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Freedom in the World - Guinea-Bissau (2004)

Political Rights: 6
Civil Liberties: 4
Status: Partly Free
Population: 1,300,000
GNI/Capita: $160
Life Expectancy: 45
Religious Groups: Indigenous beliefs (50 percent), Muslim (45 percent), Christian (5 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Balanta (30 percent), Fula (20 percent), Manjaca (14 percent), Mandinga (13 percent), Papel (7 percent), other (16 percent)
Capital: Bissau

Ratings Change
Guinea-Bissau's political rights rating declined from 4 to 6 following a military coup, while its civil liberties rating improved from 5 to 4 because of a general easing of arrests of political opponenets and interference in the judiciary.

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Overview

The military overthrew President Kumba Yala in September 2003 and a Transitional National Council, led by a general, was formed. Following consultations with a spectrum of political groups, the council chose a civilian to lead an interim government and prepare for elections.

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. Luis Cabral became president in 1974 and made Joao Bernardo Vieira his prime minister, but Vieira toppled Cabral in 1980. Constitutional revisions in 1991 ended the PAIGC's repressive one-party rule. 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.

An army mutiny broke out in 1998 after Vieira sacked General Ansumane Mane, accusing him of smuggling arms to rebels in the southern Casamance region of neighboring Senegal, which for years had 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 eventually replaced by fewer than 600 unarmed West African peacekeepers, which made Vieira vulnerable to his overthrow in May 1999 by Mane.

In the November 1999 presidential elections, the populist Yala of the Social Renewal Party (PRS) won a January 2000 second round runoff over Malam Bacai Sanha of the PAIGC. However, fighting broke out in 2000 between military supporters of Yala and those of Mane after Mane declared himself the head of the armed forces; Mane was subsequently killed. In legislative voting, also held in November 1999, 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. In November 2002, Yala dissolved the National Assembly. He failed to promulgate a constitution approved in 2001, and Guinea-Bissau was governed by decree.

The general public, which had become increasingly frustrated by Yala's erratic rule and the economy's continual slide, applauded a military overthrow of President Yala in September 2003. Civil servants had not been paid for nearly a year, there was no constitution, strikes were rampant, and parliamentary elections had been postponed four times. By the time the military stepped in, a Transitional National Council (TNC), headed by General Verissimo Seabra, who led the coup, was overseeing a pledged return to elected government. Parliamentary elections were to be held in six months and presidential elections in one year. Henrique Rosa, a businessman who had previously led the national electoral commission, was named interim president. Rosa and Prime Minister Artur Sanha were appointed after the 56-member TNC held consultations with the country's spectrum of political leaders. The TNC was serving as the country's parliament; it includes 25 military officers, delegates from 24 political parties, and representatives of 8 civil society groups. After the coup, a blanket amnesty was granted to all those involved. Yala and his cabinet ministers were barred from standing in elections for five years. Yala was detained during the coup and released the next day. Although his overthrow was greeted with public enthusiasm, a smooth transition is not guaranteed, with divisions remaining in the military.

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.

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. Voting in the 1999 legislative and presidential elections was declared free and fair by international observers despite widespread delays, isolated cases of violence, and other voting irregularities. However, President Kumba Yala was overthrown in a military coup in September 2003.

Freedom of speech and the press is guaranteed, but journalists practice self-censorship and face some harassment. There are several private and community radio stations. Few private newspapers publish, and the lack of vibrant, independent media outlets may be due more to financial constraints than to government interference. In February, the Yala government ordered the independent Radio Bombolom to cease broadcasting for allegedly reporting false information that the authorities said could threaten national stability. In March, Ensa Seidi, the state-run radio station's editor in chief, was assaulted and expelled from his office for reporting about an opposition politician's return to the country and his plan to run for president. Internet access is unrestricted.

Religious freedom is protected and is usually respected in practice. About half of Guinea-Bissau's population is Muslim. Academic freedom is guaranteed and respected.

The right to peaceful assembly and association is guaranteed and usually respected in practice. Nongovernmental organizations and human rights groups operate openly, although their leaders sometimes face harassment. Six opposition activists were detained in February 2003. The right to strike is guaranteed, and strikes over unpaid wages were rampant in 2003. Collective bargaining rights are not guaranteed, but a National Council for Social Consultation has been established, including the government, workers, and employers, to deal with labor issues. Most wages are established in bilateral negotiations.

The judiciary has operated independently of the government, but its freedom was increasingly limited by President Yala. In 2001, he dismissed four members of the Supreme Court, and in 2002, he imposed his choice to head the Supreme Court over the protest of opposition leaders, saying that the court would soon be able to elect its own officers. Judicial performance is often unpredictable owing to political interference, poor training, and scant resources. Traditional law usually prevails in rural areas. Police routinely ignore privacy rights and protections against search and seizure. Severe mistreatment of detainees is reported.

Women face some legal and significant traditional and societal discrimination, despite legal protection. 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.

Topics: Human rights,