Azerbaijan gets `not free` Freedom House rating
A U.S. human rights body has termed Azerbaijan as
one of the 42 "not free" countries.
In its annual report on political and individual liberties released Monday, Washington-based Freedom House claimed that the situation with political freedoms and civil liberties worsened in the South Caucasus republic in 2008.
Out of the maximum of seven points, Azerbaijan received a rating of six points on the level of alleged violations of political rights and five points on the infringements upon civil liberties.
Freedom House alleged further that Armenia and Georgia - the other two South Caucasus republics - are ahead of Azerbaijan on human rights and rated both countries as "partly free." However, Georgia surpassed Armenia on both political and civil liberties. A total of 62 countries with 20 percent of the world`s population were rated as partly free.
Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly accused international rights groups of taking a double standard approach toward the country. President Ilham Aliyev earlier said organizations like Freedom House are not objective, stressing that the rights watchdog "has some friends among the opposition representatives in Azerbaijan, therefore, its statements about the country cannot be considered true."
Assessing the rights records of other nations, Freedom House claimed that Sudan, whose president has been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court, and North Korea are among the world`s eight most repressive societies.
It also rated Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan among the "least free" around the globe. Besides the eight countries, the report listed two territories: Tibet in China, and Chechnya, a republic of the Russian Federation, saying the inhabitants of both "suffer intense repression."
Overall, the report said, 89 of the world`s 193 countries accounting for 46 percent of the global population were free.
In its annual report on political and individual liberties released Monday, Washington-based Freedom House claimed that the situation with political freedoms and civil liberties worsened in the South Caucasus republic in 2008.
Out of the maximum of seven points, Azerbaijan received a rating of six points on the level of alleged violations of political rights and five points on the infringements upon civil liberties.
Freedom House alleged further that Armenia and Georgia - the other two South Caucasus republics - are ahead of Azerbaijan on human rights and rated both countries as "partly free." However, Georgia surpassed Armenia on both political and civil liberties. A total of 62 countries with 20 percent of the world`s population were rated as partly free.
Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly accused international rights groups of taking a double standard approach toward the country. President Ilham Aliyev earlier said organizations like Freedom House are not objective, stressing that the rights watchdog "has some friends among the opposition representatives in Azerbaijan, therefore, its statements about the country cannot be considered true."
Assessing the rights records of other nations, Freedom House claimed that Sudan, whose president has been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court, and North Korea are among the world`s eight most repressive societies.
It also rated Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Somalia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan among the "least free" around the globe. Besides the eight countries, the report listed two territories: Tibet in China, and Chechnya, a republic of the Russian Federation, saying the inhabitants of both "suffer intense repression."
Overall, the report said, 89 of the world`s 193 countries accounting for 46 percent of the global population were free.
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