Civil Rights in Côte d'Ivoire
In the first articles of the Constitution, citizen's civil rights are listed and defined. Being modeled after the France's Constitution, the Ivoirian Constitution "promises equality before the law without respect to place of origin, race, sex, or religion." Religious freedom is also guaranteed and recial discrimination is prohibited. Also inline with rights the US Constitution grants, Ivoirian citizens are guaranteed "freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, right to representation at a trial, and the principle of innocence until guilt is proven."
Unlike our constitution, bail is not guaranteed so suspects are often not able to be released between detainment and trial. Besides freedom of religion, other first amendment freedoms such as freedom of the press and freedom to assemble peaceably are not granted by the constitution. The granting of other guarantees and liberties are left to the legislative body.
US State Department generally approves of Ivoirian human rights, compared to the treatment of citizens in most sub-Saharan nations. The government generally peacefully observes civil rights provided by the Constitution.
So far all may sound good, but all is not perfect concerning civil rights. To avoid political opposition, young political opponents were often conscripted into the armed forces. Local news media were owned by the state and therefore forced to agree with and support the government. Journalists who tested this system were threated with losing their jobs. The government also has the ability to restrict distribution of unapproved foreign literature.
LINKS
The Constitution of Côte d'Ivoire~BW