Nations in Transit 2010 Full Reports Now Available
Nations in Transit 2010 is the 14th edition of Freedom House’s comprehensive, comparative study of democratic development in 29 countries from Central Europe to Eurasia. The overarching conclusion is that 2009 was a year of broad, cross-regional pressures on democratic developments: scores declined for 14 of the 29 countries. Six new EU member states, a number of which confronted rising nationalism, experienced declines, while one experienced gains. In the non-Baltic former Soviet Union, the ratings for six countries eroded, and one improved. And, in the Balkans, three countries improved and two saw their scores regress. The downward trends in national democratic governance, judicial framework and independence, electoral process and corruption noted in previous editions remained a concern in 2009. Most worrying, however, is the increased number of rating declines for independent media: 10 countries regressed in media independence in 2009, half of those in new EU member states
The full country reports from the 2010 edition of Nations in Transit are now available online. To download the reports in PDF format please continue here.
The Dark Side of China Aid
By CHRISTOPHER WALKER and SARAH COOK
New York Times Global Edition
A growing number of developing countries receive billions of dollars a year in assistance, loans, and investments from China. Already in 2010, Beijing has committed $25 billion to Asean nations. In March, Zambia’s president returned from a trip to China with a $1 billion loan in hand.
As Beijing’s levels of foreign assistance swell and its relationship deepens with countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, a key question emerges: What impact will investments by an opaque and repressive superpower have on governance standards in the developing world?
Findings from a Freedom House analysis, “Countries at the Crossroads,” point to the challenges that many of these recipient countries confront as they struggle to build more transparent and accountable systems. Fighting corruption and safeguarding freedom of expression and assembly are proving especially difficult. The dark side of Beijing’s engagement, with its nontransparent aid and implicit conditions, risks tipping the balance in the wrong direction.
Cuban Political Dissident Dies in Prison
Freedom House condemns the Cuban government for the deplorable prison conditions, torture, and lack of medical attention that led to the death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo. Mr. Zapata Tamayo, aged 42, died in Havana's Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital Wednesday after carrying out an 85-day hunger strike to protest prison conditions and torture in Cuba. Originally incarcerated during the “Black Spring of 2003,” his sentence was extended in 2004 from 3 to 36 years for so-called “acts of disobedience.” In December 2009, he began a hunger strike to protest systemic maltreatment and torture of himself and others in Cuba’s prisons. Zapata Tamayo died of pneumonia and kidney failure after being refused water for 18 days and placed in front of an air conditioner for an extended period.