Freedom in the World 2001 - Guinea-Bissau

2001 Scores

Status: Partly Free
Freedom Rating: 4.5
Civil Liberties: 5
Political Rights: 4

Ratings Change

Guinea-Bissau's political rights rating changed from 3 to 4 following an uprising by the former army chief of staff and his subsequent killing, and the detention of several opposition leaders.

Overview

Populist Kumba Yala won the second round of presidential elections in January 2000. The ballot was seen by many as a last hope for peace in the country following the toppling of President João Bernardo Vieira in May 1999 after a year-long rebellion that pitted forces loyal to him against those backing the former army chief, General Ansumane Mané.

Guinea-Bissau won independence from Portugal in 1973 after a 12-year guerrilla war. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) held power for the next 13 years. Luís Cabral became president in 1974 and made Vieira his prime minister, but Vieira toppled Cabral in 1980. Constitutional revisions in 1991 ended the PAIGC's repressive one-party state. Vieira won the country's first free and fair presidential election in 1994, but he eventually came to be seen as the leader of a corrupt ruling class.

The June 1998 army mutiny broke out when Vieira sacked General Ansumane Mané, accusing him of smuggling arms to rebels in the southern Casamance region of neighboring Senegal, which for years complained that Guinea-Bissau was backing the rebels. Encouraged by France, about 3,000 troops from Senegal and Guinea intervened on behalf of Vieira. They were replaced by fewer than 600 unarmed West African peacekeepers, which made Vieira vulnerable to his overthrow in May 1999.

Guinea-Bissau's new military leaders swiftly moved to hold legislative and presidential elections in November 1999 in line with an agreement that had been worked out under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States. International observers declared the voting free and fair.

President Yala and General Mané met in May 2000 to discuss improving relations between the government and the military, but by November Mané had declared himself the head of the armed forces and revoked military promotions that Yala had made. Fighting erupted between supporters of the president and those allied with Mané, who fled into the countryside and was killed. More than 100 suspected government opponents, including several military officers and political opposition leaders, were detained on suspicion of backing what the government was calling an attempted coup. Deep divisions remain in Guinea-Bissau. Thousands of people turned out for the funeral of Mané, who was considered a hero of the country's independence struggle.

The vast majority of Guinea-Bissau's one million citizens survive on subsistence farming. Cashew nuts are a key export. There are hopes for substantial oil reserves offshore, where drilling began in 1989.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

The people of Guinea-Bissau were able to choose their government freely for the first time in 1994, and both direct presidential polls and legislative elections were judged free and fair by international observers. The PAIGC retained the presidency and a parliamentary majority, but five opposition parties were represented in the national assembly. Voting in the November 1999 legislative and presidential elections was declared free and fair by international observers despite widespread delays, isolated cases of violence, and other voting irregularities. The January 2000 runoff pitted Yala, of the Social Renewal Party (PRS), against Malam Bacai Sanha, of the PAIGC. In legislative voting, the opposition PRS obtained 38 of the 102 seats, followed by the Resistance of Guinea with 29 and the PAIGC with 24. The 11 remaining seats went to five of the ten other parties that fielded candidates. The president is elected for a five-year term, while parliamentarians serve for four years.

Freedom of speech and the press is constitutionally guaranteed, but journalists practice self-censorship. Several private radio stations and community radio stations have begun broadcasting since the end of the war. Few private newspapers publish, and the lack of vibrant independent media may be more due to financial constraints than to government interference. Amnesty International in May said two state television journalists and a politician, Fernando Gomes, were arbitrarily detained and held in harsh conditions after state television aired statements by Gomes, who is also a prominent human rights defender. Gomes had criticized the political situation in the country and accused the prime minister of corruption. He and the journalists were released two days later.

Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are constitutionally guaranteed and generally respected. The judiciary enjoys some autonomy, but is largely controlled by the executive branch. In March, the president fired the attorney general following the state's failure to obtain a conviction in the first trial of a senior member of the deposed regime. Judicial performance is often unpredictable owing to political interference, poor training, and scant resources. Traditional law usually prevails in rural areas. A UN peace-building office has helped the supreme court, which has been especially vulnerable to political pressure, train 37 new judges and is monitoring trials.

Police routinely ignore rights of privacy and protections against search and seizure. Severe mistreatment of detainees is reported. The UN has expressed concern over the continued detention of military and political prisoners under harsh conditions and has appealed to authorities to speed up the judicial process. At least 100 people who were detained on Vieira's ouster are still in jail. More than 100 others were arrested following Mané's uprising in November.

Most people follow traditional religions, but proselytizing is permitted and there is a significant Muslim population, as well as a small Christian minority. While official registration is required, no religious group has been denied registration since 1982, and religious freedom is respected.

Eleven labor unions operate, and workers have the right to organize and to strike with prior notice. Most people, however, work in subsistence agriculture. Most wages are established in bilateral negotiations between workers and employers.

Women face some legal and significant traditional and societal discrimination, although it is prohibited by law. They generally do not receive equal pay for equal work and have fewer opportunities for education and jobs in the small formal sector. Domestic violence against women is common, and female genital mutilation is widespread. The government has formed a national committee to discourage the practice.