Freedom House: Three-Quarters of World Population Deprived of Complete Freedom

Freedom House’s annual report has been released; a report that reveals a severe decline in democracy worldwide over the past 15 years. The state of freedom in Iran is worse than in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Pakistan. The number of unfree countries has increased.

According to Freedom House’s annual report, three-quarters of the world’s population live in countries where freedom is declining. On the other hand, less than 20 percent of the world’s population inhabit free countries.

What draws attention in this think tank’s report is the continuous decline of freedom worldwide over the past 15 years. Even democratic countries such as the United States and India are facing the phenomenon of declining freedom.

Freedom House uses 25 indicators to measure people’s access to political and civil liberties in various countries around the world. Based on these criteria, the world’s countries are divided into three categories: “Free,” “Partly Free,” and “Not Free.”

Among 195 independent countries examined, democracy has deteriorated in 73 countries over the past 15 years. The state of political and civil liberties improved in only 28 countries in 2020.

The number of “Not Free” countries in the world has increased during this period. According to this think tank’s annual report, 54 countries worldwide, including countries such as Iran, China, North Korea, and Sudan, are classified as “Not Free” countries. This is while the number of “Not Free” countries in 2005 was reported to be 45 countries in total.

As a result, 38 percent of the world’s population lives in countries lacking freedom. Moreover, 59 countries worldwide enjoy only limited freedom. In other words, 113 countries are classified as countries that either lack freedom or have limited freedoms.

The largest decline in freedom in any single country has been observed in Kyrgyzstan. The extent to which Kyrgyzstan’s population benefited from political and civil liberties in 2020 showed a significant decrease. This country still remains classified as “Partly Free.”

Freedom House’s annual report states that in 39 countries worldwide in 2019, people protested to gain greater freedoms.

The report adds that people’s struggles in many of these countries did not result in greater freedom, and the level of freedoms in 23 of these 39 countries declined further in 2020.

United States and India

In 2020, political freedoms continued to be curtailed in both the United States and India. Since 2014, with the beginning of Narendra Modi’s administration, people’s freedoms have declined.

The freedom of religious minorities, particularly Muslims, in India has been restricted in recent years. In this regard, India’s ranking has been downgraded from a “Free” country to a “Partly Free” country.

It is said that pressure on human rights institutions in India has increased, and the Indian government has politicized the judiciary.

The level of political freedoms in the United States also declined during Donald Trump’s administration. The report states that although the United States still ranks among “Free” countries, it has declined three positions in the ranking table of free countries, and this country’s status has moved closer to countries such as Romania and Panama, and has distanced itself from countries such as France and Germany.

The report states that Donald Trump’s performance in restricting people’s access to political freedoms was effective. The report points to Trump’s support for and favoritism toward extremist and far-right forces.

State of Democracy in Other Countries

The Islamic Republic of Iran is classified among “Not Free” countries. From the perspective of access to political freedoms, Iran has obtained only 6 points out of 40. The state of civil liberties in this country is also dire. Iran has scored only 10 points out of a total of 60 points.

Accordingly, the state of democracy in Iran is worse than in many countries in the region. Iran has a total of 16 points out of 100 points related to complete access to political and civil liberties.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan has 27 points. Iraq has 29 points, Turkey has 32 points, and Pakistan has 37 points out of a total of 100 points.

Iran’s situation is better than countries such as North Korea (3 points), China (9 points), Turkmenistan (2 points), and Saudi Arabia (7 points).

Source: DW