Freedom in the World 2013 Akimi Miki Taku Omori Emiri Kigasawa
Feb 24, 2016
Freedom in the World 2013Akimi MikiTaku Omori
Emiri Kigasawa
1. Democratic movement2. Authoritarian response Marks the seven consecutive year in which
countries with decline outnumbered those with improvments
Free: increased by three=90 Free countries
2 Trends in the Middle East
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Gain for freedom were threated by opposition
from governments, security forces, ruling fam-ilies, or religiously based political factions.
Notable but flawed Despite the shift to civilian rule and energy of
civil society, the country faced daunting prob-lems
Development in Egypt
More countries endured declines than made gains in 2012
Syria: murderous war waged Optimistic? Tunisia & Libya: expelled longtime dictators Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups Middle Eastern Countries: resilient and willing
to push for freedom
MENA
Events in the Middle East Ongoing campaign in Russia, Venezuela, and
Iran
Reaction of the Authoritarian Leaders
Gains: 16, declines: 28 Greatest gains in the past five years is in Asia-
Pacific and MENA regions. Most declines in sub-Saharan Africa.
Major developments and trends: Volatility in West Africa Gulf State Retreat Civil Liberties at Risk in Turkey Muslim-on-Muslim Violence
Freedom’s Trajectory in 2012
Territory Freedom Status
PR CL Trend Ar-row
Mali Not Free ▼ 7▼ 5 ▼ Guinea-Bis-sau
Not Free ▼ 6▼ 5▼
Cote d’Ivoire Partly Free ▲ 5▲ 5▲ Guinea Partly Free 5 5 ▲ Senegal* Free▲ 2▲ 3Sierra Leone* Free▲ 2▲ 4
Volatility in West Africa
Past seven years: steady decline in democratic in-stitutions and increase in repressive policies
Gulf State Retreat
Territory Freedom Status
PR CL Trend Ar-row
Kuwait Partly Free 5▼ 5 Oman Not Free 6 5 ▼United Arab Emi-rates
Not Free 6 6 ▼
Bahrain Not Free 6 6 Saudi Arabia Not Free 7 7
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recently: prosecutions Turkey: most number of journalists behind
bars
Civil Liberties in Turkey
Muslim-on-Muslim Violence
Territory Freedom Status
PR CL Trend Ar-row
Pakistan Partly Free 4 5 Iraq Not Free 6▼ 6Syria Not Free 7 7 ▼
Analysis of Regional Trends
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)• Positive results over all though some set-
backsPositive MovementsLibya Not Free -> Partly Free/Political Rights 7 -> 4/ Civil Liberties 6 -> 5• Held successful elections (candidates from differing
backgrounds)• Growth in freedom of expression and civic activity• Increased transparency in constitution drafting
Egypt Not Free -> Partly Free/ Political Rights 6 -> 5 / Civil Liberties 5• Transition of power from armed forces to an elected
leader-> Though issues with the election and the elected
leader
Israel Free / Political Rights 1 / Civil Liberties 2• Movements of restricting certain rights were mostly
stopped by either one of the 3 powers
MENA (2)Negative movements observed in the MENA region
Syria Not Free / Political Rights 7 / Civil Liberties 7 / Down-ward Trend• Violent reaction against demands for political change • Targeted attacks on Sunni Muslims
Lebanon Partly Free / Political Rights 5 / Civil Liberties 4 / Downward Trend• Attacks and restrictions on journalists, activists, and
refugees• Groups who took sides in Syrian conflict under increased
repression
Iraq Not Free / Political Rights 5 -> 6 / Civil Liberties 6• Increased concentration of power to Prime Minister Maliki• Increased pressure towards opposition parties and indi-
vidual
Sub-Saharan Africa Many Positive movements observed but not enough to counterweight negative movements
Lesotho Partly Free -> Free / Political Rights 3 -> 2 / Civil Liberties 3• Successful free and fair parliamentary elections• Peaceful transition of power to incoming leaders
Sierra Leone Partly Free -> Free / Political Rights 3 -> 2 / Civil Liberties 3• Successful free and fair elections • Reformed electoral institutions proved functional without interna-
tional influence
Senegal Partly Free -> Free / Political Rights 3 -> 2 / Civil Liberties 3• Peaceful power transition through Presidential and Parliamentary
elections • Efforts by the President to increase governmental accountability &
transparency
Cote d’Ivoire Not Free -> Partly Free / Political Rights 6 -> 5 / Civil Lib-erties 6 -> 5• Peaceful inauguration of new parliament• Movements to increase in transparency and prevention of corruption
Other countries Guinea and Malawi
Sub-Saharan Africa (2)Negative movements in the region Mali Free -> Not Free / Political Rights 2 -> 7 / Civil Liberties 3 -> 5• Overthrow of democratically elected President by military coup• Repression of the media, political actors, freedom of movement in the
south• Northern regions occupied by militants
Nigeria Partly Free / Political Rights 4 / Civil Liberties 4 / Downward Trend• High level of continued corruption• Suppression of civil society • Restrictions on freedom of movement
Central African Republic Partly Free / Political Rights 5 / Civil Liberties 5 / Downward Trend• Take over of over half of its territory by rebel groups • Repression against freedom of expression and assembly in rebel held
areas
Kenya Partly Free / Political Rights 4 / Civil Liberties 3 -> 4 • Increased ethnic and religious violence • Increased violence due to counter-terrorism measures
Other countries Gambia, Uganda, Mada-gascar etc.
Central and Eastern Europe/ Eurasia Negative movements overall
Negative Movements Russia Not Free / Political Rights 6 / Civil Liberties 5 / Downward Trend• Increased restrictions on public protest, NGOs, & free expression on
the internet • Strong restrictions on foreign funding within Russia
Ukraine Partly Free / Political Rights 4 / Civil Liberties 3 / Downward trend • Decline in its quality of elections • Increased pressure on the opposition by the authority • Neglect of minorities
Positive Movements Georgia Partly Free / Political Rights 3 -> 4 / Civil Liberties 3 • Winning of elections by the opposition party • First democratic transition of power to the opposition party
Armenia Partly Free / Political Rights 6 -> 5 / Civil Liberties 4 • Peaceful elections • Entry of an opposition party to the legislature
Asia Pacific Positive movements overall
Burma Not Free / Political Rights 7 -> 6 / Civil Liberties 6 -> 5 • Participation of the opposition party in parliamentary elections • Easing of restrictions on media, private discussion, public assembly,
private enterprise
China Not Free / Political Rights 7 / Civil Liberties 6 • Continued restrictions on censorship, suppression of minorities, and
grassroots surveillance• But Large number of ordinary citizens and high profile opposition
leaders assert rights and challenge injustice
Mongolia Free / Political Rights 2 -> 1 / Civil Liberties 2 • Increase in the fairness and competitiveness of parliamentary elec-
tions
Bhutan Partly Free / Political Rights 4 / Civil Liberties 5 / Upward Trend• Improved freeness and fairness of elections
AMERICAS
AMERICAS• VENEZUELA: Partly free, Political Rights: 5, Civil
liberties: 5• Former Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez has been a
significant figure.• Chávez’s propagation of “21st-century socialism” (Oil
revenues at • home and abroad).• Chávez’s 2012 reelection (Chavez vs. Radonski) Chávez’s tactics: 1. Massive use of state resources2. Distribution of household goods to voters3. Intimidation of punishment to opposing voters.
Suffered declines in their democratic performance. ECUADOR: Partly free, political rights: 3, civil liberties: 3
Widespread irregularities in the constitutionally mandated registration process for political organizations. Change to the seat-allocation formula for the national
legislature that favors the ruling party. PARAGUAY: Partly free, political rights: 3, civil liberties: 3
Impeachment of President Fernando Lugo, leading his citizens to have no opportunity for debate.
SURINAME: Free, political rights: 2, civil liberties: 2 1982 murder of 15 political opponents by President Desiré Bouterse and other suspects.
AMERICAS
WESTERN EUROPE
GREECE: Free, political rights: 2, civil liberties: 2 Influx of immigrants and the impact of the finan-
cial crisis. Street violence: No protection to immigrants and those advocating for their rights. Peak of the popularity of nationalist political movements in Europe.
WESTERN EUROPE
The countries of EU have gone through the most
serious economic downturn. Those countries kept their respect for demo-
cratic standards and civil liberties.
WESTERN EUROPE
Reluctant of elevating anti-immigrant parties to na-tional leadership roles
Hostility to migrants still remains. No responsibility to implement rational and humane
policies for immigrants. The continued ambivalence of European societies toward
ethnic minorities The unwillingness of European political leaders to ad-
vance policies
EUROPEANS’ RESPONSE TO IMMIGRATION
GREAT BRITAIN: Free, political rights: 1, civil liberties: 1
“Phone-hacking” scandal Journalists were accused of abusing privacy
rights with police and others by pursuing sen-sationalistic stories.
The creation of a new, independent body to deal with
press abuse was suggested by commission of in-quiry. This plan is opposed by the press and media
freedom organizations.
WESTERN EUROPE
UNITED STATES: Free, political rights: 1, civil liber-ties: 1
U.S Presidential election President Obama defeated the Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Disappointing economy, unemployment, massive
budget deficit. Strong support for Obama from ethnic minority populations.
Higher taxes on the rich
NORTH AMERICA
Antiterrorism Obama was criticized by civil libertarians for
his country’s expansive use of unmanned aircraft to kill suspected terrorists Still, his approach to the war on terrorism has
been receiving support from U.S citizens and members of Congress.
NORTH AMERICA
Same-sex marriage The president supports the same-sex marriage Three more states affirmed equal marriage
rights Existing ban on same-sex marriage rights
NORTH AMERICA
LIBYA: Not free →Partly free, Political rights: 4, Civil liberties: 5 Most impressive gains
The world’s most repressive regime under the con-trol of
Qaddafi until 2011. After civil war and nation building…
Elected government, wide-ranging freedoms, and a leadership with accountable rule and openness
The U.S role in Libya’s liberation: Obama’s foreign policy accomplishments.
CONCLUSION: LIBYA
The Baltics and the Balkans Enjoy the level of political rights and civil liber-
ties They were under the communist domination
for decades until EU’s adoption of democratic stan-dards
CONCLUSION: DEMOCRATIZA-TION OF THE
POSTCOMMUNIST WORLD
RUSSIA: Not free, political rights: 6, civil lib-erties: 5
CHINA: Not free, political rights: 7, civil liber-ties: 6 Maintain their repressive regimes Condemn the values of open societies Block international action to prevent them-
selves from democratization.
CONCLUSION: DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE POSTCOMMUNIST WORLD
U.S reluctance of intervention to democra-tize
non-democratic nations. President Obama’s desire to focus on domes-
tic issues Financial crisis in Europe
CONCLUSION: PROBLEMS OF U.S AND
OTHER DEMOCRACIES
Several strategies for democratization: Commitment to bolster and protect thinkers and activists who will possibly change the societies Leaders should cooperate with leading regime
and critics and activists Declare the determination to support people
who wish for democracy in non-democratic nations
CONCLUSION: STRATEGIES FOR DEMOCRATIZATION