Country: Myanmar
As members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather this week in Laos for the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits, this blog by Yi Kang Choo, our International Programmes Officer, explores the concerning absence of a strong focus on corruption risks – particularly in the region’s defence and security sectors.
Given the steady rise in military spending in the region, the ongoing civil war in Myanmar, and heightened tensions over territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea involving ASEAN nations, a discussion about how to root out corruption, and increase resilience to it, in these sectors seems overdue.
Transparency International Defence & Security (TI-DS), alongside national TI Chapters in Indonesia (TI-ID) and Malaysia (TI-M) urge ASEAN states to recognise the pressing threat that corruption in the defence sector poses to regional peace and security. As Malaysia prepares to take on the role of ASEAN Chair in 2025, Transparency International Malaysia specifically highlights the crucial need for Malaysia especially to champion collective anti-corruption initiatives, particularly within defence and security sectors across the region. Malaysia needs to use its leadership by demonstrating that it is executing its national anti-corruption strategies with greater transparency and how such initiatives will help the ASEAN region as a whole.
Recent data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) highlights that global military expenditure reached a record high of $2.443 trillion in 2023, with ASEAN member states seeing an average rise of 2.34% since 2022. As our research shows, increased defence spending without appropriate oversight often correlates with rising corruption risks. In systems already susceptible to corruption, an influx of funds is most likely to benefit corrupt actors, creating a self-perpetuating cycle that prioritises private gains over peace and security outcomes.
Our Government Defence Integrity (GDI) Index shows nearly half of all ASEAN member states face high to critical corruption risks in their defence sectors. This includes Malaysia, the incoming ASEAN Chair in 2025. Corruption can severely undermine the reliability and quality of military infrastructure and equipment, divert critical public resources, and compromise the safety and operational effectiveness of armed forces during potentially critical situations.
Additionally, effective civilian oversight of defence institutions remains limited across the region, especially given the restrictive civic spaces in all ten ASEAN countries, which have been categorised as ‘closed’, ‘repressed’, or ‘obstructed’ according to 2023 CIVICUS Monitor rating.
To address these urgent challenges, TI-DS calls on ASEAN member states to:
- Recognise and respond to corruption as a threat to peace and security – Corruption exacerbates inequalities within and between nations, fuelling conflicts and geopolitical tensions. ASEAN must prioritise strengthening governance systems, embedding corruption safeguards, and building integrity within its armed forces into defence and security decision-making.
- Create mechanisms for meaningful civil society engagement and effective parliamentary and civilian oversight in defence and security sectors – To ensure these sectors operate under effective scrutiny and accountability, civil society must be empowered to fulfil its role as critical observer in an independent, protected and effective manner. This includes the protection of civic space and ensuring public access to information, also in defence and security, with restrictions on the grounds of national security only applied on well-justified, exceptional circumstances. Additionally, whistleblowers and investigative journalists must be protected from retaliation, particularly when transparency serves the public interest over secrecy.
- Implement robust anti-corruption controls for arms transfers – Governments must conduct thorough corruption risk assessments for arms deals and ensure recipient countries uphold strong anti-corruption standards. Measures must be taken to prevent arms from being diverted and misused. (Read our briefing paper to learn more about how arms trade loopholes enabled crimes against humanity in Myanmar.)
Against the backdrop of heightened security risks, we call for ASEAN governments to prevent further risk for conflict and tensions through taking anti-corruption and its risks to defence, peace and security seriously, as well as to fully acknowledge the role of civil society in embarking on this vital endeavour for the region.
Notes to editors:
ASEAN Member States including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar feature in Transparency International Defence & Security’s 2020 Government Defence Integrity Index (GDI).
The Index scores and ranks countries based on the strength of their safeguards against defence and security corruption.
Malaysia and Indonesia appear in band ‘D’, indicating a ‘high’ risk of corruption, whereas Thailand appear in band ‘E’, indicating a ‘very high’ risk of corruption, and Myanmar in band ‘F’, indicating a ‘critical’ risk.
May 7, 2024 – A new briefing from Transparency International Defence & Security (TI-DS) sheds light on the profound personal and societal impacts of corruption within the defence & security sectors and tells the often-overlooked stories of those who have suffered as a direct consequence.
Betrayed by the Guardians demonstrates how institutional weaknesses, gaps in oversight, systematic abuses of power, and lack of accountability within defence institutions have a disastrous impact on people’s lives.
As well as shedding light on the human impact, TI-DS makes the case for some of the key systemic steps needed to address the risk of corruption in these sectors.
The briefing features a series of compelling personal stories from around the globe, including:
- Amid the chaos and destruction of civil war in Sudan, exacerbated by corrupt arms trading despite international embargoes, Mazin’s life was shattered. His brother was hospitalised after a violent robbery by unaccountable military personnel, and his family’s business was destroyed.
- In Myanmar, 160 civilians, including 40 children, were killed when a village was bombed by the military junta. The weapons used in the airstrike were produced from raw materials and equipment supplied from private companies operating out of Singapore, despite sanctions and arms embargoes on Myanmar.
- Shoja witnessed the pervasive corruption within the security sector in Afghanistan. He recounts how wounded soldiers faced amputation unless they could afford to bribe military doctors or leverage connections for better treatment.
Sara Bandali, Director of International Engagement at Transparency International UK, said:
“This briefing not only highlights the devastating human consequences of corruption in the defence and security sectors – it also serves as an urgent call to action.
“The stories presented here reveal a collapse in the accountability mechanisms that are supposed to prevent the misuse of power, especially in the sector that is supposed to protect us. When these safeguards fail, a pervasive culture of impunity takes hold, disproportionately harming those with the least power.
“By implementing robust frameworks of institutional integrity and accountability, governments worldwide can mitigate these impacts and safeguard security and human rights for all.”
Ara Marcen Naval, Head of Advocacy at Transparency International Defence & Security, said:
“Too often, I witness corruption being brushed off as a bureaucratic offense, with the focus on the culprits, the loopholes that let them off the hook, and the heavy economic and political toll it takes.
“But what about the people whose lives are shattered by corruption? Especially within defence & security institutions – the very ones tasked with safeguarding us – the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“I’ve seen first-hand how corruption betrays the trust placed in our guardians. It’s not just a crime; it’s a blatant injustice, a roadblock to development, and a flagrant violation of human rights.”
As the international community prepares for the Summit for the Future in September 2024, TI-DS reminds that corruption is not victimless. To address corruption in the defence & security sectors, we call on governments to:
- Strengthen anti-corruption measures in defence
Reinforce governance of the defence sector with integrity measures by strengthening anti-corruption laws, regulations, and codes of conduct. Transparency International Defence & Security’s Government Defence Integrity Index (GDI) provides further guidance on good practice for defence sector resilience against corruption.
- Increase transparency in defence decision-making
Open up the secretive world of defence policymaking, budgets, and spending, ensuring they are accountable and bringing corruption risks and misconduct to light.
- Mobilise agents of change
Encourage the active participation of civil society, international organisations and media as agents of transformation, working hand in hand to drive out corruption in defence and security.
- Protect whistleblowers
Enact robust whistleblower protection systems that encourage and shield those willing to stand up and speak the truth.
- Promote global anti-corruption efforts
Join international sanctions and agreements, including the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), and resist ‘defence exceptionalism’ – the idea that the defence & security sectors are exempt from normal transparency and accountability processes – in these frameworks.
Notes:
Join us at 3pm BST tomorrow (May 8) for our webinar ahead of the UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi. The event will feature a discussion by anti-corruption champions and peacebuilders from around the world on how the upcoming UN Summit of the Future and its accompanying Pact of the Future can be a pathway to much-needed systemic change on how we view and address corruption in defence & security.
In this briefing, we showcase the experiences of people whose lives have been torn apart by corruption within the defence and security sector. Their stories are gathered from across the world, drawn from first-hand conversations with those willing to give testament, and from investigations conducted by media and international organisations.
These stories demonstrate how institutional weaknesses, gaps in oversight, systematic abuses of power, and lack of accountability within defence and security institutions have a disastrous impact on people’s lives. We make the case for some of the key systemic steps needed to address the risk of corruption in these sectors.