Freedom House: “In 2009, Moldova became a Partly Free country”

Owing to the progress made in the area of political rights and civil liberties, last year Moldova became a Partly Free country, according to the Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2010 Report, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. In 2008, Moldova was a Not Free country. The data show that Moldova returned to the score obtained during 2003-2007 - 3 for political rights and 4 for civil liberties. The survey is based on a 1 to 7 scale, with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free. Armenia and Georgia are in the same group as Moldova Published since 1972, Freedom in the World examines the ability of individuals to exercise their political and civil rights in 194 countries and 14 territories around the world. The survey analyzes developments that occurred in 2009 and assigns each country a freedom status—Free, Partly Free, or Not Free—based on a scoring of performance on key indicators. The report says that in a year marked by intensified repression against human rights defenders and civic activists, declines for freedom were registered in 40 countries in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union, representing 20 percent of the world’s total polities. Authoritarian states including Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and Vietnam became more repressive. Declines in freedom also occurred in countries that had registered positive trends in previous years, including Bahrain, Jordan, Kenya, and Kyrgyzstan. The report also describes the situation in 'special territories'. Transnistria obtained six points, being considered Not Free. The number of countries designated by Freedom in the World as Free in 2009 stands at 89, the number of Partly Free countries declined to 58, while the number of countries deemed to be Not Free increased to 47.