10 Most Oppressive Dictatorships on Earth

P.S, I made this list based on my own personal observations.

Viking11 said:

P.S, I made this list based on my own personal observations.

Click to expand...

Can you just write out a list? I dont want to watch a 10 min video.

Okay.

10. United Arab Emirates

The glittering towers and megamalls of Abu Dhabi and Dubai tend to overshadow this absolute monarchy’s tight grip on the reins of power. The UAE does not have democratically-elected institutions, and citizens do not have the right to change their government or to form political parties. There are reports of forced disappearances in the UAE, many foreign nationals and Emirati citizens have been abducted by the UAE government and illegally detained in undisclosed locations. In numerous instances, the UAE government has tortured people in custody and has denied their citizens the right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during official investigations. Flogging and stoning are legal forms of judicial punishment in the UAE due to Sharia courts. The government restricts freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the local media is censored to avoid criticizing the government. Freedom of association and freedom of religion are also curtailed.

9. Cuba

The Castro brothers have long dominated Cuba’s one-party political system, in which the Communist Party of Cuba controls all government offices and most civil institutions. Private enterprise is severely restricted. Obtaining a business licence takes months to years, and regulations are incredibly burdensome. All political organizing outside the PCC is illegal, and independent campaigning is not permitted. Political dissent, whether spoken or written, is a punishable offense, and dissidents are systematically harassed, detained, physically assaulted, and frequently sentenced to years of imprisonment for seemingly minor infractions. The Cuban news media are owned and controlled by the state. The independent press is considered illegal and its publications are classified as “enemy propaganda.” Government agents routinely infiltrate the ranks of independent journalists, often accusing them of being mercenaries. Independent journalists, particularly those associated with the island’s dozen small independent news agencies or human rights groups, are subject to harassment.

8. Syria

The situation for human rights in Syria is considered exceptionally poor among international observers. A state of emergency was in effect from 1963 until April 2011, giving security forces sweeping powers of arrest and detention. Syria has a long history of arbitrary arrest, unfair trials and prolonged detention of suspects. Thousands of political prisoners remain in detention. Freedom of expression, movement, religion, association, and assembly are strictly controlled. Property rights are severely restricted, and members of the ruling family and their inner circle dominate the economic landscape with absolute power. Women and ethnic minorities face discrimination. According to Amnesty International, the government may be guilty of crimes against humanity based on "witness accounts of deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention," during the crackdown against the 2011 uprising.

7. Turkmenistan

Although the constitution declares Turkmenistan to be a secular democracy, it is one of the most oppressive countries on Earth. Human rights problems include arbitrary arrest; torture; disregard for civil liberties, including restrictions on freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and movement; and citizens’ inability to change the government through free and fair elections. Other continuing human rights problems included denial of due process and fair trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; discrimination and violence against women; trafficking in persons; and restrictions on the free association of workers.

6. China

Each year, China executes an estimated 5,000 people -- more than the rest of the world combined -- for crimes including pornography, corruption, tax evasion and drug smuggling. Thousands of websites are blocked by the government, including YouTube, Face book and Twitter. China ranks 176th out of 179 countries on the World Press Freedom Index. China has only 5 officially recognized religious organizations. Unregistered religious groups face varying degrees of harassment, including imprisonment, torture, and forced religious conversion.

5. Uzbekistan

A decade after government forces massacred hundreds of largely peaceful protesters in the city of Andijan, the Uzbek government continues to deny justice to the victims. In March, authoritarian President Islam Karimov’s 26-year rule was extended by another five years in elections international observers found lacked any meaningful choice and violated Uzbekistan’s constitution. The government denies citizens the freedoms of association, expression, and religion, using the country’s pervasive security services to maintain rigid control over the population. Thousands of people are imprisoned on politically motivated charges, torture is endemic, and authorities regularly harrass human rights activists, opposition members, and journalists. People who practice their religion outside strict state controls are persecuted. Authorities force millions of adults to harvest cotton every fall under harsh conditions, netting enormous profits for the government.

4. Iran

Human rights violations in Iran include punishment of victimless crimes such as fornication and homosexuality, execution of minors, some even as young as 9, restrictions on freedom of speech and the press (including the imprisonment of journalists), restrictions on freedom of religion and restrictions on women's rights. There are no official nightclubs or bars. In May 2014, a group of young Iranians were arrested after a video of them dancing to the Pharrell Williams song "Happy" was uploaded to YouTube. The video was condemned by the government as "a vulgar clip which hurt public chastity," and the offenders were given 91 lashes and sentenced to jail time.

3. Eritrea

This one-party state ruled by the autocratic regime of the president and his small circle of senior advisers and military commanders is widely considered one of the world’s most repressive. Corruption is a major problem. The politicized and understaffed judiciary has never ruled against the government. Protection of property rights is poor. The state often expropriates private property without notice, explanation, or compensation. Freedom of speech, press, movement, assembly, and association are severely restricted. Less than 1% of the population has access to the internet. Those that practice "unregistered" religions, criticize the government, try to flee the nation, or escape military duty are arrested and put into prison. In 2015, a 500-page UNHRC report detailed allegations of extrajudicial executions, torture, indefinitely prolonged national service and forced labor, and indicated that sexual harassment, rape and prolonged sexual servitude by state officials are also widespread.

2. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is one of approximately thirty countries in the world with judicial corporal punishment. In Saudi Arabia's case this includes amputations of hands and feet for robbery, and flogging for lesser crimes such as "sexual deviance" and drunkenness. Saudi Arabia engages in capital punishment, including public executions by beheading. The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, homosexuality, witchcraft and sorcery and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad followed by crucifixion. Single men and women are not allowed to share the same social space. Women cannot travel alone without a specific form or an electronic authorization. This ban is only lifted when a woman turns 45. Women under 45 must either travel with a husband or father or else hold a permission form signed by a male guardian.


1. North Korea

Under the rule of Kim Jong-Un, North Korea remains one of the world’s most repressive countries. All basic freedoms have been severely restricted under the Kim family’s political dynasty. A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea were without parallel in the contemporary world. They include extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. North Korea operates secretive prison camps where perceived opponents of the government are sent to face torture and abuse, starvation rations, and forced labor. Fear of collective punishment is used to silence dissent. There is no independent media, functioning civil society, or religious freedom.

1: North Korea - Agree
2: Saudi Arabia - Disagree fully, considering the other candidates.
3: Eritrea - Agree, should be nr 2.
4: Iran - Disagree
5: Uzbekistan - yes and no.
6: China - no
7: Turkmenistan - yes
8: Syria - Yes and no.
9: Cuba - not really
10: UAE - HAHAHA

Your list is very "anti-muslim and American view". Cuba should not be on the list.

My list is something like this.

1) North Korea
2) Eritrea
3) Equatorial Guinea
4) Zimbabwe
5) Sudan
6) Syria (would be lower if not for the civil war)
7) Iraq/Kurdistan
8) Uzbekistan
9) Turkmenistan
10) Swaziland (has first rights on all virgins)
11) Belarus
12) Bahrain
13) Russia
14) Southern Sudan
15 and below

Saudi Arabia, China, Algeria, Congo (both of them), Chad, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and many others.

Viking11 said:

10. United Arab Emirates

The glittering towers and megamalls of Abu Dhabi and Dubai tend to overshadow this absolute monarchy’s tight grip on the reins of power. The UAE does not have democratically-elected institutions, and citizens do not have the right to change their government or to form political parties. There are reports of forced disappearances in the UAE, many foreign nationals and Emirati citizens have been abducted by the UAE government and illegally detained in undisclosed locations. In numerous instances, the UAE government has tortured people in custody and has denied their citizens the right to a speedy trial and access to counsel during official investigations. Flogging and stoning are legal forms of judicial punishment in the UAE due to Sharia courts. The government restricts freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the local media is censored to avoid criticizing the government. Freedom of association and freedom of religion are also curtailed.

9. Cuba

The Castro brothers have long dominated Cuba’s one-party political system, in which the Communist Party of Cuba controls all government offices and most civil institutions. Private enterprise is severely restricted. Obtaining a business licence takes months to years, and regulations are incredibly burdensome. All political organizing outside the PCC is illegal, and independent campaigning is not permitted. Political dissent, whether spoken or written, is a punishable offense, and dissidents are systematically harassed, detained, physically assaulted, and frequently sentenced to years of imprisonment for seemingly minor infractions. The Cuban news media are owned and controlled by the state. The independent press is considered illegal and its publications are classified as “enemy propaganda.” Government agents routinely infiltrate the ranks of independent journalists, often accusing them of being mercenaries. Independent journalists, particularly those associated with the island’s dozen small independent news agencies or human rights groups, are subject to harassment.

8. Syria

The situation for human rights in Syria is considered exceptionally poor among international observers. A state of emergency was in effect from 1963 until April 2011, giving security forces sweeping powers of arrest and detention. Syria has a long history of arbitrary arrest, unfair trials and prolonged detention of suspects. Thousands of political prisoners remain in detention. Freedom of expression, movement, religion, association, and assembly are strictly controlled. Property rights are severely restricted, and members of the ruling family and their inner circle dominate the economic landscape with absolute power. Women and ethnic minorities face discrimination. According to Amnesty International, the government may be guilty of crimes against humanity based on "witness accounts of deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention," during the crackdown against the 2011 uprising.

7. Turkmenistan

Although the constitution declares Turkmenistan to be a secular democracy, it is one of the most oppressive countries on Earth. Human rights problems include arbitrary arrest; torture; disregard for civil liberties, including restrictions on freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and movement; and citizens’ inability to change the government through free and fair elections. Other continuing human rights problems included denial of due process and fair trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; discrimination and violence against women; trafficking in persons; and restrictions on the free association of workers.

6. China

Each year, China executes an estimated 5,000 people -- more than the rest of the world combined -- for crimes including pornography, corruption, tax evasion and drug smuggling. Thousands of websites are blocked by the government, including YouTube, Face book and Twitter. China ranks 176th out of 179 countries on the World Press Freedom Index. China has only 5 officially recognized religious organizations. Unregistered religious groups face varying degrees of harassment, including imprisonment, torture, and forced religious conversion.

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There are so many countries I'd place ahead of the UAE, China, and Cuba as bad as they are. Quite frankly the same with Saudi Arabia.

PeteEU said:

1: North Korea - Agree
2: Saudi Arabia - Disagree fully, considering the other candidates.
3: Eritrea - Agree, should be nr 2.
4: Iran - Disagree
5: Uzbekistan - yes and no.
6: China - no
7: Turkmenistan - yes
8: Syria - Yes and no.
9: Cuba - not really
10: UAE - HAHAHA

Your list is very "anti-muslim and American view". Cuba should not be on the list.

My list is something like this.

1) North Korea
2) Eritrea
3) Equatorial Guinea
4) Zimbabwe
5) Sudan
6) Syria (would be lower if not for the civil war)
7) Iraq/Kurdistan
8) Uzbekistan
9) Turkmenistan
10) Swaziland (has first rights on all virgins)
11) Belarus
12) Bahrain
13) Russia
14) Southern Sudan
15 and below

Saudi Arabia, China, Algeria, Congo (both of them), Chad, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and many others.

Click to expand...

I agree with the list with the caveat that I'd divorce the KRG from Iraq. It's an entirely different world even with all of its problems. Glad you included EG near the top that was one of my quibbles.

Good thread. I'll have to come back to it later, though, to give it more attention.

How do people justify saying that Cuba and China are not dictatorships?