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REPORT: TIBET AMONG ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ FOR FREEDOM

28th January 2016
Only Syria received a lower score on Freedom House’s annual survey of freedom in the world

The American human rights and democracy organisation Freedom House published its annual Freedom in the World report (PDF)
yesterday. The influential annual study lists Tibet as one of the 12 ‘worst of the worst’ places in the world for political rights and
civil liberties.

Freedom House’s study assesses the level of political freedoms and civil liberties for each country in the world, as well as
numerous territories. On a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being most free and 7 being least free, Chinese-occupied Tibet scored 7 for both
political rights and civil liberties, and an overall ‘Not free’ rating.

Worse than North Korea

The report put the level of repression in Tibet in yet starker terms by awarding each country a score out of 100, based on how
they fared across 25 indicators. These indicators included political participation, freedom of the press and individual rights. Tibet
scored 1, with only Syria, approaching five years of civil war, ranking lower at -1.

Slightly behind Tibet came Somalia, on 2, and North Korea with 3. By contrast, the United States scored 90, the United Kingdom
scored 95, and a few countries including Norway and Sweden, scored a full 100.

China scored 15, and was also listed as being “Not free”. Freedom House criticised China for its “persecution of human rights
lawyers, journalists, and minority rights advocates”.

Surveillance, disappearances, torture

This damning assessment of freedom in Tibet will come as no surprise to regular visitors to Free Tibet’s website. Last week a
Human Rights Watch report revealed that an extensive surveillance programme deployed by Beijing throughout Tibet, consisting
of 21,000 Communist Party officials, police and security forces, had effectively become permanent.

In recent months Free Tibet has reported several arrests and disappearances of Tibetans protesting against the Chinese
occupation. Tibetans that were put on trial after carrying out peaceful protests received sentences of several years in prison. Free
Tibet also gave evidence of the extensive use of torture in Tibet to the United Nations Committee Against Torture in November
last year. The Commiteee released its findings the following month, concluding that the "practice of torture and ill-treatment is still
deeply entrenched in the criminal justice system".

http://freetibet.org/news-media/na/report-tibet-among-worst-worst-freedom

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