WASHINGTON – Freedom is breaking out all over the world in a 30-year trend – except in the Islamic world, says the human rights organization Freedom House in its annual report for 2002.
The survey, Freedom in the World, shows that in 2002, 29 countries demonstrated forward progress in freedom, a dramatic increase from one year ago. Of those, four – Brazil, Lesotho, Senegal and Yugoslavia – entered the ranks of “free” countries. Two countries – Bahrain and Kenya – made the transition to “partly free.” A total of eleven countries registered setbacks, including one – Cote d’Ivoire – that regressed to “not free.”
Real gains outnumbered setbacks by nearly a three-to-one margin. By contrast, Freedom House reports, in 2001, 16 countries registered gains and 17 displayed a retreat from freedom.
Over the last 30 years, freedom’s progress has been most dramatic in Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region, and Central and Eastern Europe, the organization reports. Modest progress has also been registered in Africa.
However, the Middle East and many majority Islamic countries have seen stagnation in terms of overall levels of freedom in the last three decades. Despite the lack of progress in large parts of the Islamic world, especially its Arabic core, the survey analysis finds no inexorable link between Islam and political repression. Indeed, it shows that the majority of the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims lives under elected governments, in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Turkey.
The overall lack of progress on reform within specific Muslim countries can be attributed to high degrees of military influence, the persistence of monarchies and personal authoritarianism, and the influence of radical ideologies such as Baathism and jihadist Islamism, the report found. All have helped give birth to tyrannical regimes and violent movements in the region.
“While some repressive governments use the global war on terrorism to justify crackdowns on peaceful political opponents, the survey’s findings suggest that overall, the world has not seen a serious erosion of human rights since Sept. 11, 2001,” said Freedom House President Adrian Karatnycky.
While many of the gains made in 2002 took place in countries where global terrorist networks have not had a direct impact, such as Brazil and Yugoslavia, notable improvements were made in parts of the world where terrorism poses a direct threat, including majority Muslim and Arab countries.
Genuine evidence of change was registered in majority Muslim Senegal, which entered the ranks of the Free, and in Bahrain, which moved from Not Free to Partly Free. There were also distinct signs of civic ferment in Iran and Kuwait, together with indications of a commitment to political opening in Qatar. Progress also was registered in majority Muslim Afghanistan, Albania, Comoros, Tajikistan and Turkey.
This year represents the 30th anniversary of Freedom in the World. The 2002 survey finds that the number of countries rated “free” has more than doubled from 30 years ago. The highest-ever proportion of the world’s population is living in freedom today.
According to the annual survey, 89 countries are now “free,” up from 43 in 1972. Their inhabitants enjoy a broad range of rights. Fifty-six countries are considered “partly free,” an increase from 38 in 1972. Political rights and civil liberties are more limited in these countries, in which corruption, dominant ruling parties, and, in some cases, ethnic or religious strife are often the norm. The survey finds that 47 countries fall into the “not free” category, down sharply from 69 in 1972. Inhabitants of these countries are denied basic political rights and civil liberties.
“The dramatic increase in the number of ‘free’ countries points to the broad and growing appeal of democracy among the world’s many peoples and cultures,” said Freedom House co-Vice Chairman Mark Palmer. “This underscores the universality of democracy and its basic principles, including freedom of speech, religion and thought.”
Thirty years ago, 1.3 billion people (35 percent of the world’s population) lived in “free” countries. Today, that total stands at 2.7 billion people (44 percent). At the same time, the number of people living in “not free” countries has moved from 1.8 billion people to 2.2 billion people. This, however, represents a proportional decline of people living under “not free” systems, from 47 percent in 1972 to 35 percent today. Of the 2.2 billion people who are considered “not free,” almost 60 percent, or 1.27 billion, live in the People’s Republic of China.
In the Middle East and North Africa, there has been the least progress over the last 30 years. One country – Israel – is “free,” four countries are “partly free” and 13 are “not free.”
