WORST OF THE WORST

Of the 42 countries designated as Not Free, eight have been given the survey’s lowest possible rating of 7 for both political rights and civil liberties. Among the eight worst-rated countries, one, North Korea, is a one-party Marxist-Leninist regime. Two, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are Central Asian countries ruled by dictators with roots in the Soviet period. Libya is an Arab country under the sway of a secular dictatorship, while Sudan is under a leadership that has elements both of radical Islamism and of a typical military junta. The remaining worst-rated states are Burma, a tightly controlled military dictatorship; Equatorial Guinea, a highly repressive regime with one of the worst human rights records in Africa; and Somalia, a failed state.
There are two worst-rated territories: Tibet, under Chinese jurisdiction, and Chechnya, where a repressive pro-Kremlim regime continues to struggle with a guerrilla insurgency.
An additional 11 countries and territories received scores that were slightly above the worst-ranked countries, and received ratings of 6,7 or 7,6 for political rights and civil liberties: Belarus, Chad, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Zimbabwe, South Ossetia, and Western Sahara.