You are here

Disturbing figures on freedom, respect for human rights

Jan 28,2016 - Last updated at Jan 28,2016

According to the Washington-based human rights organisation Freedom House, freedom and respect for human rights are slipping in most countries.

In its just-released annual report, the organisation said that more than one third of the world’s population, 2.6 billion, that is, live in states that are “gripped by repression, corruption and systematic human rights violations”.

Syria, Tibet and Somalia were the worst human rights abusers in 2015, a year that marked the 10th consecutive year of decline in global freedom.

The report designates 86 nations as “free”, 59 as partly free and the rest woefully lacking freedoms and respect for basic human rights.

More disturbing is the fact that many of the countries classified as “not free” are situated in the Middle East and North Africa where, the report claims, 85 per cent of the people live under one form of repression or another.

That, unfortunately, might explain why radicalism, extremism and terrorism are on the rise in these parts of the world.

Even the US human rights record is slipping, according to the report, and that is due to the increasing role of private money in local and national elections, the rise in some form of discrimination or another and the persistent dysfunctional criminal justice system.

The report paints a disturbing picture of freedom and human rights on the global scale.

It also suggests that whatever the international community is doing or trying to do to promote and protect human rights is simply not working.

In other words, the mechanism nations of the world use to secure respect for human rights is failing; at UN level, it is also costly, as the organisation employs hundreds to work in the field, with little to show for.

The international community must assess the status of human rights and freedom in countries with the worst records and act accordingly.

The UN Human Rights Council is also called upon to reflect seriously on the Freedom House report. It should be able to come up with adequate justifications as the report reflects badly on its performance, as it does on the entire UN human rights system as the guardian of human rights for all peoples in the world.

up
11 users have voted.


Newsletter

Get top stories and blog posts emailed to you each day.

PDF