Saudi Arabia ranks low in the World Democracy Index

According to EIU’s measure of democracy, less than half (45.7%) of the world’s population now live in a democracy of some sort, which is a significant decline from 2020 (49.4%). Even fewer (6.4%) reside in a “full democracy”.

Substantially more than a third of the world’s population (37.1%) live under authoritarian rule, a large share of which are in China. 

North Korea, Myanmar and Afghanistan were listed in the last three ranks of democracy.

 Saudi Arabia has a worst record in the field of human rights, and over the years there have been numerous reports of extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detention, arrests of political and human rights activists, and suppression of legitimate demands of religious minorities inside Saudi Arabia.

Human rights groups say the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia has deteriorated since Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power, raising questions about why security measures in Saudi Arabia have increased since Bin Salman came to power.

Freedom International examines the state of democracy in countries around the world on the basis of 25 indicators. It noted among the Arab countries, Saudi Arabia does not have a favorable situation in terms of freedom of expression and democracy due to the repressive policies of the Al-Saud regime and the lack of a democratic system in it.

Other methods of suppressing freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia include restricting the issuance or revocation of passports to control the movement of citizens abroad, hacking cell phones using spyware, and threatening family members of social activists living abroad. 

Previously, the results of the research of the Center for Studies and Publications “Al-Bayt Al-Khaliji” showed; Saudi Arabia ranks first among the GCC member states in terms of repression, tyranny and crimes related to the killing of civilians.

According to the study, Saudi Arabia is witnessing brutal trials and detentions of detainees, and the trial of dozens of citizens accused of freedom of expression also has legal implications.