Human rights in the Comoros

Historically, Comoros has had a relatively poor human rights record.

Historical situation

In early 1979, Comorian authorities arrested some 300 supporters of the Soilih's regime and imprisoned them without trial in Moroni. Four of Soilih's former ministers also disappeared. For the next two years, there were further arrests, shootings, and disappearances. Under pressure from France, some trials were held but many Comorians remained political prisoners, despite protests from Amnesty International and other humanitarian organizations. The Abdallah regime also restricted freedom of speech, press, association, citizens' rights to change their government, women's rights, and workers' rights. After Abdallah's death on November 27, 1989, the country's human rights record improved. The European mercenaries who ruled the island ordered only a few arrests and released nearly all political prisoners who had been detained after the 1985 and 1987 coup attempts.

This trend continued until March 1990, when Djohar became president of Comoros. Opposition to his regime resulted in questionable human rights practices. For example, after an unsuccessful August 18–19, 1990 coup attempt, the authorities detained twenty-four people without trial in connection with the uprising. In October 1990, the security forces killed Max Veillard, the leader of the conspirators. The following year, after efforts to remove him from the presidency for negligence failed, Djohar ordered the arrest of several Supreme Court judges and declared a state of emergency. Another failed coup attempt on September 26, 1992, prompted the authorities to detain more than twenty people, including former Minister of Interior Omar Tamou. Police held these detainees incommunicado and reportedly tortured some of them. The Comorian Human Rights Association also accused the Djohar regime of extrajudicially executing individuals suspected of supporting armed opposition groups. By late 1993, groups such as Amnesty International continued to monitor the human rights situation in Comoros, and to speak out against the Djohar regime.

Indicators

The following chart shows Comoros'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".^[1]1

Historical ratings

Year Political Rights Civil Liberties Status President2 1975 5 2 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah 1976 5 3 Partly Free Said Mohamed Jaffar 1977 4 4 Partly Free Ali Soilih 1978 5 4 Partly Free Ali Soilih 1979 4 5 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah 1980 4 5 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah 1981 4 5 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah 19823 4 5 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah 1983 4 4 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah 1984 5 5 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah 1985 6 6 Not Free Ahmed Abdallah 1986 6 6 Not Free Ahmed Abdallah 1987 6 6 Not Free Ahmed Abdallah 1988 6 6 Not Free Ahmed Abdallah 1989 6 5 Not Free Ahmed Abdallah 1990 5 5 Partly Free Said Mohamed Djohar 1991 4 3 Partly Free Said Mohamed Djohar 1992 4 2 Partly Free Said Mohamed Djohar 1993 4 4 Partly Free Said Mohamed Djohar 1994 4 4 Partly Free Said Mohamed Djohar 1995 4 4 Partly Free Said Mohamed Djohar 1996 4 4 Partly Free Caabi El-Yachroutu Mohamed 1997 5 4 Partly Free Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim 1998 5 4 Partly Free Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim 1999 6 4 Partly Free Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde 2000 6 4 Partly Free Azali Assoumani 2001 6 4 Partly Free Azali Assoumani 2002 5 4 Partly Free Azali Assoumani 2003 5 4 Partly Free Azali Assoumani 2004 4 4 Partly Free Azali Assoumani 2005 4 4 Partly Free Azali Assoumani 2006 3 4 Partly Free Azali Assoumani 2007 4 4 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi 2008 3 4 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi 2009 3 4 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi 2010 3 4 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi 2011 3 4 Partly Free Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi 2023[2] 2 2 Partly Free Azali Assoumani

International treaties

Comoros'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[3] United Nations 1948 - 2004 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination[4] United Nations 1966 2000 2004 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[5] United Nations 1966 2008 - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[6] United Nations 1966 2008 - First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[7] United Nations 1966 - - Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity[8] United Nations 1968 - - International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid[9] United Nations 1973 - - Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[10] United Nations 1979 - 1994 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment[11] United Nations 1984 2000 - Convention on the Rights of the Child[12] United Nations 1989 1990 1993 Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty[13] United Nations 1989 - - International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families[14] United Nations 1990 2000 - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[15] United Nations 1999 - - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict[16] United Nations 2000 - - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography[17] United Nations 2000 - 2007 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[18] United Nations 2006 - - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[19] United Nations 2006 - - International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance[20] United Nations 2006 2007 - Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights[21] United Nations 2008 - - Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure[22] United Nations 2011 - -

See also

• Freedom of religion in Comoros
• LGBT rights in Comoros
• Politics of Comoros

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 6 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.

References

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division. or

1. Freedom House (2012). "Country ratings and status, FIW 1973-2012" (XLS). Retrieved 2012-08-22.
2. Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-01
3. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 1. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Paris, 9 December 1948". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
4. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 2. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. New York, 7 March 1966". Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
5. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 3. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
6. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 4. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
7. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 5. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. New York, 16 December 1966". Archived from the original on 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
8. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 6. Convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity. New York, 26 November 1968". Archived from the original on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
9. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 7. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. New York, 30 November 1973". Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
10. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 8. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. New York, 18 December 1979". Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
11. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 9. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. New York, 10 December 1984". Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
12. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11. Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York, 20 November 1989". Archived from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
13. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 12. Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. New York, 15 December 1989". Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
14. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 13. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. New York, 18 December 1990". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
15. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 8b. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. New York, 6 October 1999". Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
16. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11b. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. New York, 25 May 2000". Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
17. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11c. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. New York, 25 May 2000". Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
18. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 15. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, 13 December 2006". Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
19. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 15a. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. New York, 13 December 2006". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
20. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 16. International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. New York, 20 December 2006". Archived from the original on 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
21. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 3a. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. New York, 10 December 2008". Archived from the original on 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
22. United Nations. "United Nations Treaty Collection: Chapter IV: Human Rights: 11d. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure . New York, 19 December 2011. New York, 10 December 2008". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-29.

External links

• Freedom in the World 2012 Report, by Freedom House