India has been downgraded from ‘Free’ to Partially Free’ in the annual report published by Freedom House, a Washington-based pro-democracy think tank and human rights watchdog.
Published this week, the latest report marks the 4th consecutive year of democratic backsliding under the Modi government, highlighting that the country appears to be inching closer to authoritarianism.
The party of Myanmar’s detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Tuesday for her immediate release and for the junta to recognise her victory in November elections, a day after a military coup sparked global outrage.
The United States threatened to reimpose sanctions on Myanmar’s generals after they seized power and arrested Suu Kyi and dozens of her allies in dawn raids on Monday.
Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in early morning raids.
The army said it had carried out the detentions in response to “election fraud”, handing power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for one year, according to a statement on a military-owned television station.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won a decisive re-election victory on Saturday, elections officials said, but his main rival Bobi Wine alleges widespread fraud.
Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6%, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8%), the Electoral Commission said at a news conference on the final results from Thursday’s election.
