As Germany hosts G20, CIVICUS highlights the group's "hidden core of repression"

On 7th and 8th July, Germany hosts leaders of the world's largest economies at the G20 Summit in Hamburg. According to data from the CIVICUS Monitor, only meeting host Germany does well enough at protecting civil society to merit an "open" rating, which indicates that the state properly protects civil society and enables citizens to form associations, conduct peaceful protests and speak freely. On the other hand, there are eight G20 members where conditions for civil society are categorised as "closed", "repressed" or "obstructed", according to the Monitor’s data. In the worst cases - G20 members Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey and Russia - it is almost impossible for citizens to effectively criticise authority or freely express an opinion on social or political issues without risking state censure, harassment, imprisonment or even extrajudicial killing.

Read more in this article on Al Jazeera.