News:The Freedom in the World 2020 report has been released by the Freedom House,a United States based NGO.
Facts:
About the report:
- The report assesses the political rights and civil liberties of 195 countries worldwide.
- It derives its methodology from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.
- It ranks countries based on political rights indicators such as the electoral process, political pluralism, participation , government functioning, rule of law, civil liberties among others.
Key takeaways from the report:
- Of the 195 countries assessed, 83 (43%) were rated Free, 63 (32%) were Partly Free and 49 (25%) were Not Free.
- The share of Free countries has declined by 3% over the last decade, while the percentage of Partly Free and Not Free countries rose by 2% and 1% respectively.
Report on India:
- The report kept India in the Free category and ranked it at the 83rd position along with Timor-Leste and Senegal.
- However, the report has assessed Indian Kashmir as a separate territory which saw its total score drop from 49 to 28 this year moving it from a status of Partly Free to Not Free.