U. S. State Department

Leading human rights problems included lack of due process for detention of suspects and poor prison and detention center conditions. Other persistent human rights problems included detention of asylum seekers; domestic violence, sexual harassment, and workplace discrimination against women; exploitation of children; trafficking in persons, including the exploitation of foreign trainee workers; and societal discrimination against persons with disabilities, minority group members, indigenous persons, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals. There were also concerns over freedom of the press.

Cameroon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. The country has a multiparty system of government, but the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) has remained in power since it was created in 1985. In practice the president retains the power to control legislation. In April 2013 the country conducted the first Senate elections in its history, which were peaceful and considered generally free and fair. In September 2013 simultaneous legislative and municipal elections were held, and most observers considered them to be free and fair. In 2011 citizens re-elected CPDM leader Paul Biya president, a position he has held since 1982, in a flawed election marked by irregularities, but observers did not believe these had a significant impact on the outcome. Civilian authorities maintained some control over security forces, including police and gendarmerie. President Biya is the commander in chief of security forces. Ministers-Delegate lead security and defense forces on a day-to-day basis but do not exercise total authority. The most significant human rights violations continued to be killings and other abuses by Boko Haram in the Far North Region. These included child soldiering, abductions, beheadings, and burnings of persons and property. Other major concerns included involvement of security force members in torture and abuse; prolonged and sometimes incommunicado arbitrary detentions, often of suspected Boko Haram members; and denials of fair and speedy public trials.

The most significant human rights problems during the year included a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents, although incidents decreased substantially in comparison to 2015. Government evictions of Roma from illegal camps were also reported. Lengthy pretrial detention remained a problem. Other reported human rights problems included instances of excessive police use of force against detainees at time of arrest and against migrants and asylum seekers; overcrowding and unhygienic conditions in prisons; societal violence against women, trafficking in persons; and employment discrimination based on sex, gender, disability, and national origin.

Significant human rights problems included security force abuses, gender-based and domestic violence, and land tenure and expropriation concerns. Other human rights problems included a lack of due process due to a weak judicial system, impingements on freedom of assembly, trafficking in persons, and ineffective workers' rights protections.

The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), formed in 2012, was led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Clan elders nominated the members of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament in 2012, and parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as president later that year. Former Transitional Federal Government (TFG) president and presidential candidate, Sheikh Sharif, described the presidential vote as fair and conceded defeat. Indirect elections for the lower house of parliament, the new upper house, and the president, scheduled for August and September, had not been completed by year's end. The government of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in the northwest and the regional government of Puntland in the northeast controlled their respective jurisdictions. The Interim Galmudug Administration (IGA), Interim Juba Administration (IJA), and Interim South West Administration (ISWA) did not fully control their jurisdictions. The terrorist organization al-Shabaab retained control of the Juba River Valley and maintained operational freedom of movement in many other areas in the south-central part of the country. Conflict during the year involving the government, militias, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and al-Shabaab resulted in death, injury, and displacement of civilians. AMISOM and Somali security forces did not conduct any major offensive operations to liberate additional areas during the year. Civilian authorities did not maintain effective control over the security forces. Major human rights abuses included killings of civilians by, Somali security forces, al-Shabaab, and unknown assailants. Violence and discrimination against women and girls, including rape and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), were widespread. Civilians did not have the ability to change their government through free and fair elections.

Seychelles is a multiparty republic governed by a president, Council of Ministers, and National Assembly. In December 2015 voters narrowly re-elected President James Michel of Parti Lepep. On September 27, President Michel announced he would resign effective October 16, passing the presidency to Vice President Danny Faure. The president and Parti Lepep, formerly the Seychelles People's Progressive Front, dominated the country through political patronage and control over government jobs, contracts, and resources. On September 11, the opposition coalition Seychellois Democratic Union won the majority of seats in Legislative Assembly elections, its first majority since establishing a multiparty system. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. The most significant human rights problems were violence against women and children and denial of worker rights, particularly those of foreign workers.

Mozambique is a multiparty parliamentary democracy with a freely elected republican form of government. The most recent national elections for president, parliament, and provincial assemblies took place in October 2014. Voters elected Filipe Nyusi of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) party as president. Multiple national and international observers considered voting generally orderly but lacking transparency during vote tabulation. Some domestic and foreign observers and local civil society organizations expressed concern over election irregularities such as delays in observer credentialing, excessive numbers of invalid votes, and inordinately high voter turnout in some districts, which they alleged indicated ballot box stuffing. Civilian authorities at times did not maintain effective control over security forces. The country experienced significant domestic upheaval during the year due to the continuing armed conflict between government Defense and Security Forces (FDS) and militarized members of the main opposition party, the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo). Confrontations between the government and Renamo, which the Mozambican Human Rights League (LDH) termed "a low intensity civil war," increased in rural areas of the central and northwestern parts of the country and contributed to more than 10,000 persons fleeing to Malawi. There were reports of abuses committed by the FDS. The conflict included several retaliatory kidnappings and killings of Renamo and Frelimo officials. In May local residents discovered an alleged mass grave near the border between Manica and Sofala Provinces. Although the government blocked access to the site, reporters found approximately a dozen corpses scattered in the bush nearby. A reported second mass gravesite was later found close by. While a parliamentary investigative team did not come to any definitive conclusions or hold the government responsible, it was the first time such an investigative committee was formed.

Mauritania is a highly centralized Islamic Republic with a president as head of state and a constitution grounded in French civil law and sharia (Islamic law). The Senate and National Assembly exercise legislative functions but were weak relative to the executive. Voters elect municipal councilors, who, in turn, elect senators. Voters reelected President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz to a second and final five-year term in 2014. In 2013 Union for the Republic (UPR), the president's party, won 76 of 147 seats in the National Assembly in direct legislative elections, which some opposition parties boycotted. Several political parties, but not the major opposition parties, agreed in late October to hold a referendum on proposed amendments to the constitution, but it had not taken place by year's end. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. The chief human rights problems were use of torture by law enforcements officers; arbitrary arrests; holding individuals in lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention; harsh, overcrowded, and dangerous prison conditions; continuing slavery and slavery-related practices; and, trafficking in persons. Violations of freedom of the press, association, and conscience were also of serious concern.

government led by President Jose Mario Vaz and Prime Minister Baciro Dja of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cabo Verde (PAIGC). Vaz took office in 2014 after an election judged to be free and fair by international observers. The country has endured prolonged PAIGC intraparty political turmoil since the August 2015 dismissal of Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira and the subsequent dismissal on May 12 of Pereira's successor, Carlos Correia. Unlike in prior years, the government maintained civilian authority over the security forces. Serious human rights abuses included arbitrary detention; official corruption exacerbated by government officials' impunity and suspected involvement in drug trafficking; and violence and discrimination against women and children.