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According to the annual report “Nations in Transit 2015” of the human rights organization Freedom House, aggravation of the civil society situation and judicial system are observed in Azerbaijan which is described as Consolidated Authoritarian Regime. The country got 6.75 points out of seven, where seven is the worst result. The report is published on the website of the organization.

With 5.36 points, Armenia is significantly ahead of Azerbaijan. According to the report, online community is growing rapidly in Armenia, some officials have been prosecuted on corruption charges, and signs of improvement in the administration of elections have been noted. Armenia’s overall democracy score has not budged in three years.

In Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev’s regime brought a new intensity to its multi-year crackdown on activists and journalists who threatened to expose official corruption and other abuses. Many were jailed during the year on fabricated charges like hooliganism or possession of weapons and drugs. Meanwhile, it is currently hosting the 2015 European Games, Freedom House points.

The country’s Nations in Transit score has fallen nearly every year for the past decade, leaving it with a ranking worse than Russia, Tajikistan, or Belarus in Nations in Transit 2015.

“The Aliyev regime’s intensified crackdown on dissent in 2014 pushed Azerbaijan’s democracy score to 6.75, near the bottom of the 7-point scale and even lower than that of Belarus, once described as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’,” according to the report. Both countries released a number of political prisoners late in the year, but in neither case were these actions accompanied by any shift in policy or greater tolerance for independent political activity. At year’s end, it was estimated that Azerbaijan still held at least 90 political prisoners.

Freedom House’s Nations in Transit 2015 survey assesses the status of democratic development in 29 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia during January 1 to December 31, 2014. The ranking is based on seven key indicators: Electoral Process, Civil Society, Independent Media, National Democratic Governance, Local Democratic Governance, Judicial Framework and Independence, and Corruption. The average of the scores on each indicator reflects the overall democratic score of the country. The score is presented in a scale of 1 to 7, with seven representing the lowest level of democratic progress.

According to the report, Georgia got 4.64 points, Ukraine – 4.75, Moldova – 4.86, Armenia - 5.36, Kyrgyzstan – 5.93, Tajikistan – 6.39, Russia - 6.46, Kazakhstan – 6.61, Belarus – 6.71, Azerbaijan 6.75, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan both got 6.93 points.

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Armenia ranks 91st in Global Peace Index, Azerbaijan in 132nd position