Survey: Freedom gap between Muslim, non-Muslim world

NEW YORK (CNN) -- There is a "dramatic gap" in the level of freedom between Islamic nations, particularly in the Arab world, and other countries, according to an annual study of world freedom released Tuesday.

"Islamic terrorism and the popularity of extremist ideas among segments of the international Muslim community posed a serious threat to the spread of political freedom in the Islamic world," said The Freedom House, which rated 192 countries and 17 territories.

Freedom House was founded nearly 60 years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, and other Americans concerned about peace and democracy. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan.

Among countries where there is an Islamic majority, only one nation is ranked as free -- the African nation of Mali. Eighteen are rated partly free and 28 are not free. In contrast, among the non-Islamic countries, 85 are free, 40 are partly free and 20 are not free.

The gap between the non-Islamic and the Islamic world has widened, The Freedom House said.

"While the countries of Latin America, Africa, East-Central Europe, and South and East Asia experienced significant gains for democracy and freedom over the last 20 years, the countries of the Islamic world experienced an equally significant increase in repressive regimes," the report said.

Developing democracy

On the other hand, the report notes the existence of democratic movements in the non-Arabic Islamic world.

"Democratic politics are now found in Albania, Bangladesh, Djibouti, the Gambia, Indonesia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Turkey. Notably, none of these Islamic democracies has a majority Arab population, and all are found in the Islamic periphery in South and East Asia, on the border of Europe and the Caucasus and in Northern and Central Africa," said the report. It also noted inroads, "though halting and inconsistent" toward democratic reform in several Arab nations.

The survey says factors contributing to the weakness of democracy and freedom in parts of the Muslim world include corruption, cronyism and "statist economies that have been unaffected by the market reforms that have swept the rest of the world."

Other factors leading to repression in the Muslim world include an interpretation of Islam that makes women second-class citizens, the Islamic tradition of merging religion and state, and the "corrosive power of oil and natural gas."

In all, the survey lists 86 free countries, 58 partly free countries and 48 not free countries around the globe.

The worst-rated countries are Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan, seven of which are Muslim countries. The two worst-rated disputed territories are Chechnya in Russia and Tibet in China.

'Not free'

Countries with substantial setbacks in freedom are Argentina, Belize, Benin, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Eritrea, Haiti, Jamaica, Jordan, Liberia, Macedonia, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Yemen, and Zimbabwe, the survey said.

Israel is the only nation ranked free in the Middle East. However, Israeli-administered territories are ranked not free. The lands administered by the Palestinian Authority also are ranked not free.

Those countries making advances include Peru, which entered the ranks of free countries, and Mauritania, which improved from not free to partly free. Other improvements were found in Albania, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Grenada, and Yugoslavia.

The survey examined a country's record in two areas: political rights and civil liberties.

"A country grants its citizens political rights when it permits them to form political parties that represent a significant range of voter choice and whose leaders can openly compete for and be elected to positions of power in government.

"A country upholds its citizens' civil liberties when it respects and protects their religious, ethnic, economic, linguistic, and other rights, including gender and family rights, personal freedoms, and freedoms of the press, belief, and association," Freedom House said.