Armenia and Artsakh have been rated as “partly free” in a new reports published by the Freedom House
In the reports titled Freedom in the World 2020։ A Leaderless Struggle for Democracy the Washington-based human rights watchdog notes that democracy is under assault around the globe, and the effects are evident not just in authoritarian states, but also in countries with a long track record of upholding basic rights and freedoms.
According to the report, countries that suffered setbacks in 2019 outnumbered those making gains by nearly two to one, marking the 14th consecutive year of deterioration in global freedom. During this period, 25 of the world’s 41 established democracies experienced net losses.
Armenia’s neighbor Georgia is also ranked as “partly free,” while Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran are all labeled as “not free.”
European Economic Union Members Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus also have the “not free” status, while Kyrgyzstan is “partly free.”
Of the 195 countries assessed, 83 (43 percent) were rated Free, 63 (32 percent) were Partly Free, and 49 (25 percent) were Not Free. The share of Free countries has declined by 3 percentage points over the last decade, while the percentage of Partly Free and Not Free countries rose by two and one points, respectively.
Freedom in the World is an annual global report on political rights and civil liberties, composed of numerical ratings and descriptive texts for each country and a select group of territories.
The 2018 edition covers developments in 195 countries and 14 territories from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017.
