According to the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index of 180 nations from Transparency International, the five countries at the top and bottom of the list are:

Least Corrupt
1. New Zealand
2. Denmark
3. Singapore
3. Sweden
5. Switzerland

Most Corrupt
176. Iraq
176. Sudan
178. Myanmar
179 Afghanistan
180. Somalia

Source: Transparency International 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), measuring the perceived level of public-sector corruption in a country/territory. Note that duplicate numbers indicate tied scores.

For more information, see this week’s Research Report.

by Rushworth M. Kidder

Last week in British Columbia, someone asked me how, with the world collapsing into moral fragmentation, anything could give us hope. Ever the optimist, I pointed to greater transparency as a force for moral improvement.

The words were hardly out of my mouth when the European football (soccer) circuit delivered up a pair of appalling stories. So let me explain why I’m still sticking to my view.

Story 1 concerns French football player Thierry Henry. Last week, in a match with Ireland to determine which country would go to South Africa for the World Cup finals, Henry was caught on video using his hand to manipulate the ball in a play that set up the French team’s winning goal. The referee didn’t see it, and Henry didn’t call a foul on himself.

The Irish team’s demand for a rematch was overruled by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the sport’s global governing body), which explained that “during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final.” Henry’s own statements did little to burnish his case. “I will be honest, it was a hand ball,” he said, according to the Toronto Globe & Mail. “But I’m not the ref. I played it. The ref allowed it.”

Henry now faces blistering criticism from, among others, the leading union for physical education teachers in France itself. Concerned about the brazen lesson Henry sent to French youngsters, the coaches’ statement noted that “the France team will go to South Africa courtesy of indisputable cheating, which highlights the downward spiral affecting football today.”

In light of Story Two, the coaches proved prescient. This second item concerns the bust-up of a European soccer gambling ring. According to German police, its several hundred members bribed referees, coaches, and players to fix some 200 matches (including three in the Champions League) this year in nine countries. “Without question, this is the biggest betting scandal in the history of European soccer,” said Peter Limacher, the head of discipline for European soccer’s governing body, according to the New York Times.

You don’t have to be an arch-pessimist to let these stories get you down. Their message upends the trust of millions of fans who expect sportsmanlike teams to play fair. It points to a culture of calculated deception that infects not only sports but financial institutions and legislative bodies. It gives rise to a cynical vision of a world where getting a goal is indistinguishable from getting away with a goal — a world whose credo is “don’t get caught” rather than “don’t do wrong.”

Go deeper, however, and you’ll spot an encouraging trend. In both these cases, what broke open the story was transparency. In the end, there was simply too much light — no place for the scammers to hide. Henry was done in by the technology of instant replay: Twenty years ago, few would have seen the wrong, and proving it would have been nearly impossible. The gambling ring was done in not only by wire taps and cell phone intercepts, but by computer analyses of betting patterns that highlight unusual gaming activity in real time.

Are these technologies an unmitigated blessing? No. There’s a moral case against each one. If instant replay becomes the standard for refereeing sports, high-stakes games could last days instead of hours — either that, or a video record everyone knows is available would be ignored in deference to the merely human abilities of a referee. And if cell phone intercepts and wiretaps are so successful at solving economic crimes — and if economic crimes really do lie at the heart of the current recession — then why not throw privacy to the winds, authorize these technologies at every juncture, and always put the good of the community above the rights of the individual?

Transparency, then, sets up profound right-versus-right issues. Yet its presence is far better than its absence. The history of recent anticorruption efforts suggests a simple rule, which is that in proportion as you shine in the light and wipe out the dark corners, corruption withers and honesty takes root.

So is transparency the saving radiance that will return us to moral probity? Not without two powerful caveats:

• Don’t confuse transparency with technology. The latter powerfully increases the former. But transparency is a condition, not a technique. It involves minds, not machines, and it depends more on values than on rules. Used properly, technology not only will allow better enforcement of rules but will create cultures where it’s easier to obey the core values of honesty and fairness.
• Remember that transparency depends on consensus. Without a public willingness to label corruption as wrong, exposed evil merely will be shrugged off, miscreants will feel no shame, and wrongdoing will become the new normal. What makes transparency work is outrage. Maintain that, and transparency will continue to make strides against corruption.

Which brings me back to my reason for hope. So far, the world is genuinely upset with Henry. Very few thoughtful observers applaud him for befooling the refs. And fewer still are willing to agree that football is happily corrupt and that every game is satisfactorily predetermined. Transparency, it seems, is alive and well and living (for the moment) in Europe.

©2009 Institute for Global Ethics

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“We just seem to lack the backbone to use this prohibition. In the rare cases it is used, no one at State was willing to talk about it.”

– Daniel Whitman, a former deputy director post at the U.S. State Department, talking to the New York Times about the lax enforcement of U.S. policy barring corrupt foreign officials and their families from receiving U.S. visas.

Despite the fact that U.S. policy requires “only credible evidence of corruption, not a conviction of it,” corrupt officials and their families rarely are barred entry, especially when they hail from oil-rich countries with contracts benefiting U.S. companies or wealthy accounts benefiting banks, notes the report.

The Times spotlights the case of Teodoro Nguema Obiang, an official of Equatorial Guinea and the son of its president, who flies to the United States several times a year to vacation at his $35 million estate in Malibu, California.

“The nation’s doors are open to Mr. Obiang … even though federal law enforcement officials believe that ‘most if not all’ of his wealth” derives from corruption, including, in the words of U.S. government documents obtained by the paper, “extortion, theft of public funds, or other corrupt conduct.”

“Senior State Department people, especially from Africa, kept saying that if something like this is used they wouldn’t have anyone to talk to in their home countries,” Otto Reich, former U.S. special envoy to the Western Hemisphere, told the Times. “It’s politically simply something they do not want to take on.”

Source: New York Times, Nov. 16.

Hamid Karzai promises he will quash corruption and stamp out “culture of impunity”; U.S. Senate holds hearings into shooting alleged to have been engineered by soldier destined for Afghan war; Canadian whistle-blower claims innocent civilians were turned over to local Afghan authorities to be tortured

VARIOUS DATELINES
Events in and about Afghanistan dominated news coverage last week. Among the stories:

• Afghan president Hamid Karzai vowed to stamp out the “culture of impunity” that has fueled corruption and to make all officials accountable and transparent in their financial dealings. The Times of London reports that Karzai’s remarks, made during a speech marking his inauguration for a second term, were apparently meant to reassure Britain, the United States, and other allies who are mulling commitment of more troops to the region. Karzai also pledged that Afghan security forces would be able to take the lead in fighting the Taliban. On Saturday, U.S. Defense secretary Robert Gates noted that regardless of the details of war strategy, corruption remains an obstacle. “We’re there to help them,” he said, according to UPI. “But corruption and a lack of good government … are real impediments to the success of both the Afghan government and our own efforts.”
• A U.S. Senate committee last week opened the first public hearing on the Fort Hood shooting attack, focusing in part on two ethical issues: whether those who should have been alert to impending trouble missed obvious signals, and whether “political correctness” contributed to the tragedy, according to the Washington Post. The first witnesses to appear say they fear that warning signs were ignored or downplayed because the accused shooter, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, is a Muslim. “I worry about a sense of political correctness … in a post-9/11 world,” said Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House Homeland Security adviser during the Bush administration, according to the Post. Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman Joseph Lieberman concurred: “We have great respect for diversity of religion but it should not be cover for bad behavior.”
• A Canadian whistle-blower says that Afghan prisoners turned over to local authorities in that nation were routinely tortured. Diplomat Richard Colvin claimed in testimony to the Canadian Parliament that the Canadian military knew that detainees faced certain torture, according to the Toronto Star, a claim backed up by another diplomat, Michael Semple, who was the deputy chief of the European Union’s mission to Afghanistan when Colvin was second-in-command of the Canadian embassy. Colvin testified that many of those turned over were “just local people, farmers, truck drivers, tailors, peasants, random human beings in the wrong place at the wrong time, young men in their fields and villages, who were completely innocent, but were nevertheless rounded up,” according to a report from the Ottawa Citizen. Canada’s Defense minister has stated that Colvin’s reports are not credible, according to the Canadian Press.

Sources: Ottawa Citizen, Nov. 21 – Toronto Star, Nov. 21 – Canadian Press, Nov. 20 – UPI, Nov. 20 – Washington Post, Nov. 20 – Times of London, Nov. 19 – Globe & Mail, Nov. 19.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 16 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 9 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 8 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 31.

He admits it later but says it was the ref’s job to call it on the spot; even though France won the game, its teachers union protests, saying it sets a bad example for children; some coaches wonder if young players will follow suit and play less honorably

LONDON and PARIS
A fierce debate over ethics in sports is raging in Europe, as Irish soccer officials are complaining about a French player who touched the ball with his hand — a violation of the rules — but got away with it, setting up France’s winning goal in a game that advanced France to the World Cup.

The Associated Press reports that Ireland asked FIFA, the sport’s ruling body, to void the game and play another, but FIFA officials declined that request, noting that the rules say results cannot be overturned once a game is complete.

ESPN reports that video replays clearly show that France’s Thierry Henry handled the ball before setting up his teammate for the wining goal, although the contact appeared to be accidental.

Henry later admitted that the ball hit his hand, but faulted the referee for not calling it when it happened, CNN reports. The referee said he did not see the infraction.

“I’m not the ref,” Henry said, according to a report carried by USA Today. “I played it. The ref allowed it.”

Ireland’s complaints were seconded by France’s teachers union, which claimed that the game was won through “indisputable cheating,” setting a poor example for children.

The incident prompted criticism from coaches who condemned Henry’s decision not to immediately admit handling the ball.

Toronto’s Globe & Mail interviewed David McCarthy, an Alberta provincial team soccer coach, who says he’s seen 12-year-olds admit to violations that referees have missed. Now, McCarthy wonders if he will see less honorable play on the field.

“You’ll always have players that will want to emulate their stars,” he told the Globe & Mail.

Sources: CNN, Nov. 20 – ESPN, Nov.20 – USA Today, Nov. 20 – AP, Nov. 20 – Globe & Mail, Nov. 19.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 5 — Related Newsline story, Apr. 20 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 6, 2008 — Related Newsline story, May 27, 2008.

Security leak — of ethics material, no less — prompts government crackdown; small town in California wants to photograph every car entering or leaving; education in “ethical hacking” is increasingly popular in Britain

VARIOUS DATELINES
Technology and ethics collided in stories from world-press sources last week. Among the items:

• An embarrassing security leak from the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ethics Committee has prompted legislators to draft a bill restricting use of file-sharing networks, Scientific American reports. At issue is peer-to-peer networking, which people use to share information on their computers with other members of a network. While the practice makes accessing information convenient, it also drops many of the computer’s defenses against intrusion. Peer-to-peer networking, reports the magazine, previously has been implicated in exposing confidential health information and sensitive military technology. In the most recent case, a junior staffer in the House inadvertently leaked an Ethics Committee document indicating that dozens of Representatives and congressional aides were under scrutiny. She was fired shortly after the breach.
• A small town in California is planning to photograph every car that enters and leaves its borders. CNET reports that Tiburon, California, appears to be the first community in the nation to mount such extensive video surveillance, which will involve automatically photographing license plates and comparing the information with police lists of stolen cars and license plates linked to people wanted for questioning. Some in the community worry that the process is overkill and will erode privacy rights, reports the San Francisco Chronicle, while supporters say there is no expectation of privacy on a public highway.
• Britain’s Sky News reports that the threat of computer attacks on businesses and governments has caused a spike in the number of students studying “ethical hacking” — defending security networks by figuring out how to crack them. A similar trend is evident in India, according to the Delhi-based Economic Times. Although the courses are meant to prepare Internet protectors, critics worry about the dangers of arming young people with knowledge that could be put to evil purposes, Sky News reports.

Sources: Sky News, Nov. 20 – San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 20 – Economic Times, Nov. 19 – CNET, Nov. 19 – Scientific American, Nov. 18.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 26 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 14, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 18, 2006 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 7, 2006.

Reuters and Los Angeles Times grapple with social media complications; student journalists find themselves the target of a probe — this time by prosecutors

VARIOUS DATELINES
Several stories dealing with journalism ethics topped the news last week. Among them:

• Dean Wright, Reuters’ global editor for ethics, innovation, and news standards, addressed the question of whether journalists in the age of blogging and social media can rise above their political beliefs and produce unbiased coverage. Wright warned on his blog that journalists “don’t do ourselves any favors when we use social media like Facebook and Twitter to express opinions on politics or policy issues, then find that we have to cover the issues we’re sounding off about…. Journalists shouldn’t engage in public activity — either online or offline — that could call into question their ability to report a story fairly…. That said, I do believe that journalists can have strong political, religious, and social views and still cover their beats with independence and freedom from bias. Again, that’s the essence of professionalism.”
• The Los Angeles Times updated its social media guidelines last week, advising its employees that “integrity is our most important commodity: Avoid writing or posting anything that would embarrass The Times or compromise your ability to do your job.” The new standards also warn employees to assume that everything they write on a social media site is public, cautioning that “just as political bumper stickers and lawn signs are to be avoided in the offline world, so too are partisan expressions online.” The code also instructs staffers to be aware of perceptions. “If you ‘friend’ a source or join a group on one side of a debate, do so with the other side as well. Also understand that readers may view your participation in a group as your acceptance of its views; be clear that you’re looking for story ideas or simply collecting information. Consider that you may be an observer of online content without actively participating.”
• Students at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism have become noted for an investigative project that looks into the cases of convicted criminals. But now, reports U.S. News & World Report, the students themselves are suddenly in the legal spotlight. Cook County, Illinois, prosecutors have demanded all materials, emails, course outlines, syllabi, training materials, and grades related to the case of a man serving a life sentence for murder and armed robbery. Students say the evidence implicates two other men in the murder. ABC News reports that the prosecutors say they need all of the evidence so they can determine if the convict deserves a new trial, saying in court filings that two witnesses claim the students offered them money in exchange for their interviews. Prosecutors say the students’ activities have morphed from academics to investigative journalism, making their materials susceptible to subpoena. Critics of the Illinois prosecutors contend that the government is attempting to retaliate against the students, whose work has resulted in the overturning of several convictions. As this issue of Newsline went to press, the university had not complied with the subpoena.

Sources: Reuters, Nov. 20 – Los Angeles Times, Nov. 20 – U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 16.

For more information, see: Related Newsline Commentary, Nov. 16 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 16 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 19 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 12 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 8.

Highlight of the week’s testimony: Former aide to Joseph Bruno advised legislators to hand-deliver ethics forms — to avoid federal mail-fraud changes

NEW YORK
Jurors in the corruption trial of former New York State Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno were expected to begin deliberations this week in a case that has riveted the attention of even the most jaded political observers.

Bruno, 80, is charged with using his public office for personal gain. He maintains his innocence, arguing that he ran a legitimate consulting business, according to Newsday.

In what a New York Daily News editorial calls “another jaw-dropping revelation about Albany sleaze” from the trial, prosecutors placed into evidence an official State Senate memo from government attorneys advising the politicians to hand-deliver their financial disclosure forms to the Legislative Ethics Committee.

The reason for such unusual advice? Kenneth Riddett, a former Senate lawyer and Bruno aide testified, according to the Daily News: “There were, quite frankly, concerns with federal mail fraud statutes, to be honest with you.”

The editorial continued: “In other words, Riddett simply assumed those forms were riddled with lies that wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny from a U.S. attorney. He could have urged the pols to be truthful. Instead, he told them how not to get caught. Which is the kind of thinking you expect from a Mafia consigliere, not an attorney ostensibly working for the taxpayers.”

Judge Gary Sharpe found the advice on how to avoid federal scrutiny “extraordinary,” according to the Village Voice.

Bruno did not take the stand, saying, according to WNYC Radio, “I’m satisfied that all that has been said has been said and there was nothing more that I was going to add that proves my innocence.”

Sources: WNYC, Nov. 20 – New York Daily News, Nov. 19 – Village Voice, Nov. 18 – Newsday, Nov. 16.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, July 28 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 16 — Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 12 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 31, 2008.

Teachers selling lesson plans online raise money as well as eyebrows; Miami-Dade school district to implement mandatory ethics training; consulting firm wants to bring ethics to high-school curricula

NEW YORK and MIAMI
Several stories touched on education ethics last week. Among the coverage:

• The New York Times reports that thousands of teachers are selling lesson plans online — sometimes to raise money for school supplies, but in other cases for personal profit. Some administrators object to the latter option, contending that if school resources are used, it’s only fair that the school shares in the profit. The practice is so new, according to the Times, that most places have not yet generated policies or guidelines. Some, such as New York University professor Joseph McDonald, say the practice cheapens a tradition of teaching: “Teachers swapping ideas with one another, that’s a great thing,” McDonald said. “But somebody asking 75 cents for a word puzzle reduces the power of the learning community and is ultimately destructive to the profession.” But one teacher quoted in the article told the Times that they see payment as an overdue reward for a thankless job.
• The Miami-Dade school district has instituted mandatory ethics training for all employees, according to the Miami Herald, which notes that the new measures come in the wake of a series of scandals involving a school board member charged with accepting bribes and a Miami City commissioner charged with redirecting funds to a family business. The ethics training will be complemented by new procedures for procurement and tougher standards for avoiding conflict of interest, reports the Herald.
• Consulting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is starting a series of high-school educational programs stressing social responsibility, reports the Wall Street Journal. Deloitte will assign 20 managers to design a yearlong program to help students develop ethics, innovative thinking, and global awareness, issues the firm says often are missing in traditional curricula. (Editor’s note: Deloitte Touche is a sponsor of Ethics Newsline®.)

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Nov. 19 – Miami Herald Nov. 17 – New York Times, Nov. 15.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Nov. 2 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 19 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 5 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 28 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 28.

“At a time when massive stimulus packages, fast-track disbursements of public funds and attempts to secure peace are being implemented around the world, it is essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle,” notes Transparency International

From Transparency International:

“As the world economy begins to register a tentative recovery and some nations continue to wrestle with ongoing conflict and insecurity, it is clear that no region of the world is immune to the perils of corruption, according to Transparency International’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), a measure of domestic, public sector corruption released today.

“‘At a time when massive stimulus packages, fast-track disbursements of public funds and attempts to secure peace are being implemented around the world, it is essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle’ said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International (TI).

“The vast majority of the 180 countries included in the 2009 index score below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption). The CPI measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys. The 2009 edition scores 180 countries, the same number as the 2008 CPI.

“Fragile, unstable states that are scarred by war and ongoing conflict linger at the bottom of the index. These are: Somalia, with a score of 1.1, Afghanistan at 1.3, Myanmar at 1.4 and Sudan tied with Iraq at 1.5. These results demonstrate that countries which are perceived as the most corrupt are also those plagued by long-standing conflicts, which have torn apart their governance infrastructure.

“When essential institutions are weak or non-existent, corruption spirals out of control and the plundering of public resources feeds insecurity and impunity. Corruption also makes normal a seeping loss of trust in the very institutions and nascent governments charged with ensuring survival and stability….

“‘Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society,’ said Labelle. ‘The international community must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions.’

“Highest scorers in the 2009 CPI are New Zealand at 9.4, Denmark at 9.3, Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0. These scores reflect political stability, long-established conflict of interest regulations and solid, functioning public institutions….

“Even industrialised countries cannot be complacent: the supply of bribery and the facilitation of corruption often involve businesses based in their countries. Financial secrecy jurisdictions, linked to many countries that top the CPI, severely undermine efforts to tackle corruption and recover stolen assets.

“‘Corrupt money must not find safe haven. It is time to put an end to excuses,’ said Labelle. ‘The OECD’s work in this area is welcome, but there must be more bilateral treaties on information exchange to fully end the secrecy regime. At the same time, companies must cease operating in renegade financial centres.’

“Bribery, cartels and other corrupt practices undermine competition and contribute to massive loss of resources for development in all countries, especially the poorest ones. Between 1990 and 2005, more than 283 private international cartels were exposed that cost consumers around the world an estimated US $300 billion in overcharges, as documented in a recent TI report…. ”

For the full release from Transparency International, Nov. 17, click here.

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of becoming.”

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German writer, 1749-1832)