There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.

There were no reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities.

While the constitution and law prohibit such practices, there were credible reports of excessive use of force by police and of mistreatment and other forms of abuse of prisoners by prison guards.

In 2016 the Inspectorate General of Internal Administration (IGAI) received 730 reports of mistreatment and abuse by police and prison guards. Complaints of physical abuse included slaps, punches, kicks, and blows with truncheons to the body or head; threatening use of firearms; excessive use of force; illegal detention; and abuse of power. The complaints were against the Public Security Police (PSP), the Republican National Guard (GNR), and the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), with 390, 294, and 14 complaints, respectively. The IGAI investigated each complaint. In 2016, the latest year for which data are available, the government conducted 92 investigations of members of the security forces. Punishment included letters of reprimand, temporary suspension from duty, mandatory retirement with pension cuts, discharge from duty, and prison sentences.

In July the public ministry indicted 18 PSP officers on charges of torture, kidnapping, and gross physical offenses to six youths of Cabo Verdean descent in a 2015 incident. The indictment, which alleged that the crimes were motivated by hatred and racial discrimination, resulted from an investigation by the National Counterterrorism Unit of the Judiciary Police (PJ). It also alleged that some officers of the Alfragide precinct falsified reports and testimony and omitted relevant facts. The 2015 incident occurred in the Lisbon suburb of Cova da Moura, where most residents are immigrants from the country’s former African colonies, predominantly Cabo Verde. In early September the public prosecutor’s office asked the presiding court to immediately suspend the 18 officers from duty. On September 28, the presiding judge rejected the request, and the public prosecutor’s office announced that it would appeal to a higher court.

There were reports that guards mistreated prisoners at some prisons. Other problems included general overcrowding, inadequate facilities, poor health conditions, and violence among inmates.

Physical Conditions: Several of the prisons were overcrowded. According to the Directorate-General of Prison Services, during the year the prison system operated at 106 percent of capacity. A youth prison exists in Leiria, but authorities sometimes held juveniles with adults in other prisons. The prison system held pretrial detainees with convicted criminals.

A delegation of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visited the country in 2016, but the report of the visit was not yet published. During the previous visit in 2013, the CPT noted that the Lisbon Central Prison was dilapidated. There were no reports that authorities made improvements. The Directorate-General of Reintegration and Prison Services reported 68 deaths in prisons in 2016 (nine suicides and 59 due to illness). Infectious diseases associated with drug abuse caused the majority of the deaths due to illness.

Independent Monitoring: The government permitted visits by independent human rights observers and the CPT. In 2016 the IGAI, university researchers, and news media visited prisons. Local human rights and media groups were fully independent bodies.

The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. Persons arrested or detained regardless of whether on criminal or other grounds are entitled to challenge in court the legal basis or arbitrary nature of their detention and any delay in obtaining judicial rulings. If the court finds persons to have been detained unlawfully, they are entitled to prompt release and compensation. The government generally observed these practices.

The constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence and impartiality.

The constitution and laws prohibit such actions, and there were no reports that the government failed to respect these prohibitions.

The constitution and law provide for freedom of expression, including for the press, and the government generally respected these rights. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to promote freedom of expression, including for the press. The law criminalizes the denigration of ethnic or religious minorities, as well as offensive practices such as Holocaust denial. Prison sentences for these crimes run between six months and eight years.

The constitution and law provide for the freedoms of assembly and association, and the government generally respected these rights.

See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.

The constitution and law provide for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights.

Abuse of Migrants, Refugees, and Stateless Persons: Authorities reportedly kept in detention some asylum seekers who submitted their applications for international protection at border points. If asylum seekers appealed a negative decision they could remain in detention for up to 60 days, and no alternatives existed. According to the Portuguese Refugee Council, the reception center for refugees in Lisbon remained overcrowded.

The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, or other persons of concern.

Recent Elections: In 2016 the country held a presidential election that observers considered free and fair. Observers also considered local elections on October 1 to be free and fair.

Participation of Women and Minorities: No laws limit the participation of women and members of minorities in the political process, and they did participate.

Rape and Domestic Violence: The law makes rape, including spousal rape, illegal, with a penalty of three to 10 years’ imprisonment. The government generally enforced the law when the victim chose to press charges and the cases were not settled out of court through mediation. The law provides for criminal penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment in cases of domestic violence by a spouse or by a person other than the spouse. The judicial system prosecuted persons accused of abusing women. In October a Porto appeals court caused national controversy by upholding an unusually lenient suspended sentence for a convicted spousal abuser who was motivated by adultery. On December 5, the Superior Council of Magistrates opened a disciplinary procedure against the ruling judges.

Violence against women, including domestic violence, continued to be a problem. According to preliminary data from nongovernmental organizations and media reports, in the first eight months of the year, there were 20 deaths related to domestic violence. Data showed 22 such deaths in 2016.

According to data from the government’s Annual Internal Security Report, in 2016 there were 22,773 reports of domestic violence, a small increase from 2015. In 2016 police registered 335 reports of rape, a decrease of 40 cases from 2015.

The law allows third parties to file domestic violence reports. The government encouraged abused women to file complaints with the appropriate authorities and offered the victim protection against the abuser. The government’s Commission for Equality and Women’s Rights operated 14 safe houses for victims of domestic violence and maintained an around-the-clock telephone service. Safe-house services included food, shelter, health assistance, and legal assistance. The government-sponsored Mission against Domestic Violence conducted an awareness campaign against domestic violence, trained health professionals, proposed legislation to improve legal assistance to victims, and negotiated protocols with local authorities to assist victims.

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): FGM/C is a crime punishable under the law. There were reports FGM/C was practiced on young girls in poor African communities, particularly by Bissau-Guinean immigrants. The government addressed the problem at various levels. The third action plan to prevent and eliminate FGM/C increased awareness of the problem and helped lead to 80 reports in 2016, all involving girls over 15 years of age. None of the FGM/C procedures was carried out in the country.

Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is a crime, with penalties ranging from one to eight years in prison. If perpetrated by a superior in the workplace, the penalty is up to two years in prison, or more in cases of “aggravated coercion.”

The Commission on Equality in the Workplace and in Employment, composed of representatives of the government, employers’ organizations, and labor unions, examines, but does not adjudicate, complaints of sexual harassment. In 2016 the Association for Victim Support received reports of 79 cases of sexual harassment.

Coercion in Population Control: There were no reports of coerced abortion, involuntary sterilization, or other coercive population control methods. Estimates on maternal mortality and contraceptive prevalence are available at: www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/monitoring/maternal-mortality-2015/en/.

Discrimination: The constitution and the law provide women full legal equality with men, and the government enforced the law.

Birth Registration: Citizenship is derived by birth within the country’s territory and from one’s parents. Authorities registered all births immediately.

Child Abuse: Child abuse was a problem. The Association for Victim Support reported 826 crimes against children under the age of 18 in 2016. There were reports Romani parents used minor children for street begging. A child-abuse database is accessible to law enforcement and child protection services. The government prohibits convicted child abusers from work or volunteer activities involving contact with children. It also carried out awareness campaigns against child abuse and sexual exploitation.

Early and Forced Marriage: The minimum age for marriage is 18 for women and men, but both sexes may marry at 16 with the consent of both parents exercising parental authority, or a guardian, or, in default of the latter, a court decision.

Sexual Exploitation of Children: Statutory rape is a crime with penalties ranging up to 10 years in prison, and authorities enforced the law. The minimum age for legal consensual sex is 16. The law prohibits child pornography. Penalties range up to eight years in prison.

International Child Abductions: The country is 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 travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/en/legal/compliance.html.

Estimates placed the Jewish community at 3,000-4,000 persons. In contrast with the previous year, there were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

After the country passed a law in 2015 granting descendants of Jews forced into exile centuries ago the right to citizenship, the government received 8,800 requests and naturalized 713 applicants for citizenship as of August 27. The largest numbers were from Turkey (171), Israel (56), and Brazil (39). The institutions of the Jewish community in Lisbon or Porto vetted each application. These institutions are responsible for checking documentation of the applicants’ ancestors and making recommendations to the government.

See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/.

The constitution and law prohibit discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities. The government effectively enforced the law. The law mandates access to public buildings, information, and communication for persons with disabilities, but no such legislation covers private businesses or other facilities.

The procedure to file a complaint of racial discrimination continued to be lengthy and complicated. The complaints system against police officers concerning racist or racially discriminatory acts was not functional.

The government estimated the Romani population to be between 40,000 and 50,000 persons. A large number of Roma continued to live in encampments consisting of barracks, shacks, or tents. Many settlements were in areas isolated from the rest of the population and often lacked basic infrastructure, such as access to drinking water, electricity, or waste-disposal facilities. Some localities constructed walls around Romani settlements. Reports of police harassment, misconduct, and abuses against Roma continued.

In some localities the government provided integration and access to services for the Roma, including vaccination campaigns, monitoring of prenatal care, scholarship programs, assistance in finding employment, and a mediation program staffed by ethnic Romani mediators in the Office of the High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue.

The constitution and the law prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The law provides for the right of most workers to form and join independent unions, bargain collectively, and conduct legal strikes. The government generally respected these rights. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination and requires reinstatement of workers fired for union activity.

While the law provides for freedom of association and collective bargaining, several restrictions limit these rights. In addition to members of the armed forces, the rights of police officers are limited. The PJ, the Foreigners and Borders Service, and prison guards may strike; the PSP and the GNR may not. If a long strike occurs in a sector deemed essential such as justice, health, energy, or transportation, the government may order strikers back to work for a specified period. Unions considered the list of essential sectors to be overly broad. Unions reported that compulsory conciliation and arbitration as prerequisites to strikes, restrictions on the scope of strikes, and restrictions on the types of strike actions permitted could limit the effectiveness of strikes.

The law requires unions to represent at least 50 percent of workers in a sector for collective bargaining units to be extended beyond the enterprise level. Public-sector employee unions have the right to discuss and consult with their employers on conditions of work, but they do not have the right to negotiate binding contracts. There remains a lack of clarity regarding criteria for union representation in the Permanent Commission for Social Partnerships, a tripartite advisory body. The law names specific unions, rather than giving participation rights to the most representative unions.

The government was generally effective in enforcing these laws. Resources, including inspections and remediation, were adequate. Penalties for violations range from fines to imprisonment and were sufficient to deter violations. Administrative and judicial procedures were subject to lengthy delays or appeals.

Authorities generally respected freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. Worker organizations could generally operate free from government interference. Requirements for enterprise-level bargaining by work councils sometimes prevented local union representatives from bargaining directly on behalf of workers. There were instances of employers undermining strikes using last-minute minimum-service requirements. Some workers received threats that union participation would result in negative performance reviews.

The law prohibits all forms of forced and compulsory labor. In September 2016 an amendment to the Labor Code to combat modern forms of forced labor entered into force. The amendment places responsibility for complying with legal provisions on temporary employment agencies and employers of temporary workers. It provides that the contractor and the developer, company, or farm, as well as the respective managers, administrators, or directors, and companies with which they are connected are jointly liable for violations of the legal provisions relating to the health and safety of temporary workers and are responsible for entitlements, social security contributions, and the payment of the respective fines.

Resources dedicated to prevention of forced labor, including inspections and remediation, and enforcement of the law remained inadequate, but penalties ranging from three to 15 years’ imprisonment were sufficiently stringent to deter violations. Convictions remained low, and convicted offenders frequently avoided imprisonment, undercutting enforcement efforts and victim protections. Government efforts to prevent and eliminate forced labor during the year included a countrywide awareness campaign and training security forces to identify, flag, and direct victims to assistance services. In 2016, 93 percent of the 118 confirmed victims of trafficking in persons in the country were victims of forced labor; 32 of the confirmed and potential victims were children.

Foreign labor trafficking victims were exploited in agriculture, construction, and domestic service, while Portuguese victims were exploited in restaurants, agriculture, and domestic service, primarily in Portugal and Spain.

Traffickers subjected children to forced labor (see section 7.c.).

Also see the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/.

The statutory minimum age for employment is 16. The law prohibits the employment of persons under the age of 18 at night, for overtime work, or in sectors considered hazardous. The Working Conditions Authority (ACT) in the Ministry of Solidarity, Employment, and Social Security has primary responsibility for enforcement of the minimum age law, and enforced it effectively in major industries and the service sector.

Child labor occurred in very limited cases. Children of Romani descent were subjected to forced begging and coerced to commit property crimes (see section 6, Children).

Resources and inspections were adequate. Penalties for violations included imprisonment and were sufficient to deter violations.

Labor laws and regulations prohibit discrimination with respect to employment and occupation, and the government effectively enforced these laws.

The law requires equal pay for equal work. According to the Ministry of Solidarity, Employment, and Social Security, however, women’s average salaries were approximately 24 percent lower than those of men.

The minimum wage, which covers full-time workers, rural workers, and domestic employees who are 18 years of age and older, was 530 euros ($636) per month. The estimated poverty income level for 2017 was 439 euros ($527) per month per adult.

The legal workday may not exceed 10 hours, and the maximum workweek is 40 hours. In June 2016 the government approved a return to the public sector’s traditional 35-hour working week, down from the 40 hours that had become standard in the private sector. There is a maximum of two hours of paid overtime per day and 200 hours of overtime per year, with a minimum of 12 hours’ rest between workdays. Premium pay for overtime worked on a rest day or public holiday is 100 percent; overtime performed on a normal working day is paid at a premium of 50 percent for the first hour and 75 percent for subsequent time worked. Unions raised concerns regarding working hour provisions on flexibility schemes and time banking, which the government has noted were designed to make working hours more flexible and increase productivity. The International Labor Organization noted that working-time arrangements detrimental to workers’ health or work-life balance might be inconsistent with international standards. Occupational safety and health standards set by ACT were current and appropriate. Information on enforcement of these laws in the small informal economy was not available.

ACT was responsible for enforcement of minimum wage, hours of work, and safety standards in the formal sector, and effectively enforced these measures. Resources, inspections, and remediation were adequate. Penalties ranged from fines to prison and were sufficient to deter violations.

Workers have the right to lodge confidential grievances with ACT regarding hazardous conditions or circumstances they believe endanger their health. Inspectors have the right to conduct inspections at any private or public company at any time without warning, and may shut down a workplace or a business permanently or temporarily if there is imminent danger to the workers’ health or safety. Workers are registered with social security services, whose funds cover their mandatory insurance for occupational diseases and work-related accidents. ACT conducts studies on labor accidents, salaries, and working conditions. It may impose administrative penalties and file lawsuits against employers. It has the right to access company records, files, and archives, and may provide mediation services to resolve individual or group labor disputes. Labor enforcement tended to be less rigorous in sectors such as construction and agriculture where most immigrant workers were employed. According to ACT, there were 138 deaths from work-related accidents in 2016. Preliminary data for 2017 showed 54 deaths during the first six months of the year, the majority in construction and manufacturing. Workers may remove themselves from situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and authorities effectively protected employees in this situation.