Brazil is a constitutional, multi-party republic. In 2010 voters chose Dilma Rousseff as president in elections widely considered free and fair. Civilian authorities maintained control over security forces. Security forces committed some human rights abuses. The most significant human rights abuses included poor and at times life-threatening conditions in some prisons, sex trafficking of children and adolescents, forced labor, and exploitative working conditions. Other human rights problems included excessive force and unlawful killings by state police; excessive force, beatings, abuse, and...

Botswana has been a constitutional multi-party republican democracy since independence in 1966. Its constitution provides for the indirect election of a president and the popular election of a national assembly. In 2009 the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) won the majority of parliamentary seats in an election deemed generally free and fair. President Ian Khama, who has held the presidency since the resignation of former president Festus Mogae in 2008, retained his position. The BDP has held the presidency and a majority of National Assembly seats since independence. Security forces...

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is a democratic republic with a bicameral parliament but assigns many governmental functions to two entities within the state, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Federation) and the Republika Srpska (RS), and to the Brcko District, an independent administrative unit under the sovereignty of BiH. The 1995 General Framework Agreement for Peace (the Dayton Accords), which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian war, provides the constitutional framework for governmental structures while other parts of the agreement specify the government's obligations to ensure human...

Bolivia is a constitutional, multi-party republic with an elected president and a bicameral legislature. In December 2009, in a process deemed free and fair by international observers, citizens re-elected as president Evo Morales Ayma, leader of the Movement Toward Socialism Party. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces, but there were allegations that security forces committed human rights abuses. The most serious human rights problems included widespread corruption and inefficiency in the country's law enforcement and judicial system, leading to arbitrary arrest...

Benin is a constitutional democracy. In 2011 President Boni Yayi won a second, and final, five-year term in multi-party elections. In the 2011 legislative elections, President Yayi's supporting coalition, Cowry Force for an Emerging Benin, won 41 of 83 seats in the National Assembly and formed a majority coalition with the Renaissance of Benin Party and other minor supporting parties for a total of 61 seats. As a result, the coalition controlled six of the seven seats in the Bureau of the National Assembly. International observers viewed the presidential and legislative elections as generally...

Belize is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. In March 2012 Prime Minister Dean Barrow's United Democratic Party (UDP) won 17 of the 31 seats in the House of Representatives following generally free and fair multi-party elections, albeit with some allegations of irregularities. Authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over the security forces. Security forces allegedly committed human rights abuses. The most important human rights abuses included the use of excessive force by security forces, lengthy pretrial detention, and harassment and threats based on sexual...

Belarus is an authoritarian state. The country's constitution provides for a directly elected president, who is head of state, and a bicameral parliament, the national assembly. A prime minister appointed by the president is the nominal head of government, but power is concentrated in the presidency, both de jure and de facto. Since his election as president in 1994, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has consolidated his rule over all institutions and undermined the rule of law through authoritarian means, including manipulated elections and arbitrary decrees. All subsequent presidential elections,...

Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the Awami League (AL) to victory in the 2008 parliamentary elections, which international and domestic observers considered free and fair, although with isolated irregularities and sporadic violence. Authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over security forces. Security forces reportedly committed human rights abuses. The most significant human rights problems were arbitrary arrests, regulation of online speech, and poor working conditions and labor rights. Other human rights problems included...

Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy. King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa, the head of state, appoints the cabinet consisting of 29 ministers; 13 of those ministers, excluding the deputy prime ministers, are members of the Sunni al-Khalifa ruling family. The parliament consists of an appointed upper house, the Shura (Consultative) Council, and an elected Council of Representatives. Approximately 17 percent of eligible voters participated in parliamentary by-elections for 18 seats vacated by the political opposition societies in September 2011. Independent human rights organizations did not consider...

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 requests $526.6 billion to protect and advance security interests at home and abroad during the coming fiscal year and into the future. This budget reflects the difficult choices involved with protecting America's security interests and role as a global power at a time of declining budgets and ongoing fiscal uncertainty about the future. This request balances the competing and compelling demands of supporting troops still engaged in Afghanistan, protecting readiness, modernizing the military's aging weapons...