There were no reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings.

There were no reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities.

The constitution and law prohibit such practices, and there were no reports that government officials employed them.

There were no significant reports regarding prison or detention center conditions that raised human rights concerns. Prison and detention center conditions generally met international standards.

Physical Conditions: According to bilateral treaties with Austria and Switzerland, those two countries incarcerated Liechtensteiner prisoners sentenced to more than two years’ imprisonment. The country’s only prison had a 20-bed capacity (16 single and two double cells). Since the facility served primarily as a short-term prison, authorities asserted they could not always separate different categories of prisoners. Female prisoners had their own section with a total of four beds. Due to a lack of space and the generally very low number of juvenile offenders, authorities usually accommodated juveniles in the women’s ward so that any underage prisoners or detainees would not be socially isolated. The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) called on the government to expand the prison’s range of recreational activities. The committee also criticized the lack of medical screening for newly arrived inmates.

There were no deaths in custody reported through October.

Independent Monitoring: The government permitted visits by independent human rights observers and granted access to monitor prison conditions to the independent Corrections Commission, which organized at least one unannounced visit to the country’s prison each quarter. The country also in principle permitted prison visits by the CPT, which last visited the country in 2016.

The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention and provide for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of his/her arrest or detention in court, and the government generally observed these requirements.

The constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, and the government generally respected judicial independence and impartiality.

The constitution and law prohibit such actions, and there were no reports that the government failed to respect these prohibitions.

The constitution and law provide for freedom of expression, including for the press, and the government generally respected this right. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to promote freedom of expression, including for the press.

Freedom of Expression: The law prohibits public insults, including via electronic means, directed against a race, people, or ethnic group, with a possible prison sentence of up to two years for violations. Authorities did not file any charges for public insults through October.

Press and Media Freedom: Independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction.

The constitution and law provide for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and the government generally respected these rights.

See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.

The constitution and law provide for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights.

The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, or other persons of concern.

Recent Elections: On February 5, the country held parliamentary elections. There were no reports of serious irregularities.

Participation of Women and Minorities: No laws limit the participation of women and members of minorities in the political process, and they did participate.

Rape and Domestic Violence: Rape, including spousal rape, is a criminal offense. Penalties for rape and sexual violence vary between one and 15 years’ imprisonment, depending on the degree of violence and humiliation of the victim, and between 10 years’ and lifetime imprisonment if the victim is killed. The government effectively prosecuted individuals accused of such crimes.

The law prohibits all forms of domestic violence and provides for restraining orders against violent family members. There were reports of violence against women, including spousal abuse. Police may prohibit an abuser from returning to the site.

Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is illegal and punishable by up to six months in prison or a fine, and the government effectively enforced these prohibitions. Stalking is a criminal offense. The government also considers “mobbing”--pressure, harassment, or blackmail tactics--in the workplace to be a crime. In 2016 the national police recorded six cases of sexual harassment, and Infra assisted in eight cases of sexual harassment.

Coercion in Population Control: There were no reports of coerced abortion, involuntary sterilization, or other coercive population control methods. Estimates on maternal mortality and contraceptive prevalence are available at: www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/monitoring/maternal-mortality-2015/en/.

Discrimination: Women enjoy the same legal rights as men, but the government’s enforcement of the labor contract law and equal opportunity law was not entirely effective.

Birth Registration: Citizenship is derived at birth from a child’s parents. Either parent may convey citizenship. A child born in the country to stateless parents may acquire citizenship after five years of residence. Children are registered at birth.

Early and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age of marriage for both girls and boys is 18 years.

Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prohibits the prostitution of minors. Penalties for the sexual exploitation of minors range from one to 10 years’ imprisonment. Possession or distribution of child pornography is a criminal offense, with penalties including up to three years in prison. In 2016 the national police recorded 10 cases of child sexual exploitation. The law sets the minimum age for consensual sex at 14; penalties for statutory rape are between one and 10 years’ imprisonment.

International Child Abductions: The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. See the Department of State’s Annual Report on International Parental Child Abduction at travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/en/legal/compliance.html.

The Jewish community consisted of approximately 30 individuals. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts.

There were no confirmed reports during the year that Liechtenstein was a source, destination, or transit country for victims of human trafficking.

The law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental disabilities.

The law requires public buildings constructed before 2002 to be barrier-free by 2019 and public buildings constructed between 2002 and 2007 to be barrier-free by 2027. The government effectively implemented laws and programs to ensure that persons with disabilities readily had access to buildings, information, and communications. The law mandates that public kindergartens and schools as well as public transportation systems must be accessible to persons with disabilities. Children with disabilities were able to attend public schools or a special school established by the country’s remedial center. According to the Liechtenstein Association for Disabled Persons, however, only a third of all public kindergartens and schools were barrier-free.

In 2016 authorities recorded five criminal offenses under the penal code’s antiracial discrimination article.

The law defines discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation as a criminal offense. Laws prohibit incitement to hate and bias-motivated crimes based on an individual’s gender and sexual orientation.

While the country’s LGBTI community issued no formal complaints of abuse or discrimination, the country’s only LGBTI organization, Flay (an NGO), continued to criticize regulations that do not allow gay men to donate blood. Many LGBTI individuals known to Flay were reluctant to acknowledge publicly their sexual orientation or gender identity due to fear of experiencing social backlash and isolation.

The law provides for the rights of all workers, including foreigners, domestic workers, agricultural workers, and public-sector employees, to form and join independent unions of their choice, to select their own union representatives freely, and to bargain collectively. There are no provisions in the constitution or in labor laws explicitly banning the right to strike, including for public servants and essential services. The law does not prohibit antiunion discrimination. The law does not require reinstatement of workers fired for union activity.

The government adequately enforced applicable laws. Penalties in the form of monetary fines were adequate to deter violations. The resources, inspections, and remediation were also adequate and sufficient to deter violations. Freedom of association and collective bargaining were respected in practice by government and employers.

The law prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor. Penalties for violations include prison sentences of up to 10 years. The resources, inspections, and remediation, including penalties for violations, were adequate and sufficient to deter violations, and there were no reports that forced labor occurred in practice.

The minimum age for employment is 16, with exceptions for limited employment of children 14 years old. Children 14 and older may engage in certain categories of light work, including running errands, housework, and babysitting, for no more than eight hours per week during the school year and 35 hours per week during school vacations. Children aged 15 years and younger may be employed for the purposes of cultural, artistic, sport, and advertising events. Working hours for youths between the ages of 15 and 18 who have completed compulsory education are not to exceed 40 hours a week. The labor law prohibits children under the age of 17 from working overtime and prohibits children younger than 18 from engaging in night work and Sunday shifts. The labor law stipulates that an employer must consider the health of minors and provide them a proper moral environment within the workplace; the law also stipulates that employers may not overexert minors and that employers must protect the child from “bad influences” within the workplace.

The Department for Worker Safety of the Office of the National Economy effectively enforced child labor laws and devoted adequate resources and oversight to child labor policies. Legal penalties, which take the form of monetary fines or prison sentences of up to six months, were sufficient to deter violations. There were no reports of illegal child labor.

The law prohibits employment discrimination against men, women, persons with disabilities, race, nationality, and sexual orientation, among other characteristics.

The government’s enforcement of the law was not entirely effective. Violations may result in the award of compensation to a prospective or dismissed employee equal to at least three months’ salary. Penalties were not sufficient to deter violations. Women, particularly migrant and Muslim women wearing headscarves, experienced discrimination in the labor market.

While the law explicitly requires equal pay for equal work, women still experienced discrimination in the workplace (see also section 6, Women). According to Infra, a marked difference between men and women persisted in professional promotions, and women were severely underrepresented in top-level management positions in private industry and the national administration.

There is no national minimum wage. The Liechtenstein Workers Association negotiates voluntary collective bargaining agreements annually with the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber for Economic Affairs on a sector-by-sector basis. In 2016, 36 households were registered as “working poor.”

The law sets the maximum workweek at 45 hours for white-collar workers, employees of industrial firms, and sales personnel, and 48 hours for other workers. The law provides for a daily mandatory one-hour break and an 11-hour rest period between workdays for full-time workers. With few exceptions, the law does not allow work on Sunday. The law covers all professions, but some exceptions to overtime limits were authorized in the areas of nursing and medical treatment. The law requires overtime pay of at least 25 percent higher than the standard rate, and overtime is generally restricted to two hours per day. Overtime may also be compensated with additional time off. The law provides for a standard workweek, including overtime, which may not exceed an average of 48 hours a week over a period of four consecutive months. Employers must grant workers at least four weeks of paid vacation per year and at least five weeks to workers under the age of 20.

Labor laws set occupational safety and health standards, which were appropriate for the main industries in the country. Responsibility for identifying unsafe situations remains with occupational safety and health experts and not with workers. The labor standards also cover the thousands of workers who commuted daily from neighboring countries. There were additional safeguards for youths, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and employees with family duties.

The Office of Labor Inspection, a part of the Department of National Economy, is responsible for enforcing labor laws, including regulations that mandate a healthy work environment, work hours, holidays, and workplace safety, in all sectors, including the informal economy. The agency had three inspectors: one inspector for examining workplace conditions, such as wages and occupational health and safety, and two inspectors for controlling construction sites or work permits. Three inspectors were sufficient to enforce compliance with labor laws. Penalties took the form of fines and prison sentences between three and six months and were sufficient to deter violations.

There were no reports of violations of these labor laws.