Wednesday, January 27 2016 08:55

Armenia is still a partly free state, according to the Freedom in the World 2016 reported published by Freedom House independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world, on January 27.

Armenia's neighbor Georgia is ranked among the partly free countries too, while the situation in Azerbaijan and Russia is critical. 

According to the report, only 86 out of the surveyed 195 countries are considered as free, the situation in 50 countries was assessed as critical.  The lowest level of political and civil rights were in Syria, Somalia, North Korea, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Middle East and North Africa countries.  

Although the level of freedom was low in the world in 2015, 86 countries out of 197  (74%) are still free, while 59 countries are party free, according to Freedom House. The remaining 50 countries are not free.  According to the report, the world was battered by crises that fueled xenophobic sentiment in democratic countries, undermined the economies of states dependent on the sale of natural resources, and led authoritarian regimes to crack down harder on dissent. These developments contributed to the 10th consecutive year of decline in global freedom.

The number of countries showing a decline in freedom for the year-72-was the largest since the 10-year slide began. Just 43 countries made gains.

Over the past 10 years, 105 countries have seen a net decline, and only 61 have experienced a net improvement.
Ratings for the Middle East and North Africa region were the worst in the world in 2015, followed closely by Eurasia.

Over the last decade, the most significant global reversals have been in freedom of expression and the rule of law, the report says.