United States Department of State

Italy: Human Rights United States Department of State

Publisher Marketing: Italy is a multi-party parliamentary democracy with a bicameral parliament consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The constitution vests executive authority in the Council of Ministers, headed by a prime minister, whose official title is President of the Council. The President of the Republic, who is the head of state, nominates the prime minister after consulting with the leaders of all political parties in parliament. International observers considered the national parliamentary elections February 24-25 free and fair. The law requires the government maintain civilian control over all security forces. Civilian authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over the security forces, and there were some reports security forces committed human rights abuses. Principal human rights problems included substandard living conditions in detention centers for undocumented mixed migrant populations, governmental corruption, societal prejudice, and municipal government policies permitting the mistreatment of Roma, which exacerbated their social exclusion and restricted their access to education, health care, employment, and other social services. Other human rights problems included excessive and abusive use of force by police in some cases, overcrowded prisons, the continued incarceration of pretrial detainees with convicted criminals, an inefficient judicial system that did not always provide speedy justice, violence, and harassment against women, sexual exploitation of children, and anti-Semitic vandalism. Trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation occurred. Observers also reported cases of violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons and labor discrimination based on sexual orientation. Child labor and labor exploitation of irregular workers were also problems, especially in the service sector and the southern agricultural region.