- Serious deterioration of civic freedoms year on year across this region
- Four countries downgraded: Belgium, Poland, Belarus, Czech Republic
- Detention of protesters top violation in the region
Four countries in Europe and Central Asia were downgraded today as fundamental freedoms slide across the region, according to a new report released today by the CIVICUS Monitor, a global research collaboration that rates and tracks respect for fundamental freedoms in 197 countries and territories.
The report, People Power Under Attack 2021, shows that civic freedoms, including the freedoms of expression, association and assembly, are declining in countries once thought of as open and democratic. This mirrors a trend across the globe, where 89 per cent of the world’s population now live in ‘closed’, ‘repressed’ or ‘obstructed’ countries.
In Europe and Central Asia, only 19 countries are rated ‘open’, the Monitor’s highest ranking. In this region, 21 countries are rated ‘narrowed’, seven are rated ‘obstructed’, three ‘repressed’ and four ‘closed’. In reality, this means that a quarter of countries in this region are severely restricting the rights to speak out and protest.
The systematic silencing of civil society in Belarus, following mass protests which broke out before and immediately after the disputed August 2020 presidential elections, has resulted in a ratings downgrade from ‘repressed’ to ‘closed’. As of 24 November 2021, the list of political prisoners in Belarus reached nearly 900 people. In Poland, continuous intimidation and criminal persecution of women human rights defenders advocating for reproductive justice, the ongoing threats on LGBTQI+ persons, and the human rights crisis on the Poland/Belarus border has prompted a ratings change from ‘narrow’ to ‘obstructed’.
Both the Czech Republic and Belgium have experienced a decline in civic freedoms, prompting downgrades from ‘open’ to ‘narrow’. In Belgium, the right to peaceful assembly is under threat, with authorities targeting protests against racial and classist injustice, through detentions and excessive force. Minority groups, including migrants seeking asylum in the country, have also come under threat. In the Czech Republic, media freedom has repeatedly come under threat, with Czech television and radio stations facing political interference, as journalists encounter harassment and obstruction in doing their work.
“It is concerning that the region with the most open-rated countries for civic freedoms is on a downward spiral, with rights violations taking place in both liberal and illiberal democracies. Human rights defenders who are critical of their governments and take to the streets to protest are particularly under threat, while journalists in the region are increasingly facing attacks,” said Aarti Narsee, Europe and Central Asia Civic Space Researcher for CIVICUS.
Threats on civic freedoms are also being witnessed in established democracies like the United Kingdom and France. In the UK, the right to protest is under threat, with the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill which aims to crackdown on protests. The government has also proposed several other pieces of legislation which threaten democratic checks and balances. In France, despite massive opposition and protests, the government passed the Global Security Act which creates a state of generalised surveillance, while the so-called Anti Separatism bill threatens civil society organisations and minority groups.
Freedom of peaceful assembly is particularly under threat, with detention of protesters the number one civic rights violation in the region.
Intimidation and harassment is a common tactic used by Central Asian governments, such as in Kyrgyzstan, where under current President Sadyr Japarov government critics have faced online and offline attacks, threats, and detentions for raising concerns about the controversial new constitution. Equally concerning is the direct use of this tactic by heads of states, such as Prime Ministers and Presidents, to silence critical reporting. This has been seen in Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia.
“A culture of impunity is growing in the region with little accountability when journalists are harassed and intimidated. It is concerning that several attacks have been documented when journalists are covering protests. We urge governments to respect press freedom by ensuring the protection of journalists and by holding perpetrators to account,” Narsee said.
Despite the ongoing attacks on civic freedoms, there have been some bright spots in the region as a result of civil society lobbying. In Denmark, a majority in the Danish Parliament voted against a controversial proposal in the ‘Security for all Danes’ bill which sought to give more power to the police to take action against “insecurity-creating behaviour”, limiting the right to freedom of assembly and targeting minority rights.
Over twenty organisations collaborate on the CIVICUS Monitor, providing evidence and research that help us target countries where civic freedoms are at risk. The Monitor has posted more than 550 civic space updates in the last year, which are analysed in People Power Under Attack 2021.
Civic freedoms in 197 countries and territories are categorised as either closed, repressed, obstructed, narrowed or open, based on a methodology that combines several sources of data on the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression.
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