US considers that there is a lack of accountability for corruption in São Tomé
The US considers that the human rights situation in São Tomé and Príncipe in 2023 remained similar to that of the previous year, and highlights the lack of independence of the judiciary and accountability for corruption cases.
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Mundo São Tomé e Príncipe
The allegation is included in the State Department’s annual report on the human rights situation, in which it considers that officials involved in alleged corruption cases in São Tomé and Príncipe continue to go unpunished.
"A study carried out by the São Tomé federation of non-governmental organisations highlighted the ineffectiveness of legal proceedings and the lack of convictions as the main factors behind impunity", the report states, which affirms that the São Tomé government continued to investigate allegations of corruption against several former senior officials, but none were tried.
The State Department document adds that "many citizens considered the police to be ineffective and corrupt and feared reprisals if they reported corrupt officers".
"Justice Ministry and police officials acknowledged this public perception", the report stresses.
The State Department recognises that the São Tomé government adopted "measures to identify and punish officials who may have committed human rights violations".
Other "significant issues" identified in the report are "gender-based violence, including domestic or intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child marriage, and other forms of violence; and the existence of the worst forms of child labour".
The State Department also considers that the conditions of prisons and detention centres in São Tomé and Príncipe are "harsh due to overcrowding and the poor state of existing infrastructure" and gives as an example that the country’s only prison, with capacity for 90 inmates, housed over 300.
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