Corruption
Individual Documents
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"A Myanmar regime military court has handed life imprisonment terms to the junta’s former trade chief, ex-Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun, and his assistant, ex-Brigadier General Yan Naung Soe, for corruption, according to junta media. The life imprisonment terms are equivalent to 20 years behind bars.
The two were also removed from their military positions.
The court martial verdicts follow the regime’s investigations into the activities of the duo, other high-ranking officials and hundreds of businesspeople last month.
Moe Myint Tun, who has also been purged from the junta’s top administrative body, the State Administration Council, abused his position for personal benefit in violation of economic policies, and committed high treason by going against the roadmap and objectives of the regime, junta media said Tuesday, adding that he took bribes from companies and illegally held foreign currencies. He was the chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee, and the Central Committee for Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods.
The regime announcement said he was found guilty of failing to take action against persons who raised the price of palm oil rather than selling it at the reference price set by the government. The Central Bank of Myanmar sold US dollars in order to import palm oil to be sold at the reference price, it said.
“Moreover he … [took] bribes from companies, applying his rank and authority, illegally keeping foreign exchange currencies in hand, and participating in civilian businesses by breaking directives related to military discipline,” the statement reads.
Prior to the investigation, The Irrawaddy reported that Moe Myint Tun had squirreled away millions of US dollars in bribes from businessmen over the past two years. Some of the businessmen told The Irrawaddy they had to pay him at least US$20,000 or the equivalent in gold and gifts—Louis XIII cognac, with a list price of more than $4,000 for a 750ml bottle, was highly preferred—just to meet him.
Yan Naung Soe, joint secretary of the Central Committee for Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods, personally benefited from violating the economic policies of the state and committed betrayal of the state and treason together with Moe Myint Tun, the regime said.
“He also exchanged foreign currency for Myanmar kyats for businesspersons by applying his rank and authority, accepted foreign currency and Myanmar kyats from businesspersons, created connections between businesspersons with ex-Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun, illegally kept foreign currencies in hand, and participated in civilian businesses in violation of directives related to the military discipline,” the regime said.
The corruption scandal involving Moe Myint Tun and Yan Naung Soe embarrassed regime chief Min Aung Hlaing. He issued a warning late last month that senior military officers and ministers caught abusing their power for personal benefit would face heavy penalties in addition to dismissal.
However, despite Min Aung Hlaing’s highly publicized anti-graft campaign against his subordinates, it is common knowledge that he leads the regime in terms of corruption and that his son Aung Pyae Sone and daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon have abused their father’s power to amass great wealth..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2023-10-11
Date of entry/update:
2023-10-11
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Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Corruption, Military History
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"The introduction briefly describes the research topic, the context and rationale,
as well as the aims and the significance of the research. The central research
question of this thesis is: why are the anti-corruption measures initiated in 2013
unable to effectively address corruption in Myanmar? Since 2003, Myanmar is
ranked at the bottom of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published
annually by Transparency International (TI). It is perceived as one of the most
corrupted countries in the world (ranked 147 among 168 countries surveyed in
2015) (TI 2016c). Nonetheless, the issue of endemic corruption in Myanmar has
not received much academic scrutiny and 'not enough investigative work is
being done to expose corruption in the country' (Phoe Thauk Kya 2014). After
more than four decades of military rule, Myanmar made a crucial step towards
democracy in 2012, when it held its first democratic elections since 1962. These
elections were part of major political, economic and administrative reforms
(Freedom House 2012). Myanmar is indeed embarking on an important
transition, and it benefits from increasing foreign investment and development
programs. In 2012, the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) lifted
trade embargoes against the country. While this provides many opportunities for
investment and growth, it also creates new and growing forms of corruption
(Freedom House 2012)1
.
Myanmar's private sector is underdeveloped and despite the reforms, the
difficult investment climate remains a critical limiting factor for private sector
development. Corruption is one of the most serious barriers to investment and
commerce (World Bank 2014b), and 'the top concern for businesses, in
Myanmar (Reuters, 6 May 2014). Little business can be accomplished without
resorting to illegal payments (World Bank 2014b). Myanmar is a resource-rich
country with agriculture and extractive industries, which provide the major
portion of national income. Foreign direct investment grew from $329.6 million
received in 2009/2010 to US$8.1 billion in 2014/2015 (Aung Hla Tun 2015).
However, living standards have not improved for the majority of the population,
and Myanmar remains one of the poorest countries in Asia with nearly one third
of the population living in poverty (CIA 2016). Peter Pedersen and Clare Wee
from the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s Office of Anti-corruption and
Integrity, argue that fighting corruption and fraud is crucial to achieving the goal
of reducing poverty in the Asia-Pacific region. This is because corruption usually
has a negative impact on development projects (ADB 2012), undermines
sustainable development, and prevents the benefits of economic growth from
being widely shared (ADB 2014).
The landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the National League
for Democracy (NLD), at the November 2015 national legislative elections, can
be regarded as a step towards an opening for the country. Nevertheless,
establishing effective anti-corruption measures remains crucial for Myanmar's
development process and to protect future investment. After the signature of the
United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2005 and its
ratification in 2012 (UNODC 2013), Myanmar's government enacted a new Anti-Corruption Law (ACL) on 7 July 2013 and formed a new Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) on 25 February 2014 (Ei Ei Toe Lwin 2014). However, so
far, in the most prevalent surveys related to corruption undertaken by
International Organisations (IOs) and International Non-governmental
Organisations (INGOs), Myanmar's score has not significantly improved (TI
2016c; World Economic Forum (WEF) 2015; World Bank 2015b)2
. Since its
creation, the ACC has been criticised by Myanmar's journalists and political
opposition, particularly for its lack of independence (Eleven Myanmar, 1 July
2015; Ei Ei Toe Lwin 2014; Naing Ko Ko 2014). The perceived effectiveness of
an anti-corruption agency (ACA) is usually linked by academics to its ability to
act independently (Schütte 2012, 23). Thus, the thesis examines the
entrenched nature of corruption in Myanmar, its political culture and the
limitations of the ACL and of the ACC.
Aims and Significance of the Research
The objective of the research is to explain why the new anti-corruption
measures initiated in 2013 have been unable to successfully address the issue
of corruption in Myanmar. In order to do so, the research first tries to determine
the nature and extent of corruption in Myanmar. Then, the thesis considers the
former anti-corruption measures established before 2013, and examines the
political context and the motivations, which led the government to implement
new anti-corruption measures. It focus on the period from when Myanmar start
transitional reforms in 2010, until the introduction of the new anti-corruption
measures in 2013. The thesis reviews the features of the ACL and of the ACC,
determines their weaknesses and limitations and ascertains why corruption
persists. The thesis, then identifies some potential strategies to make the ACC
more effective by examining the challenges and the performance of ACAs in
other countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia or Vietnam. Finally,
the research analyses the alternatives for addressing the issue of corruption in
Myanmar.
Since the early 1990s, academic and policy interest in corruption in developing
countries has greatly increased. Several international institutions such as the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the
United Nations (UN), INGOs such as TI, and national governments, have
proposed various strategies intended to reduce corruption in the Global South.
Despite the prevalence of publications on corruption in Asia, there is a lack of
research or academic literature on corruption in Myanmar. This is, despite the
fact that it is one of the highest-ranking Asian countries in terms of official
corruption. There is also little available evidence of the specific forms and
patterns of corruption in the country. Consequently, although recent political and
economic reforms initiated by Myanmar's government can be regarded as a first
2 From 2014 to 2016, Myanmar's score in the CPI ranged from 21 to 22 (scores ranging from
100 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt)) (TI 2016c). In the 2014-2015 WEF's Global
Competitiveness Index, Myanmar's rank in terms of 'Ethics and corruption' is 121 among
144 countries with a score of 2.6 (scores ranging from 1 (lowest) to 7 (best)) (WEF 2015).
Between 2013 to 2014, Myanmar's rank in terms of 'controlling corruption' in the World
Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators, increased slightly from 12.4 to 17.3 but remained
very low (percentile rank among all countries ranges from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest) rank)
(World Bank 2015b).
2
step to democratisation, the country continues to face a major corruption issue,
which threatens its development. As there is a dearth of research on corruption
and anti-corruption initiatives in Myanmar, this thesis is important because it will
provide a comprehensive assessment of the legal and institutional anti-
corruption framework. It will focus specifically on the anti-corruption measures
initiated by the government in 2013, which have not yet been analysed in
publications, by any organisation or institution.
Structure of the Thesis
Chapter One defines the methodology and the sources of data used, as well as
the major concepts relevant to the research question. Additionally, this chapter
examines the existing literature on the research topic. Chapter Two determines
the nature and extent of corruption in the country, and the political context in
which new anti-corruption measures have been implemented. Chapter Two also
evaluates the provisions of the ACL in light of the UNCAC. Chapter Three
explores possible ways to make the ACC more effective by identifying reasons
for the ACC’s poor performance. Furthermore, this chapter analyses whether an
ACA is the most effective tool to address corruption in Myanmar, by comparing
it with other ACAs established in the region. In concluding, the thesis reviews
the contributions of the research undertaken and the implications of its findings,
and proposes opportunities for future research..."
Source/publisher:
The University of Melbourne
Date of publication:
2016-06-24
Date of entry/update:
2022-03-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption, Economic History, Business and the Military
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"Statement by Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations at the Special Session of the UN General Assembly Plenary on Challenges and Measures to Prevent and Combat Corruption and Strengthen International Cooperation
(New York, 2-4 June 2021)
Mr. President,
It is my pleasure and honour to address this special session on challenges and measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation. This special session highlights the fact that despite the unprecedented socio-economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world cannot afford to ignore one of the pre-existing plagues that threatens the stability and security of societies:
CORRUPTION.
Corruption is a source of injustice and creates negative consequences to our societies. It erodes public trust in governance institutions and undermines the rule of law and democracy, posing a grave threat to peace, human rights and sustainable development of societies, especially in the developing world.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates the existing challenges we face and significantly hinders the measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation. Corruption is an international problem that needs an international solution and cooperation. While the corruption reduces access to health care, education and social protection services, corruption disproportionately affects the most vulnerable and marginalized people.
With the adoption of UN Convention against Corruption in 2003, the world has the most comprehensive instrument to prevent and combat corruption at the national and global levels. While it provides a key framework for stronger cooperation between states in fighting corruption, national-level implementation of the Convention remains a higher priority. In this regard, Myanmar welcomes the adoption of political declaration of “our common commitment to effectively addressing challenges and implementing measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation”.
Mr. President,
My country, Myanmar, has experienced decades of military dictatorship where fear and corruption dominate everyday life of the people. The military dictators misused the military institution for political and economic power. Our vast natural resources were exploited for their own benefits at the expense of ordinary people’s welfare, creating inequality and injustice. Their culture of corrupt practices and lack of any accountability directly undermined the rule of law, subsequently leading to the erosion of trust in public institutions, especially in the security sector.
Eradication of corruption has become a national priority of the elected civilian government. Since taking office, the democratically elected government led by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has relentlessly worked to prevent and combat corruption across sections and institutions as well as to address its root causes. Accordingly, the government improved the legal framework including the 2018 amendment to anti-corruption law to enhance transparency, integrity and accountability in the public governance. The Anti-Corruption Commission was given broader power and independence to discharge its responsibility.
Due to these concerted efforts, the 2020 report by the Global Corruption Barometer – Asia found that the overwhelming numbers of Myanmar people think that the elected government is doing a good job combating corruption. According to Transparency International, Myanmar is a significant improver on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020, increasing 13 points since 2012 because of its increased political will and implementation of legal and institutional reforms against corruption.
Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, adopted in 2018, also integrated the strengthening of anti-corruption related legislation and enforcement measures and policies into revenue mobilization and good governance strategies.
Mr. President,
Corruption is one of the greatest threats to the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law. It is no doubt that individuals and institutions that benefit from corrupt systems do not want to see democratic values thriving. In Myanmar, under the civilian government, the military views that transparency and freedom of press undermine their interests as their conglomerates have lost lucrative economic privileges and they are subject to increasing scrutiny from the free media. They consider the government’s efforts to promote accountability and the rule of law as a threat to their power. This is one of the various reasons that the military staged an illegal coup on 1 February 2021, overthrowing hard-won democratic reforms and development gains achieved over the past decade.
Since then, the illegal military junta has engaged in brutal and inhumane acts against the people of Myanmar in a targeted and systematic manner. As of today, more than 820 people including women, girls and children were murdered. Many were tortured to death in their custody. More than 4,300 people including our President, State Counsellor and many others remain in detention unlawfully.
What is outrageous more is that, as widely reported, the junta forces even charged families around 85 USD to retrieve the dead bodies of relatives murdered by them in their brutal crackdown. This is just a stark reminder of how dark the future of the people of Myanmar will be under the brutal and corrupt military rule. The illegitimate military council will continue to crackdown everyone that opposes to their actions and exposes their unlawful and corrupt behaviours. They have already cracked down the independent media by revoking media licenses for 8 media outlets and arresting at least 88 journalists since the coup.
In conclusion, Mr. President, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi pointed out in her address to the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly that we are taught in Myanmar that the causes of corruption in terms of human nature are greed, anger, fear and ignorance. The greed of a few military generals and their fear of losing power to the government duly elected by the people have opened up a dark chapter of tragedy for the people of Myanmar.
However, the people of Myanmar are resilient. Together with our determination and unwavering quest for democracy, we will overcome this dark moment and restore democracy in Myanmar. The National Unity Government will carry out everything it can to bring the perpetrators to justice and hold them accountable for their crimes against the people of Myanmar. In this regard, the international community should provide strongest support towards the people of Myanmar and the NUG.
Therefore, I wish to appeal to the international community to help the people of Myanmar in pursuit of a peaceful, just and inclusive democratic society, in order to be an active and responsible country in regional and international cooperation to fight corruption of all forms under the framework of UN Convention against Corruption.
I thank you, Mr. President..."
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations (New York)
Date of publication:
2021-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption, Statements and documents submitted to the GA by Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Human Rights and international relations
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"အလွတ်သဘော မြန်မာဘာသာပြန်ဆိုချက် (၃-၆-၂၀၂၁)
အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု ကာကွယ်တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာ ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှုမြှင့်တင်ရေးဆိုင်ရာ စိန်ခေါ်မှုများနှင့် ဆောင်ရွက်မှုများနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ ကုလသမဂ္ဂထွေထွေညီလာခံအထူးမျက်နှာစုံညီအစည်းအဝေး၌ ကုလသမဂ္ဂဆိုင်ရာ မြန်မာအမြဲတမ်းကိုယ်စားလှယ် သံအမတ်ကြီး ဉီးကျော်မိုးထွန်း ပြောကြားခဲ့သည့်မိန့်ခွန်း
(နယူးယောက်၊ ဇွန်လ ၂-၄ ၂၀၂၁)
သဘာပတိကြီးခင်ဗျာ၊
အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု ကာကွယ်တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှု မြှင့်တင်ရေးဆိုင်ရာ စိန်ခေါ်မှု များနှင့် ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ ကုလသမဂ္ဂအထွေထွေညီလာခံ အထူးမျက်နှာစုံညီအစည်းအဝေး၌ မိန့်ခွန်းပြောကြားရသည့်အတွက် ဝမ်းမြောက်ဂုဏ်ယူပါတယ်။ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ကပ်ရောဂါကြောင့် ယခင်က မကြုံခဲ့ဖူးသည့် လူမှု-စီးပွားရေးစိန်ခေါ်မှုများကြားမှ လူမှုအသိုက်အဝန်း လုံခြုံရေးနဲ့ တည်ငြိမ်အေးချမ်းရေးကို ခြိမ်းခြောက်နေဆဲဖြစ်သော ရှိရင်းစွဲ ကပ်ရောဂါကြီးများအနက် တစ်ခုဖြစ်သည့် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုကို လျစ်လျူရှု၍ မရကြောင်းကို ယနေ့ အထူးအစည်းအဝေးမှ မီးမှောင်းထိုးပြလျက်ရှိပါတယ်။
အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုသည် မတရားမှု၏ အရင်းအမြစ်တစ်ခုဖြစ်ပြီး၊ လူမှုအသိုက်အဝန်းအတွက် မကောင်းသည့် အကျိုးဆက်များဖြစ်ထွန်းစေပါတယ်။ ထို့ပြင် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုသည် အစိုးရအဖွဲ့အစည်းများအပေါ် ပြည်သူများ၏ ယုံကြည်မှုကို ဆုတ်ယုတ်စေပြီး၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် တရားဥပဒေစိုးမိုးရေးကို လျော့ပါးစေသည့်အပြင် အထူးသဖြင့် လူမှုအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ အထူးသဖြင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးဆဲနိုင်ငံများရှိ လူမှုအဖွဲ့အစည်းများတွင် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး၊ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးနှင့် လူမှုအသိုက်အဝန်းရေရှည်တိုးတက်မှုကိုပါ ကြီးမားသည့် ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှုတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
လက်ရှိ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ကပ်ရောဂါသည် မိမိတို့၏ ရှိရင်းစွဲစိန်ခေါ်မှုများကို ပိုမိုဆိုးဝါးစေပြီး၊ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု ကာကွယ်တားဆီးရေးနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှု မြှင့်တင်ရေးဆိုင်ရာ ဆောင်ရွက်ချက်များကို သိသာ ထင်ရှားစွာ အဟန့်အတားဖြစ်စေပါတယ်။ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုသည် နိုင်ငံတကာပြဿနာတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပြီး၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ အဖြေရှာမှုနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှုတို့ လိုအပ်ပါတယ်။ ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှု၊ ပညာရေးနှင့် လူမှုကာကွယ်ရေး ဆိုင်ရာ ဝန်ဆောင်မှုများပံ့ပိုးမှုကိုပါ လျော့ကျစေသည့်အပြင် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုသည် ထိခိုက်လွယ်၍ ခွဲခြား ဆက်ဆံခြင်းခံရသူများအပေါ် အချိုးမညီမျှစွာ ပိုမိုအကျိုးသက်ရောက်သည်ကို တွေ့ရှိရပါတယ်။
၂၀၀၃ ခုနှစ်တွင် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုဆန့်ကျင့်ရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကုလသမဂ္ဂကွန်ဗင်းရှင်းအား ပြဋ္ဌာန်းမှုနှင့်အတူ ကမ္ဘာ့နိုင်ငံများသည် ပြည်တွင်းနှင့် ပြည်ပနိုင်ငံတကာအဆင့်တို့တွင် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုကို ကာကွယ်တိုက်ဖျက်ရန် ပြည့်စုံ ကျယ်ပြန့်သည့် သဘောတူညီချက်ကို ရရှိထားပြီးဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုတိုက်ဖျက်ရေးအတွက် နိုင်ငံ အချင်းချင်း ခိုင်မာသည့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှုရရှိရေးအတွက် အဓိကမူဘောင်တစ်ရပ်ကို အဆိုပါကွန်ဗင်းရှင်းမှ ပံ့ပိုး သည်ဖြစ်ရာ၊ ပြည်တွင်းအဆင့် နိုင်ငံအလိုက် ကွန်ဗင်းရှင်းပါအချက်များကို အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရေးသည် ပို၍ အရေးပါလျက်ရှိတယ်။ ထို့ကြောင့် “အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုကာကွယ်တားဆီးရေးဆိုင်ရာလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များ အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ရေး၊ နိုင်ငံတကာပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှု မြှင့်တင်ရေးနှင့် စိန်ခေါ်မှုများကို ထိထိရောက်ရောက် ဖြေရှင်းရေးဆိုင်ရာ ဘုံကတိကဝတ်” ဟူသော နိုင်ငံရေးကြေညာချက် ပြဋ္ဌာန်းမှုကို မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှ ကြိုဆိုကြောင်း ပြောကြားလိုပါတယ်။
သဘာပတိကြီးခင်ဗျာ၊
ဆယ်စုနှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ပြည်သူများ၏ နေ့စဉ်ဘဝကို ကြောက်ရွံ့မှုနှင့် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုတို့ဖြင့် လွှမ်းမိုးနေ သည့် အာဏာရှင်စစ်တပ်အုပ်ချုပ်မှုနှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည်ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့ခဲ့ရပြီး၊ စစ်တပ်အာဏာရှင်များသည် နိုင်ငံရေးနှင့် စီးပွားရေးအင်အားရရှိရေးအတွက် စစ်တပ်ကို အလွဲသုံးစားပြုခဲ့ပါတယ်။ သာမန်ပြည်သူလူထု၏ အကျိုး စီးပွားကို အထိခိုက်ခံလျက် မညီမျှမှုနှင့် မတရားမှုတို့ဖြင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ ကိုယ်ကျိုးစီးပွားအတွက် မိမိတို့နိုင်ငံ၏ များပြား သည့် သဘာဝသယံဇာတများသည် ခေါင်းပုံဖြတ်ခြင်းခံနေရပါတယ်။ အကျင့်ပျက်သည့် လုပ်ရပ်များနှင့် တာဝန်ခံမှု ကင်းမဲ့သည့် စစ်တပ်အာဏာရှင်များ၏ အလေ့အထသည် တရားဥပဒေစိုးမိုးရေးကို ထိခိုက်သည့်အပြင် ပြည်သူ့အဖွဲ့ အစည်းများအပေါ် အထူးသဖြင့် လုံခြုံရေးကဏ္ဍ၌ယုံကြည်မှုလျော့ပါးစေပါတယ်။
အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု အမြစ်ပြတ်ချေမှုန်းရေးသည် မြန်မာရွေးကောက်ခံအရပ်သားအစိုးရ၏ အမျိုးသားရေး ရည်မှန်းချက်ဖြစ်ပြီး၊ နိုင်ငံတော်၏အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်ဉီးဆောင်သည့် ဒီမိုကရေစီရွေးကောက်ခံ အစိုးရသည် တာဝန်စတင်ထမ်းဆောင်သည့်အချိန်မှစတင်၍ ကဏ္ဍပေါင်းစုံနှင့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းအားလုံးတို့၌ အဂတိ လိုက်စားမှု ကာကွယ်ရေးနှင့် တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးအတွက် အထူးကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့ပြီး၊ အထူးသဖြင့် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု ၏ အဓိကပြဿနာအရင်းအမြစ်ကို ဖြေရှင်းရန် ဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ အစိုးရအနေနှင့် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုဆန့်ကျင့်ရေး ဥပဒေကို ပွင့်လင်းမြင်သာမှု၊ တည်တံ့ခိုင်မာမှုနှင့် ပြည်သူ့အုပ်ချုပ်မှုကဏ္ဍတို့တွင် တာဝန်ခံမှုရှိစေရးအတွက် ၂၀၁၈ ခုနှစ်က ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲခဲ့ခြင်းဖြင့် ဥပဒေကြောင်းမူဘောင်ကို အဆင့်မြှင့်တင်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ထို့ပြင် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးကော်မရှင်ကို လုပ်ငန်းတာဝန်ထမ်းဆောင်မှု၌ လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အာဏာနှင့် လွတ်လပ်မှုတို့ ပိုမိုအပ်နှင်းခဲ့ပါ တယ်။
အဆိုပါ စုပေါင်းကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်မှုကြောင့် ကမ္ဘာ့အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု တိုင်းတာစောင့်ကြည့်ရေးအဖွဲ့ (Global Corruption Barometer) ၏ ၂၀၂၀ ပြည့်နှစ်၊ အာရှအစီရင်ခံစာတွင် ရွေးကောက်ခံအစိုးရ၏ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုတိုက်ဖျက်ရေးတွင် ကောင်းမွန်စွာဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိသည်ဟု မြန်မာပြည်သူအများစုက မှတ်ချက်ပြုသည်ဟု ဖော်ပြခဲ့ပါတယ်။ ထို့ပြင် နိုင်ငံတကာပွင့်လင်းမြင်သာမှုအဖွဲ့(Transparency International) အရ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် ၂၀၁၂ ခုနှစ်မှစတင်၍ နိုင်ငံရေးရည်မှန်းချက် တိုးတက်မှု၊ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု တိုက်ဖျက်ရေးအတွက် ဥပဒေနှင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံဆိုင်ရာ ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုများ အကောင်အထည်ဖော်မှုတို့ကြောင့် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုဆိုင်ရာ သဘောထားစံချိန်စံနှုန်း (Corruption Perceptions Index – CPI)တွင် အမှတ်(၁၃)မှတ်သို့ တိုးတက်ခဲ့ပါတယ်။
၂၀၁၈ ခုနှစ်က ပြဋ္ဌာန်းအတည်ပြုခဲ့သည့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ရေရှည်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေးစီမံကိန်းတွင် နိုင်ငံ အခွန်ဘဏ္ဍာ စနစ်တကျစုစည်းရေးနှင့် ကောင်းမွန်သော အုပ်ချုပ်မှုဆိုင်ရာ မဟာဗျူဟာများချမှတ်ရေးတို့ အတွက် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုတိုက်ဖျက်ရေးနှင့်ပတ်သက်သည့်ဥပဒေ၊လက်တွေ့ကျင့်သုံးသည့် ဆောင်ရွက်ချက် များနှင့် မူဝါဒများ အားကောင်းရေးအတွက်ပါ ဘက်ပေါင်းစုံ ပါဝင်ပါတယ်။
သဘာပတိကြီးခင်ဗျာ၊
အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုသည် ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် တရားဥပဒေစိုးမိုးရေးတောင့်တင်းခိုင်မာရေးအတွက် ကြီးမား သည့် ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှုတစ်ခုအပါအဝင်ဖြစ်ပြီး၊ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုစနစ်မှ အကျိုးအမြတ်ရရှိနေသည့် ပုဂ္ဂိုလ် တစ်ဉီးချင်းစီနှင့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများသည် ဒီမိုကရေစီစံနှုန်းဖြစ်ထွန်းရင့်သန်မှုကို လိုလားမှုမရှိသည်ကို သံသယ ဖြစ်ဖွယ်မရှိဟု သုံးသပ်ရပါတယ်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ အရပ်သားအစိုးရအုပ်ချုပ်မှုအောက်တွင် စစ်တပ်သည် ပွင့်လင်းမြင်သာမှုနှင့် သတင်းမီဒီယာလွတ်လပ်ခွင့်တို့က ၎င်းတို့၏ အကျိုးများသော စီးပွားရေးအထူး အခွင့်အရေးများ ဆုံးရှံးမှုဖြစ်စေသည်ဟု ယူဆကြပြီး၊ လွတ်လပ်သည့်သတင်းမီဒီယာ၏ စိစစ်စောင့်ကြည့်မှု ကို အသာပေးခံယူရသည်ဟု မှတ်ယူထားလျက်ရှိရာ၊ အစိုးရ၏ တာဝန်ခံမှုရှိစေရေးနှင့် တရားဥပဒေစိုးမိုးရေး ကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်မှုများသည် စစ်တပ်အာဏာအတွက် ခြိမ်းခြောက်မှု တစ်ရပ်မှယူဆထားကြပါတယ်။ ယင်း သည် ခက်ခဲစွာရယူထားသည့် ဒီမိုကရေစီ အသွင်ကူးပြောင်းမှု များနှင့် တိုးတက်မှုများကို ပစ်ပယ်၍ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ ၁ ရက်နေ့ တရားမဝင်စစ်တပ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှု၏ အကြောင်းအရင်းများ၏ တစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
အာဏာသိမ်းသည့်အချိန်မှစ၍ တရားမဝင် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်တပ်သည် မြန်မာပြည်သူများကို ပစ်မှတ် ထားသည့် ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် လုပ်ရပ်များကို ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ပြီး၊ ယနေ့အထိ အမျိုးသမီး၊ မိန်းကလေး နှင့် ကလေးငယ်များအပါအဝင် လူပေါင်း (၈၂၀)ဉီးကျော် အသက်ခံရပြီးဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးသူများ တွင် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခံထားရစဉ်ကာလအတွင်း နှိပ်စက်ခံရမှုကြောင့် အသက်သေဆုံးသည်အထိ ဖြစ်ခဲ့ကြရပြီး၊ မိမိတို့ ၏ နိုင်ငံတော်သမ္မတ၊ နိုင်ငံတော်၏အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ်နှင့် အခြားပုဂ္ဂိုလ်အများအပြားအပါအဝင် လူ(၄,၃၀၀) ကျော်သည် တရားမဝင် ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခြင်းခံနေရဆဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
ယင်းထက်ပို၍ လက်ခံနိုင်ဖွယ်မရှိသည်မှာ စစ်တပ်သည် ၎င်းတို့ရက်စက်စွာနှိပ်စက်မှုကြောင့် အသက်ဆုံးရှုံး ခဲ့ရသူများ၏ ခန္ဓာကိုယ်ကို အမေရိကန်ဒေါ်လာ (၈၅) ဒေါ်လာဝန်းကျင်ဖြင့် မိသားစုဝင်များထံမှ ငွေကြေးရယူပြီးမှ ပြန်လည်ပေးအပ်သည်ဟု သတင်းများအရ သိရှိရပါတယ်။ ရက်စက်၍အကျင့်ပျက်ခြစားသည့် စစ်တပ် အုပ်ချုပ်မှု အောက်တွင် ရရှိလာမည့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ အနာဂတ်ဆိုးကို သိသိသာသာ သတိပေးခြင်းဖြစ် ပြီး၊ တရားမဝင် စစ်တပ်အုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကာင်စီသည် ၎င်းတို့၏ တရားမဝင် အကျင့်ပျက် အဂတိလုပ်ရပ်တို့ အပေါ် ဆန့်ကျင်သူအားလုံးကို ဆက်လက် ဖိနှပ်ချေမှုန်းမည်ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ လက်ရှိအချိန်အထိ လွတ်လပ်သည့် သတင်းမီဒီယာဌာန (၈)ခု၏ ခွင့်ပြုမိန့်များကို ရုပ်သိမ်းခဲ့ပြီး၊ အနည်းဆုံး သတင်းသမား(၈၈)ဉီးကိုလည်း ဖမ်းဆီးထားခဲ့ပါတယ်။
နိဂုံးချုပ်အားဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတော်၏အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ် ဒေါ်အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်သည် (၇၁)ကြိမ်မြောက် ကုလသမဂ္ဂအထွေထွေညီလာခံ မိန့်ခွန်း၌ ထည့်သွင်းပြောကြားခဲ့သည့်အတိုင်း အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုကို ဖြစ်ပေါ်စေသည့် အကြောင်းတရားများတွင် လောဘ၊ ဒေါသ၊ ကြောက်ရွံ့မှု၊ လျစ်လျူရှုမှုများ ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ စစ်တပ်ဗိုလ်ချုပ်အချို့၏ လောဘနှင့် ၎င်းတို့၏ အာဏာကို ပြည်သူများမှ ရွေးချယ်ထားသည့် အစိုးရမှတစ်ဆင့် ပြည်သူများထံ ပေးရမည့် အပေါ် ကြောက်ရွံ့မှုတို့သည် မြန်မာပြည်သူများအတွက် အဖြစ်ဆိုးတစ်ခု ဖြစ်စေခဲ့ခြင်းဖြစ်ပါ တယ်။
သို့ရာတွင် မြန်မာပြည်သူများသည် ကြံ့ကြံ့ခံနိုင်သူများဖြစ်ရာ၊ ဒီမိုကရေစီကို လိုလားသည့် မယိုင်လဲ သည့် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်နှင့် လိုလားတောင်းတမှုတို့ဖြင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ ရင်ဆိုင်နေရသည့် အဖြစ်ဆိုးကို ကျော်လွန် ၍ ဒီမိုကရေစီပြန်လည်ရရှိမည်ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် ပြစ်မှုကျူးလွန်သူအားလုံး ကို တရားဥပဒေ ရှေ့မှောက်သို့ ရောက်ရှိရေးနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများအပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့် ပြစ်မှုများအတွက် တာဝန်ခံမှုရှိစေရးကို တတ်နိုင်သည့်ဘက်မှ အရာအားလုံး ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်မည်ဖြစ်ရာ နိုင်ငံတကာ အသိုက်အဝန်းအနေနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူများနှင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသို့ အစွန်းကုန်အားပေး ထောက်ခံရမည်ဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
ကုလသမဂ္ဂ အဂတိလိုက်စားမှု ဆန့်ကျင်ရေးကွန်ဗင်းရှင်း၏ မူဘောင်အောက်တွင် ဒေသတွင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှုတို့ဖြင့် အဂတိလိုက်စားမှုအားလုံးကို တိုက်ဖျက်မှုတွင် တက်ကြွ၍ တာဝန် ယူမှုရှိသော နိုင်ငံတစ်နိုင်ငံအနေနှင့် ပါဝင်ရန် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုက်အဝန်းအနေနှင့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး၊ တရားမျှတမှုနှင့် အားလုံးပါဝင်သည့်် ဒီမိုကရေစီ အသိုက်အဝန်းရရှိရေးအတွက် မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ ကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်မှုကို ကူညီအားပေးရန် မေတ္တာရပ်ခံလိုပါတယ်။
ကျေးဇူးတင်ပါတယ်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of publication:
2021-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Corruption, Collected resolutions of the GA on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
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Description:
"The military junta that seized control of Myanmar earlier this year is seeking to "line its pockets" by selling off thousands of tons of illegal timber to international markets, the Environmental Investigation Agency reported on Friday in its latest update on the country’s “tainted timber” trade.
During the last term of the ‘legitimate’ government of Myanmar, the state took steps to combat illegal logging and seized about 200,000 tons of illegal timber, the EIA previously reported. That will now be up for auction by the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE), a state-run entity which controls all timber sales across the country.
The EIA said that the enterprise operates an “opaque” auction system where international traders place a deposit of US$10,000 before bidding for a final price.
“Why would this State enterprise do this, other than to obtain desperately needed hard currency to continue the junta’s brutal persecution of the people of Myanmar?” asked Faith Doherty, an EIA Forests Campaigns Leader, in a statement. “This is additional confirmation of EIA allegations that the military regime is using timber to support itself and its reign of terror.”
The move comes as more stringent sanctions are being placed on the country. Last week, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control placed sanctions on Khin Maung Yi, the Minister for Myanmar’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Conservation (MONREC), who has, according to the EIC, “directly profited” from the selling of the country’s natural resources.
“This is conflict timber, it is illegal in so many ways, and seeking to buy and import it from Myanmar would amount to nothing more than naked profiteering on the country’s misery and suffering,” Doherty said, urging the European Union and the U.K. to follow the U.S. and Canada by imposing sanctions on the timber trade.
Myanmar’s deadly military coup began in February, after only six years of democratic rule but according to the initial report by the EIC in March of this year, the MTE’s trade has long been embroiled in corruption—even before the country’s short-lived democracy—illegally harvesting and smuggling the timber and evading or reducing taxation in order to ship teak to European markets.
The report also highlighted how the military continues to profit from exports of timber, particularly from teak in high demand for the luxury yachting sector.
Deforestation has claimed an area roughly the size of Finland and Slovakia combined was lost between 2001 and 2019..."
Source/publisher:
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
Date of publication:
2021-05-25
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Timber trade, Corruption, Illegal Economy - general, Timber extraction, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Military conglomerate holds majority stake in Ever Flow River port project while its board members regulate ports, customs
Description:
"A new listing on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) Thursday morning risks further funding public corruption and supporting the military’s “ongoing war crimes,” experts and rights group warn.
On Thursday, Ever Flow River Group (EFRG) will become the YSX’s sixth publicly-listed company.
EFRG operates a joint venture company with Lann Pyi Marine - a subsidiary of the military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings (MEHL) - called Hlaing Inland Terminal and Logistics (HITLC).
HITLC is building a $43m inland port in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township between the Aung Zeya and Shwe Pyi Thar bridges. The site is still under construction and not generating income for EFRG or its partners yet, but capital raised at the exchange may speed up that process. EFRG is financing the project and will hold 49% equity in HITLC while Lann Pyi Marine is providing land for 51% equity.
According to disclosure documents EFRG provided to YSX, the project will include customs clearance and customs-bonded facilities.
Retired brigadier-general and MEHL director Kyaw Htin is the director general of Myanmar’s customs department and retired major Ni Aung, another MEHL director, is the managing director of the Myanma Port Authority, the federal port regulatory body.
Kyaw Htin and Ni Aung “will be directly profiting from their public positions through MEHL’s business” with EFRG, the rights group Justice for Myanmar said in a statement Monday. “The inclusion of a customs-bonded warehouse, customs clearance and port services within the project adds heightened corruption risk.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-05-28
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption, The Military's political role
Language:
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Sub-title:
Lei Lei Maw’s family home in Thayet Chaung will also be seized by the state
Description:
"A court handed a 30-year prison sentence on Friday to the former chief minister of Tanintharyi region, more than a year after she was arrested on bribery and corruption charges.
Lei Lei Maw sold her house to the Global Grand Services (GGS) company for 200m kyat, well above its market value, and gave the firm several public contracts in return, the Anti-Corruption Commission said.
She also gave the F-22 Sunny Construction company 400m kyat, roughly $263,000, just to remove some bushes outside of Dawei airport. She did so without calling a tender or holding a cabinet meeting.
The Tanintharyi Region Court also sentenced three former GGS company officials to between five and ten years in prison on Friday. They are managing director Thein Htwe, company director Aung Myat and manager Thura Ohn.
Lei Lei Maw was hit with four charges under section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law in March last year after a one-month probe into her conduct.
They also found that she abused her power by allocating almost two billion kyat in public money to the Road Management Department without following official procedures..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-05-22
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
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Sub-title:
NLD government has prioritized graft-busting but the business-minded military is still immune
Description:
"Myanmar was widely viewed as one of the most opaque and mismanaged countries in the world throughout decades of abusive and unaccountable military rule.
That was supposed to change with the transition to democracy in 2015, with Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party resoundingly voted into power on a promise of change and reform.
Now, as Myanmar enters a new election season pitting her NLD against the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the NLD’s anti-corruption record is expected to feature on the campaign trail. Certain international measures are on the NLD’s side. Global graft watchdog Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perception Index saw Myanmar move up two positions, from 132nd in 2018 to 130th out of 180 ranked countries in 2019.
That ranking has slowly but steadily improved since Suu Kyi assumed electoral power in 2016, when Myanmar ranked 136th on the index. That’s quantifiable international recognition of her government’s anti-graft battle, a campaign of new laws, high-profile arrests and sackings, and improved collaboration on graft issues with the private sector..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of publication:
2020-02-11
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
About Aung San Suu Kyi, Corruption, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties
Language:
more
Description:
"Today Myanmar celebrated International Anti-Corruption Day in Nay Pyi Taw. The Anti-Corruption Commission, UNODC and UNDP joined forces to mark the day and encourage the public to get involved in anti-corruption efforts. The central theme of the day's event was that, by working together across government, the private sector, and the community at large, we can make real progress in curbing corruption.
The event was opened with speeches by H.E. U Aung Kyi, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Mr. Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and Mr. Peter Bachelor, UNDP Country Director for Myanmar.
Mr. Douglas said: "Corruption anywhere is a pervasive and harmful force: it breaks the trust of the people in our public institutions, and makes any improvement in governance or the rule of law that much harder to achieve. It shrinks public revenue, and stifles efforts to improve public welfare - especially the welfare of the most vulnerable, who measure the costs of corruption in missing healthcare services, in missing educational services, in missing public officials whom they can trust. Ultimately, corruption lines the pockets of those who abuse the trust of the public they serve, and takes food off the table of those who will miss it most."
Mr. Douglas went on to note the efforts made in Myanmar to curb corruption, saying "UNODC supports the government in enhancing the institutional capacity to prevent, raise awareness of, detect, investigate, prosecute, and convict cases of corruption. This includes extensive capacity development activities for anti-corruption institutions, including the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Anti-Financial Crime Division of the Myanmar Police Force, the Union Attorney General's Office, and the Supreme Court."
H.E. Mr. Kyi noted the progress that has been made through Myanmar's adoption of the UN Convention Against Corruption, and the enactment of multiple laws and policies aimed at reducing corruption within the country. He went on to point out the ongoing work to address corruption, noting that "a whole-of-government response and a cohesive national anti-corruption strategy are essential. Our continued development and implementation of major programmes that we have initiated with the support of our international partners are key to that effort."
A highlight of the day was the awarding of prizes to the winners of article and essay competitions conducted by the Anti-Corruption Commission in cooperation with the Ministry of Education at a high school in Nay Pyi Taw on 20 November for a total of 40 students. Half of the students wrote articles titled "No Corruption for a Prosperous Nation" while the other half wrote essays titled "United Against Corruption". For each competition, a first prize, second prize, third prize and three honorable mentions were awarded by the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission..."
Source/publisher:
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
Date of publication:
2017-12-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNODC Burma/Myanmar, Corruption
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Recently, two different assessments have come out regarding anti-corruption efforts and their successes in Myanmar. The President U Win Myint, in his new year speech delivered on 17 April, stated that “if we were to show visible and tangible results you would see our successes to a certain extent in the area of preventing and combatting corruption, a chronic disease which has taken deep roots for many administrations. Our Union Government has been taking action against corruption in accordance with the law without favoring anyone with only the interest of the people and the country in our minds.”
On the other hand, the head of the Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) U Aung Kyi declared in his April 29th annual report to the Union Parliament that corruption remains rampant in the country, despite the intense efforts. He based this claim on the findings of a nationwide survey, conducted by an independent party, and underlined the key factors contributing to a culture of corruption: self-interest, resistance to change, ineffective measures, and poor rule of law. Both the ACC’s report to the parliament and the survey report are not yet publicly available.
The Challenges of Defining and Measuring Corruption and Its Impacts
In the literature on corruption, there is no consensus regarding the term’s definition. Different people have different perceptions of corruption and there is no single way to define it. However, it is most commonly defined as the use of public power and office to private ends, and it can take various forms such as bribery, extortion, influence, fraud, embezzlement, payoffs for political favors, and preferential access to services. According to Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Law, enacted in 2013, “corruption” refers to “the misuse of his post by the competent authority for making to act something [sic] or to avoid the lawful act or to give the legal right to someone or to prohibit the legal right incorrectly, or giving, accepting, obtaining, attempt to obtain, proposal, promise or discussion by any means the corrupt [sic] from the relevant person for him, or any other person, or organization directly or indirectly.”
The best indicator of corruption so far is the level of public sector corruption perceived by businesspeople, analysts and experts in countries around the world, though this remains open to criticism. The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) developed by Transparency International has been the most-used indicator of corruption levels across the world. It is a composite index based on 13 independent surveys specializing in governance and business climate. The index provides extensive data on perceptions of corruption within countries, and ranks them according to how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be. A country is scored on a scale of 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt)..."
Zaw Myat Lin
Source/publisher:
TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of publication:
2019-06-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption
Language:
English
more
Sub-title:
The top-level conspiracy behind the global trade in Myanmar’s stolen teak
Description:
"The forests of Myanmar are defined by their monetary value and have been part of the military and economic elites’ profits and, in some cases, survival for decades. The entire legal state forestry and timber trade sectors are riddled with corruption.
Current laws seem to seek the criminalisation of local people and the Government is undermining the communities’ reliance on resources while at the same time introducing a centralised system of management they are unable to implement.
Myanmar’s government presents the teak trade as being wholly legal and sustainable, produced in compliance with the rule of law. This is simply not the case.
A two-year undercover investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) into a near-mythic ‘Burmese teak kingpin’ who conspired with and bribed the most senior military and government officials in Myanmar has revealed how he was able to establish a system of fraudulent trade. This was run in parallel to, and within, the official legal trade administered by the Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) – a state-owned company with a monopoly on all logging and timber trade in the country.
Diverse and extensive, Myanmar’s forests form part of the ‘Indo-Burma Hotspot’, one of the world’s most important biodiversity areas, featuring a huge range of endemic flora and fauna. More than 200 globally threatened species live in Myanmar’s forests, including elephants, tigers, sun bears and the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey.
These forests are an important source of food and fuel for Myanmar’s people, 70 per cent of whom live in rural areas where forests underpin basic livelihoods.
Teak’s combination of properties – a range of beautiful golden-to-red hues on tight, straight grains, Category 1 durability classification, termite, water and insect resistance and its excellent machinability and weathering properties – have earned it the moniker of ‘King of Woods’.
In recent decades Myanmar has suffered a deforestation crisis.
Timber extraction is considered the main driver of forest degradation inside the country’s forest reserve areas. Overharvesting has been “long term and systematic, persisting until forests are exhausted”. Nominally legal forestry operations by MTE and its subcontractors – which prioritised revenue generation – have not allowed forests to recover between cycles of harvesting. Illegal logging is also a major contributor to forest loss in Myanmar, with EIA investigations in 2014/15 revealing how Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed organisations both profit from the massive illegal timber trade.
Demand for Myanmar teak in Western markets is largely driven by the furniture and boat-building sectors, particularly the yacht and superyacht decking market which seek the highest grades of Myanmar teak. The biggest direct markets for Myanmar teak are China, India and Thailand, which between them imported a staggering 4.04 million m3 of teak logs and sawn timber direct from Myanmar between 2007-17, worth $2.79 billion..."
Source/publisher:
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
Date of publication:
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Deforestation, Corruption
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.71 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar is located in Band F, which indicates critical corruption risk in its national defence and security establishments. No branch of the state - the legislative, executive, or judicial branches - may exercise oversight over the military. Article 20 of the 2008 constitution states, ?The Defence Services has the right to independently administer ... all affairs of the armed forces.” In practice, Myanmar has two parallel power structures: the civil government and the military, with the latter also having significant influence in the former. There is a complete lack of transparency regarding military activities and no public disclosure of any key information on defence spending, strategy, or procurement plans - precluding any opportunities for civilian oversight...".....Under Political, Financial, Personnel, Operational and Procurement, you will find a number of questions and answers headed: COMMENTS; SOURCES; RESEARCHER AND PEER REVIEWERS.
Source/publisher:
Transparency International - Defence and Security
Date of publication:
2015-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-01-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This Situation Update describes events and issues occurring in Bu Tho and Dwe Lo townships, Hpapun District between April 2014 and February 2015, including the embezzlement of public funds, child labour, and fraudulent gambling.
Hpapun District administrator U Aung Than Zaw oversaw the construction of bridges in Bu Tho Township, paid for with government funds. He spent only 14,400,000 kyat (US $12,933.36) of the allotted 30,000,000 kyat (US $26,944.50) on actual bridge construction. The remaining 15,600,000 kyat (US $14,011.14) he used to fund his own business.
Two cases of child labour occurred in Hpapun District: one in S--- village, Ma Htaw village tract, Dwe Lo Township; and one in G--- village, Meh Klaw village tract, Bu Tho Township. The two underage workers were employed in construction work and the abuse occurred due to a lack of awareness regarding child labour rights.
On September 27th 2014, casino owner U Myint was arrested and taken into custody by Hpapun Township police for cheating people out of their money at the casino..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2015-09-11
Date of entry/update:
2015-09-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
601.32 KB
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Description:
"Signs of corruption are mounting in Myanmar, a crisis of confidence that threatens to derail President Thein Sein?s ambitious reform program. Whether Thein Sein is willing to push through top-level prosecutions, including at the tainted telecommunications ministry, could make or break the country?s transition from military to democratic rule.
Underscoring decades of unaccountable military rule, Myanmar has consistently ranked near the top of Transparency International?s global corruption rankings. Now, with financial reforms and economic liberalization measures promising to lure big new foreign investments and boost asset prices across the
economy, officials are increasingly leveraging their positions for personal gain, according to government insiders situated at the president?s office..."
Larry Jagan
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times Online"
Date of publication:
2013-04-05
Date of entry/update:
2014-05-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Bribery is a part of everyday life for Burma?s press... "From the outside, the three-story building at number six is as nondescript as the other houses and businesses on Wingabar Road just outside downtown Rangoon. Inside, however, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division headquarters stands out from the majority of the capital?s Spartan offices and government departments because of its abundant furniture and electrical appliances.
?The PSRD office is lavishly decorated, even the toilet,” said one regular visitor, a journalist who requested anonymity.
A closer look at the DVD players, televisions, stereos and furniture that fill the building reveals small identification tags, each with the name of a leading Burma publication. The labels allow Burma?s censorship board to keep track of the journals that have paid up in full—each appliance and piece of furniture is a mandatory bribe..."
Clive Parker
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 8
Date of publication:
2005-08-17
Date of entry/update:
2010-09-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Corruption
Language:
English
more
Description:
Burma?s military regime is busy tidying up its house with a ?clean government? program to fight corruption and achieve good governance. It?s certainly a welcome initiative—provided it?s sincere.
Editorial
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 15, No. 3
Date of publication:
2007-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-05-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption
Language:
English
more
Description:
" Burma has come to resemble the former Soviet regime, and we are presently witnessing the same economic and social chaos. The Burmese junta continues to build up its military, despite agreeing to peace with 17 ethnic armed groups. Needless infrastructure projects have been launched one after another, while people in the streets are saying: "Who needs these roads and dams? You can?t eat them or buy food for us."...
It seems from the regime?s perspective that the nation?s economic and social problems can be solved by pampering white elephants in their elaborately decorated stables at Min Dharma Hill..."
Danu Maung
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Commentary Archive
Date of publication:
2002-12-26
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Burma remains one of the poorest countries in the world. But over the recent years, one cannot ignore the military government building more golf courses throughout the country.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 5. No. 4-5
Date of publication:
1997-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption
Language:
English
more
Description:
Corruption serves as one of the major forces of distortion in Burma?s economy as well as a means for Burmese people to meet the high costs of living. It also serves as a way for the "big people" of Burma to enrich themselves.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No. 4-5
Date of publication:
2000-04-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Corruption
Language:
English
more