Table Of Content
It has championed the rights of democratic activists, religious believers, trade unionists, journalists, and proponents of free markets. The Freedom in the World Junior Fellowship program gives young researchers critical work experience in the democracy and human rights field. The nine-month program funds Junior Fellows in core research positions to contribute to this report, and equips them with a range of marketable skills that can propel them on to successful careers.
Policies & Plans
Tightly controlled National Assembly elections went forward despite an opposition boycott, creating a new body with a ruling party majority. The old opposition-led legislature hung on in a weakened state, extending its own term as its electoral legitimacy ebbed away. As a lethal pandemic, economic and physical insecurity, and violent conflict ravaged the world in 2020, democracy’s defenders sustained heavy new losses in their struggle against authoritarian foes, shifting the international balance in favor of tyranny. Incumbent leaders increasingly used force to crush opponents and settle scores, sometimes in the name of public health, while beleaguered activists—lacking effective international support—faced heavy jail sentences, torture, or murder in many settings. The Trump administration attempted to ramp up arrests and deportations of both undocumented immigrants, regardless of whether they had committed crimes, and legal immigrants or refugees who committed crimes in the United States, even if they had long since completed their sentences. The previous practice had been to focus deportation efforts on the most dangerous criminal immigrants with the weakest ties to American communities.
Key to Scores and Status
Freedom House McKeesport celebrates first 12 graduates - The Mon Valley Independent
Freedom House McKeesport celebrates first 12 graduates.
Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 04:12:09 GMT [source]
The Hong Kong government itself escalated its use of the law early in 2021 when more than 50 prodemocracy activists and politicians were arrested, essentially for holding a primary and attempting to win legislative elections that were ultimately postponed by a year; they face penalties of up to life in prison. In November the Beijing and Hong Kong governments had colluded to expel four prodemocracy members from the existing Legislative Council, prompting the remaining 15 to resign in protest. These developments reflect a dramatic increase in the cost of opposing the CCP in Hong Kong, and the narrowing of possibilities for turning back the authoritarian tide. President Trump’s shifting and exemption-filled tariff policies prompted concern throughout his administration that political favoritism was distorting markets involving tariff-sensitive businesses. Similarly, perceived support for the administration allegedly influenced the awarding of government aid and contracts, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus-related business restrictions at the state and local levels caused significant disruption and confusion, prompting civil disobedience and public protests by some private business owners.
Supporting Defenders for Democratic Change
Since assuming office, the president and members of his administration had frequently made statements that were either misleading or untrue, and typically failed to correct the record when such statements were challenged by the press and others. The administration also operated with greater opacity than its immediate predecessors, for example by making policy and other decisions without meaningful input from relevant agencies and their career civil servants, and removing information on certain issues—such as climate change—from government websites. Throughout 2020, Trump and a number of his aides consistently promoted false and misleading information about COVID-19 for political reasons, playing down the severity of the outbreak and claiming that state and local social-distancing restrictions were unnecessary constraints on the economy. Political appointees in the administration also interfered with the analysis and recommendations of federal public health professionals, seeking to control data collection and official guidance.
Freedom House was founded in 1941 to rally policymakers and a broadly isolationist American public around the fight against Nazi Germany, and to raise awareness of the fascist threat to American security and values. In the decades since, Freedom House has established itself through its advocacy, programs, and research as the leading American organization devoted to the support and defense of democracy around the world. The countries experiencing deterioration outnumbered those with improvements by the largest margin recorded since the negative trend began in 2006. Hallen was the president of the Maurice Falk Medical Fund, which was tasked with grant-making in service of minority communities and civil rights, he recalls. Hallen had driven an ambulance (which was really a hearse) when he was studying in Syracuse, and he knew the Hill District had particular problems securing emergency medical help.
Freedom House honors board member Marshall Jones at recent GALA - Shaw Local News Network
Freedom House honors board member Marshall Jones at recent GALA.
Posted: Thu, 18 Apr 2024 06:49:25 GMT [source]
Democracy in Crisis
The court resisted bribery attempts and issued a landmark ruling in February 2020, ordering fresh elections. Opposition presidential candidate Lazarus Chakwera won the June rerun vote by a comfortable margin, proving that independent institutions can hold abuse of power in check. While Malawi is a country of 19 million people, the story of its election rerun has wider implications, as courts in other African states have asserted their independence in recent years, and the nullification of a flawed election—for only the second time in the continent’s history—will not go unnoticed. National and local officials in China assiduously obstructed information about the outbreak, including by carrying out mass arrests of internet users who shared related information. In December, citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison for her reporting from Wuhan, the initial epicenter. The Belarusian government actively downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic to the public, refusing to take action, while the Iranian regime concealed the true toll of the virus on its people.
Democrats strongly endorsed voting by mail, while President Trump called the practice a “scam” and discouraged Republican participation, as did some Republican state officials. Cuts to US Postal Service operations and consequent mail delivery delays aroused fears of late or undelivered ballots, but such problems did not appear to affect the outcome. On January 12, 2006, as part of a crackdown on unauthorized nongovernmental organizations, the Uzbek government ordered Freedom House to suspend operations in Uzbekistan.
Reviving News Media in an Embattled Europe
The Freedom of the Press index was an annual survey of media independence, published between 1980 and 2017.[42] It assesses the degree of print, broadcast, and internet freedom throughout the world.[43] It provides numerical rankings and rates each country's media as "Free", "Partly Free", or "Not Free". Individual country narratives examine the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to information. Our work amplifies voices calling for freedom and empowers human rights defenders and civic activists to advance democratic change. In 2023, Freedom House assisted more than 15,000 human rights activists, organizations, journalists, children and youth, and others at-risk more than 90 countries. Free, Partly Free, Not Free Status – The combination of the overall score awarded for political rights and the overall score awarded for civil liberties, after being equally weighted, determines the status of Free, Partly Free, or Not Free (see table below). The report’s methodology is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.
A succession of other Trump administration policies have focused on curbing the arrival of asylum seekers at the southern border, most of whom have come from Central America in recent years. The policies consistently drew legal challenges on the grounds that they denied asylum seekers basic due process, violated statutory rules on asylum applications, and breached international prohibitions on returning asylum seekers to unsafe countries, among other objections. The administration also announced in 2019 that individuals generally could not seek asylum in the United States if they passed through a third country without seeking and being denied asylum in that country, effectively blocking claims from Central Americans who travel through Mexico. Over the course of 2019, the United States signed agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras—all poor countries with high crime rates that have generated large numbers of migrants—allowing US authorities to deport asylum seekers there if they passed through without applying for asylum.
We work across political divides to advance policies that strengthen democracy and protect human rights. We support a vast, trusted network of activists and advocates who are leading the struggle for democratic change in their countries. When these courageous individuals are attacked for their activism, journalism, or opposition to tyranny, we strive to keep them safe so that they may continue their important work. In addition to strengthening the rule of Azerbaijan’s authoritarian president, Ilham Aliyev, the conflict threatens to destabilize the government in Armenia.
With PHP treatment, you can receive daily support for 6 to 8 hours which includes evidence-based therapies and medication management. Because withdrawing from alcohol can pose health risks, individuals with AUD should seek professional alcohol rehab in California to overcome their alcohol addiction. The results from the three areas are combined into a total score for a country (from 0 for best to 100 for worst) and countries are rated as "Free" (0 to 30), "Partly Free" (31 to 60), or "Not Free" (61 to 100) based on the totals. Learn more about the report's methodology, including the research questions and the ratings review process.
This is partly because the expense and length of political campaigns place a premium on candidates’ ability to raise large amounts of funds from major donors, especially at the early stages of a race. While there have been a number of attempts to restrict the role of money in political campaigning, most have been thwarted or watered down as a result of political opposition, lobbying by interest groups, and court decisions that protect political donations as a form of free speech. President Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in 2020 put extreme pressure on the political and electoral systems, eroding the long-standing tradition of respect for official results and highlighting potential structural weaknesses that could be exploited by future candidates. Nevertheless, these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, with Republican officials in the targeted states generally adhering to their legal duties, and transfers of power below the presidential level proceeded without similar contestation. This can include sober living arrangements like halfway houses, career counseling, and setting a patient up with community programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA). California drug and alcohol rehabs also provide dual-diagnosis treatment for individuals seeking help for both mental health and substance abuse.
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