Human rights in Djibouti
The US State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2019 points out that Djibouti's significant human rights issues included: unlawful or arbitrary killings by government agents; arbitrary detention by government agents; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists; criminal libel; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; significant acts of corruption; and violence against women and girls with inadequate government action for prosecution and accountability, including female genital mutilation/cutting.
[10] After a supposed assassination attempt on the Director of Security in June 1979 (the reality of which Amnesty International reported to be in doubt), nine political opponents, including two parliamentary deputies, were detained and tortured.
[13] Reported torture methods under Aptidon include (but are not limited to): severe beatings; waterboarding; burnings; tearing out of fingernails; electric shocks; prolonged exposure to smoke resulting in near-asphyxiation; "The Swing", in which the naked victim was suspended from a bar by his ankles; and insertions of bottles into the anus.
[9][11] Aptidon announced his retirement in February 1999 and the People's Rally for Progress chose Ismaïl Omar Guelleh as their presidential candidate.
He handily won the April elections, with almost three quarters of the vote, defeating his only presidential rival, the independent Moussa Ahmed Idriss.
[16] The People's Rally for Progress has continued to dominate politics under Guellah, taking advantage of a unique first-past-the-post system in which the majority winner in each of the country's five electoral districts carries all the seats.
The opposition newspaper Le Renouveau ceased operations in 2007 after publishing an article claiming a businessman bribed Ismail Omar Guelleh's brother-in-law, the governor of the Central Bank of Djibouti.
[19] In February 2011 the government arrested dozens of political opponents, including six people who provide reporting to the European radio station, La Voix de Djibouti.
The nation's legal system is based on the French civil code, with Shariah law handling family matters.
[17] Jean-Paul Noel Abdi, president of the Djiboutian League of Human Rights, was arrested on 9 February 2011 after reporting on opposition protests in connection with the Arab Spring earlier that month.
[24] Reporters Without Borders claims that Dirir Ibrahim Bouraleh died from injuries sustained under torture by Sergeant Major Abdourahman Omar Said from 23 – 27 April 2011.
