Major Gains in Ukraine, Indonesia; Decline Noted in Philippines
Notable Gains in Worldwide Freedom

by Jeremy Reynalds
Executive Director
The people of the Arab Middle East experienced a modest but potentially significant increase in political rights and civil liberties in 2005, Freedom House announced in a survey of global freedom.

The global survey, “Freedom in the World,” (http://www.freedomhouse.org/media/pressrel/122005.htm), released on Dec. 19, shows that although the Middle East continues to lag behind other regions, a measurable improvement can be seen in freedom in several key Arab countries, as well as the Palestinian Authority.

In another finding, the number of countries rated by Freedom House as “Not Free” declined from 49 in 2004 to 45 for the year 2005, the lowest number of “Not Free” societies identified by the survey in over a decade.

In significant country developments, Ukraine and Indonesia saw their status improve from “Partly Free” to “Free”; Afghanistan moved from “Not Free” to “Partly Free,” and the Philippines saw its status decline from “Free” to “Partly Free.”

Speaking in a news release, Thomas O. Melia, acting executive director of Freedom House, said, “The modest but heartening advances in the Arab Middle East result from activism by citizen groups and reforms by governments in about equal measures. This emerging trend reminds us that men and women in this region share the universal desire to live in free societies.”

“As we welcome the stirrings of change in the Middle East,” Melia added, “it is equally important that we focus on the follow-through in other regions, and appreciate the importance of the continuing consolidation of democracy in Indonesia, Ukraine, and other nations.”

On the whole, the news release from Freedom House commented, the state of freedom showed substantial improvement worldwide, with 27 countries and one territory registering gains and only nine countries showing setbacks. The global picture suggests that the past year was one of the most successful for freedom since Freedom House began measuring world freedom in 1972.

“These global findings are encouraging,” said Arch Puddington, director of research, speaking in a news release. “Among other things, the past year has been notable for terrorist violence, ethnic cleansing, civil conflict, catastrophic natural disasters, and geopolitical polarization. That freedom could thrive in this environment is impressive.”

Although the countries of the Middle East lag behind other regions in areas such as adherence to democratic standards, independent media, the rights of women, and the rule of law, Freedom House noted that the past year nonetheless witnessed modest positive trends.

Lebanon experienced the most significant improvement. Its status improved from “Not Free” to “Partly Free,” due to major improvements in both political rights and civil liberties that followed the withdrawal of Syrian occupation forces. Elections exhibiting increased competition in Iraq, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories; the introduction of women’s suffrage in Kuwait; and improvements in Saudi Arabia’s media environment are among other encouraging signs in the region.

According to the survey, 89 countries are “Free,” the same as the previous year. These countries’ nearly 3 billion inhabitants (46 percent of the world’s population) enjoy open political competition, a climate of respect for civil liberties, significant independent civic life, and independent media.

Another 58 countries representing 1.2 billion people (18 percent) are considered “Partly Free.” Political rights and civil liberties are more limited in these countries, in which the norm may be corruption, weak rule of law, ethnic and religious strife, and a setting in which a single political party enjoys dominance. The survey finds that 45 countries are “Not Free.” The 2.3 billion inhabitants (35 percent) of these countries, Freedom House commented, are “widely and systematically” denied basic civil liberties, and basic political rights are absent.

Aside from the Middle East, countries in the former Soviet Union were most notable for improvements in freedom during 2005. In addition to Ukraine, the Freedom House survey found that improvements were noted in Kyrgyzstan, whose rating improved from “Not Free” to “Partly Free,” and Georgia. Positive change was also noted in Latvia and Lithuania, two states where democratic freedoms had already been consolidated.

Further gains in the region, Freedom House commented in the news release, will likely depend on the development of the kind of mature and credible opposition that emerged in Ukraine and Georgia prior to their nonviolent revolutions. At the same time, authoritarian leaderships in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Russia, have adopted policies that will make it more difficult for the development of a genuine civil society and will impede the development of a democratic political opposition.

In Uzbekistan, state violence against demonstrators, the repression of civil society, and an overall decline in human rights conditions during the past year was sufficiently pronounced to warrant a decline in the country’s Freedom in the World score to the lowest possible rating. Only eight countries worldwide earned a similar status as the “worst of the worst,” and two, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, are in Central Asia.

In Russia-whose freedom status Freedom House lowered from “Partly Free” to “Not Free” a year ago-the Putin leadership’s anti-democratic tendencies appeared, Freedom House commented, if anything, more pronounced in 2005.

THE WORST OF THE WORST

Freedom House rated 45 states as “Not Free,” in which a broad range of freedoms are systematically denied. Among the “Not Free” countries, eight states have been given the survey’s lowest rating of seven for political rights, and seven for civil liberties. The eight worst-rated countries represent a narrow range of systems and cultures. Cuba and North Korea are one-party Marxist-Leninist regimes. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are Central Asian countries ruled by dictators with roots in the Soviet period. Libya and Syria are Arab countries under the sway of secular dictatorships, while Sudan is under a leadership that has elements both of radical Islamism and of the traditional military junta. The remaining worst rated state is Burma, a tightly controlled military dictatorship.

Freedom House stated that there are two worst-rated territories: Tibet (under Chinese jurisdiction) and Chechnya, where an indigenous Islamic population is engaged in a brutal guerrilla war for independence from Russia.

Freedom House is a self-described (www.freedomhouse.org/aboutfh/index.htm) “clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world. Founded over 60 years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, and other Americans concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy, Freedom House has been a vigorous proponent of democratic values and a steadfast opponent of dictatorships of the far left and the far right.”

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