Freedom House ranked Armenia as "partially free" countries

ArmInfo. The international human rights organization Freedom House has issued the next annual report "Freedom in the world of 2018: a crisis of democracy," which ranked Armenia among the "partially free" countries.

The organization assessed the state of civil and political freedoms in 195 countries around the world. According to the report, over the past 12 years, the level of freedom in the world has been steadily declining: 71 states have demonstrated a decline in civil and personal freedoms, and only 35 countries can report on achievements in this area. The authors of the study concluded that of the 195 countries mentioned in the report, only 88 states or 45% of the total number can be considered "free", 58 or 30% are considered "partially free", and 49 or 25% are "not free ".

The main threats to global stability in the report are: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela and North Korea. These countries, according to Freedom House experts, are responsible for the increased risks of the existence of "permanent long-term regional conflicts and humanitarian crises." Out of 49 countries recognized as "not free" (including neighboring Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran), 12 states took the worst positions, failing to score 10 points out of 100 possible. This list includes Syria, South Sudan, Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Libya. In Eurasia, Russia remains the main threat to the existence of civil and political freedoms. According to the authors of the study, President Vladimir Putin "organized disinformation campaigns during elections in European democratic countries, established contacts with political parties propagandizing xenophobia on the continent, continues to threaten its closest neighbors," and "acted as an alternative source of military assistance for dictatorial regimes in the Middle East."

The main goal of Moscow, analysts of Freedom House believe, is to interfere in the internal affairs of democratic states in order to "destroy the institutions linking them among themselves." Among the most disturbing trends in the region, the authors of the report called the efforts of authoritarian states to silence their critics, regardless of state borders. The Azerbaijani court sentenced the opposition journalist Afgan Mukhtarly, who lived in exile in Georgia, who was abducted from Tbilisi under unknown circumstances, to six years in prison. In Ukraine, unknown people were shot at a car in which were opponents of Putin, Chechens Adam Osmayev and his wife, Amina Okueva, who died as a result. According to the Ukrainian authorities, traces of executors and customers of this murder, as well as a number of attempts on Ukrainian politicians and journalists, lead to Russia. The author also states that countries such as Turkey, Venezuela, Poland and Tunisia, which have recently demonstrated convincing results of civil liberties, are once again experiencing a period of decline in the standards of democracy. And countries such as Russia and China managed to take advantage of the situation in the leading democracies of the world in order to intensify repression against their own citizens and spread their influence abroad.

Freedom House experts also state that during the last seven years, a gradual reduction of civil liberties was recorded in the USA. In 2017, this process accelerated because of the growing confidence in the fact of Russian interference in the presidential election campaign, and the lack of effective steps on the part of the new administration aimed at preventing and preventing such interference in the future. Analysts of the Organization write that despite the fact that basic democratic institutions, such as the press and the independent judiciary, managed to maintain their influence in the US, however, attacks from President Trump can significantly weaken their positions in the society.

Freedom House President Michael J. Abramowitz believes that the Trump administration has violated the political consensus that has existed for the last 70 years, excluding democracy as the main driving force behind US foreign policy, and the United States' rapid abandonment of its historic commitments to support democracy abroad strengthened the positions of authoritarian regimes. "Democracy is experiencing the most serious crisis in the last decade: the basic foundations of democracy - including guarantees for free and fair elections, respect for minority rights, the existence of a free press and the recognition of the rule of law - are now under threat throughout the world," Abramovitz concluded.