Freedom House
Freedom house is an NGO based in Washington D.C, whose aim is to promote human rights. on its mission statement, it said that it wished to
"function ... as a catalyst for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law through its analysis, advocacy, and action."[1]
While it has been criticised by some as too closely connected to the US government (approximately 90% of its 2000-2003 funding came from the State Department), it has an excellent record of boldly speaking out against human-rights abusers; its opposition to the South African apartheid government was one of the major factors leading to the bipartisan Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1989, and the political commentator John R. Miller praised it, saying that it had
"unwaveringly raised the standard of freedom in evaluating fascist countries, Communist regimes, and plain old, dictatorial thugocracies ... those fighting for freedom in countries lacking it are encouraged or discouraged by what Freedom Houseâs report covers. And sometimes â most importantly â their governments are moved to greater effort."[2]