France is a multiparty constitutional democracy. The president of the republic is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. Voters elected Francois Hollande to that position in May 2012. The upper house (Senate) of the bicameral parliament is elected indirectly through an electoral college, while the public elects the lower house (National Assembly) directly. The 2012 presidential and National Assembly elections and the 2011 elections for the Senate were considered free and fair. Authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. There were occasional reports that security forces committed human rights abuses. The most significant human rights problems during the year included an increasing number of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents. There also were government evictions of Roma from illegal camps and overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in prisons, compounded by problems in the judicial system, including lengthy pretrial detention and protracted investigations and trials. Other human rights problems reported included instances of excessive use of force by police, societal violence against women, and trafficking in persons.