Residents in the Solomon Islands have had their civic freedoms downgraded from "open" to "narrowed", according to a new report.
The report was released on Wednesday by online research platform CIVICUS Monitor, after examining the civic rights and freedoms of people in 196 countries around the world.
The CIVICUS Monitor combines several different sources of data looking at things like the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and ‘expression’.
Countries are then given a ranking ranging from closed, repressed, obstructed, narrowed or open.
The report said restrictions to media freedoms, access to information and the right to protest were all indicators that led to the Solomon Islands' downgrade.
“Excessive restrictions on civic freedoms imposed by the government under the guise of preventing COVID-19 led to the downgrade of the Solomon Islands," CIVICUS Asia-Pacific Civic Space researcher Josef Benedict said.
"Constant threats to ban Facebook and attempts to vilify civil society have also resulted in the failure of the Solomon Islands to retain a top spot in our global rights rankings."
It brings the Solomon Islands on the same ranking as Australia, which was given its "narrowed" downgrade in 2019 after and the ongoing prosecution of whistleblowers — like Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery.
Australia's position in the report has not changed, but CIVICUS remains wary of the government as it "continues to hound" Mr Collaery in legal battles. It also stated its disapproval of police detaining anti-lockdown protesters during the national COVID-19 outbreak.
has only just calmed after civil unrest turned violent in recent weeks, as protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
The escalation of protests led to the deaths of at least three people, and the Australian government deployed 100 defence troops to assist in restoring order to the Solomons.
The report also revealed nine out of 10 people in the world are living with their civil rights restricted.
The most concerning violation CIVICUS has reported is the detainment of protesters around the world, followed by intimidation, restrictive laws and attacks on journalists.
Among the 13 countries that have had their democracies downgraded, Belarus has had their residents' rights plunge further from "repressed" to "closed" — joining China, Saudi Arabia and 22 other countries in the most restricted category.
The report said Belarus is guilty of the "systematic silencing" of its civil society after the controversial presidential election, which saw hundreds of journalists and activists detained.
As of 25 November 2021, 882 people have been recorded as political prisoners in Belarus, "mostly for participating in anti-government protests", the report stated.
Belarus has been criticised globally in recent months after its government was accused of illegally luring migrants to cross its borders to other European countries like Poland and Lithuania, triggering a humanitarian crisis.
Only one country, Mongolia, has had its category improve from "obstructed" to "narrowed" after its parliament was the first country in Asia to pass new laws in order to protect human rights defenders.
