The World's Worst Regimes

Freedom House has just released its annual list of the world's most repressive regimes. Middle East Times has a useful summary:

North Korea, Sudan, and Uzbekistan continue to be among the most repressive countries in the world, a Washington-based group said.

According to the democracy advocacy group Freedom House, those countries stood out even among the 17 nations that were found to have the worst record for political rights and civil liberties over the last five years or more.

"Repressive regimes can be incredibly resilient," said Arch Puddington, director of research at the Washington-based group. "Some of the countries on this list are global bullies; others are responsible for unspeakable humanitarian crises. In practically every case, these regimes are resistant to change and are indifferent to their citizens' political rights, civil liberties, and basic human needs."

The other 14 nations that were named in the group's latest annual study on the world's most repressive regimes are: Belarus, Burma, China, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Laos, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Zimbabwe. Also included in the list were three territories: Chechnya, Tibet, and Western Sahara.