Decline in freedom

Yesterday, Freedom House (FH) released it's annual edition of Freedom in the World. And, for the fourth year in a row, freedom around the world suffered another decline. FH recorded declines in 40 countries -- and in 3 of those, their citizens lost electoral freedoms. The assault on freedom came in many forms, with freedom of expression and association being the dominant areas of loss, in addition to violent repression by governments, prison sentences for dissidents, attacks on human rights activists, and, terrorism and insurgence disrupting the general population.

Other trends noted by report:

• Russia, China, Vietnam and Iran, cracking down on frontline human rights defenders;
• Philippines, Russia, Pakistan, Mexico, Somalia, China, Iran and Azerbaijan, attacking journalists and new media;
• Guinea, Honduras, Niger and Madagascar, experiencing coups, overthrowing legitimate governments, or extending the rule of existing rulers; and,
• As if things weren't bad enough, from Africa to South Asia to Central America, nonstate actors, including religious extremists (mostly Islamic) and drug lords, did their bit to take freedoms away from citizens.

While there were some positives in the report, overall, it was just depressing to see how much progress has deteriorated over the last four years -- and yes, right here in Canada, where we have a proroguing Harper and aboriginals who simply don't have the same freedoms as the rest of us.

Read the complete report and view the world map of freedom via the link below.

in reference to:

"On January 12, Freedom House released its findings from the latest edition of Freedom in the World, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties. According to the survey’s findings, 2009 marked the fourth consecutive year in which global freedom suffered a decline—the longest consecutive period of setbacks for freedom in the nearly 40-year history of the report. These declines were most pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, although they also occurred in most other regions of the world. Furthermore, the erosion in freedom took place during a year marked by intensified repression against human rights defenders and democracy activists by many of the world’s most powerful authoritarian regimes, including Russia and China."
- freedomhouse.org: Freedom in the World 2010 Survey Release (view on Google Sidewiki)