In criminal cases, due process safeguards are generally adequate, but indigent defendants are not guaranteed an attorney. A constitutional court authorized by the 1997 constitution began operating in 1998. According to the U. S. Department of State, the sole political prisoner is a Muslim cleric who was sentenced in 1994 to a 12-year term for leading a 1990 political protest. The police force is highly corrupt and inadequately trained, and operates with relative impunity. Police commit dozens of extrajudicial executions of drug traffickers and other criminal suspects each year with virtual impunity in the context of an increasingly violent narcotics trade.
Police occasionally torture and rape detainees.
Prison conditions are poor, and officials routinely beat and shackle inmates. Conditions at immigration detention centers, where female detainees say rape is common, worsened in 1998 after the government ordered a crackdown on illegal immigrants in response to the economic crisis. The constitution and several laws restrict freedom of expression in specific areas, including advocating a Communist government and inciting disturbances. The 1997 constitution prohibits the government from censoring, banning, or otherwise restricting the media, except by legislation during a crisis. The press criticizes government policies and publicizes corruption and human rights abuses, but journalists face occasional intimidation and exercise self-censorship regarding the military, monarchy, judiciary, and other sensitive issues.