The political unrest that swept the Arab world last year, which became known as the “Arab spring”, has become the most significant event in the struggle for civil rights, comparable to the downfall of Soviet Union in 1991, the human right organization Freedom House said in a report released on Thursday.
“While the challenges today are far more complex than in 1989, the basic theme of captive peoples seeking freedom after decades of oppression is very much the same,” the report said.
The “Arab spring” means a wave of demonstrations and protests, which occurred as a result of the revolution in Tunisia and Egypt, the civil war in Libya, which led to the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi, the uprising in Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, mass protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan Morocco and Oman, which echoed to a lesser extent in several other countries.
The report said that the “Arab spring” caused unprecedented progress in some countries but at the same time provoked severe and sometimes bloody action by many official leaders.
The revolutionary wave in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya concluded the collapse of the rule of authoritarian regimes, Freedom House said. However, countries such as Syria, Bahrain, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates took the path of cutting the rights and freedoms of its citizens.
According to the human right organization, a pullback toward stricter regimes was seen in the Middle East, China, Eurasia and Africa, affecting a total of 26 countries on the global political map.
Positive changes were noted only in 12 states. This list includes countries traditionally criticizes by the West, such as Cuba, Libya and Myanmar.
The level of political freedom in Russia has not changed in the past year. The country is not listed as free, with a rating of 5.6 points, similar to Rwanda, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Gabon and the West Bank of the Jordan River, which the UN considers to be occupied. The group ranks political rights and civil liberties on a scale of 1 (most free) to 7 (least free).
The Freedom House said the massive street protests in Russia are a sign of the fall in popularity of country's leaders.
Despite the unprecedented protest movements that swept the world last year, the situation of human rights and freedoms has not changed. The number of countries that can be called to free, remained at 87, the same as a year earlier.
Only less than half of the world’s population can use democratic rights and freedoms, namely 43 percent or slightly more than 3 billion people, the report said. The Worst of the Worst, countries or territories with the lowest ranking on political rights and civil liberties, are Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Western Sahara and Tibet.
Freedom House, with its headquarters in Washington, is an influential independent human rights organization, which is, according to media, largely funded by the U.S. government.
