Through a vast array of international programs and publications, Freedom House is working to advance the remarkable worldwide expansion of political and economic freedom. The Freedom House organization has published its “Freedom in the World” index using a 7-point scale. Countries rated between 1 and 2.5 points were rated as ‘free’, 3 and 5 points ‘partly free’, and 5.5-7 points as ‘not free’, based on the criteria of political rights and civil liberties. (12-APRIL-2005)
Free or Not Free
89 countries were rated as free, 54 partly free and 49 countries as ‘not free’. Thus, 1.189 billion people live in free countries, while about 2.819 billion in partly free countries and some 2.387 people in unfree countries.
Compared to 1974, the number of free countries more than doubled, as only 41 countries were rated as free at the time. Since then, 6 more countries were added to the “partly free” category, while the number of unfree countries decreased from 63 to 49.
46 countries received the highest rating (1 point), with Estonia being the only former Soviet Union republic included in this category. Armenia received 4.5 points, while Georgia and Moldova – 3.5 points. Other CIS (former Soviet Union) states – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan – were rated as ‘not free’, with 6 points.
The worst situation with human rights among CIS states was indicated in Belarus (6.5 points) and Turkmenistan (7 points).
The report also assessed the human rights situation in conflict zones, terming them as “disputed areas”. Among these regions, only the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was rated as free, with 2 points.
The self-proclaimed “Upper Garabagh Republic” operating in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as Abkhazia, Kashmir and Kosovo, were rated as “partly free”. Human rights are blatantly violated in Tibet, Dnestr and the Chechen Republic, the report said.
The countries considered to be protectorates of other countries – Hong Kong (China), Puerto Rico (United States) were rated as “free”, with 2 points.
Azeri gov’t says ‘Report unfair’
The rating on Azerbaijan indicated in the Freedom House report is unfair. The criteria taken into consideration in preparing the report are unclear, Ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova told a press conference on Tuesday.
The Milli Majlis (parliament) speaker Murtuz Alasgarov said the report as biased, regarding as unfair the fact that Azerbaijan was rated below Armenia and Georgia.
“Is the level of democracy in Azerbaijan behind that of Georgia and Armenia?”
The speaker said that the inaccurate data in the report is related to the false statements made by the opposition, and called on its representatives to consider Azerbaijan’s interests.
