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191. The Georgia Risk-Limiting Audit/Hand Tally: A Carter Center Observation Report

Author:
The Carter Center
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Following the November 2020 election, Georgia conducted a risk-limiting audit (RLA) of the presidential race. This audit constituted the largest hand tally of an election race in U.S. history. The Carter Center, which has observed more than 110 elections in 39 countries, was the only nonpartisan organization credentialed by the Office of the Secretary of State to provide an impartial assessment of the implementation of the audit process. The Center had the same access provided to the political party monitors who were present throughout the state. In deploying independent monitors to observe the Georgia RLA, The Carter Center hoped to bolster voter confidence in Georgia’s electoral process by assessing the state’s efforts to improve the transparency of its elections.
Topic:
Corruption, Elections, Voting, Participation, Election Dispute, and Audit
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

192. Truth, Accountability, and Asset Recovery: How Transitional Justice Can Fight Corruption

Author:
Ruben Carranza
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Abstract:
On March 2 and 3, 2020, two weeks before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a COVID-19 global pandemic, transitional justice and anti-corruption policymakers, experts, and activists from the Gambia, Kenya, South Africa and Armenia met with their counterparts in Tunisia for a two-day conference entitled, “Truth, Accountability and Asset Recovery: How Transitional Justice Can Fight Corruption,” organized by ICTJ with the support of Tunisia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (INLUCC) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. This diverse group of leaders came together to share solutions to a common problem: How can countries emerging from dictatorship, war, or political transitions hold corrupt ex-rulers accountable, recover their ill-gotten assets, and ensure that those harmed the most by human rights violations and large-scale corruption can achieve justice, obtain reparations, and overcome marginalization? For many countries pursuing transitional justice, including those represented by participants in the conference, the health and economic impact of the pandemic has made it more urgent to find and design solutions that advance accountability for both human rights violations and corruption. In Kenya, for example, citizens questioned the government’s use of $12 million in COVID-19-related aid from the World Bank, “amid reports that the lockdown intended to curb the spread of the virus had worsened poverty, even forcing a mother to cook stones to make her eight children believe she was preparing food for them.” In Tunisia, INLUCC “identified 11 instances of suspected corruption and conflicts of interest” related to a government deal to acquire millions of facemasks. At the conference, participants brought up the role of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in enabling corruption during dictatorship or in facilitating state capture through privatization. Ninety-seven human rights and anti-corruption groups have jointly reminded the IMF, which has offered loans to pandemic-hit countries even as it continues to set austerity as a condition, that “transparency and accountability are key to making sure the money the IMF is disbursing actually goes to protecting lives and livelihoods.” This report gives an overview of the conference and its five panel discussions. It presents the thematic questions posed in each panel and summarizes the panelists’ statements and the comments and questions from moderators, other panelists, and participants in the audience. By design, the premise of the conference was clear: The practice by mainly global South countries of including accountability for corruption in their transitional justice processes has settled the debate over whether accountability for corruption should be part of transitional justice. In 2008, the Kenya Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission began investigating land-grabbing, large-scale corruption, and violations of economic and social rights. Soon after the Arab Spring in 2011-2012, Tunisia took the most significant steps when it established the Truth and Dignity Commission (TDC) with a mandate that covered violent political repression as well as corruption under former President Ben Ali. In its recently released final report, the commission examines the extent of the corruption and how the development policies and austerity measures imposed by international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF enabled it. In 2016, the post-dictatorship government in the Gambia created a truth commission to examine human rights violations as well as a separate commission of inquiry to investigate ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh’s corruption and identify his ill-gotten wealth. The latter commission is now considering using part of those assets to fund reparations. Although corruption was excluded from the mandate of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, activists in 2017 created the People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime that linked the continuity of post-apartheid corruption to the failure to address it in earlier transitional justice processes. In 2018, the South African government then created the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture to investigate specific economic crimes during and after apartheid. After the 2018 revolution in Armenia that ended a decade of authoritarian rule in the post-Soviet state, the new government embarked on prosecutions for corruption and human rights violations and is now considering a truth commission that would examine specific cases of corruption and human rights violations since 1991. These processes informed the conference, and the panelists who were directly involved in them discussed the challenges, successes, and lessons learned. This report’s original intent was to highlight the most important lessons from these experiences and promote South-South exchanges on transitional justice and accountability for corruption. However, the unprecedented global pandemic during which the conference took place has given it another equally relevant purpose. As ICTJ pointed out in a recent special report on COVID-19, “The pandemic is bringing to the surface underlying inequalities, including the unequal access to health care.” With this in mind, the author hopes this report will also offer policymakers practical approaches to transitional justice that can help address those underlying inequalities, such as measures aimed at improving access to health care for the most vulnerable, and initiatives to use recovered ill-gotten assets to fund reparations for victims.
Topic:
Corruption, Reform, Criminal Justice, Institutions, Reparations, COVID-19, and Truth and Reconciliation
Political Geography:
Kenya, Europe, Armenia, North Africa, Tunisia, Gambia, and Africa

193. Dead at the Root: Systemic Dysfunction and the Failure of Reform in Lebanon

Author:
Nour El Bejjani Noureddine and Anna Myriam Roccatello
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Abstract:
Lebanon is in crisis and its people are tired of decades of endemic corruption, mismanagement, and impunity and of moving from one disaster to the next without making any progress on long-awaited reforms. They have been left with a local currency that is rapidly declining in value, thus eroding their savings and livelihoods. The massive explosion in the capital on August 4, 2020, was only the latest tragedy, the result of decades of systemic dysfunction that perpetuates injustice for victims of all types of human rights violations in Lebanon and inflicts enduring harms on Lebanese society. During the 15-year civil war (1975–1990), more than 150,000 people died, 300,000 were injured or disabled, more than one million were displaced, and more than 17,000 went missing. Although the 1990 Ta’if Agreement effectively ended the armed conflict, it failed to address the human rights abuses committed during the war, a shortcoming that has also meant a failure to uphold victims’ rights. Rather than curbing sectarianism, one of the root causes of the war, the agreement strengthened it by establishing a system of power sharing among the different warring factions along sectarian lines. Today, nearly half of Lebanon’s population is living below the poverty line, with limited services and high economic insecurity. Since the war, the elite class in Lebanon has consistently blamed the country’s dysfunction on others, including neighboring countries and the international community, which have interfered in different ways in the politics and finances of the country. That narrative is no longer sufficient. It is clear that the problems Lebanon is facing today have deep-rooted causes that were never addressed at the end of the war. People will continue to find themselves victims of a corrupt and unjust system until that system is uprooted entirely, and a new, more just, equal, inclusive, and nonsectarian structure is set up in its place.
Topic:
Corruption, Reform, Criminal Justice, and Truth and Reconciliation
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

194. Tailor-made laws in the Western Balkans

Author:
Gjergji Vurmo
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
This CEPS Policy Insight takes a lively rhetorical approach to showing how state capture in the Western Balkans has been ignored since the launch of the region’s EU accession process, despite the many examples highlighted by civil society and independent media. It argues that while the EU first acknowledged the clear signs of state capture in an official document in 2016, Western Balkan political elites had already built powerful networks of corrupt interests around them. Not only that, they had already reached the highest point of state capture – tailor-made laws.
Topic:
Corruption, Law, European Union, and State Capture
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

195. OFES COVID-19 Brefing Series: Preventing Government Corruption in Crises

Author:
Erica Shenin
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
Abstract:
Preventing Government Corruption in Crises, the fifth paper in the International Foundation for Electoral Systems’ (IFES) COVID-19 Briefing Series, looks closely at this question and offers guidance for democracy and governance practitioners, policymakers and supporters. Corruption undermines the efficiency and efficacy of government, which, in the short term, can derail the response to a public emergency. It also drives distrust in democratic institutions, including legislatures, executive agencies and courts. As a result, corruption by bad actors in public office – whether for personal or political gain – has the potential to damage the credibility and integrity of governments long after the immediate crisis has passed. The long-term ill effects of political corruption must not be ignored, given the potential for state capture and the entrenchment of incumbent regimes. This risk is especially concerning as many elections have been postponed and modified as a result of the health crisis, subverting the ultimate accountability measure for governments. The unprecedented volume of funds being deployed to address the COVID-19 crisis and bolster economies creates new opportunities for exploitation and undermining of accountability mechanisms in several key areas.
Topic:
Corruption, Elections, Democracy, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

196. IFES COVID-19 Briefing Series: Preserving Independent and Accountable Institutions

Author:
Erica Shenin
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
Abstract:
Preserving Independent and Accountable Institutions, the final paper in the International Foundation for Electoral Systems’ (IFES) COVID-19 Briefing Series, looks closely at this question and offers guidance for independent institutions as well as legislatures, executive agencies, special task forces and the international community. While their role is not always acknowledged directly, independent institutions that undergird the democratic process — anti-corruption agencies, human rights institutions, supreme audit institutions and election management bodies, among others — have important roles to play in responding to all of the challenges presented in this series. When functioning properly, they can ensure safe, secure and trustworthy elections; bolster government transparency and information integrity; protect political rights; provide checks on government; and ensure the continuation of democratic processes during a crisis. When they lack the independence, resources or accountability mechanisms to be effective, they may be unable to play this essential role, now or over the longer term of crisis recovery. While these independent institutions usually operate in complex and often politicized environments, by design, they have faced unique challenges during the pandemic that impact their autonomy and accountability.
Topic:
Corruption, Elections, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

197. IFES Helps Shape UN's International Anti-corruption Agenda

Author:
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
Abstract:
The United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in June 2021 is a milestone event that will reflect on progress made under the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) since its inception. Most importantly, at the end of this session, the General Assembly has committed to producing an action-oriented political declaration to shape the international anti-corruption agenda for the coming years. “This event … has the potential to pave the way for strengthened global anti-corruption efforts and co-ordination between organisations active in the field of anti-corruption in the years to come.” – Secretariat of the Group of States Against Corruption The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an accredited observer to the Conference of the States Parties to UNCAC and welcomes the opportunity to inform this agenda based on three decades of experience supporting effective and accountable governing institutions in more than 145 countries. IFES believes that global commitment and cooperation on anti-corruption has become even more imperative as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has undermined existing transparency and accountability mechanisms globally and increased the risks of corrupt behavior. As part of our contribution to preparations for UNGASS 2021 and the development of a draft political declaration, IFES has recommended that the General Assembly include the following six priority areas in the agenda: Increasing transparency and accountability in political finance Addressing election-related corrupt practices Strengthening anti-corruption authorities and other independent institutions Strengthening judicial ethics and independence Leveraging civil society to bolster oversight and implementation Bolstering the UN Convention Against Corruption review process
Topic:
Corruption, International Cooperation, United Nations, Elections, Democracy, and Rigged Elections
Political Geography:
Global Focus

198. Iraq and Lebanon’s tortuous paths to reform

Author:
Nancy Ezzeddine
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
The recent protests in Iraq and Lebanon are driven by the effects of inadequate governance, which itself is a result of years of corruption, nepotism, and the appropriation of public authority and resources for sectarian purposes and self-enrichment. The governance model of both countries – sectarian quasi-democracy – is increasingly proving to be a long-term dead end. Both countries stare into the abyss of public bankruptcy, crumbling social services, growing poverty levels, and the lingering threat of renewed violence. Yet, the Lebanese and Iraqi political elites are stubbornly refusing to make more than token concessions to the protesters’ demands. The reform protesters seek are ambitious due to the many mechanisms that have entrenched elite capture of public authority and budgets in both countries over the past decades. These include, in particular: (1) the deep institutionalization of consociationalism that prevents more radical reform; (2) the pervasiveness of public/private arrangements that political elites use to dominate socioeconomic interactions to their benefits; and (3) the steady courting by many domestic political parties of foreign alliances that sustain the sectarian status quo. Notwithstanding the roadblocks to reform thrown up by these three mechanisms, this paper argues that today’s mix of political and economic crises offers opportunities bring about change. This is because these crises starkly expose the deep failure and unsustainability of current governance and development mechanisms in Lebanon and Iraq. Faced with resilient, stick systems that feature many veto players, reform is inevitably bound to be a gradual, long-term process that slowly and painfully strengthens and changes political structures. Key ingredients of such a path are the capacity of civil society structures to influence and guide decision making, the extent to which the international community is ready to challenge the status quo via conditions and incentives for genuine reform, and the ability to protestors to keep pressing for and prioritizing domestic agendas despite geopolitical tensions.
Topic:
Civil Society, Corruption, Reform, Alliance, Political Crisis, and Economic Crisis
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Lebanon

199. Mismatched Expectations are Straining EU-Ukraine Relations: Strengthening Mutual Trust and Credibility Should Remain Key Priority

Author:
Cristina Gherasimov
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Abstract:
Despite welcoming signs from the recent EU-Ukraine Summit, the underlying problems still loom large in this special relationship. The EU is running out of tools to incentivize more difficult reforms, and Ukraine is running out of arguments why it is unable to tackle corruption, oligarchs, and consolidate rule of law. With growing geopolitical turmoil in the region, a further strengthening of this partnership should be a priority. The risk of an increasing anti-Western backlash in Ukraine should not be underestimated.
Topic:
International Relations, Corruption, European Union, and Partnerships
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe

200. State of play of integrity policies in the Kosovo Police

Author:
Plator Avdiu and Shpat Balaj
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
In recent years, Kosovo’s security sector integrity practices, in particular Kosovo Police ones, have run into severe challenges, which have been exacerbated by the current Covid-19 pandemic the country is dealing with. Numerous police officers are subjected to criminal investigations by relevant rule-of-law mechanisms (Police Inspectorate of Kosovo and State Prosecution) for alleged criminal offenses related to breaches of legal procedures governing their official duties. On the other hand, the Prime Minister’s decision of October 2020 to discharge the former General Director of the Kosovo Police, has both directly and indirectly paved the way for political influence over the Kosovo Police by ruling parties. Furthermore, this may have a significant impact on discouraging structural reforms in the police, particularly in human resource management.
Topic:
Security, Corruption, Law Enforcement, and Police
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Kosovo