Book Description

France is a multiparty constitutional democracy. The president of the republic is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. Nicolas Sarkozy is the incumbent. The upper house (Senate) of the bicameral parliament is elected indirectly through an electoral college, while the lower house (National Assembly) is elected directly. Elections for seats in the National Assembly and for the presidency in 2007 and for seats in the Senate in 2011 were considered free and fair. The Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) is the majority party in parliament. Security forces reported to civilian authorities. The most significant human rights problem during the year involved government evictions and compulsory repatriations of illegal immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria, many of whom were Roma. Several attacks against Roma were also reported. Overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in prisons were compounded by problems in the judicial system, including lengthy pretrial detention and protracted investigation and trials. French Muslims and others of immigrant origin faced some discrimination, particularly, in the case of Muslims, as a result of a prohibition against face-covering attire in public institutions. Other human rights problems reported during the year included antidefamation laws that limited freedom of speech and press, societal violence against women, anti-Semitic incidents, and trafficking in persons.