12934: Let's keep some perspective on what's happening in Haiti #2 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Charles Arthur writes: Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that there is not
plenty of corruption in Haiti, far from it. I think that the State sector is
just as corrupt as the private sector. Difference is though, state officials
are theoretically accountable, the private sector is a law unto itself (unto
the market).



Out of 102 countries rated in the Transparency International index for 2002,
Haiti is not in the bottom 10.

The full press release can be viewed at
http://www.transparency.org/pressreleases_archive/2002/2002.08.28.cpi.en.html

Here is part of it that mentions Haiti:

The new index, published today (28 August 2002) by Transparency International
(TI), the world's leading non-governmental organisation fighting corruption,
ranks 102 countries. Seventy countries - including many of the world's most
poverty-stricken - score less than 5 out of a clean score of 10. Corruption
is perceived to be rampant in Indonesia, Kenya, Angola, Madagascar, Paraguay,
Nigeria and Bangladesh, countries with a score of less than 2. Countries with
a score of higher than 9, with very low levels of perceived corruption, are
predominantly rich countries, namely Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Iceland,
Singapore and Sweden.

Some changes highlighted in the CPI were identified by Peter Eigen. "In the
past year, we have seen setbacks to the credibility of democratic rule. In
parts of South America, the graft and misrule of political elites have
drained confidence in the democratic structures that emerged after the end of
military rule. Argentina, where corruption is perceived to have soared, joins
Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Haiti
and Paraguay with a score of 3 or less in the CPI 2002."

While some countries in transition from communism - most notably Slovenia,
which has a cleaner score than EU member countries Italy and Greece - are
perceived to be increasingly less corrupt, many countries in the former
Soviet Union remain ridden with corruption. "The recent steps by President
Vladimir Putin to introduce tax reforms and new laws fighting
money-laundering are beginning to show the prospect of a lessening in
perceived corruption in Russia," explained Peter Eigen, "but the CPI 2002
indicates that Russia has a long way to go and remains seriously corrupt,
together with Uzbekistan, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova and
Azerbaijan, all of which score less than 3 out of 10."

The CPI is a poll of polls, reflecting the perceptions of business people and
country analysts, both resident and non-resident. First launched in 1995,
this year's CPI draws on 15 surveys from nine independent institutions. A
rolling survey of polls taken between 2000 and 2002, the CPI includes only
those countries that feature in at least three surveys. "It is important to
emphasise that the CPI, even with 102 countries, is only a snapshot and
covers barely half the more than 200 sovereign nations in the world," said
Peter Eigen. "There is not sufficient data on other countries, many of which
are likely to be very corrupt."

The CPI 2002 complements TI's Bribe Payers Index (BPI), which addresses the
propensity of companies from top exporting countries to bribe in emerging
markets. The BPI 2002, published on 14 May 2002, revealed high levels of
bribery by firms from Russia, China, Taiwan and South Korea, closely followed
by Italy, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, USA and France - although many of these
countries signed the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which outlaws bribery of
foreign public officials.