to torture at the time of arrest and trial and denied access to defence lawyers, remained in detention in poor conditions. They received inadequate food, heating and bedding and were denied regular communications or visits from their families. WOMEN’S AND GIRLS’ RIGHTS Despite commitments in the National Plan of Action to Promote Gender Equality in Elected Offices, only nine women were registered as candidates in the National Council elections; one woman was elected in April. At the end of the year, fewer than 10% of registered candidates for the National Assembly elections in December 2023/January 2024 were women: three each from the PDP and the BTP. In October, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns about failures to address negative gender stereotyping and the lack of women’s political participation. The CEDAW Committee also recommended measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against ethnic minority women. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Bhutan does not have a comprehensive social protection policy and many people, such as those with disabilities and LGBTI people, faced challenges in accessing social protection programmes. In June, the National Assembly adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with four reservations. Bhutan is the only country in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation that has not ratified the Convention. The CEDAW Committee expressed concern over the reduction in the female labour force from 61.2% in 2019 to 53.5% in 2022 and recommended that measures to increase women’s access to employment be introduced. Youth unemployment increased from 5.5% in 2004 to 15.7% in 2019 and remained a challenge. A pattern continued of youth migrating from rural to urban settings and 100 seeking employment overseas due to lack of opportunities in Bhutan. BOLIVIA Plurinational State of Bolivia Concerns persisted over the judiciary’s lack of independence. Authorities failed to protect human rights defenders. Victims of human rights violations awaited reparation. Indigenous Peoples were affected by unregulated mining. Security forces attacked journalists during protests. Authorities took insufficient action to combat forest fires. RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL AND DETAINEES’ RIGHTS The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights visited Bolivia in March and expressed particular concern about the judiciary’s lack of independence from the government. In August, the commission requested information from the authorities on the condition of César Apaza, ex-leader of an association of coca leaf producers who had been in pretrial detention since September 2022 after law enforcement officials violently repressed protests by the association. In September, Apaza began a hunger strike, denouncing unfair judicial processes against him and ill-treatment by prison authorities. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Authorities failed to protect human rights defenders. According to local organizations, environmental human rights defenders remained among those most at risk. On 2 June, dozens of people with alleged links to the ruling political party raided and occupied the offices of the Permanent Assembly on Human Rights in Bolivia (APDHB), an NGO in La Paz.1 Following the raid, 84-year-old human rights defender and president of the APDHB, Amparo Carvajal, undertook a 52-day vigil outside the offices of the organization. The authorities failed to ensure the security and health of Carvajal The State of the World’s Human Rights