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SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
The Democratic Republic
of Sao Tome and Principe is a
multiparty democracy. The Government is comprised of an
independent judiciary,
a unicameral legislature (National
Assembly), and an executive branch in which power is divided
between the President
and the Prime Minister. The Party of
Democratic Convergence (PCD) won parliamentary elections in
1991 and thereby
earned the right to name the Prime Minister
and form a government. Miguel Trovoada, an independent, won
Presidential
election in 1991. Longstanding disagreement
between the President and Prime Minister over interpretation of
their
respective constitutional powers, among other issues,
culminated in July when Trovoada dismissed the Cabinet and the
National Assembly and called for early legislative elections.
The Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and
Principe
(MLSTP), which had ruled prior to 1990 as the sole legal party,
won a plurality in free and fair parliamentary
elections in
October and formed the new Government.
The Ministry of Defense, Security, and Internal Order
supervises
the military, many of whose members are part-time
farmers or fishermen. It also supervises the police.
The
economy is based on a single product, cocoa, and an
archaic, state-run system of plantations called "empresas."
Despite initial progress in a land redistribution program,
there was little movement toward privatization, and the
economy
continued to face serious difficulties.
The Government continued to respect the rights of its citizens
and managed to resolve serious internal conflicts within the
country's legal and constitutional framework without
violence
or retribution. Nevertheless, the principal human rights
problems continued to be an inefficient judicial
system,
societal discrimination against women, and outdated plantation
labor practices that limited workers' rights.
RESPECT
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports
of political or other extrajudicial
killings.
b. Disappearance
There were
no reports of disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits torture or cruel and inhuman
punishment. There were anecdotal
reports of overzealous
security forces using excessive force during an arrest on at
least one occasion, but no reports
of gross violations, such as
beatings or other cruel treatment during interrogations.
Prison conditions are
harsh but not life-threatening.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The
Constitution provides for procedural protections in case of
detention. There was no evidence of arbitrary arrest
or
detention. Exile is not used as a punishment and all those
exiled under the former regime have been given
the opportunity
to return.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution
provides for the right to fair public trial
and the right of appeal in civil cases. For criminal cases, it
provides
for the right to legal representation and a public
trial before a judge. In practice, however, the judicial
infrastructure
suffers from severe budgetary restraints,
inadequate facilities, and a shortage of trained judges and
lawyers, causing
long delays in bringing cases to court and
greatly hindering investigations in criminal cases. The
judiciary
is independent of both the President and the
Government and has returned verdicts to the displeasure of
both.
The government determines salaries for all ministerial
employees in accordance with standard government salary
guidelines.
All Government salaries are extremely low, but
there were no reports of judges accepting bribes or being
pressured
by the Government.
There were no known political prisoners or detainees.
f. Arbitrary
Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The
Constitution provides for the integrity of the person and
the right to privacy of home, correspondence, and private
communication.
The Government does not engage in intrusive
practices, such as surveillance of individuals or
communications.
The Judicial Police are responsible for
criminal investigations and must obtain authorization from the
Ministry of
Justice to conduct searches.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of expression and freedom
of the press,
and the Government generally respects these in
practice. One government-run and four independent newspapers
publish
periodically; none appeared during the second half of
the year, due to financial constraints. Television and radio
are state-operated; while no independent stations currently
exist, there are no laws forbidding their operation.
The
law grants all opposition parties access to the state-run
media, including a minimum of 3 minutes per month on
television.
In late December 1993, then Secretary of State for
Social Communications Gustavo dos Anjos suspended this right,
reportedly
in reaction to a televised press conference in which
the MLSTP strongly criticized the PCD Government. When
journalists
protested in January by covering a second MLSTP
conference "without authorization," dos Anjos fired television
director
Carlos Teixera. By May the Government had restored
opposition telecast access, and since the naming of the interim
Government in July, opposition parties--including the ousted
PCD--have enjoyed steadily increasing access to the media.
The
campaign by all parties for October's legislative elections
was active and outspoken. In the absence of a facility
to
produce newspapers, all parties freely distributed newsletters
and press releases, criticizing the Government,
the President,
and one another. There were no reports of government
censorship or threats of censorship from
any group, nor
assertions of national security to suppress criticism.
b. Freedom
of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for the right to associate freely and
to demonstrate
publicly, and the Government respects this right
in practice. The Government requires that requests for
authorization
of large-scale events be filed 48 hours in
advance, and usually grants the appropriate permits. Although
bureaucratic
delays often occur, there were no instances of
authorizations being withheld for political reasons. Numerous
rallies
and gatherings took place peacefully during the
legislative election campaign, and there were no reports of
interference
with those that occurred spontaneously or lacked
authorization. There were no reports of forced restrictions on
meetings of municipal committees.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution
provides for religious freedom, and the
Government respects this right in practice. There are no
restrictions
on the activities of foreign clergy.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Under the Constitution and
in practice, citizens have the right
to move freely within the country and to emigrate and return.
Exit visas
are not required.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens exercised this right for the first time in free and
fair presidential and legislative
elections in 1991, and again
in the legislative elections held October 2, 1994, which
resulted in the peaceful transfer
of power to the opposition
MLSTP party. The MLSTP won 27 seats while the PCD won 14. A
third party, the
Independent Democratic Action Party, headed by
the President's son Patrice, also won 14 seats. Elections are
by
secret ballot on the basis of universal suffrage at 18 years
of age.
There are no restrictions in law or practice
on the
participation of women in politics. Three women currently hold
seats in the National Assembly, and women
occupy important
posts in the Government. There are no women in the Cabinet.
Section 4 Governmental
Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation
of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
A small number
of local human rights groups have formed since
1991 without restriction or governmental interference. There
were
no known requests by international human rights groups to
visit the country.
Section 5 Discrimination Based
on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The
Constitution provides that all citizens, regardless of sex,
race, racial origin, political tendency, creed or philosophic
conviction, are equal under the law.
Women
The Constitution stipulates that women
and men have equal
rights to full political, economic, and social participation.
Women have access to opportunities
in education, business, and
government, and many women occupy positions of leadership in
the private and public sectors.
In practice, however, women
still encounter substantial discrimination. Traditional
beliefs concerning the division
of labor between men and women
leave women with much of the hard work in agriculture, most
child-rearing responsibilities,
and less access to education
and the professions.
Some evidence indicates that violence against women is a
growing
problem. Medical professionals, officials from the
Ministry of Health and the United Nations report first-hand
experience
in dealing with violence, including rape. They also
report that although women have the right to legal
recourse--including
against spouses--many are reluctant to
complain or are ignorant of their rights under the law.
Traditional beliefs
and practices also inhibit women from
taking domestic disputes outside the family.
Children
A
number of government and donor-funded programs are
established to improve conditions for children. There has been
improvement in maternity and infant care, nutrition and access
to basic health services, especially in urban areas.
Although
no reliable statistics exist on abuse of children, serious
mistreatment of children is not widespread.
People with Disabilities
The law does not mandate accessibility for persons with
disabilities.
Section 6
Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution provides for
freedom of association and the
right to strike. Few unions exist in the very small modern
wage sector.
One confederation, the Independent Union
Federation, has been attempting to organize workers on the
large state-owned
plantations, but organizational difficulties
and the country's poverty hindered its efforts. Independent
cooperatives,
on the other hand, have taken advantage of the
government land distribution program to attract workers and, in
many
cases, significantly improve production and incomes.
With slow progress in the Government's efforts to privatize
state-owned
industries, state employees continue to comprise
the vast majority of the wage-earning work force. Government
and
other essential workers are allowed to strike. In May,
when the Government announced plans to reduce government
positions by 18 percent, employees struck for 10 days in
protest. In late October, employees in the banking
sector also
staged a brief strike for higher wages.
There are no restrictions barring trade unions from joining
federations or affiliating with international bodies.
b. The Right to Organize and
Bargain Collectively
The Constitution provides that workers may organize and bargain
collectively. However,
due to its role as the principal
employer in the wage sector, the Government remains the key
interlocutor for labor
on all matters, including wages. There
are no known laws prohibiting antiunion discrimination.
There are
no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The
law prohibits forced or compulsory labor and it is not
practiced.
d. Minimum Age
for Employment of Children
Employers generally respect the legally mandated minimum
employment age of 18 years
in the modern wage sector. The
Ministry of Justice and Labor is responsible for enforcing this
law. In
subsistence agriculture, on plantations, and in
informal commerce, however, children do work, sometimes from an
early
age.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Working conditions on many of the state-owned
plantations--the
biggest wage employment sector--border on medieval. There is
no legally mandated minimum wage,
and the average salary for
plantation workers not only does not permit a decent standard
of living, but is constantly
being eroded by inflation and the
depreciating exchange rate. In principle, workers are provided
free (but poor)
housing, rudimentary education and health care,
and the right to reduced prices and credit at the "company
store."
Clothes and food are subsidized. Corruption is
rampant, however, and international lending institutions have
criticized
the Government for ineffective administration of
subsidies. Workers are often forced to purchase the same goods
they should receive at government-mandated prices for much
greater prices on a parallel market.
The Social
Security Law of 1979 prescribes basic occupational
health and safety standards. Inspectors from the Ministry of
Justice and Labor are responsible for enforcement of these
standards, but their efforts are ineffective and often
nonexistent. The legal workweek is 40 hours with 48
consecutive hours mandated for a rest period. Officials
enforce these laws in the modern wage sector. Employees have
the right under the law to leave unsafe working
conditions.
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