New Zealand does best and Sudan, which last month saw the military seize power in a coup, performs the worst, according to the 2020 Government Defence Integrity Index (GDI), released by Transparency International Defence & Security programme based within Transparency International UK (TI UK).
Countries that score poorly in the GDI have weak or non-existent safeguards against defence sector corruption and are more likely to experience conflict, instability and human rights abuses, the campaigners argue. Their GDI assesses and scores 86 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe across five risk areas – financial, operational, personnel, political and procurement – before assigning an overall score.
As for the UK, the index says formal provisions for institutional oversight of the policies, budgets and activities of defence institutions are strong, while anti-corruption safeguards in personnel management and operations are robust. Nevertheless, there continuing issues with the oversight powers, and lingering secrecy in arms procurement heightens corruption risk, the report warns. Also rated are ten UK defence companies, according to ‘Commitment to Anti-Corruption Policies and Transparency’.
Almost every country performs badly in the military operations risk area, says TI. The GDI assesses the anti-corruption safeguards in military deployments, whether deploying troops for internal security purposes or sending them on a peacekeeping mission overseas. New Zealand has a lowEST risk of corruption in its military deployments (operations score of 71/100), while the UK has an operations score of 53; and Norway 50. According to TI, some 81 countries face a high to critical risk in their military operations; meaning, the campaign group says, that a lack of anti-corruption safeguards in operations means troops are far more likely to contribute to conflict than quell it.
However Bangladesh (operations score of zero out of 100) is the top contributor of uniformed troops to UN peacekeeping; and the United States’ military (18) has been active in at least 85 countries over the last three years, and engaging in combat in eight countries.
As for corruption in the arms trade the GDI suggests that most, 86 per cent of global arms exports between 2016 and 2020 originate from countries at a moderate to very high risk of corruption in their defence sectors. Meanwhile, about half, 49 per cent of global arms imports are to counties facing a high to critical risk of defence corruption. These are defined by TI as countries that do not allow lawmakers, auditors or civil society to scrutinise arms deals, nor do they provide meaningful data on how they choose which companies to buy from or whether any third parties are involved. Hence a risk of bribery, public money being wasted and weapons finding their way into the hands of criminal gangs or insurgents.
Natalie Hogg, Director of Transparency International’s Defence and Security Programme, said: “These results show that most defence and security sectors around the world lack essential safeguards against corruption. Defence sector corruption undermines defence forces, weakening their ability to provide security to citizens, secure national borders and bring about peace. In the worst cases defence sector corruption has the potential to exacerbate conflict rather than to respond to it effectively.
“The lack of safeguards against corruption in military operations by many countries most actively involved in international interventions is particularly worrying. Time and time again international forces have failed to take the corrosive impact of defence and security corruption seriously despite the clear threat it poses to peace and stability. Getting this right is vital to averting future failed interventions and the devastating human cost that comes with them.
“We urge all governments featured in this Index to act on these findings. They must strengthen their safeguards against corruption and remove the veil of secrecy that so often prevents meaningful oversight of the defence sector. It’s critical that they embed anti-corruption at the core of all military operations to stop corruption and its devastating impact on civilians around the world.”
To see the GDI results in detail go to https://ti-defence.org/gdi.
