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SECRECY IN MIDEAST DEFENSE MAKES COUNTRIES 'OPEN TO CORRUPTION'
February 6, 2013 - 21:44 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - An international monitoring group on Wednesday, Feb
6, warned that excessive secrecy in Mideast security agencies leaves
countries like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia open to corruption even after
the overthrow of authoritarian regimes, The Associated Press reports.
Continued secrecy and lack of civilian oversight in defense ministries
and armed forces in the Middle East and North Africa expose them to
corrupt practices, the Britain-based Transparency International said
in a report on the Mideast and North Africa region released in Beirut.
Of the 19 countries surveyed, only a few disclose their defense
budgets, the group said. None of the countries makes public the size
of its military or the troops' salaries.
In Syria, for example, the group notes that defense policy was under
tight control of the ruling Assad family even before the civil war
there. And countries in transition, such as Egypt, Libya Tunisia and
Yemen, lack any accountability, legislative oversight and credible
"whistleblowing" systems through which concerned officers or defense
officials can report suspected corruption.
It's a clear indication that replacing authoritarian leaders with
elected ones is not enough to eradicate corruption, Mark Pyman,
the director of the Transparency's Defense and Security Program,
told The Associated Press in an interview.
"Corruptive structures have been allowed to develop and mature within
defense institutions and armed forces over 20 or 30 years, and a
regime change will not make them go away," Pyman told the AP. "The new
administrations need to work actively to ensure that those elements
of state become properly accountable in defense and security issues."
There are no signs that Egypt's elected leaders are working to open
defense institutions to public oversight, Pyman said, and secrecy
and lack of accountability prevail in the aftermath of the political
turmoil that has been engulfing the country since President Hosni
Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising two years ago.
In Egypt and in other countries that have experienced decades of
authoritarian rule, including Libya, Yemen, Algeria and Syria, the
military owns a large portion of commercial economic outlets. Little
or nothing is known about their profits.
The absence of independent legislatures in these countries contributes
to high political corruption risk, the group said, adding that it
has evidence that suggests organized crime has penetrated the defense
sectors in at least some of the countries.
Countries that are ranked slightly higher by the watchdog are Iraq,
Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Even so, their risk of
corruption is still significant given that they don't publicly
disclose the percentage of the national budget that is spent on
secret items. All these countries show limited activity to counter
corruption and enforce existing controls in the political part of the
defense sector, the report said, concluding that the risk of improper
purchases taking place in these nations remains high.
From: A. Papazian
February 6, 2013 - 21:44 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - An international monitoring group on Wednesday, Feb
6, warned that excessive secrecy in Mideast security agencies leaves
countries like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia open to corruption even after
the overthrow of authoritarian regimes, The Associated Press reports.
Continued secrecy and lack of civilian oversight in defense ministries
and armed forces in the Middle East and North Africa expose them to
corrupt practices, the Britain-based Transparency International said
in a report on the Mideast and North Africa region released in Beirut.
Of the 19 countries surveyed, only a few disclose their defense
budgets, the group said. None of the countries makes public the size
of its military or the troops' salaries.
In Syria, for example, the group notes that defense policy was under
tight control of the ruling Assad family even before the civil war
there. And countries in transition, such as Egypt, Libya Tunisia and
Yemen, lack any accountability, legislative oversight and credible
"whistleblowing" systems through which concerned officers or defense
officials can report suspected corruption.
It's a clear indication that replacing authoritarian leaders with
elected ones is not enough to eradicate corruption, Mark Pyman,
the director of the Transparency's Defense and Security Program,
told The Associated Press in an interview.
"Corruptive structures have been allowed to develop and mature within
defense institutions and armed forces over 20 or 30 years, and a
regime change will not make them go away," Pyman told the AP. "The new
administrations need to work actively to ensure that those elements
of state become properly accountable in defense and security issues."
There are no signs that Egypt's elected leaders are working to open
defense institutions to public oversight, Pyman said, and secrecy
and lack of accountability prevail in the aftermath of the political
turmoil that has been engulfing the country since President Hosni
Mubarak was toppled in a popular uprising two years ago.
In Egypt and in other countries that have experienced decades of
authoritarian rule, including Libya, Yemen, Algeria and Syria, the
military owns a large portion of commercial economic outlets. Little
or nothing is known about their profits.
The absence of independent legislatures in these countries contributes
to high political corruption risk, the group said, adding that it
has evidence that suggests organized crime has penetrated the defense
sectors in at least some of the countries.
Countries that are ranked slightly higher by the watchdog are Iraq,
Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Even so, their risk of
corruption is still significant given that they don't publicly
disclose the percentage of the national budget that is spent on
secret items. All these countries show limited activity to counter
corruption and enforce existing controls in the political part of the
defense sector, the report said, concluding that the risk of improper
purchases taking place in these nations remains high.
From: A. Papazian