New Freedom House report suggests levels of freedom declining in many countries

DAYBOR O.GEORGE February 01, 2016

A Macedonian police officer hits a man with his baton near Idomeni at the Greek-Macedonian border -- this is part of the so-called Balkans Route to northern Europe.
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Refugees and migrants arrives on the Greek Island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey.
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As the first snows of the season fall in Germany, a sandalled refugee girl plays in front of a former army barracks now serving as a shelter for asylum seekers.
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Migrants and refugees in the migrant camp known as the "Jungle" near the northern French port of Calais where some 4,500 people live.
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A man with his mouth sewn shut silently protests on the Greek-Macedonian border.1 of 7
The 'Iranian' men are protesting the Macedonian government's decision to only allow Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans -- those fleeing war - to pass across the border.
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Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Asa Romson fights tears as she announces Sweden's "open door" policy for asylum is ending.
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A Macedonian police officer hits a man with his baton near Idomeni at the Greek-Macedonian border -- this is part of the so-called Balkans Route to northern Europe.
7 photos:
Show Caption
4 of 7
Refugees and migrants arrives on the Greek Island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey.
7 photos:
Show Caption
5 of 7
As the first snows of the season fall in Germany, a sandalled refugee girl plays in front of a former army barracks now serving as a shelter for asylum seekers.
7 photos:
Show Caption
6 of 7
Migrants and refugees in the migrant camp known as the "Jungle" near the northern French port of Calais where some 4,500 people live.
7 photos:
Show Caption
7 of 7
A man with his mouth sewn shut silently protests on the Greek-Macedonian border.
7 photos:
Show Caption
1 of 7
The 'Iranian' men are protesting the Macedonian government's decision to only allow Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans -- those fleeing war - to pass across the border.
7 photos:
Show Caption
2 of 7
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Asa Romson fights tears as she announces Sweden's "open door" policy for asylum is ending.
7 phot
A Macedonian police officer hits a man with his baton near Idomeni at the Greek-Macedonian border -- this is part of the so-called Balkans Route to northern Europe.

(CNN)The arc of history is bending backward, away from freedom and justice. It's not what was supposed to happen, but it's the troubling reality revealed in a new report from Freedom House. The level and quality of freedom in the world has been eroding steadily over the past decade, the report suggests. And 2015 marked the sharpest decline yet.
In a way, this is no surprise. After all, we have for several years been watching the dispiriting scenes from the Middle East and North Africa -- the least-free region of the world in Freedom House's "Freedom in the World 2016." We have seen, for example, the imprisoning and murder of journalists, the shooting of protesters and brutal beheadings at the hands of extremists and governments. And, of course, we have seen the waves of millions of refugees fleeing the violence in Syria and beyond
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