Syria

23 million people
2,750 USD GNI (PPP)
Internet:
Not Free
Press:
Not Free
Not Free

News & Updates

Each year at this time, Freedom House issues a report on the state of global media freedom. The overall findings for 2012 were bleak: Just 14 percent of the world's population lives in societies that enjoy vibrant coverage of public affairs, a legal environment that undergirds a free press, and freedom from intrusion by the government or other political forces.  The countries profiled are members of an ignoble club -- the 10 most serious violators of press freedom in the world.

The U.S.' failure to enforce the 'red line' in Syria will only embolden Bashar al-Assad, writes Charles Dunne for US News & World Report.

The U.S. government's half-hearted approach to the Syrian conflict will backfire, argues a policy brief released by Freedom House. As nearly 70,000 are dead in a war that threatens to spill over into the broader region, the US has largely stood on the sidelines, contemplating the day after the fall of the regime but doing little to bring it about or influence the long-term outcome.



David J. Kramer and Arch Puddington outline what President Obama's democracy agenda should be in his second term in the following Washington Post op-ed.

Signature Reports

Special Reports

Worst of the Worst 2011: The World's Most Repressive Societies

Freedom House has prepared this special report entitled Worst of the Worst: The World’s Most Repressive Societies, as a companion to its annual survey on the state of global political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World. The special report provides summary country reports, tables, and graphical information on the countries that receive the lowest combined ratings for political rights and civil liberties in Freedom in the World, and whose citizens endure systematic and pervasive human rights violations.

Worst of the Worst 2007

Sudan, North Korea and Uzbekistan are prominent among the most repressive regimes in the world, according to a report released by Freedom House.  The study, “The Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies 2007,” named seventeen countries with the worst records for political rights and civil liberties, and pointed to thirteen countries which have been on the list for five years or more.

Programs

Freedom House supports human rights and civil society organizations and activists in mitigating the risks of digital attacks.

Freedom House works with Syrian political activists to build their capacity for non-violent struggle, strategy development, effective advocacy, and safe and secure communications skills.