{"id":225317,"date":"2022-12-19T12:02:27","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T12:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=225317"},"modified":"2022-12-19T12:27:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T12:27:24","slug":"corruption-i-the-most-perpetrated-and-least-prosecuted-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/12\/corruption-i-the-most-perpetrated-and-least-prosecuted-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"Corruption (I): The Most Perpetrated–and Least Prosecuted–Crime"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Multinational<\/p>\n

Multinational companies bribing their way into foreign markets go largely unpunished, and victims\u2019 compensation is rare, according to new report.<\/strong><\/em>
\nCredit: Ashwath Hedge\/Wikimedia Commons<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

6 Dec 2022 – <\/em>In these times when all sorts of human rights violations have been \u2018normalised,\u2019 a crime that continues to be perpetrated everywhere but punished nowhere–corruption–is also seen as business as usual. A business, by the way, that relies on the wide complicity of official authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existing is the solicitation of bribes.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Such a widespread \u2018plague\u2019 continues to be more and more exported by the business of the top trading countries as reported<\/a> by the UN on the occasion of the 2022 International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Corruption weakens and shrinks democracy, a phenomenon that is now more and more extended (See IPS Thalif Deen<\/a>\u2019s: The Decline and Fall of Democracy Worldwide<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Such a shockingly perpetrated practice \u2013which is rightly defined as a \u201ccrime\u201d, \u2014 not only follows conflict but is also frequently one of its root causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fuels conflict and inhibits peace processes by undermining the rule of law, worsening poverty, facilitating the illicit use of resources, and providing financing for armed conflict,\u201d as highlighted on the occasion of this year\u2019s World Day.<\/p>\n

Corruption fuels wars<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

Corruption has negative impacts on every aspect of society and is profoundly intertwined with conflict and instability jeopardising social and economic development and undermining democratic institutions and the rule of law, the UN warns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Indeed,<\/p>\n

\u201ceconomic development is stunted because foreign direct investment is discouraged and small businesses within the country often find it impossible to overcome the \u201cstart-up costs\u201d required because of corruption.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Imposed by private business<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

It is perhaps useless to say that corruption is a practice widely committed by all sectors of private businesses.<\/p>\n

In fact, in several industrialised countries, every now and then, some news shows the facades of zero-equipped hospitals and schools being inaugurated by politicians ahead of their electoral campaigns.<\/p>\n

Shockingly, too many involved politicians get proportionally punished, if anytime, after extremely lengthy and mostly unfruitful legal processing.<\/p>\n

Disproportionate impact<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

For its part, the World Bank<\/a> considers<\/a> corruption a major challenge to the twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity for the poorest 40 percent of people in developing countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorruption has a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access to services, including health, education and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The World Bank explains<\/a> that corruption in the procurement of drugs and medical equipment drives up costs and can lead to sub-standard or harmful products.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe human costs of counterfeit drugs and vaccinations on health outcomes and the life-long impacts on children far exceed the financial costs. Unofficial payments for services can have a particularly pernicious effect on poor people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch of the world\u2019s costliest forms of corruption could not happen without institutions in wealthy nations: the private sector firms that give large bribes, the financial institutions that accept corrupt proceeds, and the lawyers, bankers, and accountants who facilitate corrupt transactions,\u201d <\/em>warns the World Bank.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bribery exported<\/em> <\/b><\/h3>\n

A global movement working in over 100 countries to end the injustice of corruption: Transparency International<\/a>, which focuses on issues with the greatest impact on people\u2019s lives and holds the powerful to account for the common good, reveals additional findings.<\/p>\n

Its report: Exporting Corruption 2022: Top Trading Countries Doing Even Less than Before to Stop Foreign Bribery<\/a>, warns that despite a few breakthroughs, \u201cmultinational companies bribing their way into foreign markets go largely unpunished, and victims\u2019 compensation is rare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur globalised world means companies can do business across borders \u2013 often to societies\u2019 benefit. But what if the expensive new bridge in your city has been built by an unqualified foreign company that cuts corners?<\/p>\n

\u201cOr if your electricity bill is criminally inflated thanks to a backroom business deal? The chances of this are higher if you live in a country with high levels of government corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public officials who demand or accept bribes from foreign companies are not the only culprits of the corruption equation. Multinational companies \u2013 often headquartered in countries with low levels of public sector corruption<\/a> \u2013 are equally responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty-five years ago, the international community agreed that trading countries have an obligation to punish companies that bribe foreign public officials to win government contracts, mining licences and other deals \u2013 in other words, engage in foreign bribery. Yet few countries have kept up with their commitments, it adds.<\/p>\n

Everybody is complicit<\/em> <\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cMuch of the world\u2019s costliest forms of corruption could not happen without institutions in wealthy nations: the private sector firms that give large bribes, the financial institutions that accept corrupt proceeds, and the lawyers, bankers, and accountants who facilitate corrupt transactions,\u201d warns<\/a> the World Bank.<\/p>\n

Data on international financial flows shows that money is moving from poor to wealthy countries in ways that fundamentally undermine development, the world\u2019s financial institution reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Worse than ever before\u2026<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

Transparency International\u2019s report, Exporting Corruption 2022<\/a>, rates the performance of 47 leading global exporters, including 43 countries that are signatories to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Anti-Bribery Convention, in cracking down on foreign bribery by companies from their countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe results are worse than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

READ PART 2<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Baher Kamal, <\/em>a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, <\/em>is an Egyptian-born, Spanish national, secular journalist, with over 45 years of professional experience \u2014 from reporter to special envoy to chief editor of national dailies and an international news agency. Baher is former <\/em>Senior Advisor<\/a> <\/em>to the Director General of the international news agency IPS (Inter Press Service)<\/a> and he also contributed to prestigious magazines such as <\/em>TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a>, GEO, Muy Interesante, and<\/em> Natura, Spain<\/em>. He is also publisher and editor of<\/em> Human Wrongs Watch.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 human-wrongs-watch.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6 Dec 2022 – Transparency International\u2019s report, Exporting Corruption 2022, rates the performance of 47 leading global exporters, including 43 countries that are signatories to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Anti-Bribery Convention, in cracking down on foreign bribery by companies from their countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":154690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[232,550,652,651,1700],"class_list":["post-225317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-capitalism","tag-corruption","tag-crime","tag-justice","tag-world-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}