Only 12 countries made progress in political rights and civil liberties in 2011, while 26 dropped in the rankings, making this the sixth year in a row with global freedoms on the decline, the Washington-based Freedom House said in its latest report on Thursday, ranking Croatia among the world's free countries.
In its annual report on human rights and civil liberties, Freedom House said there were 87 free countries in the world in 2011, 60 were partly free, and 48 were not free.
Croatia retained the free status, receiving the best grade, 1, for political rights, and 2 for civil liberties, the same grades as for 2010.
As for Croatia's neighbours, all were assessed as free except Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was assessed party free with the grades 4 and 3 respectively for the two categories stated above. Serbia received a 2 for both categories, Montenegro was given 3 for political rights and 2 for civil liberties, while Slovenia received the best grade, 1, for both categories.
The Freedom in the World report has been published annually since 1972. It examines the possibility individuals have to exercise their political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries around the world. The grades range from 1 to 7, 1 being the best.
