human rights in Bolivia

Bolivia's constitution and laws technically guarantee a wide range of human rights, but in practice these rights very often fail to be respected and enforced. “The result of perpetual rights violations by the Bolivian government against its people,” according to the Foundation for Sustainable Development, “has fueled a palpable sense of desperation and anger throughout the country.” The country's chief human-rights problems, according to a 2010 U.S. State Department report, are “killings and torture by security forces; harsh prison conditions; allegations of arbitrary arrest and detention; an ineffective, overburdened, and corrupt judiciary; a 'partly free' media; corruption and a lack of transparency in the government; trafficking in persons; child labor; forced or coerced labor; and harsh working conditions in the mining sector.” According to human rights watch report the administration of President Evo Morales has created a hostile environment for human rights defenders that undermines their ability to work independently. Threats to judicial independence, violence against women, and child labor are other major concerns. With regard to the report of The Economist dated Dec 1st 2017, in FEBRUARY 2016 Bolivia's left-wing president, Evo Morales, asked voters through a referendum whether he should be allowed to run for a fourth term in office in 2019. They said no. But on November 28th this year the country's constitutional court gave him what the voters would not, ruling that a clause in the constitution limiting presidents (and other directly elected officials) to two terms can be ignored.