
career opportunities. By law women have equal access with men to 
educational opportunities. The law requires employers to pay women 
equal wages for equivalent work, but employers often classified women's 
jobs as less demanding than those of men to justify women's lower 
salaries. Workers in the textile export industries continued to report 
that they were required to take pregnancy tests as a condition for 
employment.
    The National Institute for Women develops government policy on 
women and gender. In addition, the federally sponsored National Plan on 
Equality and Gender Equity works to incorporate objectives to achieve 
gender equity. The NGO Center for the Rights of Women actively 
addressed women's issues.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Birth registration was widely 
available. Citizenship is derived by birth within the territory, from 
one's parents, or by naturalization.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse was a serious problem. The law 
establishes prison sentences of up to three years for persons convicted 
of child abuse. The Permanent Commission on Protection for the Physical 
and Moral Well-Being of Children, coordinated by the Secretariat of 
State of Interior and Population, coordinates public and private entity 
efforts to combat child abuse.
    Police, gangs, and members of the general public engaged in 
violence against poor youths and children. Human rights groups alleged 
that individual members of the security forces and civilians used 
unwarranted lethal force against supposed habitual criminals, suspected 
gang members, and other youths not known to be involved in criminal 
activity.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Trafficking in children for 
commercial sexual exploitation and child prostitution were problems. 
Penalties for facilitating prostitution are between nine and 15 years 
in prison and a fine ranging between 50,000 and 100,000 lempiras 
($2,640 and $5,280). The penalty increases by half if the victim is 
less than 18 years of age. There is no statutory rape law, but the 
penalty for rape of a minor under the age of 12 is between 15 and 20 
years in prison and between nine and 13 years if the victim is 13 or 
older. The law prohibits the use of children under the age of 18 for 
exhibitions or performances of a sexual nature and in the production of 
pornography. The country continued to be a destination and transit 
point for child prostitution.
    Casa Alianza operated three shelters (with a daily capacity of 180 
children) for victims of commercial sexual exploitation, street 
children, and children with substance abuse problems, and it provided 
vocational and educational training for the parents of 365 children at 
risk. The government provided a hotline where reports of suspected 
crimes against children could be conveyed directly to investigative 
authorities.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/congressreport--
4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community, located primarily in San 
Pedro Sula, numbered approximately 1,000. There were no reports of 
anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services. Enforcement is the responsibility of 
the Secretariat of Labor and Social Security (STSS) ; however, it 
focuses primarily on workplace safety and pay issues. Statutory 
provisions make it illegal for an employer to discriminate against a 
worker based on disability. There were no verifiable reports of 
discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services. The law requires access to buildings for persons with 
disabilities. In practice few buildings were accessible, and the 
federal government did not effectively implement laws or programs to 
ensure such access. The government has a disabilities unit in the 
Secretariat of Social Development and a special commissioner for 
disabilities in the Secretariat of the Presidency.

    Indigenous People.--Approximately 621,000 persons, constituting 8 
percent of the general population, were members of indigenous and other 
ethnic minority groups. These groups, including the Misquitos, 
Tawahkas, Pech, Tolupans, Lencas, Maya-Chortis, Nahual, Bay Islanders, 
and Garifunas, lived in 362 communities and generally had little or no 
political power to make decisions affecting their lands, cultures, 
traditions, and the allocation of natural resources.
    Most indigenous lands were owned communally, providing land-use 
rights to individual members of the ethnic community. Indigenous land 
titles often were defined poorly in documents dating back to the mid-
19th century. Lack of a clear title allowed encroachment and 
expropriation conflicts by landless nonindigenous settlers, powerful 
business elites, and government entities interested in exploiting 
coastlines, forests, and other lands traditionally occupied or utilized 
by indigenous and other ethnic minority communities. Indigenous and 
nonindigenous communities criticized the government's alleged 
complicity in the exploitation of timber and other natural resources on 
these lands. Indigenous groups maintained that their community-based 
land systems more effectively protected their lands from encroachment 
by large landowners and that outside groups engaged in illegal 
activities. Garifuna leaders continued to allege that groups engaged in 
drug smuggling and other contraband trafficking had illegally 
appropriated vast areas of their communal lands.
    During the year the Secretariat of State for Indigenous and Afro-
Honduran Affairs and Maya-Chorti community members began meeting to 
resolve the Maya-Chorti's long-standing concerns about noncompliance 
with land restitution commitments made by the government in 2008 and to 
address landowner threats to eject community members from tribal lands.
    Persons from indigenous and Afro-descendant communities continued 
to experience discrimination with respect to employment and occupation, 
education, housing, and health services. There were minimal government 
efforts to combat this discrimination.
    The Secretariat of State for Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Affairs 
worked to preserve native culture as well as raise the standard of 
living of the indigenous population. It established regional offices to 
manage investment and development in areas with a high concentration of 
indigenous persons.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no discriminatory 
laws based on sexual orientation, but in practice social discrimination 
against persons from sexual minority communities was widespread. 
Representatives of NGOs focusing on sexual diversity rights asserted 
that security forces killed and abused their members. Prosecutors often 
encountered serious difficulties in investigating suspicious deaths of 
LGBT persons because the victims had concealed their identity or sexual 
orientation.
    Sexual minority rights groups asserted that security forces, 
government agencies, and private employers engaged in antigay 
discriminatory hiring practices. These groups also reported that 
intimidation, fear of reprisal, and police corruption made LGBT victims 
reluctant to file charges or cooperate with prosecutions.
    The National Police reported 30 violent deaths of LGBT individuals 
during the year. Criminal investigations do not recognize a 
``transgender'' category.
    At year's end there was no information regarding any investigation 
of the 2010 killings of the president, Neraldys, and vice president, 
Imperia Gamaniel Parson, of the LGBT NGO Colectivo TTT. Human rights 
advocates continued to assert that the killings were hate crimes.
    At year's end there were no known developments in the prosecutor's 
investigation of the 2009 fatal shooting by unknown assailants of LGBT 
activist Walter Orlando Trochez in Tegucigalpa.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--No widespread societal 
violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS was reported.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
Although the law provides for the right of workers to form and join 
unions of their choice, protects the right to bargain collectively and 
to strike, and prohibits employer retribution for engaging in trade 
union activity, it places a number of restrictions on these rights. For 
instance, the law prohibits coexistence of more than two trade unions 
at a single enterprise, requires 30 or more workers in order to 
constitute a trade union, prohibits foreign nationals from holding 
union offices, and requires that union officials be employed in the 
economic activity of the business the union represents.
    The law prohibits members of the armed forces and police from 
forming labor unions. The law requires that an employer begin 
collective bargaining once workers establish a union, although public 
service employees are prohibited from collective bargaining. Collective 
bargaining agreements for private sector companies apply to union and 
nonunion employees.
    The law prohibits labor federations and confederations from calling 
strikes and requires that a two-thirds majority of the total membership 
of a trade union approve a strike. The law prohibits workers from 
legally striking before they (1) attempt and fail to come to an 
agreement with their employer, and (2) go through Secretariat of Labor 
and Social Security (STSS) mediation. During the mediation companies 
sometimes failed to appoint a representative in order to draw out the 
process, thus in practice impeding the right to strike. In addition, it 
prohibits strikes in a wide range of economic activities that the 
government deems essential services and any others that, in the 
government's opinion, affect individuals' rights to security, health, 
education, and economic or social life, including restrictions on 
certain public service employees from going on strike.
    Workers in public health care, social security, staple food 
production, and public utilities (municipal sanitation, water, 
electricity, and telecommunications) are allowed to strike but must 
continue to provide basic services. The law also requires that public 
sector workers involved in the refining, transportation, and 
distribution of petroleum products must submit their grievances to the 
STSS prior to striking. Restrictions on strikes in such a broad range 
of sectors were considered excessive by international standards. 
Workers in export processing zones and separate free zones for 
companies that provide services for industrial parks are permitted to 
strike under law. However, the law requires that strikes not impede the 
operations of other factories in the industrial parks.
    The STSS has the power to declare work stoppages illegal and 
dismiss the protesting workers. The International Labor Organization 
(ILO) continued to express concerns about the government's authority to 
end disputes in several sectors, including oil production and 
transport, because such provisions are vulnerable to abuse. It also 
noted with concern the law's requirement that employees in state-owned 
enterprises either obtain the government's previous authorization or 
give six months' notice before striking.
    The STSS can reach administrative decisions and fine companies for 
unfair dismissal; the law permits fines of up to 5,000 lempiras ($265) 
for a given violation. The ILO noted that penalties for such 
discrimination were inadequate and lacked credibility in the eyes of 
companies and municipalities. Inspectors must clear their fines through 
the Central Office of the General Inspectorate, which can add months to 
the period between an inspection and a fine being issued. Moreover, 
only a court can order reinstatement of workers, and the reinstatement 
process was unduly long.
    Workers exercised the right to form and join unions and bargain 
collectively with difficulty, and the government failed to enforce 
applicable laws effectively. Unions noted that the length of time the 
STSS took to register unions impeded their ability to unionize. Some 
unions also alleged that the registry office often informed companies 
which workers were attempting to unionize, making it easier for 
companies to dismiss these workers before they were granted legal 
protection from firing. Unions are independent of the government but 
closely aligned with political parties.
    Civil servants occasionally engaged in illegal work stoppages 
without experiencing reprisals. Teachers continued to hold strikes 
throughout the year to protest nonreceipt of back pay as well as 
proposed reforms to the public educational system, including changes to 
salary and pension benefits. Strikes between March 17 and April 1, 
which also involved anticoup protesters, were sometimes violent, and 
police used tear gas and water cannons in response to protesters who 
threw Molotov cocktails and rocks (see section 2.b.). The government 
engaged in a dialogue with a wide range of representatives of the 
education sector, including teachers' unions, to rewrite the education 
law, which was more than 40 years old.
    Some employers either refused to engage in collective bargaining 
with unions with impunity or made it very difficult to engage in 
bargaining. Some companies also delayed or failed to appoint 
representatives for required STSS-led mediation, which in practice 
lengthened and impeded the mediation process and right to strike. For 
instance, in some cases companies that agreed to bargain held meetings 
outside the country so that it was difficult for union members to 
attend.
    Antiunion discrimination was a serious problem. The three major 
union federations and several civil society groups noted that, in cases 
where fines for violations were imposed, many companies paid the fine 
and continued to violate the law. Employers commonly threatened to 
close unionized factories and harassed or dismissed workers seeking to 
unionize, including firing leaders soon after unions were formed to 
prevent the union from functioning. Failure to reinstate workers was a 
serious problem. Employers often ignored (with impunity) court orders 
requiring them to reinstate workers fired for engaging in union 
activity. However, after being fined 10,000 lempira ($530) and under 
pressure from both the STSS and labor unions, in December the mayor of 
Choloma rehired 29 municipal employees whom he had fired in 2009 
because of their attempt to unionize.
    There was credible evidence that apparel assembly factory employers 
continued with impunity to blacklist employees seeking to form unions. 
Some companies also established employer-controlled unions, thereby 
preventing the formation of an independent union because of the 
restriction permitting only one union per company. Several companies in 
the country's export processing zones instituted solidarity 
associations that, to some extent, functioned as company unions for the 
purposes of setting wages and negotiating working conditions.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law does not 
prohibit forced labor. There were anecdotal reports that forced labor 
occurred in both agriculture and domestic services.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law regulates child labor, sets the minimum age for employment at 14, 
and regulates the hours and type of work that can be performed by 
minors up to age 18. Under the law all minors between the ages of 14 
and 18 must be granted special permission from the STSS to work. The 
STSS is expected to perform a home study to ensure that there is an 
economic necessity for the child to work and that the child will not 
work outside the country or in hazardous conditions, including offshore 
fishing. If permission is granted, children between the ages of 14 and 
16 are not allowed to work more than four hours per day. Children 
between the ages of 16 and 18 are allowed to work no more than six 
hours per day. The law prohibits night work and overtime for minors 
under the age of 18. However, the STSS can grant special permission for 
minors between the ages of 16 and 18 to work in the evening if it does 
not affect their schooling. The labor code requires that employers with 
more than 20 school-age children working at their business facility 
provide a location for a school. The law provides for between three and 
five years in prison for persons violating child labor laws.
    The government did not devote adequate resources or inspectors to 
monitor compliance with child labor laws. The STSS did not effectively 
enforce child labor laws outside the apparel assembly sector, and there 
were frequent violations. There was no known change to the practice of 
appointing child-labor inspectors only to STSS offices in Tegucigalpa 
and San Pedro Sula, which reportedly limited the agency's ability to 
investigate allegations of child labor, particularly in rural and other 
remote areas.
    In practice the vast majority of children who worked did so without 
STSS permits, and the government failed to enforce child labor laws 
effectively. Children often harvested melons, coffee, and sugarcane; 
rummaged at garbage dumps; worked in the forestry, hunting, and fishing 
sectors; and worked as deckhands and divers in the lobster industry. 
Children worked as domestic servants, peddled goods such as fruit, 
begged, washed cars, hauled loads, and labored in limestone and lime 
production. Most child labor occurred in rural areas. Children often 
worked alongside other family members in agriculture and other sectors, 
such as fishing, construction, transportation, and small business.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--On April 11, the STSS announced 
the minimum wage for the year, which was retroactive to January 1 and 
based on the number of employees and size of the company. Wages ranged 
from a low of 3,280 lempiras ($175) per month to a high of 6,592 
lempiras ($350). For instance, a company with one to 10 employees 
working in agriculture was required to pay at least 4,368 lempiras 
($230) per month, while a company with more than 151 employees in the 
transportation industry was required to pay at least 6,533 lempiras 
($345) per month.
    The law applies equally to national and foreign workers and 
prescribes a maximum eight-hour shift per day, a 44-hour workweek, and 
at least one 24-hour rest period for every six days of work. It 
provides for paid national holidays and annual leave. The law requires 
overtime payment for hours in excess of the standard, and there are 
prohibitions on excessive compulsory overtime. Civil society groups and 
unions reported that employers frequently ignored these regulations, 
especially in the fast food industry, because the STSS failed to 
enforce these requirements effectively.
    The STSS is responsible for enforcing national occupational health 
and safety laws, but it did not do so consistently or effectively. The 
government did not allocate adequate resources for labor inspectors to 
perform their duties. The secretariat had 118 inspectors, who conducted 
3,736 inspections during the year. The ILO reported that labor law 
violations discovered in textile factories during inspections were 
typically corrected, although the limited number of inspectors 
precluded comprehensive inspections of worksites. Because labor 
inspectors were concentrated in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, 
complete labor inspections as well as follow-up visits to confirm 
compliance with findings were far less frequent. Many inspectors asked 
workers to provide transportation to conduct an inspection, as the STSS 
did not have sufficient resources to pay for travel to worksites, 
further impeding their ability to enforce labor laws effectively. There 
were credible allegations of corruption among labor inspectors, 
particularly in the North.
    The law does not provide workers the right to leave a dangerous 
work situation without jeopardy to their continued employment. Worker 
safety standards were enforced poorly, particularly in the 
construction, garment assembly, and agriculture sectors.
    In practice the minimum wage was rarely paid in the agricultural 
sector and seldom paid elsewhere. The STSS estimated that 68 percent of 
employers did not comply with the federal minimum wage. The law 
prohibits the practice of requiring workers to complete quotas before 
being allowed to leave. However, civil society groups reported the 
government did not effectively enforce the law. There were credible 
allegations of compulsory overtime at apparel assembly factories 
(particularly for women, who made up approximately 65 percent of that 
sector's workforce), in the private security sector, and among 
household workers. Workers were frequently denied benefits, including 
vacation pay and 13th- and 14th- month bonuses, and there were reports 
that both public and private sector employers failed to pay into the 
social security institute funds. In addition, unions and civil society 
groups reported that some employers used contract employees to avoid 
paying benefits due to full- and part-time employees.
    The law does not protect domestic workers effectively. Human rights 
organizations continued to report that, in the private security and 
household sectors, workers were typically obliged to work more than 60 
hours a week but paid for only 44 hours. Civil society organizations 
also reported that workers in cleaning services and the fast food 
industry were often obliged to work shifts of 12 or more hours. These 
household workers often lacked contracts and were paid salaries below 
the minimum wage. Since many lived in on-site housing, their work hours 
often varied widely based on the will of individual employers. Private 
security guards also often worked for salaries below the minimum wage. 
Many guards worked every other day on 24-hour shifts, which violated 
labor law restrictions regarding maximum number of hours one may work.
    There continued to be reports of violations of occupational health 
and safety laws, including lack of access to appropriate safety 
equipment, and other labor rights violations relating to the 
approximately 3,000 lobster divers, many from the Misquito indigenous 
and other ethnic minority groups in Gracias a Dios Department. In 
contrast with prior years, the STSS conducted 30 inspections of lobster 
boats; however, it reportedly found no violations. In addition, the 
STSS opened a branch office in Gracias a Dios, a region that previously 
had no coverage.

                               __________

                                JAMAICA

                           executive summary
    Jamaica is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. On December 
29, the opposition Peoples National Party (PNP) won 42 of the 63 seats 
in the House of Representatives, and PNP leader Portia Simpson Miller 
was sworn in as prime minister on January 5, 2012. The leader of the 
defeated Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Andrew Holness, served as prime 
minister after October 23, following the unexpected resignation of 
Prime Minister Bruce Golding. International election observers deemed 
the elections transparent, free and fair, and without violence. During 
the year there were instances in which elements of security forces 
acted independently of civilian control.
    The most serious human rights problems in the country were alleged 
unlawful security force killings, instances where cases involving the 
violation of rights were not resolved in a timely way, and poor prison 
and jail conditions, including abuse of detainees and prisoners.
    Other human rights problems included an overburdened judicial 
system and frequent lengthy delays in trials, violence against and 
sexual abuse of children, violence and discrimination against women, 
trafficking in persons, and violence against persons based on their 
suspected or known sexual orientation.
    The government took some steps to punish members of the security 
forces who committed abuses, but there were other instances where no 
arrests or prosecutions occurred, providing impunity for police who 
committed crimes.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--While the government 
or its agents did not commit politically motivated killings, there were 
numerous accounts alleging that the government's security forces or its 
agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.
    For example, on October 31, police killed Michael Grinnion in an 
alleged ``shootout'' in his home and reported that they recovered a 
loaded pistol. However, Grinnion's family claimed that there was no 
sign of a shootout and that Grinnion was killed somewhere else. A 
relative said witnesses heard Grinnion pleading for his life before he 
was taken away in a police jeep, and also claimed that the body at the 
morgue showed signs of bruising and physical abuse. The family urged a 
full investigation; no further information was available by year's end.
    According to official statistics, there were 236 killings involving 
police during the year. Human rights monitors indicated that many 
killings by police were unreported, with police meting out the justice 
they see as unavailable through the judicial system. In most shooting 
incidents, police alleged that the victims were carrying firearms and 
opened fire on them. In many cases, however, eyewitness testimony 
contradicted the police accounts. In other cases, allegations of 
``police murder'' were suspect, because well-armed gangs trafficking in 
weapons and narcotics and running lottery scams controlled many inner-
city communities and were often better equipped than the police force.
    In October Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Commissioner Owen 
Ellington spoke publicly about two deaths in police custody--those of 
Ricardo Irons and Keith Mitchell. He said that acceptance of the 
explanation given by the JCF would ``amount to dereliction of our duty 
of care for the safety and well-being of persons in our custody.'' 
Investigations into the two deaths continued at year's end.
    Violent crime remained a serious concern, and on many occasions the 
JCF employed lethal force in apprehending criminal suspects. The JCF's 
Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) and the Independent Commission 
(INDECOM) investigated all police killings, and when appropriate, 
forwarded cases to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) for 
prosecution. However, it usually takes many years to bring police 
officers to trial for alleged unlawful killings. For example, on May 
30, a jury returned a not guilty verdict for four police officers 
charged with murder in the 2007 death of Andre Thomas. On June 16, a 
Home Circuit Court judge dismissed the case of the police officers 
charged in the 2008 murder of Carlton Grant, the 17-year-old son of 
dancehall artist Spragga Benz. On April 13, a Home Circuit Court jury 
convicted police officer Vince Edwards of the extrajudicial killing of 
Tyrone Powell in 2009. No other police officer accused of human rights 
violations has been convicted since 2006.
    Other scheduled trials included that of police corporal Malica 
Reid, charged with the November 2010 killing of prominent businessman 
Frederick ``Mickey'' Hill, which began on October 28 and was 
rescheduled for January 2012. The case of Detective Sergeant Lloyd 
Kelly, charged with the July 2010 killing of a mentally disturbed man, 
was also to go to court in January 2012. The Home Circuit Court 
rescheduled the trial of three policemen, Loui Lynch, Paul Edwards, and 
Victor Barrett, involved in the 2004 abduction and killing of Kemar 
Walters and Oliver Duncan, to April 16, 2012. The Special Coroner Court 
was scheduled to consider the 2007 police shooting deaths of Dexter 
Hyatt and Tian Wolfe in November but postponed it to a later date.
    In May 2010 security forces entered West Kingston after gunmen 
loyal to former Tivoli Gardens don Christopher ``Dudus'' Coke set fire 
to police stations and barricaded themselves inside the community. At 
least 73 civilians and three security force members were killed. 
Preliminary forensics reports suggested that some individuals were shot 
execution-style. The Public Defender's Office, with the support of 
international donors, prepared an official report on the incident, but 
had not released it by year's end.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
disappearances.
    There was no definitive resolution of the disappearance of three 
young people, one of whose body later was found in a cemetery grave, 
who disappeared during the May 2010 security operations that took place 
in West Kingston's Tivoli Gardens.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the law prohibits such practices, reports of 
physical abuse of prisoners by guards continued, despite efforts by the 
government to remove abusive guards and improve procedures.
    When prisoners raise allegations of abuse by correctional officers, 
the charges are first reviewed by corrections officials, then by an 
inspector from the Ministry of National Security, and finally by the 
police. Authorities file charges against correctional officers for 
abuse if evidence is found to support the allegations. However, 
official complaints and investigations were infrequent.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons and detention 
centers were severely overcrowded and presented serious threats to life 
and health. The U.N. special rapporteur on torture in a 2010 report 
called the conditions of detention ``appalling'' and in some cases 
``inhumane,'' although it did not find instances of torture. The 
government could not protect the physical safety of prisoners. With a 
maximum rated capacity of 4,402 inmates, the corrections system 
contained approximately 4,000 adult inmates, including at least 200 
women. Another 366 juveniles remained in detention in juvenile-only 
facilities. However, there was considerable overcrowding, since rated 
capacity reflected both high- and low-security facilities, some 
capacity was unusable due to staffing shortfalls, and most inmates were 
held in high-security facilities. Although the law prohibits the 
incarceration of children in adult prisons in most cases, approximately 
60 juveniles were held in adult jails. At least 14 prisoners died in 
detention during the year.
    Detainees were not clearly separated according to their different 
stages of criminal procedure. Persons detained without charges, 
remandees, and convicted persons were held together in the same 
facility and often shared cells.
    The government failed to protect the physical safety of prisoners. 
For example, on April 4, an inmate plucked out the eye of another 
prisoner awaiting transfer from the Port Antonio lock-up to the Tower 
Street Adult Correctional Facility. On July 6, Garfield Campbell was 
electrocuted as he attempted to open the metal grille door to his cell 
at the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Institution in Spanish Town. 
The government never clarified how the door became electrified, and no 
one was prosecuted for the suspected homicide. Suicide also remained a 
problem. Over the course of two weeks in September, prison authorities 
at the same institution in Spanish Town failed to prevent two inmates 
from hanging themselves with electrical cord.
    Overcrowding and poor living conditions remained severe problems. 
At the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Institution in Spanish Town, 
inmates shared dark, unventilated, and dirty cells. Designed to hold 
800 inmates, the facility held 1,200. Constructed to hold 50 detainees, 
each cell held an average of 138 detainees. Police officers at the 
facility reported that the mentally ill detainees were locked up in the 
bathroom of the holding section. Some detainees also were held in the 
prison's medical facility.
    The Tower Street Adult Correctional Center, located in downtown 
Kingston, held approximately 1,500 inmates, exceeding the 800-person 
maximum capacity for which the facility was built. Men and women were 
incarcerated in separate facilities, although female prisoners 
generally were incarcerated under better conditions than their male 
counterparts. Cells in some facilities had little natural light, 
inadequate artificial light, and poor ventilation. Hunt's Bay lock-up 
held prisoners in a cage-like structure open to the elements and the 
gazes of passersby. Detainees, crowded in numbers of up to six persons 
per cell, mixed with garbage and urine. Potable water generally was 
available, but detainees were required to provide their own containers 
to carry water.
    The women's prison, Fort Augusta, with at least 200 inmates, had no 
indoor water supply. Inmates had to obtain water from a central source 
in containers they provided themselves. Inmates who did not own a 
container could not bathe. Female juveniles also were held at Fort 
Augusta.
    Conditions at the juvenile lock-ups were poor. Investigations into 
the Moneague, Half-Way Tree, Admiral Town, and Glengoffe juvenile 
detention facilities revealed that minors reported contracting fungus 
from the conditions in the cells and from sleeping on cold concrete. 
Juvenile inmates also complained of roaches crawling over them during 
the day and at night. Juveniles at the Admiral Town lock-up were let 
out of their cells for only five minutes each day to bathe and use the 
toilet. At both Admiral Town and Half-Way Tree, the minor inmates were 
provided with bottles in which to urinate.
    Throughout the system medical care was poor, primarily a result of 
having only three full-time doctors and one full-time nurse on staff. 
Four part-time psychiatrists cared for at least 225 diagnosed mentally 
ill inmates in 12 facilities across the island. Prisoners in need of 
dentures and unable to eat the prison food encountered difficulties 
gaining access to a dentist. Prison food was poor, and prison 
authorities frequently ignored inmates' dietary restrictions.
    Nonviolent youth offenders were under the jurisdiction of the 
social services agency and generally were sent to unsecured halfway 
houses (called ``places of safety'' or ``juvenile remand centers'') 
after being removed from their homes. However, because the law does not 
clearly define an ``uncontrollable child,'' a large number of minors 
were classified as uncontrollable and detained for long periods without 
regard to the nature of their offenses.
    Although the law prohibits children being held in detention or 
lock-up with adults, approximately 60 juveniles remained in two of the 
adult facilities. Reports indicated that even in cases when police 
attempted to have officers from the social services agency retrieve 
minor detainees, the agency failed to do so, thereby forcing the police 
to comingle them with adults. Officers handling juvenile detainees were 
trained in child psychology, behavioral modification techniques, child-
management strategies, and national and international human rights 
laws.
    Reports of physical abuse of prisoners by guards continued, despite 
efforts by the government to remove abusive guards and improve 
procedures. INDECOM received eight reports of abuse by prison 
officials, none of which had been resolved at year's end.
    Although prisoners were able to make complaints to the Public 
Defender's Office without censorship, and representatives were mostly 
able to enter the detention centers and interview prisoners without 
hindrance, official complaints and investigations were infrequent.
    The government allowed private groups, voluntary and religious 
organizations, local and international human rights organizations, and 
the media to visit prisons and monitor prison conditions, and such 
visits took place during the year.
    The Office of the Children's Advocate again made a number of 
recommendations to Parliament, including a request that the law be 
revised to limit to 90 days the amount of time children spend in lock-
up. Parliament, however, did not address the issue.
    The government similarly took no tangible actions to address the 
U.N. Special Rapporteur's findings that officers at the Hunt's Bay 
Police Station were ``very obstructive, uncooperative, aggressive, and 
openly threatened his team during their visit.'' However, reacting to 
what she deemed ``terrible conditions'' in the prisons, the chief 
justice instructed all resident magistrates to conduct regular visits 
of police lock-ups and to forward their observations to her office in 
writing. She counseled the magistrates to remind police of detainees' 
rights to due process.
    The Department of Corrections opened the Metcalf Juvenile Remand 
Center in Kingston in July. The facility is designed to house a maximum 
of 208 male juveniles from ages 12 to 17. It is a pretrial facility, 
and the number of detainees varied daily. A typical number of people 
housed at the facility was 131 boys with an additional 50 men separated 
from the youth. Metcalf was built to international standards, with 
adequate space and a state-of-the-art fire escape and suppression 
system. There is a classroom and one-on-one instruction at the Metcalf 
facility. Female juveniles were still housed at St. Augustus, although 
a facility for remanded girls similar to Metcalf was set for 
construction in Stony Hill. The commissioner of corrections was 
addressing the need to provide education for minors, which is 
technically compulsory until age 16.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law permits the arrest of 
persons ``reasonably suspected'' of having committed a crime. While the 
law prohibits arbitrary arrest, security forces performed ``cordon and 
search'' operations and enforced curfews, during which they detained 
persons and took them into custody. A new anticrime bill passed during 
the year extended the time the security forces can legally hold persons 
from 48 to 72 hours before charging or releasing them. However, police 
sometimes reportedly held individuals for as long as five weeks.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The JCF has primary 
responsibility for internal security and is assisted by the Island 
Special Constabulary Force. The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) is charged 
with national defense, maritime narcotics interdiction, and JCF 
support. The JDF routinely conducted joint patrols and checkpoints in 
conjunction with the JCF. As the minister of defense, and outside of a 
state of emergency, the prime minister is the approval authority for 
all JDF operations in support of the JCF. The Ministry of National 
Security exercises the prime minister's authority for oversight of the 
JCF and JDF. The JCF is headed by a commissioner who delegates 
authority through the ranks to constables. The force maintains 
divisions focusing on community policing, special response, 
intelligence gathering, and internal affairs.
    In August 2010 the government created INDECOM to investigate 
actions by members of the security forces and other agents of the state 
that result in death or injury to persons or the abuse of the rights of 
persons. INDECOM gradually was replacing the JCF's BSI as the main 
investigator of incidents involving fatal shootings by police. The BSI 
and INDECOM conducted administrative and criminal investigations into 
all incidents involving fatal shootings by police. The BSI, unable to 
keep up with its caseload, had a backlog of 841 cases with 
approximately 37 full-time and nine part-time investigating officers. 
During the year the BSI completed 308 investigations and forwarded 88 
cases to the DPP.
    INDECOM received 236 reports of fatal shootings by police officers, 
completed 92 investigations, and sent two to the DPP for further 
prosecution. INDECOM opened 724 cases for investigation and had a 
backlog of 632 cases at year's end. INDECOM cited lack of resources to 
perform forensic analysis and identification of security personnel 
involved in incidents as major obstacles faced in its investigations of 
police killings. Rulings from the DPP on cases involving security 
forces were issued on average 27 months after the final submission of 
files from the BSI or INDECOM. At year's end INDECOM awaited rulings 
from the DPP on 40 cases. INDECOM also expressed concern that agents of 
the state concealed their identities in interaction with the public, 
including incidents of killings by security forces. A report released 
in August discussed how this anonymity contributes to the lack of 
accountability.
    According to JCF records, 146 police officers, or 40 percent of the 
362 officers who took voluntary lie-detector tests during the year, did 
not pass or complete the test. The assistant police commissioner did 
not say whether the officers who failed would be disciplined in any 
way. However, during the year officials retired two officers and denied 
reenlistment to 72 officers for corruption or ethics reasons. In 
addition authorities dismissed 11 officers for corruption, charged 39 
other officers with corruption, and charged 19 citizens with corrupting 
JCF staff.
    Authorities reported that at least 16 policemen charged with 
crimes, including at least five responsible for fatal shootings, had 
fled the country and were living abroad. Jamaicans for Justice, a human 
rights nongovernmental organization (NGO), alleged that since it takes 
the DPP so long to hand down a ruling that police personnel should be 
charged with a crime, there was possible collusion between the accused 
policemen and their colleagues, allowing accused officers to escape. 
For example, in September Mark St. Aubyn Russell was ordered extradited 
for the 2007 murder of 18-year-old Ravin Thompson. The DPP did not 
charge Russell with murder until 2009, after he had fled the country.
    The JCF continued a community policing initiative to address the 
long-standing antipathy between the security forces and many poor 
inner-city neighborhoods. Through the Community Safety and Security 
Branch, during the year the JCF conducted targeted training of 5,609 
officers, 778 of whom were deployed in 360 communities island-wide. The 
branch trained community safety officers and assigned JCF personnel to 
targeted schools as resource officers to stem school violence. These 
officers also served as liaisons between the students, faculty, 
parents, and police. The government bolstered these efforts through 
public education and by nominating deputy divisional commanders with 
responsibility to introduce community policing to all the communities 
within their division. All JCF officers were required to take a 
``graduated response'' before the use of lethal force when possible. 
Officers were also required to take an annual refresher course on the 
use of nonlethal equipment.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Arrests 
normally require warrants signed by a police officer of the rank of 
station sergeant or higher; however, arrests may be made without 
warrants. Police often used the warrant as the first step in an 
investigation to search for evidence. The law requires detained 
suspects to be charged or released within 72 hours of arrest, unless a 
justice of the peace or a resident magistrate grants a special waiver.
    If a detainee requests access to counsel, the law requires police 
to contact duty counsel (a private attorney who volunteers to represent 
detainees at police stations and until cases go to trial) under the 
Legal Aid Program; however, authorities continued to wait until after 
detainees had been identified in a lineup before contacting duty 
counsel for them. There was a functioning bail system, and detainees 
were provided with prompt access to family members. A constitutional 
amendment passed during the year ensures legal assistance if someone 
does not have sufficient means to pay for legal representation and 
provides that a civil organization may initiate an application on 
behalf of a detainee or a mentally ill person.
    Although the law requires police to present a detainee in court 
within a reasonable time period, in practice authorities sometimes 
remanded suspects for psychiatric evaluation, some for as long as three 
years when their cases were ``lost in the system.'' Magistrates were 
required to inquire at least once a week into the welfare of each 
person listed by the JCF as detained, but few did so in practice, 
especially in the busy Kingston/St. Andrew corporate area.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, the judicial system relied entirely on the 
Ministry of Justice for all resources.
    Trials in many cases were delayed for years, and other cases were 
dismissed because files could not be located or had been destroyed. 
Some trials suffered as a result of antiquated rules of evidence as 
well as from lack of equipment for collecting and storing evidence. For 
example, drug evidence collected in an arrest had to be stored in its 
entirety; samples or photographs were not acceptable. Storage 
facilities were inadequate and understaffed, and evidence went missing, 
deteriorated in the warehouse, or could not be located when needed. In 
October the justice minister stated that endemic corruption in the 
legal system resulted in long delays in investigations and in cases 
coming to trial.
    The resident magistrate's courts, which handle more than 90 percent 
of the cases in the court system, continued operation of a night court 
to reduce the backlog of cases. The Supreme Court used mediation 
through the Dispute Resolution Foundation as an alternative to 
traditional trials. This alleviated some of the civil case backlog in 
that court. The resident magistrate's courts also used alternative 
dispute resolution in limited cases.
    Some criminal trials were dismissed because witnesses failed to 
come forward as a result of threats, intimidation, or murder. Some of 
those who came forward qualified for the witness protection program, 
but many either refused protection or violated the conditions of the 
program. According to the JCF, no participant in the witness protection 
program who abided by the rules of the program was ever killed.

    Trial Procedures.--Most trials are public and adjudicated by a lone 
judge. More serious criminal offenses are tried with juries in circuit 
court and at the Supreme Court level. There was a persistent problem 
seating jurors for cases, which contributed to the extensive judicial 
backlog. Some citizens were reluctant to serve as jurors for fear of 
retribution.
    The constitution provides that defendants are presumed innocent and 
have the right to counsel and to confront witnesses against them. Legal 
Aid attorneys were available to defend the indigent, except those 
charged with certain offenses under the Money Laundering Act or 
Dangerous Drugs Act and in the case of offenses in which the defendant 
is not liable to incarceration. The Office of the Public Defender (OPD) 
may bring cases on behalf of persons who claim to have had their 
constitutional rights violated, but the OPD cannot appear in court on 
their behalf. Although the OPD contracted with private attorneys to 
represent indigent clients, funds were insufficient to meet demand, and 
such attorneys sometimes requested payment from clients.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial civil judiciary process. Complainants may bring human 
rights abuse cases for civil remediation to the courts, but awards can 
be difficult to collect. The government is required to undertake 
pretrial negotiations or mediation in an attempt to settle out of 
court, but the government often did not do so. When there were 
settlements, whether in or out of court, the government often lacked 
the funds to pay, resulting in a backlog of awards.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--Although the constitution prohibits such actions, the 
Constabulary Force Act gives security personnel broad powers of search 
and seizure. This act allows search without a warrant of a person on 
board or disembarking from a vehicle, ship, or boat if a police officer 
has good reason to be suspicious. In practice the police conducted 
searches without warrants.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of 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, generally effective judicial protection, and a 
functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of 
speech and of the press. The independent media were active and 
expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. Broadcast media 
were largely state owned but open to pluralistic points of view.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--The Press Association of Jamaica 
(PAJ) continued to advocate reforms to defamation and libel laws. In 
her 2010 annual report, the special rapporteur for freedom of 
expression of the Organization of American States (OAS) also called for 
changes to the libel laws, noting that Jamaica has ratified the 
American Convention on Human Rights but has not upheld elements of the 
convention that prohibit criminal libel and require public officials to 
demonstrate actual malice to prove defamation. Although the government 
was reviewing these laws, the PAJ criticized the slow speed and extent 
of this review process. According to the PAJ, officials used existing 
laws to prevent critical information from reaching the public. A PAJ 
representative said that the threat of libel or slander prosecutions 
forces journalists to ensure that they have hard evidence in hand 
before they can take controversial matters to the public sphere, noting 
that a corrupt environment might make such evidence difficult if not 
impossible to obtain. The PAJ also advocated repealing the Official 
Secrets Act, asserting that it ``runs counter to the Access to 
Information Act.'' Parliament enacted ``whistle-blower'' legislation to 
help the media expose corruption.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on academic freedom.
    With respect to cultural events, the Jamaica Broadcasting 
Commission sought to regulate and limit the dissemination of certain 
popular music deemed inconsistent with public morality. The commission 
banned certain lyrics deemed inappropriate to broadcast, including 
dancehall songs referring to the simulation of aggressive or violent 
sex, and employed editing methods to expunge lyrics thought unfit for 
broadcast. The commission stated that its directive was aimed at ``all 
types of musical broadcast output, including soca music and carnival 
music."

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 prepared to cooperate with the Office of the 
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers, should such 
cases arise.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has 
established a system for processing and 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, and it handled refugee or asylum cases 
administratively.
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.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In 
general elections held on December 29, the opposition PNP won 42 of the 
63 seats in the House of Representatives, and PNP leader Portia Simpson 
Miller was to be sworn in as prime minister on January 5, 2012. Simpson 
Miller, who also served as prime minister in 2006-07, defeated the JLP 
led by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. International election observers 
from the Caribbean Community and the OAS deemed the elections 
transparent, free and fair, and without violence. A local organization, 
Citizen Action for Free and Fair Elections, also provided volunteer 
election observers, as it did in every election since 1998. In a 
preliminary assessment, the OAS cited adherence to agreements 
negotiated by the country's Electoral Office between the parties on 
media, advertising protocols, and campaigning rules as important 
elements that helped strengthen the democratic process. The OAS 
recommendations included ensuring adequate space to guarantee voter 
privacy, clarifying the duties of political liaison officers, providing 
copies of the voters' lists at polling stations, and improving signage 
at the entrance to polling stations.
    All citizens age 18 and over have the right to vote by secret 
ballot. The relative lack of violence and intimidation in the December 
elections was notable, especially because in past elections voters 
living in ``garrison communities,'' inner-city areas dominated by one 
of the two major political parties, often faced substantial influence 
and pressure from politically connected gangs and young men helping one 
political party by intimidating supporters of the opposing political 
party. Unlike in the past, however, civil society activism and pressure 
from the private sector, churches, and civic watchdogs made it 
difficult for either party to continue past practices of intimidation, 
lack of transparency, and back-room deals.

    Participation by Women and Minorities.--On December 29, voters 
elected eight women to the new Parliament, including three of the JLP's 
13 female candidates and five of the six PNP nominees, including the 
party leader and candidate for prime minister. During the year there 
were eight female members in the 60-seat House of Representatives and 
three women appointed to the 21-seat Senate. One of the 16 cabinet 
ministers was a woman. A woman was elected speaker of the house on July 
12, the second woman in the country's history to hold the position.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
the government did not implement the law effectively. The Office of the 
Contractor General's (OCG) 2010 annual report stated that the OCG 
concluded 10 special investigations into a number of public sector 
procurement and contract award issues. The OCG reported nine to 
Parliament and referred six investigations to the DPP, attorney 
general, and other agencies, but no criminal charges had been levied at 
the time of the report. The OCG reported a consistent pattern with 
abuses related to conflicts of interest, breaches of duty on the part 
of accounting and accountable officers, breaches of duty on the part of 
boards of directors, and a seeming disregard for the applicable laws 
and regulations. The OCG also reported challenges to its statutory 
authority and credibility. The report noted that many of its 
recommendations had been repeated multiple times with few results. The 
report also stated that unless ``powerful sanctions are promulgated for 
criminal breaches,'' and unless transgressions are investigated and 
prosecuted, ``public officers and their private sector coconspirators 
will obviously continue to pay scant regard to due observance of the 
laws to the certain detriment of the public purse, the people, and 
taxpayers of Jamaica."
    The JCF Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), headed by a British police 
officer hired as assistant commissioner of police, has responsibility 
for addressing corruption in the force, and some improvements were 
noted, such as a public awareness campaign including a 1-800-CORRUPT 
initiative and advertising. Police personnel are required to sign five-
year contracts with renewal contingent upon good conduct. While it is 
rare that police personnel are charged or convicted, they can be barred 
from reenlisting whenever there is information that they are not 
efficient or effective in carrying out their duty with integrity. 
Between January and December, the ACB arrested 64 police personnel and 
charged 40 of them. Authorities did not permit 70 police officers to 
reenlist and dismissed nine police officers for corruption. However, 
suspicions of corruption and impunity within the force remained, 
despite a notable increase in the number of arrests of officers for 
corruption.
    On July 2, the ACB caught a police inspector with three cardboard 
boxes and a knapsack filled with compressed marijuana with an estimated 
weight of over 150 pounds in the trunk of his vehicle.
    The Commission of Enquiry formed by the government to probe the 
government's handling of an extradition request for alleged drug lord 
Christopher ``Dudus'' Coke failed to find any official misconduct by 
the prime minister or his government. While the commission looked into 
charges that the government hired a foreign lobbying firm, possibly to 
derail the extradition request, the commission was not tasked to 
investigate other aspects of the Tivoli Gardens operation.
    The Corruption Prevention Act requires many government officials to 
file financial declarations; however, reports indicated that more than 
5,000 civil servants failed to file or filed late or incomplete 
financial declarations required under the act. The DPP has the 
authority to identify noncompliant officials and send their cases to 
the Magistrate's Office, but the government did not levy any fines on 
officials during the year. The Ministry of Justice and the Attorney 
General's Office have overall responsibility to combat official 
corruption, but various other ministries are responsible for their own 
investigations. The OCG can investigate but not prosecute official 
corruption involving government contracts.
    Despite provisions in the Access to Information Act to promote 
transparency, media accounts indicated that access to information was 
sometimes categorically denied. The act contains no sanctions or 
penalties to discourage lack of response to applications.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups and 
other international bodies generally operated without government 
restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human 
rights cases. Government officials often were cooperative and 
responsive to their views.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--The government cooperated 
with a number of domestic NGOs, including Jamaicans for Justice, to 
present its report to the Universal Periodic Review by the U.N. Human 
Rights Council in October.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Public Defender's Office 
provides services on behalf of those who charged that their 
constitutional rights were violated. The office contracted private 
attorneys to bring suits against the government on behalf of private 
citizens.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    In March the Charter of Rights amended the constitution to 
strengthen fundamental rights and freedoms. The law prohibits 
discrimination based on race, gender, place of origin, political 
opinion, color, or creed. The government generally enforced these 
prohibitions in practice, although there continued to be widespread 
discrimination on the basis of political opinion in the distribution of 
scarce governmental benefits, including employment, particularly in the 
garrison communities.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape is illegal and carries a 
maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment. The 2009 Sexual Offenses Act 
criminalizes spousal rape, but only in certain circumstances, namely 
when the parties have separated or when proceedings to dissolve the 
marriage or have it annulled have begun, when the husband is under a 
court order not to molest or cohabit with his wife, or when the husband 
knows he suffers from a sexually transmitted infection. Human rights 
groups continued to advocate for a more comprehensive law on spousal 
rape. The authorities reported 738 rapes and 637 cases of carnal abuse 
of women and girls, compared with 668 rapes and 531 cases of carnal 
abuse in 2010. The Bureau of Women's Affairs (BWA) believed that the 
true incidence was significantly higher than these statistics 
indicated, given the problem of underreporting, due to fear of stigma, 
retribution, or further violence. The JCF Center for Investigation of 
Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse, which was headed by a female deputy 
superintendent, handled sex crimes.
    Social and cultural norms perpetuated violence against women, 
including spousal abuse. The law prohibits domestic violence and 
provides remedies including restraining orders and other noncustodial 
sentencing. Breaching a restraining order is punishable by a fine of up 
to J$10,000 (approximately $123) and six months' imprisonment. The NGO 
Woman Inc. reported that women frequently complained that police failed 
to treat domestic violence as a crime and take the necessary reports. 
The JCF instituted a domestic abuse sensitivity training program for 
police officers in downtown Kingston. The BWA developed a draft 
National Plan of Action on Violence against Women and Gender-Based 
Violence, which aims to provide a comprehensive strategy guiding the 
government's response to the problem. NGOs meanwhile expressed concerns 
that in the short term there was insufficient funding for police 
investigations of gender-based violence and for counseling and shelter 
for victims. Woman Inc., with a small subsidy from the government, 
operated the only shelter for battered women in the country.

    Sexual Harassment.--There is no legislation that addresses sexual 
harassment and no legal remedy for victims of sexual harassment. The 
BWA carried out workshops to sensitize public sector workers to the 
issue of sexual harassment. NGOs have advocated for legislation on 
sexual harassment since the early 1990s and continued to advocate for 
the immediate drafting and enactment of such legislation.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have 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 were 
widely available. However, essential obstetric and postpartum care was 
often lacking. The U.N. Population Fund reported a modern contraceptive 
prevalence rate of 66 percent and a maternal mortality rate of 89 
deaths per 100,000 live births.

    Discrimination.--Women sought jobs and served in almost every 
occupation in both the public and private sectors. Although the law 
accords women full legal equality, including equal pay for equal work, 
in practice women suffered from discrimination in the workplace and 
often earned less than their male counterparts. Domestic workers were 
particularly vulnerable to workplace discrimination and sexual 
harassment. Women's rights activists also expressed concern about the 
continued underrepresentation of women in politics: women comprised 
less than 15 percent of the Parliament and Senate. In March the cabinet 
approved a National Policy for Gender Equality aimed at providing equal 
opportunities for men and women in social, political, and economic 
life. This policy establishes Gender Focal Points in each of the 
ministries, which are committees charged with developing, implementing, 
and monitoring gender-sensitive policies and programming.
    There was an active community of women's rights groups, which 
focused on the protection of victims of sexual abuse, participation of 
women in the political process, and legislative reforms affecting 
women.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Every person born in the country 
after August 5, 1962, is entitled to citizenship. Persons born or 
adopted outside the country to one or more Jamaican parents can claim 
citizenship, and those married to Jamaican spouses may also claim 
citizenship. There is universal birth registration, either in the 
hospital at the time of birth or at a local registrar's office if the 
child is not born in a hospital.

    Child Abuse.--While there was no societal pattern of abuse of 
children, child abuse, including sexual abuse, was substantial and 
widespread. The Office of Children's Registry (OCR) receives, records, 
and stores data relating to the mistreatment and abuse of children. The 
law requires anyone who knows of or suspects a child is being abused to 
make a report to the OCR, with a penalty of up to J$500,000 ($6,130) 
for failure to do so. The OCR received approximately 7,000 reports of 
child abuse, compared with 6,330 cases reported in 2010. The number of 
child abuse reports increased by more than 1,000 percent since the 
registry was established in 2007, when it received 455 reports. The OCR 
credited the growth to an increase in awareness among Jamaicans.
    Under the Child Care and Protection Act, the Child Development 
Authority (CDA) in the Ministry of Health is responsible for 
implementation of the government's programs to prevent child abuse. 
According to the CDA, sexual assault was the most common reason for 
children to be taken to hospitals, with children under age 10 
accounting for 17 percent of all sexual assault cases and children 
between the ages of 10 and 19 accounting for 57 percent. According to 
the 2008 Reproductive Health Survey (the most recent one conducted), 
almost half of young women reported that they had been pressured or 
forced into sexual intercourse at the time of their first sexual 
experience. NGOs reported that inner-city gang leaders and sometimes 
even fathers initiated sex with young girls as a ``right.'' There were 
637 cases of carnal abuse reported to the JCF, compared with 538 cases 
reported in 2010.
    The Office of the Children's Advocate (OCA) has broad 
responsibilities for reviewing laws, policies, practices, and 
government services affecting children, as well as providing legal 
services to protect the best interests of children. In February the OCA 
launched a Web site to provide information on children's rights. The 
site also includes downloadable forms so that persons can lodge 
complaints electronically or by fax. The OCA reported it received more 
than 400 complaints during the year, conducted some preliminary 
investigations, and referred other cases to appropriate government 
institutions.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law prohibits statutory rape, 
defined as sexual relations with a person less than 16 years old, the 
minimum age for consensual sex. Sexual relations by an adult with a 
child between the ages of 12 and 16 are a misdemeanor punishable by not 
more than seven years in prison; if the victim is under 12, it is a 
felony punishable by up to life imprisonment. The 2009 Sexual Offences 
Act included the establishment of a Sex Offenders Registry. The law 
criminalizes the commercial sexual exploitation of children and applies 
to the protection, possession, importation, exportation, and 
distribution of child pornography. It carries a maximum penalty of 20 
years' imprisonment and a fine of J$500,000 ($6,130).

    Sex Tourism.--Child prostitution and sex tourism were problems, 
especially in tourist areas. In 2010 authorities uncovered a 
prostitution ring in Kingston involving an undisclosed number of 
minors.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction. For country-specific information, see http://
travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was a small practicing Jewish congregation in 
the country. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no laws prohibiting 
discrimination against persons with disabilities or mandating 
accessibility for persons with disabilities. Although the government 
ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 
in 2007, there were no reports of actions taken to implement the 
provisions of the convention. Persons with disabilities encountered 
discrimination in employment and denial of access to schools. 
Discrimination in access to education was particularly pronounced at 
the primary level. Fewer problems were reported in secondary schools, 
and tertiary institutions, including community colleges, were 
increasingly drafting policies ensuring full inclusion of persons with 
disabilities. Health care reportedly was universally available.
    Prior to the December elections, Human Rights Watch pointed out 
that many polling stations were inaccessible to persons with 
disabilities, but the government responded that it would be impractical 
to make changes to ensure accessibility so close to the elections. 
Nonetheless, election officials made efforts to accommodate voters with 
accessibility issues, by recruiting other voters to carry a wheelchair 
up a flight of steps or moving and carrying the prefabricated cardboard 
voting booth to the voter. After the December elections, both houses of 
Parliament announced plans to provide the oath of allegiance in Braille 
to accommodate visually impaired persons.
    The Ministry of Labor has responsibility for the Jamaica Council 
for Persons with Disabilities, which had a budget of 54 million 
($661,770) in 2010-11. The council distributes economic empowerment 
grants of up to J$50,000 ($613) to persons with disabilities to help 
them embark on small entrepreneurial ventures, such as vending or 
furniture making, or to provide them with assistive aids, such as 
prosthetics or hearing aids. Smaller rehabilitation grants of up to 
J$15,000 ($185) are available for similar purposes. The Ministry of 
Labor also has responsibility for the Early Stimulation Project, an 
education program for children with disabilities, as well as the 
Abilities Foundation, a vocational program for older persons with 
disabilities.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Maroons, descendants of slaves 
who escaped to the mountainous interior in the 17th and 18th centuries, 
considered themselves a group apart and maintained some African 
traditions distinct from those of the larger society. There were major 
infrastructural needs that the Maroons believed the central government 
neglected. Formal education was not available in Maroon communities 
beyond the junior high school level, and unemployment rates were high. 
Many young Maroons left the region for employment elsewhere; this 
migration and the influx of popular island-wide culture threatened the 
communities' culture.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law prohibits ``acts of 
gross indecency'' (generally interpreted as any kind of physical 
intimacy) between persons of the same sex, in public or in private, 
which are punishable by 10 years in prison. There is also an 
``antibuggery'' law that prohibits consensual same-sex sexual conduct 
between men, but it was not widely enforced. Homophobia was widespread 
in the country, and through the songs and the behavior of some 
musicians, the country's dancehall culture helped perpetuate 
homophobia.
    The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals, and Gays (J-FLAG) 
continued to report serious human rights abuses, including assault with 
deadly weapons, ``corrective rape'' of women accused of being lesbians, 
arbitrary detention, mob attacks, stabbings, harassment of gay and 
lesbian patients by hospital and prison staff, and targeted shootings 
of such persons. Police often did not investigate such incidents. 
During the year J-FLAG received 84 reports of sexually motivated 
harassment or abuse, which included 71 cases of attempted or actual 
assault, including at least two killings, and 21 reports of 
displacements. Members of the police force reportedly were the 
perpetrators in 12 cases. J-FLAG data showed that young people, ages 18 
to 29, continued to bear the brunt of violence based on sexual 
orientation. This violence created a climate of fear that prompted many 
gay persons to emigrate, while the gross indecency laws left those who 
remained vulnerable to extortion from neighbors who threatened to 
report them to the police unless they were paid off.
    In July a high-level police official asserted that gay men were 
mainly responsible for lottery scams that defrauded many citizens, 
including many persons living abroad. The police commissioner promptly 
denounced the statement, notable because disapproval of homophobia by a 
public official was very rare.
    In September the group AIDS-Free World filed an anonymous petition 
for two gay Jamaican men challenging Jamaica's antibuggery law at the 
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The petition claims that the 
law effectively criminalizes gay men and their sexual orientation and 
gives license to public officials and private individuals alike to 
commit violence and abuse against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) community members.
    A number of high-profile events led to more public discourse on the 
issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, but this did not 
result in a change in conditions in society. In August J-FLAG released 
a public service announcement encouraging families to embrace LGBT 
family members. The announcement featured former Miss Jamaica World and 
Miss Jamaica Universe and her gay brother. J-FLAG wanted the 
announcement to appear on national television, but Television Jamaica 
refused, reportedly due to criticism from church leaders.
    In a December debate leading up to the national elections, then PNP 
leader Portia Simpson Miller said that she would appoint cabinet 
ministers based on ability and that sexual orientation would not be a 
factor, in contrast to former prime minister Golding's statement that 
he would not appoint a ``homosexual'' to his cabinet. She also said 
that she would permit parliament to reexamine the antibuggery law and 
free members of her party to vote their conscience on this issue. After 
Simpson Miller's statements became a campaign issue, some candidates 
and a local newspaper produced anti-LGBT campaign rhetoric and 
material.
    The trial of six suspects arrested for the 2005 robbery and murder 
of prominent gay rights advocate Lenford ``Steve'' Harvey, initially 
begun and then postponed in 2007, had not resumed by year's end.
    Male inmates deemed by prison wardens to be gay were held in a 
separate facility for their protection. The method used for determining 
their sexual orientation was subjective and not regulated by the prison 
system, although inmates were said to confirm their sexual orientation 
for their own safety. There were numerous reports of violence against 
gay inmates, perpetrated by the wardens and by other inmates, but few 
inmates sought recourse through the prison system.
    Gay men were hesitant to report incidents against them because of 
fear for their physical well-being. Human rights NGOs and government 
entities agreed that brutality against such persons, primarily by 
private citizens, was widespread in the community.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Mob killings continued 
to be a problem and often went unpunished. For example, on March 8, 
Roja Martin, Roshane Brown, and a third man attempted to steal a bus in 
the community of Patty Hill, Hanover. Residents blocked the road 
exiting the community, forcing the men to stop. The three men allegedly 
attacked the crowd with knives and a gun before trying to run away. The 
crowd caught Martin and Brown and beat them to death. The third man 
escaped in a car.
    No laws protect persons with HIV/AIDS from discrimination. Human 
rights NGOs reported severe stigma and discrimination against this 
group. The International Labor Organization (ILO) worked with the 
Ministry of Labor on a program to reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS in the 
workplace and to assist employers in designing policies for workers 
with HIV/AIDS. Health-care facilities were prepared to handle patients 
with HIV/AIDS, but health-care workers often neglected such patients. 
The Ministry of Labor, in conjunction with the ILO and the Ministry of 
Health, conducted workplace education programs on HIV/AIDS issues. Laws 
banning same-sex sexual activity and societal attitudes prevented 
distribution of condoms in prisons and similar institutions.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides for the right to form or join unions and to bargain 
collectively, but it neither authorizes nor prohibits the right to 
strike. The law allows for union activity, prohibits antiunion 
discrimination, and provides for the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) 
to reinstate a worker if a dismissal is deemed unjustifiable. The law 
permits unions to conduct their activities without interference and 
states that workers are entitled to reasonable time off to conduct 
union activities.
    Striking workers could interrupt work without criminal liability 
but could not be assured of keeping their jobs. Workers in 10 
categories of ``essential services'' must first take disputes to the 
Ministry of Labor before they can legally strike. The ILO repeatedly 
criticized the government for its broad definition of these 10 
categories.
    Collective bargaining is denied to a bargaining unit if no single 
union represents at least 40 percent of the workers in the unit or when 
the union seeking recognition does not obtain support from 50 percent 
of the workers (whether or not they are affiliated with the union).
    All persons categorized as workers are entitled to protection under 
the law, including migrants and those working in special trade zones. 
Contract workers, however, are denied certain statutory provisions, 
such as redundancy benefits.
    The independent IDT hears cases when management and labor fail to 
reach agreement, including those involving nonunionized workers. Cases 
not resolved by the tribunal pass to the civil courts. The tribunal 
received 37 cases during the year, compared with 23 cases in 2010. 
While cases are to be resolved within 21 days, most cases were decided 
within four to five months. Some took longer to resolve due to the 
complexity of the dispute or delays requested by involved parties. 
Awards can be appealed to the Supreme Court. There is no authority to 
enforce the IDT decisions.
    Although freedom of association and the right to collective 
bargaining were generally respected in practice, workers faced some 
challenges during the year. Worker organizations were independent of 
the government and political parties. Employers generally respected the 
law prohibiting antiunion discrimination. However, some labor unions 
reported that private sector workers were increasingly fearful of 
management retaliation against unionization as the job market 
contracted. While union organizers and members were entitled to full 
legal protections that were enforced effectively, both management and 
workers were often unaware of their rights and obligations.
    It was not uncommon for private sector employers to lay off union 
workers and rehire them as contractors, a practice unions did not 
oppose so long as labor and management agreed.
    There were no reports of any workers losing their jobs due to 
strike action during the year. Nurses and other public sector workers--
although taking their disputes to the Ministry of Labor as required--
circumvented the ministry's permission to strike by holding ``sick 
outs'' during the year.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The antitrafficking 
law prohibits forced labor, but there are otherwise no specific laws 
prohibiting all forms of forced or compulsory labor. However, the 
country has ratified relevant ILO conventions, which carries a legal 
obligation to apply their provisions. The government responded to 
complaints but did not take additional actions to enforce the ILO 
conventions. While some cases of coerced employment of suspected 
trafficking victims were being treated in the court system, the JCF was 
lax in investigating and identifying victims of trafficking that could 
potentially be prosecuted. There were reports of girls in rural areas 
recruited for domestic labor and then forced into servitude. In four 
instances authorities removed the individuals and provided them housing 
while court cases were pending. A national task force broadened its 
interministerial and public outreach to sensitize citizens to forced 
labor.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children from exploitation in the workplace and stipulates 
that every citizen has a duty to report child abuse. The minimum age 
for employment is 15 years, and the law prohibits the employment of 
children under age 13 in any type of work. Children between ages 13 and 
15 are permitted to engage in ``light work,'' as defined by the 
Ministry of Labor, which will not disrupt their education or be harmful 
to their health. Children are not to work more than four hours in a 
day. The law prohibits hazardous work for all children under 18.
    Although the country signed the ILO convention to abolish child 
labor, the government did not effectively enforce it. The Ministry of 
Labor's Child Labor Unit (CLU) was responsible for monitoring and 
controlling child labor, and the ministry assisted the Office of Health 
and Safety in child labor enforcement efforts. The ministry employed 
approximately 25 inspectors to monitor all violations in workplaces, 
and the CLU received reports from the public. If the CLU determines 
that it is appropriate, it forwards reports of child labor violations 
to the CDA for enforcement. The JCF handles cases of the worst forms of 
child labor, including trafficking and sexual exploitation. The CDA is 
responsible for carrying out investigations of abuse, but resources to 
investigate exploitive child labor were insufficient.
    There were no confirmed cases of child labor violations during the 
year. However, the Factory Act's limited definition of a workplace 
placed constraints on the purview of the ministry's inspectors. The 
Ministry of Labor also made efforts to establish stronger sanctions 
against guardians and parents involved in child labor activities. The 
government established the Tackle Child Labor through Education program 
to help build mechanisms to implement policies and enforce laws and 
regulations against child labor.
    The ILO estimated that more than 26,000 children worked as vendors, 
agricultural and commercial laborers, domestic helpers, and 
prostitutes, among other forms of engagement. The government does not 
track the number of children involved in child labor. Children under 
the age of 12 peddled goods and services, begged on city streets, and 
worked on plantations, farms, and construction sites, as well as in 
gardens, shops, and markets. Reports also indicated that children 
worked in garbage dumps, collecting scrap metal. Children were also 
engaged in commercial sexual exploitation.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum wage was J$4,500 
($55.15) per week for all workers. In practice some minimum-wage 
earners worked two or more jobs, but most workers were paid more than 
the legal minimum. There were, however, some reports of domestic 
workers receiving less than the minimum wage.
    The law provides for a standard 40-hour workweek and mandates at 
least one day of rest per week. Work in excess of 40 hours per week or 
eight hours per day must be compensated at overtime rates, a provision 
that was generally respected. The law also provides for paid annual 
holidays. The law does not prohibit excessive compulsory overtime. Some 
employees, notably security guards, were regularly required to work 12-
hour shifts without overtime compensation.
    The Ministry of Labor's Industrial Safety Division sets industrial 
health and safety standards. The law provides workers with the right to 
remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to 
their continued employment if they are trade union members or covered 
by the Factories Act. The law covers any premises in which 10 or more 
persons are engaged in manual labor, whether they belong to a union or 
not. The law does not specifically protect other categories of workers 
in those circumstances.
    The Ministry of Labor administered and is responsible for enforcing 
the minimum wage. The Industrial Safety Division enforces industrial 
health and safety standards, mainly through factory inspections. 
Insufficient staffing in the Ministries of Labor, Finance, National 
Security, and Public Service contributed to difficulties in enforcing 
workplace regulations in both the formal and informal sectors. The 
safety division conducted inspections, investigated accidents, warned 
violators, and gave them a time period in which to correct the 
violation. If the violation was not corrected within that time, the 
violator was taken to court.
    There were 151 workplace accidents reported to the Ministry of 
Labor, compared with 168 in 2010. Of these reports, 89 qualified for 
investigation and 64 were investigated. There were three reported 
workplace deaths, compared with four in 2010.

                               __________

                                 MEXICO

                           executive summary
    Mexico is a multiparty federal republic with an elected president 
and bicameral legislature. Citizens elected President Felipe Calderon 
of the National Action Party (PAN) in 2006 to a six-year term in 
generally free and fair multiparty elections. Security forces reported 
to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights issues in the country arose from the 
fight against organized crime, which involved frequent clashes between 
security forces and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). TCOs 
and gangs linked to them battled each other to establish or maintain 
control of trafficking routes and markets. In multiple instances, TCOs 
used brutal tactics against members of the public. TCOs remained the 
most significant perpetrator of violent crimes in the country, showing 
disregard for civilian casualties, engaging in human trafficking, and 
intimidating journalists and human rights defenders with violence and 
threats. Sometimes in the context of the fight against TCOs, but also 
at times unrelated to it, security forces reportedly engaged in 
unlawful killings, forced disappearances, and instances of physical 
abuse and torture.
    The following problems also were reported during the year by the 
country's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and other sources: 
kidnappings; physical abuse; poor, overcrowded prison conditions; 
arbitrary arrest and detention; corruption and lack of transparency 
that engendered impunity within the judicial system; and confessions 
coerced through torture. Societal problems included: killings of women; 
domestic violence; threats and violence against journalists and social 
media users, leading to self-censorship in some cases; trafficking in 
persons; social and economic discrimination against some members of the 
indigenous population; and child labor.
    Despite some arrests for corruption, widespread impunity for human 
rights abuses by officials remained a problem in both civilian and 
military jurisdictions.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Security forces, 
acting both in and out of the line of duty, killed several persons 
during the year.
    On June 17, Joaquin Figueroa Vasquez was killed in a high-speed 
chase in a joint operation by state and federal security forces in the 
state of Veracruz and presented as an alleged TCO member. The autopsy 
report stated that the cause of death was a bullet wound to the head. 
Figueroa's family claimed that this wound and the others that Figueroa 
sustained were evidence of torture and a subsequent execution-style 
killing. In collaboration with the human rights nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of 
Human Rights (CMDPDH), Figueroa's family submitted information 
regarding the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
(IACHR). The CNDH was also investigating the case at year's end.
    On October 28, a military court found two officers and twelve 
soldiers guilty of violence resulting in the killings of three 
individuals at a military check point in La Joya, Sinaloa, in July 
2007. The sentences ranged from 16 to 40 years in prison. NGOs and the 
CNDH advocated on behalf of the families involved.
    There were no developments in the following two high-profile cases 
from 2010:
    In March 2010 soldiers killed two students at Monterrey 
Technological University. Despite a subsequent CNDH report that 
determined through a thorough investigation that guns were planted at 
the scene and evidence was tampered with, no arrest had been made at 
year's end.
    In June 2010 the CNDH concluded that the Secretariat of National 
Defense (SEDENA) altered the location in which Martin and Bryan Almanza 
Salazar, ages five and nine, respectively, were shot and killed in 
April 2010 to create the impression that the shots occurred during a 
firefight with a criminal gang. The CNDH concluded that the children 
had been killed by direct fire from army troops on the road from Nuevo 
Laredo to Reynosa, Tamaulipas. However, military findings concluded 
that the children had been killed by shrapnel from a grenade thrown by 
members of organized criminal organizations. The incident remained 
under investigation at year's end.
    A number of killings committed by TCOs appeared to be politically 
motivated. Unidentified perpetrators killed seven mayors of small towns 
in states along the country's northern border during the year, 
allegedly for failing to cooperate with organized crime. In 2010-11, a 
total of 20 sitting mayors were killed. Most of the killings were 
linked to organized crime.
    Three activists from the Movement for Peace and Justice with 
Dignity, which sought justice for victims of drug-related violence, 
were allegedly killed by TCOs during the year. Nepomuceno Moreno was 
killed in Sonora on November 30, and Pedro Leyva Dominguez and Trinidad 
de la Cruz Crisostomo were killed in Michoacan on October 6 and 
December 7, respectively.

    b. Disappearance.--There were multiple reports of forced 
disappearances by the army, navy, and police. Most occurred in the 
course of security operations. In several cases of reported 
disappearances, security forces had detained the missing persons 
incommunicado for several days. Following its March visit, the U.N. 
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances underscored 
patterns of impunity and a lack of investigation in cases of forced 
disappearance. The working group indicated that the number of new cases 
it accepted more than tripled from 2010. The group noted that the 
increased numbers of newly admitted cases and the high number of new 
allegations received during the visit could indicate a worsening 
situation of forced disappearances in the country.
    On March 26, municipal police in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, 
allegedly detained Juan Carlos Chavira, Dante Castillo, Raul Navarro, 
and Felix Vizcarra. Family members of the victims found their abandoned 
pick-up truck on March 27 in a tunnel far from where they had been 
detained. On April 14, the dead bodies of the four missing men were 
discovered. The state prosecutor's office commented publicly that it 
was investigating the case as a crime of enforced disappearance. Hector 
Murguia Lardizabal, mayor of Ciudad Juarez, said that he had also 
ordered the city's police department of internal affairs to investigate 
the case. Three local police were arrested on April 8 and at year's end 
legal proceedings against them were ongoing.
    In February 2010 soldiers in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, allegedly beat 
and took Raul Evangelista Alonso from his home. Several days later in 
the same city, Roberto Gonzalez Mosso was abducted by masked 
individuals claiming to be from the Office of the Deputy Attorney 
General for Special Organized Crime Investigations (SIEDO). At year's 
end neither individual had been seen, and information on the status of 
the investigation was unavailable.
    Kidnapping remained a serious problem for persons of all 
socioeconomic levels. The government reported a 6 percent increase in 
kidnappings in the first half of the year compared with the same period 
in 2010. Many kidnapping cases continued to go unreported, as families 
feared repercussions and often negotiated directly with kidnappers. 
Informed observers believed the number of cases reported to authorities 
was far less than the actual number. There were credible reports of 
police involvement in kidnappings for ransom, primarily at the state 
and local level. In February a law against kidnapping went into effect 
that mandates harsher penalties for convicted kidnappers and the 
improvement of victims' services. The government continued to advance 
compliance with its 2008 ``National Agreement on Security, Justice and 
Legality,'' which calls for the establishment of specialized, vetted 
antikidnapping units. At year's end 22 states had established such 
units.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or 
degrading treatment and stipulates that confessions obtained through 
illicit means such as torture are not admissible as evidence in court. 
Similarly inadmissible is any confession made directly to police. To be 
admissible a confession must be formally recorded before a prosecutor 
with the acknowledgement that it is being made voluntarily and after 
examination by a doctor confirming that the person has not been 
subjected to physical abuse. In multiple cases, however, the CNDH 
verified the falsification of medical certificates to cover up torture.
    During the year the CNDH received 1,626 complaints of cruel or 
degrading treatment and 42 torture complaints, compared with 1,170 
complaints of cruel or degrading treatment and 10 torture complaints in 
2010. In some instances U.S. citizens reported receiving beatings, 
suffocation, and administration of electric shock when in the custody 
of arresting authorities.
    In its November 2011 report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported more 
than 170 cases of torture committed by security forces in the states of 
Baja California, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Nuevo Leon, and Tabasco since the 
beginning of the government's fight against TCOs in 2006. The report 
noted that the most common forms of torture included ``beatings, 
asphyxiation with plastic bags, waterboarding, electric shocks, sexual 
torture, and death threats."
    On August 31, the CNDH issued a recommendation regarding grave 
human rights violations suffered by Israel Arzate Melendez, a resident 
of Ciudad Juarez accused of having participated in the massacre of 
Villas de Salvarcar in January 2010, in which a group of young people 
were killed in Ciudad Juarez. Several days later soldiers reportedly 
detained Arzate as he was walking in the street. During the ensuing car 
ride and upon arrival at the 20th Motorized Cavalry Regiment in Ciudad 
Juarez, Arzate was allegedly beaten, tortured with electric shocks to 
the chest and abdomen, and asphyxiated with a plastic bag. Soldiers 
later said that they had detained him for being in possession of a 
stolen vehicle. The soldiers presented Arzate before the public 
prosecutor 28 hours after his detention but kept him at the military 
facility, where in February 2010 he was allegedly forced to confess, 
under torture and threats, to having participated in the killings in 
Villas de Salvarcar. On December 6, the Ninth District Judge of 
Chihuahua dismissed evidence allegedly corroborating security forces' 
use of torture on Arzate. According to the NGO Miguel Agustin Pro 
Juarez Human Rights Center (Center Prodh), Arzate remained in pretrial 
custody at year's end and was returned on several occasions to military 
custody, where he was again tortured.
    The government took steps to implement preventive measures against 
the practice of torture, including applying, at the federal level, the 
Istanbul Protocol, which contains guidance on investigating and 
documenting torture and other abuses. According to the Attorney 
General's Office (PGR), 14 of the country's 31 states had passed laws 
to implement the protocol and established offices to evaluate 
allegations. Additionally the PGR reported that it had provided 
training on human rights and torture to its local, state, and federal 
staff. During the year the CNDH conducted 181 human rights-related 
courses for SEDENA, 49 for the PGR, and 186 for the Secretariat of 
Public Security (SSP). The courses included sections on torture. The 
CNDH made 33 visits to prisons during the year specifically to monitor 
the application of the Istanbul Protocol and investigate torture 
allegations by prisoners.
    In May 2010 the U.N. Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture made 
public the recommendations from its 2009 report and visit. The Foreign 
Affairs Secretariat announced in July 2010 an action plan to implement 
the 122 recommendations listed in the report, although it had not 
published information on specific actions taken by year's end.
    Instances of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment were reported 
to occur in public mental health institutions, including the use of 
unconsented lobotomies on persons with disabilities (see section 6, 
Persons with Disabilities).
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor. During the year the CNDH and NGOs reported that corruption, 
overcrowding, prisoner abuse, alcoholism, and drug addiction were 
prevalent in most facilities. According to the CNDH, health and 
sanitary conditions were poor, and most prisons did not offer 
psychiatric care. According to accounts related to consular officers by 
prisoners, poorly trained, underpaid, and corrupt guards staffed most 
prisons, and authorities occasionally placed prisoners in solitary 
confinement for indefinite periods. Prisoners often had to bribe guards 
to acquire food, medicine, and other necessities. Prison overcrowding 
continued to be a common problem. According to the SSP, as of July 
there were 227,671 prisoners in 431 facilities in the country, which 
were approximately 23 percent above capacity. Approximately 217,200 
(95.4 percent) of those inmates were men and 10,470 (4.6 percent) were 
women. The official number of juvenile inmates was unknown. In its 
Strategic Plan for 2008-12, the SSP described the penitentiary system 
as ``one of the most underdeveloped and abandoned components of public 
security."
    Prison conditions in the country varied greatly across states and 
facilities. There were reports of dire and at times life-threatening 
conditions for prisoners due to overcrowding, posing risks to the 
prisoners' physical safety and health. The CNDH noted that lack of 
access to adequate healthcare was a significant problem at all 
facilities. Prisoners generally had access to potable water.
    The SSP reported that between July 2010 and July 2011, 52 inmates 
were killed in prison. The most significant prison riots during the 
year were caused by skirmishes between prisoners from rival gangs and 
cartels. In July an incident in a prison in Nuevo Laredo left seven 
dead and allowed 59 prisoners to escape, 35 of whom were being held on 
federal charges such as drug trafficking. Later that month a prison 
riot in Ciudad Juarez resulted in the deaths of 17 inmates. Cameras 
showed prisoners gaining access to cells using a guard's keys and 
firing what appeared to be automatic weapons at the individuals inside. 
On October 15, 20 prisoners died and 12 were wounded in a prison riot 
at Matamoros's state prison. Authorities claimed the riot was caused by 
feuding groups within the prison.
    Pretrial detainees were routinely held together with convicted 
criminals. In its September report on the state of the penitentiary 
system, the CNDH noted that conditions for female prisoners were 
inferior to those for men, particularly for women who lived with their 
children in prison, due to a lack of appropriate living facilities and 
specialized medical care. There were reports that women who lived with 
their children in prison did not receive extra food or assistance. 
There were reports of physical and sexual abuse of women while in 
detention.
    In December 2010 inmate Gabriela Elizabeth Muniz Tamez was taken 
from an official police vehicle by unidentified armed men allegedly 
belonging to a TCO while being transferred from a prison to a nearby 
hospital in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. Her body, which bore signs of 
torture, was later found hanging from a bridge in the city.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. While prisoners and detainees were 
generally permitted to lodge complaints about human rights violations, 
access to justice was inconsistent, and the results of investigations 
were generally not made public.
    The government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the 
CNDH, and state human rights commissions. The CNDH made 153 visits to 
civilian and military prisons and detention centers nationwide during 
the year to monitor conditions. The CNDH also opened 329 complaint 
cases based on concerns about human rights violations against prisoners 
and received 235 complaints of ``cruel treatment."
    Independent monitors are generally limited to making 
recommendations to authorities to improve prison conditions. The CNDH 
has an ombudsman dedicated to prison issues, but the office does not 
provide legal representation for prisoners.
    The federal government worked to improve prison conditions by 
implementing its 2008-12 strategic plan focused on security, 
rehabilitation, and education. During the year the SSP worked to 
improve the federal penitentiary system through programs dedicated to 
preparing prisoners for future employment, modernization of security 
equipment, standardization of norms and procedures throughout the 
prison system, and creation of university majors in prison 
administration. The SSP also finalized and implemented a new prisoner 
classification system and file format for offenders housed in federal 
prisons. In November the SSP initiated an international accreditation 
process to standardize facilities in the federal penitentiary system. 
There were no known improvements in alternatives to sentencing for 
nonviolent offenders during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention as well as sponsoring or covering up an illegal 
detention. However, the CNDH reported receiving 1,744 complaints of 
arbitrary arrests and detentions during the year.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The federal police, 
under the SSP, as well as state and municipal police, have primary 
responsibility in law and in practice for law enforcement and the 
maintenance of order. SEDENA, which oversees the army and the air 
force, and the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), which oversees the navy 
and the marines, also play an important role in the fight against 
transnational organized crime.
    According to the CNDH, SEDENA was the government entity with the 
greatest number of human rights complaints (1,695) filed against it 
during the year.
    The CNDH stated that deployment of the armed forces for domestic 
law enforcement in the struggle against TCOs led to an increased number 
of reported human rights abuses. The lack of clear protocol for use of 
force and rules of engagement worsened the problem, leading President 
Calderon in December 2010 to instruct military and police forces to 
establish protocols for the legitimate use of force. SEMAR, which 
played an increasingly important domestic security role, saw CNDH human 
rights complaints more than double from 198 in 2010 to 495 in 2011. 
Credible human rights NGOs continued to charge that an opaque military 
justice system contributed to impunity, pointing to a failure to openly 
and promptly investigate, prosecute, and convict members of the 
military for human rights violations.
    The CNDH reported that police, immigration officers, and customs 
officials violated the rights of undocumented migrants and failed to 
provide for their safety. In August a Guatemalan migrant was beaten to 
death in Mexico State, allegedly by municipal police.
    During the year the CNDH issued 25 recommendations (based on 
certifications that a case involved a serious human rights violation 
and merits further investigation or sanction) to SEDENA concerning 
allegations of human rights violations committed by members of the 
armed forces, compared with 22 in 2010. SEDENA accepted all of the 
recommendations and affirmed its commitment to collaborating with the 
CNDH on outstanding investigations. The CNDH issued six recommendations 
to SEMAR during the year, the same number as in 2010. The CNDH also 
issued six recommendations to the PGR and 15 to the SSP. All of these 
recommendations were accepted.
    SEDENA's General Directorate for Human Rights investigates military 
personnel for violations of human rights identified by the CNDH and is 
tasked with promoting a culture of respect for human rights within the 
institution. However, the directorate has no power to ensure 
allegations are properly prosecuted. Human rights NGOs such as Center 
Prodh complained about a lack of access to the directorate and 
maintained the directorate had not improved SEDENA's human rights 
performance.
    Despite a persistent lack of human rights-related prosecutions by 
military tribunals, SEDENA took steps to increase transparency on its 
handling of human rights cases, such as listing on its Web site the 
status of military trials and their compliance with CNDH 
recommendations.
    SEDENA reported that at year's end 16 soldiers and three officers 
had been sentenced since 2006 for human rights-related crimes committed 
against civilians. Additionally, SEDENA reported that 168 soldiers were 
under investigation and 65 were in a military trial process for a 
variety of human rights offenses.
    The CNDH provided human rights training to 30,108 military 
personnel during the year. SEDENA reported that during the year 207,829 
soldiers participated in courses dedicated to human rights.
    The SSP worked with the International Organization for Migration 
and experts from the ICRC to train federal police officers on human 
rights. The ICRC also provided training to military personnel on 
international human rights law. Additionally, the CNDH trained 10,169 
SSP officials. The SSP in collaboration with the National Autonomous 
University of Mexico continued to provide human rights training to 
federal police officers throughout the country. The SSP, the Latin 
American Institute for Education Communication, and a foreign donor 
established a Masters Degree on Human Rights for SSP personnel. 
Separately, the CNDH provided training to 1,448 PGR personnel.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--By law only 
duly authorized officials are permitted to apprehend an individual. 
However, a warrant for arrest is not required if the official has 
reasonable suspicion about the person's involvement in a crime. Bail 
exists but not for persons being held in connection with drug 
trafficking or other forms of organized crime. In states that had not 
yet implemented the 2008 reforms, pretrial release on bond was 
available only in cases in which the charged offense was not considered 
a serious crime. In most cases persons must be presented to a judge, 
along with sufficient evidence to justify their continued detention, 
within 48 hours of their arrest. According to many NGOs, in practice 
there were violations of this 48-hour provision. The CNDH received 423 
complaints involving illegal detention.
    In organized crime cases (involving three or more persons who 
organize for the purpose of committing certain crimes), suspects may be 
held for up to 96 hours before being presented to a judge. Only the 
federal judicial system can prosecute organized crime cases. However, 
in recognition of the complex nature of organized crime, the 
constitution was amended to stipulate that, under a precautionary 
procedure known as ``arraigo,'' certain suspects may, with the approval 
of a judge, be detained for up to 80 days prior to the filing of formal 
charges. In the absence of formal charges, persons so detained are not 
entitled to legal representation and are not eligible to receive credit 
for time served if convicted. During her July visit, U.N. High 
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay criticized this form of 
pretrial detention as a violation of due process that facilitated 
torture. Human rights groups, including the CMDPDH, alleged that 
arraigo was used to obtain forced confessions. In July the state of 
Chiapas declared the practice illegal.
    In areas involving military operations against TCOs, SEDENA 
personnel detained individuals without the involvement of state or 
federal investigators authorized to collect evidence for use in 
subsequent prosecutions. The PGR claimed it was not always notified in 
a timely manner of the detentions, which complicated efforts to 
prosecute and convict arrestees.
    While detainees usually were allowed prompt access to family 
members and to counsel, there were complaints that in some cases police 
held persons incommunicado for several days and made arrests 
arbitrarily and without a warrant. While indigent detainees are 
provided counsel under law, in practice counsel was generally only 
provided during trials and not during arrests or investigations. 
Detainees were sometimes held under house arrest. Human rights NGOs 
documented and the CNDH issued several recommendations confirming that 
the army frequently detained civilians for extended periods of time 
before placing them at the disposition of civilian authorities.

    Pretrial Detention.--The law provides time limits within which an 
accused person must be tried. However, due to caseloads that far 
exceeded the capacity of the federal judicial system and the fact that 
most state judicial systems still used the written inquisitorial 
criminal justice system, such time limits often were disregarded. The 
Mexican Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) and HRW 
reported that more than 40 percent of prisoners were held in pretrial 
detention, as opposed to serving time for a convicted offense. Many 
spent years in pretrial detention. According to CIDE the average period 
for prisoners awaiting trial is two years and of those sentenced, 14 
percent were declared innocent after having served time in prison, and 
85 percent received sentences of less than five years. For many of 
these, the time spent in prison ultimately exceeded the sentence, 
according to CIDE.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the constitution and law 
provide for an independent judiciary, court decisions were susceptible 
to improper influence by both private and public entities, particularly 
at the state and local level, according to CIDE. Civil society 
organizations reported that corruption, inefficiency, and a lack of 
transparency continued to be major problems in the judiciary.
    International bodies, including the IACHR and the Office of the 
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), criticized the 
government's failure to limit military jurisdiction over human rights 
cases. Article 57 of the military code of justice defines crimes 
against military discipline as ``state or common offenses that have 
been committed by active duty military.'' In practice civilian courts 
generally ceded jurisdiction to the military in cases where military 
personnel stood accused of human rights violations committed against 
civilians. However, in July the Supreme Court ruled that civil courts 
at all levels should guide their decisions by the constitution and the 
country's human rights obligations under international conventions when 
such laws are found to conflict with other codes and norms, including 
Article 57 of the military justice code. President Calderon reiterated 
in a speech on December 10 his administration's commitment to transfer 
human rights crimes from military to civilian jurisdiction. At year's 
end two human rights cases involving the military had been transferred 
to civilian jurisdiction, and a Guerrero state judge had ordered that a 
third case also be transferred.

    Trial Procedures.--The civilian legal system is a hybrid system. 
While it incorporates some aspects of common law and accusatory-style 
systems, it draws primarily from traditional European code-based, 
inquisitorial systems. The 2008 constitutional criminal justice reforms 
mandated implementation of an oral adversarial system and the 
presumption of innocence by 2016. The military employs an inquisitorial 
legal system but continued to move toward an oral accusatorial system.
    At year's end 12 states had passed legislation transitioning to the 
oral, adversarial system and were at various stages of training and 
implementation, and 13 states were in the process of legislating 
reforms. Under the old system, still being used by the federal 
government, federal district, and 23 states--some of which had passed 
reforms but were still transitioning to the new system--a typical trial 
consists of a series of fact-gathering hearings during which the court 
receives documentary evidence or testimony. A judge in chambers reviews 
the case file and then issues a final, written ruling. The record of 
the proceeding is not available to the general public; only the parties 
involved have access to the official file and only by special motion.
    The 2008 constitutional criminal justice reform establishes that 
defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence. However, such rights are 
not provided for in jurisdictions that have not completed reform 
implementation and still operate under the inquisitorial system.
    The constitutional reform provides for the right of the accused to 
attend the hearings and challenge the evidence or testimony presented, 
and the government generally respected these rights in practice. In 
most cases court proceedings were open to the public. Defendants are 
not tried by jury.
    While the law provides defendants with the right to an attorney at 
all stages of criminal proceedings, in practice this only meant that 
authorities had to appoint a ``person of confidence,'' who was not 
required to meet any particular legal qualifications to represent a 
defendant. Because of the nascent implementation of the 2008 reforms, 
not all public defenders had preparation and training to serve 
adequately on the defendants' behalf, and often the state public 
defender system was not adequate to meet demand. Public defender 
services were placed either in the judicial or executive branch. There 
were rarely autonomous public defender services. According to Amnesty 
International (AI) and CIDE, most criminal suspects did not receive 
representation until after they were placed under judicial authority, 
thus making individuals vulnerable to coercion to sign false statements 
before being presented to a judge.
    Although the law provides for translation services from Spanish to 
indigenous languages to be available at all stages of the criminal 
process, NGOs noted that this generally was not done. Indigenous 
defendants who did not speak Spanish sometimes were unaware of the 
status of their cases, and some suspects were convicted without fully 
understanding the documents they were required to sign.
    According to human rights NGOs, including HRW and AI, despite 
enactment of the 2008 judicial reform legislation, judges, particularly 
in areas that had not yet implemented the reforms, continued to allow 
statements coerced through torture to be used as evidence against the 
accused. Confessions were often the primary evidence in criminal 
convictions in these cases (see section 1.c.). NGOs asserted that 
judges often gave greater evidentiary value to the first declaration of 
a defendant given in the absence of legal representation, providing 
prosecutors an incentive to obtain an incriminating first confession. 
For their part law enforcement officials complained that defendants 
frequently made baseless claims of coerced confessions as a way to win 
acquittal.
    The 2008 justice reform establishes strict guidelines on the use of 
confessions, evidence, and expert testimony; allows consensual 
monitoring of telephone calls; and gives police more responsibility for 
conducting investigations. The reform stipulates that all hearings and 
trials must be conducted by a judge and under the principles of public 
access, immediacy, confrontation, and cross-examination, promoting 
greater transparency and allowing defendants to challenge their 
accusers. The law allows the government to keep elements of an 
investigation confidential until evidence is presented in court, and 
defendants do not usually have access to government-held evidence.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In 2009 the Inter-American 
Court of Human Rights issued a binding ruling calling for the country 
to evaluate and reform the process of using military courts to try 
human rights cases involving civilians. In July the Supreme Court ruled 
that civilian courts must maintain cases involving human rights abuses 
of civilians in civilian jurisdiction. In August military prosecutors 
declined jurisdiction over two high-profile human rights cases (see 
section 6, Indigenous People). The government also held public 
ceremonies honoring victims in accordance with three Inter-American 
Court rulings.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent 
and impartial judiciary in civil matters to which citizens have access 
to seek damages for a human rights violation. However, for a plaintiff 
to secure damages against a defendant, the defendant first must have 
been found guilty in a criminal case, which was a high standard in view 
of the relatively low number of individuals convicted of human rights 
abuses in the country.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--Although the law prohibits such practices and requires 
search warrants, the CNDH received 213 complaints of illegal searches 
or destruction of property during the year, most related to the fight 
against organized crime.
    The NGO Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights, located in 
Ayutla de los Libres, Guerrero, reported instances of soldiers entering 
employees' homes without a warrant and appropriating personal property.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
government generally respected these rights in practice. Most 
newspapers and television and radio stations were privately owned, and 
the government had minimal presence in the ownership of news media.

    Freedom of the Press.--Despite federal government support for 
freedom of the press, many journalists were the victims of threats, 
harassment, and violence. Reporters covering organized crime, including 
its links to corrupt public officials, acknowledged practicing self-
censorship, recognizing the danger investigative journalism posed to 
them and to their families. In their final report released in June 
following a country visit in 2010, the U.N. and Organization of 
American States special rapporteurs for the promotion and protection of 
the right to freedom of opinion and expression characterized the states 
of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guerrero, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, 
Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas as ``completely silent'' due to dramatic levels 
of media self-censorship.
    The law does not provide a legal framework for issuing permits to 
nongovernmental and noncommercial community radio stations.

    Violence and Harassment.--According to the NGO Article 19, during 
the year nine journalists were killed--four in the state of Veracruz--
and two disappeared, compared with nine such killings and four 
disappearances in 2010. The CNDH reported that 70 journalists had been 
killed and 13 disappeared since 2000.
    The PGR's Office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against 
Journalists accepted jurisdiction of more than 15 cases between 
September 2010 and June 2011. The CNDH issued three recommendations on 
crimes against journalists during the year.
    High-profile cases included the following:
    Noel Lopez Olguin, a columnist for the newspaper La Verdad de 
Jaltipan in Veracruz, was kidnapped on March 8 and found dead on May 31 
in that state. His body was discovered after a drug gang member 
confessed to the killing. According to reports, Lopez wrote stories on 
corruption involving organized crime.
    Two reporters from Notiver in Veracruz were killed during the year. 
Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, a columnist for the newspaper, was found 
dead in his Veracruz home along with his wife and 21-year-old son on 
June 20. Juan Carlos ``El Naca'' Carranza Saavedra was named as a 
suspect by the state attorney general and a three million peso 
($233,000) reward was offered for information leading to his arrest. 
Lopez's writings focused on drug trafficking and security. On July 26, 
the body of Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz, a crime beat reporter for 
Notiver, was also found in Veracruz. A note left at the crime scene 
suggested a connection between the two killings. At year's end 
information on the investigations remained unavailable.
    No developments were reported in the arrest and investigation of 
suspects associated with multiple 2010 cases of violence against 
journalists.
    In October 2010 the government announced the launching of a 
journalist protection mechanism. While NGOs such as Article 19 noted 
that the mechanism had not been effectively implemented due to a lack 
of funding, insufficient consultation with civil society, and reliance 
on local rather than federal authorities for protection 
responsibilities, the government made efforts to involve civil society 
and work with international partners to train personnel involved in the 
mechanism's implementation. In a speech on December 10, President 
Calderon reiterated his administration's commitment to improve 
mechanisms to protect journalists and human rights defenders in 
cooperation with the CNDH and the U.N. He identified organized crime as 
the major source of kidnapping threats and noted that the mechanism had 
provided protection to 11 individuals thus far.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--Although defamation, libel, and 
slander are not federal offenses, 17 states have criminal libel laws 
making journalists vulnerable to imprisonment at the state level.

    Nongovernmental Impact.--TCOs exercised an increasing influence 
over media outlets and reporters, at times directly threatening 
individuals who published critical views of crime groups.
    On September 24, police in Nuevo Laredo found the headless body of 
a female journalist who wrote on TCO activity as an online blogger 
under the pseudonym of ``La Nena de Laredo'' (``Laredo Girl''). Two 
other Nuevo Laredo-based bloggers were allegedly tortured and killed by 
TCOs in September and November, again in retaliation for posting 
comments on the Internet about local drug cartels.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.
    As citizens increasingly used social media Web sites such as 
Twitter and Facebook to obtain and share drug-related news, violence 
against the users of these sites rose dramatically.
    Two states introduced new restrictions on the use of social media. 
In August Veracruz officials arrested Gilberto Martinez Vera and Maria 
de Jesus Bravo Pagola for allegedly spreading rumors of violence on 
Twitter. They were released following protests from civil society 
groups, but the state created a new ``public disturbance'' offense for 
use in similar cases in the future. Similarly, the state of Tabasco 
outlawed telephone calls or social network postings that could provoke 
panic. Civil society groups feared that the laws could be used to curb 
freedom of expression online.

    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 the government generally respected this 
right in practice. However, there was at least once instance of 
security forces using force against demonstrators during the year.
    On December 12, approximately 500 students from the Teachers' 
College of Ayotzinapa in the state of Guerrero, along with members of 
civil society organizations, blocked traffic on an important federal 
highway near the state capital and demanded a meeting with the governor 
to discuss conditions at the school. When state and federal police 
attempted to dislodge the protesters and reopen the highway, both 
security forces and protesters resorted to violence, during which 
police shot and killed two protesters, and protesters set fire to a gas 
station, resulting in the death of a gas station employee. NGOs and the 
state human rights commission condemned the killings. At year's end the 
governor of Guerrero had fired a number of high-ranking state officials 
in connection with the killings, and investigations were continuing.

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice. However, according to several NGOs including AI, the army in 
the course of its operations occasionally restricted freedom of 
movement. The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 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.

    In-country Movement.--In a February report, the CNDH estimated that 
approximately 11,330 migrants were kidnapped between April and 
September 2010 as they attempted to transit the country to cross the 
border into the United States, although the National Migration 
Institute (INM) disputed this claim, noting that they had registered 
only 222 such cases during the same period. Many migrants were 
reluctant to report such crimes due to fear of being deported.
    Forty Central American migrants were abducted from a train in 
December 2010. Another mass kidnapping of migrants riding a train from 
Oaxaca to Veracruz took place in June. Both the CNDH and the INM 
continued to investigate the incidents at year's end.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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.
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.--Recent Elections.--The 
closely contested 2006 presidential election, in which Felipe Calderon 
was elected president to a six-year term, was considered generally free 
and fair by most neutral observers, including EU representatives and 
local and international civil society organizations.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--As of December there were 
30 women in the 128-seat Senate and 141 women in the 500-seat lower 
house. Two female justices sat on the 11-member Supreme Court, and 
there were four women in the 19-member cabinet. Many state electoral 
codes provide that no more than 70 to 80 percent of candidates can be 
of the same gender. Some political parties utilized quotas requiring 
that a certain percentage of candidates on a party list be female.
    There were no established quotas for increased participation of 
indigenous groups in the legislative body, and no reliable statistics 
were available regarding minority participation in government. The law 
provides for the right of indigenous people to elect representatives to 
local office according to ``usages and customs'' law rather than 
federal and state electoral law. Usages and customs laws applied 
traditional practices to resolve disputes, chose local officials, and 
collected taxes without federal or state government interference. While 
such practices allowed communities to select officials according to 
their traditions, the usages and customs law generally excluded women 
from the political process and often infringed on the rights of women 
and religious minorities. The application of the law varied by village. 
In some villages women were not permitted to vote or hold office; in 
others they could vote but not hold office.
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. 
Credible reports indicated that officials frequently engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity and that relatively few cases were brought to 
trial. Corruption at the most basic level involved paying bribes for 
routine services or in lieu of fines to administrative officials and 
security forces. More sophisticated and less apparent forms of 
corruption included overpaying for goods and services to provide 
payment to elected officials and political parties.
    During the year the PGR initiated legal proceedings against 102 
employees for corruption, 18 of whom were convicted at year's end. The 
INM dismissed 400 employees accused of corruption and human 
trafficking, 15 of whom were under PGR investigation at year's end. The 
state of Veracruz fired more than 1,000 police officers after they 
failed newly implemented vetting checks.
    The CNDH reported that police, particularly at the state and local 
level, were involved in kidnapping, extortion, and in providing 
protection for, or acting directly on behalf of, organized crime and 
drug traffickers. Local forces in particular tended to be poorly 
compensated and directly pressured by criminal groups, leaving them 
most vulnerable to infiltration. Responsibility for investigating 
federal police criminal abuse falls under the purview of the PGR or the 
Secretariat of Public Administration, depending on the type of offense.
    On December 2, Humberto Moreira, the former governor of Coahuila 
(2005-11) and then party leader of the Institutional Revolutionary 
Party (PRI), announced his resignation from party leadership amid 
escalating controversy over a debt scandal during his tenure as 
governor. In August the PGR began a criminal investigation into 
allegations that the state government of Coahuila had underreported its 
debt by almost $3 billion and had forged official documents to obtain 
loans. The Secretariat of Finance filed a criminal lawsuit with the PGR 
against the state of Coahuila, and the investigation continued at 
year's end.
    On September 1, federal police arrested a state police officer in 
connection with the August 25 arson attack on a casino in Monterrey 
that left 52 people dead. The unidentified state officer was one of 
several men seen in a surveillance camera video arriving at the casino 
in a caravan. Some of the men rushed in to set the building on fire in 
what authorities suspected may have been retaliation for the casino's 
owners refusing to pay an extortion demand to organized criminals. At 
year's end at least five suspects had been detained by federal 
authorities and investigations continued.
    In May 2010 SIEDO prosecuted Cancun Mayor Gregorio Sanchez, and a 
federal judge charged him with money laundering, drug trafficking, and 
cooperating with drug traffickers. These charges were eventually 
dropped. Sanchez was arrested once again in July for allegedly 
smuggling Cuban citizens into the country, and for additional drug 
allegations, but he was released in August.
    Financial disclosure and accounting laws are overseen by the 
National Banking and Exchange Commission. In practice authorities' 
application of the laws was inconsistent.
    Internal controls and vetting processes were applied to new SSP 
entrants and incrementally expanded to existing staff. The SSP managed 
a database of police at all levels whose records, including misdeeds, 
are catalogued. The SSP expanded the Intranet-based communications 
platform, Plataforma Mexico, allowing for communication and 
coordination with federal and some state and local police throughout 
the country. At both federal and state levels, authorities provided for 
the establishment of Citizen Participation Councils (CPCs) to address 
citizen complaints about police and other justice system actors. CPCs 
created ``observatories'' to monitor criminal justice and security 
issues.
    Despite significant institutional and regulatory changes increasing 
government transparency, access to information continued to be 
difficult in some states. The Federal Institute of Access to Public 
Information (IFAI), the agency responsible for freedom of information 
requests, received more than 120,000 such requests during the year. All 
states have laws complying with the 2007 constitutional reforms 
regarding access to information and have signed formal agreements with 
IFAI to make the information system on government operations, Infomex, 
available for petitions for state government information.
    In March the Supreme Court ruled that the PGR had the right to 
withhold information from the CNDH in cases that are actively under 
investigation. The decision was in response to the July 2010 case 
brought by the CNDH challenging the PGR's right to withhold 
information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A variety of domestic and international human rights groups 
generally operated without government restriction, investigating and 
publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials 
were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. The government 
made periodic attempts to engage civil society on human rights issues 
by encouraging participation in policy debates and engaging with 
victims and their family members in public discussions. President 
Calderon and his secretary of government engaged in public discussions 
on several occasions with peace activist Javier Sicilia on human rights 
issues and the government's security strategy. These discussions 
resulted in the creation of a Special Prosecutor for Victim Assistance 
(PROVICTIMA) in September, which assisted approximately 3,000 crime 
victims by year's end. Some NGOs, however, expressed frustration over 
the difficulty to engage in constructive human rights discussions with 
government officials.
    The U.N. and NGOs reported harassment of human rights defenders. 
The CNDH received 59 complaints of aggression against human rights 
activists and 16 requests for protection. NGOs maintained that state 
and municipal authorities harassed defenders. The Inter-American Court 
of Human Rights ordered protective measures in six cases involving 
human rights defenders during the year. In July the president announced 
the launch of a national mechanism to protect human rights defenders.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The CNDH is the autonomous agency 
created by the government and funded by the legislature to monitor and 
act on human rights violations and abuses. It can call on government 
authorities to impose administrative sanctions or pursue criminal 
charges against officials, but it cannot impose legal sanctions itself. 
Whenever the relevant authority accepts a CNDH recommendation, the CNDH 
is required to follow up with the authority to ensure that it is, in 
fact, carrying out the recommendation. The CNDH sends a request to the 
authority asking for evidence of its compliance and reports this 
follow-up information in its annual report. When authorities fail to 
accept a recommendation, the CNDH makes that known publicly. NGOs and 
international organizations often drew attention to the failure of an 
institution to comply with or even accept CNDH recommendations. The 
CNDH was generally viewed by the public as unbiased and trustworthy. In 
June constitutional reforms increased the CNDH's capacity to 
investigate alleged violations and enforce its recommendations.
    Each of the country's 31 states plus the Federal District has a 
state human rights commission autonomous from the CNDH.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status. While the government continued to make 
progress enforcing these provisions, significant problems, particularly 
violence against women, persisted.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, and imposes penalties of up to 20 years' 
imprisonment. However, according to HRW and other NGOs, rape victims 
rarely filed complaints with police, in part because of the 
authorities' ineffective and unsupportive responses to victims, 
victims' fear of publicity, and a perception that prosecution of cases 
was unlikely. Human rights organizations asserted that authorities did 
not take seriously reports of rape, and victims continued to be 
socially stigmatized and ostracized.
    Federal law prohibits domestic violence, including spousal abuse, 
and stipulates fines equal to 30 to 180 days' minimum salary and 
detention for up to 36 hours; actual sentences, however, were often 
more lenient. This countrywide law obligates federal and local 
authorities to prevent, punish, and eradicate violence against women. 
Nevertheless, according to the NGO Citizen Femicide Observatory 
(Observatorio Ciudadano de Feminicidios), domestic violence was 
pervasive and mostly unreported.
    State-level laws sanctioning domestic violence are weak. Seven 
states do not criminalize it, and 15 states punish it only when it is a 
repeated offense. According to a survey conducted by the National 
Institute of Public Health in several of the country's rural and 
indigenous communities, victims did not report abuses for a variety of 
reasons, including fear of spousal reprisal, shame, and the view that 
the abuse did not merit a complaint. There were no authoritative 
statistics available on the number of abusers prosecuted, convicted, 
and punished. The 2006 National Survey on Household Relationships, the 
most recent such survey completed, suggested that 67 percent of women 
over age 15 had suffered some abusive treatment.
    According to the Citizen Femicide Observatory, more than 1,700 
girls, teenagers, and women were killed between January 2009 and June 
2010.
    The PGR's Special Prosecutor for Violence against Women and 
Trafficking in Persons (FEMVITRA) is responsible for leading government 
programs to combat domestic violence and federal human trafficking 
cases involving three or fewer suspects. With only five lawyers 
dedicated to federal cases of violence against women and trafficking 
countrywide as of 2010, FEMVITRA faced challenges in moving from 
investigations to convictions, although it achieved several.
    There were approximately 70 government-funded shelters. Civil 
society and women's rights groups maintained numerous shelters as well.

    Sexual Harassment.--Federal law prohibits sexual harassment and 
provides for fines of up to 40 days' minimum salary. Sexual harassment 
is also criminalized in 26 states and the Federal District. Twenty-two 
of these states have provisions for punishment when the perpetrator is 
in a position of power. According to the National Women's Institute 
(INMUJERES), the federal government institution charged with directing 
national policy to achieve equality of opportunity between men and 
women, sexual harassment in the workplace was widespread, but victims 
were reluctant to come forward and cases were difficult to prove.

    Sex Tourism.--The country was a destination for sex tourists, 
particularly from the United States. There are no laws specifically 
prohibiting sex tourism with adults, although federal law criminalizes 
corruption of minors, for which the penalty is five to 10 years' 
imprisonment.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the legal right 
to decide the number, spacing, and timing of children and have the 
information and means to do so free from discrimination. However, 
services, information, and public policies in the area of reproductive 
health were limited. Despite the existence of a national family 
planning program, the lack of sex education and contraceptives in 
public hospitals and rural areas undermined the government's commitment 
to reproductive rights. The Population Reference Bureau reported that 
66 percent of women used modern contraceptives. Information on maternal 
health was available at public and private health clinics and online at 
the Federal Secretariat of Health's Web site. Skilled attendants at 
delivery and in postpartum care were widely available except in some 
marginalized areas. Women and men were given equal access to diagnostic 
services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--The law provides women the same rights and 
obligations as men and ``equal pay ... for equal work performed in 
equal jobs, hours of work, and conditions of efficiency.'' According to 
INMUJERES, during the year women earned between 5 and 14 percent less 
than men for comparable work. INMUJERES reported that its national 
hotline received 5,881 calls during the year. The law provides labor 
protection for pregnant women. According to the Information Group on 
Reproductive Rights, some employers reportedly sought to avoid this law 
by requiring pregnancy tests in preemployment physicals and by 
continuing to make inquiries into a woman's reproductive status.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--The country provides universal 
birth registration in principle, with citizenship derived both by birth 
within the country's territory and from one's parents.
    Citizens generally registered the birth of newborns with local 
authorities. In some instances government officials visited private 
health institutions to facilitate the process. Failure to register 
births could result in the denial of public services, such as education 
or health care, to children living in communities where such services 
were in any event not widely available. According to UNICEF, 93.4 
percent of children in the country were registered. However, states 
with large rural and indigenous populations, such as Chiapas, Guerrero, 
Oaxaca, and Puebla, had comparatively lower registration rates. 
According to UNICEF, as of 2009 only 61.7 percent of children in 
Chiapas were registered by their first birthday. At year's end, 
following appeals by UNICEF, the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas made 
birth registration free, resulting in the registration of thousands of 
previously unregistered children.

    Child Abuse.--In 2000--when the most recent survey was undertaken--
the Federal Elections Institute and UNICEF reported that 28 percent of 
children ages six to nine, 9 percent of those ages 10 to 13, and 10 
percent ages 14 to 17 reported being treated violently at home. 
According to the survey, 33 percent of rural children and youths and 26 
percent of urban children and youths reported that adults sometimes 
resorted to insults and physical violence against children.

    Child Marriage.--Child marriage has historically been a problem, 
but no current statistics were available. The minimum marital age in 
the country is 14 for girls and 16 for boys with parental consent, and 
18 without parental consent. UNICEF estimated that in 2008--the latest 
year for which information was available--approximately 19.2 percent of 
women and 4.5 percent of males married before the age of 18. Many of 
these marriages occurred in indigenous communities governed by the 
``usages and customs'' regime.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The antitrafficking law prohibits 
the commercial sexual exploitation of children. UNICEF reported that 
approximately 16,000 children were involved in commercial sexual 
exploitation. It was not uncommon to find minors engaged in 
prostitution. The NGOs Center for Studies and Investigation in 
Development and Social Assistance, Casa Alianza, and National Network 
of Shelters reported that sex tourism and sexual exploitation of minors 
were significant problems in resort towns and northern border areas.
    The country does not have a statutory rape law, but it has laws 
against corruption of a minor and child pornography that apply to 
victims under 18 years of age. For the crimes of selling, distributing, 
or promoting pornography to a minor, the law stipulates a prison term 
of six months to five years and a fine of 300 to 500 times the daily 
minimum wage. For the crime of involving minors in acts of sexual 
exhibitionism, the law mandates seven to 12 years in prison and a fine 
of 800 to 2,500 times the daily minimum wage. The production, 
facilitation, reproduction, distribution, sale, and purchase of child 
pornography carries a punishment of seven to 12 years' in prison and a 
fine of 800 to 2,000 times the daily minimum wage.
    Perpetrators who promote, publicize, or facilitate sexual tourism 
involving minors, face seven to 12 years' imprisonment and a fine of 
800 to 2,000 times the daily minimum wage. For those involved in sexual 
tourism who commit a sexual act with a minor, the law requires a 12- to 
18-year prison sentence and a fine of 2,000 to 3,000 times the daily 
minimum wage. The crime of sexual exploitation of a minor carries an 
eight- to 15-year prison sentence and a fine of 1,000 to 2,500 times 
the daily minimum wage.

    Institutionalized Children.--The NGO Disability Rights 
International found in a 2010 study that mentally disabled children in 
orphanages and care facilities were subject to a number of grave 
abuses, including trafficking in persons (see Persons with Disabilities 
below).

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html as well as country-specific information at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/country--3781.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. 
According to the 2010 census, the Jewish community numbered 
approximately 67,000 persons.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, and the 
provision of other services. However, the government did not 
effectively enforce all these stipulations. Public buildings and 
facilities in Mexico City did not comply with the law requiring access 
for persons with disabilities, although the federal government stated 
that entrances, exits, and hallways in all of its offices were 
accessible to persons with disabilities. The education system provided 
special education for approximately 485,170 students with disabilities 
nationwide.
    According to the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, 
63 percent of children with disabilities between the ages of six and 14 
attended school, compared with 92 percent for those in the same age 
range without disabilities. Only 4 percent of the overall population 
with disabilities had finished university. According to the National 
Council to Prevent Discrimination, 60 percent of all persons with 
disabilities reported insufficient access to public or private health 
care. The CNDH received 41 complaints of discrimination against persons 
with physical disabilities and six complaints of discrimination against 
persons with mental disabilities during the year.
    The secretary of health collaborated with the secretaries of social 
development, labor, and public education, as well as with the Integral 
Development of the Family (DIF) and the Office for the Promotion and 
Social Integration of the Disabled, to protect the rights of persons 
with disabilities. The government established offices and programs for 
the social integration of persons with disabilities, including a 
program to enhance job opportunities and launch an online portal to 
disseminate information and assistance.
    In its 2010 study, Disability Rights International (DRI) found 
widespread human rights abuses in mental institutions and care 
facilities across the country, including those for children. Abuses 
against disabled persons included lack of access to justice, the use of 
physical and chemical restraints and unconsented lobotomies on some 
patients, physical and sexual abuse, and trafficking of children with 
mental disabilities. Persons with disabilities often lacked adequate 
privacy and clothing and often ate, slept, and bathed in unhygienic 
conditions. They were vulnerable to abuse from staff members, other 
patients, or outsiders at facilities where there was little 
supervision.
    DRI reported in 2010 that at the Samuel Ramirez Moreno Psychiatric 
Hospital in Mexico City, a man was restrained with a helmet and arm 
restraints during the day and bed restraints at night from at least 
March to September 2010. Authorities at the institution stated that 
long-term restraints were the only option they had to control the 
patient and that they were not administering any other form of 
treatment or therapy to improve his condition.
    At the Cruz del Sur Psychiatric Hospital in Oaxaca in 2010, DRI 
investigators found a woman being held in a bed with restraints despite 
evidenced distress because she spoke an indigenous language that no 
member of the staff knew. The staff planned to keep her in restraints 
until members of her family arrived and could translate.
    According to a 2010 survey by the National Council to Prevent 
Discrimination, 55 percent of persons with disabilities reported an 
income insufficient to cover their basic needs. More than 50 percent of 
those surveyed stated that their primary source of income was their 
family and only 40 percent reported having a job.

    Indigenous People.--The CNDH and the State Secretariat of 
Indigenous Peoples in Chiapas acknowledged that indigenous communities 
have long been socially and economically marginalized and subjected to 
discrimination, particularly in the central and southern regions, where 
indigenous persons sometimes represented more than one-third of the 
total state population. In the state of Chiapas, the NGOs Fray 
Bartolome de las Casas and International Service for Peace argued that 
indigenous peoples' ability to participate in decisions affecting their 
lands, cultural traditions, and allocation of natural resources was 
negligible.
    Indigenous groups claimed that the country's legal framework 
neither respected, nor prevented violations of, the property rights of 
indigenous communities. Communities and NGOs representing indigenous 
groups reported that the government did not consult indigenous 
communities adequately when making decisions about development project 
implementation on indigenous land. There was also limited consultation 
with indigenous communities regarding the exploitation of energy, 
minerals, timber, and other natural resources on indigenous lands.
    Indigenous persons did not live on autonomous reservations, 
although some indigenous communities exercised considerable local 
control over economic, political, and social matters. In Oaxaca State, 
for example, 70 percent of the 570 municipalities were governed 
according to the indigenous regime of ``usages and customs,'' which did 
not follow democratic norms such as the secret ballot, universal 
suffrage, and political affiliation.
    In May authorities detained Rufino Juarez Hernandez, the head of 
the Union of Social Well-Being of the Triqui Region, in connection with 
the April 2010 killings of two members of a humanitarian aid mission 
traveling in Oaxaca. Members of the European Parliament, who visited 
the country in September to determine the status of the case, applauded 
the detention but noted the justice system's continued failure to bring 
the crime to trial.
    The government generally showed respect for the desire of 
indigenous persons to retain elements of their traditional culture. The 
law provides for educational instruction in the national language, 
Spanish, without prejudice to the protection and promotion of 
indigenous languages. However, many indigenous children spoke only 
their native languages. In practice education in indigenous languages 
was limited by the lack of textbooks and teaching materials, as well as 
by the lack of qualified teachers fluent in these languages.
    During the year the CNDH received 27 complaints and issued two 
recommendations on human rights abuses of the indigenous population. 
Most complaints pertained to a lack of interpreters and discriminatory 
practices by government officials.
    NGOs such as Fray Bartolome de las Casas and International Service 
for Peace reported that state authorities and nongovernmental actors 
harassed and abused indigenous human rights defenders.
    In June the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center in Ayutla de 
los Libres, Guerrero, which reopened that month, reported security 
threats, including instances of soldiers entering employees' homes 
without a warrant (see section 1.f.).
    In October 2010 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled on 
the cases of Organization of the Me'phaa Indigenous People members 
Valentina Rosendo Cantu and Ines Fernandez Ortega, indigenous women 
whom soldiers detained arbitrarily and raped in separate incidents in 
2002. The court ordered the military to compensate the victims and 
their families, who had complained of harassment and intimidation by 
soldiers in the area since the court accepted the cases in 2006. In 
August the military declined jurisdiction over the cases and the PGR 
accepted jurisdiction. The federal government held a public ceremony in 
December in honor of the victims, complying with one aspect of the 
Inter-American Court ruling. The cases remained pending in federal 
courts at year's end.
    The OHCHR, as well as NGOs AI, International Service for Peace, and 
the Network of All Rights for All, reported that Chiapas-based human 
rights defender Margarita Martinez and staff members of NGO Fray 
Bartolome de las Casas received death threats in November 2010 and 
October 2011 in connection with their work on human rights for 
indigenous groups in Chiapas. The group continued to receive 
protection, including from police, as instructed by the IACHR.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--While Mexican society 
increasingly accepted the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) communities, the CNDH and the National Center to Prevent and 
Control HIV/AIDS stated that discrimination based on sexual orientation 
and gender identity persisted. In separate incidents during the year, 
unknown assailants killed two prominent LGBT activists. Authorities in 
both instances stated that the killings were ``crimes of passion'' 
within the gay community. Activists noted that this characterization 
was misleading and oversimplified patterns of violence against LGBT 
persons.
    On May 3, Guerrero-based LGBT activist Quetzalcoatl Leija Herrera 
was found beaten to death near the city of Chilpancingo's central 
plaza.
    On July 23, security guards discovered the body of Cristian Ivan 
Sanchez Venancio in his home near the center of Mexico City. Sanchez, a 
member of the Revolutionary Democratic Party's Coordinating Group for 
Sexual Diversity and an organizer of Mexico City's annual LGBT Pride 
Parade, was stabbed to death.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were no reports 
of societal violence or discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
    The CNDH alleged in August that the PGR was withholding information 
on a case in Tamaulipas in which 72 migrants were kidnapped from a bus 
and killed, reportedly by TCO members, in August 2010. The CNDH claimed 
the PGR's delay prevented them from making a recommendation. Another 50 
migrants were reportedly kidnapped in Oaxaca in December 2010 by 
unknown persons. While one individual was arrested in June in 
connection with the Tamaulipas case, both cases remained under 
investigation at year's end. These and other high-profile crimes 
against migrants prompted the passage in May of a comprehensive 
migration law intended to protect the human rights of migrants. At 
year's end the government continued working with civil society groups 
to define the implementing regulations for the law.
    The INM operated 52 migrant detention centers. The CNDH had an 
office in each of these facilities to monitor compliance for respect of 
detainee human rights. During its April visit, however, the U.N. 
Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and 
Members of their Families expressed concern over the conditions and 
treatment of migrants at the centers and recommended improving 
facilities and investigating allegations of abuse by authorities.
    There were no developments in the September 2010 deaths of two 
suspected kidnappers in Asencion, Chihuahua, at the hands of a 
vigilante mob.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
Federal law provides workers the right to form and join unions, 
provides for the right to strike in both the public and private sector, 
and protects the right to bargain collectively. However, the law places 
several restrictions on these rights. The law does not prohibit 
antiunion discrimination nor require reinstatement of workers fired for 
union activity.
    Although the law requires a minimum of only 20 workers to form an 
independent union, it requires official recognition from the government 
to register the union formally and establishes administrative 
procedures for registration. The law prohibits the coexistence of two 
or more unions in the same state agency. Article 372 of the labor law 
bans foreign nationals from being members of trade union executive 
bodies. It also includes an ``exclusion clause,'' which allows 
employers to terminate the contract of an employee who quits the union. 
During the year the Supreme Court of Justice determined that the 
exclusion clause was unconstitutional; however, the law had not been 
modified by year's end.
    A union that has been established in accordance with its own bylaws 
may call for a strike or bargain collectively. The government can grant 
legal recognition to unions, a process known as ``toma de nota,'' 
either to union executive leaders individually or to the entire 
executive committee. The law also limits the right to strike of a 
number of public officials, including many that do not exercise 
authority in the name of the government; restricts government 
employees--including banking sector employees--from striking unless 
there is a ``systematic violation of their rights"; and requires that a 
two-thirds majority of workers in the relevant public service entity 
must be in favor of a strike. Before a strike may be considered legal, 
a union must file a ``notice to strike'' with the appropriate labor 
authorities.
    Although the law authorizes the coexistence of several unions, it 
sets rules on which union has priority and limits collective bargaining 
to the union that has the largest number of workers. Migrant workers 
are excluded from relevant legal protections.
    The government did not consistently protect these rights in 
practice. Its general failure to enforce labor and other laws left 
workers without much recourse with regard to violations of freedom of 
association, working conditions, or other problems. Union organizers 
from several sectors complained about the overt and usually hostile 
involvement of the government when organizers attempted to develop 
independent unions. The process for official government recognition of 
unions was politicized, and the government occasionally used the 
process to reward political allies or punish political opponents. 
According to union organizers, government labor boards frequently 
rejected union registration applications on technicalities. In 
addition, independent union activists claimed that the requirement that 
the government approve strikes in advance gave authorities the power to 
show favoritism by determining which companies would be protected from 
strikes.
    Although few formal strikes occurred, in part because of the 
numerous restrictions on strikes, informal stoppages of work by both 
union and nonunionized groups were fairly common. According to union 
activists, employers frequently did not attend conciliation meetings 
between the parties as a stalling tactic.
    Protection (company-controlled) unions continued to be a problem in 
all sectors, and many observers noted that a majority of organized 
workers belonged to unrepresentative unions. Officially sanctioned 
``protection contracts"--formal agreements whereby the company created 
an unrepresentative union in exchange for labor peace and other 
concessions--were common in all sectors and often prevented workers 
from fully exercising their labor rights as defined by law. These 
contracts were often developed prior to the company hiring any workers 
at a new job site and managed without direct input from workers. 
Collective bargaining agreements resulting from protection contracts 
usually failed to provide worker benefits beyond the legal minimum and 
impeded the rights of independent unions to effectively and 
legitimately bargain collectively on behalf of workers.
    According to several NGOs and unions, many workers continued to 
face intimidation during bargaining rights elections from other 
workers, union leaders, or employers favoring a particular union. The 
practice of a voice vote was declared illegal by the Supreme Court. 
However, practices such as providing very limited notice prior to an 
election and allowing management or nonemployees to vote were 
increasingly common.
    An October 31 election at the Telefonica-affiliated Atento Services 
was cancelled due to reports of violence. Workers at the call center 
were reportedly subjected to violence and intimidation by thugs outside 
the voting place and prohibited from entering. Workers claimed that 
they had planned to try to elect a nonprotection union, Telefonistas de 
la Republica Mexicana. The vote was subsequently rescheduled for 
November 9, and a protection union won. Workers sympathetic to 
Telefonistas de la Republica Mexicana claimed that they were again 
prohibited from voting.
    Workers were reportedly expelled from official unions for trying to 
organize their colleagues into separate, independent unions. The 
``exclusion clause'' in law gave these unions the right to prevent the 
formation of an authentic union by expelling agitators from the 
``official'' union, thereby obliging the company to fire these 
individuals. Some fired workers accused unions of harassment and 
intimidation.
    At the end of 2010, the offices of the Worker Support Center 
(Centro de Apoyo al Trabajador--CAT) were looted and threatening 
messages were targeted at employees in response to the CAT's efforts to 
support workers at the Johnson Controls Interiors plant in Puebla. The 
leader of CAT received death threats. By April the Johnson Controls 
Interiors workers had ousted the ``protection union'' and signed a new 
agreement that included a 7.5 percent wage increase and better working 
conditions. However, CAT and its director continued to receive threats 
during the year, and its offices were again robbed. Authorities 
subsequently responded to the threats by instituting routine police 
patrols by CAT offices and providing dedicated cell phones to the CAT 
leadership in case of an emergency. The investigation continued at 
year's end.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--Although the law 
prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, the government did 
not effectively enforce such laws. Forced labor persisted in both the 
agricultural and industrial sectors. Women and children were subjected 
to domestic servitude. Migrants, including men, women, and children, 
were the most vulnerable to forced labor.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law prohibits children under the age of 14 from working and allows 
those between the ages of 14 and 17 to work limited daytime hours in 
nonhazardous conditions, and only with parental permission.
    The government did not effectively enforce such prohibitions. 
According to sources including the International Labor Organization, 
government enforcement was reasonably effective at large and medium-
sized companies, especially in factories run by U.S. companies, or the 
``maquila'' sector, and other industries under federal jurisdiction; 
inadequate at many small companies and in the agriculture and 
construction sectors; and nearly absent in the informal sector, in 
which most children worked. The labor inspection process is complicated 
by complex divisions and a lack of coordination between federal and 
state jurisdictions. The Secretariat for Social Development, the PGR, 
and the National System for Integral Family Development all have 
responsibility for enforcement of some aspects of child labor laws or 
intervention in cases where such laws are violated. The Secretariat of 
Labor and Social Security (STPS) is responsible for carrying out child 
labor inspections.
    The STPS was involved in programs that supported the elimination of 
child labor and the improvement of conditions for legally working 
minors. Beginning in September the STPS implemented a campaign in Baja 
California to educate workers and employers about agriculture workers' 
rights in 26 states. The STPS continued to work with global donors to 
implement programs to combat child labor in the agriculture sector, 
including in Michoacan, Veracruz, Chiapas, and Sinaloa. During the year 
the Secretariat for Social Development and DIF carried out programs to 
prevent child labor abuses and promote child labor rights, including 
specific efforts to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of 
children.
    Child labor remained a problem. According to the most current 
government child labor survey, conducted between 2007 and 2009 by the 
National Institute of Statistics and Geography and the Ministry of 
Labor, the overall child occupation rate (five to 17 years old) fell 
from 12.5 percent to 10.7 percent, or approximately 3 million children. 
Forty-two percent of child labor occurred in the livestock and the 
agricultural sectors. Child labor in agriculture included the 
production of melons, onions, sugarcane, tobacco, and tomatoes. Other 
sectors with significant child labor included commerce, services, 
manufacturing, and construction.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The minimum daily wage, 
determined by zone, was 59.82 pesos ($4.29) in Zone A (Baja California, 
Federal District, state of Mexico, and large cities); 58.13 pesos 
($4.16) in Zone B (Sonora, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and 
Jalisco); and 56.70 pesos ($4.06) in Zone C (all other states). Most 
formal sector workers received between one and three times the minimum 
wage. The National Council for Evaluation of Social Development Policy 
estimated the poverty line at 64 pesos ($4.58) per day for 2011.
    The law sets six eight-hour days and 48 hours per week as the legal 
workweek. Any work more than eight hours in a day is considered 
overtime, for which a worker receives double the hourly wage. After 
accumulating nine hours of overtime in a week, a worker earns triple 
the hourly wage; the law prohibits compulsory overtime. The law 
includes eight paid public holidays, and one week of paid annual leave 
after completing one year of work. The law requires employers to 
observe occupational safety and health regulations, issued jointly by 
the STPS and the Mexican Institute for Social Security. Legally 
mandated joint management and labor committees set standards and are 
responsible for overseeing workplace standards in plants and offices. 
Individual employees or unions may complain directly to inspectors or 
safety and health officials. By law workers may remove themselves from 
hazardous situations without jeopardizing their employment.
    The STPS is responsible for enforcing labor laws and employed 376 
federal labor inspectors during the year, compared with 218 in 2007. 
The STPS carried out regular inspections of workplaces, using a 
questionnaire to identify victims of labor exploitation. Between 
January and November, it undertook 56,390 inspections, including the 
monitoring of industries identified as having a high incidence of child 
labor (agriculture, coal mines, and construction work). These 
operations identified 1,836 underage agricultural workers, removed 
workers under age 14, and penalized employers with fines. According to 
the STPS, training for labor inspectors included a program focused on 
enforcement of labor laws in the agricultural sector, but there was no 
program for labor inspections in the informal sector.
    In practice workers often could not remove themselves from 
hazardous situations without jeopardizing their employment. According 
to labor rights NGOs, employers in all sectors sometimes used the 
illegal ``hours bank'' approach--requiring long hours when the workload 
is heavy and cutting hours when it is light--to avoid compensating 
workers for overtime. In addition many companies evaded taxes and 
social security payments by employing workers informally. The 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated that 43 
percent of the workforce was engaged in the informal economy.
    Environmental groups criticized the hazardous working conditions in 
mines, including exposure to methane gas and mercury poisoning. For 
instance, 14 workers were killed in a methane explosion on May 3, and 
on August 26, four workers were killed while working in a coal mine in 
Coahuila. The union blamed the incidents on a lack of sufficient safety 
controls.

                               __________

                               NICARAGUA

                           executive summary
    Nicaragua is a multiparty constitutional republic by law, but in 
recent years political power has been concentrated in a single party, 
with an increasingly authoritarian executive exercising significant 
control over the legislative, judicial, and electoral branches. On 
November 6, the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) announced that Daniel 
Ortega Saavedra of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) had 
been reelected as president in elections that international and 
domestic observers characterized as seriously flawed. International and 
domestic organizations also raised concerns regarding the 
constitutional legitimacy of Ortega's reelection. Security forces 
generally reported to civilian authorities, but in several instances 
elements of the security forces acted independently of government 
control.
    The principal human rights abuses during the year were restrictions 
on citizens' right to vote, violence against women, and police abuse of 
suspects during arrest and detention.
    Additional significant human rights abuses included occasional 
unlawful killings by security forces; harsh and overcrowded prison 
conditions; arbitrary and lengthy pretrial detention; widespread 
corruption and politicization of the membership and actions of the CSE, 
the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), and other government organs, as 
well as a lack of respect for the rule of law by these bodies; 
withholding of accreditation from election-monitoring nongovernmental 
organizations (NGOs); and erosion of freedom of speech and press, 
including government intimidation and harassment of journalists and 
independent media. There were also reports of corrupt practices; 
government harassment and intimidation of NGOs; trafficking in persons; 
discrimination against ethnic minorities and indigenous persons and 
communities; societal discrimination against and abuse of lesbian, gay, 
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals; discrimination against 
persons with HIV/AIDS; and violations of trade union rights.
    The government occasionally took steps to prosecute officials who 
committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere in 
government. However, impunity was a widespread problem.
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 committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. 
However, security forces reportedly killed nine persons during the 
year. Human rights organizations and independent media alleged that 
four of these killings were politically motivated.
    On February 14, in the department of Jinotega, unidentified gunmen 
killed former contra leader Jose Gabriel Garmendia who in 2010 publicly 
announced he had taken up arms against the government. Human rights 
organizations attributed the killing to the Nicaraguan National Police 
(NNP) or National Army Intelligence Forces. However, both entities 
denied involvement. NGOs claimed that the NNP did not carry out a 
proper investigation to determine responsibility for Garmendia's death 
and alleged that the killing was politically motivated. There were no 
additional developments by year's end.
    On November 8, NNP officers killed three opposition supporters in 
El Carrizo. Police officer Mauricio Jose Diaz Jimenez, along with 
volunteer police officers Martin Ramirez Izaguirre and Pablo Alvarado 
Espinoza, local FSLN political secretary Jesus Herrera, and local 
Municipal Electoral Council member Eusedio Cruz Montenegro, were 
allegedly intoxicated when they entered the home of opposition member 
Jose Mercedes Perez Cruz Torrez, whom they killed. The group also 
killed two of Torrez's sons, Elmer Torres Cruz and Josue Zael Perez 
Torres, and wounded two others during the incident. Diaz, Izaguirre, 
Alvarado, Herrera, and Montenegro were each charged with homicide in 
the Criminal District Court of Madriz. The Nicaraguan Center of Human 
Rights (CENIDH) argued that the charges should have included 
assassination and torture. On November 11, the CENIDH sent the Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights a request for precautionary 
measures to protect the family members of the deceased. At year's end 
the request was pending.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the law prohibits such practices, there were 
reports that police frequently abused suspects during arrest, used 
excessive force, or engaged in degrading treatment. Between January and 
September, the NGO Permanent Commission on Human Rights (CPDH) and 
CENIDH received seven and five high-profile complaints, respectively, 
against the NNP for excessive force, arbitrary detention, and cruel or 
degrading treatment at prisons.
    On September 23, police in Esteli arrested Faustino Alonzo Torres, 
Timoteo Patron, and Alexander Torres for painting political opposition 
graffiti in public spaces. The three individuals claimed that they were 
detained by police for 34 hours, during which time they were mocked by 
police, had water thrown on them for hours, endured sleep deprivation 
and isolation, and were denied contact with family members. All claimed 
that upon release NNP officers apologized and stated that the arrest 
had been a mistake. Police later stated that the men were not subjected 
to water exposure but did not comment on the other alleged actions. 
Both the CENIDH and CPDH demanded an investigation. At year's end there 
were no developments or reports of an investigation by the NNP.
    On November 28, the daily newspaper La Prensa reported that Leonel 
Santana Zambrana was arbitrarily arrested, severely tortured, and 
forced to give false testimony implicating himself in a robbery and 
accusing two others in a related killing. Santana alleged that police 
tortured him and forced him to sign a false statement and videotape a 
confession. Santana claimed he did not commit any crime and did not 
know the individuals implicated by his statement. The NNP denied the 
allegations, and Santana presented his complaint to the CENIDH. There 
were no further developments at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Minor renovations to 
prison facilities were reported during the year, but prison conditions 
continued to deteriorate due to antiquated infrastructure and 
increasing inmate populations. According to the Strategic Studies and 
Public Policy Institute (IEEPP), the country's eight prisons, designed 
for fewer than 5,000 inmates, held approximately 7,200 prisoners. There 
were approximately 3,500 inmates in La Modelo, the largest national 
prison facility. Inmates suffered from parasites, inadequate medical 
attention, frequent food shortages, contaminated water, and inadequate 
sanitation. Family members, churches, and charitable organizations 
provided some inmates with food and medical attention to mitigate harsh 
conditions. The national budget allowed only 10 cordobas (approximately 
$0.44) per prisoner per day for three meals and lacked an amount for 
health care. The government permitted religious observance. Poor 
conditions led to several prison riots throughout the year, most 
notably in Bluefields, Chinandega, and Granada.
    Conditions in jails and temporary holding cells were also harsh. 
Most facilities were infested with vermin, physically deteriorated, 
lacking in potable water, and equipped with inadequate ventilation, 
electric, or sewage systems. There were no reports of detainee deaths 
due to dangerous conditions, although many prisoners suffered 
mistreatment from prison officials and other inmates. The National 
Human Rights Institute (PDDH), the independence and effectiveness of 
which was sometimes questioned (see section 5), received 37 complaints 
related to prison conditions during the year. While this number was 
less than that of 2010, there were no reported significant improvements 
in the penitentiary system to which the decrease could be attributed.
    On July 1, Pastor Escobar Duarte was shot and killed by inmate 
Sanchez Bustos in La Modelo National Prison. According to the CENIDH, 
the entry of firearms into prisons is generally very difficult without 
some form of consent or support from prison authorities. The NNP stated 
that they were investigating, but at year's end no information was 
available. The CENIDH reported that it was denied access to the prison 
to investigate.
    On January 26, a district penal judge sentenced police and 
prisoners convicted of the July 2010 rape of a young gay prisoner in 
the Ometepe prison of Altagracia. Four prisoners involved were found 
guilty of aggravated rape. The police officers originally charged as 
accomplices were convicted of the lesser crime of cover-up, given 
reduced sentences, and freed from prison.
    Pretrial detainees often shared cells with convicted prisoners. 
Juvenile prisoners also shared cells with adults due to overcrowding. 
An October PDDH study of eight departmental penitentiary facilities 
reported that approximately 74 percent of incarcerated adolescents who 
were surveyed claimed to share cells with adult prisoners. On May 18, a 
male minor being held in a temporary detention center in Bluefields was 
raped by another detainee.
    The CENIDH reported that suspects were regularly left in police 
holding cells during their trials due to police negligence or a lack of 
government funds to transport them to court. The government did not 
take any steps to improve recordkeeping during the year. In May the 
press reported that preventive holding cells in Granada held 147 
prisoners, despite a capacity of only 80. This problem was particularly 
serious in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) and the South 
Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), where the NNP estimated in 2010 that 
93 percent of the inmates in preventive holding cells should be in the 
National Penitentiary System. In March the press reported that 
preventive holding cells in the RAAS capital of Bluefields held 120 
prisoners but had a capacity of only 60. In 2010 the NNP stated that 
the RAAN and the RAAS prison facilities had a capacity for 1 percent of 
the country's total incarcerated population but held up to 11 percent.
    Conditions for female inmates were generally better than those for 
men but were nevertheless overcrowded and unhygienic. It was reported 
that the National Women's Prison held approximately 180 women.
    In certain instances the government restricted prisoners' access to 
visitors, attorneys, physicians, and human rights officials. The 
government frequently denied prison visits by local and international 
human rights groups as well as the media. During the year authorities 
denied the CENIDH access to facilities in Esteli and La Modelo when the 
organization attempted to investigate reports of hazardous conditions. 
Due to their lack of access, NGOs generally received complaints through 
family members of inmates and often were unable to follow up on cases 
until after the release of the prisoner.
    The government allowed foreign consular officials to meet with 
their imprisoned nationals. However, the NNP often failed to notify 
foreign consular representatives of arrests. Instead virtually all 
notifications came through friends or family members of the arrestees.
    Prisoners and detainees were permitted to submit complaints to 
judicial authorities without censorship and to request investigation of 
credible allegations of inhumane conditions. However, complaints were 
often ignored or not processed. The government ombudsman could serve on 
behalf of prisoners and detainees to consider such matters as 
alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders, although this 
generally did not occur in practice.
    The extent to which the government monitored and investigated 
prison conditions was unknown, but the government included funds in its 
budget to improve prison and detention facilities. During the year the 
government renovated prison facilities in Leon and approved a project 
and granted land for construction of new prison facilities in 
Bluefields.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention. However, the government and its agents did not 
always comply with warrant requirements in searches, seizures, and 
arrests. The CPDH reported a 40 percent increase during the year in 
complaints of arrests and searches by police without proper warrants.
    On September 23, police reportedly arbitrarily arrested, detained, 
and then tortured four persons, three in Esteli (see section 1.c.) and 
one in Managua.
    On October 16, police in Ocotal allegedly arrested without a court 
order five members of the political opposition group Youth Resistance 
for National Dignity (REJUDIN). One member, Jairo Contreras, claimed 
police took him to Managua, detained him for several hours, and 
attempted to obtain information from him on REJUDIN's political 
activities before releasing him without charges.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The president is 
commander in chief of the NNP, which is administered by the Ministry of 
Governance. The NNP forms a single force responsible both in law and in 
practice for enforcing the law throughout the country and maintaining 
internal security. The army is responsible for external security but 
also has some domestic responsibilities, including combating drug 
trafficking and the transportation of election-related materials, 
including ballots. In December, amid civil unrest following the 
November elections, the army began sending troops to the RAAN but 
claimed this was part of a previously planned deployment. Civilian 
authorities generally maintained effective control over the NNP and the 
army and had mechanisms in place to investigate and punish abuse and 
corruption. However, these mechanisms were rarely used in practice, and 
there were numerous reports of impunity involving security forces.
    The NNP Office of Internal Affairs, and to a lesser extent the 
Office of the Inspector General, are responsible for investigating 
police abuses; however, the slow pace of the justice system contributed 
to a public perception of police impunity. During the year the Office 
of Internal Affairs registered 1,826 complaints, investigated 1,740 
cases of alleged abuse of authority or breach of duty, and dismissed 
173 officers for police misconduct. In 2010, of the complaints filed 
against police, approximately 73 percent pertained to human rights 
violations, 14 percent to corrupt acts, and 13 percent to minor 
offenses or infractions. The PDDH reported that the largest number of 
complaints for alleged human rights violations received during the year 
(1,291, or 66 percent of the total) was related to the NNP and that the 
NNP had the highest rate of compliance with PDDH resolutions (61 
percent). The government generally did not take action on complaints 
against security forces.
    NNP trainees must receive human rights instruction to graduate from 
the police academy and must be annually recertified in human rights 
awareness. In 2010 the police academy conducted human rights trainings 
for 3,219 officers and trainees, of whom 641 received continuous or 
follow-up training. This training reportedly continued during the year. 
The PDDH reported conducting 31 training sessions on human rights with 
the NNP and eight sessions with the army.
    The constitution establishes the NNP as an apolitical, nonpartisan 
institution protecting all citizens equally under the law. NGOs claimed 
that in practice President Ortega continued to use his position as 
commander in chief to politicize NNP affairs and threaten the 
institution's professionalism. For instance, President Ortega's 
extension of the term of the national chief of police, Aminta Granera, 
through executive decree allegedly violated term limits prescribed in 
law. NGOs and the press also alleged that the NNP provided preferential 
treatment for progovernment and FSLN rallies (see section 2.b.).

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Individuals 
are apprehended openly. The law requires police to obtain a warrant 
from a judicial authority prior to detaining a suspect and to notify 
family members of the detainee's whereabouts within 24 hours. The law 
mandates that a prosecutor accompany police making an arrest. However, 
the CPDH claimed irregularities in arrest procedures (see section 
1.d.). Detainees have the right to an attorney immediately following 
their arrest. The state provides indigent detainees with a public 
defender. In most instances detainees were informed of charges against 
them. However, there were sometimes delays. Police may hold a suspect 
legally for 48 hours before arraignment, when they must bring the 
person before a judge. A judge then must order the suspect released or 
transferred to jail for pretrial detention. In practice few prisoners 
were held beyond the 48-hour deadline. After the initial 48 hours, the 
suspect has access to bail, family members, and legal representation.

    Arbitrary Arrest.--Arbitrary arrest continued to be a problem. On 
March 2, police arrested four persons in Ocotal for hanging signs 
protesting President Ortega's reelection campaign. Police released the 
individuals several hours later without explanation or formal charges.
    On April 16, police detained and threatened opposition party 
members David Campos, Byron Rivas, and Marvin Parrales as they entered 
a radio station to speak about opposition protests against President 
Ortega's reelection. After leaving the station, the three were briefly 
detained again and questioned by police but not formally charged.

    Pretrial Detention.--Lengthy pretrial detention continued to be a 
problem. In the RAAN and the RAAS, detainees often waited an average of 
six months for their cases to be presented to a judge. Observers 
attributed delays to limited facilities, an overburdened judicial 
system, and high crime rates. No information was available on the 
percentage of the prison population in pretrial detention or the 
average length of time held.

    Amnesty.--During the year the National Assembly received 59 pardon 
requests and granted four.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Although the law provides for an 
independent judiciary, the judicial system remained susceptible to 
corruption and did not function independently (see section 4). The law 
requires CSJ vetting of new judicial appointments, a process often 
based on nepotism, influence, or political affiliation. Once appointed, 
many judges were subject to political and economic pressures that 
affected their independence. NGOs complained of a delay of justice 
caused by judicial inaction and widespread impunity, especially 
regarding family and domestic violence and sexual abuse. During the 
year the PDDH reported receiving 458 complaints (25 percent of the 
total) concerning due process of law and 88 complaints related to 
access to justice that involved the NNP, the judiciary, or the Ministry 
of the Family, Adolescents, and Children (MiFamilia).
    In May Fidel Moreno, FSLN political secretary for Managua, and 
Daysi Torres, FSLN member and mayor of Managua, brought libel and 
slander charges against Luciano Garcia and Leonel Teller, opposition 
members and Managua city councilmen. In March Garcia had accused Moreno 
of misappropriating municipal funds and requested an investigation of 
multiple government officials, including Torres. In response Moreno and 
Torres brought cases against both Garcia and Teller. NGOs considered 
the trial a politically motivated attempt to discourage other citizens 
from reporting official corruption. On June 27, a judge found Garcia 
guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of 800,000 cordobas ($34,900) and 
issue a retraction of his accusation. On September 21, Teller was also 
found guilty and ordered to pay a fine of 376,000 cordobas ($16,400). 
The civil society organization Movement for Nicaragua raised the money 
to pay Garcia's fine, and Teller appealed his sentence. Teller's appeal 
trial was scheduled for January 2012.

    Trial Procedures.--Trials are public, and the law provides 
defendants with the option of a jury trial. Defendants have the right 
to legal counsel, and the state provides public defenders for indigent 
persons. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty and have 
the right of access to all information and evidence registered with the 
government, as well as the right to know why and how it was obtained, 
but only during the discovery and trial phases, not during the pretrial 
period. Defendants can confront and question witnesses and also have 
the right to appeal a conviction. The law extends these rights to all 
citizens regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, or other status. 
The courts continued to use the Napoleonic legal process for cases that 
were initiated before December 24, 2002.
    The country continued to lack an effective civil law system, with 
the result that private litigants often filed cases as criminal 
complaints to force one party to concede rather than face the prospect 
of detention in jail. This civil-based criminal caseload continued to 
divert resources from the overburdened Office of the Prosecutor.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The law provides that 
individuals and organizations can file lawsuits seeking damages for 
human rights violations before civil courts and also provides for 
litigants to use mediation to resolve civil claims. In practice many 
members of the judiciary did not render impartial judgments in civil 
matters and were not independent of political or other influence. Due 
to bureaucratic inefficiencies, litigants unable to resolve claims 
through mediation often had to wait months or years for courts to 
process their claims.

    Property Restitution.--The government regularly failed to enforce 
court orders with respect to seizure, restitution, or compensation of 
private property. Illegal land seizures increased during the year, 
including reports of government seizure without due process or fair 
compensation.
    In December the Municipality of Managua removed hundreds of tons of 
gravel from a private property and seized private land from at least 
one family without previous declaration of eminent domain or an offer 
of fair compensation. There were no developments in either case at 
year's end.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--While the law prohibits such actions, several domestic 
NGOs alleged that the government monitored their e mail and telephone 
conversations.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, but 
the government used administrative, judicial, and financial means to 
limit the exercise of these rights. Although the law provides that the 
right to information cannot be subject to censorship, it also 
establishes retroactive liability, including penalties for libel and 
slander. There were cases of individuals being charged or threatened 
with libel and slander for speaking out against official corruption 
(see section 1.c.).

    Freedom of the Press.--Independent media were active and expressed 
a variety of views. The government, however, sought to restrict media 
freedom through harassment, censorship, arbitrary application of libel 
laws, and use of national security justifications. Private individuals 
also harassed media for criticizing the government. President Ortega 
frequently utilized a law that allowed for government broadcasts of 
emergency messages to force national networks to either broadcast his 
speeches or temporarily cease other broadcasting during those times.
    There were numerous allegations of politicized closures of 
opposition radio stations or the cancellation of opposition radio 
programs, particularly in Bluefields, Esteli, and Chinandega. Other 
actions included vandalism, seizure of broadcast equipment, and slander 
or defamation charges filed against media outlet owners or program 
hosts. Opposition news sources reported that they were generally not 
permitted to enter official government events and that if they were 
allowed access, they were not permitted to interview officials.
    NGOs claimed that President Ortega purchased numerous television 
stations throughout the year, including Channel 13 and formerly state-
owned Channel 6, allegedly with state funds. The president installed 
family members as owners of these stations and limited programming to 
progovernment or FSLN propaganda and reelection advertisements.

    Violence and Harassment.--Both of the largest daily newspapers, La 
Prensa and El Nuevo Diario, claimed that government officials and 
supporters intimidated their journalists and that CSJ and CSE officials 
responded aggressively or refused to respond to questions about cases 
involving the constitution, rule of law, and corruption. During the 
year there were several reported cases of threats and/or violence 
against the press.
    On February 19, El Nuevo Diario journalist Luis Galeano and his 
family received death threats over the telephone and by mail from 
unknown individuals. Galeano claimed the threats were due to his 
investigation into CSE officials' corruption, including CSE president 
Roberto Rivas. Galeano filed a report with the NNP. However, at year's 
end no action had been taken.
    During August Jinotega-based journalist Silvia Gonzalez of El Nuevo 
Diario and her family received death threats, which observers 
attributed to her investigation into the killing of Jose Gabriel 
Garmendia (see section 1.a.), as well as to her work on corruption in 
the FSLN-controlled Jinotega city hall. Gonzalez identified her 
assailants, allegedly FSLN supporters, to the NNP, which investigated 
but made no arrests. Gonzalez left the country in September, claiming 
that her life was in danger.
    On October 21, alleged FSLN supporters attacked an opposition-
affiliated radio station in Rosita with homemade explosive devices. The 
attack left two youths seriously wounded. There were no reports of an 
NNP investigation by year's end.
    Actions against La Prensa facilities related to a 2010 contract 
dispute continued during the year. Reportedly with the support of FSLN-
affiliated union groups, the former service providers to La Prensa 
demonstrated at the newspaper's facilities five times between January 
and November; they also demonstrated on February 7 outside the 
residence of the newspaper's general manager. The management of La 
Prensa claimed that these demonstrations damaged the newspaper's 
facilities and hindered circulation of the paper. According to 
management, police did not intervene to protect the facilities.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The government continued to 
exclude independent media outlets from all official media events and to 
withhold government advertising contracts, instead funneling millions 
of dollars worth of advertising funds and important public 
announcements to official media outlets owned or controlled by the 
Ortega family.

    Publishing Restrictions.--The government continued to enforce the 
controversial Law 528, or ``Ley Arce,'' which members of the press 
claimed restricted the public's access to print media through the 
establishment of high tariffs and bureaucratic delays on the 
importation of ink, paper, machinery, and other printing necessities.
    On February 3, shortly after El Nuevo Diario published a series of 
articles on corruption in the government's tax agency, customs 
officials blocked the importation of printing materials for the 
newspaper. After significant pressure from domestic and international 
human rights and press freedom organizations, the government released 
the materials on February 8.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or Internet chat rooms; however, several NGOs alleged 
that the government monitored their e-mails. Individuals and groups 
engaged in the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-
mail and through the use of social media.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were no government 
restrictions on cultural events. However, there were government 
restrictions on academic freedom.
    Throughout the year human rights NGOs and civil society groups 
reported that students in K-12 public schools were forced to 
participate in progovernment rallies during school. Teachers' 
organizations and NGOs alleged FSLN interference in the school system 
through the firing of non-FSLN teachers and their replacement with 
party loyalists, use of school facilities as FSLN campaign 
headquarters, favoritism shown to members of FSLN youth groups or 
children of FSLN members, politicized issuance of scholarships, and use 
of pro-FSLN education materials. Independent press and teachers' unions 
reported that more than 3,000 teachers had been fired since 2006 for 
political reasons. These groups voiced concern over the degradation of 
educational freedom and quality due to political activities conducted 
in schools during the year.

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Freedom of 
Assembly.--The law recognizes the right to public assembly, 
demonstration, and mobilization but mandates that demonstrators obtain 
permission for a rally or march by registering its planned size and 
location with the police. The CENIDH and CPDH reported that police 
generally protected, or otherwise gave preferential treatment to, 
progovernment FSLN demonstrations while disrupting or denying 
registration for opposition groups. In many cases on-duty police did 
not act to protect opposition protesters when progovernment supporters 
harassed or attacked them.
    NGOs and media reported several incidents of police abuse against 
opposition rallies and civil society events. On April 2, NNP and FSLN 
supporters blocked a march in Managua opposing the reelection of 
President Ortega. Allegedly the NNP denied entry into the capital to a 
number of the buses carrying opposition supporters for the march and 
arrested and abused protesters.

    Freedom of Association.--The law provides for freedom of 
association, including the right to organize or affiliate with 
political parties. However, the CSE and the National Assembly used 
their accreditation powers for political purposes. CSE accreditation is 
mandatory for political parties and election-monitoring organizations, 
and the CSE withheld accreditation from election-monitoring NGOs in 
some cases (see section 5). National Assembly accreditation is 
mandatory for NGOs to receive donations.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 law provides for freedom of 
movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation. The government generally respected these rights in 
practice.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) through humanitarian organizations, 
such as the International Organization for Migration, in providing 
protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, 
returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other 
persons of concern.

    Exile.--The law prohibits forced exile. The press reported a case 
of self-imposed exile in August, in which a journalist fled the country 
due to death threats from government supporters (see section 2.a.).

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The law provides for 
the granting of asylum or refugee status, and the government has 
established a system for providing protection to refugees. The National 
Commission for Refugees--composed of six voting members (three 
government ministries and three religious organizations) and five 
nonvoting members from human rights NGOs--is the only entity that may 
grant refugee status in the country. Asylum for political persecution 
may be granted only by the executive branch or the country's embassies 
abroad.

    Durable Solutions.--According to a January UNHCR survey, the 
government granted refugee status to 64 persons, and 12 persons sought 
asylum.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived from birth within the 
country's territory and from one's parents. Local civil registries 
register births within 12 months. However, many persons, especially in 
rural areas, lacked birth certificates. The government continued to 
increase the registration of newborns through service desks in public 
hospitals and through ``social-promoter'' programs that visited rural 
neighborhoods.
    Persons without citizenship documents were unable to obtain cedulas 
(national identity cards). A June survey by M&R Consultants estimated 
that 440,000 citizens, approximately12.5 percent of the eligible 
population, lacked cedulas. Persons without cedulas had difficulty 
participating in the legal economy, conducting bank transactions, or 
voting and were subject to restrictions in employment, access to 
courts, and land ownership. Women and children lacking cedulas were 
reportedly more vulnerable to sexual exploitation by traffickers.
    Civil society organizations continued to express concern about the 
high cost and politicized distribution of cedulas, alleging that these 
barriers were an FSLN attempt to manipulate the 2011 election and that 
the CSE failed to provide cedulas to opposition members while widely 
distributing them to party loyalists. The politicized granting of 
cedulas led to several protests during the year.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens the right to change their government 
peacefully; however, the government restricted the exercise of this 
right in practice.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--On 
November 6, President Ortega was reelected in elections that both 
international and domestic observers characterized as highly irregular 
and nontransparent. The EU, the Organization of American States (OAS), 
and domestic observation missions reported significant concerns with 
the CSE's approval of a disproportionate amount of FSLN poll watchers 
and a denial of opposition party access to critical electoral stations. 
The OAS expressed concern over irregularities related to the 
accreditation of approximately 9,000 opposition poll watchers and 
reported that OAS observers were denied access to several voting 
centers.
    The domestic observation group Ethics and Transparency reported 
that up to 150,000 votes were fraudulently altered by the CSE to ensure 
that the FSLN obtained an additional eight to 12 seats in the National 
Assembly, which would assure the party's legislative control. Voting 
results were not published by the CSE at the polling station level, 
leading observation groups to deem the results unverifiable. Violence 
related to the highly irregular nature of the elections left five 
citizens dead, including three opposition members (see section 1.a.) 
and two FSLN political secretaries in the RAAN.
    Prior to the November elections, NGOs raised a number of concerns 
about the electoral process, including the politicized issuance of 
cedulas (see section 2.d.); preferential treatment of FSLN members at 
voting centers, including the enrollment of underage FSLN voters; 
threats against poll watchers of the observation group Institute for 
Development and Democracy (IPADE); a series of new, restrictive 
observation regulations issued by the CSE; and the CSE's denial of 
official accreditation to several domestic electoral observation 
groups.
    On April 5, President Ortega issued a decree redistricting three 
municipalities from the RAAS to the neighboring pro-FSLN department of 
Chontales. Opposition parties, constitutional experts, and electoral 
observers labeled the decree illegal, as it lacked the mandated 
legislative approval, and declared it politically motivated, as it 
reapportioned votes to benefit the FSLN in the November election. The 
decree was under appeal at year's end, but it was reported that the 
votes of the three municipalities were included with Chontales in the 
election.

    Political Parties.--The FSLN used state resources for political 
activities to enhance its electoral advantage. Press and opposition 
groups stated that the CSE's annulment of several opposition 
candidacies for the National Assembly during the year was illegal. They 
alleged that the CSE annulled the candidacies to give an advantage to 
the president's campaign and FSLN candidates.
    Opposition parties, human rights groups, and international and 
domestic observation organizations expressed concern over a pending CSJ 
case on the legal status of the main opposition party, the Independent 
Liberal Party (PLI). They claimed that the case could illegally annul 
the elections of some, or all, of the PLI's elected National Assembly 
candidates and represented a severe affront to the electoral process. 
There were no further developments by year's end.
    The FSLN made party membership mandatory for most public sector 
employees. The CPDH reported that employees in various state 
institutions were required to affiliate with the FSLN and that to apply 
for a government position, an applicant must receive a written 
recommendation from the FSLN (see section 7.b.). The Democratic 
Federation of Public Sector Workers (FEDETRASEP) also received reports 
that the FSLN automatically withdrew party dues from the paychecks of 
state employees.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were 19 women in the 
92-seat National Assembly, four women in the 16-member CSJ, and 11 
women in 29 cabinet-level posts. Eight persons from indigenous and 
other ethnic groups were deputies 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 frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    In the executive branch, officials dispensed funds outside the 
normal budgetary process controlled by the legislature. Officials drew 
funds from economic and developmental assistance loaned by the 
Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) 
with the claim that funds were part of a joint venture between the 
state-owned oil companies of Venezuela and Nicaragua. Media reported 
that ALBA-funded contracts were awarded to companies with ties to the 
Ortega family and noted that the funds from Venezuela, which totaled 
approximately $500 million annually, served as a separate budget 
tightly controlled by the FSLN without public oversight.
    During the year the press reported numerous corrupt practices by 
CSE president Roberto Rivas, including alleged involvement in fraud and 
embezzlement of public funds. Members of the press who investigated 
corruption surrounding Rivas were subject to death threats (see section 
2.a.). On October 26, the Public Ministry and electoral prosecutor 
stated that there was not enough evidence with which to charge Rivas, 
and the case was archived.
    Independent media, human rights groups, and opposition parties 
reported that President Ortega's administration blurred distinctions 
between the FSLN and the government through its use of FSLN-led Citizen 
Power Councils (CPCs). The government administered subsidized food, 
housing, vaccinations, and other government benefits directly through 
CPCs, which reportedly coerced citizens into FSLN membership and often 
denied services to opposition members. Persons seeking to obtain or 
retain public sector employment, national identity documents, or voter 
registration were obliged to obtain recommendation letters from CPC 
block captains.
    The courts remained particularly susceptible to bribes, 
manipulation, and other forms of corruption, especially by political 
parties and drug cartels, and there were reports that politics 
influenced CSJ rulings (see section 6). There were reported cases of 
drug traffickers being declared innocent by corrupt judges, 
particularly in Granada.
    On October 11, magistrates of the CSJ reelected their president and 
vice president, allegedly without the legally required presence of a 
majority of members.
    In October 2010 lawmakers created the Administrative Unit of 
Seized, Forfeited, and Abandoned Goods under the Ministry of Finance 
and Public Credit, responsible for the reception, administration, 
auction, and donation of seized goods. However, the IEEPP reported a 
lack of accountability for the goods, including money and jets, seized 
by the unit and noted that legal gaps enabled corruption in the unit.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws, and the 
Office of the Comptroller is responsible for combating corruption. 
Although the law mandates public access to government information and 
statistics, it was rarely applied. Generally no reason was given for 
denial of access. Some government agencies stated they would respond 
later with the information but rarely did. Government Web sites 
frequently did not contain financial disclosure information or it was 
not current. An appeal mechanism existed if authorities denied or 
ignored an information request, but it was slow and burdensome.
    At year's end the CSJ had still not responded to CPDH information 
requests or to the case filed by the CPDH regarding the 2008 municipal 
elections.
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 in the country. Organizations dedicated to humanitarian 
activities generally operated without restriction. However, government 
officials harassed and intimidated domestic and international NGOs that 
were critical of the government or the FSLN. Some NGOs continued to 
report that intimidation by government officials created a climate of 
fear intended to suppress criticism. The government continued to 
prevent non-FSLN-affiliated NGOs and civil society groups from 
participating in government social programs, such as ``Programa Amor'' 
and Zero Hunger, and frequently used FSLN-controlled CPCs to administer 
these programs.
    The government denied accreditation to observe the 2011 national 
elections to the domestic observation groups IPADE and Hagamos 
Democracia. In previous elections these two groups had been critical of 
government and FSLN actions. The CSE denied accreditation to Hagamos 
Democracia, claiming that individuals on its executive board were paid 
members of the PLI, but gave no explanation for denying IPADE.
    Domestic NGOs who were under investigation reported problems in 
access to the justice system and delays in filing petitions. Many 
believed that comptroller and tax authorities audited their accounts as 
a means of intimidation. NGOs reported difficulties in scheduling 
meetings with authorities and in receiving official information due to 
a growing culture of secrecy.
    NGOs reported being met with hostility or aggression when 
questioning or speaking with officials on subjects such as corruption 
and rule of law. In June IPADE domestic observers were allegedly 
threatened by progovernment supporters and interrogated by police.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The government maintained a human 
rights ombudsman in the PDDH. The term of the ombudsman ended in 2009. 
However, in April 2010 President Ortega extended the incumbent's term 
indefinitely, as well as the terms of 25 members of the PDDH, without 
constitutional authorization. The action led the CPDH and CENIDH to 
label the PDDH as illegitimate and increasingly politicized. The CPDH 
stated that PDDH employees were forced to attend FSLN campaign rallies, 
and the CENIDH claimed that PDDH observers in the November presidential 
elections were not impartial. The public generally viewed the PDDH as 
politicized and ineffective.
    The PDDH reported receiving a total of 3,358 complaints, as well as 
investigating and ruling on 1,054 of those cases (and referring the 
remainder to other agencies). Of those investigated, the PDDH claimed 
to have found proof of violations in 247 cases and that public 
institutions complied with 315 resolutions of the total resolutions it 
issued. The PDDH reported conducting 195 workshops and other training 
on human rights to both government workers and the general population.
    The National Assembly operated a human rights committee focused 
primarily on amnesties and pardons. Civil society organizations viewed 
the committee as deadlocked by partisan political forces and not 
credible.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, gender, 
disability, language, or social status. In practice the government 
often did not enforce these legal prohibitions, and aggrieved persons 
filed few discrimination suits or formal complaints.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes all forms 
of rape, regardless of the relationship between the victim and the 
accused. However, the government failed to enforce the law effectively, 
leading to widespread impunity and increased violence. Sentences for 
those convicted of rape were a minimum of eight years and a maximum of 
12 years, or 15 in cases of aggravated rape. Many women were reluctant 
to report abuse due to social stigma, fear of retribution, impunity for 
perpetrators, and loss of economic security. During the year the NNP 
reported a general increase in sexual crimes against women, including 
1,105 cases of rape and aggravated rape, 790 cases of rape of a minor, 
and 918 cases of sexual abuse. There were no statistics available on 
prosecutions, convictions, or punishment.
    The law requires female victims of sexual crimes to undergo a 
medical examination by CSJ forensic specialists before proceeding 
legally against alleged perpetrators. However, the lack of female 
forensic doctors often deterred women from doing so. Rape victims were 
often unaware or uninformed about the procedures required to process 
their cases officially, meaning that often they did not receive the 
necessary examinations in sufficient time.
    The law criminalizes domestic violence and provides prison 
sentences ranging from one to 12 years. The law also provides for the 
issuance of restraining orders. NGOs asserted that victims of violence 
did not have reasonable access to justice. In October the Women's 
Autonomous Movement reported that only an estimated 15 percent of cases 
went to court, while the majority were resolved through mediation, 
which was often ineffective and led to patterns of abuse and impunity.
    Violence against women remained high during the year, according to 
domestic and international NGO reports. The Women's Network Against 
Violence (RMCV) reported that over the past six years, the rate of such 
violence more than tripled with an increase in the severity of the 
crimes. The Ministry of Health (MINSA) reported that in Managua cases 
of violence against women tripled from 110 in 2010 to 338 in 2011. On 
December 1, the National Assembly approved legislation to combat 
violence against women and increase sentences for convictions.
    During the first half of the year, the NNP reported 2,013 cases of 
domestic violence, compared with 2,943 reported for all of 2010.
    The RMCV found that more than 72 percent of crimes against women 
went unpunished and that attackers and abusers with political 
connections enjoyed impunity.
    On July 22, the CSJ reduced the sentence of convicted rapist and 
FSLN member Farington Reyes, who was found guilty of the rape of his 
coworker, Fatima Hernandez. The press, women's groups, and human rights 
organizations alleged that the sentence reduction was a result of 
Reyes' familial ties to high-ranking FSLN members and government 
officials. On November 22, the CSJ granted Reyes house arrest for the 
remainder of his sentence.
    The RMCV reported that 74 women were killed during the year, many 
of whom were also raped, beaten, maimed, or mutilated. By year's end 
courts convicted only seven individuals for such killings.
    Recent increases in violence against women as well as the reporting 
of it were attributed to a higher frequency of occurrence and, in the 
case of reporting, to a greater public willingness to come forward, due 
in part to increased public awareness campaigns by the NNP and women's 
rights organizations. These campaigns and activities were instrumental 
in raising public awareness and helping domestic abuse victims.
    During the year 54 NNP women's commissariats operated in the 
country, 16 more than in 2010. Commissariats provided social and legal 
help to women, mediated spousal conflicts, investigated and helped 
prosecute criminal complaints, and referred victims to other 
governmental and nongovernmental assistance agencies. However, 
commissariats often lacked sufficient equipment and funding to 
discharge their responsibilities adequately. One government-operated 
shelter dedicated to female victims of violence or abuse opened during 
the year, and there were 10 nongovernmental women's shelters.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment, and those 
convicted face between one- and three-year prison terms, or three- to 
five-year sentences if the victim is under 18. The NNP reported 201 
cases of sexual harassment during the year.

    Reproductive Rights.--MINSA's family-planning norms provide couples 
and individuals with 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. Access to information 
on contraception and skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum 
care were more available in urban areas but have improved in remote 
areas, such as the Atlantic coast. Seventy-four percent of births were 
attended by skilled personnel. Women generally received better access 
than men to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections because of NGO efforts and government campaigns dedicated to 
women's reproductive health. A 2011 Population Reference Bureau report 
indicated that 72 percent of married women ages 15 to 49 used a modern 
contraceptive method and that the gap between urban and rural users had 
decreased.
    Women in some areas, such as the RAAN and the RAAS, did not have 
widespread access to medical care or programs, and maternal death was 
more likely to affect poor rural women than their urban counterparts. 
MINSA noted a general downward trend in maternal mortality since 2006. 
However, 2010 MINSA data indicated that there were approximately 67 
maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, a slight increase over the 
2009 rate of approximately 60. Most of the women who died in childbirth 
were older than 35 years or adolescents who lived in rural areas.

    Discrimination.--The law provides equality for both genders, 
including within the family and workplace and for property ownership. 
The NNP Office of the Superintendent of Women is responsible for 
enforcing gender-specific laws. However, women often experienced 
discrimination in employment, credit, and pay equity for similar work, 
as well as in owning and managing businesses. Women earned 47 percent 
less than men for equal work, although the wage gap has decreased over 
the past three years. Women were much less likely to be senior 
officials or managers. In practice authorities often discriminated in 
property matters against poor women who lacked birth certificates or 
cedulas. The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman's Special Prosecutor 
for Women and the Nicaraguan Women's Institute, the government entities 
responsible for protecting women's rights, had limited effectiveness.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory and from one's parents. MiFamilia, the 
Civil Registry and, to a lesser extent, the CSE are the agencies 
responsible for registering births (see section 2.d.) but did not make 
data available.

    Child Abuse.--The NNP reported that during the first half of the 
year authorities received 1,932 complaints of sex crimes against 
adolescent girls and processed 516. At year's end the NNP reported that 
approximately 42 percent of total rape cases involved minors.
    Local leaders in Monkey Point in the RAAS alleged that military 
personnel stationed there regularly sexually harassed local girls, 
provided them with alcohol, and raped 13 girls between the ages of nine 
and 16. Military officials denied the claims and charged a local leader 
of Monkey Point with libel and slander. At year's end there was no 
reported investigation into the allegations against the military 
personnel, and the libel and slander charges were pending.
    Programa Amor, the government child-welfare program launched in 
2007, was designed to end child labor and homelessness, but numerous 
NGOs stated that the lack of public information on the program and the 
difficulties in conducting a census of homeless and working children 
made it difficult to assess the program's effectiveness.

    Child Marriage.--While child marriage was uncommon, it existed in 
some rural areas. There were no reported government efforts to combat 
it. With parental authorization, the minimum legal age for marriage is 
14 for girls and 15 for boys; without such authorization it is 18 and 
21, respectively.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law prohibits adults from 
promoting or participating in child prostitution, but it remained a 
problem. Several NGOs reported that sexual exploitation of young girls 
was common, as was the prevalence of older men (including foreigners) 
who exploited young girls under the guise of providing them support. 
Penalties include four to 10 years in prison for a person who entices 
or forces a child under age 12 to engage in sexual activity, and one to 
five years in prison for the same acts involving persons between the 
ages of 12 and 18. The law defines statutory rape as sexual relations 
with children who are 13 or younger, and there is no law prohibiting 
prostitution by juveniles 14 years of age or older. The NNP reported 
500 cases of statutory rape and aggravated statutory rape during the 
year. A June study by the CSJ Institute for Forensic Medicine found 
that in cases of rape of a minor, persons known to the victim committed 
88 percent of the rapes.
    The law also prohibits promoting, filming, or selling child 
pornography, and the government generally enforced this law. The 
penalty for an individual convicted of inducing, facilitating, 
promoting, or using a minor younger than 16 for sexual or erotic 
purposes, or forcing such a person to watch or participate in such an 
act is five to seven years in prison. If the victim is older than 16 
but under 18, the penalty is reduced to four to six years in prison.
    The country was a destination for child sex tourism. There were 
anecdotal reports of child sex tourism in the Granada, Rivas, and 
Managua Departments. However, there were no officially reported cases 
during the year. The law imposes a penalty of five to seven years in 
prison for convicted child sex-tourism offenders.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a signatory to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community numbered fewer than 50. There 
were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities, but in practice such discrimination was widespread in 
employment, education, access to health care, and the provision of 
state services. Laws related to persons with disabilities did not 
stipulate penalties for noncompliant companies, although penalties may 
be issued under the general labor inspection code. MiFamilia, the 
Ministry of Labor (MITRAB), and the PDDH are among government agencies 
responsible for the protection and advancement of rights for persons 
with disabilities. The government did not effectively enforce the law 
with regard to the protection of such individuals; did not mandate 
accessibility to buildings, information, and communications for them; 
and did not make information available on efforts to improve respect 
for their rights. Independent media reported that fewer than 1 percent 
of public sector employees were persons with disabilities, although 
that percentage is mandated by law, and that public institutions lacked 
coordination with the MITRAB regarding rights for persons with 
disabilities.
    Persons with disabilities continued to have problems accessing 
schools, public health facilities, and other public institutions. 
Complaints continued regarding the lack of a handicap-accessible public 
transportation system in Managua. The government launched a fleet of 
110 new buses during the year, some of which were handicap-accessible. 
However, in October La Prensa reported that only one of the handicap-
accessible buses was operating and that bus stop facilities were not 
handicap-accessible.
    Government clinics and hospitals provided care for veterans and 
other persons with disabilities, but the quality of care was generally 
poor.
    The 2011 World Health Organization World Report on Disability 
estimated that only 0.40 percent of persons with disabilities attended 
compulsory elementary education. In 2010 MINSA reported that only one 
out of five students with disabilities finished primary school.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Various indigenous and other 
ethnic groups from the RAAN and RAAS attributed the lack of government 
resources devoted to the Atlantic coast to discriminatory attitudes 
toward the ethnic, racial, and religious minorities in those regions. 
While the racial makeup of the RAAN and RAAS historically has been 
black and Amerindian, increasing migration from the interior and 
Pacific Coast of the country made these groups a minority in many 
areas.
    Exclusionary treatment based on race, skin color, and ethnicity was 
common, especially in higher-income urban areas. Darker-skinned persons 
of African descent from the RAAN and RAAS, along with others assumed to 
be from those areas, experienced discrimination, such as extra security 
measures and illegal searches by police.
    Information on government efforts to address discrimination based 
on skin color, race, or ethnicity was not available.

    Indigenous People.--Indigenous persons constituted approximately 5 
percent of the country's population and lived primarily in the RAAN and 
RAAS. They were not always participants in decisions affecting their 
lands, cultures, and traditions, or the exploitation of energy, 
minerals, timber, and other natural resources on their lands. 
Individuals from five major indigenous groups--the Miskito, Sumo/
Mayangna, Garifuna (of Afro-Amerindian origin), Creole, and Rama--
alleged government discrimination through underrepresentation in the 
legislative branch.
    Indigenous persons from rural areas often lacked birth 
certificates, cedulas, and land titles. Although they formed political 
groups, these often held little sway and were ignored or used by major 
national parties to advance their own agendas. Most indigenous persons 
in rural areas lacked access to public services, and deteriorating 
roads made medicine and health care almost unobtainable for many. The 
rates of unemployment, illiteracy, and absenteeism of school-age 
children were among the highest in the country. Some indigenous groups 
continued to lack educational materials in their native languages and 
relied on Spanish-language texts provided by the national government. 
At year's end there was no new information available on government 
action to meet the 2008 request by the U.N. Committee on the 
Elimination of Racial Discrimination to develop a national strategy to 
combat racism and forge a new relationship with indigenous and ethnic 
minority communities.
    NGOs and indigenous rights groups claimed that the government 
failed to protect the civil and political rights of indigenous 
communities. Indigenous women faced multiple levels of discrimination 
based on their ethnicity, gender, and lower economic status. The 
National Commission of Demarcation and Titling, Attorney General's 
Office, and Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies generally 
failed to effectively demarcate indigenous lands, and the CENIDH 
denounced an atmosphere of impunity and corruption in the territorial 
demarcation process.
    On July 25, RAAS community leader Rodney Downs Francisco was killed 
two days after stating his intent on a local radio station to file a 
land claim in the Awaltara Territory. The press alleged that local 
politicians who desired control of the same lands arranged to have 
Downs killed. Four suspects were arrested, and the case remained 
pending at year's end.
    On September 21, Ronald Davis Martinez was killed after filing a 
complaint against an allegedly illegitimate communal government in the 
Awaltara Territory. Independent press and RAAS indigenous leaders 
alleged that the killing was ordered by local politicians with economic 
interests in the territory. By year's end no arrests had been made.
    Some indigenous communities in the RAAN and the RAAS continued to 
complain that authorities excluded them from meaningful participation 
in decisions affecting their lands and natural resources. 
Representatives of autonomous regions and indigenous communities 
regularly noted that the government failed to invest in infrastructure. 
Throughout the year indigenous leaders alleged that logging concessions 
were granted to private firms and government-affiliated businesses, 
such as ALBA-Forestal, by the regional and national governments in 
violation of national autonomy laws in the RAAS and RAAN.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Although sexual orientation is 
not mentioned specifically, the law states that all persons are equal 
before the law and provides for the right to equal protection. LGBT 
persons continued to face widespread societal discrimination and abuse, 
particularly in employment, housing, and education. While the special 
prosecutor for sexual diversity was active throughout the year in 
education, information collection, and collaboration with NGO efforts, 
the LGBT community generally believed that the office had insufficient 
resources. In May the press reported that a young woman was killed in 
Jinotega, allegedly because of her sexual orientation.
    In 2010, 1,291 complaints of discrimination based on sexual 
orientation were filed with the NNP, Social Security Institute, MINSA, 
and MiFamilia.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law provides 
specific protections for persons with HIV/AIDS against discrimination 
in employment and health services. However, persons with HIV/AIDS 
continued to suffer societal discrimination based on their alleged 
serological status. A lack of awareness and education among health-care 
professionals and the public persisted regarding the prevention, 
treatment, and transmission of HIV/AIDS, leading to social stigma. 
However, several NGOs that worked to educate communities regarding HIV/
AIDS discrimination claimed that public awareness of it increased 
during the year.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides for the right of all public and private sector 
workers, with the exception of those in the military and police, to 
form and join independent unions of their choice. The constitution 
recognizes the right to strike, although it places some restrictions on 
this right. The law provides for the right to bargain collectively and 
prohibits antiunion discrimination. Workers are not required to notify 
their employer or MITRAB of their intention to organize a union, and 
the law allows unions to conduct their activities without government 
interference.
    Burdensome and lengthy labor code conciliation procedures impeded 
workers' ability to call strikes. In addition, if a strike continues 
for 30 days without resolution, MITRAB has authority to suspend the 
strike and submit the matter to arbitration. The International Labor 
Organization (ILO) continued to note that this provision limits the 
right to strike and called for the law to be amended.
    A collective bargaining agreement cannot exceed two years and is 
automatically renewed if neither party requests its revision. Companies 
in disputes with their employees must negotiate with the employee 
union, if one exists. By law several unions may coexist at any one 
enterprise, and the law permits management to sign separate collective 
bargaining agreements with each union.
    The law establishes fines against employers who violate labor 
rights by engaging in antiunion discrimination, such as interfering 
with the formation of unions or strikebreaking. Although employers must 
reinstate workers fired for union activity, MITRAB may not legally 
order employers to rehire fired workers, which requires a judicial 
order. The law allows employers to obtain permission from MITRAB to 
dismiss any employee, including union organizers, provided the employer 
agrees to pay double the usual severance pay.
    With some exceptions the government generally protected the right 
of collective bargaining and often sought to foster resolution of labor 
conflicts through informal negotiations rather than formal 
administrative or judicial processes. Although the law establishes a 
labor court arbitration process, long waiting times and lengthy, 
complicated procedures detrimentally affected court-mediated solutions, 
and many labor disputes were resolved out of court. MITRAB claimed 88 
percent of cases resulted in a ruling favorable to the worker. However, 
labor and human rights organizations continued to allege that rulings 
were often unfavorable to the petitioner.
    There were reports that the government interfered in union 
activities and some employers engaged in antiunion discrimination with 
impunity. Most labor unions were allied with political parties. There 
continued to be reports of government interference in union activities 
in the public sector, including illegal dissolution of unions and 
firing of workers not associated with the ruling FSLN party. FEDETRASEP 
reported that since 2007 there have been 128 unions illegally disbanded 
by government ministries. Former ministry employees and human rights 
and labor organizations alleged that pro-FSLN public sector unions used 
intimidation and coercion to recruit new members. Union leaders 
asserted that employers and union leaders who supported the Ortega 
administration continued to pressure workers affiliated with non-FSLN 
unions to resign and register with FSLN unions.
    Politically motivated firings of workers continued to be a problem. 
According to FEDETRASEP, since 2007 more than 21,000 public sector 
employees were fired without just cause or due process of law. 
FEDETRASEP reported more than 673 million cordobas ($29.4 million) in 
unpaid severance benefits to the unjustly fired public sector 
employees. FEDETRASEP reported that the firings were carried out for 
political reasons, such as refusal of the worker to join the FSLN or 
participate in FSLN demonstrations, and alleged that a letter of 
recommendation was required by CPC coordinators or other party 
officials to obtain a public sector job.
    On February 15, two members of the Trade Union Confederation (CUS) 
alleged that NNP officials forcibly took their CUS union cards from 
them and gave them union membership cards for the FSLN-affiliated 
National Workers Front union. The police allegedly told the two 
individuals that they were following orders from superiors.
    MITRAB often declared strikes illegal, even when workers followed 
legal strike procedures. Wildcat strikes--those in which workers 
engaged without union authorization--were common, the most notable 
being among taxi drivers and other transportation workers, especially 
in Managua, Leon, and the RAAN. During a strike employers cannot hire 
replacement workers. However, unions alleged that this practice was 
common.
    In practice employers often did not reinstate workers fired for 
union activity, or pay severance. Labor leaders complained that 
employers routinely violated collective bargaining agreements and labor 
laws with impunity. Labor organizations deemed that the fines for 
antiunion discrimination were not severe enough to prevent abuses. Many 
employers in the formal sector continued, with impunity, to blacklist 
or fire union members and delay severance payments to fired workers, 
especially public sector employees, or omit the payments altogether. 
Employers also avoided legal penalties by organizing employer-led 
unions that lacked independence and frequently using contract workers 
to replace striking employees. There were reports of party dues being 
automatically withdrawn from paychecks.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. There were no reports of 
government enforcement of these laws. However, civil society groups 
reported an increase in government activities against trafficking in 
persons. There was one case of forced labor reported to the NNP during 
the year, in which an 11-year-old girl in Bluefields was allegedly 
forced into domestic servitude and sexually exploited. The case was 
being prosecuted by the Prosecutor General's Office at year's end.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law establishes the minimum age for employment at 14 and limits the 
workday for any individual between ages 14 and 18 to six hours and the 
workweek to 30 hours. Those between 14 and 16 years must have parental 
approval to work or to enter into a formal labor contract. The law 
prohibits teenage domestic workers from sleeping in the houses of their 
employers. It is also illegal for minors to work in places that MITRAB 
considers harmful to their health or safety, such as mines, garbage 
dumps, and night-entertainment venues, as well as various forms of 
agricultural work. The law also provides for eight-year prison terms 
and substantial fines for persons employing children in dangerous work 
and permits inspectors to close those facilities.
    The government did not provide adequate resources for MITRAB to 
enforce the law effectively, especially in the informal sector. MITRAB 
reported conducting 48 inspections in bars, night clubs, and massage 
parlors in Managua, Granada, and Masaya, as well as 18 inspections of 
mines in Masaya. In the first six months, MITRAB reported conducting 
761 special child labor inspections, resulting in 148 children detected 
and removed from the workplace. MITRAB also reported that it provided 
education on labor rights to 1,371 children during the coffee harvest 
season as part of the Coffee Harvest Free of Child Labor Program 
(Programa Cosecha Cafetalera, Libre de Trabajo Infantil). The 
government continued activities to incorporate working adolescents into 
the formal workforce by transferring children above the legal working 
age from the worst forms of child labor into nondangerous jobs, 
specifically through targeted initiatives in the coffee sector.
    A 10-year plan (2007-16) to end child labor was in place, to be 
carried out by the National Commission for the Progressive Eradication 
of Child Labor and Adolescent Worker Protection (CNEPTI). The plan 
requires all government programs to include child-labor prevention and 
eradication initiatives. However, the organizations that consititute 
CNEPTI last convened in 2009, and most NGOs considered it to be 
ineffective. The government continued Programa Amor, which aimed to 
eradicate child labor by reintegrating abandoned children into society. 
Information on the program's activities, funding, and effectiveness 
remained unavailable (see section 6, Children).
    Child labor was a widespread problem. The most recent available 
national survey of adolescent and child labor (2005) estimated that 
there were approximately 239,000 working children between five and 17 
years old, of whom 36 percent were younger than 14 years of age.
    Most child labor occurred in the large informal sector, including 
on coffee plantations and subsistence farms, and in forestry and 
fishing. Children also worked in the production of sugarcane and 
crushed stone and to a lesser extent in the production of bananas and 
tobacco. Child labor also occurred in the production of dairy, orange, 
African palm, sugarcane, cattle raising, street sales, garbage-dump 
scavenging, and transport. According to the ILO, children engaged in 
the worst forms of child labor in plantation agriculture, shellfish 
harvesting, pumice and limestone quarrying, gold mining, industrial 
manufacturing, construction, commercial/retail, hospitality, and as 
domestic servants.
    Children working in agriculture suffered from sun exposure, extreme 
temperatures, and dangerous pesticides and other chemicals. Children 
working in the fishing industry faced polluted water and dangerous 
ocean conditions.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage law 
establishes a statutory minimum wage for 10 economic sectors. It is 
calculated differently for each sector, and the average was 2,918 
cordobas ($127) per month. The government implemented two increases to 
the minimum wage during the year, 7 percent in February, and 6 percent 
in August. The National Institute of Development Information reported 
that in 2005 extreme poverty corresponded to an annual income of 3,928 
cordobas ($171) and regular poverty to an annual income of 7,155 
cordobas ($312).
    The standard legal workweek is a maximum of 48 hours, with one day 
of rest. Labor law dictates an obligatory year-end bonus equivalent to 
one month's pay, proportional to the number of months worked. There are 
10 paid national holidays per year. The law mandates premium pay for 
overtime and prohibits compulsory overtime. The law establishes 
occupational health and safety standards and mandates the creation of 
regional offices for the National Council of Labor Hygiene and Safety. 
The council is responsible for worker safety legislation and 
collaboration with other government agencies and civil society 
organizations in developing assistance programs and promoting training 
and prevention activities. The law provides workers with the right to 
remove themselves from dangerous workplace situations without 
jeopardizing continued employment, but many workers were unaware of 
this right due to the lack of government dissemination of information.
    In general the minimum wage was enforced only in the formal sector 
and was thus applicable only to approximately one-third of the working 
population. MITRAB maintained a hotline for complaints of labor 
violations and reported receiving 3,600 calls in the first six months 
of the year. MITRAB is the primary enforcement agency, but the 
government did not allocate adequate staff or resources to enable the 
Office of Hygiene and Occupational Safety to enforce occupational 
safety and health provisions. Established penalties were generally 
sufficient to deter violations.
    Legal limitations on hours worked were often ignored by employers 
who claimed that workers readily volunteered for extra hours for 
additional pay. A local NGO reported numerous cases of workers being 
denied annual bonuses mandated by law and two cases of municipalities 
that did not comply with collective bargaining agreements. Violations 
of wage and hour regulations were common and generally not investigated 
in the large informal sector, particularly in street sales, domestic 
work, and agriculture. Compulsory overtime was reported in the private 
security sector where guards were often required to work excessive 
shifts without relief.
    During the first six months of the year, MITRAB reported conducting 
5,801 health and safety inspections and registered 3,709 workplace 
accidents, including 21 registered deaths. According to data submitted 
to the ILO, the government reported that in 2010, 99 labor inspectors 
conducted 6,524 inspections and 1,909 reinspections, imposing fines in 
55 cases. Health and safety standards were not widely enforced in the 
large informal sector, estimated to be between 60 and 70 percent of the 
economy. The informal sector included the bulk of workers in street 
sales, agriculture and ranching, transportation, domestic labor, 
fishing, and minor construction.

                               __________

                                 PANAMA

                           executive summary
    Panama is a constitutional, multiparty democracy. In 2009 voters 
chose Ricardo A. Martinelli Berrocal as president in national elections 
that international and domestic observers considered generally free and 
fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The principle human rights abuses reported during the year were 
harsh prison conditions, judicial ineffectiveness, and discrimination 
against various groups and individuals, including some cases of 
violence.
    Other human rights abuses included problems with freedom of the 
press, trafficking in persons, and child labor.
    The government did not actively prosecute alleged cases of 
corruption or abuse of authority by government officials but took steps 
to improve the functioning of the judiciary and penitentiary systems.
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, but there were 
some reports that prison authorities engaged in degrading treatment and 
inhuman punishment. In January police neglect led to the deaths of five 
juvenile detainees and injury of two additional detainees during a 
prison fire (see Prison and Detention Center Conditions).
    On September 22, Rafael Perez Castillo reportedly suffered 
extensive bruises to his face and body after he allegedly questioned 
officers at a roadblock in an aggressive manner. Police defended their 
agents and accused Perez Castillo of instigating the incident. A case 
was opened by the Public Ministry, the Ombudsman's Office, and the 
PNP's director of professional responsibility (DRP) (internal affairs 
office). The highly publicized incident prompted other citizens to come 
forward with new accusations of alleged police abuse. In response the 
PNP signed an agreement with the Ombudsman's Office to receive 
additional human rights training.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--The Ministry of Government 
oversees all prisons in the country through the National Directorate of 
the Penitentiary System (DGSP). Prison conditions remained harsh and in 
some cases life threatening. Problems included overcrowding, use of 
police stations as detention facilities, and lack of prison guards. 
Prisons did not have adequate ventilation or lighting. Prisoners 
suffered from a chronic lack of access to medical care. Most facilities 
faced problems with potable water, sewage, and rodents.
    As of August the prison system had an official capacity of 7,342 
persons and held 13,069 prisoners (12,133 male inmates and 936 female). 
Pretrial detainees shared cells with convicted prisoners. In all 
prisons the inmates complained of limited time outside cells and 
limited access to family visits. Small jails attached to local police 
stations sometimes held prisoners for days or weeks, and police 
officers who guarded them lacked custodial training to prevent abuses.
    Prison medical care was inadequate. HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, 
hepatitis B, and other communicable diseases were common among the 
prison population. A 60-bed clinic at La Joyita Prison remained 
underutilized due to the lack of guards to watch ill detainees. Lack of 
transportation prevented most inmates from receiving timely medical 
attention. Clinics within La Joya and La Joyita pavilions reopened to 
provide first-aid assistance but lacked the capacity to attend to more 
serious medical problems. No prison medical facilities were open 24 
hours a day.
    Female and male prisoners were held separately. Although prison 
conditions for women were generally better than those for men, both 
populations remained overcrowded, with poor medical care and lack of 
basic supplies for personal hygiene.
    Juvenile pretrial and custodial detention centers also suffered 
from overcrowding and poor conditions. Inmates had inadequate education 
and supervision. The 303 juvenile inmates (296 male and seven female) 
were guarded by approximately 85 civilian guards (28 were hired during 
the year, and 16 were on loan from the adult penitentiary system).
    In January police launched tear gas canisters into a cell at Panama 
City's male juvenile detention center during a prisoner protest against 
inhumane conditions, starting a fire. Seven boys were severely burned, 
five of whom died. Fourteen others were badly injured by gunshots fired 
during the protest prior to the fire. The police denied accusations of 
human rights abuses, but the Ministry of Government accused security 
forces of intentionally impeding fire department access to the facility 
and otherwise failing to safeguard inmates' lives. The two police 
officers who started the fire were put on administrative leave. The 
Attorney General's Office filed homicide charges against 33 police 
officers and the center's director as well as additional charges 
against civilian guards involved in the incident.
    On June 20, a three-day riot erupted at a different juvenile 
rehabilitation center. A fight between rival gangs resulted in the 
temporary kidnapping of guards and injuries to 15 inmates, including 12 
burn victims. Five detainees escaped but were later apprehended. The 
facilities suffered extensive damage. By August the authorities had 
repaired the facility and replaced director.
    The government took several steps to improve prison and detention 
center conditions. In February the Public Ministry reactivated its 
electronic bracelet program for nonviolent criminals and some pretrial 
inmates. Only 45 inmates participated in the program; a lack of 
familiarity with the program among prosecutors, judges, and inmates 
prevented further use of bracelets. In August the U.N. Office on Drugs 
and Crime (UNODC) conducted a feasibility study for bracelet use under 
the new accusatory judicial system to determine the feasibility of 
expanding the practice.
    In January the government created an interagency commission to 
review protocols and standard operating procedures within the 
penitentiary system. At the beginning of 2010, Panamanian National 
Police (PNP) officers provided perimeter and internal security at all 
prisons but generally lacked training for prison duty. The commission 
agreed to a four-stage plan for replacing police officers with civilian 
prison guards for prison internal security. The PNP maintained control 
of perimeter security. The transfer of responsibilities began in July.
    As of August there were 624 prison custodians, including 264 hired 
during the year. Additionally, 92 new custodians were trained and 
entered the system by the end of the end of the year, for a total of 
716 custodians. In February the government raised guards' salaries to 
500 balboas ($500) per month. By the end of August, the National 
Penitentiary System under the Ministry of Government had disciplined 40 
custodians and fired 15 for either corruption or abuse of authority.
    In February the government opened a Penitentiary Training Academy 
to address human rights, prisoner's rights, and penitentiary law. In 
August the minister of government signed an agreement to train prison 
directors under the auspices of UNODC at the Dominican Republic's 
National Penitentiary School. During the year custodians received 
training from the Ombudsman's Office, Ministry of Government, and PNP.
    Formal panels met during the year to separate convicted criminals 
from inmates awaiting trial, and the process of transferring only 
convicted inmates to La Joya prison was underway. Officials also 
discussed ways to improve ambulance access to prisons in emergencies. 
In 2010 the Ministry of Government approved plans for the construction 
of four new cellblocks for 1,300 inmates, but there was no significant 
construction in 2011.
    As of July 505 inmates were enrolled in elementary education 
programs, 1,005 in junior high programs, and 585 in secondary school 
programs. A total of 832 inmates were attending job training programs, 
54 were engaged in self-study programs, and 152 were participating in 
work-release programs. There were no rehabilitation programs for drug-
addicted inmates.
    Throughout the year the DGSP faced a faulty information system that 
hampered communication among offices dealing with prison issues. In 
July the National Penitentiary System granted approval for the 
installation of a new software program that would provide comprehensive 
information on every inmate, including data on legal status, hearings, 
and sentencing.
    Prisoners were able to submit complaints to judicial authorities 
without censorship and request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions, but authorities did not document the results of 
such investigations in a publicly accessible manner. The government 
investigated and monitored prison and detention center conditions.
    The Ombudsman's Office negotiated and petitioned on behalf of 
prisoners and received complaints about prison conditions. By August 
the ombudsman had received three complaints of physical abuse against 
prisoners by PNP agents.
    The Ombudsman's Office conducted weekly prison visits, and the 
government generally did not monitor its meetings with prisoners. 
Prisoners at most facilities had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. The Catholic nongovernmental 
organization (NGO) Justice and Peace made regular visits and reported 
unobstructed access by various church groups of different faiths.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions. The law permits exceptions when an officer apprehends a 
person during the commission of a crime or when an individual 
interferes with an officer's actions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The country has no 
regular military forces. The PNP is responsible for internal law 
enforcement and public order. Civilian authorities in the Ministry of 
Public Security maintained effective control over all police, 
investigative, border, air, and maritime forces in the country. The 
government has relatively effective mechanisms to investigate and 
punish abuse and corruption, but impunity presented a concern.
    Law 18 includes guidelines for the use of force, including deadly 
force; requires that police respect human rights; and prohibits 
instigation or tolerance of torture, cruelty, or other inhumane or 
degrading behavior. According to Law 74, police accused of using 
excessive force may not be detained prior to trial, suspended, nor face 
other internal discipline until convicted. In January leaders of the 
construction workers union submitted a constitutional challenge against 
Law 74. In February a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court declared 
the application of Law 74 in the specific case invalid, but at year's 
end Law 74 remained in effect.
    Between January and October, the DRP opened 515 disciplinary 
proceedings against police, including 126 for abuse against civilians, 
182 for inappropriate conduct, four for abuse against inmates, and four 
for abuse of physical force, among others. The number of cases opened 
fell by almost half compared with 2010. Between January and August, the 
Ombudsman's Office received three complaints against police for abuse 
of authority. Investigations in most of these cases continued through 
October, although authorities dismissed 83 PNP officers and placed many 
others on ``semipermanent vacation'' (a form of suspension).

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police 
generally apprehended persons openly and did not practice arbitrary or 
secret arrest and detention. Arrest warrants are issued by the 
Prosecutor's Office, based on evidence. The law provides for suspects 
to be brought promptly before a judge, but lack of prompt arraignment 
continued to be a problem. The law requires arresting officers to 
inform detainees immediately of the reasons for arrest or detention and 
of the right to immediate legal counsel. The law provides for bail, and 
a functioning bail system exists for a limited number of crimes. 
Detainees gained prompt access to legal counsel and family members, and 
the government provided indigent defendants with a lawyer.
    The law prohibits police from detaining suspects for more than 48 
hours without judicial authorization but permits the detention of 
minors for 72 hours. By law the preliminary investigation phase of 
detention may last up to two months, and the follow-up investigation 
phase can last another two to four months, depending on the number of 
suspects.

    Pretrial Detention.--The government regularly imprisoned inmates 
for more than a year before a judge's pretrial hearing, and their 
pretrial detention sometimes exceeded the maximum sentence for the 
alleged crime. This was largely due to judicial inefficiency and the 
use of a written inquisitorial system. As of July, according to 
government statistics, 66 percent of prisoners were pretrial detainees. 
In Veraguas Province, courts initiated a system that greatly decreased 
case backlog in preparation for introduction of the accusatorial 
system.
    Additionally, lack of coordination between judicial authorities, 
prison authorities, and the PNP over transportation of detainees to 
trials led to a significant increase in the number of prisoners who 
missed hearings that were key to resolving their legal cases. Judicial 
statistics showed that as of June, 53 percent of scheduled hearings had 
to be cancelled due to the defendant's absence. Due to inefficiencies 
in the legal system, hearings can take up to a year to be rescheduled. 
As of August only 24 PNP agents, in a force of approximately 15,000, 
belonged to the PNP penitentiary unit in charge of inmate transfers. 
The judicial system initiated the use of mobile courtrooms and video 
hearings to address the problem (see section 1.e.).

    Amnesty.--During the year, in an attempt to alleviate prison 
overcrowding, the government released 922 inmates who had completed 
two-thirds of their sentences.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The law provides for an 
independent judiciary; however, the judicial system was susceptible to 
corruption and outside influence, and it faced allegations of 
manipulation of power by other government branches.
    The Directorate of Judicial Investigation, under PNP administrative 
control, provides investigative services to the judicial system. At the 
local level, mayors appoint administrative judges (corregidores), who 
exercise jurisdiction over minor civil cases and the arrest and 
imposition of fines or jail sentences of up to one year. Outside of 
Panama City, this system had serious shortcomings. Defendants lacked 
adequate procedural safeguards. Such judges usually had no legal 
training or other pertinent expertise. Appeal procedures were generally 
nonexistent. Affluent defendants often paid fines, while poorer 
defendants faced incarceration.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides that all citizens charged with 
crimes enjoy a presumption of innocence and have rights to counsel, to 
refrain from incriminating themselves or close relatives, and to be 
tried only once for a given offense. If not under pretrial detention, 
the accused may be present with counsel during the investigative phase 
of proceedings.
    On September 2, in Veraguas and Cocle provinces, the government 
began implementation of a new code of criminal procedure designed to 
transition the country from an inquisitorial to an accusatory system of 
justice. The government budgeted 38 million balboas ($38 million) for 
the four-phase implementation process, pending since 2009. It was 
expected to conclude in 2014. The system, which aims to expedite 
justice, includes three stages: prosecutorial investigation overseen by 
a guarantee judge whose responsibility is to ensure due process, an 
indictment request by the prosecutor, and oral trials with three 
judges.
    Sixty-six hearings took place in the first 20 days under the new 
system. According to the judicial system, 50 percent of the cases heard 
involved either domestic violence or narcotics violations. According to 
authorities the new system reduced legal processing time by almost 50 
percent compared to the inquisitorial system in effect in the rest of 
the country.
    In January the Supreme Court of Justice ruled in favor of the 
reactivation of a 1999 law that created a fifth chamber within the 
Supreme Court. The chamber would handle only constitutional issues. The 
Supreme Court's January decision allows the administration to appoint 
three new justices. As a result the Supreme Court will be composed of 
12 justices. No appointments were made during the year.
    In July three Supreme Court justices from the General Affairs Court 
appointed three new magistrates to implement the new accusatory system 
in the Second Judicial District. Four other justices formally and 
publicly disagreed with the appointments, as the full Supreme Court did 
not approve them. Civil society organizations also criticized the lack 
of transparency in the appointments and on August 22 filed a habeas 
data against Chief Justice Anibal Salas to demand copies of the written 
agreements issued by the General Affairs Court on the appointments. 
After internal negotiations all justices agreed that the appointments 
of the three new magistrates would be valid only for one year and that 
future appointments would follow the procedures established by law 
(public advertisement of the positions with appointments made by the 
full Supreme Court.) In September civil society organizations filed 
suit against the Supreme Court for the unconstitutional appointment of 
these magistrates, claiming it was in violation of the constitution.
    Under the inquisitive judicial system, which is in force in all but 
two provinces, trials are open to the public. The law provides for 
trial by jury if the defendant so chooses, but only if one of the 
charges is murder. Judges may order the presence of pretrial detainees 
for providing or expanding upon statements or for confronting 
witnesses. Trials are conducted on the basis of evidence presented by 
the public prosecutor. Defendants have the right to be present at trial 
and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. Defendants may 
confront or question witnesses against them and present witnesses and 
evidence on their behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to 
relevant government-held evidence. Defendants have a right of appeal. 
The law extends these rights to all citizens, and the judiciary 
generally enforced them.
    The law obliges the government to provide public defenders for the 
indigent, and an estimated 80 percent of inmates used them. In many 
cases public defenders received the case late in the investigation, 
after the prosecutor had evaluated most of the evidence and decided to 
recommend trial. During the year the government hired 29 new public 
defenders to help reduce the system's backlog, but caseloads remained 
very high, averaging 300-350 cases per attorney per year.
    On August 1, the judiciary began a mobile court program within the 
country's largest prison complex. Trailers placed in La Joya and La 
Joyita served as official courts to overcome problems in transporting 
prisoners to trial. The placement of judges, prosecutors, and legal 
staff within the complex increased the capacity of each court to five 
hearings per day. As an additional measure to decongest the system, the 
judiciary accepted hearings via video for charges other than homicide. 
By June judicial records indicated that 547 pretrial detainees 
submitted video hearings from La Joya, La Joyita, David, Penonome, 
Llano Marin, Aguadulce, and Santiago prisons. In July the judicial 
system spent 208,000 balboas ($208,000) to expand the program with the 
installment of video capacity to 10 new facilities.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and the 
judicial code establish an independent judiciary in civil matters. 
Alleged political manipulation of the judicial system remained a 
problem, and bureaucratic delay hindered access to judicial and 
administrative remedies in some court cases. Problems continued in 
enforcement of domestic court orders.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the government 
generally respected these prohibitions. Nevertheless, there were 
complaints that in some cases law-enforcement authorities failed to 
follow legal requirements and conducted unauthorized searches. The 
Public Ministry maintained representatives in each PNP division to 
approve searches, and they approved numerous searches during the year.
    The law also sets forth requirements for conducting wiretap 
surveillance. It denies prosecutors authority to order wiretaps on 
their own and requires judicial oversight. During the year several 
citizens claimed to have been wiretapping targets after making 
statements critical of the government.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, but 
the government used a variety of means to impede the media's freedom of 
expression and attempt to silence criticism of its official actions.

    Freedom of the Press.--Legal actions brought by officials of the 
former government remained pending against many journalists. The Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Inter American Press 
Association (IAPA), the NGO Reporters Without Borders, and other groups 
criticized government efforts to censor the press. In January the 
president supported a bill introduced by his party in the National 
Assembly to penalize speech that criticized the president and his 
administration. The bill was withdrawn after debate.

    Violence and Harassment.--In mid-June the NGO Colegio Nacional de 
Periodistas alerted the public to verbally aggressive language against 
La Prensa journalist Santiago Cumbrera by Labor Minister Alma Cortes 
and the secretary general of the Ministry of Labor, Hernan Garcia. 
Cumbrera was part of an investigative unit that revealed and published 
irregularities in the governmental program Mi Primer Empleo (My First 
Job). The IACHR requested preventive measures to guarantee Cumbrera's 
personal safety. The day after the statement was made, Minister Cortes 
issued a public apology. In August La Prensa reported additional 
threats against its investigative unit, specifically towards Cumbrera, 
based on his investigation of the National Land Authority. Cumbrera was 
also the target of anonymous telephone threats for his reporting on a 
government scandal involving the improper titling of public lands. The 
caller, allegedly a poor rural landholder, threatened to take action 
against Cumbrera if he did not stop his reporting. The government 
agreed to open an investigation into the threats, but at year's end no 
legal actions had been taken on the threats.
    In late February the government deported foreign national 
journalists Paco Gomez Nadal and Pilar Chato under complaints of 
disturbing the peace and inciting protesters. In July 2010 authorities 
briefly detained Gomez Nadal, known for investigative reporting on 
corruption issues. According to media reports, Gomez Nadal and Chato 
had the option of leaving the country immediately or remaining and 
facing potential legal action from law enforcement authorities. They 
chose deportation and lost authorization to reenter Panama for at least 
two years.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet, but there were anecdotal reports that the government 
monitored private e-mails. In a few cases, law-enforcement monitoring 
of suspects' computers led to arrests for sex crimes. Individuals and 
groups could engage in the expression of views via the Internet, 
including by e-mail.

    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. The law also states that anyone 
who, through use of violence, impedes the transit of vehicles on public 
roads or causes damage to public or private property may be sentenced 
to imprisonment for six to 24 months.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian 
organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally 
displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, persons under 
temporary humanitarian protection (THP), asylum seekers, stateless 
persons, and other persons of concern.

    In-Country Movement.--The government generally permitted freedom of 
movement for documented refugees and asylum seekers; however, it 
restricted the freedom of movement of Colombian citizens living in the 
region bordering Colombia under the THP regime. These individuals could 
leave those locations only with special temporary permits issued by the 
National Office for the Protection of Refugees (ONPAR).

    Protection of Refugees.--ONPAR has five offices to provide access 
to refugee services.

    Access to Asylum.--The country's laws provide for the granting of 
asylum or refugee status, and the government has established a system 
for providing protection to refugees. A Colombian THP group has lived 
in the Darien region for 14 years.
    There were approximately 2,500 refugees and asylum seekers in the 
country at the end of 2010. As of June, 340 persons had approached the 
government seeking refugee status, according to ONPAR; 99 cases were 
reviewed and 41 approved. The majority were from Colombia.

    Nonrefoulement.--The law incorporates protections against 
refoulement and sanctions for illegal/irregular entry. At times, 
however, border officials and authorities in large urban centers did 
not have a clear understanding of their responsibilities when dealing 
with persons seeking asylum or refugee status. This lack of clarity 
resulted in arbitrary detention and placed asylum seekers at an 
increased risk of return to countries where their lives or freedom 
could be threatened.
    On September 12, the Panamanian National Border Service (SENAFRONT) 
detained and forcibly deported a family of asylum seekers from Colombia 
upon their arrival in Jaque, Darien. The UNHCR indicated that 
interventions to prevent the refoulement were unsuccessful and that the 
family had no access to asylum authorities. The UNHCR lodged an 
official protest with the government.

    Refugee Abuse.--Refugee women in border areas and in certain urban 
neighborhoods continued to be at risk for gender-based violence and 
trafficking.
    The government reported a decrease in migration of people from 
outside the region, from 45 in 2010 to 32 in 2011. The persons were 
primarily from South Asia and East Africa, en route to North America. 
As of August the National Migration Service had detained 25 of these 
persons for nine months in a men's immigration shelter. ONPAR indicated 
that language barriers slowed the review of the cases, but the UNHCR 
expressed concern that the migrants were denied access to asylum 
procedures because of discrimination due to their countries of origin.

    Employment.--The government did not permit displaced Colombians 
without asylum status to work or move outside of their assigned 
villages. Unlike in 2010, the government did not issue temporary 
identification cards during the year.

    Temporary Protection.--The UNHCR classified approximately 15,000 
individuals living in the country as ``persons of concern'' in need of 
international protection. These included persons for whom the 
government had denied refugee status and persons in the country who did 
not apply for refugee status due to lack of knowledge or fear of 
deportation. The UNHCR maintained a permanent office in the country to 
provide services to refugees but was denied access to asylum seekers in 
detention in the first half of the year. Access improved after the 
appointment of a new director of migration in July.
    People under the THP classification included 899 displaced persons, 
mainly of Afro-Colombian heritage, and 685 of their dependents, some of 
whom were citizens born in Panama of marriages between displaced 
Colombians and Panamanian citizens. Seventy individuals were from the 
Embera indigenous group. The UNHCR continued to call for the granting 
of permanent residency rights to this group.
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. The law 
provides for direct popular election every five years of the president, 
vice president, legislators, and local representatives. Naturalized 
citizens may not hold specified categories of elective office.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--In May 
2009 voters chose Ricardo A. Martinelli Berrocal, the opposition 
Alliance for Change candidate, as president in national elections 
considered generally free and fair by independent observers.

    Political Parties.--The law requires new political parties to meet 
strict membership and organizational standards to gain official 
recognition and participate in national campaigns.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Women held six seats in the 
71-member legislature and five places in the 17-member cabinet. Five 
seats in the legislature were designated to represent the country's 
recognized indigenous regions. In general deputies in the legislature, 
cabinet members, or members of the Supreme Court did not identify 
themselves as members of ethnic or racial minorities.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively; however, 
there were some allegations that government officials engaged in 
corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption remained a problem in the 
executive, judicial, and legislative branches as well as in the 
security forces. Anticorruption mechanisms such as asset forfeiture, 
whistle blower and witness protection, plea bargaining, and 
professional conflict-of-interest rules existed.
    Although the law provides for judicial appointments through a 
merit-based system, civil society groups maintained that political 
influence and undue interference by higher-level judges undermined the 
system.
    Corruption among police officers continued to be a problem, 
although the Ministry of Public Security improved accountability within 
the security services. The PNP worked with the ministry to reform the 
DRP to create a more transparent method for handling traditional 
internal affairs problems for all security services.
    In September the 13th Criminal Court sentenced four police agents 
and two Colombians involved in the 2008 kidnapping of Cecilio Padron to 
nine and 12 years in prison, respectively. The court found a fifth 
Panamanian originally listed in the case not guilty. In the same month 
an undercover operation led by the Judicial Investigative Unit (DIJ) 
resulted in the apprehension of the Ministry of Labor's regional 
director and his assistant for receiving bribes from a foreign 
businessman who hired workers without work permits.
    In 2010 authorities released former minister of education Belgis 
Castro on bail of 150,000 balboas ($150,000). In May the 10th Criminal 
Court called Castro to stand trial on embezzlement charges. Castro 
remained free on bail but was forbidden to leave the country while the 
trial continued.
    Public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws, but the 
information was not made public.
    The law provides for public access to information about public 
entities, with the exception of cabinet meeting minutes. The government 
often, but not always, responded to inquiries for information. Denials 
of information can be appealed to the Supreme Court, and journalists 
generally made use of this recourse. On October 28, the environmental 
NGO Centro de Incidencia Ambiental appeared before a hearing at the 
Organization of American States' Inter-American Human Rights Commission 
to denounce the government's continued denial of public information.
    The government made a commitment to publishing public information 
on official Web sites. However, many government ministries and agencies 
did not update their sites, and statistics or other information were 
often more than one year old or unavailable. On October 5, the 
anticorruption czar, Abigail Benzadon, publicly stated that only six of 
the 103 government agencies kept their sites up to date with 
transparency information as mandated by law.
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.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The ombudsman, elected by the 
National Assembly, has moral but not legal authority, received 
government cooperation, and operated without government or party 
interference. The Ombudsman's Office referred cases to the proper 
investigating authorities.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, but the government allegedly did not always 
enforce these prohibitions effectively.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, with prison terms of five to 10 years, or eight 
to 10 years under aggravating circumstances (use of a weapon), and the 
government enforced the law effectively. Rapes constituted the majority 
of sexual crimes investigated by the PNP, and its Directorate of 
Judicial Investigation reported 1,030 cases of rape in the context of 
domestic violence during the year.
    Domestic violence continued to be a serious problem. Although the 
law criminalizes domestic abuse and family violence with prison terms 
of two to four years and makes domestic violence an aggravating 
circumstance in homicide cases, there were few convictions for domestic 
violence, except in cases of murder. The Directorate of Judicial 
Investigation reported 186 cases of domestic violence from January to 
June, while the media reported 249 cases of domestic violence as of 
early September. Statistics from the Panamanian Observatory Against 
Gender-Based Violence, run by the Ombudsman's Office, showed that 33 
women died as a result of domestic violence from January to November.
    The government operated a shelter in Panama City for victims of 
domestic abuse and offered social, psychological, medical, and legal 
services. A second government-run shelter opened in David, Chiriqui, 
during the year, and construction of a third shelter in Colon, Colon, 
was underway.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment in cases of 
established employer/employee relations in the public and private 
sectors and in teacher/student relations; violators face up to a three-
year prison sentence. The extent of the problem was difficult to 
determine, as convictions for sexual harassment were rare and pre-
employment sexual harassment was not actionable. The effectiveness of 
law enforcement could not be determined due to the small number of 
cases brought before the courts.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children and 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, except in provincial-level 
indigenous regions, where it was limited, according to the American Red 
Cross. The law limits sterilization to women who are 33 or older, have 
at least five children, and are of a low socioeconomic level 
(undefined).

    Discrimination.--The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of 
gender, and women enjoyed the same rights as men under family, 
property, and criminal law. The law recognizes joint and common 
property in marriages. The law mandates equal pay for men and women in 
equivalent jobs, but according to a 2011 World Economic Forum survey, 
women received approximately 36 percent less than men for comparable 
work. The Ministry of Social Development (MIDES) and the National 
Institute of Women promoted equality of women in the workplace and 
equal pay for equal work, attempted to reduce sexual harassment, and 
advocated legal reforms.

    Children.--Birth registration: Although the law provides 
citizenship for all people born in the country, children in remote 
areas sometimes had difficulty obtaining birth registration 
certificates.

    Child Abuse.--MIDES maintained a free hotline for children and 
adults to report child abuse and advertised it widely. From January to 
September, the hotline received 17,726 calls. The ministry provided 
funding to children's shelters operated by NGOs in seven provinces and 
continued a program that used pamphlets in schools to sensitize 
teachers, children, and parents about mistreatment and sexual abuse of 
children.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Sexual abuse of children was 
reported in urban and rural areas as well as within indigenous 
communities. Lack of reporting on sexual exploitation of minors 
remained a problem, often because of parental involvement or 
complicity.
    The law prohibits consensual sex with children ages 14 to 18 and 
imposes a penalty of up to three years' imprisonment for the crime. If 
the child is younger than 14, the act is punishable with four to 10 
years' imprisonment. The law provides for three- to five-year prison 
terms for anyone who practices, facilitates, or promotes the corruption 
of a minor, and it criminalizes child pornography with the same 
penalty. The penal code also punishes individuals for selling or 
negotiating the purchase of sexual favors from prostitutes with 
penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment when the victim is under 18. 
Sexual tourism involving children is also punishable.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was a Jewish population of approximately 
10,000 persons. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination based 
on physical or mental disability, but the constitution permits the 
denial of naturalization to persons with mental or physical 
disabilities. The law mandates access to new or remodeled public 
buildings for persons with disabilities and requires that schools 
integrate children with special needs. In practice persons with 
disabilities experienced substantial discrimination in access to 
employment, education, health care, and other state services. Some 
public schools admitted children with mental and physical disabilities, 
but most did not have adequate facilities for children with special 
needs. The government installed ramps in some schools and mainstreamed 
some children with disabilities. Few private schools admitted children 
with special needs.
    In June a group of persons with disabilities challenged Law 35 
before the Supreme Court on grounds of discrimination and the 
protection of private information. The law, passed in August 2010, 
mandates that the National Electoral Tribunal include a person's 
disabilities as well as blood type and allergies on their national 
identification card in case of emergency. The law also requires the 
National Transportation Authority to include the same information on a 
state-issued drivers' license. By year's end there was no ruling from 
the court.
    The National Secretariat for the Social Integration of Persons with 
Disabilities (SENADIS) is the government agency responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. The Ministry of 
Education and MIDES share responsibilities for educating and training 
minors with disabilities. SENADIS also distributes subsidies to NGOs 
dealing with disabilities issues.
    The law stipulates a 2 percent quota for persons with disabilities 
within the workforce. The Ministry of Labor and Labor Development 
(MITRADEL) is responsible for referring workers with disabilities to 
employers for suitable jobs; however, in practice successful hiring by 
private sector employers remained difficult. From January to September, 
the Ombudsman's Office received 12 complaints of government violations 
involving the labor rights of persons with disabilities.
    The government inaugurated with international funding four 
playgrounds accessible to persons with disabilities. In April the 
government decreed April Autism Month. The decree mandates interagency 
coordination for the development of educational and service programs 
for people with autism. In July the government signed an agreement with 
the Spanish NGO ONCE to provide training of blind and low-vision 
workers on ways to access the job market.
    The government provided them with 50 balboas ($50) per month and 
donated rehabilitation equipment to low-income persons with 
disabilities. The government also provided five vehicles to state-run 
hospitals and physical rehabilitation centers to allow for the proper 
transfer of patients in wheelchairs.
    In September the Ministry of Social Development launched the 
Guardian Angel program, which provides a subsidy of 80 balboas ($80) 
per month for children with severe physical disabilities. To qualify, 
the parents or guardian of a child must submit medical certification as 
to the severity of the disability and the child's dependency on another 
person. The family must also be living in poverty to qualify.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.Minority groups generally have 
been integrated into mainstream society, but problems continued with 
negative attitudes among all ethnic communities toward members not 
belonging to their particular group. Prejudice was directed at recent 
immigrants; cultural and language differences and immigration status 
hindered integration into mainstream society by immigrant and first-
generation individuals from China, India, and the Middle East. 
Additionally, some members of these communities were themselves 
reluctant to integrate into mainstream society. Members of these groups 
often owned major businesses or worked in the retail trade. A 
constitutional provision reserving retail trade for citizens of the 
country generally was not enforced.
    The Afro-Panamanian community continued to be underrepresented in 
positions of political and economic power, and many black people 
remained clustered in economically depressed areas of Colon Province 
and Panama City. These areas conspicuously lacked government services 
and social-sector investment. Prejudice toward blacks was generally 
subtle, taking the form of unofficial ``right-of-admission'' policies 
at restaurants and commercial establishments that discriminated against 
darker-skinned individuals or those of lower social status.
    The law prohibits discrimination in access to public accommodations 
such as restaurants, stores, and other privately owned establishments. 
However, cases of discrimination in public accommodation were not 
commonly filed.
    There were reports of racial discrimination against various ethnic 
groups in the workplace. In general, lighter-skinned persons were 
represented disproportionately in management positions and jobs that 
required dealing with the public, such as bank tellers and 
receptionists. Some businesses discriminated against citizens with 
darker skin through preferential hiring practices.

    Indigenous People.--The law affords indigenous persons the same 
political and legal rights as other citizens, protects their ethnic 
identity and native languages, and requires the government to provide 
bilingual literacy programs in indigenous communities. Indigenous 
individuals have the legal right to take part in decisions affecting 
their lands, cultures, traditions, and the allocation and exploitation 
of natural resources. However, in practice their participation in 
society continued to be marginalized. There were legally designated 
areas governed by traditional community leaders for five of the 
country's seven indigenous groups, including the Embera-Wounaan, Ngabe-
Bugle, and Kuna communities. The government did not recognize such 
areas for the Bri-Bri and Naso communities.
    The Ministry of Government contains an Office of Indigenous Policy. 
Although the country's law is the ultimate authority on indigenous 
reservations, indigenous groups maintained considerable autonomy. 
Nevertheless, many indigenous persons misunderstood their rights and 
failed to employ legal channels when threatened because they did not 
have an adequate command of the Spanish language.
    The Embera-Wounaan community continued to fight against illegal 
settlements on its land. Attempts to remove settlers forcibly in August 
resulted in violence, and two indigenous persons were injured in 
machete attacks. The Ministry of Government negotiated a solution 
between the Embera-Wounaan and the settlers that same month and agreed 
to provide land outside of the area for the settlers by December. By 
year's end all but five settler families had been relocated outside of 
the Embera-Wounaan territories, but conflicts with settlers in other 
areas of the reservation continued.
    On July 18, an estimated 100 Ngabe-Bugle indigenous people closed 
three sections of the Pan-American Highway passing through their 
autonomous territory for seven hours to protest mining and 
hydroelectric concessions granted by the government. Riot police used 
tear gas to disperse the group and detained 41 persons. On July 19, all 
were released without charge.
    Societal and employment discrimination against indigenous persons 
was widespread. Employers frequently did not afford indigenous workers 
basic rights provided by law, such as a minimum wage, social security 
benefits, termination pay, and job security. Laborers in the country's 
sugar, coffee, and banana plantations (the majority of whom were 
indigenous persons) continued to work in overcrowded and unsanitary 
conditions. Employers were less likely to provide quality housing or 
food to indigenous migrant laborers, and their children were much more 
likely to work long hours of farm labor than nonindigenous children 
(see section 7.d.). MITRADEL conducted limited oversight of working 
conditions in remote areas due to limited staff.
    On September 11, 26 percent of the 109,000 adult Ngabe-Bugles voted 
to elect a cacique (chief) general, three regional caciques, and seven 
local caciques. The elections were organized by the National Electoral 
Tribunal. Silvia Carrera was elected cacique general with 5,080 votes. 
Carrera was the first woman to hold the position. Three Organization of 
American States representatives participated as international 
observers, together with representatives from the Ombudsman's Office 
and the Catholic Church NGO Justicia y Paz. International and local 
observers considered the elections calm and transparent.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The law does not prohibit 
discrimination based on sexual orientation, and there was societal 
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which 
often led to denial of employment opportunities. The PNP's regulations 
describe homosexual conduct as a ``grave fault.'' Harassment of 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons by security 
forces was a major complaint of the New Men and Women of Panama 
(AHMNP), the country's main LGBT organization, but formal complaints 
were rare due to the perception that the reports were not taken 
seriously or that complaints could be used against claimants in the 
absence of nondiscrimination legislation.
    In March police arrested two women in Panama City for kissing in 
public. The women were taken to a police station, physically searched, 
and taken to night court, where a judge verbally reprimanded them for 
their behavior before setting them free. The women publicly complained 
about their treatment, but police claimed that they were legally 
arrested for public drinking. In response, the AHMNP held a rally in 
May called ``A Kiss Is Not a Crime."
    The Panamanian Association of Transgender People reported regular 
incidents in which security forces refused to accept complaints of 
harassment towards transgender individuals. The AHMNP reported six 
arrests of transgender persons, based on a sodomy law that was repealed 
in 2008. All the victims were later released.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--The law prohibits 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS in employment and 
education, but discrimination continued to be common due to ignorance 
of the law and a lack of mechanisms for ensuring compliance. The 
Ministry of Health and Social Security provided treatment for HIV/AIDS. 
The only local NGO dedicated to HIV/AIDS patients, the Foundation for 
the Welfare and Dignity of People Affected by HIV/AIDS (PROBIDSIDA), 
received a government subsidy to help defray its payroll and mortgage 
expenses.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law recognizes the right of private-sector workers to form and join 
unions of their choice subject to the union's registration with the 
government, but it prohibits public servants from forming unions. The 
law permits public servants to form associations that may bargain 
collectively on behalf of members. The law provides private-sector 
workers the right to strike and grants public-sector employees a 
limited right to strike, except for those in areas deemed vital to 
public welfare and security, including police and health workers. With 
some exceptions the law provides all private-sector and most public-
sector workers the right to organize and bargain collectively, 
prohibits employer antiunion discrimination, and protects workers 
engaged in union activities from loss of employment or discriminatory 
transfers.
    The law places several restrictions on these rights, including 
requiring citizenship to serve on a trade union executive board, 
stipulating a minimum of 40 persons to form a private-sector union 
(either by company across trades or by trade across companies), and 
permitting only one trade union per business establishment. The 
International Labor Organization (ILO) continued to criticize the 40-
person minimum, stating that was too high for workers wanting to form a 
union within a company. The government, private sector, and unions 
reiterated their support for keeping the figure at 40 individuals.
    Similarly, 50 public servants are required to form a worker's 
association--a level the ILO considered too high. Member associations 
represent public-sector workers, such as doctors, nurses, firefighters, 
and administrative staff in government ministries. The law stipulates 
that there may not be more than one association in a public-sector 
institution and permits no more than one chapter per province. The law 
provides that if the government does not respond to a registration 
application within 15 days, the union automatically gains legal 
recognition.
    Strikes must be supported by a majority of employees and related to 
a collective bargaining agreement. In the event of a strike by 
administrative workers, at least 25 percent of the workforce must 
continue to provide minimum services. In the case of a strike by 
workers in ``essential public services,'' such as transportation, 
firefighting, mail, and telecommunications, 50 percent of the working 
force must continue to provide those services.
    Strikes in essential transportation services are limited to those 
involving public passenger services. The law prohibits strikes for the 
Panama Canal Authority's employees but allows unions to organize and 
bargain collectively on such issues as schedules and safety. It also 
provides for arbitration to resolve disputes.
    By law the National Federation of Public Servants (FENASEP), an 
umbrella federation of 21 public-sector worker associations, is not 
permitted to call strikes or negotiate collective bargaining 
agreements. Individual associations under FENASEP may negotiate on 
behalf of their members.
    Law 32, passed in April, eliminates restrictions on collective 
bargaining that had allowed companies less than two years old and 
enterprises in export processing zones (EPZs) to refuse to sign 
collective bargaining agreements. The law obligates those enterprises 
to bargain collectively and provide 15 (not 35) days of conciliation 
before a strike is legal; it also extends to EPZ firms the labor code 
definition of temporary (or ``definite'') workers, meaning those who 
have been employed for less than two years.
    Law 30, also passed in April, eliminated restrictions on collective 
bargaining that Law 29 of 2010 had created in the special economic area 
in Baru region. In addition, Law 32 creates a special regime for the 
establishment and operation of free trade zones, which include existing 
EPZs and some ``call centers."
    Supreme Court decisions recognize that collective agreements 
negotiated between employers and unorganized workers have legal status 
equivalent to collective bargaining agreements, although collective 
agreements negotiated by a union have precedence over collective 
agreements negotiated by nonunionized employees. Executive decrees 
provide that an employer may not enter into collective negotiations 
with nonunionized workers when a union exists. However, these decrees 
had not been tested in court. Based on previous practice, MITRADEL's 
Manual of Labor Rights and Obligations provides that unorganized 
workers may petition the ministry regarding labor rights violations and 
may exercise the right to strike.
    An executive decree protects employees from employer interference 
in labor rights, specifically including ``employer-directed unions,'' 
and mandates that unions be freely chosen by workers without penalty. 
Two other executive decrees strengthened the ability of workers to 
bargain collectively by clarifying the criteria for legitimate 
subcontracting and establishing an enforcement plan to protect the 
rights of temporary workers.
    The government lacked sufficient mechanisms to ensure that laws 
prohibiting employer interference in unions and protecting workers from 
employer reprisals were adequately enforced. MITRADEL reported that 
inadequate personnel resources, large case backlogs, and incomplete or 
inaccurate information in applications delayed the processing of new 
registrations within the required time frame.
    In addition to the court system, MITRADEL's Conciliation Board has 
the authority to resolve certain labor disagreements, such as internal 
union disputes, enforcement of the minimum wage, and some dismissal 
issues. The law allows arbitration by mutual consent, by employee 
request, or during a collective dispute in a public service company and 
allows either party to appeal if arbitration is mandated during a 
collective dispute in a public-service company. The separate Tripartite 
Conciliation Board has sole competency for disputes related to domestic 
employees, some dismissal issues, and claims of less than 1,500 balboas 
($1,500). For public-sector workers, the Board of Appeal and 
Conciliation in the Ministry of the Presidency hears and resolves 
complaints. If not resolved by the board, complaints are referred to an 
arbitrage tribunal, which consists of representatives from the 
employer, the employee association, and a third member chosen by the 
first two. Tribunal decisions are final.
    Union leaders continued to express concerns about government 
actions, such as auditing union budgets, which they characterized as 
interference and intimidation. They also asserted that automatic union 
registration did not occur in practice.
    Although private-sector unions widely exercised the right to 
organize and bargain collectively, antiunion discrimination, loss of 
employment and discriminatory transfers occurred in practice. Employers 
in the retail industry frequently hired temporary workers to circumvent 
labor code requirements for permanent workers. Temporary workers have 
the same rights established under a collective bargaining agreement as 
do other employees, except relating to dismissal. In lower-skilled 
service jobs, employers often hired employees under three-month 
contracts for several years, sometimes sending such employees home for 
a month and later rehiring them. Employers also circumvented the law 
requiring a two-week notice for discharges by dismissing some workers 
one week before a holiday. Employers frequently hired workers for one 
year and 11 months and subsequently dismissed them to circumvent laws 
that make firing employees more difficult after two years of 
employment.
    While labor leaders approved of the conciliation board, some lawyer 
groups criticized it as a route for circumventing the judiciary, 
leaving interpretation of labor laws to the discretion of persons who 
might lack expertise, and opening the labor dispute-resolution system 
to political pressure.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--In November the 
government approved Law 79, which expressly prohibits all forms of 
forced labor of adults or children. The law establishes penalties of 15 
to 20 years' imprisonment for forced labor involving movement from one 
place to another, and six to 10 years' imprisonment for forced labor 
not involving movement. The law was scheduled to take effect on January 
1, 2012.
    During the year the government did not use existing provisions of 
constitutional law or other civil and criminal statute to prosecute 
forced labor cases, and there were reports that some forced labor of 
adults occurred. There were anecdotal reports that People's Republic of 
China citizens were forced to work in grocery stores and laundries in 
situations of debt bondage, as well as reports that Nicaraguan and 
Colombian women were subjected to domestic servitude.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
labor code prohibits the employment of children under age 14, although 
exceptions can be made for children 12 and older to perform light farm 
work if it does not interfere with their school hours. However, the law 
does not set a limit on the total number of hours that children may 
work in agriculture or define what kinds of light work children may 
perform.
    Children who have not completed primary school may not begin work 
until age 15. The law prohibits 14- to 18-year-old children from 
engaging in potentially hazardous work and identifies such hazardous 
work to include work with electrical energy, explosives, or flammable, 
toxic, and radioactive substances; work underground and on railroads, 
airplanes, and boats; and work in nightclubs, bars, and casinos. Youths 
under 16 may work no more than six hours per day or 36 hours per week, 
while those 16 and 17 may work no more than seven hours per day or 42 
hours per week. Children under 18 may not work between 6 p.m. and 8 
a.m. Businesses that employ an underage child are subject to civil 
fines, while employers who endanger the physical or mental health of a 
child may face two to six years' imprisonment.
    MITRADEL generally enforced the law effectively in the formal 
sector. The ministry enforced child labor provisions in response to 
complaints and can order the termination of unauthorized employment. 
The ministry performed inspections to ensure compliance with child 
labor regulations. Government social workers visited farms in the 
coffee-growing region of Chiriqui in January and February and found 330 
children working in the planting and harvesting of coffee, rice, 
plantains, and other crops. The government acknowledged that it was 
unable to enforce some child labor provisions in rural parts of the 
country; MITRADEL conducted only limited inspections in those areas.
    MITRADEL and the National Directorate Against Child Labor and 
Protection of Adolescent Workers (DIRETIPPAT) continued to grant 
scholarships to children to encourage them to stay in school. MITRADEL 
and the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents, and the Family 
(SENNIAF) staff visited the provinces of Veraguas, Darien, Bocas del 
Toro, Cocle, Los Santos, Herrera, and Kuna Yala to inform communities 
about grants offered through the Institute of Training and Development 
of Human Resources (IFARHU). The government continued to raise 
awareness about and provide training for officials and civil society on 
combating child labor.
    SENNIAF published a resource guide to the services offered to 
children by government, private, and nongovernmental organizations. 
SENNIAF operated programs that offered comprehensive services to 
children at risk and their families, including home and school visits, 
tutoring, and parental counseling. During the year MITRADEL identified 
1,628 children and adolescents performing child labor and assisted 
1,195 to continue their education and with social follow-up. The 
Committee for the Eradication of Child Labor and the Protection of the 
Adolescent Worker (CETIPPAT) provided outreach to 3,369 children 
engaged in or at risk of child labor. The National Institute of 
Vocational Training for Human Development implemented programs for 
parents of those children involved in DIRETIPPAT's outreach program.
    In February the ombudsman and UNICEF launched a campaign against 
the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents designed 
to combat this crime and promote a culture of zero tolerance.
    MIDES, CETIPPAT, and the NGO Casa Esperanza continued a program in 
the comarca (reservation) of the Ngabe-Bugle, Santiago de Veraguas, and 
Chorrera that provided scholarships for working children so they could 
begin or return to primary school; it also provided job training and 
literacy programs for their parents.
    According to the 2010 child labor survey by the government and ILO, 
approximately 60,700 children and adolescents (7 percent of the overall 
population in the five-to-17-year-old age group) were engaged in some 
type of labor. Sixty-nine percent of working children also attended 
school. Seventy-seven percent of working children and adolescents said 
they worked less than 25 hours per week, and 57 percent worked with 
their families.
    Child labor violations occurred most frequently in rural areas in 
agriculture and fishing, especially during the harvest of melons, 
tomatoes, onions, sugarcane, and coffee. The harvest season for these 
products is in January and February, with planting occurring in March 
and April. Children generally worked five to eight hours per day in 
these activities. Farm owners often paid according to the amount 
harvested, leading many laborers to bring their young children to the 
fields to help. The problem of child labor in agricultural areas fell 
most heavily on indigenous families who often migrated from their 
isolated communities in search of paid work and whose frequent 
migrations interrupted schooling. Child labor also occurred in domestic 
work and other areas of the informal sector, including selling goods, 
shining shoes, washing cars, and assisting bus drivers.
    According to Casa Esperanza, child labor increased in agricultural 
areas in the central provinces and was identified in new sectors in 
Panama City, Colon, and David. In Colon children scavenged in the ocean 
for metal and other items from boats to sell. Two children drowned 
during such work during the year. In David children were found selling 
flowers and CDs/DVDs in the streets.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--At year's end the minimum wage 
ranged from 1.06 to 2.00 balboas ($1.06 to $2.00) per hour, depending 
on region and sector. Working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks a year, and 
earning the minimum-wage median, a person would earn approximately184 
to 347 balboas ($184-$347) per month. The poverty line was 94 balboas 
($94), while the extreme poverty line was 53 balboas ($53) per month 
per person. Food and the use of housing facilities were considered part 
of the salary for some workers, such as domestic and agricultural 
workers. The agricultural and construction sectors received the lowest 
and highest minimum wages, respectively.
    The law establishes a standard workweek of 48 hours, provides for 
at least one 24-hour rest period weekly, limits the number of hours 
worked per week, provides for premium pay for overtime, and prohibits 
excessive or compulsory overtime. Workers have the right to 30 days' 
paid vacation for every 11 months of continuous work, including those 
who do not work full time. MITRADEL is responsible for setting health 
and safety standards. The labor code requires employers to provide a 
safe workplace environment, including the provision of protective 
clothing and equipment for workers, but it does not specifically 
recognize the right of a worker to leave a dangerous work situation 
without jeopardy to continued employment.
    MITRADEL generally enforced these standards in the formal sector. 
There were 197 labor inspectors, of whom 51 were occupation security 
inspectors. Information on the number of workplace inspections during 
the year was unavailable. Inspectors from MITRADEL and the occupational 
health section of the Social Security Administration conducted periodic 
inspections of hazardous employment sites and responded to complaints. 
However, the government did not enforce health and safety standards 
adequately. The law requires that the resident engineer and a MITRADEL 
safety officer remain on construction sites, establishes fines for 
noncompliance, and identifies a tripartite group composed of the 
Chamber of Construction, the construction union Suntracs, and MITRADEL 
to regulate adherence.
    Most workers formally employed in urban areas earned the minimum 
wage or more. Approximately 40 percent of the population worked in the 
large informal sector and earned well below the minimum wage, 
particularly in most rural areas, where unskilled laborers earned from 
three to six balboas (three to six dollars) per day without benefits. 
MITRADEL was less likely to enforce labor laws in most rural areas (see 
section 6, Indigenous People).
    As of July seven construction workers in Panama City died due to 
accidents suffered on the job. Some construction workers and their 
employers were occasionally lax about conforming to basic safety 
measures, frequently due to their perception that it reduced 
productivity. Equipment was often outdated, broken, or lacking safety 
devices, due in large part to a fear that the replacement cost would be 
prohibitive. Construction workers and safety inspectors needed training 
to enable them to use new construction technologies.

                               __________

                                PARAGUAY

                           executive summary
    Paraguay is a multiparty, constitutional republic. In 2008 Fernando 
Lugo of the Patriotic Alliance for Change won the presidency in 
elections that were generally free and fair. Security forces reported 
to civilian authorities.
    The principal human rights problems were killings by police or 
government officials; harsh, occasionally life-threatening conditions 
in prisons; and political interference, corruption, and inefficiency in 
the judiciary.
    Discrimination and violence against women; indigenous persons; 
persons with disabilities; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
(LGBT) persons continued, as did trafficking in persons. Exploitation 
of child labor and violations of worker rights also remained serious 
problems.
    There was impunity for officials who committed abuses in the 
security forces and elsewhere in government.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--The government did 
not commit any politically motivated killings, but there were 
accusations of a politically motivated killing by an official of one of 
the major political parties.
    On March 4, three unknown assailants killed National Republican 
Association (Colorado) party politician and radio journalist Merardo 
Alejandro Romero Chavez at his home in Itakyry. Romero's supporters 
contended that the killing was linked to fellow Colorado party member 
and former mayor Miguel Angel Soria, who was running against Romero in 
the March 13 primary elections for local party leader. A police 
investigation continued at year's end, and the prosecutor ordered the 
``preventive detention'' of Romero's chief political advisor, Jose 
Valenzuela.
    There were reports that some security forces acted in their 
official capacity but without government knowledge or support to kill 
individuals for personal gain. Some of those reports alleged that 
government prosecutors conspired to cover up the killings.
    On August 21, subofficial Fermin Delvalle Carreras shot and killed 
Rafael Sanabria Amarilla, 20, after a police roadblock in Hohenau, 
Itapua Department, stopped the car in which Rafael and his friends were 
traveling. The occupants were forced to leave the car, kneel, and were 
frisked. Rafael was shot in the back while kneeling and allegedly 
offered no resistance. The Prosecutor's Office charged Delvalle with 
homicide, and the case remained pending at year's end.
    There were no known developments in the case of Prosecutor Fleitas 
Ramires and five police officers arrested and charged in the July 2010 
killing of Marcos Roberto Carrion or in the case of 17 police officers 
charged in August 2010 with manslaughter in the death of Gustavo Munoz.

    b. Disappearance.--There were no reports of politically motivated 
abductions; however, there were press reports of ``express 
kidnappings'' for ransom, including reports of actions taken by 
policemen with help after the fact from prosecutors, which occasionally 
resulted in unresolved disappearances.

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such treatment, and the government 
generally respected these provisions in practice, although there were 
reports that some government agents employed such treatment. The 
Coordinator of Human Rights in Paraguay (CODEHUPY), made up of 33 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civic organizations, reported 
several allegations of police torture and other abuses designed to 
extract confessions or intimidate detainees. On January 31, two police 
officers allegedly kidnapped and tortured Cipriano Encina Casco and his 
wife Reina Troche near Ciudad del Este. Encina claimed the police 
officers beat and suffocated them with plastic bags while demanding 
money and stealing their vehicle. The couple reported receiving 
subsequent death threats from the officers against whom they filed a 
complaint. The case remained under investigation by the Prosecutor's 
Office at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally continued to fall short of international 
standards. The most serious problems included violence, mistreatment, 
overcrowding, inadequate and poorly trained staff, deteriorating 
infrastructure, unsanitary living conditions, poor food safety 
standards, and inadequate medical and psychological care. On January 3, 
the minister of justice and labor announced the government would begin 
closing the largest prison in the country, Tacumbu, starting with 
transfers of prisoners to other prisons in 2012.
    The country's 15 penitentiaries held more than 6,300 inmates, 20 
percent more than their design capacity of 5,300. The penitentiary in 
Ciudad del Este, designed to hold approximately 300 inmates, held more 
than 650. Pretrial detainees were held with convicted prisoners in all 
but two penitentiaries. Women constituted approximately 5 percent of 
the prison population, and prison conditions for men and women were 
comparable.
    Prisons lacked adequate security controls. Inmates frequently 
carried weapons and committed acts of violence, particularly against 
other inmates. Through November the Ministry of Justice and Labor (MJT) 
recorded the deaths of 17 prisoners in custody, some of whom were 
killed by other inmates, and 18 injuries. There were cases of inmates 
conducting illicit activities by bribing and conspiring with prison 
guards. Visitors occasionally needed to offer bribes to visit 
prisoners, hindering effective representation of inmates by public 
defenders.
    Inmates had access to potable water. There are prison ombudsmen, 
and they are moderately effective. No significant steps to improve 
record keeping or use alternatives to sentencing have been undertaken.
    Prisoners had access to visitors and were permitted to observe 
their chosen religion. Although in theory prisoners could submit 
complaints, it is not clear that such submissions were always without 
censorship. Authorities investigated credible allegations of inhumane 
conditions and took steps to alleviate them within the limitations of 
available resources.
    In September 2010 prosecutors charged prison staff at Asuncion's 
Tacumbu Prison with complicity in the production of child pornography 
by inmates. Those charges and others against the former prison director 
and security chief remained pending at year's end.
    Although the MJT assigned minors convicted of juvenile crimes to 
five youth correctional facilities in the country, some juvenile 
offenders served their sentences in adult prisons. Living conditions in 
juvenile facilities were generally better than in adult prisons.
    Prison officials and unauthorized prisoner leadership frequently 
separated inmates based on their ability to pay for better living 
conditions. Inmates could upgrade their accommodations for a fee 
ranging from 20,000 to 50 million guaranies (approximately $5 to 
$12,500).
    The government permitted independent monitoring of prison 
conditions and granted the media, human rights groups, and diplomatic 
representatives access to prisons with prior coordination from the MJT. 
Representatives of the media, the International Committee of the Red 
Cross, and other NGOs conducted prison visits during the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arrest and 
detention without an arrest warrant signed by a judge and stipulates 
that persons detained must appear before a judge within 24 hours for an 
initial hearing. There were some reports of arbitrary arrest and 
detention of persons without a warrant.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Police, 
under the authority of the Interior Ministry, preserves public order, 
protects the rights and safety of persons and entities and their 
property, prevents and investigates crimes, and implements orders given 
by the judiciary and public officials. The military, under the 
president's authority, guards the country's territorial integrity and 
defends lawfully constituted authorities. The Defense Ministry, also 
under the president's authority but outside the military's chain of 
command, handles some defense matters. The law authorizes the 
Antinarcotics Secretariat and the Antiterrorism Secretariat, both under 
the president's authority, to enforce the law and maintain order in 
matters related to narcotics trafficking and terrorism.
    Civilian authorities generally maintained control over the security 
forces. The security forces did not effectively coordinate law 
enforcement efforts. Although the government has mechanisms to 
investigate and punish abuses and corruption by the security forces, 
there were reports of police involvement in crimes that went 
unpunished. In 2010, 41 police officers were fired for a variety of 
criminal offenses. From January to April, authorities dismissed 58 
police officers for criminal behavior.
    The 23,000-member National Police force was poorly trained, 
inadequately funded, plagued by corruption, and shielded in large part 
by impunity. There were frequent incidents of police involvement in 
homicide, arms and narcotics trafficking, car theft, robbery, 
extortion, and kidnapping throughout the country, with such abuses 
particularly widespread in Ciudad del Este and other locations on the 
border with Brazil. In 2010 the police recorded 160 formal complaints 
against police officers, mostly for alleged physical abuse or abuse of 
office. These complaints were generally unresolved. Some prosecutors 
routinely conspired with police and criminal organizations to extort 
and blackmail individuals.
    In November 2010 military cadet Antenor Rafael Saiz Ribes filed a 
complaint against the military academy alleging he was beaten and 
verbally assaulted as part of a common hazing ritual. Although the 
president subsequently replaced the commander of the corps of cadets, 
further investigation was stymied by a lack of cooperation from 
military authorities, who disregarded a summons to give testimony on 
January 18.
    The government continued efforts to decrease and punish human 
rights violations committed by police. On January 28, the National 
Police adopted a manual outlining circumstances in which police may use 
force, and on August 9, the National Police commander approved rules 
emphasizing transparency and respect for human rights in the 
disciplinary process. In March the Public Ministry established a 
special unit to receive, investigate, and prosecute human rights 
abuses; the unit assumed the existing 850 open cases and is mandated to 
deal with future complaints of human rights violations. There were no 
reports of significant prosecutorial successes by year's end.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police may 
arrest individuals when authorized by a judicial or prosecutorial 
warrant or when they discover a crime in process. The law provides 
that, after making an arrest, police have up to six hours to notify the 
Prosecutor's Office, at which point the Prosecutor's Office has up to 
24 hours to notify a judge that it intends to prosecute the case. The 
law provides detainees with the right to a prompt judicial 
determination regarding the legality of the detention, and authorities 
appeared to respect this right in practice and to inform detainees 
promptly of the charges against them.
    The law allows judges to utilize ``substitute measures'' such as 
house arrest and bail in felony cases. In misdemeanor cases, judges 
frequently set relatively high bail, and many poor defendants were 
unable to post bond while those with political connections often paid 
minimal or no bonds.
    The law grants accused criminals the right to counsel, and the 
government provides representation to poor defendants. The quality of 
representation was degraded by the size of the public defenders' 
caseloads. The government permitted defendants to hire attorneys at 
their own expense. Detainees had access to family members.

    Pretrial Detention.--The law permits detention without trial until 
the accused completes the minimum sentence for the alleged crime. 
Approximately 70 percent of prisoners were in pretrial detention during 
the reporting period. The law stipulates that pretrial detention may 
range from six months to five years, based on the nature of the crime. 
In practice detention was arbitrarily lengthy, and some detainees were 
held beyond the maximum allowable detention time. Judicial 
inefficiencies and corruption in the judiciary caused significant trial 
delays and extended pretrial detention.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary; in practice, however, political interference 
seriously compromised that independence. Judicial selection processes 
were highly politicized, with specific seats customarily allocated by 
political party. Courts remained inefficient and subject to corruption. 
Politicians and interested parties routinely attempted to influence 
investigations and pressure judges and prosecutors. There were also 
frequent accusations that judges and prosecutors solicited bribes to 
drop or modify charges against defendants.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, which the judiciary nominally enforced through a lengthy 
trial process. A 2009 Center for Judicial Studies report revealed that 
only 48 percent of cases initiated in 2008 were resolved within one 
year. Wealthy or well-connected defendants received impunity by 
conspiring with judges and often filing specious motions that slowed 
legal progress until their cases reached the statute of limitations.
    The law provides for the use of three-judge tribunals in lieu of 
juries to rule on procedure, determine guilt or innocence, and decide 
sentences. A majority opinion is required to convict. One judge 
presides over civil cases as well as misdemeanor cases with maximum 
punishments not exceeding two years in prison.
    All trials are open to the public. The law requires prosecutors to 
indict accused persons within 180 days of arrest, although prosecutors 
and public defenders at the Public Ministry lacked the resources to 
perform their jobs adequately. Defendants enjoy a presumption of 
innocence and a right of appeal, and defendants and prosecutors may 
present written testimony from witnesses and other evidence. Defendants 
have the right of access to state evidence relevant to their cases.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In response to the August 
2010 decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Xakmok 
Kasek indigenous community case, the government informed the court in 
August that a presidential decree revoking the private nature reserve 
of the property in question was being prepared, thus paving the way for 
compliance with the land transfer ruling. Negotiations were underway 
for the purchase of land.
    During the year the government partially complied with two court 
rulings. Concerning the 2006 decision in favor of the Sawhoyamaxa 
indigenous community, the government continued to provide monetary 
restitution but did not award land to the community.
    Regarding the 2005 judgment in favor of the Yakye Axa indigenous 
community, the community accepted in principle the government's planned 
purchase of approximately 37,000 acres of alternative land for 
resettlement to replace ancestral land on which community members were 
living. The government subsequently allocated funds, identified such 
acreage on the El Algarrobal ranch, and on December 10 announced that 
it had agreed on the purchase price. The Yakye Axa agreed to relocate 
to the El Algarrobal property.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens have access to 
the courts to bring lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, 
human rights violations. There are administrative and judicial remedies 
for alleged wrongs, although authorities rarely granted them to 
citizens. The government experienced problems in enforcing court 
orders.

    Property Restitution.--The government generally enforced court 
orders with respect to seizure, restitution, or compensation for taking 
private property. However, systemic failures occurred. For example, in 
Puerto Casado land disputes dating back to 2000 between local residents 
and the land-owning business Victoria SA resulted in periodic clashes 
and damage to private property, while the government did not enforce 
judicial decisions and court orders to return occupied land to the 
landowner.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
government generally respected these rights in practice. Individuals 
criticized the government publicly and privately, generally without 
reprisal or impediment.

    Violence and Harassment.--Because of their reporting, journalists 
were on occasion subjected to harassment, intimidation, and violence--
primarily from drug trafficking gangs and criminal syndicates based in 
departments bordering Brazil but also from politicians. In May Fermin 
Jara, a writer with the daily newspaper ABC Color, along with Carlos 
Bottino and Samir Sanchez, journalists with Radio Parque in Ciudad del 
Este, alleged that the governor of Alto Parana, Nelson Aguinagalde, 
sought to intimidate them. The journalists claimed that Aguinagalde 
threatened to ``kill them with a machine gun'' if they continued to 
criticize his administration. They also claimed that, at the request of 
Governor Aguinagalde, the radio programs hosted by Bottino and Sanchez 
were censored and later cancelled because of their refusal to stop 
their criticism of the governor.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--Political officials often retaliated 
against media criticism by invoking criminal libel laws and suing the 
media to intimidate journalists and suppress further investigations. 
For example, in 2010 ABC Color managing director Aldo Zuccolillo faced 
criminal charges relating to defamation suits brought against him by 
former government officials. On April 7, authorities ordered him to pay 
236 million guaranies ($59,000) plus interest for questioning the 
judicial decision that freed former president Luis Angel Gonzalez 
Macchi from prosecution. An appeal was pending at year's end.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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's National Commission of Refugees cooperated 
with the Office of the U.N. 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 NGO 
Committee of Churches for Emergency Aid acted as the U.N.'s local legal 
representative.

    Foreign Travel.--Authorities on occasion barred those convicted of 
crimes from traveling abroad after completing their sentences.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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.

    Durable Solutions.--The government permits persons refused asylum 
or refugee status to obtain legal permanent residency.

    Temporary Protection.--The government also provided temporary 
protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides citizens 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.--Recent Elections.--In the 
2008 multiparty general elections, Fernando Armindo Lugo Mendez of the 
Patriotic Alliance for Change won the presidency. International 
observers characterized the elections as generally free and fair.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There were no legal 
impediments to women's participation in government and politics. There 
were 17 women in congress (seven of 45 senators and 10 of 80 national 
deputies). Of 39 appeals court judges, 11 were women. Two women served 
on the Supreme Court and one as a departmental governor. One woman 
headed a cabinet-level ministry, and four women held ministerial rank. 
In the November 2010 municipal elections, 18 women won mayoral contests 
in 238 cities. The head of the country's largest political party, the 
Colorado Party, was a woman. The electoral code requires that at least 
20 percent of each party's candidates in internal party primaries be 
women, and this requirement was met.
    Although there were no legal impediments to participation by 
minorities or indigenous persons in government, there were no 
indigenous persons or members of minorities serving as governor or in 
the cabinet, legislature, or Supreme Court.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; 
however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and some 
officials in all branches and at all levels of government frequently 
engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Under a law that prohibits 
court cases from lasting longer than five years, politicians convicted 
in lower courts routinely avoided punishment by filing appeals and 
motions until the statute of limitations expired. The World Bank's 
Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected that corruption was a serious 
problem.
    The Public Ministry, under the authority of the attorney general, 
has a dedicated prosecutorial unit to combat corruption. Elected 
officials are required to disclose their finances before running for 
office; however, filings often were late, incomplete, or misleading. In 
addition, many simply did not disclose their finances and engaged in 
corrupt practices with impunity, using political immunity to avoid 
prosecution. In July 2010 the interior minister, who oversees the 
National Police, announced that all policemen must file reports of net 
worth every three years and when they are eligible for promotion. There 
were no reports on compliance with this directive.
    Corruption in the 10,000-member military continued. Several senior 
leaders at the military's primary training facility repaid money during 
the year that they had extorted from their subordinates.
    The case against suspended prosecutor Gustavo Gamba, who had been 
taped in 2009 receiving an illicit payment of 360 million guaranies 
($90,000) from Senator Victor Bernal Garay, remained pending after the 
Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court ruled March 4 against a 
motion to dismiss the charges.
    Former principal commissioner and third-ranking officer in the 
National Police chain of command, Eligio Ibarra Hlavasek, and 
Commissioner Nery Vera both admitted to receiving bribes from business 
owners in return for assigning policemen to provide security for their 
businesses. In February they were ordered to pay 2.4 million guaranies 
($600) to a charity.
    Although the law provides for public access to government 
information, citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media, had 
limited access to government information. Insufficient infrastructure 
and determined efforts to hide corruption hindered access, although the 
government improved transparency by publishing information publicly via 
the Internet.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    More than 50 domestic and international human rights groups, 
including the International Organization for Migration, International 
Labor Organization (ILO), and UNICEF, operated without government 
restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human 
rights cases. Major local NGO umbrella organizations representing many 
local human rights NGOs operated independently.
    Government officials cooperated with domestic NGOs and met with 
domestic NGO monitors but often did not take action in response to 
their reports or recommendations. The government generally cooperated 
with international human rights groups, humanitarian NGOs, and 
international governmental organizations and regularly permitted visits 
by their representatives.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The term of Ombudsman Manuel Paez 
Monges, the country's primary human rights advocate, expired in August 
2010, but he continued to serve with no apparent movement to find a 
replacement. The ombudsman employed approximately 163 lawyers and 
support personnel. Human rights organizations, victims of the 
Stroessner dictatorship, and several congress members criticized Monges 
for what they considered ineffective handling of cases. His office 
lacked independence and initiative, published no significant reports 
during the year, and has not issued an annual report on human rights to 
congress since 2005.
    The Senate Committee on Human Rights made frequent fact-finding 
trips within the country but has not issued any reports since 2008.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status. However, women, LGBT persons, and 
indigenous persons faced discrimination in practice.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, and provides penalties of up to 10 years in 
prison for rape or forcible sexual assault. If the victim is a minor 
under the age of 18, the sentences range from three to 15 years. 
According to the Public Ministry, rape continued to be a significant 
and pervasive problem. The government generally prosecuted rape 
allegations and often obtained convictions; however, many rapes went 
unreported due to fear of stigma and of retribution or further 
violence. Police generally did not give a priority to acting on rape 
reports. In 2010 the Public Ministry reported 892 cases of rape.
    No unified official statistics accurately track the number of 
reported cases of domestic violence; however, the Public Ministry 
registered 1,977 cases of ``family violence'' in 2010. Although the law 
criminalizes domestic violence, including spousal abuse and 
psychological violence, and stipulates a penalty of two years in prison 
or a fine for those who are convicted, it requires that the abuse be 
habitual and that the aggressor and victim be ``cohabitating or lodging 
together'' before it is considered criminal. Those convicted were 
typically fined. Despite increased reports of domestic violence, 
individuals often withdrew complaints soon after filing due to spousal 
reconciliation or family pressure. In some cases the courts mediated in 
domestic violence cases, but there were no reliable statistics 
available as to the results. Domestic violence was very common, and 
thousands of women were treated for injuries sustained in domestic 
altercations, but the government took little action to combat the 
problem. The emergency 911 system took 16,974 calls on domestic 
violence in 2009, resulting in only 286 formal complaints to police.
    Throughout the country, the National Police oversaw six domestic 
violence units staffed with approximately 30 police officers and 
administered from existing police stations in Asuncion, Encarnacion, 
Villa Elisa, and Villarrica. In 2010 the Secretariat of Women's Affairs 
(SMPR) received 2,030 complaints of domestic abuse (410 for physical 
beating, 861 for psychological attacks, 642 for economic distress, and 
117 for sexual abuse).
    The SMPR operated a shelter for female victims of trafficking and 
domestic violence in Asuncion and intervened in 1,741 cases in 2010. It 
coordinated victim assistance efforts, public outreach campaigns, and 
training with the National Police, healthcare units, the Public 
Ministry, and women's NGOs. NGOs provided health and psychological 
assistance, including shelter, to victims. The SMPR and the Public 
Ministry also provided victim assistance courses for police, healthcare 
workers, and prosecutors.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment and 
stipulates a penalty of two years in prison or a fine; however, sexual 
harassment remained a problem for many women. Prosecutors found sexual 
harassment and abuse claims difficult to prove, and most complaints 
were settled privately without involving prosecutors.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals had the right to 
decide freely the number, spacing, and timing of their children and had 
the information and means to do so free from discrimination. The 
government provided access to information on contraception and skilled 
attendance at delivery and in postpartum care. According to U.N. 
estimates for 2008-09, the maternal mortality rate was 95 deaths per 
100,000 live births, with 82 percent of births attended by skilled 
health personnel. Seventy percent of women ages 15-49 reportedly used a 
modern method of contraception, despite religious bans on 
``artificial'' contraception. Reproductive health services were 
concentrated in cities, and rural areas faced significant gaps in 
coverage. Adolescent pregnancy continued to be a problem. CODEHUPY 
speculated that the reason for the high rate of such pregnancy was that 
``sex education in school curricula lacks the incorporation of 
perspectives regarding lay society, gender, and human rights.'' Women 
and men had equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Although women generally enjoyed the same legal 
status and rights as men, gender-related discrimination was widespread 
and deeply ingrained. Employers often paid women significantly less 
than men for comparable work, and women experienced more difficulty 
finding work. Women generally were employed as domestic workers, 
secretaries, and customer service representatives. The Economic 
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reported unemployment 
levels of 7 percent for women and 4 percent for men. Women in the 
private sector earn on average approximately 73 percent of the monthly 
pay of their male counterparts. The SMPR promoted the rights of women 
and sponsored programs intended to give women equal access to 
employment, social security, housing, ownership of land, and business 
opportunities. Its minister-level director reports directly to the 
president.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Nationality is derived by birth 
within the country's territory, by birth to government employees in 
service outside the country, or by birth to a citizen residing 
temporarily outside the country. Citizenship is conveyed to all 
nationals who attain the age of 18 as well as to older individuals when 
they are naturalized.

    Child Abuse.--Available information indicates that violence against 
children was widespread and equally prevalent among rural and urban 
families. Authorities often did not act on complaints of child abuse. 
The Secretariat of Children and Adolescents (SNNA) provided funds to 
the Grupo Luna Nueva hostel for exploited children. In Ciudad del Este 
the NGO Children's and Adolescents' Care and Assistance Center managed 
a shelter partially supported by the SNNA, and local Catholic charities 
operated several children's homes and orphanages in several locations. 
In many cities the municipal council for children's rights assisted 
abused and neglected children.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Sexual exploitation of children, 
principally in prostitution, was a serious problem. According to the 
SNNA, many underage children were forced into prostitution or domestic 
servitude for survival and were sexually abused. The law provides 
penalties of up to six years' imprisonment for prostitution of victims 
between the ages of 14 and 17 and eight years' imprisonment for victims 
younger than 14. The minimum age for consensual heterosexual sex is 14 
when married and 16 when not married. While there is a statutory rape 
law for those under 14, the maximum penalty is a fine for opposite-sex 
partners and prison for same-sex partners. Enforcement was not 
vigorous. Child pornography is illegal. Production of pornographic 
images can result in a fine or up to three years in prison. Authorities 
may increase this penalty to 10 years in prison depending on the age of 
the child and the child's relationship to the abuser.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information, see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish community has fewer than 1,000 members. 
There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts or reports of societal 
abuses or discrimination based on other religious affiliation, belief, 
or practice.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, or the provision of other state 
services. The law does not mandate accessibility for persons with 
disabilities, and most of the country's buildings were inaccessible. 
Many persons with disabilities faced significant discrimination in 
employment; others were unable to seek employment because of a lack of 
accessible public transportation. The Ministry of Education estimated 
that at least half of all children with disabilities did not attend 
school because public buses could not accommodate them. The National 
Institute for the Protection of Exceptional People is responsible for 
legally confirming disability status.
    As of March there were 686 government employees with disabilities, 
constituting approximately 1 percent of public-sector employees. On 
February 23, the Asuncion City Council approved an ordinance 
establishing architectural requirements for accessibility to buildings 
and on sidewalks, as well as fines for lack of compliance. There are no 
laws to ensure access to information and communications.

    Indigenous People.--The law provides indigenous people the right to 
participate in the economic, social, political, and cultural life of 
the country; however, the government did not always effectively protect 
those rights. Discrimination and lack of access to education, health 
care, shelter, and sufficient land hindered the ability of indigenous 
persons to progress economically while maintaining their cultural 
identity. The law protecting the property interests of indigenous 
persons was not respected in practice.
    A 2008 census reported an indigenous population of approximately 
108,000 and estimated that 39 percent over age 15 were illiterate and 
approximately 48 percent were unemployed. According to the General 
Directorate of Statistics, Surveys, and Censuses (DGEEC), the average 
monthly income of the indigenous population in 2008 was approximately 
half the minimum wage of the nonindigenous population.
    Indigenous workers engaged as laborers on ranches earned low wages, 
worked long hours, were paid infrequently or not at all, and lacked 
benefits. This situation was particularly severe for indigenous persons 
engaged as laborers on ranches and estates in the Chaco region.
    The National Institute of the Indigenous (INDI), the Public 
Ministry, and the Ombudsman's Office are responsible for protecting and 
promoting indigenous rights. However, the INDI lacked funding to 
purchase land on behalf of indigenous persons and required them to 
register for land at its office in distant Asuncion.
    The law authorizes indigenous persons to determine how to use their 
land, leading many of them to transfer or rent their land to 
nonindigenous persons, some of whom illegally harvested fish or 
deforested the lands through cultivation. There were insufficient 
police and judicial protections from encroachments on indigenous lands, 
and few indigenous persons held title to their ancestral lands.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The Public Ministry is 
responsible for investigating discrimination cases; however, government 
agents often condoned discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation.
    Penalties for the crime of having sex with a minor between the ages 
of 14 and 16 differ depending on the sex of the victim and perpetrator. 
Same-sex perpetrators are subject to up to two years in prison; the 
maximum penalty for opposite-sex perpetrators is a fine.
    There are no laws explicitly prohibiting discrimination against 
LGBT individuals in employment, housing, statelessness, access to 
education, or health care, and all types of such discrimination, 
including societal discrimination, occurred frequently.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--CODEHUPY noted that 
individuals with HIV/AIDS faced discrimination as well as societal 
intimidation in health care, education, and employment.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows both private- and public-sector workers to form and join 
independent unions (with the exception of the armed forces and the 
police), to conduct legal strikes, and to bargain collectively. The law 
prohibits antiunion discrimination. The government did not place 
restrictions on collective bargaining and did not require approval for 
collective agreements to be valid.
    All unions must register with the MJT. The law requires that 
industrial unions have a minimum of 300 members to register, a 
requirement considered excessive by international standards.
    The law also prohibits binding arbitration and retribution against 
union organizers and strikers. The law prohibits antiunion 
discrimination; however, courts are not required to reinstate workers 
fired for union activity.
    The government did not always effectively enforce these provisions. 
Procedures were subject to lengthy delays, mishandling of cases, and 
allegedly corruption.
    Workers exercised freedom of association and the right to 
collective bargaining in practice. Although the official union 
registration process was cumbersome and could take more than a year, 
the MJT typically issued provisional registrations within weeks of 
application to allow new labor unions to operate. Unions often began 
operating on the date of their provisional registration. Worker 
organizations were independent of the government and political parties.
    Most workers, however, including farmers, ranchers, and informal 
sector employees, did not have access to labor unions. Many of these 
workers were members of farm workers' movements. Steel and maritime 
workers and employees at meat-processing plants often did receive 
relevant legal protections.
    The government failed to prevent retaliation by employers who took 
action against strikers and union leaders. The courts provided due 
process through mechanisms such as voluntary arbitration.
    Antiunion discrimination occurred in practice. Some union 
organizers experienced harassment and dismissal for union activities. 
Some workers allegedly chose not to protest due to fear of reprisal or 
anticipation of government inaction. Authorities arrested three members 
of the union at the steelmaker Acepar, and on April 23, the high court 
declared their strike illegal.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
transnational forced or compulsory labor but does not criminally 
penalize forced labor within the country. The government did not 
effectively enforce such laws, and there were reports that forced labor 
occurred in practice. There were reports of forced child labor (see 
section 7.c.).
    The media continued to report allegations of debt labor primarily 
of men, but also of some older children, on the estates and ranches of 
the Chaco region. Receiving little to no wages, some indigenous workers 
allegedly contracted debts with their employers, who advanced them pay 
to meet the cost of food and clothes as well as of sending their 
children to school. This situation was severe for women in domestic 
service, who were reportedly not compensated for their work and faced 
abuse. There were some reports of forced child labor, particularly in 
domestic service (see section7.c.). The government's Commission on 
Fundamental Rights at Work and the Prevention of Forced Labor has taken 
no public action since its creation in 2009.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
minimum age for formal, full-time employment is 18 years. Adolescents 
between the ages of 14 and 17 may work so long as they have a written 
authorization from their parents, attend school, do not work more than 
four hours a day, and do not work more than 24 hours per week. 
Adolescents between the ages of 16 to 18 who do not attend school may 
work up to six hours a day with a weekly ceiling of 36 hours. Children 
younger than 13 years old are prohibited from working.
    The government did not effectively enforce laws protecting children 
from exploitation in the workplace. The MJT is responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws, and the Public Ministry prosecuted 
violators. The country's National Commission for the Prevention and 
Eradication of the Exploitation of Children worked to eliminate 
exploitative child labor by increasing awareness, improving legal 
protections and public policy, and implementing monitoring systems; 
however, resource constraints limited the effectiveness of these 
efforts.
    According to Article 389 of the Labor Code and Article 257 of the 
Child Law Code, the maximum administrative penalty for employing a 
child under the age of 14 is 3.25 million guaranies (approximately 
$812). The same articles stipulate that employers who employ 
adolescents between 14 and 17 under hazardous conditions will pay the 
maximum administrative penalty of 3.25 million guaranies (approximately 
$812).
    The National Secretariat of Children and Adolescents administered 
the Abrazo (``Hug'') program to assist families with children at risk 
of working in the streets. Since its inception the program has reached 
11,651 children and families. The Secretariat for Social Action 
administered the Tekopora (``Well-being'') program that paid parents of 
street children a monthly stipend to send their children to school. 
Between 83,000 and 98,700 families have registered with Tekopora. The 
SNNA's Summer Operation and Winter Operation programs brought 920 
children of street workers into shelters when school was not in 
session. A similar program was also created for indigenous families and 
has brought shelter and support to approximately 564 children and 
families in rural indigenous communities.
    Child labor was a problem, particularly in brick and lime 
manufacturing, domestic service, and agricultural sectors. A 2007 ILO 
study reported that 970,000 (53 percent) of children between the ages 
of five and 17 worked more than one hour per day, and 862,0000 worked 
at least 14 hours per week. The study did not disaggregate child 
workers by sector, but it reported that most worked in agriculture. 
From August to October the SNNA conducted the first national survey on 
child labor, but the findings were not published by the end of the 
year. In rural areas 23 percent of children worked, compared with 13 
percent of urban children.
    Children, primarily boys, worked in the manufacturing and 
agricultural sectors (including cotton, beans, soy, sesame, wheat, 
peanuts, and stevia production) and in the hotel, restaurant, and 
transportation industries. Children also worked as vendors in markets. 
An estimated 60,000 children, primarily girls, worked as child domestic 
servants and received no pay. In exchange for work, employers promised 
child domestic servants room, board, and financial support for school. 
However, some of these children were victims of forced child labor, did 
not receive pay or the promised benefits in exchange for work, were 
sometimes subject to sexual exploitation, and often lacked access to 
education.
    The worst forms of child labor occurred where malnourished, abused, 
or neglected children worked in unhealthy and hazardous conditions 
selling goods or services on the street, working in factories, or 
harvesting crops. Slavery and similar practices occurred, particularly 
in prostitution and domestic servitude. Parents and guardians 
reportedly sold their children for such purposes, and children were 
used, procured, and offered to third parties for illicit activities. 
Some minors worked as drug smugglers along the border with Brazil as 
part of criminal syndicates.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The mandatory national minimum 
wage was approximately 1.6 million guaranies ($400) per month, and the 
per capita monthly income was approximately 970,000 guaranies ($243).
    The law provides for a standard legal workweek of 48 hours (42 
hours for night work) with one day of rest. The law also allows an 
annual bonus of one month's salary, and a minimum of 12 and a maximum 
of 30 vacation days per year, depending on years of service. The law 
requires overtime payment for hours in excess of the standard. There 
are no prohibitions of or exceptions for excessive compulsory overtime. 
The Labor Code stipulates a fine of 30 minimum daily wages for an 
employer who pays below minimum wage.
    The government sets occupational health and safety standards of 
safety, hygiene, and comfort. Workers have the right to remove 
themselves from situations that endanger their health or safety without 
jeopardy to their employment, but authorities did not effectively 
enforce this right in practice. The law stipulates penalties up to 
three to five years in prison for employing persons in hazardous 
conditions or coercing persons to work.
    Government actions to prevent violations of minimum wage provisions 
were limited to information campaigns. The MJT did not effectively 
enforce the minimum wage or limitations on hours of work in the formal 
or the informal sector. The MJT also failed to enforce provisions for 
overtime pay, and the Ministry of Health did not enforce occupational 
safety and health regulations effectively. In 2010 the MJT had 30 
inspectors in Asuncion and nine in regional offices.
    In July 2010 the DGEEC estimated that in practice 40 percent of 
private-sector workers and 80 percent of public-sector workers earned 
minimum wage or higher. However, approximately 42 percent of the 
population earned less than minimum wage. Many employers violated 
provisions requiring overtime pay, particularly in the food service and 
agricultural industries, and reportedly in domestic service.
    Credible data on workplace accidents were unavailable.

                               __________

                                  PERU

                           executive summary
    Peru is a constitutional, multiparty republic. Ollanta Humala Tasso 
of the Peruvian Nationalist Party (part of the Gana Peru electoral 
alliance) won the June presidential run-off elections in a vote 
considered free and fair and assumed office on July 28. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems included violence against 
women and children, trafficking in persons, and government corruption.
    The following human rights problems also were reported: killings by 
security forces of protesters during demonstrations, harsh prison 
conditions, abuse of detainees and inmates by prison security forces, 
lengthy pretrial detention and inordinate trial delays, intimidation of 
the media, incomplete registration of internally displaced persons, and 
discrimination against women. There also was discrimination against 
individuals with disabilities; members of racial and ethnic minority 
groups; indigenous persons; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
persons; and persons with HIV/AIDS. Other problems were a lack of labor 
law enforcement and the exploitation of child labor, particularly in 
informal sectors.
    The government took steps to investigate and in some cases 
prosecute or otherwise punish public officials who committed abuses. 
Officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
    The terrorist organization Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) was 
responsible for killings and other human rights abuses, including the 
recruitment of child soldiers, extortion, and intimidation.
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 episodes of societal unrest, security forces killed 12 protesters. 
The majority of these episodes were a result of socioenvironmental 
conflicts. In addition, one person died as a result of police abuse.
    On April 24, Gerson Falla died after police officers detained him 
in Lima. The report of internal police investigators released on July 
26 stated that Falla's death resulted from police abuse. Three police 
officers were retired, and a fourth was suspended for four months. On 
August 9, Attorney General Jose Pelaez stated that the director of the 
VII Police Region, Javier Sanguinetti, should be prosecuted for this 
crime. At year's end Sanguinetti's prosecution remained pending.
    There were several deaths during social protests. For example, on 
April 27, two protesters in the province of Islay, Arequipa Region, 
died in a riot against the Tia Maria mining project when they 
apparently were shot by police officers trying to control the 
situation. On June 21 and 22, police reportedly killed three persons in 
the province of Tayacaja, Huancavelica Region, during a protest against 
the creation of a new university that demonstrators claimed would have 
diverted resources from the existing regional university. On June 25, 
in the city of Juliaca, Puno Region, six people died during an attempt 
by protesters to take over the Juliaca Airport as part of a protest 
against mining in the region. On December 2, in the southern Lima 
Region town of Canete, a protester died, apparently shot by police, 
during a demonstration against the expansion of the La Cantera jail. 
Investigations continued in all cases; at year's end no one had been 
charged.
    In May a military police court convicted two police officials and 
one army official for their actions during the 2009 deadly clashes 
between police and indigenous protesters in and around Bagua, Amazonas 
Region. Peruvian National Police (PNP) General Luis Mugurza was 
sentenced to 36 months in prison (suspended and ordered to pay 
reparations of 10,000 New Soles (approximately $3,700). PNP General 
Javier Uribe received a 24-month sentence (suspended for one year) and 
was ordered to pay 7,000 New Soles ($2,600). Army General Raul Silva 
Alban received a 12-month sentence and a fine of 4,000 New Soles 
($1,480).
    On August 11, the Constitutional Tribunal rejected former president 
Alberto Fujimori's habeas corpus petition, thus confirming his 2009 
sentence of 25 years' imprisonment for authorizing the mass killings at 
Barrios Altos and La Cantuta in 1991 and 1992, respectively.
    Juan Manuel Rivera Rondon and Telmo Ricardo Hurtado Hurtado, 
implicated in the 1985 killings of 69 villagers during a military raid 
on the village of Accomarca, Ayacucho Region, remained in custody while 
on trial in the Third Supraprovincial Court. On July 14, Hurtado was 
extradited from the United States and at year's end remained in the 
Castro Castro Prison.
    During the year members of two Shining Path factions conducted 74 
terrorist acts (including armed actions and proselytism) in remote 
coca-growing areas that resulted in the killings of 14 soldiers in the 
Apurimac and Ene River Valleys (VRAE) emergency zone and five civilians 
in the emergency zone of the Upper Huallaga Valley (UHV). The two 
emergency zones were located in parts of Ayacucho, Cusco, Huancavelica, 
Huanuco, Junin, San Martin, and Ucayali regions. For the first time 
since 2003, there were no police casualties.

    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 law prohibits such practices. There were reports that 
security officials used excessive force, and authorities inconsistently 
punished those who committed such abuses.
    Allegations of abuse most often arose immediately following an 
arrest, when families were prohibited from visiting suspects and when 
attorneys had limited access to detainees. In some cases police and 
security forces threatened or harassed victims, relatives, and 
witnesses to prevent them from filing charges of human rights 
violations. According to the nongovernmental Human Rights Commission 
(COMISEDH), some victims were reluctant to pursue judicial proceedings 
for fear that members of the security forces involved in abuses would 
be released without being charged. COMISEDH reported that five cases of 
alleged aggravated torture, two of which ended in death, by security 
forces were reported to provincial prosecutors, while the Office of the 
Human Rights Ombudsman reported such 25 cases.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh for most of the country's inmates, who at year's end numbered 
51,516, of whom 3,157 were women and 1,358 were juveniles ages 18-19. 
The National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) operated 43 of the active 
prisons, the PNP had jurisdiction over 14, and 13 were operated 
jointly. Prisoners with money had access to cell phones, illegal drugs, 
and meals prepared outside the prison; prisoners who lacked funds 
experienced much more difficult conditions. Overcrowding, poor 
sanitation, and inadequate nutrition and health care were serious 
problems. Inmates had intermittent access to potable water, bathing 
facilities were inadequate, kitchen facilities were unhygienic, and 
prisoners often slept in hallways and common areas for lack of cell 
space. There was basic medical care at most prisons, but there were 
complaints that inmates had to pay for medical attention. There was 
also a lack of doctors; only 63 doctors worked in the prisons, of whom 
34 were based in the capital city area. Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS 
reportedly remained at near-epidemic levels: the incidence of 
tuberculosis was 20 times higher than outside the prisons, while the 
HIV/AIDS rate was three times higher. The San Juan de Lurigancho men's 
prison held 6,334 prisoners in a facility designed for 3,204. INPE 
operated a high-security prison in the jungle area of Iquitos that was 
in poor condition and continued under renovation.
    Prisons for women also were overcrowded and marked by conditions 
similar to those for men. In an INPE-operated facility for women opened 
in 2008, prisoners continued to complain about dormitory-style sleeping 
quarters.
    Prison guards and fellow inmates reportedly abused prisoners. 
Guards received little or no training or supervision. There were 
killings in prisons attributed to fellow inmates.
    Pretrial detainees were held temporarily in pretrial detention 
centers located at police stations, judiciary buildings, and the Palace 
of Justice, in most cases with convicted prisoners.
    According to the Ombudsman's Office, overcrowding was partially 
relieved by the issuance of 1,181 presidential pardons between August 
2010 and July 2011. Most of those pardoned were youths, sick inmates, 
or petty criminals.
    The government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers. During the year International Committee of the Red 
Cross (ICRC) officials made 42 unannounced visits to inmates in 17 
prisons and detention centers and met with 593 persons in accordance 
with standard modalities. Ombudsman representatives also made regular 
visits to Lima and provincial prisons.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Authorities allowed prisoners and 
detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship and request investigation of credible allegations of 
inhumane conditions. Authorities investigated such complaints and 
documented the results in a publicly accessible manner. The ombudsman 
reported that most complaints stemmed from the failure of authorities 
to release inmates on time due to delays in the judicial process or 
INPE procedures and stated that the number of such complaints during 
the year diminished because of improved INPE recordkeeping. Human 
rights advocates maintained that the government failed to allocate the 
resources needed to monitor and improve prison conditions and 
criticized INPE leadership for lacking competence. The government took 
no steps to use alternatives to prison sentencing for nonviolent 
offenders.
    On August 18, the new administration replaced the head of the INPE 
with penal expert Jose Luis Perez Guadalupe, who immediately made 
significant changes to the prison management system, including 
reinstating the system of appointments of inmate ``delegates'' to serve 
as liaison to the administration. This decision put Perez at odds with 
the leaders of the unofficial power structure that existed among 
inmates.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and laws 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, and the government generally 
observed these prohibitions. However, isolated cases occurred, and the 
right to freedom from arrest without warrant was suspended in emergency 
zones, where police or military were in control of internal security. 
On December 4, the government decreed a 60-day state of emergency in 
four provinces of Cajamarca Region to quell protests against a mining 
project. The government lifted the state of emergency on December 15, 
after protesters removed roadblocks. On December 6, six members of the 
Cajamarca antimining coalition, including one prominent leader, claimed 
to have been improperly detained for 10 hours after participating in a 
congressional hearing in Lima. The police officers involved claimed the 
detainees had not provided proof of identity.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The PNP, with a force 
of approximately 100,000, is responsible for all areas of law 
enforcement and internal security except in the VRAE emergency zone, 
where the military is responsible for internal security. The PNP 
functioned under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior.
    The armed forces, with approximately 115,000 personnel, are 
responsible for external security under the authority of the Ministry 
of Defense but also have limited domestic security responsibilities, 
particularly in the VRAE emergency zone.
    Observers noted that the PNP was undermanned and its members lacked 
training and professionalism. According to an evaluation by the 
National Office for Civil Defense (INDEPI), cited in an Ombudsman's 
Office report issued during the year, more than half of police stations 
were considered ``high risk'' or insecure in the event of natural 
disasters or social unrest. There were reform initiatives underway to 
address these issues: Supreme Decree 002-2011-N, issued in February, 
provides funds for corrective renovation, and a Citizen Security Fund 
(created under Urgent Decree 052-2011, published in September) is to be 
used to acquire new equipment and repair existing equipment used 
against crime.
    Corruption and a high rate of acquittals for military personnel 
accused of crimes remained problems (see section 4). The ministries of 
interior and defense employed internal mechanisms to investigate 
allegations of abuses by security forces. The Public Ministry conducted 
investigations, although access to evidence held by the Ministry of 
Defense was not always forthcoming. The Ombudsman's Office can also 
investigate cases but must refer any conclusions to the Public Ministry 
for follow-up.
    The PNP is charged with witness protection responsibilities but 
lacked resources to provide officer training, conceal identities, or 
offer logistical support to witnesses. Officers often used their own 
homes to protect witnesses.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
permits police to detain persons for investigative purposes. Outside of 
emergency zones, persons were apprehended openly. The law requires a 
written judicial warrant based on sufficient evidence for an arrest 
unless the perpetrator of a crime is apprehended in the act. Only 
judges may authorize detentions. Authorities are required to arraign 
arrested persons within 24 hours, except in cases of terrorism, drug 
trafficking, or espionage, for which arraignment must take place within 
15 days; in remote areas arraignment must take place as soon as 
practicable. Military authorities must turn over persons they detain to 
the police within 24 hours. The law requires police to file a report 
with the Public Ministry within 24 hours after an arrest. The Public 
Ministry, in turn, must issue its own assessment of the legality of the 
police action in the arrest; authorities respected this requirement in 
practice.
    The time between an arrest and an appearance before a judge 
averaged 20 hours. Judges have 24 hours to decide whether to release a 
suspect or continue detention. A functioning bail system exists, but 
many poor defendants lacked the means to post bail. By law detainees 
are allowed access to family members and a lawyer of their choice. 
Police may detain suspected terrorists incommunicado for 10 days. The 
Ministry of Justice provided indigent persons with access to an 
attorney at no cost, although these attorneys often were poorly 
trained. Several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) provided training 
for attorneys.

    Pretrial Detention.--Lengthy pretrial detention continued to be a 
problem. By October authorities had sentenced only 21,684 of the 51,516 
persons held in detention facilities and prisons. According to INPE 
statistics, as of October approximately 58 percent of those in prison 
were awaiting trial, the majority for one to two years. Delays were due 
mainly to judicial inefficiency, corruption, and staff shortages. The 
law requires release of prisoners who have been held more than 18 
months without being tried and sentenced; the period is extended to 36 
months in complex cases. Under the new penal procedural code (see 
section 1.e., Trial Procedures), the terms are nine months for simple 
cases and 18 months for complex ones.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected this 
provision in practice. NGOs and other analysts complained that the 
judiciary was politicized and corrupt (see section 4).

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair and 
public trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this 
right. The justice system is based on the Napoleonic Code. A prosecutor 
investigates cases and submits an opinion to a first-instance judge, 
who determines if sufficient evidence exists to open legal proceedings. 
A judge conducts an investigation, evaluates facts, determines guilt or 
innocence, and issues a sentence. All defendants are presumed innocent; 
they have the right to be present at trial, call witnesses, and be 
represented by counsel. The Ministry of Justice provided indigent 
defendants with access to an attorney at no cost, although these 
attorneys often were poorly trained. Defendants and their attorneys 
generally had access to government-held evidence related to their cases 
for crimes, except in cases connected to human rights abuses during the 
period 1980-2000 and particularly with respect to those involving the 
Ministry of Defense. Although citizens have the right to be tried in 
their own language, language services for non-Spanish speakers, who 
compose a substantial number of persons in the highlands and Amazon 
regions, were sometimes unavailable. Defendants may appeal verdicts to 
a superior court and then to the Supreme Court. The Constitutional 
Tribunal decides cases involving such issues as habeas corpus.
    The judicial branch continued the gradual rollout, begun in 2009, 
of a new penal procedural code designed to streamline the penal 
process. The new code, implemented in 17 of 31 judicial districts at 
year's end, requires public hearings for each case and assigns the 
investigative responsibility to public prosecutors and police; judges 
are to cease their own investigating. Implementation of the new code in 
Lima and Callao was planned for 2013; if implemented on schedule, at 
that point the code should apply to the majority of the country's 
population.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--On March 4, the Inter-
American Human Rights Court ruled against the government in favor of a 
labor organization. In its written decision, the court indicated it 
wanted a report on compliance one year hence.
    Complying with a judgment of the Inter-American Human Rights Court, 
on December 13, the president of the Congress reinstated 257 
congressional workers who had been dismissed when then president 
Fujimori suspended Congress in 1992.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--Citizens may seek civil 
remedies for human rights violations, but court cases often continued 
for years. Press reports, NGOs, and other sources alleged that persons 
outside the judiciary frequently corrupted or influenced judges (see 
section 4).

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. There were reports, 
however, that authorities sometimes entered private dwellings before 
obtaining a warrant; for example, the right to inviolability of the 
home was suspended in the UHV and VRAE emergency zones. On December 4, 
the president declared a 60-day state of emergency, lifted on December 
15, that allowed arrests without warrants in four provinces of 
Cajamarca Region.
    The government announced in October that the public prosecutor had 
reopened an investigation of a case presented by more than 2,000 women 
who claimed they were subjected to forced sterilizations in the 1990s 
during the presidency of Alberto Fujimori. Human rights organizations 
estimated that 300,000 women were subjected to forced sterilization 
during that period.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice. Generally 
an independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning 
democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of 
the press. There were, however, instances of harassment and even 
extreme violence toward journalists, as well as self-censorship within 
media outlets.

    Violence and Harassment.--During the year three broadcast 
journalists in the provinces were killed; each victim was investigating 
corruption cases involving local authorities. The victims were shot by 
unknown assailants who remained at large; two victims had received 
death threats. Investigations continued at year's end.
    A number of journalists and media outlets reported experiencing 
threats or intimidation. The National Journalists Association reported 
189 cases of harassment during the year, compared with 194 in 2010, and 
the Institute of Press and Society issued 121 alerts, compared with 85 
in 2010. Of the harassment cases reported by the National Journalists 
Association, 76 involved harassment by civilian authorities and 23 by 
police and military personnel.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The presidential election 
campaigns brought alleged internal censorship by the media to the 
public's attention. Most major media outlets openly supported one of 
the two second-round candidates. Several prominent reporters and 
producers either resigned or were fired allegedly for refusing to 
follow reporting guidelines concerning their employer's favored 
candidate. In April cable television Channel N general producer 
Patricia Montero and newscast producer Jose Jara claimed they were 
fired for reporting favorably on candidate Ollanta Humala Tasso. Lima 
daily newspaper Peru.21 reporters Oscar Miranda, Daniel Yovera, and 
Emilio Camacho and cartoonist Miguel Det resigned over the alleged 
favoritism shown to candidate Keiko Fujimori by the newspaper's 
director, Fritz Dubois. There were no claims of government interference 
in these instances.

    Actions to Expand Press Freedom.--Libel continued to be 
criminalized in the penal code. Ucayali journalist Paul Segundo Garay 
was sentenced to three years in prison in April following conviction 
for the 2010 charge of libel of the Ucayali district attorney whom 
Garay had criticized for alleged corruption. Garay was freed on appeal 
after serving six months. Blogger Jose Godoy continued the appeal of 
his sentence of three years' imprisonment (commuted to three years of 
probation) and a fine of 337,500 New Soles ($125,000) for defamation of 
a former congressman in 2009 in Godoy's online news blog. Godoy was the 
first blogger convicted for defamation, a judgment that national 
journalist organizations criticized.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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 freedom of 
assembly, and the government generally respected this right in 
practice. The law does not require a permit for public demonstrations, 
but organizers must inform the Interior Ministry's political authority 
(prefect) about the type of demonstration planned and its intended 
location. However, the government suspended the freedom of assembly in 
emergency zones where armed elements of the Shining Path operated.
    Demonstrations may be prohibited for reasons of public safety or 
health. Police used tear gas and occasional force to disperse 
protesters in various demonstrations. Although most demonstrations were 
peaceful, protests in some areas turned violent, resulting in deaths 
and injuries (see section 1.a.). On December 4, the government decreed 
a 60-day state of emergency in four provinces of Cajamarca Region 
restricting the right to assemble after days of strikes and roadblocks 
had interrupted daily activities, caused shortages in the region, and 
led to clashes between police and protesters in which dozens of people 
were injured. The state of emergency was lifted on December 15.

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. 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.

    In-Country Movement.--The government maintained emergency zones 
where it restricted freedom of movement in several provinces, an effort 
it stated was to ensure public peace and restore internal order. In 
addition, as an antitrafficking measure, the government began requiring 
adults traveling with minors to show the minor's identity card before 
boarding a bus or plane.
    Narcotics traffickers and Shining Path members at times interrupted 
the free movement of persons by establishing roadblocks in sections of 
the UHV and VRAE emergency zones.
    Protesters in the Puno and Cajamarca regions and other areas 
blocked roads, sometimes for weeks, to draw public attention to 
grievances.

    Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).--There were no major incidents 
of internal displacement during the year, and the situation of existing 
internally displaced persons continued to be difficult to assess. 
According to the UNHCR, the number of IDPs remained unknown, because 
officials registered relatively few. The government's Reparations 
Council continued assisting persons who suffered during the 1980-2000 
conflict with the Shining Path and MRTA. The council compiled a 
registry of victims, which included an estimated 137,300 individuals 
and 5,600 communities eligible for reparations. The Ministry of Women 
and Social Development (MIMDES) also maintained a registry specifically 
of IDPs that included approximately 5,000 individuals. A number of 
victims and family members lacking proper identity documents had 
difficulties registering for reparations. A supreme decree (051-2011-
PCM) authorized phased payments of reparations to victims and 
stipulated that only victims registered by December 31, 2011, would be 
eligible. As of year's end, no money had actually been budgeted for 
reparations.

    Protection of Refugees.--As of September the UNHCR reported 402 
pending refugee requests and 1,157 refugees whom the government 
recognized.

    Access to Asylum.--The law provides for the granting of asylum or 
refugee status, and the government has established a system for 
providing protection to refugees. The government cooperated with the 
UNHCR and recognized the Catholic Migration Commission as the official 
provider of technical assistance to refugees. The commission also 
advised citizens who feared persecution and sought asylum abroad. The 
government provided protection to refugees on a renewable, year-to-year 
basis, in accordance with commission recommendations.

    Durable Solutions.--There was no resettlement program, but the 
state received Colombians recognized as refugees in Ecuador, as well as 
Venezuelan and Cuban refugee applicants, and provided some 
administrative support toward their integration. The UNHCR provided 
such refugees with humanitarian and emergency aid, legal assistance, 
documentation, and in exceptional cases, voluntary return and family 
reunification.

    Temporary Protection.--The government provided temporary protection 
to individuals who may not qualify as refugees, such as in the case of 
several Haitian citizens who were discovered waiting to cross the 
border with Brazil.

    Stateless Persons.--Citizenship is derived either by birth within 
the country's territory or from one's parents. If overseas, parents 
must register their child's birth by age 18 for the child to obtain 
citizenship. The law provides all citizens with the right to a name, 
nationality, and legal recognition as well as other civil, political, 
economic, and social rights. An estimated 277,596 persons did not have 
birth certificates, and 4.7 million citizens (15.9 percent of the 
population) lacked identity documents and could not fully exercise 
these rights, making them de facto stateless. Poor indigenous women and 
children in rural areas were disproportionately represented among those 
lacking identity documents. Undocumented citizens faced social and 
political marginalization and barriers to accessing government 
services, including running for public office or holding title to land. 
Obtaining a national identity document requires a birth certificate, 
but many births in rural areas occurred at home. Poor women who gave 
birth at home often could not pay the fees associated with 
registration. In an effort to lower infant mortality rates, the 
Ministry of Health provided free registration for women who gave birth 
in clinics or hospitals.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The law provides for the right of citizens to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of 
mandatory voting and universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--On July 
28, Ollanta Humala Tasso assumed the presidency after two rounds of 
elections that were considered free and fair. Domestic and 
international observers declared the nationwide elections held on April 
10 (for president, Congress, and the Andean Parliament) and June 5 (a 
second round for the presidential race only) to be fair and 
transparent, despite some controversy over campaign financing and minor 
irregularities in some areas. In elections for the unicameral Congress, 
President Humala's Gana Peru alliance won 47 of 130 seats, which 
constituted the largest of six legislative blocs.
    The June 5 presidential runoff was a contest between two 
controversial candidates. Ollanta Humala Tasso, the eventual winner, 
had been accused of human rights violations while serving in the 
military. His opponent, Keiko Fujimori, was the daughter of former 
president Alberto Fujimori, who was serving a prison sentence for human 
rights abuses and corruption. A number of civil society organizations, 
particularly human rights NGOs, became directly involved in the 
elections process by either campaigning against Keiko Fujimori or 
openly supporting Humala, forsaking their traditional role as 
nonpolitical observers.

    Political Parties.--Political parties operated without restriction 
or outside interference, although they remained weak institutions 
dominated by individual personalities. In regional and municipal 
elections, regional movements continued to gain ground at the expense 
of national parties. Groups that advocate violent overthrow of the 
government are barred from participating in the political process.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The law mandates that at 
least 30 percent of the candidates on party lists be women, and the 
parties complied. There were 28 women in the new Congress. Three 
members of Congress identified themselves as Afro-Peruvians. Three of 
19 cabinet members were women. There were two women on the 18-member 
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. 
There was a widespread perception that corruption was pervasive in all 
branches of government. The Office of the Comptroller General had 
independent authority to sanction public officials who committed 
corrupt acts; penalties included temporary suspension, termination of 
employment, and criminal prosecution.
    Allegations of widespread corruption in the judicial system 
continued. The new penal procedural code (see section 1.a., Trial 
Procedures), while not yet implemented in Lima and Callao, was applied 
to corruption cases in these judicial districts, an indication of the 
importance given to such cases. For example, the new code was used in 
the case of Marco Antonio Guerra Castillo, a judicial technician who on 
January 25 was videotaped receiving a bribe in the Supreme Court 
building.
    During their time in office, members of Congress cannot be 
prosecuted or arrested without congressional approval, except in the 
case of flagrant crimes, in which case the judicial branch must request 
that Congress allow their arrest. Congressional immunity does not apply 
in cases underway before the member was sworn in. It also does not 
protect members of Congress from nonpenal accusations, such as failure 
to fulfill contracts or pay child support. Fourteen members of Congress 
were under investigation for questionable activities ranging from 
falsifying their resumes (by including false degrees and omitting prior 
convictions) to involvement in illegal mining. Another prominent case 
involved the second vice president, also a member of Congress and 
accused of influence peddling.
    Corruption in prisons was a serious problem, and in some cases 
guards cooperated with criminal bosses who oversaw the smuggling of 
guns and drugs into prisons. There were several reports of military 
corruption, impunity, and resistance to providing information on 
military personnel under investigation for human rights abuses 
committed during the country's internal armed conflict. Security forces 
sought to strengthen accountability with training in human rights and 
the revision of disciplinary procedures but were doing so slowly.
    Authorities completed investigation of the Petroaudios scandal--
involving corrupt oil concessions--at the end of 2010. However, the 
oral proceedings had not started at year's end. Former government 
minister Romulo Leon was released on December 2, after spending 36 
months in jail without a sentence for his alleged involvement, and 
Perupetro official Alberto Quimper, also suspected of wrongdoing, 
remained under house arrest. In a related Petroaudios case, oral 
proceedings continued in the investigation of illegal wiretapping and 
mishandling of wiretapping evidence.
    On August 31, the comptroller general reported to Congress that 
10,659 public servants were involved in irregularities between January 
2009 and July 2011, the end of the Alan Garcia administration. 
According to the report, 2,447 of these cases involved penal or civil 
infractions, while the remainder reflected simple mismanagement. Most 
of these cases were related to infrastructure projects (such as the 
reconstruction of the town of Pisco after the 2007 earthquake and the 
remodeling of the National Stadium and hospitals) or social programs 
(such as a program that provides construction materials). The 
government was reviewing the cases. On September 15, Congress approved 
the formation of a commission to investigate alleged corruption during 
the previous government. The commission began work on November 21.
    On December 21, former vice minister of justice Gerardo Castro was 
convicted of offering bribes to a Ministry of Production official to 
obtain a commercial fishing license. Castro was sentenced to five years 
in jail.
    Most public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws and 
must submit personal financial information to the Office of the 
Comptroller General prior to taking office and periodically thereafter. 
However, these laws were not strongly enforced.
    The law provides for public access to government information, and 
most ministries and central offices provided information on Web sites. 
Implementation of the law was incomplete, particularly in rural areas, 
where few citizens exercised or understood their right to information. 
The ombudsman encouraged regional governments to adopt more-transparent 
practices for releasing information and monitored their compliance with 
the requirement for public hearings at least twice a year.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A large 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. NGOs seeking 
information from military commanders worked through the Office of the 
Human Rights Ombudsman.
    The government relied on the ICRC to facilitate work among 
government entities and civil society on missing persons issues. The 
ICRC contributed to strengthening psychological and social support to 
missing persons' relatives and provided expertise to medical, legal, 
and forensic officials. The ICRC also addressed the humanitarian 
consequences of social violence by providing medical assistance, 
discussed the use of force with authorities and law enforcement, and 
maintained a permanent office in Ayacucho for the VRAE emergency zone.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Ministry of Justice was 
renamed the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on December 5 when 
President Humala signed Law No. 29809. This law also created a Vice 
Ministry of Human Rights and Access to Justice.
    The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman operated its 28 offices 
and 10 satellite sites without government or party interference and was 
considered effective. During the year the ombudsman issued two reports 
with recommendations on intercultural/bilingual education and abandoned 
children. The government took account of these recommendations to 
varying degrees.
    Congressional committees included the Justice and Human Rights 
Committee and a committee for Health, Population, Family, and Persons 
with Disabilities. They issued no reports and had limited policy 
impact.
    The National Penal Court handed down two decisions on cases 
presented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Hector Andres 
Egoechaga was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the murder of 
Indalecio Pomatanta in Pucallpa in 1995. The court found three others 
innocent and reserved sentencing on a fifth suspect, who was absent 
from the court. The case was challenged by the Public Ministry, which 
opposed the finding of innocence of the three suspects and alleged that 
Egoechaga's sentence was below the minimum recommended for his crime.
    The court also ruled in the Pucayacu II case, sentencing Enrique de 
la Cruz Salcedo to 17 years in prison for the extrajudicial killing of 
seven persons in 1985. Another suspect in the case was found not guilty 
due to a mental illness he allegedly suffered at that time; a third 
suspect had fled, leading authorities to postpone his trial until his 
eventual capture.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, but enforcement lagged and discrimination 
persisted.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The legal framework governing 
women's rights and protections is comprehensive and well defined. The 
application and enforcement of the law, however, was severely lacking. 
The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, with penalties of 
six to eight years in prison, but enforcement was ineffective. MIMDES 
reported 841 cases of rape nationwide for the year, but observers 
maintained that rape was underreported due to a fear of retribution, 
including further violence and stigma. There were no available 
statistics on abusers prosecuted, convicted, or punished.
    The law prohibits domestic violence, and penalties range from one 
month to six years in prison. The law authorizes judges and prosecutors 
to prevent the convicted spouse or parent from returning to the family 
home and authorizes the victim's relatives and unrelated persons living 
in the home to file complaints of domestic violence. It also allows 
health professionals to document injuries. The law requires police 
investigation of domestic violence to take place within five days and 
obliges authorities to extend protection to female victims of domestic 
violence. During the year MIMDES reported that 35 men had been 
sentenced for crimes related to domestic violence.
    Violence against women and girls, including rape, spousal abuse, 
and sexual, physical, and mental abuse, remained a serious problem. 
Insensitivity on the part of law enforcement and judicial authorities 
toward female victims contributed to a societal attitude of 
permissiveness toward abuse. MIMDES reported 77 femicides and 60 
attempted killings of women during the year.
    On December 26, a new law (008/2011-CR) that incorporates femicide 
into the criminal code went into effect. The law provides for a minimum 
sentence of 15 years' imprisonment for those convicting of killing a 
woman who is an immediate relative, spouse, or partner.
    Many domestic abuse cases went unreported, and NGOs stated that the 
majority of reported cases did not result in formal charges because of 
fear of retaliation or the expense of filing a complaint. The 
protections offered were limited because of legal delays and 
ambiguities in the law. Shelters for those affected by domestic 
violence were in short supply and did not adequately protect and 
support victims.
    MIMDES operated the Women's Emergency Program, which included 139 
centers that combined police, prosecutors, counselors, and public 
welfare agents to help victims of domestic abuse. It also sought to 
address the legal, psychological, social, and medical problems facing 
victims of domestic violence. The ministry also operated a toll-free 
hotline.
    MIMDES continued efforts to sensitize government employees and the 
citizenry to domestic violence. The government continued to implement a 
broad national plan for 2009-15 to address violence in the family and 
against women. Nonetheless, NGOs and the ombudsman asserted that police 
officers reacted indifferently to charges of domestic violence, despite 
legal requirements to investigate such complaints.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment was a serious problem. The 
law defines sexual harassment not as a criminal offense but as a labor 
rights violation subject to administrative punishment, which depends on 
the professional situation in which the violation occurred. Government 
enforcement was minimally effective. The ability of women to report 
sexual harassment was hampered by the undue burden on the victims 
themselves to prove their cases and by the fear of retribution.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children free from 
discrimination, and they generally had the means and information to do 
so. Access to information on contraception and family planning was 
widespread.

    Discrimination.--The law provides for equality between men and 
women and prohibits discrimination against women with regard to 
marriage, divorce, and property rights. Women from the upper and upper-
middle classes assumed leadership roles in companies and government 
agencies. The law prohibits sexual discrimination in employment or 
educational advertisements and the arbitrary dismissal of pregnant 
women, but in practice discrimination continued. The law stipulates 
that women should receive equal pay for equal work, but women often 
were paid less than men for comparable work. Societal prejudice and 
discrimination also led to disproportionate poverty and unemployment 
rates for women. Women were more likely to work in the informal sector 
or in less secure occupations such as maids, factory workers, or street 
vendors, and they were more likely to be illiterate due to lack of 
formal education.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived either by 
birth within the country's territory or from one's parents. There were 
problems with government registration of births (see section 2.d.). 
Failure to register made it more difficult to obtain public services, 
such as education and health care.

    Education.--The constitution stipulates that primary and secondary 
education is free. However, citizens and NGOs asserted that neither was 
completely free in practice, and fees for parental associations, 
administration, and educational materials greatly reduced access for 
lower-income families.

    Child Abuse.--Violence against and sexual abuse of children were 
serious problems. As of November MIMDES reported 1,551 cases of 
violence against or sexual abuse of children five years of age and 
younger and 3,882 cases of abuse of children ages six to 11. Many abuse 
cases went unreported because societal norms viewed such abuse as a 
family problem to be resolved privately.
    MIMDES' Women's Emergency Program received information through 
child-rights and welfare-protection offices and assisted child victims 
of violence. The MIMDES Children's Bureau coordinated government 
policies and programs for children and adolescents. At the grassroots 
level, more than 2,175 child-rights and welfare-protection offices 
resolved complaints ranging from physical and sexual abuse of children 
to abandonment and failure to pay child support. Provincial or district 
governments operated approximately half of these offices, while 
schools, churches, and NGOs ran the others. Law students staffed most 
of the units, particularly in rural districts. When these offices could 
not resolve disputes, officials usually referred cases to the Public 
Ministry's local prosecutor offices, whose adjudications were legally 
binding and had the same force as court judgments.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law prohibits child 
prostitution, penalizing perpetrators with five to 12 years in prison. 
There were many known cases of prostitution of minors, and the country 
was a destination for child sex tourism, with Lima, Cusco, and Iquitos 
as the principal locations. Involvement in child sex tourism is 
punishable by four to 10 years in prison. The Foreign Trade and Tourism 
Ministry disseminated information about the problem.
    The minimum age for consensual sex is 18. Statutory rape law 
stipulates different rape offenses, including rape of a minor younger 
than 14, with penalties ranging from 25 years to life in prison. The 
penalty for conviction of involvement in child pornography is four to 
12 years' imprisonment and a fine.

    Child Soldiers.--The minimum age for recruitment is 18. The 
country's military, no longer a conscripted force, bars the enlistment 
of minors, even those who obtain their parents' permission. The Human 
Rights Ombudsman's Office reported 18 cases in which the army admitted 
underage soldiers, generally recruits who misrepresented their age, a 
marked decrease from the 150 cases reported in 2009. However, there 
were no reports of persons under 18 taking part in hostilities as part 
of a governmental armed force.
    There also were cases of both forced and voluntary use of minors by 
the outlawed Shining Path organization. Reports persisted that the 
Shining Path used children in both combat and drug-trafficking 
activities. It appeared some of these children had been kidnapped from 
local towns, while others apparently were children of Shining Path 
members.
    See also the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--Estimates of the Jewish population ranged from 
2,500 to 4,000 persons. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with disabilities and establishes infractions and 
sanctions for noncompliance with specified norms. The constitution 
addresses social security, health, education, and employment matters 
for persons with disabilities as well as their right to engage in 
business, trade, and industry. The law provides for the protection, 
care, rehabilitation, security, and social inclusion of persons with 
disabilities; mandates that public spaces be free of barriers and 
accessible to persons with disabilities; and provides for the 
appointment of a disability rights specialist in the Ombudsman's 
Office. In addition the law mandates that Internet sites maintained by 
governmental, institutional, and other service providers be accessible 
to persons with disabilities and requires accessibility through the 
inclusion of sign language or subtitles in all educational and cultural 
programs on public television and in media alternatives in all public 
libraries.
    In practice the government devoted limited resources to enforcement 
and training, and many persons with physical disabilities remained 
economically and socially marginalized. Governments at the national, 
regional, and local levels made little effort to provide access to 
public buildings. There were no interpreters for the deaf in government 
offices and no access to recordings or Braille for the blind. The 
majority of government Web sites remained inaccessible to persons with 
disabilities, and only the congressional television channel offered 
sign language interpretation.
    The government failed to enforce laws safeguarding and attending to 
persons with mental disabilities in situations of social abandonment. 
The number of medical personnel providing services in psychiatric 
institutions was insufficient to care for all patients.
    The Anne Sullivan Center for Persons with Disabilities reported 
cases of people who were denied the right to vote in the national 
elections during the year. One egregious case involved an individual 
who received training from elections officials on voting procedures but 
was subsequently labeled ``disabled'' and involuntarily removed from 
the voter registry.
    A human rights ombudsman report published in December stated that 
many children with disabilities were unable to attend public schools 
due to lack of physical access. Nearly half of the country's public 
schools had no entrance ramps, and 88 percent lacked restrooms usable 
by persons with disabilities. Relatively few teachers (39 percent) had 
received any training in inclusive education.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The law provides all citizens 
equality before the law and forbids discrimination on the basis of 
race, national origin, or language. In actuality, however, persons of 
African (Afro-Peruvian) descent faced societal discrimination and 
prejudice. Despite constituting a large minority, Afro-Peruvians 
generally did not hold leadership positions in government, business, or 
the military, with the exception of the nation's first female Afro-
Peruvian cabinet member. Few Afro-Peruvians served as officers in the 
navy or air force.
    In February the Ombudsman's Office published a report on the Afro-
Peruvian community that cited structural discrimination and social 
exclusion as key barriers to integration into society and stated that 
Afro-Peruvians had particular difficulty accessing health and education 
services. NGOs alleged that employers often found ways to refuse to 
hire Afro-Peruvians or relegated them to low-paying service positions. 
The law prohibits the mention of race in job advertisements, although 
employers often required applicants to submit photographs.

    Indigenous People.--The government did not provide sufficient 
resources to protect effectively the civil and political rights of 
indigenous persons, and indigenous communities continued to be 
politically, economically, and socially marginalized.
    The constitution and law provide that all citizens have the right 
to use their own language before any authority by means of an 
interpreter and to speak their native language. Spanish and Quechua are 
official languages, but the government also recognizes 49 other 
indigenous languages. The National Program of Mobilization for Literacy 
continued teaching basic literacy and mathematics to poor men and women 
throughout the country. However, language barriers and inadequate 
infrastructure in indigenous communities impeded the full participation 
of indigenous persons in the political process. Indigenous women, 
especially from poor and rural areas, were particularly marginalized.
    Many indigenous persons lacked identity documents. In many cases 
there were no government offices in the areas where they lived; in some 
instances government officials allegedly sought bribes in exchange for 
documents, which indigenous persons were unable or unwilling to pay. 
Without identity cards they were unable to exercise basic rights, such 
as voting and gaining access to health services and education. The 
infant mortality rate was higher in rural areas, where most indigenous 
persons lived (13 deaths per 1,000 live births, although as high as 21 
in some regions), compared with the rate in urban areas (10 deaths per 
1,000 live births), a difference mainly related to the economic 
situation and low education of indigenous persons. Public health 
centers were located primarily in urban areas, but during the year the 
government further expanded them to rural areas and incorporated roving 
teams.
    While the constitution recognizes that indigenous persons have the 
right to own land communally, indigenous groups often lacked legal 
title to demarcate the boundaries of their lands, making it difficult 
to resist encroachment by outsiders. By law local communities retain 
the right of unassignability, which should prevent the reassignment of 
indigenous land titles to nonindigenous tenants. However, some 
indigenous community members sold land to outsiders without the 
majority consent of their community. Moreover, in the absence of an 
effective representative institution, there were continuing societal 
conflicts between indigenous and nonindigenous persons, particularly 
concerning environmental issues and extractive industries. 
Additionally, mineral or other subsoil rights belong to the state, 
which often caused conflict between mining interests and indigenous 
communities.
    The government conducted a series of consultations with indigenous 
communities to formulate a new forestry law, which Congress passed on 
June 15. The law establishes greater protections for the populations in 
the Amazon forest and mandates sustainable use of natural resources. In 
addition, on August 23, the new government approved the Law of Prior 
Consultation, which requires the government to conduct consultations 
with indigenous communities before granting exploration permits or 
concessions to extractive industries. While this law was expected to 
reduce the number of social conflicts, several outstanding issues 
remained before it could be fully implemented.
    Many indigenous persons and others with indigenous physical 
features faced societal discrimination and prejudice. They were often 
the victims of derogatory comments and subjected to illegal 
discrimination in public places, including theaters, restaurants, and 
clubs.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws specifically 
prohibiting discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation, 
and such discrimination occurred. The Ministry of Interior's Handbook 
of Human Rights Applied to the Civil Police stipulates that police must 
respect human rights, especially of the most vulnerable groups, and 
refers explicitly to the rights of lesbian, gay, and transgender 
individuals. However, there were some instances during the year of 
official and societal discrimination based on sexual orientation in 
employment, housing, and access to education or health care. Government 
authorities, including police, sometimes harassed and abused lesbian, 
gay, bisexual, and transgender persons.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Persons with HIV/AIDS 
faced extensive discrimination and harassment. The Ministry of Health 
executed policies to combat discrimination based on HIV/AIDS status, 
including a four-year plan to prevent and control HIV/AIDS. Some of 
these policies enjoyed success, such as the treatment of HIV/AIDS, but 
observers maintained that education and prevention programs needed 
strengthening.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
With certain limitations, labor laws and regulations provide for 
freedom of association, protect the right to strike and bargain 
collectively, and prohibit antiunion discrimination and other forms of 
employer intimidation. Regulations allow workers to form unions on the 
basis of their occupation, employer affiliation, or geographic 
territory, without seeking prior authorization. However, the minimum 
membership required by law to form a union, 20 employees for a 
workplace-level union and 50 employees for a sector-wide union, is 
prohibitively high in some instances, particularly for small and 
medium-sized enterprises. The law also specifies that public- and 
private sector workers have the right to organize, bargain 
collectively, and strike, but it stipulates that the right to strike 
must be ``in harmony with broader social objectives."
    Judges, prosecutors, and members of the police and military are not 
permitted to form or join unions. With the passage of Supreme Decree 
065-2011 in July, there were advances to the rights to form unions and 
strike of more than 125,000 other public sector employees hired under 
administrative service contracts. The decree provides stronger 
guarantees of the right to unionize but does not address the concern 
that workers may not exercise their rights for fear of nonrenewal of 
their contract. The decree does not fundamentally change the nature of 
an administrative service contract, which is fixed term and renewable 
at the government agency's discretion.
    The law allows unions to declare a strike in accordance with their 
statutes. Private- and public sector union workers must give advance 
notice of a strike--at least five working days for private sector 
workers and 10 for the public sector--to employers and the Ministry of 
Labor. The law also allows nonunion workers to declare a strike with a 
majority vote as long as the written voting record is notarized and 
announced at least five working days prior to a strike.
    Unions in essential public services, as determined by the 
government, are permitted to call a strike but must provide 10 working 
days' notice, receive the approval of the Ministry of Labor, be 
approved by a majority (50 percent) of workers, and provide a 
sufficient number of workers during a strike to maintain operations, as 
jointly determined by the union and labor authorities on an annual 
basis. Workers who strike legally cannot be fired for striking, but 
illegal strikers in the private sector can be fired on the fourth day 
of absenteeism and public sector strikers after an administrative 
procedure.
    Unless there is a preexisting labor contract covering an occupation 
or industry as a whole, unions must negotiate with companies 
individually. The law establishes processes for direct negotiations and 
conciliation. If those fail the workers can declare a strike or request 
arbitration. On September 17, the ministry issued Supreme Decree No. 
014-2011-TR, which more specifically outlines the process that 
authorizes the use of arbitration to end collective labor disputes. The 
decree gives a party the ability to compel the other party to submit to 
arbitration (whether worker- or employer-initiated) binding on 
employers whenever either the parties cannot reach an agreement in 
their first collective bargaining negotiation, or a party acts in bad 
faith during collective bargaining by delaying, hindering, or avoiding 
an agreement. If the parties disagree over whether or not a 
prerequisite for binding arbitration has been met, the law also allows 
a party to submit the matter to independent, nongovernmental 
arbitrators for an initial decision. A provision from Law 29497 
requires labor conflicts to be resolved in less than six months.
    The law prohibits employers from refusing to hire an individual 
because of union membership and also prohibits other forms of antiunion 
discrimination. Workers fired for union activity have the right to 
reinstatement. However, the law allows companies to fire employees 
without justification if they offer severance pay as fixed by law. The 
law forbids businesses from hiring temporary workers to perform core 
company functions, requires businesses to monitor their contractors 
with respect to labor rights, and imposes liability on businesses for 
the actions of their contractors.
    The government did not effectively enforce the law in all cases, 
and employers engaged in antiunion practices. The practice of 
subcontracting allowed employers to avoid direct employment 
relationships and the associated legal requirements. This also limited 
the size of the company workforce, thus making it more difficult to 
form a union. Law 29245 and its progeny tighten the legal requirements 
for subcontracting companies and, if those requirements are not met, 
impose upon the principal company a direct employment relationship with 
subcontracted workers. Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence suggested that 
the practical effect of the law was limited by its implementing 
regulations and the difficulties of labor inspections to detect 
outsourcing in the regions outside of Lima.
    Employers continued to dismiss workers for exercising the right to 
strike. Dismissal of striking workers and delays in reinstatement of 
these workers, in both legal and illegal strikes, were the main 
repercussions that employers utilized to dissuade workers from going on 
strike. Workers faced prolonged judicial processes and lack of 
enforcement following strike-related dismissals. A local NGO reported 
that administrative issues at the Labor Ministry effectively negated a 
decree providing stronger protections for individuals hired under 
administrative services contracts who planned to unionize.
    Labor conflicts were not always resolved within six months as 
required by law. Significant delays in the collective bargaining 
process due to employers' lack of interest in concluding agreements 
proved to be a common obstacle to compliance with worker rights to 
bargain collectively. The national tax agency union (SINAUT) alleged 
that the government failed to uphold unions' right to collective 
bargaining and denied workers' requests to enter into arbitration after 
the government-employer and workers failed to agree on wages and other 
issues during earlier negotiations. The government noted that the 
public sector budget law forbids it from negotiating economic matters. 
Discussions on the collective bargaining and arbitration process 
continued at year's end.
    Unions were generally independent of government and political 
parties. According to labor leaders, permission to strike in both the 
private and public sectors was in some cases difficult to obtain. 
During the year the government declared 19 of 84 strikes legal. The 
Ministry of Labor justified its decisions to deem strikes illegal by 
citing union failure to fulfill the legal requirements. The 
International Trade Union Confederation noted that the law effectively 
legalizes unfair dismissals by allowing employers to fire workers 
without cause in return for severance pay.
    Many businesses hired temporary or contract workers who were 
effectively barred from participating in those firms' unions due to 
fear that their contracts might not be renewed. Employers also 
circumvented restrictions regarding hiring temporary workers to perform 
core company functions in a number of ways. For example, the Peruvian 
Mineworkers Federation (FNTMMSP) attributed the nonrenewal of the 
contracts of seven drivers employed by the subcontractor MAMUT Peru to 
their union membership. There were two favorable court decisions, but 
at year's end the workers were awaiting their reinstatement. 
Subcontracting was used to limit workers' right to organize and prevent 
the formation of formal employment relationships. The widespread use of 
subcontracting also made it more difficult to reach the 20-employee 
threshold necessary to form a union.
    During the year the Textile Workers Union Federation (FTTP) 
reported violations of the Non-Traditional Export Regimen (Decree Law 
No. 22342-1978) in apparel manufacturing. In one example, on July 27, a 
judge from the Lima Constitutional Court No. 4 found that Texpop, S.A. 
failed to renew the contracts of 129 unionized workers, including two 
union leaders, in an action of antiunion discrimination. The judge 
found that many of these employees had been working for Texpop for up 
to a decade on short-term contracts. Notably, the judge also stated 
that the decree and its ``exceptional'' short-term contracting scheme 
were no longer necessary to support the growth of the country's textile 
and apparel sector. Texpop had not complied with the court's decision 
to reinstate the workers by year's end.
    Regulations had the effect of limiting the associational rights of 
workers in ``nontraditional'' export sectors (fishing, wood and paper, 
nonmetallic minerals, jewelry, textile, and agro industry). For 
example, Legislative Decree No. 728-1997 sets out nine different 
categories of employment contracts under which workers can be hired. 
Another decree allows employers to hire workers on a series of short-
term contracts without requiring that the workers be made permanent. 
Workers thus reportedly feared loss of their jobs if they unionized.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor, but there was evidence that the government 
did not effectively enforce the law. Thousands of persons were 
estimated to be subjected to conditions of forced labor, mainly in 
mining, logging, agriculture, brick making, and domestic service. While 
information on victims was lacking, it was believed that men and boys 
were subjected to forced labor in mining (including gold mining), 
logging, and brick making, while women were most often found in 
domestic service. Both men and women were often found performing forced 
labor in agriculture, including the processing of Brazil nuts.
    A multisectoral intervention took place in May in the Lima District 
of Carabayllo, where children were found working in informal mining. At 
that time no arrests were made; instead, the families were sensitized 
to the dangers and legal implications of child labor. A follow-up raid 
in December found 13 children working, and inspectors fined the 
employers.
    According to media reports, a specialized division of the national 
police conducted more than 80 operations, in which they found at least 
850 children subjected to forced labor, such as begging on the streets 
and selling candies, and detained 30 persons for exploiting minors. 
Local NGO CHS Alternativo stated that in the first half of the year, 98 
cases of exploitative child labor were reported.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
legal minimum age for employment is 14. However, children between the 
ages of 12 and 14 may work in certain jobs for up to four hours per 
day, and adolescents between 15 and 17 may work up to six hours per day 
if they obtain special permission from the Ministry of Labor and 
certify that they are attending school. In certain sectors of the 
economy, higher age minimums were in force: age 15 in industry, 
commerce, and mining; and age 16 in fishing.
    The Ministry of Labor may issue permits authorizing persons under 
age 18 to work legally. During the year the ministry granted 1,111 such 
permits to individuals ages 14 to 17. Parents must apply for the 
permits, and employers must have a permit on file to hire a youth.
    The law specifically prohibits a number of occupations considered 
hazardous for children, including working underground, lifting or 
carrying heavy weights, accepting responsibility for the safety of 
others, and working at night. The law prohibits work that jeopardizes 
the health of children and adolescents; puts their physical, mental, 
and emotional development at risk; or prevents regular attendance at 
school.
    The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing child labor 
laws. The ministry stated that inspectors conducted routine visits 
without notice to areas where persons or organizations reported child 
labor problems. The government reported that it fined and suspended 
operations of firms that violated labor laws. From January through 
October, authorities fined 48 businesses 132,372 New Soles ($50,000) 
for hiring 64 minors illegally or for not seeking the proper 
authorization.
    The Office of the Ombudsman for Children and Adolescents (DEMUNA) 
worked with the Ministry of Labor to document complaints regarding 
violations of child labor laws. There were more than 2,175 DEMUNA 
offices in municipalities throughout the country. DEMUNA also operated 
a decentralized child labor reporting and tracking system. MIMDES 
administered a program that sent specialized teachers to the streets to 
provide education and support to minors involved in begging and other 
kinds of work. MIMDES also continued to implement the Educadores de 
Calle program, a social program that assists street children between 
the ages of six and 17 with workshops and health, education, and legal 
services. The ministry continued and instituted several programs aimed 
at stimulating job creation and improving access to legal work for 
youth, including the ProCerti and ProJoven programs to educate youth 
regarding, respectively, their rights to work and training in a variety 
of employable skills. The new administration transformed these programs 
into the Vamos Peru program, focused on job training, technical 
assistance to entrepreneurs, and job placement; and the Peru 
Responsable program, aimed at fostering corporate social responsibility 
to create formal employment for youth.
    Child labor remained a serious problem, especially in the informal 
sector. In 2010 the International Labor Organization estimated there 
were 2.8 million working children in the country, with 67.9 percent 
(1.9 million) performing the worst forms of child labor. Child labor 
was a serious problem in the informal sectors of gold mining, brick and 
fireworks manufacturing, stone extraction, timber, and agriculture, 
including the production of Brazil nuts and coca. According to media 
reports, children worked in hazardous conditions, including 
approximately 141,000 on the streets, 101,000 at night, and 87,000 with 
trash. In many cases the child worked alongside the parents in a family 
business, usually in areas and sectors cited above. In February there 
were media reports of children being exploited by local residents and 
parents near the northern frontier and forced into various forms of 
work, including street vending, begging, and bartending, as well as 
drug production and prostitution in Ecuador.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The statutory monthly minimum 
wage was increased in August from 600 New Soles ($220) to 675 New Soles 
($250). The government estimated the poverty line to be approximately 
257 New Soles ($95) a month per person, although it varied by region. 
The law provides for a 48-hour workweek and one day of rest and 
requires companies to pay overtime for more than eight hours of work 
per day and additional compensation for work at night. There is no 
prohibition on excessive compulsory overtime. Noncompliance with the 
law is a punishable infraction.
    The 2003 Domestic Workers' Act stipulates certain rights and 
benefits to which adult domestic workers are entitled, such as an 
eight-hour working day, no work on public holidays, 15 days of paid 
annual vacation, and salary bonuses in July and December. A 2009 decree 
prohibits discrimination against domestic workers and any requirement 
by employers for their domestic workers to wear uniforms in public 
places. Several violations of both provisions were reported during the 
year.
    On August 25, the president and the minister of labor signed the 
Law on Workplace Health and Safety (Law No. 29783), which creates for 
the first time a National System for Health and Safety in the Workplace 
and places oversight with the ministry instead of the separate sectors. 
Regional councils and a National Council on Health and Security also 
were created, although they were not operational at year's end. The 
latter body incorporates the participation of employers and workers, 
including unions, who traditionally had no voice on these matters. The 
law also provides for heavier fines and criminal sanctions for 
violations. In cases of infractions, injury, or deaths of workers or 
subcontractors, the penalty is five to 10 years' imprisonment.
    The Ministry of Labor enforced the minimum wage only in the formal 
sector. Many workers in the unregulated informal sector, approximately 
60 percent of the total labor force, most of whom were self-employed, 
received less. Labor, businesses, and the government reported that the 
majority of companies in the formal sector generally complied with the 
law. The government often did not devote sufficient personnel, 
technical, and financial resources to enforce occupational safety and 
health regulations and other labor laws. There were 420 labor 
inspectors focused on the formal sector. Labor sources claimed that 
many inspectors were forced to pay for transportation to sites and 
often were harassed or refused entry by businesses. The labor inspector 
union SI-Peru demanded an increase in wages among other demands and 
requested that the ministry enter arbitration. Many fines went 
uncollected, in part because the ministry lacked an efficient tracking 
system and at times due to a lack of political will, according to a 
local labor NGO. According to the ministry, through November its 
inspectors conducted 28,252 visits generated by external complaints and 
20,141 visits to worksites selected internally. In the first 11 months 
of the year, the ministry levied approximately 23.2 million New Soles 
($8.6 million) in fines on 3,385 companies for failure to place 
employees on labor rolls and for health and safety violations. 
Penalties were insufficient to deter violations.
    Employers frequently required long hours from domestic workers and 
paid low wages. Allegations of abuse of subcontracted workers in the 
areas of wage and hour violations and associational rights continued to 
be reported. A local NGO reported that particularly problematic were 
gasoline stations, where workers frequently worked more than eight 
hours and in some cases were not paid overtime for extra hours.
    During the year the Ministry of Labor and several unions continued 
a campaign to inform domestic workers of their rights. The National 
Federation of Mineworkers reported that in the first eight months of 
the year, 38 miners died in mining accidents in the formal mining 
sector, mainly as a result of rockslides, falls, and asphyxiation. In 
cases of industrial accidents, an agreement between the employer and 
worker usually determined compensation. A worker does not need to prove 
an employer's culpability to obtain compensation for work-related 
injuries. According to the ministry, there were 4,877 reported 
accidents, of which 1,696 were not serious, 3,036 were incapacitating, 
and 145 were fatal. The law does not provide workers the right to 
remove themselves from potentially dangerous situations without 
jeopardizing employment.

                               __________

                         SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS

                           executive summary
    Saint Kitts and Nevis is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy and 
federation. In January 2010 national elections, Prime Minister Denzil 
Douglas's Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) won six seats in 
the 11-seat legislature. Independent observers concluded that the 
election had no major irregularities and was generally free and fair 
but called for electoral reform. The constitution provides the smaller 
island of Nevis considerable self-government under a premier. In July 
voters in Nevis reelected Joseph Parry of the Nevis Reformation Party 
as premier. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems were poor prison conditions 
and discrimination and violence against women.
    Other human rights problems included the mental, physical, and 
sexual abuse of children and discrimination against the homosexual 
community.
    The government took steps to prosecute and convict officials who 
committed abuses, but some cases remained unresolved. There was not a 
widespread perception of impunity for security force members.
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. However, due to 
regular reports of violent incidents involving police, law enforcement 
officials came under increased scrutiny, and some citizens were afraid 
to report crime because of the heavy-handedness with which police 
carried out their duties. Corporal punishment is legal and an accepted 
measure for juveniles in schools and the justice system. A court can 
order that an accused person receive lashes if found guilty.
    In February a 16-year-old girl accused two members of the Defense 
Force of rape. Authorities brought charges against the two men and set 
a trial date for January 2012. In November authorities arrested a 
police officer and charged him with the rape of a 14-year-old girl 
while she and her brother were being held in custody. That officer 
awaited trial at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prisons remained 
overcrowded and facilities austere. Built in 1840, the prison on St. 
Kitts had an intended capacity of 182 prisoners but held 298; some 
prisoners slept on mats on the floor, but all prisoners had access to 
potable water. A prison farm in Nevis had an intended capacity of 30 
prisoners but held 47. Pretrial detainees occasionally were held 
together with convicted prisoners.
    There were four female inmates and eight juveniles in prison in St. 
Kitts. Female inmates, including juveniles, were held in separate 
quarters. Authorities held male juveniles with adult prisoners due to a 
lack of space.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors, were 
permitted religious observances, and had reasonable access to complaint 
mechanisms and the ability to request inquiry into conditions. The 
government investigated and monitored prison conditions, and the prison 
staff periodically received training in human rights.
    The government permitted prison visits by independent human rights 
observers, although no such visits were known to have occurred 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 forces 
consist of a police force, including a paramilitary Special Services 
Unit, a drug unit, and a white-collar crimes unit, along with a coast 
guard and a small defense force. The governor general can authorize the 
defense force to patrol jointly with the police for periods up to six 
months, which he did in October to help combat youth gang violence. The 
military and the police report to the Anti-Crime Unit, which is under 
the prime minister's jurisdiction.
    Senior police officers investigated complaints against members of 
the police force. When warranted, they refer them to an internal 
disciplinary tribunal for adjudication; penalties include dismissal, 
warnings, or other administrative action. During the year authorities 
investigated approximately 73 cases of complaints against police 
officers and internal disciplinary matters. Of those cases, 20 were 
under inquiry at year's end, while 32 were resolved by mediation, 13 
were prosecuted, eight were convicted, and the others were withdrawn.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Police may 
arrest a person based on the suspicion of criminal activity without a 
warrant. The law requires that persons detained be charged within 48 
hours or be released. If charged, a detainee must be brought before a 
court within 72 hours. There is a functioning system of bail. Family 
members, attorneys, and clergy were permitted to visit detainees 
regularly.
    Detainees may be held for a maximum of seven days awaiting a bail 
hearing. Those accused of serious offenses are remanded to custody to 
await trial, while those accused of minor infractions are released on 
their own recognizance.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected this 
provision in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for a fair, speedy, 
and public trial, and these requirements generally were observed. 
Defendants have the right to be present and to consult with counsel in 
a timely manner. There is a presumption of innocence, and defendants 
may question or confront witnesses. Juries are used at the High Court 
level for criminal matters only. Free legal assistance was available 
for indigent defendants in capital cases only.

    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 lawsuits regarding 
alleged civil rights violations.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution prohibits such practices, and the 
government generally respected these prohibitions in practice. However, 
the defense force can carry out stop and search operations without a 
warrant.
    The Interception of Communications Bill became law during the year, 
legalizing the interception of all telecommunications networks, 
including telephones and Internet transmissions. In response to public 
criticism, the government asserted the legislation would be used only 
to intercept criminal activities, pointing out that only a High Court 
judge can issue an interception order.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice. However, 
during the 2010 federal elections, the opposition party claimed that 
government-controlled media unfairly favored the ruling party.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet, but the new law allows the government to monitor e-
mail and Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in 
the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights 
in practice.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and was prepared to cooperate with 
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 was an 
honorary UNHCR liaison in the country.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has not 
signed the 1967 protocol to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status 
of Refugees. The government has not established a system for providing 
protection to refugees, and it did not routinely grant refugee status 
or asylum.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution provides citizens with the right to change their 
government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of 
universal suffrage. Voters elect 11 members of the National Assembly, 
and the governor general appoints a three-person Senate, two on 
recommendation of the prime minister and one on the recommendation of 
the opposition leader.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent elections.--In the 
2010 general elections, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas's SKNLP returned 
to office after winning six of eight Saint Kitts-assigned seats in the 
14-seat National Assembly. The People's Action Movement (PAM) party won 
two seats. The Concerned Citizens Movement party won two of the three 
assembly seats assigned to Nevis. (Appointed senators held the 
remaining three seats.) International observers from the Commonwealth, 
the Caribbean Community, and the Organization of American States (OAS) 
concluded that the elections were generally free and fair but issued a 
number of recommendations for future elections.
    The island of Nevis exercises considerable self-government, with 
its own premier and legislature and has the right to secede from the 
federation in accordance with certain enumerated procedures. In July 
Nevis held its local elections in which Joseph Parry was reelected as 
premier. OAS observers concluded that the elections were generally free 
and fair but noted the process could have been improved, reiterating 
its recommendations from the 2010 federal elections. Recommendations 
included improving and clarifying procedures for the conformation of 
the voter's registration list, revising and updating the electoral 
legal framework for overseas voters, increasing stakeholder engagement 
in the electoral process, and creating a voter information campaign to 
ensure voter confidence in the electoral process. The Caribbean 
Community Observer Mission report also noted irregularities with the 
voters' list, such as voters' names being removed and voters with 
voting cards being turned away at the polls because their names were 
not on the list. This report concluded that in one district ``where 
from the observation it appeared that more electors were removed from 
the original voters' list than constituted the slim majority of the 
winning candidate, it is arguable that were these electors not removed 
the result might have been different.'' Due to the irregularities, the 
opposition party contested the election results, and a hearing date was 
scheduled for January 2012.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--There was one woman in 
parliament--a cabinet minister. All four magistrates were women--three 
in St. Kitts and one in Nevis. In Nevis the appointed president of the 
House of Assembly was a woman.
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 media reports of government corruption during the year. The 
opposition PAM party continued to allege possible misconduct on the 
part of government officials.
    Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws, and 
there is no agency responsible for combating government corruption. The 
Financial Intelligence Unit investigates reports on suspicious 
financial transactions, along with the police white-collar crime unit.
    While no laws provide for public access to government information, 
the government maintained a Web site, aired briefings of weekly cabinet 
meetings on radio and parliament meetings by television and radio.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were no governmental restrictions on human rights groups, and 
there were several organizations that worked with marginalized groups 
such as women, children, the mentally challenged, the elderly, and the 
disabled.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Ministry of Health maintained 
a human rights desk to monitor discrimination and other human rights 
abuses.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, place of 
origin, birth out of wedlock, political opinion or affiliation, color, 
gender, or creed, and the government generally respected these 
prohibitions in practice.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Anecdotal evidence suggested 
rape was a serious and pervasive problem in society but was not 
frequently reported due to victims' fear of stigma, retribution, or 
further violence. The law prohibits rape, but it does not address 
spousal rape. Penalties for rape range from two years' imprisonment for 
incest between minors to life imprisonment for statutory rape or incest 
with someone under 16. Indecent assault has a maximum penalty of seven 
years' imprisonment. There were 19 cases of rape and 21 cases of 
indecent assault reported during the year. There were some prosecutions 
for rape during the year, but no information was available about 
outcomes.
    Violence against women was also a serious and pervasive problem. 
The law criminalizes domestic violence, including emotional abuse, and 
provides penalties of up to EC$13,500 ($5,000) or six months in prison. 
Although many women were reluctant to file complaints or pursue them in 
the courts, the Ministry of Gender Affairs handled 197 cases of 
domestic abuse during the year. Authorities sent 78 cases to trial, 
obtained 51 convictions, and had the remainder under investigation or 
pending at year's end.
    The ministry offered counseling for victims of abuse and conducted 
training on domestic and gender violence for officials in the police 
and fire departments, nurses, school guidance counselors, and other 
government employees. The ministry also worked with men's organizations 
to conduct training focused on sexual violence and conducted training 
in the prisons targeted towards those who battered women. The ministry 
maintained a hotline for domestic violence victims and worked through 
the churches, workplaces, radio programs, and other civil society 
groups to spread its campaign against sexual violence.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not specifically address sexual 
harassment, and it remained a problem. Complainants reported only two 
cases to the Ministry of Gender Affairs in 2010.

    Reproductive Rights.--Reproductive rights were generally protected; 
couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, spacing, 
and timing of children. The National Family Planning Office provided 
information on contraception and support for reproductive rights on a 
nondiscriminatory basis. Skilled attendance at delivery and in 
postpartum care was widely available. A 2008 report by the U.N. 
Children's Fund indicated that skilled attendance at birth was 100 
percent and estimated the contraceptive prevalence rate at 54 percent. 
Incidence of maternal mortality was not available. Women and men were 
given equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--The role of women in society is not restricted by 
law but was circumscribed by culture and tradition. Despite this, the 
status of women has improved, particularly in the public sector. The 
Ministry of Gender Affairs reported that 62 percent of women in the 
civil service occupied public sector leadership positions. The ministry 
conducted programs addressing poverty and health and promoting 
institutional mechanisms to advance the status of women and attain 
leadership positions for women. Although no legislation requires equal 
pay for equal work, women and men generally received equal salaries for 
comparable jobs.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Children acquire citizenship by 
birth in the country, and all are registered at birth and equally able 
to access public education and public services. Children born to 
citizen parents abroad can be registered by either of their parents.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse remained a major problem. According to 
the government, neglect was the most common form of abuse, while 
physical and sexual abuse remained prevalent and underreported. 
Authorities received a number of reports of sexual assaults against 
children during the year and brought charges in cases involving alleged 
sexual activity with minors (indecent assault). The government operated 
one children's home for abused and neglected children and offered 
counseling for both adult and child victims of abuse.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The law sets the age of consent 
at 16. Under the statutory rape law, sexual relations with anyone under 
16 are illegal, with penalties ranging from probation to life in 
prison. Child pornography is illegal and carries a penalty of up to 20 
years in prison.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on International Child Abduction but has been 
designated as noncompliant. For information see the Department of 
State's report on compliance at http://travel.state.gov/abduction/
resources/congressreport/congressreport--4308.html.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--During the year there were no reports that 
persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

    Persons With Disabilities.--While the law prohibits discrimination, 
it does not specifically cite discrimination against persons with 
disabilities. There was no reported discrimination against persons with 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the 
provision of other state services. The building code mandates access to 
buildings for persons with disabilities, but this code was not always 
followed or enforced.
    Persons who are mentally ill and deemed a menace to society can be 
incarcerated for life; there were four such persons in the prison. 
Ministry of Health nurses in the various district health centers deal 
with persons with mental illness, and the General Hospital has a wing 
dedicated to caring for patients with mental illness.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws that 
prohibit discrimination against a person on the basis of sexual 
orientation. Same-sex sexual activity between men is illegal and 
carries penalties up to 10 years in prison. Same-sex sexual activity 
between women is not barred by statute.
    Societal attitudes towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
transgender (LGBT) community impeded operation and free association of 
LGBT organizations and the openness of LGBT persons. The government 
asserted that it received no reports of violence or discrimination 
based on sexual orientation; however, unofficial reports indicated that 
this remained a problem. An LGBT minor was attacked multiple times 
during the year, resulting in serious injury. Anecdotal evidence 
suggested the attacks were a result of LGBT status.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Although no statistics 
were available, anecdotal evidence suggested that societal 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS occurred.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law gives workers the right to form and join independent unions, to 
negotiate better wages and benefits for union members, and to strike. 
However, employers are not legally bound to recognize a union. The law 
permits the police, civil service, and organizations such as hotels, 
construction workers, and small businesses to organize ``associations'' 
that serve as unions. It was not clear if the rights of such 
associations differed from those of unions. Labor laws cover all 
workers, including migrant workers, domestic workers, and workers in 
specialized trade zones.
    Restrictions on strikes by workers who provide essential services, 
such as the police and civil servants, were enforced by established 
practice and custom but not by law.
    A union that obtains membership of more than 50 percent of 
employees at a company can apply to be recognized by the employer for 
collective bargaining. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination but 
does not require employers found guilty of such action to rehire 
employees fired for union activities. However, the employer must pay 
lost wages and severance pay to workers employed at least one year, 
based upon their length of service.
    The government generally protected the legal right of workers to 
form and join unions and bargain collectively. The government also 
protected the right to strike. Employers generally recognized a union 
if a majority of workers voted to organize. Worker organizations were 
independent of the government and political parties. There was no 
government interference in union activities, and employers did not use 
hiring practices such as subcontracting or short-term contracts to 
avoid hiring workers with bargaining rights. There was no evidence of 
employer interference or antiunion discrimination toward union 
functions.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The constitution 
prohibits slavery, servitude, and forced labor by children, and the 
government effectively enforced such provisions. There were no reports 
that such practices occurred.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
minimum legal working age is 16. The Department of Labor relied heavily 
on school truancy officers and the Community Affairs Division to 
monitor compliance, which they did effectively.
    Children under age 16 worked in agriculture and domestic service. 
In rural areas, children often assisted in small family lots with 
livestock farming and vegetable production. Girls often engaged in 
domestic service. Such labor included children looking after younger 
siblings or ailing parents and grandparents, but rarely at the expense 
of their schooling. Children often worked in other households as 
domestic servants or babysitters. In general society did not consider 
domestic work exploitive child labor.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The government sets the minimum 
wage, which was EC$8.00 ($3.00) an hour. Average wages were 
considerably higher than the minimum wage. The law provides for a 40- 
to 44-hour workweek. The law provides for premium pay for work above 
the standard workweek. There was no legal prohibition of excessive or 
compulsory overtime. The law also calls for paid holidays.
    While there are no specific health and safety regulations, the law 
contains general health and safety guidance for Department of Labor 
inspectors. The Labor Commission settles disputes over safety 
conditions. Workers have the right to report unsafe work environments 
without jeopardy to continued employment; inspectors then investigate 
such claims, and workers may leave such locations without jeopardy to 
their continued employment.
    In practice workers in the formal sector normally worked 40 hours 
in five days. Although not required by law, workers received at least 
one 24-hour rest period per week. According to the labor code, 
employees are entitled to time and a half when overtime is worked. 
Local custom dictated that a worker could not be forced to work 
overtime.
    The Labor Commission undertook regular wage inspections and special 
investigations when it received complaints; it required employers found 
in violation to pay back wages. Eight labor officers also served as 
labor inspectors. Penalties were sufficient to deter violations. The 
Ministry of Labor encouraged enforcement of standards in the informal 
labor sector as well and worked in conjunction with the Social Security 
office to have those in the informal sector register their businesses 
and become self-employed. Once a business is officially registered, 
employees begin to receive benefits along with regular inspections.

                               __________

                              SAINT LUCIA

                           executive summary
    Saint Lucia is a multiparty, parliamentary democracy. In generally 
free and fair elections on November 28, the Saint Lucia Labour Party 
(SLP) won 11 of the seats in the 17-member House of Assembly, defeating 
the previously ruling United Workers Party (UWP). SLP leader Kenny 
Anthony was sworn in as prime minister on November 30. Security forces 
reported to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems included reports of unlawful 
police killings, abuse of suspects and prisoners by the police, and 
long delays in trials and sentencing.
    Other human rights problems included corruption, violence against 
women, child abuse, and discrimination against consensual same-sex 
sexual activity.
    Although the government took some steps to prosecute officials and 
employees who committed abuses, the procedure for investigating police 
officers was lengthy, cumbersome, and often inconclusive. When the rare 
cases reached trial years later, juries often acquitted, leaving an 
appearance of de facto impunity.
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 12 potentially unlawful fatal police shootings during the 
year, some reportedly committed by officers associated with an ad hoc 
task force within the police department. The Criminal Investigations 
Department conducted investigations and referred cases to the director 
of public prosecutions (DPP) for review.
    The DPP reviews all police shootings resulting in death and refers 
matters for inquest. The 12 police shootings were all in varying stages 
of review; three were pending coroner's inquests, and the DPP had the 
rest under review. The new government took steps to expedite 
investigative processes and review of these cases.
    There was only limited progress in the DPP reviews and other 
investigations of unlawful killings dating back to 2006. Authorities 
reported two police shootings from 2010 and one shooting from 2009 as 
still pending in the coroner's inquest process. In March authorities 
brought the case of a police officer charged with manslaughter by 
recklessness for the fatal shooting of Stephen Flavius in 2006 to 
trial; the officer was found not guilty. At year's end the trial of a 
police officer charged with manslaughter by recklessness in the 2008 
fatal shooting of John Garvy Alcindor was before the court for trial.

    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, 
prisoners and suspects regularly complained of physical abuse by police 
and prison officers. There also were reports that police beat persons 
under arrest either during the arrest or while in custody at the 
initial detention center prior to arrival at the prison.
    During the year citizens filed a number of complaints against the 
police, most of which were for abuse of authority. On at least four 
occasions, police were alleged to have shot men during an arrest or 
during a neighborhood sweep operation.
    Limited information was available regarding official investigations 
of complaints pending in various stages of review from earlier years; 
the DPP is responsible for filing charges in such cases but was unable 
to monitor their progress due to limited resources and manpower. A 
woman's claim that police raped her while in custody in 2010 was under 
investigation; according to the police the woman was unable to identify 
her alleged attackers, and the DPP preliminarily ruled there was 
insufficient evidence to file charges. Although the government 
sometimes asserted that independent inquiries would be launched into 
allegations of abuse, the lack of information created a perception of 
impunity for the accused officers.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions generally met international standards, and the 
government permitted visits by independent human rights observers.
    The Bordelais Correctional Facility, which has an intended capacity 
of 500 inmates, held 554 inmates at year's end, of whom 280 were 
sentenced prisoners and 274 were on remand awaiting trial or other 
judicial disposition. There were eight female inmates and 50 youth 
offenders ages 16-21. Female inmates were segregated from male inmates, 
as were youth offenders. Detainees were segregated from sentenced 
inmates.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance. Prison authorities permitted prisoners 
and detainees to submit complaints to judicial authorities without 
censorship. Prisoners and detainees had access to attorneys for this 
purpose.
    The Boys Training Center, a facility for boys charged with criminal 
offenses or suffering from domestic or other social problems, operated 
separately from the prison, and conditions were substandard. Boys 
charged with crimes were not segregated from those with social 
problems, and the facility was not designed to house juvenile 
delinquents.

    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 Royal Saint Lucia 
Police has responsibility in law and in practice for law enforcement 
and maintenance of order within the country and reports to the Ministry 
of National Security and Home Affairs. The Criminal Investigations 
Division investigates internal affairs and allegations against officers 
and refers cases to the DPP for review, inquest, and prosecution. There 
is also a Police Complaints Commission to take complaints from members 
of the public; these complaints are investigated by a special unit of 
three police officers assigned to assist the commission.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the police, 
but there were reports of impunity. Although the government has 
institutions and procedures in place to investigate abuses by the 
security forces, these efforts have been ineffective overall. For 
instance, although authorities referred many cases for investigation 
and prosecution, prosecutions were rarely completed, and cases remained 
in investigation without conclusion for years. Lack of adequate human 
resources in the criminal justice system (prosecutors and criminal 
magistrates), delays in the judicial system, the reluctance of 
witnesses to testify, and strong public and political support for the 
police contributed to the overall inability of the government to 
address allegations efficiently.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The 
constitution stipulates that persons must be apprehended openly with 
warrants issued by a judicial authority and requires a court hearing 
within 72 hours of detention. Detainees are allowed prompt access to 
counsel and family. There is a functioning bail system.
    Prolonged pretrial detention continued to be a problem; 124 of the 
prisoners at Bordelais Correctional Facility were awaiting trial. Those 
charged with serious crimes spent an estimated six months to five years 
in pretrial detention.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence in practice.

    Trial Procedures.--The constitution provides for the right to a 
fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right.
    Trials can be by jury and are public. In cases involving capital 
punishment, legal counsel is provided for those who cannot afford a 
defense attorney. Defendants are entitled to select their own 
representation, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, and 
have the right of appeal. Defendants have the right to confront or 
question witnesses and have access to government-held evidence. An 
attorney can be provided at public expense if needed in cases of 
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, 
impartial judiciary in civil matters where one can bring lawsuits 
seeking damages for a human rights violation.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and 
the government generally respected these rights in practice. An 
independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic 
political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and of the press. 
There were reports of alleged death threats against a media personality 
by a senior government official.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible 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.

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

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 the law provide 
for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, 
and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights 
in practice.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The country's laws do 
not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status, but the 
government has established a system for providing protection for 
refugees. According to the UNHCR, there were six asylum seekers in the 
country. Refugees and asylum seekers had access to education, health 
care, social services, law enforcement, legal aid, and access to 
courts. The government has assisted the safe, voluntary return of 
refugees to their home 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, and citizens exercised this right in practice 
through periodic, free, and fair elections based on universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--On 
November 28, the SLP defeated the UWP by winning 11 of 17 parliamentary 
seats. The UWP filed court challenges over the results in three 
constituencies; these had not been resolved by year's end. SLP leader 
Kenny Anthony was sworn in as prime minister on November 30; Anthony 
had previously served twice as prime minister in the period 1977 to 
2006. Electoral observer missions from the Organization of American 
States (OAS), the Caribbean Community, and the Commonwealth Secretariat 
considered the elections generally free and fair. The OAS mission's 
preliminary report stated the elections were conducted in a fluid and 
peaceful manner and noted an increase in participation by women as 
candidates and as election workers. Its final report recommended that 
the government update the voters' registry, redraw constituency 
boundaries, adopt rules to prohibit anonymous and foreign campaign 
contributions, take steps to increase voter participation, and consider 
a quota system to provide incentives for greater participation by women 
in politics.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Voters elected three women 
to the House of Assembly; two of them also serve as members of the 
cabinet. The governor general was a woman; she appointed a woman to 
serve as deputy president of the Senate, and the SLP appointed another 
woman to serve as a senator.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    Although the law provides criminal penalties for official 
corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively, and 
officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. There 
were isolated reports of government corruption during the year. 
Although no senior officials were charged, there were successful 
investigations and arrests of customs and correctional officers for 
corruption and drug trafficking activities.
    Corruption continued to be viewed as serious and was widely 
discussed by the media, the business community, and opposition 
politicians. Observers expressed concern that the country was moving 
backwards in terms of transparency and accountability. There were also 
reports that foreign donors routed some foreign assistance funds 
through offices of specific parliamentarians, providing the opportunity 
for graft by the ministers involved. There was an increasing public 
perception that certain politicians wielded undue influence over the 
law enforcement community to shield themselves from investigation for 
corrupt practices.
    Both the SLP and the media reported corruption on the part of 
government ministers involved in public works procurement, granting of 
improper customs and import concessions, and diversion of foreign 
assistance funds to personal accounts of ministers.
    High-level government officials, including elected officials, were 
subject to annual disclosure of their financial assets to the Integrity 
Commission, a constitutionally established commission. The 
parliamentary commissioner, auditor general, and the Public Services 
Commission are responsible for combating corruption. Parliament can 
also appoint a special committee to investigate specific allegations of 
corruption.
    The law provides for public access to information, and 
parliamentary debates are open to the public. The Government 
Information Service disseminated public information on a daily basis, 
operated an extensive Web site, and published a number of official 
periodicals.
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, investigating and publishing their findings on 
human rights cases, and government officials often were cooperative and 
responsive to their views.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The constitution prohibits discrimination, but there was no 
specific legislation addressing discrimination in employment or against 
persons with disabilities.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, but 
not spousal rape. Police and courts enforced laws to protect women 
against rape, which is punishable by 14 years to life imprisonment. The 
police were not reluctant to arrest or prosecute offenders, although 
many victims were reluctant to report cases of rape or to press charges 
due to fear of stigma, retribution, or further violence. No data were 
available about the number of rapes reported, charges brought, or 
convictions obtained. The DPP reported that sexual assault cases were a 
growing problem but that most cases were not prosecuted due to the 
reluctance of victims to press charges.
    Domestic violence was also a significant human rights problem. 
While police were willing to arrest offenders, the government 
prosecuted crimes of violence against women only when the victim 
pressed charges. Often victims were reluctant to press charges due to 
their reliance on financial assistance of the abuser. Shelters, 
hotlines, and improved police training were all used to deal with the 
problem, but the lack of financial security for the victim was the key 
impediment. Shelters were operated in private homes, in order to 
preserve the privacy of the victims, but the location of a shelter was 
hard to keep secret. The family courts heard cases of domestic violence 
and crimes against women and children.
    The Ministry of Health, Wellness, Human Services, and Gender 
Relations assisted victims. Most of the cases were referred to a 
counselor, and the police facilitated the issuance of court protection 
orders in some cases. Police arrested and charged perpetrators in a 
number of domestic violence cases.
    The police's Vulnerable Persons Unit, designed to handle cases 
involving violence against women and children, increased police 
responsiveness to these cases. As a result the police reported an 
increase in the reporting of sexual crimes against women and children 
over previous years. This unit worked closely with the Family Court and 
the ministry's Department of Gender Relations and Department of Human 
Services and Family Affairs.
    The Department of Gender Relations also ran the Women's Support 
Center, which provided shelter, counseling, residential services, a 24-
hour hotline, and assistance in finding employment. Various 
nongovernmental organizations, such as the Saint Lucia Crisis Center 
and the National Organization of Women, also provided counseling, 
referral, education, and empowerment services. The crisis center 
assisted in cases of physical violence, incest, nonpayment of child 
support, alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness, custody, and visitation 
rights.
    The Family Court can issue a protection order prohibiting an abuser 
from entering or remaining in the residence of a specified person. 
Occupation and tenancy orders provide certain residential rights to 
victims of domestic violence, such as rental payments and other 
protective orders. The Family Court employed full-time social workers 
who assisted victims of domestic violence.

    Sexual Harassment.--The criminal code prohibits sexual harassment, 
but it remained a problem, as government enforcement was not an 
effective deterrent. The Department of Gender Relations continued an 
awareness program through which it provided training opportunities in 
workplaces and assisted establishments in creating policies and 
procedures on how to handle sexual harassment. As a result most cases 
of sexual harassment were handled in the workplace rather than being 
prosecuted under the criminal code.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have the right to 
decide freely the number, spacing, and timing of their children. 
Skilled attendance at delivery and in postpartum care was widely 
available --in 2008 U.N. data put it at 98 percent of live births. 
Access to contraception was widely available. Incidence of maternal 
mortality was not available. Testing for sexually transmitted diseases 
was nondiscriminatory and also widely available.

    Discrimination.--Women enjoyed equal rights under the law, 
including in economic, family, property, and judicial matters. However, 
in practice women were still underrepresented in the labor force, had 
higher levels of unemployment than men, and sometimes received unequal 
and lower pay. Women's affairs were under the jurisdiction of the 
Department of Gender Relations, whose parent ministry was responsible 
for protecting women's rights in domestic violence cases and preventing 
discrimination against women, including ensuring equal treatment in 
employment.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Children receive citizenship by 
birth to a Saint Lucian parent. Birth certificates were provided to the 
parents without undue administrative delay.

    Child Abuse.--Child abuse remained a problem. The Department of 
Human Services and Family Affairs handled a number of cases of sexual 
abuse, physical abuse, abandonment, and psychological abuse, but no 
figures were available on its prevalence during the year. Although the 
government condemned the practice, parents of sexually abused children 
sometimes declined to press sexual assault charges against the abuser 
in exchange for financial contributions toward the welfare of victims 
of such abuse. Nonetheless, courts heard some child sexual abuse cases 
and convicted and sentenced offenders.
    The human services division provided a number of services to 
victims of child abuse, including counseling, facilitating medical 
intervention, finding foster care, providing family support services, 
and supporting the child while working with the police and attending 
court. The division was also involved with public outreach in schools, 
church organizations, and community groups.
    The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) 
operated a hotline for families suffering from different forms of 
abuse; however, in the absence of any government shelter for abused 
children, many children were returned to the homes in which they were 
abused. Through the hotline and also through its outreach with sex 
workers, CAFRA learned of various cases of sexual abuse that were never 
reported to the police. The government did not provide funding for 
foster care, and few families were willing to take in foster children.
    The Catholic Church operated the Holy Family Home for abused and 
abandoned children, with space for up to 40 children who were referred 
to the center by the police or social workers.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Laws on sexual offenses include 
rape, unlawful sexual connection, and unlawful sexual intercourse with 
children under 16. The age of consent is 16, but a consent defense can 
be cited if the victim is between 12 and 16 years of age; no defense of 
consent is allowed when the child is under 12. The Counter-Trafficking 
Act prohibits trafficking of children under age 18 for labor or 
commercial sexual exploitation. No separate law defines or specifically 
prohibits child pornography.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--No specific legislation protects the 
rights of persons with disabilities or mandates provision of government 
services for them. The government is obliged to provide disabled access 
to all public buildings, but only a few government buildings had ramps 
to provide access. There was no rehabilitation facility for persons 
with physical disabilities, although the Health Ministry operated a 
community-based rehabilitation program in residents' homes. There were 
schools for the deaf and the blind up to the secondary level. There 
also was a school for persons with mental disabilities; however, 
children with disabilities faced barriers in education, and there were 
few opportunities for such persons when they became adults.
    A full mental health hospital and wellness center entered into full 
operation in 2010.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Consensual same-sex activity 
is illegal under indecency statues, and some same-sex sexual activity 
between men is also illegal under anal intercourse laws. Indecency 
statutes carry a maximum penalty of five years, and anal intercourse 
carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
    While such laws were rarely enforced, there was widespread social 
discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) 
persons in the deeply conservative society. Nonetheless, in April then 
prime minister Stephenson King pledged in parliament to ``stand against 
discrimination and stigma in all its forms'' and to ``guarantee 
nondiscrimination against persons on the basis of their sexual 
orientation.'' There were few openly LGBT persons in the country, 
although some informal groups formed and became more vocal after a 
brutal robbery and assault allegedly motivated by the victim's LGBT 
status. In March, assailants beat three gay tourists during the course 
of a robbery believed to have been motivated in part by antigay 
sentiment.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There was widespread 
stigma and discrimination against persons infected with HIV/AIDS, 
although the government implemented several programs to address this 
problem, including a five-year program to combat HIV/AIDS. The U.N. 
Population Fund also provided support for youth-oriented HIV/AIDS 
prevention programs.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law specifies the right of most workers to form and join 
independent unions, to strike, and to bargain collectively. The law 
does not prohibit antiunion discrimination, and workers fired for union 
activity did not have the right to reinstatement.
    The law places several restrictions on worker rights. For instance, 
it does not permit civil service workers to join a union; instead, they 
formed the Civil Service Association, a quasi-union. The law prohibits 
members of the police and fire departments from striking on the grounds 
that these professions are ``essential services.'' Workers in other 
essential services--water and sewer authority workers, electric utility 
workers, nurses, and doctors--must give 30 days' notice before 
striking. Once workers have given notice, the matter is usually 
referred to an ad hoc tribunal set up under the Essential Service Act. 
The government selects tribunal members, following rules to ensure 
tripartite representation. The ad hoc labor tribunals try to resolve 
disputes through mandatory arbitration.
    The government generally respected freedom of association and the 
right to collective bargaining in practice. Worker organizations were 
independent of the government and political parties. All the unions 
belong to the umbrella Saint Lucia Trade Union Federation. Outside of 
essential services, workers exercised the right to strike and to 
bargain collectively in practice.
    In practice many companies were openly antiunion in attitude, but 
there were no reports of interference in practice.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The government 
prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor and generally 
enforced the prohibition. However, there were occasional reports of 
forced labor, including domestic servitude.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law provides for a minimum legal working age of 16. The minimum legal 
working age for industrial work is 18. The Employee's (Occupational and 
Safety) Act provides special protections for children between the age 
of 16 and 18 as to working conditions and prohibits certain hazardous 
work.
    The Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, and Labor 
was responsible for enforcing statutes regulating child labor. Employer 
penalties for violating the child labor laws were EC$9.60 ($3.55) for a 
first offense and EC$24 ($8.88) for a second offense.
    Child labor existed in the rural areas, primarily where school-age 
children helped harvest bananas from family trees. Children also 
typically worked in urban food stalls or sold confectionery on 
sidewalks on nonschool days and during festivals. There were no formal 
reports of violations of child labor laws. Also see the Department of 
Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/
programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wage regulations in 
effect since 1985 set wages for a limited number of occupations. The 
minimum monthly wage for office clerks was EC$300 ($111), for shop 
assistants EC$200 ($74), and for messengers EC$160 ($59).
    The legislated workweek is 40 hours with a maximum of eight hours 
per day. Overtime hours are at the discretion of the employer and the 
agreement of the employee. Pay is time and a half for work over 8 hours 
and double for work on Sundays and public holidays. Monthly paid 
workers are entitled to a minimum of 14 paid vacation days after one 
year. Workers paid on a daily or biweekly schedule have a minimum of 14 
vacation days after 150 days. Special legislation covers work hours for 
shop assistants, agricultural workers, domestics, and workers in 
industrial establishments.
    The government set occupational health and safety standards that 
cover all groups of employees except members of the police force. 
Penalties for violations of these standards ranged from EC$200 ($74) or 
imprisonment for three months for general violations, with an 
additional fine of EC$50 ($18) per day for additional offenses, to 
EC$500 ($180) and imprisonment for three months.
    The ministry's labor commissioner is charged with monitoring 
violations of labor law, including the minimum wage. There were seven 
compliance officers to cover the entire country and monitor compliance 
with occupational and safety standards, pension standards, and minimum 
wage violations
    Occupational health and safety regulations were relatively well 
developed. The ministry enforced them through threat of closure if it 
discovered violations in a business and the business did not correct 
them. However, actual closures rarely occurred because of lack of staff 
and resources. Workers had the legal right to leave a dangerous 
workplace situation without jeopardy to continued employment.
    In practice there were few reported violations of wage laws, as 
those who received less than the minimum wage were often in the country 
illegally and afraid of reprisal, including possible deportation. Labor 
unions did not routinely report such violations, and most categories of 
workers received much higher wages based on prevailing market 
conditions. However, a number of smaller establishments paid less than 
the minimum wage, and Haitians and others often received less than the 
minimum wage due to illegal practices of employers.

                               __________

                    SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

                           executive summary
    Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a multiparty, parliamentary 
democracy. Government control lies with the prime minister and his 
cabinet. Vincentians returned Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to office 
for a third term in December 2010 elections. International observers 
assessed the vote as generally free and fair. Security forces reported 
to civilian authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems were police use of excessive 
force, poor prison conditions, and violence against women.
    Other human rights problems included official corruption, lack of 
government transparency, discrimination, trafficking in persons, and 
child abuse.
    The government took steps to punish officials who commit abuses, 
but a perception of impunity persisted.
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 occasion police officers shot and killed persons 
encountered in the line of duty. The Criminal Investigations Department 
(CID) investigated all police killings, which also were referred to 
coroner's inquests.
    On July 13, police shot and killed one Dominican man after the 
Vincentian Coast Guard intercepted his vessel and the individual 
allegedly fired a weapon. The police brought charges against two others 
aboard the vessel, but a court eventually dismissed the cases. A 
coroner's inquest was pending into the person's death.
    On December 11, police shot and killed an escaped prisoner, Godwin 
Moses, who was found in possession of a firearm that he retrieved from 
a man he allegedly murdered shortly after his escape. The bodies of 
Moses and his alleged victim were undergoing a coroner's inquest at the 
end of the year.
    The August 2010 incident where a police officer shot and killed a 
mentally disturbed man during a civil disturbance and accidently shot 
three girls went to a coroner's inquest. The coroner's jury ruled that 
the suspect's death was a death by misadventure.
    After a CID investigation, the director of public prosecutions 
(DPP) reached a plea bargain and charged police constable Rohan 
McDowall with manslaughter in conjunction with an August 2010 incident 
in which McDowall shot and killed a fellow police officer. However, 
McDowall reneged on the plea bargain, and the DPP refiled the original 
murder charges.

    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 nongovernmental organization (NGO) St. Vincent and the Grenadines 
Human Rights Association (SVGHRA) asserted that the police used 
excessive force.
    Citizens alleging police abuse can lodge complaints with the 
Complaint Department within the police force or an independent 
government oversight committee. If a particular complaint has merit, 
the DPP will file charges. The government did not normally provide any 
public information about the disposition of such complaints, any 
disciplinary charges, or other actions taken.
    In June the police force reinstated three officers convicted of 
beating a 15-year-old boy in 2008. The law prevents applicants with a 
criminal record from joining the police but does not disqualify those 
convicted of crimes while already serving on the force.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions remained 
poor. Prison buildings were antiquated and overcrowded, with Her 
Majesty's Prison in Kingstown holding 409 inmates in a building 
intended to hold approximately 150, creating serious health and safety 
problems.
    The Belle Isle Correctional Facility officially opened in 2009 but 
remained empty at year's end. While prisoners were working at the on-
site farm, they continued to reside in Kingstown, but authorities plan 
to transfer them to the new prison within the first quarter of 2012. 
The new facility is designed to hold 288 inmates in separate quarters 
for males and females.
    Poor economic prospects for former prisoners drove recidivism rates 
of 75 percent or higher. Key problem areas in the current facility 
included the inability to segregate prisoners, gangs, and contraband, 
including cell phones and drugs. HIV/AIDS prevalence in prison was more 
than 10 times that of the general population; 4.1 percent of inmates 
were infected.
    The SVGHRA reported that prison problems such as endemic violence, 
understaffing, underpaid guards, uncontrolled weapons and drugs, 
increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS, and unhygienic conditions persisted. 
Corrupt prison staff commonly served as a source of drugs, weapons, and 
cell phones. The SVGHRA also alleged that guards routinely beat 
prisoners to extract information regarding escapes, violence, and crime 
committed in the prison. On November 25, a prisoner died in police 
custody due to a blockage of the main lung artery. A senior-level 
police investigation took place at year's end to gain a more detailed 
understanding of what led to the prisoner's death.
    The Fort Charlotte Prison held 15 female inmates in a separate 
section designed to hold 50 inmates, where conditions were antiquated 
and unhygienic. Pretrial detainees and young offenders (16 to 21 years 
of age), 10 percent of the total male prison population, were held with 
convicted prisoners.
    Conditions were inadequate for juvenile offenders. Boys younger 
than 16 were held at the Liberty Lodge Boys' Training Center, which 
takes in at-risk boys who can no longer stay at home due to domestic 
problems or involvement with criminal activity. Most of the boys were 
at the center because of domestic problems, and only a small number 
were charged with committing a crime.
    Each convict had a schedule of visitors limited to one visit per 
week. There were no limitations on visitors for those in custody but 
not yet convicted. Local churches organized weekly religious services. 
Prisoners could file complaints by writing the court registrar who 
schedules court hearings. The government permitted prison visits by 
independent human rights observers, and such visits took place during 
the year.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Royal Saint Vincent 
and the Grenadines Police, the only security force in the country, is 
responsible for maintaining national security. Its forces include a 
Coast Guard, a Special Services Unit, a Rapid Response Unit, and a Drug 
Squad. The police force reports to the minister of national security, a 
portfolio held by the prime minister.
    Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the police, 
and the government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish 
abuse and corruption. The government operated an oversight committee to 
monitor police activity and hear public complaints against police 
misconduct. There were no verified reports of impunity during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--The law 
requires judicial authority to issue arrest warrants. Police 
apprehended persons openly, and detainees may seek judicial 
determinations of their status after 48 hours if not already provided. 
The bail system functioned and was generally effective.

    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 fair, public trials, and an 
independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Juries are used at 
the High Court level for criminal matters but are not used in the civil 
court or for crimes at the magistrate level. The court appoints 
attorneys only for indigent defendants charged with a capital offense. 
Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, may confront and 
question witnesses, may appeal verdicts and penalties, and have access 
to relevant government-held evidence once a case reaches the trial 
stage. Lengthy delays occurred in preliminary inquiries for serious 
crimes. A backlog of pending cases continued because the magistrate's 
court in Kingstown continued to lack a full complement of magistrates. 
Witnesses sometimes refused to testify because they feared retaliation; 
the decision negatively affected the prosecution of crimes.

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

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There is an independent, 
impartial judiciary in civil matters, where one can bring lawsuits 
seeking damages for 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.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution and 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.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The independent media were 
active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction. 
However, there continued to be accounts of the prime minister or other 
officials rebuking the press for comments critical of the government, 
spurring some reports of self-censorship.

    Libel Laws/National Security.--In August the DPP declined to 
prosecute a criminal case in which an opposition radio host was 
initially charged with publishing a false statement about prominent 
government officials. In November a court ordered an opposition radio 
station to pay an EC$250,000 ($92,560) award to Prime Minister 
Gonsalves in relation to a defamation suit. Such lawsuits were not 
uncommon and may be used to protect one's political reputation.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible 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.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 prepared to cooperate with the Office of the 
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian 
organizations in assisting refugees and other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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. There were no refugees or asylum seekers residing within the 
country.
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.--Recent Elections.--In 
December 2010 elections, the ruling United Labour Party was returned to 
office, winning eight seats. The opposition New Democratic Party 
increased its seats from four to seven. International observers from 
the Caribbean Community and the Organization of American States 
declared the elections to be generally free and fair. During the year 
the opposition party continued to challenge four electoral contests. If 
successful in even one of the districts, the ruling party could lose 
its narrow majority in parliament.
    Both the ruling party and the opposition noted pre-election 
violence. Several shootings related to political rallies occurred in 
the weeks leading up to the election, but it was unclear if they were 
politically motivated. The DPP took over prosecution of 10 criminal 
charges filed by opposition leaders in the election but dismissed them. 
Allegations of political handouts and other forms of low-level 
corruption in the time leading up to the election plagued both parties. 
Such bribes were historically a part of the country's political 
culture.

    Participation by Women and Minorities.--Women were able to 
participate in political life on the same legal basis as men. Women 
held three of the 21 seats in the House of Assembly. One woman, the 
deputy prime minister, held a cabinet-level position.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, but 
the government did not implement the law effectively. Anticorruption 
laws were primarily used to combat abuses committed in the Public Works 
Department and Public Licensing Division; they were not used to 
prosecute high-level government officials.
    Allegations of corruption were regularly raised against politicians 
by their opponents. The DPP can prosecute such claims.
    There were no financial disclosure laws for public officials. No 
government agency was specifically responsible for combating government 
corruption.
    The law provides for public access to information, and the 
government provided such access in practice. Human rights organizations 
assisted individuals in obtaining information.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    There were no restrictions on international human rights groups. A 
domestic human rights group, the SVGHRA, generally operated without 
government restriction, investigating and publishing its findings on 
human rights cases. Government officials were somewhat receptive to its 
views. However, in December 2010 the prime minister accused members of 
the SVGHRA of being opposition political activists, a charge they 
refuted.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law provides for equal treatment regardless of race or gender, 
and the government generally enforced this provision in practice. Human 
rights associations, not the DPP, handled the discrimination cases.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape, including spousal rape, 
is illegal, and the government generally enforced the law when victims 
came forward. Depending on the magnitude of the offense and the age of 
the victim, sentences for rape could be eight to 10 years' 
imprisonment. Judges rarely imposed life imprisonment. Allegations of 
rape or any abuse against women are referred to the police. Police were 
generally responsive to these complaints, but fear of reprisal may 
deter some victims from seeking assistance. Although no special unit is 
devoted to these types of crimes, some officers were specially trained 
to handle them.
    Human rights, government, and press sources all noted an increase 
in reports of rape and incest. One Vincentian man was charged with 160 
counts of these types of crimes, the most charges ever levied against 
one person at the same time. Such cases often were difficult to 
prosecute, as witnesses were reluctant to testify and any discussion of 
these types of abuse could be considered taboo. Despite these 
challenges, the DPP successfully prosecuted a number of cases. Data 
were available from two of the three court sittings, which heard 26 
sexual offense cases during the year, of which nine were completed and 
17 carried over to 2012. These included 14 rapes and 12 cases of 
unlawful sexual intercourse.
    Violence against women remained a serious and pervasive problem. 
The law does not criminalize domestic violence specifically but 
provides protection for victims. Cases involving domestic violence 
could be charged under assault, battery, or other similar laws, but 
police were often reluctant to follow up on domestic violence cases. As 
a result, perpetrators of crimes against women often enjoyed impunity. 
The government's Division of Gender Affairs offered 19 different 
programs to assist women and children. At year's end the government had 
nearly completed a crisis center for victims of domestic violence, 
which has a hidden location and will receive referrals from family 
court and also serve as a temporary shelter for women and children in 
between homes.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law does not specifically prohibit sexual 
harassment, although it could be prosecuted under existing laws. Local 
human rights groups considered these laws ineffective.

    Reproductive Rights.--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. In 2009 (the latest year 
available) the contraceptive prevalence rate was 48 percent. Incidence 
of maternal mortality was not available. Women and men were given equal 
access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually transmitted 
infections.

    Discrimination.--Women enjoyed the same legal rights as men, 
although in practice many were marginalized due to financial 
dependence. Women received an equitable share of property following 
separation or divorce. The Gender Affairs Division continued to assist 
the National Council of Women with seminars, training programs, and 
public relations. The division worked closely with several 
international NGOs. The minimum wage law specifies that women should 
receive equal pay for equal work, and this generally was enforced in 
practice.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory or from either of one's parents. There 
was universal birth registration.

    Child Abuse.--The law provides a limited legal framework for the 
protection of children, and the Family Services Division of the Social 
Development Ministry monitored and protected the welfare of children. 
The division referred all reports of child abuse to the police for 
action and provided assistance in cases where children applied for 
protection orders with the family court.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Some male and female teenagers 
engaged in prostitution. The minimum age of consensual sex is 16. The 
penalty for child prostitution is 14 years' imprisonment. The law 
prohibits statutory rape, with special provisions for those less than 
13 years of age. The penalty for statutory rape of a girl over 13 but 
less than 16 years old is five years' imprisonment; for girls under age 
13, it is life imprisonment. NGO and government sources reported that 
mothers of girls may encourage their children to have sexual relations 
with older men as a way to supplement family income. The law does not 
specifically prohibit child pornography.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child 
Abduction.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in employment, 
education, access to health care, and the provision of other state 
services, and the government generally observed these prohibitions in 
practice. The law does not mandate access to buildings for persons with 
disabilities, and access for such persons generally was difficult. 
Communications were available for persons with disabilities, but the 
government did not have any programs to facilitate communication 
through technology. There were no restrictions on voting or other civic 
participation. The government partially supported a school for persons 
with disabilities. A separate rehabilitation center treated 
approximately five persons daily. The Ministry of National 
Mobilization, Social Development, NGO Relations, Family, Gender 
Affairs, and Persons with Disabilities is responsible for assisting 
persons with disabilities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--There are no laws that 
prohibit discrimination against a person on the basis of sexual 
orientation. Consensual same-sex conduct is illegal under indecency 
statutes, and some same-sex sexual activity between men is also illegal 
under anal intercourse laws. Indecency statutes carry a maximum penalty 
of five years, and anal intercourse acts carry a maximum penalty of 10 
years in prison, although these laws were rarely enforced.
    Anecdotal evidence suggested there was social discrimination 
against lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender persons in the deeply 
conservative society, although local observers believed such attitudes 
of intolerance were slowly improving. Members of professional and 
business classes were more inclined to conceal their sexual 
orientation.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--HIV infection rates 
were low, but the disease was prevalent in 0.4 percent of the 
population and has killed more than 900 people. Although no statistics 
were available, anecdotal evidence suggested there was some societal 
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. There is a government HIV 
Secretariat, but local NGOs found it to be inadequate. There were 
approximately a dozen NGOs working on AIDS-related issues, but funding 
difficulties led to cutbacks in these services.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers to form and join unions of their choice, permits 
collective bargaining, provides for the right to strike, prohibits 
retaliation against strikers, prohibits antiunion discrimination, 
protects workers from dismissal for engaging in union activities, and 
provides them with reinstatement rights if illegally dismissed.
    The government generally enforced labor laws effectively. The 
Essential Services Act prohibits persons providing such services 
(defined as electricity, water, hospital, and police) from striking 
unless they provide at least a 14-day notice to the authorities.
    The law does not require employers to recognize a particular union 
as an exclusive bargaining agent. The law provides that if both parties 
consent to arbitration, the minister of labor can appoint an 
arbitration committee from the private sector to hear the matter.
    The law provides for establishment of an arbitration tribunal and a 
board of inquiry in connection with trade disputes and allows provision 
for the settlement of such disputes. Arbitration panels are formed on 
an ad hoc basis when a labor dispute arises. Labor unions and 
businesses were generally satisfied with the working of the arbitration 
panels, which have tripartite representation.
    The Department of Labor did not report any prosecutions for 
collective bargaining rights violations during the year. The only high-
profile labor dispute involved the government and the St. Vincent and 
Grenadines Teachers' Union (SVGTU) on whether three teachers who 
resigned from their positions in order to run for elected office should 
get their jobs back after losing at the polls. A section in the 
collective bargaining agreement appeared to allow the teachers to take 
six months' election leave, but the court later determined the measure 
to be unconstitutional. Both parties declined to use the Department of 
Labor to mediate the disagreement, and the government and the SVGTU 
attempted to resolve it. The SVGTU can take the matter to the court but 
had chosen not to do so; at year's end the teachers awaited 
reinstatement.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor, and the government generally 
enforced the law effectively.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum working age at 16, and workers may receive a 
national insurance card at that age. The Ministry of Labor monitored 
and enforced this provision, and employers generally respected it in 
practice. There were five labor officers in the labor inspectorate with 
responsibility for monitoring all labor issues and complaints. The 
ministry reported no child labor problems. The only known child labor 
was work on family-owned banana plantations, particularly during 
harvest time, or in family-owned cottage industries. The government 
operated Youth Empowerment, which provided training and increased job 
opportunities by employing young persons in government ministries for 
up to one year.
    See also the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/.ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--Minimum wages, last updated in 
2008, vary by sector and type of work and are specified for several 
skilled categories. In agriculture the minimum wage for workers 
provided shelter was EC$32 ($11.85) per day, or EC$56 ($20.74) if 
shelter was not provided; for industrial workers it was EC$40 ($14.81) 
per day. Most workers earned more than the minimum. Workers who receive 
less than the minimum wage can file a claim with the Labor Ministry's 
inspectors, who will investigate and, if warranted, refer the matter to 
arbitration. In practice the ministry received very few complaints 
concerning minimum wage violations but did receive complaints regarding 
wrongful dismissal.
    The law prescribes hours of work according to category, such as 
industrial employees (40 hours per week), professionals (44 hours per 
week), and agricultural workers (30 to 40 hours per week). The law 
provides that workers receive time-and-a-half for hours worked over the 
standard workweek. There was a prohibition against excessive or 
compulsory overtime, which was effectively enforced in practice. The 
law provides workers with paid holiday leave, and the number of days a 
worker is entitled to varies according to occupation.
    The Department of Labor had five labor inspectors that conducted 
regular wage and workplace safety inspections. While there are fines 
and other penalties in the labor laws, they were inapplicable in many 
cases. The department also indicated that workplace violations were 
rare since most employers adhered to the minimum labor standards. The 
department offered voluntary labor dispute mediation and advised 
employers and employees of their labor rights through a weekly radio 
program.
    Legislation concerning occupational safety and health was outdated, 
and enforcement of regulations was ineffective. The law does not 
address specifically whether workers have the right to remove 
themselves from work situations that endanger health or safety without 
jeopardy to their continued employment, but it stipulates conditions 
under which factories must be maintained. Failure to comply with these 
regulations would constitute a breach, which might provide legal cover 
to a worker who refused to work under these conditions.
    The agricultural sector was considered the most hazardous sector 
due to workers' exposure to chemicals when working in the field. The 
Ministry of Agriculture conducted inspections and worksite visits to 
ensure that workers were protected. No major workplace accidents were 
reported during the year.

                               __________

                                SURINAME

                           executive summary
    Suriname is a constitutional democracy, with a president elected by 
the unicameral National Assembly or by the larger United People's 
Assembly. After generally free and fair legislative elections in May 
2010, several political alliances formed a coalition government. The 
National Assembly elected former military leader Desire Bouterse 
president in July 2010. Security forces reported to civilian 
authorities.
    The most serious human rights problems were overcrowded detention 
facilities, lengthy pretrial detention, and governmental corruption.
    Other human rights problems included self-censorship by some media 
organizations and journalists; societal discrimination against women, 
Maroons, indigenous people, and other minorities; domestic violence 
against women; trafficking in persons; and child labor in the informal 
sector.
    The government continued to take steps to prosecute abusers in the 
security forces, where there was a widespread perception of impunity.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings. Security force members shot and killed a wanted 
criminal early in the year, and in June a warning shot apparently fired 
by police killed a bystander after a riot erupted. At year's end 
authorities were investigating to determine if the bullet in this 
accidental killing was fired by police or by other bystanders. Criminal 
charges were filed against the officer. There was generally little 
information available about investigations into killings by police or 
other security force members.
    The trial of former military dictator and current President Desire 
Bouterse and his codefendants for the 1982 extrajudicial killing of 15 
political opponents continued at year's end without interference.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--While the law prohibits such practices, human rights 
groups and the media continued to report mistreatment by police as well 
as isolated incidents of abuse of prisoners by prison officials.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison and detention 
center conditions remained poor. Poor ventilation, limited lighting, 
and extreme heat remained problems in prisons and detention centers. 
Most prisons and detention centers, particularly the older jails, 
remained unsanitary and overcrowded, but prisoners had access to 
potable water.
    There were three prisons, which held female and male prisoners 
separately. There were also 19 smaller jails, or temporary detention 
centers, in police stations throughout the country.
    There was one juvenile detention facility, Opa Doeli, with separate 
quarters for boys and girls under the age of 18. This facility, located 
in Paramaribo, was considered adequate, provided educational and 
recreational facilities, and was occupied at less than its maximum 
capacity. After conviction, minor girls are kept there, while convicted 
minor boys are transferred to a reformatory wing of Santo Boma state 
prison.
    Growing numbers of convicted prisoners were held in pretrial 
detention cells due to prison overcrowding. Due to staff shortages, 
police officers rarely permitted detainees to leave their cells. 
Detainees and human rights groups also alleged that meals were 
inadequate.
    Conditions in the women's jail and in the women's section of other 
prison facilities were generally better than those in the men's 
facilities.
    Prisoners continued to have reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance of their choice. Government officials 
continued regular monitoring of prison and detention center conditions. 
Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to submit complaints to 
judicial authorities without censorship. During the year prisoners 
filed a complaint with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights after 
the government denied some requests for higher appeal and for early 
release.
    Local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continued to express 
concern over declining conditions in the Santo Boma prison, where 
prisoners complained of inadequate food provisions, mistreatment by 
prison guards, limited ventilation, and a lack of rehabilitation 
programs.
    The government permitted monitoring visits by independent human 
rights observers, and such visits occurred during the year. No 
ombudsman served on behalf of prisoners and detainees; prisoners notify 
their defense lawyers and government officials of any problems.
    The Welzijns Institute Nickerie, an NGO operating in the western 
district of Nickerie, continued to visit and provide counseling for 
detainees in the youth detention center in that district. The institute 
continued a program to train prison officers to counsel detainees.
    The government built a pretrial detention center to improve 
conditions and reduce overcrowding, and it accepted pretrial detainees 
who were previously imprisoned in smaller jails around the country.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The law prohibits arbitrary 
arrest and detention, and the government generally observed these 
prohibitions. However, due to a shortage of judges, prisoners who 
appealed their cases often served their full sentences before the 
lengthy appeals process could be completed.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The armed forces are 
responsible for national security and border control, with the military 
police having direct responsibility for immigration control at the 
country's ports of entry. All elements of the military are under the 
control of the Ministry of Defense. Civilian police bear primary 
responsibility for the maintenance of law and order and report to the 
Ministry of Justice and Police. Police effectiveness was hampered by a 
lack of equipment and training, low salaries, and poor coordination 
with military forces.
    The Personnel Investigation Department (OPZ), an office within the 
Police Department, investigates complaints against members of the 
police force. In 2010 (latest data available) the OPZ received 140 
complaints against members of the police force during the year and 
launched 20 investigations into cases involving mistreatment of 
detainees and civilians. That year authorities relieved 16 police 
officers of duty; four remained in custody with their cases under 
investigation.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Individuals 
were apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
brought before an independent judiciary. The law provides detainees 
with the right to a prompt judicial determination of the legality of 
the detention, and authorities respected this right in practice. 
Detainees were promptly informed of the charges against them. Police 
may detain a person suspected of committing a crime for up to 14 days 
if the sentence for that crime is longer than four years, and an 
assistant district attorney or a police inspector may authorize 
incommunicado detention. The police must bring the accused before a 
prosecutor to be charged formally within that period; but if additional 
time is needed to investigate the charge, a prosecutor and, later, a 
judge of instruction may extend the detention period an additional 150 
days. There is no bail system. Detainees were allowed prompt access to 
counsel of their choosing, but the prosecutor may prohibit access if 
the prosecutor thinks that this could harm the investigation. Detainees 
were allowed weekly visits from family members. The average length of 
pretrial detention was 30 to 45 days for lesser crimes.
    Detainees were held in detention cells at 19 police stations 
throughout the country that were at or near capacity. In accordance 
with the law, the courts freed most detainees who were not tried within 
the 164-day period. According to human rights monitors, factors such as 
a shortage of judges, large caseloads, and large numbers of detainees 
caused trial delays.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution provides for an 
independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial 
independence.
    The judiciary lacked professional court managers and case 
management systems to oversee the courts' administrative functions and 
also lacked adequate physical space--factors that contributed to a 
significant case backlog. The courts required a minimum of six months 
to process criminal cases.

    Trial Procedures.--The law provides for the right to a fair, public 
trial in which defendants have the right to counsel, and the judiciary 
generally enforced this right. All trials are public except for 
indecency offenses. There is no jury system. Defendants enjoy a 
presumption of innocence and have the right to appeal. Defendants have 
the right to be present and to consult an attorney in a timely manner. 
Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence. 
Defendants' attorneys can question witnesses and present witnesses and 
evidence on the defendant's behalf. The courts assign private sector 
lawyers to defend indigent detainees. There were court-assigned 
attorneys for both the civil and penal systems. The law extends the 
above rights to all citizens. Names of the accused are routinely 
protected by law and not released to the public or the media prior to 
conviction.
    Military personnel generally are not subject to civilian criminal 
law, and there are parallel military and civilian court systems. 
Military police investigate crimes committed by members of the armed 
forces. An officer on the public prosecutor's staff directs military 
prosecutions before two military judges and one civilian judge. Due to 
a shortage of judges, military and civilian judges are selected from 
the same pool by the Court of Justice, which makes assignments to 
specific cases. A mechanism exists to prevent conflicts of interest. 
The military courts follow the same rules of procedure as the civil 
courts. There is no appeal from the military to the civil system.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--The government has not 
fully complied with a number of decisions by the Inter-American Court 
of Human Rights. No further progress was made on implementing that 
court's 2007 ruling that the government must recognize the collective 
land rights of 12 Saramaccan clans, draft legislation that complies 
with international treaties, establish a development fund of 
SRD1,680,000 ($600,000), and provide them with their own land. By the 
end of 2010, the government had paid approximately SRD560,000 
($200,000) toward this amount and had not completed the demarcation 
process.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There are separate 
procedures for civil processes, and there is a court to consider 
lawsuits seeking damages for, or cessation of, a human rights 
violation. Despite the installation of new judges, the backlog of cases 
continued. Most civil cases were resolved approximately three to four 
years after being first heard by the courts.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The law prohibits such actions, and the government 
generally respected these prohibitions in practice. The law requires 
search warrants, which are issued by quasi-judicial officers who 
supervise criminal investigations.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and 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.

    Freedom of Speech.--Although the government announced in 2009 that 
it would compensate two broadcasting companies for the army's 
destruction of their radio stations in 1982 under the military 
dictatorship, the new government did not take any action in this 
regard.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--Some media members continued 
to practice self-censorship in response to pressure applied and 
intimidation by senior government officials or community leaders on 
journalists who published negative stories about the administration. In 
addition many news outlets were affiliated with particular political 
parties, which discouraged journalists from reporting on some subjects.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

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

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

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 provides for freedom 
of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and 
repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in 
practice. No occasion arose during the year for government cooperation 
with the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees or other 
humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to 
any persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--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.
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.--Recent Elections.--The 
constitution provides for direct election by secret ballot of the 51-
member National Assembly no later than five years after the prior 
election date. The National Assembly in turn elects the president by a 
two-thirds majority vote. If the legislature is unable to do so, the 
constitution provides that the United People's Assembly, composed of 
members of parliament and elected regional and local officials, shall 
elect the president. After generally free and fair legislative 
elections in May 2010, the National Assembly elected Desire Bouterse as 
president in July of that year.

    Participation by Women and Minorities.--While women made limited 
gains in attaining political power, men continued to dominate political 
life. There were six women among the 51 members of the National 
Assembly and two women among the 17 ministers in the cabinet. There 
were five women among the 20 sitting judges. The head clerk of the 
Court of Justice, that body's highest administrative position, was a 
woman, as was the speaker of the National Assembly.
    Several factors traditionally limited the participation of Maroons 
(descendants of escaped slaves who fled to the interior of the country 
to avoid recapture) and indigenous Amerindians in the political 
process, including a population concentrated in remote areas in the 
interior and removed from the country's centers of political activity. 
There were 10 Maroons and two Amerindians represented in the National 
Assembly, and all were part of the governing coalition.
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. Long 
delays often occurred before corruption cases came to trial.
    The World Bank's worldwide governance statistics continued to 
indicate corruption was a serious problem. The media frequently 
reported alleged corrupt practices with regard to land rights and land 
titles, misuse of government funds, and other practices.
    Public officials were not subject to financial disclosure laws. 
Various sections of the Ministry of Justice and Police, including the 
Fraud Police and the Attorney General's Office, were responsible for 
combating government corruption.
    Although the law provides for public access to government 
information, such access was limited in practice for citizens and 
noncitizens, including foreign media. During the year the government 
established a centralized office for media and information requests 
under the Office of the President. Gaps in official government 
statistics and bureaucratic hurdles made obtaining information 
difficult.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of independent domestic human rights groups generally 
operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing 
their findings on human rights cases. NGOs reported generally positive 
relationships with government officials, although occasionally 
officials were not responsive to their views. No international human 
rights groups operated in the country during the year.

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--In September the government 
responded to recommendations from the U.N. Human Rights Council's 
Universal Periodic Review, including one for increased protections for 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. The government 
response emphasized its constitutional protection for all citizens 
while requesting additional time to consider this problem.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--A legislative commission on human 
rights continued operating throughout the year, but resource 
constraints hampered its effectiveness. The National Assembly also has 
a commission dealing with women's and children's rights.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race and ethnicity but 
does not address discrimination based on disability, language, or 
social status. In practice various sectors of the population--such as 
women, Maroons, Amerindians, persons with HIV/AIDS, and LGBT persons--
suffered forms of discrimination.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, and prescribes penalties for rape or forcible 
sexual assault of between 12 and 15 years' imprisonment. The government 
enforced the law effectively. In 2010 (latest data available) the 
Ministry of Justice and Police received 189 reports of attempted rape 
and investigated 106 cases of rape.
    Violence against women remained a serious and pervasive problem. In 
2010 (latest data available) the Ministry of Justice and Police 
registered 1,213 cases of domestic violence during the year, a drop 
from 1,769 in 2009. The law imposes sentences of four to eight years' 
imprisonment for domestic violence crimes. The Ministry of Justice and 
Police's Victim Assistance Bureau provided resources for victims of 
domestic violence and continued to provide information on domestic 
violence through public television programs. There were four victims' 
rooms in police stations in Paramaribo and Nickerie, and police units 
were trained to deal with victims and perpetrators of sexual crimes and 
domestic violence. There was only one shelter for victims of domestic 
violence, operated by an NGO, and it provided care for 18 women and 
their children during the year. Length of stay depended upon the 
circumstances but averaged three months.

    Sexual Harassment.--There was no specific legislation on sexual 
harassment; however, prosecutors cited various penal code articles in 
filing sexual harassment cases. There were no reported court cases 
involving sexual harassment in the workplace during the year.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals had 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. Access to information on 
contraception was widely available and, according to 2009 U.N. 
estimates, contraceptive use among married women was 45 percent. The 
U.N. Population Fund estimated the maternal mortality ratio in 2008 at 
100 deaths per 100,000 live births and reported that skilled health 
personnel attended 90 percent of births in 2009. Women and men were 
given equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Although the law does not specifically prohibit 
gender discrimination, it provides for protection of women's rights to 
equal access to education, employment, and property. Nevertheless, 
societal pressures and customs, especially in rural areas, inhibited 
their full exercise of these rights, particularly with respect to 
marriage and inheritance. Where local customs remain a strong influence 
on the family unit, girls traditionally marry at or near the legal age 
of consent, and inheritance rights pass to their husbands.
    Men and women generally enjoyed the same legal rights under 
property law and under the judicial system. In practice, however, where 
local customs were observed, these rights were somewhat infringed. The 
Bureau for Women and Children under the Ministry of Justice and Police 
worked to ensure the legal rights of women and children. Women 
experienced discrimination in access to employment and in rates of pay 
for the same or substantially similar work. The government did not 
undertake specific efforts to combat economic discrimination.
    The National Women's Movement, the most active women's rights NGO, 
continued assisting women in launching small home-based businesses, 
such as sewing and vegetable growing, and provided general legal help. 
The Women's Business Group advocated for business opportunities for 
women, while the Women's Parliament Forum advocated for opportunities 
in the public sector. Another NGO, Stop Violence against Women, 
provided assistance to victims of domestic violence, including legal 
help with dissolving an abusive marriage.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory and from one's parents.

    Child Abuse.--Physical and sexual abuse of children continued to be 
problems. In 2010 police received reports of 269 cases of sexual abuse 
of children, compared with 265 reported in 2009. The police Youth 
Affairs Office conducted three visits per week to different schools in 
the capital and the surrounding areas on a rotating schedule to provide 
outreach, raise awareness about child abuse, and solicit and 
investigate complaints. The Youth Affairs Office continued to raise 
awareness about sexual abuse, drugs, and alcohol through a weekly 
television program. The U.N. Children's Fund continued cooperating with 
the government in providing training to officials from various 
ministries dealing with children and children's rights. The government 
operated a ``1-2-3'' telephone hotline for children and provided 
confidential advice and aid to children in need.
    Authorities applied various laws to prosecute perpetrators of 
sexual abuse, and several cases of sexual abuse of minors came to 
trial. Sentences averaged two to three years in prison. In the capital 
there were several orphanages that could accept sexually abused 
children and one privately funded shelter.
    The marriage law sets the age of marital consent at 15 years for 
girls and 17 years for boys, provided parents of the parties agree to 
the marriage. Parental permission to marry is required until the age of 
21. The law also mandates the presence of a civil registry official to 
register all marriages.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Trafficking and commercial sexual 
exploitation of minors remained problems. Although the legal age of 
sexual consent is 14, it remained difficult to enforce in practice. The 
criminal law penalizes child prostitution and provides sanctions of up 
to six years' imprisonment and a fine of SRD100,000 ($30,800) for 
pimping. The law also prohibits child pornography, which has a maximum 
penalty of six years' imprisonment and maximum fine of SRD50,000 
($15,380).

    International Child Abductions.--The country is not a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There was a declared Jewish community of 
approximately 150 persons. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts 
or discrimination.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no laws prohibiting 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental disabilities in 
employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of state 
services. In practice persons with disabilities suffered from 
discrimination when applying for jobs and services. Some training 
programs were provided for persons with visual or other disabilities. 
There are no laws or programs to ensure that persons with disabilities 
have access to buildings. A judge may rule that a person with a 
cognitive disability be denied the right to vote, take part in business 
transactions, or sign legal agreements. Persons with disabilities had 
equal access to information and communications. There were no reports 
of abuse in educational facilities for persons with disabilities. A 
Ministry of Social Affairs working group remained responsible for 
protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, but it made limited 
progress during the year.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The law prohibits discrimination 
on the basis of race or ethnicity, and no such discrimination 
complaints were filed during the year. However, Maroons, who represent 
an estimated 15 percent of the population, generally continued to be 
disadvantaged in the areas of education, employment, and government 
services. Most Maroons lived in the interior, where limited 
infrastructure reduced their access to educational and professional 
opportunities and health and social services. Some forms of 
discrimination that affected indigenous Amerindians also extended to 
Maroons.

    Indigenous People.--The law affords no special protection for, or 
recognition of, indigenous people. Most Amerindians (approximately 2 
percent of the population) live in the remote and undeveloped interior 
of the country, where government services are largely unavailable. 
Geographic isolation limited opportunity to participate in national and 
regional policymaking, including decisions affecting interior lands, 
cultures, traditions, and natural resources.
    Because Amerindian and Maroon lands were not effectively demarcated 
or policed, populations continued to face problems with illegal and 
uncontrolled logging and mining. There are no laws granting indigenous 
people rights to share in the revenues from the exploitation of 
resources on their traditional lands. Organizations representing Maroon 
and Amerindian communities complained that small-scale mining 
operations, mainly by illegal gold miners, some of whom were themselves 
indigenous or supported by indigenous groups, dug trenches that cut 
residents off from their agricultural land and threatened to drive them 
away from their traditional settlements. Mercury runoff from these 
operations also contaminated and threatened traditional food source 
areas.
    Many Maroon and Amerindian groups also complained about the 
government granting land within their traditional territories to third 
parties, who sometimes prevented the villages from engaging in their 
traditional activities on those lands. Indigenous groups, with the 
assistance of the Amazon Conservation Team, mapped their lands and 
presented proposed demarcation charts to the government in 2000 and to 
the Ministry of Physical Planning, Land, and Forestry Management in 
both 2006 and 2009. Maroon and Amerindian groups continued to cooperate 
with each other to exercise their rights more effectively. The Moiwana 
Human Rights Association, the Association of Indigenous Village Leaders 
(an umbrella group that represents the many smaller associations of 
indigenous persons), and other NGOs continued to promote the rights of 
indigenous people.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Although the law prohibits 
discrimination based on sexual orientation, there were reports of 
employment discrimination against LGBT persons. There were no reports 
of official discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, 
access to education, or health care.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--Mob violence in gold 
mining areas, primarily directed towards Brazilian and Chinese 
migrants, continued to be a problem. After private security guards shot 
and killed a person and wounded four others on October 23 in 
Maripaston, there was widespread looting of local shops (owned by 
Chinese immigrants), some of which were set on fire, and the 
destruction of a large amount of valuable heavy equipment. Authorities 
ordered additional police and military personnel to the area to restore 
order, and by October 27, the violence appeared to have subsided.
    Persons with HIV/AIDS continued to experience societal 
discrimination in employment and medical services. The police and 
military began mandatory HIV testing for new recruits during the year. 
Medical treatment is free for HIV/AIDS patients who are covered under 
government insurance, but private insurers do not cover such treatment.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law allows workers to form and join unions of their choice without 
previous authorization or excessive requirements. The law provides for 
the right to strike, and prohibits antiunion discrimination. Workers 
fired for union activity are reinstated after negotiation. The law 
protects collective bargaining and prohibits employer interference in 
union activities. Labor law covers all types of workers, as long as 
they are legally in the country.
    The government generally enforced the right to collective 
bargaining. Workers formed and joined unions freely and exercised their 
right to strike. Worker organizations were independent of the 
government and political parties.
    There was occasional government interference in labor relations, 
especially in parastatal companies, but no use of excessive force by 
the police. However, the principle of ``no-work-no-pay'' has been used 
to force strikers to cancel their strike. Strikers who face this 
punishment may request the Department of Labor Inspection to 
investigate their case.
    There were isolated cases where employers refused to bargain or 
recognize collective bargaining rights, but the unions usually 
pressured the employers to renegotiate. In one case pending at year's 
end, a parastatal company, the Energy Company, fired a group of 
employees who were conducting an ``unauthorized'' strike.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government failed to 
effectively enforce the law in all cases, and there were reports that 
such practices occurred.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for most types of employment at 14 and 
restricts working hours for minors to day shifts but does not limit the 
number of hours minors can work. Children younger than 14 are allowed 
to work only in a family-owned business, small-scale agriculture, and 
special vocational work. The law does not define the worst forms of 
child labor. Children younger than 18 are prohibited from doing 
hazardous work, which is defined as work dangerous to their life, 
health, and decency. Children under the age of 15 are not permitted to 
work on boats. Employing a child under 14 is punishable by fines and up 
to 12 months' imprisonment. Parents who permit their children to work 
in violation of labor laws may be prosecuted. Employers are required to 
maintain a Register of Young Persons that includes each employee's 
information.
    The Ministry of Labor and the police enforced the law sporadically. 
The ministry's Department of Labor Inspection was responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws, but enforcement and resources remained 
inadequate. The government investigated some exploitive child labor 
cases in the informal sectors in the cities and in the interior. The 
government's commission on eliminating child labor, comprised of 11 
organizations (10 government institutions and one NGO), formulated 
terms of reference to research specific issues related to eliminating 
child labor and propose legislation for parliamentary review.
    Child labor remained a problem in the informal sector, especially 
in the western districts of Nickerie, Saramacca, and Marowijne. 
Historically these cases involved agriculture, logging, fisheries, and 
the construction sector, although there were no specific documented 
cases during the year. Isolated cases of child labor also occurred in 
the informal gold mining sector in the interior, in prostitution, and 
in the urban informal sector.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--There is no legislation 
providing for a minimum wage. The lowest wage for civil servants was 
approximately SRD600 ($185) per month, including a cost of living 
allowance. Government employees constituted approximately 50 percent of 
the estimated 100,000-member formal sector workforce and frequently 
supplemented their salaries with second or third jobs, often in the 
informal sector.
    Work in excess of 45 hours per week on a regular basis requires 
special government permission, which was granted routinely. Such 
overtime work earned premium pay. The law prohibits excessive overtime, 
requires a 24-hour rest period per week, and stipulates paid annual 
holidays. The government sets occupational health and safety standards. 
There is no law authorizing workers to refuse to work in circumstances 
they deem unsafe; they must appeal to the Department of Labor 
inspectorate to declare the workplace situation unsafe.
    A 10-to-12-member inspectorate in the Occupational Health and 
Safety Division of the Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing 
occupational safety and health regulations, but it did not make regular 
inspections. The ministry's Department of Labor Inspection, with 63 
inspectors, has responsibility to implement and enforce labor laws, but 
enforcement was inadequate. Inspectors visited private sector companies 
throughout the country, but no data were available regarding the number 
of inspections performed during the year.

                               __________

                          TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

                           executive summary
    The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a parliamentary democracy 
governed by a prime minister and a bicameral legislature. The island of 
Tobago has a House of Assembly that has some administrative autonomy 
over local matters. In the May 2010 elections, which observers 
considered generally free and fair, the People's Partnership coalition 
led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar of the United National Congress (UNC) 
defeated Prime Minister Patrick Manning's People's National Movement 
(PNM) government and secured a 29-to-12-seat majority in the 
Parliament. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
    On August 21, the president declared a state of emergency in the 
wake of a sudden spike in killings. Parliament approved a three-month 
extension on September 4. During the state of emergency, the government 
had broad powers to use military units in law enforcement, enter homes 
without a warrant, ban public demonstrations and strikes, and detain 
persons without charge. Authorities arrested and detained more than 
7,000 persons during the state of emergency, some without charges, and 
eventually released hundreds of persons for lack of evidence. The state 
of emergency expired on December 4.
    The most serious human rights problems were police killings during 
apprehension or custody, as well as poor treatment of suspects, 
detainees, and prisoners.
    Other human rights problems involved inmate illness and injuries 
due to poor prison conditions, high-profile cases of alleged bribery, 
violence against women, inadequate services for vulnerable children, 
and unsafe working conditions.
    The government took some steps to punish security force members and 
other officials charged with killings or other abuse, but there 
continued to be a perception of impunity based on the open-ended nature 
of many investigations and the slow pace of criminal judicial 
proceedings in general.
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. According 
to official figures, police shot and killed 39 persons during the year. 
Authorities investigated or opened inquests into several of the 
killings and charged police officers with murder in one case.
    On July 22, police officers shot and killed Kerron Fernando Eccles, 
Abigail Johnson, and Alana Duncan in Barrackpore. Officers said the 
three had fired at them, but other witnesses disputed the account. On 
October 28, authorities arrested six police officers in connection with 
the case. Hearings continued at year's end.
    The government gradually disbanded its Special Anti-Crime Unit 
after allegations of improper intelligence activities were raised. The 
anti-gang task force known as the Repeat Offenders Program was 
disbanded in September 2010 after allegations of kidnapping and murder, 
although charges were never brought against any of the officers.

    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 the law prohibit such 
practices, there were credible reports that police officers and prison 
guards mistreated individuals under arrest or in detention.
    On October 28, authorities charged six police officers with beating 
and using Tasers on three suspects in March.
    On October 27, a court awarded Kernell Sealy, a convicted rapist, 
TT$120,000 ($19,200) in damages after prison officials beat him in July 
2010.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Conditions in some of the 
prison system's eight facilities continued to be harsh. The designed 
capacity of the prisons was 4,886 inmates. The average daily inmate 
population was reported to be 4,025. Of those, 1,927 were convicted 
inmates, and 2,098 were in pretrial or other status. Due to the 
thousands of arrests made during the three-month state of emergency, a 
new facility was opened and became part of the regular penitentiary 
system, expanding overall prison capacity by 500 during the year. Some 
prisons suffered from extreme overcrowding, while others had not 
reached full capacity prior to the state of emergency. The Port of 
Spain Prison, designed to hold 250 inmates, has historically held twice 
that number and was often described as having particularly poor 
conditions, including 10 prisoners kept in 10- by 10-foot cells and 
insufficient medical care. Prison officials reported that the new 
prison facility allowed them to begin reducing the population in Port 
of Spain Prison.
    The government improved living conditions at the Immigration 
Detention Center, where detainees initially were permitted to be 
outside only five hours per week and conditions were worse than at the 
maximum-security prison. The majority of detainees were illegal 
immigrants who could not afford the cost of travel to their home 
country. The center has an intended capacity of 150 and generally held 
half that number. Men and women had separate facilities.
    Pretrial detainees were held separately from convicted prisoners, 
but the remand facility became severely overtaxed during the state of 
emergency, and authorities eventually opened another temporary 
facility.
    Although conditions at the women's prison were better than those in 
the Port of Spain men's prison, it occasionally became overcrowded, 
since it held both women on remand and those serving prison sentences. 
The daily average female prison population was 111.
    Since there is no female youth facility, some underage female 
prisoners were placed in the custody of a Catholic facility, and others 
were placed in a segregated wing of the Golden Grove women's prison.
    An average of 210 male juveniles were held each day separately from 
adults at the Youth Training Center, and fewer than 20 female juveniles 
were in custody at Golden Grove.
    There were 2,200 prison officers. Authorities charged a number of 
prison officers for offenses including larceny, drug trafficking, 
possession of marijuana, and smuggling of contraband to prisoners.
    Prisoners and detainees had reasonable access to visitors and were 
permitted religious observance.
    Prison authorities permit prisoners and detainees to submit 
complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and request 
investigations of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. 
Authorities investigated and monitored prison and detention center 
conditions but did not document the results in a publicly accessible 
manner. Prisoners can also contact the Office of the Ombudsman, which 
has the authority to investigate complaints related to the functions 
and duties of most government departments. However, in no instances did 
the ombudsman advocate on behalf of prisoners or detainees.
    The government permitted prison visits by independent human rights 
observers upon approval of the Ministry of National Security, and 
representatives of Amnesty International visited the Port of Spain 
Prison and the Women's Prison in December.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution and the law 
prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. During the three-month state 
of emergency, the government utilized broad powers of search and 
seizure granted by decree.
    On May 23, parliament passed an Anti-Gang Act that came into effect 
on August 15. The act bans membership in criminal gangs and gang-
related activities as defined within the statute, and prescribes that 
suspects detained under the law may be held without bail for up to 120 
days pending the filing of specific charges. Authorities detained 
approximately 450 suspects during the state of emergency pursuant to 
this act. The government eventually released nearly all of them when 
prosecutors determined that evidence of gang activity pursuant to the 
new law was lacking in most cases.
    Authorities reported having arrested more than 7,000 persons during 
the state of emergency, many of whom were detained on charges ranging 
from unpaid traffic tickets to murder. The government established a 
temporary detention center that eventually became integrated into the 
regular penitentiary system. Many of those arrested during the state of 
emergency were processed through the normal criminal justice system, 
and significant numbers were simply released.
    There were reports of abuses by police and military authorities. 
Military authorities investigated allegations made against several 
officers for using excessive force during the state of emergency, and 
proceedings continued at year's end.
    During the year the courts made several awards in cases from prior 
years brought on grounds of wrongful arrest and imprisonment.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The Ministry of 
National Security oversees the police service, immigration division, 
prison service, and defense force. The police service maintains 
internal security, while the defense force is responsible for external 
security but also has certain domestic security responsibilities. 
During the state of emergency, the defense force aided in law 
enforcement, including house searches and enforcing the curfew. An 
independent body, the Police Service Commission, in consultation with 
the prime minister, appoints a commissioner of police to oversee the 
police force. That commission also makes hiring and firing decisions in 
the police service, and the ministry has little direct influence over 
changes in senior positions. Municipal police under the jurisdiction of 
14 regional administrative bodies supplement the national police force. 
Public confidence in the police was very low because of high crime and 
perceived corruption.
    The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) investigates complaints about 
the conduct of police officers. It received 262 complaints during the 
year and referred 162 of them to the chief of police. Based on the 
PCA's investigations, the Police Service Commission then has the power 
to suspend or dismiss police officers, while the Department of Public 
Prosecution has the power to charge officers. During the year several 
investigators were added to the PCA staff, which had a backlog of more 
than 11,000 complaints spanning the 2007-11 period. On October 1, the 
police also established a Professional Standards Unit to train officers 
and investigate complaints.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A police 
officer may arrest a person based on a warrant issued or authorized by 
a magistrate, or without a warrant if the officer witnesses the 
commission of an alleged offense. Detainees, as well as those summoned 
to appear before a magistrate, must appear in court within 48 hours. In 
the case of more serious offenses, the magistrate either commits the 
accused to prison on remand or allows the accused to post bail, pending 
a preliminary inquiry. Detainees were granted immediate access to a 
lawyer and to family members.
    Ordinarily, bail was available for most minor charges. Persons 
charged with murder, treason, piracy, kidnapping for ransom, and 
hijacking, as well as persons convicted twice of violent crimes, are 
ineligible for bail for a period of 60 days following the charge. 
However, a judge may still grant bail to such persons under exceptional 
circumstances. Where bail was refused, magistrates advised the accused 
of their right to an attorney and, with few exceptions, allowed them 
access to an attorney once they were in custody and prior to 
interrogation.
    The minister of national security may authorize preventive 
detention in order to preclude actions prejudicial to public safety, 
public order, or national defense, in which case the minister must 
state the grounds for the detention. In November the minister utilized 
the preventive detention rules during the state of emergency to detain 
16 men described as being involved in plots to destabilize the 
government and assassinate government leaders. The men were freed days 
later, and no charges were brought.
    Lengthy pretrial detention resulting from heavy court backlogs and 
inefficiencies in the judicial system continued to be a problem. Many 
persons under indictment waited months, if not years, for their trial 
dates in the High Court. An added inefficiency resulted from the legal 
requirement that anyone charged and detained must appear in person for 
a hearing before magistrate's court every 10 days, if only to have the 
case postponed for an additional 10 days pending conclusion of the 
investigation. Officials cited an increase in the number of arrests and 
an antiquated note-taking system in most magistrate's courts as 
explanations for the backlog.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--The constitution and the law 
provide for an independent judiciary, and the government generally 
respected this provision in practice, including during the state of 
emergency. Although the judicial process was generally fair, it was 
slow due to backlogs and inefficiencies. However, prosecutors as well 
as judges stated that witness intimidation increased during the year.

    Trial Procedures.--Magistrates try both minor and more serious 
offenses, but in the case of more serious offenses, the magistrate must 
conduct a preliminary inquiry. Trials are public, and juries are used 
in the High Court. Defendants have the right to be present, are 
presumed innocent until proven guilty, and have the right to appeal. 
All defendants have the right to consult with an attorney in a timely 
manner. An attorney is provided at public expense to defendants facing 
serious criminal charges, and the law requires provision of an attorney 
to any person accused of murder. Although the courts may appoint 
attorneys for indigent persons charged with serious crimes, an indigent 
person may refuse to accept an assigned attorney for cause and may 
obtain a replacement. Defendants can confront or question witnesses 
against them, can present witnesses and evidence on their own behalf, 
and have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases.
    Both civil and criminal appeals may be filed with the Court of 
Appeal and, ultimately, with the Privy Council in the United Kingdom.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In 1999 the government 
withdrew from the American Convention on Human Rights. The convention 
states that such an action does not release a government from its 
obligations under the convention with respect to acts taken prior to 
the effective date of denunciation. From 1999 to 2009 the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights issued rulings on cases predating the 
government's withdrawal. The government never provided any official or 
public reaction to these rulings.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--The constitution and the 
law provide for an independent and impartial judiciary in civil 
matters, and citizens are free to file lawsuits against civil breaches, 
in both the High Court and petty civil court. The High Court may review 
the decisions of lower courts, order parties to cease and desist from 
particular actions, compel parties to take specific actions, or award 
damages to aggrieved parties. However, the petty civil court is 
authorized to hear only cases involving damages of up to TT$15,000 
($2,400).

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution and the law prohibit such actions 
except during a state of emergency, when authorities had the power to 
search vehicles, homes, and businesses without a warrant. During the 
state of emergency, the government conducted searches without warrants 
but generally limited such searches to high-crime areas in an effort to 
confiscate illegal firearms and narcotics.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The constitution and the law provide for freedom of speech and 
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.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The law prohibits acts that 
would offend or insult another person or group on the basis of race, 
origin, or religion or that would incite racial or religious hatred. 
This law was not invoked during the year.
    On October 25, a television program broadcast a video allegedly 
showing the rape of a 13-year-old girl. The host of the program 
apologized but was accused of violating the Telecommunications Act and 
the Sexual Offences Act. On December 29, police searched the offices of 
the television station that broadcast the show and questioned several 
employees. The investigation continued at the end of the year.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-
mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail.

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

    b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--The constitution 
and the law provide for freedom of assembly and association. However, 
during the state of emergency, authorities prohibited most public 
assemblies, including organized labor marches, political rallies, and 
religious events. Some events, such as a charity walk, were permitted, 
but permission was difficult to arrange on a timely basis.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 various laws 
provide for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, 
emigration, and repatriation. However, during the state of emergency, 
the government initially imposed a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in six areas 
of the country including the capital. Authorities later reduced the 
curfew to 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.
    The government cooperated with the Office of the U.N. 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.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The government has not 
passed legislation to implement its obligations under the relevant U.N. 
conventions. The government placed asylum seekers in the care of the 
Living Water Community (LWC), a local Catholic social services agency, 
while their cases were reviewed by the UNHCR and final resolution 
reached. Pending Parliament's approval of implementing legislation, the 
Ministry of National Security's Immigration Division handled all 
requests for asylum on a case-by-case basis. However, it took as long 
as four years for the government to provide identification cards or 
work permits to persons granted refugee status, due to a lengthy 
bureaucratic process. At year's end 23 persons recognized as refugees 
were in the care of the LWC.

    Temporary Protection.--The government did not provide temporary 
protection to persons who may not qualify as refugees. The LWC provided 
social services to 12 persons whose asylum applications were pending, 
six of whom were new filers. The LWC reported that many persons who 
filed petitions eventually abandoned their applications and left the 
country, or simply walked away from the LWC, because of the lack of 
guaranteed protection.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
        Change Their Government
    The constitution and the law provide citizens the right to change 
their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in 
practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis 
of universal suffrage.

    Elections and Political Participation.--Recent Elections.--The 
Caribbean Community observers found the May 2010 national elections to 
be generally free and fair. However, during the campaign, there were 
isolated incidents of vandalism and violence, and the then prime 
minister required all television stations to broadcast an interview 
without paying. Citizens voted the incumbent party out of office and 
elected the People's Partnership coalition, which secured 29 of the 41 
parliamentary seats. The PNM won 12 seats.

    Participation by Women and Minorities.--Voters elected 12 women to 
the House of Representatives, and there were seven women in the 
appointed 31-member Senate. There were four women in the 28-member 
cabinet, including the prime minister. There were 11 female judges 
among the 38 judges on the High Court and the Court of Appeals.
    All major political parties reached out to voters from relatively 
small ethnic minorities, such as the Chinese, Syrian, Lebanese, and 
European-origin communities, and members of these groups held important 
positions in government. There was one member of these minorities, of 
Arab ancestry, in the legislature.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. However, 
the World Bank's worldwide governance indicators reflected that 
government corruption was a problem.
    The Integrity in Public Life Act mandates that public officials 
disclose their assets, income, and liabilities to an Integrity 
Commission. Officials and candidates for public office were reluctant 
to comply with asset disclosure rules, primarily because of the 
perceived invasiveness of the process. The act articulates a process 
when public officials fail to disclose assets, and by year's end the 
commission had publicly listed in the newspaper 145 officials who had 
failed to comply.
    Police corruption continued to be a problem, with some officials 
acknowledging there were officers who participated in corrupt and 
illegal activities. There were allegations that some officers had close 
relationships with gang leaders. Prison guards were required to pass 
through screening devices to prevent the smuggling of contraband.
    In October the government announced it would initiate civil actions 
against the former executive director of the Urban Development 
Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago, Calder Hart, seeking millions in 
financial compensation for alleged corruption.
    On November 7, a trial judge rejected a warrant to extradite 
businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson on corruption 
charges related to the construction of Piarco Airport. On December 19, 
the attorney general announced the government would not appeal the 
ruling and that the two men faced criminal charges in the country.
    In 2008 the Privy Council in the United Kingdom ordered a new trial 
for former U.N. party chairman Basdeo Panday stemming from his 2006 
conviction for failing to disclose a London bank account. This retrial 
was delayed by a series of appeals but reconvened in June. In December 
a judge postponed the trial until May 14, 2012, pending resolution of 
unspecified court administrative constraints.
    The Freedom of Information Act provides for public access to 
government documents, upon application. Critics charged, however, that 
a growing number of public bodies have been exempted from the act's 
coverage, which the government claimed was necessary to reduce the 
volume of frivolous requests. Critics also noted the act does not have 
any enforcement mechanism if the government does not respond within the 
prescribed 30-day time frame.
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A number of domestic and international human rights groups 
generally operated without government restriction, investigating human 
rights cases and publishing their findings. Government officials 
generally were cooperative and responsive to their views.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The ombudsman investigates 
citizens' complaints concerning the administrative decisions of 
government agencies. Where there is evidence of a breach of duty, 
misconduct, or criminal offense, the ombudsman may refer the matter to 
the appropriate authority. The ombudsman has a quasi-autonomous status 
within the government and publishes a comprehensive annual report. Both 
the public and the government had confidence in the integrity and 
reliability of the Office of the Ombudsman and the ombudsman's annual 
report.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The government generally respected in practice the constitutional 
provisions for fundamental human rights and freedoms for all without 
discrimination based on race, origin, color, religion, social status, 
or gender.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--Rape, including spousal rape, 
is illegal and punishable by up to life imprisonment; however, the 
courts often handed down considerably shorter sentences. The government 
and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported that many incidents 
of rape and other sexual crimes were unreported, partly due to 
perceived insensitivity on the part of the police. The Crime and 
Problem Analysis Branch of the police service reported 512 cases of 
rape, incest, and sexual assault during the year.
    Many community leaders asserted that abuse of women, particularly 
in the form of domestic violence, continued to be a significant 
problem. Some NGOs worried the curfew imposed during the state of 
emergency may have exacerbated the problem by forcing abusive spouses 
to remain home with their families.
    The law provides for protection orders separating perpetrators of 
domestic violence, including abusive spouses and common-law partners, 
from their victims. Abusive spouses can also be fined or imprisoned. 
While reliable national statistics were not available, women's groups 
estimated that 20 to 25 percent of all women suffered abuse.
    The NGO Coalition against Domestic Violence charged that police 
often were lax in enforcing domestic violence laws and asserted that 
rape and sexual abuse against women and children remained a serious and 
pervasive problem.
    The Division of Gender Affairs (DGA) in the Ministry of Community 
Development, Culture, and Gender Affairs operated a 24-hour hotline for 
victims of rape, spousal abuse, and other violence against women, 
referring callers to eight shelters for battered women, a rape crisis 
center, counseling services, support groups, and other assistance.

    Sexual Harassment.--No laws specifically prohibit sexual 
harassment. Although related statutes could be used to prosecute 
perpetrators of sexual harassment, and some trade unions incorporated 
antiharassment provisions in their contracts, both the government and 
NGOs continued to suspect that many incidents of sexual harassment went 
unreported.

    Reproductive Rights.--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 maternal health was widely available 
from health-care providers and online sources. According to the U.N. 
Population Fund, 98 percent of births were attended by skilled health 
personnel and 38 percent of women ages 15-49 used a modern method of 
contraception. Women and men were given equal access to diagnostic 
services and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Women generally enjoyed the same legal rights as 
men, including employment, education, and inheritance rights. No laws 
or regulations require equal pay for equal work. While equal pay for 
men and women in public service was the rule rather than the exception, 
both the government and NGOs noted considerable disparities in pay 
between men and women in the private sector, particularly in 
agriculture. According to the World Economic Forum's 2010 Global Gender 
Gap Report, women earned 33 percent less than men on average.
    The DGA had primary government responsibility for protecting 
women's rights and advancement and sponsored income-generation 
workshops for unemployed single mothers, nontraditional skills training 
for women, and seminars for men on redefining masculinity.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Children acquire nationality by 
birth; every person born in the country is a citizen at the date of 
birth, unless the parents are foreign envoys accredited to the country. 
Children born outside the country can become citizens at birth if on 
that date one or both of the parents is, or was, a citizen. The law 
provides that every child born alive must be registered within 42 days 
of birth.

    Child Abuse.--The Domestic Violence Act provides protection for 
children abused at home. The Ministry of Education's Student Support 
Services Division reported that young schoolchildren were vulnerable to 
rape, physical abuse, and drug use and that some had access to weapons 
or lived with drug-addicted parents. Abused children removed from the 
home were first assessed at a reception center for vulnerable children 
and then placed with relatives, government institutions, or NGOs.
    The Coalition against Domestic Violence operated Childline, a free 
and confidential telephone hotline for at-risk or distressed children 
and young persons up to age 25. In March Childline partnered with the 
Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the People and Social 
Development to become the National Child Hotline. The ministries 
promoted the hotline in schools, and the hotline increased its hours of 
operation from 16 hours a day to 24 hours a day seven days a week. 
These two changes resulted in a drastic increase in the number of 
calls. During the year Childline received 33,219 calls, 68 percent from 
females and 32 percent from males. Of genuine calls, 35 percent 
involved abuse; of those 78 percent were related to physical abuse, and 
22 percent to sexual abuse. Childline referred 689 calls to the police 
or to social service agencies.
    The law defines a child as less than 18 years of age, outlaws 
corporal punishment for children, and prohibits sentencing a child to 
prison. Several children were abused in their own homes or in 
institutional settings. In January the Ministry of Education reported 
58 teachers were facing disciplinary charges, including some cases of 
sexual abuse. The National Parent Teacher Association called for 
strengthening the Teaching Service Tribunal to better investigate 
claims of abuse.

    Child Marriage.--The legal age for marriage is 18 for both men and 
women. However, in practice the minimum legal age for marriage is 
determined by the distinct laws and attitudes of the various religious 
denominations. Under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, the minimum 
legal age for marriage is 16 for men and 12 for women; the Hindu 
Marriage Act and the Orisa Marriage Act set the minimum legal age for 
marriage at 18 for men and 16 for women.
    In November the government held a national consultation on the 
standardization of the legal age for marriage. Minister of Gender, 
Youth, and Child Development Verna St Rose-Greaves said the country's 
four marriage acts conflict with international conventions to which the 
country is a signatory and called for a review of the laws among all 
interest groups to ensure protection of all the country's children.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--Children between the ages of 16 
and 18 were suspected of being engaged in prostitution. The law 
provides a penalty of up to 15 years' imprisonment for anyone who 
procures a child under 16 for prostitution.
    Statutory rape is illegal. The age of sexual consent is 16 years 
for males and females; however, this does not apply if the parties are 
married. The law required parents and guardians to report to the police 
when they have reasonable grounds to suspect a sexual offense was being 
committed. In October authorities charged a mother for failing to 
report her 15-year-old daughter's sexual activity. Persons found guilty 
of statutory rape can be sentenced from 12 years to life in jail. Child 
pornography is illegal, and penalties for pornographers include a fine 
of TT$2,000 ($320) and four months' imprisonment.

    International Child Abductions.--The government is a party to the 
1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. For country-
specific information, see http://travel.state.gov/abduction/country/
country--3781.html.

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

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.govt/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--There are no statutes either 
prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability or mandating 
equal access for persons with disabilities to the political process, 
employment, education, transportation, housing, health care, or other 
citizen services.
    In practice persons with disabilities (an estimated 16 percent of 
the population) faced discrimination and denial of opportunities in the 
form of architectural barriers, employer reluctance to make necessary 
accommodations that would enable otherwise qualified job candidates to 
work, an absence of support services to assist children with special 
needs to study, lowered expectations of the abilities of persons with 
disabilities, condescending attitudes, and disrespect.
    Transportation was a particular concern, with only two buses 
accessible by persons with disabilities for a special on-call 
transportation service. A majority of bus stops were located on high 
sidewalks without ramps. Most government buildings and public places 
were not accessible. There were no restrictions on access to 
information, communications, voting, or participation in civic affairs.

    Indigenous People.--A very small group of persons identified 
themselves as descendants of the country's original Amerindian 
population. The government effectively protected their civil and 
political rights, and they were not subject to discrimination.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--Although the law criminalizes 
consensual same-sex sexual activity, providing penalties of up to 25 
years' imprisonment, the government generally did not enforce such 
legislation, except when paired with more serious offenses such as 
rape. Immigration laws also bar the entry of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or 
transgender (LGBT) persons into the country, but the legislation was 
not enforced.
    The Equal Opportunities Act does not specifically include LGBT 
persons, and in fact it specifically excludes sexual orientation. Other 
laws, including the Domestic Violence Act and the Cohabitational 
Relationship Act, also include language that excludes same-sex partners 
from the laws' protections. LGBT rights groups reported that there 
remained a stigma related to sexual orientation in the country. There 
were no gay marches, although LGBT rights groups attended some election 
events with signs and clothing indicating their membership. LGBT rights 
groups reported individual cases of violence against LGBT persons, 
including cases where they were lured to a venue by Internet 
advertisements and then beaten. LGBT rights groups also reported a 
reluctance to report crimes to the police for fear of harassment by the 
police and court officials.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--HIV/AIDS was viewed as 
a significant medical concern for the government and society. Incidents 
of violence against this group were isolated events, and the Ministry 
of Labor partnered with the International Labor Organization to launch 
an HIV antidiscrimination program in the workplace.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides that all workers, including those in state-owned 
enterprises, may form and join independent unions of their choosing 
without prior authorization. Employees in essential services, such as 
police and teachers, do not have the right to strike, and walkouts can 
bring punishment of up to 18 months in prison. These employees 
negotiate with the government's chief personnel officer to resolve 
labor disputes. The law stipulates that only strikes over unresolved 
interest disputes may take place and that strikes may be prohibited at 
the request of one party if not called by a majority union.
    The law also provides for mandatory recognition of a trade union 
when it represents 51 percent or more of the workers in a specified 
bargaining unit. The law allows unions to participate in collective 
bargaining and mandates that workers illegally dismissed for union 
activities must be reinstated.
    The government's Registration and Certification Board determines 
whether a given workers' organization meets the definition of a 
bargaining unit and can limit union recognition by this means. The law 
does not recognize domestic workers (for example, maids, chauffeurs, 
and gardeners), and they do not have the right to join a union.
    According to the International Trade Union Confederation, 
collective bargaining was restricted by the requirement that, to obtain 
bargaining rights, a union must have the support of an absolute 
majority of workers. Furthermore, collective agreements must be for a 
minimum of three years, making it almost impossible for workers on 
short-term contracts to be covered by such agreements.
    According to the National Trade Union Center, the requirement that 
all negotiations must go through the Public Sector Negotiation 
Committee, rather than with the individual government agency or 
government-owned industry, is another onerous restriction that adds 
significant time delays. Some unions claimed that in practice the 
government undermined the collective bargaining process by pressuring 
the committee to offer raises of no more than 5 percent over three 
years. The government denied this assertion.
    The government enforced labor laws effectively. Worker 
organizations were independent of government and political parties in 
practice. A union may bring a request for enforcement to the Industrial 
Court, which may order employers found guilty of antiunion activities 
to reinstate workers and pay compensation or may impose other 
penalties, including imprisonment. In December the cement workers union 
successfully challenged an injunction requiring them to return to work.
    The government was consistently unwilling to negotiate with public 
sector unions. There were also heavy restrictions on strikes in 
practice. During the state of emergency, authorities denied unions 
permission to demonstrate or march. At other times, however, workers in 
nonessential services, such as the oil industry and the ports, both 
participated in industrial actions during the year.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law does not 
specifically prohibit forced or compulsory labor. In April the 
government returned three Indian nationals to their country after they 
were reportedly trafficked and forced to work under onerous conditions 
by a Trinidadian businessman.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum age for employment in public and private 
industries at 16. However, children ages 14 to 16 may work in 
activities in which only family members are employed or that have been 
approved as vocational or technical training by the minister of 
education. Children under age 18 are prohibited from working between 
the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., except in a family enterprise or 
within other limited exceptions. Violation of these regulations is 
punishable by fines.
    The Ministry of Labor and Small and Micro Enterprise Development 
and the Ministry of the People and Social Development are responsible 
for enforcing child labor laws. The government trained 19 inspectors to 
identify cases of child labor. The minister of labor may designate an 
inspector to gather information from parents and employers regarding 
the employment of a person under 18. The Industrial Court may issue a 
finding of contempt on anyone obstructing the inspectors' 
investigation. Although the government was generally effective in 
enforcing child labor laws, there were isolated reports of children 
working in agriculture or as domestic workers.
    The Ministry of the People and Social Development continued to 
slowly implement its Revised National Plan of Action for Children. The 
government did not have comprehensive mechanisms for receiving, 
investigating, and resolving child labor complaints. Consequently, it 
was unclear how many complaints related to child labor were received 
and if any children who work might have been involved in exploitive 
labor situations. However, available information suggested that some 
children engaged in the worst forms of child labor in the small-scale 
agricultural sector and domestic service.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda/htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The national minimum wage was 
TT$9 ($1.43) per hour, although actual wages varied considerably among 
industries. The government estimated that 200,000 people lived below 
the poverty line.
    The law establishes a 40-hour workweek, a daily period for lunch or 
rest, and premium pay for overtime. The law does not prohibit excessive 
or compulsory overtime. The law provides for paid leave with the amount 
of leave varying according to length of service.
    The law sets occupational health and safety standards, which are 
enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Agency. However safety 
standards were not always observed; during the year two employees of 
the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission were killed on the job. 
Comprehensive nationwide data on workplace deaths were not available.
    The government sets occupational health and safety regulations that 
apply to all workers, regardless of citizenship. Foreign laborers 
brought into the country were generally protected by local labor laws, 
a stipulation usually contained in their labor contract.
    The law protects workers who file complaints with the Labor 
Ministry regarding illegal or hazardous working conditions. If 
complainants refuse to comply with an order that would place them in 
danger, and if it is determined upon inspection that hazardous 
conditions exist in the workplace, the complainants are absolved from 
blame.

                               __________

                                URUGUAY

                           executive summary
    The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is a constitutional republic with 
an elected president and a bicameral legislature. The country has a 
multiparty electoral system with three major parties. In November 2009, 
in a free and fair runoff election, Jose Mujica won a five-year 
presidential term and his Frente Amplio party a majority in parliament. 
Mujica assumed office in March 2010. Security forces reported to 
civilian authorities.
    Principal human rights abuses included severe overcrowding, 
inhumane conditions, and disrepair in the prison system, as well as 
violence against women.
    Other problems included widespread use of extended pretrial 
detention, some trafficking in persons, and societal discrimination 
against the Afro-Uruguayan minority.
    The government took steps to prosecute officials who committed 
abuses, and there were no reports of impunity during the year. On 
November 1, President Mujica signed a bill into law that classifies 
crimes committed during the military dictatorship as crimes against 
humanity, thus eliminating their statute of limitations, which was set 
to expire that same day.
Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom 
        from:
    a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--There were no 
reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or 
unlawful killings.
    The government continued to investigate the serious human rights 
violations committed during the 1973-85 military dictatorship. In 
September the Supreme Court of Justice confirmed a 2009 judgement 
sentencing former military dictator Gregorio Alvarez to 25 years' 
imprisonment for coauthoring aggravated homicides and disappearances. 
In June President Mujica issued a proclamation opening the door for 
judicial investigation into more than 80 human rights violations 
allegedly committed during the 1973-85 military dictatorship. The 
decree effectively overturned the Expiry Law that granted amnesty to 
military and law enforcement officials following the 1985 return to 
democracy.
    On August 31, an appeals court confirmed the sentences of General 
Miguel Dalmao and Colonel Jose Chialanza, who were convicted in 2010 
for the aggravated murder in 1974 of Nibia Sabalsagaray during the 
military dictatorship.
    In October retired military officers Arturo Aguerre and Antonio 
Gomez Grana were charged for their involvement in the torture and 
murder of an Argentine in 1973. Trials were pending at year's end.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--The law prohibits such practices, and there were no 
reports that government officials employed them.
    Six Uruguayan marines who were part of the U.N. peacekeeping 
mission in Haiti were accused of sexually abusing an 18-year-old 
Haitian boy on July 20. The soldiers were repatriated on September 16 
and brought to trial by the Uruguayan Military Tribunal. The military 
court adopted the preliminary findings of the U.N. investigation, 
concluding there were no signs of sexual or physical violence. However, 
the judge found that the marines had violated several rules of conduct 
and on September 18 convicted the soldiers of offenses such as 
``disobedience,'' ``abandonment of post,'' and ``omission of service.'' 
The marines, who faced sentences ranging from four months to four years 
in prison, were also charged by a civilian criminal court, where 
prosecution was pending at year's end.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions 
continued to be poor, posing threats to the health and, sometimes, 
lives of prisoners. Overcrowding and understaffing in some facilities 
resulted in problems related to sanitation, ventilation, temperature, 
lighting, access to potable water, and health. Fire hazards continued 
due to handcrafted heaters that often set makeshift partitions on fire. 
Additionally, many basic necessities were lacking; prisoners depended 
on visitors for enough food to reach the daily minimum caloric intake 
and for clothing. Prisoner-on-prisoner violence continued to be a 
problem, partially due to the lack of a separate, high-security prison 
for violent criminals. There were 11 deaths in prisons during the year.
    The government reported a total of 9,324 prisoners (8,597 men and 
727 women), of whom 35 percent had been sentenced and 65 percent were 
awaiting trial. Pretrial detainees and convicted criminals were held 
together, but female and male prisoners were held in separate 
facilities. Prison conditions for women and men did not differ 
appreciably. At year's end, 62 children lived in prison facilities with 
their inmate mothers.
    The General Assembly elects a prison system ombudsman, who is 
responsible for monitoring and reporting to parliament on prison 
conditions in the nation's 29 detention centers. This ombudsman 
receives complaints from prisoners and may present reports and 
recommendations but may not act on behalf of prisoners and detainees to 
consider such matters as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent 
offenders to alleviate overcrowding. The ombudsman presents an annual 
report with observations and recommendations.
    Visitors had reasonable access to prisoners, and detainees and 
prisoners were permitted religious observance. The government allowed 
general prison visits by independent human rights observers, 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), religious congregations, and 
foreign diplomats, and such visits occurred unimpeded during the year.
    The government investigated and monitored prison and detention 
center conditions. Authorities permitted prisoners and detainees to 
submit complaints to judicial authorities without censorship and to 
request investigation of credible allegations of inhumane conditions. 
There was one case of excessive use of force by the police in June. 
Authorities investigated the allegations, but results were not 
released.
    After a four-day visit in July, Rodrigo Escobar Gil, the OAS Inter-
American Human Rights Committee (IACHR) special rapporteur on prison 
conditions, issued a report noting that overcrowding (prison population 
at 129 per cent of capacity) was ``one of the most serious'' prison 
problems. He also observed that infrastructure, sanitation, and hygiene 
conditions at the Comcar Prison were ``absolutely inadequate for 
housing human beings.'' The report described conditions at Comcar 
Prison as inhumane due to extreme overcrowding (3,000 inmates in a 
facility built for 1,624). Escobar reported drug trafficking and use in 
prisons, particularly among those ages 18 to 25. The report also 
criticized the excessive use of ``preventive prison'' measures-the 
practice of holding prisoners considered dangerous after the completion 
of their sentences.
    The special rapporteur's report highlighted government actions to 
improve the prison system, such as the creation of facilities for 2,000 
more inmates in 2010 and the closure of the steel container cells at 
Libertad Prison in May. The report also commended conditions at Punta 
de Rieles Prison, which was inaugurated in December 2010.
    The prison ombudsman's report also identified some positive trends. 
It highlighted an increase in prisoners in open prisons in each 
province where the detainees were involved in maintaining small land 
holdings, the continuation of a successful clinic in one of the 
country's largest prisons, and advances in providing primary education 
to inmates. The ombudsman reported that 25 percent of prisoners in the 
29 detention centers study or work. In September the government closed 
the antiquated Cabildo women's prison. Its 420 inmates were transferred 
to the National Rehabilitation Center and segregated according to the 
severity of the crime each had committed.
    The law sets forth rules to humanize the prison system and address 
overcrowding. In 2010 the government enacted a prison emergency law 
that allocated extra budget and resources to a restructuring of the 
prison system, including building 2,000 more spaces for prisoners by 
2015.
    The Uruguayan Institute for Adolescents and Children (INAU) is 
tasked with protecting abandoned and orphaned children under age 18. 
INAU employs a mixed system of open and closed facilities according to 
the seriousness of the crime committed. Due to frequent and often 
successful escape attempts, INAU increased security measures in its 
facilities, leading to more overcrowding. INAU reported that 450 
juveniles were incarcerated, although the system has a maximum capacity 
of 330 places. Female juvenile criminals were processed and held in 
separate detention centers. The prison system ombudsman does not 
address the confinement of juvenile offenders.

    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 National Police 
under the Ministry of the Interior maintain internal security. The 
armed forces are responsible for external security. Civilian 
authorities maintained effective control over the National Police, and 
the government has effective mechanisms to investigate and punish abuse 
and corruption. There were no reports of impunity involving the 
security forces during the year.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--Persons were 
apprehended openly with warrants based on sufficient evidence and 
issued by a duly authorized official and brought before an independent 
judiciary. The law provides detainees with the right to a prompt 
judicial determination of the legality of detention and requires that 
the detaining authority explain the legal grounds for the detention. 
Police may hold a detainee incommunicado for 24 hours before presenting 
the case to a judge, at which time the detainee has the right to 
counsel. The law stipulates that confessions obtained by police prior 
to a detainee's appearance before a judge and attorney are not valid. A 
judge must investigate any detainee's claim of mistreatment. A lawyer 
assigned to each police station reports to the Ministry of the Interior 
concerning the treatment of detainees.
    For a detainee who cannot afford a lawyer, the court appoints a 
public defender at no cost to the detainee. Judges rarely granted bail 
for persons accused of crimes punishable by at least two years in 
prison. Most persons facing lesser charges were not jailed. Detainees 
were allowed prompt access to family members.

    Pretrial Detention.--The IACHR special rapporteur's report 
expressed concern about the ``widespread use of pretrial detention for 
periods that often exceed what is reasonable.'' The report cited 
official data from the Ministry of the Interior indicating that (as of 
June 30) 65 percent of the country's inmates were awaiting trial. Some 
detainees spend years in jail awaiting trial, and the uncertainty and 
length of detention contributed to tensions and psychological stress in 
the prisons. The use of pretrial detention is mandatory for particular 
crimes, and trial delays were caused by lengthy legal procedures, large 
numbers of detainees, and staff shortages.

    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 enjoy a presumption of innocence. Juries are not used; trial 
proceedings usually consist of written arguments to the judge, which 
normally are not made public. Defendants have the right to consult an 
attorney in a timely manner, and those who do not have an attorney are 
provided one at the state's expense. Only the judge, prosecutor, and 
defense attorney have access to all documents that form part of the 
written record. Defendants can confront or question witnesses against 
them and/or present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Individual 
judges may elect to hear oral arguments, but most judges choose the 
written method, a major factor slowing down the judicial process. 
Criminal trials are held in a circuit court. Defendants have a right of 
appeal. The law extends these rights to all citizens.

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

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--In March the Inter-American 
Court of Human Rights condemned Uruguay for the 1976 disappearance of 
Maria Claudia Garcia, pregnant daughter-in-law of the Argentine poet 
Juan Gelman, and for the suppression of identity of his granddaughter 
Macarena Gelman. The court ordered the government to pay compensation 
to the family, and in September the government agreed to provide a 
$500,000 settlement.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There are transparent 
administrative procedures to handle complaints of abuse by government 
agents. An independent and impartial judiciary handles civil disputes, 
but its decisions were ineffectively enforced. Local police lacked the 
training and manpower to enforce restraining orders, which were often 
generated during civil disputes.

    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.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press, and the 
government generally respected this right in practice. An independent 
press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political 
system combined to ensure freedom of speech and 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.

    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.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, 
refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of 
concern.

    Exile.--The law provides that in extreme cases of national 
emergency an individual may be given the option to leave the country as 
an alternative to trial or imprisonment, but this option has not been 
exercised in at least two decades.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The law provides for 
the granting of refugee status. Through its Refugee Commission, the 
government has established a system for adjudicating asylum claims, 
providing protection to refugees, and finding durable solutions, 
including resettlement. Most persons in need of international 
protection may find it under the country's definition of a refugee.
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.--Recent Elections.--In 
November 2009 Jose Mujica of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) coalition 
won a five-year presidential term in a free and fair runoff election. 
The runoff followed a series of party primaries in June 2009 and a free 
and fair first-round election among the four leading parties in October 
2009. President Mujica took office in March 2010. In parliamentary 
elections in October 2009, the Frente Amplio won 16 of 30 seats in the 
Senate and 50 of 99 seats in the House of Representatives.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--Women participated actively 
in the political process and government, although primarily at lower 
and middle levels. Four senators and 15 representatives were women. One 
of the 13 cabinet ministers was a woman. There were no members of 
minorities in parliament and one minority member in the cabinet.
Section 4. Official Corruption and Government Transparency
    The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, and 
the government generally implemented these laws effectively. There were 
some formal and informal reports of police corruption, which 
authorities addressed with appropriate legal action.
    Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws. A 
government commission on economic and financial matters collects sworn 
financial statements from public servants, including the president.
    The government requires all government agencies to produce regular 
public reports. All agencies complied with these reporting 
requirements. The 2008 Access to Public Information Act created the 
Access to Public Information Unit, an organization that promotes 
government transparency.
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.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--The Commission Against Racism, 
Xenophobia, and All Forms of Discrimination, headed by the Ministry of 
Education and Culture's director for human rights, includes government, 
religious, and civil society representatives. The commission is 
responsible for proposing policies and specific measures to prevent and 
combat racism, xenophobia, and discrimination. Between its creation in 
2007 and March 2010, the commission investigated 70 cases of alleged 
discrimination from Afro-Uruguayans, persons with disabilities, and 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. However, the 
commission has had no allocated budget since the Mujica administration 
assumed office in March 2010. NGOs asserted that the commission did not 
react to several high-profile discrimination cases during the year.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability, 
language, or social status, and the government generally enforced these 
prohibitions effectively, although societal discrimination against some 
groups persisted.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape. The law allows for sentences of two to 12 
years' imprisonment for a person found guilty of rape. According to 
Ministry of the Interior statistics, between January and July, there 
were 127 reported cases of rape and 42 reported cases of attempted 
rape. The Ministry of the Interior believed some victims of rape did 
not report such incidents because of failure to understand their rights 
and fear of social stigma or retribution.
    The law criminalizes domestic violence, including physical, 
psychological, and sexual violence. In December the Ministry of the 
Interior reported approximately12,000 cases of domestic violence, of 
which 38 cases resulted in killing. The law allows for sentences of six 
months to two years in prison for a person found guilty of committing 
an act of violence or making continued threats to cause bodily injury 
to persons related emotionally or legally to the perpetrator. Civil 
courts decided most of the domestic cases during the year. Judges in 
these cases often issued restraining orders, which were difficult to 
enforce. In many instances, courts did not apply criminal penalties.
    The government operates domestic violence units in police 
headquarters in the interior, which are funded and staffed taking into 
account the prevalence of domestic violence in each province. There are 
five shelters available to women who are victims of domestic violence, 
but most services are located in Montevideo. One shelter opened in 
November in the northeast city of Salto.
    The Montevideo municipal government funded a free nationwide 
hotline operated by trained NGO employees for victims of domestic 
violence. The Ministry of Social Development, INAU, and NGOs operated 
shelters in which abused women and their families could seek temporary 
refuge.

    Sexual Harassment.--The law prohibits sexual harassment in the 
workplace and punishes it by fines or dismissal. The law establishes 
guidelines for the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace and 
in student-professor relations and defines a system of damages for 
victims.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals had the right to 
decide freely the number, spacing, and timing of their children and had 
the information and means to do so free from discrimination, coercion, 
and violence. Access to information on contraception and skilled 
attendance at delivery and in postpartum care were widely available. An 
estimated 75 percent of births are attended by skilled personnel. Women 
and men had equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for 
sexually transmitted infections.

    Discrimination.--Under the law, women enjoy the same rights as men, 
including rights under family and property law. In practice women faced 
discrimination stemming from traditional attitudes and practices, and 
no gender discrimination cases have ever been litigated. The National 
Institute for Women supervised the work of a Tripartite Committee on 
Equal Opportunities and Employment, which includes a subcommittee on 
gender consideration in salaries and benefits. Women constituted almost 
half of the workforce but tended to be concentrated in lower-paying 
jobs, with salaries averaging two-thirds those of men.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory or through one's parents. The government 
immediately registers all births.

    Child Abuse.--There were few reports of physical or sexual child 
abuse.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--The minimum age for consensual 
sex is 12. When a sexual union takes place with a minor under the age 
of 15, violence is presumed and statutory rape laws, which carry a 
penalty of two to 12 years in prison, can be applied. However, minors 
between the ages of 12 and 15 can legally agree to consensual sex; if 
they consent, any presumed violence is waived. Penalties for pimping 
children range from four to 16 years in prison. Child pornography is 
illegal, and penalties range from one to six years in prison. Some 
children were subjected to prostitution.

    International Child Abductions.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
For information see the Department of State's report on compliance at 
http://travel.state.gov/abduction/resources/congressreport/
congressreport--4308.html.

    Anti-Semitism.--The Jewish Central Committee estimated the Jewish 
population at 18,000 to 20,000. There were few reports of anti-Semitic 
acts. Incidents included the vandalizing of a Jewish memorial site and 
the writing of anti-Semitic comments by a blogger on the Web site of a 
national newspaper. Jewish leaders reported effective cooperation with 
police investigating incidents of anti-Semitism.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental 
disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the 
provision of other state services; however, the government did not 
effectively enforce these provisions or promote programs to ensure 
access to buildings, information, and communications. Persons with 
disabilities reported discrimination in employment despite government 
efforts to assist in individual cases. While it did not discriminate 
against persons with disabilities, the government did not provide 
sufficient services such as accessible transportation.
    The Uruguayan Institute for Educational Psychology reported that 
school-age children with disabilities, such as blindness or Down 
syndrome, received specially adapted laptops under Plan Ceibal (the 
Uruguayan One Laptop per Child program).
    A national disabilities commission oversees implementation of a law 
on the rights of persons with disabilities. The law mandating 
accessibility for persons with disabilities to new buildings or public 
services was not consistently enforced. The law reserves 4 percent of 
public-sector jobs for persons with physical and mental disabilities, 
but the quota went unfilled.

    National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.The country's Afro Uruguayan 
minority continued to face societal discrimination. A National Bureau 
of Statistics study found that Afro-Uruguayans comprised 11 percent of 
the population and indigenous descendents constituted another 3 
percent. A 2011 government report indicated that 80 percent of Afro-
Uruguayans were poor. The study concluded that race was one of the 
factors responsible for socioeconomic inequality in the country. The 
NGO Mundo Afro stated that the percentage of Afro Uruguayans working as 
unskilled laborers was much larger than that for members of other 
groups. Afro-Uruguayans were underrepresented throughout government and 
academia and in the middle and upper echelons of private-sector firms.
    The Mujica administration's five-year budget plan eliminated the 
advisory positions filled by Mundo Afro under the previous 
administration in all but two ministries. In 2010 the government 
created a commission to draft the first National Plan against Racism 
and Discrimination, but the commission did not produce any results 
during the year. The government continued its outreach to the Afro-
Uruguayan community to encourage participation in the Quijano 
Scholarship Program for postgraduate work. However, Mundo Afro stated 
that this program had little impact since only 1 percent of Afro-
Uruguayans attended college. The National Police Academy has included 
discrimination awareness training as part of its curriculum since 2008.
    In 2011 Mundo Afro initiated a radio talk show and conducted other 
activities to raise awareness of racism and discrimination issues. 
Other outreach efforts included a pilot course to raise awareness about 
discrimination during U.N. Peace Missions at the National School for 
Peace Keeping Operations of Uruguay.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--No laws criminalize sexual 
orientation, and authorities generally protected the rights of the LGBT 
community. Hate crimes were rare, but there were isolated reports of 
street violence against individuals leaving gay bars; the police did 
not intervene in these incidents. Colectivo Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep 
Collective), an LGBT rights NGO, claimed that during the year incidents 
occurred for which police refused to file reports on discrimination and 
street violence. The NGO also asserted that in the provinces there were 
acts of violence and degradation by the police against transgender 
persons who are legally registered prostitutes. There were occasional 
reports of nonviolent societal discrimination based on sexual 
orientation and gender identity.
    The Public Health Service Administration worked with LGBT NGOs to 
give workshops and public awareness training for health workers to 
create health centers free of prejudice and discrimination.
    In July two gay men were forced to leave a bar for kissing in 
public. The men filed a suit against the owner of the bar, but the 
court dismissed the suit.
    On September 15, authorities at the Uruguayan University of Work 
removed the director of a technical school in Maldonado Province after 
she defined on a local television show ``homosexuality'' as a 
``disease,'' adding that ``gay teachers should be supervised to prevent 
them from transmitting the disease to students.'' A local NGO filed a 
legal complaint against her, which was pending at year's end.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--There were isolated 
reports of societal discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law protects the right of workers to form and join independent 
unions, conduct legal strikes, and bargain collectively. Civil 
servants, employees of state-run enterprises, private-enterprise 
workers, and legal foreign workers may join unions. The law regulates 
collective bargaining and grants the government a large role in 
adjudicating labor disputes. The law also designates trade unions to 
negotiate on behalf of workers whose companies are not unionized. The 
law prohibits antiunion discrimination and requires employers to 
reinstate workers fired for union activities and pay an indemnity to 
such workers. In addition, if an employer contracts employees from a 
third-party firm, the law holds the employer responsible for possible 
labor infringements committed by the third-party firm. The law allows 
unions to conduct their activities without government interference.
    The Ministry of Labor's Collective Bargaining Division investigates 
antiunion discrimination claims filed by union members. There were 
generally effective albeit lengthy mechanisms for resolving workers' 
complaints against employers. In 2010 a law that shortened procedures 
for resolving disputes took effect. Under the law, an employer is 
informed in advance of the reason for the claim and the alleged amount 
owed to the worker. However, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that 
certain articles of the law are unconstitutional, prompting the 
enactment of an amendment to the law in November. The amendment grants 
the defense more time to respond to the complaint in court and 
simplifies appeal procedures. In practice, the processes to resolve 
disputes were shorter, but still lengthy.
    Worker organizations operated free of government regulation and 
independent of the government and political parties. Collective 
bargaining was freely practiced, and workers also exercised the right 
to strike in practice. There were no reports of antiunion 
discrimination.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
all forms of forced or compulsory labor. The government did not 
effectively enforce the law in all cases. The government did not report 
identifying or investigating any cases of forced labor.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law protects children against exploitation in the workplace. The law 
prohibits minors under the age of 15 from working. Minors ages 15 to 18 
require government permission to work and must undergo physical exams 
to identify possible exposure to job-related physical harm. Permits are 
not granted for hazardous or fatiguing work. Children ages 15 to 18 may 
not work more than six hours per day within a 36 hour workweek and may 
not work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws. Violations of child labor laws are 
generally punishable by fines but may extend to imprisonment of three 
months to four years. Enforcement was difficult due to a lack of 
resources and because most child labor occurred in the informal sector.
    INAU implemented policies to prevent and regulate child labor and 
provided training on child labor issues. INAU also worked closely with 
the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to investigate complaints of 
child labor, and with the Ministry of Interior to prosecute cases. INAU 
had five trained child labor inspectors to handle an estimated 1,100 
inspections per year.
    The government's National Committee for the Eradication of Child 
Labor implemented public awareness campaigns throughout the country.
    Child labor was reported in activities such as street vending, 
garbage collection and recycling, construction, and in agriculture and 
forestry, areas generally less strictly regulated and where children 
work with their families. The Ministry of Social Development estimated 
there were 20,000 children collecting garbage alongside their parents. 
The National Census Bureau presented the results of a survey of child 
labor, which characterized 75 percent of the work performed by children 
ages five to17 as dangerous because it involved the use of machinery or 
tools and lifting heavy weights. The report stated that 0.2 percent of 
children ages five to 17 begged for a living.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--The monthly minimum wage was 
6,000 pesos (approximately $300) , but it functioned more as an index 
for calculating wage rates than as a true measure of minimum 
subsistence levels. The official poverty income level varied based on 
locations and size of family but was approximately 5,940 pesos ($297) 
per person per month.
    The standard workweek ranged from 44 to 48 hours, depending on the 
industry, and employers were required to give workers a 36 hour block 
of free time each week. The law stipulates that industrial workers 
receive overtime compensation for work in excess of 48 hours per week, 
entitles workers to 20 days of paid vacation after a year of employment 
and to paid annual holidays, and prohibits compulsory overtime beyond a 
maximum 50 hour workweek.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Security sets occupational safety 
and health standards. However, some regulations cover urban industrial 
workers more adequately than rural and agricultural workers. Under the 
law, workers have the right to remove themselves from what they 
consider hazardous conditions without jeopardy to their employment. The 
law protects foreign workers and does not discriminate against them, 
but official protection only extends to formal sector workers.
    Workers in all sectors are covered by laws on minimum wage, hours 
of work, and occupational health and safety standards, including 
domestic and migrant workers and workers in the agricultural sector, 
which has a slightly higher minimum wage.
    The Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) is responsible for 
enforcing the minimum monthly wage for both public and private-sector 
employees and for enforcing legislation regulating health and safety 
conditions. The ministry had 151 general inspectors for labor issues. 
In practice, penalties imposed by the MTSS were not sufficient to deter 
violations of labor laws. The government monitors wages and other 
benefits, such as social security and health insurance through the 
Social Security Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service. The Ministry 
of Public Health's Bureau of Environment and Occupational Work is 
responsible for developing policies to detect, analyze, prevent, and 
control risk factors that may affect workers' health. These standards 
were generally effectively enforced in the formal sector but less so in 
the informal sector.
    In addition, MTSS has a special section to monitor domestic work, 
and may obtain judicial authorization to conduct home inspections to 
investigate potential labor law violations.
    Formal-sector companies generally complied with the minimum wage 
regulations, and in practice, the majority of workers earned more than 
the minimum wage. However, many citizens and foreign workers were 
employed informally and thus did not benefit from certain legal 
protections. Some workers claimed a loss of other privileges at work 
based on their refusal to work in unsafe conditions. The Ministry of 
Agriculture is the body responsible for carrying out safety and health 
inspections in the agricultural sector.
    There were some reports of exploitation of foreign workers in the 
agricultural sector, and in the fishing and wood industries. A report 
issued by a construction workers' union indicated that during the year 
60,000 workers suffered labor accidents, mainly in the construction 
sector. There was approximately one fatality per week due to labor 
accidents.

                               __________

                               VENEZUELA

                           executive summary
    Venezuela is a multiparty constitutional republic. In 2006 voters 
reelected President Hugo Chavez Frias of the Fifth Republic Movement 
party. International observer missions deemed the elections generally 
free and fair but noted some irregularities. In September 2010 voters 
elected 165 deputies to the National Assembly. Voting on election day 
was generally free and fair with scattered reports of irregularities. 
However, domestic election observers and opposition political parties 
criticized both the electoral law, claiming it violated the 
constitutional principle of proportionality, and the government's 
partisan use of state-owned media. There were instances in which 
elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian 
control.
    Concentration of power in the executive branch continued to 
increase significantly. An Enabling Law enacted by the outgoing 
National Assembly in December 2010 (less than three weeks before newly 
elected members took office) gave the president broad authority to 
decree laws for a period of 18 months without consultation or approval 
by the elected National Assembly. The law responded to the president's 
request for authorities necessary to deal with the emergency created by 
floods in late 2010. Using this authority President Chavez decreed 26 
laws, including a number of provisions restricting fundamental economic 
and property rights.
    The principal human rights abuses reported during the year included 
government actions to impede freedom of expression and criminalize 
dissent. The government harassed and intimidated privately owned 
television stations, other media outlets, and journalists throughout 
the year, using threats, fines, property seizures, targeted 
regulations, and criminal investigations and prosecutions. The 
government did not respect judicial independence or permit judges to 
act according to the law without fear of retaliation. The government 
used the judiciary to intimidate and selectively prosecute political, 
union, business, and civil society leaders who were critical of 
government policies or actions. Failure to provide for the due process 
rights, physical safety, and humane conditions for inmates contributed 
to widespread violence, riots, injuries, and deaths in the country's 
prisons.
    In addition, the following human rights problems were reported by 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the media, and in some cases the 
government itself: unlawful killings, including summary executions of 
criminal suspects; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
treatment; prison violence and harsh prison conditions; inadequate 
juvenile detention centers; arbitrary arrests and detentions; 
corruption and impunity in police forces; corruption, inefficiency, and 
politicization in a judicial system characterized by trial delays and 
violations of due process; political prisoners; interference with 
privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of expression; corruption at 
all levels of government; threats against domestic NGOs; violence 
against women; anti-Semitism in the official media; trafficking in 
persons; violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and 
restrictions on workers' right of association.
    The government sometimes took steps to punish lower-ranking 
officials who committed abuses, but there were no investigations or 
prosecutions of senior officials for alleged corruption or abuses.
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, but 
security forces were accused of committing unlawful killings, including 
summary executions of criminal suspects.
    There were several reports that security forces committed arbitrary 
or unlawful killings. The human rights NGO Venezuelan Program of Action 
and Education in Human Rights (PROVEA) reported 173 deaths due to 
security force actions between October 2010 and September 2011, a 27 
percent decrease compared with the preceding 12 months. The causes of 
death were categorized as 129 killings, seven cases of excessive use of 
force, 15 cases of indiscriminate use of force, 12 cases of torture or 
cruel treatment, and two cases of negligence.
    Prosecutors occasionally brought cases against such perpetrators. 
Sentences frequently were light, and convictions often were overturned 
on appeal. According to PROVEA, 37 national, state, and municipal 
police entities as well as the armed forces were involved in 
extrajudicial killings between October 2010 and September 2011, with 
the Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigative Corps (CICPC) and the 
National Guard associated with the most violations. There was no 
information available on the numbers of public officials who were 
prosecuted or received prison sentences for involvement in 
extrajudicial killings.
    On May 28, two hooded assailants killed Juan Jose Barrios, making 
him the seventh member of his family to be killed allegedly by Aragua 
State police agents since the Barrios family publicly complained of 
police abuse in Aragua in 1998. On June 2, the Inter-American Human 
Rights Commission (IACHR) issued a statement deploring the killing and 
stating that ``the Venezuelan state has not adopted the necessary 
measures to protect the life of the members of this family, who 
continue to be targets of assassination, detention, raids, threats and 
harassment'' (see section 1.e.). The Barrios family has been under 
IACHR protection orders since 2004.
    On May 26, three detainees, Pedro Rivero, William Perez, and Ruben 
Arnal, died in a detention facility in the El Rosal section of Caracas. 
The CICPC initially claimed the deaths resulted from asphyxiation 
related to drug abuse, but a Public Ministry investigation showed that 
the bodies exhibited signs of torture. According to press reports, 
other inmates claimed the guards had beaten the men, subjected them to 
electric shock, and covered their heads with pesticide-filled bags. The 
Public Ministry accused six CICPC officers, Evert Rondon, Miguel 
Hernandez, Edgard Humbria, Michael Borges, Jepzon Diaz, and Alfredo 
Suarez, of intentional homicide, cruel treatment, and violation of 
international treaties and pacts. The Public Ministry also accused the 
original pathologist, Franklin Perez, with attempted cover-up, 
falsifying documents, and violation of international treaties and 
pacts. On October 13, the six CICPC officers were indicted on all 
charges, and at year's end they remained in detention awaiting trial.
    On June 21, a court composed of one professional judge and two 
jurors acquitted the 10 Lara state police officers charged in the 2008 
torture and killing of six persons in Chabasquen, Portuguesa State. The 
judge abstained in the decision.
    The government continued to prosecute individuals connected with 
the 1989 killings in Caracas known as the ``Caracazo,'' in which the 
Public Ministry estimated 331 individuals died; the 1988 El Amparo 
massacre, in which government security forces allegedly killed 14 
persons; the 1986 Yumare massacre, in which nine persons were killed; 
and the 1982 Cantaura massacre, in which armed forces and intelligence 
service members allegedly killed 25 persons. For example:
    Caracazo: On May 6, the Public Ministry charged the former governor 
of the Federal District (now Capital District), Virgilio Avila Vivas, 
with intentional homicide and violation of international pacts and 
treaties. On October 1, the court ordered to trial former defense 
minister Italo del Valle Alliegro; the former Metropolitan Police 
commandant, retired general Jose Rafael Leon Orsoni; former second 
commandant of the Metropolitan Police Luis Guillermo Fuentes Serra; and 
retired general Freddy Maya Cardona for their actions during the 
Caracazo massacre. Fuentes Serra and Maya Cardona had been indicted on 
February 9 for premeditated murder and violation of international 
agreements in connection with the deaths of 21 and 10 victims, 
respectively.
    El Amparo: In April PROVEA requested a meeting with representatives 
of the Prosecutor General's Office, survivors of the massacre, and 
families of the victims to obtain information on the government's 
actions to investigate the massacre. PROVEA also requested that, 
pursuant to a 2010 resolution of the Inter-American Court of Human 
Rights, the government present a timeline with planned actions to 
investigate and prosecute those responsible. The government did not 
respond to PROVEA's request.
    Yumare: In May the court sentenced retired general Alexis Ramon 
Sanchez Paz to 13 years in prison for his involvement in the massacre. 
Sanchez admitted responsibility.
    Cantaura: Neither the National Assembly nor the government took 
action on petitions submitted by PROVEA requesting the lifting of the 
parliamentary immunity of newly elected Deputy Roger Cordero Lara and 
his investigation for alleged involvement (as pilot of one of the 
airplanes) in the bombardment of the Cantaura guerrilla camp.
    On October 18, the National Assembly enacted the Law to Punish 
Crimes, Disappearances, Torture, and Other Human Rights Violations for 
Political Reasons in the Period 1958-1998 (Law against Forgetting). The 
law calls for the investigation and punishment of human rights abuses 
committed by the governments of this period against ``revolutionary 
militants'' fighting for ``social justice and socialism.'' It also 
creates a Commission for Justice and Truth and provides reparations to 
victims. The law does not cover all human rights violations, including 
those committed after President Chavez took office in 1999. There was 
no implementation of the law by year's end.

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

    c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Although the constitution states that no person shall be 
subjected to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment, there were 
credible reports that security forces tortured and abused detainees. 
During the year the National Assembly did not act on the fourth 
transitional provision of the constitution requiring the assembly to 
adopt by 2001 either a law or a reform of the penal code to provide 
sanctions for torture. The NGO Network of Support for Justice and Peace 
reported that the lack of such a law contributed to the government's 
failure to punish adequately officials responsible for torture; the 
lack of programs providing medical, psychological, and rehabilitation 
services to victims; and the lack of a fund to compensate victims.
    The Public Defender's Office did not publish statistics for 2011 
regarding allegations of torture by police; however, PROVEA reported 
there were 20 victims of torture and 75 victims of ``cruel and inhuman 
treatment'' between October 2010 and September 2011, a reduction of 45 
percent and 79 percent, respectively, from the previous year. PROVEA 
defines ``torture'' as methods used by state security force members to 
extract information from victims and ``cruel and inhuman treatment'' as 
methods used by those members to punish or intimidate victims.
    Human rights groups continued to question the commitment of the 
prosecutor general and the public defender to conduct impartial 
investigations. There were no data available on convictions in cases of 
alleged torture. According to Network of Support for Justice and Peace, 
no government official had been prosecuted in connection with any of 
the 243 claims of torture reported since 2003.
    Press and NGO reports of beatings and humiliating treatment of 
suspects during arrests were common and involved various law 
enforcement agencies. Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
treatment or punishments of prisoners were reported during the year. A 
common method of torture or degrading treatment was the denial of 
medical care by prison authorities (see Prison Conditions below).
    An example of psychological torture was the case of Judge Maria 
Lourdes Afiuni, who was transferred from prison to ``house arrest'' on 
February 8 (see section 1.d.). Afiuni's attorneys and a leading human 
rights defender claimed the government's restrictions on Afiuni's 
access to medical care, her medical reports, sunlight, and the courts 
constituted ``psychological'' torture. On July 29, Afiuni's attorneys 
filed a complaint with the court, alleging that the National Guard 
frequently did not arrive to take Afiuni to mandatory bimonthly court 
appearances, thereby subjecting Afiuni to the fear of having her house 
arrest revoked and of return to prison, where officials and inmates had 
threatened her. On August 1, the Center for Human Rights of Andres 
Bello Catholic University filed a request for urgent action on Afiuni's 
behalf with the U.N. special rapporteur for torture.
    Prison and Detention Center Conditions.--Prison conditions were 
harsh due to poorly trained and allegedly corrupt prison staff; 
violence and alleged extortion by guards and inmates, some gang-related 
and fueled by trafficking in arms and drugs; severe overcrowding in 
most prisons; and food and potable water shortages. Prison experts and 
the press frequently claimed that prison gang leaders, rather than 
government authorities, controlled the prisons. The NGO Venezuelan 
Observatory for Prisons (OVP) reported that as of November 3, there 
were approximately 48,602 inmates in the country's 33 prisons and 
penitentiaries, approximately 4,400 of whom were women. Leading prison 
monitoring NGOs estimated that prisons nationwide had capacity for only 
15,000 inmates.
    According to the OVP, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and a lack of medical 
care accounted for approximately 50 deaths in prison during the year. A 
comprehensive study, published in September by the NGO Solidarity 
Action, found that prison rules regarding the classification of inmates 
resulted in the isolation of those with HIV/AIDS in ``inadequate spaces 
without food and medical attention."
    On July 16, President Chavez publicly urged the judiciary to use 
its existing legal authority to grant humanitarian parole to ``gravely 
ill'' prisoners needing medical treatment, including permitting them to 
return to their homes. On July 19, the government formed an interagency 
committee to evaluate an initial group of 54 gravely ill prisoners 
potentially eligible for conditional release. On July 21, the 
government granted conditional parole to 44 of the 54 prisoners and 
announced that parole for the others would follow. Two of those 
released had claimed to be political prisoners. Later in the year, the 
government granted humanitarian paroles to former police officer Julio 
Rodriguez and former police commissioner Henry Vivas, imprisoned for 
their alleged involvement in the 2002 coup, and to National Assembly 
Deputy-elect Jose Sanchez (``Mazuco''), convicted on what he alleged 
were politically motivated charges.
    Security forces and law enforcement authorities often held minors 
together with adults, even though separate facilities existed. Because 
reform institutions were filled to capacity, hundreds of children 
accused of infractions were confined in juvenile detention centers 
where they were reportedly crowded into small, unsanitary cells. Women 
and men generally were held in separate prison facilities. The OVP 
stated that women's facilities were generally less violent than those 
for men.
    The National Guard and the Ministry of Interior and Justice have 
responsibility for prisons' exterior and interior security, 
respectively. The government failed to provide adequate prison 
security. The OVP reported there were 560 prisoner deaths in 2011, 
compared with 476 in 2010. Most such deaths and injuries resulted from 
prisoner-on-prisoner violence, riots, fires, and generally unsanitary 
and unsafe conditions.
    According to press reports, more than 100 inmates were injured 
during inmate-organized knife fights, commonly known as the 
``coliseum,'' which occurred in the Uribana Penitentiary in Lara State 
and the General Venezuelan Penitentiary in Guarico State. On February 
22, the IACHR reiterated its condemnation of the violence and stressed 
the government's obligation to ensure the safety of inmates.
    During the year prisoners conducted hunger strikes and violent 
uprisings to protest administrative delays and harsh prison conditions. 
Prisoners and detainees were permitted religious observance and had 
access to visitors, but in some cases prison officials allegedly 
harassed or abused visitors.
    During the year there were almost constant prison riots that 
resulted in inmate deaths and injuries, including a riot at El Rodeo 
Penitentiary in Miranda State, which began as a conflict between 
heavily armed rival prison gangs on June 12, lasted 27 days, and left 
at least 34 inmates and three National Guard troops dead. On June 17, 
4,000 National Guard troops engaged in a gun battle with the inmates as 
they attempted to storm the prison to end the rioting. While the 
National Guard removed 2,500 inmates from the facility, another 2,000 
barricaded themselves in and continued to resist. Before the inmates 
surrendered on July 13, one of the two ringleaders, 26 of his 
lieutenants, and an estimated 50 other inmates had escaped, despite the 
presence of soldiers and tanks surrounding most of the prison. On 
August 9, the Public Ministry brought charges of corruption and 
facilitating the trafficking of arms and drugs against the former 
director and deputy director of the El Rodeo Penitentiary and a 
National Guard captain.
    Human rights observers continued to experience lengthy 
administrative delays and restricted access to prisons and detention 
centers. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not 
have access to prisons except for the two controlled by the Bolivarian 
Intelligence Service (SEBIN) and the military for security detainees. 
The public defender did not generally advocate on behalf of prisoners 
and detainees for alternatives to incarceration.
    During the year the IACHR issued several statements calling on the 
government to improve prison conditions and adopt measures to prevent 
outbreaks of violence. On February 9, in response to the deaths of 
prisoners at the Villa Hermosa and Tocoron prisons, the IACHR urged the 
government to ensure that inmates were adequately protected and adopt 
appropriate measures to prevent similar outbreaks of violence. On June 
16, in response to the prison riot at El Rodeo, the IACHR issued a 
statement reiterating its concern over the high rates of violence in 
the country's penitentiaries and the presence in several prisons of 
criminal organizations in possession of large-caliber weapons.
    The Inter-American Court of Human Rights continued its supervision 
of Venezuelan penitentiaries pursuant to its 2006 decision regarding 
the need for improvement of prison conditions. In resolutions dated May 
15 and July 6, the court again required the government to submit 
bimonthly reports with specific information on actions taken to 
``protect the life and integrity'' of prisoners, but there was no 
information publicly available about the government's compliance with 
this requirement.
    On July 25, in response to the riot at the El Rodeo Penitentiary, 
President Chavez announced the creation of a new Ministry of 
Penitentiary Services and appointed National Assembly Deputy Iris 
Varela as its minister. Varela immediately announced proposed reforms 
to reduce overcrowding and violence, including through the parole of an 
estimated 20,000 eligible prisoners and a prohibition on the transfer 
of new prisoners into the prisons. By year's end the government had not 
implemented these proposals.

    d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--The constitution prohibits the 
arrest or detention of an individual without a judicial order; provides 
for the accused to remain free while being tried, except in specific 
cases where state law or individual judges may supersede this 
provision; and provides that any detained individual has the right to 
immediate communication with family members and lawyers who, in turn, 
have the right to know a detainee's whereabouts.
    During the year the chair of the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention, the International Commission of Jurists, international and 
domestic human rights NGOs, and prominent international figures called 
on the government to release Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni, who was 
detained in 2009 for her decision to release imprisoned banker Eligio 
Cedeno. On February 8, a court granted Afiuni house arrest to recover 
after her emergency surgery, but it prohibited her from leaving her 
apartment (see section 1.c.). The court required that National Guard 
personnel escort Afiuni to her required court appearance every 15 days. 
The court continued the trial against Afiuni, despite the May 2010 
statement by the prosecutor ``that it has not been determined that she 
[had] received money or anything else'' to approve Eligio Cedeno's 
release. During the year Afiuni refused to participate in the trial, 
arguing that the presiding judge, Ali Paredes, had publicly admitted 
his ``unconditional'' support for President Chavez and was therefore 
not impartial. The court denied her petition to recuse Paredes as the 
presiding judge. However, on October 6, the Judicial Disciplinary 
Tribunal acknowledged Afiuni's complaint against Paredes and opened an 
investigation. In a routine annual rotation of judges on December 16, 
the court named Judge Robinson Vasquez to replace Paredes as the trial 
judge in Afiuni's case, effective beginning in the 2012 judicial term. 
On December 13, the court extended Afiuni's pretrial detention for 
another two years.
    On April 14, the Public Ministry indicted 10 directors of the 
country's largest brokerages who had been detained since May 2010 and 
charged in July 2010 with ``illegal commercialization of hard 
currency'' and conspiracy. The directors were indicted under the 
Partial Reform Law on Illegal Foreign Exchange Transactions, which took 
effect in May 2010, after their allegedly illicit activities had 
occurred. The law did not provide for its retroactive application.

    Role of the Police and Security Apparatus.--The National Guard, a 
branch of the military, is responsible for maintaining public order, 
guarding the exterior of key government installations and prisons, 
conducting counternarcotics operations, monitoring borders, and 
providing law enforcement in remote areas. The Ministry of Interior and 
Justice controls the CICPC, which conducts most criminal 
investigations, and the SEBIN, which collects intelligence within the 
country and is responsible for investigating cases of corruption, 
subversion, and arms trafficking. The police include municipal, state, 
and national police forces. Mayors and governors oversee municipal and 
state police forces.
    In 2009 the government established the Bolivarian National Police 
Corps (CPNB) and announced the dissolution of the Caracas Metropolitan 
Police (PM). By the end of 2011, the government had phased out the PM, 
which Minister of Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami stated had 
consisted of 10,547 officers. According to the National Assembly's news 
agency, as of December 16, approximately 3,200 former officers had 
received training and been incorporated into the CPNB, approximately 
800 had been transferred to other positions within the ministry, and 
the remainder had been retired or removed for health, disciplinary, or 
other reasons.
    As of December 20, CPNB forces totaled 6,848 officers, according to 
Minister El Aissami. The CPNB largely focused on policing one Caracas 
municipality and had only a minimal presence in five of the country's 
23 states. During the year the CPNB also began to protect Caracas-area 
highways, railways, metro system, and diplomatic missions.
    Societal violence remained high. According to press reports, CICPC 
statistics showed an estimated 18,500 homicides nationwide during the 
year (a rate of 65 killings per 100,000 inhabitants), compared with the 
14,500 killings that Minister El Aissami reported for 2010. Criminal 
kidnappings for ransom also were widespread in both urban centers and 
rural areas; kidnappings included both ``express kidnappings,'' in 
which victims were held for several hours and then released, and 
traditional kidnappings. On November 19, the press cited CICPC sources 
as reporting 1,115 cases of kidnappings thus far in 2011, an increase 
of 26 percent over the 885 kidnappings reported in all of 2010. NGOs 
and police noted that many victims did not report kidnappings to police 
or other authorities.
    Corruption, inadequate police training and equipment, and 
insufficient central government funding, particularly for police forces 
in states and municipalities governed by opposition officials, reduced 
the effectiveness of the security forces. There were continued reports 
of police abuse and involvement in crime, including illegal and 
arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, and the 
excessive use of force. In the 12 months ending in October, PROVEA 
registered 10 complaints of missing persons allegedly seized by police 
or military personnel, compared with 39 such complaints in the 
preceding 12-month period.
    During the year PROVEA registered 10 complaints of missing persons 
allegedly seized by police or military personnel.
    For example, on March 15, according to press reports, municipal 
police detained three CBNP members for kidnapping and robbery. Jean 
Carlos Jesus Colorado Linares, Ruben Dario Troconis Diaz, and Nestor 
Jose Vasquez Olmos allegedly kidnapped three youths at gunpoint; stole 
their money, cars, and clothing; and then left them on the street in 
the Sucre municipality of Caracas. In another example, on August 30, 
the Public Ministry arrested an Apure State police officer, Deibis 
Pantoja, for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a 
businessman, Henry Claret Bolivar, on August 26.
    Impunity remained a serious problem in the security forces. The 
Public Ministry is responsible for initiating judicial investigations 
of security force abuses. The ministry's annual report for 2010 cited 
9,131 cases of human rights violations by presumed police and military 
officers, of which 266, or less than 3 percent, resulted in 
indictments; the remainder were either dismissed or suspended. Neither 
the Public Ministry nor the Public Defender's Office provided 
comparable statistics for 2011.
    State and municipal governments also investigate their respective 
police forces. By law national, state, and municipal police forces have 
a Police Corps Disciplinary Council, which takes action against 
security officials who commit abuses. The National Assembly can 
investigate security force abuses. The General Police Council has 
developed policies and reforms in response to systematic abuses.
    According to Network of Support for Justice and Peace, the lack of 
sufficient prosecutors made it difficult to prosecute police and 
military officials allegedly involved in human rights abuses.
    During the year the government at both the local and national level 
took some actions to sanction officers involved in abuses. For example, 
in May the opposition-governed Chacao municipality of Caracas expelled 
10 police officers after a video was released showing them kicking and 
hitting a group of handcuffed prisoners. In June the CPNB expelled 86 
officers for corruption. In October the opposition-governed Zulia State 
government expelled 114 officers linked to extortion, homicide, theft, 
and human rights violations. There was no publicly available 
information about prosecutions of the officers expelled.
    Following the deaths of three prisoners in a CICPC detention 
facility in May (see section 1.a.), the government announced plans to 
reform the CICPC. On June 7, Minister El Aissami stated that a 
multidisciplinary team of experts from the Commission for Police Reform 
and Support Network for Peace and Justice would evaluate and make 
recommendations for restructuring the CICPC. On September 22, El 
Aissami named Jose Humberto Ramirez Marquez as the new CICPC director 
and announced a ``Strategic Plan for the Transformation of the CICPC.'' 
There was no information regarding any changes to the structure or 
functions of the CICPC by year's end.
    In June 2010 Public Defender Gabriela Ramirez announced the 
creation of offices for victim assistance, including victims of crime 
or abuse by police. The government required that the offices be located 
apart from police stations and staffed by interdisciplinary personnel 
to guarantee ``fair, respectful, equal, and nondiscriminatory'' 
treatment and to protect ``the privacy of the complainants.'' On March 
22, the prosecutor general reported that the offices had attended to 
120,560 individuals during 2010.
    The National Experimental University for Security (UNES), 
inaugurated in October 2010 to professionalize law enforcement training 
for CPNB and other state and municipal personnel, had centers in 
Caracas and five other cities, with an enrollment of 11,290 students as 
of September. UNES requires human rights training as part of the 
curriculum for all new officers joining the CPNB, state, and municipal 
police forces. Some municipal and state police forces also offered 
human rights training for their personnel.

    Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention.--A warrant is 
required for an arrest or detention. A detention is possible without an 
arrest warrant when the individual is caught in the act of committing a 
crime. Individuals were sometimes apprehended without warrants from 
judicial authorities. Detainees must be brought before a prosecutor 
within 12 hours and before a judge within 48 hours to determine the 
legality of the detention. A person accused of a crime may not be 
detained for longer than the possible minimum sentence for that crime 
or for longer than two years, except in certain circumstances, such as 
when the defendant is responsible for the delay in the proceedings. The 
law requires that detainees be promptly informed of the charges against 
them, and the requirement was generally met in practice.
    Although there is a functioning system of bail, it is not available 
for certain crimes. Bail also may be denied if a person is apprehended 
in the act of committing a crime or if a judge determines there is a 
danger that the accused may flee or impede the investigation. The law 
requires that detainees be given access to counsel and family members, 
and the requirement was generally met in practice.

    Pretrial Detention.--Pretrial detention was a serious problem. In 
its March 21 report for the U.N. Human Rights Council's Universal 
Periodic Review (UPR) of Venezuela, the OVP reported that 68 percent of 
the 44,852 prisoners at the end of 2010 had not been sentenced.
    The NGO Citizen Observatory of the Penal Justice System attributed 
trial delays to the shortage of prosecutors and penal judges. Based on 
the Public Ministry's annual report for 2010, 1,492 prosecutors had to 
process approximately 257,400 cases in 2010, an average of 173 cases 
per prosecutor. The NGO also questioned the small number of penal 
judges, which it calculated to be 4.7 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010.
    In March 2010 NGOs testifying before the IACHR estimated that, on 
average, a prosecutor received nearly 2,000 complaints of criminal 
activity a year but investigated only 50. Of those 50 cases, only 20 
ended up in court and only two resulted in convictions. According to 
the Public Ministry's 2010 annual report, approximately 9 percent of 
the 378,108 cases involving common crimes resulted in the filing of 
criminal charges. Prisoners reported that a lack of transportation and 
the disorganization of the prisons reduced their access to the courts 
and contributed to trial delays.

    e. Denial of Fair Public Trial.--While the constitution provides 
for an independent judiciary, there was increasing evidence that the 
judiciary lacked independence. There were credible allegations of 
corruption and political influence throughout the judiciary. On 
February 5, Supreme Court (TSJ) President Luisa Estela Morales reported 
that 77 percent of all judges had provisional appointments. TSJ 
justices, elected by the National Assembly, sat on the TSJ's Judicial 
Committee that was responsible for hiring and firing temporary judges, 
which it did without cause or explanation. Provisional and temporary 
judges, who legally have the same rights and authorities as permanent 
judges, allegedly were subject to political influence from the Ministry 
of Interior and Justice and the prosecutor general. PROVEA reported 
that between October 2010 and October 2011, the TSJ rejected 93 percent 
of judicial cases against the main organs of government (the 
Presidency, National Assembly, Comptroller General, National Electoral 
Council, and Prosecutor General's Office), including all 20 legal 
actions against President Chavez.
    Among notable examples of alleged government interference in the 
judicial system were:
    On January 11, the TSJ announced that it was assuming jurisdiction 
in the trial of National Assembly Deputy-elect Biaggio Pilieri on 
corruption charges. The following day the TSJ annulled the trial 
because of alleged ``irregularities'' and ordered a retrial in a 
different jurisdiction. According to the two jurors in the trial, the 
TSJ's actions came after they had informed the judge of their decision 
to acquit. The judge reportedly told them that they ``could not 
pronounce that decision.'' Pilieri had been acquitted in his first 
trial on the same charges but had been recharged and placed under house 
arrest following his September 2010 election to the National Assembly. 
Authorities released Pilieri from prison on February 23 following a 
hunger strike by students calling for the release of political 
prisoners. He took office on February 24 and acquired parliamentary 
immunity from further prosecution.
    On July 19, the TSJ president withdrew her July 14 order for the 
prosecutor general to open a corruption investigation into Miranda 
State governor and presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. 
Her decision came a day after the progovernment United Socialist Party 
of Venezuela (PSUV) announced it did not support the investigation 
because it did not want Capriles to be able to ``make himself a 
victim."

    Trial Procedures.--Defendants are considered innocent until proven 
guilty. The law provides for open, public, and fair trials with oral 
proceedings for all individuals. Defendants have the right to be 
present and consult with an attorney. Public defenders are provided for 
indigent defendants, but there continued to be a shortage. According to 
press reports and official sources, the 874 public defenders handled 
approximately 270,000 cases in 2010. The Public Defender's Office 
stated that state-paid attorneys represented approximately 76 percent 
of prisoners.
    Defendants have the right to question witnesses against them and 
present their own witnesses. Defendants and their attorneys have the 
right to access government-held evidence, but in practice this access 
often did not occur. Defendants and plaintiffs have the right of 
appeal. Trial delays were common.
    The law provides that trials for military personnel charged with 
human rights abuses after 1999 be held in civilian rather than military 
courts.

    Political Prisoners and Detainees.--At year's end the NGO 
Venezuelan Awareness Foundation listed 12 individuals as political 
prisoners, most of whom were convicted for their alleged actions during 
the 2002 coup. During the year the government used the judiciary to 
intimidate and selectively prosecute individuals who were critical of 
government policies or actions.
    In some cases political prisoners were held in SEBIN installations 
and the Ramo Verde military prison. Authorities permitted the ICRC 
access to these individuals.
    In cases of persons claiming to be political prisoners:
    Jose ``Mazuco'' Sanchez was released on humanitarian parole on 
December 24 (see section 1.c.).
    There were no developments during the year in the case of General 
Raul Baduel, former minister of defense and former ally of President 
Chavez, who was sentenced in May 2010 to seven years and 11 months in 
prison on corruption-related charges. Baduel continued to claim his 
arrest and imprisonment constituted political retaliation by President 
Chavez for his public opposition to the president's proposed 
constitutional reforms and encouragement of the ``no'' vote in the 2007 
constitutional reform referendum.
    On January 31, a group of 10 university students began a hunger 
strike in front of the office of the Organization of American States in 
Caracas to seek the release of 28 prisoners they believed were held for 
political reasons. The hunger strike grew to include 83 protesters in 
eight states. It ended on February 22 with the government announcing 
its agreement to release conditionally five of the prisoners, Felipe 
Rodriguez, Silvio Merida Ortiz, Otto Gebauer, Arube Perez, and Marco 
Hurtado. All but one had been convicted for their alleged activities 
during the 2002 coup. The government also agreed to permit the 
remaining 23 prisoners to receive medical treatment from doctors chosen 
by their families and to review each prisoner's case and living 
conditions.

    Regional Human Rights Court Decisions.--On February 21, the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights (the IA Court) issued a resolution 
ordering the government to adopt immediately ``all the necessary and 
extraordinary measures, in addition to those already taken,'' to 
guarantee the safety of the Barrios family, which had seven family 
members killed, allegedly by Aragua State police agents, since the 
family publicly complained of police abuse in 1998 (see section 1.a.). 
The IA Court reiterated its concern over the government's failure to 
protect the Barrios family, which had been subject to an IACHR 
protection order since 2004, and ordered the government to place 
permanent guards at the homes of the family members and report to the 
court every two months on the measures taken. On May 28, two 
unidentified assailants shot and killed Juan Jose Barrios, a 
beneficiary of the IA Court's provisional measures. On June 29 and 30, 
the IA Court heard testimony in the case but had not issued a decision 
regarding the government's responsibility in the deaths of the Barrios 
family members by year's end.
    On September 1, the IA Court issued a unanimous decision that the 
government could not administratively disqualify opposition leader 
Leopoldo Lopez from running for elective office (see section 3, 
Political Parties). The court ordered the government to allow Lopez to 
register and run in any future election. It also ordered the government 
to revise ``within a reasonable timeframe'' article 105 of the Organic 
Law on the Comptroller General to prevent the comptroller general from 
administratively disqualifying individuals from public office in the 
future. On September 17, President Chavez asserted: ``For me, the court 
has no value. It is worthless.'' On October 17, the TSJ declared the 
ruling of the court to be ``unenforceable,'' although article 23 of the 
constitution provides that international treaties and conventions 
regarding human rights have constitutional rank and are of ``immediate 
and direct application by the courts.'' On October 20, the prosecutor 
general stated that the IA Court's decisions were binding only insofar 
as they did not contravene the constitution and domestic laws. The TSJ 
argued that it had to balance the rights guaranteed in the American 
Convention with those provided for under the U.N. and Inter-American 
Conventions against Corruption. The TSJ president subsequently stated 
that Lopez could ``register and participate freely in elections'' but 
not necessarily hold public office if elected.
    The IA Court issued a number of resolutions regarding prisons in 
Venezuela. These orders required the government to take precautionary 
measures to avoid loss of life or harm to the physical, mental, and 
moral integrity of those incarcerated. During the year the IA Court 
issued specific orders regarding the Yare, El Rodeo, Monagas, Tocoron, 
and Vista Hermosa prisons, and on July 6, it issued a resolution 
ordering the government to adopt measures to safeguard lives in six 
prisons. The court also required the government to adopt measures to 
protect the life of prisoner rights activist Humberto Prado. There were 
no known government actions reflecting compliance with these 
resolutions.

    Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies.--There are separate civil 
courts that permit citizens to bring lawsuits seeking damages. There 
are no procedures for individuals or organizations to seek civil 
remedies for human rights violations. Like all courts in the country, 
the civil courts remained subject to strong executive control.

    f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--The constitution provides for the inviolability of the 
home and personal privacy, but in some cases government authorities 
infringed on citizens' privacy rights by searching homes, seizing 
properties, or interfering in personal communications.
    During the year private telephone calls and e-mails between 
opposition political figures were intercepted and broadcast on 
government-controlled media in violation of the law. For example, 
between August 1 and 4, the government-owned Venezolana de Television 
broadcast what it claimed were recorded private telephone conversations 
among opposition figures, including a former military leader, party 
activists, and a presidential candidate, in which they purportedly 
criticized other opposition leaders and discussed alleged backroom 
deals to select opposition candidates for the 2012 elections.
Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
    a. Freedom of Speech and Press.--Status of Freedom of Speech and 
Press.--The law provides for freedom of speech and press; however, the 
combination of laws and regulations governing libel and media content, 
as well as legal harassment and physical intimidation of both 
individuals and the media, resulted in practical limitations on these 
freedoms. National and international groups, such as Reporters without 
Borders, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), and the Committee 
to Protect Journalists, condemned government efforts throughout the 
year to restrict press freedom and create a climate of fear and self-
censorship.

    Freedom of Speech.--The law makes insulting the president 
punishable by six to 30 months in prison without bail, with lesser 
penalties for insulting lower-ranking officials. Comments exposing 
another person to public contempt or hatred are punishable by one-to-
three-year prison sentences and fines starting at BsF 55 (approximately 
$13).
    The government took reprisals against individuals who publicly 
expressed criticism of the president or government policy.
    On October 21, the National Assembly designated a subcommission to 
investigate alleged corruption related to a 2006 construction contract 
by opposition Deputy Julio Montoya and his wife. Many observers 
considered the investigation to be a response to Montoya's August 15 
release of a confidential report from the Ministry of Finance and the 
Central Bank on the government's controversial plan to repatriate 211 
tons of gold reserves from U.S. and European institutions and transfer 
approximately $6.28 billion in liquid reserves to banks in Russia, 
China, and Brazil. Previously Montoya had charged that the government 
was complicit in the April 25 robbery of his office and the September 
21 hacking of his personal e-mail and social networking sites to 
``intimidate'' his investigations of alleged government corruption. 
Montoya had publicized alleged narcotics trafficker Walid Makled's 
charges that senior government and military officials were involved in 
his narcotrafficking network and that he had financed some government 
political campaigns (see below).
    On July 13, Oswaldo Alvarez Paz, a former governor of Zulia State 
and a 1993 presidential candidate, was found guilty of disseminating 
false information and sentenced to two years in prison for his comments 
during a March 2010 television interview. In that interview he claimed 
that Venezuela was a ``center of operations for drug trafficking'' and 
suggested that President Chavez ``could fall'' in any international 
investigation of Venezuela's links with the FARC and ETA terrorist 
organizations. The court granted Alvarez Paz conditional parole.
    There were no developments in the case of Antonio Rivero, a retired 
brigadier general who was charged in August 2010 with ``slander against 
the armed forces'' and ``publicly revealing private information and 
military secrets'' for his April 2010 public denunciation of excessive 
Cuban influence in the military. Rivero remained free pending trial, 
but a military judge prohibited him from leaving the country, required 
him to appear before a judge every 15 days, and prohibited him from 
speaking publicly about the charges against him.

    Freedom of the Press.--The law provides that inaccurate reporting 
that disturbs the public peace is punishable by prison terms of two to 
five years. The requirement that media disseminate only ``true'' 
information was undefined and open to politically motivated 
interpretation.
    The reformed Law of Social Responsibility for Radio and Television 
(RESORTE) and the amended Organic Law for Telecommunications, which 
went into effect in December 2010, prohibit all media from 
disseminating messages that incite or promote hate or intolerance for 
religious, political, gender-related, racial, or xenophobic reasons; 
incite, promote, or condone criminal acts; constitute war propaganda; 
foment anxiety in the population or affect public order; do not 
recognize legitimate government authorities; incite homicide; and 
incite or promote disobedience to the established legal order. 
Penalties range from fines to the revocation of licenses.
    The law declares telecommunications a ``public interest service,'' 
thereby giving the state greater authority to regulate the content and 
structure of the radio, television, and audiovisual production sectors. 
The law provides that the government can suspend or revoke licenses 
when it judges such action necessary to the interests of the nation, 
public order, or security. The telecommunications law empowers the 
government to impose heavy fines and cancel broadcasts for violations 
of its norms, and the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) 
oversees the law's application.
    The government used its authority under the telecommunications law 
to censor Globovision, a privately owned cable news station that was 
critical of the government. On October 17, CONATEL imposed a fine of 
BsF 9.3 million (approximately $2 million) on Globovision for its 
reporting of the El Rodeo Penitentiary riot (see section 1.c.). CONATEL 
claimed that Globovision sought to create civil unrest by doctoring an 
audiotape to add sounds of machine gun fire to the background, 
repeatedly broadcasting the most sensational statements of the inmates' 
relatives, and failing to report all the government's statements 
concerning the riot. Globovision denied the charges, stated that its 
broadcasts had filled an information vacuum left by the government's 
failure to report on the events in the prison, and appealed CONATEL's 
decision. The appeal remained pending at year's end. CONATEL had six 
other administrative investigations pending against Globovision at 
year's end.
    The law requires that practicing journalists have journalism 
degrees and be members of the National College of Journalists, and it 
prescribes jail terms of three to six months for those practicing 
illegally. These requirements are waived for foreigners and opinion 
columnists.

    Violence and Harassment.--Senior national and state government 
leaders continued to harass and intimidate privately owned and 
opposition-oriented television stations, media outlets, and journalists 
throughout the year using threats, property seizures, administrative 
and criminal investigations, and prosecutions. Government officials, 
including the president, used government-controlled media outlets to 
accuse private media owners, directors, and reporters of fomenting 
antigovernment destabilization campaigns and coup attempts.

    Censorship or Content Restrictions.--The government exerted 
pressure on the independent media through administrative, financial, 
and legal means in order to affect their editorial positions. Members 
of the independent media privately said they regularly engaged in self-
censorship due to fear of government reprisal.
    While the country's major newspapers were independently owned, some 
print media tended to exercise caution in order to secure government 
advertising. Two national newspapers, Diario Vea and Correo del 
Orinoco, received direct financial support from the government. The 
Caracas newspaper Ciudad CCS was run by the presidentially appointed 
Capital District vice president and received funding from the mayor of 
the Libertador municipality of Caracas.
    The government sometimes engaged in direct press censorship. On 
August 21, SEBIN officials detained Dinorah Giron, the director of the 
opposition-oriented weekly newspaper Sexto Poder, for the newspaper's 
front-page photo montage of female government officials as ``cancan'' 
girls and the accompanying article, which alleged that the government 
put on a ``cabaret'' to distract the public from real issues. The court 
also issued an arrest warrant for the newspaper's editor, Leocenis 
Garcia. At an August 21 rally, TSJ President Luisa Morales said the 
photograph ``offended the dignity'' of the female officials and called 
for the government to close the newspaper immediately for the 
``flagrant violation of women's rights.'' The court ordered the 
newspaper to stop publishing on August 21 but allowed it to resume on 
August 30, when Garcia surrendered to authorities. The court ordered 
the newspaper not to publish text or images that offended or insulted 
the reputation of public officials or that were insulting toward women. 
The Public Ministry charged Giron and Garcia with instigating hatred, 
insulting public officials, and violence against women. The court 
granted Giron, but not Garcia, conditional release. Employees of Sexto 
Poder issued a communique on October 30 in which they claimed 
government officials were ``pressuring'' Garcia to sell his majority 
share in the newspaper in exchange for his release from prison. On 
November 21, following Garcia's 12-day hunger strike to protest his 
continued detention, the court granted him conditional release pending 
trial. On August 31, the IACHR's special rapporteur for freedom of 
expression condemned the government's actions regarding Sexto Poder, 
stating that these events ``are opposite to regional standards in the 
field of freedom of expression and have an effect of intimidation and 
self-censorship, which compromises not only the people directly 
affected but also all the media in Venezuela."
    The government also exercised control over content through 
licensing and broadcasting requirements. CONATEL acted selectively on 
applications by private broadcasters for renewal of their broadcast 
frequencies. The press reported that approximately 250 radio stations 
operated with lapsed licenses despite having submitted timely renewal 
applications to CONATEL years earlier. In an October 31 interview, 
radio journalist Marta Colomina, a government critic, claimed that she 
had been fired from the independent Union Radio in mid-October because 
of government pressure on the station's owners, who were concerned 
about being able to renew the expired licenses of 30 radio stations in 
their network. Colomina claimed the government was trying to provoke 
self-censorship in the media ``to substitute reality with the fiction 
of a happy world.'' During the year CONATEL closed 27 privately owned 
FM radio stations, charging that they were pirate stations operating 
illegally or had not complied with administrative or tax obligations. 
While some station owners publicly denied those allegations, the press 
quoted the president of the Venezuelan Chamber of Radio Broadcasting as 
saying that the chamber was ``satisfied by the measures adopted by the 
national government against the so-called clandestine stations."
    On January 21, privately owned cable station RCTV, previously 
registered as an international audiovisual producer, applied to CONATEL 
to register as a national audiovisual producer and thereby resume its 
cable and satellite broadcasts. Cable operators had ceased broadcasting 
RCTV in January 2010 after CONATEL reclassified it as a ``national 
audiovisual producer'' and then alleged it was violating the 
requirement of national producers to provide live coverage of mandatory 
government broadcasts (cadenas), including most speeches by President 
Chavez. CONATEL had not acted on RCTV's application by year's end. In 
August RCTV launched an Internet radio station.
    On August 13, the TSJ rejected a request for an injunction against 
radio frequency 102.3, which had been reassigned from the privately 
owned National Belfort Circuit (CNB) to the National Assembly in 2009. 
The TSJ denied the CNB's claim that the reassignment of the frequency 
was intended to ``silence a dissident voice'' and claimed that the CNB 
petitioners could express their opinions in other media. CNB's appeal 
of the decision to reassign the frequency remained pending at year's 
end.

    National Security.--The government sought to exercise control over 
the press through the Center for National Situational Studies (CESNA), 
established in June 2010. This government entity, under the 
jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior and Justice, is responsible 
for ``compiling, processing, and analyzing'' both government-released 
and other public information with the objective of ``protecting the 
interests and objectives of the state.'' The National Journalists 
Association (CNP) and five domestic NGOs publicly expressed concern 
about the potential for abuse and censorship on national security 
grounds by CESNA. In July 2010 Public Space, the CNP, and the National 
Union of Press Workers filed a complaint with the TSJ contesting the 
constitutional basis for the formation of CESNA. On November 30, the 
TSJ's constitutional chamber remanded the case to the political-
administrative chamber, ruling that the complaint did not raise 
constitutional questions. The chamber argued that the presidential 
decree establishing the CESNA did not represent an exercise of 
constitutional authority, but rather of legal authority derived from 
the Organic Law on Public Administration. The case remained pending 
with the political-administrative chamber at year's end.

    Nongovernmental Impact.--The domestic media watchdog NGO Public 
Space reported that, as of September 30, the government was responsible 
for 68 percent of the 140 reported violations of freedom of expression 
during the previous nine months. Public Space received 159 such 
violations during the same period in 2010. Violations included physical 
attacks, threats and intimidation, censorship, verbal and judicial 
harassment, and administrative restrictions. The NGO Press and Society 
Institute reported 75 physical attacks on journalists in 2010 and 2011. 
The widespread violence in the country made it difficult to determine 
whether attacks resulted from common criminal activity or were 
specifically directed against members of the media.
    Notable examples of attacks against journalists and media outlets 
were:
    On May 17, the body of El Clarin columnist and opposition political 
activist Wilfred Ojeda Peralta was found in Aragua State. He had been 
bound, beaten, hooded, and shot in the head. On May 23, the IACHR's 
Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression condemned 
the killing and asked the authorities ``not to discount the possibility 
that the murder was motivated by Ojeda's journalistic work.'' On June 
29, the CICPC reported they had identified the perpetrators as two 
brothers, Gabriel and Jesus Rafael Prieto Araujo, who allegedly killed 
Ojeda in a personal dispute over a debt.
    On July 31, several assailants attacked the headquarters of Vive TV 
in Zulia State in a drive-by shooting that wounded a security guard and 
a police officer. The station's president claimed the attack was 
intended to intimidate the government-owned television station. He 
claimed the station's reporting was ``inconvenient for certain sectors 
because we have dealt with fundamental issues, such as the demarcation 
of indigenous lands, production in private enterprises, among others.'' 
In an August 3 press release, the IACHR's Office of the Special 
Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression condemned the act ``of violence 
and intolerance.'' According to press reports, the CICPC traced the 
assault to the ``Untouchables'' gang, which was allegedly involved in 
extorting local businesses. CICPC officials claimed that two 
individuals involved in the Vive TV attack were killed in a shoot-out 
with police on August 3.
    Regarding cases that occurred in prior years:
    On March 29, the court sentenced Walter Perez Canizalez and Yorman 
de Jesus Elias to 16 years' imprisonment for the March 2010 killing of 
Israel Marquez, the director of the newspaper Diario 2001.
    On March 25, the court sentenced Oscar David Cabrera Fernandez to 
15 years' imprisonment for the January 2010 killing of Diario Panorama 
Director Wilmer Ferrer.
    On July 27, the court ordered to trial Walid Makled, who was 
indicted as the ``intellectual author'' of the 2009 killing of 
investigative journalist Orel Sambrano. Three other individuals 
previously had been charged in connection with Sambrano's killing: 
former Carabobo police officer Rafael Segundo Perez, convicted in May 
2010 and sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment, and Jose Duque Daboin and 
David Antonio Yanez Inciarte, who remained detained pending completion 
of their trials.

    Internet Freedom.--There were no government restrictions on access 
to the Internet, and individuals and groups could engage in the 
expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. However, 
under the reformed RESORTE law, Internet providers are subject to 
government regulations. The law prohibits the dissemination of messages 
or information that could incite violence, promote hatred and 
intolerance, lead to crime or murder, foment anxiety in the populace or 
disturb public order, or be considered disrespectful of public offices 
or officeholders. It puts the burden of filtering electronic messages 
on service providers, provides that CONATEL can order them to block 
access to Web sites that violate these norms, and sanctions them with 
fines for distributing prohibited messages. Human rights and media-
freedom advocates complained that the law further limited freedom of 
expression. Following the December 2010 enactment of the law, IAPA 
stated that the RESORTE and telecommunications laws tried to ``put a 
tombstone on freedom of press and expression.'' On January 21, the 
Alliance for Free Expression, composed of 14 organizations and 
universities involved in human rights and press freedom issues, 
condemned the laws as ``antidemocratic and unconstitutional'' for 
``limiting even more the right to free and plural communication that 
the constitution guarantees for all Venezuelans."
    During the year some NGOs, members of the opposition, and 
government critics expressed concern that the government monitored e-
mails and Web searches. On September 7, Public Space publicly 
complained that, from August 31 to September 7, the social networking 
sites and e-mails of political figures, civil society activists, 
writers, and journalists had been hacked. According to the NGO, social 
network identities were usurped and personal communications and 
messages were broadly disseminated, some in government-controlled 
media. Twitter accounts of several opposition figures were hacked and 
began disseminating progovernment messages.
    Public Space called for the government to investigate and punish 
the hackers. In a September 2 communique, the group #N33 claimed 
responsibility for the hacking attacks and absolved the government of 
any responsibility. The group justified the attacks by claiming that 
the individuals who had been hacked had used their Twitter accounts to 
``attack in different forms the solemnity of our institutions and, more 
specifically, that of the chief of state.'' The group pledged to 
continue the cyber attacks. In November there was a similar outbreak of 
cyber attacks. By year's end the government had taken no action to 
investigate or punish those responsible for these incidents.

    Academic Freedom and Cultural Events.--There were some government 
restrictions on academic freedom and cultural events. However, on 
January 4, President Chavez announced he would not sign into law the 
controversial University Education Law that the National Assembly had 
adopted in December 2010, which would have eliminated the principle of 
university autonomy and established the construction of socialism as 
the goal of higher education.
    Students alleged that the government retaliated against opposition-
oriented autonomous universities by allocating budgets significantly 
below the annual 25-30 percent inflation rate, forcing cutbacks in 
student services and financial support. Between February 23 and March 
26, at least 30 students in several cities engaged in a hunger strike 
in favor of a ``just university budget,'' with several sewing their 
lips together as part of the protest. The hunger strike ended after the 
Ministry of University Education agreed to increase the number and 
financial amount of student scholarships and to negotiate issues 
involving university services and employee salaries.
    Government supporters sometimes disrupted university classes, 
marches, and rallies and used violence and intimidation to protest 
university policies and to discourage opposition students from 
political participation.
    On June 17, in Maracay, Aragua State, members of the progovernment 
Tupamaro and Bolivarian Circle militant groups attacked students and 
university employees who were demonstrating to demand the university 
pay workers' back pay. Three students and two workers were reportedly 
injured in the confrontation. There was no reported government 
investigation of the attack.
    On December 9, a group of masked individuals violently interrupted 
the vote-counting process during the student leadership elections at 
the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). The assailants detonated 
pipe bombs that damaged a section of the university, released tear gas, 
and destroyed vote-counting equipment. The attack caused the 
university's election authorities to reschedule the elections in two of 
the departments where voting had not yet concluded and to delay the 
release of the rest of the results, which overwhelmingly favored 
opposition-affiliated over progovernment candidates. UCV Rector Cecilia 
Garcia Arocha criticized the government's lack of investigation of 
previous attacks against the university and said the impunity provoked 
further attacks.

    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.
    Human rights groups continued to criticize the 2005 penal code 
revision for its strict penalties on some forms of peaceful 
demonstration. PROVEA expressed concern over the law's 
``criminalization'' of protests and noted that between October 2010 and 
September 2011, government security forces impeded or repressed 3 
percent of the 4,472 peaceful demonstrations that were reported to have 
taken place, compared with 4.6 percent of the 3,315 protests that 
occurred during the preceding 12-month period.
    During the year government security forces used tear gas, water 
hoses, and rubber bullets to suppress peaceful protests. According to 
press reports, in April a group of students chained themselves to a 
fence surrounding a courthouse in Barinas State to call for the release 
of imprisoned General Delfin Gomez Perez, whom the government had 
arrested in 2006 on corruption charges the students alleged were 
politically motivated. After 19 days, police dispersed the students 
using pellet guns and tear gas. According to press reports, four 
students suffered injuries from pellets shot at close range and 10 
students sustained other injuries.

    Freedom of Association.--While the constitution provides for 
freedom of association and freedom from political discrimination, the 
government only partially respected this right. Although indicating 
that professional and academic associations generally operated without 
interference, the associations complained that the National Electoral 
Council (CNE), which is responsible for convoking all elections and 
establishing dates and procedures for them, repeatedly interfered with 
their attempts to hold internal elections.

    c. Freedom of Religion.--See the Department of State's 
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 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 U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in 
providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and 
other persons of concern.

    Protection of Refugees.--Access to Asylum.--The constitution 
recognizes the right to asylum and refuge, and laws provide for the 
granting of asylum or refugee status. 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.
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.--Recent Elections.--In 
September 2010 voters elected 165 deputies to five-year terms in the 
National Assembly; voter participation reached 66.5 percent. Voters 
also elected 12 deputies to the Latin American Parliament 
(``Parlatino''). The CNE did not invite international election 
monitoring missions to observe the electoral process. However, domestic 
electoral observers and opposition political leaders generally 
considered the elections free and fair despite scattered delays due to 
problems with old voting machines, generalized reports of improper 
electioneering by the official PSUV party, and isolated examples of 
voter intimidation.
    One CNE rector and opposition political parties criticized the 
electoral law and the electoral redistricting for allegedly violating 
the constitutional principle of proportionality. Opposition parties 
claimed the changes led to PSUV candidates winning approximately 59 
percent of the National Assembly seats (98) despite winning only 49 
percent of the national vote. Opposition candidates won approximately 
40 percent of the seats (65) with 48 percent of the national vote. A 
third party won the remaining two seats with approximately 3 percent of 
the vote.
    One CNE rector and the domestic electoral observation NGO Ojo 
Electoral also criticized the government's partisan use of state-owned 
media in the months before the election and during the official month-
long campaign period. The NGO specifically cited the CNE's failure to 
enforce its regulations providing for ``equality of conditions'' in 
access to the media, especially the president's use of frequent and 
lengthy mandatory broadcasts (cadenas) for partisan campaign purposes.

    Political Parties.--In December 2010 the outgoing National Assembly 
enacted two laws that restrict the freedom of National Assembly 
deputies:
    The Law on Political Parties, Public Meetings, and Demonstrations 
prohibits deputies from voting against legislation proposed by the 
political organization that supported their candidacies; ``making 
common cause'' with ``contrary'' positions, parties, or organizations; 
and changing parliamentary blocs. At the request of 0.l percent of the 
voters and upon the approval of a simple majority of the deputies, the 
comptroller general can penalize a deputy for ``fraud against the 
electorate'' with disqualification from public office. Critics claimed 
the law violates Article 201 of the constitution, which provides that 
deputies are subject only to their consciences and that their votes are 
``personal.'' No deputies were sanctioned under this law during the 
year.
    The Law on Internal Rules and Debate reduces the amount of time a 
deputy can speak on the floor, lowers the threshold necessary to 
sanction a deputy for violating the rules of debate, and restricts 
access by private television stations to the National Assembly. 
Throughout the year opposition deputies and independent journalists 
repeatedly criticized the lack of access to the National Assembly for 
independent media. On June 21, the CNP called on ANTV television, which 
has the exclusive right to televise the National Assembly, to provide 
unbiased coverage of parliamentary proceedings. Based on a content 
analysis of ANTV's broadcasts, the NGO Legislative Monitor claimed on 
September 15 that ANTV rarely broadcast opposition deputies' views, 
named them only when they were being discredited, and always linked 
them with plans to destabilize the country. The NGO called on the 
National Assembly to restore open media access to parliamentary 
sessions.
    The constitution provides for parliamentary immunity for anyone 
elected to the legislature ``from the time of their proclamation until 
the end of their term or resignation,'' and opposition Deputies-elect 
Richard Blanco and Hernan Aleman were sworn into office despite pending 
legal charges against them. However, on January 5, imprisoned 
opposition Deputies-elect Jose ``Mazuco'' Sanchez and Biaggio Pilieri 
were prevented from taking office (see sections 1. c. and 1.e.). 
Sanchez's alternate, Nora Bracho, was sworn into office and legislated 
in his absence. Pilieri was released from prison on February 23 and 
sworn into office the following day.
    Opposition political parties operated in a restrictive atmosphere, 
which was characterized by intimidation, the threat of prosecution or 
administrative sanction on questionable charges, prohibitions against 
receiving resources from any non-Venezuelan person or entity, and 
restricted media access because of the smaller number of independent 
television and radio stations (see section 2.a.). Throughout the year 
the Public Ministry and the National Assembly threatened to open or 
reopen investigations against leading opposition political figures, 
including presidential candidates Henrique Capriles Radonski, Pablo 
Perez, and Leopoldo Lopez, on charges ranging from corruption to human 
rights abuses by police in their jurisdictions. On September 28, the 
progovernment majority in the National Assembly decided to open an 
investigation against opposition Governor Henri Falcon for his failure 
to increase teachers' salaries and for alleged corruption in several 
tenders during his tenure as mayor of Iribarren and governor of Lara 
State. Earlier in the year, the Public Ministry had opened an 
investigation of Falcon on similar charges. Falcon claimed the 
government was seeking a way to disqualify him administratively from 
running for reelection in 2012. Falcon had left the progovernment PSUV 
party to join an independent party in 2010.
    On September 1, in the case of Leopoldo Lopez (see section 1.e.), 
the IA Court ruled that administrative disqualification from public 
office absent a trial and conviction violated the American Convention 
on Human Rights. On October 17, the TSJ formally rejected the IA 
Court's decision, including its order to revise the law that authorizes 
administrative disqualifications for alleged corruption. However, the 
TSJ president stated that Lopez could ``register and participate freely 
in elections'' but not necessarily hold public office if elected. 
According to the Office of the Comptroller General, as of November the 
comptroller general had administratively disqualified 116 people during 
the year; 343 individuals in total were subject to administrative 
disqualifications at year's end.
    On November 8, former National Assembly deputy Wilmer Azuaje pled 
guilty and was sentenced to 12 months of supervised parole for 
physically attacking a female CICPC officer in March 2010 and harassing 
his former spouse in 2009. Azuaje had previously criticized his 
prosecution as politically motivated.

    Participation of Women and Minorities.--The National Assembly that 
took office on January 5 had 26 female deputies. During the year women 
headed three of the five branches of government (judicial, electoral, 
and citizen) and occupied 12 of the 31 cabinet positions. There were 13 
women among the 32 justices on the TSJ.
    The constitution reserves three seats in the National Assembly for 
indigenous persons. Three deputies were elected for these seats in the 
September 2010 elections. There was one indigenous member of 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 or 
impartially and frequently investigated and prosecuted its political 
opponents selectively on corruption charges to harass, intimidate, or 
imprison them. The press reported that officials engaged in corrupt 
practices with impunity.
    The Comptroller General's Office is responsible for investigating 
and administratively sanctioning corruption by public officials. The 
Public Ministry investigates and criminally prosecutes individuals and 
entities in the public and private sectors for corruption. The National 
Assembly can order the Public Ministry to undertake investigations. The 
Public Ministry and the Public Defender's Office investigate abuses by 
police and military officials.
    The NGO Transparency Venezuela reported that between 2004 and 2010, 
the government had fulfilled four, and made some progress on 12, of the 
113 recommendations that the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the 
Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption had 
made to improve government transparency and fight corruption. The NGO 
reported no progress on the remaining 97 recommendations. Transparency 
International's 2011 report reflected a perception that the public 
sector was highly corrupt.
    During his March 15 appearance before the National Assembly to 
present his annual report, Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian 
acknowledged corruption in the government's housing construction 
program, paralysis in public works projects, the loss or deterioration 
of state-owned property, expired medications and rotten food in 
government warehouses, and minimal accountability over the funds 
transferred from the national government to community councils.
    During the year the comptroller general sanctioned 157 public 
officials for alleged corruption: 116 were administratively 
disqualified from holding public office, 36 were suspended from their 
jobs, and five were dismissed (see section 3).
    Although the Public Ministry said that corruption was ``one of the 
phenomena that most affects national development,'' the Public Ministry 
dismissed or suspended 81 percent of its corruption-related cases in 
2010, according to its annual report. The Public Ministry reported it 
had closed 3,210 cases involving corruption in both the private and 
official sectors: 596 resulted in indictments, 2,443 were dismissed, 
and 171 were suspended.
    The Public Ministry and the Public Defender's Office also 
investigate abuses by police and military officials. Corruption was a 
major problem in all police forces, whose members were generally poorly 
paid and minimally trained. Impunity for corruption, brutality, and 
other acts of violence were major problems explicitly acknowledged by 
some government officials (see section 1.d.). There was no information 
publicly available about the number of investigations, prosecutions, 
and convictions of police and military officials during the year.
    One example of high-level corruption involved Rafael Ramos de la 
Rosa, a government-appointed trustee for two stock brokerage firms, Uno 
Valores and Italbursatil. Ramos had been appointed as a receiver by the 
National Securities Superintendency. He was charged in the Southern 
District Court of Florida in October 2010 on allegations he came to 
Miami, Florida, to collect a $1.5 million extortion payment from the 
former owner of Uno Valores. He pled guilty on July 4 to charges of 
extortion and conspiracy to obstruct foreign commerce.
    On November 7, after an 18-month detention, the court conditionally 
released, pending trial, the three defendants charged in the June 2010 
``Pudreval'' scandal, in which thousands of tons of decomposed food 
were found at government warehouses throughout the country. The food 
had been intended for distribution through the government's subsidized 
food programs. The individuals charged were current or former employees 
of PDVAL, the food import and distribution unit of the state oil 
company, PDVSA: director Luis Pulido Lopez, former executive director 
of operations Mercedes Vilyeska Betancourt Pacheco, and former general 
manager Ronnal Jose Flores Burgillo. The court had suspended or 
deferred the trial 24 times, annulled the original proceedings and 
ordered a retrial in a different court, and recused four judges in the 
case, including one who had reduced the charges against the defendants.
    On August 31, former opposition governor Didalco Bolivar returned 
to the country and was detained in connection with outstanding 2009 
charges for ``irregularities in the exercise'' of his official 
responsibilities. On September 15, the court released Bolivar on 
conditional parole pending a review of his case. Shortly after his 
release, in interviews with government-controlled media, Bolivar 
publicly denounced several prominent opposition figures, including 
National Assembly Deputy Ismael Garcia, for alleged corruption. Garcia 
denied the allegations, claimed Bolivar was ``following the 
government's playbook,'' and contrasted the Public Ministry's prompt 
response to Bolivar's accusations with the lack of any official 
investigation into his various allegations of corruption by government 
officials.
    Public officials as well as all directors and members of the board 
of private companies are required to submit sworn financial disclosure 
statements pursuant to the Organic Law on the Comptroller General of 
the Republic and the National Fiscal Control System and the Law against 
Corruption, respectively (see section 3).
    The law provides for citizen access to government information. 
However, human rights groups reported that the government routinely 
ignored this requirement. During an October 25 hearing before the 
IACHR, NGOs denounced the difficulties in accessing public information. 
Public Space claimed it had submitted 65 requests for information 
related to human rights since August, 84 percent of which had received 
no response. The CNP president stated that between January and 
September, there were 21 complaints of limitations in access for 
independent media to sources of public official information. He stated 
that independent media could not access government and police offices, 
PDVSA installations, government press conferences, or even public 
hospitals, markets, and shelters. He claimed that ``the pattern simply 
consists of impeding access, expelling or attacking [the journalists], 
and alleging that access requires a permit."
Section 5. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
        Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
        Rights
    A variety of independent domestic and international human rights 
groups generally operated with some government restrictions. Major 
domestic human rights NGOs conducted investigations and published their 
findings on human rights cases. Government officials were not 
cooperative or responsive to their views.
    Many domestic NGOs reported government threats and harassment 
against their leaders, staff, and organizations. For example, on June 
18, Minister of Interior and Justice El Aissami publicly blamed OVP 
Director Humberto Prado for fomenting the riot at the El Rodeo 
Penitentiary (see section 1.c.). Following El Aissami's statement, a 
blog published Prado's personal details, including his address and 
private telephone numbers. The blog entry concluded by warning that, 
``Soon, we'll publish information about the family. so the people can 
judge whether he deserves the death penalty.'' The Web sites of state 
news agencies claimed that Prado was working with opposition-oriented 
human rights groups and ``right-wing political leaders'' to use the 
inmates to generate ``chaos and blame the government.'' On June 22, 
Prado's wife received an anonymous telephone call saying that her 
husband would be ``the next one to fall."
    The government threatened NGOs with criminal investigations for 
allegedly illegal receipt of foreign funds. In December 2010 the 
National Assembly adopted the Law on the Defense of Political 
Sovereignty and National Self-Determination, which prohibits 
individuals, political organizations, or organizations involved in the 
defense of ``political rights'' from receiving resources from any non-
Venezuelan person or entity. The law penalizes individuals and 
organizations with fines and/or a potential five- to eight-year 
disqualification from running for political office. The law defines 
political organizations as those involved in promoting citizen 
participation, exercising control over public offices, and promoting 
candidates for public office. Organizations involved in the defense of 
political rights include those that ``promote, disseminate, inform, or 
defend the full exercise of the political rights of citizens.'' The law 
also prohibits foreign nationals sponsored by Venezuelan individuals or 
political organizations from ``issuing opinions that offend the 
institutions of the state, its high officials or go against the 
exercise of sovereignty."
    The government did not investigate or sanction any organization 
pursuant to this law during the year. However, on July 25, the 
president of the NGO Committee of Family Members of the Victims of the 
Events that occurred between February 27 and the first days of March 
1989 reported that the civil registry office denied the registration 
applications of five NGOs because their stated purposes included the 
words ``democracy,'' ``human rights,'' or ``civil and political 
rights"; the officials reportedly claimed they were acting under 
orders.
    In the report prepared by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner 
for Human Rights in preparation for the UPR, UNESCO noted that the 
limitations contained in the new law ``could affect the stability of 
NGOs that received international funds and did not have any other 
income."

    U.N. and Other International Bodies.--During the year the 
government expressed hostility toward international human rights bodies 
(see section1.e.). The government again refused to permit a visit by 
the IACHR, which has not visited the country since 2002. However, 
following an October 6 meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Human 
Rights Navi Pillay, Solicitor General Carlos Escarra announced that ``a 
visit by Pillay is expected'' in 2012.
    In response to the April 14 release of the IACHR's annual report 
for 2010, German Saltron, the government's representative to the 
organization, said there was ``nothing new'' in his country's inclusion 
on the IACHR's ``black list.'' The report expressed concern about 
freedom of expression, the lack of judicial independence, harassment of 
human rights defenders and journalists, prison violence, the high level 
of social violence, and the Enabling Law, which it considered 
``incompatible'' with the American Convention on Human Rights (see 
section 3). On October 7 and 12, the government participated in the 
U.N. Human Rights Council's UPR of Venezuela. The government received 
148 recommendations, of which it accepted 95, rejected 38, and deferred 
15. It accepted recommendations related to police, prisons, and social 
services, and it rejected recommendations made by certain delegations 
regarding respect for the independence of the judiciary, freedom of 
expression, and civil society. The foreign minister claimed that the 
NGOs that criticized the country during the UPR were paid for by the 
``empire'' (the United States). Several countries received diplomatic 
notes from the Foreign Ministry that expressed concern about their 
criticisms during the UPR and suggested that these statements could 
affect their bilateral relationships.

    Government Human Rights Bodies.--Although the public defender, 
appointed by the National Assembly, is responsible for ensuring that 
citizen rights are protected in a conflict with the state, human rights 
NGOs claimed that the Public Defender's Office was not independent and 
rarely acted on public interest cases. The NGOs also alleged that the 
public defender was chosen in 2007 in a nontransparent process. Reports 
or recommendations issued by the office were not widely available. 
According to its 2010 annual report, the Public Defender's Office 
considered 27,919 complaints during that year, of which 12,582 related 
to human rights.
    The National Assembly's subcommission on human rights played an 
insignificant role in human rights debates.
Section 6. Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
    The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, sexual 
orientation, disability, language, or social status; however, 
discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, and indigenous 
persons and discrimination based on sexual orientation were problems. 
On August 22, the National Assembly passed the Organic Law against 
Racial Discrimination, which President Chavez signed into law on 
December 19. The law aims to eliminate all forms of racial 
discrimination, creates a new National Institute against Racial 
Discrimination to enforce the law, and provides for up to three years' 
imprisonment for acts of racial discrimination.

    Women.--Rape and Domestic Violence.--The law criminalizes rape, 
including spousal rape, making it punishable by a prison term of eight 
to 14 years. However, cases often were not reported to the police due 
to fear of social stigma and retribution, particularly in light of 
widespread impunity. There were no reliable statistics on the incidence 
of, or prosecutions or convictions for, rape. A man may avoid 
punishment by marrying. before he is sentenced, the person he violated. 
Women faced substantial institutional and societal prejudice with 
respect to reporting rape and domestic violence.
    The law criminalizes physical, sexual, and psychological violence 
in the home, the community, and at work. The law punishes perpetrators 
of domestic violence with penalties ranging from six to 27 months in 
prison. The law requires police to report domestic violence to judicial 
authorities and obligates hospital personnel to notify the authorities 
when admitting patients who are victims of domestic abuse. Police 
generally were reluctant to intervene to prevent domestic violence. The 
law also establishes women's bureaus at local police headquarters and 
tribunals specializing in gender-based violence. As of October there 
were 43 prosecutors with exclusive responsibility for dealing with such 
crimes. On September 13, Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega Diaz 
established a separate Department for the Defense of Women within the 
Public Ministry.
    However, violence against women continued to be a problem. On 
September 14, Dizlery Cordero, the director for the defense of women in 
the Public Ministry, said the ministry received an average of 15 to 45 
complaints related to gender violence daily. In its 2010 annual report, 
the Public Ministry reported it had filed formal charges in 6,530 (12 
percent) of the 54,170 cases involving gender violence it closed during 
the year. As of October the prosecutor general reported that the Public 
Ministry had received 95,877 complaints of gender violence. The press 
reported on October 9 that according to unofficial statistics from the 
Prosecutor General's Office, 501 women died as a result of domestic 
violence during the year.
    The government sought to combat domestic violence through public 
awareness campaigns and training programs. For example, the press 
reported that on January 20 and 21, more than 90 police officers took 
part in training to help them better assist victims of domestic 
violence. The Public Ministry conducted a series of workshops on 
violence against women between August and December.

    Sexual Harassment.--Sexual harassment is illegal and punishable by 
a prison sentence of one to three years. Although allegedly common in 
the workplace, sexual harassment cases were rarely reported.

    Reproductive Rights.--Couples and individuals have 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 generally 
given equal access to diagnostic services and treatment for sexually 
transmitted infections. The U.N. Population Fund reported that skilled 
health personnel attended 95 percent of births and that 62 percent of 
women and girls ages 15 to 49 used a modern method of contraception.

    Discrimination.--Women and men are legally equal in marriage, and 
the law provides for gender equality in exercising the right to work. 
The law specifies that employers must not discriminate against women 
with regard to pay or working conditions. According to the Ministry of 
Labor and the Confederation of Workers, these regulations were enforced 
in the formal sector, although women reportedly earned 40 percent less 
than men on average. The Ministry of Women worked to protect women's 
rights but did not make statistics publicly available.
    The law provides women with property rights equal to those of men. 
In practice, however, women frequently waived these rights by signing 
over the equivalent of power of attorney to their husbands.

    Children.--Birth Registration.--Citizenship is derived by birth 
within the country's territory. According to UNICEF, thousands of 
children were not officially registered at birth.

    Child Abuse.--According to UNICEF and NGOs working with children 
and women, child abuse, including incest, occurred but was rarely 
reported. According to a National Institute for Statistics (INE) 
survey, 5 percent of victims of sexual abuse were children. Although 
the judicial system acted to remove children from abusive households, 
public facilities for such children were inadequate and had poorly 
trained staff.
    Under the law sexual relations with a minor under age 13 or an 
``especially vulnerable'' person, or with a minor under age 16 when the 
perpetrator is a relative or guardian, are punishable with a mandatory 
sentence of 15 to 20 years' imprisonment. The law prohibits inducing 
the prostitution and corruption of minors. Penalties range from three 
to 18 months in prison and up to four years in prison if the minor is 
younger than 12 years old. If the crime is committed repeatedly or for 
profit, it is punishable by three to six years' imprisonment. Prison 
sentences for inducing a minor into prostitution increase by up to five 
years if various aggravating circumstances occur. Penalties for several 
crimes relating to child prostitution do not apply if the perpetrator 
marries the victim.

    Sexual Exploitation of Children.--There were isolated reports of 
commercial sexual exploitation of children during the year. For 
example, in February local media reported that law enforcement 
officials took 11 girls who had been forced into prostitution in 
Caracas to a government shelter for victims of sexual abuse; they 
arrested the alleged traffickers. The law prohibits the production and 
sale of child pornography and establishes penalties of 16 to 20 years' 
imprisonment. There was no publicly available information regarding the 
number of investigations or prosecutions of cases involving the 
commercial sexual exploitation of minors or child pornography.
    According to a March 2010 announcement by the Public Ministry, a 
total of 67 prosecutors were assigned to handle cases specializing in 
the protection of children.

    Displaced Children.--The NGO For the Rights of Children and 
Adolescents estimated that 15,000 children lived on the streets. 
Authorities in Caracas and several other jurisdictions imposed curfews 
on unsupervised minors to attempt to cope with this problem, but with 
institutions filled to capacity, hundreds of children accused of 
infractions, such as curfew violations, were confined in inadequate 
juvenile detention centers. The government's social-service mission, 
Mission Negra Hipolita, reported providing assistance to 6,112 street 
children and homeless persons during the year. According to the public 
defender, there are 243 public and private institutions for children 
abandoned or removed from dangerous home situations. These institutions 
lacked specialized personnel and adequate space and materials.

    International Child Abduction.--The country is a party to the 1980 
Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

    Anti-Semitism.--There were widespread reports of societal abuses or 
discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice, 
including anti-Semitism.
    There were an estimated 9, 000 Jews in Venezuela. Jewish community 
leaders publicly expressed concern about numerous anti-Semitic 
statements in the official media and by President Chavez. For example:
    On May 24, Jewish leaders filed a formal protest with the 
Prosecutor General's Office over the ``incitement to hate'' contained 
in an April 4 broadcast on the government-owned Radio del Sur. In that 
broadcast the station's director, Cristina Gonzalez, promoted the 
Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a ``must-read.'' On May 9, the 
government announced Gonzalez had been replaced as the director for 
unspecified reasons; however, she continued to have two radio programs 
on the state-owned Radio Nacional de Venezuela.
    On September 17, in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon 
in support of Palestinian statehood, President Chavez denounced Israel 
for committing ``genocide'' and ``ethnic cleansing'' of Palestinians 
and called Zionism ``racism."
    On July 14, a court sentenced six of the 11 defendants to 10 years 
in prison for the 2009 vandalism and desecration of the Tiferet Israel 
Synagogue in Caracas. The trial of the remaining five defendants began 
on July 15 and continued at year's end. The defendants were accused of 
conspiracy, aggravated theft, concealing weapons, religious disrespect, 
and embezzlement.

    Trafficking in Persons.--See the Department of State's Trafficking 
in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip.

    Persons With Disabilities.--The law prohibits discrimination 
against persons with physical and mental disabilities in education, 
employment, health care, and the provision of other state services, but 
the government did not make a significant effort to implement the law, 
inform the public of it, or combat societal prejudice against persons 
with disabilities. The law requires that all newly constructed or 
renovated public parks and buildings provide access, but persons with 
disabilities had minimal access to public transportation, and ramps 
were practically nonexistent. Online resources and access to 
information were generally available to persons with disabilities. The 
National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (Conapdis), an 
independent agency affiliated with the Ministry for Participation and 
Social Development, and the Mission Jose Gregorio Hernandez advocate 
for the rights of persons with disabilities and provide them with 
medical, legal, occupational, and cultural programs. Through the new 
Mission for the Children of Venezuela, announced on November 25, the 
government has undertaken to provide monthly subsidies of BsF 600 
($140) to heads of households for each disabled child or adult whom 
they support.

    Indigenous People.--The law prohibits discrimination based on 
ethnic origin, and senior government officials repeatedly stated 
support for indigenous rights. Many of the country's approximately 
300,000 indigenous persons were isolated from urban areas, lacked 
access to basic health and educational facilities, and suffered from 
high rates of disease. The government included indigenous persons in 
its literacy campaigns, in some cases teaching them to read and write 
in their native languages as well as in Spanish.
    The law provides for three seats in the National Assembly for 
deputies of indigenous origin and for ``the protection of indigenous 
communities and their progressive incorporation into the life of the 
nation.'' Nonetheless, NGOs and the press reported that local political 
authorities seldom took account of indigenous interests when making 
decisions affecting indigenous lands, cultures, traditions, or the 
allocation of natural resources. Indigenous persons called on the 
government to recognize lands traditionally inhabited by them as 
territories belonging to each respective indigenous group. The Yukpa 
indigenous group also called on the National Assembly to recognize the 
jurisdiction of indigenous courts to handle criminal cases involving 
its members.
    Conflict between cattle ranchers/landowners and indigenous persons 
occurred sporadically. Civil society organizations criticized a 
government land-transfer program, which gave private dairy farms in 
Zulia State to the Yukpa indigenous group, for causing tension and 
violence in the region. On August 8, approximately 100 Yukpa invaded a 
private dairy farm in the Sierra de Perija region in the western part 
of the country to protest the government's failure to demarcate 
indigenous lands. After 12 days, the government sent National Guard 
members to remove the squatters. The government promised to activate 
committees composed of representatives of the government, indigenous 
communities, and landowners to implement the land demarcation agreement 
reached after a violent 2008 land invasion. On October 12, independent 
of the demarcation agreement, President Chavez expropriated 
approximately 39,000 acres of land in Zulia State, which included 25 
private ranches, for the benefit of the Yukpa. He also created an 
``indigenous socialist'' mission, Mission Guaicaipuro, to oversee the 
land transfer and incorporate Bolivarian social programs in indigenous 
communities.

    Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on 
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.--The constitution provides for 
equality before the law of all persons and prohibits discrimination 
based on sex or social condition. On this basis the Supreme Court has 
ruled that no individual may be discriminated against by reason of 
sexual orientation.
    Violence against lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual (LGBT) 
communities reportedly occurred during the year, although nationwide 
statistics were unavailable. The media and leading advocates for the 
rights of LGBT persons noted that victims of hate crimes based on 
sexual orientation frequently did not report the incidents and were 
often subjected to threats or extortion if they did file official 
complaints.
    In its report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in preparation for 
the UPR, the NGO Diversity and Sexual Equality claimed that, based on 
750 interviews conducted in 2008, more than 50 percent of lesbians and 
gays reported suffering from societal violence or police abuse, and 83 
percent of transgender persons reported having been victims of violence 
or other abuse. The report also stated that the government 
systematically denied legal recognition to transgender persons by 
preventing them from obtaining identity documents required for 
accessing education, employment, housing, and health care.
    During the first six months of the year, the press reported that 
four transgender sex workers had been killed in Caracas: Jesus Nazaret 
Rondon, Luis Alberto Bravo, ``Rubi,'' and ``Samantha.'' The CICPC 
detained one suspect in Rondon's killing and three members of the 
``Prince'' gang for the killings of Rubi, Samantha, and Bravo. The 
press reported the ``Prince'' gang extorted transsexuals who worked in 
the Libertador area of Caracas.

    Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.--According to the 
comprehensive study on ``The Right to Non-Discrimination for HIV in 
Venezuela'' by the NGO Solidarity Action, based on a June-November 2010 
survey of 1,332 persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, 82 percent of those 
polled reported ``not receiving equal treatment'' because of their HIV/
AIDS status, and 22 percent claimed to have experienced acts of 
discrimination or violence, even in health centers. Only 22 percent 
reported filing complaints regarding this discrimination with 
government authorities. The study reported that 73 percent of HIV/AIDS 
patients had told only their doctor of their medical condition for fear 
of discrimination or harassment. Solidarity Action concluded that the 
stigmatization and discrimination discouraged testing and early 
diagnosis and treatment, made it impossible ``to achieve greater 
advances in the national response to HIV,'' and ``negatively affected . 
the exercise of their freedoms in their public as well as personal 
lives."
Section 7. Worker Rights
    a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining.--
The law provides that all private and public sector workers (except 
armed forces members) have the right to form and join unions of their 
choice, and it protects collective bargaining and the right to strike. 
However, the law places several restrictions on these rights. Minimum 
membership requirements for unions differ based on the type of union. A 
minimum of 20 workers is required to form a company union; 40 workers 
in the same field to form a professional, industrial, or sectoral union 
in one jurisdiction; 150 workers to form a regional or national union; 
and 100 independent workers to form a national professional, 
industrial, or sectoral union. The law requires that employers may 
negotiate a collective contract only with the union that represents the 
majority of their workers. Minority organizations cannot jointly 
negotiate in cases where no union represents an absolute majority.
    Although the constitution and Organic Labor Law recognize the right 
of all public and private sector workers to strike in accordance with 
conditions established by labor law, other laws establish criminal 
penalties for the exercise of this right in certain circumstances. For 
example, article 56 of the Organic Law on the Security of the Nation 
prohibits and punishes with a five- to 10-year prison sentence anyone 
who ``organizes, supports, or instigates the realization of activities 
within security zones that are intended to disturb or affect the 
organization and functioning of military installations, public 
services, industries and basic [mining] enterprises, or the social-
economic life of the country.'' Articles 139 and 140 of the Law for the 
Defense of Persons in their Access to Goods and Services provide for 
prison terms of two to six years and six to 10 years, respectively, for 
those who restrict the distribution of goods and for ``those . who 
develop or carry out actions or omissions that impede, either directly 
or indirectly, the production, manufacture, import, storing, transport, 
distribution, and commercialization of goods.'' Labor activists have 
been charged under these provisions as well as under the penal code for 
``instigation to commit a crime,'' ``blocking public access,'' and 
restriction of the ``right to work."
    The constitution prohibits ``any act of discrimination or 
interference contrary to the exercise'' of workers' right to unionize. 
Replacement workers are not permitted during legal strikes; however, 
the president may order public or private sector strikers back to work 
and submit their disputes to arbitration if the strike ``puts in 
immediate danger the lives or security of all or part of the 
population.'' In June the International Labor Organization (ILO) called 
on the government to amend the Law for the Defense of Persons in their 
Access to Goods and Services to exclude services ``that are not 
essential in the strict sense of the term . [and] so that in no event 
may criminal sanctions be imposed in cases of peaceful strikes."
    The law also places a number of restrictions on unions' ability to 
administer their activities. For example, the CNE has the authority to 
administer internal elections of labor unions, federations, and 
confederations. By law elections must be held at least every three 
years. If CNE-administered and -certified elections are not held within 
this period, the law prohibits union leaders from representing workers 
in negotiations or engaging in anything beyond administrative tasks.
    The government did not enforce legal protections in the public 
sector. According to PROVEA, while ``the National Institute for 
Prevention, Health, and Labor Security improved the inspection 
processes and has forced many private businesses to correct dangerous 
labor conditions, these demands were not made in a similar manner in 
enterprises and entities of the state."
    The government placed restrictions on the freedom of association 
and right to collective bargaining through administrative and legal 
mechanisms. Labor unions complained of long delays in obtaining CNE 
concurrence to hold elections and in receiving certification of the 
election results, which hindered unions' ability to bargain 
collectively because union leaders were not permitted to represent 
workers in negotiations. The ILO noted that it repeatedly found cases 
of interference in trade union elections by the CNE.
    In addition, the government was reportedly responsible for the 
creation of many ``parallel'' unions which sought to dilute the 
membership and effectiveness of traditional, independent unions. In 
general, these new unions were not subject to the same government 
scrutiny and requirements regarding leadership elections. For instance, 
on November 17, the National Assembly eliminated the requirement for 
medical professionals to belong to the Venezuelan Medical Federation 
and authorized the establishment of alternative unions. Critics charged 
the change was intended to permit graduates of the ``integrated 
community doctors'' program, created by the government, to avoid having 
to meet the federation's standards and regulations.
    On October 10, some employees of the state-owned Venezolana de 
Television (VTV) established a new union, the National Socialist Union 
of VTV Workers (Sinsotra VTV), as an alternative to the longstanding 
union Movement of Organized Workers of Audiovisual Media of Venezuela 
(Motormav), which had been unsuccessful in getting the government to 
discuss a collective contract. The Motormav secretary general said the 
new organization was ``led by the minister of communications and a 
group of workers who have turned their backs on the interests of the 
employees.'' The new union immediately announced that the minister of 
communications had agreed to discuss its less costly collective 
contract proposal.
    In addition, the government prosecuted and punished union leaders 
and members for peaceful protests in defense of their labor rights. For 
example:
    On February 28, the court sentenced union leader Ruben Gonzalez to 
seven and a half years in prison for his role in organizing a 2009 
strike at the state-owned iron ore company Ferrominera Orinoco. The 
workers were protesting unpaid wages and the company's alleged failure 
to comply with other elements of the workers' collective agreement. On 
March 3, following protests by labor activists and students, the court 
released Gonzalez on the condition he not leave the country and report 
to the court every 15 days. In June the ILO called on the government to 
drop all charges against Gonzalez and compensate him for damages 
suffered. On July 8, Gonzalez publicly claimed the government was 
trying to fire him and 16 coworkers from their jobs in ``political 
retaliation'' for the strike.
    In June the ILO called on the government to immediately release six 
PDVSA workers detained since 2009 for their participation in a strike 
and to drop the criminal charges against them.
    The government continued to refuse to adjudicate or otherwise 
resolve the cases of 19,000 PDVSA employees who were fired during and 
after the 2002-03 national strike. The Ministry of Labor continued to 
deny registration to UNAPETROL, a union composed of these workers. On 
May 11, a fired employee, Jesus Malave, died of respiratory failure 
after a five-month hunger strike to protest the firings.
    Union leaders were subject to violent attacks. PROVEA reported that 
36 union leaders and workers were killed between October 2010 and 
September 2011. In one notable case, on June 9, progovernment unionist 
Renny Rojas was shot at the entrance to the Ferrominera Orinoco plant 
in Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar State, where workers were meeting to select a 
commission to organize the union's elections. A group of armed men 
attacked the meeting participants, killing Rojas and wounding two 
others. On August 8, the government accused Rodney Alvarez of 
committing the homicide; Alvarez was reportedly affiliated with Ruben 
Gonzalez's faction of the union (see above). Gonzalez publicly insisted 
that Hector Maican, a government supporter and the union's secretary of 
finance, was responsible for Rojas's death. The police initially 
detained Maican in connection with the shooting but subsequently 
dropped the homicide charge. Alvarez remained in custody pending trial 
at year's end.
    PROVEA reported that the vast majority of the crimes against 
unionists went unpunished. In its report to the ILO Governing Body in 
June, the Committee on Freedom of Association expressed its ``grave 
concern about the serious allegations of murders of workers and union 
officials."
    According to PROVEA, ``large sectors of national, state, and 
municipal public administrations and an important number of state 
enterprises continued to refuse to discuss collective agreements.'' 
PROVEA also noted the public sector's reliance on contracted employees, 
who are not covered by collective agreements. According to PROVEA, 
1,800 workers at the National Statistics Institute were contracted 
employees, some of whom had been in this status for more than a decade.

    b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor.--The law prohibits 
forced or compulsory labor. There was no information available 
regarding the government's enforcement of the law. There were isolated 
reports of trafficking in children for employment purposes, 
particularly in the informal economic sector (see section 7.c.). 
International organizations and NGOs also reported there were men, 
women, and children from Brazil, China, and Colombia subjected to 
forced labor, although there was no information available regarding the 
extent of the problem.
    Also see the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report at 
www.state.gov/j/tip.

    c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment.--The 
law sets the minimum employment age at 14 years and permits children 
ages 12 to 14 to work only if the National Institute for Minors or the 
Ministry of Labor grants special permission. Children ages 14 to 16 may 
not work without permission of their legal guardians and may work no 
more than six hours per day or 30 hours per week. Minors under the age 
of 18 may work only between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Minors may not work in 
mines, smelting plants, or in other occupations that risk life or 
health or could damage intellectual or moral development.
    Fines are established for employing children ages eight to 11 and 
for employing 12- or 13-year-olds without authorization. Employing a 
child younger than eight years of age is punishable by one to three 
years' imprisonment. Employers must notify authorities if they hire a 
minor as a domestic worker. The law establishes sentences of one to 
three years' incarceration for forced child labor.
    The Ministry of Labor and the National Institute for Minors 
enforced child labor policies effectively in the formal sector of the 
economy but less so in the informal sector. There was no information 
available on whether or how many employers were sanctioned for 
violations.
    The Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports ran educational 
programs to reincorporate school dropouts and adults into the 
educational system, and the government also continued to provide 
services to vulnerable children, including street children, working 
children, and children at risk of working. However, there was no 
independent accounting of the effectiveness of these and other 
government-supported programs.
    According to a 2009 UNICEF study, approximately 370,000 children 
between the ages of 10 and 17 worked in either the formal or informal 
sectors as of 2007; children between the ages of 10 and13 constituted 
approximately 18 percent of this total. Most child laborers worked in 
the agricultural sector, domestic service, or in small to medium-sized 
businesses, most frequently in family-run operations. There were 
isolated reports that children were trafficked for exploitation as 
domestic servants and forced begging.
    Also see the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/tda.htm.

    d. Acceptable Conditions of Work.--On April 26, the government 
announced a 26.5 percent increase in the monthly minimum wage and in 
the salaries of all public-sector employees, implemented in two stages, 
which raised the minimum wage to BsF 1,548 (approximately $360). 
However, the country's recent annual inflation rate was 25-30 percent. 
Moreover, the real annual purchasing power of the minimum wage was 
reduced with the BsF devaluation from 2.6/$1 to 4.3/$1 for both 
essential and nonessential goods. According to the INE, as of August 
the monthly basic food basket cost BsF 1,576.11 (approximately $367), 
although the NGO Workers' Center for Documentation and Analysis 
reported that, for the same month, a basic food basket cost BsF 
3,283.55 (approximately $764)--twice the minimum wage.
    The law stipulates that the workweek may not exceed 44 hours. 
Managers are prohibited from obligating employees to work additional 
time, and workers have the right to weekly time away from work. 
Overtime may not exceed two hours daily, 10 hours weekly, or 100 hours 
annually and may not be paid at a rate less than time-and-one-half. The 
constitution establishes the right of workers to paid vacations, and 
the Organic Labor Law establishes that after completing one year with 
an employer, the worker has a right to 15 days of paid vacation 
annually. In subsequent years, the worker has the right to an 
additional day for every additional year of service, up to a maximum of 
15 additional days annually.
    The law provides for secure, hygienic, and adequate working 
conditions. Employers are required to report work-related accidents, 
and the law obligates employers to pay specified amounts (up to a 
maximum of 25 times the minimum monthly salary) to workers for 
accidents or occupational illnesses, regardless of who is responsible. 
Workplaces must maintain ``sufficient protection for health and life 
against sickness and accidents,'' and penalties range from one quarter 
to twice the minimum monthly salary for first infractions. Under the 
law workers may remove themselves from dangerous workplace situations 
without jeopardy to continued employment.
    The Organic Labor Law covers all workers including temporary, 
occasional, and domestic workers. The Labor Ministry enforced minimum 
wage rates and hours of work provisions effectively in the formal 
sector, but approximately half the population worked in the informal 
sector, where labor laws and protections generally were not enforced. 
There was no public information regarding the number of inspectors or 
the frequency of inspections to implement health and safety laws. 
Ministry inspectors seldom closed unsafe job sites.
    While statistics were not publicly available, the press reported 
that, in the last five years, 47 workers died while working for state-
owned petroleum, electrical, and mining industries. On April 17, the 
press reported one fatality at a government-owned steel plant.

                              __________


                              APPENDIX A

                              ----------                              




                  Notes on Preparation of This Report

                              ----------                              

    The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are 
based on information available from a wide variety of sources, 
including U.S. and foreign government officials; victims of 
human rights abuse; academic and congressional studies; and 
reports from the press, international organizations, and 
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with human 
rights. We find particularly helpful, and make reference in the 
reports to, the role of NGOs, ranging from groups within a 
single country to those that concern themselves with human 
rights worldwide. While much of the information that we use is 
already public, information on particular abuses frequently 
cannot be attributed, for obvious reasons, to specific sources. 
This report reflects the Department of State's assessments and 
concerns with respect to the human rights situation around the 
world. The Department of States does not use sources or 
information it believes lack credibility.
    By law, the Secretary of State must submit the Country 
Reports to Congress by February 25. The Country Reports cover 
respect for human rights in foreign countries and territories 
worldwide. They do not purport to assess any human rights 
implications of actions taken by the U.S. government or its 
representatives.
    To comply with the congressional requirement for the 
reporting of human rights practices, we provide guidance to 
U.S. diplomatic missions in August for submission in September 
and October of draft reports, which we update at year's end as 
necessary. Other offices in the Department of State provide 
contributions, and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and 
Labor prepares a final draft. Due to the submission deadline, 
the report will not reflect developments that became known 
after the end of the calendar year. However, in the 
introduction to the reports, we may make reference to major 
events or significant trends after the close of the calendar 
year.
    We attempt to make the reports comprehensive, objective, 
and uniform in both scope and quality of coverage. We seek to 
maintain a high standard of consistency in the reports despite 
the multiplicity of sources and diversity of the countries of 
the world, but there is also a greater emphasis than in the 
past on flexibility in style in the interest of readability. We 
also began with the 2011 reports a process of streamlining 
them. As a result, there are not as many reported abuses cases, 
nor as extensive a follow-up on old but open abuses cases. 
Instead, we have selected a few illustrative examples, and we 
have adopted the practice of following up only on the previous 
year's high-profile open cases.
    Evaluating the credibility of reports of human rights 
abuses is often difficult. Most governments and opposition 
groups deny that they commit human rights abuses and sometimes 
go to great lengths to conceal any evidence of such acts. There 
may be few eyewitnesses to specific abuses, and frequently 
eyewitnesses are intimidated or otherwise prevented from 
reporting what they know. On the other hand, individuals and 
groups opposed to a government sometimes have powerful 
incentives to exaggerate or fabricate abuses, and some 
governments similarly distort or exaggerate abuses attributed 
to opposition groups. We have made every effort to identify 
those groups (for example, government forces) or individuals 
who are believed, based on all the evidence available, to have 
committed human rights or other related abuses. Many 
governments that profess to oppose human rights abuses in fact 
secretly order or tacitly condone them or simply lack the will 
or the ability to control those responsible for abuses. 
Consequently, in judging a government's policy, the reports 
look beyond statements of policy or intent and examine what a 
government actually has done to prevent human rights abuses, 
including the extent to which it investigates, brings to trial, 
and appropriately punishes those who commit abuses.
    For the first time, each country report begins with an 
executive summary that includes a description of the country's 
political structure, a brief account of a singularly important 
human rights development during the year, if one occurred, and 
a listing of the principal human rights problems in the 
country. Special attention is made to the existence of impunity 
for the security forces or other government elements.
    We have continued the effort from previous years to cover 
human rights problems affecting women, children, persons with 
disabilities, and indigenous people. The appropriate section of 
each country report discusses any abuses that are targeted 
specifically against women (for example, rape or other violence 
perpetrated by governmental or organized opposition forces, or 
discriminatory laws or regulations). In Section 6, we discuss 
socioeconomic discrimination; discrimination against persons 
with HIV/AIDS; societal violence against women, children, the 
gay, lesbian, and transgender community, persons with 
disabilities, or ethnic minorities; and the efforts, if any, of 
governments to combat these problems.
    The following notes on specific sections in each country 
report are not meant to be comprehensive descriptions but 
rather to provide an overview of the key problems covered and 
their organization:
    Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.--Includes 
killings by governments without due process of law or where 
there is evidence of a political motive. This section also 
covers extrajudicial killings (for example, the unlawful and 
deliberate killing of individuals carried out by order of a 
government or with its complicity), as well as killings by 
police or security forces and actions that resulted in the 
unintended death of persons without due process of law. The 
section generally excludes combat deaths and killings by common 
criminals if the likelihood of political motivation can be 
ruled out. Deaths in detention due to adverse conditions are 
covered in detail in the section on ``Torture and Other Cruel, 
Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.'' Summary deaths 
at the hands of rebel forces are covered in an optional Section 
1.g. if there was a significant internal conflict.
    Disappearance.--Covers cases in which political motivation 
appears likely and in which the victims have not been found or 
perpetrators have not been identified. Cases eventually 
classified as political killings in which the bodies of missing 
persons are discovered also are covered in the previous 
section, while those eventually identified as having been 
arrested or held in detention may be covered under ``Arbitrary 
Arrest or Detention.''
    Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment.--Covers torture (an act of intentionally inflicting 
severe pain, whether physical or mental) and cruel, inhuman, or 
degrading treatment or punishment committed by or at the 
instigation of government forces, including paramilitary 
forces, or by opposition groups. The section discusses actual 
occurrences, not whether they fit any precise definition, and 
includes use of physical and other force that may fall short of 
torture but which is cruel, inhuman, or degrading, including 
judicially sanctioned violent or abusive punishment. There also 
may be discussion of poor treatment that may not constitute 
torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The section 
also covers prison conditions and deaths in prison due to 
adverse conditions.
    Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.--Includes cases in which 
detainees, including political detainees, are held arbitrarily 
in official custody without being charged or, if charged, are 
denied a public preliminary judicial hearing within a 
reasonable period. The section also includes subsections on the 
role of the police and security apparatus, arrest and detention 
practices, and any amnesties that may have occurred during the 
year.
    Denial of Fair Public Trial.--Notes whether there is an 
independent judiciary free of corruption and whether trials are 
both fair and public (failure to hold any trial is noted in the 
section above). The subsection ``Political Prisoners and 
Detainees'' covers persons convicted, imprisoned, or detained 
essentially for political beliefs or nonviolent acts of dissent 
or expression, regardless of the actual legal charge. The 
subsection ``Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies'' notes 
whether there is access to an independent and impartial court 
to seek damages for or cessation of an alleged human rights 
violation. The optional subsection ``Property Restitution'' is 
included if there is a systemic failure of a government to 
enforce court orders with respect to restitution or 
compensation for the taking of private property under domestic 
law.
    Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence.--Includes government punishment of family 
members for alleged violations of law by individuals and 
efforts to coerce or forbid membership in a political 
organization. This section discusses the right of the 
individual to noninterference by the state. It includes the 
right to receive foreign publications, for example, while the 
right to publish is discussed under ``Freedom of Speech and 
Press.'' It includes the right to be free from coercive 
population control measures, including coerced abortion and 
involuntary sterilization, but it does not include certain 
cultural or traditional practices, such as female genital 
mutilation, which are addressed in Section 6 under women's 
issues.
    Use of Excessive Force and Other Abuses in Internal 
Conflicts.--This optional section (1.g.) describes abuses in 
countries experiencing significant internal conflict. It 
includes indiscriminate, nonselective killings arising from 
excessive use of force or by the shelling of villages 
(deliberate, targeted killing of civilians is discussed in the 
section on ``Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life''). This 
section also includes abuses against civilian noncombatants. 
For countries where use of this section would be inappropriate 
because there is no significant internal or external conflict, 
killings by security forces are discussed in the section on 
``Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life.'' Nonlethal abuses 
are discussed in the section on ``Torture and Other Cruel, 
Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.'' As necessary, 
the use of child soldiers either by government forces or rebel 
groups is discussed in this subsection. A new element for the 
2011 reports in this subsection is required reporting of 
deliberate attacks on healthcare facilities, workers, 
ambulances, or patients, unless they commit or are used to 
commit hostile acts. Also required is the reporting of any 
restriction on medical facilities or services in a conflict 
zone that serve a humanitarian purpose.
    Freedom of Speech and Press.--Evaluates whether these 
freedoms exist and describes any direct or indirect 
restrictions. A subsection (``Internet Freedom'') includes 
discussion of monitoring or restriction on the expression of 
opinion via the Internet. Another subsection, entitled 
``Academic Freedom and Cultural Events,'' includes information 
on restrictions, intimidation, and censorship in these fields.
    Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.--Evaluates 
the ability of individuals and groups (including political 
parties) to exercise these freedoms. It considers instances of 
government failure to provide permits or licenses for meetings 
and demonstrations, as well as information on the ability of 
trade associations, professional bodies, NGOs, and similar 
groups to maintain relations or affiliate with recognized 
international bodies in their fields. The right of workers to 
associate, organize, and bargain collectively is discussed 
under Section 7 on ``Worker Rights'' (see Appendix B).
    Freedom of Religion.--All country reports have a hyperlink 
to the most current International Religious Freedom Report 
published by the Department of State. Examples of anti-Semitism 
are located in Section 6 under a separate subsection, appearing 
after Children and before Trafficking.
    Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, 
Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons.--This section 
discusses whether and under what circumstances governments 
exiled citizens; restricted foreign travel, especially for 
women; and revoked passports. It includes subsections on 
``Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)'' (if applicable), 
``Protection of Refugees,'' and ``Stateless Persons'' (if 
applicable). As defined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the 
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, refugees are persons 
outside their country of origin or, if stateless, outside their 
country of habitual residence who have a well-founded fear of 
persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, 
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, 
and who are unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the 
protection of that country. Under certain regional instruments, 
such as the Organization of African Unity convention governing 
the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa, the term 
refugee may refer to persons displaced by civil strife, 
widespread violence, or natural disaster. The subsection 
``Protection of Refugees'' reviews the government's extension 
of assistance and protection to refugees, including 
nonrefoulement, the provision of temporary protection, support 
for voluntary repatriation, longer-term integration 
opportunities, and third-country resettlement. It also covers 
abuse and discrimination against refugees. The subsection on 
stateless persons examines whether a country has habitual 
residents who are legally stateless (not recognized as 
nationals under the laws of any state) or de facto stateless 
(not recognized as nationals by any state even if these 
individuals have a claim to nationality under the laws of a 
particular state). The report reviews whether the government 
has implemented effectively laws and policies to provide such 
persons the opportunity to gain nationality on a 
nondiscriminatory basis. The subsection also examines, among 
other matters, whether there is violence or discrimination 
against stateless persons in employment, education, housing, 
health services, marriage or birth registration, access to 
courts, or the owning of property.
    Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to 
Change Their Government.--Discusses the extent to which 
citizens have freedom of political choice and the legal right 
and ability in practice to change the laws and officials that 
govern them. The subsection ``Elections and Political 
Participation'' assesses whether elections were free and fair, 
including participation by women and minorities on an equal 
basis.
    Official Corruption and Government Transparency.--This 
section covers allegations of corruption in the executive, 
legislative, and judicial branches of government and actions 
taken to combat it. The section covers whether the public has 
access in law and practice to government information.
    Governmental Attitude Regarding International and 
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human 
Rights.--This section discusses whether the government permits 
the free functioning of local human rights groups (including 
the right to investigate and publish their findings on alleged 
human rights abuses), whether these groups are subject to 
reprisal by government or other forces, and whether government 
officials are cooperative and responsive to their views. The 
section also discusses whether the government grants access to 
and cooperates with outside entities (including foreign human 
rights organizations, international organizations, and foreign 
governments) interested in human rights developments in the 
country. It reports on national human rights commissions, 
parliamentary commissions, relations with international war 
crimes tribunals, and truth or similar commissions.
    Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in 
Persons.--This section contains subheadings on Women; Children; 
Anti-Semitism; Trafficking in Persons; Persons with 
Disabilities; Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of 
Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity; and 
Other Societal Violence or Discrimination. If applicable, it 
also includes subheadings on National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities, 
Indigenous People, and Promotion of Acts of Discrimination. The 
section addresses discrimination and abuses not discussed 
elsewhere in the report, focusing on laws, regulations, or 
state practices that are inconsistent with equal access to 
housing, employment, education, healthcare, or other 
governmental benefits for members of specific groups. (Abuses 
by government or opposition forces, such as killing, torture 
and other violence, or restriction of voting rights or free 
speech targeted against specific groups are addressed under the 
appropriate preceding sections.)
    The subsection ``Women'' discusses societal violence 
against women, such as dowry deaths, ``honor killings,'' wife 
beating, rape, female genital mutilation (on those over age 18; 
for younger girls it is covered in the subsection on 
``Children''), and government tolerance of such practices, as 
well as the extent to which the law provides for, and the 
government enforces, equality of economic opportunity for 
women. A paragraph on reproductive rights reports on the basic 
right of couples and individuals to decide freely and 
responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children.
    The subsection ``Children'' discusses violence or other 
abuse against children, and, as applicable, access to education 
and health care, as well as other issues.
    The subsection on ``Anti-Semitism'' discusses anti-Semitic 
abuses. The material used to be found under Section 2.c. on 
Religious Freedom, but that section now contains a hyperlink to 
the most recent International Religious Freedom Report. Within 
that report, there is also material on anti-Semitism.
    The ``Trafficking in Persons'' subsection contains a 
hyperlink to the most recent Trafficking in Persons Report of 
the Department of State.
    The subsection ``Persons with Disabilities'' covers 
discrimination against persons with physical or mental 
disabilities in, among other things, employment, education, and 
the provision of other government services. The subsection on 
``Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based 
on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity'' notes laws 
criminalizing sexual orientation and reports on discrimination 
against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons.

                     Worker Rights--See Appendix B

Explanatory Notes
    Occasionally the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
state that a country ``generally respected'' the rights of its 
citizens. The phrase ``generally respected'' is used because 
the protection and promotion of human rights is a dynamic 
endeavor. It cannot accurately be stated that any government 
fully respected these rights all the time without qualification 
in even the best of circumstances. Accordingly, ``generally 
respected'' is a standard phrase used to describe all countries 
that attempt to protect human rights in the fullest sense, and 
it is thus the highest level of respect for human rights 
assigned by this report.
    In some instances, Country Reports use the word 
``Islamist,'' which should be interpreted by readers as a 
Muslim who supports Islamic values and beliefs as the basis for 
political and social life.
    Since the Secretary of State designates foreign groups or 
organizations as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) on the 
FTO list, only those groups on the most current Department of 
State FTO list will be described as ``terrorists'' in the 
reports.
    When describing whether a government provides ``protection 
against refoulement,'' the reports are referring to whether the 
government refrained from expelling or returning a refugee in 
any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his 
or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, 
religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a 
particular social group.
    Subject headings in these reports are used to introduce 
general topics, and the report text that follows such headings 
is intended to describe facts generally relevant to those 
topics and is not intended to reach conclusions of a legal 
character.


                              APPENDIX B

                              ----------                              



                       Reporting on Worker Rights

                              ----------                              

    The 1984 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Renewal 
Act requires annual reporting on the status of internationally 
recognized worker rights in GSP beneficiary countries. It 
defines internationally recognized worker rights to include: 
``(A) the right of association; (B) the right to organize and 
bargain collectively; (C) a prohibition on the use of any form 
of forced or compulsory labor; (D) a minimum age for the 
employment of children; and (E) acceptable conditions of work 
with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational 
safety and health.'' All five aspects of worker rights are 
discussed in each country report under the section heading 
Worker Rights in four subsections: freedom of association and 
the right to collective bargaining; prohibition of forced or 
compulsory labor; prohibition of child labor and minimum age 
for employment; and acceptable conditions of work.
    The discussion of worker rights considers not only laws and 
regulations but also their practical implementation. This 
discussion is informed by internationally recognized labor and 
antitrafficking standards, including the Conventions and 
Recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO) 
and the U.N. Organized Crime Convention Protocol to Prevent, 
Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons. Some specific 
guidelines derived from these international standards are 
discussed below.
    A. ``The right of association'' has been defined by the ILO 
to include the right of workers and employers to establish and 
join organizations of their own choosing without previous 
authorization; to draw up their own constitutions and rules, 
elect their representatives, and formulate their programs; to 
join in confederations and affiliate with international 
organizations; and to be protected against dissolution or 
suspension by administrative authority.
    The right of association includes the right of workers to 
strike. While it is generally accepted for strikes to be 
restricted in the public sector and in essential services, the 
interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety, 
or health of a significant portion of the population, these 
restrictions must be offset by adequate safeguards for the 
interests of the workers concerned (for example, mechanisms for 
mediation and arbitration, due process, and the right to 
judicial review of legal actions). Reporting on restrictions on 
the ability of workers to strike generally includes information 
on any procedures that may exist for safeguarding workers' 
interests.
    B. ``The right to organize and bargain collectively'' 
includes the right of workers to be represented in negotiating 
the prevention and settlement of disputes with employers, the 
right to protection against interference, and the right to 
protection against acts of antiunion discrimination. 
Governments should promote mechanisms for voluntary 
negotiations between employers and workers and their 
organizations. Coverage of the right to organize and bargain 
collectively includes a review of the extent to which 
collective bargaining takes place and the extent to which 
workers, both in law and practice, are protected against 
antiunion discrimination.
    C. ``Forced or compulsory labor'' is defined as work or 
service exacted under the menace of penalty and for which a 
person has not volunteered. ``Work or service'' does not apply 
where obligations are imposed to undergo education or training. 
``Menace of penalty'' includes loss of rights or privileges as 
well as penal sanctions. The ILO has exempted the following 
from its definition of forced labor: compulsory military 
service, normal civic obligations, certain forms of prison 
labor, emergencies, and minor communal services. It further 
notes that constitutional provisions concerning the obligation 
of citizens to work do not violate this right so long as they 
do not take the form of legal obligations enforced by sanctions 
and are consistent with the principle of ``freely chosen 
employment.'' The U.N. Trafficking Protocol also addresses 
forced labor, by requiring state parties to criminalize the 
recruitment, transport, transfer, receipt or harboring of a 
person for the purpose of forced labor or services extracted 
through coercive or fraudulent means.
    D. ``Prohibition of child labor and minimum age for 
employment'' concerns the effective abolition of child labor by 
raising the minimum age for employment to a level consistent 
with the fullest physical and mental development of young 
people. ILO Convention 182 on the ``worst forms of child 
labor'' identifies anyone under the age of 18 as a child and 
specifies certain types of employment as ``the worst forms of 
child labor.'' These worst forms of labor include slavery, debt 
bondage, forced labor, forced recruitment into armed conflict, 
child prostitution and pornography, involvement in illicit 
activity such as drug production or trafficking, and work that, 
``by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried 
out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of 
children.'' In limited circumstances, ILO Convention 182 
permits the employment of children between the ages of 16 and 
18 in what the convention describes as an ``unhealthy 
environment,'' if adequate protective measures have been taken.
    E. ``Acceptable conditions of work'' refers to the 
establishment and maintenance of mechanisms, adapted to 
national conditions, that provide for minimum working 
standards,namely: wages that provide a decent living for 
workers and their families; working hours that do not exceed 48 
hours per week, with a full 24-hour day of rest; a specified 
number of annual paid leave days; and minimum conditions for 
the protection of the safety and health of workers.

                                                                                           APPENDIX C
                                                                         Selected International Human Rights Conventions
                                                                   (See Footnotes and Appendix D for Treaty/Convention Titles)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         COUNTRY                            1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afghanistan..............................................   P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    P    P    P    P    -
Albania*.................................................   S    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Algeria..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Andorra..................................................   -    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    S    -
Angola...................................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    -    -
Antigua & Barbuda........................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    1    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Argentina................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Armenia..................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Australia................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Austria..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Azerbaijan...............................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -
Bahamas..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    -
Bahrain..................................................   P    P    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Bangladesh...............................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Barbados.................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    -
Belarus..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -
Belgium..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Belize...................................................   1    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    1    P    P    P    S    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Benin....................................................   2    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Bhutan*..................................................   -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    S    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    P    -    S    -
Bolivia..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Bosnia & Herzegovina.....................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Botswana.................................................   1    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    1    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -
Brazil...................................................   P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Brunei*..................................................   1    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    1    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    S    -
Bulgaria.................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Burkina Faso.............................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Burma....................................................   P    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    -    S    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    P    -    P    -
Burundi..................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    S
Cambodia.................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -    S    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Cameroon.................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Canada...................................................   P    -    P    P    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Cape Verde...............................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Central African Republic.................................   2    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    S
Chad.....................................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Chile....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
China....................................................   2    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    P    -    -    P    S    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
China (Hong Kong)........................................   P    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -
China (Macau from 12-20-99)..............................   -    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    -
China (Macau to 12-19-99)................................   -    -    -    P    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -
China (Taiwan only)*.....................................   P    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    P    S    S    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
Colombia.................................................   S    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Comoros..................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    S    P    P    S    S
Congo, Democratic Republic of............................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    S
Congo, Republic of.......................................   2    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    S
Cook Islands.............................................   -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    -
Costa Rica...............................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Cote D'Ivoire............................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    S
Croatia..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Cuba.....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -
Cyprus...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Czech Republic...........................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Denmark..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Djibouti.................................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Dominica.................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    1    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -
Dominican Republic.......................................   S    P    P    S    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
East Timor...............................................   -    P    P    -    P    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    P    -    -
Ecuador..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Egypt....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
El Salvador..............................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    S    S    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Equatorial Guinea........................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    S
Eritrea..................................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    -    P    -    -    -
Estonia..................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Ethiopia.................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
European Union...........................................   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -
Fiji.....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    S    -
Finland..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
France...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Gabon....................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Gambia...................................................   1    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    1    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    S    P    P    -    S
Georgia..................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Germany..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Ghana....................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Greece...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Grenada..................................................   1    P    P    1    P    P    P    -    -    1    1    P    S    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    -
Guatemala................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Guinea...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Guinea-Bissau............................................   -    P    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    S    P    -    -    -
Guyana...................................................   1    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -   ...   P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Haiti....................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    -
Holy See.................................................   -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    -    P    P    -    -    -
Honduras.................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Hungary..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Iceland..................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
India....................................................   P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    S    P    -    P    -
Indonesia................................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -
Iran.....................................................   S    P    -    P    -    P    P    S    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    S    S    -    -    P    P    P    -
Iraq.....................................................   P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    -    -
Ireland..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Israel...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -
Italy....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Jamaica..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -
Japan....................................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Jordan...................................................   P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Kazakhstan...............................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Kenya....................................................   -    P    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Kiribati*................................................   1    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    1    1    P    -    1    1    -    1    -    -    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -
Korea, Dem. Rep. of*.....................................   -    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    -    P    -    P    -    -    -
Korea, Republic of*......................................   -    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Kuwait...................................................   P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -
Kyrgyzstan...............................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Laos.....................................................   -    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    S    S    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    S    P    P    P    -
Latvia...................................................   2    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Lebanon..................................................   2    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Lesotho..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Liberia..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -    S    S    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Libya....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Liechtenstein*...........................................   -    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -
Lithuania................................................   S    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Luxembourg...............................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Macedonia................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Madagascar...............................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    S    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Malawi...................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Malaysia.................................................   -    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    -
Maldives*................................................   -    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Mali.....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Malta....................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Marshall Islands*........................................   -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    P    -    -    -
Mauritania...............................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -
Mauritius................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Mexico...................................................   P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -
Micronesia*..............................................   -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    P    -    S    -
Moldova..................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Monaco*..................................................   P    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    S    -
Mongolia.................................................   P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Montenegro...............................................   P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -
Morocco..................................................   P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Mozambique...............................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Namibia..................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Nauru*...................................................   -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    S    S    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    S    P    -    P    -
Nepal....................................................   P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -
Netherlands..............................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
New Zealand..............................................   P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Nicaragua................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Niger....................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Nigeria..................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Niue.....................................................   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    -
Norway...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Oman*....................................................   -    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -
Pakistan.................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    S    -    -    -    P    S    S    P    -    P    P    P    -
Palau....................................................   -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    S    S    S    -    -    -    -    P    P    S    S    P    -    S    -
Panama...................................................   S    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Papua New Guinea.........................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    S    -
Paraguay.................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    S    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Peru.....................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    S    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Philippines..............................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Poland...................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Portugal.................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Qatar....................................................   -    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -
Romania..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Russia...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S    -
Rwanda...................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    S
Samoa*...................................................   -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    -
San Marino...............................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -
Sao Tome & Principe......................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    S    S    S    P    P    -    P    P    P    S    S    P    P    -    S
Saudi Arabia.............................................   P    P    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Senegal..................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Serbia...................................................   -    P    P    -    P    -    P    -    P    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    -
Seychelles...............................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    1    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Sierra Leone.............................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Singapore................................................   -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -
Slovak Republic..........................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Slovenia.................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Solomon Islands..........................................   P    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    -    1    -    1    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    -
Somalia..................................................   -    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    S    -    -    S
South Africa*............................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    S    -    P    P    P    S    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Spain....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Sri Lanka................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    S    -
St. Kitts & Nevis*.......................................   1    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    1    1    P    P    -    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    -
St. Lucia................................................   P    P    P    1    P    P    P    -    -    1    P    P    P    S    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    -
St. Vincent & the Grenadines*............................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Sudan....................................................   P    P    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    S    P    P    P    -
Suriname.................................................   2    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    1    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    -
Swaziland................................................   1    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    1    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Sweden...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Switzerland..............................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -
Syria....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    -
Tajikistan*..............................................   -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -
Tanzania.................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -
Thailand.................................................   -    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    -    -    P    -    P    P    P    -
Togo.....................................................   2    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Tonga*...................................................   1    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    1    1    1    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    P    -    S    -
Trinidad & Tobago........................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    S    -
Tunisia..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Turkey...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    S    S    P    P    -    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -
Turkmenistan.............................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -
Tuvalu*..................................................   1    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    1    1    -    -    1    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    -    P    -    -    -
Uganda...................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P
Ukraine..................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
United Arab Emirates.....................................   -    P    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
United Kingdom...........................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
United States............................................   P    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    S    -    P    S    -    S    S    S    P    S    P    S    -
Uruguay..................................................   S    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    S    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Uzbekistan...............................................   -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    S    -
Vanuatu*.................................................   -    -    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    1    P    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
Venezuela................................................   -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -
Vietnam*.................................................   P    -    -    P    -    P    P    -    -    -    -    -    P    P    P    -    -    -    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    S    -
Yemen....................................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -
former Yugoslavia........................................   P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    -    -
Zambia...................................................   P    P    P    -    P    P    P    -    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    S
Zimbabwe.................................................   1    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    P    P    -    P    P    -    S
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P = Party
S = Signatory
* = non-ILO member
1 = Based on general declaration concerning treaty obligations prior to independence
2 = Party to 1926 Convention only
 
----------
Key to Human Rights Conventions:  1-Slavery  2-ILO Convention 29  3-ILO Convention 87  4-Genocide  5-ILO Convention 98  6-Prisoners of War  7-Civilians in War  8-Traffic in Persons  9-European
  HR Conv.  10-Pol. Rights of Women  11-Suppl. Slavery Conv.  12-ILO Convention 105  13-Racial Discrimination  14-Civil and Pol. Rights  15-Econ./Soc./Cul. Rights  16-UN Refugee Convention  17-
  UN Refugee Protocol  18-American HR Conv.  19-ILO Convention 138  20-Geneva Protocol I  21-Geneva Protocol II  22-CEDAW  23-Torture  24-Rights of the Child  25-ILO Convention 182  26-
  Disabilities Convention  27-Kampala Convention



                              APPENDIX D

                              ----------                              



  Description of International Human Rights Conventions in Appendix C

                              ----------                              


 1.  Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery of 
        September 25, 1926, as amended by the Protocol of 
        December 7, 1953.

 2. Convention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labor of June 
        28, 1930 (ILO Convention 29).

 3. Convention Concerning Freedom of Association and Protection 
        of the Right to Organize of July 9, 1948 (ILO 
        Convention 87).

 4. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
        Genocide of December 9, 1948.

 5. Convention Concerning the Application of the Principles of 
        the Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively of July 
        1, 1949 (ILO Convention 98).

 6. Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of 
        War of August 12, 1949.

 7. Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian 
        Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949.

 8. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons 
        and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others 
        of March 21, 1950.

 9. European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and 
        Fundamental Freedoms of November 4, 1950.

10. Convention on the Political Rights of Women of March 31, 
        1953.

11. Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the 
        Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to 
        Slavery of September 7, 1956.

12. Convention Concerning the Abolition of Forced Labor of June 
        25, 1957 (ILO Convention 105).

13. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
        Racial Discrimination of December 21, 1965.

14. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 
        December 16, 1966.

15. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
        Rights of December 16, 1966.

16. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of July 28, 
        1951.

17. Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees of January 31, 
        1967.

18. American Convention on Human Rights of November 22, 1969.

19. Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to 
        Employment of June 26, 1973 (ILO Convention 138).

20. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 
        1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of 
        International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), of June 8, 
        1977.

21. Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 
        1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-
        International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), of June 8, 
        1977.

22. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 
        Discrimination Against Women of December 18, 1979.

23. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
        Degrading Treatment or Punishment of December 10, 1984.

24. Convention on the Rights of the Child of November 20, 1989.

25. Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action 
        for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor 
        of June 17, 1999 (ILO Convention 182).

26. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 
        December 13, 2006.

27. African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance 
        of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa of October 
        22, 2009.



    Additional detail regarding each of these treaties can be 
accessed at: http://treaties.un.org/

                                                                                           APPENDIX E
                                                                           FY 2011 Foreign Assistance Actuals, Part I
                                                                                        ($ in thousands)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                         All                      GHP        GHP
                                                                       Accounts        DA       09USAID    09STATE   GHP Total     ESF         TI       AEECA      INCLE       NADR       IMET
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL..............................................................   31,596,032    2,519,950  2,498,000  5,334,310  7,832,310  5,931,714     54,890    695,740  1,593,806    738,520    105,788
Africa.............................................................    7,915,306      987,337  1,265,573  3,646,673  4,912,246    503,540          -          -     61,368     42,600     16,110
  Angola...........................................................       60,871        2,300     40,353     10,300     50,653          -          -          -          -      7,500        418
  Benin............................................................       30,990        2,557     28,197          -     28,197          -          -          -          -          -        236
  Botswana.........................................................       75,467            -          -     74,443     74,443          -          -          -          -          -        685
  Burkina Faso.....................................................       17,886            -      5,988          -      5,988          -          -          -          -          -        246
  Burundi..........................................................       56,980        2,736     11,544     15,000     26,544          -          -          -          -          -        352
  Cameroon.........................................................       24,965            -      1,500     21,250     22,750          -          -          -          -          -        285
  Cape Verde.......................................................          123            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        123
  Central African Republic.........................................        6,775            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Chad.............................................................       90,354            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        391
  Comoros..........................................................          125            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        125
  Cote d'Ivoire....................................................      112,827            -          -     93,305     93,305     14,715          -          -          -          -         89
  Democratic Republic of the Congo.................................      268,166            -     86,046     39,635    125,681     45,915          -          -      6,000      1,000        500
  Djibouti.........................................................       13,391        4,000        400      1,800      2,200          -          -          -          -          -        372
  Ethiopia.........................................................      778,670       77,782    106,482    289,089    395,571          -          -          -          -          -        650
  Gabon............................................................          448            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        248
  Ghana............................................................      165,885       92,568     62,543      9,000     71,543          -          -          -        500          -        825
  Guinea...........................................................       25,017        7,000     17,469          -     17,469          -          -          -        500          -         48
  Guinea-Bissau....................................................           10            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -         10
  Kenya............................................................      786,621       75,813     75,345    498,760    574,105          -          -          -      2,000      8,000        929
  Lesotho..........................................................       33,236            -      6,400     26,650     33,050          -          -          -          -          -        186
  Liberia..........................................................      215,814            -     32,340      2,800     35,140    124,532          -          -     16,000          -        522
  Madagascar.......................................................       77,579        1,350     52,797        500     53,297          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Malawi...........................................................      172,571       37,000     67,995     46,448    114,443          -          -          -          -          -        400
  Mali.............................................................      137,906       71,143     54,597      1,500     56,097          -          -          -          -          -        397
  Mauritania.......................................................        5,442            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        184
  Mauritius........................................................          155            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        155
  Mozambique.......................................................      387,143       39,165     62,674    261,953    324,627          -          -          -        500      2,000        402
  Namibia..........................................................      103,272            -      1,946    101,122    103,068          -          -          -          -          -        204
  Niger............................................................       52,045        2,500          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -         66
  Nigeria..........................................................      632,464       55,791    101,971    471,227    573,198          -          -          -      1,250          -      1,013
  Republic of the Congo............................................          123            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        123
  Rwanda...........................................................      207,886       49,482     42,415    109,072    151,487          -          -          -          -          -        559
  Sao Tome and Principe............................................          180            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        180
  Senegal..........................................................       98,813       44,600     51,253      1,535     52,788          -          -          -          -          -      1,026
  Seychelles.......................................................           94            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -         94
  Sierra Leone.....................................................       19,302            -          -        500        500      6,500          -          -          -          -        394
  Somalia..........................................................      144,963            -      1,547          -      1,547     19,627          -          -          -      2,000          -
  South Africa.....................................................      571,440       15,734     15,469    535,319    550,788          -          -          -      2,000      1,300        820
  South Sudan......................................................      395,382            -     34,848     12,036     46,884    223,431          -          -     25,000      2,800        763
  Sudan............................................................      238,626            -          -          -          -     26,393          -          -      2,000      1,100          -
  Swaziland........................................................       59,799            -      6,900     52,700     59,600          -          -          -          -          -        199
  Tanzania.........................................................      509,650       75,193     89,222    336,254    425,476          -          -          -        450          -        455
  The Gambia.......................................................          120            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        120
  Togo.............................................................          286            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        286
  Uganda...........................................................      472,070       60,586     75,349    309,084    384,433          -          -          -        235          -        608
  Zambia...........................................................      379,701       36,226     52,794    283,661    336,455          -          -          -          -          -        422
  Zimbabwe.........................................................      147,455            -     37,459     39,330     76,789     25,578          -          -          -          -          -
  African Union....................................................          760            -          -          -          -        760          -          -          -          -          -
  State Africa Regional (AF).......................................       57,517            -          -          -          -     16,089          -          -      4,933     16,900          -
  USAID Africa Regional (AFR)......................................       86,971       68,850     18,121          -     18,121          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Central Africa Regional....................................       21,150       21,150          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID East Africa Regional.......................................       56,773       47,449      8,524        800      9,324          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Southern Africa Regional...................................       31,130       27,530      2,000      1,600      3,600          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID West Africa Regional.......................................       81,917       68,832     13,085          -     13,085          -          -          -          -          -          -
East Asia and Pacific..............................................      742,869      318,877    130,899     98,468    229,367     90,892          -          -     17,885     28,376      9,291
  Burma............................................................       38,527            -      2,100          -      2,100     36,427          -          -          -          -          -
  Cambodia.........................................................       75,408       24,000     32,460      3,000     35,460     12,000          -          -          -      2,940        260
  China............................................................       17,800        7,000          -      5,000      5,000      5,000          -          -        800          -          -
  Indonesia........................................................      205,727      123,995     37,191      5,250     42,441          -          -          -     10,520      7,000      1,811
  Laos.............................................................        7,224        1,455      1,000          -      1,000          -          -          -      1,000      1,900        200
  Malaysia.........................................................        2,256            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,300        956
  Marshall Islands.................................................          537          492          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -         45
  Micronesia.......................................................          492          492          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Mongolia.........................................................       10,441        6,198          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        250        997
  North Korea3,493.................................................            -            -          -          -      3,493          -          -          -          -          -
  Papua New Guinea.................................................        5,000            -      2,500      2,500      5,000          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Philippines......................................................      144,333       79,055     32,437          -     32,437          -          -          -      2,065      9,525      1,971
  Samoa............................................................          113            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        113
  Singapore........................................................          250            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        250          -
  Taiwan...........................................................          250            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        250          -
  Thailand.........................................................       12,968        5,051      1,000        500      1,500          -          -          -      1,740      1,541      1,568
  Timor-Leste......................................................       17,086       11,139      1,996          -      1,996      2,994          -          -        660          -        297
  Vietnam..........................................................      126,897       22,000          -     81,978     81,978     18,463          -          -          -      2,020        476
  State East Asia and Pacific Regional.............................       15,612            -          -          -          -     12,515          -          -      1,100      1,400        597
  USAID Regional Development Mission/Asia (RDM/A)..................       58,455       38,000     20,215        240     20,455          -          -          -          -          -          -
Europe and Eurasia.................................................      818,005            -     14,582     22,528     37,110     15,852          -    583,900          -     19,685     30,287
  Albania..........................................................       27,706            -          -          -          -          -          -     20,000          -      2,650      1,064
  Armenia..........................................................       44,417            -        399          -        399          -          -     39,725          -        850        449
  Azerbaijan.......................................................       26,400            -      1,248          -      1,248          -          -     20,000          -      1,215        943
  Belarus..........................................................       13,864            -          -          -          -          -          -     13,864          -          -          -
  Bosnia and Herzegovina...........................................       48,727            -          -          -          -          -          -     42,000          -      1,250        986
  Bulgaria.........................................................       11,259            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,778
  Croatia..........................................................        4,899            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        450        956
  Cyprus...........................................................        8,862            -          -          -          -      8,362          -          -          -        500          -
  Czech Republic...................................................        7,980            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,992
  Estonia..........................................................        3,838            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,143
  Georgia..........................................................       87,088            -          -        850        850          -          -     65,800          -      2,575      1,895
  Greece...........................................................           98            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -         98
  Hungary..........................................................        2,075            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,077
  Kosovo...........................................................       85,428            -          -          -          -          -          -     79,000          -        750        678
  Latvia...........................................................        3,929            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,135
  Lithuania........................................................        4,137            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,143
  Macedonia........................................................       28,203            -          -          -          -          -          -     22,650          -        520      1,041
  Malta............................................................          552            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        153
  Moldova..........................................................       22,295            -          -          -          -          -          -     19,500          -        400        898
  Montenegro.......................................................       10,927            -          -          -          -          -          -      8,000          -      1,000        455
  Poland...........................................................       36,022            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      2,090
  Portugal.........................................................           93            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -         93
  Romania..........................................................       14,724            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,750
  Russia...........................................................       66,138            -      8,488      2,300     10,788          -          -     54,350          -      1,000          -
  Serbia...........................................................       48,939            -          -          -          -          -          -     45,000          -      1,150        893
  Slovakia.........................................................        2,347            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        950
  Slovenia.........................................................        1,460            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        712
  Turkey...........................................................        5,415            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,425      3,990
  Ukraine..........................................................      123,243            -      3,997     19,378     23,375          -          -     86,261          -      2,700      1,925
  Eurasia Regional.................................................       41,805            -        450          -        450      2,495          -     37,860          -      1,000          -
  Europe Regional..................................................       32,635            -          -          -          -      2,495          -     29,890          -        250          -
  International Fund for Ireland...................................        2,500            -          -          -          -      2,500          -          -          -          -          -
Near East..........................................................    6,878,300       19,039      8,982          -      8,982  1,675,925          -          -    290,340     62,215     17,294
  Algeria..........................................................        9,835            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        650        953
  Bahrain..........................................................       17,396            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,500        435
  Egypt............................................................    1,553,775            -          -          -          -    249,500          -          -      1,000      4,600      1,275
  Iraq.............................................................      471,796            -          -          -          -    325,700          -          -    114,560     29,800      1,736
  Israel...........................................................    2,994,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Jordan...........................................................      678,184            -          -          -          -    362,274          -          -        250     12,500      3,760
  Lebanon..........................................................      186,351            -          -          -          -     84,725          -          -     19,500      4,800      2,476
  Libya............................................................        5,654            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Morocco..........................................................       34,141       19,039          -          -          -      2,281          -          -        750      1,100      1,989
  Oman.............................................................       16,122            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,500      1,622
  Saudi Arabia.....................................................          364            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        360          4
  Tunisia..........................................................       25,749            -          -          -          -      5,000          -          -      1,500        175      1,950
  United Arab Emirates230..........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -        230          -
  West Bank and Gaza...............................................      550,128            -          -          -          -    395,699          -          -    150,000          -          -
  Yemen............................................................       82,905            -      8,982          -      8,982     26,606          -          -      1,750      4,500      1,094
  Egypt Debt Relief................................................      100,000            -          -          -          -    100,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Multilaterals (MEM)..................................        1,140            -          -          -          -      1,140          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)........................       80,000            -          -          -          -     80,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC)..........................        3,000            -          -          -          -      3,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Multinational Force and Observers (MFO)..........................       26,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Near East Regional Democracy.....................................       35,000            -          -          -          -     35,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP)...............        1,530            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,030        500          -
  USAID Middle East Regional (OMEP)................................        5,000            -          -          -          -      5,000          -          -          -          -          -
South and Central Asia.............................................    5,013,464      146,527    278,453     23,504    301,957  2,906,927          -    111,840    522,558    111,575     13,088
  Afghanistan......................................................    2,620,823            -     69,660        250     69,910  1,967,509          -          -    400,000     69,300      1,555
  Bangladesh.......................................................      190,701       79,286     61,483          -     61,483          -          -          -        350      2,575        994
  India............................................................      121,600       26,500     78,385      9,000     87,385          -          -          -          -      5,200      1,601
  Kazakhstan.......................................................       17,567            -      1,996          -      1,996          -          -     10,400          -      1,900        876
  Kyrgyz Republic..................................................       41,364            -        998          -        998          -          -     36,500          -      1,550        820
  Maldives.........................................................        3,179        3,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        179
  Nepal............................................................       88,964       19,000     32,645          -     32,645     16,979          -          -      3,700        900      1,010
  Pakistan.........................................................    1,798,201            -     28,443          -     28,443    918,904          -          -    114,298     24,800      4,055
  Sri Lanka........................................................       27,837       14,741          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        450        952
  Tajikistan.......................................................       44,482            -      1,248          -      1,248          -          -     40,290          -      1,725        469
  Turkmenistan.....................................................       11,012            -        399          -        399          -          -      8,500          -      1,075        288
  Uzbekistan.......................................................       11,335            -      2,196          -      2,196          -          -      8,250          -        600        289
  Central Asia Regional............................................       23,154            -      1,000     14,254     15,254          -          -      7,900          -          -          -
  State South and Central Asia Regional (SCA)......................        9,245            -          -          -          -      3,535          -          -      4,210      1,500          -
  USAID South Asia Regional........................................        4,000        4,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Western Hemisphere.................................................    1,856,199      361,463    130,977    203,323    334,300    435,130          -          -    506,220     25,200     14,458
  Argentina........................................................          897            -          -          -          -          -          -          -        300        300        297
  Belize...........................................................          410            -          -         20         20          -          -          -          -          -        190
  Bolivia..........................................................       41,915       10,350     16,367          -     16,367          -          -          -     15,000          -        198
  Brazil...........................................................       23,321       15,000      4,990      1,300      6,290          -          -          -      1,000        400        631
  Chile............................................................        1,321            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        500        821
  Colombia.........................................................      453,218            -          -          -          -    184,426          -          -    204,000      4,750      1,695
  Costa Rica.......................................................          743            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        394
  Cuba.............................................................       20,000            -          -          -          -     20,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Dominican Republic...............................................       36,996       18,103      9,043      9,250     18,293          -          -          -          -          -        600
  Ecuador..........................................................       24,254       17,270          -          -          -          -          -          -      4,500          -        400
  El Salvador......................................................       29,778       23,904      3,086         20      3,106          -          -          -          -          -      1,521
  Guatemala........................................................      110,161       49,325     18,068          -     18,068          -          -          -      3,992          -        192
  Guyana...........................................................       16,911        3,000          -     13,525     13,525          -          -          -          -          -        386
  Haiti............................................................      380,261            -     26,946    156,240    183,186    131,000          -          -     19,420          -        220
  Honduras.........................................................       56,017       42,266     10,988      1,000     11,988          -          -          -          -          -        765
  Jamaica..........................................................        7,589        5,350      1,200        300      1,500          -          -          -          -          -        739
  Mexico...........................................................      178,145       25,000      3,455          -      3,455     18,000          -          -    117,000      5,700      1,006
  Nicaragua........................................................       24,065       16,400      5,891        897      6,788          -          -          -          -          -        538
  Panama...........................................................        2,984            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        150        738
  Paraguay.........................................................        6,806        5,500          -          -          -          -          -          -        500          -        407
  Peru.............................................................       96,581       49,789      9,123         50      9,173          -          -          -     31,500      2,000        619
  Suriname.........................................................          251            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        251
  The Bahamas......................................................          201            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        201
  Trinidad and Tobago..............................................          253            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        253
  Uruguay..........................................................          989            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -        590
  Venezuela........................................................        5,000            -          -          -          -      5,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Barbados and Eastern Caribbean...................................       32,337       11,231      5,750     14,550     20,300          -          -          -          -          -        806
  State Western Hemisphere Regional (WHA)..........................      213,579            -          -          -          -     76,704          -          -    109,008     11,400          -
  USAID Central America Regional...................................       28,562       17,000      5,391      6,171     11,562          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Latin America and Caribbean Regional (LAC).................       52,835       47,445      5,390          -      5,390          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID South America Regional.....................................        9,819        4,530      5,289          -      5,289          -          -          -          -          -          -
Asia Middle East Regional..........................................       29,631       18,491      5,490        650      6,140      5,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Asia Middle East Regional........................................       29,631       18,491      5,490        650      6,140      5,000          -          -          -          -          -
BFS: Bureau for Food Security......................................      248,306      248,306          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Board for International Food and Agricultural Development             300          300          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   (BIFAD).........................................................
  BFS: Community Development.......................................       12,000       12,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Disaster Risk Reduction.....................................        5,000        5,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Market Access for Vulnerable Populations....................       18,000       18,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Monitoring and Evaluation...................................       15,000       15,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Private Sector Incentives...................................       24,006       24,006          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Research and Development....................................      120,000      120,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  FTF Unallocated29,000............................................       29,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Country Support (BFS)......................................       25,000       25,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
CT: Counterterrorism...............................................      137,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -    137,500          -
  S/CT: RSI, Regional Strategic Initiative.........................       23,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -     23,000          -
  State Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT)............................      114,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -    114,500          -
DCHA: Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.............      978,928       96,830     12,974          -     12,974     30,458     54,890          -          -          -          -
  Complex Crises Fund..............................................       39,920            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA: FEWSNet....................................................       13,000       13,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/ASHA........................................................       21,000       21,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/CMM.........................................................        3,500        3,500          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/CMM: Reconciliation Programs................................       25,948        9,980          -          -          -     15,968          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: Core....................................................       28,850       16,350          -          -          -      4,500          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: Elections and Political Process Fund....................       30,325            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: Global Labor Program....................................        9,496            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: SPANS, Special Protection and Assistance Needs of              42,164       19,200     12,974          -     12,974      9,990          -          -          -          -          -
   Survivors.......................................................
  DCHA/FFP: Contingency............................................      132,765            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/FFP: Non-Contingency........................................        8,300        8,300          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/OFDA........................................................      563,270            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/OTI.........................................................       54,890            -          -          -          -          -     54,890          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/PPM.........................................................        5,500        5,500          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
DRL: Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.............................       66,949            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL)...................       66,949            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
EGAT: Economic Growth, Education, and Environment..................      208,852      181,000          -          -          -     15,352          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Economic Growth, Education and Environment (EGAT)..........      208,852      181,000          -          -          -     15,352          -          -          -          -          -
G/TIP: Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.........       16,233            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     16,233          -          -
  State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP)       16,233            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     16,233          -          -
GH: Global Health..................................................      320,991            -    320,991          -    320,991          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Global Health: Core..............................................      320,991            -    320,991          -    320,991          -          -          -          -          -          -
GH: International Partnerships.....................................      329,079            -    329,079          -    329,079          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Blind Children............................................        1,996            -      1,996          -      1,996          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Commodity Fund............................................       20,335            -     20,335          -     20,335          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunization (GAVI)...........       89,820            -     89,820          -     89,820          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)..............       28,710            -     28,710          -     28,710          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD)..........................        1,500            -      1,500          -      1,500          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Microbicides..............................................       45,000            -     45,000          -     45,000          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD).........................       76,846            -     76,846          -     76,846          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Threats.............       47,904            -     47,904          -     47,904          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: TB Drug Facility..........................................       14,970            -     14,970          -     14,970          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: MDR Financing.............................................        1,998            -      1,998          -      1,998          -          -          -          -          -          -
INL: International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs...........      179,202            -          -          -          -          -          -          -    179,202          -          -
  INL: Alien Smuggling/Border Security.............................        1,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,000          -          -
  INL: Anti-Money Laundering Programs..............................        4,150            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      4,150          -          -
  INL: CFSP, Critical Flight Safety Program........................       16,250            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     16,250          -          -
  INL: Civilian Policing...........................................        4,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      4,000          -          -
  INL: Criminal Youth Gangs........................................        7,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      7,000          -          -
  INL: Cyber Crime and IPR.........................................        3,750            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      3,750          -          -
  INL: Demand Reduction............................................       12,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     12,500          -          -
  INL: Fighting Corruption.........................................       12,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     12,500          -          -
  INL: ILEA, International Law Enforcement Academy.................       34,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     34,000          -          -
  INL: Inter-regional Aviation Support.............................       57,052            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     57,052          -          -
  INL: International Organizations.................................        4,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      4,500          -          -
  INL: International Organized Crime...............................        1,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      1,000          -          -
  INL: Program Development and Support.............................       29,250            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     29,250          -          -
IO: International Organizations....................................      351,290            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization...............          950            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: IDLO International Development Law Organization..............          650            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: IMO International Maritime Organization......................          400            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: International Chemicals and Toxins Programs..................        3,800            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: International Conservation Programs..........................        7,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: International Panel on Climate Change / U.N. Framework              10,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   Convention on Climate Change....................................
  IO: Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund..........................       25,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: Multilateral Action Initiatives..............................        1,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: OAS Development Assistance...................................        4,750            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: OAS Fund for Strengthening Democracy.........................        3,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: U.N. OCHA U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian           2,940            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   Affairs.........................................................
  IO: U.N. Voluntary Funds for Technical Cooperation in the Field          1,372            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   of Human Rights.................................................
  IO: U.N. Women (formerly UNIFEM).................................        6,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UN-HABITAT U.N. Human Settlements Program....................        2,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNCDF U.N. Capital Development Fund..........................          625            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNDF U.N. Democracy Fund.....................................        5,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNDP U.N. Development Program................................       84,775            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNEP U.N. Environment Program................................        7,700            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNESCO / ICSECA International Contributions for Scientific,          1,850            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   Educational, and Cultural Activities............................
  IO: UNFPA U.N. Population Fund...................................       37,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNHCHR U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights...............        3,238            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNICEF U.N. Children's Fund..................................      132,250            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNVFVT U.N. Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture............        5,700            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: WMO World Meteorological Organization........................        2,090            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: WTO Technical Assistance.....................................        1,200            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
ISN: International Security and Nonproliferation...................      266,823            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -    266,823          -
MFS: Multilateral Food Security Programs...........................       25,000       25,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Multilateral Food Security Programs..............................       25,000       25,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Middle East Response Fund..........................................      135,000            -          -          -          -    135,000          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Response Fund........................................      135,000            -          -          -          -    135,000          -          -          -          -          -
ODP - Office of Development Partners...............................       78,471       78,471          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Cooperative Development Program (CDP)......................        7,000        7,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Development Grants Program (DGP)...........................       25,000       25,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Private Sector Alliances (PSA).............................       28,171       28,171          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Volunteers for Prosperity (VfP)............................        1,700        1,700          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Office of Development Partners (ODP).......................       16,600       16,600          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
OES: Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.      105,552            -          -          -          -    105,552          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/CC Climate Change............................................       80,000            -          -          -          -     80,000          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/FTA-E FTA Environment........................................        3,800            -          -          -          -      3,800          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/M Mercury....................................................        1,150            -          -          -          -      1,150          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/OESP OES Partnerships........................................        1,002            -          -          -          -      1,002          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/SPFF South Pacific Forum Fisheries...........................       18,000            -          -          -          -     18,000          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/W Water......................................................        1,600            -          -          -          -      1,600          -          -          -          -          -
PM: Political-Military Affairs.....................................      222,999            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -     44,546      5,260
  PM: Conventional Weapons Destruction.............................       44,546            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -     44,546          -
  PM: FMF Administrative Expenses..................................       54,453            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PM: IMET Administrative Expenses.................................        5,260            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -      5,260
  PM: TSCTP, Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership............       19,940            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PM: GPOI.........................................................       98,800            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
PPL: Policy, Planning and Learning.................................       18,000       17,000          -          -          -      1,000          -          -          -          -          -
  PPL: Donor Engagement............................................        1,000        1,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PPL: Learning, Evaluation and Research...........................        9,000        9,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PPL: Science and Technology......................................        8,000        7,000          -          -          -      1,000          -          -          -          -          -
PRM: Population, Refugees, and Migration...........................    1,744,504            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Administrative Expenses.....................................       28,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Emergency Funds.............................................       49,900            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Humanitarian Migrants to Israel.............................       25,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Africa..................................................      345,822            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: East Asia...............................................       38,300            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Europe..................................................       49,700            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Migration...............................................       18,200            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Near East...............................................      533,300            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Protection Priorities...................................      136,548            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: South Asia..............................................      105,650            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Western Hemisphere......................................       57,084            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Refugee Admissions..........................................      357,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Reserve............................................................       16,268        6,432          -          -          -      9,836          -          -          -          -          -
  Unallocated Earmarks.............................................       16,268        6,432          -          -          -      9,836          -          -          -          -          -
S/GAC : Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator......................    1,339,164            -          -  1,339,164  1,339,164          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/GAC, International Partnerships................................      791,414            -          -    791,414    791,414          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/GAC, Oversight/Management......................................      171,874            -          -    171,874    171,874          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/GAC, Technical Support//Strategic Information/Evaluation.......      375,876            -          -    375,876    375,876          -          -          -          -          -          -
Special Representatives............................................        1,250            -          -          -          -      1,250          -          -          -          -          -
  S/SRMC: Special Representative to Muslim Communities.............        1,250            -          -          -          -      1,250          -          -          -          -          -
USAID Forward: Program Effectiveness Initiatives...................       13,000       13,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Forward: Program Effectiveness Initiatives.................       13,000       13,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
USAID Management...................................................    1,536,720            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Civilian Stabilization Initiative................................        4,990            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Capital Investment Fund....................................      129,740            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Development Credit Authority Admin.........................        8,283            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Inspector General Operating Expense........................       46,407            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Operating Expense..........................................    1,347,300            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
USAID Program Management Initiatives...............................        2,177        2,177          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Program Management Initiatives.............................        2,177        2,177          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                                                                           APPENDIX E
                                                                           FY 2010 Foreign Assistance Acutals, Part II
                                                                                        ($ in thousands)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                                                    AID
                                                                         FMF          PKO         ERMA       IO&P       MRA        FFP        IDA         DF       Admin       PCCF       CCF
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 TOTAL.............................................................    5,374,230      304,390     49,900    351,290  1,694,604  1,497,000    863,270    114,770  1,536,720    297,220     39,920
Africa.............................................................       19,098      159,650          -          -          -  1,213,357          -          -          -          -          -
  Angola...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Benin............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Botswana.........................................................          339            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Burkina Faso.....................................................            -            -          -          -          -     11,652          -          -          -          -          -
  Burundi..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -     27,348          -          -          -          -          -
  Cameroon.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -      1,930          -          -          -          -          -
  Cape Verde.......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Central African Republic.........................................            -            -          -          -          -      6,775          -          -          -          -          -
  Chad.............................................................          399            -          -          -          -     89,564          -          -          -          -          -
  Comoros..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Cote d'Ivoire....................................................            -            -          -          -          -      4,718          -          -          -          -          -
  Democratic Republic of the Congo.................................          300       21,520          -          -          -     67,250          -          -          -          -          -
  Djibouti.........................................................        1,996            -          -          -          -      4,823          -          -          -          -          -
  Ethiopia.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -    304,667          -          -          -          -          -
  Gabon............................................................          200            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Ghana............................................................          449            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Guinea...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Guinea-Bissau....................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Kenya............................................................          998            -          -          -          -    124,776          -          -          -          -          -
  Lesotho..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Liberia..........................................................        7,173        5,000          -          -          -     27,447          -          -          -          -          -
  Madagascar.......................................................            -            -          -          -          -     22,932          -          -          -          -          -
  Malawi...........................................................      172,571       37,000     67,995     46,448    114,443          -          -          -          -          -        400
  Mali200..........................................................            -            -          -          -     10,069          -          -          -          -          -
  Mauritania.......................................................          200            -          -          -          -      5,058          -          -          -          -          -
  Mauritius........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Mozambique.......................................................            -            -          -          -          -     20,449          -          -          -          -          -
  Namibia..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Niger............................................................            -            -          -          -          -     49,479          -
  Nigeria..........................................................        1,212            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Republic of the Congo............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Rwanda...........................................................          300            -          -          -          -      6,058          -          -          -          -          -
  Sao Tome and Principe............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Senegal..........................................................          399            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Seychelles.......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Sierra Leone.....................................................            -            -          -          -          -     11,908          -          -          -          -          -
  Somalia..........................................................            -       75,300          -          -          -     46,489          -          -          -          -          -
  South Africa.....................................................          798            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  South Sudan......................................................            -       41,870          -          -          -     54,634          -          -          -          -          -
  Sudan............................................................            -            -          -          -          -    209,133          -          -          -          -          -
  Swaziland........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Tanzania.........................................................          200            -          -          -          -      7,876          -          -          -          -          -
  The Gambia.......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Togo.............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Uganda...........................................................          300            -          -          -          -     25,908          -          -          -          -          -
  Zambia...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -      6,598          -          -          -          -          -
  Zimbabwe.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -     45,088          -          -          -          -          -
  African Union....................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State Africa Regional (AF).......................................        3,635       15,960          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Africa Regional (AFR)......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Central Africa Regional....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID East Africa Regional.......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Southern Africa Regional...................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID West Africa Regional.......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
East Asia and Pacific..............................................       39,202            -          -          -          -      8,979          -          -          -          -          -
  Burma............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Cambodia.........................................................          748            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  China............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Indonesia........................................................       19,960            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Laos.............................................................            -            -          -          -          -      1,669          -          -          -          -          -
  Malaysia.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Marshall Islands.................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Micronesia.......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Mongolia.........................................................        2,996            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  North Korea......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Papua New Guinea.................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Philippines......................................................       11,970            -          -          -          -      7,310          -          -          -          -          -
  Samoa............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Singapore........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Taiwan...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Thailand.........................................................        1,568            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Timor-Leste......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Vietnam..........................................................        1,960            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State East Asia and Pacific Regional.............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Regional Development Mission/Asia (RDM/A)..................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Europe and Eurasia.................................................      131,171            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Albania..........................................................        3,992            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Armenia..........................................................        2,994            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Azerbaijan.......................................................        2,294            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Belarus..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Bosnia and Herzegovina...........................................        4,491            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Bulgaria.........................................................        9,481            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Croatia..........................................................        3,493            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Cyprus...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Czech Republic...................................................        5,988            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Estonia..........................................................        2,695            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Georgia..........................................................       15,968            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Greece...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Hungary..........................................................          998            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Kosovo...........................................................        5,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Latvia...........................................................        2,794            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Lithuania........................................................        2,994            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Macedonia........................................................        3,992            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Malta............................................................          399            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Moldova..........................................................        1,497            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Montenegro.......................................................        1,472            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Poland...........................................................       33,932            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Portugal.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Romania..........................................................       12,974            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Russia...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Serbia...........................................................        1,896            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Slovakia.........................................................        1,397            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Slovenia.........................................................          748            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Turkey...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Ukraine..........................................................        8,982            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Eurasia Regional.................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Europe Regional..................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  International Fund for Ireland...................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Near East..........................................................    4,740,177       26,000          -          -          -     38,328          -          -          -          -          -
  Algeria..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -      8,232          -          -          -          -          -
  Bahrain..........................................................       15,461            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Egypt............................................................    1,297.400            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Iraq.............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Israel...........................................................    2,994,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Jordan...........................................................      299,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Lebanon..........................................................       74,850            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Libya............................................................            -            -          -          -          -      5,654          -          -          -          -          -
  Morocco..........................................................        8,982            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Oman.............................................................       13,000            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Saudi Arabia.....................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Tunisia..........................................................       17,124            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  United Arab Emirates.............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  West Bank and Gaza...............................................            -            -          -          -          -      4,429          -          -          -          -          -
  Yemen............................................................       19,960            -          -          -          -     20,013          -          -          -          -          -
  Egypt Debt Relief................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Multilaterals (MEM)..................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC)..........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Multinational Force and Observers (MFO)..........................            -       26,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Near East Regional Democracy.....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP)...............            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Middle East Regional (OMEP)................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
South and Central Asia.............................................      305,652            -          -          -          -    296,120          -          -          -    297,220          -
  Afghanistan......................................................            -            -          -          -          -    112,549          -          -          -          -          -
  Bangladesh.......................................................        2,957            -          -          -          -     43,056          -          -          -          -          -
  India............................................................            -            -          -          -          -        914          -          -          -          -          -
  Kazakhstan.......................................................        2,395            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Kyrgyz Republic..................................................        1,496            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Maldives.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Nepal............................................................          898            -          -          -          -     13,832          -          -          -          -          -
  Pakistan.........................................................      295,408            -          -          -          -    115,073          -          -          -    297,220          -
  Sri Lanka........................................................          998            -          -          -          -     10,696          -          -          -          -          -
  Tajikistan.......................................................          750            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Turkmenistan.....................................................          750            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Uzbekistan.......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Central Asia Regional............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State South and Central Asia Regional (SCA)......................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID South Asia Regional........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Western Hemisphere.................................................       84,477            -          -          -          -     94,951          -          -          -          -          -
  Argentina........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Belize...........................................................          200            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Bolivia..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Brazil...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Chile............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Colombia.........................................................       47,904            -          -          -          -     10,443          -          -          -          -          -
  Costa Rica.......................................................          349            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Cuba.............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Dominican Republic...............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Ecuador..........................................................          499            -          -          -          -      1,585          -          -          -          -          -
  El Salvador......................................................        1,247            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Guatemala........................................................          499            -          -          -          -     38,085          -          -          -          -          -
  Guyana...........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Haiti............................................................        1,597            -          -          -          -     44,838          -          -          -          -          -
  Honduras.........................................................          998            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Jamaica..........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Mexico...........................................................        7,984            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Nicaragua........................................................          339            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Panama...........................................................        2,096            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Paraguay.........................................................          399            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Peru.............................................................        3,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Suriname.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  The Bahamas......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Trinidad and Tobago..............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Uruguay..........................................................          399            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Venezuela........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Barbados and Eastern Caribbean...................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State Western Hemisphere Regional (WHA)..........................       16,467            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Central America Regional...................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Latin America and Caribbean Regional (LAC).................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID South America Regional.....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Asia Middle East Regional..........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Asia Middle East Regional........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
BFS: Bureau for Food Security......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Board for International Food and Agricultural Development               -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   (BIFAD).........................................................
  BFS: Community Development.......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Disaster Risk Reduction.....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Market Access for Vulnerable Populations....................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Monitoring and Evaluation...................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Private Sector Incentives...................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  BFS: Research and Development....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  FTF Unallocated..................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Country Support (BFS)......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
CT: Counterterrorism...............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/CT: RSI, Regional Strategic Initiative.........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT)............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
DCHA: Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.............            -            -          -          -          -   -167,235    863,270     47,821          -          -     39,920
  Complex Crises Fund..............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -     39,920
  DCHA: FEWSNet....................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/ASHA........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/CMM.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/CMM: Reconciliation Programs................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: Core....................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -      8,000          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: Elections and Political Process Fund....................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -     30,325          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: Global Labor Program....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -      9,496          -          -          -
  DCHA/DG: SPANS, Special Protection and Assistance Needs of                   -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   Survivors.......................................................
  DCHA/FFP: Contingency............................................            -            -          -          -          -   -167,235    300,000          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/FFP: Non-Contingency........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/OFDA........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -    563,270          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/OTI.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  DCHA/PPM.........................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
DRL: Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -     66,949          -          -          -
  State Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL)...................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -     66,949          -          -          -
EGAT: Economic Growth, Education, and Environment..................            -            -          -          -          -     12,500          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Economic Growth, Education and Environment (EGAT)..........            -            -          -          -          -     12,500          -          -          -          -          -
G/TIP: Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.........            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP)            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
GH: Global Health..................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Global Health: Core..............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
GH: International Partnerships.....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Blind Children............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Commodity Fund............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Global Alliance for Vaccine Immunization (GAVI)...........            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)..............            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD)..........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Microbicides..............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD).........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Threats.............            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: TB Drug Facility..........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  GH/IP: MDR Financing.............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
INL: International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs...........            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Alien Smuggling/Border Security.............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Anti-Money Laundering Programs..............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: CFSP, Critical Flight Safety Program........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Civilian Policing...........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Criminal Youth Gangs........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Cyber Crime and IPR.........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Demand Reduction............................................       12,500            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     12,500          -          -
  INL: Fighting Corruption.........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: ILEA, International Law Enforcement Academy.................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Inter-regional Aviation Support.............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: International Organizations.................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: International Organized Crime...............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  INL: Program Development and Support.............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
IO: International Organizations....................................            -            -          -    351,290          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization...............            -            -          -        950          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: IDLO International Development Law Organization..............            -            -          -        650          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: IMO International Maritime Organization......................            -            -          -        400          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: International Chemicals and Toxins Programs..................            -            -          -      3,800          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: International Conservation Programs..........................            -            -          -      7,500          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: International Panel on Climate Change / U.N. Framework                   -            -          -     10,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   Convention on Climate Change....................................
  IO: Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund..........................            -            -          -     25,500          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: Multilateral Action Initiatives..............................            -            -          -      1,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: OAS Development Assistance...................................            -            -          -      4,750          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: OAS Fund for Strengthening Democracy.........................            -            -          -      3,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: U.N. OCHA U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian               -            -          -      2,940          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   Affairs.........................................................
  IO: U.N. Voluntary Funds for Technical Cooperation in the Field              -            -          -      1,372          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   of Human Rights.................................................
  IO: U.N. Women (formerly UNIFEM).................................            -            -          -      6,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UN-HABITAT U.N. Human Settlements Program....................            -            -          -      2,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNCDF U.N. Capital Development Fund..........................            -            -          -        625          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNDF U.N. Democracy Fund.....................................            -            -          -      5,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNDP U.N. Development Program................................            -            -          -     84,775          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNEP U.N. Environment Program................................            -            -          -      7,700          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNESCO / ICSECA International Contributions for Scientific,              -            -          -      1,850          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
   Educational, and Cultural Activities............................
  IO: UNFPA U.N. Population Fund...................................            -            -          -     37,000          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNHCHR U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights...............            -            -          -      3,238          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNICEF U.N. Children's Fund..................................            -            -          -    132,250          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: UNVFVT U.N. Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture............            -            -          -      5,700          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: WMO World Meteorological Organization........................            -            -          -      2,090          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  IO: WTO Technical Assistance.....................................            -            -          -      1,200          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
ISN: International Security and Nonproliferation...................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  State International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN)..........            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
MFS: Multilateral Food Security Programs...........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Multilateral Food Security Programs..............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Middle East Response Fund..........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Middle East Response Fund........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
ODP - Office of Development Partners...............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Cooperative Development Program (CDP)......................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Development Grants Program (DGP)...........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Private Sector Alliances (PSA).............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  ODP - Volunteers for Prosperity (VfP)............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Office of Development Partners (ODP).......................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
OES: Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/CC Climate Change............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/FTA-E FTA Environment........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/M Mercury....................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/OESP OES Partnerships........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/SPFF South Pacific Forum Fisheries...........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  OES/W Water......................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
PM: Political-Military Affairs.....................................       54,453      118,740          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PM: Conventional Weapons Destruction.............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PM: FMF Administrative Expenses..................................       54,453            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PM: IMET Administrative Expenses.................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PM: TSCTP, Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership............            -       19,940          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PM: GPOI.........................................................            -       98,800          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
PPL: Policy, Planning and Learning.................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PPL: Donor Engagement............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PPL: Learning, Evaluation and Research...........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PPL: Science and Technology......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
PRM: Population, Refugees, and Migration...........................            -            -     49,900          -  1,694,604          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Administrative Expenses.....................................            -            -          -          -     28,000          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Emergency Funds.............................................            -            -     49,900          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Humanitarian Migrants to Israel.............................            -            -          -          -     25,000          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Africa..................................................            -            -          -          -    345,822          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: East Asia...............................................            -            -          -          -     38,300          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Europe..................................................            -            -          -          -     49,700          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Migration...............................................            -            -          -          -     18,200          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Near East...............................................            -            -          -          -    533,300          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Protection Priorities...................................            -            -          -          -    136,548          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: South Asia..............................................            -            -          -          -    105,650          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, OA: Western Hemisphere......................................            -            -          -          -     57,084          -          -          -          -          -          -
  PRM, Refugee Admissions..........................................            -            -          -          -    357,000          -          -          -          -          -          -
Reserve............................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  Unallocated Earmarks.............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
S/GAC : Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator......................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/GAC, International Partnerships................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/GAC, Oversight/Management......................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/GAC, Technical Support//Strategic Information/Evaluation.......            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
Special Representatives............................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  S/SRMC: Special Representative to Muslim Communities.............            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
USAID Forward: Program Effectiveness Initiatives...................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Forward: Program Effectiveness Initiatives.................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
USAID Management...................................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -  1,536,720          -          -
  Civilian Stabilization Initiative................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      4,990          -          -
  USAID Capital Investment Fund....................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -    129,740          -          -
  USAID Development Credit Authority Admin.........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -      8,283          -          -
  USAID Inspector General Operating Expense........................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -     46,407          -          -
  USAID Operating Expense..........................................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -  1,347,300          -          -
USAID Program Management Initiatives...............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
  USAID Program Management Initiatives.............................            -            -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -          -
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                                                  APPENDIX F.--United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee  Country Resolution Votes 2011
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                                    Belarus  Belarus  Burma  Burma  Burma   DPRK   DPRK   DPRK   DRPK   Iran   Iran   Iran   Iran  Burma   DPRK   Iran  Burma   DPRK   Iran  Burma   DPRK   Iran
                                       '06      '07     '06    '07    '08   '05    '06    '07    '08    '05    '06    '07    '08    '09    '09    '09    '10    '10    '10    '11    '11    '11
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Afghanistan.......................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      N      Y      Y      N      Y      Y      N
Albania...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Algeria...........................      N        N       N      N      N      A      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Andorra...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Angola............................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Antigua-Barbuda...................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Argentina.........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Armenia...........................      N        N       Y      Y      Y                    Y             N      N      N      N      Y             N      Y             N      Y      A      N
Australia.........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Austria...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Azerbaijan........................                       N             N      Y      A             A      N      N      N      N      N      A      N      N      A      N      N      A
Bahamas...........................      A        Y       A      Y      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Bahrain...........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      N      N      N      N      A      Y      N      Y      N      A      Y      A      A
Bangladesh........................      N        N       N      N      N      A      A      Y      Y      N      N      N      N      N      A      N      N      A             N      A      N
Barbados..........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Belarus...........................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Belgium...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Belize............................      A        A       A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Benin.............................      A                A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y
Bhutan............................      A        Y       A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      A
Bolivia...........................      Y        A       Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      A      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      A      A      N
Bosnia/Herzeg.....................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Botswana..........................      A        A       A      A      Y      A      A      A      Y      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Brazil............................      A        A       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      A
Brunei Dar-Salam..................      A        A       N      A      N      A      A      A      A      N      N      A      A      N      A      A      N      A      N      N      A      N
Bulgaria..........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Burkina Faso......................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Burundi...........................      A        Y       Y      Y      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y             Y
Cambodia..........................               A       N                           A      Y      A             A                    A      A      A      N      A      A      N      A      A
Cameroon..........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Canada............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Cape Verde........................      A        A       A      A      A             A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y
Central Afr Rep...................                       A             A             A             A      A                    A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      Y      Y      Y
Chad..............................                              A      A                    A      A                    A      A
Chile.............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      *      Y      Y      Y      Y
China.............................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Colombia..........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y
Comoros...........................               A              A      A             Y      Y      Y             N      N      N      A      A      N      A      A      N      A      A      N
Congo.............................      A        A       N      A      A             A      A      A             A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Costa Rica........................      A        Y       A      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Cote D'ivoire.....................      A        A              A      A      N      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A
Croatia...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Cuba..............................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Cyprus............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Czech Rep.........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Dem Rep of Korea..................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Dem Rep of Congo..................      N        A       N      A             A      A      A             A      N      N      A      A      A      A      A             A      Y
Denmark...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Djibouti..........................      A        A       A      A             A      A      A             N      N      N                                  A      Y      A      A      Y      A
Dominica..........................               A              A      A                           A      A                           A
Dominican Rep.....................      Y        A       Y      A      Y      Y      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      Y      Y      Y      A      A      Y      A      A      Y
Ecuador...........................      A        A       Y      A      A      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      N      A      A      A      A      A      N
Egypt.............................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      A
El Salvador.......................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Equat Guinea......................               A              A      A      A             A      A      Y             A      A      Y      Y      Y
Eritrea...........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      N      A      Y      N      A      Y      Y
Estonia...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Ethiopia..........................      N        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Fiji..............................      Y        A       A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      A      A      A      A
Finland...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
France............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Gabon.............................                                                                                                                         A      A      A      Y      Y      A
Gambia............................               N                     A      N                    A      N             N      N      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A
Georgia...........................      Y        Y              Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y             A      A      A      Y      Y      A      Y                    Y      Y
Germany...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Ghana.............................      A        A       A      Y      A      A      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      A             Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A
Greece............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Grenada...........................                                     A                           A                           A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Guatemala.........................      Y        A       Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      A      A
Guinea............................      A        A       N      A      A      N                    N      N      N      N      N      A      A      N      A      A      N
Guinea-Bissau.....................      A                A             A      A      Y             A      A                    N      A      Y      N      A      A      A      Y      Y      A
Guyana............................      A        A       A      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      A      A      A      A      A
Haiti.............................      A        A       A      A      A      Y      A      A      A      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y
Honduras..........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Hungary...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Iceland...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
India.............................      N        N       N      N      N      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      N      A      N      N      A      A      N      A      N
Indonesia.........................      N        N       N      A      A      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      A      N      N      A      A      N      A      A      A
Iran (Islamic Rep)................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Iraq..............................                                     Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A                           Y      Y             Y      Y             Y      Y
Ireland...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Israel............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Italy.............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Jamaica...........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A
Japan.............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Jordan............................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      Y      A             A             A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      A
Kazakhstan........................      N        N       A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      N      Y      Y      N      Y      Y      N
Kenya.............................      A        A       A      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Kiribati..........................                                     Y                           Y      Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Kuwait............................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      A      A      N      A      A      N      A      A      A
Kyrgyzstan........................      N        N       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      A      A      N             A      N      A      Y      A
Lao Rep...........................      A        A       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      A      A      A      A             N      A      N      A      A      N      A      A
Latvia............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Lebanon...........................      N        N       Y      Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      N      Y      Y      N      Y      Y      N
Lesotho...........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Liberia...........................               Y              Y      A             A      Y      Y                    Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Libyan AJ.........................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      Y
Liechtenstein.....................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Lithuania.........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Luxembourg........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Madagascar........................      A                A                           A      A      Y             A                    A      Y      Y      A      Y             A      Y
Malawi............................      A        A       A      A      A             Y      Y      Y             A      A      N      Y      Y      A                    A      A      Y      Y
Malaysia..........................      N        N       N      N      N      N      A      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      A      A      A
Maldives..........................                                     Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      N      N                    Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Mali..............................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Malta.............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Marshall Islands..................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Mauritania........................      A        A       A      Y      A             A      Y      A      N      N             N      A      A      N                    N      A      A      A
Maurtius..........................      A        A       Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A
Mexico............................      A        A       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Micronesia (FS)...................      Y        Y       Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Moldova...........................      Y        A       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Monaco............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y             A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Mongolia..........................      A        A       Y      Y      Y                                  A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y             A      Y             A
Montenegro........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y             Y      Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Morocco...........................      N        A       Y             Y      A      Y      Y      Y      N      N      N             A      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      Y      A
Mozambique........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      A      A      A      A      A      A
Myanmar...........................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N             A      A      N      N      N      N      N      N
Namibia...........................      A        A       A      A      N      A      N      A      N      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A
Nauru.............................               A       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y
Nepal.............................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A
Netherlands.......................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
New Zealand.......................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      N      A      N      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Nicaragua.........................      Y        N       Y      A      N      Y      Y      Y      N      Y      Y      N      N      A      A      N      N      A      N      N      A      N
Niger.............................      A        A       A      A      N      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      Y      A      N      A      A      N      A      A      N
Nigeria...........................      A        A       A      A      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A             A
Norway............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      N      N      N      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Oman..............................               N              N      N                    N      N      N      N      N      N      A      A      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Pakistan..........................      N        N       N      N      A      A      A      N      A      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      Y      A      A      N      A      A      N
Palau.............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Panama............................      A        A       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Papua New Guinea..................      A        A       A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y
Paraguay..........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A
Peru..............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Philippines.......................      A        A       A      A      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      Y      A
Poland............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Portugal..........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      A      N      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Qatar.............................      N        N       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      A      A      A      N      A      A      N
Rep of Korea......................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      A      Y      A      Y      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y
Romania...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Russian Fed.......................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Rwanda............................      A                A      A      A      A             A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y
St Kitts-Nevis....................               A              A      A      A             A      A                    Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Saint Lucia.......................               A              A      Y      A             A      Y      N             A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
St Vincent-Green..................               A              A      A      Y             A      A      Y             A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Samoa.............................      A        A       A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
San Marino........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Sao Tome Principe.................                                     A                                                       A                           Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Saudi Arabia......................      A        A       A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      N      N      N      N      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      Y      A
Senegal...........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      A      A      N      A      A      N      N      A      Y
Serbia............................      Y        Y       Y      Y             Y      Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      N                                                Y      Y      A
Seychelles........................                                                                                                    A      A             Y      Y      Y      Y             Y
Sierra Leone......................      A        A       A      A             A      A      A             A      A      A             A      Y      A      Y      Y      Y
Singapore.........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Slovakia..........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Slovenia..........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Solomon Islands...................      A        A       A      A      A      A      Y      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Somalia...........................                              N      N                    N      N      N             N      N      A      N      N      N      *      N
South Africa......................      N        N       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      Y      A      A      Y      A      A      A      A      A
South Sudan.......................                                                                                                                                              A      A      A
Spain.............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Sri Lanka.........................      A        A       A      A      N      A      A      A      A      N      N      N      N      N      A      N      N      A      N      N      A      N
Sudan.............................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Suriname..........................      A        A       A      Y      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Swaziland.........................      A        A       A      A      A      N      A      A      A      N      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Sweden............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Switzerland.......................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Syrian AR.........................      N        N       N      N      N      Y      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Tajikistan........................      N        N              A             N      N      N             N      N      N      N      A      A      N      A      A      N      A      A      N
Thailand..........................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
The FYR Macedonia.................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Timor-Leste.......................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y             Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Togo..............................      A        A       A      A      Y      A      N      A      Y      N      N      N      N      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A
Tonga.............................      Y        Y       Y             Y      Y             Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Trinidad-Tobago...................      A        A       A      A      A      A             A      A      A             A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Tunisia...........................                                            A                           N      N      N      N                    N                    N      Y      Y      Y
Turkey............................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y                                  Y      Y      Y      Y      Y             Y      Y
Turkmenistan......................      A        N       A      A      A      N      A      A      A      N      A      N      N      A      A      N                    N      A      A      N
Tuvalu............................      Y                Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      N      Y      N      Y      *      Y      Y      Y      A
Uganda............................      A        N       A      N      A      A      A      N      A      A      A      N      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Ukraine...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
U A Emirates......................      A        A       A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      N      A      Y      N      A      Y      A
United Kingdom....................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
U R Tanzania......................      A        A       A      Y      A      A      A      Y      Y      A      A      A      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      Y
United States.....................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Uruguay...........................      Y        Y       Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y             A      A      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A      Y      Y      A
Uzbekistan........................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N             N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Vanuatu...........................               Y              Y      Y      A             Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y      Y
Venezuela.........................      N        Y       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Vietnam...........................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      S      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
Yemen.............................      A        N       A      A      A      A      A      Y      A      N      N      N      N      A      A      N      A      Y             A      A      A
Zambia............................      A        A       A      A      A      A             A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A      A
Zimbabwe..........................      N        N       N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N      N
 
================================================================================================================================================================================================
 
Final Vote........................
  Yes.............................     70       68      79     88     89     84     91     97     95     77     70     72     70     92     97     74     96    100     80     98    112     86
  No..............................     31       32      28     54     29     22     21     23     24     51     48     50     51     26     19     48     28     18     44     25     16     32
  Abstain.........................     67       76      63     66     63     62     60     60     62     46     55     55     60     65     65     59     60     60     57     63     55     59
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* = vote was yes.
DPRK '12 and BURMA '12 = AWV



                              APPENDIX G

                              ----------                              

                 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

                              ----------                              


                                Preamble

    Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the 
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family 
is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

    Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have 
resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience 
of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings 
shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear 
and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the 
common people,

    Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to 
have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny 
and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the 
rule of law,

    Whereas it is essential to promote the development of 
friendly relations between nations,

    Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the 
Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in 
the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal 
rights of men and women and have determined to promote social 
progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

    Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, 
in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of 
universal respect for and observance of human rights and 
fundamental freedoms,

    Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms 
is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this 
pledge,

    Now, therefore, The General Assembly, proclaims this 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of 
achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that 
every individual and every organ of society, keeping this 
Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and 
education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and 
by progressive measures, national and international, to secure 
their universal and effective recognition and observance, both 
among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the 
peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1

    All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and 
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should 
act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

    Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set 
forth in this Declaration, without distinction of an kind, such 
as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other 
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other 
status.

    Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of 
the political, jurisdictional or international status of the 
country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be 
independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other 
limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

    Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of 
person.

Article 4

    No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and 
the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

    No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman 
or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6

    Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a 
person before the law.

Article 7

    All are equal before the law and are entitled without any 
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled 
to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of 
this Declaration and against any incitement to such 
discrimination.

Article 8

    Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the 
competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental 
rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

    No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or 
exile.

Article 10

    Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public 
hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the 
determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal 
charge against him.

Article 11

    1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to 
be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a 
public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary 
for his defence.

    2. No one shall be held guilty without any limitation due 
to race, of any penal offence on account of nationality or 
religion, have the any act or omission which did not constitute 
a penal offence, under national or international law, at the 
time when it was committed.

Article 12

    No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with 
his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks 
upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the 
protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

    1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and 
residence within the borders of each state.

    2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including 
his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14

    1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other 
countries asylum from persecution.

    2. This right may not be invoked in the case of 
prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or 
from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United 
Nations.

Article 15

    1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.

    2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality 
nor be denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

    1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to 
race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to 
found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to 
marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

    2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and 
full consent of the intending spouses.

    3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of 
society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

    1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as 
in association with others.

    2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18

    Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience 
and religion; this right includes freedom to change his 
religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community 
with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion 
or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

    Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and 
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions 
without interference and to seek, receive and impart 
information and ideas through any media and regardless of 
frontiers.

Article 20

    1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly 
and association.

    2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

    1. Everyone has the right to take part in the Government of 
his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

    2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service 
in his country.

    3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the 
authority of government; this will shall be expressed in 
periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and 
equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by 
equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22

    1. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to 
social security and is entitled to realization, through 
national effort and international cooperation and in accordance 
with the organization and resources of each State, of the 
economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his 
dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

    1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of 
employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to 
protection against unemployment.

    2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to 
equal pay for equal work.

    3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable 
remuneration insuring for himself and his family an existence 
worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by 
other means of social protection.

    4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions 
for the protection of his interests.

Article 24

    Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including 
reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays 
with pay.

Article 25

    1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate 
for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, 
including food, clothing, housing and medical care and 
necessary social services, and the right to security in the 
event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age 
or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his 
control.

    2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care 
and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of 
wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

    1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be 
free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. 
Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and 
professional education shall be made generally available and 
higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the 
basis of merit.

    2. Education shall be directed to the full development of 
the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for 
human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote 
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, 
racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of 
the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

    3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of 
education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

    1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the 
cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share 
in scientific advancement and its benefits.

    2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral 
and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary 
or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28

    Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in 
which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can 
be fully realized.

Article 29

    1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the 
free and full development of his personality is possible.

    2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone 
shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by 
law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and 
respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting 
the just requirements of morality, public order and the general 
welfare in a democratic society.

    3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised 
contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

    Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying 
for any State, group or person any right to engage in any 
activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any 
of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Hundred and eighty-third plenary meeting
Resolution 217(A)(III) of the United Nations General Assembly,
December 10, 1948

 0(THIS MATERIAL IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND MAY BE REPRINTED WITHOUT 
          PERMISSION; CITATION OF THIS SOURCE IS APPRECIATED.)

                                  
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