Freedom House: Freedom in the World 2012: The Arab Uprisings and Their
 

23-01-12 04:14 PM

http://bahrainrights.hopto.org/BCHR/.../01/FH2012.png
Washington, 19 Jan 2012
The political uprisings that have swept the Arab world over the past year represent the most significant challenge to authoritarian rule since the collapse of Soviet communism, according to Freedom in the World 2012, the latest edition of Freedom House’s annual global survey of political rights and civil liberties. Yet even as the Arab Spring triggered unprecedented progress in some countries, it also provoked a harsh and sometimes murderous reaction, with many leaders scrambling to suppress real or potential threats to their rule. The repercussions of this backlash have been felt across the Middle East, as well as in China, Eurasia, and Africa.
A total of 26 countries registered net declines in 2011, and only 12 showed overall improvement, marking the sixth consecutive year in which countries with declines outnumbered those with improvements. While the Middle East and North Africa experienced the most significant gains—concentrated largely in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya—it also suffered the most declines, with a list of worsening countries that includes Bahrain, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Syria and Saudi Arabia, two countries at the forefront of the violent reaction to the Arab Spring, fell from already low positions to the survey’s worst-possible ratings.


Bahrain: Not Free
In Bahrain, a prodemocracy movement consisting principally of members of the Shiite majority encountered violent repression by the monarchy and intervention by the Saudi military. The government’s tactics included mass arrests, torture, and the use of military justice in cases of political activists.
Differences among various strains of Islam complicated the crackdown on mainly Shiite protesters in Bahrain.
Bahrain listed among the countries with the largest net gains or losses in total aggregate score (0–100) between Freedom in the World 2008 and Freedom in the World 2012. Bahrain declined 17 points.
Bahrain’s civil liberties rating declined from 5 to 6 due to the government’s brutal response to the February 14 popular democracy movement, the imprisonment and torture of detainees, a clampdown on critical media, and the use of military trials for civilian activists.


Full press release
Freedom in the World 2012 Release Materials


Source...