KUWAIT CITY, Jan 13: Kuwait is one of the 25 countries which have shown significant decline in democracy in 2010 with little serious resistance from the democratic world, according to watchdog group Freedom House.
However, as reported by the watchdog group, Kuwait is the only GCC state that has been listed as ‘Partly Free’ while all others are listed as ‘Not Free’.

According to the report Kuwait
suffered a decline in civil liberties rating due to restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
It was the fifth consecutive year the Freedom House has reported a decline in political rights and civil liberties worldwide. “Our adversaries are not just engaging in widespread repression, they are doing so with unprecedented aggressiveness and self-confidence,” said David J. Kramer, executive director of the group. “And the democratic community is not rising to the challenge.”

The report’s survey of 194 countries and 14 territories around the world found that China, Egypt, Iran, Russia and Venezuela continued to increase repressive measures with little significant resistance from democracies.
The number of electoral democracies dropped to 115, the lowest level since 1995, after reaching a high of 123 in 2005.

The 25 countries listed as declining in their levels of freedom were Afghanistan, Bahrain, Burundi, Cambodia, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Hungary, Iran, Kuwait, Latvia, Madagascar, Mexico, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Thailand, Ukraine, Venezuela and Zambia.