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TITLE: BOLIVIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BOLIVIA
Bolivia is a multiparty democracy with an elected president and
bicameral legislature. National and municipal elections held
in 1993 were considered among the most honest and open in
Bolivia's history. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Victor Hugo
Cardenas were sworn in as President and Vice President in a
peaceful transition August 6. The executive, legislative, and
judicial powers are separate.
The police and the armed forces are responsible to and
controlled by the civilian Government, but there were incidents
of human rights abuses by security forces in 1993.
Bolivia, although rich in minerals and hydrocarbons (petroleum
and natural gas), has a per capita gross domestic product of
only $920. About 55 per cent of its inhabitants live below the
poverty line. The Government emphasized debt reduction, export
development, foreign investment, privatization, and a freer
banking system to strengthen the economic base and accelerate
development. The informal economy, including the smuggling of
contraband across the country's extensive and porous borders,
has been tolerated by the Government because it provides
primary or secondary employment to many Bolivians and reduces
the need to deal with the social and political ramifications of
large numbers of unemployed. The economy was expected to grow
about 4 percent in 1993.
Human rights abuses in 1993 included instances of mistreatment
of detainees and prisoners (generally with impunity or leniency
for the perpetrators), substandard prison conditions, an
overburdened and often corrupt judicial system, prolonged
incarceration of pretrial detainees, discrimination against
women and indigenous people, and poor working conditions in
many mines. Bolivia is waging an extensive counternarcotics
effort against well-entrenched and violent foreign and domestic
drug traffickers. Government efforts to stem the flow of
narcotics resulted in some police abuses, including robberies
and narcotics-related corruption.
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 killings in 1993, but the police
were responsible for at least one extrajudicial killing. In
this instance, police beat to death a minor in Oruro; the
officers involved were convicted of misconduct.
Former dictator General Luis Garcia Meza's 7-year trial in
absentia for human rights abuses, including extrajudicial
killings, disappearances, and other crimes, ended when the
Supreme Court sentenced him in April to 30 years in prison, the
maximum sentence under Bolivian law. Also sentenced were
approximately 50 codefendants, including former Interior
Secretary Luis Arce Gomez and members of paramilitary groups
active in 1980-81. Garcia Meza remains a fugitive; the new
Government promised to make his apprehension a priority.
b. Disappearance
There were no known politically motivated disappearances during
1993.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits torture. Still, there were
occasional reports that police officers and prison personnel
treated in a cruel and degrading manner detainees and
prisoners, including minors. In more serious cases, including
those involving minors, security personnel were rarely tried
and punished for such acts. The previously mentioned beating
death is a case in point. The La Paz police mistreatment of
another minor resulted in severe injuries to his hands. The
police involved were tried and punished for misconduct. A
former president of the Congressional Human Rights Committee
alleged that one detainee, who denounced mistreatment, faced
retribution; the detainee was subsequently sentenced to over 10
years in prison on false charges.
In Yacuiba, a policeman raped a minor while she was illegally
detained. Charges were brought against the policeman; an
internal police investigation found him guilty. He was
dismissed and can be tried in a civilian court. However,
police Colonel Luis Mealla Echazu, who attempted to cover up
the crime, received only a reduction of his seniority by
1 year, a measure insufficient to convince most Bolivian
observers that justice had been done.
Conditions in Bolivian jails are substandard, except for some
drug traffickers and terrorists, who pay for and receive
special treatment. Poorer Bolivians endure overcrowding,
malnutrition, unsanitary conditions, and drug and alcohol abuse
in their cell blocks. Most prisoners must pay for their
cells. A prisoner who cannot pay the minimal amount necessary
to secure the smallest cell must become, as a practical matter,
indentured to a prisoner who owns a cell. In the poorest parts
of the San Pedro prison in La Paz, prisoners are housed in
cells (3 by 4 by 6 feet) with no ventilation, lighting, or beds
(gunny sacks are used as substitutes).
The food budget amounts to $0.25 a day per prisoner.
Malnutrition is commonplace, and prisoners must supplement
their diet any way they can: if their families do not
regularly bring food, they may work in the prison factory or
sell drugs, alcohol, or other contraband. By law, children up
to 6 years old may live in prison if the incarcerated parent so
desires. Government authorities have sought to get children
out of the prisons, but many are still there because they have
nowhere else to go.
There are several prison deaths every year related to
malnutrition and poor medical care. In May all 1,400 inmates
at San Pedro prison in La Paz staged a hunger strike to protest
prison conditions, the lack of day passes, and the delay in
bringing cases to trial.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution requires a court order for an arrest except in
cases where the suspect is apprehended in the commission of a
crime; detainees are supposed to be charged or released within
24 hours. Many detainees remain incarcerated for months, or
even years, before coming to trial because of the inefficient
and corrupt judicial system. The Constitution also provides
for a judicial determination of the legality of detention, and
prisoners are usually released if a judge rules that they have
been detained illegally. After the initial detention,
prisoners may consult a lawyer of their choice. Provisions for
bail exist, except in certain narcotics cases, and bail is
generally granted.
Exile is not used as a punishment.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The constitutional right to a fair public trial is adhered to
in most respects. Delays commonly result in protracted
judicial procedures lasting 3 to 4 years without sentencing;
78 percent of the prison population was unsentenced in 1993.
Investigation, trial, and appeal procedures are so protracted
that many prisoners eventually serve more time than the maximum
sentence for the crime for which they were charged. At no
level of the judicial system do judges abide by timetables
prescribed by the omnibus counternarcotics Law 1008, which does
not allow bail or provisional liberty for those held on
narcotics charges and which requires a three-stage appeal
process for all cases, even where a defendant is found not
guilty in the first instance. Consequently, many narcotics
defendants, like other criminal defendants in Bolivia, are
detained for long periods, sometimes years, before their cases
are finally resolved. Illiterate defendants may, at times, be
made to sign or apply their thumb print to declarations
incriminating themselves without completely understanding what
they are doing.
Defendants have the right to an attorney, to confront
witnesses, to present evidence, and to appeal a judicial
decision, and these rights generally are respected in
practice. The law provides for a court-appointed defense
attorney at public expense when necessary, but because of
shortages of funds and qualified personnel, many prisoners do
not receive this benefit. Further, even when a lawyer donates
his or her services, every step of the Bolivian legal procedure
carries a fee. Thus, many indigent prisoners are tried and
sentenced with no counsel present.
Corruption and intimidation in the judicial system remain
serious problems. Judges and prosecutors are poorly paid,
making them susceptible to bribery. Bribing judges, including
those on the Supreme Court, is common practice. Business
leaders, politicians, and lawyers admit privately that special
payments to Supreme Court justices and other judges are
regularly required and solicited to resolve cases. In October
Supreme Court president Edgar Oblitas and Justice Ernesto Poppe
were accused of seeking to extort a bribe to decide the
extradition case of an American citizen. At year's end, their
impeachment case was before the Congress. Many of those forced
to pay bribes were reluctant to testify about judicial
corruption for fear of retribution by the judiciary.
Corruption is also common in the national police. In April a
major scandal broke over "ghost" officers on the payroll. Six
police officials were suspended for their involvement in the
scandal, and the chief of personnel was fired and arrested.
Narcotics traffickers often bribe judicial and other officials
to release suspected traffickers and their property and to
purge incriminating files. In August two narcotics traffickers
facing extradition to the United States apparently successfully
bribed prosecutors to release them from jail.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The sanctity of the home and the privacy of citizens' lives are
protected by the Constitution. However, there were credible
allegations that the rural counternarcotics police (UMOPAR)
engaged in robberies of peasants, rough treatment of suspects,
and a showed a general lack of professionalism in the Chapare
region where most of Bolivia's illegal coca is grown. In
response, UMOPAR has increased the human rights component of
its training.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
No legal or institutional barriers to freedom of speech and
press exist in Bolivia. State-owned and private radio and
television stations operate. All newspapers are privately
owned and are free to express political positions without
government interference.
During 1993 there were three attacks on major media figures.
In one incident, the home of a prominent television commentator
and news director was firebombed, with limited damage and no
injuries. In the second, a bomb was discovered at the gate of
the home of a television station owner. In the third incident,
an investigative journalist who had reported on government
corruption received threatening phone calls, and a small
explosive device was discovered at the gate of his home. As of
the end of the year, no one had been arrested in these cases.
The Government respects academic freedom. Public universities
enjoy autonomous status by law; that status is respected.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The rights of peaceful assembly and association are provided
for by the Constitution and are respected in practice. La Paz
and other cities witnessed great numbers of demonstrations and
rallies carried out by a wide variety of labor, political, and
student organizations.
c. Freedom of Religion
Roman Catholicism predominates, and the Constitution recognizes
it as the official religion. Catholic bishops and other Church
officials receive salaries from the State, and the Government
has designated the Catholic Church as the coordinator of all
official public religious ceremonies. Citizens are free to
practice the religion of their choice, and an estimated 400
religious groups, mostly Protestant, are active.
However, there were some efforts to impede the activities of
non-Catholics. Two public hospitals in La Paz posted signs
prohibiting the entrance of representatives of evangelical
groups, religious propaganda, or proselytizing, or any activity
by a "nontraditional" (i.e., non-Catholic) religious group,
including donating food to patients. The director of one
hospital claimed he was under pressure from a Catholic priest
to post the prohibitions.
In the Santa Cruz town of Cotoca, municipal authorities passed
an ordinance prohibiting the establishment of any non-Catholic
church and "regulating" the activities of the non-Catholic
groups that already exist in the town. In June the Education
Ministry passed a resolution doubling the time students in both
private and public schools must spend in Catholic education
classes.
Missionary groups--usually evangelical Christians--are required
to register with the Foreign Ministry as nongovernmental
organizations (NGO's). There is no indication that missionary
groups have been treated differently from other NGO's, and no
registrations have been disapproved.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
There are no restrictions on travel within Bolivia or abroad.
The Government does not impede emigration and guarantees
departing citizens the right to return.
Citizenship is not revoked for political reasons.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Bolivia is a multiparty democracy with an elected president and
an independent, bicameral legislature. Opposition groups
ranging from the far left to the right function freely.
National elections are held every 4 years. The June national
election was free and fair, resulting in a peaceful,
constitutional change of government. There were allegations of
electoral fraud, particularly the misuse by the former
governing party of the registration process to register its
supporters disproportionately. Most electoral problems were
related, however, to administrative error. Municipal elections,
held in December, were open and orderly. There were no reported
electoral irregularities.
Suffrage is universal and obligatory. There are no legal
impediments to women or members of indigenous groups voting,
holding public office, or rising to leadership in the
Government. Because of societal traditions, the number of
women who have attained prominent positions in politics remains
small.
For the first time in Bolivia's history, an indigenous vice
president was elected in 1993. Though indigenous groups still
have little representation in the Government, the election of
Aymara Victor Hugo Cardenas symbolizes the growing political
power of indigenous groups and their determination that their
needs not be ignored.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
The Government is sensitive to the opinions of domestic and
international human rights organizations and is willing to
discuss human rights concerns with them. Both chambers of
Congress have committees responsible for monitoring the
observance of human rights. The Catholic Church, the Bolivian
Permanent Human Rights Assembly (APDHB), labor organizations,
and the press aggressively monitor respect for human rights.
International groups also observe human rights in Bolivia and
visit the country without hindrance.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
The Constitution guarantees equal protection to all citizens
regardless of gender. However, Bolivian women generally do not
enjoy a social status equal to that of men. Many rural and
urban poor women are unaware of their legal rights. Traditional
prejudices, social conditions, and limited political influence
remain major obstacles to advancement for women. Women in most
cases earn less than men for similar work. It is not uncommon
for young girls to be forced by their families to leave school
in order to work at home or in the economy. Though there are
no legal impediments to attaining jobs, women are generally
accepted only in traditional jobs in the marketplace and as
domestic workers. Few professional positions are filled by
women.
Many women and women's rights groups made credible charges that
violence against women is a serious problem. Preliminary
results of the National Statistical Institute (INE) study on
violence against women registered formal complaints by 8,500
women in Bolivia's four largest cities from July 1992 to June
1993. Of these complaints, 74 percent were reports of domestic
violence (physical, emotional, and sexual) and 26 percent
described violence suffered in work, public, and social
situations (psychological abuse, exploitation, kidnaping,
physical violence, and sexual abuse). The study concentrated
only on those crimes specifically related to gender. The
researchers concluded that violence against women is seriously
underreported.
Women victims of violence report that police are generally
unsympathetic and do not have the training to deal with crimes
such as rape and domestic violence. Women are often reluctant
to bring charges and thus abuses are underreported. Some legal
counseling is available for female victims of violence through
private organizations. The San Gabriel Foundation dealt with
337 cases of domestic abuse in the first half of 1993. The
predecessor to the newly created National Organization for
Women, Children, and the Family gave legal advice in over 800
cases of domestic violence in 1992.
Children
In 1993 the Government created an agency under the Presidency,
the National Organization for Women, Children and the Family,
to help improve the welfare of children. However, the lack of
adequate resources and pervasive poverty limit its ability to
carry out its program.
Although the Government is implementing a new law for the
protection of minors, children work in the underground economy.
Children also help in family stores and work as domestic
servants. Statistics published by the Ministry of Planning's
education reform team note that in rural areas, only 0.7
percent of girls and 1.4 percent of boys finish high school.
In urban areas, 26 percent of girls and 31 percent of boys
graduate from high school.
Indigenous People
Discrimination against and abuses of people of indigenous
background continues. The Aymara- and Quechua-speaking Indian
majority of the population generally remain at the lower end of
the country's socioeconomic scale and are disadvantaged in
terms of health, life expectancy, education, income, literacy,
and employment. Lack of education, negligible advances in
farming and mining methods, the inability to speak Spanish, and
societal biases combine to keep indigenous groups in poverty.
The civil and political rights of indigenous peoples are
protected by the Government. Most demonstrations consist
almost entirely of members of indigenous groups, and several
"indigenous" political parties have sprung up in the past few
years. National indigenous organizations, including the Single
Labor Confederation of Bolivian Campesino Workers, the
Indigenous Confederation of the East, Chaco, and the Amazon,
and others, have proposed legislation on indigenous rights and
negotiated with the Government on many issues. The 1953
agrarian reform satisfied the demands for land of most Aymara
and Quechua people in the highlands and valleys. By
presidential decree, Bolivia created 10 autonomous indigenous
territories (all in tropical areas) with special provisions for
land use.
The law prohibits discrimination against indigenous people in
employment. However, they are frequently paid less than the
minimum wage for work performed. Indigenous construction
workers, for example, are often fired before they complete
3 months' service, thus relieving the employer from the legal
obligation to give severance pay and other benefits. The
workers will then be rehired by the same employer, with the
same process being repeated every 3 months. They are also
frequently abused on the job. For example, a 12-year-old
indigenous domestic servant was beaten to death by her employer
in the Tarija department. A criminal case was opened against
the employer. The new Government, with the involvement of its
indigenous Vice President, has promised to undertake measures
to remedy the social problems of poorer sectors of society.
People with Disabilities
There is no legislation specifically directed at problems of
people with disabilities, though legislation on other topics
includes provisions for the disabled. For example, the 1992
electoral law required special voting arrangements for blind
people. The law prohibits economic discrimination against the
disabled. However, the Government has not provided services
and infrastructure to accommodate their needs. Societal
attitudes keep most disabled Bolivians at home from an early
age with the result that they are rarely integrated into
society through education and employment.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Bolivian workers may establish and join organizations of their
own choosing. The Labor Code requires previous authorization
for the establishment of a trade union, restricts more than one
union from establishing itself at a given enterprise, and
allows the Government to dissolve trade unions by
administrative act. However, the Government does not enforce
these provisions of the law and has used none of these powers
in recent history.
Stemming from its key role during the 1952 revolution, the
Bolivian Labor Federation (COB) has purported to represent the
entire work force, and successive governments have treated it
as such, although a number of workers are members of non-COB
affiliated unions. Approximately one-half of workers in the
formal economy belong to labor unions. In addition, some
members of the informal economy, such as unlicensed street
vendors, participate in labor organizations. Workers in the
private sector possess and frequently exercise the right to
strike. By statute, solidarity strikes are illegal, but the
Government does not prosecute those responsible for such
strikes nor impose other penalties.
In 1992 as a result of pressure from the COB, the Labor Ministry
rescinded the "trade union leave" of two union leaders because
of their ties to the American Institute for Free Labor
Development. The case was resolved in February when the labor
court ordered the employer to reinstate the employees, and the
employer complied with the order. In June government
representatives informed the International Labor Organization's
(ILO) conference committee that workers could declare general
strikes and sympathy strikes, that many of Bolivia's legal
restrictions criticized by the ILO's Committee of Experts were
obsolete and not applied in practice, and that these defects
would be resolved in a new general labor law. However, the new
draft labor law, addressing ILO concerns, remains under review
by the new Government.
The only significant strikes in 1993 centered on the
Government's annual negotiations (in March) with the COB
regarding salaries and benefits for government employees. When
the COB failed to accept the Government's "final" proposal, the
Government decreed the offer would take effect immediately.
The COB responded with a series of work stoppages and marches,
culminating in sometimes violent confrontations with police,
especially in some of the secondary cities. After a show of
force, the Government returned to the bargaining table and made
concessions to miners and teachers that were sufficient to
obtain the COB's acceptance of the overall package.
After the new Government took office in August, a general
strike (political in nature) called by the COB was declared
illegal, and the Government stated its intent to withhold pay
from government employees who participated in the strike. In
the past, the Government had not withheld pay, even when it
declared strikes illegal. Subsequent negotiations apparently
resulted in pay being restored to at least some of the striking
government employees.
Bolivian unions are not fully independent of the Government and
political parties. Union officials are members of political
parties which provide them a subsidy. They are also paid by
their employers (in most cases a government agency or a state-
owned company) while working for the union. All unions are
underfinanced and depend on outside support from political
parties and foreign nongovernmental organizations. The
political parties all have labor committees that attempt, with
some success, to influence union activity, leading to barely
concealed political party battles within the ranks of labor
unions. Labor laws place no restrictions on a union's right to
join international labor organizations. In 1988 the COB became
an affiliate of the then Soviet-dominated World Federation of
Trade Unions.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Bolivian workers have the legal right to organize and bargain
collectively. The Labor Code, however, denies civil servants
the right to organize and prohibits strikes in all public
services, including banks and public markets. Nevertheless,
these provisions are ignored by both the Government and
employees; virtually all government workers are unionized and
conduct strikes on occasion. In practice, collective
bargaining, defined as voluntary direct negotiations between
unions and employers without the participation of the
Government, is extremely limited. Consultations between
government representatives and labor leaders are common but do
not result in collective bargaining agreements. In state
industries, the union issues a list of demands, and the
Government concedes some points. Private sector employers
normally use public sector settlements as guidelines for their
own adjustments, and some private sector employers offer
workers more generous settlments than what the Government
grants. The Government generally does not intervene in private
sector labor-management relations.
The law prohibits discrimination by employers against union
members and organizers. Complaints are referred to the
National Labor Court, which often takes a year or more to rule
on a question. Labor activists say that the problem is often
moot by the time the court rules.
There are seven special commercial or industrial duty-free
zones in Bolivia. Labor law and practice are the same in these
zones as in the rest of the country.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and the
Government complied with and enforced the law. No cases of
forced or compulsory labor were reported in 1993.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The law prohibits the employment of persons under 18 years of
age in dangerous, unhealthy, or immoral work. Bolivia's Labor
Code is ambiguous on the conditions of employment for minors
aged 14 through 17, and it permits apprenticeship for children
aged 12 through 14. This practice has been repeatedly
criticized by ILO committees; the Government has responded that
it would present legislation reforming this and other provisions
of the Labor Code. The responsibility for enforcing child
labor provisions resides in the Labor Ministry. Existing legal
provisions concerning employment of children are enforced only
in larger state and private enterprises; young children can be
found on urban streets hawking goods, shining shoes, and helping
transport operators, and in rural settings, including mining
cooperatives, working alongside their parents from an early age.
Children are not usually employed in factories or businesses.
Where employed, such as assisting transport operators, minors
usually work the same hours as adults. Bolivia has compulsory
education through the elementary level. In practice, most
urban children complete elementary education, while very few
rural children do. Less than 30 percent of Bolivian children
advance beyond elementary school.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Government, both by statute and presidential decree, has
established a minimum wage (approximately $38 per month) and a
system of bonuses and fringe benefits. A worker earning only
the minimum wage would not be able to sustain a decent standard
of living, let alone support a family. Workers in most
occupations earn more than the minimum wage. Although the
minimum wage is well below the prevailing wage in most
occupations, it is significant because certain fringe benefits
are pegged to it. Approximately 20 percent of the urban work
force--street vendors, shoe polishers, and lottery ticket
sellers, for example--are not covered by the minimum wage. In
addition, the minimum wage does not apply to rural subsistence
farmers, who comprise 30 percent of the working population.
In urban areas, only half the labor force enjoys an 8-hour
workday and a workweek of 5 or 5 1/2 days. As with many other
labor laws, the maximum workweek of 44 hours is not enforced.
Responsibility for the protection of workers' health and safety
lies with the Labor Ministry's Bureau of Occupational Safety.
Labor laws that provide for the protection of workers' health
and safety are not adequately enforced. Although the
state-owned mining corporation COMIBOL has a special office
charged with mine safety, the mines, often old and operated
with antiquated equipment, are dangerous and unhealthy. In a
tradition dating back to the Spanish conquest, many employers,
particularly in the mining sector, promote the chewing of coca
leaf as a substitute for food, water, and appropriate rest
periods for laborers. The active promotion of coca chewing by
some employers and politicians, by the Bolivian Labor
Federation, and by persons having a personal financial interest
in the manufacture and sale of cocaine contributes to
conditions of work in many mines that fall far below generally
accepted international labor and human rights standards.
(###)
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