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São Tomé and Príncipe - Universal Periodic Review

UPR 37, January 27, 2021
Recommendations by Canada

Background

São Tomé and Príncipe performs higher than the Sub-Saharan Africa average on the UNDP Human Development鈥痠ndex and has made progress on other social indicators. The 2018 election results cemented Sao Tome and Principe as a model of democratic alternation in Central Africa. According to Freedom House in 2020, Sao Tome’s Global Freedom Score is 84 out of 100; civil and political liberties are well-respected, but poverty and corruption have weakened some institutions and contributing to dysfunction in the justice system. Freedom House notes that threats to judicial independence have been a growing concern in recent years.

São Tomé and Príncipe is a democratic state with a constitution that provides protections for human rights. It is signatory to eight of the nine core international human rights treaties. It has a regulatory framework to protect human rights, but issues remain in terms of its implementation, monitoring and reporting. Human rights issues of concern include widespread domestic violence against women, where lack of accountability has contributed to a climate of impunity. According to 2018’s Afrobarometer, São Tomeans are notably mistrustful of state institutions, and corruption is a significant concern.

As noted in the Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Sao Tome and Principe for the UPR review, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights remained concerned about the high prevalence of domestic violence and related gender-based crimes. The Commission referred with concern to the fragility of the judicial system in Sao Tome and Principe, which had institutional and regulatory shortcomings and was not making progress in its reform process.

Children perform dangerous tasks in agriculture, and the Labor Code permits children under the age of 14 to work under certain circumstances, which is inconsistent with international standards. While there are basic legal protections against exploitative or dangerous working conditions, the government lacks the capacity to enforce these rules effectively, particularly in the informal agricultural sector.

Recommendations

Thank you, Madam President.

Canada welcomes the positive steps taken by São Tomé and Príncipe to ratify key human rights instruments and to combat sexual and gender-based violence and child abuse.

Canada recommends that São Tomé and Príncipe:

1. Educate the public, law enforcement and the judiciary on women’s legal rights, particularly in cases of rape and domestic violence.
2. Fully implement the Government’s Justice Reform program to improve identified institutional and regulatory shortcomings of the judicial system.
3. Revise São Tomé and Príncipe’s Labour Code to fully harmonize it with international law and enforce prohibition of child labour in the informal, agricultural, and domestic sectors.

Canada remains concerned about continued reports of widespread domestic violence and a reluctance of victims to pursue legal action due to costs and lack of faith in the legal system. We stress the importance of raising awareness of sexual and gender-based crimes, including domestic violence.

With an increase in the informal agricultural sector especially in the cocoa industry, we also remain concerned about working conditions and the use of child labour.