The World's Worst Five Dictators

Even though Saddam Hussein has paid for his life of tyrannical destruction, the world still has powerful dictators to deal with, and ABC news interviewed David Wallechinsky, historian and best-selling author of Tyrants: The World's 20 Worst Living Dictators, to find out who they are.

Mr. Wallechinsky matches each of his picks up against standards that free countries take for granted, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and free and fair elections. Those who use force, torture and kill their political or religious opponents, of course, get extra credit and go to the head of the class.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was ranked the world's 5th worst dictator because he severely represses religious freedom in his country. Citizens of Saudi Arabia must be Muslims. Phone calls are recorded. Amnesty International reports that torture by Saudi police to extract confessions is commonplace. The repression of women is widespread and divorced women are required to turn their pre-teen children over to their ex-husbands or their families at certain ages based upon the child's sex. Although King Abdullah only became King in 2005, in reality, he has been in power since his brother, King Fahd, had a stroke in 1995.

No. 4 is the President of China, Hu Jintao, who has been in power since 2002. Mr. Wallechinsky says that just as in the case of King Abdullah, the world tends to turn a blind eye to the human rights situation in China. However, our State Department lists 22 practices where the Chinese government abuses human rights, including engaging in forced abortion and forced labor. Hu Jintao's regime has virtually abolished freedom of speech.

The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran comes in at No. 3. According to Mr. Wallechinsky, the Ayatollah is above the elected government and makes the decisions in Iran. While the critical focus tends to be on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's President, , Mr. Wallechinsky says that people don't realize that the President has no real power, and that the Ayatollah is the one who wields the real power and is responsible for the decisions that are behind this extremely repressive regime, where they are now even repressing education to weed out any dissension.

Tyrant No. 2 is North Korea's Kim Jong-il, who has been in power since 1994 and runs the most isolated country in the world. His mind-boggling repertoire of repression includes strict control over the press, religion and travel both within the country and abroad. North Korean women who become pregnant abroad are forced to have abortions. Refugees have claimed that women who give birth to disabled children are often forced to watch their babies be killed.

The dubious title of World Worst Dictator goes to Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. David Wallechinsky has awarded the title to al-Bashir for the last two years for killing the most people in the world. Hundreds of thousands have been massacred in Dafur, while 5 million have been displaced, and Wallechinsky says the responsibility lies at his feet.

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Source: http://abcnews.go.com/ - Video: Top Dictator. Expert's Surprising Pick
Source: http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2006/edition_01-22-2006/Dictators - Parade's 2006 Annual List of the World's Top 10 Worst Dictators