AKIPRESS.COM - U.S.-based non-governmental organization The Freedom House, that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights, has published its new report Freedom in the World 2015, where it assigned two Central Asian nations - Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan - 'worst of the worst' statuses.
Both of the countries' freedom ratings scored 7 points, civil liberties - 7, political rights - 7. Each country score is based on two numerical ratings—from 1 to 7—for political rights and civil liberties, with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free.
The Worst of the Worst countries are the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Freedom in the World 2015 found an overall drop in freedom for the ninth consecutive year. Nearly twice as many countries suffered declines as registered gains—61 to 33—and the number of countries with improvements hit its lowest point since the nine-year erosion began.
Of the 195 countries assessed, 89 (46 percent) were rated Free, 55 (28 percent) Partly Free, and 51 (26 percent) Not Free. All but one region had more countries with declines than with gains. Asia-Pacific had an even split.
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