U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1997 - Cape Verde
Publisher | United States Department of State |
Publication Date | 30 January 1998 |
Cite as | United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1997 - Cape Verde, 30 January 1998, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa1e2a.html [accessed 19 October 2022] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, January 30, 1998.
CAPE VERDE
Cape Verde is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which constitutional powers are shared between the elected Head of State, President Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, an independent and the Head of Government, Prime Minister Carlos Wahnon Veiga, and his party, the Movement for Democracy (MPD). The MPD has an absolute majority in the National Assembly. The principal opposition party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) held power in a one-party state from independence in 1975 until 1991. The judiciary is independent. The Government controls the police, which have primary responsibility for maintenance of law and order. Some members of the police committed a few human rights abuses. Cape Verde has a market-based economy but little industry and few exploitable natural resources. The country has a long history of economically driven emigration, primarily to Western Europe and the United States, and receipts from Cape Verdeans abroad remain an important source of income. Even in years of optimum rainfall, the country can produce food for only 25 percent of the population, resulting in heavy reliance on international food aid. The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with instances of individual abuse. There were isolated cases of police abuse, including beatings, of citizens detained on suspicion of criminal activity. Domestic violence, discrimination against women and mistreatment of children continued to be serious problems. Although the Government supported legislation to ameliorate these problems, it failed to adopt, implement, and enforce policies designed to address the most critical challenges. There were instances of media self-censorship, and the authorities sometimes prosecuted for criminal libel journalists and editors who published material critical of government officials.