Cambodian Corruption Becoming Worst in Region, Advocate Warns

Social activists carry an anti-corruption banner during a rally in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 

14.08.2012
By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Cambodia ranks 164th of 182 countries on Transparency International's corruption index.

WASHINGTON DC - Cambodia's corruption problem easily surpasses that of its neighbors and could soon be worse than Burma's, a transparency advocacy group warns.

Preap Kol, head of Transparency International's Cambodia office, said NGOs need to work with the government's Anti-Corruption Unit to tackle the "complicated" problem.

Preap Kol spoke to VOA Khmer by phone from Berlin, Germany, where he was attending an anti-corruption conference that he says gave him a better understanding of how corruption works and how difficult it can be to eliminate.

Cambodia ranks 164th of 182 countries on Transparency International's corruption index.

Widespread Corruption Now ‘Systemic’: Transparency International

Transparency International's World Corruption Map. (Photo: Courtesy of Transparency International)

Cop taking bribe (Photo: Dyna Khuon and Rithisaak Soeung posted on Facebook)

Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC

“We also need to have education regarding integrity, codes of conduct and promotions for people to love cleanness.”

The US-based Transparency International says Cambodia’s corruption has become “systemic,” where people are habituated to bribery that is now seen as “automatic.”

The executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, Preap Kol, says the classification is one of the most serious forms of corruption that will take considerable effort to reform.

The group rates Cambodia the 20th-most corrupt nation in the world, putting it in the company of Guinea, Kyrgyzstan and Yemen.

“People seem to have the automatic thought that they have to bribe,” he told VOA Khmer Monday.

Corruption unchecked

The Corruptor-in-chief?

Friday, 02 December 2011
Mary Kozlovski and Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

The release of the annual Corruption Perception Index from Transparency International yesterday left the Kingdom in a familiar position – low and lacking upward momentum.

The report, which ranks 183 countries across a broad range of categories including bribery, kickbacks and the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts in the public sector, saw Cambodia finish with a score of 2.1 out of 10, the same score attained in last year’s CPI.

Its ranking relative to the other countries on the list, meanwhile, slid 10 places – from 154 to 164 – though that was influenced to a large degree by the addition of five new countries .

Climbing up the list – the Kingdom is still looking up at Zimbabwe and neighbouring Laos among others – will require the fledgling Anticorruption Unit to take the lead role in battling public sector corruption, a representative from Transparency International said yesterday.

Cambodia fell to 164th from 154th last year: Transparency International

North Korea ‘Worst’ In Corruption

2011-12-01
RFA

“In Cambodia, like China, there is a lot of construction going on, so the government officials try to grab land from the peasants without proper compensation."

A report on global graft calls for transparency and accountability.

Transparency International ranked North Korea 182nd out of 183 countries in corruption.

North Korea is the world’s most corrupt nation, according to a new report which ranked the pariah state for the first time.

The country tied with Somalia for dead last among 183 nations and territories, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International said in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released Thursday.

“Basically, North Korea is still a very closed economy. There is not so much foreign investment inside the country except from South Korea and China,” said Liao Ran, Transparency International’s senior program coordinator for East Asia.

Cambodia fails miserably behind Laos on Transparency International's corruption index for 2011

Corruption fight: Watchdog makes debut

Friday, 16 September 2011
Meas Sokchea and Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

Corruption fight

Rights watchdog Transparency International made its debut yesterday at the National Anti-Corruption Conference on civil society engagement in fighting corruption. Transparency International’s Cambodia chapter was made official in July this year when it received registration approval from the Ministry of the Interior. Since then, it has launched a three-year strategic plan for a more accountable and transparent Cambodian society, said Rath Sophoan, its chairman. While speakers at yesterday’s event applauded Cambodia’s passage of the Anti-Corruption Law, Om Yentieng, president of the Anti-Corruption Commission was a notable absence at the conference. He was reportedly called away to attend a matter in the provinces. “We have a good working relationship with the Anti-Corruption Unit and we look forward to furthering our relationship and cooperation,” Rath Sophoan said by email. The American and Australian ambassadors stressed that the ultimate victims of corruption are the poorest. “Corruption…has the most serious ramifications for the most vulnerable citizens and nations,” said US Ambassador Carol Rodley.

Kingdom ranks high for graft [-Rotten to the core]

Friday, 10 December 2010
Adam Miller and Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Some 84 percent of Cambodians say they have paid a bribe in the last 12 months, according to a global corruption survey released yesterday by German NGO Transparency International on International Anti-Corruption Day.

The report, titled 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, was based on polling of 91,000 people in 86 countries and focused on small-scale corruption.

Cambodia ranked among the leading nations where residents most frequently paid some form of bribe, based on surveys of 1,000 Cambodians conducted by Indochina Research in July.

The findings coincide with new efforts by the government’s Anti-Corruption Unit, established earlier this year to address chronic corruption in the Kingdom, and a growing perception among residents that such efforts are effective.

Seventy-two percent of respondents ranked the government’s efforts to battle corruption as effective or extremely effective.

‘The survey findings are surprising,” Ran Liao, Transparency International’s senior programme coordinator for East and South Asia, said in a phone interview from Germany yesterday.

“I’m not sure why the respondent rate is so high as to why the government is so effective against corruption … in Cambodia. Seventy-two percent of respondents see the government as very effective, which is really above the average and quite high.”

The ACU convened a workshop yesterday to announce the implementation of a policy first introduced in July to require the declaration of all assets by more than 100,000 government officials beginning January1.

“We are starting to fight corruption from the lowest to the highest levels, from small groups to big groups,” said Om Yentieng, head of the ACU and close adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

He added that the arrest last week of Pursat provincial prosecutor Top Chan Sereyvuth and two of his bodyguards on charges of corruption, extortion and false imprisonment – the first official arrest by the national anti-corruption body – affirmed the unit’s commitment to battling graft.

Om Yentieng told the workshop that the ACU was also investigating additional corruption cases in Battambang but declined to provide details to delegates.

Cambodia: The Kingdom of Wonder-ful ... Corruption where 84% have to pay bribes

Source: Transparency International

Click here to download the full TI report (PDF)

The following is a summary of the TI report on Cambodia:

Institution perceived by Cambodians to be the most affected by corruption: judiciary, followed by the police, public officials/civil servants and the parliament. The least affected by corruption: religious bodies and NGOs

The group of countries paying the highest petty bribery levels also includes Cambodia

84% in Cambodia report paying a bribe to receive attention from at least nine different service providers in the past year. Cambodia holds the top rank in Asia Pacific and is third worldide after Liberia (89%) and Uganda (86%)

In the past three years, how has the level of corruption in Cambodia changed:

• 30% say it has decreased
• 27% say it stayed the same
• 43% say it increased

How do Cambodians perceive their government’s actions in the fight against corruption:

• Ineffective: 15%
• Neither: 14%
• Effective: 72%

Cambodia ranks 154 among 178 countries per Transparency International 2010 Corruption Index: Corrupt, Corrupt, Corrupt!

Source: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

11 December: Hun Xen’s date set for passage of anti-corruption law

NGOs demanding for an end to corruption (Photo: RFA)

21 Nov 2009
By Ayuthyea
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

A declaration from the 20 November plenary meeting of the Council of Ministers indicated that PM Hun Xen had decided to set the 11 December Council of Ministers meeting to pass the anti-corruption draft law.

Sorn Chey, the founder of the Khmer Institute for National Development, considers Hun Xen’s decision to pass the anti-corruption draft law by the Council of Minister as another evolution step for this law that has been stalled for so many years already.

Sorn Chey said: “We hope that the recommendations made by the civil societies in the past will be included in the draft law, and we hope that this draft law will be ratified soon.”

Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodia Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA), welcome Hun Xen’s decision to raise this anti-corruption law for its passage by the Council of Ministers, in spite of the fact that, after its ratification, it is not yet known whether it will be efficient or not to handle the corruption issue.

Rong Chhun said: “The anti-corruption [draft] law takes more than a decade-long and it is still not out yet. What we want is for this law to be adopted soon, regardless of how its application will be!”

Yim Sovann, SRP MP and SRP spokesman, said that, as a MP, he will continue following the meaning of the draft law.

Recent report from Transparency International (TI) indicated that corruption in Cambodia has slightly improved over the year before, but it still remains at the bottom rank among very corrupt countries in the world.

Of the 180 countries evaluated by TI, Cambodia, Laos, Tajikistan and Central Africa all rank 158. Furthermore, Cambodia is only better than another country in Asia: Burma which ranks 178.

The anti-corruption law was prepared since 1994.

Opposition officials, civil society organizations and aid donors have insisted on many occasions for the government to introduce this law, and they are all anxiously waiting to see its adoption.

Cambodia's corruption index improves by a hair ... but still near the bottom, i.e. one of the most corrupt country in the world

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
KI-Media

Transparency International issued its 2009 Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Cambodia's rank moved to 158 out of a total of 180, a slight improvement over 2008 when Cambodia ranked 166. Among ASEAN countries, Cambodia ranks lowest along with Laos.

Cambodia has the highest levels of bribery in the Asia-Pacific: Transparency International

More graft, more govt support: TI

Thursday, 04 June 2009
Written by Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

Kingdom gets mixed report from corruption watchdog.

CAMBODIA has the highest levels of bribery in the Asia-Pacific, but popular perceptions of anti-graft efforts appear to be improving, according to the latest report by global corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI).

The group's "2009 Global Corruption Barometer", released Wednesday, noted increased popular support for the government's efforts to fight corruption, but also showed corruption worsening in key areas.

According to the report, which was based on interviews with 1,019 Cambodians in the country's "main provinces", 47 percent of respondents said they or a member of their family had paid a bribe in the last year - compared with the Asian average of just 13 percent.

Perceptions of corruption in political parties, the legislature and the judiciary also increased slightly, with 62 percent of Cambodians seeing the courts as the most graft-prone institutions in society.

But the report also found that 67 percent of respondents perceived government anti-corruption efforts as "effective", up from just 29 percent in 2007.

The report found the country was one of several where "the public appears to regard corruption as less pronounced" than what is reflected in TI's annual Corruption Perceptions Index, which rated Cambodia 166th out of 180 countries in 2008.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said he had not seen the report, but that he was unsurprised at the support shown for the government's anti-corruption efforts.

"The government has never ignored the fight against corruption," he said Wednesday.

"The report says that 67 percent think the government is effective in eliminating corruption, but I think this figure is incorrect - it might be higher."

But Yim Sovann, spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said that the 67 percent figure was misleading, since so many Cambodians lacked the information to make an independent judgment.

"I think that [the people]... receive information from one side, such as television stations that are controlled by the ruling party," he said.

The release of the TI report comes amid controversy over recent comments by US Ambassador Carol Rodley, who cited "numerous studies" showing that Cambodia is losing up to US$500 million to corruption each year.

The statement, made in a speech at the Clean Hands anti-corruption concert at Olympic Stadium on Saturday, prompted a strong reaction Tuesday from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which labelled the comments "politically motivated and unsubstantiated", and called for their retraction.

In the wake of the government reaction, international NGO PACT announced Wednesday that it would delay indefinitely the release of its own corruption survey, scheduled for today.

Nuth Youthy, senior research officer at PACT's Mainstreaming Anti-corruption for Equity Programme, did not comment on the reason for the postponement and said he did not know when the press conference would be held.

But local observers say the government reaction was out of proportion to the comments.

"Rather than reacting negatively to the statements of the ambassador, the government should use it as a reason to investigate further," said Chheat Sreang, project coordinator at the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.

Chan Sophal, president of the Cambodian Economic Association, agreed, saying that although it was impossible to measure corruption precisely in dollar terms, Rodley's comments were a "reminder that it is time to speed up measures combating corruption".

But Yim Sovann said that the $500 million figure was accurate and that corruption was in fact worsening in Cambodia.

"The government has no political will to push for an Anti-corruption Law, [since] many people in the CPP are involved heavily in the corruption," he said.

Groups Postpone Results of Corruption Survey

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
03 June 2009

An umbrella group of rights organizations postponed a press conference to discuss corruption research Wednesday, in the wake of a row between the US and Cambodian governments.

The group, Pact Cambodia, was scheduled to present findings of a 2008 corruption survey, funded by USAID, Thursday. No new date was set.

The government held a press conference on Tuesday lambasting anti-corruption statements by US Ambassador Carol Rodley, who said in a speech last week the country loses $500 million annually to corruption.

The Report on Corruption Barometer Survey in Cambodia for 2008 was supported by Transparency International and funded by USAID.

No reason was given by organizers for the postponement, but the cancellation came just a day after senior government officials said Rodley’s remarks on corruption were one-sided and unsupported.

“The Royal Government of Cambodia absolutely refutes the politically motivated and unsubstantiated allegation made by the United States diplomat in contradiction of the good relations between Cambodia and the United States Government,” the government said in a letter to the US Embassy.

US officials have declined to comment on the government’s statement.

Nuth Youthy, a senior researcher for Pact Cambodia, declined to comment on the postponement of the report’s release.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Viva me!

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Cambodia: Top 10 countries in the world ... in corruption, that is!

Hun Sen: The autocratic leader of one of the top 10 most corrupt countries in the world

The Most Corrupt Countries

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
By Jack Gage
Forbes.com

"Corruption is a major cause of many human rights abuses" - Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International

Corruption is on the march. In 2008, the number of countries sinking deeper into the clutches of influence peddling, bribery and scandalous business dealings outpaced improvements by a 2 to 1 margin. Countries falling by more than 10 spots outnumbered risers 8.5 to 1.

Chad leads the way down in this year's report. With a heavy reliance on foreign assistance (mostly for oil exploration and development), the Sudanese neighbor gets black marks for corruption in the ranks of government officials--not surprising given its military dictatorship has been in place for 19 years.

No. 2? The Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, where president Kurmanbek Bakiyev faces mounting opposition brought to a fevered pitch by recent allegations that his administration organized the assassination of a former administration official. Others in the top 10 include Azerbaijan, Venezuela, Cambodia and Ecuador.

In terms of economic impact, the debilitating affect of corruption is tangible: More than 5% of global gross domestic product, or $2.6 trillion, was smuggled, used for bribes or stolen from taxpayers in the past year, says the World Bank in a recent report. For honest companies, moving from a low corruption climate to one where corporate and government misdeeds are more prevalent can represent as much as a 20% additional tax on top of the normal costs of doing business.

Socioeconomic risk experts at the Eurasia Group also warn of corruption's corrosive effect on foreign investment. Especially in times of sluggish economic activity--and in many developed nations, recession--the added drag of distrust on the part of investors and business owners can take a mighty toll.

"Corruption is the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development," says Fluor Corp. CEO Alan L. Boeckmann in the report.

Nations with the highest risk of corruption are often the desperately poor, where foreign aid and assistance can easily be transferred through back channels of oppressive regimes. As a result, the impact of corruption can extend well beyond any economic detraction to affect the quality of life for millions of citizens.

"Corruption is a major cause of many human rights abuses," says Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, in a December 2008 report by watchdog Transparency International.

One example Khan cites is Zimbabwe, the poorest nation in the world at just $200 of GDP per capita. The African nation fell 13 places among the 127 countries in our ranking, according to TI's perceived levels of corruption. Recent reports accused president Robert Mugabe of stealing over $7 million in foreign aid meant for the distribution of medicine to combat, among other diseases, widespread malaria in the region. Instead, Mugabe allegedly used the payments to fund political activities.

Even in developed nations, corruption can often occur in the procurement of government projects--and within established corporations. Italy fell 12 spots in the corruption category after its government passed legislation granting top officials immunity from prosecution while in office. Perhaps not coincidentally, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had been involved in an ongoing investigation regarding the payment of more than $500,000 from undisclosed funds to the husband of an Olympic minister in the U.K.

Japan and Canada were also cited in a 2008 report by Transparency International as having sub-par enforcement standards vis-à-vis accepted G7 guidelines for bribes from foreign businesses. TI could find only one case in each country pursued by local authorities, compared with more than 40 investigations in Germany, 19 in France and 16 in Switzerland.

Industries can also be particularly prone to corruption, with greater levels of bureaucracy often increasing the likelihood of misuse. TI contends that public construction projects, water sanitation, oil and gas development and defense contracting most often show a proclivity for abuse of public and investor funds.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: No. 166

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Cambodia slips in corruption rating

Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Written by Thet Sambath and Georgia Wilkins
The Phnom Penh Post

"This organisation is putting Cambodia to the bottom just to mock it. What are the ratings based on?" - Om Yentieng, Hun Sen's advisor on Human Rights [or lack thereof]

The new Transparency International graft rankings are out and the Kingdom has dropped five positions from last year, now 14 from bottom

CAMBODIA'S annual corruption rating has plummeted, according to an international transparency index.

The ratings, released by Transparency International (TI) in Berlin Tuesday, ranked Cambodia the 14th-most corrupt country in the world, five positions worse than its 2007 rating, and the most corrupt country in Asia after Myanmar.

"In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play," TI said at the report launch.

Municipal health director Veng Thai denied that corruption could be claiming lives in the Kingdom, saying "there is not much corruption in the health system in Cambodia".

Bun Uy, secretary of state for the Council of Ministers, also said Tuesday that the ratings were meaningless.

"Every country has corruption. Even if they are rich countries, they are still corrupt," he said. "The prime ministers of Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand are all accused of corruption even though they are rich countries," Bun Uy said.

Om Yentieng, Prime Minister Hun Sen's adviser on human rights, criticised the organisation for using developing countries as a political tool.

"This organisation is putting Cambodia to the bottom just to mock it. What are the ratings based on?" Om Yentieng said.

But Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) said Cambodia's ranking showed the government was still "holding the country hostage [to corruption]."

Cambodia still in the bottom tier of the CPI ranking

Malaysia's Corruption Perception Index Remains At 5.1

Among Asean countries, Singapore comes first with a score of 9.2 followed by Malaysia in second place (5.1), Thailand (3.5), Vietnam (2.7), Indonesia (2.6), Philippines (2.3), Cambodia (1.8) and Myanmar (1.3).

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) remains at 5.1 this year, showing no improvement compared to last year, said Transparency International Malaysia President Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

He said Malaysia's score for the last eight years since 2001 hovered between 4.9 and 5.1.

"This shows that the trend of the CPI for Malaysia has remained mediocre at mid-point with no improvement for the last eight years," he said when announcing the score today.

The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).

Ramon said in terms of country ranking, however, Malaysia showed a gradual decline from number 36th out of 91 countries surveyed in 2001 to 43rd out of 179 countries last year, and 47th out of 180 countries this year.

"This shows that there are a number of countries that have progressed much better than Malaysia," he added.

Among Asean countries, Singapore comes first with a score of 9.2 followed by Malaysia in second place (5.1), Thailand (3.5), Vietnam (2.7), Indonesia (2.6), Philippines (2.3), Cambodia (1.8) and Myanmar (1.3).

Ramon said Malaysia should continuously combat corruption to improve perceptions towards the country.

"While Malaysia can be commended for taking significant initiatives, namely the setting up of Pemudah -- the joint public-private sector collaboration to improve the government delivery system and services -- the perceptions of the degree of corruption remain largely unchanged.

"This may due to a number of high profile cases that may have damped public confidence in the integrity of government institutions," he said.

It could also be due to the encounters by the public with officers of enforcement agencies "demanding favours or bribe as reflected by the cases of corruption involving immigration, police, customs and Puspakom," he said.

Ramon also commended the prime minister for initiating reforms in some institutions especially the judiciary and the Anti-Corruption Agency to make them more independent, transparent and accountable.

He said Transparency International Malaysia believed that the way forward for the country was to seriously combat corruption and to make government decisions and transactions more visible and transparent.

He also called for transparency in the government's procurement process and suggested that the government implement integrity agreement with vendors to act as preventive measures to curb corruption.

Meanwhile, Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed by Singapore at 9.2. Somalia has the lowest CPI score with 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti (1.4).

Cambodia ranked 166 on the Corruption Perception Index among 180 nations: Bravo!?!?

CPI 2008 (Map by Transparency International)

Click here to view the complete CPI ranking table

Cheam Yeap must be under the influence when he claims: “I agree that there is corruption but it is an individual issue, not the whole country”

Corruption survey finds little hope for change

By TRACEY SHELTON AND VONG SOKHENG
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 17 / 04, February 22 - March 6, 2008

The chairman of the CPP’s finance and banking commission has challenged a new corruption survey by Transparency International (TI) that found Cambodians perceive their country to be highly corrupt.

The survey conducted last year and released on February 20 placed Cambodia in the highest corruption category based on the number of respondents claiming to have paid bribes.

Seventy-two percent of Cambodians interviewed in September 2007 by TI said they had bribed a public servant in the previous year, the second highest ranking behind Cameroon of 62 countries surveyed last year. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they did not expect to see a decrease in corruption within the next three years, with 42 percent saying they expect corruption to increase.

Cheam Yeap, chairman of the finance and banking commission for the ruling CPP, said Transparency International had every right to conduct the survey but releasing an assessment of corruption that is not accurate “would affect the honor of our country.”

“I think TI should provide evidence of its allegations,” he said. “I agree that there is corruption but it is an individual issue, not the whole country.”

The survey rated the judicial system and police department as the two most corrupt authorities. It said 45 percent of those who had dealings with the legal system and 62 percent of those who had contact with police within the past year admitting paying bribes for services.

The registry and permit department also rated high. TI surveyed 1016 people in four provinces – Battambang, Siem Reap, Kampong Cham and Sihanoukville – and Phnom Penh municipality.