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(UKUS.,VVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB  ! ++P++7!   P HRI/CORE/1/Add.65     P page  2    (2$ K!UKUS.,  TRX<6&X3' Letter 6&A43'TVVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB   ` 'UKUS.,VVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB  ! ++P++7!HRI/CORE/1/Add.65  page  2    (2$ K!UKUS.,  TRX<6&X3' Letter 6&A43'TVVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB  (!2$H$ K!UKUS.,  TRX<6&X3' Letter 6&A43'TVVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB  33338rXV+Ҁ  0  /(!2&h$ K!UKUS.,  TRX<6&X3' Letter 6&A43'TVVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB  33338rXV+Ҁ  0  /#|d (tK$UKUS.,  TRX<6&X3' Letter 6&A43'TVVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB dHP LaserJet 4P,,,,,,0!v}. Jc.Oru' (IU K!UKUS.,  TRX<6&X3' Letter 6&A43'TVVV  33+B.++b >uQ!XB  _  R?+?'F dEF ??'QG dEQG ?_ ]MIz|_ p @X@E_X__*V I* UNITED R NATIONS  _OKz|2n ` @X@E?2nJ?2n ]MIz|   p @X@E       IV ! ??++7! E +?X]r    Distr. !S     GENERAL  B      _HRI_/CORE/1/Add.65       10June1996        ENGLISH         Original:FRENCH  mmE.++b >uQ!??E@ COREDOCUMENTFORMINGPARTOFTHEREPORTS K} @DD,OFSTATESPARTIES :l @2GABON J J$[16November1995]  @0CONTENTS  L$ParagraphsPage  6"+ +j  a8!#++76I.  LANDANDPEOPLEaaKa. #N1  p p S8!10^#^#Z#2  II.  HISTORYANDGENERALPOLITICALSTRUCTUREaaKa."";QQM11  p p S8!20^#^#Z#3 ]! -- III.  GENERALLEGALFRAMEWORKWITHINWHICH ;!m!#   HUMANRIGHTSAREPROTECTEDaaKa..QQM21  p p S8!24^#^#Z#4 *"\"$ IV.  INFORMATIONANDPUBLICITYaaKa.-O  258!8!U8!^#^#Z#4 $:$& ../&'GE.9616883(E) ./)  /0* _ԇR}Z.++b >uQ!+ +j  a8!Z@+I.LANDANDPEOPLE F 1. b GabonisaCentralAfricanStatelocatedintheGulfofGuinea.Its $ territorystraddlestheequator;theOgooubasincovers75percentofitand  equatorialforestsnearly90percent.Asedimentarybasin800kmlongby   20-300kmwidelinksittotheocean.   2. b Ithasasurfaceareaof267,667km2andisboundedtothenorthby   Cameroon,tothenorth-eastbyEquatorialGuinea,totheeastandsouthbythe  x CongoandtothewestbytheAtlanticOcean.  g   3. b ThepopulationofGabonwas1,011,710inhabitantsaccordingtothe1993 E  census.Theannualpopulationgrowthrateis2.5percent,partlyduetoa z4  positivemigratorybalance.Theinfantmortalityrateis6percent. i#  4. b Thebirthrateis42.2/1,000andthemortalityrate19.8/1,000. G 5. b Considerableeffortsaremadetoensureschoolattendancebychildren. % 6. b Theoilsectorisoneofthekeysectorsofthenation'seconomy,  contributing32.93percentofGDP.ThestructureoftheGDPwasasfollows  in1990:   b Primarysector:44.03%  Secondarysector:13.81% y  b Agriculturalsector:6.34%  Tertiarysector:29.94% h  b Industrialsector:5.51%  Publicadministration:12.22% W B.++b >uQ!++7B7. b Theunemploymentratewas18percentatthetimeofthe1993census. {5 8. b Theeconomicgrowthrateisdependentontheinternationaleconomic Y  situationandespeciallyonfluctuationsintheworldoilmarket. H! 9. b Gabon'sexternaldebt,estimatedatCFAF1,017.3billionin1990,is &#  approachingCFAF2,000billiontodayduetothecombinedeffectsofthe $! devaluationoftheCFAfrancandthecontinuingriseininterestratesby %" approximately16to18percent.Thisforcesthecountrytoborrowinorder % # toserviceitsdebt,andthusjeopardizesanydevelopmentprospects.Oneof &!$ themechanismscurrentlybeingusedisrescheduling,whichisreallyonlya '"% stop-gapmeasure,foritincreasestheburdenonthebudgetinthemedium (z#& term. )i$' 10. b Upto1960,therewereCatholicmissionaries,Protestantsandafew +G&) isolatedMuslimslivinginGabon.Inthe1970sto1980s,afterGabonjoined |,6'* theOrganizationoftheIslamicConference,anumberofMuslimssettledin k-%(+ GaboninadisplayofIslamicsolidarity.TodaythepopulationofGabonis F mostlyChristian.TheCatholicsarethelargestgroup,followedbythe 5 Protestants.ThereisagrowingproportionofMuslims.Itshould $ neverthelessbenotedthatanimistsstillmakeupagoodportionofthe  population.       @ II.HISTORYANDGENERALPOLITICALSTRUCTURE F 11. b Gabonbecameindependenton17August1960.TheRepublicofGabon $ adopteditsfirstConstitutionon21February1961.  12. b ThefirstPresidentoftheRepublicofGabon,LeonM'Ba,died   on28November1967andwassucceeded,inaccordancewiththeConstitution,by   theVice-PresidentoftheRepublic,HisExcellencyOmarBongo,whoisstillin   office.  x 13. b TheGaboneseDemocraticParty-thesoleparty-wasestablished V  on12March1968.Therewasareturntothemulti-partysystemfollowingthe E  nationalconferenceheldfrom23to30March1990withtheparticipationof z4  theoppositionandallthenation'svitalforces.Thereturntoamulti-party i#  systemwasconfirmedbytheconstitutionalrevisionof22May1990.Thefirst X  multi-partylegislativeelectionstookplaceinSeptember/October1990. G 14. b TheNationalAssemblyadoptedanewConstitutionandaCharterof % PoliticalPartieson15March1991.  15. b ByActNo.3/91of26March1991,asamendedbyActNo.01/94  of18March1994,theRepublicofGabonrevisedtheConstitutionwithaview  tothedisappearanceoftheSupremeCourtandtheestablishmentofthreenew  independentandautonomouscourts,namely:theJudicialCourt,the y AdministrativeCourtandtheAccountingCourt. h 16. b AccordingtotheConstitutionoftheRepublicofGabonActNo.3/91 F of26March1991,asamendedbyActNo.01/94of18March1994thePresident {5 oftheRepublicistheHeadofState.Heistheguarantorofterritorial j$ integrity,nationalunityandrespectfortheConstitutionandfor Y  internationaltreaties(Constitution,art.58).Heiselectedbydirect H! universalsuffrageforafiveyeartermwhichmaybeextendedonlyonce 7" (Constitution,art.59). &#  17. b ThePrimeMinisteristheHeadofGovernment.Assuch,hedirectsthe %" actionoftheGovernment. % # 18. b Thelegislativepowerisrepresentedbyaparliamentcomprising '"% twochambers:theNationalAssemblyandtheSenate.Themembersofthe (z#& NationalAssemblycarrythetitleofdeputyandareelectedforafiveyear )i$' termbydirectuniversalsuffrage.ThemembersoftheSenatecarrythetitle *X%( ofsenator.Theyareelectedforasixyeartermbyindirectuniversal +G&) suffrage. |,6'*  k-%(+ 19. b Themeansofcontrolofthelegislativepowerovertheexecutivepower F arethefollowing:interpellations,writtenororalquestionsandcommissions 5 ofinquiryandcontrol.TheNationalAssemblymayexercisethemotionof $ censure(art.61).  20. b Thejudicialpowerisindependentofthelegislativeandexecutive   powers.ItiscoveredintitleVoftheConstitution.      x @III.GENERALLEGALFRAMEWORKWITHINWHICHHUMANRIGHTSAREPROTECTED F 21. b TheMinistryofHumanRightswasestablishedin1987.Ithasbeengiven $ amandatetoimplementtheGovernment'shumanrightspolicyandtocoordinate  thestepsundertakeninthisarea.TheeffortsoftheMinistryofHuman   Rightsfocusontheprotectionandpromotionofhumanrights.   22. b Article1oftheConstitutionoftheRepublicofGabonstipulates:   0 b  "TheRepublicofGabonrecognizesandguaranteestheinviolableand  g  imprescriptiblehumanrightsbywhichthepublicauthoritiesarebound."V b$b$ 23. b Forpeoplewhohavebeenthevictimsofviolationsofrightssetforthin z4  ahumanrightsinstrument,remediesareprovidedforintheappropriatecourt, i#  accordingtothenatureoftherightviolated. X  24. b Thenext22itemsprovidefortheimplementationandprotectionofhuman 6 rights.TheyreflectthecommitmentoftheGaboneseGovernmenttothe % protectionofhumanrightsasdefinedbythe1945Charterofthe  UnitedNations,the1948UniversalDeclarationofHumanRights,the  1981AfricanCharteronHumanandPeoples'Rightsandthe1966International  CovenantsonCivilandPoliticalRightsandonEconomic,SocialandCultural  Rights.  @%IV.INFORMATIONANDPUBLICITY h 25. b Humanrightsinformationanddisseminationoftheinternationalhuman F rightsinstrumentsatthenationallevelremainsoneoftheweakestsectors {5 withregardtothepromotionofhumanrights. j$ @2