Worst of the Worst: The World’s Most Repressive Societies 2008 (124 pages, PDF)

“Freedom House has prepared this overview report as a companion to our annual survey on the state of global political rights and civil liberties, Freedom in the World. We are publishing this report to assist policymakers, human rights organizations, democracy advocates, and others who are working to advance freedom around the world. We also hope that the report will be useful to the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The reports are excerpted from Freedom in the World 2008, which surveys the state of freedom in 193 countries and 15 select territories. The ratings and accompanying essays are based on events from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2007. The 17 countries and 3 territories profiled in this report are drawn from the total of 43 countries and 8 territories that are considered to be Not Free and whose citizens endure systematic and pervasive human rights violations.”