The Freedom House 2004 Freedom in the World survey rates Russia as "not free". Freedom House is a US NGO that monitors democracy and civil liberties in countries worldwide. Freedom House rated Russia as "partly free" in its 2003 survey. The downgrade is a blow to the prestige of President Vladimir Putin's government, particularly in the wake of the fiasco of the Kremlin's assault on the Yukos oil company.
Freedom House rates Israel as "free", the same as in previous years, but with only a middling rating for civil liberties. Freedom House published its 2004 Freedom in the World survey yesterday.
Freedom House says the downgrade in Russia's rating is due to "a dangerous and disturbing drift toward authoritariansim" in the country. Freedom House says political rights and civil liberties in Russia were reduced to the point at which there was no alternative but to downgrade the rating. Russia was the only country in the 2004 survey to be downgraded.
Freedom House executive director Jennifer Windsor said, Russia's step backwards into the Not Free category is the culmination of a growing trend under President Vladimir Putin to concentrate political authority, harass and intimidate the media, and politicize the country's law-enforcement system. These moves mark a dangerous and disturbing drift toward authoritarianism in Russia, made more worrisome by President Putin's recent heavy-handed meddling in political developments in neighboring countries such as Ukraine."
Despite the setback in Russia, the 2004 Freedom in the World survey showed overall global improvement. 26 countries improved their political rights and civil liberties, while 11 countries saw political rights and civil liberties deteriorate. Except for Russia, no country was downgraded or upgraded between Freedom House's three categories of countries: free, partly free, and not free. Each country received two scores on a scale of 1 (highest) to 7 (lowest), one for political rights and the other for civil liberties.
Israel is listed as "free", with a score of 1 for political rights and 3 for civil liberties. Israel's scores have not changed since the first survey in 1993. Freedom House senior press officer Michael Goldfarb, who serves as its Middle East analyst, told "Globes", "What can I say? Israel isn’t Sweden. Israel is a true democracy, like Sweden, but Sweden doesn’t have to deal with terrorism. We found no restriction of political rights in Israel. We found restrictions on civil liberties and there are problems with the treatment of Israeli Arabs."
In its survey of Israel, Freedom House states that freedom of assembly and association, religious, academe, and press is respected, and the judiciary is independent. However, "Some one million Arab citizens (roughly 20 percent of the population) receive inferior education, housing, and social services relative to the Jewish population."
Freedom House surveyed the Israeli administered territories and the Palestinian Authority separately. Freedom House rated the Israeli administered territories as "not free", with a political rights and civil liberties rating of 6. The Palestinian Administration administered territories was also rated as "not free", with a political rights rating of 5 and civil liberties rating of 6.
Freedom House stated that 119 of the world's 192 countries were electoral democracies, two more than in 2003. 89 countries were rated as "free" and 30 as "partly free". Countries classified as "partly free" grant opposition groups political space and access to the media.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 21, 2004