

Freedom in the World 2012 - Suriname

Publisher Freedom House
Publication Date 7 September 2012
Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2012 - Suriname, 7 September 2012, available at: [accessed 14 March 2014]

2012 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 2.0
Civil Liberties: 2
Political Rights: 2


Suriname's strained relations with the Netherlands and the United States improved somewhat in 2011 following the 2010 election of former dictator Desiré Bouterse as president. He had been convicted on drug-trafficking charges in the Netherlands, and has been accused of killing his political opponents in the 1980s.


The army ousted the elected government in 1990, and Bouterse again took power in a bloodless coup, but international pressure led to new elections in 1991. The NF again won a majority in the parliament, which chose the NF's candidate, Ronald Venetiaan, as president. Power passed to the NDP in the 1996 elections, with Bouterse ally Jules Wijdenbosch as president, then returned to the NF and Venetiaan after early elections in 2000.


In 2004, the NF government's fiscal austerity program helped to stabilize prices and the economy, though the policy's negative side effects led to increased voter discontent. In the May 2005 elections, the NF managed to remain the single largest political force, but its failure to win a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly prevented it from electing a president. In August, a United People's Assembly consisting of 891 members – including national, regional, and local lawmakers – gave Venetiaan his third term as president, with 560 votes for the incumbent versus 315 for the NDP's Rabindre Parmessar.

In 2007, Suriname's courts ordered officials to proceed with the long-delayed prosecution of Bouterse and nine other suspects for the 1982 "December murders." Bouterse denied involvement in the killings, although in March 2007, he accepted political responsibility and offered a public apology. The trial, regarded as a landmark test for Suriname's judicial system, began in November 2008. It advanced during 2009, following frequent delays, and featured the testimony of six bystanders who had fled the country and settled in the Netherlands after witnessing the executions.

Bouterse's Mega Combination coalition – comprising the NDP and three smaller parties – won legislative elections held in May 2010, capturing 40 percent of the vote and 23 seats in the parliament. The NF placed second, with approximately 32 percent of the vote and 14 seats. In the July presidential election, Bouterse won with 70.6 percent of the parliamentary vote, defeating NF candidate Chandrikapersad Santokhi. As president, Bouterse had the power to grant amnesty to those involved in the 1982 murders, but the charges had not been dropped by the end of 2011. The ongoing trial was suspended again in October, when 19 defense witnesses failed to appear.

Only Bharrat Jagdeo, neighboring Guyana's president, attended Bouterse's August 2010 inauguration. International travel was also difficult for Bouterse, with an Interpol warrant out for his arrest and a drug-trafficking conviction in the Netherlands still outstanding. However, he remained protected from arrest in Suriname because the country lacked an extradition treaty with the Netherlands, and as head of state, he was immune from prosecution abroad.

Foreign relations, which had been damaged following Bouterse's election, underwent some improvements in 2011. In August, the Netherlands announced that it would cooperate with Suriname on trade and economic issues, as well as on containing illegal immigration. The United States announced its intentions to normalize relations with Suriname after the country repaid a portion of its U.S. debt; in October, the two governments signed a antinarcotics agreement. Suriname also hosted several international conferences during the year that helped raise its stature before the international community.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties


Political parties largely reflect the cleavages in Suriname's ethnically diverse society, although political-racial discord is much less acute than in neighboring Guyana. Suriname's major parties include the NDP, the National Party of Suriname (NPS), and the People's Alliance for Progress. The NF is a coalition of the NPS and several smaller parties.

Suriname has been plagued by corruption cases in recent years, and organized crime and drug networks continue to hamper governance. In December 2010, President Desiré Bouterse fired Martinus Sastroredjo, his minister of spatial planning, land, and forestry management, after Sastroredjo refused to resign over a controversy involving his wife and a land application.

The constitution provides for freedoms of expression and of the press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. Some media outlets engage in occasional self-censorship due to fear of reprisal from members of the former military leadership or pressure from senior government officials and others who object to critical stories about the administration. However, the trial of Bouterse for the "December murders" has been freely covered by the local press. There are two privately owned daily newspapers, De Ware Tijd and De West. A number of small commercial radio stations compete with the government-owned radio and television broadcasting systems, resulting in a generally pluralistic range of viewpoints. Public access to government information is legally recognized, though it is very limited in practice. The government does not restrict access to the internet.


Freedoms of assembly and association are provided for by the constitution, and the government respects these rights in practice. Workers can join independent trade unions, though civil servants have no legal right to strike. Collective bargaining is legal and conducted fairly widely. The labor movement is active in politics.

The judiciary is susceptible to political influence and suffers from a significant shortage of judges and a large backlog of cases. The courts and prisons are seriously overburdened by the volume of people detained for narcotics trafficking. Police abuse detainees, particularly during arrests. Suriname is a signatory to the 2001 agreement establishing the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the final venue of appeal for member states of the Caribbean Community, but has yet to ratify the CCJ as its own final court of appeal. Suriname is a major transit point for cocaine en route to Europe, and poor law enforcement capabilities have resulted in a rising tide of drug money entering the country.


Constitutional guarantees of gender equality are not adequately enforced. Human trafficking remains a problem, and the country lacks a comprehensive law specifically banning the practice. However, several organizations address violence against women and related issues. In July 2011, a member of parliament denounced homosexuality and called on the government to state its position, but it has not adopted an antigay policy to date.


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