ANSWERS: 9
  • cuba, i know is one.
  • Parade magazine just published its annual list of the world's ten worst dictators. Although the publication has a notable leftist slant, data for the list was gathered from such respectable sources as the U.S. State Department. Ironically, several of the people on this list have U.S. support and others are tolerated by our government for strategic reasons. According to the article, more than 70 countries are still ruled by dictators: leaders who exercise arbitrary authority over their citizens and cannot be removed by legal means. They all suppress freedoms of speech and religion and the right to a fair trial. The bottom three on this list are hardly noteworthy as dictators go, and a couple of them seem to have been picked out by reporters for their hostility toward the media. Still these are some pretty nasty dudes and our President considers several of them allies. * 1. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan. His human rights abuses have killed 200,000 people, driven five million from their homes, and prompted 700,000 to emigrate. * 2. Kim Jong-Il, North Korea. While North Korea is a communist state, Kim's family follows the highly centralized, patriarchal ruling model of Confucianism. His citizens are more shut off from the world than those of any other nation. * 3. Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Iran. It is this ayatollah and his Guardian Council who control all decisions regarding the country's international relations, nuclear program, and domestic freedoms. It increasingly suppresses freedom of expression. Women can be stoned to death for adultery and a man was publicly hanged for homosexuality. * 4. Hu Jin-Tao, China. The U.S. State Department has identified 22 areas of human rights violations including torture, forced abortions, forced labor, detention of religious groups, restrictions on speech and restrictions on the media. Citizens are executed for nonviolent crimes such as bribery and theft of oil. * 5. King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia. It is possible to be executed for witchcraft and to be flogged for being alone with a person of the opposite sex. It is illegal to practice any religion other than Islam. School textbooks are virulently anti-Christian and antisemitic. The U.S. State Department lists Saudi Arabia among the top eight offenders of religious freedom. * 6. Than Shwe, Burma. The citizens are still waiting for a new constitution promised 17 years ago. Reporters Without Borders ranks Burma 164th out of 168th in its press freedom index. Burmese have been arrested for selling videotapes of foreign news reports on the 2004 tsunami. * 7. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe. Under his rule the health and well-being of his people have dropped so dramatically as to constitute an abuse of human rights. Zimbabwe has the world's shortest life expectancy, 37 for men and 34 for women. It has the greatest percentage of orphans, 25%, and the worst annual inflation rate, nearly 1,300%. * 8. Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan. He came to power using old-fashioned Soviet methods of torture, media censorship and fake elections. He has banned the study of Arabic in an Islamic nation and ordered the massacre of hundreds of his citizens. * 9. Muammar al-Qaddafi, Libya. He has been in power the longest of any of these dictators, 38 years. During most of that time he was a conspicuous supporter of international terrorism. In his country political prisoners disappear and women who have been raped or merely accused of extramarital sex can be kept in "rehabilitation" homes indefinitely. * 10. Bashar al-Assad, Syria. His administration has been implicated in assassinations in neighboring Lebanon. http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=63163
  • i'm from china and studying for my Bachelor degree in america. some guy said china is a country in dictatorship. i am not gonna against you, but i wanna remind you a rule about freedom and democracy; which is an idea or an environment tolerate ohter people's opinion is the core spirit of democracy, even others' opinion different from you. actually, all the people in this world is equal. our lives have the same value, i just wanna china develop in a stable and peaceful way. although i'm not complete support communist, but it the best choice for chinese in the condition now. that's my idea, i'm happy if you want to discuss. my email is wangziqing@yahoo.com
  • I don't know
  • If you think commonist is so great,you should go back to china.
  • i don't know either!
  • America is soon going to be on that list if things keep going the way that they are.
  • Virtually all of them. Some are just more subtle about it than others.
  • The Republican Party of America. They're "purging" their rolls.

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