Category: Conflict & Insecurity

5^th September, 2017, London – Corruption is perpetuating violent conflicts around the world. New research from Transparency International – Defence and Security found that fighting corruption is rarely a foreign policy priority, despite mounting evidence it’s a major 21^st-century contributor to global insecurity.

“The Fifth Column”, published today, found that states most affected by corruption are very often victims of deep conflict. Seven of the ten lowest-scoring countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index were also amongst the ten least peaceful countries in the most recent Global Peace Index.

Corruption was found to be contributing to violent conflict in a number of ways, including:

• Undermining public trust, which can lead to violent movements for regime change;
• Driving the recruitment of extremists, who use corrupt governments as a rallying cry;
• Enabling terrorist groups, who can exploit corrupt structures for their operations;
• Facilitating proliferation of WMDs;
• Undermining state sovereignty, when foreign governments use opaque networks of shell companies to hold whole political classes hostage;
• Eroding state’s capabilities to respond to instability and violence when it occurs.

By failing to address these risks, governments are ignoring a major cause of conflict. Transparency International recommends corruption is treated as a serious foreign policy concern and that states should:

• Address kleptocracy, or state capture, as a development, diplomatic and security issue, exerting political pressure on corrupt elites, supporting oversight institutions and focusing on improving governance in partner states.
• Focus on defence governance and avoid treating it as a “special case” that can circumvent normal oversight processes.
• Stop viewing corrupt autocrats as an alternative to instability and instead limit their influence through options such as financial sanctions, visa bans, and the withholding of international recognition.

Katherine Dixon, Director Transparency International Defence and Security, said:

“Its high time that states made corruption a top-tier foreign policy priority, as important as non-proliferation and counter terrorism efforts. Until they do that, efforts to end conflict, promote global peace and stability, will be falling short of the mark.”

“Corrupt regimes are unstable and dangerous, and supporting them is rarely the right choice for building stability either nationally or regionally. From Syria to Ukraine, corruption has fuelled conflicts, undermining the long-term future of those states and contributing to the loss of many lives.”

On Thursday, Transparency International Senior Advisor Sir Ian Andrews, and Defence and Security Director Katherine Dixon facilitated a day of high level discussions with the leadership of the Nigerian Air Force. The aim was to identify the corruption risks which face the Nigerian armed forces, discuss the initiatives already taken, and to begin to develop mechanisms to address them.

Sessions included a full discussion of the challenges facing the Air Force including issues surrounding defence budget processes, personnel integrity, and procurement systems. TI facilitators presented lessons from international best practice, including the vital role of political leadership, a commitment to transparency, and external independent oversight mechanisms which had been crucial factors underpinning successful defence transformations in other context, such as Colombia.

The entire leadership of the Air Force was present or represented, including the Chief of Air Staff, Air Officers Commanding and Branch Chiefs.

Katherine Dixon, Director Transparency International Defence and Security, said:

“We welcome the positive participation of the Air Force. The purpose of the event was to create a forum for the leadership to discuss openly the corruption risks as they see them. The Nigerian Air Force outlined the steps they had taken to address these challenges and we strongly encouraged them to end the presumption towards secrecy and open these measures up to public scrutiny.”

Transparency International has outlined a number of recommendations for systemic reform of the Nigerian Defence sector including the development of unified anti-corruption strategy, extending public access defence and security information, and strengthening external oversight particularly over confidential procurements.

Contact:

Gavin Raymond
graymond@transparency.org
0044 7738 621 115

May 24 2017 | Kyiv

International security assistance to Ukraine is not always used effectively, according to new research on corruption risks in security assistance by the Independent Defence Anti-Corruption Committee. The report identifies improvements in how assistance is monitored, but calls for improved regulation and oversight of security assistance, and greater transparency of key strategic planning documents like the State Defense Order and defence budget. The report also called on donor countries to use international aid as a leverage  to push for systemic anti-corruption reform in the Ukrainian defense sector. (more…)

Corruption in Nigerian defence sector benefitting Boko Haram

18th May, London – Deep-rooted corruption in the defence sector is crippling the Nigerian military in the fight against Boko Haram, according to a new report by Transparency International. To effectively combat Boko Haram, Nigeria’s international partners must build anti-corruption measures into all defence deals.    (more…)

Increase transparency in the security sector to defeat corruption.

18th May, Abuja – An opaque and secretive security sector will jeopardize President Buhari’s ambitious anti-corruption drive and is derailing the fight against Boko Haram, according to a new report by Transparency International. (more…)

The world’s major arms exporters have a conflicted approach when it comes to dealing with what are effectively kleptocratic governments. (more…)

25th April 2017, London – New bi-partisan legislation to treat international corruption as a national security threat is a vital development following the February repeal of Section 1504 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.

The Combating Global Corruption Act of 2017, introduced by US Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) with support from Feinstein, Rubio, Blumenthal, Collins, Merkley, Booker, and Leahy requires the State Department publish an annual report on the state of corruption worldwide. It provides that national anti-corruption programs be ranked according to a three-tiered ranking system and, crucially, requires that US agencies (Department of State, Department of Defense, USAID) pursue specific transparency and accountability measures where national efforts are considered insufficient.

Katherine Dixon, Director Transparency Defence and Security, said:

“The link between corruption and development is simple: corrupt leaders that siphon state funds and resources away from vulnerable populations bring about weak states and public unrest, creating fertile ground for terrorists and organised crime.”

“The February repeal of Section 1504 was a step back for US anti-corruption efforts. But, with the Combatting Global Corruption Act, we have the chance to make some big moves forward. In evaluating how seriously countries take corruption on their home turf, the US has raised the spectre of global corruption and elevated it on the foreign policy agenda.”

TI added that the US must set the gold standard at home if it is to fight corruption elsewhere.

Contact:
Dominic Kavakeb
0044 20 3096 7695
0044 796 456 0340
dominic.kavakeb@transparency.org.uk

Without reducing the corruption that plagues the country’s government, terrorism will be impossible to defeat. (more…)

21st February 2017, London – Western governments that ignore corruption are failing to address the root causes of violent extremist movements, such as ISIS, according to new research by Transparency International Defence and Security (TI-DS). (more…)

London, 31st January 2017 – An attempt by two Republican legislators to repeal a vital section of the US safeguards against corruption threatens to seriously undermine national security, according to Transparency International. (more…)

8th November 2016, London – India must put in place strong safeguards to ensure effective anti-corruption mechanisms are built into any coming defence deals between the UK and India, according to Transparency International Defence and Security (TI-DSP).

During Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to India it was announced that “the UK and India are committed to further strengthening their strategic partnership in defence.” India is the largest importer of arms in the world but scored a ‘D’ in TI-DSP’s 2015 Defence Corruption Index, meaning vast sums of vital public funding is at a high risk of corruption.

India must ensure that the new blacklisting policy remains a robust sanction while allowing India to procure the technology that meets its security needs. Blacklisting is a vital tool sending a strong message to Indian and international suppliers that corruption will not be tolerated, and protects India’s public funds from misuse. The new policy should replace mandatory minimum penalties with a debarment system that weighs mitigating factors, and allows for shorter sentences in the event of strong remediation actions taken by the company.

Katherine Dixon, Director Transparency International Defence and Security, said:

“As India is one of the largest defence markets in the world, the UK Government is naturally extremely keen to cultivate deals. But unless India has in place strong anti-corruption mechanisms, public funds will continue to be at risk, while poor procurement practices contribute to military shortages and undermine public trust.”

“Recent allegations that a major British defence company paid bribes to win contracts only further underlines the risks that weak procurement systems are at serious risk of being exploited by unscrupulous suppliers or their agents.”

***ENDS***

Contact:
Dominic Kavakeb
Dominic.kavakeb@transparency.org.uk
020 3096 7695
0796 456 0340

Imaage: Crown Copyright

We know that corruption is a threat to international security. Now we need to work out how to address it.

Corruption threatens international security, destroying the legitimacy and effectiveness of governments and the defence and security sector, hindering economic development, and providing a powerful call to arms for violent extremist movements. Fortunately the issue is gaining recognition. NATO’s Building Integrity policy, adopted at the 2016 Warsaw summit, acknowledges that tackling corruption is a core task of the Alliance, including in collective defence, crisis management, and spreading security through cooperation with partners. Similarly, the 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit Communiqué commits nations to concrete action. (more…)