Abkhazia Retains Partly Free Status in Latest Freedom House Report

SUKHUM / AQW'A ―  The human rights watchdog, Freedom House, unveiled its annual assessment of global political rights and civil liberties on Thursday, February 29. The report, titled "Freedom in the World 2024: The Mounting Damage of Flawed Elections and Armed Conflict," paints a concerning picture, indicating a continued decline in global freedom for the 18th consecutive year. This decline manifested as diminishing political rights and civil liberties in 52 countries, with only 21 countries showing improvement.

Abkhazia, once again, finds itself classified as Partly Free in the report, a designation consistent with the previous year's assessment. Despite efforts to address various issues, Abkhazia's rating remained stagnant at 39, reflecting the ongoing challenges within the country.

For years, Freedom House has consistently labelled Georgia and Abkhazia as "partially free," contrasting with the designation of "not free" for Azerbaijan and South Ossetia, among others. However, Georgian officials have frequently contested these assessments, questioning their accuracy and impartiality.

Abkhazia remains Partly Free in Freedom House's 2024 report, scoring 39, highlighting ongoing challenges.

In 2022, Georgian parliamentarian Mikhail Sardzhveladze expressed dismay over Abkhazia's score of 40 in the "General Freedom Assessments" category, casting doubts on the reliability and objectivity of the report. He argued that Abkhazia's ranking surpassed that of countries like Kazakhstan and NATO member Türkiye, raising concerns about the methodology employed.

The 2024 report provides a comparative analysis of neighboring and nearby countries, with Armenia rated 54 as Partly Free, Azerbaijan rated 7 as Not Free, Georgia rated 58 as Partly Free, South Ossetia rated 12 as Not Free, and Russia rated 13 as Not Free.

For a comprehensive view of the report, interested parties can visit the Freedom House website.