Freedom House report: Bangladesh's improvement in freedom index

Bangladesh scored 45 out of 100 in the Global Freedom Score, gaining five points over last year, according to Washington-based pro-democracy research group Freedom House. In its annual "Freedom in the World" report, the Freedom House said freedom declined around the world last year with authoritarians solidifying their grip, but South Asia led a series of bright spots.

According to the report, among 208 countries and territories, 60 experienced deteriorations in their political rights and civil liberties, and only 34 improved. El Salvador, Haiti, Kuwait, and Tunisia were the countries with the largest score declines for the year, while Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Syria recorded the largest gains.

Bangladesh's status is marked "Partly Free" this year. The status was the same last year with a score of 40.

The Freedom House report also mentioned that this year Bangladesh could be a bright spot for democracy as new leaders took office after the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime following a student-led mass uprising. It added that political reform will be a daunting task.

It also said further improvement will depend on how the government pursues reforms, and whether they ensure individual freedoms and the rule of law are protected and expanded in the process.

"The ouster of Hasina's Awami League government swiftly eased long-standing state pressure on other political parties, the media, labour unions, judges, university students, and faculty members, causing Bangladesh to tie with Bhutan for the year's largest score improvement.

"But much remains to be done. The new government's agenda includes ambitious political, economic, and legal reforms. It aims to amend or redraft the constitution, ensure accountability for last year's violence as well as other human rights abuses, increase judicial independence, and reestablish anticorruption institutions," the report said.

The government is also facing demands to hold elections, reduce emerging religious tensions, stabilise the economy, and decide what to do about Hasina, who is now decrying the country's political situation from neighbouring India, the report stated further.

Yana Gorokhovskaia, the co-author of the report, told AFP that it was the 19th consecutive year that freedom fell on a global level, but that 2024 was especially volatile due to the high number of elections.

"The big picture is that this was another year of the same trajectory of a global decline in freedom but because of all the elections, it was more dynamic than previous years," she said.

She said that both Bangladesh and Syria saw immediate improvements in civil liberties - but that it would be a longer road to see gains in political representation.

Meanwhile, the report elevated two countries to the status of "free" - Senegal, where the opposition triumphed after the outgoing president's attempt to delay elections was defeated, and Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom which consolidated a transition to democracy with competitive polls.