The stark difference in the performance of countries in Eastern and Central Europe and Eurasia in the field of human rights and freedom of expression was highlighted in a report by the respected American organisatkion Freedom House just released. Of the 33 countries and territories in the region that the report looks at it characterises only 28% as free. This figure is lower than the world average.
Of the 197 countries and territories assessed during 2011, a total of 66 (33.5 percent) were rated Free, 72 (36.5 percent) were rated Partly Free, and 59 (30 percent) were rated Not Free. This balance marks a shift toward the Partly Free category compared with the edition covering 2010, which featured 68 Free, 65 Partly Free, and 63 Not Free countries and territories.
In its 2012 report Freedom House states:
"Countries in this region range from among the best to among the worst in the world with regard to respect for human rights. Most states in the non-Baltic former Soviet Union rank at or near the bottom of Freedom House’s ratings for political rights and civil liberties, while the democracies of Central Europe have established institutions that generally protect most fundamental rights, despite some recent backsliding."
In the report's Global Freedom Rankings for Media Freedom the three South Caucasus countries are placed way down in the second half of the table. Georgia is ranked in 110 place as partly free together with Bangladesh and Mauritania, Azerbaijan in 172 as not free together with Russia and Zimbabwe.
Armenia is placed in 149 place as not free.
Commenting on the report, Armenian former foreign minister and candidate in next Sunday's Parliamentary elections Vardan Oskanian said:
"It is sad that Armenian media are rated as ‘Not Free’ and rank 149th in a list of 197 countries – between Angola and Pakistan. If Armenia’s media are not even rated as “partly free,” any democracy is out of the question."
According to Tert.am Oscanian said that "The sooner Armenia’s TV channels enjoy as much freedom as news websites the sooner Armenia will become a normal state."
Commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment: "Whilst the Freedom House report is not a perfect exercise in gauging press freedom around the world it does capture the essence of the situation and broadly reflects the reality on the ground. Media performance in the post Soviet countries are now meticulously recorded by a range of local and international sources, and all agree that there are serious problems that both impact and reflect the political processes in these countries.
In the South Caucasus the Freedom House report reflects the problems that have been highlighted in many previous reports on the same subject. For Armenia and Georgia the ability of the media to operate freely during the election campaigns scheduled for this year and next year will determine their future rankings not only in the Freedom House reports but also in the wider global opinion. Azerbaijan which is ranked the lowest of the three in the Freedom House report has no elections this year. Its treatment of journalists is however coming under increasing criticism, and this is likely to increase.
However if any one of the three countries is able to make a breakthrough and have real media freedom, the position of the two others will be unsustainable. This is what to watch out for in the future."
source: commonspace.eu with Freedom House
