Fundamental freedoms
Article 31 of Liechtenstein's Constitution guarantees equal treatment of all citizens. [1] Elections are free and fair. Human-rights groups are freely allowed to investigate conditions in Liechtenstein. [2] The country recognizes freedom of speech and of the press, although public insult directed against any racial or ethnic group can be punished by up to two years. There are no Internet restrictions. People in Liechtenstein enjoy academic freedom, religious freedom, freedom of movement within the country, and the right to travel abroad, to emigrate, and to repatriate. [2] The right of free assembly and of free association is guaranteed by article 41 of the Constitution and by article 11 of the ECHR. “All public, non-religious events necessitating official measures and especially security measures require approval in Liechtenstein,” according to a government report. “Political and educational events in particular are exempt. For the (few) demonstrations that have so far taken place in Liechtenstein, approval has always been granted.” [1]
According to a 2003 report by the government of Liechtenstein, anyone in the country “who believes that his or her fundamental rights and freedoms have been violated is entitled to apply to the courts or to file a complaint on the matter. Relief may take the form, inter alia, of an order to set aside an administrative or government decision, or an order for the payment of compensatory, nominal or substantial damages. It is the function of the Constitutional Court (Staatsgerichtshof) of Liechtenstein to rule on the constitutionality of existing laws and, where necessary, to render void laws or ordinances, or parts thereof. An appeal may also be lodged, in specific cases, with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Liechtenstein having acceded, on 8 September 1982, to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950. Such appeals are subject to the condition that all avenues of domestic remedies within Liechtenstein have been exhausted.” [1]
Rights relating to arrest, trial, and punishment
Arrest warrants are issued by the national court. Within 48 hours of arresting a suspect, police must bring the individual before a magistrate who must either file formal charges or order the prisoner's release. Defendants have a right to counsel, and those who cannot pay for a lawyer are provided with one at government expense.
Liechtenstein guarantees the right to a fair trial by a single judge, a panel of judges, or a jury, depending on the seriousness of the case.
The conditions in Liechtenstein's prison meet international standards. Under a 1982 treaty, convicts sentenced to over two years are imprisoned Austria. Prison conditions are monitored by independent body, the Corrections Commission, which makes at least one unannounced visit to the prison per quarter, during which it speaks to prisoners out of the presence of prison officials. Arbitrary arrest and detention are illegal. [2]
Under the Juvenile Court Act, juvenile offenders are imprisoned separately from adults. This is also forbidden by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of which Liechtenstein is a signatory.
The death penalty was abolished in Liechtenstein in 1989. [7]
Office of Equal Opportunity
The Office of Equal Opportunity oversees the enforcement of human rights in Liechtenstein. When it was formed in 1996, its focus was on sexual equality; it now also has oversight over such issues as “migration and integration of foreigners, disability, social discrimination and sexual orientation.” Its role includes “advising and making recommendations to authorities and private parties, carrying out investigations, participating in the development and enactment of national programs relevant to its mandate, and carrying out projects to further its aims.” Amnesty International has expressed concern about the OEO's limited resources. Originally staffed by two full-time employees and an intern, it now has only one full-time staffer. [8]
Amnesty International's first Universal Periodic Review of Liechtenstein in 2008 called for the establishment of “an ombudsman institution and a national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles,” and a 2012 Amnesty International report regretted Liechtenstein's failure to follow this suggestion and expressed concern “that the alternative mechanisms already in place, including the Office for Equal Opportunity and the planned Ombudsman for children, do not fully meet the criteria by the Paris Principles and are not the appropriate authorities to consider cases of human rights violations.” [8]
A 2012 report by a committee of the Office of the UN's High Commissioner on Human Rights similarly recommended that the Office of Equal Opportunity and other such government agencies in the principality be replaced with “a single independent human rights institution with a broad mandate.” [3]
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states. Over fifty countries that have ratified the Convention have done so subject to certain declarations, reservations, and objections, including 38 countries who rejected the enforcement article 29, which addresses means of settlement for disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the convention. Australia's declaration noted the limitations on central government power resulting from its federal constitutional system. The United States and Palau have signed, but not ratified the treaty. The Holy See, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga are not signatories to CEDAW.
Bolivia's constitution and laws technically guarantee a wide range of human rights, but in practice these rights very often fail to be respected and enforced. “The result of perpetual rights violations by the Bolivian government against its people,” according to the Foundation for Sustainable Development, “has fueled a palpable sense of desperation and anger throughout the country.”
In 2011, Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who had been in power from 1999 to 2019, lifted a state of emergency that had been in place since the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002, as a result of the Arab Spring protests that had occurred throughout the Arab world.
Technically speaking, Paraguayan law prohibits discrimination on grounds of gender, race, language, disability, or social status, but there is nonetheless widespread discrimination.
Human rights in Israel refers to human rights in the State of Israel both legally and in practice. The subject has been evaluated by intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights activists, often in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the wider Arab–Israeli conflict and Israel internal politics.
Human rights in Kuwait are a topic of significant concern. Most notably, Kuwait's handling of the stateless Bedoon crisis has come under substantial criticism from international human rights organisations and the United Nations. Kuwait has the largest number of stateless people in the entire region. Kuwait also faces significant criticism for the human rights violations against foreign nationals, women, and LGBT people. Although Kuwaiti law theoretically pledges to protect all human rights; the enforcement mechanisms designed to help protect human rights are very limited in Kuwait.
Oman is an absolute monarchy in which all legislative, executive, and judiciary power ultimately rests in the hands of the hereditary sultan, and in which the system of laws is based firmly on the monarchs made laws. Although a report by the U.S. State Department, based on conditions in 2010, summed up the human rights situation in the country by asserting that the government "generally respected the human rights of its citizens," the details in the report itself strongly indicate otherwise, and several international human-rights groups have described the state of human rights in Oman in highly critical terms. According to a report, on 20 December 2015, poet and television producer Nasser al-Badri was summoned by the Police Special Section and detained for 12 days without charge and without trial. The report added that the Omani Observatory for Human Rights said that al-Badri was detained because of tweets he posted criticising Sultan Qaboos and the state of the country's economy. Article 41 of Oman's statute (constitution) criminalizes any criticism of the sultan, stating that "the sultan's person is inviolable and must be respected and his orders must be obeyed".
Human rights in Cyprus are protected by the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.
Human rights in Austria are generally respected by the government; however, there were problems in some areas. There were some reports of police abuse and use of unjustified force against prisoners. Antisemitic incidents, including physical attacks, name-calling, property damage, and threatening letters, telephone calls, and Internet postings occurred during the year. There was some governmental and societal discrimination against fathers, Muslims and members of unrecognized religious groups, particularly those considered "sects". There were incidents of neo-Nazi activity, rightwing extremism, and xenophobia. Trafficking in women and children for prostitution and labor also remained a problem.
Human rights in Latvia are generally respected by the government, according to the US Department of State and Freedom House. Latvia is ranked above-average among the world's sovereign states in democracy, press freedom, privacy and human development. The country has a relatively large ethnic Russian community, which has basic rights guaranteed under the constitution and international human rights laws ratified by the Latvian government.
The human-rights situation in Benin is considered to be generally above average for sub-Saharan Africa.
Iceland is generally considered to be one of the leading countries in the world in regard to the human rights enjoyed by its citizens. Human rights are guaranteed by Sections VI and VII of Iceland's Constitution. Since 1989, a post of Ombudsman exists. Elections are free and fair, security forces report to civilian authorities, there is no state violence, and human rights groups are allowed to operate without restriction. Religious freedom is guaranteed, and discrimination based on sexual orientation is illegal.
According to international observers, human rights in Belgium are generally respected and the law and the judiciary provides effective means of addressing individual instances of abuse. However, some concerns have been reported by international human rights officials over the treatment of asylum seekers, prison overcrowding and the banning of full face veils. Capital punishment in Belgium is fully abolished and a prohibition on the death penalty is included in the Constitution of Belgium. Belgium was a founding member of the European Union and the Council of Europe and a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. Belgium has minimal issues regarding corruption and was ranked 15 out of 167 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Human rights in Liberia became a focus of international attention when the country's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was named one of the three female co-winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, all of whom were cited "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work".
The issue of human rights in Tunisia, is complex, contradictory, and, in some regards, confusing in the wake of the Tunisian revolution that began in January 2011 and overthrew the longstanding dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. While the immediate months after the revolution were characterized by significant improvements in the status of human rights, some of those advances have since been reversed. The situation remains in a state of flux, with different observers providing virtually irreconcilable accounts of the current status of human rights in that country.
Togo, a small, poor country in West Africa that was labeled "Not Free" by Freedom House from 1972 to 1998, and again from 2002 to 2006, and that has been categorized as "Partly Free" from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2007 to the present, has very serious and longstanding human-rights problems. According to a U.S. State Department report based on conditions in 2010, they include "security force use of excessive force, including torture, which resulted in deaths and injuries; official impunity; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; lengthy pretrial detention; executive influence over the judiciary; infringement of citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of press, assembly, and movement; official corruption; discrimination and violence against women; child abuse, including female genital mutilation (FGM), and sexual exploitation of children; regional and ethnic discrimination; trafficking in persons, especially women and children; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities; official and societal discrimination against homosexual persons; societal discrimination against persons with HIV; and forced labor, including by children."
The Republic of Uruguay is located in South America, between Argentina, Brazil and the South Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 3,332,972. Uruguay gained independence and sovereignty from Spain in 1828 and has full control over its internal and external affairs. From 1973-85 Uruguay was governed by a civil-military dictatorship which committed numerous human rights abuses.
Human rights in Sweden are largely protected in their Constitution and ratified international law. The three Constitutional acts concerning human rights are Chapter 2 of the Instrument of Government, Regeringsformen, the Freedom of the Press Act, Tryckfrihetsförordningen (1949) and Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression, Yttrandefrihetsgrundlagen (1991). Additionally, the European Convention on Human Rights has been incorporated into Swedish domestic law since 1995.
Basic human rights in Italy includes freedom of belief and faith, the right of asylum from undemocratic countries, the right to work, and the right of dignity and equality before the law. Human rights are the basic rights of every citizen in every country. In Italy, human rights have developed over many years and Italy has education on human rights. In addition, Italy has specific human rights for women, children and LGBT people. There are some organizations that support human rights in Italy.
Human rights in Norway protect the fundamental rights of all persons within the Kingdom of Norway. These rights are safeguarded by Chapter E of the Constitution of Norway or Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov, as well as the ratification of various international treaties facilitated by the United Nations. The country maintains a dedicated commitment to human rights and was the second country to ratify the European Convention on Human Rights.
