More than a third of the
world's population, or 2.6 billion people, live in nations and territories
gripped by repression, corruption and human rights abuses, with the worst being
Syria, Tibet and Somalia, an advocacy group said on Wednesday.
Thomson
Reuters report continues:
The
year 2015 - shaped by mass migration, crackdowns on dissent, xenophobia and
terror attacks - marked the 10th straight year of decline in global freedom,
according to an annual report by the Washington-based Freedom House.
Worldwide,
86 nations and territories were designated free based on their political rights
and civil liberties, 50 were deemed not free, and 59 were partly free, it said.
The
bulk of those deemed unfree were in the Middle East and North Africa, where 85
percent of the population lives with repression; sub-Saharan Africa where 20
regimes earned the not free ranking; and Eurasia, where no country was listed
as free.
The
report singled out the United States - while free - as slipping, citing "a
disturbing increase in the role of private money in election campaigns,"
legislative gridlock, a lack of openness in government, racial discrimination
and a dysfunctional criminal justice system.
Freedom
declined in 72 countries in 2015, the most since the 10-year slide began.
There
were gains in 43 countries, with upward trends in Burkina Faso, Myanmar,
Nigeria and Sri Lanka, which all held elections.
The
slowdown in the Chinese economy and lower commodity prices took a toll, said
Arch Puddington, vice president for research at Freedom House and co-author of
the report.
"In
many countries with authoritarian governments, the drop in revenues from
falling commodity prices led dictators to redouble political repression at home
and lash out at perceived foreign enemies," Puddington said in a
statement.
"Democratic
countries came under strain from terrorist attacks and unprecedented numbers of
refugees - problems emanating from regional conflicts such as the Syrian civil
war."
Notable
for the year was a lack of progress for women, the report said.
Citing
Saudi Arabian women participating in elections and an end to adultery as a
crime in South Korea, it said: "The very limited steps that were hailed as
victories... demonstrated just how low the bar has gotten in evaluating
progress toward gender equality."
Rounding out the dozen
nations and territories with the worst scores were North Korea, Uzbekistan,
Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Western Sahara, Sudan, Central African Republic,
Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia.
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