AHMAD AL-BASHA/AFP/Getty Images
- Though freedom can seem difficult to capture in concrete terms, international human rights watchdog group Freedom House seeks to do just that each year.
- The organization’s annual "Freedom in the World" report considers a number of social and political factors facing citizens in countries across the world.
- The countries and territories that are called "not free" often include oppressive conditions, including lack of fair elections, crackdowns on freedoms of expression, and repressive political regimes.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization, releases its Freedom in the World report each year to compare the political and social conditions citizens face in countries and territories across the world.
Each country’s score is calculated considering a number of factors and assigned a number out of 100, ranking each entity from "free," "partly free," to "not free."
The United States is considered free with a score of 86/100, ranking behind 51 out of the 87 "free" countries that scored up to 100/100.
The countries counted as "not free" are those that fail to hold valid elections, don’t have active independent media, and do not endow their citizens with basic civil rights.
Here are the 56 countries the Freedom House report says are "not free," and why.
Afghanistan
Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
Islamist militants have undermined Afghanistan’s planned framework of a unitary state with checks on power and inherent civil rights by allowing widespread violence and corruption within ruling factions.
Aggregate Freedom Score: 27/100
Algeria
RYAD KRAMDI/AFP/Getty Images
The ruling National Liberation Front controls Algeria’s politics in controlled elections and repressed protests, legal restrictions on the media, and rampant corruption across politics and the military.
Aggregate Freedom Score: 34/100
Angola
MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images
Political authorities in Angola repress political dissent as corruption, due process violations, and abuses run rampant. Though the country’s rating has improved since the 2017 election due to some checks on corruption and loosened controls on the media and citizens, but abuses in government institutions and society remain.
Aggregate Freedom Score: 31/100
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- POWER RANKING: Here’s who has the best chance of becoming the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee
- Here’s everyone who’s qualified for the first 2020 Democratic presidential debates taking place in Miami later this month
- Photos show hundreds of people protesting Trump’s visit in the UK, which the president called ‘fake news’
SEE ALSO: 35 countries where the US State Department is warning Americans they could get kidnapped
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Ellen Cranley)