A/HRC/44/11
115. With support of its partners, Guinea-Bissau had taken a number of measures to
combat drug trafficking and had made some progress despite facing a number of
challenges. At present, there were only a very limited number of police officers who had
the necessary training to lead the relevant police institutions and who could ensure the
relationship between the criminal police and the International Criminal Police Organization
(INTERPOL). The development of training for police officers would therefore help the
country to address that issue. Moreover, the fight against drug trafficking could not be
limited to the police force. The Government needed to also ensure that the justice system
functioned impartially and that the country had adequate prison facilities.
116. Concerning violations of women’s and children’s rights, one of the main problems
was that in Guinea-Bissau, most courts were in urban areas and therefore very far away
from where people lived. The Government was attempting to ensure access to justice for all
communities, including by preparing a new judicial map and providing mobile units so that
the courts could move to areas where people lived and be accessible to all, including
women and children living in rural areas. Improvements would include changes to ensure
the provision of free legal aid throughout the country to persons without the means to pay
for a lawyer, including through changes to the statute of the Centre for Access to Justice,
which was already present in many parts of the country.
117. Concerning the right to drinking water, lack of access was a problem faced
everywhere outside of the capital, and even in the capital, some faced problems. However,
although it could not provide water to each individual house, the Government had
established a number of water access points or fountains to address this need. Additionally,
electric power, which until recently was only available in the capital, had now been
extended to a number of regions in the interior.
118. There had been many efforts to raise awareness regarding female genital mutilation,
in particular in rural areas, and a change in the way the public viewed the issue could be
observed. For example, mothers and the women who carried out the procedure had started
coming out to announce that they had stopped the practice. That change together with
greater access to justice were evidence that the country was on the right path in the
implementation of the relevant laws. While those changes looked good on paper, many had
initially feared that they would not necessarily be implemented in practice.
II. Conclusions and/or recommendations
119. The following recommendations will be examined by Guinea-Bissau, which will
provide responses in due time, but no later than the forty-forth session of the Human
Rights Council:
119.1
Accelerate efforts to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (Sierra Leone);
119.2
Consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(Georgia) (Ghana) (Uruguay);
119.3
Ratify the Optional Protocol of the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Australia)
(Burundi) (Denmark) (Honduras);
119.4
Consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (Georgia);
119.5
Consider ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of
All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Uruguay);
119.6
Advance towards the ratification of the International Convention for
the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Chile);
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