From this publication of Transparency International last Tuesday, nothing obliges Haitians to believe that the regime of Ariel Henry is capable of something positive and will be able to carry out “honest, credible, inclusive…” elections in Haiti. Goodbye calf, cow, pig, brood.
Friday February 2, 2024 ((rezonodwes.com))–
Transparency International has expressed concern about “opacity and undue influence” in judicial systems in Latin America.
Efforts to combat corruption in the public sector have faltered around the world, in part due to a “global decline in justice and the rule of law since 2016,” Transparency International said in its latest report. on the corruption index published this Tuesday.
The NGO, which annually develops the Corruption Perception Index, found that 23 countries, whether democratic or authoritarian, were at their lowest level in almost three decades.
“The rise of authoritarianism in some countries contributes to this trend, and even in democratic contexts, government oversight mechanisms have weakened,” the group said regarding the deterioration of justice.
Corruption will persist as long as judicial systems cannot sanction offenses and keep governments under control, underlined the president of Transparency International, François Valérian, adding that leaders must be fully involved and guarantee the independence of institutions defending corruption. law and fighting corruption.
The organization measures perceptions of corruption in the public sector based on data from 13 sources, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and private venture and consulting firms. The result is a ranking of 180 nations and territories on a scale from 0 for a “very corrupt” country to 100 for a “very clean” country.
The most and least corrupt
Among those that reached their lowest level were relatively high-scoring democracies such as Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, while authoritarian nations such as Iran, the Russia and Venezuela also lost positions.
Denmark topped the index with the maximum score for the sixth year in a row, with 90 points. Finland followed with 87 points and New Zealand with 85. The top ten places on the list were completed by Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.
The United States, with the same 69 points as the previous year, ranked 25th.
The global average remained at 43 for the 12th consecutive year, and more than two-thirds of countries scored below 50 points.
The highest-scoring nations in Latin America and the Caribbean were Uruguay, with 73 points in 18th place; Barbados, ranked 24th with 69 points; and Chile, in 29th position with 66 points.
At the other end, Somalia were once again the lowest ranked with just 11 points. Above were South Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, with 13 points each; Yemen with 16, and Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, North Korea and Nicaragua, with 17.
The report expressed concern about “opacity and undue influence” in justice systems in Latin America and the Caribbean and found “little or no progress” in curbing corruption in the Asia-Pacific region.
Low accountability
Even in Western Europe and the European Union, the best-performing region, Transparency International found that “weak accountability and political corruption undermine public trust and allow interest groups to exert excessive control over political decision-making.
In addition, she highlighted the “deficiencies of the judicial systems” in Poland, with a score of 54, and in Hungary, with 42.
Regarding Poland, the report highlighted the former ruling party’s “systematic efforts” “to monopolize power to the detriment of the public interest.” Although he acknowledged the new government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, he said the outgoing government continues to exercise “considerable influence” over the judiciary.
Russia’s score dropped to 26, which Transparency International attributes to “pervasive (governmental) control of public institutions facilitating widespread abuse of power without accountability” while undermining judicial independence.
Ukraine, with a score of 36, continued to improve for 11 years despite the Russian invasion, focusing on reforms to its justice system, crucial for its EU membership. However, the report stressed that “the existence of a significant number of cases of high-level corruption remains of great concern.” Russia’s score dropped to 26, which Transparency International attributes to “pervasive (governmental) control of public institutions facilitating widespread abuse of power without accountability” while undermining judicial independence.
