CIVICUS released the 2016 Civil Society Watch Report, finding that in 2015 there has been significant worsening in the respect for civil society freedoms. In particular, one or more of the core civil society freedoms – freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression have been seriously violated in at least 109 countries. This number shows an increase from 2014 when violations of basic civic freedoms have been found in 96 countries. Trends of closing civic space are noticeable, whereby state and non-state actors combine methods clamp down on civil society rights.
In the Western Balkans region the report shows that violation of freedom of expression has been recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, violations of freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression have been noted in Macedonia, whereas in Montenegro and Turkey all the three freedoms have been violated during 2015. The full report is available here.