Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/madagasc.txt

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TITLE:  MADAGASCAR HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                           MADAGASCAR


Madagascar's 2-year transition from the 16-year authoritarian
Socialist rule of Didier Ratsiraka officially ended in 1993
with the fair election of Albert Zafy as President in February
and the selection by the new National Assembly in August of
Francisque Ravony as Prime Minister.  Under the 1992
Constitution, power is divided between the President, the Prime
Minister and his Government, and the National Assembly.  The
year was dominated by the failure of the new leadership to
agree on the pace and scope of a coherent economic reform
(structural adjustment) program in order to come to an
agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank.  The Ravony Government's decision to devalue the
Malagasy franc in May was an important step in the direction of
an agreement.  Absent appropriate accompanying measures,
however, and with the printing of new money, the resulting
inflation increased resistance to further structural adjustment
measures.  An impasse between opponents and advocates of the
structural adjustment program led in July to a vote on a motion
of censure against the Government in the National Assembly.
The motion failed, but provoked, nonetheless, a cabinet
reshuffle in August, and at year's end the leadership had still
not agreed upon a firm course of action.

The Government further increased civilian control over the
military.  Under the new leadership, mixed commands of
military, gendarmerie, and the National Police are responsible
for internal security.  The Government did not reduce the
overall size of the security forces but did change some of the
key personnel in the 1,800-man Presidential Security Guard,
which had been loyal to Ratsiraka and responsible for violence
aimed at upsetting the electoral process in 1992.  The
intelligence wing, the Directorate General of Internal and
External Investigations and Documentation (DGIDIE), reports to
the President.  There were occasional reports of police
brutality of detainees in 1994, and village-level law
enforcement arrangements known as "dina" were also responsible
for some abuses.

Living standards remained extremely low.  The decision to float
the exchange rate, effectively devaluing the Malagasy franc by
50 percent in May, and the excessive printing of money sharply
reduced consumer buying power.  The economy remains highly
dependent on agriculture, and cash crops such as vanilla and
coffee did relatively well.  However, the major crop, rice,
suffered a larger than usual shortfall because of extensive
cyclone damage early in the year.  Tourism, manufacturing,
mining, and fishing had respectable performances, but these
activities, so far, play a less important role in the economy.
The smuggling of national resources, such as vanilla, gold,
precious stones, and cattle, continued to be a major concern.
Unemployment and underemployment also remained serious
problems, especially among the young (about 60 percent of the
population is under age 25).

The human rights situation generally improved in 1994 with the
absence of violence between "federalist" (pro-Ratsiraka) and
"active forces" (pro-Zafy) militants that punctuated the
previous several years.  Citizens widely exercised freedoms of
speech and assembly.  The democratically elected National
Assembly consolidated its new constitutional role and was a
forum for public and wide-ranging debate.  Over objections of
the Government, the National Assembly voted in October to make
the Office of the Mediator the official constitutional promoter
and protector of human rights.  Advances in press
professionalism and in civic education also contributed to a
wider awareness and public discussion of human rights issues.

However, there continued to be human rights abuses, notably in
the law enforcement and judicial systems.  Traditional local
law enforcement groups were responsible for at least two
incidents of summary executions.  In the overburdened formal
court system, the accused continued to remain in prison for
lengthy pretrial periods, often exceeding the maximum penalty
for the alleged offense.  Prison conditions are deplorable, and
in some prisons women may experience physical abuse, including
rape.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no known political or extrajudicial killings by
government forces.  However, to combat rising crime,
traditional law enforcement groups at the village level, known
as dina, continued to mete out summary justice, including at
least two summary executions (see Section 1.e.).  For example,
in October in the village of Ambalakely (province of
Fianarantsoa), a dina posse forcibly seized, and reportedly
executed a known thief who was in police custody for his latest
alleged offense.  In response, the Government arrested six
members of the posse on manslaughter charges.  At the end of
the year, the posse members were being held pending trial.

There was speculation that the beating death of radio
journalist Victor Randrianirina in August was linked to
Randrianirina's reporting on sapphire smuggling in Madagascar.
The authorities continued to investigate but had not made any
arrests by year's end.

While ostensibly still pending, there has been no progress in
the Government's investigation into serious 1991, 1992, and
1993 incidents in which Government security forces killed or
injured unarmed civilians.  At year's end, the Government had
not released any official report or made arrests in a case
involving the deaths of more than 30 demonstrators who were
killed by then president Ratsiraka's guards at the Iavoloha
palace on August 10, 1991.  However, the Government named a
formal commission in September to investigate this incident,
and public hearings were planned for early 1995.  There was no
progress on an investigation into the March 31, 1992, shooting
incident in which soldiers killed six pro-Ratsiraka supporters
at the National Forum (constitutional convention).  The
Government had also not brought to trial 14 soldiers arrested
in April 1993 for alleged involvement in politically motivated
violence in Antsiranana; however, the Prime Minister publicly
announced a trial was expected to start by April 1995.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no permanent disappearances in 1994 and no
acknowledged cases of unsolved abductions or disappearances.
The government commission named in September to investigate the
1991 incident at Iavoloha palace was, by year's end, seeking
testimony related to disappearances in connection with the
incident.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution provides for the inviolability of the person;
however, there were occasional reports of police or other
forces mistreating prisoners or detainees.  There were also
isolated instances of dina trials using torture or other forced
means to solicit confessions from criminal suspects.  Suspected
thieves are sometimes subject to summary mob retribution that
occasionally results in severe injury or death.

Government officials acknowledge that conditions in Malagasy
prisons are harsh and potentially life-threatening.  The diet
provided is inadequate, and family members must augment
inmates' daily food rations.  Prisoners without relatives
nearby sometimes go for days without food.  Each prisoner has
on average less than 1 square meter of space.  The prison
population, estimated at 25,000, suffer a wide range of medical
problems that are not routinely treated, including
malnutrition, infections, malaria, and tuberculosis.  These
conditions have caused an unknown number of deaths.

Women in prison suffer abuses, as do the children who are
sometimes confined with them.  Gender segregation is not
absolute, and there were some reported cases of rape.  The
Government permits prison visits by the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Malagasy Red Cross, and religious
and charitable organizations.  The media also have access to
prisons.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The Constitution provides for due process for accused persons,
but in practice these rights are not always respected.
Existing legal safeguards against arbitrary arrest and
detention are frequently not observed.

According to the law, in a criminal case the detainee must be
charged, bound over, or released within 3 days after arrest.
An arrest warrant may be obtained but is not always required.
According to the Penal Code, which provides for the right of a
person to be informed of the charges against him, defendants in
ordinary criminal cases are to be charged formally within the
specified time frame and, upon being charged, to be allowed to
obtain an attorney.  Court-appointed counsel is provided for
indigents accused of crimes which carry a 5-year jail sentence.

Bail may be requested by the accused or by his attorney
immediately after arrest, after being formally charged, or
during the appeal process, but it is rarely granted at any
stage for violent crimes.

Despite existing legal protections, the average pretrial
detention time exceeds 1 year, and 3 or 4 years of detention is
common, even for crimes for which the maximum penalty may be 2
years or less.  Prisoners may wait years in prison only to be
found not guilty, with no recourse.  Nearly 65 percent of
Madagascar's prisoners (i.e., 16,000) are in pretrial
detention.  By law, persons suspected of activity against the
State may be detained incommunicado for 15 days, subject to
indefinite extension if considered necessary by the Government;
however, this provision is not used regularly.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

The Constitution adopted in 1992 provides for an independent
judiciary, and the National Assembly was debating implementing
legislation at year's end.  Meanwhile, the judiciary remains
under the aegis of the Ministry of Justice; lack of internal
controls and relatively low salaries for magistrates encourage
corruption.  Excessive pretrial detention of the accused
results in the denial of due process.  Trials are public, and
defendants have the right to an attorney, to be present at the
trial, to confront witnesses, and to present evidence.
Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence under the Penal
Code.

The judiciary has three levels of courts:  lower courts for
civil and criminal cases carrying limited fines and sentences;
a Court of Appeals, which includes a criminal court for cases
carrying sentences of 5 years or more; and a Supreme Court.
The judiciary also has special courts designed to handle
specific kinds of cases (e.g., cattle rustling) under the
jurisdiction of the higher courts.  A Constitutional High
Court, with a separate and autonomous status, is a body for
review of laws, decrees, and ordinances, and for certifying
election results.

Traditional institutions, known as dina, handle civil matters
within and between villages; in practice, the dina are
increasingly being used in some criminal cases because of the
practical inadequacies of the formal police and judicial
systems.  Dina punishments can be severe, in some cases
including capital punishment.  In November the National
Assembly, formally recognizing the role of the dina in reducing
crime and insecurity in the countryside, adopted legislation
giving dina verdicts the same weight as judgments handed down
by lower courts and increasing fines and prison sentences to
those refusing to abide by dina decisions.  Decisions by dina
are not subject to codified due process protections, but,
according to the new legislation, they can be challenged at the
appeals court level.  Some cases have also been brought to the
attention of the Office of the Mediator (Ombudsman) which
investigates and seeks redress from formal judicial authorities.

Military courts have some jurisdiction over cases involving
national security, such as acts constituting a threat to the
nation and its political leaders, invasion by foreign forces,
and riots that could lead to overthrow of the Government.
Military courts, like civilian courts, provide for an appeal,
or cassation, process to reexamine interpretations of law
rather than the facts of the case.  They are presided over by a
civilian magistrate who is joined on the bench by military
officers.

Approximately 25 political prisoners convicted for their roles
in federalist versus active forces troubles in Antsiranana in
late 1992 and early 1993 are still serving out their sentences.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The home is inviolable by tradition and law, and the State does
not intervene in the private aspects of the lives of the
people.  The law requires judicially issued warrants to search
houses, but there were reportedly some instances in which
private citizens used police acquaintances to intimidate others
without proper warrants.  Telephones and correspondence are not
monitored.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of expression,
communication, and press and forbids press censorship; these
provisions were largely respected.  People generally speak
freely, and debate in the National Assembly was open and
lively.  The print media openly criticized both the Government
and the opposition.  Opposition groups, trade unions,
professional associations, and others have regular access to
the press.

There is still a legacy of self-censorship among certain
journalists who fear reprisals from the Government or others
for aggressive investigative reporting.  Some journalists seek
to avoid identification in their bylines, and the names of
private citizens are rarely cited.  Journalists employ these
tactics in part because Malagasy culture aspires to be
nonconfrontational, and in part because journalists cannot
regularly count on effective backing by their editors and
publishers.  The situation improved somewhat, but many
journalists lack professional training and experience, and
resource constraints limit the effectiveness of the press.
There is also a persistent reluctance by government officials
and others to share information with the press.

In May a court ordered the expulsion of a longtime resident, a
French citizen, after she allegedly made slanderous public
statements against the Malagasy people in an editorial letter
published in a local newspaper.  She appealed her expulsion to
the official Ombudsman, was eventually expelled, despite having
published a retraction as ordered by the courts, but was
quietly allowed to return.

State-owned radio-television (RTM), the most important means of
reaching the public, continued to feature discussion programs
and debates on topics of public policy, although it rarely
included editorial comment.  Malagasy television broadcasts
French network news via satellite each evening.  Along with
state radio, there are at least five private radio stations in
the capital city, and private radio stations in Fianarantsoa
and Tamatave.  The private stations cover political subjects
and are sometimes critical of the Government.

Although a law dating from the previous republic requires
Ministry of Interior approval for films and videotapes shown in
public, in practice this regulation is rarely enforced.

There have been no reports of threats to academic freedom.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

Some legal restrictions remain on the right of assembly and
association.  Municipal permits, usually granted, are required
before holding public meetings but may be denied if government
officials believe that the meeting poses a threat to the State,
endangers national security, or significantly encumbers public
thoroughfares.  Officially established security zones are
off-limits to demonstrators.  The proliferation of political
and nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) continues and is
indicative of recent relaxations on free association rights.
There are more than 60 political parties and some 900 NGO's.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Government does not infringe the constitutional right of
freedom of religion.  Missionaries and clergy are permitted to
operate freely.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

There is no formal restriction on travel within the country;
however, domestic security concerns do effectively restrict
travel in some places, especially at night.  All Malagasy must
obtain official approval for trips outside the country.  All
residents of Madagascar (Malagasy and foreign) require exit
visas issued by the Ministry of Interior.  There are
approximately 70 Ethiopian refugees in Madagascar.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

In 1993 Madagascar concluded more than 2 years of political
transition which were initiated by largely peaceful mass
demonstrations against the previous regime of Didier Ratsiraka
in 1991.  Generally free and fair elections, by direct
universal suffrage and secret ballot, elected Albert Zafy
President in early 1993 to a 5-year term, renewable once.  The
new President's primary constitutional responsibilities are
national defense and foreign policy.  A general election was
held in June 1993 for a 138-member National Assembly whose term
is for 4 years.  For the first time in Malagasy history, the
National Assembly in July 1994 produced and voted on a motion
of censure against a sitting government.  In reaction, the 65
pro-Zafy active forces parliamentarians joined with defectors
from the former majority alliance, known as the Group-of-6, to
block the censure motion against the Government of Prime
Minister Ravony.

The Prime Minister and his Cabinet, not the President, execute
legislation.  A Prime Minister is elected by each new National
Assembly every 4 years, or upon vacancy.  The President and the
Government, provided they act in concert, may dissolve the
National Assembly.  If the National Assembly passes a motion of
censure, the Prime Minister and his Government are required to
step down.  The Constitutional High Court reviews the
constitutionality of every law before it is promulgated.  The
selection of the Senate must await the formation of local
governments in 1995 since two-thirds of the Senate will be
elected by local legislatures, and one-third appointed by the
President, all for 4-year terms.

There are no legal restrictions against women participating in
politics, but in practice men dominate the political process.
One cabinet position is held by a woman, and women hold only 6
percent of the legislative seats; in the judiciary they have
significantly higher representation.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

By law, human rights groups are considered to be political
groups and must register with the Government.  Some
nongovernmental human rights groups exist and are increasingly
active, for example in such issues as defending press
freedoms.  They have been joined by civic education
organizations that have much the same agenda.

The new Constitution provides for the establishment of an
independent organization charged with promoting and protecting
human rights.  In October the National Assembly designated the
Office of the Mediator--a kind of public ombudsman created by
the transitional government before the institution of the
Constitution--to assume that constitutional role.  This action
reversed an earlier decision by the Ravony government to
abolish the Mediator on the grounds that it was redundant given
the President's constitutional role as public arbiter vis-a-vis
government administration.  The power of the Office of the
Mediator rests in moral suasion.  The Office may publish its
investigative findings but has yet to try to enlist public
opinion in support of a particular cause.

The Government did not penalize or repress anyone for
criticizing its human rights record.  While slow to carry out
investigations of major cases of violence, notably the August
1991 killings at Iavoloha palace, the Government was, at year's
end, actively addressing this particular case (see Section
1.a.).

The Government is receptive to visits by international human
rights groups, just as it was to the presence of international
election observation groups during the four nationwide
elections in 1992 and 1993.  The ICRC made periodic visits
again in 1994 and was regularly granted access to prisoners.
United Nations organizations, including the International Labor
Organization (ILO), operated freely and extensively in
Madagascar.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution prohibits all forms of discrimination and
groups that advocate ethnic or religious segregation.

     Women

There is societal discrimination against women, although less
so in urban areas where women have an important, if secondary,
role in the business and economic life of the country, with
many of them managing or owning businesses or filling
management positions in state industries.  However, women in
rural areas face greater hardship, bearing the responsibilities
of raising a family while also engaging in farm labor or other
subsistence activities.

Under the 1990 conjugal law, wives have an equal say in
choosing where a married couple will reside, and they receive
generally equitable distribution of marital property in
instances of divorce.  Widows inherit one-half of joint marital
wealth.  In practice, some parts of the island still observe a
tradition known as "the customary third" whereby the wife has a
right to only a third of a couple's joint holdings.  However, a
widow receives a pension, and a widower does not.

According to various sources, including magistrates,
journalists, and women doctors, violence against women is not
widespread.  In the rare cases where physical abuse is
detected, police and legal authorities do intervene, although
there is no law dealing specifically with violence against
women, except in cases of rape.  Spouses can be tried for
nonrape abuses, but generally under civil law.  Some women
prisoners have been victims of rape.

     Children

There is no pattern of official or societal abuse against
children.  While official expenditures on children's welfare
are relatively low, the Government has decided to maintain
spending levels for the Ministries of Health and Education
despite an overall climate of increasing budget austerity.
These levels are insufficient, however, to halt the decline of
public services in the high-inflation environment.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Madagascar is inhabited by over 12 million people.  The
Malagasy are of mixed Malayo-Indonesian and African origins and
are made up of 18 distinct groups based on regional and
ancestral affiliation.  Although there are some linguistic
differences among them, nearly all speak Malagasy, which is of
Malayo-Polynesian origin.  No one of these groups constitutes a
majority of the population.  Long-term historical processes of
military conquest, ethnic domination, and political
consolidation, however, have traditionally favored the
political and economic status of highland ethnic groups of
Asian origin over the coastal groups of more African descent.
The centralized planned economy of the previous regime
reinforced the concentration of economic and political power in
the highland, capital area.  This situation has contributed to
ethnic tensions between the two groups.  Ethnic or regional
solidarity may also be a determining factor in hiring practices.

An Indo-Pakistani community of about 20,000, primarily engaged
in commerce, has been in Madagascar since the early part of
this century.  Few, however, have been able to obtain Malagasy
citizenship, since it is customarily bestowed matrilineally
through native Malagasy women.  The Indo-Paskistanis are
frequent targets of mistrust and criticism, and their shops
have often been targets for violent attack during civil
disturbances.  In one such incident in the town of Antsirabe in
January, mobs destroyed 10 Indo-Pakistani stores and a dozen
residences.  Three Malagasy died and several were wounded in
the melee as police tried to restore order.

     People With Disabilities

Physically disabled people are not subject to discrimination in
education and in the provision of other state services, but nor
are they the beneficiaries of special enabling or protecting
legislation.  The Government has not enacted legislation or
otherwise provided for accessibility for the disabled.