There were multiple allegations of corrupt practices by public officials that went unpunished. Officials allegedly diverted public funds for private use or for illegitimate public uses, such as buying expensive vehicles for government workers. Land sales and business contracts generally lacked transparency.

Corruption: Security force corruption was endemic. Police and gendarmes ignored legal procedures and extorted money from citizens at roadblocks, in prisons, and in detention centers. The government reduced the number of road checkpoints, but traders, small business operators, drivers, and passengers were still obliged to pay bribes to pass. Observers noted prisoners paying money to guards in exchange for favors.

In April the general manager of the Ministry of Communications’ Guinean Advertising Office and the administrative and financial manager were convicted of the embezzlement of nearly 40 billion GNF ($4.3 million). The court sentenced them to five years in prison. They were also each ordered to reimburse the stolen money, pay a fine of 50 million GNF ($5,430) each, and pay GNF nine billion ($980,000) together as damages.

Business leaders asserted regulatory procedures were opaque and facilitated corruption.

Financial Disclosure: Public officials are not subject to public disclosure laws. Although they are required to file a nonpublic statement, this requirement was not universally respected. The electoral code bars persons from certain types of financial activity if they are members of or candidates for the National Assembly. They may not be paid by a foreign state; by the CEO, a deputy of a CEO, or the president of a company under state control; or by a shareholder in an enterprise under state control or reliant on state subsidies or other state benefits. Despite these rules, some National Assembly members took state revenues to support their businesses, such as operating schools funded by public tuition. Authorities threatened to cut the state subsidies of some National Assembly members if they did not support the ruling party.

Women

Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape and domestic violence, but both occurred frequently, and authorities rarely prosecuted perpetrators. The law does not address spousal rape. Rape is punishable by five to 20 years in prison. Victims often declined to report crimes to police due to custom, fear of stigmatization, reprisal, and a lack of cooperation from investigating police or gendarmes. Studies indicated citizens also were reluctant to report crimes because they feared police would ask the victim to pay for the investigation.

Authorities may file charges under general assault, which carries sentences of two to five years in prison and fines of 50,000 to 300,000 GNF ($5.40 to $33). Violence against a woman that causes an injury is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 30,000 GNF ($3.30). If the injury causes mutilation, amputation, or other loss of body parts, it is punishable by 20 years of imprisonment; if the victim dies, the crime is punishable by life imprisonment. Assault constitutes grounds for divorce under civil law, but police rarely intervened in domestic disputes, and courts rarely punished perpetrators.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): Although the law prohibits FGM/C, the country had an extremely high prevalence rate. According to a 2018 UNICEF survey, 94.5 percent of women and girls ages 15 to 49 had undergone the procedure, which was practiced throughout the country and among all religious and ethnic groups. The rate of FGM/C for girls between the ages of six and 14 dropped 6 percent since 2015.

The law provides for a penalty of up to life in prison or death if the victim dies within 40 days of the procedure. The child code provides for minimum imprisonment of three months to two years and fines from 300,000 to one million GNF ($33 to $109) for perpetrators who do not inflict severe injury or death. If the victim is severely injured or dies, the child code specifies imprisonment of five to 20 years and a fine of up to three million GNF ($326).

The government continued to cooperate with NGOs and youth organizations in their efforts to eradicate FGM/C and educate health workers, state employees, and communities on the dangers of the practice. More than 60 health facilities integrated FGM/C prevention into prenatal, neonatal, and immunization services. A trend for medically trained staff to perform FGM/C under conditions that were more hygienic continued. While the “medicalization” of the practice may have decreased some of the negative health consequences of the procedure, it did not eliminate all health risks; it also delayed the development of effective and long-term solutions for the abandonment of the practice.

Anti-FGM/C efforts reportedly prevented 100 cases of excision and led to the arrest of 50 persons and conviction of 16. According to UNICEF, 11,190 uncircumcised girls younger than 14 benefited from the protection of NGOs. UNICEF also implemented community dialogues on FGM/C in 40 communes to sensitize local populations to the issue.

Coercion in Population Control: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization.

Discrimination: The law does not provide for the same legal status and rights for women as for men, including in inheritance, property, employment, credit, and divorce. The labor code prohibits gender discrimination in hiring. Traditional practices historically discriminate against women and sometimes took precedence over the law, particularly in rural areas.

Government officials acknowledged that polygyny was common. Divorce laws generally favor men in awarding custody and dividing communal assets. Legal testimony given by women carries less weight than testimony by men, in accordance with Islamic precepts and customary law.

On May 9, the National Assembly voted in favor of a new civil code that would legalize polygamy. As of October the president had not signed the law into effect. President Alpha Conde vetoed a previous law seeking to legalize polygamy.

Birth Registration: Children derive citizenship by birth within the country, marriage, naturalization, or parental heritage. Authorities did not permit children without birth certificates to attend school or access health care.

Education: Government policy provides for tuition-free, compulsory primary education for all children up to 16 years of age. While girls and boys had equal access to all levels of primary and secondary education, approximately 56 percent of girls attended primary school, compared with 66 percent of boys. Government figures indicated 11 percent of girls obtained a secondary education, compared with 21 percent of boys.

Child Abuse: Child abuse was a problem, and law enforcement and NGOs continued to document cases. Child abuse occurred openly on the street, although families ignored most cases or addressed them at the community level.

Early and Forced Marriage: The legal age for marriage is 17 for girls and 18 for boys, but traditional customs permit marriage as young as age 14. Early marriage remained a problem.

In 2017 according to UNICEF, 19 percent of all girls were married by age 15 and 51 percent were married by age 18. The country has committed to eliminate child, early, and forced marriage by 2030.

Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prescribes penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment, a fine, or both for all forms of child trafficking, including the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The minimum age of consensual sex is 15. Having sex with someone under 15 is punishable by three to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to two million GNF ($217). The law also prohibits child pornography. These laws were not regularly enforced, and sexual assault of children, including rape, was a serious problem. Girls between ages 11 and 15 were most vulnerable and represented more than half of all rape victims.

Displaced Children: Although official statistics were unavailable, a large population of children lived on the streets, particularly in urban areas. Children frequently begged in mosques, on the street, and in markets.

Institutionalized Children: The country had numerous registered and unregistered orphanages. According to the Ministry of Social Action and the Promotion of Women and Children, 49 registered orphanages cared for 4,822 children in 2017, the most recent statistics available. While reports of abuse at orphanages sometimes appeared in the press, reliable statistics were not available. Authorities institutionalized some children after family members died from the Ebola virus.

International Child Abductions: The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. See the Department of State’s Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction/for-providers/legal-reports-and-data/reported-cases.html.

Anti-Semitism

The Jewish community was very small, and there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/.

The law does not prohibit discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities in education, air travel and other transportation, access to health care, or the provision of other state services. The labor code prohibits discrimination in employment against persons with disabilities. The law does not mandate accessibility for persons with disabilities, and buildings and transportation remained inaccessible. The Ministry of Social Action and the Promotion of Women and Children is responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, but it was ineffective. The government provided no support to place children with disabilities in regular schools. In July 2018 President Conde promulgated a new law for the protection of persons with disabilities. The law is derived from the 2008 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The articles describe the rights of persons with disabilities, like access to regular and dedicated schools, and access to public transportation. At year’s end the government was implementing provisions of the law.

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The country’s population was diverse, with three main linguistic groups and several smaller ones. While the law prohibits racial or ethnic discrimination, allegations of discrimination against members of all major ethnic groups occurred in private-sector hiring. Ethnic segregation of urban neighborhoods and ethnically divisive rhetoric during political campaigns was common.

Acts of Violence, Discrimination, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The law criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual activity, which is punishable by three years in prison; however, there were no known prosecutions. The Office for the Protection of Women, Children, and Morals (OPROGEM), a part of the Ministry of Security, includes a unit for investigating morals violations, including same-sex sexual conduct. Antidiscrimination laws do not apply to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals.

Deep religious and cultural taboos against consensual same-sex sexual conduct existed. There were no official or NGO reports of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, although societal stigma likely prevented victims from reporting abuse or harassment. There were no publicly active LGBTI organizations, although some organizations worked to raise awareness concerning HIV/AIDS and prevent human rights violations among vulnerable communities.

In August authorities arrested two persons suspected of being gay in Kankan, Upper Guinea. They remained in detention at year’s end.

Laws to protect HIV-infected persons from stigmatization exist, but the government relied on donor efforts to combat discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS. Government efforts were limited to paying salaries for health-service providers. Most victims of stigmatization were women whose families abandoned them after their husbands died of AIDS.

Discrimination against persons with albinism occurred, particularly in the Forest Region. Speculation continued about their sacrifice. Albino rights NGOs continued to raise awareness of discrimination and violence against persons with albinism.

Mob violence remained an issue nationwide due to impunity and lack of civilian trust in the judicial system. In July a crowd beat a presumed thief to death in a neighborhood in N’Zerekore. The young man reportedly snatched the wallet of an old woman who then shouted for help.