The report authors conclude that corruption cannot thrive in a milieu where the public is in the know about the nature of abuses of power.

Washington: Vibrant democratic countries are still far from immune to corruption or abuse of power, and offer little protections for whistle-blowers, says a report released Thursday.

Not one of 25 democratic nations studied in the unprecedented report on government accountability got top scores in stopping or checking corruption, according to the Washington-based Centre for Public Integrity, a non-profit research group that monitors political spending.

“This study shows that no country – regardless of wealth, size or population is immune from corruption,” said Centre Executive Director Charles Lewis.

“Argentina to Zimbabwe, every one of the 25 countries we studied is susceptible to abuses of power, whether from a lack of transparency, a lack of accountability from an independent agency overseeing the electoral process, or having no disclosure requirements or limits on money from individuals and corporations flowing into the political system,” he told a media briefing Wednesday.

“Incredibly, not a single country in our sample achieved a ‘very strong’ ranking on the public integrity index,” Lewis added.

The centre’s ‘Global Integrity Report’ was compiled by more than 150 social scientists and took two years to finish.

Its authors say the tool aims to gauge a country’s commitment to the rule of law, press freedom and transparency of government decision-making.

The index judges the 25 countries in six broad areas: civil society, public information and media; electoral and political processes; branches of government; administration and civil service; oversight and regulatory mechanisms; and anti-corruption mechanisms and rule of law.

It awards five rankings – “very strong,” “strong,” “moderate,” “weak,” or “very weak” – to the countries surveyed.

Only six countries received a “strong” score: the United States, Portugal, Australia, Italy, Germany and South Africa.

Seven nations – the Philippines, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Venezuela and Ghana – received “moderate” rankings, while Nigeria, Panama, Nicaragua, Ukraine, India, Indonesia, Namibia, Turkey, Russia and Kenya got “weak” scores.

Guatemala and Zimbabwe finished in the “very weak” category.

The report, which also ranks the largest democracy on each continent, says the United States ranked first in two of six broad areas studied, including “very strong” ratings in the civil society and branches of government category, but was low in other areas.

It was ranked 19th for oversight and regulatory mechanisms, for example, in part because – unlike other countries studied – “the United States has no national ombudsman, whose role is to make the government more open and accountable to members of the public.”

According to the index, 18 of the 25 countries did not have adequate laws or regulations to protect whistle-blowers from recrimination or other penalties.

It singled out Portugal as the only state where government officials who report corruption are “often” protected from recrimination or other negative consequences.

Of the 25 countries, 23 received “very weak” rankings for their protection for those who report corruption.

Punishment and retaliation against people who investigate corruption is also widespread and extends to journalists and writers in many parts of the world, the index found.

In 15 of the countries surveyed, journalists probing corruption had been imprisoned, physically harmed or killed. In three states, Guatemala, Mexico and Zimbabwe, both journalists and judges have been physically harmed in the past year, it added.

“Fact is, beyond actual war coverage itself, investigating political corruption is the most dangerous task today for journalists and other truth-tellers,” Lewis said.

In 14 of the nations, the head of state cannot be prosecuted for corruption, while in six countries the ruling party controls two-thirds or more of the seats in the national legislature, restricting the opposition’s ability to monitor official accountability.

Money also plays a role in political abuse of power. The report found that political donations were used in all countries surveyed to win political favours.

The report cites how U.S. energy giant Enron, which was one of President George W. Bush’s top donors over his career, spent millions of dollars on politicians and parties from the late 1980s to the time of its collapse in December 2001.

As a result, the now shamed company received billions of dollars’ worth of “favourable treatment from federal and state government officials on no fewer than 49 occasions,” it adds.

Political party finances remain secret in 10 of 25 countries, the report found. Fourteen of those states permit limitless contributions to parties by corporations, and 17 countries have no laws capping the amount parties can spend to manipulate elections.

Four countries – India, Japan, Kenya and Zimbabwe – had no independent agency to watch over political party finances.

“Let’s be blunt here. In far too many instances, in virtually every country we examined, to some degree, power is neither trusted nor accountable,” Lewis said. “And in a democracy in the 21st century, anywhere, regardless of geography, that is simply unacceptable.”

The report authors conclude that corruption cannot thrive in a milieu where the public is in the know about the nature of abuses of power. “Sunshine is the best disinfectant, as the saying goes,” they write.

“A free press and access to information are critical in holding government accountable – if corruption is to be addressed, it must first be exposed. Similarly, government officials must be accountable to the law.”

Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service News Agency, April 29, 2004