Little fanfare for Int’l Anti-Corruption Day

Another activist pointed out the folly of marking the day with anything but a moment of silence; the Convention against Corruption means nothing after countries agreed last month that they didn’t need to submit to outside monitors who check to see whether countries are implementing the convention.

And why should anyone care whether countries are corrupt? It only matters to the people in those far-off countries, right? Wrong, according to a new book that shows the connections between corruption and security:

'Corruption, Global Security, and World Order' explores the ties between corrupt practice and threats to global peace, corrupt practice and the suppression of human rights and development, corrupt practice and the maintenance of tyranny, and corruption in health and education. Robert I. Rotberg and a distinguished group of contributors discuss the global ramifications and implications of deeply embedded corruption. They demonstrate how criminals and criminalized states now control numerous areas of the world. The book explores issues of human and drug trafficking, and it shows how nuclear and WMD smugglers often coexist with other traffickers.

Very heartening to see that more and more information is coming out about the connections between corruption, crime and conflict. (I saw a blurb on the book last week from a newish site on these connections -- The Crime-Conflict Nexus is a King’s College London project that studies organized crime and conflict.)

In other international news, more reports came out last week indicating that environmental initiatives – carbon trading and subsidies for wind farms – have attracted some bad characters. Europol announced that national treasuries in EU member states have been defrauded out of more than $7 billion thanks to missing-trader fraud on the carbon trading markets in the past 18 months. And several officials in Spain’s Canary Islands are facing charges of bribery and misappropriation of land over their involvement in building a wind farm there, reported the New York Times. Corsica and Italy have also been hot spots for schemes to skim off EU subsidies for wind farms.

In Europe, more than €6 billion in structural and agricultural subsidies have been allocated for renewable energy over a 13-year period ending in 2013. This is an attractive sum for a relatively new industry that experts say gets the benefit of the doubt because it has an eco-friendly image that seems above political reproach. And clean energy is at the forefront of the debate over climate change that is drawing global attention this week in Copenhagen.

The authorities say it is impossible to quantify the level of fraud in public spending on wind energy because investigations are scattered across different countries among the regional and fiscal police. But critics say the available riches and patchy controls are luring a rogue’s gallery of corrupt politicians and entrepreneurs trying to literally create money out of thin air.

“It’s the same mentality as a Texas oil strike,” said Jesus Bethencourt Rosillo, a Santa Lucía lawyer who represents a Canary Islands whistle-blower. “This is a gold rush, and everyone wants a wind park at whatever price.”

So, here we have the combination of an emerging industry, billions of euros in subsidies, and no one paying attention to fraud. Perhaps it’s time for someone to step in and regulate the industry? No, not at all, said industry representatives.

The European Wind Energy Association — which represents 600 manufacturers and members in 60 countries, including some outside of Europe, and which attracted more than €10.9 billion last year in investments — argues that problems with corruption are rare and that industry regulation is not needed.

“We have fraud legislation in all countries, and this is a matter for the national police,” said Christian Kjaer, chief executive of the trade group.

Serbia: Death threats over organized crime

A journalist and a Supreme Court judge both received death threats this month because of their work to uncover or eradicate organized crime in the country. Journalist Brankica Stankovic received dozens of death threats over her recent documentary about football hooligans and the crimes they’ve allegedly got away with, including murder and drug trafficking. Supporters of several Serbian teams were earlier linked to paramilitary groups that fought in the 1990s wars. More recently, the Serbian government passed a package of laws to crack down on hooligans after a group of them beat a French fan to death in September.

Stankovic said the death threats – which included someone posting “We will spill your brain” on her Facebook page – and her subsequent need for police protection show that these groups are as strong as ever.
"It is not the threats that worry me so much but the fact that they are still powerful enough," Stankovic said. "It's a scandal that journalists in Serbia have to work under police protection."

"All this is happening after the state said it will deal with them," Stankovic added.

Supreme Court President Nata Masarovic also received a death threat after the court rejected further appeals of two men found guilty of assassinating Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in 2003. This threat, however, came not from football hooligans or those affiliated with them in Serbia, but from Illinois, where a large Serbian Diaspora lives. Serbian authorities said they would be in touch with the FBI.

In related Djindjic-murder news, some of the heirs to members of the organized crime gang that organized the assassination were stripped of their assets by the Supreme Court last week.

And in news that might relieve legal and prudent drivers in Serbia (however few they might be), police last week arrested three police officers and are investigating driving schools and driver’s license testers on suspicion that they sold driver’s licenses for around €400 apiece. The investigation centers only on Pancevo, an industrial town north of Belgrade; a Serbian daily reported that this probe is only the beginning. Officials estimate that hundreds of licenses are sold every year throughout Serbia – a case of everyday corruption that undoubtedly contributes to the high number of fatal car accidents in Serbia.

Borissov’s anti-corruption drive gets high marks

As we prepare to draw a veil over 2009, German national news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur graded new Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov on his pledges this year to get rid of the corruption and gangsterism that prompted the European Union to freeze hundreds of millions in subsides to Bulgaria last year. DPA gave Borisov a good report card:

Since he took over on July 27, his cabinet has imposed stricter controls on the customs service, tax administration and the disbursement of EU funds. Scandals triggered by disclosure of abuse by officials from the previous government have been erupting almost daily in the media. Shocked by the amount of dirt his authorities have exposed so quickly, Borisov won an unprecedented 78-percent approval rating among voters 100 days into his four-year term.

Meanwhile, investigations over suspected abuse have targeted several former cabinet ministers, even the former premier and Socialist leader Sergey Stanishev, who may find himself accused of mishandling confidential documents. Others - former welfare minister Emilia Maslarova, former agriculture minister Valeri Tsvetanov and former defence minister Nikolay Tsonev - are being investigated for embezzlement or murky deals worth millions of euros.

Of course, work remains. A new poll last week reported that one in four Bulgarians paid a bribe this year, and that corruption is so deeply embedded in the country that it’s considered normal.