10 Countries With The Worst Human Rights Records

When a country tries to ban Winnie the Pooh, you know its commitment to free speech is
a
fairly low priority. After all, the silly old bear is hardly the most subversive or
divisive figure
in the world. Next they’ll be declaring Tigger an anarchist, and executing him in
the street.
With the rise of the internet, China’s approach to censorship has only grown more extreme.
Mainstream websites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are all blocked by the
government’s “Great Firewall of China”. Even Pornhub is off limits, a ban that would
set
loads of us rioting on Day One.
All internet use in China is monitored by the government, with two million people employed
by the state to police internet use. General Secretary Xi Jinping even has plans to give
every
person in China a trustworthiness score based on their internet use. A low score, caused
by
doing things like criticizing the government, would prevent someone from taking out loans,
travelling freely, or sending their child to a good school.
Outside of the web, China has the death penalty and uses it regularly on political dissidents.
In 2013, China executed 2,400 people, more than the rest of the world combined.
Here’s something you probably didn’t know: Africa has its own North Korea.
It’s not a country many of us know about, but since its independence from Ethiopia in
1993,
Eritrea has descended into an authoritarian nightmare.
Although Eritrea’s constitution proclaims the nation a multi-party democracy, there
is only
one party and President Isaias Afwerki is a straight-up dictator. Elections were planned
for
1995 and 2001, but Afwerki used largely trumped up fears of a war with Ethiopia as a
justification for postponing them indefinitely.
The lack of democracy isn’t Eritrea’s only problem. 400,000 of Eritrea’s 5.8 million
people
have been press-ganged into the country’s army. Although called “military service”,
conscripts are forced to serve for the rest of their lives and earn only the equivalent
of £30 a
month. And since Eritrea is not at war, these soldiers are mainly used as a source of cheap
manual labour for the government. So maybe “military service” isn’t quite the term
they’re
looking for. Try “indentured servitude”.
Part of the reason Eritrea’s dictatorship is little known is that Eritrea has arguably
the most
restricted media in the entire world. In 2015, Reporters Without Borders placed them dead
last in press freedom. Although to be fair, in 2016 they only came second to last, overtaking
that other bastion of free speech, North Korea.
According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, the modern Russian government is now more
repressive than it was when it was part of the USSR.
A big part of that staggering claim is the continued abuse of homosexuals in the semi-
autonomous region of Chechnya.
While Russia in general has an approach to gay rights ripped straight from the Middle
Ages,
the situation in Chechnya makes the rest of the country look like a giant Pride Parade.
In February 2017, more than 100 Chechnyan men suspected of homosexuality were
rounded up and detained in what eyewitnesses describe as a “concentration camp”. There
the men were beaten, electrocuted and stamped on and at least three people have died from
the abuse.
The Chechnyan leadership has denied the existence of the camps, with the spokesman for
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, even trying to claim Chechnya has never had gay people
in
it.
Large pockets of Somalia are controlled by Islamic terror group Al-Shabaab, and the coast
is
overrun with pirates. With those two facts in mind, it’s not that surprising Somalia
has a
poor record of maintaining human rights.
The country has been engulfed by civil war since 2009, and hasn’t had an effective
national
government for 20 years. Somalia’s government hasn’t even been powerful enough to hold
a national election since 1969.
Even in the safest government-controlled areas, like the capital Mogadishu, basic civil
services like bin collection and street lighting have only just returned. And the government
is far from a bastion of human rights. Homosexuality, for instance, is punishable with three
years in jail.
Of course, these violations pale in comparison to the abuse occurring in Al-Shabaab’s
regions. The terror group enforces a strict version of Sharia Law over its provinces,
banning
independent media, forcibly recruiting child soldiers, and executing homosexuals.
When it comes to human rights, Congo is happy to say one thing, and do another.
In 2010, Congo passed a law supposedly ensuring the protection of its historically oppressed
pygmy population. Considering that, in 2003, the United Nations reported that the pygmies
were being enslaved, massacred, and even eaten bin their thousands, that seemed a pretty
major step in the right direction.
However, a 2015 report by Survival International claims that little has changed for Congo’s
Pygmies. They still primarily have to work as the slaves of the other races, often only
being
paid in cigarettes and clothes.
Meanwhile, Congolese President Joseph Kabila said that he would hold a Presidential
election by the end of 2017. But the country’s electoral commission has already come out
and said that probably won’t happen. And every day the election doesn’t happen, Kabila
is
dismantling any opposing parties and negative media outlets that pose a threat to his
victory.
All this is just more proof that Congo deserves to be called ‘Democratic’ about as much
as
‘Taco Bell’ deserves to be called Mexican food.
You might think it’s pretty hard to take a nation literally sitting on top of the largest
oil
reserves in the world, and turn it into a place where people have to eat their pets
to survive.
But President Nicolas Maduro and his socialist government were certainly up to the
challenge.
After the price of oil collapsed in 2014, so did Venezuela’s economy. Panicking as
his country
was thrown into hyper-inflation, Maduro declared a nationwide state of emergency. Hoping
to keep control, he started seizing private businesses and using the police to tear gas
and
beat up protesters. This had the opposite effect, driving companies out of the country
and
people into the streets.
In March 2017, Maduro tried to disband Venezuela’s Congress. Though the decision only
lasted three days, the move towards dictatorship led to further protests and rioting.
Meanwhile, the country’s citizens have been left to starve. Most people only have access
to
running water one day a week, and even then the water is brown and likely to make people
vomit. Food is so scarce that the average Venezuelan has reportedly lost 10 kilograms.
People have
allegedly taken to eating their own pets and even zoo animals just to survive.
After 54 years of brutal military rule, human rights in Myanmar were almost non-existent.
Over a thousand political prisoners had been jailed by the regime, trade union membership
was banned, and all media was censored by the Ministry of Information before publication.
Most shocking of all was the treatment of the ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims, who
the
government has spent decades repressing. The Rohingya have had to face the military-
organized rape of their women, and even attempts at ethnic cleansing.
So, in March 2016, when the first civilian-government since 1962 took power, hopes were
high that the country might finally see some respect for people’s rights. That didn’t
happen.
Under the nation’s constitution, the military retains full autonomy. That means they can
do
whatever they want, and what they want is apparently to continue their genocide against
the Rohingya.
Despite the release of 220 political prisoners, and the fact Burma moved 12 places up the
Press Freedom Index last year, much more needs to be done.
Things in Syria aren’t great. The bloodiest conflict of the decade has already claimed
470,000 lives, and doesn’t shown signs of ending any time soon.
Part of the country’s problem is that humanitarian threats seem to be coming from all
quarters.
ISIS have murdered their way through much of the Middle East. The Syrian government
has
used chemical weapons on its own citizens on more than one occasion. And the Kurds have
allowed Female Genital Mutilation to run rampant in their lands.
Even the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group who have received US funding and weapons, have
been torturing and executing enemy soldiers and in 2014, Human Rights Watch accused the
rebels of recruiting child soldiers into their army.
With no side on the verge of victory, and no strong advocates of rights rising to power,
it
looks as if Syria’s people will face this humanitarian crisis for years to come.
We all knew North Korea had to be on this list somewhere. The creepy choirs, ridiculous
propaganda, and existence of Kim Jong Un have all turned North Korea into a global
punchline. But the Asian state is also a decades-old totalitarian dictatorship.
We’ve done a whole video on the insane list of things you can’t do in North Korea, but
here
are a few highlights: Driving a car, having a mullet, watching porn, and listening to
Western
music. Basically anything that isn’t marching around pretending you believe Kim Jong Un’s
drinking stories.
Breaking any of these rules will either result in you being publicly executed or sent off
to a
work camp for life.
And you wouldn’t be the only one punished for having the audacity to listen to Beyoncé.
North Korea’s Three Generations of Punishment system means that it isn’t just the offender
sent off to a modern-day gulag. Their children and their children’s children will also
be
packed off there.
That means it’s theoretically possible for a North Korean to be born, grow up, and die
without ever leaving the work camp.
Saudi Arabia is not a great place to be a woman. Or an atheist. Or LGBT. Or a journalist.
Or
basically anything expect a straight Muslim man who likes the government.
The country has long been infamous for its restrictions on female rights. Although women
were allowed vote for the first time in 2015, they still can’t drive, mix freely with
men, or
wear any clothing that “shows off their beauty”.
Meanwhile “crimes” like homosexuality or atheism carry the death penalty. In 2016
the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia beheaded 157 people for various crimes, the most it has executed
in 20 years.
Even minor offenses like drinking, consuming pork, and watching movies or listening in
music in public are all met with severe punishment. And when we say “severe”, we mean it.
Saudi Arabia tends to flog or de-limb its criminals.
Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations are so numerous we haven’t even had time to
discuss
their involvement in the slave trade, their suppression of the press, or the fact they’re
likely
funding ISIS.
Yet, despite all these blatant abuses of human rights, Saudi Arabia still has a seat on the
UN’s Human Rights Council. A decision that was presumably made by the UN’s Irony
Council.

10 Countries With The Worst Human Rights Records

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