Constitutional Provisions
The 1992 Constitution of Djibouti (as amended) guarantees the rights to life and to freedom from ill-treatment. According to Article 10:
The human person is sacred. The State has the obligation to respect it and to protect it. ... Every individual has the right to life, to the liberty, to the security and to the integrity of his person.
Article 16 prohibits torture and provides for responsibility of law enforcement officials who engage in ill-treatment:
No one may be submitted to torture, or to inhuman, cruel, degrading or humiliating actions or treatment.
Any individual, any agent of the State, or any public authority rendered culpable of such acts, either on their own initiative, or on instruction, shall be punished in accordance with the law.
Article 56 provides that domestic legislation establishes the rules concerning the organisation of public powers.
Treaty Adherence
Global Treaties
| 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) | State Party |
| ICCPR Optional Protocol 1 | State Party |
| 1984 Convention against Torture (CAT) | State Party |
| Competence of CAT Committee to receive individual complaints | No |
| CAT Optional Protocol 1 | Not party |
| 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court | State Party |
Regional Treaties
| 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights | State Party |
| 1998 Protocol to the African Charter on the African Court | Signatory |
| Article 34(6) declaration regarding individual petitions | N/A |
| Malabo Protocol on the African Court of Justice and Human Rights | Not party |
National Legislation
Police Use of Force
Law enforcement in Djibouti is provided by the National Police Force and the Gendarmerie.
According to Article 15 of the 1995 Decree on the National Police Force, police officers may only use force when necessary and within the framework of laws and regulations and refrain from any act of gratuitous violence.
Article 179 of the Penal Code gives the police the right to disperse an unlawful gathering after two warnings. The level of force that may be used in so doing is not specified by the Code.
According to Article 19 of the 1995 Decree, all police officers are, in principle, equipped with a firearm. Its carriage is limited to occasions when the officer is on duty and its use is only possible "within the strict framework of the law".
The law does not, however, apply the principle of proportionality as international law demands. In particular, police use of firearms must be restricted to situations where it is necessary to confront an imminent threat of death or serious injury or a grave and proximate threat to life.
Police Oversight
There is no independent civilian police oversight body in Djibouti. Human rights units have been established within the National Police Force and the Gendarmerie. It is also possible to make complaints to the National Human Rights Commission.
Caselaw
Global
Views and Concluding Observations of United Nations Treaty Bodies
In its 2013 Concluding Observations on Djibouti, the Human Rights Committee expressed its concern
about continued reports of ill-treatment of detainees by law enforcement personnel. The Committee deeply regrets the lack of concrete measures taken by the State party to thoroughly investigate and prosecute alleged cases of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials; it further regrets the lack of any subsequent rehabilitation and compensation offered to victims
In its 2024 list of issues for reporting, the Human Rights Committee included the following:
Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure that both the legislation governing the use of force and firearms and their use by law enforcement officials and the security forces are in full conformity with the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement. In this regard, please indicate whether thorough and impartial investigations have been carried out, perpetrators prosecuted, convictions handed down, sentences imposed and reparation provided, concerning inter alia the alleged unlawful or arbitrary executions of: (a) Gadidche Ladieh Omar, who died on 11 September 2019; (b) the two people who died in Balbala (Djibouti City) on 1 August 2021; (c) Djama Mohamed Ismaïl, found dead on 26 March 2022; and (d) Ferouze Mahamoud Abdillahi, who died on 29 March 2022. Please also provide information regarding allegations of the misuse of lethal weapons to repress demonstrations, in particular during the 26 June 2020 demonstration in Djibouti City, the demonstrations held in the summer of 2021 in Tadjourah, Randa and Arhiba, and episodes of inter-communal violence such as those that occurred between 27 and 29 December 2023 in Djibouti.
In December 2015, several special-procedure mandate holders expressed grave concern regarding reports of excessive and indiscriminate use of force by members of the security forces of Djibouti, including the use of live ammunition (as a result of which at least 27 persons had died and 150 had been injured), during clashes between protesters and the authorities following an attempt by the police to break up a religious celebration on the outskirts of Djibouti City. In its reply, Djibouti stated that the police officers had been accosted and that violent riots had then broken out.
In its 2011 Concluding Observations on Djibouti, the Committee against Torture noted with concern the government’s acknowledgement that "abuses, notably acts of torture", had been committed by police officers in Djibouti in the performance of their duties. The Committee was particularly concerned about the lack of any serious investigation of these cases, "which has contributed to a situation in which such offences go unpunished".
Regional
Djibouti has not ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, allowing the African Court to hear cases alleging a violation of the Charter by the state.