People with disabilities, particularly children, continued to face discrimination and systemic social exclusion, including limited access to education, health services and employment. Those with intellectual disabilities and psychosocial problems were deprived of their legal capacity and the right to independent living and were frequently placed under guardianship or social care institutions without their consent. Despite numerous threats and simultaneous counter-demonstrations organized by far-right groups, Sofia Gay Pride took place in June under heavy police presence. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA A pattern of threats, political pressure and attacks against journalists continued; a significant portion of the media remained under the tight control of political parties and local oligarchs. In October, Deputy Prime Minister Valeriy Simeonov and MP Anton Todorov publicly threatened TV journalist Victor Nikolaev that he would be fired unless he stopped investigating the government’s purchase of a fighter aircraft. The incident was widely condemned by civil society, but no action was taken against the public officials. Bulgaria remained the lowest ranking EU member state on the World Press Freedom Index. The NGO Reporters without Borders ranked Bulgaria 109th out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom. BURKINA FASO Head of state: Roch Marc Christian Kaboré Head of government: Paul Kaba Thiéba The draft Constitution included provisions which, if implemented, would strengthen human rights protection. There were reports of torture and other ill-treatment and prison conditions remained poor. Rates of maternal mortality as well as early and forced marriage remained high. Armed groups committed human rights abuses. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS In December, a draft Constitution was submitted to the President for approval, following which it will either be approved by referendum or adopted by Parliament. It included provisions to strengthen human rights protection, including economic, social and cultural rights, gender equality, protection for women and girls from violence, abolition of the death penalty, and to increase the independence of the judiciary. In June, the National Assembly adopted a law to protect human rights defenders. In July, legislation was adopted which would give the High Court of Justice jurisdiction to try members of the government for crimes committed in the course of, or in connection with, their duties. In the same month, the government adopted a law allowing the military prosecutor to initiate public prosecutions against civilians in proceedings which would operate independently of the High Council of Magistrates which, among other things, was responsible for overseeing the independence of the judiciary. TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT There were complaints at the main prison of Ouagadougou, the capital: detainees at MACO prison (Maison d’Arrêt et de Correction de Ouagadougou) complained of torture and other ill-treatment, mainly during arrest or in police custody, often in order to extract “confessions”. Several prisoners said they were held in custody for over two weeks without charge. Four prisoners said that courts took no action when they reported that they had been tortured. Several soldiers who were tried in April for conspiracy to raid an arms depot in Yimdi in January complained in a military court in Ouagadougou that they were tortured during detention in custody either at the gendarmerie or at MACO prison. DETENTION Many prisons remained overcrowded: 1,900 detainees were held in MACO prison which has a capacity for 600. Conditions remained 105