AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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are insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family and
in practice, workers accept less than the minimum wage. Often families supplement
their incomes by working in small business or subsistence agriculture.
Officially, government offices and private sector entities have a 40hour workweek.
The law controls hours of work and occupational health and safety standards in the
modern wage sector, but labor inspectors from the Ministry of Public Service and
Labor enforce them only loosely. Workers do not have the right to remove themselves
from dangerous work situations without jeopardizing their jobs.
f. Trafficking in Persons.—The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however,
there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, within, or through
the country.
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is a multiparty democracy.
The Government is composed of an executive branch and a unicameral legislature
(the National Assembly). The President appoints the Prime Minister, who in turn
appoints the ministers of the Government. Miguel Trovoada, leader of the Independent
Democratic Alliance (ADI), was reelected President in 1996 for a second 5year
term in an election deemed generally free and fair by international observers,
despite allegations of an unconstitutional modification of the voter lists between the
first and second rounds. In the November 1998 legislative elections, the Movement
for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP) won an outright majority with
31 of 55 seats, and holds all 10 seats in the Cabinet. The judiciary is generally independent;
however, it is subject at times to influence and manipulation.
The Minister of National Defense, Security, and Internal Order supervises the
military services and the police. Many members of the military are part-time farmers
or fishermen. After a military mutiny in 1995, the Government and international
donors have dedicated resources to improving soldiers’ living conditions. No
defense expenditures have been used for lethal weapons since the advent of
multiparty democracy in 1990.
The economy is based on the export of a single product, cocoa, produced in an archaic,
state-run system of plantations called ‘‘rocas.’’ The Government has privatized
some of the state-held land but had limited success in privatizing state-owned enterprises.
The Government has not been successful in its efforts at structural adjustment,
and the economy continued to face serious difficulties. While the inflation rate
held at 10 percent during the year and the currency stabilized, the country remained
highly dependent on foreign aid, and external debt is six times gross domestic
product. Per capita income is less than $330 per year, and economic growth is
slow. Unemployment, although difficult to quantify, remained very high.
The Government generally respected the rights of its citizens; however, there were
problems in a few areas. The principal human rights problems continued to be
harsh prison conditions, an inefficient judicial system, violence and discrimination
against women, and outdated plantation labor practices that limit worker 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 politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.—
The Constitution prohibits torture or cruel and inhuman punishment, and the Government
respects these prohibitions in practice. There were no reports of violations
during arrests or interrogations.
Prison conditions are harsh but not life threatening. Facilities are overcrowded,
and food is inadequate. Women and men are held separately, and juveniles are separated
from adults.
Human rights monitors are not known to have requested permission to make prison
visits; it is believed that the Government would permit such visits if requested.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile.—The Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest,
detention, or exile, and the Government respects these prohibitions in practice.
Exile is not used as a punishment. All those exiled under the one-party regime
of 1975 to 1990 remain free to return, and several prominent politicians have done
so.
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