FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2023 Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy Still Waiting for a Chance at Freedom STILL WAITING FOR A CHANCE AT FREEDOM Most of the countries now rated Not Free have spent at least some time in the Partly Free band over the past 50 years,Most but these 12 holdouts have never left the Not Free category since their first Freedom in the World analysis. of the countries now rated Not Free have spent at least some time in the Partly Free band over the past 50 years, but these 12 holdouts have never left the Not Free category since their first Freedom in the World analysis. ONE-PARTY STATES NORTH KOREA VIETNAM EQUATORIAL GUINEA CHINA CUBA CONGO (KINSHASA) 12 of 195 countries have never moved out of the Not Free catagory ENTRENCHED AUTOCRATS RWANDA SAUDI ARABIA PROTRACTED CONFLICTS CHAD SOMALIA SOUTH SUDAN IRAQ Vietnam and South Sudan have been assessed since 1976 and 2011, respectively. All other countries above have been assessed since 1972. Vietnam and South Sudan have been assessed since 1976 and 2011, respectively. All other countries above have been assessed since 1972. after the revolution in Egypt, the military removed the elected president through a coup, and instituted a new and even more repressive authoritarian regime. principles in their foreign policies. International solidarity and This infographic is from the Freedom in the World 2023 report by freedomhouse.o support will remain vital to the expansion of political rights and civil liberties worldwide. In Africa, countries such as Burundi, the Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Uganda showed promise at times but later saw their status improvements reversed, while more recent backsliding in Benin and Senegal led both to drop from Free to Partly Free status. Mali, which had been rated Free since 1995, was rocked by a military coup and rebel insurgencies in 2012 that pulled it down to Not Free. Advocacy for human rights norms must also be paired with support for the key proponents of democratic values within their respective countries: human rights defenders. Today, in every region of the world, people striving to build more democratic societies and expand the exercise of fundamental freedoms are instead being subjected to arbitrary detention and sentenced to lengthy terms in prison, where they often experience torture and other cruel or degrading treatment. The imperative of solidarity Democracies must maintain external pressure on authoritarian regimes and make sure that in maneuvering to thwart one dictator’s acts of aggression, they do not cultivate partnerships with other despots or downplay human rights 18 @ FreedomHouse Supporting the work of human rights defenders is essential for the promotion of freedom in both open and closed political spaces. Human rights defenders are agents of change. In 2022, for instance, the Indonesian parliament #FreedomInTheWorld