Society's Worst Of The Worst Human Rights Violators

The worst of the worst human rights violating societies

Freedom house has released their annual report called 'Worst of the Worst 2010. The World's Most Repressive Societies'  Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that, according to their webpage, supports the expansion of freedom around the world by advocating democratic change, monitoring freedom and championing human rights.

The survey monitors and ranks the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in 194 countries and 14 related and disputed territories.  It boasts a wide range of sources including human rights activists, journalists, editors and political figures from around the world.

So which countries have been judged to have the worst human rights conditions?  Burma, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan top the list.

Let us take a closer look at the human rights conditions of one of those countries – Uzbekistan.

The government severely represses and discriminates against all political opposition. Corruption is pervasive. The state controls the press and all major media outlets. Islamic worship is controlled and suspected members of Muslim organizations and their relatives have been subjected to arrest, interrogation, and torture. Prisons suffer from severe overcrowding and shortages of food and medicine. The government limits academic freedom, which is corrupt anyway. It is not uncommon to resort to bribery to gain admission to university and obtain good grades.  Unregistered NGOs face extreme difficulties and harassment. There are heavy restrictions on foreign travel and the trafficking of women abroad for prostitution remains a serious problem.

Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director of Freedom House,tells us 'The last four years have seen a global decline in freedom. New threats, including heightened attacks on human rights defenders, increased limits on press freedom and attacks on journalists and significant restrictions on freedom of association have been seen in nearly every corner of the globe'.

This is disturbing reading, but important information for all Human Rights advocates, making it easier to target those nations experiencing the most critical issues.

Kjerstin