By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, FEB 1: The US-based human rights advocacy organization, Freedom House, in its annual report ‘Freedom in the world’ has listed Tibet as one of the least ‘free’ region in the world for political rights and civil liberties.
A larger aggregate score indicating a greater level of freedom, Tibet with a score of 1 is placed second only to the war-torn Middle-East nation of Syria with minus 1 out of 100. Suggestive of how less free Tibet is compared with North Korea (3) and China (15).
With no visible sign of improvement in the rating from last year when Tibet with a freedom status of ‘not free’ also scored low in both the political rights and civil liberties front.
“The (Chinese) government continued to impose conditions approaching martial law in Tibetan and Uighur-populated regions of the country, refusing to reassess failed policies of repression for these ethnic minority groups,” the organization said in its report.
The report also accounts how the Communist Party is tightening its control over the media, religious groups, and civil society groups in recent years. It also states how the authorities have undermined the rule of law reforms and curtailed civil and political rights to push for party supremacy and ideological conformity.
The organization gave China a downward arrow representing the trend in the region. It says, “China received a downward trend arrow due to the chilling effect on private and public discussion, particularly online, generated by cyber security and foreign NGO laws, increased Internet surveillance, and heavy sentences handed down to human rights lawyers, micro bloggers, grassroots activists, and religious believers.”
The year 2016 has been the 11th consecutive year of decline in global freedom, according to the report. “A total of 67 countries suffered net declines in political rights and civil liberties in 2016 and only 36 registered gains.”
