Gabon

Elections are a sham to the point where the real, mainstream political opposition does not have a realistic chance to meaningfully compete and possibly win. The regime prevented a main challenger from participating in the electoral process, and skewed the playing field so much that it claimed one of the highest margins of victory in the country’s history. Ahead of the election, the regime, acting as a transitional military junta, orchestrated the establishment of a constitutional and electoral framework skewed in its favor. The junta led a coup, nullifying the rigged 2023 presidential election results

Independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, and members of the general public face overt and systematic retaliation if they openly criticize or challenge the regime. The regime has seriously intimidated or obstructed the work of independent media, civil society leaders and organizations, prevented anti-regime protests from taking place, and censored dissenting speech.

Institutions largely fail to serve as independent checks on the regime. Courts frequently and unfairly enabled the regime’s attempts to make the electoral process significantly skewed in its favor. Judicial, legislative, or executive institutions systematically, frequently, and unfairly fail to hold regime officials accountable. The regime directed certain cases, such as politically sensitive cases, to separate, governing authority-controlled courts and has implemented reforms that undermine the independence and operational effectiveness of judicial and executive institutions.