Horn of Africa Countries Rank Near Bottom of Human Freedom Index

 The Cato Institute has just released its Human Freedom Index 2021 that ranks and evaluates 165 countries.  The index presents a broad measure of human freedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. It evaluates 82 indicators of personal and economic freedom in the following areas: rule of law; security and safety; movement; religion; association, assembly, and civil society; expression and information; relationships; size of government; legal system and property rights; sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and regulations.

Countries in the Horn of Africa did not score well.  Ethiopia ranked 132, Djibouti 137, Somalia 159, and Sudan 162.  Eritrea and South Sudan were not included in the rankings.  

Kenyan Human Rights Expert Critiques Freedom of Assembly in America

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Kenyan Maina Kiai, released on 27 July 2016 his report on this subject following an official mission to the United States from 11 to 27 July.

While many Americans will resent a report that is often critical of the situation in the United States by an outsider, it is important to remember that the United States government routinely critiques the human rights situation in every country in the world, except the United States, in the annual State Department Human Rights Report and numerous country specific statements. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the views of Maina Kiai, it is useful to consider how others see us.