Freedom House Considers Crimea Disputed Territory With No Freedom

International non-governmental organization Freedom House considers Crimea a disputed territory that is not free.

This is stated in the organization's report for the year 2016, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Freedom House prepared a separate report on Crimea because it believes that the level of civil liberties and political rights in Crimea differs from the level of these rights and freedoms in Ukraine.

According to the report, Crimea is not free.

At the same time, Freedom House considers Ukraine partly free.

According to the reports, the organization assesses the level of political rights and civil liberties in a particular geographic area, regardless of whether they are dependent on the state, non-state actors, or other countries.

Disputed territories are sometimes assessed separately if they meet certain criteria, including borders that are sufficiently stable for an annual comparison.

"Freedom House also analyzes certain disputed territories of individual independent states, as is the case with Crimea," Matthew Schaaf, the director of Freedom House's Ukrainian office, said on 31 January during the presentation of the organization's report for 2016.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Freedom House categorized Ukraine as a country with partial freedom of the media and the Internet in its report for 2016.