Human rights in Cape Verde

Human rights in Cape Verde are addressed under the national constitution.

The 2021 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted that in general, the government respected the basic rights of citizens; however, there were concerns in certain areas such treatment by military personnel against other military personnel.^[1][2]

Development

Legislative protection of human rights can be seen as a relatively recent development, with the constitution being officially adopted in 1980. The political system operates under a multi-party parliamentary democracy.^[2]

Historical situation

The following chart shows Cape Verde's ratings since 1975 in the Freedom in the World reports, published annually by Freedom House. A rating of 1 is "free"; 7, "not free".^[3]1

Historical ratings

Year Political Rights Civil Liberties Status President2 1975 5 5 Partly Free Aristides Pereira 1976 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1977 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1978 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1979 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1980 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1981 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 19823 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1983 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1984 6 7 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1985 6 7 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1986 6 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1987 5 6 Partly Free Aristides Pereira 1988 5 6 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1989 6 5 Not Free Aristides Pereira 1990 5 5 Partly Free Aristides Pereira 1991 2 3 Free Aristides Pereira 1992 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 1993 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 1994 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 1995 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 1996 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 1997 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 1998 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 1999 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 2000 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 2001 1 2 Free António Mascarenhas Monteiro 2002 1 2 Free Pedro Pires 2003 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2004 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2005 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2006 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2007 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2008 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2009 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2010 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2011 1 1 Free Pedro Pires 2012[4] 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2013[5] 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2014[6] 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2015 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2016 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2017 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2018 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2019 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2020 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2021 1 1 Free Jorge Carlos Fonseca 2022 1 1 Free José Maria Neves 2023 1 1 Free José Maria Neves

International treaties

Cape Verde's stances on international human rights treaties are as follows:

International treaties

Treaty Organization Introduced Signed Ratified Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide[7] United Nations 1948 - 2011 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination[8] United Nations 1966 - 1979 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[9] United Nations 1966 - 1993 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[10] United Nations 1966 - 1993 First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[11] United Nations 1966 - 2000 Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity[12] United Nations 1968 - - International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid[13] United Nations 1973 - 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[14] United Nations 1979 - 1980 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment[15] United Nations 1984 - 1992 Convention on the Rights of the Child[16] United Nations 1989 - 1992 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty[17] United Nations 1989 - 2000 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families[18] United Nations 1990 - 1997 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[19] United Nations 1999 - 2011 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict[20] United Nations 2000 - 2002 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography[21] United Nations 2000 - 2002 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[22] United Nations 2006 2007 2011 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[23] United Nations 2006 - - International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance[24] United Nations 2006 2007 - Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[25] United Nations 2008 2011 - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure[26] United Nations 2011 - -

See also

• Africa portal

• Freedom of religion in Cape Verde
• LGBT rights in Cape Verde
• Politics of Cape Verde

Notes

1.^ Note that the "Year" signifies the "Year covered". Therefore the information for the year marked 2008 is from the report published in 2009, and so on.

2.^ As of 8 July (Independence Day) in 1975; 1 January thereafter.

3.^ The 1982 report covers the year 1981 and the first half of 1982, and the following 1984 report covers the second half of 1982 and the whole of 1983. In the interest of simplicity, these two aberrant "year and a half" reports have been split into three year-long reports through interpolation.