| GUINEA Republic of Guinea Republique de Guinee Joined United Nations: 12 December 1958 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Updated 08/04/10 |
TITLE II: LIBERTIES, DUTIES AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
Article 5
The person and the dignity of man are sacred. The state has the duty to respect and protect them. The rights and liberties enumerated
hereinafter are inviolable, inalienable and indefeasible. They are the foundation of all humanity and guarantee peace and justice in the world.
Article 6
Man has the right to the free development of his personality. He has the right to life and physical integrity. No one shall be subjected to
torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatments or punishments.
Article 7
He shall be free to believe, to think and to profess his religious faith, his political or philosophical opinions. He shall be free to express, to
manifest and to diffuse his ideas and opinions by speech, by writing and by image. He shall be free to instruct and inform himself from
sources available to all.
Article 8
All human beings shall be equal before the law. Men and women have the same rights. No one shall be favoured or disadvantaged by
reason of his birth, his race, his ethnicity, his language, his political, philosophical or religious beliefs and opinions.
Article 9
No one shall be arrested, detained or condemned except under conditions and methods specified by law. Everyone shall have the
indefeasible right to present himself before a judge to assert his rights before the state and its agents. All citizens shall have the right to a
just and equitable trial, in which the right to present a defence is guaranteed. The law shall establish penalties necessary and proportionate
to the crimes for which they are justified.
Article 10
All citizens have the right to demonstrate and to march. All citizens have the right to form associations and societies to collectively
exercise their rights and their political, economic, social or cultural activities. All citizens have the right to settlement and movement in the
territory of the Republic, as well as to freely enter and leave it.
Article 11
Whoever is persecuted by reason of his political, philosophical or religious opinions, his race, his ethnicity, his intellectual, scientific or
cultural activities, in the defence of liberty has the right of asylum in the territory of the Republic.
Article 12
The domicile is inviolable. It shall only be violated in the case of grave and imminent danger, to prepare to face a common danger or to
protect the lives of persons. All other violations, all intrusions shall only be ordered by a judge or by an authority designated by law in the
forms prescribed by this Constitution. The secrecy of correspondence and communications is inviolable. Every individual shall have the
right to the protection of his private life.
Article 13
The right to private property shall be guaranteed. Nothing shall be expropriated if it is not in the legally constituted interest of all, and
subject to a just and prior compensation.
Article 14
The free exercise of religious sects shall be guaranteed. Religious institutions and communities freely create and administer themselves.
They shall not be subject to the tutelage of the state.
Article 15
Man has the right to health and physical well-being. The state shall have the duty to promote the public health and to fight against
epidemics and social plagues.
Article 16
Marriage and family which constitute the natural foundation of life in society, shall be protected and promoted by the state. Parents have
the right and the duty to assure the education and the physical and moral health of their children. Children owe care and assistance to their
parents.
Article 17
Youths shall be particularly protected from exploitation and moral abandon. The elderly and handicapped shall benefit from the assistance
and protection of society.
Article 18
The right to work is recognised for all. The state shall create the necessary conditions for the exercise of this right. No one shall be
harassed in his work on account of his sex, his race, his ethnicity or his opinions. Each one has the right to belong to the trade union of
his choice and defend his rights through trade union activities. Each worker has the right to participate through his representatives in the
determination of his working conditions. The right to strike shall be recognised. It shall be exercised within the framework of the laws
that govern it. It shall not in any case abridge the freedom to work. The law shall fix conditions for the assistance and protection to which
all workers shall have a right.
Article 19
The people of Guinea shall freely and sovereignly determine its institutions and the economic and social organisation of the nation. They
shall have the inalienable right to its resources. These shall benefit all the citizens in an equitable fashion. They shall have the right to the
preservation of their heritage, culture and environment. They shall have the right to resist oppression.
Article 20
Each citizen shall have the duty to conform to the Fundamental Law, to laws and to regulations. Each citizen shall have the duty to
participate in elections, to promote tolerance, democratic values and to be loyal towards the nation. Each citizens shall have the duty to
respect the honour of the opinions of others. Each citizen shall contribute taxes according to his means and shall fulfil his social
obligations under conditions determined by law. Each citizen shall have the sacred duty to defend the fatherland.
Article 21
The state shall promote the well-being of its citizens. It shall foster pluralism of opinions and sources of information. It shall assure the
security of each person, and shall watch over the maintenance of public order. It shall assure the continuity of institutions and public
services, in respect of the Fundamental Law. It shall guarantee equal access to public employment. It shall favour national unity and
African Unity. It shall co-operate with other states to strengthen independence, peace, mutual respect and friendship among peoples. It
shall assure the education of the youth, which is obligatory. It shall create conditions and institutions which permit each child to develop.
It shall guarantee freedom of education, and register private schools.
Article 22
The law guarantees to all the exercise of fundamental rights and liberties. It shall determine the conditions under which they shall be
exercised. The law shall only set limits on these rights and liberties which are indispensable to the maintenance of public order and
democracy. Organisations whose goals or activities are contrary to laws or that manifestly disturb the public order can be dissolved.
Article 23
Whoever occupies a public post or performs a public function shall be accountable for his activity and shall respect the principle of
neutrality in public service. He shall not use his functions for ends other than those in the interest of all.
Article 5
The person and the dignity of man are sacred. The state has the duty to respect and protect them. The rights and liberties enumerated
hereinafter are inviolable, inalienable and indefeasible. They are the foundation of all humanity and guarantee peace and justice in the world.
Article 6
Man has the right to the free development of his personality. He has the right to life and physical integrity. No one shall be subjected to
torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatments or punishments.
Article 7
He shall be free to believe, to think and to profess his religious faith, his political or philosophical opinions. He shall be free to express, to
manifest and to diffuse his ideas and opinions by speech, by writing and by image. He shall be free to instruct and inform himself from
sources available to all.
Article 8
All human beings shall be equal before the law. Men and women have the same rights. No one shall be favoured or disadvantaged by
reason of his birth, his race, his ethnicity, his language, his political, philosophical or religious beliefs and opinions.
Article 9
No one shall be arrested, detained or condemned except under conditions and methods specified by law. Everyone shall have the
indefeasible right to present himself before a judge to assert his rights before the state and its agents. All citizens shall have the right to a
just and equitable trial, in which the right to present a defence is guaranteed. The law shall establish penalties necessary and proportionate
to the crimes for which they are justified.
Article 10
All citizens have the right to demonstrate and to march. All citizens have the right to form associations and societies to collectively
exercise their rights and their political, economic, social or cultural activities. All citizens have the right to settlement and movement in the
territory of the Republic, as well as to freely enter and leave it.
Article 11
Whoever is persecuted by reason of his political, philosophical or religious opinions, his race, his ethnicity, his intellectual, scientific or
cultural activities, in the defence of liberty has the right of asylum in the territory of the Republic.
Article 12
The domicile is inviolable. It shall only be violated in the case of grave and imminent danger, to prepare to face a common danger or to
protect the lives of persons. All other violations, all intrusions shall only be ordered by a judge or by an authority designated by law in the
forms prescribed by this Constitution. The secrecy of correspondence and communications is inviolable. Every individual shall have the
right to the protection of his private life.
Article 13
The right to private property shall be guaranteed. Nothing shall be expropriated if it is not in the legally constituted interest of all, and
subject to a just and prior compensation.
Article 14
The free exercise of religious sects shall be guaranteed. Religious institutions and communities freely create and administer themselves.
They shall not be subject to the tutelage of the state.
Article 15
Man has the right to health and physical well-being. The state shall have the duty to promote the public health and to fight against
epidemics and social plagues.
Article 16
Marriage and family which constitute the natural foundation of life in society, shall be protected and promoted by the state. Parents have
the right and the duty to assure the education and the physical and moral health of their children. Children owe care and assistance to their
parents.
Article 17
Youths shall be particularly protected from exploitation and moral abandon. The elderly and handicapped shall benefit from the assistance
and protection of society.
Article 18
The right to work is recognised for all. The state shall create the necessary conditions for the exercise of this right. No one shall be
harassed in his work on account of his sex, his race, his ethnicity or his opinions. Each one has the right to belong to the trade union of
his choice and defend his rights through trade union activities. Each worker has the right to participate through his representatives in the
determination of his working conditions. The right to strike shall be recognised. It shall be exercised within the framework of the laws
that govern it. It shall not in any case abridge the freedom to work. The law shall fix conditions for the assistance and protection to which
all workers shall have a right.
Article 19
The people of Guinea shall freely and sovereignly determine its institutions and the economic and social organisation of the nation. They
shall have the inalienable right to its resources. These shall benefit all the citizens in an equitable fashion. They shall have the right to the
preservation of their heritage, culture and environment. They shall have the right to resist oppression.
Article 20
Each citizen shall have the duty to conform to the Fundamental Law, to laws and to regulations. Each citizen shall have the duty to
participate in elections, to promote tolerance, democratic values and to be loyal towards the nation. Each citizens shall have the duty to
respect the honour of the opinions of others. Each citizen shall contribute taxes according to his means and shall fulfil his social
obligations under conditions determined by law. Each citizen shall have the sacred duty to defend the fatherland.
Article 21
The state shall promote the well-being of its citizens. It shall foster pluralism of opinions and sources of information. It shall assure the
security of each person, and shall watch over the maintenance of public order. It shall assure the continuity of institutions and public
services, in respect of the Fundamental Law. It shall guarantee equal access to public employment. It shall favour national unity and
African Unity. It shall co-operate with other states to strengthen independence, peace, mutual respect and friendship among peoples. It
shall assure the education of the youth, which is obligatory. It shall create conditions and institutions which permit each child to develop.
It shall guarantee freedom of education, and register private schools.
Article 22
The law guarantees to all the exercise of fundamental rights and liberties. It shall determine the conditions under which they shall be
exercised. The law shall only set limits on these rights and liberties which are indispensable to the maintenance of public order and
democracy. Organisations whose goals or activities are contrary to laws or that manifestly disturb the public order can be dissolved.
Article 23
Whoever occupies a public post or performs a public function shall be accountable for his activity and shall respect the principle of
neutrality in public service. He shall not use his functions for ends other than those in the interest of all.
The territory now called Guinea was dominated by a succession of regional African
kingdoms. It entered a state of decline in the 16th century and was overrun by Moroccan
invaders in 1685 who could not rule such a broad area effectively and retreated to central
Guinea to establish an independent Islamic State which existed from 1735 to 1898 with a
written constitution. England, Portugal and France each made attempts to conquer the
region in conjunction with the lucrative slave trade. France asserted dominance in 1898 with
the defeat of the last major rebel force and agreements were forged with England and
Portugal to carve out their colonies with the formation of the Territory pf Guinea within
French West Africa. With the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, France could no longer
afford to administer their African colonies and on 2 October, 1958, Guinea asserted their
independence and promulgated their first constitution. Ahmed Sékou Touré established a
brutal, one party dictatorship until his death on 26 March 1984. A bloodless coup led by
Lansana Conté and Diarra Traoré seized power on April 3, 1984, denouncing the previous
administrations brutality and pledging to lead the country back to democratic rule. Though
elections were finally held in 1993, Conte continues to dominate all aspects of Guinea
politics, himself being branded a tired dictator. La Loi Fondamentale de la République de
Guinée, the Guinea Constitution, was instituted on 23 December 1990 in accordance with
standards set forth by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which Guinea is a
signatory. The Constitution was suspended following the 23 December 2008 coup. The
following is the extract of those articles specifically pertaining to human rights. An official
English translation is not available; however for the official French version, click here.
kingdoms. It entered a state of decline in the 16th century and was overrun by Moroccan
invaders in 1685 who could not rule such a broad area effectively and retreated to central
Guinea to establish an independent Islamic State which existed from 1735 to 1898 with a
written constitution. England, Portugal and France each made attempts to conquer the
region in conjunction with the lucrative slave trade. France asserted dominance in 1898 with
the defeat of the last major rebel force and agreements were forged with England and
Portugal to carve out their colonies with the formation of the Territory pf Guinea within
French West Africa. With the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, France could no longer
afford to administer their African colonies and on 2 October, 1958, Guinea asserted their
independence and promulgated their first constitution. Ahmed Sékou Touré established a
brutal, one party dictatorship until his death on 26 March 1984. A bloodless coup led by
Lansana Conté and Diarra Traoré seized power on April 3, 1984, denouncing the previous
administrations brutality and pledging to lead the country back to democratic rule. Though
elections were finally held in 1993, Conte continues to dominate all aspects of Guinea
politics, himself being branded a tired dictator. La Loi Fondamentale de la République de
Guinée, the Guinea Constitution, was instituted on 23 December 1990 in accordance with
standards set forth by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which Guinea is a
signatory. The Constitution was suspended following the 23 December 2008 coup. The
following is the extract of those articles specifically pertaining to human rights. An official
English translation is not available; however for the official French version, click here.