Only 3,2% of Earthlings can fully and without fear express their opinion and go to protest actions. Such data are contained in the annual ranking of civil liberties compiled by the CIVICUS alliance of human rights organizations. Russia entered the worst of the five, "closed" category of countries.
The association of human rights organizations CIVICUS provided another annual ranking of civil liberties in different countries of the world, which it has been publishing since 2017. According to the document, in 2022 citizen protests, mostly peaceful, were recorded in 131 countries of the world. They touched on a wide variety of issues, starting with rising food prices due to inflation and ending with outrage over government corruption or repression.
In at least 92 countries, protesters were detained, and in 57, excessive force was used during detention.
The killings of participants in peaceful protests were recorded in at least 24 countries of the world. Civil activists, journalists and employees of human rights organizations were persecuted in more than 100 countries last year. The rating evaluated 197 countries and territories.
SIVICUS is an association of more than 20 human rights NGOs and social movements around the world, founded in 1993 with the aim of promoting the development of civil society. The headquarters of the association is located in Johannesburg, with representative offices in New York and Geneva.
The countries in the rating are divided into five categories according to the degree of restriction of civil liberties: countries with a free civil society ("Free"); countries where civil liberties are partially limited (restrictive); countries in which significant obstacles are created for civil society (obstructive); countries where civil society is subject to repression ("Repressive"); countries where any attempt to enjoy civil liberties is severely suppressed ("Closed").
As the authors note, the rating data indicate that civil society is in an increasingly hostile environment.
Taking into account the situation in 2022, we can conclude that only 3,2% of the world's population lives in countries that are included in the "Free" category. According to CIVICUS, only 38 of 197 countries belong to this category, including Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Portugal.
The category of countries where civil liberties are partially restricted includes 42 countries, including Armenia, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Italy, Georgia, Japan, Moldova and the USA. 11,3% of the world's population lives in these countries.
Great Britain, Ukraine, South Africa, Serbia, Poland, and 35 other states fell into the "Obstructive" category — countries that oppress civil liberties.
CIVICUS includes 50 countries with the largest share of the world's population - 42,2% - in the "Repressive" category. Among them are Angola, Chad, CAR, Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Venezuela.
The other 27 states are in the "Closed" category, according to CIVICUS, the worst category of all. In particular, these are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia.
28,5% of the world's population, or more than 2 billion people, live in these countries. The largest number of states with a free civil society are in the Europe and Central Asia region - 20, and the largest number of countries from the "Closed" category - in the Middle East and North Africa.
Over the past year, 15 countries have moved to a lower category, worsening the indicators of freedom of civil society. For example, the authors of the rating explain the transition of Great Britain to the "Obstructive" category with the "growth of authoritarianism" in the adoption of restrictive and punitive laws regarding public protests. According to CIVICUS, the British government is creating a "climate of hostility" towards the organizers of public campaigns, charities and other structures of civil society. Russia, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Tajikistan moved from the "Repressive" category to "Closed".
There is also a reverse process. Ten countries managed to improve their indicators, including the Czech Republic, Latvia, Armenia, Chile, the USA, Burundi, CAR and South Sudan.
Assessing the situation in Russia, CIVICUS experts point to attacks and persecution, closure and blocking of independent media, the adoption of "repressive laws" and restrictive measures against government critics, and the closure of large human rights organizations. The authors of the rating, in addition, claim that over 19 participants of protest actions were arrested in the country during the reporting year.
