Freedom House treats Russia and Azerbaijan as non-free countries

In 2019, human rights violations and persecutions of activists continued in Russia and Azerbaijan, says the report of the international organization "Freedom House" released on March 4. Human rights defenders ranked Georgia and Armenia as partly free countries.

The Freedom House report with the annual rating "Freedom in the World 2020" was posted on its website on March 4. In the document, the level of freedom in Russia is rated at 20 points out of 100, same as in 2019. In Russia, according to the authors of the report, only five out of 40 political rights and 15 out of 60 civil liberties are observed.

Azerbaijan, according to the Freedom House, is still among the non-free countries. The situation in this country has worsened a little, and it scored only 10 points (in 2019, it had 11 points). The power in the country is still concentrated in the hands of Ilham Aliev and his large family. Human rights defenders rated his regime as authoritarian. In recent years, the authorities have violated civil liberties leaving little room for residents to express their opinions independently, the report says.

Georgia and Armenia are assessed by rights defenders as partially free countries. Georgia scored 61 points in the Freedom House rating, last year it received 63 points. Armenia improved its position in the Freedom House ranking, gaining 53 points (in 2019 it had 51 points).

South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Abkhazia have also been rated. The Freedom House has defined them as territories, not as independent countries. South Ossetia got into the category of non-free countries and territories, gaining 10 points (last year it had also 10 points). In Abkhazia, the situation, according to the human rights organization, has worsened a little, and it scored 40 points (against 41 points in 2019), but remained among those partially free. In Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the report, the situation has improved and it gained 34 points (against 31 points in 2019); it is rated as partially free.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 5, 2020 at 08:05 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.