Difference between revisions of "Transparency International"

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[[Image:Corruption Perceptions Index 2006.png|right|thumb|Corruption Perceptions Index 2006 by Transparency International. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2006 ]]
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[[Image:TI.jpg|right|thumb|]]
  
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== Background==
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'''Transparency International''' (TI) is an NGO operating under the slogan "fighting corruption worldwide"<ref>About Us, [http://www.transparency.org.uk/aboutus/index.htm About Tranparency International UK], ''Transparency International'', Accessed 29-June-2009</ref>. The organisation's stated mission is "the relief of poverty, suffering and distress in any part of the world caused directly or indirectly by corruption", "the promotion, for the public benefit, of ethical standards of conduct and compliance with the law by the public and private sectors in international and domestic business transactions and overseas development initiatives", and "increasing awareness of corruption and its effects through communication initiatives to the wider public and active engagement with our membership"<ref>Mission, [http://www.transparency.org.uk/aboutus/index.htm About Us], ''Transparency International'', Accessed 06-July-2009</ref>.
  
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'''Transparency International''', (TI) was co-founded by [[Peter Eigen]] and [[Michael Hershman]].
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However, investigative journalist [[Greg Palast]] says, "Transparency International is itself a corrupted organization - a kind of bribery cartel".<ref>Greg Palast, [http://www.gregpalast.com/venezuela-corrupt-rntransparency-international-has-some-questions-to-answer-itself/ Venezuela Corrupt? "Transparency International" Has Some Questions to Answer Itself], ''Greg Palast Journalism and Film'', Accessed 06-July-2009</ref>  
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Another founding member of Transparency International, and Secretary-General for Jamaica, Ms [[Beth Aub]], resigned her membership of the ‘global anti-corruption body’ in 2004, alleging corrupt practices such as "facilitation payments" by TI, a term she described as another name for bribery and corruption.  
 
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<ref>Bolaji Abdullahi, [http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/01/14/20030114news03.html Bribery Scandal Rocks Transparency International], ''thisdayonline.com'', 16-November-2004, Accessed 24-June-2009</ref>
 
  
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== Transparency International's origins ==
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Writing in ''The Guardian'', Calvin Tucker describes the tension between the media perception and funding of Transparency International. He argues:
  
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TI's origins are in the World Bank:
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:The international corporate media considers TI to be a reliable source, despite the fact that almost all their funding comes from western governments and big business. The British government is one of the major donors, contributing £1 million in 2007. Other donors include the US government, [[Shell]] and [[ExxonMobil]].<ref>Calvin Tucker, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/22/seeingthroughtransparencyin Seeing through Transparency International], ''The Guardian'', Comment is Free, 22 May 2008.</ref>
  
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:"But then [James D] Wolfensohn came to the World Bank and we immediately made contact with Wolfensohn. And he invited us over to Washington to make a presentation to the senior staff on the effect of corruption on World Bank projects because our argument was that corruption was an economic matter, not a political one. This was about 1995. And then Wolfensohn made a very famous speech in Hong Kong when he said the World Bank was going to take on the corruption issue and not one government opposed this."<ref>Ref needed</ref>
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Tranparency International's roots can be found in the [[World Bank]]. The NGO was founded by [[Peter Eigen]] formerly of the world bank and TI operate in a similar way. Criticising the World Bank [[George Monbiot]] highlights the way that neoliberal considerations form the basis of their lending, he says:
  
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An interview with [[Jeremy Pope]] tells us of the organisation's origins:
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: "The recipient countries can request whatever they want as long as it’s neoliberalism.<ref>George Mobiot, [http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/25/073.html Helping The Poorest To Get Poorer; The World Bank and the IMF are beyond reform. Shut them down], ''The Guardian'', 21-September-2000, Accessed 30-July-2009</ref>"
  
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:[[Peter Eigen]] was the first chair. In fact, he's retiring next month. [[Laurence Cockcroft]], who is a British development economist; [[Joe Githongo]], a Kenyan, who is an accountant; [[Michael Hershman]], an American, who had been in control of [[USAID]], who is very strong on corruption in institutions. There was [[Kamal Hossein]], a former minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, a very distinguished international lawyer, and considered in Bangladesh to be the most honest person in the country - that's why when he stands for Parliament, he loses. [[Frank Vogel]] was in there as well. He was a former correspondent in Washington for the London Times and had spent two or three years at the World Bank running their information division."<ref>Tiri [http://www.tiri.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=50 interview with Jeremy Pope]</ref>
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Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) follows a similar ideology. The CPI seeks to find the problem of corruption amongst the governments of developing nations. This can be seen by looking at the CPI which highlights high levels of corruption amongst the poorest countries and low levels of corruption among the richest. This reinforces the dogma that poor countries have themselves to blame for the predicament they are in. This neoliberal perspective held by the World Bank and reinforced by Transparency International through the CPI makes it easier to place conditions on any money lent out to the worlds poorest nations.  
  
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This adds that the initial money was provided by the  [[Rowntree Foundation]], and the [[Nuffield Foundation]]. The German development agency guaranteed their rent, and then, the [[Ford Foundation]] came in. "Finally, what really made TI was when USAID came with about $3 million. At that stage, I decided I didn't want to manage this thing anymore."<ref>Ref needed</ref>
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== History ==
  
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[[Michael Hershman]] was a Special Agent with U.S. Military Intelligence and both the Ford Foundation and USAID have close connections with the US Secret State.  Jeremy Pope has started up his own organisations [[Tiri]] with similarly high level funders.
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Transparency International was founded in 1993 by the former World Bank official [[Peter Eigen]] along with [[Michael Hershman]], [[Jeremy Pope]], [[Laurence Cockcroft]], [[Joe Githongo]], [[Michael Hershman]], [[Kamal Hossein]], and [[Frank Vogl]]<ref>Jeremy Pope, [http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=11764 Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader], ''Sun2Surf'', 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009</ref>. Founding member Jeremy Pope described in an interview the emergence of an idea "that a group could organise to campaign against corruption on the part of the rich multinationals in the North as one way of helping the South with the problem that it was experiencing"<ref>Jeremy Pope, [http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=11764 Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader], ''Sun2Surf'', 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009</ref>.
  
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According to TI The first [http://ww1.transparency.org/about_ti/history.html#note2 Board] comprised Chairman [[Peter Eigen]] (Germany), Vice-Chairman [[Kamal Hossain]] (Bangladesh), Vice-Chairman [[Frank Vogl]] (USA), Laurence Cockroft (UK), [[Dolores Espanol]] (Philippines), [[Theo Frank]] (Namibia), [[Joe Githongo]] (Kenya), [[Michael Hershman]] (USA), and [[Gerry Parfitt]] (UK).<ref>In October 2002, parliamentarians from different parts of the world set up the [[Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption]] (GOPAC). In 2003, a committee made of representatives of the private sector (including General Electric, [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]] ([[Gerry Parfitt]] mentioned above is PwC) and Shell International), non-governmental organizations, the [[European Bank for Reconstruction and  Development]] and the [[Trade Union Advisory Committee]] to the OECD elaborated the Business Principles for countering bribery. See Julie Bajolle (2005) [http://hussonet.free.fr/bajolle.pdf The origins and motivations of the current emphasis on corruption: The case of transparency international] paper for Common Session on Criminal Justice and Critical Criminology, Univresity of Hamburg, May 8 – 10, 2006 Hamburg, Internationalisation of Criminal Justice and Security Policy.</ref>
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Jeremy Pope traces the early sources of funding for TI when he says "the initial money was provided by the [[Rowntree Foundation]], and the [[Nuffield Foundation]]. The German development agency guaranteed their rent, and then, the [[Ford Foundation]] came in. "Finally, what really made TI was when [[USAID]] came with about $3 million. At that stage, I decided I didn't want to manage this thing anymore."<ref>Jeremy Pope, [http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=11764 Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader], ''Sun2Surf'', 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009</ref>.
  
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The first Advisory council comprised [[Oscar Arias Sanchez]] (Costa Rica), [[Paul Batchelor]] (UK), [[Peter Berry]] (UK), [[Alberto Dahik]] (Ecuador), [[Boubakar Diaby-Ouattara]] (Ivory Coast), [[Ugo Draetta]] (Italy), [[Hansjörg Elshorst]] (Germany), [[Dieter Frisch]] (Germany), [[Johan Galtung]] (Norway), [[Roy Herberger]] (USA), [[Gerhard Kienbaum]] (Germany), [[Alain Marsaud]] (France), [[Ian Martin]] (UK), [[Hans Matthöfer]] (Germany), [[Ronald MacLean Abaroa]] (Bolivia), [[Peter MacPherson]] (USA), [[Ira Millstein]] (USA), [[Festus Mogae]] (Botswana), [[Miklos Nemeth]] (Hungary), [[Olusegun Obasanjo]] (Nigeria), [[Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah]] (Mauritania), [[Devendra Raj Panday]] (Nepal), [[Joe B. Wanjui]] (Kenya), [[Andrew Young]] (USA).
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According to Jeremy Pope the [[World Bank]] dismissed corruption as a political issue and refused to broach the topic until [[James Wolfenson]] became the president of the organisation. Pope describes this example of a shift in policy towards corruption as important because "One of our missions in TI was to reverse the policies of the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme and so on, on the corruption issue and very quickly, we’ve achieved them. It was really quite phenomenal. We thought it might take about 10 years and it had taken months rather than years."<ref>Jeremy Pope, [http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=11764 Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader], ''Sun2Surf'', 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009</ref>.
  
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According to TI funding from the Ford Foundation was organised by [[Fritz Heimann]] Counselor to the General Counsel, [[General Electric Company]] and founding member and director of Transparency International. Heimann writes for the Council on Foreign Relations'<ref>[http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19980901facomment1414/john-brademas-fritz-heimann/tackling-international-corruption-no-longer-taboo.html Foreign Affairs]</ref> Foreign Affairs journal with [[John Brademas]], Chairman of the [[National Endowment for Democracy]], and a member of Transparency International's International Advisory Council. Fritz Heimann was Chair of [[Transparency International USA]] from 1993 to 2005. 
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==Activities==
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[[Image:Corruption Perceptions Index 2006.png|right|thumb|Corruption Perceptions Index 2006 by Transparency International. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2006]]
  
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Wesley A. Cragg and William Woof's [http://iscte.pt/~ansmd/CC-Cragg.pdf The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act  and its implications for the Control of Corruption in Political Life], states that when American MNC Westinghouse claimed that the commissions paid in the course of its contract for nuclear generating facilities for Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos were proper and that no US  laws were violated, the company’s assertions were challenged by other sources within the Philippine government who claim that commissions of $50 million were actually paid, out of which Marcos himself received $30 million. The arbitration of the case was heard by the International Chamber of Commerce, which ruled in December 1991 that there was insufficient evidence to support charges of bribery against Westinghouse. Of Heimann they say:
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Transparency International publishes a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which according to Jeremy Pope, "was developed because journalists kept asking, "Who were the worst countries? Who were the best?"<ref>Jeremy Pope, [http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=11764 Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader], ''Sun2Surf'', 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009</ref>. TI operates a series of five programmes each tackling corruption in a different area. TI describes the programmes as follows:
  
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:"Fritz Heimann notes in correspondence to Wesley Cragg, dated December 18, 2000,  that ‘the ICC ultimately decided that the Westinghouse payment to the brother of Imelda Marcos was not a bribe because he was not a government official and the Philippine government had produced no evidence that any of the money had been paid to a government official’. It should be noted that the US courts refused Westinghouse’s attempt to throw out the case based on the ICC decision. We replied to Fritz Heimann  that Mr. Romualdez served in various government posts and could hardly claim to have  an arm’s length relationship to the Marcos family."<ref>Ref needed</ref>
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*Programme 1 - Corruption in the Infrastructure, Construction and Engineering Sector
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*Programme 2 - Defence Against Corruption
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*Programme 3 - UK Anti-Corruption Strategy and Implementation of International Conventions
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*Programme 4 - Domestic Corruption and Reform of Corruption Law
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*Programme 5 - Increasing Awareness of the Impacts of Corruption and Fraud<ref>About Us, [http://www.transparency.org.uk/aboutus/TI-UK_2007-S-Plan_30%20Mar%2007.pdf Strategic Plan 2007-2010], ''Transparency International'', Accessed 06-July-2009</ref>.
  
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==Spotlighting Venezuela==
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==Controversy==
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On 28 April 2008, TI published a report on the transparency of oil revenue accounts of many countries.<ref>[http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2008/promoting_revenue_transparency Promoting Revenue Transparency] (Accessed: 23 May 2008)</ref>  The curious aspect of the report is the way Venezuela's accounting was reported:
 
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:The credibility of Transparency International, a global "non-partisan" organisation which "promotes transparency in elections, in public administration, in procurement and in business", is on the line. Their latest report on Venezuela, which was produced after months of research, is factually inaccurate in almost every respect. TI say that they "stand by their report" and stand by the person who compiled the data, an anti-Chávez activist who backed the 2002 military coup against democracy.<br>The full report, dated April 28 2008 and titled Promoting Revenue Transparency examined the published accounts of oil companies in 42 different countries, and ranked them according to whether they were of high, medium or low transparency. Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA was given the lowest possible ranking. Transparency International say that "comprehensive corporate reporting diminishes the opportunities for corrupt officials to extort funds".<br>PDVSA was directly accused of failing to disclose basic financial information such as their revenues and how much royalties they paid, and of not producing properly audited accounts. The international corporate media considers TI to be a reliable source, despite the fact that almost all their funding comes from western governments and big business. The British government is one of the major donors, contributing £1 million in 2007. Other donors include the US government, Shell and Exxon Mobil. Unsurprisingly, TI's damning report was seized upon by rightwing newspapers and websites and used as another stick with which to beat Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chávez.<br>When Dan Burnett, a New York-based blogger who runs the popular Oil Wars website, read the TI report, he almost choked on his cornflakes. Burnett had been analysing PDVSA's accounts for several years, and regularly writes about the financial information that TI claims does not exist.<br>I checked the PDVSA website. Burnett was right to be astonished. On page 127 of their financial statement it says that revenue for 2007 was $96.242bn, and that they paid $21.9bn in royalties. On page 148, PDVSA's auditors state that the accounts were prepared in accordance with international accounting standards. Further research showed that PDVSA's financial statements are also published in hard copy, and are widely reported in the domestic media, both in newspapers and on television.<br>&hellip;<br>However, TI's explanation for their inaccurate report on PDVSA contained a much more serious problem. It was wrong. The March 29 edition of El Universal, a major opposition newspaper, featured a report on PDVSA's financial statement, together with a photograph of PDVSA's president, Rafael Ramirez, holding up a copy of the 2007 report and accounts. The information that TI claimed was being withheld by PDVSA, was published four weeks before they made their allegations. Armed with this additional information, I attempted to contact TI's press spokesperson again for a comment. My calls were not returned.<br>&hellip;<br>Transparency International denies that they pursue an anti-Chavez agenda. "We are not a political organisation", their spokesperson told me. Despite this denial, TI's Venezuela bureau is staffed by opponents of the Venezuelan government (pdf). The directors include Robert Bottome, the publisher of Veneconomia, a strident opposition journal, and Aurelio Concheso of the Centre for the Dissemination of Economic Knowledge, a conservative thinktank funded by the US government. Concheso was previously a director of the employers' organisation, Fedecamaras. The president of Fedecamaras, Pedro Carmo, led the failed 2002 coup and was briefly installed as Venezuela's dictator.<br>The data in TI's report was gathered by Mercedes de Freitas, the head of their Caracas bureau and a longtime opponent of President Chávez. De Freitas' previous job was running a US government funded opposition "civil society" group. The Nation reported on her response to the 2002 military coup: "... on the night of April 12 - after Carmona suspended the assembly - Mercedes de Freitas, a director of the Fundacion Momento de la Gente, a legislative monitoring project subsidized by NED [National Endowment for Democracy, a US government agency], emailed the endowment defending the military and Carmona, claiming the takeover was not a military coup."<ref>Calvin Tucker, [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/calvin_tucker/2008/05/seeing_through_transparency_in.html.printer.friendly Seeing through Transparency International], Comment is Free, 22 May 2008.</ref>
 
  
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== Funders ==
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Investigative journalist Greg Palast subjects Tranparency International to strong criticism. He argues, "one of its big benefactors is [[Balfour Beatty]] construction - Britain's 'Halliburton' - which has admitted to massive bribery. Five years ago I reported how the former chairman of Transparency International's backer, "announced with enormous pride that he personally had handed over the check to the government minister for the Pergau Dam bribe."<ref>Greg Palast, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2000/jul/09/columnists.guardiancolumnists War on corruption? Not quite, Minister], ''The Guardian'', 9-July-2000, Accessed 07-July-2009</ref>.
  
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<table border="1" bgcolor="white" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="80%" align="center">
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Palast writes: "TI's support comes from bribe payers who want to reduce their pay-outs -- but not eliminate them or the edge they give over honest businesses".<ref>Greg Palast, [http://www.gregpalast.com/venezuela-corrupt-rntransparency-international-has-some-questions-to-answer-itself/ Venezuela Corrupt? "Transparency International" Has Some Questions to Answer Itself], ''Greg Palast Journalism and Film'', Accessed 06-July-2009</ref>
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<tr>
 
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<td width="33%">ABB</td>
 
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<td width="33%">AMEC</td>
 
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<td>Anglo American</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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===Corruption Perceptions Index===
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<td>Bombardier</td>
 
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<td>BP International</td>
 
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<td>Consolidated Contractors</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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The Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index has drawn increasing criticism in the decade since its launch, leading to calls for the index to be abandoned. Fredrik Galtung, a former Transparency International researcher and pioneer in the development of the Bribe Payers Index (BPI), addresses several criticisms of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). He argues that the CPI should be radically revised and complemented by additional indicators<ref>Galtung, Fredrik (2006). "Measuring the Immeasurable: Boundaries and Functions of (Macro) Corruption Indices," in Measuring Corruption, Charles Sampford, Arthur Shacklock, Carmel Connors, and Fredrik Galtung, Eds. (Ashgate): 101-130. .</ref><ref>Sik, Endre (2002). "The Bad, the Worse and the Worst: Guesstimating the Level of Corruption," in Political Corruption in Transition: A Skeptic's Handbook, Stephen Kotkin and Andras Sajo, Eds. (Budapest: Central European University Press): 91-113.</ref>.
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<td>EBRD</td>
 
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<td>Fluor Corporation</td>
 
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<td>Halcrow Group</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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The investigative journalist Greg Palast has criticised the methods by which the CPI is calculated:
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<td>Hilti Corporation</td>
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:What is the source of the Transparency International corruption index? It runs "surveys" of corrupt countries by asking corrupt corporate leaders which nations they consider corrupt.<ref>Greg Palast, "[http://www.gregpalast.com/venezuela-corrupt-rntransparency-international-has-some-questions-to-answer-itself/ Venezuela Corrupt? 'Transparency International' Has Some Questions to Answer Itself]", Greg Palast Journalism and Film website, 16 May 2005, accessed 7 July 2009</ref>
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<td>Hochtief</td>
 
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<td>International Federation of Inspection Agencie</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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===Jamaica===
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<td>ISIS Equity Partners</td>
 
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<td>KPMG</td>
 
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<td>Motorola</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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[[Beth Aub]] was a co-founder of Transparency International and was the general secretary for TI's Jamaica chapter. She resigned her membership of the ‘global anti-corruption body’ in 2004, alleging that TI tolerated corrupt practices such as "facilitation payments", a term she described as another name for bribery and corruption.<ref>Bolaji Abdullahi, [http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/01/14/20030114news03.html Bribery Scandal Rocks Transparency International], ''thisdayonline.com'', 16-November-2004, Accessed 24-June-2009</ref>
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<td>Novo Nordisk</td>
 
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<td>Obayashi Corporation</td>
 
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<td>Pfizer</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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Transparency International gave Jamaica a poor ranking in the corruption perceptions index of 2007. According to Beth Aub this low ranking was likely to have been due to reports that Netherlands based oil company [[Trafigura Beheer]] had paid the the People's National Party, the then governing party in Jamaica, a donation of $31 million. This example shows that the practices of a Netherlands based oil company can affect the corruption perception index of Jamaica, yet have no affect on the Netherlands, which was rated the 7th cleanest country in TI's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index. In addition, the corruption of the private company Trafigura -- which made the payment -- passed unremarked by Transparency International.<ref>Mark Beckford, [http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070927/lead/lead1.html Jamaica more corrupt - Falls 23 places on International Perception Index], Jamaica Gleaner, 27-September-2007, Accessed 07-July-2009</ref><ref>CPI Corruption Perception Index, [http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007 2007 Index], ''Transparency International'', Accessed 07-July-2009</ref>
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<td>PricewaterhouseCoopers</td>
 
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<td>Rio Tinto</td>
 
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<td>SGS</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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===Venezuela===
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<td>SIKA</td>
 
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<td>Skanska</td>
 
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<td>SNC Lavalin</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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In 2008 the organisation was criticised over its report on Venezuela entitled "Promoting Revenue Transparency".<ref>"[http://www.transparency.org/news_room/in_focus/2008/promoting_revenue_transparency Promoting Revenue Transparency]", Transparency International, 27 April 2008, accessed 7 July 2009</ref> The report examined the published accounts of oil companies in 42 different countries, and ranked them according to whether they were of high, medium or low transparency. The report claimed that Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA had failed to disclose basic financial information such as their revenues, royalties, and that they had not produced properly audited accounts. As a result, the report gave PDVSA the lowest possible ranking for transparency.
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<td>Deutsche Bank</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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But it later emerged that the information on PDVSA's accounts was freely and publicly available. Further investigation uncovered that Transparency International's Venezuelan chapter was run by political opponents of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, leading to claims of a bias by TI against the Venezuelan government.<ref>Calvin Tucker, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/22/seeingthroughtransparencyin Seeing through Transparency International], ''The Guardian'', 22-May-2008, Accessed 06-July-2009</ref>
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<th colspan="3">Between &euro; 50,000 AND &euro; 200,000:</th>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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Calvin Tucker, co-editor of 21stcenturysocialism.com, wrote in an article in The Guardian that TI's "report on Venezuela, which was produced after months of research, is factually inaccurate in almost every respect." He adds, "Unsurprisingly, TI's damning report was seized upon by rightwing newspapers and websites and used as another stick with which to beat Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chávez."<ref>Calvin Tucker, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/22/seeingthroughtransparencyin Seeing through Transparency International], ''The Guardian'', 22-May-2008, Accessed 06-July-2009</ref>
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<td>Federal Foreign Office - Germany</td>
 
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<td>Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA)</td>
 
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<td>Chr. Michelsen Institute - Norway</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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In reply to criticism of the report, TI said that they "stand by their report" and stand by the person who compiled the data, whom Tucker describes as an anti-Chávez activist who backed the 2002 military coup against democracy.<ref>Calvin Tucker, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/22/seeingthroughtransparencyin Seeing through Transparency International], ''The Guardian'', 22-May-2008, Accessed 06-July-2009</ref>
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<td>Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)</td>
 
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<td>Ireland AID</td>
 
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<td>The Charles S. Mott Foundation USA</td>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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It is worth asking why Venezuela's oil industry should be a particular focus of investigation. A possible reason is that Venezuela is one of very few countries with a state-run oil industry. The profits from its oil industry are put into social programmes.<ref>Trent Hawkins, "[http://inhabitable-earth.blogspot.com/ Climate change -- the case for public ownership]', Inhabitable Earth website, 16 February 2009, accessed 7 July 2009</ref> In other words, its oil industry is not in the hands of, or available to, the big oil companies, some of which are among the funders of TI.
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<th colspan="3">Over &euro; 200,000:</th>
 
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</tr>
 
  
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<tr>
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== Funders ==
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<td>European Commission</td>
 
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<td>Ministry for Foreign Affairs - Finland</td>
 
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<td>Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) - Germany</td>
 
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</tr>
 
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<tr>
 
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<td>Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)</td>
 
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<td>US Agency for International Development (USAID)</td>
 
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<td>Department for International Development (DFID) - UK</td>
 
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</tr>
 
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<tr>
 
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<td>Ministry of Foreign Affairs - The Netherlands</td>
 
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<td>Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)</td>
 
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<td>Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)</td>
 
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</tr>
 
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<tr>
 
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<td>The Ford Foundation - USA</td>
 
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<td>AVINA Group - Switzerland</td>
 
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<td>Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)</td>
 
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</tr>
 
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<tr>
 
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<td>Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs</td>
 
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</tr>
 
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<tr>
 
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<th colspan="3" bgcolor="palegoldenrod">Private Sector</th>
 
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</tr>
 
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<tr><th colspan="3" style="font-style:normal;font-size:10pt" align="left">TI also received "generous contributions" from participants in the Global Corporations for Transparency International (GCTI)
 
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initiative <ref>[http://www.transparency.org/support_us/support]</ref>:</th></tr>
 
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<tr><td>Exxon</td>
 
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<td>General Electric</td>
 
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<td>Lafarge</td></tr>
 
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<tr><td>Merck</td>
 
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<td>Norsk Hydro</td>
 
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<td>SAP AG</td></tr>
 
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<tr><td>Shell International</td>
 
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<td>Sovereign Asset Management Sovereign Global Development Anglo American</td>
 
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<td>Nexen UBS</td></tr>
 
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<tr><th colspan="3" style="font-style:normal;font-size:10pt" align="left">Companies participating in this initiative typically contribute 50,000 Euro per year to Transparency International.</th></tr>
 
−
<tr><th colspan="3" bgcolor="palegoldenrod">Participants in private sector projects</th></tr>
 
−
<tr><td>ABB</td>
 
−
<td>Amanco</td>
 
−
<td>Bombardier</td></tr>
 
−
 
 
−
<tr><td>BP</td>
 
−
<td>Calvert</td>
 
−
<td>Consolidated Contractors</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>F&amp;C Asset Management</td>
 
  
−
<td>Fluor Corporation</td>
+
[[Anglo American]] | [[Bombardier]] | [[BP International Consolidated Contractors]] | [[EBRD]] | [[Fluor Corporation]] | [[Halcrow Group]] | [[Hilti Corporation]] | [[Hochtief]] | [[International Federation of Inspection Agencies]] | [[ISIS Equity Partners]] | [[KPMG]] | [[Motorola]] | [[Novo Nordisk]] | [[Obayashi Corporation]] | [[Pfizer]] | [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]] | [[Rio Tinto]] | [[SGS]] | [[SIKA]] | [[Skanska]] | [[SNC Lavalin]] | [[Deutsche Bank]]
−
<td>Halcrow</td></tr>
 
−
<tr><td>Hilti</td>
 
  
−
<td>Hochtief</td>
+
===Between &euro; 50,000 AND &euro; 200,000===
−
<td>International Federation of Inspection Agencies</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>ISIS</td>
+
Federal Foreign Office - Germany | Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA) | Chr. Michelsen Institute - Norway | Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) | Ireland AID | The Charles S. Mott Foundation USA
−
<td>Merck</td>
 
−
<td>Motorola</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>Norsk Hydro</td>
+
===Over &euro; 200,000===
−
<td>Pfizer</td>
 
−
<td>PricewaterhouseCoopers</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>Rio Tinto</td>
+
[[European Commission]] | Ministry for Foreign Affairs - Finland | Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) - Germany | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) | US Agency for International Development ([[USAID]]) | Department for International Development (DFID) - UK | Ministry of Foreign Affairs - The Netherlands | Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) | Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) | The [[Ford Foundation]] - USA | AVINA Group - Switzerland | Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) | Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
−
<td>SGS</td>
 
−
<td>Sika</td></tr>
 
−
<tr><td>Skanska</td>
 
  
−
<td>SNC Lavalin</td>
+
===Private Sector===
−
<td>TRACE</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><th colspan="3" bgcolor="palegoldenrod">Individuals and Other Donors</th></tr>
+
[[Exxon]] | [[General Electric]] | [[Lafarge]] | [[Merck]] | [[Norsk Hydro]] | [[SAP AG]] | [[Shell International]] | [[Sovereign Asset Management Sovereign Global Development Anglo American]] | [[Nexen UBS]]<ref>[http://www.transparency.org/support_us/support Who supports us], TI website, accessed 7 July 2009</ref>
−
<tr><td>William F. Biggs (USA)</td>
 
−
<td>Hartmut Fischer (Germany)</td>
 
−
<td>Arnesto Gon&ccedil;alves Segredo (The Netherlands)</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>Basel Institute on Governance (Switzerland)</td>
+
===Participants in private sector projects===
−
<td>Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE USA)</td>
 
−
<td>Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG Germany)</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)</td>
+
[[ABB]] | [[Amanco]] | [[Bombardier]] | [[BP]] | [[Calvert]] | [[Consolidated Contractors]] | [[F&amp;C Asset Management]] | [[Fluor Corporation]] | [[Halcrow]] | [[Hilti]] | [[Hochtief]] | [[International Federation of Inspection Agencies]] | [[ISIS]] | [[Merck]] | [[Motorola]] | [[Norsk Hydro]] | [[Pfizer]] | [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]] | [[Rio Tinto]] | [[SGS]] | [[Sika]] | [[Skanska]] | [[SNC Lavalin]] | [[TRACE]]
−
<td>Fondation Pro Victimis (Switzerland)</td>
 
−
<td>Gesamtverband Kommunikationsagenturen (GWA Germany)</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>KPMG</td>
+
===Individuals and Other Donors===
−
<td>IHK Frankfurt (Germany)</td>
 
−
<td>Lahmeyer International</td></tr>
 
  
−
<tr><td>Ministry for Foreign Affairs Norway</td>
+
[[William F. Biggs]] | [[Hartmut Fischer]] (Germany) | [[Arnesto Gon&ccedil;alves Segredo]] (The Netherlands) | [[Basel Institute on Governance]] (Switzerland) | [[Center for International Private Enterprise]] (CIPE USA) | [[Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft]] (DEG Germany) | [[European Bank for Reconstruction and Development]] (EBRD) | [[Fondation Pro Victimis]] (Switzerland) | [[Gesamtverband Kommunikationsagenturen]] (GWA Germany) | [[KPMG]] | [[IHK Frankfurt]] (Germany) | [[Lahmeyer International]] | [[Ministry for Foreign Affairs Norway]] | [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand]] (NZAID) | [[Partners of the Americas]] (USA) | [[Stockholm International Water Institute]] (Sweden) | [[The World Bank]] (IBRD)<ref>[http://www.transparency.org/about_ti/annual_rep/index.html 2009 Global Corruption Barometer], TI website, accessed 7 July 2009</ref>
−
<td>Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand (NZAID)</td>
 
−
<td>Partners of the Americas (USA)</td></tr>
 
−
 
 
−
<tr><td>Stockholm International Water Institute (Sweden)</td>
 
−
<td>The World Bank (IBRD)</td></tr>
 
−
<tr>
 
−
<th colspan="3" bgcolor="palegoldenrod" align="left" style="font-size:10pt">
 
−
Source: <ref>[http://ww1.transparency.org/about_ti/annual_rep/index.html]</ref>
 
−
</th>
 
−
</tr>
 
−
</table>
 
  
 
==Affiliations==
 
==Affiliations==
Line 243: Line 114:
 
===References===
 
===References===
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
 +
[[Category:NGOs]]

Latest revision as of 14:12, 30 July 2009

TI.jpg

Transparency International (TI) is an NGO operating under the slogan "fighting corruption worldwide"[1]. The organisation's stated mission is "the relief of poverty, suffering and distress in any part of the world caused directly or indirectly by corruption", "the promotion, for the public benefit, of ethical standards of conduct and compliance with the law by the public and private sectors in international and domestic business transactions and overseas development initiatives", and "increasing awareness of corruption and its effects through communication initiatives to the wider public and active engagement with our membership"[2].

However, investigative journalist Greg Palast says, "Transparency International is itself a corrupted organization - a kind of bribery cartel".[3]

Writing in The Guardian, Calvin Tucker describes the tension between the media perception and funding of Transparency International. He argues:

The international corporate media considers TI to be a reliable source, despite the fact that almost all their funding comes from western governments and big business. The British government is one of the major donors, contributing £1 million in 2007. Other donors include the US government, Shell and ExxonMobil.[4]

Tranparency International's roots can be found in the World Bank. The NGO was founded by Peter Eigen formerly of the world bank and TI operate in a similar way. Criticising the World Bank George Monbiot highlights the way that neoliberal considerations form the basis of their lending, he says:

"The recipient countries can request whatever they want as long as it’s neoliberalism.[5]"

Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) follows a similar ideology. The CPI seeks to find the problem of corruption amongst the governments of developing nations. This can be seen by looking at the CPI which highlights high levels of corruption amongst the poorest countries and low levels of corruption among the richest. This reinforces the dogma that poor countries have themselves to blame for the predicament they are in. This neoliberal perspective held by the World Bank and reinforced by Transparency International through the CPI makes it easier to place conditions on any money lent out to the worlds poorest nations.

History

Transparency International was founded in 1993 by the former World Bank official Peter Eigen along with Michael Hershman, Jeremy Pope, Laurence Cockcroft, Joe Githongo, Michael Hershman, Kamal Hossein, and Frank Vogl[6]. Founding member Jeremy Pope described in an interview the emergence of an idea "that a group could organise to campaign against corruption on the part of the rich multinationals in the North as one way of helping the South with the problem that it was experiencing"[7].

Jeremy Pope traces the early sources of funding for TI when he says "the initial money was provided by the Rowntree Foundation, and the Nuffield Foundation. The German development agency guaranteed their rent, and then, the Ford Foundation came in. "Finally, what really made TI was when USAID came with about $3 million. At that stage, I decided I didn't want to manage this thing anymore."[8].

According to Jeremy Pope the World Bank dismissed corruption as a political issue and refused to broach the topic until James Wolfenson became the president of the organisation. Pope describes this example of a shift in policy towards corruption as important because "One of our missions in TI was to reverse the policies of the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme and so on, on the corruption issue and very quickly, we’ve achieved them. It was really quite phenomenal. We thought it might take about 10 years and it had taken months rather than years."[9].

Activities

Corruption Perceptions Index 2006 by Transparency International. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2006

Transparency International publishes a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which according to Jeremy Pope, "was developed because journalists kept asking, "Who were the worst countries? Who were the best?"[10]. TI operates a series of five programmes each tackling corruption in a different area. TI describes the programmes as follows:

  • Programme 1 - Corruption in the Infrastructure, Construction and Engineering Sector
  • Programme 2 - Defence Against Corruption
  • Programme 3 - UK Anti-Corruption Strategy and Implementation of International Conventions
  • Programme 4 - Domestic Corruption and Reform of Corruption Law
  • Programme 5 - Increasing Awareness of the Impacts of Corruption and Fraud[11].

Controversy

Investigative journalist Greg Palast subjects Tranparency International to strong criticism. He argues, "one of its big benefactors is Balfour Beatty construction - Britain's 'Halliburton' - which has admitted to massive bribery. Five years ago I reported how the former chairman of Transparency International's backer, "announced with enormous pride that he personally had handed over the check to the government minister for the Pergau Dam bribe."[12].

Palast writes: "TI's support comes from bribe payers who want to reduce their pay-outs -- but not eliminate them or the edge they give over honest businesses".[13]

Corruption Perceptions Index

The Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index has drawn increasing criticism in the decade since its launch, leading to calls for the index to be abandoned. Fredrik Galtung, a former Transparency International researcher and pioneer in the development of the Bribe Payers Index (BPI), addresses several criticisms of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). He argues that the CPI should be radically revised and complemented by additional indicators[14][15].

The investigative journalist Greg Palast has criticised the methods by which the CPI is calculated:

What is the source of the Transparency International corruption index? It runs "surveys" of corrupt countries by asking corrupt corporate leaders which nations they consider corrupt.[16]

Jamaica

Beth Aub was a co-founder of Transparency International and was the general secretary for TI's Jamaica chapter. She resigned her membership of the ‘global anti-corruption body’ in 2004, alleging that TI tolerated corrupt practices such as "facilitation payments", a term she described as another name for bribery and corruption.[17]

Transparency International gave Jamaica a poor ranking in the corruption perceptions index of 2007. According to Beth Aub this low ranking was likely to have been due to reports that Netherlands based oil company Trafigura Beheer had paid the the People's National Party, the then governing party in Jamaica, a donation of $31 million. This example shows that the practices of a Netherlands based oil company can affect the corruption perception index of Jamaica, yet have no affect on the Netherlands, which was rated the 7th cleanest country in TI's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index. In addition, the corruption of the private company Trafigura -- which made the payment -- passed unremarked by Transparency International.[18][19]

Venezuela

In 2008 the organisation was criticised over its report on Venezuela entitled "Promoting Revenue Transparency".[20] The report examined the published accounts of oil companies in 42 different countries, and ranked them according to whether they were of high, medium or low transparency. The report claimed that Venezuela's state-owned oil firm PDVSA had failed to disclose basic financial information such as their revenues, royalties, and that they had not produced properly audited accounts. As a result, the report gave PDVSA the lowest possible ranking for transparency.

But it later emerged that the information on PDVSA's accounts was freely and publicly available. Further investigation uncovered that Transparency International's Venezuelan chapter was run by political opponents of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, leading to claims of a bias by TI against the Venezuelan government.[21]

Calvin Tucker, co-editor of 21stcenturysocialism.com, wrote in an article in The Guardian that TI's "report on Venezuela, which was produced after months of research, is factually inaccurate in almost every respect." He adds, "Unsurprisingly, TI's damning report was seized upon by rightwing newspapers and websites and used as another stick with which to beat Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chávez."[22]

In reply to criticism of the report, TI said that they "stand by their report" and stand by the person who compiled the data, whom Tucker describes as an anti-Chávez activist who backed the 2002 military coup against democracy.[23]

It is worth asking why Venezuela's oil industry should be a particular focus of investigation. A possible reason is that Venezuela is one of very few countries with a state-run oil industry. The profits from its oil industry are put into social programmes.[24] In other words, its oil industry is not in the hands of, or available to, the big oil companies, some of which are among the funders of TI.

Funders

Anglo American | Bombardier | BP International Consolidated Contractors | EBRD | Fluor Corporation | Halcrow Group | Hilti Corporation | Hochtief | International Federation of Inspection Agencies | ISIS Equity Partners | KPMG | Motorola | Novo Nordisk | Obayashi Corporation | Pfizer | PricewaterhouseCoopers | Rio Tinto | SGS | SIKA | Skanska | SNC Lavalin | Deutsche Bank

Between € 50,000 AND € 200,000

Federal Foreign Office - Germany | Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA) | Chr. Michelsen Institute - Norway | Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) | Ireland AID | The Charles S. Mott Foundation USA

Over € 200,000

European Commission | Ministry for Foreign Affairs - Finland | Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) - Germany | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) | US Agency for International Development (USAID) | Department for International Development (DFID) - UK | Ministry of Foreign Affairs - The Netherlands | Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) | Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) | The Ford Foundation - USA | AVINA Group - Switzerland | Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) | Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Private Sector

Exxon | General Electric | Lafarge | Merck | Norsk Hydro | SAP AG | Shell International | Sovereign Asset Management Sovereign Global Development Anglo American | Nexen UBS[25]

Participants in private sector projects

ABB | Amanco | Bombardier | BP | Calvert | Consolidated Contractors | F&C Asset Management | Fluor Corporation | Halcrow | Hilti | Hochtief | International Federation of Inspection Agencies | ISIS | Merck | Motorola | Norsk Hydro | Pfizer | PricewaterhouseCoopers | Rio Tinto | SGS | Sika | Skanska | SNC Lavalin | TRACE

Individuals and Other Donors

William F. Biggs | Hartmut Fischer (Germany) | Arnesto Gonçalves Segredo (The Netherlands) | Basel Institute on Governance (Switzerland) | Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE USA) | Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG Germany) | European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) | Fondation Pro Victimis (Switzerland) | Gesamtverband Kommunikationsagenturen (GWA Germany) | KPMG | IHK Frankfurt (Germany) | Lahmeyer International | Ministry for Foreign Affairs Norway | Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand (NZAID) | Partners of the Americas (USA) | Stockholm International Water Institute (Sweden) | The World Bank (IBRD)[26]

Affiliations

See Also

Contact, References and Resources

Websites

Transparency International Secretariat
Alt-Moabit 96
10559 Berlin
Tel. +49-30-3438 20-0
Fax +49-30-3470 3912
Principal: www.transparency.org
Ireland: transparency.ie

Contact

Resources

References

  1. ↑ About Us, About Tranparency International UK, Transparency International, Accessed 29-June-2009
  2. ↑ Mission, About Us, Transparency International, Accessed 06-July-2009
  3. ↑ Greg Palast, Venezuela Corrupt? "Transparency International" Has Some Questions to Answer Itself, Greg Palast Journalism and Film, Accessed 06-July-2009
  4. ↑ Calvin Tucker, Seeing through Transparency International, The Guardian, Comment is Free, 22 May 2008.
  5. ↑ George Mobiot, Helping The Poorest To Get Poorer; The World Bank and the IMF are beyond reform. Shut them down, The Guardian, 21-September-2000, Accessed 30-July-2009
  6. ↑ Jeremy Pope, Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader, Sun2Surf, 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009
  7. ↑ Jeremy Pope, Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader, Sun2Surf, 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009
  8. ↑ Jeremy Pope, Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader, Sun2Surf, 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009
  9. ↑ Jeremy Pope, Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader, Sun2Surf, 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009
  10. ↑ Jeremy Pope, Conversations:Anti-Corruption Crusader, Sun2Surf, 28-October-2005, Accessed 29-June-2009
  11. ↑ About Us, Strategic Plan 2007-2010, Transparency International, Accessed 06-July-2009
  12. ↑ Greg Palast, War on corruption? Not quite, Minister, The Guardian, 9-July-2000, Accessed 07-July-2009
  13. ↑ Greg Palast, Venezuela Corrupt? "Transparency International" Has Some Questions to Answer Itself, Greg Palast Journalism and Film, Accessed 06-July-2009
  14. ↑ Galtung, Fredrik (2006). "Measuring the Immeasurable: Boundaries and Functions of (Macro) Corruption Indices," in Measuring Corruption, Charles Sampford, Arthur Shacklock, Carmel Connors, and Fredrik Galtung, Eds. (Ashgate): 101-130. .
  15. ↑ Sik, Endre (2002). "The Bad, the Worse and the Worst: Guesstimating the Level of Corruption," in Political Corruption in Transition: A Skeptic's Handbook, Stephen Kotkin and Andras Sajo, Eds. (Budapest: Central European University Press): 91-113.
  16. ↑ Greg Palast, "Venezuela Corrupt? 'Transparency International' Has Some Questions to Answer Itself", Greg Palast Journalism and Film website, 16 May 2005, accessed 7 July 2009
  17. ↑ Bolaji Abdullahi, Bribery Scandal Rocks Transparency International, thisdayonline.com, 16-November-2004, Accessed 24-June-2009
  18. ↑ Mark Beckford, Jamaica more corrupt - Falls 23 places on International Perception Index, Jamaica Gleaner, 27-September-2007, Accessed 07-July-2009
  19. ↑ CPI Corruption Perception Index, 2007 Index, Transparency International, Accessed 07-July-2009
  20. ↑ "Promoting Revenue Transparency", Transparency International, 27 April 2008, accessed 7 July 2009
  21. ↑ Calvin Tucker, Seeing through Transparency International, The Guardian, 22-May-2008, Accessed 06-July-2009
  22. ↑ Calvin Tucker, Seeing through Transparency International, The Guardian, 22-May-2008, Accessed 06-July-2009
  23. ↑ Calvin Tucker, Seeing through Transparency International, The Guardian, 22-May-2008, Accessed 06-July-2009
  24. ↑ Trent Hawkins, "Climate change -- the case for public ownership', Inhabitable Earth website, 16 February 2009, accessed 7 July 2009
  25. ↑ Who supports us, TI website, accessed 7 July 2009
  26. ↑ 2009 Global Corruption Barometer, TI website, accessed 7 July 2009
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