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FREEDOM HOUSE: REPORT NOTES NO PROGRESS IN ARMENIA IN TERMS OF POLITICAL FREEDOM
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
20.01.12 | 15:12
Once again Armenia has been included on the list of 'partially free'
countries in the Freedom House Annual Report 2012, published on
Thursday, however, Nagorno-Karabakh, as last year, has registered
regress, being defined as a 'non-free' territory, instead of the
previous 'partially free'.
Author of 'Freedom in the World 2012: The Arab Uprisings and Their
Global Repercussions' report Arch Puddington says that in 2011 "the
political uprisings that swept across the Arab world over the past year
represent the most significant challenge to authoritarian rule since
the collapse of Soviet communism. Whereas many countries, Armenia among
them, have registered no progress, ending up in the stagnation phase."
According to the methodology of the report, a 'partly free' country is
one in which there is limited respect for political rights and civil
liberties. Partly Free states frequently suffer from an environment
of corruption, weak rule of law and a political landscape in which
a single party enjoys dominance despite a certain degree of pluralism.
The authors of the report have registered deteriorating tendencies
particularly in Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The report states that serious regress has been registered in
Azerbaijan which is considered to have "the region's most repressive
regime."
"In Azerbaijan, the government of President Ilham Aliyev used force
to break up demonstrations, jailed opposition activists, tried to
neutralize the international press, and misused state power to evict
citizens from their homes as part of grandiose building schemes,"
the report reads.
"The developments are worrying" in neighboring Turkey, too. The authors
of the report state that Recep Tayyip Erdogan started his office with
serious reforms, however, a number of arrests on the Ergenekon case
within the recent one year "caused serious concerns."
Generally the report singled out 48 authoritarian states, which makes
24 percent of the world's states, and more than 35 percent of the
world's population lives under such regimes.
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
20.01.12 | 15:12
Once again Armenia has been included on the list of 'partially free'
countries in the Freedom House Annual Report 2012, published on
Thursday, however, Nagorno-Karabakh, as last year, has registered
regress, being defined as a 'non-free' territory, instead of the
previous 'partially free'.
Author of 'Freedom in the World 2012: The Arab Uprisings and Their
Global Repercussions' report Arch Puddington says that in 2011 "the
political uprisings that swept across the Arab world over the past year
represent the most significant challenge to authoritarian rule since
the collapse of Soviet communism. Whereas many countries, Armenia among
them, have registered no progress, ending up in the stagnation phase."
According to the methodology of the report, a 'partly free' country is
one in which there is limited respect for political rights and civil
liberties. Partly Free states frequently suffer from an environment
of corruption, weak rule of law and a political landscape in which
a single party enjoys dominance despite a certain degree of pluralism.
The authors of the report have registered deteriorating tendencies
particularly in Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The report states that serious regress has been registered in
Azerbaijan which is considered to have "the region's most repressive
regime."
"In Azerbaijan, the government of President Ilham Aliyev used force
to break up demonstrations, jailed opposition activists, tried to
neutralize the international press, and misused state power to evict
citizens from their homes as part of grandiose building schemes,"
the report reads.
"The developments are worrying" in neighboring Turkey, too. The authors
of the report state that Recep Tayyip Erdogan started his office with
serious reforms, however, a number of arrests on the Ergenekon case
within the recent one year "caused serious concerns."
Generally the report singled out 48 authoritarian states, which makes
24 percent of the world's states, and more than 35 percent of the
world's population lives under such regimes.