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Sunday, December 12, 2004

UN Commission on Human Rights: Little Credibility

Summary: The UN Commission on Human Rights has little credibility, as a quarter of its members are essentially repressive states. Out of the 53 member states, 13 are given the worst ("Not Free") rating by Freedom House (a human-rights watch-dog group).

Further, 16 more member states, rated "Partly Free," have either political or civil ratings of 4 or greater (teetering between "Free" and "Not Free"). That leaves 24 out of 53 members--a minority.

Analysis: UN Human Rights Commission Membership (2005) vs Freedom House's 2003 Country Rating shown below. Freedom House uses a 1 to 7 scale, where 1 = most free, 7 = least free. Political and civil freedom rated separately. See also the CIA World Factbook

Totalitarian states: Bhutan, China, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea, Guinea, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Zimbabwe.

Teetering between "Free" and "Not Free" (4 or more, either political or civil): Armenia, Burkina Faso, Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Nepal, Nigeria, Paraguay, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Ukraine.

Member Freedom House Rating (Political/Civil)
Argentina Partly Free (3/3)
Armenia Partly Free (4/4)
Australia Free (1/1)
Bhutan Not Free (6/5)
Brazil Free (2/3)
Burkina Faso Partly Free (4/4)
Canada Free (1/1)
China Not Free (7/6)
Congo Partly Free (6/4)
Costa Rica Free (1/2)
Cuba Not Free (7/7)
Dominican Republic Free (2/2)
Ecuador Partly Free (3/3)
Egypt Not Free (6/6)
Eritrea Not Free (7/6)
Ethiopia Partly Free (5/5)
Finland Free (1/1)
France Free (1/1)
Gabon Partly Free (5/4)
Germany Free (1/1)
Guatemala Partly Free (4/4)
Guinea Not Free (6/5)
Honduras Partly Free (3/3)
Hungary Free (1/2)
India Free (2/3)
Indonesia Partly Free (3/4)
Ireland Free (1/1)
Italy Free (1/1)
Japan Free (1/2)
Kenya Partly Free (4/4)
Malaysia Partly Free (5/5)
Mauritania Partly Free (5/5)
Mexico Free (2/2)
Nepal Partly Free (4/4)
Netherlands Free (1/1)
Nigeria Partly Free (4/5)
Pakistan Not Free (6/5)
Paraguay Partly Free (4/3)
Peru Free (2/3)
Qatar Not Free (6/6)
Republic of (South) Korea Free (2/2)
Romania Free (2/2)
Russian Federation Partly Free (5/5)
Saudi Arabia Not Free (7/7)
South Africa Free (1/2)
Sri Lanka Partly Free (3/4)
Sudan Not Free (7/7)
Swaziland Not Free (6/5)
Togo Not Free (6/5)
Ukraine Partly Free (4/4)
United Kingdom Free (1/1)
United States of America Free (1/1)
Zimbabwe Not Free (6/6)


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