Former Head of the United Nations Human Rights Office. Seventh Chancellor AS
Freedom in the World, the 2021 annual report of Freedom House, a US government-sponsored organization, entitled Democracy Under Siege. The report noted with sadness that 2021 marked the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedoms. In 2020, 82 countries were free, 59 partly free, and 54 were free. Countries experiencing a decline were greater than those with the largest margin improvements recorded since the negative trend began in 2006. While thirty-one countries made positive progress in 2005, in 2020 there were forty five countries have declined. The proportion of Free countries is now the highest it has been in the last fifteen years.
Over the past year, the report continued, oppressive and often violent authoritarian forces had repeatedly tipped the international order in their favor, reaping the benefits of undemocratic systems and weaknesses in ill-fated democracies. In a variety of environments, flashes of hope were extinguished, contributing to a new global status quo where acts of oppression became rampant and advocates of democracy became increasingly isolated.
Defenders of democracy, the report continued, suffered heavy new losses in their battle against authoritarian enemies, shifting the international balance in favor of oppression. Incumbent leaders were increasingly using force to crush opponents and settle scores, sometimes in the name of public health [the COVID-19 pandemic], although besieged operatives – without effective international support – face heavy prison sentences, torture or murder in many locations.
The impact of the long-term democratic decline had become increasingly global in nature, broad enough to be felt by those living under the most cruel dictatorships, as well as by citizens of long-standing democracies. Nearly 75 percent of the world’s population lived in a country that faced a decline in 2020. The continuing decline had led to claims of democracy’s inherent inferiority. “Supporters of this idea included official Chinese and Russian commentators seeking to strengthen their international influence in escaping liability for abuse, as well as anti-democratic actors within democratic states that saw an opportunity for consolidation of power. They both shouted at the breakdown of democracy and made it worse, pitting themselves against the brave groups and individuals who had set about reversing the damage. ”
The state of US democracy was paroled in the early days of 2021 as a rebellious rebellion, pushed forward by the words of the outgoing president Donald Trump and his refusal to admit defeat in the November election, attacked the Capitol building and temporarily disrupting Congress final vote certification. This capped a year when the Trump administration sought to undermine liability for malice, including by dismissing inspectors general responsible for eliminating financial and other government misconduct; more false allegations of electoral fraud that fed suspicion among much of the US population; and endorsed disproportionate police violence in response to massive protests calling for an end to systemic racial injustice:
“But the explosion of political violence at the symbolic heart of US democracy, triggered by the president himself, threw the country into an even greater crisis. Despite the inauguration of a new president in accordance with law and constitution, the United States will need to work vigorously to strengthen its institutional security measures, restore its civic norms, and uphold the promise of its core principles all sections of society if it is to defend its respected democracy and regain global credibility. ”
“India’s status had declined from Free to Free due to a multi-year pattern in which a Hindu nationalist government and its allies had presided over escalating violence and discriminatory practices that affected the Muslim population and tackled dissenting arguments from the media, academics, civil society groups and protesters. ”
In an Editorial on March 6, 2021 commenting on the Freedom House report, the Financial Times expressed sadness that democracy was retreating and that three quarters of the global population in 2020 were living in countries where freedom was falling; less than twenty percent lived in a free country. The changing global balance reflected not only a decline in democracies but a fight back by autocracies. The Financial Times said:
“Promoting democracy must start at home. The United States and its allies must repair their own political systems so that they can lead by example again. That means strengthening institutions, making electoral systems fair and protecting them from interference. As Freedom House points out, it also means tackling the root causes of discontent… Western democracies… should increase support and solidarity for rights groups and democracy activists, by imposing sanctions or breaking business ties or assisting governments n involved in conflict. ”
Janan Ganesh, writing in the Financial Times on 10 March 2021, observed: “Without Israel, a motorist could drive from Russia’s north-east tip, facing Alaska, to the southwestern point of Angola without passing through a heap. ‘free country’ or even ‘partly free’. That scary map alone wins Democracy Under Warchae, a report from Freedom House’s watchdog, its lightweight title. ”The article highlighted the following sobering facts about the decline of democracy in the world:
In no year since 2005 more countries have improved their democratic institutions than weakened them.
Recent malefactors include the strongest nation, the US, and the second most populous, India.
China, the prospective master of the century, scores nine out of 100 for overall freedom.
Ganesh said: “…[I]f the West could not embody freedom as the world standard when it ascended, it is hardly likely to do so as the balance of world power shifts increasingly eastward. ”
The decline of democracy in the world directly affects the quality of commitment to justice, or lack thereof, Members of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Sadly, we also see the decline of human rights justice in the world. Could there be lessons for Guyana’s fragile democracy from the Freedom House report?