AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

Tension between President Vaz, the
government and parliament, as well as within
the ruling African Party for the Independence
of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC),
escalated, paralysing parliamentary
proceedings.
In January the National Assembly’s
Permanent Commission expelled 15
parliamentarians for refusing to support the
government’s programme. Political tension
was exacerbated when Prime Minister
Correia was dismissed in mid-May. The
appointment two weeks later of Baciro Djá as
Prime Minister triggered violent protest in
which police used force, including tear gas,
to disperse demonstrators who were throwing
stones and burning tyres outside the
presidential palace.
In September, Guinea-Bissau acceded to
the UN Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons and the UN Convention on
the Reduction of Statelessness.
JUSTICE SYSTEM
The criminal justice system remained weak
and failed to guarantee due process. In June,
the UN Special Rapporteur on the
independence of judges and lawyers reported
on her 2015 visit to Guinea-Bissau,
describing the justice system as “sad” and
“terrible”. She highlighted lack of resources,
incompetence, corruption, impunity and
limited access to justice as the main
obstacles to judicial independence.
In July, the Supreme Court took over 20
days, instead of the 10 days allowed by law,
to respond to the writs of habeas corpus
challenging the detention of parliamentarian
Gabriel So. His arrest was ordered by the
Bissau Regional Court despite his
parliamentary immunity.
In August, the Public Prosecutor’s Office
ordered the arrest and detention of João
Bernardo Vieira for allegedly violating bail. In
contravention of the law, he was not brought
before a judge within 48 hours from his
arrest; he was released after one week.
Accountability
Investigations into past human rights
violations, including political killings between
2009 and 2012 made no progress. However,
in May the Bissorã Regional Court, in the Oio
region, convicted four police officers of
beating Tchutcho Mendonça to death in July
2015 in police custody. Three officers were
sentenced to seven years and three months’
imprisonment and one to five years’
imprisonment.
PRISON CONDITIONS
The authorities took no action to improve
prison conditions. Inadequate sanitation, lack
of health care and food provision, and severe
overcrowding in prisons and detention
centres persisted. Detainees and prisoners
had to rely on their families for food and
medicine or on the goodwill of other inmates.
Conditions in detention centres in the
capital, Bissau, amounted to cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment. The Criminal
Investigation Police cells, with capacity for 35
people, regularly held over 90. Detainees
were not separated according to sex, age or
type of crime, and uncharged detainees were
routinely held for longer than the 48 hours
prescribed by law.
HAITI
Republic of Haiti
Head of state: Jocelerme Privert (replaced Michel
Joseph Martelly in February as acting President)
Head of government: Enex Jean-Charles (replaced
Evans Paul in February as acting Prime Minister)
Elections were postponed several times. A
hurricane hit Haiti in October causing a
major humanitarian crisis. Thousands of
people returned or were deported from the
Dominican Republic, including stateless
people, creating humanitarian concerns.
Little progress was made on the situation of
people displaced by the 2010 earthquake.
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