Ethics Newsline®

VARIOUS DATELINES
Corruption stories figured in news from the world press last week:

• Africa, often viewed as a continent crippled by corruption and misrule, has seen extraordinary progress in the past decade, according to a new World Bank report. The International Herald Tribune notes that the Bank found that several nations in Africa, including Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, and Tanzania, have made significant strides against corruption, though Eritrea, Ivory Coast, and Zimbabwe suffered setbacks. A World Bank official told the Herald Tribune that the study challenges what has been dubbed “Afro-pessimism,” a wariness of investing in African ventures.
• The military-backed government of Bangladesh has arrested more than 17,000 people in its corruption crackdown, an official said last week, according to Forbes. Those arrested reportedly include leading politicians, businesspeople, and bureaucrats. Many have been released on bail. Bangladesh’s current government, which came to power after a political confrontation that scuttled last year’s elections, has vowed to clean up graft and hold rescheduled elections by the end of 2008.
• Thailand’s government has frozen more than $16 million in assets believed to be controlled by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is living in exile after being accused of corruption. The Bangkok Post reports that lawyers for Thaksin plan to file a civil suit asking for the freeze to be lifted. Thaksin was overthrown in a bloodless coup last September amid allegations that his massive business empire had evaded taxes.
• Chile will not extradite former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, who is wanted by his home nation on charges of corruption and human rights violations. A Chilean judge said the evidence was not strong enough to warrant Fujimori’s return, the BBC reports. Peru’s government says it will appeal.