Freedom House, founded by Wendell Wilkie and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941, describes itself as "a non-profit, nonpartisan organization" that is "a clear voice for democracy and freedom around the world".

Freedom House says of itself that it "has vigorously opposed dictatorships in Central America and Chile, apartheid in South Africa, the suppression of the Prague Spring, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda, and the brutal violation of human rights in Cuba, Burma, China, and Iraq. It has championed the rights of democratic activists, religious believers, trade unionists, journalists, and proponents of free markets.".

During the 1940s, Freedom House supported the Marshall Plan and the establishment of NATO. During the 1950s and 1960s, it advocated the U.S. civil rights movement. During the 1980s, it supported the Solidarity movement in Poland and the democratic opposition in the Philippines.

Contents

1 Organization 2 Reports 3 2005 Ratings 3.1 Sub-Saharan Africa 3.2 Americas 3.3 Asia-Pacific 3.4 Central & Eastern Europe 3.5 Western Europe 3.6 Middle East & North Africa 3.7 Related/Disputed Territories 4 See also 5 External links

Organization

Freedom House is a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a virtual network of non-governmental organisations that monitors free expression violations worldwide and campaigns to defend journalists, writers and human rights activists.

Former CIA director R. James Woolsey is Freedom House's chairman and its board includes Steve Forbes, P. J. O'Rourke, and Mark Palmer. Freedom House is funded by a number of foundations, including Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Soros Foundations. They also receive funding from the US Government through the National Endowment for Democracy, USAID, and the State Department.

Reports

Freedom House produces reports on the democracy and freedom in the government of countries around the world, and produces annual scores representing what it judges of countries' political and civil liberties, on a scale from 1 (best) to 7 (worst).

In their 2003 report, for example, Canada (judged as fully free and democratic) got a perfect score of a "1" in civil liberties and a "1" in political rights, earning them the designation of "free." The more oppressive nation of Nigeria got a "5" and a "4" earning them the designation of "Partly Free," while an out and out dictatorship like North Korea scored the lowest rank of "7-7", and was thus dubbed "not free."

Left-wing critics of Freedom House tend to accuse it of conservative bias and of unfair ratings. Specific ratings that have been attacked include Cuba's rating of 7-7 as well as Cuba's inclusion in Freedom House's list of the world's most repressive regimes. United States' rating of 1-1, Panama's rating of 1-2 and El-Salvador's rating of 2-3 have also been criticized. Supporters respond that Freedom House is often critical of both the US (which received a "declining freedom" designation in 2004) and traditional US allies, such as Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Freedom House also produces annual reports on press freedom and governance in the nations of the former Soviet Union, freedom of women in the Middle East, and good governance in countries being considered for President George W. Bush's Millennium Challenge Account foreign aid program.

Nations in Freedom House's reports and website are usually grouped with historical and cultural criteria, rather than strictly geographical ones. For example:

• The nations of Middle East and North Africa are grouped together.
• The Cold war-era political definition of Western Europe is used, in which nations such as Turkey, Greece and Cyprus are all considered Western European nations.
• Eastern Europe encompasses all countries formerly part of the Soviet Union, including ones located in Asia, such as Tajikistan or Uzbekistan.

2005 Ratings

NOTE: The ratings in this table reflect global events from 1 December 2003 through 30 November 2004.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Country	PR	CL	Status	Country	PR	CL	Status
	6	5	Not Free		5	4	Partly Free
	2	2	Free		3	3	Partly Free
	2	2	Free		4	4	Partly Free
	5	4	Partly Free		2	2	Free
	6	5	Partly Free		6	5	Not Free
	6	6	Not Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		3	4	Partly Free
	6	5	Not Free		2	3	Free
	6	5	Not Free		3	3	Partly Free
	4	4	Partly Free		4	4	Partly Free
	5	4	Partly Free		6	5	Not Free
	6	6	Not Free		2	2	Free
	6	6	Not Free		2	3	Free
	5	5	Partly Free		3	3	Partly Free
	7	6	Not Free		4	3	Partly Free
	7	6	Not Free		6	7	Not Free
	5	5	Partly Free		1	2	Free
	5	4	Partly Free		7	7	Not Free
	4	4	Partly Free		7	5	Not Free
	2	2	Free		4	3	Partly Free
	6	5	Not Free		6	5	Not Free
	4	4	Partly Free		5	4	Partly Free
	3	3	Partly Free		4	4	Partly Free
	2	3	Free		7	6	Not Free

Americas

Country	PR	CL	Status	Country	PR	CL	Status
	2	2	Free		2	2	Free
	2	2	Free		7	6	Not Free
	1	1	Free		3	3	Partly Free
	1	1	Free		2	3	Free
	1	2	Free		2	2	Free
	3	3	Partly Free		3	3	Partly Free
	1	1	Free		3	3	Partly Free
	1	1	Free		2	3	Free
	4	4	Partly Free		1	2	Free
	1	1	Free		1	2	Free
	7	7	Not Free		2	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	2	Free
	2	2	Free		3	3	Partly Free
	3	3	Partly Free		1	1	Free
	2	3	Free		1	1	Free
	1	2	Free		3	4	Partly Free
	4	4	Partly Free

Asia-Pacific

Country	PR	CL	Status	Country	PR	CL	Status
	5	6	Not Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		5	5	Partly Free
	4	4	Free		1	1	Free
	6	5	Not Free		7	7	Not Free
	6	5	Not Free		6	5	Not Free
	7	7	Not Free		1	1	Free
	6	5	Not Free		3	3	Partly Free
	7	6	Not Free		2	3	Free
	3	3	Partly Free		2	2	Free
	4	3	Partly Free		5	4	Partly Free
	2	3	Free		3	3	Partly Free
	3	4	Partly Free		1	2	Free
	1	2	Free		3	3	Partly Free
	1	1	Free		2	1	Free
	7	6	Not Free		2	3	Free
	4	4	Partly Free		5	3	Partly Free
	6	5	Not Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		2	2	Free
	1	1	Free		7	6	Not Free
	2	2	Free

Central & Eastern Europe

Country	PR	CL	Status	Country	PR	CL	Status
	3	3	Partly Free		2	2	Free
	5	4	Partly Free	Macedonia	3	3	Partly Free
	6	5	Not Free		3	4	Partly Free
	7	6	Not Free		1	1	Free
	4	3	Partly Free		3	2	Free
	1	2	Free		6	5	Not Free
	2	2	Free		3	2	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	3	4	Partly Free		6	5	Not Free
	1	1	Free		7	7	Not Free
	6	5	Not Free		4	3	Partly Free
	6	5	Not Free		7	6	Not Free
	1	2	Free

Western Europe

Country	PR	CL	Status	Country	PR	CL	Status
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		2	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	2	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free		3	3	Partly Free
	1	1	Free		1	1	Free
	1	1	Free

Middle East & North Africa

Country	PR	CL	Status	Country	PR	CL	Status
	6	5	Not Free		7	7	Not Free
	5	5	Partly Free		5	4	Partly Free
	6	5	Not Free		6	5	Not Free
	1	1	Free		6	5	Not Free
	7	5	Not Free		7	7	Not Free
	1	3	Free		7	7	Not Free
	5	4	Partly Free		6	5	Not Free
	4	5	Partly Free		6	6	Not Free
	6	5	Not Free		5	5	Not Free

Related/Disputed Territories

Country	PR	CL	Status	Country	PR	CL	Status
Abkhazia (Georgia)	6	5	Not Free	Kosovo (Serbia & Montenegro)	6	5	Not Free
Chechnya (Russia)	7	7	Not Free	Macau (China)	6	4	Partly Free
Northern Cyprus	2	2	Free	Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan)	5	5	Partly Free
Hong Kong (China)	5	2	Partly Free	Puerto Rico (United States)	1	2	Free
Israeli Occupied Territories	6	6	Not Free	Tibet (China)	7	7	Not Free
Palestinian Authority Administered Territories	5	6	Not Free	Transnistria (Moldova)	6	6	Not Free
Kashmir (Indian Administered)	5	5	Partly Free	Western Sahara (Morocco)	7	6	Not Free
Kashmir (Pakistani Administered)	7	5	Not Free

See also

• List of Indices of Freedom

External links

• http://www.freedomhouse.org/
• http://www.freedomhouse.org/aboutfh/index.htm
• Freedom in the World Survey, 2003
• Freedom in the World Survey, 2004
• Freedom in the World Survey, 2005