Dr. Hossam Badrawi Official Website
Corruption is defined in its broadest sense as the misuse of public (governmental) power for illegitimate purposes. The phenomenon of corruption is a phenomenon as old as human societies, and it is not limited to a people without another, or a state or culture without another, but it varies in size and degree from one society to another. Despite the presence of corruption in most societies, the environment that accompanies some types of political regimes, such as authoritarian and dictatorial regimes, encourages the emergence and penetration of the phenomenon of corruption more than any other system, while this phenomenon weakens in democratic systems that are based on the foundations of respect for human rights and public freedoms and on transparency and accountability. and rule of law.
Corruption, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is “the perversion or destruction of integrity in the performance of public office through bribery and nepotism.”
As for corruption, according to the definition of the World Bank, it is the use of public office for illegitimate private (personal) gain. In all cases, corruption is an impression on the public of repeating the corrupt act, getting used to it, and sometimes adapting to accepting it. But if it was discovered and legal dealing with it turned into a crime, and here it can be counted and dealt directly with its perpetrators.
Unfortunately, all kinds of political systems are subject to corruption in various forms, but the most common are nepotism, bribery, extortion, influence, fraud, and nepotism.
The nature of political corruption differs from one country to another and from one judicial authority to another. Political financing measures that are legal in one country may be considered illegal in another. Police forces and prosecutors in some countries may have broad powers to bring charges, which makes it difficult at the time to draw a line between the exercise of powers and corruption. Practices that are considered political corruption in some countries may turn into legitimate and legal practices in other countries.
As for financial corruption, it is defined as total financial deviations and violation of financial rules and provisions that regulate the conduct of administrative and financial work in the state and its institutions.
Also, administrative corruption is related to the manifestations of corruption, administrative, functional or organizational deviations, and those violations that the public employee issues during the performance of his official duties.
There is corruption in state-owned or publicly owned companies, which is represented in deviations (financial or administrative) committed against the shareholders.
Corruption cannot arise without appropriate conditions such as:
■ that government institutions are antagonistic and separate from each other.
■ Or for the power to be concentrated in the hands of decision makers without accountability or accountability to the people in the absence or impotence of democracy.
Researchers do not differ in that the prevalence of poverty, ignorance, lack of knowledge of individual rights, the prevalence of traditional values and ties based on lineage and kinship is a clear cause of corruption.
Also, failure to adhere to the principle of balanced separation between the three executive, legislative and judicial powers in the political system, and the tyranny of the executive authority over the legislative authority, leads to a breach of the principle of mutual control and provides an opportunity for dishonest practices.
In addition to this, the absence of public freedoms, the curtailment of civil society institutions, the weakness of the media and oversight, the lack of job opportunities, and the increase in unemployment and poverty levels. It increases the possibility of corruption, wars, external interference, sectarian and clan structures, nepotism, and anxiety caused by instability, destitution, poverty, and low levels of education.
Also, there are administrative and organizational reasons that create a suitable environment for the spread of corruption, including complex procedures (bureaucracy) and ambiguity and plurality of legislation.
Finally, the absence of democracy, such as the absence of a strong parliament that can hold the ruler, the prime minister, ministers, and any of the state’s administrators accountable, and the lack of respect for the law in general or its use of power selectively over those who disagree with the existing system are reasons not to be underestimated.
Societies wishing for development should think about anti-corruption mechanisms by stopping its causes, and not only by discovering it and turning it into a crime.
Another concept linked to the concept of transparency is accountability, as the existence of this concept is a regulator and ruler of transparency-related practices, in light of governance and management systems that take into account the principles and foundations of human rights.
I can define the relationship of corruption with human rights in the following:
■ Corruption leads to a violation of the government’s obligation towards citizens, as corruption in the management of public resources undermines the government’s ability to provide a package of services that are the rights of citizens, including health, education and social services necessary to achieve economic, social and cultural rights.
■ The spread of corruption deepens discrimination in access to public services in favor of those who are able to meet the demands of the corrupt in terms of bribery and so on.
■ Corruption affects the enjoyment of civil and political rights, as it weakens democratic institutions, both modern and established democracies. If corruption is prevalent in public jobs, then decisions do not take into account the interests of society. The principles and institutions of human rights are a necessary component for the success and continuity of anti-corruption strategies, as:
First: The success of anti-corruption efforts depends on seeing it as a systemic problem and not an individual problem. As well as the comprehensiveness of the response against corruption with effective institutions, appropriate laws, rational reforms in government administration, and the involvement of stakeholders from inside and outside the government. Accordingly, the adoption of legal frameworks to combat corruption will not be feasible without the strong participation of civil society and the dissemination of a culture of integrity in state institutions. I assure that civil society activity against corruption needs assistance in order to be able to achieve its goals within a strong legal framework and an open political system.
Second: Fighting corruption – like human rights – is a long-term process that requires profound changes in society that include the country’s institutions, laws and culture.
Combating corruption is linked to benefiting from the basic principles of human rights and its elements such as the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, freedom of publication, transparency in the political system, and accountability, all of which are necessary to develop a successful strategy to combat corruption.
■ Determining the role and characteristics of governmental and civil institutions that can play an effective role in combating corruption to support the role of the judiciary and national human rights institutions in cooperation with international organizations to combat corruption.
■ Achieving transparency and accountability as basic principles of human rights based on the development approach, and they are complementary to successful strategies against corruption. There are some measures that would enhance transparency, accountability and the sustainability of combating corruption closely linked to the adoption of laws that ensure public access to correct information about government processes, decisions, policies and institutional reforms.
■ The participation of civil society and the media in looking at the value of accountability and transparency as a vital and very important matter in combating corruption, as a lesson learned from the experience of human rights movements in civil societies in raising awareness of the harmful effects of corruption, and building alliances between state institutions and the private sector to support these efforts.
Anti-corruption bodies and law enforcement often ignore or underestimate the possibility of a conflict between anti-corruption policies and techniques on the one hand, and human rights principles on the other, and therefore it is important to identify the types of anti-corruption policies in line with human rights principles. To ensure that the rights of all participants, including perpetrators, witnesses and anti-corruption activists, are not negatively affected. I may point out here the importance of respecting privacy rights and a fair trial, which are examples of human rights violations in anti-corruption campaigns, as well as the use of brutality as a technique to combat corruption, which may affect the honorable before the corrupt.
Therefore, for example, it is necessary to consider the issue of the burden of proof in corruption cases, which is an area for establishing a balance between considerations of the necessities of investigations and interrogations in corruption cases and the corresponding human rights and the danger of politicizing anti-corruption campaigns, and using them without transparency and documentation, as a governmental tool to suppress political opposition or liquidate discounts. In this context, it becomes clear the importance of having effective means of redressing victims of human rights violations resulting from corruption or the measures taken to combat it.
I know that there are trends towards reviewing human resource management systems in government administration, introducing the decentralization system, modernizing financial management systems, reviewing and evaluating overall performance. However, these efforts need more and effectiveness. We may realize from this article that preventing corrupt practices does not come by detecting them only, but also by preventing their occurrence by working to avoid the causes of their existence. We do not rejoice at the number of cases that are revealed, which is a commendable effort, but we work hard at different levels to prevent their causes.
Finally, I conclude my recommendations in the Egyptian environment as follows:
1- Anti-corruption measures must be implemented in all sectors, with an integrated vision.
2- The Egyptian government should issue periodically updated information and publish it on the Internet, including budgets and performance evaluation at the local and national levels in all fields.
3- The Egyptian government should implement effective national reporting systems for corrupt practices and human rights violations.
4- The donor funding and technical support bodies must be very clear and open.
5- The Egyptian government should provide protection for whistleblowers of corrupt practices from individuals who work in institutions.
6- The workers shall receive a decent wage commensurate with their education, skills and training they have received.
7- The rules governing conflict of interest must be clarified in accordance with the principle of supporting transparency.
8- The Integrity Charter must be applied in commercial transactions, which includes an agreement that both bidders and contracting bodies are bound by and prohibits offering or accepting bribes in public contracts.
9- The necessary expertise, resources and independence must be provided to the anti-corruption bodies.
10- The state must activate the e-government and provide services to citizens without the need for direct contact with state employees. We must realize the need to follow modern technological methods in the state administration systems and the governance of government institutions so that the political, economic and administrative authorities interact and work in an integrated system, each element of which depends on the effective performance of the other elements – at all levels – extremely important to prevent corrupt practices and protect human rights At the same time.
